"What I'm trying to say is, is that the course of your life, well it is changing, and you don't even see it." –Forrest Bondurant: Lawless

Disclaimer: I do not own Suits... At all... And it makes me sad. But I do ship so hard.

A/N: So... I'm sorry about this chapter. I really am. Just really damn sorry. I feel like I'm on a downward spiral.

"Maybe you could, I don't know, pick up a brush and help me?"

Mike was currently on the top of a stepladder trying her best to cut the edge between her crown molding and her wall. When she had first moved into her townhouse, she had painted all the walls a dark blue to add what she called, at the time, ambiance. Now her lease was almost up and she didn't know if she wanted to stay in the building anymore so she was painting the walls eggshell with the amazing Harvey Specter's supervision.

And the only thing he was supervising was the game on her TV.

"Why don't you just hire someone? They'll come paint and I'll take you to lunch and a show and by the time we get back, they'll be done and we'll have to stay at my place anyway because you can't sleep in all these fumes… Could you open a window?"

She lowered her brush and glared down at her client. "Shut up, smartass."

He smiled and turned off the TV. "You only say that because you know I'm right. Even Sammy is staying with the neighbors while you do this. Crack a window, get dressed, and let's go." He walked over and took the brush from her hand.

Mike glared some more. "You've already called someone haven't you?"

He shrugged. "Yesterday. They'll be here in twenty."

"I hate you."

Harvey laughed as she walked into her bedroom to change. "You need to learn to say it like you mean it!"

#Suits

Harvey came into work the next day looking like he'd had one of the best nights. Even Jessica in his office with a large case file in her hand couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Donna cocked a brow at him, but he just grabbed his messages and mail and walked into the glass room.

Good morning, Jessica. Looking beautiful as always." He moved behind his desk and unbuttoned his jacket before sitting down.

She gave him the same look as Donna. "I know. Have a good night?"

He sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee. A small smile graced his lips. "It was wonderful."

Jessica sat on the edge of his desk. "Spend it with someone special?" She'd never seen Harvey so satisfied before. "She must have been, you acting like this."

Harvey put his coffee down and started up his laptop. "You have something for me?" Jessica blinked at his sudden change in attitude, but handed him the case file anyway and explained the details. When she left, Donna came slithering in.

"If you rocked my best friend's world, I don't want to know… But she totally rocked yours right? I gotta give that girl kudos for getting you to walk in the door in that kind of mood." She reached for his mail to open it.

"If you must know, there was no world rocking. We jus had… Fun." He smiled fondly. "We did lunch and a movie then we went grocery shopping before going to pick up Sammy and going back to my place. We cooked dinner together and played board games and even kicked each other's asses in Call of Duty."

Donna blinked. "Are you serious?"

He snorted. "No. I lied. After all that fun I totally rocked her world." He took another sip of his coffee.

Donna rolled her eyes and organized some files on his desk. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that you're in love with my best friend… And you like rocking the boat with her."

Harvey frowned. "I'm not in love. A mutual liking is more of what I would call it."

She gave him one of those terrifying grins and leaned in closer. "Then explain why you said you kicked each other's asses in Call of Duty instead of you just trying to play up the skills you know you don't have?" There's no way you're sharing credit on winning anything unless you're proud of in love."

Harvey paled. No. He can't be in love. Love was an emotion and emotions are a weakness.

"No. Stop. Don't do that, Harvey. I know what you're thinking and what you try to do when you start thinking like that and I want you to just stop. It's love. Slow building. Talk it out with her and see where it'll go. If it goes nowhere, it'll burn a little right no, but if you stop it now and end up seeing what you could have had, it's going to burn a hell of a lot more later."

He frowned. "Why does it sound like you're speaking from experience, Love Guru?"

Donna sat back and looked at her nails. "Because I am. And it took a while, but I got over it and we're both fine. We're really good friends, in fact." She stood from her seat. "So, where is your other half? She should be here by now."

Harvey blinked and looked back to his computer. "She's taking a day. Said she was going to take Sammy back to her neighbor's and check out how the painters did then go follow up on some leads about my troublesome Russian."

Donna shook her head. "It's been quiet on that front. Why stir up the pot? Maybe he decided that you're untouchable and gave up."

He scrunched his face at her. "That is some very wishful thinking, Donna." She shrugged and went back to her desk.

It was a few quiet minutes of him doing research on his new case before anything interesting happened. The sound of the intercom turning on and Donna's typing coming over the phone signaled him to look up. She shot him a look over her shoulder before turning back and continuing typing.

He was about to open his mouth to question her when the answer came strolling up to her cubicle.

"Donna."

"Louis." She didn't look up. Harvey watched, pretending to be doing his work.

"Do you happen to know where Ms. Ross is? She's not at her cubicle and her work is piling up and I need to speak with her." He started messing with his tie.

"Well, Louis, I'm not her keeper or her secretary so I don't know why you came to me, but I do happen to know the answer to your question. Harvey gave her the day off."

Louis look a little nervous. "I didn't approve of that. Was there some kind of family emergency or—"

"What do you want with Mike, Louis?" Donna snapped, a bit fed up. Louis started messing more with his tie.

"Well, um… I wanted to ask a favor of her and I was wondering, since she's not here and she kind of doesn't like me, if you would ask her for me."

Donna took a second to consider this. She bit her lip and looked like she was about to say no, but then sat back in her chair and crossed her legs at the knee, taking pity.

"Sure, Louis. I'll see what I can do."

The man let out a shaky laugh and leaned against her desk wall. "Oh, thank you. So, you know, the winter gala that's coming up next week and I was wondering if Mike would like to accompany me."

Donna blinked at him and Harvey even gave him a questioning look through the glass. Donna snorted and moved her chair, getting back to work.

"No."

Louis gasped, confused. "No?"

"Look, Louis," She looked up to give him a sympathetic look. "I'm only giving you the answer I know she's going to go with. It's not to put you down or push your buttons. I'm just giving you the truth so you don't get your hopes up. But if you really want me to ask her, then I guess I can run it by her."

Now Harvey was giving her the look. Louis looked away and nodded slowly. "Thank you, Donna," was all he said before walking away.

Harvey finally spoke up. "You're not going to actually ask her, are you?" The reply he got was the intercom getting turned off. This confused him. What the hell? He thought.

But then frowned. He needed to go see Rene. He'd completely forgotten about that gala. He turned the intercom back on.

"Set me up an appointment with Rene and find yourself a dress. You're coming with me."

#Suits

Mike was going to get frown lines working this job. It was literally putting her beauty at risk.

Mikhailov was a mystery to her.

The man was very vocal and outgoing with his threats one minute then the next he's a fucking ghost. She doesn't like it. She was digging into every resource she had, even calling on Trevor again to get any kind of hold on the Russian, but she had nothing.

When she was getting nowhere fast, halfway through the day, she decided to get dressed and head on to work to see if she could be of any help to Harvey. She had to be useful somewhere.

She was in the taxi when she got the call that changed everything around.

It was Donna's brother Gary, informing her of a hostage situation at a bank right up the street from her current location. "It's not good, Ross. The kid is volatile and he brought a bomb to a gunfight. And the PD doesn't really care. They want us to put a sniper on the roof a take him out. They think anyone who is willing enough to bring a bomb into a situation is willing enough to die before it's over. Their negotiator isn't even trying. I don't like the way this one is going at all."

Mike ran her fingers through her hair. "Don't worry, Gary. I'll be there. Just hold them off for five to ten." She checked out the traffic. It wasn't far, but they were slow moving.

"Make it three, Ross." He hung up and she cursed. Shooting Donna and Harvey quick texts, she tucked her phone in her bra and pulled off her heels, placing them and her purse in the front seat.

"Hand deliver these to Donna Paulson at Pearson Hardman. Go through my shit and I will kill you. Sell my shit and I will kill you. Do as I say and you get two hundred dollars. And if you doubt that I could find you in order to kill you, you've talked enough in this car for me to know half your personal life, I've got your cab and plate number, and I work for the police from time to time. Test me, and I will kill you." She pat his head. "Have a nice day. Thank you." She jumped out the car, hiked up her skirt a little, and took off running towards the bank.

When she got there a few minutes later, she went straight for the S.W.A. T. van.

"Gary!" she huffed. He glanced up and waved her over. Reporters and other citizens started arguing about that, but she didn't give a fuck. "Talk to me. Where's his file?" Her heart was pumping and her legs were aching. A deputy came weaseling over.

"We don't have one." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"How exactly do you plan to get a read on the situation when you don't have the file that tells you everything you need to know about the location and persons involved?" She shook her head. "Do have an ID?"

He gave her an up and down look. "No. The only thing we have is a negotiator trying to talk the kid down and S.W.A.T. has visual on the inside. We think it'll be okay to go in, if the Sargent would just give the orders." Gary glared at the man.

"Listen to me, you piece of shit—"

Mike stepped between the two. "Hey! Calm the fuck down. You may have your opinion, but these are his people you're trying to get killed in there. Not to mention civilians who are probably scared to death." She looked at Gary. "Give me a second to get an ID on this guy." She stepped away and pulled out her phone, giving Trevor a call.

"Twice in one day. I feel like a popular guy." She rolled her eyes.

"Twice useless unless you can get me some information that I need. You know that hostage situation that's probably on every news station by now?" She watched as the kid with the bomb strapped to her chest paced back and forth, looking very angry.

"Yeah. The cops put the guy's face on the news about two hours ago. I called in a tip about two hours ago. You're there, aren't you?" She heard rustling of Trevor moving around.

"Yes. I am. You called in a tip two hours ago? You know this kid?" She turned to look at the deputy. "My friend here, on the phone, he's got shit to do with this situation, and still somehow knows more than you about this situation. What are you here for?" She gave him a look and flipped him off. "Give me all you've got, Trev."

"Yeah… This kid used to be real close friends with Jenny's brother before he went to college. His name is Adam Henley. He's a real smart kid, but Jenny was telling me he had to drop out because his mom has some kind of disease or something. Had to get a job and pay her hospital bills. I don't think you should set him off at all, Mike. Last I heard, she was really close to dying unless she got the surgery she needed. If that's anything to go by, he'll probably say he has nothing left to lose. Which he really doesn't. This story sounding kind of familiar to you? Coincidence maybe?"

Mike sighed. "Don't remind me. Maybe a coincidence. It would be a really weird purposeful event. Thanks, Trev."

"Be careful, Michie."

She sighed. "I'll try." She hung up and approached Gary. "Get me a vest. We're going to take this one slow."

The deputy stepped up to her. "No. You're not on this case. We have a negotiator and this is going nowhere, so just step back and let us do our job." While the man was talking, Gary was fitting her with a vest, whispering in her ear.

"First time for everything, huh? The great negotiator Ross wearing a vest? Should I be worried?" He tightened the straps. She turned her head to look him in the eye.

"Just be ready for anything. If he looks like he's about to do something stupid, have your sniper hit him somewhere below the vest to distract him so I can act. I'm not dying today, but that doesn't mean I'm not scared either."

The officer was yelling at her now and the current negotiator was arguing that it was no use, but she ignored them both and darted for the building, slipping in the door where the injured guard was keeping watch. Suddenly, there was a gun in her face.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Mike stood as still as possible as her eyes zeroed in on the vest strapped to Adam's chest.

"I'm here to talk." She whispered, backing up a little.

Adam shook his head and closed the space, putting the gun to her chest. "I'm tired of talking." He pulled back and cocked the gun. She pretended he had the upper-hand, which he really did, but she allowed to think that way.

"Listen. Listen! I just want to tell you what kind of situation you got going on out there." She held up her hands in surrender. "Just… Please. There are more than a dozen cops out there and a S.W.A.T. team ready to blaze in here and take you out like you don't matter. They don't understand the situation. They don't get the whole story. I do. I get the whole story, Adam. I've been where you are. And it may take you some time, but you can turn this around. Trust me, there's nothing wrong with asking for help. Please, Adam, lets talk this out."

The kid looked a little confused at how she knew his name and what she was talking about, but he gave her some leeway anyway.

"You armed?" He rubbed his free hand under his nose. Well, it wasn't exactly free. He had the trigger to the bomb in his palm, ready for the button to be pushed.

She shook her head slow.

"I got nothing on me but this vest and my cell phone. This is the one day I left my concealed weapons in my purse."

He huffed and started biting his nails. "Prove it."

She cocked a brow. "Are you asking me to strip?"

Adam shrugged. "Hand over your cell phone and the vest. I'll have someone pat you down." He turned and looked at the scared looking hostages. She had already taken catalog of them over the screen. None of them were injured. He pointed to a guy in the corner with his gun. "You, come check her for a gun."

Mike frowned. Trust in a hostage? No one had warned her about that. Most fragile people like Adam had trust in no one. They even lashed out at the hostages. And the fact that this hostage was a man? Something was seriously off. Until the man stood and she realized who it was. She closed her eyes and let her head fall a little.

This was no fucking coincidence.

She undid her vest and handed it over with her cell phone. The man with the blond hair and dark stubble walked over and pat her up and down as she faced away from him.

"How long did it take you to plan this one out?" She grunted as he took his time with her waist and thighs. Adam was back to pacing.

"Not long. The only things that took time were the research and finding the perfect subject. The police's negotiator would be terrible at his job, namely because he's never done this before. You would get called and you would come in here, force your way even, because the PD on this side of town doesn't like you very much. You would talk Adam here into submission and get everyone out. Because you're that good, Ms. Ross. And then my guy on the roof would pretend to be S.W.A.T. and shoot at the subject, making him angry and make him make rash decisions. Mr. Specter would mourn and be unguarded and then he would be dead." He felt up her ass and she growled.

"Thanks for monologuing it for me, Anton. Want to tell me any other evil plots you're thinking about following through with." She turned to face him, defiance in her eyes. He gave her a smirk before Adam pulled him away.

"What took you so long? Go sit down, asshole!" The Russian scrambled back to his seat and Mike glared at him all the way there. "Looks like you're clear. You could still strip if you wanted to, though." She looked back to Adam and gave him a look with a sly smirk.

"Smooth talker. I think I'll pass on getting naked, though." She ushered him away from the windows and behind the counters away from fire and the hostages. "Talk to me, Adam. Tell me why you've given up. Didn't you have a good enough job to at least try to live?"

He bit his nails again. "I only had one crappy job after another. No one wanted to hire a college drop out for anything. They didn't even ask why I had to drop out, why I needed the job. They just said 'I'm sorry. You're not what we're looking for.' And then showed me the door. And my mom was dying. I had nothing left. And then things changed and I was given an opportunity and I took it. You going to tell me that if you had this chance, you wouldn't have taken it?"

Mike frowned and looked down at her hands. "I'm not sure if this is more of a bad decision than it is a chance. I was once you, Adam. I was once going down this road and my life was spiraling to an end and I lost everything I ever loved. But I kept going and now I'm a Harvard grad. I work for one of the biggest law firms in New York. I make bank. You could keep trying. You could be here too. Granted you're not getting into Harvard with this on your record, but come on. You can be great, Adam."

He pulled away and started pacing more. "Tell me. How could you have been where I am now and still go to Harvard?"

She risked a step closer to him. "Our stories are the same, but not at the same time. I graduated Harvard, but went into law enforcement and the military. When I was in the military, my grandmother got sicker and sicker. I came back, ready to be everything she needed me to be, but like you said, no one wants to hire an ex-marine fresh back from war. Too many risks. 'What if she goes crazy?' 'What if her PTSD gets in the way of the job?' I was just tying to take care of my grandmother, but I couldn't. I had been labeled from the get go. And she got sicker, but I took a chance. Not like this one. Not a bad decision. I started my own business, threw myself in deeper. I made a little bit of money at first, but not enough. And when she died…" Mike balled her fists at her sides, hoping he would read her body language and empathize. "I just wanted to do what you're doing now. So bad, I wanted to do something that would get me killed, make me hurt. Hell, I wanted to kill. She was my only living family and I'd lost her and it felt like my fault. I couldn't handle myself."

Adam looked her up and down, letting his gun hang loose at his side. "Then how did you?"

She took a step closer. "Like I said, Adam. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to say, I need someone. I did. I reached out. I found one of my friends from before I went to war. I called her up and asked her to save me. And she didn't even hesitate. Do you have someone like that Adam? Do you have someone who doesn't hesitate?" She was looking him dead in the eye now.

He stared back for a long moment, but then jerked away from her closeness. "My mother. If my mother were better, she wouldn't hesitate. She would swoop in and be my hero."

Mike bit her lip and lowered her voice to seem pleading and soothing at the same time. "Mothers are supposed to be our heroes. It's just that sometimes the job has to get turned around." She took a deep breath. "Let's make a deal. If you walk out of here with me, no casualties, and you let the squad disarm that bomb; I will be your person who doesn't hesitate. I can't promise you that you won't go to jail, or that you won't be there for a long time, but I can promise you that if you do this for me, I will pay for your mother's surgery and all of her medical bills. Please? Do this for me?"

Adam sniffed and shook his head. "How can I trust you? How do I know you have that kind of money?"

Mike sighed and closed her eyes, rubbing them. "Well, I don't have my contract on my person at the moment, but I can tell you that I get paid enough to pay some medical bills." It was time to get hard on this kid. "And if you don't trust me enough to do this, then how did you think this chance was going to save your mother? How did you think you were just going to walk out of here with some stolen money, take it hospital, and pay upfront for your mother's surgery?! How, Adam?! Everyone has seen your face! Everyone knows who you are! You were just going to walk into the hospital, that bomb still strapped to your chest and pay them off?! I don't think so! I'm all you've got right now, so you need to trust me. And if not? You kill us? Your mother still doesn't get what she needs. So, what's it going to be?" She held out her hand for the gun and the trigger.

He sniffed again and bit his lip. "You're going to do it? You're going to save my mother?"

She gave an exaggerated nod. "I'm not going to perform the surgery, but I will provide the income." She stepped closer. "Just give me the gun and the trigger and lets walk out of here together. Then I will take care of everything." Her eyes flashed to Mikhailov who was sitting and smiling.

Adam licked his lips. "Okay… The hostages can go." He handed over his gun and the civilians jumped up with a cry, ready to get out. They ran to the door.

"No! Adam, we need this bomb disarmed first. You are priority right now. None of them are injured except the guard. He can go, but you need to be out of that vest, now." She stepped up close to him when all the hostages stopped and looked at her like she was crazy.

He shook his head. "No… It's too late for that. This trigger?" He pushed the button and she flinched back with a gasp, but nothing happened. "It's just a prop. He laughed sadly. Mike looked between the trigger and the bomb, eyes wide. He lifted a little flap on the vest and showed her little red numbers that read out 04:51.

She sucked in a hissing breath. "Holy shhhhit. It's on a fucking timer." She ran her fingers through her hair and looked to the hostages. "Get the fuck out of here!" They all ran, even Mikhailov, who she would have liked to have stay. She tried to lift more flaps to see the wires and figure out what she was working with, but he took a step back.

"You have to get out."

Mike gave him an incredulous look and shook her head, stubborn. "No, let me just see and maybe I can disarm it." The timer read 03:12 now. "Please, Adam, let me get a look before it's too late."

It was his turn to shake his head. "It's already too late." He started to cry.

"NO IT'S NOT!" she screamed at him, tears forming in her own eyes. 02:25.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, for trying to help me and my mom. But she's dead anyway. Been that way for a few hours now… I really have nothing left to live for… But I'm sure you do."

01:45

Mike took some panicking breaths and really wanted to help, but time had run out. She looked him in the eyes. Her heart stopped for a second. "I'm so sorry." She turned and ran for the door, her tights slipping on the marble floor. She made it out and on the and halfway across the small lawn before the explosion threw heat at her, throwing her to the ground. S.W.A.T. ran over and grabbed her up off the ground, pulling her away. She was gasping for breath, tears flowing down her cheeks. Gary was the first familiar face she saw and he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, Ross. It's okay. You did well. You got the hostages out. You got out. It's okay." She sobbed into his uniform, feeling for this boy what no one else would because they all had thought he'd just committed voluntary suicide. "Let's get you to the hospital to get you checked out.

Mike stepped back. "No… I just want to do a debriefing and then go to work." She looked around for Mikhailov, but he was out of sight. So she walked around Gary to where the deputy from before stood. He didn't look like he had a stick up his ass now.

After the debriefing, Gary let her have his jacket and a cruiser dropped her off at work. She walked in the building, in a daze and with no shoes on, and the security gave her a weird look.

"Company ID?" She stopped short and blinked at him a few times before her mind processed.

"It's… In my purse. Could I please use the phone to call up to Donna Paulsen of Pearson Hardman to get her to bring it down?" He hesitated, but made the call himself and she went into the bathroom to clean up while she waited.

Donna was stepping off the elevator just as Mike was coming out of the bathroom with no makeup on. The redhead held out her hand without a word and Mike took it just the same. They walked by security and stepped back into the elevator. When they were alone, she just leaned against the wall, quiet.

"Want to talk about it?" Donna asked, looking down at her shoes. Mike shook her head. The elevator was only on the thirty-second floor when she finally spoke up.

"Thank you." She mumbled. Donna didn't say a thing, knowing that there were more words coming. Mike finally got out. "Thank you for not hesitating on me. Thank you for saving me."

Donna reached over and took her hand again. "I love you, too." She pursed her glossed lips. "Louis wants to know if you'll go to the winter gala with him. You may want to say yes because Harvey says that I'm going with him because I may have said some words that hit his emotional buttons, and he needs protection, but the gala is invitation only."

Mike rolled her eyes at the distraction. "I'll think about it." They were quiet again for a total of one minute.

"Two hundred dollars to hand deliver your shoes and purse?"

Mike shrugged. "Incentive… And those shoes cost five times that, but he didn't need to know that." Donna nodded with a small smile on her face.

When the elevator finally dinged at the right floor, Mike and Donna moved to step off, but someone else was stepping on.

"How in the hell did you get in here? You're not welcome in this office." Donna stepped up to the woman, crowding her space.

"I'm welcome if there's a case I'm working on. And I had some news to deliver to Harvey. I'll be seeing you both soon." Dana Scott pushed past them both and turned around to hit a button on the elevator. She looked Mike up and down before the doors closed. "Very professional."

Mike sneered. "Fuck off, bit—" The doors closed before she could finish. She looked to Donna and the redhead just rolled her eyes at the elevator and pulled Mike along to Harvey's office.

They walked in with no preamble to see the man sitting there at his desk with his head in his hands. As soon as Mike stepped over the threshold of the office and say those big windows, she started to feel dizzy. She took a few deep breaths and immediately placed herself in the position to lean on his desk. Her whole backside tingled from where the heat blast of the bomb hit her.

"So what kind of case does Ms. Scott have involving you?" Donna spoke up and her voice made Mike's ears ring.

Harvey lifted his head slow, in a daze. "Some… Merger…" He sat back from his desk and lifted a small square of paper to give to Donna. "But she was here for something else." Donna took the paper from him and examined it, her eyes getting wide. Mike closed her eyes to keep herself upright.

"She's pregnant, Harvey!?"

He nodded and stood on weak legs, coming around the desk. "Apparently only a couple of months… And I'm the father." He ran his fingers through his hair and finally looked at Mike, who was really pale. "Mike?" He reached a hand out to her and jumped forward just in time to catch her before she fell. "Mike!?"

She blinked a few times, trying to get a grip, but her world zeroed in on blackness.

"Call an ambulance!" were the last words she heard.

"What I'm trying to say is, is that the course of your life, well it is changing, and you don't even see it." –Forrest Bondurant: Lawless

A/N: I totally feel like I need someone to save me from myself.