Thanks for the reviews guys, I'm really glad my story has gotten such a good reaction from you lovely lot :) To those of you who had frequently reviewed - thank you so much; also you lot who had favourited, alerted or just plain read my fic :)

So, here we have the last chapter :( I'm so sad to see this story go, although it leaves room for more fics because I'll have more time - so don't complain ;) Just want to make a quick special thanks to my beloved e-spouse, signofthetimes who has cooed appropriately over mini!Mike and offered me advice and threatened me to write more chapters XD

Also, YES - this is an incredibly long chapter; it's more like snippets of things that happen, rather than an actual timeline; well there's a bit of timeline... You'll see, it's complicated XD

Harvey rolled over in his bed, hearing himself groan slightly. He hadn't had a very good sleep and had been tossing and turning all night. Every time though, he found himself moving slightly next to Mike - checking him. And every time he found himself giving a small sigh of relief in that Mike was still small.

Now though - he could still feel Mike - his head butting into Harvey's chest. But Harvey wasn't sure he wanted to open his eyes. What if Mike hadn't changed back?

Or was he worried in case he had?

This is silly, he grumbled to himself, still refusing to open his eyes. He decided to turn, slowly moving away from Mike and hearing him curl up as he stepped out of bed. He didn't want to turn around; his heart was hammering...

He decided to have a shower. Then when he came out of the bathroom he would know for certain - he wasn't the type of man who would walk backwards out of his own bathroom.

Trying not to think of people who would actually do that, Harvey closed his eyes before quickly entering the bathroom and shutting and locking the door before he safely turned around. All that stared back was a plain white door, with a towel hung neatly off a hook. Harvey heard a small thud from his room and hastily turned his shower on; still not wanting to hear a childish yelp or a manly yell.

Although, with Mike, Harvey thought, smirking - was there a difference?

He took his time in the shower, realising horribly that the agonising wait was what he remembered his father experiencing when they were both in a waiting room in hospital, as his mother game birth to Nick. As well as praying that both mother and baby would be fine, his father was also incredibly nervous and excited to find out the sex of the child.

He really hoped he wasn't acting like an anxious father.

Another thud echoed from his bedroom and he closed his eyes, washing shampoo out of his hair. He knew that if he put it off any longer he may just explode, and so got out of the shower and quickly dried himself, putting on casual clothes. He took a breath and then unlocked his bathroom door, opening it cautiously.

"Mike," he said slowly, not quite sure what was happening. "Why are you on the floor?"

A very embarrassed but also very much adult Mike looked up at him from his position on the floor, one leg going underneath the bed whilst the other stayed pressed against the side of the bed. "Uh..." He coughed and tried again. "My legs," another cough - Harvey tried not to smirk as Mike's voice kept breaking. "They're a lot longer than I realised."

Harvey gave a small snort but offered his hand, pulling Mike to his feet. "Wow," Mike said, reeling slightly. "I'm not used to this," Harvey quickly grabbed hold of him lest he fall backwards before realising Mike was very much naked. Apparently he had outgrown his pyjamas - which Harvey now saw were in tatters on his bed (He also realised that Donna would be happy that they weren't the childish ones; merely the green ones).

"Sit down for a second," Harvey instructed, making him slowly sit on the bed. Mike rubbed at his knees before only just realising for himself that he was naked. He grabbed the pillow he had been mainly using for the past two weeks and quickly covered his modesty; remembering that Harvey had bathed him countless times and had even put him in pull-ups - but at this moment in time that seemed just too embarrassing to comprehend.

"Here, put these on," Harvey said to him, throwing him some boxers and old sweatpants, followed by a grey long sleeved top that Harvey seldom wore now. Mike nodded and began the arduous task. Harvey left the room to give the kid some privacy - he found himself straightening the cover of Mike's bed and had to practically pull himself out of the office-turned-bedroom.

"Uh, Harvey?" Harvey quickly left the room to see what Mike wanted. The kid was now fully dressed and was sat on Harvey's bed again. "Um... I need a bit of help with, uh... Well, walking," he admitted, looking down and sighing. "Would've been easier if I hadn't changed."

Harvey pretended he hadn't heard that. "It'll wear off soon. You're just not used to it."

"Tell me about it," Mike huffed, managing to pull himself into a standing position. He batted his eyes at Harvey. "Carry me?"

Harvey snorted. "You just became about 20 years too old to carry."

"Okay. So... next time I become a toddler..."

"Next time you become a toddler I may have to beat you to death to stop this happening all over again," Harvey told him, a smirk on his face to show he wasn't serious. However, Mike lowered his head, his shoulders moving slightly as Harvey heard small sniffs.

He instinctively went to Mike's side - he was still very much in tune with the kid and even though he was no longer technically a kid... he still was. He put a hand on Mike's shoulder - and just as he was thinking it would be a lot easier to do this if Mike could simply crawl onto his lap again - the trembles increased.

"Sorry, Mike," Harvey said softly, feeling Mike lay his head down on his shoulder. Harvey started carding his hand through the now dark blonde hair. "It's just going to take a while to get used to this again," he was still slowly folding Mike's hair over through his hands when he heard the sniffs taper off into snorts. He looked down to see that - far from tears - Mike was laughing.

"Oh man - I'm sorry, Harvey... I just wanted to see what you'd do," he chuckled and looked at Harvey apologetically. The older man noticed that Mike had yet to move his head off his shoulder.

"You know what happened to the boy who cried wolf?" Harvey asked him, removing his hand from Mike's hair.

"He was eaten?" Mike answered.

"Yeah - so I'd watch out for the monsters under that bed of yours if I were you," Harvey told him with a small smirk. He saw Mike's eyes widen slightly and bit back a chuckle. "Come on, kid - breakfast before we do anything, okay?"

Mike nodded silently and cautiously took a step forward. He kept tripping over his own feet, apparently not used to the length they were from the ground. After nearly falling flat on his face he grabbed hold of Harvey's sleeve. "You know, if there will at any point be the offer of carrying, I would happily accept," Mike told him as they slowly made their way over to the table.

"Okay, as much as I go to the gym, I can't carry you any more," Harvey replied. Mike pouted and Harvey rolled his eyes, waiting for the kid to sit down before he grabbed the usual bowl and poured cereal into it, followed milk. It was only when he placed it in front of Mike he realised that he'd used the bowl Donna had bought them (Blue with puppies round the rim; not unlike his bedspread) and also given Mike Lucky Charms. Mike started to eat it, however, apparently not noticing as it had become routine for two weeks. He had only taken two mouthfuls before declaring himself full.

"Nice try, kid. Eat," Harvey glared at him menacingly until Mike took one more hesitant bite.

"Harvey, I'm full!" He whined, which would have sounded strange coming from his mouth had it not been for the fact that his voice kept breaking.

"Three more bites," Harvey told him, standing at the kitchen counter holding some coffee.

Mike glared at him but slowly ate three more spoonfuls, swallowing with an almost herculean effort and looked over at Harvey. The older man gave him a small smile and walked past him to sit on the couch. "Good boy," he said, ruffling Mike's hair slightly. It was only when he sat down on the couch that what he'd done had sunk in. Would he ever get out of the habit of doing things like that? He doubted it. He chanced a small glance over to Mike but found that it had barely registered, and instead the kid was getting up.

"You okay with walking now?" Harvey asked, putting on the sports channel of his TV and keeping his focus on that, only glancing around as he heard footsteps padding behind him.

"Yeah, I'm good," Mike told him, wobbling a few times and looking very much like bambi on ice. He went into the 'guest bedroom' and Harvey turned his gaze back to the TV - he should have time to watch a bit of this game; as long as the kid just played quietly and -

And he'd just done it again, growling at himself as he realised the mistake he'd made. Mike was a grown man once more - if he had ever been one - he didn't need Harvey to keep an eye on him and he certainly didn't need to 'play'.

However, as the minutes ticked by and the condo remained silent save for the noise from the TV, Harvey felt slight growing concern. You can't have looked after a small child for two weeks and not grown to feel worry if you couldn't hear them after 10 seconds. He tried so hard to turn his attention back to the football game, but found he kept glancing over to the mostly shut door of the room. What was Mike doing? Was he okay? Would he -

The door opened, and Mike came out. Harvey tried to focus once more on the game - he'd already missed one touchdown and so didn't notice what Mike was holding until the kid sat down beside him.

Harvey was slightly concerned that he felt concern that Mike hadn't tried to climb onto his knee - was he ill? But then if he wasn't feeling well he was always clingy, and - no. Stop. Normal Mike now. But as he looked all he saw was a small child clutching a sea lion. Well, more like squeezing it to death with a hug.

"You're acting as if it's your last day with it," Harvey said casually.

"What?" Mike asked, frowning. Harvey cocked his head over to the toy and Mike blushed, but didn't remove it from his grasp. "I... it's going to sound... well - I just..."

"Any time today would be good," Harvey drawled, rolling his eyes but still keeping them fixed on Mike.

"I used to just come in here and climb onto this couch and just... you know... get on your lap," Mike kept his focus on his lap. "And obviously I can't really do that and this... I kind of need affection, alright?" Mike spat, still squeezing the sea lion. "I'm used to having a hug or... or you know, a pat on the back, so now I have to... I have to hug this instead."

Harvey surveyed Mike for a second before making up his mind. Heck, if he was having trouble trying to acclimatise then Mike would have to be going through it a hundred times over.

Mike was still looking down at the sea lion when he felt a pressure on his shoulder. He looked over to see that Harvey had put his hand there. "Mike - I know how much trouble you'll have adapting to this. You need something; just tell me. Or if it's something like this - just do it. I... I won't pull away, kid."

Mike glanced in his eyes and remembered the hundreds of times in the past two weeks when Harvey had given him some form of comfort; it wouldn't be awkward. It would be nice. Right now he was craving the affection so badly that he felt like he was going to cry. So he shuffled down the couch slightly, letting his head rest on Harvey's shoulder. As the older man moved his arm to go round Mike's shoulders, the associate pulled his own arm around Harvey's stomach, initiating a sideways hug. He was still holding on to Harvey the sea lion with his other arm, letting it get squashed between their two bodies.

As Harvey's hand came up yet again to sweep through his hair, Mike felt a shudder of relief sweep through him and closed his eyes lazily, finding himself slowly sliding down, ending up resting his head on Harvey's lap. He switched the sea lion over so that he was holding it in the arm facing outwards and resisted the strong urge to put the thumb of that hand in his mouth.

Instead, he just enjoyed the calm, comforting feeling of having Harvey running his fingers through his hair.

"You know we can't exactly do this at the office," Harvey told him in a soft voice. "If you still need this; we need to find some way to do it so you're not... freaking out at the office."

"Wouldn't freak out," Mike mumbled, literally dragging his thumb away before it would reach his mouth. He really wanted the extra comfort - it all felt so familiar; resting on the couch with Harvey - he didn't want to say 'snuggling' but that was essentially what was happening.

"Of course you wouldn't," Harvey humoured him. He took hold of the thumb that Mike was trying so hard not to suck. "And this doesn't belong in your mouth."

"Which is why it's not in my mouth," Mike informed him, not pulling away as Harvey kept a hold of the hand.

"It nearly is. Do we need to get you a pacifier to stop you from sucking it?" Harvey asked teasingly, not surprised when Mike let out an unamused huff. Harvey glanced at the clock. "Come on," he said, letting Mike slowly roll off him. "You stay there any longer and you'll fall asleep. And nap time's not till 2."

"I don't need nap time any more," Mike said, rubbing at his eyes. His fists were bunched up in the sleeves of his top and Harvey gave a small snort in response.

"Sure," he was amazed at how childish Mike could actually look. He knew he was physically bigger than Mike, but not by that much; still, the overgrown top and pants made him look as though he was dressing up in his older brother's clothes.

Harvey got up from the couch, letting Mike stay sitting down, clutching the sea lion. He took the toy out of the blonde's hands, ignoring the small whine of protest before swapping it for a cushion. "How's that?" Harvey asked.

Mike shot him a confused look but squeezed the cushion experimentally. "Uh... Yeah, it's..." He rested his face on it for a second, thinking. It smelt of Harvey. Of protection and safety and warmth. It smelt of the past 2 weeks. "Can I keep this?" He asked, a little unsure smile on his face.

"I'll put it on the couch in my office," Harvey told him, finishing his now cold coffee and pulling a face. "I need better coffee."

"I'll buy you a coffee machine," Mike muttered, still resting his face on the cushion as he was thinking.

"Yeah - you can't buy food but you can still afford to be me a decent coffee machine. I'll pass," Harvey told him, as Mike shrugged. "Anyway, the best coffee is made by hand, not by a machine."

"Why don't you just ask Donna to come live with you? Then she can make it," Mike said, lying back down on the sofa, clutching the cushion to his stomach.

"She doesn't appreciate limitations being placed on her prowess as coffee-maker."

"Really? She told Ray it was on her beauty," Mike said, letting his eyes close as he pulled the cushion closer to his face.

"She's multi-talented," Harvey replied, walking over and plucking the cushion from Mike's grasp.

"Hey!" The associate sat up unhappily.

"What? I have things to do today - I can't have an associate who's cranky because he didn't nap on time."

"Okay, that actually sounded kind of serious," Mike said warily, watching Harvey put the cushion back down on the couch, but made no move to take it again.

"You're used to sleeping to a schedule; most of the time. You need to adapt. I need you alert to do work - so you sleep when I tell you to."

"Yes, mien fuhrer," Mike scowled at Harvey. "Has it occurred to you that I'll be in my own apartment? I'm a big boy now, daddy," he said mockingly, trying to forget Harvey's slip up the day before, whilst Harvey tried to forget Mike's slip up when he had been ill.

"You're just asking for a time-out, aren't you?" Harvey said, crossing his arms and leaning against a counter.

To his surprise, Mike stopped his small, joking smile and frowned, unhappiness evident on his features. "I don't want a time-out," he mumbled, casting his gaze downwards. Harvey tilted his head slightly in confusion. Was Mike honestly still intimidated by time-outs? Harvey knew he hadn't liked them as a toddler and also knew how effective they had been. He gave a small smirk as he realised he now had the perfect weapon if Mike didn't want to do something.

"Donna's probably going to come round at some point today," Harvey informed him, deciding to leave the topic alone for the time being. "I'm surprised she hasn't already been round."

"What?" Mike asked, standing up now. "Aren't we going to work?" Harvey gave him a look. "What? Harvey, I can work! I'm fine to work; or... at the very least I can proof briefs for you."

"You must be desperate to do work if you want to proof things," Harvey muttered. "We might go into work tomorrow. But today, the only thing you need to do is get used to being normal again."

"I'm fine," Mike insisted.

At exactly 2:10pm, Mike fell asleep on the couch, clutching the cushion to him and burying his face in it. Harvey had seen him do that a few times before and wondered what the attraction was to the smell of it. He carefully moved Mike's feet onto the couch and put another cushion underneath his head. The kid had slowly become more tired as the day went on, and as for now Harvey had no idea how exactly to wean him off naps - they always had their busiest or trickiest meetings in the afternoon, and he couldn't exactly cancel because his associate was napping.

Mike had insisted he was completely fine again, and had started watching a baseball game on Harvey's TV. Although when Harvey had left to sort his laundry he had come back to see that Mike had 'accidentally' sat on the remote and turned it over to a movie - it wasn't a kid's film (Harvey would have had to throw the TV out the window if it had been) but it wasn't what Harvey had been watching. He had been about to say something when he noticed Mike slowly start to slip down the couch as the film progressed and Harvey automatically checked his watch. Nap-time.

He had just pulled a blanket over the sleeping associate (It was cold in his apartment, he reassured himself lamely) when there was knocking on his door. He quickly opened it to have a whirlwind of red hair brush past him.

"Well?" Donna asked excitedly. "Is he normal? What's - "

"Donna, inside voice," Harvey told her quietly, moving his hands in the universal sign of 'be quieter'. She frowned, confused. "Nap-time," Harvey informed her, his voice barely above a whisper. At her gasp, he quickly motioned her over to the couch. She went to the front of it and a small, affectionate smile lit up her face.

"Aw, he's still as cute as ever," she cooed, gently smoothing down his hair as he nuzzled into the cushion more.

Harvey snorted. "I'm sure he'd have something to say to you about that," he told her.

"Oh, have we reached the 'I'm a big boy now' stage?" She asked, laughing slightly.

"Yup," Harvey answered. "And I'm sure at some point we'll also reach the angsty teenager stage as well."

"Did he ever reach it in the first place?" She joked, standing from where she had originally been crouching. "So, what's the plan?"

Harvey blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair. "Work tomorrow - he's been begging to work all this morning."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Donna asked him as they moved away from the couch to stand in the kitchen. "I mean; how's he acting? Should I keep some juice boxes for him? Should we keep some books for him in case he gets bored? What if he refused to let go of his teddy? My nephew refused to give his away and my sister had to pretend to lose it - and he was 14!"

"Donna, I think you need to slow down a bit," Harvey told her. "Like he told me, he's a big boy now. Just treat him like normal."

"But it's so hard," she sighed. "Admittedly I've been trying to treat him like normal for the past 2 weeks, but it was... easier to treat him like a toddler. You know?" Harvey knew there was no point trying to hide his feelings from Donna, and just nodded, looking back at the couch.

"But I'm glad he's normal," she said firmly. "I've missed him."

Harvey nodded again in agreement. He had missed Mike. And he needed his associate back to wipe that smirk from Louis' face. "How long will he stay with you for?" She asked him. Harvey gave her an incredulous look. "Don't pull that face to me, Harvey Specter - I know you're going to keep him captive for a while longer. Look at him - who would insist on nap time if he didn't live here?" She smirked smugly as Harvey shook his head, sighing.

"So, shall I arrange for any of your meetings to be on tomorrow?" She asked him, apparently having come over for the sole purpose of making sure Mike wasn't dead.

"Maybe one," Harvey told her, glancing once more at the couch. "And make it either in the morning or late afternoon."

"Well, we don't want to interfere with kiddo's nap time," she winked at him. "I've heard his dad doesn't like it if he gets cranky."

"I'm assuming you know where the door is, Donna," Harvey dead panned, trying to keep the humour off his face.

"See you tomorrow, Harvey," she smiled at him and left.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly - Harvey forever slipped up and ruffled Mike's hair whenever he did something praiseworthy - even going so far as to do it when Mike ate his dinner without complaint. Who knew that adult Mike actually really liked the taste of vegetables?

As soon as Mike started yawning, Harvey stood up. "Bedtime, kid."

"What?" Mike looked up at him with wide eyes. "Harvey; is this going to be a continuing trend? 'Cause for the last time - "

"I know, you're a big boy now," Harvey said, rolling his eyes. "Just humour me and get ready, okay? If you want me to even consider going into work tomorrow, you have to show me you're willing to do what I say."

Mike sighed but got up. His coordination had gotten substantially better throughout the course of the day and he now looked more like his old self than ever. His and Harvey's banter had gotten slightly more normal during the day and he found that if he tried, he could get all signs of whining or whimpering out of his voice.

"Uh, I don't have anything to sleep in," Mike told him as he was halfway to the office room. Harvey thought for a second before getting up and walking to his room. He grabbed a spare pair of his pyjamas and threw them to Mike. The younger man looked back at him, frowning. "Silk pyjamas? Really?" He quickly went into the room to change at Harvey's look.

Harvey was incredibly close to walking in after him before stopping himself. He didn't need to tuck the kid in or read him a story.

Mike came back into the room, dressed in the pyjamas. "Uh... night," he said awkwardly, hovering in the doorway.

"Good night, kid," Harvey replied. "We're going into the office tomorrow, so make sure you get some sleep."

Mike rolled his eyes. "I will. Night," he went into the office, and it didn't escape Harvey that he left the door open as he turned the light off.

After a few hours, Harvey stood up and stretched, realising that he'd barely watched any TV when he'd been looking after Mike. He had relished the sports channel tonight. Not being able to help himself however, he found himself looking in on Mike. It had become routine - he had to check on the kid before he himself went to bed. He slowly peeked his head in, wanting to pull away because he knew it was ridiculous but he just couldn't not check in on the kid.

"Mike?" He said, confused. The younger man was lying on his back in the bed, his arms resting underneath his neck as he stared up at the ceiling. He jumped slightly and craned his head to look at Harvey.

"Hey," he said, tiredness evident from his voice.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Harvey asked him, not managing to keep the 'disapproving parent' tone out of it.

"Can't," Mike said simply. "It's weird. I'm... really tired. Like - missed nap time tired," he gave a small smile. "But I just... can't sleep."

Harvey's parental instincts (which he wouldn't admit to having) were screaming at him, and - never one to ignore his instincts - he left the room for a second before coming back in with a dog eared book. He sat on the bed and gave Mike a stern glance. "You tell anyone about this and I will give you to Louis so fast your head will spin, got it?" Mike nodded, tiredness making him slow. Harvey opened the book and looked at him. "You ready?"

Mike's brain finally caught up and he blushed slightly. "You don't need to... Harvey, I'm sure I can sleep if - "

"I asked if you were ready," Harvey said, raising an eyebrow.

A headache slowly making it's way into his brain, Mike nodded and hastily pushed himself to sit next to Harvey. He shyly nudged closer so that he could see the words and pictures. "This isn't going to work," Harvey muttered, standing. He gave Mike a reassuring smile as the younger man looked down, worried he'd annoyed Harvey in some way. "Lie back down," he instructed, and Mike did so, rolling onto his side to look into the room. Harvey sat on the edge of the bed next to Mike and placed the book in front of him, before moving his arm to go around Mike to hold the book at one side. "Ready now?" He asked. Mike nodded.

"Okay. In the great green room there was a telephone. And a red balloon..." Harvey paused, causing Mike to look up in confusion. "What, I have to do all the work now?" Harvey asked him, smirking. He turned the page, ready to read the next bit before Mike grabbed his hand, removing it from the page. He turned the page back, before turning it again. Harvey gave him an approving nod before starting again, waiting each time for Mike to turn the page.

He was only two pages towards the end when he realised Mike wasn't turning the pages any more. He glanced down and saw that Mike's breaths had evened out and his eyes were closed. He smirked and quickly hooked Mike's hand away from his mouth, as his thumb was creeping towards it.

"We're going to break you of this habit, kiddo," Harvey said softly but determinedly, standing up from his spot off the bed. He quickly found the teddy he had been told was called 'Harvey' and moved it towards the crook of Mike's neck. The younger man wrapped his arms around it and sighed, and Harvey saw he was slowly starting to chew the ear.

"I give up," he muttered, smiling. "Night, kid."

"My mouth feels weird," is what Harvey got as a 'good morning' as he sat at the table reading a paper. "Was I sleeping with my mouth open last night?"

"Nope, it had a teddy bear's ear inside it," Harvey answered, continuing to read his newspaper without looking up at Mike.

"Please tell me you're joking," Mike groaned.

"You want the pictures to prove it?" Harvey offered, stirring a cup of coffee that was still hot. Mike wasn't sure whether or not to believe him and decided to give up, sitting down opposite him at the table.

"So, what are we doing?" He asked. "Are we going to work?"

Harvey looked up, surveying him over his paper. "I suppose," he muttered. "Although not when you're dressed like that," he nodded towards the rumpled pyjamas.

"These are silk!" Mike argued. "They probably cost more than my suits! Can we at least go to mine before we go so I can grab some clothes?"

Harvey shrugged. "Sure you can dress yourself?"

"That was below the belt, Harvey," Mike grumbled, fidgeting in the seat. "I'm pretty sure," he replied to Harvey's comment sarcastically.

"Okay," Harvey said, making up his mind. "We'll go in, but only - " he stressed as Mike fist pumped victoriously, "only if you agree to do what I say. That means no complaining if I tell you to nap, no whining if Donna makes you drink something and no tantrums or it'll be the time-out corner. Clear?"

Mike stared at him before sighing and nodding. "I'm not three," he muttered angrily. "Any more," he quickly amended. "I can act like a grown up when I need to, surprisingly."

"Someone's cranky," Harvey observed, standing up and putting his jacket on.

"Oh, don't even," Mike glowered at him, standing up as well. "Let's just go," he started to search the pockets of the pyjamas before quickly realising that of course his keys wouldn't be in there. So instead, he glances up at Harvey. "Uh... what happened to my apartment keys?"

Harvey's face is just as blank as his is.

After conning his way deviously into his own apartment - how he managed it whilst clad in just pyjamas he wasn't sure - he opened the door and thanked the landlord, waiting for him to leave before shuddering. "I knew I should have paid for my utilities earlier," he growled, rubbing at his arms. Harvey shook his head; he could see his breath it was that cold.

"I'm just going to change," Mike told him, walking into what Harvey presumed was his bedroom. When the door closed he took the opportunity to quickly snoop around the apartment.

Try as might, as he came up with thousands of pretences - he was a lawyer which meant he was naturally curious, he was interested in his associate's home life, he wanted to see what the kid did in what little spare time he was given - Harvey knew the real reason was simply; would Mike be able to look after himself?

The empty fridge - apart from some juice and half a cheesecake that Harvey quickly threw into the bin (it was over two weeks out of date!) - didn't exactly blast cold air to Harvey's face, and it didn't exactly strike in him the confidence that his associate would be able to live as soon as he left Harvey's.

Not that there was any rush...

"What are you doing?" Harvey turned to see Mike pulling a skinny tie around his neck, looking at him suspiciously.

"Just looking through your cupboards," Harvey said, shrugging as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Just checking to see if you can actually live."

"And?" Mike questioned, pulling the ends of his tie over one another. "How'd I do?"

Harvey opened the fridge and showed him how empty and warm it was. "I think this pretty much speaks for itself."

Mike shrugged. "I don't need much stuff in the fridge. I've got packets of those 'just add water' things. Which are probably out of date," he said, frowning as he thought to himself.

Harvey rolled his eyes and shut the fridge door. "If you actually want to move back into this death trap you call an apartment, I need to send Donna shopping."

"What?" Mike squawked, still attempting to tie his tie. "I'm capable of doing my own shopping!" He waited for a response from Harvey, but instead he simply had slightly larger, warmer hands moving around his, taking them off the tie so that he was having it tie for him. "And I'm capable of dressing myself too," he said lamely, watching as Harvey tied it in seconds.

"Yeah, it looks like it," Harvey said, raising an eyebrow. "Right," he continued, satisfied with the way Mike was wearing his tie, "now that you're properly dressed, we can go to work."

"Yes!" Mike said happily, offering his fist as a bump to Harvey. The other man raised his eyebrow and looked down at the fist. Mike's smile faded but he uncurled his hand and pulled away.

"Are you sure you're not still three?" Harvey asked mildly as they made their way back to the car.

"Pretty sure," Mike replied, getting into the vehicle. Ray still hadn't taken out the child seat and Mike was having a hard time removing it. "Dammit, did you weld this in or something?"

Harvey smirked. "Child safety. Can't have kids like you getting out of it or taking it out of the car, can we?"

"Very funny. Where am I supposed to sit?" He asked. Usually there was a middle seat in cars but apparently Harvey didn't appreciate that - he usually drove on his own; or with Mike, so there was no need for a third seat. When Harvey cocked his head towards the child seat, Mike snorted and slammed the car door, getting in the passenger seat next to Ray.

He felt his face flushing as they walked through the building. Various co workers stared at him as if he had grown another head, and much to his dismay he found himself walking closer to Harvey, softly holding onto the elbow of his jacket as they passed people. He knew this must make it look worse than ever - nearly everyone knew what their mad scientist client had done to him, and had seen him in that state - but now he was normal, he was still acting like he had before.

They finally reached the safety of Donna's desk and Mike beamed at her - the maternal actions she had been bestowing on him when he was smaller were now playing havoc with his emotions. What he wanted more than anything was to simply run at her and hug. Instead, he walked sedately with Harvey to her desk. The older man checked any mail for him with a muttered 'thanks' while Mike gave Donna a small, sheepish smile.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him, smiling back.

"I'm okay - a little tired and sore, but," he shrugged, "I'm glad to be back. Although someone is acting like a worried parent most of the time," he sniped to Harvey, who took that moment to go into his office before Donna started her smug smile.

"Give him time," she said to Mike wisely. "I'm sure you're not used to it yet either. Now, go see what work you have to do - and just tell me if he tries to give you too much!" She told him. Mike grinned at her and went into Harvey's office.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked eagerly. He had missed work. Harvey looked at him for a moment before grabbing a singular file and passing it to him. Mike stared at it before looking back at Harvey. "Really?"

"What? I just need that doing. Now will you do it?" Harvey asked, waiting impatiently. Mike nodded and left.

"Softie," Donna sang down the intercom to him.

"Hey, Ross," Gregory said, smirking at him. "Good to have you back. You potty-trained yet?"

"Okay, I don't know about you, Gregory," Mike started saying as he sat down at his desk. "But at the age of 3 I was potty trained. So your 'insult' doesn't really make much sense on account of me already being potty-trained when I was small. Now are you done? Because I need to get this work finished," he opened the file and began skimming it.

Gregory closed his mouth, not really sure what to make of the response. He had been hoping for stammering and blushing - possibly tears. Tears would have been good. But right now Donna is walking through the associates' office to grab some faxes and Specter sometimes saunters through to check something with Jessica and Gregory is terrified of those two right now and so he just sits down and keeps his mouth shut.

After half an hour Mike had finished the work and was idly spinning his chair. His attention span had gone way down since turning back and he was fighting the urge to start playing with some paper clips. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. It could only have been 12 o clock at the latest and he was already feeling tired. His hand was cramping due to the writing he had been doing.

"Finished?" He glanced up to see Harvey stood in front of his desk, holding a bag.

"Uh, yeah - there wasn't much," Mike replied, cocking his head. "What's in the bag?"

"Lunch," Harvey said, holding it up. Mike looked around to realise that everyone had left for their break. "I thought if you didn't eat soon then there'd be tantrums," he smirked.

"Don't you mean that Donna thought if I didn't eat soon there'd be tantrums?" Mike asked. "Which, by the way, there won't be."

"Sure thing, kid," Harvey said, before putting the bag on the table and walking away. "Don't forget to eat your vegetables!"

"Harvey, as pleased as I am that Mike is back with us," Louis said to him, causing Harvey to snort at this blatant lie. "You need to do something about him."

"What are you talking about, Louis?" Harvey asked in a bored tone. He was flicking through a file that he would usually have Mike handle, but he just couldn't overload the kid with paperwork. And then he gave a shudder for even thinking with so much care.

"I mean the pissy attitude that he has!" Louis complained. "I gave him some folders to go through, just the Partington Briefs, no big deal, and - "

"Louis, the Partington Briefs are over 400 pages long," Harvey glared at him. "It's Mike's first day back at work."

"He told me to shove it up my ass," Louis told him in an angry, nasally voice.

Harvey smirked before becoming serious. Mike wasn't the type to directly refuse any of his superior's demands; and even when he did it, it was with niceness and politeness that Harvey hoped would be knocked out of him before he entered a real courtroom.

A sudden thought occurred to him and he checked his watch. He didn't let the concern show on his face in front of Louis, but it was now 4 o clock. If Mike was still working, and hadn't had a nap...

"Send him in," Harvey said, enjoying bossing Louis about, no matter how small the request. A look of slimy pleasure showed on Louis' face as he thought he was getting Mike into trouble. He hastily exited and Harvey leant back in his chair.

"Miss nap time?" Donna's voice came through the intercom. Harvey nodded, his chin resting on the tips of his fingers as he thought. He didn't know how to convince Mike to take a nap, especially not when he apparently had a 'pissy attitude'. He suddenly straightened. Yes he did. He'd looked after the kid for 2 weeks - he knew how to look after him. He hadn't done that bad a job before, surely?

"Louis said you wanted to see me?" Mike came into the office, and didn't miss Donna's look of worry shot at him from outside. Mike looked exhausted, even though he had only missed nap time by 2 hours. Harvey supposed that after the same routine, it must be painful to break it.

"Yes - he said you told him to shove some work up his ass?" Harvey questioned. Any other time he would have ended that statement with 'good boy', but he was more concerned with how Mike's mood was apparently worsening and spreading.

"So? I had a right to! He was piling all of the Partington Briefs on me! I could have been doing your work, but no, I now have to do Louis's, because apparently he's completely incompetent when it comes to either finding his own associate or doing his own work! And everyone else is getting pissy at me for getting pissy at Louis, so I'm sick of coping with those idiots who - I don't even know how they got into law! And now you're going to sit there and stare at me until I agree to go back to work like a good little minion, but it's harder than it looks to put up with the other associates and Louis combined, as well as getting you on top of it!"

Harvey raised an eyebrow at Mike's impressive rant. "Someone's cranky," he observed, knowing this would push Mike's buttons. He wanted to see just how tired the kid was.

"Okay, you know what? Screw you, Harvey," he spat, going for the door.

"Time out, ten minutes," Harvey said in a commanding voice. The hand that Mike had placed on the door handle didn't open it, and his whole body froze. He turned slowly. "Time's wasting, Mike - that stool, your ass, no talking, ten minutes," he repeated the same words he'd often said when giving small Mike punishments.

"But - "

"No arguments," Harvey said pointedly, before tapping his watch. "I'm waiting."

"But, Harvey I don't want a time out!" Mike wailed - although he would deny, but both Harvey and Donna could confirm it was most definitely a wail.

"Should've thought of that before you decided to skip napping and become the world's most cranky kid," Harvey said, now flicking through his file once more. Mike moved slightly more into the room but didn't go toward the stool. He stared at Harvey, fighting the urge to cry. "I don't hear a remorseful ass sitting down," Harvey noted. He kept his gaze on the file but then heard movement and soon heard Mike sitting down. He glanced up and saw his associate sitting on the stool with his back to the room, his arms curled round himself and small sniffs.

The kid really needed a nap.

The ten minutes seemed an agonising time to wait but eventually Harvey's watch hands hit and he glanced over to the stool. "I hope that attitude is gone," he said, watching as Mike slowly turned to face him, still with his arms around himself and with red eyes that could either be from tiredness or crying. Possibly from both.

"Sorry," Mike mumbled, looking down at his lap. He rubbed at his eyes quickly, looking for all the world like an exhausted toddler; the parental feelings that Harvey didn't possess made him stand up and go over to the younger man, ignoring the fact that Donna was watching from outside. Mike looked up at him with eyes glazed over with tears. "Sorry, Harvey."

Harvey crouched slightly so that he was still just taller than Mike. The kid quickly rested his head on the older man's shoulder, and Harvey found himself drawing his arms around Mike, rubbing his back as he felt what seemed like tears drip onto his shoulder.

"C'mon," Harvey said softly. "Nap time," he was glad when Mike didn't protest, and helped him stand up; getting him over to the couch and lying down in a minute. Mike grabbed a cushion and pulled it close to him, making Harvey remember that he needed to bring that cushion from his apartment that Mike liked. He stayed crouching next to the couch with his hand on Mike's shoulder until the kid was fully asleep before shaking his head.

He really needed to stop acting like a parent.

It was three days after Mike had changed back and he was now insisting on going to his own apartment. Harvey now knew what the 'flown the nest' feeling was like, as he drove in silence to Mike's place, bringing with him the few toys the kid had suddenly possessed in the two weeks. He was taking them to tease Mike. Really.

When he knocked, Mike answered, smiling at him. "Hi, Harvey - what are you doing?"

"Happy house-warming," Harvey said sarcastically, passing him both Harvey-bear and Harvey the sea lion. Mike blushed as he held the two toys.

"Uh... thanks. You want to come in?" As much as Harvey wanted to - he wanted to be nosy and see what the kid was eating, how clean his flat was, if he was sleeping alright - he couldn't. He had a big meeting with a client that he didn't really want Mike involved in - it was a tricky case that the kid wasn't ready for.

"Nope, I just stopped by because these were cluttering my apartment," Harvey told him, a wry grin on his face.

"Oh, okay... Uh - you can come by later, if you want?" Mike asked, trying desperately to sound casual but knowing he just came off as needy.

Harvey smiled at him. "I'll come by tonight."

If Donna knew that Mike was still having trouble sleeping, she might have called a doctor. All Harvey did was read him a story.

It was now two days after Mike had left his apartment, and Harvey was growing concerned about the kid.

"Mike, have you got that file that I..." Harvey tailed off as he looked at his associate. He had dark circles underneath his eyes and his pale face told Harvey that he was either ill or not sleeping well. "You okay?" He asked. He would have tried to display nonchalance but it was late and no one else was there, and he was frankly sick of pretending not to care after spending the last 2 weeks looking after Mike.

Mike shrugged. "Few late nights. I guess it's a good thing you still enforce nap-time," he gave a small smile.

"I guess it is," Harvey replied. "Maybe you should go home now. I've got this."

Mike frowned. "I don't mind staying - one more late night isn't going to kill me."

"Well then I might," Harvey told him sternly. "Go home and sleep. I don't want an associate who wouldn't look out of place with the Adams Family."

Mike frowned again. "Can't I stay here? Please?"

Harvey tilted his head slightly. "Why?"

Mike shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, blushing slightly. "It sounds really stupid, but - "

"You need to call me again?" Harvey asked. For the past two nights he would get a call from Mike that went along the lines of, I can't sleep, read me a story.

"Uh... no, not really. Calling doesn't really do much. It's more of a uh... physical thing..."

Oh god, Harvey did not want to get into the bedwetting problems that sometimes occurred now. "Oh?" He said, focussing extremely hard on the file in front of him.

"Uh, yeah... See, I keep thinking - and this is going to sound weird, but for the last few nights I've been hearing... that is, I think there's..."

"Spit it out, Mike," Harvey said; now feeling confident that it wasn't about bedwetting.

"I keep thinking there are monsters under my bed," Mike said quickly, in a rush that Harvey could only just catch.

Harvey wasn't sure if he had adopted a smirk or a say whaaatt face, but he assumed it was a mixture of both, as Mike blushed more and turned away, folding his arms. "It's not funny," he grumbled. "I can't help it - and I can't sleep cause I swear to god my socks have been going missing, and I'm pretty sure my foot was nibbled last night."

Harvey was now laughing hard, but stood up and placed a hand on Mike's shoulder as the kid attempted to leave with at least some dignity. "You want me to come round tonight and wave a bat under your bed?"

"Don't mock me," Mike muttered.

"I'm serious," Harvey told him. "I'll come back with you and check, okay? But if I get eaten," he said over his shoulder as he walked back to his desk, "you can rest assured you'll get one hell of a law suit."

It was only a day after this occurred and Harvey was growing slightly more concerned.

As usual, Harvey had been keeping a relatively close eye on his associate over the past few days. Whenever Mike came in Harvey instinctively knew that something was wrong. Whether it was like the other day when he had admitted that he hadn't been getting any sleep because, "I swear, Harvey; you can laugh all you like - but there is something under my bed!" or yesterday, when he hadn't been drinking anything because, "Donna must have added something to that juice because I need to be weaned off it or something!"

Things that Harvey had been addressing - if only to stop his associate looking tired or pale. Like going round his place at 2 in the morning just to wave a bat under the bed to prove that there was nothing there, or having Mike open his desk drawer to find a mountain of juice cartons waiting.

Harvey could now officially say that he was very much in tune with Mike.

But when he saw his associate wander in - thankfully looking quite well rested (the occasional night-time call was needed if Mike's crappy wiring broke and the lights went out or if Mike couldn't sleep and Harvey really needed him sharp for court the next morning so what else could he do but read him a story?) - something was amiss.

Harvey wasn't sure what it was, but when it finally got to half 9 and the kid was ready to collapse - Harvey had been lax about nap time when Donna was away - he noticed.

Mike's hair.

It lay limp and lifeless on his head, and Harvey was sure washed hair never looked like that. He had a sudden flashback to a sullen toddler who pouted and moaned and whined when it came to bath time and smirked. Although these things leftover were serious and Harvey wasn't sure if they would ever go - they were also quite funny.

"It's late," Harvey said, closing files and placing some in his briefcase to take back. Mike seemed to agree and stretched as he stood up, rubbing at his eyes in a not-quite-toddler-but-not-quite-man type way.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Mike mumbled, picking up some folders of his own.

"Don't bother," Harvey said. "I'm not having you bike out when you're ready to pass out. I need those files," he nodded to the ones in Mike's hands. He could still flawlessly pull off the not caring thing, he thought, even as Mike raised an eyebrow.

When they got to Harvey's condo, Mike looked ready to camp out on the spare bed that was still in the office. Harvey grabbed hold of his shoulder before he went anywhere. "You should take a shower before you sleep," he said. "We probably won't have time in the morning."

Mike groaned but nodded, walking into the bathroom, turning just in time to catch the towel flung at him, followed by some old sleep pants and t-shirt. He muttered his thanks and Harvey heard the shower start. He shook his head, wondering how he got into this position but decided not to question it.

He had lied to Mike earlier - they would have plenty of time to get ready in the morning, but Harvey wanted to see if Mike genuinely still didn't like his hair being washed or if he had just been too rushed to do it the past few days. At least Harvey could attempt to do something about it if Mike didn't wash it tonight.

So Harvey wasn't surprised when Mike came out - his skin damp and with Harvey's old clothes on; but with dry, lank hair.

"Turn around," Harvey said, taking the towel back off Mike.

"Uh... What?" Mike asked, too tired to be any more fluent.

"Go back in the bathroom," Harvey told him, grabbing a new towel. Mike frowned but simply walked back in, rubbing at his eyes again. This time he managed to pull off the toddler look quite well. "Sit down with your back against the bath," Harvey told him, the look on his face daring him to argue. Mike slowly sat down, resting against the bath tiredly.

"Close your eyes," Harvey said softly, pulling the extendible shower head away from the bath and turning it on, letting it get warm before slowly rinsing Mike's hair.

The younger man immediately tensed. "What are you doing?" He asked in a nervous way.

"Stopping Donna from giving you to a thrift store," Harvey muttered, perching on the side of the bath as he gently pushed Mike's forehead so his head was more over the bath. He quickly got all of Mike's hair wet before picking up his shampoo and getting it on his hands.

"Harvey, you don't... I can - "

"No, Mike, you can't. You haven't washed your hair for days. Probably not even since you went back to normal. I get it," he said, seeing Mike close his eyes shut - whether it was from embarrassment or because he didn't want shampoo in his eyes, Harvey didn't know. "You still don't like people touching your hair, or even washing it yourself. But it has to get done, and if I'm the one who has to do it, then so be it."

He gently massaged Mike's scalp before deciding to rinse it out. "Close your eyes," he instructed and Mike hastily did so, going so far as to cover them with his hands. Harvey smirked at this familiar gesture and started washing the shampoo out. Mike started flinching and tensing, turning away slightly - something he probably wasn't even aware of.

"Okay," Harvey said softly - perhaps even too softly for Mike's ears. "I know... I know... Nearly done..." The old mantra started up again, and he finally did finish, grabbing the towel and quickly rubbing at his associate's head. "Now was that as bad as you thought?" He asked, helping Mike to stand. The kid swayed in a tired daze for a second before shaking his head.

"Thanks, Harvey," he mumbled, realising Harvey was guiding him towards the office/bedroom. "I mean it."

"I know, Mike," Harvey replied. "I know."

It was now three days since Mike had left Harvey's apartment, and although things were getting better, there were still some odd moments.

"Ahh! Ow, shit, shit, shit!" Mike screwed his eyes shut for a moment in pan and ignored the well of tears that were SO much easier to ignore now he was normal again. He yanked his hand away from the stapler on his desk and glared at it, putting all of his emotion into hoping it would set on fire as he glared.

It was late - about half past 11 at night, and everyone had gone home. Any janitors were gone - even Louis had just left. But Harvey had a big case, and Mike didn't feel comfortable leaving the office until Harvey said he could. So that was why he was sat in Harvey's office, quickly stapling some documents together for Harvey to read when he came back from the bathroom. He was sure he had found some loopholes in a contract, and in his haste and excitement had stapled his thumb and given himself a paper cut. On the same thumb.

Hence the yelled profanities.

He was just yanking the staple out of his thumb and sucking at the injury as anyone would; under the impression that it would somehow help - when Harvey walked in.

He raised an eyebrow. "And here I was thinking that you were out of the thumb-sucking stage," he quipped, holding out his hand. The stapled documents were placed there and he frowned. "I meant that I wanted to see your thumb, Mike - I heard you yell from down the hall. What did you do?"

Sheepishly, Mike took the file and showed Harvey his injury in a clumsy thumbs-up. "It's fine. I just stapled myself," he then scowled at the pin-pricks of blood and stuck it back in his mouth, hoping to stem the minute stream of blood.

Harvey chuckled. "Whatever, kid. Admit it - you still find it comforting."

Mike frowned at Harvey's laughter. In all honesty - and he would never tell Harvey this - he did still find it comforting. There was something soothing about the constant rhythm and warmth he gained from it. Not that he made a habit of doing it frequently. But having done it every night for the past 2 weeks, it was a hard habit to break when he was tired and falling asleep; barely in control of his own limbs. He had once sneakily started to suck it before he was at that stage of tiredness - lying in his bed, trying to sleep and finding that it did wonders for stress levels.

"It just hurts," Mike told him firmly. "And I'm trying not to bleed all over your case."

"I can find you a band-aid..." Harvey offered, his head cocked to one side.

"No, it's fine," Mike said hurriedly. He didn't want to say that sucking on it made him forget about the pain and stopped the tears that had come near to the surface, but he realised he had no actual reason for continuing to suck on it.

"Maybe you should lie down for a while," Harvey said in a soft voice, making Mike look up at him. He then realised that as he was deliberating what to do with his thumb, it was still in his mouth. And he found he didn't really have the strength to take it out.

"'M'not tired," Mike told him, talking around the thumb. It would be embarrassing if he wasn't being so soothed. He felt like he had when he was high...

"Sure, Mike," Harvey humoured him. "My mistake - kids suck their thumbs when they're wide awake, not tired. My bad."

Mike tried to glare at him; he wanted to say he wasn't a kid, he wasn't tired - he wasn't sucking his thumb! But he found that his eyes were drooping ever so slightly with lazy pleasure and he gave a clumsy smile up to Harvey to show that he wasn't being soothed by sucking his thumb but he totally was. Could he convey that all in a smile?

"Alright - bed time," Harvey said, guiding him to the couch, moving files out of the way. "You know if these things don't stop in about a week I'm taking you to a professional," Harvey told him. In the first few days when Mike was still staying with him after he turned back, he had still encountered tantrums; cuddles; a small, embarrassing-but-not-really bedtime story and Mike was having small aches and pains here and there. And now there was this.

Harvey was worried that he wasn't worried enough.

It was more like an adjustment period for him. He smirked when he saw Mike curled up on the couch, sucking his thumb and completely asleep. All that was missing was the teddy bear.

It was a good thing that Donna wasn't there, otherwise he knew that there would be some sort of remark about Harvey himself being a teddy bear, and he might have had to shoot himself if he ever heard a statement like that. Mike made a small noise and shuddered, causing Harvey to instinctively start running his hand through Mike's hair to soothe him. This made Mike nuzzle his face into the palm of Harvey's hand, causing a smile to grace the older man's lips.

Damn.

He was a teddy bear.

It was now officially a week after Mike had turned back, and he and Harvey had been working on a heavy case that had both of them angry. Their client was a wealthy businessman, who his wife was suing for allegedly harming their son. As soon as Harvey took on the case he wanted to hate the guy, but he soon believed the man when he said he loved their son - he would never lay a finger on him.

But pictures the prosecution had sent showed bruises all over the small child's stomach and back, and Harvey found that his hands were shaking as he looked at them. All he could imagine was the toddler he had looked after with a singular bruise. It hurt to even imagine that. But they had a lot of things going for them - the wife's reasoning behind suing rather than trying to gain custody; she simply wanted money, and Harvey knew he could get that out of her. They also had the boy's testimony to come, and Harvey was pretty sure the kid - whilst confused; would deny his dad hurting him.

They had gone to court, the case had gone well - it had turned on its back completely when Harvey finally got the mother into a corner with his words and she admitted that she had hurt the son and the kid was tearfully reunited with his father, whilst the mother was sentenced to quite a few years.

It wasn't until they had said goodbye to their client and were in the car that both lawyers let their feelings show. Mike slid down in his seat, rubbing at his eyes tiredly, breathing out slowly, whilst Harvey watched him, wondering what he would do if someone hurt Mike.

"Ray, just take us to my place, would you?" Harvey asked, ignoring Mike's questioning glance.

When they got there, Harvey slumped on the couch, running his hands down his face. Mike sat on the other side of the furniture, pulling his feet up to underneath him. "Are you okay?" Mike asked quietly.

Harvey blew out a sigh. "Fine," he said. "We got an abusive parent put away. The kid gets to live with his dad - everyone wins," he spat. If Mike was philosophical or read into deeper meanings, he might have been able to see what was causing the acidity in that statement.

"Yeah, everyone wins," Mike repeated, shuffling just a bit. "And that kid is now going to be happy with his dad for the rest of his life," he pointed out. Harvey looked over to him before nodding, turning back towards the windows he was staring out of.

Suddenly, Harvey felt what seemed like an octopus grip hold of him. He turned to find that Mike had shuffled down the couch and had planted himself on Harvey. "What are you doing?" Harvey asked, not being able to stop himself from moving his arm to wrap around Mike.

"Hugs lower stress levels," Mike informed him. "You're stressed. I'm stressed. So..." he clung on tighter, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt himself nuzzle into Harvey's neck. The older man rested his cheek on Mike's hair as he thought to himself.

"Are you okay?" He asked Mike softly. Mike nodded and tried to wrap himself around Harvey more than the lawyer thought possible. He then decided that he wasn't close enough, apparently, and moved more. Harvey was loathe to move him, but was also very much aware that Mike was practically sat on his lap. He kept his face hidden in Harvey's neck and seemed to almost purr and become boneless as soon as Harvey rubbed his back slightly.

Damn; in the past few days it seemed as though the kid was completely starved of affection.

"I've missed this," Mike murmured, the stress from the case clearly taking its toll as he started spouting his innermost emotions. "I've needed this," he whispered.

Harvey ruffled his hair slightly in the pause, before:

"Me too."

"Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up - could still be little. Oh, I don't wanna grow up wish I'd never grown up, things could still be simple..."

The End...?

A/N Yes, it's over :( And long. Nearly 12,000 words :O But never fear - CuppaChar is going to write a sort of spin-off in which she explores more of the side effects I've described for Mike. Thank you so much for reading and if you can review this last chapter even if you've never done before it would be appreciated so very much :)

Also... I wonder what that question mark was for? ;)