It didn't escape Mike's notice; none of it did after a while. At first, he was content just laying with him, tracing gentle shapes and circles into the back of Harvey's hand as he continued to recite his chosen book. Gradually though, Harvey's breathing seemed to quicken, his heart rate climbing with unhealthy speed. He didn't need to ask how he was feeling to know what had happened; Harvey's skin slowly but surely went from warm to burning under his touch.

That didn't make it any easier.

When he tried to sit up, Harvey's free hand cupped the back of Mike's neck gently, keeping him from doing so.

"Don't stop." That voice belonged to his boss, but it was barely strung together by the familiar tone. Harvey was trying to keep himself conscious, coherent enough to hopefully keep Mike from worrying. But he hadn't hired Mike for his looks; he was intelligent enough to know something wasn't wrong. Harvey just didn't want it to be real. Hesitantly, Mike settled back down, drawing Harvey's hand to him as he continued, voice becoming more and more strained as he spoke.

"He was a long time going to sleep. After a while he turned and looked at the man. His face in the small light streaked with black from the rain like some old world thespian. Can I ask you something? He said…Yes. Of course. Are we going to die? Sometime. Not now."

"Mike…"

"And we're still going south. Yes. So we'll be warm-"

"Mike…" Harvey repeated his name softly, this time allowing him to sit up. Only he didn't; whereas at first he'd needed to clarify if his fears, now he wanted anything but – it was as if seeing Harvey infected meant it was set in stone, and ignoring the fact would allow it to be rewritten.

"And then later in the darkness: Can I ask you something? Yes. Of course you can. What would you do if I died?..If you died I would want to die too - So you could be with me? Yes. So I could be with you…Okay."

"…I'm sorry. Should have been more careful"

"Shut up. I'm serious, just…just, don't say anything." His voice was thick with emotion, and the tell tale tremble seconds later told his partner that his ability to hold it all back was rapidly disappearing. It was getting hard for him to focus, the patterned ceiling swimming in distorted shapes in front of his eyes. They only flickered closed for a few seconds, the feeling of cool hands on either side of his face and the sensation of lips urging his own apart fooling him into thinking this was any other situation – that that simple sign of love didn't have drastically different consequences now. But by the time he'd clicked what Mike was doing, it was too late. Regardless he still pushed him away, shifting himself up as his hand came to his mouth as though he could erase the last thirty seconds. Mike turned away, not even trying to hold his sobs back anymore. Elbows resting on his knees, his face was buried in his hands, and for that moment he looked like a wounded child – not a man who had just willingly infected himself.

His head was spinning and he could taste blood, sweat seemingly oozing from every pore as though he were sat in a sauna. Everything ached; breathing now that he was sat upright had gone from uncomfortable to painful, but he ignored it as best he could in order to reach out to Mike. By now his voice had lost most of it usual authority; he'd blame the sickness, when it fact it was nothing more than a heavy wave of emotion crashing through him. Seeing Mike like this, knowing he was going to die and now knowing that Mike wouldn't be far behind.

"What did you do…Mike, why would you do that…" Forcing a few deep breaths through him, Mike didn't bother to wipe his face as he turned a distressed, accusing set of eyes on the man at the headboard.

"That's all you're going ask? Now? Jesus Christ Harvey, you know why"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking"

"Then think – we've still got an hour or two…might as well-" Harvey grabbed at his hand like the homeless at a dollar bill, his grip tenuous at best, but still enough to draw Mike back to him without another word. Despite slight protestations of discomfort, Harvey welcomed the younger man to him, it taking everything he had not to let himself slip any more, if only for Mike's sake. Voice muffled by Harvey's collar and infused with a kind of raw sorrow very rarely seen up close, when Mike finally spoke up Harvey did his best to listen through the sound of his heart thudding in his ears.

"…All or nothing, right..? You go, I go…"

"That was my career –t his…this is your life, Mike…what were you thinking…" Pulling away just enough to press forehead to forehead, Mike finally opened his eyes and looked into Harvey's. The whites of his eyes were completely discoloured now, handsome brown now dulled down to muddy, glassy pools. A hand settled on the back of his neck, fingers pushing across the scalp and through strands of dirty-blonde hair.

"What were you thinking"

"There was a gun in the room, and…I took my option"

"You're meant to make the choice that means you come out on top…I thought I taught you that pretty well…"

"No point in being on top if you're not there with me." That forced a small, sad smile across both faces, though a tear of blood escaping down Harvey's cheek shook Mike out of the tiny daydream they'd just started to build. Maybe if they made jokes and talked like always…maybe he'd open his eyes and they'd be in Pearson Hardman again. Maybe Donna would walk in with a witty comeback to Harvey telling her to knock, or Jessica letting herself in to berate him for disobeying her. For any one of these scenarios, Mike would give anything at that moment. Maybe as Harvey lay back against the pillows as Mike got up to turn the lock on the door, and they spent the next three hours alternating between soft speech and fitful sleep, this entire circumstance would turn out be a horrific dream. As their grips on one another gradually weakened and they stopped trying to stem the steady rivers of blood from their noses and eyes, eventually, both men were still.

But you always wake up. And the first thing Mike registered as yellowed, glazed eyes fluttered back into animation was just how loud silence really can be.