Authors Note: This story takes place after the events of 'War'.

Disclaimer:I have borrowed/paraphrased a couple of quotes from the season 2 finale. They do not belong to me, neither does anything else.

Chapter 1

"Is this about you?"

The word 'no' gets caught in her throat. She tries to force it out, knows it is all she needs to say for them to breeze past his question without letting it hang between them. But there's a truth to his words and the instinct to lie dies on her tongue.

The look he's giving her is one of pity and she wants to slap him because how dare he have the audacity to feel bad for her.

"Is this about you?" he repeats more forcefully. The phrase is redundant and she does not dignify it with an answer. Donna had been so secure and so sure of where this conversation was headed, had been thinking only of him, of his feelings. She suspected now that maybe that was the problem.

"This isn't about me, we're talking about Scottie." She hates herself for sounding so unconvincing. She'd held his gaze unwaveringly only moments ago and now her eyes are searching aimlessly for anything but his.

"Donna –"

"I know you think she made you into the kind of man that you never wanted to be, but she didn't love her fiancé, she loves you!"

And it kills her to say this, because she feels so transparent under Harvey's scrutinizing gaze and the soft tone he uses when he utters her name. But she won't falter because she barged into his office for a reason. Donna has always been sceptical of Scottie and wary of her motives. Now she can't help but feel a strong empathy for the woman trying so hard to break through to Harvey, to simply make him see her.

"And what about you?" he asks her abruptly. It throws her off and suddenly she's lost her voice for the second time.

"What are you really asking?" she finally says.

"Do you love me?"

She is beyond tired of hearing that question. And again, her answer is a reflexive "no", born out of years of denial and expert deflection. Donna doesn't let him linger on her answer either, "I care about you, Harvey."

She foolishly hopes that this will be the end of their discussion, that Harvey won't look to find the deeper meaning in her words.

"Just trust what Scottie gave to Mike," she gently pleads.

Harvey doesn't say anything for a while, but she can see his mind churning, mulling everything over. "Give him the file."

"What do you think I did four hours ago?" Her voice is light but the smile she attempts doesn't quite reach her eyes. Donna shifts awkwardly, preparing to leave his office.

"I know you say you don't, but you once said you might." When he says it, he is facing the window with his back strategically to her. She wishes she could see the expression paired with the crack in his voice.

She wants to say something, but a large part of her, the more logical part of her, knows that if she does, she might not have the courage to come back the next morning or the one after.

(Monday Morning, Post War)

Donna had been expecting changes, she was no fool, but Pearson Hardman felt like an entirely different world. Pearson Darby, she mentally corrects.

The name change is merely one of many things that she finds herself getting used to on the first day back at the firm post-merger. She is confronted with an array of fresh, new faces and a slew of new titles and names.

She has them memorised by 10am.

Then there are old faces too. Donna almost balks when she sees Scottie saunter down the hall into her very own office.

He asked to have her stay.

Donna's heart almost breaks when Mike shuffles to her cubicle like a puppy with his tail between his legs. He sets a coffee on her desk, gives her a shaky smile and boy does she want to stay mad, offer scathing remarks and flip her hair like she couldn't care less about him. But his face is so earnest and apologetic that she actually doesn't know what to say.

In the end, any words are unnecessary because Harvey arrives, snatches the coffee from her desk, hurls it into the trash and scornfully tells Mike, "You aren't needed here. Stay away from my assistant."

He goes straight into his office and pointedly ignores her hard glare and Mike's sad eyes.

Donna does something unusual for her and reaches out to Mike, giving his trembling hand a soft, reassuring squeeze. His grim expression almost morphs into a look of gratitude. She supposes that's really all she can do for him.

He trudges back in the direction he came and Donna can't quell the deep throb of sympathy that loiters in her chest.

She follows Harvey into his office where he stops abruptly and swivels around to face her. Their noses are inches apart and for a moment it halts their breathing and startles them both. Predictably, he steps away first, his eyes narrowed and lips set into a thin line. "I suppose you're here to lecture me."

She huffs because sometimes he knows her as well as she knows him.

"You didn't have to be so cruel."

"Is that all you came in here to tell me?" he snaps.

"I don't need to say anything else."

"Are you sure you don't want interfere in my personal life again?"

The phrase cuts deep and she wonders if he says it intentionally to hurt her.

"I noticed Scottie isn't in London." It's the wrong thing to say but she says it anyway.

"Wow, five minutes and you're already doing it again."

"I recover fast."

She thinks she almost sees him smirk but it turns into a frown. "When it comes to Scottie, I'd prefer it if you keep your opinions to yourself from now on," he bitingly retorts.

"That's like asking me not to breathe," she says, but the joke falls flat because her heart really isn't in it.

Donna doesn't know the full story behind Mike's firing and she suspects that Harvey isn't going to tell her, at least not today. She avoids his office for the remainder of the day, delivering memos to his desk only when he is conveniently absent. He doesn't ask her for anything and she pretends not to notice when the light on the intercom button flickers off. She knows why he's livid, because dammit if she doesn't know that infuriating man better than anyone else. He may have shaken Darby's hand and accepted the merger graciously, but losing was never something that Harvey equated with himself. And he can throw vicious comments at her and he can alienate Mike, but deep down she understands that Harvey is more pissed off at himself than anybody else.

While the blame for Mike and Harvey's rift can't possibly rest squarely on Mike's shoulders, Donna can sure as hell hold him responsible for Rachel's hysterical sobs as she cries on her shoulder in the bathroom.

They meet in there by chance and Donna notices immediately that something is off. Rachel tries her best at a faux smile but Donna's practiced them enough to recognise one when she sees it. The moment her lip quivers, Rachel lets out a strangled sob.

"Rach, what happened?"

"Why didn't he tell me?" The question comes out a mangled mess but Donna deciphers enough to know exactly what she's referring to.

"When did he tell you?"

"Right after he was fired." Her face lights up in realisation, "Wait, you knew?" she says, her voice laced with hurt. Donna simply nods.

"How long?"

Donna winces, "His first day."

The tears flow faster and Rachel has to take a deep breath to compose herself.

"You could have told me," she eventually says.

"I care about you Rach, but it wasn't my secret to tell." This doesn't comfort her though.

"If it helps, he's pretty much wanted to tell you since the first time you kissed," she adds.

"We had sex," Rachel blurts.

Donna runs a reassuring hand down her arm, "I figured," she confesses.

After calming Rachel down, Donna returns to her desk, surprised when she finds Scottie leaning casually against it. She's relieved that the woman isn't actually in her cubicle because for one, Louis was have a field day, plus then she'd have to work twice as hard to feng-shui any evil out.

"Scottie, what can I do for you?" she says with an over-politeness.

Scottie picks up on it, offers her a false, cat-like grin. "Just dropping by to say hi."

"You've dropped, bye-bye then." Donna isn't quite sure why they've suddenly reverted back to their earlier treatment of one another, but right now she's having a bad enough day that her presence is quickly grating on her.

Scottie sobers then, and a look of apology briefly graces her features. "Actually can we talk for a moment, my office?"

The request is unexpected, but Donna complies, noting that Scottie had fittingly waited until Harvey had stepped out to meet a client.

They both take a seat in her office opposite one another, the situation oddly formal, as if it were some sort of business deal.

"I assume you're here for good then."

"It seems that way." Donna supposes that her answer was intended to be flippant but it comes out rather pensive. They're both aware that Scottie asked her in here to talk about Harvey, but Donna honestly can't bear anymore overwrought conversations today.

Ultimately she simply says, "Don't hurt him, okay," because she truly can't help herself.

Scottie seems oddly surprised by her words until she says, "You too."

And Donna doesn't know what to make of that.