Disclaimer: I don't own Suits.

A/N: I know it's been years since I last updated this, but this story still holds a special place in my heart and after re-watching earlier seasons of Suits, I remembered how much I love the Harvey and Mike bromance. This chapter is the end result of a combination of receiving a lovely PM regarding this story and the fact that there likely won't be any Harvey and Mike interaction in the upcoming season. And I don't know about you all, but I need some good old Mike and Harvey bromance.

Chapter 12 -July 24, 2012

8:37 a.m.

Harvey looks up when he spots someone walking by his office out of the corner of his eye. Tall, blonde, and female. Not Mike. He looks at his phone for what feels like the thousandth time that morning. Nothing from Mike. Where the hell is that kid?

True it's only 8:37 and the firm does not officially open for business until nine, but nearly everyone is there well before that. Most are there before the sun even rises and some are still there from the night before after pulling an all-nighter, when Harvey strolls into the building the next morning.

But, not Mike. Not anymore. Mike has been back at Pearson Hardman for a little only a month, but he Is still working on a restricted schedule. He usually comes in around 8 and is shooed out the door by Harvey or Donna by two. Even though the young associate is officially up to a six-hour work day, which is also doctor approved, Harvey knows Mike has been sneaking in before eight over the last week. Hal in security notified Harvey after the first time Mike came in early. Since Mike is coming in early, that means so is Harvey that way he can keep an eye on the kid.

Thinking that Mike was going to come in early again today, Harvey did too. He's been in the office since 7:15. Before Donna and even Louis. But, Mike is still not there yet.

"Donna?" Harvey calls through his phone.

"I haven't heard anything, Harvey."

"No answer?"

Donna walks into Harvey's office. "He's not answering my texts or calls. I'm sure this is nothing. Mike being late is not exactly something new."

Harvey knows punctuality is not one of Mike's strong suits. In fact it was often a source of contention between the two of them in the past. But not now. Now it's something different, Now Mike being late may not be as simple or trivial as the fact that he over slept or forgot to set his alarm. Now it can easily mean something else. Something much more serious.

"Yeah, but that was before." Harvey says quietly.

"Harvey…" Donna starts but stops. Probably because she doesn't know what to say. That's normal now. People are often at a loss of what to say when it comes to talking about Mike's aneurysm and subsequent, long and painful recovery.

"He's been coming in before seven the last two days. And you and I both know he's probably doing work at home. He's probably just sleeping."

Harvey nods his head. "And him not answering?"

Donna smirks. "It's Mike. He probably misplaced his phone or charger."

"You're probably right," Harvey admits.

"Do you want me to go over to his place and check on him? I know you can't miss this meeting with Tusso. You already rescheduled it three times already." Donna offers.

"Nah. You don't have to go over there. I'll go over after I'm done with Tusso. That way I can strangle that kid myself after I see he's okay." Harvey doesn't mention that he wants to make sure Mike is okay with his own eyes.

Donna nods her head. "Sure thing. I'll rearrange your schedule to free you up a bit. In the meantime I'll keep texting Mike."

"Thanks, Donna." Harvey replies as Donna turns to return to her desk.

9:32 a.m.

As Joe Tusso rambles on about a noncompete clauses, Harvey looks at his phone. Still nothing from Mike. His fear that there's something wrong with the kid is seriously starting to outweigh his anger with the younger man.

He sends Donna a quick text: Anything?

Donna's reply is a quick and short No.

Damn it. He's going to kill this kid.

10:23 a.m.

Harvey is finally making headway with Tusso. His client is finally starting to comprehend that you can't force former employees to sign a noncompete agreement stating that they can't take up practice within a 5,000 miles radius. One problem solved.

But the second one isn't. He still hasn't heard anything from him. And now his "Mike sense" has been upped to critical levels. Maybe something really bad has happened to Mike. Suddenly all the literature he read about aneurysms and post subarachnoid hemorrhage complications play like a sports highlight reel in his mind. Maybe Mike had another bleed and is laying unresponsive in his bed. Maybe he is having one of his really bad headaches and is in too much pain to even call. Or maybe Mike had a seizure in the shower and passed out, hitting his head. The possibilities are endless…

Harvey is about to tell Donna to go over to Mike's apartment to check on him when he sees that she texted him.

Mike sent me a text. He's fine. He overslept. His phone died and he couldn't find his charger.

Thank fuck

He says he can be here within an hour.

Tell him to stay home for the day. He obviously could use the rest

Am I texting all that?

Just the first part

You're pissed

Harvey doesn't reply. But Donna follows up her last text with another one.

I'll clear the rest of the day so you can go over there

Thank you

12:43 p.m.

Harvey makes his presence known at Mike's door with loud, quick knocks. The relief that Harvey originally felt once Donna told him that Mike was fine has been replaced with something else. Of what exactly Harvey is not exactly sure. Anger? Fear? A mixture of both? The traffic jam he sat in on his way to Mike's apartment did not exactly help Harvey's mood either. If anything, it just gave more time for his anger and frustration to brew.

Almost as if he could sense his boss' mood, Mike opens the door after the second knock.

"Oh hi, H-Harvey." Mike says almost sheepishly.

"Oh hi, Harvey." Harvey mocks in a poor imitation of his associate's voice. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Mike looks at Harvey confused. "What? I overslept. My phone died. And I couldn't find my charger."

Harvey wants to stay mad at the kid. He really does, but he can't. Not with the kid looking at him all confused sporting one hell of a case of bedhead.

Harvey looks around the deserted hallway. He doesn't want to get into it with Mike where his neighbors can hear. "Can you let me in?"

"W-why so you can kill me in the p-privacy of m-my own home? No t-thank you. At l-least with you out in the h-hallway there might b-be an eyewitness."

Harvey rolls his eyes. "Are you done, smart ass?"

"It depends. Are you done yelling at m-me?"

Harvey throws up his hands. "I'm not yelling at you!"

Now it's Mike's turn to rolls his eyes. "You're not? You could have fooled me."

Harvey leans in closer to his associate. "I'm sorry for yelling. When you didn't come in and wouldn't answer, I got…rattled."

Mike looks Harvey up and down before he takes a step back to let his boss in. Once inside, the younger man turns to Harvey. "I-I'm sorry I w-worried you."

"You should be. Damn it, Mike. I thought something really bad happened when not only you didn't show up this morning, but you didn't pick up your phone. I could get you ignoring my texts and calls, but when you didn't answer Donna's, I just…"

"Sorry, H-Harvey." Mike says as he starts to fidget with his hands nervously. "I crashed last night and didn't wake up until late this morning. I didn't realize how low my battery was. I'm sorry I woke up late and missed the Tusso meeting. I know it was important."

Harvey looks at his associate and takes in the dark bags under his eyes. He thinks about Mike's stuttered speech. The way the kid is fidgeting with his hands. Probably trying to hide that they're shaking. All these signs point to one thing. The kid is exhausted. He definitely needed the rest. Out of habit, his eyes drift from Mike's face to the side of the head where the surgical scar is.

Feeling self-conscious, Mike looks down at his feet.

"Mike," Harvey says talking a step closer to his associate. "I'm not mad that you overslept or that you missed the Tusso meeting. The guy's a dick. I wished I could have missed the meeting myself."

Mike looks back up. "You're not m-mad?"

Harvey squeezes Mike's shoulder. "No, I was worried. I thought something bad happened." He doesn't tell Mike all the scenarios that he thought of while Mike was MIA this morning. The kid doesn't need to know that.

"I also know that you've been coming into the office earlier than our agreed upon time of 8 o'clock."

"You k-know?"

"Of course, I know. Why do you think I all of a sudden started coming in early as well? You know I usually don't go in until after 9. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Mike rubs his forehead. Harvey frowns as he wonders if it's one of his nervous ticks or if he has the beginnings of a headache.

"It's been almost seven months since the aneurysm."

Harvey can see where Mike is going with this. "And you've only been back to work for seven weeks. What you went through… The recovery it takes time, Mike."

Mike sits down on his couch. "I know that. I know that I'm lucky to be talking and walking like I am. That I'm lucky to be alive. But, I don't know. I…I want…"

Harvey pushes some books off to the side to make room on the coffee table. He sits down across from Mike. "What else do you want Mike?"

The associate doesn't answer right away. But when he does he almost whispers, "To be me."

Harvey feels a fluttering in his chest when he hears his associate's broken response and sees him looking down at his hands in his lap.

"Maybe we need to have Dr. Clarke re-examine you. I thought it was your speech center and fine motor skills that were affected by the aneurysm."

"You don't get it-t!" Mike exclaims as he leans back against the back of his couch.

Harvey doesn't say anything. Mike is clearly upset. His arm is resting across his eyes failing to hide the tears that are sneaking down his cheeks. Seeing the look of frustration on Mike's face, Harvey can't help but think back to the beginning of when this all started. Back when Mike first woke up. Back when Mike would easily get so upset when he struggled to feed himself and walk to the bathroom. Can't Mike see how far he came?

He takes a few minutes to think of what he's going to say before he does. "You're right, kid. I don't. I don't have a clue what you're going through or what you've been through. But, you're one hell of a fighter. I'm not going to let you regress because you seem to think that you have something to prove."

"I-I." Mike starts but stops.

Harvey takes this as his chance to speak and to lay it all out there. "I want you healthy Mike and right now you're not. This morning proved that. You're clearly exhausted. You're starting to work yourself into the ground and you can't do that. I know you want to be where you were before…back when you used to work 20 hours a day and your diet was 95% coffee and Red Bull. That's not in the cards for you anymore, Mike. I know it sucks but that's the way things are right now."

He knows that his words are not what Mike wants to hear, but they are what Mike needs to hear. Harvey squeezes Mike's knee. Harvey's words might not bring Mike much comfort, but he hopes his gesture does.

"Mike?" Harvey asks. "You okay?"

It takes a good minute, but Mike lowers his arm from his eyes. "I'm o-okay."

Harvey smiles. "Good. Now I want you to relax for the rest of today. And I also want you to stay home tomorrow too."

"N-no, Harvey!"

Harvey holds up his hand. "It's not up for debate, so don't even try it. Now do you need groceries? And don't even lie to me. I'll check your fridge and cabinets myself."

Mike looks down again.

"I take that as a no. I'll have Donna order you some groceries to be delivered later. Text her to tell her what you want."

"I'm n-not going to make her do that."

"You better tell her what you want or she's going to order whatever she wants. She'll probably bring Rachel in on it and you'll be eating seaweed and other questionable greens."

"F-fine," Mike huffs.

"Good. Now I'll let you get some rest. I'll be back later. Maybe if you're good and actually rest, I'll bring a little work for you to work on from home tomorrow."

That way Harvey will be able to control what and how much Mike is actually doing. Mike nods his head in agreement. "Okay."

"And I'll bring us some dinner. I heard from Harold that you've living off Doritos and Sour Patch Kids the last two days. I need to get something somewhat healthy in you."

"O-okay," Mike replies sleepily as he lays down on his couch. "T-thanks, Harvey."

"No problem kid, any special requests? Thai? Chinese? Pizza? I'll even get the one with the cheese in the crust."

Mike doesn't answer. His head is already turned into the pillow.

"Mike?"

He doesn't say anything but lets out a grunt. Satisfied that Mike is getting the sleep that he needs, Harvey stands up. He spots the blanket that is scrunched up at the end of the couch and covers Mike with it.

"I'll be back later, Mike. Get some sleep."

Harvey gives Mike one last look before he turns to leave the department.