Chapter Text
“I heard about what went on in court today.”
Harvey Specter looked up from his desk to see Jessica Pearson standing in the doorway.
“So you heard about how awesome I was?”
Jessica raised her eyebrows. “I heard there was nearly a brawl.”
Harvey shrugged. “There was a lot of money involved. Emotions generally run high.”
Jessica walked into the room and sat in one of the chairs facing his desk. “Plaintiffs’ emotions generally run high. You were nearly assaulted by one of the other lawyers, and, if my information is correct, a court bailiff.”
“Robinson is an ass. And that bailiff--”
“Harvey…” Jessica sighed. “This can’t go on. You have to do something.”
Harvey tensed. “I am not going back on the suppressants. You saw what they did to me. I won’t live like that—“
“Nobody is asking you to go back on the suppressants. Believe me; I lived through those months too.” Jessica paused, looking at the tension in her newest senior partner’s eyes. “I was thinking of something a bit more… low-fi.”
“Low-Fi?”
Jessica produced a piece of paper from the portfolio she was carrying and dropped it on to his desk. Harvey picked up and glanced at it.
“The Omega Institute? Oh, hell, no.”
“Harvey—“
“You want me to…” The word seemed to stick in his throat. “Bond with someone? A total stranger? That’s your idea of a solution to this?”
“Do you have any other ideas?” Jessica looked exasperated.
“I can find my own sex partners, thank you.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Yes, you can pick up cocktail waitresses and flight attendants with the best of them. But they don’t seem to be helping your problem, do they?”
He was unable to contradict her.
“Harvey, this is unacceptable. You’re leaking pheromones all over the place. Clients have remarked on it when they come to this floor. Ray has to air out the car before he takes someone else out. Now you are causing brawls in open court. You need to do something.”
Harvey sighed, and picked up the paper.
“It’s more than that, and you know it,” Jessica went on. “You’re pulling away from everyone. Burying yourself in work - your billables are approaching Louis’s, did you know that? We are worried about you.”
“We?”
“Donna and I.”
Harvey looked at his secretary/traitor through the glass of his office walls. She turned to him and shrugged apologetically.
He hit the intercom button on his desk. “Stop listening.”
Donna turned back to her work, whatever it was.
Jessica stood. “You are on leave until you get yourself sorted out. I’ve had Donna arrange for some interviews for you this Thursday.”
Harvey wanted to protest, but he knew it was pointless. That scene in court today had rattled him as well. He might as well give in to this ridiculous process. Maybe once none of OI’s finest was up the task, they could talk about other options, though he had no idea what those options were.
“Fine.”
Jessica’s eyes softened. “This could be a good thing, Harvey.”
“Yeah, right.”
***
Mike had just finished describing his near escape at the testing center to Trevor.
“I need to get my shit together. You know, do something—“
He was interrupted when his phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced at the number, hoping that it would not be something about Gram.
He rolled his eyes when he saw the number. “Great,” he muttered, “Just what I need today.”
His thumb hovered over the ignore button, but he shook his head. If he kept ducking their calls, they would just send someone to find him.
“Mike Ross,” he said, putting the phone to his ear.
“Hi, Mr. Ross!” An entirely too-cheerful voice chirped in his ear. “This is Sandy from The Omega Institute calling. We have an interview we would like you to attend on Thursday—“
“That’s not good for me.” Mike cut her off abruptly.
There was a pause, and a sigh. “Mr. Ross, you have failed to make your last 3 interviews. I am afraid that if you do not make this one, you will need to come in and discuss terminating your benefits.
“What does that mean?”
“You would need to start making alternate arrangements for your grandmother’s care.”
The bottom dropped out of Mike’s stomach. “What?”
“I am showing that when you registered with the Institute, we were happy to arrange for your grandmother to be placed in an affiliated care home for a discounted rate. If you do not attend this interview, your standing with the Institute will no longer be current, so that benefit will no longer apply to you.”
Mike couldn’t speak. The silence stretched out.
“Mr. Ross? If you want to keep her in the same home, I am sure they could help you with a payment arrangement… Mr. Ross?”
“Fine.” Mike spit out. “I’ll go to your…interview.” He held back the profanity. Barely.
“Great!” Sandy actually sounded relieved. “I am sure we can make the arrangements convenient for you. Would the morning or afternoon be better?”
“Afternoon.”
“Would two o’clock work for you? If not, we could push it back to four, or four thirty?”
Mike pressed the heel of his hand into his forehead, and squeezed his eyes shut. “Two’s fine.”
“Great. I’ll put you in for two o’clock. You will be meeting with a Harvey Specter in Suite 2005 at the Chilton Hotel. Do you need directions?”
“I know where the Chilton is.”
“Okay, great! I’ll text you a reminder the day before. Have a great day.”
Mike flung the phone into the couch, nearly missing Trevor.
“Whoa, dude. Couch abuse…or phone abuse…or both. Heh.” Trevor was even more stoned than usual. “What’s up, man?”
“Fucking Omega Institute.”
“Man, I always forget you are one of those freaks.”
Mike rolled his eyes at him. Mike had worked very hard to suppress his Omega tendencies. To the rest of the world, he looked normal, but generally Alphas could tell. Sometimes, he’d be in a bar or a coffee shop minding his own business and feel someone’s eyes on him. Mike would find someone watching him with those all too familiar glazed eyes. Or sometimes he’d be minding his own business and catch the scent of something absolutely delicious, and start looking around before he realized what it was. Both situations called for a hasty retreat. And Friday he had to walk into the lion’s den. Walk into a room with an Alpha looking to bond. How was he going to get out of this one?
The door opened and Jenny walked in.
“What are you doing here?” Trevor asked. “You said you were going to stay at your place tonight.”
“Hi Sweetie. What a pleasant surprise. I am so glad you stopped by.” Jenny mocked.
“Sorry,” Trevor said. “It's just that Mike’s kind of in the middle of a crisis.”
“Crisis?” Jenny swung her gaze toward him. He was always the second person she noticed in the room. Normally that would be cause for a bitter pang in his chest, but he was too distracted tonight. “Mike, what’s wrong?” Her voice was so full of genuine concern; it was hard to fault her for it.
“The Omega Institute wants me to go to an interview on Thursday.”
“What does that mean?” Jenny asked. Jenny, like Trevor, was a Beta.
“They set him up with an Alpha.” Trevor answered her. “Who wants to jumps his bones. Bom chicka wah wah.”
“Jesus,” Mike uttered. “It’s just an meeting.”
“I don’t know,” Jenny said, “Bonding always sounds so romantic to me.”
Mike scoffed. “It’s not romantic. That’s just PR. It’s more like some kind of legalized slavery. You get bonded to an Alpha, and you have to do whatever they say for the rest of your life. Bullshit” He slammed the glass down on the table. “Shit.”
Jenny was immediately apologetic. “I’m sorry, Mike. I didn’t mean it that way—“
“It’s okay. I just have to figure out a way to bail.”
“Don’t show up.” Trevor said. “What are they going to do?”
“Kick my grandmother out of her home.” Mike said bitterly.
“What?!” Jenny was outraged on his behalf.
“I only got her into this place because they got me a deal. I don’t show up, deal’s off and I have to start paying the full amount each month.”
“Oh god, Mike, that’s awful. We’ll figure something out.”
Mike just wished he could believe her.