[RECS] : Suits, Mike Ross/Harvey Specter

[taliahale]

Suits is one of the rare shows I watch as it airs, mainly due to the long gaps between seasons.  It's my not-so-secret shame that I also watch Teen Wolf during initial airing.  *never claimed to have good taste*  I was fairly disappointed with the overall series arc  this summer, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had in this fandom.  These recs are heavy on the AU, and all feature our boys as the main pairing.

 

5U175 by Closer.  Explicit, 26,000+ words.  Mike is still not-really-a-lawyer.  Harvey’s still the best damn closer the city’s ever seen.  They’re both closet fic writers.  Charming and indulgent story looking at the secret fannish habits of lawyers.  Harvey stealth cosplays Tony Stark at SDCC.  The end feels a bit rushed, but it’s a pleasant read.  The writer’s added a quick second chapter detailing various ways Mike and Harvey could have (but didn’t) discovered each other’s secret identities.

"Is there anything you don't do?" Mike asked.

"I'm told I lack the stones to commit to a relationship, but seeing as the woman who said that then tried to stab me..." Harvey shrugged.

All But Memories by pageleaf.  Teen and Up, 24,000+ words.  Merlin Reincarnation.  Mike is Merlin.  Harvey is Arthur.  Everyone is everyone else.  They fall in love.  Then they remember.

There are days when Mike doesn’t recognize himself; where he wakes up disoriented by the sounds of the city (traffic means a different thing here than in Camelot); where he stares blankly at his appliances and his apartment and his clothes before they start to make sense; where the only things hat seem real are his memories, and the rest all feels like some sort of fever-dream. 

To All of Space and Time by luxover.  Teen and Up, 10,000+ words.  Doctor Who Crossover.  This story spins away from a canon where Jessica fires Mike and he meets a tall, dark stranger. 

What Mike learned from that—because there’s always something to be learned, when Harvey’s involved—is that there are two types of people in the world: those who get you off the hook, and those who put you on it.

He’s running for his life down a corridor with an empty fishbowl under his arm when he wonders which kind the Doctor is. 

all straight lines have to circle sometime by liketheroad.  Not Rated, 18,000+ words.  Time Traveler’s Wife AU.  They’re still lawyers.  Mike’s still a mess.  Harvey’s still a bit of a dick.  They make it work.

“We share a very chaste existence for the first few years of our relationship.”
Mike looks at Harvey, and then down at himself.  “Is it because I have weird knees?” he asks, with faux concern.

The Bushwick Avenue Stomp by agatestones.  Teen and Up, 47,000+ words.  This story is, first and foremost, about family.  The ones we’re born into, lose, gain, and create for ourselves.  Agatestones has a deft touch with pacing, and it shows in this sprawling stroll through more than a year following the events of season two.  One of my favorite facets of agatestones’s writing is how their stories read like canon.  Just better.  Rachel’s characterization, in particular, is a treat: she’s driven, complex, and sharp.  This story heavily features several original characters, any of whom we’d be lucky to have join the canon cast.  There’s not a lot I can say about the plot without giving a good deal away, but this is the gang growing and behaving how I’d hoped they would in season three.

"He said something?"

"You know him.  I asked him whether senior partners get their own sidekick, and he got evasive."  The pause was serious, sympathetic.  "I was trolling him, you know, work up an excuse for us to meet instead of all this sneaking around pretending you and I don't know each other.  And he said, I don't need a sidekick, like he's Batman and you're Jason Todd."

"Jason Todd is the one who got beaten to death."  Mike rubbed his tired eyes.  "So of course you'd make the logical assumption."

a day too early (still a couple dollars short) by thatotherperv.  Explicit, 11,000+ words.  This is sort of an all-roads-lead-to-canon story.  The immediate differece in their dynamic (considering that Harvey doesn't immediately recognize Mike's genius and their initial relationship is anything but platonic) is both amusing and believable.

"Wait, how did you?"

"I like to read."  Mike's face closed up, as shut off and defensive as he'd been the night they met.


It wouldn't help matters, but Harvey didn't bother to hide his incredulity  "You like to read finance reform passed before you could drink, and court decisions from the Ohio River Valley?

Disaster Stories by agatestones.  Explicit, 22,000+ words.  A series of disasters, both large and small, in the world of one Michael Ross.  Again, agatestones writes like canon, but better.  Brilliantly paced, gorgeous characterization, prose so pretty it makes me want to cry.

"That's rales."  [Mike] sat up abruptly.

"What do rails have to do with it?" Harvey asked, irritated.

"No, not the case," said Mike.  "You.  You walked past just now and I heard you breathing and you've got rales.  It's, it's this crackling noise in your lungs.  When you breathe.  It's a classic sign of pneumonia." With no better idea what to do, he jumped to his feet.  Harvey retreated to behind his desk.

"What the hell are you talking about."

"Your lungs.  Are infected.  Do you really not believe in doctors, because you definitely need to see one."

Grande Soy Triple Dirty Chai by friskaz.  Mature, 38,000+ words.  Barista AU.  Harvey's a lawyer.  Mike's the only person he trusts with his coffee order.  Here-in lies: nerdy flirting on takeout cups, Jenny with a pie hangover, inept courting, and the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.  Our cast includes both canon and OCwomen being awesome.  Mike is an excellent tutor.  Harvey is a toasted marshmallow.  Everything is wonderful.

"It's not like Beckett is actually good," Celia said.

"He doesn't have to be good  He just has to beat your team," Rachel said.

"You brought them," Harvey said quietly.  "It's going to be like this the whole game."

"I didn't know Rachel was a Red Sox fan," Mike said.

"Some people pick up bad habits at Harvard," Harvey said.

Here at the End of All Things by tattooedsiren.  Explicit, 10,000+ words.  Apocalypse AU.  We're never explicity told what transpired prior to the story, but we're presented with a stark, believable picture of post-apocalyptic New York.  Mike and Harvey take solace in each other.

The thing no one tells you about the end of the world is how boring it can be.

Homicide Love by copperbadge.  Explicit, 5,000+ words.  Serial Killer AU.  Please, please, please note the warnings on this one, guys.  This fic contains acts of serial murder, mentions of rape, cannibalism, and pretty graphic gore.  That said, Sam is one of the best writers in any fandom he joins.  It’s no surprise that Homicide Love is no exception.

"Don't get all soppy on me, kid," Harvey says against his neck.

"I once bit the thumb off a child molestor," Mike says.  He nibbles at the heel of Harvey's hand.

"Then I guess I don't need to worry," Harvey answers.

Pizza and a Movie by Closer.  Mature, 30,000+ words.  Mike's the Pizza Guy AU.  The first in a series of three, the sequels following the same events from the viewpoints of Donna and Harvey.  They're cute, but PaaM is the must-read.  Flirtation in the form of movie quotes, Mike working for Harvey as a freelance consultant, Louis mistaking Mike for a callboy, Jessica being better than everyone.

"Nolstalgia doesn't seem your speed, that's all."

"One moment we were players of baseball, voters, readers of books, makers of dinner, arguers.  And a second later, and for every second since then, we were all just shoppers."

Mike's head snapped up.  "Accidental Empires."

Harvey looked at him in surprise, then nodded.  "Forgot.  Freak brain."

"I prefer the term Unusually Gifted," Mike answered.