Got me going there for a minute thinking Robert was going to walk. Danny shows his true colors here. A coward who in the end only thinks of himself and only sees people as how he can use them for his own gain. People are objects to him. Pieces on a chess board to move around and play with. So especially when Pam shows up and confronts him he's left with nothing but his fear.

Really glad that Jim grilled him there. Must have been great for Jim to let out some of that tension. That Danny seems to have no idea how to even respond to Jim's interogation just proves how much of a weasle Danny really is.

Love that Oscar is the voice of reason here. Having to deal with an incompatant Sherrif like that must have been rough. Especially when said Sherrif throws Jim in too. Then to bring in the FBI? Yeah, Roberts going away for a long time.

Nice quick wrap up there with the trials to get it all done and out of the way. Then of course Jim makes the right decision. He's not running or hiding anymore. Love it love it love it.

Can't wait to see how it all wraps up.

Author's Response: Thank you so much! And haha no, I definitely wasn't going to let Robert walk...but yeah, Danny is pretty much a coward in this. I briefly considered dragging the trial out, but then I figured the Beesleys had gone through enough (also, not actually sure how I'd write a courtroom drama). Thanks so much for your review! :) 

Wow.

I have never been more satisfied in my life than to see how deer in headlights Danny was. I’m really interested to see how he tries to worm his way out of this one, especially when he realizes that Jim and Karen have it all on record. It must have been so satisfying for Pam to finally get the answers she wanted, to finally confront this man who’s ruined her family.

Although, I can imagine that it’s a little bit sad, too, letting go of something that she’d had for so long and fully understanding just how bad of a person she almost married.

Question; what did he mean when he said that he never let Robert get to Pam?

Anyways, well done. Well done.

Author's Response:

Ah, thank you so much! That Danny scene was actually deeply satisfying to write, so I'm so pleased you enjoyed it :) And yeah, I think still not easy for Pam even if there must be some satisfaction there. The next chapter hopefully answers your question a bit too...

Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to review!  

I don’t know how you do it. Another amazing chapter!
What a rollercoaster. From intimate talks between sisters, fluffiness with Jim, and the edge-of-your-seat plan, it was perfect. I was hoping it ended as it did.
Many jellybeans!

Author's Response: Ah, thanks so much! I was slightly struggling to balance the plan with some quieter moments, especially between the two sisters, so I'm so glad you liked it :) 

I continue to really enjoy your use of Pam's unique touch with Michael throughout this story. She'll be good as their cartoonist.

There were two absolutely terrific lines about their relationship here I really wanted to highlight: "...he tries to work out when anything has ever felt this right. He’s not sure it has, since he left her all those years ago. So maybe the problem was never moving to Austin. Maybe it was just moving away from her" and then “I think that when you’re in love with someone, you should be completely yourself.” Very Jam-my and gorgeously written. I also thought you effectively drew out something that gets short shrift in canon, which is that the models Pam has for relationships turn out not to be the best, and that leads her into some unhappiness.

The plan sequence was really well-written. Very tense. And I appreciate you giving Pam the chance to hit Danny where it hurts: in his paint job.

We really get a good look at the Danny underneath the performer here, and yikes. Not much there. You can see how much he's convinced himself he's doing the right thing under the circumstances - he's so effective at sales he's managed to sell himself. There's someone who's going to get what he deserves.

Author's Response: Thank you so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying the Michael and Pam, they are a lot of fun to write. And really pleased you enjoyed those lines! And yeah, I'm always so interested in how Helene and Bill's relationship might have influenced Pam's approach to Roy in canon. Hehe, Danny's paint job did have it coming. I'm sort of trying not to make Danny an entirely 2D villain here, but...yeah, I don't feel like his character does have much substance. Thanks so much for the review! 

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Thanks you so much for the quick update !!
And I really love that you write long chapters and that's just one of many things I like about your work.
I loved the cow talk. Never heard cow being used in a romantic exchange so that was a first.
Michael was so sweet with Pam. He was still Michael but yet in an Alternate Universe, several decades back he was still amongst the first to acknowledge and cheer her art. He is great.
Dwight and Angela are..well them..can't help it but just an amazing duo who makes me forget that office was not set in your era.
Final verdict - This was awesome :)

Reading each of these chapters is like drinking a fine wine - the more you read, the more you want. There is so much actual story going on here and yet you still manage to cram in so much JAM goodness. I am savouring every word.

Author's Response: Ahaha thank you so much - that's so kind! :) I'm so thrilled you're enjoying it (also, my aim for this story was to have slightly more JAM goodness and less JAM angst, so I'm glad that's worked). Thanks so much! 

"Actually, he looks like he barely remembers that they’re on a plane at all. So that's a plus." YOU SLAY ME.

THE APARTMENT SCENE. I don't know what to say.  You do good steam, my friend. And the cow-milk banter was perfect.

Lot of fun parallels with Jim's first visit to Pam's office

The Pam-Michael dialogue was lovely and felt very them - you captured Pam's in spite of herself patience and affection for him well. AND this might be the beginning of the Discovery of Pam, which would be a nice way to end things after a not-so-fun journey for her.

And I'm glad you worked in the little touch of how... lost Jim is at the end. He could use Pam in Austin...

Author's Response:

Ah, thank you so much!! And hehe, I'm glad you liked the cow-milk banter. I think I'd originally meant for that to be a serious moment about Pam sleeping with Jim before they were married at that time, but...cow-milk was where it ended up. 

I'm really glad you enjoyed the parallels between the two office visits too (although this time slightly less fraught/minus a Pam trying to hate Jim...)

And yes! to the Discovery of Pam. Which may or may not end up coinciding with Jim finding himself.  

Thanks so much for the review! :)  

The flashbacks of their time in the cabana worked nicely through this chapter. Great way to show that scene and some internal thoughts while still keeping the plot going.

Easy to see where Angela gets everything from. Clearly she's still upset with her father, but there's a ton of family resemblance going on.

Kinda firgured Danny wouldn't just sit around doing nothing while Jim and Pam go running off. Though the line about how they were wrong about thinking he couldn't get any worse seems ominous. However they also have Karen on their side so I'm sure that's going to help too.

Looking forward to getting to Austin and seeing what kind of plan they've come up with.

Author's Response:

Thanks so much! I'm really glad you thought the flashbacks worked - I did slightly debate just doing an entire chapter about their time on the beach, but I figured they needed a bit of movement on the plot... 

And nope, Danny is definitely not a sit around and do nothing guy. Or at least, not here. Next chapter on Austin is coming! Thanks so much for reviewing :) 

You know, I knew you were going to get another chapter up before I finally finished reviewing this one. Whoops.

Very cute scene here at the beginning, and I love the digging into the canon reality for Pam that she's a lot more capable of taking risks with Jim around, that he makes her feel her feel a little braver. That contrast between the comfortable place to land with Jim and the feeling of shame that always surrounded her with Danny is illustrated quite well.

Dwight helping Angela work through her stress with ranted complaints was very in character and amusing without taking away from the tension of the scene.

"She'd take a lot more than eight hours of this." The pillow banter literally reshaped my pupils into hearts.

Felt like you captured the vibe of small towners confronting the broader world of the 60s well. And hey, Pete and Clark and Erin! Didn't expect to see them here.

The confrontation with Angela's father was *very* well done, and I thought paid due respect to the complexities of the relationships involved. An interesting twist that Robert and Danny aren't *intentionally* murderers, just completely soulless about taking responsibility when one of their dastardly schemes goes wrong.

This beach scene! The canon parallels! You slay me.

Author's Response:

Ah, thank you so much! And lol, it was a very long chapter to struggle through to be fair. So I was trying to work out how you'd help Angela through stress in a way that didn't involve sleeping with Dwight...and ranted complaints felt like a close second.  

Haha, that is so great to hear on the pillow banter - thanks very much! I'm always a bit worried the slipping between nice Jam moments and Danny/Robert drama might result in this being tonally all over the place (but also, I sort of need the nice Jam moments). And I'm really glad you enjoyed the confrontation with Angela's father! I would say murder's not totally off the table for Robert given his threat to Angela's father...but yeah, he didn't intentionally murder *those* people. It's a step up. 

So let me just say that this chapter is a tour de force of tasteful sexual activity between 2 consenting adults interspersed with actual plot. But happily heavy on the sexual activity. And more than that (see what I did there) this is a totally believable way that 1960s Jim and Pam would have got it on with the sexytiemz.

More viscerally than that though, I actually cheered when I saw you were not pulling any punches on the Jim and Pam love scene, I love that they FINALLY did it and you have them together.

As ever, this story is a delight to read and review and it just keeps getting better and better. It took me a few chapters to get invested in the characters as the time era was different, but it didn’t take me long to become gripped with the plot and it’s one of my very favourite stories. I really do care about Robert and Danny (he is such an enabler) getting their comeuppance!

Finally, with you on “genitals” - not a sexy word.

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! Haha, I'm always a bit nervous about writing the sexytiemz as I'm definitely not a good smut writer - I think I've established that tasteful/vague and/or awkward are my go-tos - so I'm relieved you thought this worked! But yeah, I did think it was about time in this fic. There's only so many times they can be interrupted. 

And ah thank you, that's really lovely to hear! I'm sort of with you on not always being sure about different time eras - but I *think* I've basically got round it here by, um, not making it all that different from now (except they don't have mobile phones).  

And it's really not!

Thanks so much for the review :)  

One part of me is shrieking with delight, the second - writing down all the little references (Erin and season 9 boys' cameos were especially cute!) and unknown words, and the third is currently musing over the question of how much Mr. Martin could actually help.
Oh, there's also the fourth part. And this part is in need of a shower and cold drinks.
Please, please, please, say that the next chapter is halfway written, and you're going to publish it soon!
P.S. Also, this is my 500th review here! Happy that it went to your story :)

Author's Response:

Haha, thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed Erin and season 9 boys too, they were fun to include. More will be revealed on Mr Martin and his helpfulness or not... 

I've had a bit more time to write this week, so can confirm the next chapter will be up very soon :D  

(And that's amazing on the 500 reviews!)  

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Stellar chapter.

Even when Texans have trained themselves out of their accents, y'all slips out sometimes, most often when we're tired or hungover. Y'all is such a convenient word for a group.

The analogy of Angela and Penny's barn cat is so apropos. Barn cats can be affectionate at a time of their choosing but always keep a feral streak. Angela's utter control is only surrendered when absolutely necessary.

Nice usage of Clark and Pete. Pete's girlfriend with the feather in her hair immediately snapped an album cover image to mind. You didn't name her, but in my head she was Janis or Pearl.

Good onya

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it :) And ha yeah to be fair, y'all does seem like a pretty convenient word. Glad you liked the Angela/cat comparison too! I do feel like it's the animal she'd be (as well as the animal she loves). I did have a lot of fun including hippy Clari and Pete here, and that's amazing on Pete's girlfriend, lol.

Thanks very much for reading and taking the time to review!  

This chapter - so good.

My absolute favourite paragraph that stood out to me on both times I read through it this morning (once when I should have been working, it was that good) and stands the test of Pam and Jim in any era:

"She knows she’s always been more cautious than him. When they were kids, he was always the one pushing her to take risks, to take a chance, to come out of her shell. She wanted to do those things, when she was around him. She’d wanted to, in a way that she never had with Danny, because with Jim she’d always felt like she had a safe place to land. He’d never judge her if she failed or made a fool of herself. He’d help her get up again, if she fell. She’d always used to know that without question."

I think that sums up how much he cares about her and how much he respects her. It made me actually say "awwww" out loud. Such a lovely sentiment about the fact Pam recognises that in Jim. Lovely writing.

Author's Response: Ah, thank you so much! I'm so thrilled to hear you liked that paragraph: it is also one of the things that I really love about their relationship.