Dwight arrived very early in the morning, ready a with folder of printable pamphlets and educational materials to share with Michael. He was well armed and prepared for anything. Knowledge, was, of course, the best weapon. Hence the research. Guns were the second best weapon, followed by nunchucks, but due to the company's anti-firearm policy he was more or less limited to melee weapons. This was a very serious mission, with the well being of a respected co-worker. More than Respected. While he certainly wouldn't call them friends, he liked her. And she’s friendly with Angela. If not for her inexplicable friendship with Jim Halpert, he would have considered her friendly enough to share his and Angela's relationship with. If Angela hadn't sworn him to secrecy. But that was neither here nor there.

While he waited for Michael to arrive, he did as much work as he could, preparing spreadsheets, sending emails, and setting aside points in the day to call specific clients, planning to spend the majority of the day on office security.

Dwight, aside in the conference room in front of the window, showing only the dark of very early morning: "If one person in this office is under threat, the entire office itself is under threat. As Assistant Regional Manager it is my job to protect this office from harm. That is why I do not leave this office unprotected. I have bear mace hidden in four locations no intruder would think to look. I have throwing stars in my wallet. I never leave the house without the deadliest weapon of all. My mind."

Angela, aside, in the conference room: “I don’t know why you’re asking me. Why would I know what Dwight is up to? I barely know Dwight. We are nothing more than work colleagues and I find it highly inconsiderate of you to drag me away from my work so early in the morning to talk to me about a man I hardly even know.” Angela stormed off, the camera focusing on her as she paused briefly at Dwight’s desk to stealthily drop off a piece of paper.

Michael, aside, in his office, the brightness of the mid-morning sun shining through the window behind him, "What? How did you know about that?” He looked at the camera suspiciously, “The boss, the head of the office is just like a dad, the head of a family. And just like a did It is my job to take care of each of my children. And sometimes that means getting involved in their personal lives. A good father stays involved in his kids personal lives. He doesn't just leave and then your mom marries some guy who doesn't even take you to the zoo once!" Michael's voice cracked. "I want to be a good boss."

Dwight waited patiently for Michael to come in, hoping that he would make it in well before the receptionist, unfortunately the morning dragged before Michael came in around 9:15. It was imperative that they talk and Dwight deposit his research to the safety of Michael's office before Jim goes riffling around in his stuff like he always does. He must make it clear that Jim must not be involved in the subject, he is clearly too close to the situation, or worse, an enabler.

His eyes scanned the office. Angela, Phyllis, and Pam were already here. Angela, his own girlfriend, was not in danger. Schrute men were historically raised to maintain dominance over their wives and lessers, but as the men who clung to old ways began to slowly die off due mainly to asphyxiation, strong women had raised the later generations of Schrute men to be respectful leaders, cognizant both of a woman's duties as well as her needs. Women were, in general, weaker than men, but that only meant that they deserved extra care, not forceful domination. Some of the old ways were better dead.

Dwight focused back on his list. Angela was safe. Phyllis was seeing Bob Vance, owner of Vance Refrigeration, but he knew little of their relationship. He'd have to do some reconnaissance. As for Pam, he looked at her in pity, he had his suspicions. He wanted to look out for her, she deserved that much, poor thing. That only left two: Kelly and Meredith, neither he knew much about as far as personal life was concerned. Kelly was attractive at least, so she probably had a boyfriend or something. Meredith was not. She was divorced and had flashed Michael at Christmas. There was no way she was in a relationship, so domestic abuse was a non-issue. She could be dismissed entirely.

When Michael opened his door for the first time that day at 10:27 precisely, and called him into his office, Dwight brought his folder of research as well as a small stand and visual aids for his presentation.

"Dwight, I know you thought this was necessary yesterday, but I thought about it and we're fine. We're all just one big happy family here, right? Let's call off the whole thing, okay."

"But I have a presentation." Dwight wined.

"We don't need to, we don't, just… go."

"C'mon, Michael. At least let me give my presentation."

"No…" Michael was giving in, Dwight could tell. He had almost worn him down and reached the moment where he would convince Michael to act as a leader in this crusade for the safety of women in this office.

"Please Michael?"

"I… "

"Michael please? I made charts." Visual aids were Michael’s weakness. Also, Dwight was incredibly proud of them.

"I… uh… okay, fine. You can do your presentation, but make it quick."

Dwight quickly set up his tripod and cards, pulled out his magnetic point, started with statistics, but, given Michael's apparent lack of interest, he soon skipped ahead to the meat of the presentation. "Fact: Domestic Abuse includes wife beating, but also sexual assault, mental and emotional abuse"

"Emotional abuse? That's not a thing." Michael scoffed.

"Oh, yes it is Michael. The Department of Justice defines it as…" Dwight dug around in his folder before pulling out the correct notes, "Undermining an individual's sense of self-worth through, but not limited to criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with his or her children."

"Ugh. What is this? An anti-bullying PSA?" Michael put his head on his desk and covered it with his hands.

"Michael, This is serious." Dwight was rarely critical of his boss, but why was he being so apathetic when one of his own might be in trouble. It just seemed out of character.

"Fine. Continue." He lifted his head up in a huff.

"Fact: Abusers will often only attack arms, abdomens, or other places that are easy to cover up or explain away. Victims are likely to cover themselves up regardless of the season." This seemed to get Michael's attention. "Fact: Victims of abuse are often shy or withdrawn. Quiet, prone to excessive privacy about their personal life. Meek, apologetic. Easy to control or manipulate."

"Hmm… What about Angela? She's quiet, kind of. Or maybe just mean. Is mean one of the symptoms? And she covers up, she definitely could show more skin. I bet she'd be really hot in a bikini."

"We don't have to worry about Angela." Dwight dismissed, the lovely image of Angela in a bikini and the horrible feeling of Michael accusing him of not protecting his woman both vying for his attention.

"I don't know…"

"We don't. Have to worry. About Angela. Moving on." Dwight took a deep breath to calm himself. "Abusive partners:" He hit the board with his pointer, taking out some of his frustration. "Can you always tell by looking? No. Signs of an abusive partner: Jealous." thwack, "Possessive." thwack, "Easy to anger." thwack, the card fell over and Dwight hastily set it back up, embarrassed. To save face he cleared his throat and continued. "Controlling. Constantly keeps tab. Controls access to money, family and friends, etc. Violent, easily provoked to violence with others."

"Okay, okay, I don't know anyone like that." Michael shook his head, dismissing the whole thing.

"Roy's like that." Dwight said quietly. After doing the research last night, he regretted not intervening sooner, noticing sooner. He'd been friends-not friends, work colleagues-for years. But now was not the time to draw conclusions. Michael was right. It still may well be nothing.

"No, I hired Roy. Well, I hired Darryl and Darryl hired Roy, so I kind of grand-hired Roy. And I wouldn't… hire anyone like that." Disgust lined Michael's face. "And how do you know?" Michael jumped to the defense. "It's not like you're close with the warehouse workers. Not like I am. Me and Darryl. We tight."

"Multiple people saw him throw over a chair in the break room, he's jealous of Jim. I mean, Jim. Of all people." Dwight scoffed. He could see being jealous of Michael or even the temp, but Jim? Please. "And I saw him yell at Pam over nothing. The signs are there, Michael."

"No," Michael started tearing up, "I don't want to believe it."

"But that doesn't make it not true." He moved over to comfort his boss. His boss and his friend.

"There could be others. There could be more. We could help them. The women of this office, you know, help them take back the night." Tears streaming down his face, Michael held this fist up in solidarity. "Augh! What are we gonna do?"  He covered his face.

"Michael, it's okay. Michael. Michael. Michael. Mic-"

"What is it Dwight?" Michael snapped, before loudly blowing his nose.

"I have a plan."

Dwight, in the conference room with the blinds drawn. "Like any qualified tactician I will not execute a mission without a thorough plan of attack. That's how I maintain my spot as number one salesman in the area. When you think about it, everything is a battle, the only way to strive in this world is to prepare for every possible outcome and strategize appropriately."

"I have a four part plan set in place that will quickly and efficiently end the abuse. Step One: Observation. First we begin by observing the women in the office and comparing them and their partners to what we know about domestic violence. This will go beyond work hour duties, something I am more than willing to do. Besides, it's winter. We're between harvesting and planting again, so I have a bit of extra time on my hands." He shrugged.

"Fact:" Dwight continued, moving back to a discarded notecard he skipped earlier. "Domestic abuse is most likely to occur between the hours of 6:00pm to 6:00 am. I say that we come up with a shortlist of likely victims and I observe them, utilizing my extensive experience with stealth and reconnaissance."

"Step Number two:" he smacked the card a little too hard again, but caught it before it fell. "Step Two: Community Outreach. In order to effectively convince the person in question to leave an abusive relationship we will need to enlist the help of her family and friends. Before we enlist their help, we must interview them and make sure that they are not enabling the abuse. If we cannot trust them, we move on to step three alone."

"What's step three?" Michael said seriously, finally on board with the plan, but still sniffling a bit.

"Step Three: Intervention. We approach the victim with what we know and persuade her to end her abusive relationship. This might be hard, because, according to my reading, many victims are afraid to leave or don't feel able to for one reason or another. In order to persuade any domestic violence victims to leave their abusers, I have set up a makeshift women's shelter in my farm house, that can be rented by the night or with the exchange of manual labor on the farm."

"No one wants to rent a room in your stupid" Michael blew his nose and wiped his tears, "farmhouse, Dwight."

"Do you have any place better in mind?" He doubted Michael had anything better than a 9 bedroom farm house that he currently planned on turning into a bed and breakfast on the side.

Sniff, "No." Michael conceded, "My spare bedroom maybe, but only if it's one of the hot ones. Like Pam. Or Angela. Maybe Kelly."

"That works just as well." Dwight dismissed, eager to move on to the final step. "Step Four: Enforcement. If the abuse victim is unable to remove themselves from the situation in question, they will be forcibly removed. Enforcement also accounts for the actions taken to protect the abuse victim from further abuse at the hands of said abuser. It means protecting the women of our office with everything we have. Making sure they are safe at any cost. Even at the cost of their own freedom."

Michael had stopped crying, a determined look on his face, "Let's do this."