Jim Halpert was a good man. Most people would agree that he was a kind natured man with a real sense of humour. His easy going character was fun to be around and he often displayed a knack of making unpredictable or tedious situations enjoyable. For the most part, Jim presented a playful and boyish, if rather unmotivated persona to those around him.

The people that saw Jim on a daily basis would not have described him as anxious or troubled. He was cheerfully laid back and naturally charming, a fact he didn't seem particularly aware of. He was simply put, an all-round kind of guy.

He cared deeply about those he considered friends. He had had few girlfriends over the last years; nothing serious. Jim had long ago accepted that love didn't come easily to him.

And then, he'd been introduced to the lady who would become his best friend. They had clicked instantly, their personalities sliding together like two halves of the same heart. And then Jim had come to an unexpected understanding.

He discovered that love, for him, was whole and complete. He loved with his whole heart, he loved Pam with everything he had.

Unfortunately, what Pam had; was Roy.

He'd been respectful of Pam throughout their friendship. He'd never once overstepped any boundaries with her, never tried to break up her relationship with Roy. And there had been opportunities, many of them. He knew he wasn't crazy – he and Pam definitely had chemistry together. Instead, he had spent copious time building a solid friendship with her, noticing, but rarely commenting on, the spiderweb of cracks in the relationship between Pam and Roy.

He'd known their relationship was rocky, and in his own way he had taken advantage of that – being Pam's confidante and futilely flirting with her regularly, although not really expecting her to change her mind. He just hadn't known how rocky things actually were; and now he was suffering a major guilt hangover.

He didn't know her as well as he thought he had – she was able to hide so much from him; from everyone. He resolved to do whatever he could now to help her.

So, it was with that he was sitting bleary eyed in his car at eight in the morning, watching over a certain turn in the road.

His plan was simple. Once he had seen Roy's dodge drive out for the day, he could ascertain whether Pam was in the car with him. He hoped that she wouldn't be. He suspected she would stay at home due to her head injury, and he didn't expect Roy would feel obliged to stay with her somehow. Unless he had hurt her again – worse, he feared – since last night.

Watching her leave with Roy yesterday had been agonizing for him. He hated himself for his hesitance in the hospital shop, which had allowed them to exit and drive out before he could catch up to them in the parking lot. That was his mistake.

One he intended to address before Roy ever so much as laid a shadow of a finger on her again.

-TO-

"Come on Pam!" Roy vented, slapping his hand down on the kitchen table. "You know exactly what they are going to think when you don't show up at work today."

"The doctor said I should stay home." She repeated in a small voice. Roy smirked at her.

"There's nothing wrong with you." he glared at her in growing frustration. "Your head doesn't even hurt anymore, does it? You said so."

"It's not-"

"It didn't even hurt much to begin with, did it? You're such a drama queen, honestly." Roy picked up his keys and threw her a withering glance. He stalked to the front door.

"Sometimes, I really wonder why I keep you around, Pam. No one else will ever want you." Roy ran his eye up and down her scornfully. Pam shrunk under his scrutiny and stepped back, closing her eyes. Fully expecting a physical retort, she startled as a rush of cool air hit her, gently pushing her curls back from her face. Opening her eyes again, she saw that Roy had opened the door.

He was laughing. He was actually laughing at her. A wave of fury washed up inside of her like a powerful ocean. He was laughing. At her. Of all the things he had done, all the shame, humiliation… the pain and he was laughing. Somehow, this fact struck her deeply, of all the things Roy had done to strip her of her dignity, her pride… more than all the sprains, the bruises, the lies… nothing could have stripped her bare more than that. It wasn't a sudden burst of anger, a runaway fist flying, something he could plead loss of control over. Laughter was cold, cruel.

She scowled back at him, refusing to rise to his bait. Pam was praying he'd just turn around and go for work. He wanted her to cry and trouble was, if he didn't leave in the next minute she was pretty sure she'd make his day.

Roy stared her down with a warning in his eyes.

"God, you are so pathetic." he uttered, completely disgusted. "I expect to see you in work today. End of."

With that, he stomped outside, crashing the door shut behind him.

-TO-

Pam stood a moment, staring incredulously after him. Her anger dissipated rapidly, as it always did, like a sudden gust of hot air, in and out. The same familiar exhaustion swept over her and the tears she had been forcing back in front of Roy fell down her face relentlessly. She slumped down on to the carpet, her arms wrapped around herself. She rocked back and forth, her sobbing only interrupted by her short shaky breaths.

She was drowning, being dragged down into the blackest ocean by vice-like waves of pain. This was imprisonment. She was trapped- her lungs, her mind, her heart was being dragged to the cold hard floor of darkness. Alone.

A moving shadow fell over the hallway floor. She sat up quickly, scrubbing her face furiously with her hands. Scuffling sounds came from outside. Panic broke over her and she hitched her breath.

Roy was back for round two.

Pam stood up on legs that were weak and shaky. She turned to flee up the stairs, intending to put on her office clothes before there were any further scenes between her and Roy. For she could take no more sudden rages, they had attacked her like a disease and she was depleted by years of wariness and by being the sole target of unbound fits of fury. However, she stopped her ascent of the stairs at the sound of the doorbell. Pam looked round cautiously.

Her body relaxed in recognition, she hurried down the stairs and flung the front door open.

"Jim." she croaked, her face flushed and streaming.

He only had a moment to take in the shivering, vulnerable state of her; wild with emotion, sobs pounding through her limbs and muscles before she took a step towards him. Then suddenly, she was falling.

Jim caught hold of her, lifting her upright. Utterly drained, Pam leaned forward and pressed her head into his chest, tears bursting out of her as the walls around her collapsed.