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Author's Chapter Notes:
A little bit of light after the storms-

The first thing to reach his awareness as he was sluggishly opening his eyes was the soft gentle rising and falling of breath beside him. It was a rhythmic sound as soothing as a lullaby, as easy as a breeze whispering through blades of grass on a warm summers day. Dimly he registered birdsong fluttering energetically somewhere in the distance, his attention on the lulling sounds of the woman next to him. Her arm lay lightly over him, fingers lacing loosely the tips of his as though she refused to let go of him even in sleep.

Painstakingly, and with a fair amount of careful wriggling, he managed to turn over to face her without waking her, his head coming to rest on the pillow mere inches from hers. His heart swelled with a warmth that spread across his chest as he marvelled at the sight of her. Asleep, she was astoundingly beautiful, her eyelids twitching lightly, her skin creamy and unflushed. The usual worried lines deep across her forehead had smoothed out, her face losing its pinched look. From the window silvery light fell, draping over her like a spotlight and making her appear – in his eyes – almost angelic. It was a sight, a moment he felt privileged to experience and his smile was one of bittersweet joy, knowing he would never relive this moment with the same intensity, but yet a moment he wanted to capture in his memory and hang on to for all of his life.

The last twenty four hours had been crazy, to say the least, with prowlers and police and hospital runs and brothers and meltdowns, and in the semi darkness of the room he pondered the immediate future. With Pam's court case and the counselling he had agreed to, it wasn't looking much brighter. He had thought he would absolutely drown in embarrassment after breaking down the way he did earlier, yet he found himself unburdened, with a lightness inside of him he hadn't felt in a long time. Pam had surprised him; with all that she had said while he was on the floor. When she had said that she needed him, it was as though the sky had broken above them and a new light came over them and he understood things clearly, they needed each other. They were good for each other.

What Pam hadn't known, although he had never been able to keep anything from her - except that one secret he harbored for so long and even then he had an inkling she did know deep inside – was that she was the one who lifted the darkness from his shoulders, who broke the thunderheads above him just by being in his life willingly. The days when she was with Roy, the days he had watched them in dismay, feeling himself in the eye of the black of the blackest night – she was on the one to turn it all around for him. She always had been. And now she was with him – truly with him and his insecurities were beginning to ebb away. Overwhelmed by a surge of love for her at that moment, so peaceful and innocent, he lifted his arm and stroked her hair back away from her face.

Maybe it would take a while for her to stop bringing up the things Roy used to say and do. Maybe it would be a long time before she stopped automatically flinching at things – at him. It could even take a long, long time for her to say that she loved him. But looking on the sleeping woman with unabashed reverence, he realized; none of it mattered, it was not part of the bigger picture. No, he thought, carefully twirling a soft strand of her hair around in his fingers, right now was all that was important – making the most of what they had each day. There would be lots of good days to come. He was sure of it.

-TO -

"Hey!" Dwight announced loudly, standing rigidly over his desk, his bag over his shoulder. "Who keeps moving my bobbleheads?"

"Huh?" Jim sat up and leaned forward. He gave an exaggerated frown. "Oh, wow. That's weird."

"This isn't funny! The same last week and the week before. I demand to know who has been touching things on my desk."

"Okay, calm down. How do you know the bobbleheads didn't walk across the desk on their own?" Jim said innocently.

"Almost every day for the last two weeks items on my desk have been repositioned when I arrive. This isn't funny, this is tampering and it won't be tolerated." he fixed Jim with a withering look. "Look at this!" he exclaimed, holding up an empty chip bag. "I knew it. I want to know who's using my desk when I'm not here, right now, and why."

"Oh, wow." Jim said, furrowing his brows. "How do you know you weren't the one who ate those?"

Dwight was incredulous. "Of course it wasn't me!"

"I'm just saying you can't be sure, is all." Jim pointed out. Dwight stared at him, aghast.

"Hey, Dwight." Pam said, appearing behind him at his desk. "One of your clients called reception this morning. He said your cell wasn't going through." She handed Dwight a post-it, and flashed a smile.

"Oh. Thanks." he said offhandedly.

"Yeah… it was weird. He said he was returning your call from this morning?"

"Okay." he said, before snapping his head back up towards her. "What call? I arrived five minutes ago!"

"Woah. Did you call a client from home?" Jim asked.

"No, Jim." Dwight said, sitting down in annoyance.

"Hey, Jim." Pam moved over to his desk. She spoke softly. "Did you see that documentary last night? You know, the one about the little boy, and his toys?"

"Oh right.. I did actually. Wasn't that weird, the toys actually come alive whenever the kids not there. Who knew."

"Quit it, idiots. This is an act of sabotage." Dwight eyed his desktop suspiciously. "Pam…. Was anyone working here this morning?"

"Weren't you working here?"

"No! Someone is using my desk, leaving crumbs and food wrappers. This is infiltration. It's unprofessional and I reserve the right to request it stopped immediately!"

"Woah. What if someone is using your identity? You should check with security." Jim said, leaning back casually, stretching his arms upwards.

"AH-HA!" Dwight bellowed triumphantly, pointing at his screen. "See. That's real. Someone logged on this morning. Someone used my credentials and accessed my computer. See. It wasn't me!"

"This is a mystery." Jim said. "Are you sure you didn't come in early this morning?"

"I did not come in early!"

"I'm just saying we can't rule it out. Think back, what's the first thing you did when you got up this morning?"

"I did not do this. Someone is doing this to me. Someone is using my things and accessing my computer."

Jim shrugged. "Weird. Hey, Kev, have you seen anyone pretending to be Dwight around here?"

Kevin stood up. "No. There's only been one Dwight in the office. I'm very sharp, I would notice if there was a second Dwight in the office."

"I did see a guy leaving the parking lot this morning who looked a lot like Dwight." Pam supplied.

"Maybe Dwight has a like identical twin and neither of them know about each other." Kevin suggested.

"Ah, that sounds more like it. Stake out the parking lot. Find this other Dwight. Case closed."

"I do not have a twin, Jim. Someone is using my desk to forge my identity."

"I'm just saying, how can you be sure you don't have a twin? If it were me, I guess I'd want to know."

"This is not funny. This is unprofessional and a security issue."

Jim paused. "Hmm. You're right. We should get security up here. How do we know you're really Dwight?"

"What are you talking about, imbecile?"

"Well, if there's a second Dwight out there – how do we know you're the real Dwight How do you know?" he said smoothly.

By now, just about everyone in the nearby office was watching the scene with amusement.

Dwight looked thoughtful, before pulling open his desk drawer. "What is this?" He mumbled, pulling out a book. "Stealing your life? Who's book is this?"

"What are you reading that for?" Jim asked, looking perturbed. "Identity theft is a crime, you know Dwight. Is that really appropriate material for the workplace?"

Dwight stood up sharply. "That's it. I'm going to tell Michael. Whoever is doing this will be punished! Michael!" he bellowed, storming off in the direction of Michael's office. Jim spun round in his chair, glancing at Pam for approval.

"Michael's waiting on a call from Utica…" Pam said loudly.

"Utica?" Dwight stopped still, his stormy expression suddenly clearing. He looked up at the ceiling. "Of course."

Pam watched the man stomp into Michaels office, barely holding in her mirth. No sooner than the door closed behind him she gasped out a laugh, looking at Jim in awe. Jim casually smirked, rocking side to side slowly in his chair.

He of course, was delighted by Pam's reaction to the prank. It was stupid, yes, but it was funny, and more importantly, made her laugh. She had been eager when he enlisted her as an accomplice, eager and willing to play along. Making her laugh was a hobby he loved, something he could almost always do. The admiration and awe she always gave him inspired him. Small steps, small movements. There were heavier days, darker days ahead of them, but who said they couldn't have a little fun too. And in the end that was what it was all about.

-TO-

The break room was cold, and busy that lunch hour. Pam purposely sat at the corner table where they would be away from the others somewhat. The prank had put them both in a jovial mood, but the phone call she had received mid morning had dampened her spirits a little. She was an idiot. She had thought she would hold off until the evening to tell Jim what she had been told, but didn't think she could wait that long – she didn't know if he was going to be mad or just think her neurotic and hysterical or worse. She didn't want him to be mad, but of course he would be. He would think her stupid, which she obviously was.

He sat down at the table opposite her, unwrapping a sandwich, and they ate in relative silence until she noticed him staring at her intently.

"What?" she said, amused by his expression.

He smirked at her, shaking his head. "What is it? You've got that face – you want to say something but you don't want to say it."

Pam stared back at him with wide eyes, before giggling nervously. "Can't get a thing past you."

"Nope. Out with it Beesly." he laughed.

She sighed, then pressed her lips together tightly. "Er… well… I've been really stupid… really stupid. Don't get mad…."

"Whatever do you think you've done?" he said, slightly bemused.

"The.. uh… police called." she said sheepishly, eyes downcast.

"And…."

"Kenny was in custody Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Up in a jail near his Mom. I don't know what for." she added morosely.

Jim was quiet as he took in the implications of that. "So… he wasn't-"

"-Outside when I called you over." she finished for him.

"Oh." Jim looked thoughtful. "That's good news, right?" he said, smiling at her. She frowned back at him. "What?" he asked.

"You're not… not mad?"

"Huh?" he shook his head. "About what?"

She frowned harder, the worried lines in her forehead deepening. "About me… wasting your time like that, being hysterical… having a girlfriend who jumps at shadows and calls you out of bed at the middle of the night. Because I-"

"Stop." he waved a hand slightly. "I told you to call me if you had a bad night or wanted someone with you. And I want you to call the police if you see even a single shadow that so much as looks like Roy or Kenny. Okay?"

"Even if… there's nothing out there…?"

Jim laughed out loud. "Even if there's nothing out there, you goofball."

Pam visibly relaxed in front of him. Then she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Oh god, that's still going on?" Michael said with exaggeration, coming into the break room behind them.

The two of them separated, staring at each other with identical expressions of mirth, before dissolving into laughter together.


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