Pam purposely kept her eyes on the witness box. She had abandoned her will to be strong and look Roy in the eye, to stare him down as he had done to her so many times; for now she could only look ahead, dim dark pupils taking in the dust motes sailing aimlessly in the stagnant air. She did not look to the left of her, she did not look behind her. There would be time for courage when it was her turn in the witness box. Resolutely she kept her head forward as she had done the previous two days, not wasting a second of sight on the man on the other side of the room.

On the stand, Dwight was dressed as he almost always was, indistinguishable from his office attire. Clad in a typical mustard yellow shirt, a check tie she recognized well and a gray suit jacket – the combination of clothes that were his own unique style. He sat very straight and stiff, a hint of slight smirk across his lips, forming his answers confidently.

"Would I consider us friends? Friendship is bounded in mutual affection. First impressions get locked in forever. When I first met Pam, she said something that slightly rubbed me the wrong way. Since then I've loved working with Pam and she's frankly wonderful, but I hate her." Dwight was saying.

"And Mr Anderson? What was your interaction with him on a day to day basis?"

"I'm assistant regional manager and the top salesman. Roy worked in the warehouse. We were not friends. How would I describe him? Coarse, boorish. Not a motivator. He was engaged to the same woman for three years and never impregnated her, obviously he was not attracted to her sexually."

"Objection, speculation, your honor." Mr Thorne practically leapt out of his seat, shaking his finger derisively towards the judge.

"Sustained." Judge Summers leaned towards Dwight with a stern face. "The witness will refrain from making personal observations."

Murphy then asked Dwight to tell the jury what happened on the night of Michael's birthday, in his own words. Pam could feel the stinging of her breath caught in her throat.

"I had formed an alliance with Jim. Because of potential downsizing. Big mistake, due to his alliance with Pam to manoeuvre me into going to our Stamford branch undercover to spy on them. In Connecticut." Dwight glared at Jim.

Murphy's face was a perfect picture at that moment, a unique blend of amused and bewildered, a most certainly comical. Quickly he recovered, forming a more neutral expression and folded his arms. "And you were all in the office that night, for this birthday party?"

"Yes."

"What was Mr Anderson doing that evening? Do you recall where he spent his time during this party?"

"I didn't see him in the office. Until he came to get Pam." Dwight smirked. "Jim was in the act of double crossing our alliance with Pam when Roy arrived. I could tell, from the body language that he was enraged. That and the yelling."

"Can you tell us what happened then?"

"I was in the annexe, when the I heard the commotion. As an ex volunteer deputy sheriff, assistant regional manager and an honorary voluntary corporal in charge of assisting security for Dunder Mifflin Scranton it is my duty to investigate and curtail activities that are lawless."

"And when you went to the source of the commotion, what did you see?"

Dwight hoisted himself up the witness seat, clearing his throat loudly. "I saw Roy, in the throes of fury, shouting at Pam and Jim with Pam standing in the middle between them."

"What was Mr Anderson shouting?" asked Murphy.

"He was shouting about cops. It made no sense. Would Al Capone have called for police before picking up a baseball bat and beating a man to death? No, he would not have." Dwight shook his head.

Murphy paused for a long moment, arms crossed. He looked long and hard at Dwight before speaking. Pam began to grow nervous as she followed the line of questioning. "So, Mr Schrute, from your view, Mr Anderson was angry, furious even, that night. You've stated that you are in charge – voluntarily – of assisting security at your office – you rushed to the source of the commotion – is it possible you felt the incident had the likelihood to escalate physically?"

The prosecutor jumped to his feet eagerly. "Objection! Mr Murphy is just leading the witness your honor!" he whined, in a rather high pitched, nasally voice.

"Your honor –Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior, as defense counsel well knows and establishing intent in Mr Andersons actions is key to this case." Murphy pleaded.

"I'll allow it, but be brief, counsel. Mr Schrute, you may answer." Judge Summers replied without a trace of amusement.

Dwight spoke. "Absolutely it would have escalated physically. Roy encompassed all the classic signs of pre-attack. Contracted pupils, reddened facial skin, balled fists."

Pam grew lightheaded. Hearing the different views on that night – the night that had really started it all, the physical part at least – was almost laughable in her mind. They had only seen the almost, they had not seen Roy, full on raging supernova, ferocious shock waves flying out in all directions. They had not seen her body the next day, the nail marks in her forearm, the red and purple choker he had bestowed upon her with his bare fingers.

And systematically, a new dismay began to creep in – a strange betrayal, one she did not fully understand. Dwight was talking about that night, the first night; Toby had testified to it also. Jim would undoubtedly be asked about what had happened, as would she. All of them, forming the same picture. Roy, a hotheaded, quick to violence, intimidating man. She couldn't stop the sharp fragments of abandonment spiking up, fever bright against her core, however unjust they may be. They had seen – on some level – they had known, laid out in court like it was it was difficult to see how they couldn't have known something was happening to her. Her eyes closed, the anger sweeping through her. She knew, realistically, she couldn't blame anyone, if blame existed at all in this case it should be laid squarely on the heads of Roy and herself, but she couldn't push down the tide of dismayed fury she had plunged neck deep into. Still, she was not going to allow herself to create more demons to chase, fury be damned. She knew better than anyone that people refused to believe what they saw right in front of them, especially if what they saw got in the way of what they believed, what they wanted to believe.

She tensed, more than she felt was possible. Murphy had asked Dwight about the day of the attack on Jim.

"Two perpetrators, Roy and his brother, assailed Jim outside the building during a fire drill. When I came upon the scene, Perpetrator one, Roy was standing in front of Jim, his arm cocked, fist closed. Perpetrator two; Roy's brother had Jim in a police-hold, arms behind his back. Perp one hit him with a roundhouse to the left of the face. I removed my weapon from its secure hiding place. Discharged it at a distance of a little over a meter into the perpetrators eyes, nose, and face area, rendering them utterly and completely disabled. Then I contacted the authorities. I kept the perps at bay until the authorities arrived."

"Thank you Mr Schrute. Were there any words exchanged during this incident?"

"Many words. I had successfully disabled Roy, rendering him unable to speak. Perp two, Roy's brother said that Pam got what she asked for. Jim raised his voice at Roy. Called him an animal for putting Pam in the hospital. Really went to town on him, told him off. I didn't think he had it in him, frankly, Jim's always been a bit of a nerd. It was an interesting revelation."

A sharp, mirthful snort sounded from further back in the room, immediately followed by a suspiciously muffled noise. Pam looked up; the judge was staring witheringly towards the exit, where the last rows of seating were situated.

"Uh, excuse me, your honor… got a little… you know…" came the pacifying voice of Michael. Pam closed her eyes. It wasn't always that Michael evoked any feelings of pity, but at that expression the judge was wearing – stiff and unbending – Pam saw a hard, impenetrable core. This woman and her courtroom were not to be messed with.

"Continue, counsel." she said, not moving her eyes from the back of the room.

Murphy strolled in front of the witness box. "Mr Schrute, do you consider Jim Halpert a friend of yours?"

Dwight leaned forward importantly. "During the First World War, there were many starving wolves that had amassed together in a great pack, so many that opposing German and Russian forces formed a temporary alliance in order to fight them off. I saw two people breaking the law and I interceded in order to stop any bodily harm from being sustained to Jim. Are we friends? Jim Halpert is my worst enemy. But Pam Beesly is my best friend. And she is having intercourse with Jim. So the best friend of my best friend is actually my friend. And the best friend of my best friend is often a jerk, so Jim is actually a jerk, but actually he is my friend."

Murphy waved a hand casually. "Mr Schrute, is it correct that you have witnessed other incidents involving Mr Anderson at your office?"

Dwight nodded keenly. "Correct. There was an incident involving him manhandling Pam out of the office one evening."

"Manhandling." Murphy parroted, looking sickened. "Could you describe the manhandling?"

"Manhandling – gripping her by the elbow and leading her out the door."

Murphy now paced. "Were they engaged in an argument, for example?"

"No. Roy wanted to leave on time. Pam was taking too long gathering her possessions."

"What was her reaction to being manhandled in this way?"

"She looked like the sheep when he sees the slaughterhouse." said Dwight.

The attorney stopped pacing, and turned on his heel to look at the defense. "Was this a common occurrence between the two of them?" he said, glaring at Roy.

"Yes, regular."

"Did you think anything was wrong with this at the time? Did you report this to anyone, or address your concerns to either of them?"

Dwight seemed to swell with importance. "Roy by nature is boorish, ungentlemanly. He has a thuggish exterior. Jim got a bloody nose from him in a staff basketball game. One would assume from that that Roy is intrinsically rough and clumsy. When he enters a room, the tension level rises perceptibly, as it does when a bear enters a room."

"You did not report this to anyone, or approach Ms Beesly at all?"

Dwight fell silent, looking down at his hands. Pam studied him hard, feeling the room being to pulse with his hesitation. Finally, he lifted his head but it was not the attorney that he looked to, but her. "I did not." he said, finally, eye to eye with her. Pam held the stare, meaning passing between them. "To this moment I state my regret."

- TO-

Pam did not have a moment to dwell on her own regrets, as the judge called recess until the afternoon, she and Jim were whisked away into the attorney-witness conference room by Murphy. Pam's nerves grew, firing around her body and she quivered under the pressure.

He came straight to the point. "I'd like to call you up next." he said, looking towards Jim. If Jim was fazed in anyway at the early proceeding, he didn't show it.

"Okay." he replied simply. He felt Pam lean into him and slipped an around around her.

Murphy pulled out a thick batch of papers. "Just a few things. The jury is getting a picture of Roy's character and abusive nature – I want to call you on the back of Mr Schrute's testimony. We can drive this home, Roy is abusive, he's mean, he's physically violent. The two of you are the most crucial witnesses to our case – other than Roy. We need to go over some points. One; as previously stated, Jim, avoid discussing your relationship at any length. The defense will absolutely question you on it. Stay brief, yes or no answers as much as possible. However," he said, his gaze rebounding between the two of them. "However, the fact that you are in a relationship, that you Ms Beesly, have found love again with someone other than Roy is not a crime; do not make it sound like one on the stand."

It made sense, Pam thought. She didn't understand what her relationship with Jim had to do with the one she had had with Roy, it was apples and oranges. She didn't want it discussed in Roy's presence either – it would make him mad, this she knew without a doubt. Her head was drowning in the past, Roy's past, Roy's rules – she couldn't avoid it any longer while she was having to sit through multiple discussions about her and Roy's relationship as though they were just spectators in the mess they had made of their lives.

After going through points raised by the earlier morning testimony, Murphy rose to leave the room to prepare himself. Turning to Pam he offered some words of comfort.

"I feel very confident that we're going to nail his abusive ass to the prison door." he said, rather uncharacteristically. Pam smiled, a watery smile at that but still a smile all the same, and thanked him again for all he had done so far.

The two of them left alone, Pam and Jim gave each other knowing glances, unsure which of them should begin speaking first. In the end, it was Jim that broke the awkwardness.

"I can't believe Dwight called me a nerd." he complained halfheartedly. "Under oath as well."

"I can't believe he called you his friend." Pam replied, studying his face nervously. "Uh, are you…. You sure about doing this?"

Jim smirked at her. "Of course I am." he said, pulling her close against himself.

She looked up at him, putting her hand on his chest. "I just hate that you're having to do this because of me."

"I'm doing this for you, Beesly." he said plainly.

Emotion welled up inside of her. Breathing rapidly she leaned into him, slipping her arms around him in a gentle embrace. "You know something Halpert." she uttered softly, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "I really love you."

His response was immediate. "Love you too, Beesly."

-TO-

Hand in hand they walked out of the conference room, and back into the room which her family were in.

"How are you doing?" Betsy stood up and moved towards her.

"Good." Pam replied, still gripping Jim's hand.

"What's next?"

Pam turned to face her father. "Um… well… Jim is." she said carefully. Something about the idea of Jim on the witness stand was giving her chills, now that the moment had arrived.

"I'm prepared for everything." Jim said, noticing Pam's pensiveness around the issue. "That lawyer has had us go through every possible question and answer a thousand and one times. There's nothing I can't answer."

"Hope so." Pam replied morosely. "It's almost time."

"Trust me," Jim turned to her. "Everything is gonna go smoothly."

"Of course it will, honey." Helene carefully brushed Pam's hair off her shoulders, straightening out her shirt. Pam simply nodded, and squeezed Jim's hand. They were all so confident it was all going to work out okay, that she was inclined to believe them too.

Together they stepped out of the room and headed back to the court room, a positive, united family. They entered the room, Pam and Jim turning at seeing the figure approaching them.

"Hey, nerd." Michael said, and snorted.