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Author's Chapter Notes:

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to "The Office" or NBC. Or "Die Hard".

Thanks to the awesome CousinMose for the beta!

How had they gotten into this situation? Jim wondered, trying to slow his breathing. It had happened so fast, like a flash. And it was so completely weird for life at Dunder Mifflin. Was he dreaming? No, it was all too real and scary to be a dream. They really were creeping along in an air duct above the ceiling of the office. Jim had no idea where they'd end up, other than hopefully, out of the office where they could formulate a plan. A plan is what they desperately needed (along with a lot of luck), because figuring it out as they went along was turning out to be a disaster. Jim hated the idea that he'd put Pam in danger like this. She was just ahead of him, though it was too dark to see her, and at that moment, his left hand was firmly grasping her ankle, his heart thumping desperately in his chest. He thought he could hear hers, too, echoing off the metal that surrounded them. He'd rather hear that than her terrified screams, which he'd heard with the spray of bullets into the ceiling moments before. The gunshots had barely missed them when the two masked men who'd invaded the office had heard the quiet (but not quiet enough) thump of Jim's and Pam's knees in the duct. They laid as still as possible while fear shook their bodies. Jim's thumb rubbed back and forth on Pam's ankle in an effort to soothe both of them as Jim peered into the office through a vent.

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Twenty minutes earlier:

Jim was making his morning cup of coffee in the kitchen- lots of sugar, just enough milk. He was lost in thought, once again, about his current situation with Pam. Karen had gotten a job in corporate and they'd broken up, but things were still weird between Pam and himself. He couldn't sort out his feelings, didn't know if he'd get shot down again if he approached her. After all, it was still her turn. There was that confession at the beach, but was it really a confess--? His thoughts were broken into by a loud noise followed by a lot of yelling and shuffling in the front office. He looked through the window on the door, between the slats of the blinds, to see two masked men wielding guns, and ordering his coworkers into submission. In the shuffle of the office, Jim knew he hadn't been seen by the intruders yet, and as his adrenaline and survival instincts kicked in, he flattened himself against the wall, to his left, just out of sight. 

But as he was not used to the kinds of situations he found himself in at that moment, his hand was shaking enough that his grip faltered and he dropped his coffee mug. He watched in slow motion as it bounced twice before it shattered on the tile floor, the sound echoing off the walls. Hot coffee splashed onto the front of his pant legs. And the most idiotic thing ever was that for a split second, he actually mourned after his favorite coffee mug, rather than worrying that the sound of it breaking had given him away to the intruders in the other room.

Pam emerged from the Ladies' Room, mouth dropped open a little, eyes bouncing from the broken cup on the floor to the way Jim was flattened against the wall near the door. Instinctively, Jim reached out for Pam's hand, glancing behind him as he did so, and catching sight of one of the masked men heading their way. He pulled Pam towards the supply closet. "Come on," he whispered. She resisted at first, wondering what in the world was going on, but he tugged harder, pulling her into the closet with him and locking the door behind them.

"Jim, what's happening?" she asked, her voice shaky in the pitch black darkness that surrounded them.

Jim heard someone enter the kitchen just then- the quiet thump of the door closing, and footsteps passing in front of the store room. Afraid of being found, he shushed Pam, placing a hand over her lips in the dark. 

"Hey, we got more back here," he heard a man's voice call through the kitchen.

"Bring 'em out here. And make sure you got 'em all," he heard another man's voice answer. "And check the bathrooms, too. The receptionist's computer is on. She must be here somewhere."

Jim felt Pam stiffen at that, and dropped his hand from her mouth, briefly gripping her upper arm. "Hey, shh, we're fine in here," he whispered as quietly as possible.

He heard more footprints passing in the opposite direction a few moments later. He pictured his frightened coworkers- Kelly, Ryan, and Toby- being forced into the front office by gunpoint, and he knew he had to find out what was going on and save his coworkers.

Pam ended up pressed against Jim's side by the time they heard the bathroom stalls get kicked in, and the door handle to the closet they were in get jiggled violently. Once all sounds from the kitchen area had ceased, Pam spoke again in a more desperate tone, "What's happening?"

"Shh," he said, and leaned in closer to her, breathing against her ear, "Some guys just, I don't know, invaded us. They didn't see me in the kitchen, but they heard my cup break and were heading right this way as you came out of the bathroom."

"Oh."

"So, I don't know. What do we do?"

Pam was silent for a few moments. "I don't know. I mean, we can't go out there. They're in the front of the office, and there's no where to go from the annex. There aren't even any windows back there."

"I know," Jim breathed, and it was silent for what felt like forever, until Jim finally had an idea. "Hey," he started.

"What?"

"There's an air vent above the counter over there."

"How do you know?" Pam asked, turning to look up in the darkness.

"I can hear it," he said, turning the light on only long enough to prove his suspicions. "We can climb up into it and follow the ducts into another part of the building, call for help."

"Come on, Jim. An air duct? This isn't 'Die Hard'."

"Well, it's kind of like 'Die Hard'. And hey, as the good guy, Bruce Willis never dies in the 'Die Hard' movies, so this will totally be like 'Die Hard'."

"Jim..."

Jim got serious again. "It's our only chance, unless you want to sit here for hours until they come and find us while they're looking for whatever they're looking for."

"I don't know..."

He tentatively wrapped his fingers around her wrist. "Come on, it might be fun. Air ducts: a world of adventure." 

Pam laughed slightly- just a puff of air through her nose, but he knew he had her. "Okay, help me up on the counter, and I'll unscrew the vent," she said.

Jim smiled. Fancy New Beesley was back and taking charge.


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