Not the first time a similar backstory has been penned for Roy and Pam and probably won't be the last. Appreciate the warning and treading lightly with it though.

Nice that Pam can finally let some of those thoughts out. Clearly she's in a headspace she's very not used to. Thinking of things she normally wouldn't and so yeah it's unnerving. Nice that Jim knows her well enough to let her talk and get things out. Then also knows her well enough to be there in other ways for her.

Author's Response: Thanks!  No plans to go heavy-handed with the past stuff, but feel it kind of needs to be there ♥a039;

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Love how Jim takes care of her here. First in the car to try and ease away her anxieties. Then is just ready and up for anything she's ready for. Feels like he's rediscovering her a bit there too. No wonder it all came together so well. Amazing what happens when they're more open with each other. Great chapter.

Author's Response: Thanks!  Hoping I blend the communication = consent and how wonderful it can be when they blend!

Yeah the kid stands a chance. I know when my wife was pregnant with our first kid we had a lot of those same worries. We still do. So in that regard well done for getting into some real feelings.

I also applaud Jim here. Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result. So he goes for a different tack and it seems to work better. At least Pam doesn't retreat into a little shell. Really like that Pam is doing her abject best to listen to him too. It shows they do have a trusting relationship and I always love reading that. Great job.

Author's Response: I am so glad I nailed that and created true moments!  

All I can think of is patience is a virtue and one it seems Jim has learned well.

Author's Response: Hehehe…. Yes, yes he has ;)

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So Jim finds a new side to himself here. He may not think of himself as the kind of brutish masculine only thinking with his lower parts kind of guy, but it's clearly in there. Probably is for most guys to some degree. Makes sense that if he's never gone down that road he'd feel a bit off about it. However Pam's right there to assure him his display of masculinity was more than welcome. Doesn't have to happen all the time, but from time to time Jim it's okay to just let the caveman energy flow and go for it.

More than that though, they're doing a much better job communicating here. Always a great thing to see.

Hot as hell too.

Author's Response:

The side Jim found is something that many people do experience, particularly during pregnancy.  Same type of 'inner strength' that you hear "so and so lifted a car off their kid"...being suddenly connected to our own base animal tendencies (because even though we have higher thought, humans are mammalian animals on the planet) and I felt this would have pushed Jim to a very different mental space than he has been before.  When it is consensual, it is hot as hell!  :) 

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For a pre-season fic where Pam is still engaged to Roy I can very easily see why she'd be so conflicted about the mistletoe. However it's also somewhat refreshing to have her realize this early that she's outgrown Roy. To it's going to take a lot more time and a whole lot of angst to finally figure it all out.

That being said, it was still very cute. Seeing the I have a crush jitters and all. Marina also feels like a breath of fresh air. If only she'd stayed around longer maybe both Jim and Pam could have gotten the perspective they both needed.

Well done for your first fic here on MTT. It was a lot of fun.

Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat
(Fortune Favors the Bold)

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I know it's TV and all and of course in a comedy like that they couldn't just have Dwight fired and hauled off to jail, but in actuality, per PA state law he committed aggravated arson that day. That's a felony. In the real world Dwight not only should have been fired for a stunt like that but arrested and hauled off to jail for a very long time. So in that sense I 100% get why Jim is reacting like this. A tenet of masculinity is being a protector and he's feeling like he failed that. It doesn't matter that in the end it was fake, in the moment it was real and the feelings are real too. So yeah I get why he'd just want to throw away and scrub the day away. Like you very well said, he couldn't take care of Pam then, despite trying to with the copier battering ram, but he can take care of her now. So they'll just hold each other and take solace in their nearness. Love that.

Author's Response:

EXACTLY!  I get it that it is a tv comedy and they of course will play on the comedic factor.  But that was absolutely an event with legal repercussions, not just a scolding from the company.  As soon as that fire alarm was pulled and all the 911 response that would have arrived for both the fire and Stanley, Dwight would have been hauled off in cuff for that stunt.  

I kept replaying in my mind what I thought could have happened for the two of them, after spending so long apart to now be faced with being trapped inside a burning building.  

💜 

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So...I was brought back to both of the times my kids were born. The long labor my wife had for our first child and yeah a lot of those same thoughts. The second time around was a bit more chaotic but still a lot of the same thoughts. I'd take her pain on me if I could. Marveled at how she was able to bear it. Stayed right at her side the whole time. Whatever she needed, she got. And then there they were. These small little screaming people and everything else went out the window. There they were needing everything and now she and I get to be the ones to do that.

Outstanding job getting this from Jim's perspective. Makes me feel seen as a husband and father. Great job!

Author's Response: Awwww!!!! I am so glad it worked so well.  This whole series is from Jim’s perfective so I was hesitant with this one, given the intense importance of the event.  

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Ok so that was ridiculously hot! That they're still so wanton for each other is a testament to their relationship. Kind of interesting to see how little things and words can get them so riled up. The fact they keep teasing each other about it at the bar was delightful. Then for Jim to get the spotlight off him so they can have their tryst? Clever guy that Jim that's for sure.

Then of course they just go for it. All the pent up energy gets released and it's hot, sexy, and great.

Wonderful fic!

Author's Response: Ah well thank you very much!!

Nice Angela voice here. Yes she can care in her own way and for her own reasons. She doesn't like public disruption so having all this swirling over the partition is probably making her go batty. She's also good for the direct approach. Part of me wonders how Jim's going to react to this news. Will things transpire as they did in canon or will a new bit of knowledge make things happen otherwise. It's a very interesting kind of thing and you wrote it well. Nice work.

Oh all the confusing feelings and circling thoughts in the lead up to Casino Night. They're so close here. They just don't have the courage to take that crucial step. And when Jim finally does it's more out of desperation than bravery. Still it gives an accurate reflection of where they are at the time. Also gives a really good insight as to why they could go from kinda mad at each other after Jim admitted he complained about Pam to back the the prank-y flirty selves they are on Casino Night.

Onto the epilogue.

So, yeah lots of big emotions here. I'm amazed that Pam is ready to be so open with Jim so quickly. She's had a lot go one during this weekend and it could have very easily caused her to sink down into herself. Had Jim not been there that's probably what would have happened for sure. However Jim is there.

You can feel the anxiety she feels in telling and showing Jim her apartment and all these scars of hers. She has this vision of what she thinks Jim thinks of her and the reality is pretty far off from that. Not just the basic apartment, but the reality of her scars.

I think I also get why she'd want to open up to Jim like this. He's told her in any number of ways that he's there for her. But she wants to know that it's more than just words. She needs to know that he'll really stand by her when he knows the depths of what happened to her.

Good for Jim for letting her take the lead with all of this. He's scared in his own right and not sure how to handle things. It feels like he's doing a bit better on how to be there for her. Not try to assume or even try to fix anything. Just listen to her and be honest with her. That he also shows her some of his scars felt like a way he was also saying, "I'm also not perfect so if I don't get to have this erroneous vision of you, you don't get to have one of me." Feels like she responded well to that too.

Then the more intimate scene. Very well done. For the first time in a long time she can feel safe with physical intimacy. No wonder she gets a bit overwhelmed. Big feelings will probably do that. Big feelings cause some of the walls to come down so other thoughts can get in there too. So Jim shows her that he really is in for the long haul. Tells her that though he was misdirected for a while, she's always been the one for him. It's very sweet and lovely.

Feels like this is also the first time Pam's really felt comfortable in her own apartment. It's not just a place to eat and sleep, but now it can be a place to live. Great writing to bring that out.

Author's Response: I am glad I was able to convey everything as well as it was in my mind.  I wanted to show that, had the attack from Roy not happened, they were ABSOLUTELY headed here very quickly anyway.  That Pam’s INTENSE panic over the last day was far more about the acuity of what happened in the office, the adrenaline not leaving her before the next situation happened, and everything becoming public knowledge.  The panic itself is not about Jim, and she is fully anchoring herself in the mindset she had the weekend after Casino Night.  She was READY to go, to move on and leave the abuse behind.  

More good communication from Jim and Pam. Sorting through some of their feelings. Kind of makes sense there would be a stumble or two on how things come out. It's all still very new so it's hard to know the right thing to say. It also feels like the edge is wearing off. The events in the office were a huge thing. Now that more time is going by and there's more openness coming out, the harsh bite is gone and things are starting to calm down a bit. Pam feeling safe to relax into Jim's touch was really great to hear.

Feels like there might be some more fear coming when they talk to the police. She's kept all this hidden for so long, having it out and open I'm sure is a lot. Good thing she'll have Jim there to help her.

A nice bit from Angela there too. I especially like those verses she reads. Many times it seems like Angela comes off as the harsh judgmental Christian that often gives Christianity a bad name. That she's reflecting on those verses, to do good to all, even evil doers feels like a bit of growth for her too. Really good to see.

Author's Response:

Very much so, I am softening the space to talk between Jim & Pam, getting them to the place that they would have been had either of them gotten their heads out of their butts long ago.  It doesn’t change what has happened for her, but it allows more factual speaking rather than painful speaking.

Same for Angela, I want to show she had a REASON for harshness all along. And now, we get to see the kindness underneath.