Title: The Alliance

Series: Fragments in Time

Disclaimer: I own no one and am making nothing off of this.

Summary: An unexpected confrontation occurs. (Based on a scene from 1x04 "The Alliance")

A/N: Nothing really new to say. I know a few people asked so I present you with this. As always, I've added some things to make the story more complete, but for the most part it's word for word exactly what happened.

Now I know, technically, that this is not my best work. Dwight constantly begs to be the butt of my jokes since we met and over the years, I've done plenty to him. Still, I must say that I'm rather proud of today's achievement this time. Dwight's completely ready to do what I tell him to do and after our little 'meeting' I can see him already going to get things ready for the "infiltration".

Oh, Dwight. Why must you make it so easy for me?

I want to tell Pam the newest development as quickly as I can, but I know to keep up the joke I'd have to wait until Dwight isn't around. He stays at his desk for a while, trying to be sneaky as he obviously begins to put 'our' plan in motion. He finally leaves and I don't waste a moment making a beeline to Pam's desk.

She looks surprised as I place a hand on her arm. She looks up with a curious glance, a smile crossing her face. She knows I did something; I hardly ever act like this unless something big is going on. I feel her hand rest on mine as I begin speaking.

"Okay, okay," I say, out of breath. "I have something that'll totally top the box."

I see the cameraman has seen my enthusiasm and follows me, its lens trained right on us as I excitedly tell Pam what happened. She continues to look up at me with even more growing interest.

"Oh! Tell me, tell me," she urges.

Don't need to ask twice. "I have just convinced Dwight that he needs to go to Stanford and spy—" she is cracking up already, covering her face with her hand as she stifles her laughter. I'm not done explaining though, so I quickly call her attention back to me. I release her hand for a moment and place it on her shoulder. "No no no, but before he does so, I told him that he should dye his hair to go undercover."

She's laughing so hard that she's near tears now. "That is perfect," she manages to gasp out.

"If we can get him to drive to Connecticut," I explain as I place my arm around her shoulder. She places her head against my own hand this time, her body quaking from giggling. "and put peroxide in his hair…"

I don't hear the door open and close. I do, however, take notice when I suddenly hear, "What the hell is this?"

I glance up, nearly frozen. This doesn't look very good at all and I know it. Pam is in a similar state.

"You trying to cop a feel or something, Halpert?"

I'm standing now, found the will to move my legs. Roy is quickly advancing toward me and I realize there's a large possibility I may be punched in the next couple of seconds. He moves quickly and shoves me backwards as I protest meekly, "Dude. No, dude, I was just, listen, woah—"

Pam is trying to calm him down. I'm vaguely aware of her between us, trying to keep the distance wide. She knows I would never touch Roy unless it was in defense and doesn't want it to go that far. I don't even want it to go that far; I'm already regretting putting her in the situation. Roy is placated for a moment by Pam. I take the opportunity to spit out what I want to say.

"God, I don't even know how to explain this," I state, nervously touching my hands to my head. I know I have to come up with something, though, so I quickly motion to Dwight, attempting to spit out the reasoning without showing how panicky I am. "Um…uh… Dwight asked me to be in an alliance…" God, I already can hear how stupid this sounds myself. "…and then um…um…we were…we've just been messing with him. Uh…because of the whole alliance thing."

I'm stuttering bad. Pam is looking between us, making sure Roy doesn't try anything. I heavily doubt she can do much to stop him if I don't successfully explain what had been going on. I'm less worried about myself and more about her, though. I can take a punch or two if need be, but she would likely be blaming herself if it happens.

"It's just office pranks," she supplies, looking at Roy.

That's exactly what I was looking for.

"It's stupid but…it's just office pranks," I agree quickly.

Roy turns to Dwight, staring at him. "Alliance? What the hell are they talking about?"

For one time, one time only, I hope and pray that Dwight isn't an ass.

"I have absolutely no idea," he says without hesitation, shaking his head.

If we weren't in the office and I wasn't in the middle of nearly getting my ass kicked by my best friend's fiancée, I would likely strangle Dwight at this very moment. I glare at him, my mouth agape—one time, just one time I need him to help me out and what does he do?

"Come on," Roy says, gaining my attention again. He's ushering Pam out, giving me one last hard look. I watch as they leave and I glance about, seeing everyone staring. Regardless, I breathe a sigh of relief, though soon after guilt wells up in me. I can already imagine how badly they're going to be fighting about this because I was an idiot.

I don't speak to Dwight the rest of the day nor do I take any enjoyment in seeing him suddenly with blonde hair the day after. Pam walks in the usual time, looking tired. I hope it's not because they had been fighting all night or something like that.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly when I have a chance to head over and talk to her. She shakes her head and smiles.

"It's okay," she replies and then looks toward Dwight, her voice lowering "Oh my gosh, he dyed his hair! You did it, Jim."

I look over as she begins to stifle a bit of a giggle and smile myself. I know she's already trying to push past the moment, pretend it never happened. I can't help but be thankful.

"Yeah, he looks like an idiot," I nod my head, smiling a little at her.

"I think we should repay him for yesterday," she looks thoughtful.

We share a momentary look before I smirk slyly.

"You got a plan or something, Beesley?"