Star Trek: Starbase 777 - ceo′s-office

This place was... a mess to say the least. As if there was a fight that broke out, or someone was searching for something - documents all over the place, personal belongings broken, the vast collection of potted plants wilted and dead. And now, there were also two Romulans that were engaged in the most intense game of silent stare off. Saren, his back pressed awkwardly against the overturned desk, had his head pressed against it by a rather large palm clamped over his mouth, his eyes burning two identical holes in his opponents skull. The older looking Romulan, his lower jaw and neck cast in what unmistakably were Borg implants, was trying to angle himself to evade the rather sharp looking knife, currently pointing him right into his ribs just shy of his heart, while also still trying to hold the Starfleet's pet down. The sudden sound of the opening doors made them both flinch, Saren's gaze quickly darting towards the two with what unmistakably was fear and concern upon realization of who those two newcomers were; meanwhile the survivor of Kinaen's crew let out a curse, his own panic stricken gaze clashing weirdly with his snarl, making him look near animalistic. Unceremoniously the scientist was grabbed and dragged in front of Karrim's hunched form, as the Chief Security then used the younger man's own hand to point the knife's tip at Saren's neck: "Stay back!.."

Eshen's mind raced as his eyes darted between Saren and his attacker. Okay, so this guy was outnumbered and he knew it, or he wouldn't have held Saren hostage. He also didn't seem very assimilated, so perhaps he could be reasoned with. He quelled the pit of fire in his stomach that wanted to burn this person for touching Saren and slowly moved his hand off his phaser. "...We're not here to hurt anyone, just see what's happening. Let go of him before someone gets hurt." If he could just get close enough to pinch this guy... Allan could distract him, but that would put him in danger.

Allan had frozen in place behind Eshen for a moment, his eyes also reflecting a fearful and concerned look almost back at Saren, but noticing that same look in Saren's eyes somehow made his own look calmer, as if he knew that he had to be. Act like this was a normal thing happening here, sure. But he felt like he should say something, at least, as he stepped to the side slightly, just to be not hidden by Eshen at all - he felt like that might seem a little shady if he'd stayed there - and took his hand off his phaser as well, moving both his hands up to the side of him. "Listen, he's - he's right," he said with a slow nod as he kept looking at the man, that knife, then the man again - and then just talked, casually, because he had to to show he was being Real, right? "We just saw this ship pop up outta nowhere right in front of us, saw there were some dead lifesigns, went on to find out if there was anyone alive - like yourself - who possibly needed help," as he said this all his hands moved as they normally did while he talked, but still stayed at the same position to the side of his head. As he finished, he looked up at the ceiling in a genuine attempt to try and remember if there was anything he'd left out of that statement. "That'sss... really it, honestly, um.." he genuinely tried to remember anything to say again, but to be honest... Eshen was usually better with this sort of thing anyways, so he figured he'd just reiterate Eshen's request, especially since they were still unsure why Saren had been taken from them in the first place. "So it would be... really great if you could, um," he looked down and back up at the guy, trying at least to meet his eyes sincerely with a bit of a nervous yet hopeful smile, "let go of our guy?"

Saren, ruffled up and bleeding out of his nose but looking otherwise fine, did try to let go of his knife - quickly realizing that Karrim was holding his fist closed. Ah. How inconvenient. "Don't hurt them," was the first thing that he blurted out, almost immediately tasting copper on his lips. "They're telling you the truth, we're didn't-- we didn't know you were here. Don't hurt them. We can-- we can get the Republic to help you. I promise."

The man shifted uncomfortably, watching the two with fear - and fury - in his brown eyes. "You're Starfleet," he stated, a fact, not a question. "You don't help people like us. We and Kinaen have been through enough already, I can't-- I can't let you do more damage to us. I can't." The mention of the Republic made Karrim quickly glance down at Saren, confused, but then he quickly returned back to staring down Eshen and Allan, the resemblance to a dangerous, scared animal still there. "There's many of you here, I saw you," he uttered out, the Borg implants around his face and encircling his neck created a hollow, metallic note to his voice that once upon the time, wasn't there. "What were you trying to find?"

'You don't help people like us'. Did they really have so little faith? After Hobus, though, he supposed it was fair. "We were trying to find out what was going on. This is a Borg-ified Romulan ship just... Floating around in space; we had to investigate. Wouldn't you? If you can't believe we won't help, at least believe we're not here to harm you. Starfleet is notoriously curious. Besides, I don't believe you'll actually hurt Saren now - you're outnumbered and out-armed and he's the only bargaining chip you have, so ironically, as much as you may threaten to kill him you can't actually afford to do that. Your best possible course of action right now is to trade him to us for something you need. So what is it that you need right now? Why are you doing this?" He sounded vaguely like a Ferengi organising a deal. (edited)

He blinked, the iron grip around his prisoner briefly tightening... and then easing. There was a vague memory - of the intensive care's doors opening just as he was fixing the flowers in the vase, an angry shout of the uhlan as their disruptor was pointed at Karrim - no, at the pod, and then-- then it was a blur. Now that he looked down at himself, he noticed the specks of green blood on his uniform, not belonging to him or to Saren. Funny. He hated violence. He went into the security division because of that, paradoxically enough - and because the Empire deemed him to be fearsome, suitable for that role. Karrim worked his jaw, hearing how his neck implants clicked against each other... The man then slowly uncurled himself - Saren's tip of the head just shy of brushing his shoulder - and released his hold on the younger Romulan. "I want..." he blinked, staring at the three with too much emotion in his eyes, "I want to see my sister."

"Sure." He paused. "...And who is that? Do you know where she is?" What happened after that, he didn't know, but... He did have a connection to a very good lawyer on Mol'Rihan. He didn't bring it up yet, but it was possible he could use that to convince the rest of them they weren't completely doomed if they tried to resist getting handed over to the Romulan Republic later. He didn't know exactly what would happen to them after that and it wasn't his responsibility, but looking at Karrim's Borg implants and considering what he knew... Their actions were, if nothing else, understandable. He could be pretentious and say he would have done things differently in their situation, but he had the benefit of a clear head and an outside perspective. "We all care about our loved ones. If you give us Saren -" He held out his arms towards Saren, like you would before an imminent embrace - "We'll look for your sister together." (edited)

Allan had been listening and yet hadn't said anything until the man released his hold on Saren, finding out that he was letting out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. Right. Sister? It sounded familiar, there was maybe something from the comms earlier when group one had found that other masking chip or something like that. "We... might know where she is," he had said, and then as if it was the world's most convenient timing, the comms message from Sindari would have come through, and been quite clear considering it was coming across all three of their commbadges. He paused for a moment as the message clicked back off before speaking again. "I guess... we can go to the bridge to see her, then? Or I could go back to help Alizati with the core and you guys could," something just really didn't feel too comfortable about having left Alizati there alone for too long, even though he knew the senior officer could handle himself he was still a little worried about his friend now that he knew Saren would be okay, not knowing he was actually just like, chatting with another super cool chief engineer.

He turned his head to look at Karrim, and as soon as he got the confirmation that he was free to go, he did just that - first steps slow, but then quickly he found himself in Eshen's arms, giving him a tight hug while using one of his palms to twist his fingers around Allan's sleeve, urging him closer. "I saw him at the end of the corridor, I'm sorry I just-- I didn't want him coming in," he whispered, feeling guilty but also somehow not guilty, because he was just doing what Saren felt right. "I--"

He stood still, until hearing pings of their commbadges - Karrim immediately perked up at a familiar voice not unlike a dog would, and upon mention of Jaeih... "That's her, she's--" she was fine. Dari had her and she was fine. He had a sudden need to blink really really quickly, which he did. "Sindari did tell everyone to move to the bridge, but... I think we can make an exception for fixing the singularity core. I will inform them about that."

He made a laugh-sigh of relief and held Saren tightly, lifting him up for a second and then kissing his forehead, then tugged Allan towards them both, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and kissing his forehead too, apparently uncaring of Karrim's presence. Enjoy the tooth-rotting show, Borgy boy. Hell, he was happy enough that if he thought Karrim would accept a hug, he'd offer one. "Let us help you next time, okay?" He said to Saren, before looking at Karrim. "Will you be needing a commbadge for that?" And if Karrim said yes, he gave him his own. "I'm glad your sister is alright." (edited)

He smiled and nodded quickly at what Karrim had said as he gladly let Saren and Eshen tug him into the hug, instinctively doing the same thing he'd done in the last group hug he'd had with Saren in which he ruffled the man's hair up just a little bit. "Yeah, we- we're here for you, you should know that," he said after Eshen, and - after such a happy little moment though, he eventually pulled back and looked at them both with a soft smile. "I'll... head back to the core then," he said, not exactly wanting to leave but the core was certainly a pretty important factor in getting home. "But-" he leaned forwards and grabbed Eshen's shoulder to give him a kiss on the cheek and then turned to Saren, almost intending to the same, but instead he grabbed his shoulder too, looked at him, smiled, then laughed breathlessly and shook his head. Man, this was ridiculous, but - he was just really happy about this outcome. "Man, I love you guys, I- I'll be up in the bridge with ya soon." And, assuming nobody had any qualms with that, he mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Kirrim as he headed back to the singularity core.

He just nodded as a reply, too busy basking in the attention. It was... nice. Because it was Eshen, who he missed, and it was just good to be held again, but then also maybe he enjoyed the fact that he was hugging two people at once. He wasn't sure. Oh, but the slight weird pang of betrayal he felt at Allan leaning in, then pulling away and disappearing behind the door? That one he was sure about. And the all too casual statement made by the redhead, did not help his confusion. Not in the slightest. Saren shook his head then, chasing everything away and almost immediately regretting that because Oh Fuck, His Fucking Nose Hurt: "Ough-- well, I, uh. I guess we should be going, then." (edited)

He accepted the commbadge - what a small, peculiar thing - and after relaying his message, Karrim offered it back, seemingly unfazed by all the fluff that was going on. What? They deserved their little Moment, as a treat after witnessing the horrors. "Affirmative. We should move."

Allan almost leaning in but not... Interesting. He smiled in a satisfied way, canines sharp and glinting, a twinkle in his eye. "Next time, you should lean in, too." Then he gave Saren a lil kiss on the cheek and tugged him along by the hand, looking at Karrim and doing a mock salute. "Yessir, mysterious stranger sir, no more dawdling for us - unless you want a kiss, too!" They exited to the #engineering-corridor .