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Quark being protective of Odo: Catch and Release
“Quark, don’t-”
“Oh no! Don’t ‘Quark, don’t’ me, mister. I just acquired a runabout, traveled half way across the quadrant, and paid a third of this year’s bar earnings to get you out of here, so what I should be hearing is a ‘Thank you, Quark’, don’t you think?”
“…You already paid the ransom?”
Quark frowned at Odo through the slight distortion of the forcefield keeping him in the holding cell on this backwater pirate base that had every single one of his senses on edge, “Of course I did! How do you think I got in here. Now, will someone open this up so we can leave?” He shouted back at the dark hall he’d been told to go through after paying for Odo’s release.
“Quark, in what universe do pirates keep up their end of the deal?” Odo huffed, crossing his arms, “You paid into their trap, I’m certain.”
“In the kind of universe where they made their money and now are going to move on to other ventures… Right?” Quark asked the void.
From the hall came footsteps, the familiar thud-clack of the leader of this group of pirates, one mechanical leg hitting the ground with a metallic clang. Captain Alli stopped just at the edge of the shadows, the short-statured Andorian woman wearing a thick visor over her eyes and leather body armor. “Right. Open the cell!” She shouted to unseen associates.
The fuzzy forcefield instantly dissolved. Odo took a tentative step forward, not trusting this to be a situation so easily solved. The pirate’s posture was a trick, it looked casual enough but her hand hovered just beside her phaser, and her stance was the kind also used for a running start.
“See? No tricks.”
Alli chuckled, “Well, I’d not say that. I couldn’t help but notice that ship of yours has some rather unique Federation markings… Is it actually legit?”
Quark sputtered, “What do you mean? Are you insinuating that I’d be dishonest?”
“I’m sure it’s a Ferengi forgery.” Odo deadpanned, now safely out of the sell and taking a defensive stance between Quark and the pirate leader.
She chuffed, “One truth, one lie. Guess I’ll just have to have my crew take a look… Don’t worry shifty, not going to put you back in the cell. You can wait with me in the mess hall.”
Turning and walking down the hall, Odo hesitated to follow as Alli typed her orders into a padd.
“Well, come on then. Better there than this… dungeon.” Quark shivered, the chill of the basement seeping through his suit.
“You really need to think these rescue missions through more, Quark.” Odo replied, falling in stride several paces behind the pirate.
Quark shrugged, “I got you out of that cell, didn’t I?”
“Sure, but last I checked we’re still in the pirate base, and soon may be without a ship.”
“Look, just play along-”
Alli interrupted Quark, “Oh no, you’ll have a ship, har!” The pirate shouted behind her, then tapped on her ear as if to explain how she overheard, “Amplifying earpiece. No secrets, boys. And don’t worry, we pirates stick to our word. Just like Ferengi.”
“That inspires great confidence.” Odo groaned.
“Hey, no complaining! You’re the one who decided to go chasing golden moss slugs in the first place. I warned you that lead was a fake.”
“Just like your ship.”
Quark, exasperated, just threw his arms up in frustration as they ascended the steps up to the main level of the base, “Bah! I do one nice thing and you turn around and try to sue me!”
A few more turns down a hall, and they reached their destination, “Here we are, right this way boys.” She waved them into the mess, then locked the door behind them, trapping the three in the sparse room. There was a single replicator and a few mismatched tables and chairs, not quite the height of luxury. From what Odo could gather, these pirates were capable enough but rather small in numbers, thus unable to amass any real wealth. That was probably for the best, otherwise Alli might actually become a blip on his radar to look out for.
But, broke pirates were desperate pirates, so Odo didn’t entirely write her off. She’d managed to trick him, after all.
Odo stood by the door as Alli ordered some weird purple drink from the replicator. Quark took a seat on a metal stool. Odo noticed a slight bulge in the side of his suit, presumably where he was hiding a phaser of his own. He didn’t want to draw attention to it, Quark likely had snuck it in somehow, but it really was a dumb hiding spot with how the jacket tugged at him when he sat.
“Come over here,” Odo tried to command casually.
“Why? I’m tired.” Quark protested.
Trying to come up with an excuse on the spot, Odo nearly fumbled. “I want to… make sure you weren’t harmed.”
“How sweet. I’m fine.”
Was he really this thick? The pirate was coming back now, any second she’d see his weapon, “Well then, don’t you want to check over me?”
Finally, Quark stood, “Fine. Spread your arms and turn around… You look fine.”
The pirate was really watching them now, leaned on a table sipping the bubbly beverage. Needing Quark not to sit back down, Odo hooked an arm around him and pulled him close, “Thank you. I missed you.”
He felt Quark’s body suddenly warm, “Oh. Uh. Thanks?”
This was so awkward. But, better awkward than defenseless, though emotionally Odo felt like he was stripping himself naked. These little affections were meant only for private times, not an audience.
“Did you not miss me?” Odo asked, meeting Quark’s eyes. Damn, he hoped his earnest words were selling the act. Which, truly, wasn’t an act. But this was so hard for Odo to do from outside of his quarters.
Quarks blue eyes finally brightened, he was catching on, “Oh, fine. Maybe a little. But let’s save this for the ride home, yeah? We have company, who seem to be enjoying a sub-par drink! Madame, may I mix you something truly special…”
Odo let Quark go entertain their host, flitting around the mess towards the replicator, saying his practiced little lines designed to hold the attention of patrons and captors alike.
Her attention drawn away, Odo decided to take this chance to probe around a bit. He leaned against the door’s locking mechanism and extended a bit of himself into it, attempting to pick the lock.
Not three seconds later, the pirate’s phaser was pointing at him. She didn’t even look his way, but fired a warning shot right beside his head, “You might want to step away from that lock, shifty. I’ve got ears everywhere, remember?” Her antennae wiggled in Odo’s direction to emphasize the point.
Quark’s expression only faltered for a moment before he resumed his routine, “I like this one, sounds like you’ve always got your ears open. Ever read the Rules of Acquisition? I think you’d find them… affirmational.”
Odo took a few steps, moving to the other side of the door. This was not an ideal situation, and his nerves were starting to rise. From what he’d observed, this pirate group was small but shockingly well organized, they’d been able to fabricate enough false evidence of harboring a missing Bajoran minister to lead Odo to their den, on Major Kira’s request as no one else would offer resources in the recovery of the minister.
All they really had was a lock of hair, a bit of biological sample to trick Odo’s sensors into confirming that the minister was there, and the next thing he knew he was beamed into the cell Quark had found him in. A random had been announced, and Quark had been dumb enough to take the bait again and pay it.
There was something Odo was missing, Quark was notoriously tight with his money, so the pirates must have made him some believable guarantee of the deal that made him pay up, but until Odo knew what it was, he’d remain skeptical.
Quark and the pirate were getting along well enough, that is until she raised her hand, “Silence,” And a finger tapped her earpiece. She spoke in grunts, some kind of code in response to whatever information had been fed through to her.
“Good news boys, the ship’s legit! Now, get the hell out of my base.” Alli frowned.
“Pleasure doing business.” Quark said offering a hand that was not shaken in return. She stood up and unlocked the door.
“You remember how to get to the hangar?”
“Two rights then a left, sure thing. We’ll be right out of your hair now.”
Odo studied the pirate a moment longer, unable to get a read on her aloof expression, eyes completely concealed.
“Hurry up, you’re boyfriend is already half way down the hall, shifty.”
“My name is Odo, Captain Alli.”
“Whatever. Like he said, it’s been a pleasure.” She gestured for him to leave, a wave of her hand.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I will get to the bottom of it.”
“Sure.” She drew her phaser again, “Don’t make me have to kick you out. The longer you’re here, the more likely the rest of the Federation fleet shows up, and I really don’t like company if you can’t tell.”
Surprisingly, Odo heard a familiar hiss behind him, Quark pushing his way between Odo and the pirate, “We’re going, no need to spoil the deal.”
Odo was a little impressed, it was rare to see Quark so bold when a deal was already done, only being passionate about his profit… It hit Odo like a ton of bricks that in this situation, he was the profit.
Quark held his ground, “Come on, Odo. We’re done here.”
Odo turned heel, and Quark followed behind. He tried to remember the directions that Quark had said and soon enough they were at the ship, the hangar mysteriously vacant of any of the crew.
“Something is going to be tampered with.” He said as Quark opened the hatch into the runabout.
“Odo, Odo, Odo. Why so suspicious? Can’t you tell we were dealing with a legitimate, deal-honoring business?” Quark quipped back.
Odo huffed and scanned the ship as he entered. Everything seemed to be in order as Quark slid into the pilot’s seat, entering the launch sequence.
“Take a seat, it’s going to be a long ride.” Quark commented flippantly as they lifted up into space. Odo watched through the window as the base grew smaller and smaller, until the whole planet was nothing but a grey little blip. Then, they hit warp speed.
Odo could not bring himself to sit down, something was definitely wrong, pirates never were so simple to deal with, “There’s got to be a tracker, or a missing piece, or-“
Quark cut him off, “Odo, it’s fine. They got what they were promised, and knowing I’m a representative of the Federation, they were not going to try anything funny, lest the Enterprise drop out of orbit and blow up their measly little base. Look, I’ll run a diagnostic scan if it’ll put you at ease.”
“Hmph. They shouldn’t have gotten anything to begin with.”
“Yeah, I agree. You should have waited until the mission was authorized and fact-checked before blasting off.” Quark keyed in the command for the scan, and a few seconds later, it came back clean, the ship hadn’t been tampered with. That was one small relief.
Odo just grunted in response, maybe Quark had him there, but the whole debacle would have been worth it had he been able to find any clues about the minister. He was certain that the major was not going to be happy about this, and all Odo could hope was that she didn’t blame herself.
“And don’t worry, Kira tried to arrange a rescue party through the normal channels. But when it got caught up in bureaucracy… Let’s just say she never lost that rebel touch.” Quark patted the shuttle’s control panel.
“Wait. You and the Major worked together? Behind the Captain’s back?”
Quark’s sharp-toothed grin only grew wider, “Who says it was entirely behind Sisko’s back?”
All Odo could do was stare.
“Heh. People like you, Odo. That comes with privilege.”
Odo finally slumped down into the co-pilot seat, and noticed something on the panel, “Quark, are you bleeding?”
“Oh, yeah. Got you something.” Quark flicked over a shard of glass, which Odo caught gently.
“What is this?”
“It’s where she drank from the cup. Figure you could trace who she is, and maybe figure out how she was able to get the minister’s hair. Could be a lead?” Quark offered.
Odo was stunned, somehow in the few minutes Quark had been there, he’d managed to gather some potentially substantial evidence. But, more immediately important, Quark had hurt himself. He stood right back up and fetched the emergency medkit.
“Odo, I’m fine. It’s just a cut.”
“Cuts can get infected, you don’t know how many bacterial she had in her mouth.” Odo retorted, taking the dermal regenerator from the kit.
Quark begrudgingly held out his hand for Odo to run the regenerator over.
Once Odo was satisfied with the repair, he wrapped the shard of glass in a bandage for safekeeping and put it aside, “So, how long exactly is this trip going to be?”
Quark glanced at the display, “Eh, about 11 hours. Like I said, get comfortable.”
Odo shrugged, “There’s more things to do than get comfortable.”
“Ohhh, someone got a little stir crazy, did he?” Quark said, voice dropping to a deeper register.
Odo smirked, “I wasn’t lying when I said I missed you.”
“Mm, you could say that again,” Quark backed Odo up against the wall and placed his hands on Odo’s hips. Odo loosely wrapped his arms around Quark, holding him close.
“I missed you very much, Quark, my hero.” Odo said, only a little sarcastically. Quark actually had done it, managed to rescue him and gather evidence, he was impressed. He also really wanted to kiss Quark, so when the Ferengi leaned in, Odo met his lips hungrily.
He also let a finger trail along the edge of Quark’s ear, such heroics deserved a reward after all…
PROXIMITY ALERT
“QUARK!”
"Ok, maybe the pirates are following us back to the worm hole... But that doesn't mean you have to stop giving me Oo-mox!"
Odo just sighed. Some hero.