Well, this was a huge mistake-- no, more than that, this was a monstrously epic boner.

...

Okay, Barney had to suppress a giggle at that thought. It was pretty easy to do, though, once he thought about the dining hall and all the hostages. He sorta knew this was going to happen-- that is, it wasn't a huge secret that this was the plan from the get-go, but somehow, he kind of figured it wouldn't really be a big deal. He thought the Inmates weren't really planning on rioting and... well, being the coward that he was, figured siding with them would have ensured the least potential for pain and suffering, while earning him cool points with his peers.

Plus, the prospect of a freeze ray? Legendary. Running around with that thing could've put any game of laser tag to SHAME.

But now, he was beginning to have his doubts. There was talk of some people dying already (and he really liked that Prefect guy and his patriotic devotion to capitalism), and the hostages... they didn't really look too hot-- well, okay, some of them looked pretty hot, like that British chick (man, she had an accent that could make his--)... anyway. Things had taken a decided turn for the "terrifying and crazy."

Why why WHY did he have to side with these lunatics out of some freakish sense of solidarity?! He had nothing in common with these people! He wasn't some superpowered alien, or a supervillain, or like... Ming the Merciless, or anything. He was Barney freaking Stinson, a world-class lover-slash-adventurer! He didn't even belong on the stupid Barge!

He tried to spend most of his time in the kitchen, avoiding the hostages (he couldn't really look at them; didn't know who all was taken, really), but after a while, curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked out into the dining hall once again, his stomach turning when he saw that a few more hostages had been added to the ranks in the hour or so since his last check in, and one of them was... Libby?

Whoa.

She looked... drunk, or something. He grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with water, then walked over to the hostages, looking way way way more confident than he felt-- but then, Barney was used to putting on that act.

He plopped down on the ground next to Libby and offered her a friendly smile, hoping to make her (and, by proxy, himself) feel better.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, holding out the cup.

Ethan gave Morgan a look. It was the kind of a look, that did not suggest her wishes were about to be complied with. Still, he paused for a moment, noting the apparent severity of the wound on her leg, he decided that it might not be too bad an idea to give her his assistance.

"You know," He commented, going down on one knee, "I've found it a wise life lesson to be at least bordering on polite to people with guns."

He reached forward, pulling the fabric back slightly from around her wound, and wincing as he got a better look at it,

"Still, it's clearly done you a lot of good thus far doing things your way. Can you straighten your leg?"

Charlie was walking past when he noticed his warden sitting all alone. Well, there was no reason not to say hello, now was there? With a smirk, he stopped beside, looking down at the one who'd been assigned power over him.

"So, Girly-- how are you findin' all this?"

He smirked like a weasel.