Stockholm Syndrome

Niall had no idea what was going on around him.

From the time he had been all but wrestled to the ground by people in police uniforms and handcuffed, shoved in the back of a dark van and carted off to what he assumed was the police station, he was sorely surprised when the one police officer had gripped him around the neck and shoved a hood over his head.

The blue eyed singer protested in panic but it fell on deaf ears. He was almost positive the police in the US didn’t just randomly blindfold someone to take them to the station – no, something was terribly, terribly wrong.

“Who are you? Where are you taking me?” Niall demanded, straining to hear anything that might help him see who was behind his unlawful arrest. “I demand to talk to a lawyer, hell I demand you get in contact with Phillandrias, he’ll tell you you’re making a mistake!”

Niall felt the sleeve of his arm being lifted up and a second later a needle being inserted into his skin, plunging the unknown fluid into his bloodstream, making him yell out in surprise.

“What was that? What did you do to me!?” Niall asked with panic, feeling the hood lifted up to the bridge of his nose.

He struggled against the handcuffs for all he was worth dislodging the hood temporarily, seeing a masked guy with what looked like two bandanas tied together, a thick knot in the center.

The man was unflinching when Niall laid eyes on him, in fact the musician was slightly taken aback and shocked into silence.

“Where’s Phillandrias? What did you do to me? Who are you?” Niall asked, calmer this time but scared out of his wits end.

“You’ll find out In due course, we’re taking you to the station.” The man in front of him replied with a strangely soothing voice.

“We’re not heading to a station, you drugged me with something. Policemen don’t drug people when they take them to the station.” Niall counteracted, a strange calm feeling washing over him.

“Perhaps but you shouldn’t concern yourself with that now, we’re a few hours from where we need to be. Everything will be explained to you then. For now, if you don’t keep quiet, I’m going to have to make you and-I don’t want to. I really don’t. Please behave?” The guy halfway begged, his dashing blue eyes shining out against the balaclava covering his face.

“Who are you?” Niall asked, feeling his muscles start to relax, much to his body’s protest.

“You can call me K or Kohl, doesn’t matter.”

Niall groaned, feeling himself start to fall forward against his will to the hard floor, only to be caught at the last second by the blue eyed stranger.

“Whoa there, let’s get you lying down,” Kohl frowned, calling up to the front. “What the fuck did I just give him?”

Niall tried to focus on the stranger’s face as everything went out in and out of focus, the bottom of the van seemed to sink in against him but he felt completely aware of not being able to move.

“What’s going on?” Niall rasped, panicking at the thought of being completely paralyzed. He hated this feeling and he couldn’t do anything to stop whatever they were about to do to him.

“I didn’t realize I was supposed to only give you half, you’re going to be ok though, I promise. My partner is a doctor.” He reassured Niall calmly before continuing on. “We have orders to take you to the General, he’ll assess what needs to be done from there.” Kohl calmed, sitting down on the floor of the van with Niall and pulling the singer’s head onto his lap, reaching behind him to unlock the cuffs so his weight wasn’t crushing his hands.

“I’m going to die aren’t I? You’re going to kill me!” Niall panicked, trying to move his arms but they felt cemented down, whatever they gave him he was not going anywhere.

“No, if there’s one thing I hate its coldblooded murder. Many get into that line of work purely for the joy of killing, I’m just a transporter. Best driver this side of Montana, I can outrun any cop or fed car.”

“Your parents must be very proud.” Niall spat, feeling the guy play absently with his hair, briefly wondering if the guy staring down at him had a few screws loose.

“My parents died when I was nineteen, I had a sister I couldn’t support. A sister who currently thinks I’m dead and all for the better. I don’t think she would be very proud of me if she knew what I did. So no, it’s not a profession I am proud of but it’s a profession that keeps my sister comfortable and me breathing. I couldn’t support her so I sold her off to a place I knew she would be safe and out of trouble. I got quarter of a million for her but the money was also a contract. I would continue to make money if I continued to transport, once you’ve made a deal with the organization, you can’t go back…there’s no way out. You’ll find that out soon enough so stop judging me on my profession and I won’t make presumptions about yours, rock star.”

Niall stared up in shock at the man, he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

“You sold-“Niall’s voice dropped, unable to finish the sentence.

“I didn’t know it would be a contract, alright? It’s was either drive for them or they would kill my sister. If I had known-I never would have done it.” Kohl defended himself but fell silent when a voice from the front spoke up.

“Alright, roger that captain,” Kohl replied to whatever the driver said, grabbing the hood Niall had managed to discard along with the gag he had been about to put on the singer. “It’s going to be a few hours and I’m technically breaking protocol by talking to you so-“He broke off and held the items up.

Niall’s mind was moving at a sluggish pace but he knew that he didn’t want those items on him, he needed to see what was going on, and he needed to be able to warn them if something happened.

“I have an older brother and Harry, he has a sister that loves him. Your organization, it destroys lives, it takes away people from their loved ones. It’s not too late, not for you or her. All you have to do is le-hhm!”

Niall felt the thick knot slip easily into his mouth, the material tightening inside and holding his tongue prisoner as he tied it tightly to the back of his head and slipped the hood back over his head.

“My sister thinks I’m dead, she watched me get shot pointe blank in the back, it was staged and she will never know any different. The same as Harry will think his mother and friends are still alive when they’re not. When their plane takes off tomorrow, it will never reach England. There’s a bomb on there, set to explode exactly one hour before they land. Just enough time for them to make it over land and ignite. Everyone needs a distraction and-the organization found one. With a tragedy such as this, no one is going to focus on the Organization or Harry – everyone will be mourning the death of One Direction. Consider yourself lucky that you were spared, Phillandrias has other plans for you. We’ll be meeting with him in a few hours’ time and he can explain more.” Kohl explained emotionlessly, he absolutely hated the thought of death, the whole plan made his skin crawl.

Niall’s breath felt like it was punched right out of him.

“Phillandrias is-no, oh God please no!” Niall thought feverishly, his eyes going completely out of focus.

He still felt the soothing strokes of the guy’s fingers against the material up top of his head but he wasn’t soothed by any means. He tried to scream out through the gag but he couldn’t move and his vocals felt like they were closing up on him too. Everything was starting to feel heavy and faint.

He was powerless to do anything but lay there and stare into the darkness. It was the first time in his life Niall had ever wished to be knocked unconscious. Helplessness was a feeling worse than death and if he didn’t find a way out of the mess he got himself into, that could very shortly become a reality.

Notes

More action stay tuned!