Stockholm Syndrome

Niall was more than a little confused when he went back to join Alan and Harry that they were nowhere to be seen. It also agitated him, Harry was usually one to wait up for him and it had been his idea to go out.

Feeling a bit dejected he took his cell phone out and dialed Harry, frowning when his voice mail click on instead. After the second attempt he dialed Alan with the same result.

“What is going on?” Niall muttered, returning back to the stadium to find the others.

With some searching he found them backstage in the dressing room watching TV.

“Hey guys, I’m a little concerned.” Niall started, sitting next to Zayn.

“Why’s that?” Liam asked, his eyes glued to the television, only seeming to half be paying attention.

“Harry was supposed to wait up for me and now he and Alan are gone and both their phones are turned off, I can’t get a hold of either of them.” Niall explained, the worry lines up top his forehead deepening. He couldn’t believe Harry would just take off without leaving a message of some kind.
“He’s Harry, sometimes he doesn’t think.” Louis reasoned, his eyes turning toward Niall with full attention.

Niall shook his head in disagreement.

“No, this is different. It feels different. I can understand Harry turning his phone off but Alan doesn’t have a reason-“

Louis cut him off.

“Unless Harry told him to. You two have gotten Alan into trouble more times than I can count on one hand, mate. The sneaking out and whatnot- but what I don’t understand is why he puts up with it and doesn’t just tell you two to piss off.”

Niall glared at Louis through hardened eyes.

“He knows we’d find another way with or without him. We’ve done it before.” Niall justified but Louis wasn’t having any of it.

“Yeah, exactly my point. You got him in trouble direct and indirectly. Stop being stupid and give the poor man a break before you drive him to drink.”

Niall muttered something but stood and left the dressing room before world war three started. He wasn’t dealing with Louis today. Instead he tried Harry’s number one more time.

This time it rang.

One ring-two-thr…

Someone picked up.

“Harry?” Niall asked when there wasn’t a straight reply.

“Afraid not.” Alan answered, which made Niall’s frown deepen.

“Alan? What are you doing with Harry’s phone? Is he ok? Where are you guys?” Niall asked in a rush, beginning to pace the hall outside the dressing room.

“Harry’s out of it right now but otherwise ok and were about to board a plane.” Alan responded curtly, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone.

“A plane!? What! We have a show in a few hours, where are you two going?!” Niall yelled, rushing back into the dressing room and over toward his bandmates, grabbing the remote from Zayn’s hand and turning the TV off, setting the phone to speaker. “What’s going on?” He demanded before the other three could protest.

Alan seemed to sigh this time.

“I have to deliver Harry to my boss, it’s always been a factor for the organization and your sneaking out gave me the opportunity to do it without the extra hassle of killing people, so thank you, you may have just saved their lives.”

“What organization? What factor? Alan, what’s going on?” Zayn demanded, stepping around the phone next to Niall who seemed beside himself. His face losing color by the second.

“Nothing that concerns you Zayn. Nothing that concerns any of you.” Alan replied before covering the mouth on the receiver to bark out an order.

“It does concern us if you’re talking about our bandmate. It’s not too late to go back, it’s never too late.” Niall pleaded, his hand shaking as he nearly dropped the phone, the other two members now standing in a circle around the technology, their eyes glued to it in horror and shock.
Alan uncovered the phone again.

“Do you know what would of happened if you went outside with Harry? You don’t have a clue, do you?” Alan chuckled darkly.

“N-no.” Niall stuttered feeling faint. He was almost sure his heart skipped a beat at the pure malevolence in Alan’s voice.

“Your throat would have been slit and Harry would have had to witness the whole thing. You’re lucky to be an idiot Niall. That quality just saved your life.”

“How do we know Harry’s ok?” Louis interjected, his voice calm.

“You don’t. You just have my word and you’re free to take it as is. I can’t offer anymore and were about to take off. Nice knowing you guys, give my regards to Broadway.”

The line went dead with a click.

“Broadway?” Louis frowned, wondering what Alan was on about.

He didn’t get to ponder long, Niall’s body seemed to let go of consciousness, his body plummeting towards the ground. Louis made a split second decision to grab hold to make sure he didn’t hit the floor. This was followed by the other two who steadied him out.

“Niall? Come on mate, wake up,” Louis coaxed, helping his friends lift him to the uncomfortable surface, frowning at the ghost pale skin of his friend. “Go get Paul, tell him we got an emergency back stage. We’re going to have to cancel tonight.”

Zayn nodded and wasted no time finding their manager.

Liam eyed Louis with a worried glance.

“What’s going to happen now? How did this happen?”

Louis shook his head, he was clearly as shocked as Liam.

“I don’t know but if we don’t get Harry back-“He didn’t bother finishing his thoughts, he couldn’t think of the what if’s. He had to remain calm and thought collected because if they didn’t get Harry back, One Direction would cease to exist and Louis would be damned if he was going to let that happen. “We’re going to get him back, come hell or high water.”

Liam nodded but didn’t seem so convinced.

“Alan said ‘Give my regards to Broadway’ what was he talking about?”
Louis shrugged.

“The fuck if I know, Liam. I don’t –I wish I did but I don’t. None of this makes any bloody sense!”
Niall jerked back at Louis’s exclamation but didn’t quite come to.

“Let’s try getting him onto the couch.” Liam sighed, going to Niall’s feet as Louis supported his upper body. It took a little effort but they managed to get him onto the couch with relative ease.

“Now what?” Louis asked, truly lost on the situation.

Liam looked down at their friend, his voice soft the next time he spoke.

“We wait for him to wake up, that’s all we can do for now.”

Louis stood up and folded his arms, beginning to pace the room, Liam’s eyes silently following.

Notes

Enjoy