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Sorry for the wait, but it took me a long time to get back into writing after hearing such devastating news last month. Thank you all for waiting for me. It really hit me hard

350 votes and 800 comments for an update!

"Police are on the lookout for five individuals that were involved in a crossfire in the middle of London late last night. It is believed that these individuals are as follows: Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik. The fifth individual is unidentified and doesn't seem to be on any police records. The shooting took place at around eleven last night and caused the death of seventeen officers and one civilian. Police all around London are trying to track down the cars that were spotted at the scene. All information so far has come from the cameras inside the police vehicles that were parked at the crime scene. Witnesses are yet to come forwards"

***

"So it was for nothing" Louis stated, the first to speak up after they heard the news

Liam sighed, shaking his head "Not for nothing" he replied "We thought that he was the only one to see us-"

"You thought wrong" Louis snapped

"Louis-" Niall started

The younger boy cut him off "Don't" he said "Just don't defend it" he pleaded "Because I know that you wouldn't have done that to me" he added, sniffing before letting out a bitter laugh "Would you?" He asked, looking at Niall

Niall sighed before shaking his head "No" he answered "I wouldn't have had the heart to do that to you" he admitted "But that doesn't mean that it didn't need to be done" he said

Louis turned to Liam and Zayn who'd gone quiet "And neither would either of you would have killed him" he stated

Harry's nose twitched at this "Stop it" he muttered, shaking his head at Louis

"You're the one that's supposed to care about me the most" Louis told him "Why did you do that when no one else would have?" He asked

Harry scoffed "I did what needed to be done, alright?" He replied "I don't mind being the bad guys if that's what it takes to get things done" he said "No feelings, no hesitation, just action" he added

"Yeah you're right" Louis muttered "No feelings" he echoed softly "Got it" he whispered

Harry sighed, shaking his head "You're ridiculous" he accused

Louis shook his head "And you're heartless" he shot back before leaving the room without another word

Harry swallowed, nose twitching as he looked around the room for the support of his gang

Zayn squirmed slightly, shrugging helplessly "Sorry, H" he muttered "I just wouldn't have done it" he admitted

"But it needed to be done, right?" Harry questioned, entirely confused

Liam sighed "Right" he confirmed

Harry squinted "Then why not?" He asked, looking between them "Why would none of you have done it?"

Niall shrugged, helpless "Sentiment" he answered indefinitely "That's why"

Harry sighed, shaking his head before speaking up once more "Zayn" he called "Go follow him" he instructed

Zayn nodded silently, discreetly wiping at this eyes before leaving the room

"What's up with him?" Harry quizzed, eyes following after Zayn as he left

Niall rolled his eyes "What do you think?" He replied "He blames himself, Harry" he stated

Harry furrowed his brows at this "For what?" He asked

"For everything" Niall answered easily, watching as Harry shot him a look of confusion "You know, for someone quite brilliant you really are ignorant" he said "He blames himself for everything" he repeated

"But none of it's his fault" Harry pointed out

Niall shrugged "You know how he is" he started "Wants to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and shit" he muttered and Harry frowned, eyeing the doorway that Zayn had left through 

Louis tried to keep to himself the rest of the day. That was, until, he heard a knock at his bedroom door and called to let in the intruder

"Can I talk to you?" Zayn asked, eyeing Louis who was sat in his own bed

The blue eyed boy nodded slightly, beckoning Zayn over with a sad smile on his face

"Are you alright?" Zayn asked, sitting down besides him

Louis shrugged "No" he muttered "But it doesn't matter" he added "I'm the only one who isn't in immediate danger" he said "Are you okay?" He asked softly, eyeing the older boy

Zayn sighed, shaking his head "No" he whispered, voice breaking halfway through

Louis blinked, immediately wrapping an arm around Zayn "Hey" he said softly "It's gonna be alright" he promised, pulling Zayn closer

The blue eyed boy was both shocked and confused when Zayn let out a sob, not knowing how to console anyone other that Harry

And Zayn didn't cry in front of anyone, not really. But, either way, he found himself crying into Louis' lap that and clutching at the younger boy's shirt. Louis ran his fingers through Zayn's soft hair, letting the older boy cry as much as he needed to

"I've ruined everything" Zayn choked out

Louis shook his head softly "You haven't" he promised "You saved all of us by making a deal with Frank that day" he reminded "We would've never gotten those two years if it wasn't for you"

Zayn let out another sob, fisting Louis' shirt in his hands "I'm gonna be the downfall of us" he whispered "You're all protecting me"

"Because you did it for us" Louis said softly, stroking at Zayn's hair "And now they're looking for the five of us" he reminded "We're in this together again"

"It's selfish of me, I know" Zayn muttered, sniffing as he wiped at his wet cheeks "But I don't want to die" he cried, half choking out his words

Louis felt his heart break, softly threading his fingers through Zayn's hair "We won't let anything happen to you" he promised

"I don't want to die, Louis" Zayn repeated, still sobbing

Louis hugged him gently, using his shirt to wipe Zayn's wet cheeks "I promise you" Louis whispered "I won't let anyone hurt you"

Zayn swallowed, nodding against Louis' thigh and letting Louis pet his hair. He'd never felt so broken

***

When Zayn was finally in the right frame of mind, he put all of his anger into trying to find a lead that would find any potential threats

This started with the camera that was left in the burning building; Dom was supposedly watching the ordeal through it. The second advantage that the five of them had was the camera's that Niall had set up at the building

By the looks of it, every day there was more and more people visiting. Every time a group crossed paths, they would fight to the death

After a couple of days, Zayn managed to find one of the surviving groups and track down their cell location

Harry took it upon himself to go after their 'leader', with only Liam by his side. Half because he needed an excuse to get out of the house and away from Louis, and half because he just wanted to protect his boys

By normal standards, a basic execution of the leader and anyone in their gang would suffice

But Harry didn't conform to normal standards; he conformed to the standards regarding that of a sociopath

And so the man was kidnapped and dragged to the safe house by Liam and Harry; hence the blood curling scream that sounded throughout the house due to the severity of the torture. Louis felt chills flicker down his spine as he covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut at the sound; though not able to witness the torture from his position outside the living room, the screams were enough to make him squirm

"Ready to talk?" He heard Harry ask through the living room door

There was no reply for a seconds and another scream sounded shortly after

Louis jumped in shock at the intensity of the sound before pacing outside the door of the living room. Constant screams and the sizzling of human skin sounded throughout the building, echoing along the walls

Louis swallowed as he stood outside the living room door, the memory of his first time walking in there came to mind and he shivered, nothing but those memories of Harry coming to mind

He slowly pushed the door open, wiping at his eyes and stepping inside the living room

The four boys, along with the prisoner, all looked at him as he walked inside. Harry was holding a hot rod and Liam was holding a lighter; the prisoner was tied up in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back. Burns and blood covered his body, along with some ratty, torn clothes

"Stop" Louis said quietly "Please" he added

Harry's lips parted slightly and he took a step closer to Louis; blood was covering his front and Louis subconsciously took a step away from the man. Harry looked hurt for a second but then he replied "You shouldn't be in here" he said simply

"I can hear you from all the way upstairs" Louis replied "If he was going to tell you then he would have already" he added "He doesn't know anything"

"Hey, the kid's right-" the man started, cut off by Niall punching him in the face

"Shut up" the blonde muttered

Harry sighed, glancing between Louis and the bound man "Zayn, take him upstairs" he ordered and Zayn stood up quickly

Louis almost scoffed at his boyfriend's response "Harry-" he started, but was cut off by the older man

"I hear you" Harry replied, giving the boy a nod

Louis swallowed softly, hesitantly letting Zayn lead him out of the room. Louis still heard the final gunshot through Zayn's hands, which were covering his ears

After the man that Liam and Harry kidnapped had been swiftly executed, Louis and Zayn decided to spend time upstairs to distracted the younger boy from all of the drama

Between searching through video footage on both cameras and trying to conjure up a plan, Zayn grew restless, eventually hopping up and strolling over to the balcony

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and popped one between his lips, letting it hang for a second as he searched for a lighter

Louis watched him curiously from the inside of the bedroom, analysing how once the cigarette was a light and Zayn inhaled his first breath of smoke, he visibly relaxed; suddenly less tense, suddenly at ease

The blue eyes boy slowly got to his feet, following Zayn outside and eyeing him for a brief second before speaking "Can I have one, maybe?" He asked shyly

Zayn furrowed his eyebrows at Louis in confusion "You uh- you want...what?" He replied slowly

Louis tilted his head at Zayn, nodding towards the cigarette in his hand "Please?" He questioned softly

"You want a smoke?" Zayn questioned

Louis nodded gently and Zayn's eyes narrowed "I don't understand" the brown eyed man confessed "You don't smoke" he stated

Louis shrugged "I think-" he cut himself off, shaking his head softly "I think I need one" he said "I-I- just need one" he promised

"Won't help you de-stress, you know" Zayn replied, reluctantly handing Louis his own cigarette and lighting himself up a new one "Don't tell Harry that I did this for you" he added

"Never" Louis said quickly "I-I- just-" he sighed "Just want to be less tense" he admitted

Zayn hummed in acknowledgement "I know, darlin'" he said softly "Just don't, you know, depend on it or anything" he added "M'not going to give you another" he stated

Zayn was a fucking liar

***

It was a few days since then that Harry and Louis exchanged brief words. Louis was mostly silent after what had happened to Mark, confiding in Zayn rather than the rest of the boy's and trying his best to disassociate himself from the missions

And so it was Zayn that pushed him into talking to Harry again, explaining that they were the ones to do the next part of the plan which was, in fact, to search the dead man's house for clues

Louis finally gave in, climbing into the passenger seat and enduring an almost silent car ride with Harry until they finally reached his childhood home

"You don't have to do this" Harry said softly, looking around the empty house

Louis nodded softly "Yes I do" the younger boy replied simply, stepping into his childhood home and looking around cautiously

Zayn and Liam had come here the day prior to make sure that there was no business left here and that all of the workers had successfully found somewhere else to stay, and another job to pay for their living

Louis walked into the living room with Harry trailing behind silently. Louis' eyes went to the sofa where he'd last seen his mother alive; eyes slowly closing, soul slipping away

He swallowed and walked past it to the office in the room next to the living room, walking inside and having a brief look around. It was a mess, just like he'd remembered it to be, but he found comfort in the slight familiarity of it all

When Louis sniffed, Harry was right by his side; the green eyed man instantly rubbing the younger boy's shoulder to comfort him

"Alright?" He asked softly and Louis nodded slightly, placing a hand on top of Harry's for a brief moment before stepping away and walking to the office desk

Louis' fingers danced on the metal handle, thinking "Zayn didn't touch any of this?" He quizzed

Harry shook his head "Not a thing" he promised "This whole house is yours, Louis" he added softly

And then Louis was opening the desk drawers with caution, sifting through each one silently with no hopes of finding anything of importance. There were papers mostly, receipts of clients that Mark had paid off and profiling on all of his workers. There was pictures too, mostly of Mark himself, but some were of his mother, and a few of himself. He picked one up slowly, eyes narrowing as he looked down at a premature version of himself; seven years old and no naive. Mark was in the picture too, smiling as he had his arm around Louis, looking at the boy fondly

There were letters in the next drawer and Louis didn't know if he had the heart to read them once he saw that they were an exchange between his mother and Mark

"What've you got, baby?" Harry asked softly, eyeing the boy in curiosity

Louis shrugged helplessly, handing the pile of letters to Harry who stepped closer to take them

"Don't want to read them?" The green eyed man quizzed and Louis shook his head, still silent "Can I?" Harry asked and this time Louis nodded, not meeting his boyfriend's eyes

Harry let out a soft sigh as he eyes started reading over the exchange between Louis' mother and Mark, dated before they were even living together and by the sounds of it before Louis' mother and Louis' parental father had split

Louis went back to the drawers, looking through a couple of photos and deciding to keep the ones of his mother for himself. He made a pile of them on the desk before continuing the shuffle through the final few pictures. He recognised one of the men in the picture, and when his eyes went to the writing scribbled on the side, he immediately knew why. He smiled softly at the sight, picking the small photograph up in his hands

"Harry" he said softly

The green eyed man looked up immediately, happy to hear Louis' voice after such a long time of minimalism "What is it, baby?" He asked gently, stepping closer

Louis looked down, but held the single picture out to Harry "That's my dad" he said softly

Harry took the picture, but once he looked at it, he almost dropped it. He felt his heart racing and it was suddenly hard to breathe in the small office room. He panted slightly, blinking before he looked up at Louis "That's my dad" he said

Ummm what? 

Questions: 

Why would Harry kill Mark when he literally knew he was about to give Louis all of the answers?

Who's dad is in the picture?

Thoughts on Zayn blaming himself? Is it his fault? 

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