Chapter Text
The next few days are a blur, Louis doesn't see Harry much at all, he's working and so is Charlie. The boys don't leave Louis at the apartment alone at all and Louis knows it's because they think someone is after him.

Harry and Charlie walk in the door that night with glum looks on their faces. They make their way to the lounge where the boys are all sitting. They take their coats off and Charlie makes his way to Edward and Harry to Louis.

Harry kisses Louis hello, he's missed his boy, he pulls back and looks Louis in the eyes.

"I'm sorry" Harry says and Louis looks to Harry confused. The boys watch on with curiosity.

"What....why?" Louis asks, scared of the answer.

"I'm sorry for ever doubting you, and I'm sorry for what I'm about to tell you" Harry says

"Are you breaking up with me?" Louis asks and tears threaten

"No darling, never I didn't mean to make you think that" Harry says

"Then what is it" Louis asks

"Come sit" Harry says as he leads Louis to the couch and sits him down, the boys sit up straight and Harry and Charlie stand up in front of them.

"What's going on?" Edward asks.

"Louis was right, Stanley is not in jail" Charlie breaks the news.

The boys are all stunned, they don't know how to react to this news. Louis stays quiet, trying to steady his breathing.

"It turns out, Stanley has a twin brother. Same DNA profile as the are identical and we arrested him that night. Stanley knew we were closing in on him and his brother took the heat. His scar was fake at the trial, we went to the jail today and confirmed it wasn't him. No scar, an earring and no knee injury" Harry says.

"So... he's still out there?" Louis asks.

"Yes, he's the one who's been killing again and...and" Harry starts

"The one who's after you...again" Charlie finishes

"Shit" Drew says worriedly

"We will find him" Harry says

"We need to make sure Louis isn't alone and is protected at all times" Charlie tells them.

"Why now? Why after a year?" Scott asks

Charlie and Harry look towards each other

"What?" Scott asks

"He's been following Louis for the past year" Harry says

Louis doesn't know how to handle this right now, the memories are coming back, being locked up against that radiator for two months, the abuse, the pain, the feelings, it's all too much.

"Oh god" Louis chokes as he comes undone

"I'm going to vomit" Louis says as he rushes to the bathroom, he empties his stomach completely and Harry helps him through it.

"I'm going to die" Louis whispers when he's finished and he looks to Harry terrified.

Harry sees the fear in Louis eyes, the paleness of his usually golden skin, the shaking of his body. He's slowly becoming a shell again, what he was when he was first found and Harry can't let Louis go there, can't let him feel alone.

"Baby, listen to me. There is no way in hell I will let that man near you, no way in hell any of the boys will let a single thing happen to you. You are not alone in this. I love you, so much and I will do every single thing I possibly can to make sure you're safe and that you feel safe" Harry says.

"He always gets what he wants" Louis says.

"He doesn't get what's mine....understand" Harry says fiercely.

Louis is so thankful for Harry

"I love you" Louis says.

"I love you, so much Louis" Harry says and they hug each other close Louis gripping Harry like a vice wanting his safety and comfort.

The boys have someone with Louis at the penthouse at all times and because they have the penthouse suit the boys have their own private elevator, which means they control who's buzzed upstairs and no one can get inside unless they have a key card or they are buzzed up. This makes the boys feel a lot safer knowing no one can gain access unless they authorise it.

Louis and Drew are home for the day together and even though the boys have taken a lot of security measures Louis still feels on edge. He's lost a significant amount of weight again and the boys are trying not to let Louis spiral but it's proving a little tough. Especially when Stanley is all over the news.

Harry and Charlie haven't released the information about Stanley still being free to the public, they can't create chaos in the media and they also don't want more attention on Louis as it could make him more of a target from other people, not just Stanley. They just hope they can catch him.

"Are you hungry Lou? I'm making some lunch" Drew says as Louis walks downstairs to find Drew in the kitchen

" I'm fine, thanks" Louis says

"Not even hungry for my famous cheese toastie" Drew smirks

Louis smiles.

When Louis was smaller and it was Drew's turn to cook he always made cheese toasties and Louis loved them.

"I'll have a bite of yours" Louis says cheekily

Drew laughs

Just then they both hear the elevator ding and Drew looks at the doors confused, not expecting the boys home yet.

It all happens in a blur Louis sees Stanley exit the elevator and point his gun towards Drew. Louis acts on instinct and moves in front of Drew knocking him out of the way. Louis is hit in the shoulder and Drew is pushed behind the bench.

"Louis" Drew screams

Stanley fires another shot but Louis is in blinding white hot pain and all he feels is someone grab him and pull him up by the shoulder and drag him towards the lift.

Drew is on the ground having been shot at, thankfully the second bullet only grazed his side and he manages to get up quickly to try to help Louis.

Drew acts quickly and as the lift doors shut he heads to their security controls, he has access to the controls on the elevator and flicks the switch which stops the elevator instantly. The fire brigade is notified instantly and they will need to come and reset it before it can move again.

Drew then takes out his phone and phones Harry.

"Drew?" Harry asks as he answers, he senses something is wrong

"Haz, Louis needs help. He was shot, I was shot, he saved me. Stanley was here" Drew panics.

Harry's emotions are overwhelming and he fights his urge to panic. He needs to keep a level and calm head right now.

"Okay, It's okay we are on our way, I've got three teams heading over, tell me what happened" Harry says as he and Charlie raise the alarm and head to Harry's rover.

"Stanley, he came in through the lift, I don't know how. He went to shoot me but Louis pushed me out of the way, he got shot. I think it was only his shoulder but there's blood everywhere" Drew says panicked

"We have ambulance on their way, is he breathing? Are you hurt?" Harry asks as Charlie drives through the London streets to the penthouse.

"He took Louis, I'm okay, just a graze on my ribs but I'm okay. He took Louis into the lift but I stopped it. They are on level 12 but the lift is stuck they can't go anywhere" Drew says

"Great job Drew, that was quick thinking, well done. We will be there soon and the fire brigade are on their way" Harry says.

"Okay, yeah, okay" Drew says trying to calm down.

"I need you to open the fire escape, we will come up that way and turn the camera on so you can see what's going on in the lift" Harry says.

"Okay" Drew responds

He feels like he's in a daze but does as Harry tells him. He's in shock and his adrenaline is all over the place.

Inside the lift Louis is jolted back to reality when the lift jolts and stops halfway down to the ground.

"Fuck" he hears Stanley growl angrily as he tries to press as many buttons as possible to get the lift going again.

"What did you fucking do" he then turns to Louis and yells

Louis is trying to keep himself awake, he is loosing quite a lot of blood from his shoulder and the pain is intense he can tell he's going into shock.

"Answer me" Stanley yells and he pushes Louis against the lift wall, effectively smashing Louis head into the glass harshly, he slides down to the floor dazed.

"Oh I'm so sorry my love, I didn't mean to hurt you" Stanley then says as he leans down to Louis on the floor and strokes his hair.

Louis is used to this routine, he put up with it for weeks, Stanley's bi polar personality.

Louis let's out a whimper

"Shhh I'll look after you now, now I have you back, I won't let anyone take you again. You're mine aren't you my sweet" Stanley says.

Louis learnt enough form last time to just be quiet and not respond to Stanley when he tells Louis he loves him. It's better for Louis safety to let him say what he wants.

Upstairs Harry and Charlie arrive at the penthouse ambulance and police in tow

"Are you okay?" Charlie and Harry ask as they rush over to Drew who's leaning against the kitchen counter. He's bleeding and has a deep wound but it's not life threatening thankfully.

"I'm fine, Louis was actually shot, he just took him I couldn't stop him, it happened so fast" Drew says tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. You did the right thing stopping the lift. Let's stop your bleeding and focus on getting Louis out" Charlie says.

The paramedics come in and attend to Drew, there is blood everywhere in the kitchen and they know it's mostly Louis blood.

"Where's the camera?" Harry asks Drew

"On the end of the bench" Drew responds pointing to the iPad

Harry grabs it and turns it on. He sees Louis and Stanley in the lift. Louis on the ground as Stanley strokes his hair. Harry's blood boils at the sight.

"What's our instructions Boss" Harry and Charlie are asked by their team. The fire brigade and their SWAT team are all gathered in the apartment

"Alright, suspect is armed and has a hostage, they are trapped on floor 12 we need to make contact first before we go in. We don't want him doing anything drastic" Harry says

"How long will it take you to open the doors?" Charlie asks the head of the fire department, Luke

"I can have the doors open in 15 seconds" Luke says

"Okay and if we went in from the top?" Harry asks

"20 tops" Luke says.

"We need SWAT to be on to it. Sniper at the ready" Harry says

Everyone takes in what Harry says and a plan is quickly put in place.

A direct line to the telephone in the lift is quickly established and Harry is eager to speak to Stanley and get Louis safely back in his arms. he's about to establish contact when a worried looking Edward and Scott run into the apartment.

"What's happened" Edward asks.

Charlie is quick to comfort him and explain the situation as Scott checks Drew over himself.

Inside the lift Louis is growing weaker.

"Louis, I love you, you and I were meant to be together, we are the same" Stanley is saying to Louis.

"Please help me" Louis asks, he's about to pass out from blood loss.

"Help you? help you" Stanley asks getting angry.

"What do you think I'm doing" Stanley shouts and he kicks Louis hard in the ribs, Louis cries out in pain.

"I'm trying to help you, you belong with me and you're so ungrateful Louis, you've always been ungrateful, haven't you" Stanley shouts and kicks Louis again.

"Stanley" they both then hear over the telephone in the lift.

Stanley panics and looks around trying to figure out where the voice is coming from.

"This is detective Styles and detective Wolf you're speaking with. We can see you and Louis and we want to help you get out of the lift safely" Harry says as he tries to remain calm and keep Stanley calm so he doesn't hurt Louis again.

"No you don't, you don't care about me, you're not going to help me" Stanley yells as he starts getting even angrier.

"Just calm down for us, we do want to help you, that's our job. We have the fire brigade here and they are going to help us get you out" Charlie says.

You can't take Louis from me, he needs to come with me" Stanley says.

Louis slightly sits up pain radiating through his entire body.

Harry is trying to keep his cool hearing all this, he needs to play along, for Louis sake.

"No one is going to take Louis from you, you can leave with him as soon as the doors open" Harry says.

Louis looks extremely frightened at Harry's words, Stanley looks to Louis and kneels down to his level.

"Hear that Louis, we can be together, we can leave together, we can still be together" Stanley says smiling.

Louis shakes his head no, he's so confused, if he was more with it he might realise Harry was just playing along but he's out of it, in pain and keeps thinking about that radiator and being tied to it for weeks.

"No? Yes Louis,you're coming with me, you belong to me" Stanley yells as he slaps Louis across the face.

As he does his gun falls out of his jacket pocket. Louis and Stanley both see it and look to each other. Louis fathers all his strength and reached for it. Stanley reaches for it to and they struggle, he struggles with Louis and Louis fights as hard as he can. He remembers every single thing Stanley has ever done to him. And he finds the strength to fight.

"Get in there now" Charlie and Harry yell at their team

The firefighters begin to break the door open and SWAT hold their positions

"Let it go you little shit" Stanley yells as he and Louis continue fighting.

A few gun shots go off in the roof of the elevator and finally Louis kicks out and kicks Stanley who falls to the other side of the elevator puffing.

Louis has the gun pointing at Stanley.

"Louis, my sweet, you don't want to do that, I love you, I've always loved you, please honey no" Stanley pleads

Louis breathing is heavy as he shakily holds the gun, Stanley starts approaching him and Louis gets scared. Stanley gets closer and he's about to pull the trigger when the doors open and shots are fired. Stanley goes down on the floor and the lift is swarmed and he's dragged away. Louis is breathing heavily and has the gun in his hand. His breathing is irregular as he scrambles to the corner of the lift, with the gun in hand.

"Lou darling" Harry says as he brings Louis back to reality, he sees Harry in front of him

"Hi baby, you're okay sweetheart, let me have the gun darling" Louis didn't even realise he was still holding it.

He lets Harry take it and Harry hands it to Charlie who bags it and hands it to the team. Louis sees the boys and so many police officers behind Harry.

"I....I didn't shoot him did I" Louis asks his breathing heavy.

"No darling, you didn't baby, just relax okay, we need to get you looked at by a doctor" Harry says.

There is literally blood everywhere and Harry is concerned.

Scott is cleared to head into Louis and kneels down beside him with his kit

"Hey there kiddo, just relax for me bud you're okay. I'm here okay" Scott says.

"Scott" Louis says

"It's okay, I promise. I just need to stop the bleeding in your arm okay" Scott says

It then all comes back to Louis

"Drew!" Louis says

"He's okay, you saved his life Lou, he's fine" Harry reassures.

Louis relaxes a little and let's Scott help him.

"He's lost so much blood we need to get him to the hospital" Scott says worriedly

"Shit okay" Harry says

Louis eyes begin to shut

"Sierra Oscar 424 I need ambulance now" Harry's into his radio

"Received Agent Styles, heading up now" The response says.

The ambulance make it to the lift and Louis is strapped to the bed, he's becoming limp and lifeless and Scott yells panicked as he escorts the ambulance to their truck telling them what to do.

Harry just watches on as Louis is escorted to the ambulance and on to the hospital. Harry has to meet them there along with the boys. He just prays Louis will make it. He can't imagine losing Louis right now. He holds his emotions at bay until he's in the waiting room with the other boys, before he's losing it at the thought of losing Louis. The boys comfort him as best they can as they buckle down for another long night, hoping Scott brings good news when he finally stabilises Louis.