Ravaged // h.s. au

18.

Harry

I held her to me, my trembling arm circled around her waist, while the other, held both her arms. She seemed to have lost all stability, her previous breakdown, had absolutely drained her, stripping her of every last drop of strength she had desperately tried to hold on to. My heart broke a little further, as I aided her into an empty chair, surrounding her shaking figure with my coat, although, I knew the coldness she felt, wasn't physical at all. I willed myself to look away, to see past her, in order to be able to do my job and get her sister back. Zayn approached us, a frown deeply set on his features.

" Is she okay?" He looked at Gypsy, sitting behind me, eyes on the floor, body hunched forward under the invisible weight of the loss. I swallowed away the sudden urge to protect her from the curious eyes.

" Where is he? I need to see him. Did they scan him yet? Do we have anything?"

" Why is she here, mate? She should be at home, getting some rest."

" I had to get her out of there. We need to send someone down there to search for any prints, or any traces. I didn't have time to do it myself." My head tilted briefly towards her, before facing forward again. I couldn't stare at her for too long, or else, I'd never be able to look away.

" They got to him in the cell. He had no way of defending himself, and they did a bang up job at distracting us, so that no one was left behind to watch him."

" Do you think he himself was here?"

" I don't know, mate. If I'd have to place him somewhere, I'd say he was back there. Hazel is much more important to him than Rodriguez." A choked sound went past Gypsy's lips, and it took everything in me, to not turn around, hold her, and break down all over again.

" What do you think he'll do with her?"

" Harry, we can't be thinking about that now. We just need to figure out how to get her back."

" Zayn," We heard a voice, ever so small, calling for him. We both turned, to see Gypsy, lifting her tearful eyes off the ground, looking between Zayn and I, as if we had taken Hazel ourselves. It absolutely wrecked me, but I had to keep it together. I couldn't lose it again. This time, I had to be there for her.

" They took my sister, Zayn. They took Hazel. I- she's- she's my baby sister, Zayn. Plea- please bring her back. I can't lose her too, Zayn. I- I-" She had fallen into a sobbing mess, and before I could reach out to hold her, Zayn was on his knees, burying her face into his shoulder, while patting her back. Again, an odd sense of replacement washed over me, but I brushed it away, because Zayn had always been a friend, and he was there for her, when I had failed to, so I couldn't object on the current situation, not when everything else was going to hell. I couldn't hear what he was whispering to her, and before I could dwell upon it any further, Louis was standing in front of me, informing me of what had happened through the ambush, and what they had done since then. He asked me what had happened back home, and I told him that all I knew, was that they took her through the window. A few minutes passed, before Zayn was rising to his feet, sighing, putting his hands to his waist, a habit that we all seemed to do during stressful times.

" Harry, you can take her to my office. She needs to lay down a bit, and then we can ask her a few questions about what happened." I nodded, securing my arms around Gypsy, and slowly pulling her to her feet. She nearly collapsed, taking me with her, but I managed to prevent the fall. Zayn's, and Louis' arms were pulled out, in preparation to aid us, if necessary. As soon as I had situated us both to a standing position, I found Niall standing next to Zayn, much closer than he had been since we came in, eyes frantic, worried, and a hand, too close to Gypsy. I shoved it away, while making sure that Gypsy's weight was well supported.

" You, get the fuck away from her." I pointed a single threatening finger at him, feeling the fury re-arousing within me.

" I- I was just trying to help, I'm sorry."

I couldn't find it in me to respond, in fear of it damaging the beautiful, fragile, woman in my arms any further, but also, because I didn't trust myself to not say something brutal and cruel, that I wouldn't possibly be able to take back. I brushed past him, willing myself not to cause him any harm, as I pulled Gypsy towards Zayn's office. I helped her into a sleeping position on Zayn's couch, bending on my knees, and brushing the hair away from her face. The tears had dried, leaving smudged traces, along with an unhealthy redness to her features. She looked absolutely exhausted, as I planted a kiss to her forehead, and begged her to try to sleep. I walked towards the door, tilting my head towards her, watching, as her eyes stubbornly fell shut, a few, fresh tears, escaping her closed eyelids. I sighed, walking out, and closing the door behind me.

" Alright, what have we got so far?" I questioned. Forcing myself to fall into my professional role, in order to not break and shatter.

" Rodriguez was shot by a 38. None of our guns match, so they came with their own weapons. The smoke obstructed all vision, but Cleo is looking through security tapes, maybe we'll see a face, or something. They didn't leave any prints behind, but there were traces of blood outside the main entrance, and since none of us was shot, then it must be one of them. The lab is looking through our databases to see if we have a match." Liam explained, and for the first time, it felt like he was working on his own. I felt an unwelcomed pang of remorse, but I chose to ignore it, shelving it away, along with everything I couldn't afford to feel just yet.

" Okay, have we gotten anything on those emails and phone calls that Gypsy had been receiving?"

" The emails were sent from various internet cafes all around town, no one remembers seeing anyone with Joshua's description. And the phone calls were all from burn phones that are untraceable."

" Dammit. Alright, we need to take a closer look into his history, who he was associated with, at work, at home, at the bar he went to, anywhere. We need to know who's with him right now. And we still need to scan the house for any usable evidence."

" I can do that." Liam announced, receiving a nod from Zayn, before walking away from us.

" I can check the history. Niall, you can help." Louis offered, signaling for Niall to follow, and he silently did so. I wasn't all that mad at Niall, not anymore at least, I was mostly disappointed. I knew he hadn't meant any harm, but the thought of him, working with Joshua, and it, possibly leading to all of this, lurked at the back of my mind, igniting the rage's fire, every time it began to settle down. My phone rang in my pocket; an unknown number.

" Styles."

" Well, hello there. Remember me?"

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A/N: So I can see people losing interest in this story and it sort of sucks because I had all those things planned and I was so excited since hijacked (which this is a sequel to) was one of my first stories to actually get reads and votes and whatnot, but anyway, I have two more chapters of this written, so I'll post those, and then see if you'd like me to carry on with this, or just delete it all together. So, let me know what you wanna do please :)

ily x