Journey - REVISED EDITION

The Conversations In-Between

"An hour outside of London, with the units assigned to protect you." Fennec quickly responded, almost as if he was sensing Alex's oncoming panic attack.

"Who took me here? I wasn't here last time... Last time, I was-" The breath caught in Alex throat and a sudden sense of complete uncertainty overwhelmed him. Falcon was gone. Fox was gone. He didn't know any of the men now pressing in on him. He couldn't trust anyone.

He was so hot, and his chest was tightening, the room suddenly feeling so much smaller.

"Alex. Alex, it's okay, you're safe. You're safe, I promise. Try to regulate your breathing." Liam took over, gently pushing Alex's shoulders down, trying to keep him from moving too much.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Another vaguely familiar man stood in the now-open doorway, his face angry.

"He'll tear his stitches and then we'll have an even bigger problem!" Fennec hissed back, his eyes now flashing a sharp, cold blue.

"Get out of the way." The agent, for Alex recognized the familiar stance and attitude of an agent, in the way that he held himself, and the way his body was always prepared for a sudden attack, shoved Fennec aside and bent down to Alex's level. "It's okay. No one's going to hurt you here. Just breathe." He demonstrated, puffing out his chest before exhaling dramatically. "I found you on the side of the road, and put you in my car, after receiving direct instructions from Mrs. Jones to do so, along with your description and where to take you. I'm the replacement agent for Falcon, and the two idiots next to you are members of the second Unit from Brecon Beacons, D-Unit, sent for backup and extra security. K-Unit are in the room next door. You're safe."

Alex recognized the voice from the discussion he overheard between Snake and this man, and his body automatically began to relax, although his breathing continued to be labored.

"Idiots?" Liam said it cuttingly, the word obviously holding more impact for the three men than it did for Alex.

"You don't remember how Niall used to get like this? He hated you crowding him, and yet here you are, doing it to Alex when he's dealing with the same issue. Gosh, it's like you didn't know him at all." Zayn scoffed, his face turning back to Alex's. "Just breath with me. In...and out. Count for four, like I'm sure you've been taught to do."

Alex didn't bother telling him that taking care of his health was something he'd never been taught to do, something he'd had to teach himself. Through experience. Lots of experience.

"How can you say that when you're the one who left us, left him, when you knew how much he was struggling.? How much we were all struggling." Liam shot back, his voice no longer bitter, but something deeper, a sad longing that clung to his words.

"I was struggling too Liam. You know how much touring was killing me." The agent responded, smiling gently at Alex as his breathing began to come easier.

"It didn't at first." Fennec said quietly, almost as if it was just a passing thought, his hand tightening for a moment on Alex's shoulder.

"It was never supposed to last four years, Louis." The man hissed out the name, frustration dripping off his words. "You know how much we put on ourselves, how much was expected of us. People wanted to know things about me that were the last part of me that still felt real, that were still mine. And I was tired."

"We were all tired, Zayn. You knew we were going to take a break. And you still left. There's no excuse." Liam said quietly.

"Just so you know, it was Niall that found your empty room the next morning. You know, the room that you snuck out of in the middle of the night, rather then talk to your best friends about it? Yeah." Fennec (Louis?) scoffed. "That was an experience I never want to have again."