Andy stitches Louis up while he's out and Harry puts Louis down in one of the hotel rooms, tucks him in and closes the door, he makes it to the kitchen. Scott and Andy are standing there, Andy watching on as Scott makes tea. It's silent.
When Harry walks in Scott passes him and Andy their tea and they look at each other in sympathy
"I don't care about protocol right now boys, as my friends, as our best friends please....tell me the truth" Andy says
Scott and Harry sigh
"We don't know Ands, we don't know for sure" Harry says
"Harry, he's the spitting image of Drew, it's like I'm looking at Drew when he was 16, he also looks like me and Edward" Andy says unbelievingly
"We know, when we first saw him we thought we were looking at Drew, but we haven't been told for sure, we're just waiting for Ben to get here to
fill us in" Harry says
"You can't say anything to anyone Andy, not until we get the all clear and Louis knows himself, he literally has no idea" Scott says
"He has no idea? None?" Andy asks
"Absolutely none, he thinks the two agents that died were his real parents, we haven't had a chance to talk to him either" Scott says
"Do we know who's after him? Who killed the two agents?" Andy asks
"No, not yet, we don't even know why they went rogue and then when it came down to the last minute, why they got Louis to call us to help" Harry says
Andy sighs
"I have to go, I have a few meetings today, and you two should get some sleep" Andy says
"We will call you when we can Ands, we promise" Scott says
Andy nods
"Just....keep him safe... please, I don't want to lose him again" Andy says, his tone holding so much emotion.
"Of course Andy, you have our word" Harry tells him with intention.
When Andy leaves, Harry and Scott head to the couch, they want to sleep where they can hear if Louis wakes or something happens.
They all get a good seven hours sleep before Harry and Scott wake up to Louis trying to exit through the hotel door and being stopped by the agents at the door.
"I'm sorry Louis, we can't let you leave" Charlie tries to tell him
"Why not, I don't want to be here" Louis says upset
"Louis?" Scott says as he and Harry come up behind him
"Sorry boys" Harry says as he wakes up more
"No problem, sorry kid" Joey says as he closes the door
"Look, Lou, we know this is frustrating but you know you can't leave and it would really make our life easier if you could just humour us for a while" Scott says with a slight smile.
Louis sighs,
"I'm sorry, I just.....I'm so confused" Louis says
"We know kiddo, we're sorry you're dragged into this" Harry says.
"Can you tell me what 'this' is?" Louis asks
"We're just waiting on our boss to come in and fill us all in, he should be here within the hour and we can explain everything" Harry reassures
"And then I can go home?" Louis asks.
"We don't know Louis, but like Scott and I told you on the phone, we're here with you and we will be here through this all, you have our word" Harry says sincerely.
Louis nods and runs his hand over his face
"Come on, let's get you something to eat hey" Scott says.
"I'm not really hungry" Louis says
"Humour us hey" Harry smirks at Louis and he cracks half a smile.
Harry and Scott make them all some scrambled eggs and Louis sits on the couch watching them both, he really gets a look at them, they are hot as and Louis finds himself watching them more than he should.
When they all have a bowl and are sitting on the couch, Louis speaks up.
"Andy.....is he the Prime Ministers son? I've seen him on the news" Louis says nonchalantly
Scott and Harry look to each other
"He is, he also works with secret service, he's a medic for our team" Harry says.
Louis nods and doesn't say anything else, his brain is whirling and it didn't go unnoticed by Louis how much Andy reminded him of himself, somethings not adding up.
He eats a little of his eggs, Harry and Scott let him have a shower and he's given some clothes. New black skinny jeans, a baseball tee, a green Adidas jumper and black Vans.
He walks out to the lounge and sees both Harry and Scott freshly showered too, in new suits, they are talking to another man.
They all stand up as Louis enters.
"Louis, this is Special Agent Ben Winters, Ben this is Louis" Harry says.
"Louis, it's nice to finally meet you, how are you holding up?" Ben asks gently as he reaches his hand out to shake Louis.
Louis senses Ben is kind and not a threat, he has trusting eyes, he's tall, mid 40's and clean cut and like Harry and Scott, Louis instantly trusts him.
"I'm okay I guess, are you going to tell me what's going on now?" Louis asks shyly yet as confidant as he can.
Ben smiles sadly.
"Come sit Lou" Scott says as he reaches out for Louis, Louis comes over and sits between Ben and Scott, Harry pulls up another chair and sits in front of them.
"Louis, I know this is going to sound really out of the blue and I'm really sorry to make you uncomfortable but...can you tell us about your childhood? Where you grew up, what your.... parents, did for a living?" Ben asks
Louis looks to Scott and Harry for some reason, comfort he thinks, before he looks back to Ben
"Um...well, I grew up in Switzerland, went to school there. My parents worked as accountants" Louis says
"Accountants?" Scott asks questioningly
"Yeah?" Louis replies
"Did you ever see their office? Go to work with them?" Ben asks
Louis looks at him confused
"No, but they worked from home a lot" Louis says
"Louis, have you ever seen your birth certificate?" Ben asks gently
Louis looks to Harry and Scott and then back to Ben, his breathing becomes slightly heavy
"Why?"
"Have you been able to apply to university? for a job?" Harry asks carefully
"My parents wanted me to focus on school, then we moved here, I wanted to but..." Louis trails off.
Harry, Scott and Ben look towards each other as Louis tries to make sense of everything.
"Louis..." Ben tries
"Don't, please" Louis says as he squints his eyes shut
It's silent for a few minutes
"Andy's my brother isn't he........ I look like him" Louis then says as he looks at them all
The boys all sigh.
"We know this is hard to take in, especially after everything that's happened" Ben says
"Why did they not want me? Why was I given to the Schofields" Louis asks upset.
"You weren't kid, the Schofields....they worked for us, there was a threat against your life when you were four, it was so serious we had to send you into hiding and the Schofields were the team that were assigned the task" Ben says
"Operation Running Bear?" Louis asks in a whisper "I'm Strider....aren't I?" Louis says in realisation
"You are" Harry says.
"Why did they take me?" Louis asks.
"We don't know, we've spent the last 13 years trying to find you" Ben says.
"Have they ever said anything to you, anything that now you know this information, could help us?" Scott asks.
"No, I...mean they hate the Prime Minister, like really hate him, but I don't really know why" Louis says.
"We don't think they took you to spite the Prime Minister and his wife, we really think they thought of you as their son and thought they could protect you better and keep you safe" Ben says.
"Safe from whoever killed them and whoever's now after me?" Louis asks worriedly.
"It's the same threat from 13 years ago, they've been trying to find you as long as we have. Whoever was helping Sophia and Luke was experienced and important, I'm not convinced we don't have a mole in the service" Ben says.
"Why do they want to kill me? Who is it?" Louis asks.
"We've linked it back to a terrorist group, it's political" Ben says.
"But why care so much? I'm nothing? And the Prime Minister....my real dad and mum.... probably don't even care or want me after all these years, probably don't care if I die, why do the terrorists still care?" Louis asks.
"Louis"
"No kid"
"That's not true Louis"
They all say
"Louis, your brothers are very, very good friends of ours, we are extremely close and we can tell you, they have all been searching for you, they've never given up, they have and always will love you" Scott says.
"They don't know about you being found just yet though...well apart from Andy, who figured it out when he saw you" Harry says.
"So you're not going to tell them in case I die?" Louis asks.
"You're not going to die, we won't let anyone get to you, we will stop this threat against you" Scott says.
"But you've had 13 years to stop it and the only parents I've known were killed because of it, so I'm sorry if I don't believe you on that one" Louis says with a hint of sass.
Harry and Scott can't help the smirk as they look to Ben who shrugs in a humoured agreement.
"We are closer to finding out who is behind this and why okay, just trust us...can you do that?" Ben asks.
Louis sighs.
"I guess, I don't have anything else to lose, I just...don't know if I want to disrupt their lives after so long, how do I fit into that life, why would they want me to....I don't really want you to answer that I just....I just need some time " Louis says
"We understand and we will keep you safe while we figure this all out" Ben reassures
Something tells Louis this isn't going to be as straight forward though and an uneasiness settles in his gut.