Zayn and Niall held Louis up by the arms as Harry punched him in the face.

Louis groaned at not only the pain, but the electric shock shooting down his neck.

He spat blood onto the ground, only visible by the headlights from everyone else's cars.

They had snuck up on him while he had been deep in conversation with Simon.

Harry had seen the com link in his ear immediately and ripped it out. Now Harry was having 'fun' expressing to Louis how he felt about having his truck stolen.

Louis dully heard Harry explaining how Liam tracked his car down.

Louis didn't care. He just had to convince the band to get back to Simon so she could administer the cure.

It wouldn't help if he died though. And the sheer pain he felt whenever he had skin contact with anyone right now had him worried that he wouldn't make it back in one piece.

Another hit in the face had him gagging and choking.

Zayn and Niall dropped him on his hands and knees in the snow.

Louis coughed and fell sideways, covering his face in his hands. He curled up tight, a reflex response to the agony.

Niall scoffed. "He can't even handle a little beating!"

Zayn kicked Louis foot. "I knew he was weak, but this is pathetic"

"Can't we go home now? It's freezing out here!" Niall piped up from his car, preferring to stay inside and watch the fun from the warmth of his vehicle.

"Yeah yeah, Shut up Ni" Harry called. He tilted his head to the side, contemplating Louis.

"Should we take him back and carry out his punishment at home? Or leave him here to freeze to death?"

Liam stepped forward, a scowl firmly set on his face. "Leaving him to freeze won't be any fun"

"It's true, and he deserves everything he gets for stealing my ride... but he does hate the snow..."

Zayn was getting impatient. "Make up your mind already Harry! Were all freezing"

Harry glared at him, but finally nodded.

"Alright, we bring him back with us. It's just too much fun hitting him. Niall Zoom rides in your car."

Niall groaned loudly. "But he'll stink her up and get blood and dirt everywhere!"

"You can have first dibbs on Louis' stuff when we get home if you take him. He is never setting foot near my truck again"

Niall seemed pleased at this idea and hauled Louis to his feet, dragging him over to his car.

"If you get one drop of blood on my upholstery, I will kick you into next week" he snarled in Louis' ear who only seemed to be half with.

Louis wiped his bleeding nose and mouth onto his sleeve, trying not to get it everywhere.

"I hate you" Niall suddenly said, without looking at him.

Louis sighed and looked back into his lap.

Not much later, the band were pulling up at the mansion. Louis stayed seated, not quite ready to get up. His body being put through constant suffering was making him tired all the time. It seemed like an age ago that he had his sleep.

Liam did the honours this time of manhandling Louis from the car. It felt like his arms were being pulled out of their sockets, the amount of times he'd been jerked around today.

Louis struggled to get his head in gear and his feet to work. Stumbling along after Liam, Louis was horrified to see the rest of the band gathering the same instruments they used to destroy the bike.

Harry approached him, a manic gleam in his eye. He used the end of the crowbar to lift Louis' chin, forcing Louis to look at his face.

"I think I have always hated you Louis" He said simply before swinging the crowbar down and onto Louis' arm.

The pain of his arm breaking was possibly just as bad as the skin contact had been.

Louis screamed and dropped to his knees.

Zayn kicked him from behind so that he fell forward into the dirt. He could see his bike through the legs of his band mates as they descended upon him. Was this to be his fate? Beaten to death with mechanic tools?

Niall trod on Zooms hand, which lay in front of him, enjoying the way Louis' face screwed up in pain as he ground his foot in circles.

Someone flipped him over so he was lying face up. He was surrounded by his band mates. They looked down upon him. He looked up at the stars.

This was it.

"You're nothing" Harry spat.

They raised their weapons over their heads. Louis closed his eyes, awaiting the killing blow. He had tried to cure them. He had failed.

He waited and waited a little more. But the blows did not come.

Peeking through one eye, he saw his team frozen in place surrounded by some blue glow.

He sat up slowly, and spotted Simon running towards Louis with his hands held up, a look of deep concentration on his face.

"Simon!" Louis chocked, never more relieved in his entire life then right then.

"Louis, quickly. You must go inside and fetch the syringes I have set on the table. Administer the cure into the team's necks. I will keep them still"

Louis nodded dumbly and got to his feet. The trip to the kitchen table was agonizingly slow, but Louis managed it. He struggled to pick up the syringes with one hand, and finally returned outside with the rest.

It took about fifteen more minutes to inject everyone, but once it was done, Simon released them from their blue bindings.

The band immediately slumped to the ground, dropping their weapons. They were unconscious.

Simon looked at Louis. He was a mess, covered head to toe in blood and dust. He had deep shadows under his eyes and was extremely pale.

"Come, Louis. Let's get you into a bed. I will administer your vaccine once you're settled.

Simon put his arm around Louis and helped him inside, leaving the rest on the ground for the moment.

Louis awoke. He was in a pleasant, numbed state.

His arm didn't hurt, nor his ribs and he was so cosy and warm.

Simon appeared above him, smiling happily.

"Louis. I've done more scans. Everyone is completely free of the virus. The cure worked"

Louis smiled lazily, feeling loopy from the drugs.

"Tha's great Simon" he said slowly. And with that, promptly fell back to sleep.

The next time Louis awoke, he was a lot more coherent.

He sat up slowly and rubbed his face with a bandaged hand.

His other arm, he saw, was in a cast and vaguely itchy.

He could hear faint chatting down the hallway. Was it his band?

A wave of dread and worry washed over him at the thought of his team.

"Simon?" he called softly

A few moments later Simon appeared.

"Louis, it is good to see you awake and alert" he exclaimed happily.

"What happened? What's going on?" he asked urgently.

Simon placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The band is back to normal and have no recollection of the past few days Louis. I know that might be hard to process, but they don't remember hurting you. I haven't told them anything. I thought I would ask you what you would prefer. Do you want them to know what happened? They are going crazy trying to find out."

Louis sighed. He knew the band would feel so very guilty if they found out and never treat him the same way again. He just wanted things to go back to normal.

"I don't think I'll tell them Simon." He said finally.

He nodded in understanding.

"You'll have to tell them something."

"I'll figure something out" he replied.

Simon nodded again.

"Louis, I will always be here if you need to talk about anything. Anything at all" he said seriously.

Louis nodded gratefully.

"Do you feel up to walking around a bit? You have been out for about two days"

Louis was grateful at the offer and immediately began sitting up again.

"Nice and slow, Louis"

He stood on shaky legs, annoyed at how weak he seemed to be.

He walked to the kitchen door, accompanied closely by Simon.

"Look who is awake" Simon said to everyone.

The general chatter of the team stopped abruptly as they all turned toward Louis and Simon.

Louis held onto the door frame and looked at the happy and concerned faces of his band and knew this was the way it should be.

Suddenly everyone was talking and smiling and gathering around him, pleased to see him on his feet and ready to get him anything he needed.

A flash of Harry leering menacingly at him reared up in his memory.

He shook his head slightly to rid it from his mind and forced a smile.

This was going to be hard.