Modern AU - Kinda Military AU - married Hiccstrid - Original child of Hiccstrid - angst - feels

AN: Right... This thing was tugging at my brain for quite some time already, but now, it needed to get out. It's a rather angsty two-shot with, of course, a happy ending, because I can't live without happy endings. I assume that this has been done before, but well... this is my version ;)

It's inspired by the song "Safe" by Nico Santos, for obvious reasons, if you've ever heard it.

What's to say? Beware of feels...?

. o O o .

"Yes, Sir, I understand. Ten minutes. I'll be ready."

Hiccup leaned against the door frame, arms loosely folded in front of him, and watched as Astrid placed the phone back down on the sideboard. She tried to appear unperturbed, but to him, the tension in her body was clearly visible.

"Another emergency?" he asked as calmly as he could muster. He didn't feel calm, not at all. But he didn't want to let it show. It would only make things harder for her.

Astrid turned and gave him a strange look; sad, pleading, apologetic. "Yes," she simply said. Only that one word, curt and clear. So typical.

Hiccup nodded, swallowed, and then stepped toward his wife to take her into his arms. "Do you know when you'll be back again?" He couldn't help but ask, even though he already knew the answer. It was always the same one, after all.

Which was none at all.

She only burrowed deeper into his embrace, and let herself be soft for a few brief moments. It was a gift, he knew, a gift she only ever shared with him and one other person. "Hiccup, it's–"

"–it's classified, I know." he swallowed, and pulled her even tighter, burying his nose in the loose strands of her soft golden hair. "I just wish I'd know whether you're going to be back in two days or two months." Or at all, he silently added. Her job was dangerous, he knew that. Which was pretty much all he knew about her job.

She made a soft noise, something between a weak sob and a sigh, and her hand clutched at the fabric of his loose jumper. "I... If everything goes smoothly, I'm going to be back for your birthday," she eventually whispered.

Hiccup retreated to give her a surprised look, which was met with a small tentative smile. This had to be a first, he contemplated inwardly. The first time he at least had a hunch of when to expect her back from a mission. His birthday... that was in nine days. Waiting that long for her would be bearable.

Bringing one hand to her chin, he tilted her head a little and kissed her. Her soft rosy lips still tasted of the chocolate cake they'd shared after dinner, and the way she melted against him reminded him of how, only minutes ago, they'd cuddled on the sofa to watch a film.

Life wasn't fair!

"Mummy? Are you leaving again?"

Hiccup and Astrid separated, and they both turned toward the source of the tiny voice before Astrid walked the three steps over to where their daughter stood. She was dressed in her bright pink pyjama, the fluffy hood with the cute ears pulled over her head, and blinked against the bright light in the corridor.

"Bri, honey, shouldn't you be asleep?" Astrid chided the small girl gently, even as she lifted her up onto her arms. Bri didn't say anything, just clasped her short arms behind her mother's head, and Astrid sighed. "But yes. I need to leave. Take good care of your dad while I'm gone, okay?"

The small girl nodded vigorously, even as she hid her face against her mother's neck. "I'll miss you," came her high-pitched whine.

"Oh, I'll miss you too, little cupcake. But I'll be thinking about you every day. Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," Bri sniffed as she entangled her finger with her mother's.

Hiccup watched them silently, the smile playing around his lips genuine despite the anxiety in his heart. Astrid and Bri were the best things that ever could have happened to him, and they were always able to cheer him up no matter the circumstances.

"Come here, Bri," he said after giving them a few more moments. "Mummy needs to get ready."

Astrid threw him a pained but grateful look and nodded. She handed Bri over into his arms, then vanished upstairs to put on her uniform and get her hair in order. She didn't need to pack anything; a bag with the most urgent necessities – whatever those were – was always ready at hand in the locked wardrobe next to the entrance door. After only two minutes, she was back. In her nondescript black uniform and with her hair in a tight plait down her back, she looked entirely the soldier she was. If that was what she was... Hiccup didn't know what exactly she was doing, and he didn't really want to know either. Knowing would only make him worry more.

"Okay, time to go back to bed, Bri," Astrid said gently, took their daughter from his arms, and carried her back into her room. Hiccup followed and watched as Astrid put the girl back into her bed, tugged her tightly into her blanket, and placed a soft kiss onto her forehead. The moment she closed the door behind her again, his arms were around her once more.

"Promise that you'll be careful," he muttered into her hair. "Promise that you'll come back." He wanted to keep her like this, locked in his arms to never let her go. But he knew that wouldn't be fair. Astrid had chosen this life, this job – and she loved it, despite the danger. She was doing important things. Things that saved lives. Things that many others would never dare to do.

His brave Valkyrie...

"I promise that I'll be careful," she replied to his first request, as always. And also as always wasn't able to do the same to the second.

When the sound of a car pulling up in front of their house was audible, Hiccup's arms again tightened around her for the fraction of a second before he let go of her. She gave him a loving smile, reached up to cradle his face, and stretched to crush a brief, almost desperate kiss onto his lips.

Then she turned, abruptly, grabbed her bag, and was out of the front door without another glance. She needed that, he knew. She needed the clean cut, needed to focus on her job, both for her safety and her sanity. Wistfully looking back to what she left behind... that wasn't her style.

Hiccup watched her from a window as she got into the shiny black car, vanishing behind tinted glass. And as the car carried her away, down the street to wherever she was needed, he sent a small prayer to whatever Gods might listen and care. It were only three words, the same words as always. But they mattered more than anything else.

Keep her safe!

. o O o .

Part two will come soon.

*jumps back into hiding*