Disclaimer : Dreamworks owns everything

AN: I am totally putting other movie characters in here, prepare for underground gambling ring ( hint hint?)

Chapter Seven : What Used to be Home.

They had just finished breakfast, he was ready to leave her humble abode, however the weather decided to remain a snowstorm, and about a foot and a half of snow was on the streets now.

Astrid put on a kids movie, and Hiccup was paying it more attention than her. Of course, it had been awhile since he'd seen a movie, and the happy gleam in his eyes convinced her to not turn it off.

She called Gobber, asking if they were opening today or not, weather permitting. His reply was a 'ye' in his thick scottish accent. Hiccup looked up at the clock on the wall, seeing the hour hand hover over the eleven. Astrid arched a brow in confusion, seeing his warmhearted smile turn into a distanced flat face.

He stood up and went towards the laundry room, or closet rather… closet with laundry machine, given the small space to fit the combo washer/dryer, and changed into his normal clothes. "I'm sorry, Astrid, but I have to go. I have an… associate to meet." His back was towards her as he changed quickly.

She would've argued, but she saw his scarred back and arms and froze after getting a good look at him. Five scars traveled down the length of his back, like someone tried to fillet him, and other scars anywhere from a few inches to spanning the width or length of his back.

She noticed bite marks on his thighs and leg, and on his lower arms. How did she not notice those before?! "Hiccup? What happened…?" Astrid asked in a small voice.

He whipped around, shocked that she had seen him change. "Afghanistan..." Hiccup brushed past her, his shock turning into embarrassment, and mumbled a thank you on the way out, he grabbed his staff and beckoned for Toothless to follow. He closed the door gently, leaving Astrid in a tense solitude.

He couldn't miss the meeting this time. His informant's really good with cards, and only showed up once or twice a month. Also something else about his informant, he was a handful.

Snow crunched under his shoe and prosthetic, his foot was numb and his fingers were losing feeling. There was a light snowfall outside, like ones you would see with Frosty the Snowman. Since the subway tunnel was part of a larger network, Hiccup and Old Wrinkly had to share their portion of the tunnel. In an elaborate and probably complex compromise, it was agreed that the duo would have to share their tunnel with a gambling ring led by a large man named Yama.

Though it didn't matter. Everyone knew that Yama would eventually get run out of Berk... just like what happened in San Fransokyo. He was an average card player, but lacked the energy or resources to maintain the illegal operation, which meant the police found the hideouts rather quickly.

The subway gate was across the street, and Hiccup approached it quickly, looking both ways before crossing the empty road. He opened the gate, desperate to get out of the weather, slipping inside with Toothless and then shut it behind him. His prosthetic and staff clicked down the stairs as he made his way deeper underground.

Hiccup knelt down, eyeing bootprints on the lightly frosted concrete. "Alright bud, follow the scent." Toothless huffed and sniffed the bootprint. His tongue lolled out as he pointed a paw forward, and then trotted alongside the human as they traveled the length of the tunnel.

After crossing a few corridors, and going through some doors, Hiccup saw lights flicker, and he knew he found the right place. He opened the metal door, and was greeted by two burly bouncers in biker jackets. The room was crowded, and most of the people were hunched over a large man with bushy eyebrows who was wearing a blue and yellow striped hoodie. Yama kind of resembled Jabba the Hutt, but way worse with security.

There was a tall man wearing a brown trench coat, obscuring his shirt and his jeans, leaning on the wall across the room from Yama. Wearing a pair of goggles over his eyes, he also had a baseball cap on and a red scarf covered the lower half of his face. The man was standing behind a teenager, who was apparently winning the betting pots if the stacks of cash were anything to go by.

The teen was wearing a gray jacket with a red shirt underneath, and had black cargo pants on. "Ah, Mr. Haddock. So glad you could join us today." Yama stated with a slight japanese accent, eyeing the lean man. "And you look clean! Congratulations." He sneered.

Hiccup gripped the staff tighter. He didn't like Yama, or his comments. "I wouldn't want to dirty myself speaking to you then." He retorted dryly, causing the other man and teen to smirk. Toothless even barked a laugh.

One of the bouncers kicked Toothless, muttering "stupid mutt." And Hiccup instantly retaliated, swinging the staff at blinding speed towards the man's chest. The sound of a crack and several crunches filled the air, and the bouncer dropped to the ground curling inwards.

"Huh. Four broken ribs and a shattered sternum." The teen commented. The other thugs made to attack Hiccup, but Yama stopped them.

"No fighting." He ordered harshly. "Mr. Haddock is on the Council." Yama informed the others, and they backed off.

"C'mon, we've over extended our stay." the man said, and walked out of the room into the corridor. The teenager quickly grabbed his winnings and stuffed them in his pockets, and jogged after the other man.

Hiccup stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind them. "Do you guys have what I asked for?"

"Hiro, show him." The teen, Hiro, was flicking through the wads of cash, straightening out hundred dollar bills and stored them neatly in his wallet.

"Yeah, it's right here." Hiro withdrew a gift card, a USB, and another device. "Alright, this should be enough video evidence to work with. The usb also has the tests you requested, I'm sure you can use a computer at the library, when you're done, email Tadashi here and he'll know if you got your degree or not. The card has enough for a week's worth of food."

"Really?" Hiccup forgot to breathe for several moments. This… this fixes everything!

The man pulled down his scarf, and stuck a hand out. "Dagur should be behind bars. I trust you will handle this evidence with care." Hiccup gripped Tadashi's hand firmly, shaking it gratefully.

-Two Years Ago-

There was total darkness outside. Even with the moon, nothing could be seen because of the cloud cover. A masked man approached the Haddock household with canisters of gasoline and kerosene in hand. Driven by complete insanity, the man began pouring the fuel along the walls of the house. With one last smirk, he lit a match and dropped it on the fuel, causing flames to erupt all around the house.

Hiccup smelled burning something. Burning wood? Fuel? He sniffed the air again, then saw flames through the window of the living room. He had come down for a midnight snack, hoping for a bowl of cereal.

"Shit." He ran as best as he could upstairs to his bedroom, and grabbed a large backpack that he'd kept from Afghanistan. "Okay okay okay. Uh, clothes!" He rushed to his closet and grabbed a few pairs of jeans and t-shirts, several pairs of underwear, and even more pairs of socks… but only the right ones, and stuffed them into the backpack. "Uhh important stuff!" He said to himself, feeling the temperature rise quickly, and went to his nightstand to retrieve his handgun, a glock 17, and a few magazines of ammo. From the same drawer he grabbed his pocket knife, a whetstone, a deck of cards, and his wallet. He opened the drawer beneath and grabbed three leather bound notebooks, two spiral notebooks, and a set of mechanical pencils and led cases, then threw them in the backpack as well. He jumped across the bed, pulling the other night stand's drawers out completely, and grabbed all of his personal documents, ranging from receipts to citizenship papers and his passport.

Smoke began filling his room, and he slipped blue jeans on over his pajama pants, and a hoodie over his bare chest. With one last look around the room, he spotted his mother's bible and staff, and he retrieved them quickly before running out of the house. In the distance he saw a silhouette running away with canisters under his arms.

"-iccup?" Hiro waved a hand in front of his face. Hiccup breathed in and out quickly, trying to reimmerse himself in reality.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

000

Astrid had been alternating between studying, netflix, and winter cleaning. She thought about several things regarding Hayden, such as what to talk about. Should she bring up the scars? Probably not. Will she bring up his scars to satisfy her own sense of curiosity and worry? Yes.

Her phone began ringing. She answered it with a swipe to the right. "Hey Mom."

"Hi sweetie." Eliza said. Astrid heard a very loud 'Hi Astrid!' from Aiden. "Aiden says hi." The young woman smiled, and knew that her mother was also grinning. "So I called to ask if you were coming home for Thanksgiving, there's plenty of room here." Astrid closed her eyes, not wanting to have the conversation. "Y'know, for a boyfriend… or something."

Near instantaneously, she thought about Hiccup, and blushed. "You're thinking about someone right now, aren't ya." Eliza said, pulling Astrid out of her thoughts.

"...no." She mumbled.

"Whatever." Eliza turned on a movie for Aiden to keep him from running throughout the house. "I better see him this Thanksgiving. Alright Sweetie, I've got lunch to cook so I'll talk to you soon. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom." The phone line disconnected, and Astrid groaned loudly. As she thought about it, she realized that Hiccup did owe her a favor technically, and having no better options she began thinking up a plan to have a successful Thanksgiving by impressing her mother.

00000000000

AN: I told ya that I'd have another chapter done this weekend. Chapter four of Dragon's Flame will be released tomorrow (I'm editing it right now). And is it possible for this to be a combination of a 'fake dating au' and a 'whatever AU this already is?'

yup.

Brawlergamer, as far as I'm planning, Thuggory and Eret are still alive, it is okay to assume that they retired from the military and went to their respective homes.

(insert anyone who questions why Hiccup is on the streets) Carl Solo is correct, and I also hoped to bring some answers to your questioning minds. I plan on leading the next chapter with another flashback that will bring a bit more clarity to the scenario.