PenPals - Chapter Ten

Author's Notes: Everyone keeps asking about being able to read the letters Hiccup and Jack are sending to each other, so just know this-SOON, I WILL BE POSTING A SIDE-FIC CALLED PENPALS: LETTERS! It will contain ONLY the e-mails Hiccup and Jack have sent to each other (because I have them written, but they just wouldn't fit well with my writing style to put them in the story). They will begin IM-ing soon, so once that starts in the story, I will post the side-fic! Be sure to check it out~~

Chapter Ten - Vindicator

Pairing: Hijack

Word Count: 1645

Warnings: Some Language, HTTYD2 SPOILERS (mild, most are my own fanon specifically for this story), Stoick and Hiccup are arguing throughout his whole chapter

I do not own the rights to any characters from How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Rise of the Guardians, or the Guardians of Childhood series.

He waited. Well, he paced the entirety of the house, but he waited. What else was he supposed to do? His dad had been acting weird lately, and now, he knew why.

Hiccup forced himself to sit down on the couch in the living room, his right knee still bouncing impatiently.

His mom was still alive. How was that even possible?

His mind just reeled at the mere thought. His mother was alive. All these years, and she hadn't died in some mysterious way. She'd just been...institutionalized? For some reason?

He shook his head. There were so many questions he was going to have to ask his dad.

His dad. Oh, was he gonna give it to him good when he got home. How dare he keep this from him! What was that all about, anyway? What kind of person lies about their mother being alive for 15 years?

He turned his head as he heard a rustling at the door and the doorknob rattle.

"Hiccup? You home?" he heard his father called out.

Hiccup sat perfectly still, narrowing his eyes and fixing a glare on Stoick as the large man set his coat on the rack hanging in the kitchen and turned toward the living room.

Stoick squinted, stepping into the room before reaching over and flipping on a light switch.

"What are ya doing sitting here in the dark?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, you know, just contemplating life," Hiccup replied, throwing his hands about dramatically, "and how it's always full of lies."

Stoick shook his head, rolling his eyes and taking a seat next to his son.

"Is there something ya need to tell me, Hiccup?"

Hiccup gritted his teeth. He was just going to sit here and pretend nothing was going on?

Hiccup stood up, turning around quickly and eyeing his father incredulously.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Dad?" he mocked.

Stoick eyed him right back.

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, clearly still confused.

Hiccup threw his hands up.

"Really? Really?" he cried out. "This has absolutely nothing to do with me, Dad. This is all you and you not telling me the truth."

Stoick's face hardened a moment, as though he suddenly knew what he was getting at. But Hiccup wasn't just going to stop there.

"You missed a call, Dad," he told him. "Some nice doctor-lady, works at a psychiatric hospital. Said that Mom is ready to come home? Does that ring any bells with you?!"

Stoick looked away, not saying anything.

Hiccup glared down at him.

"What were you gonna do?" he shouted. "Just show up here with Mom-SURPRISE! She's not dead?!"

"I never said she was dead," his father defended quietly.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, defending back,

"You never said she wasn't! Any time I asked about her, you shut me out, Dad! You never told me anything about her!"

"You were too young. You weren't ready-"

"What? And I'm still not?" Hiccup stepped over, looking his father in the eye. "I'm 16, Dad! I looked up- I looked up that hospital online. I know what schizophrenia is, Dad! You can't just keep me here, sheltering me from the world, telling me all these...these lies!"

Stoick finally looked back up at him, and Hiccup kept going.

"I'm going to find a way. I'm going to leave, and there's nothing you can do about it. Not now."

"Hiccup-" Stoick tried.

"It's too late for excuses," Hiccup told him bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Stoick ran a hand down his face.

"Will you at least…" he sighed heavily. "Just give it some time, please? Let your mother see you."

Hiccup faltered as his father looked up at him, looking on the verge of tears.

"They think she might do better if she has you in her life again," he continued. "Just stay a while longer...until we can figure this out. Please, son."

Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek. This wasn't going to work on him.

"How can you just-" he shook his head, finally just turning away. "Why couldn't you have told me sooner? I would've understood."

"I told you," Stoick replied, "you weren't ready."

"But I could've been!" Hiccup remarked, looking back. "I could've handled it!"

"Son…"

Hiccup bit his lip into a frown. Was this really the best he could do?

"I just…don't understand. Why couldn't you just tell me? Why did it have to be some big secret? Why?"

Stoick sighed.

"It's complicated," he told him. "I promise, someday, I'll explain, but… I just can't right now."

Hiccup glared.

"You still think I'm not ready for it?" he yelled. "Dad, you can't just string this out! If she's coming here- You either tell me everything or I'm not staying here anymore. I will leave the first chance I get!"

He glanced over, realizing he had stuck his hand out to point at the kitchen door. He was serious. He could easily just up and leave right now, if he really wanted. It wasn't like anything was holding him back, anyway, right?

"Alright, alright," Stoick put up his hands defensively. "Settle down."

He motioned to the seat on the couch next to him.

"Just...come 'ere," he told Hiccup. "Sit."

Hiccup was quiet, but he let his arms fall to his sides before stepping over to the couch and cautiously taking a seat. He didn't look at his father, but he was willing to listen to him.

Stoick took a deep breath, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Your mother…" he started, his voice already very raspy. "She was sick, okay? She was very, very sick, and I took little notice of that. She was always wandering off or staying in...sometimes for days at a time. I never really knew it was a problem until… Well, there was an accident. With you."

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows, glancing up at his dad.

"What?"

Stoick rubbed at his forehead, willing himself to keep going.

"I had come back from work late and she had left you down here, in the kitchen, all day, alone. You had gotten into something and cut yourself, just there," he reached out and pointed at Hiccup's chin, near his scar.

Hiccup's face fell. Is that why he'd always had that?

"When I had talked to Val about it…" Stoick continued, pulling away. "Well, I realized it wasn't the first time she'd left ya alone like that. I looked into what I had ta do. Thought about gettin' you a sitter at some point, but Val wouldn't have it. You were her son, she said. No one could take better care of you than her…"

He sighed again, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees.

"Ah, but, she didn't. She wasn't… She couldn't do that for you. So, I had to…send her off. She didn't go without a fight, though. Got me in the arm here," he pointed at the scar on his right arm a moment, "and under my eye, too…"

That was the scar Hiccup knew well. It always made his dad look more intimidating than he really was. At least, to him, it did.

"And she about got you in the head before Gobber finally helped me get her away. The doctors said she'd probably never be back, so…I figured, given the circumstances...you ought not ta know what had really happened. Why she was really gone, ya know?"

"Dad...I-" Hiccup felt his voice crack. He felt like crying. That was terrible, but...he had done it for him. Hiccup could have been hurt if his dad hadn't done that. He was just protecting him, like he's always doing-like he's always done.

"I understand that you want to go to the States, son," Stoick turned to him, solemn. "The world is so big and vast, and Berk is so very small… But I've been given a chance to get our family back-a chance I'd never thought I'd get-and I need you to help make that happen."

"I…" Hiccup choked. What could he even say now? "Thank you for telling me, Dad. Really. I mean, I still want to go and do the apprenticeship, but… I can stay. I mean, for now. At least until we figure it all out."

His father visibly deflated, sinking back into the couch.

"Thank you," he responded genuinely.

Hiccup reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, shooting his dad a quick smile.

"...see? I told you I was ready."

Stoick glanced over, letting out a small laugh.

"Heh, I guess you were right."

Hiccup sat back with his dad. Well, that went a whole lot better than he expected. Is this what happens when he actually demands answers from his father? Because, if so, he was going to have to do it more often...