A Purpose Found
Pairing; TroyXHayden(ToothlessXHiccup)
Rating; M for Mature
Disclaimer; I do not own anything HTTYD related! Or any songs I may or may not use!
Twenty-One:
=Troy's POV=
(March 29, 2020-12:20 am)
[Archian Outpost; Sector Myrkur]
Immediately after arriving at the base, Hayden was taken straight to Section M's CMC(Company Medical Center). I went with him, of course while Seymour, the next resident Lance Corporal for Inferno Platoon stayed to explain things to Commander Bludvist. It's going on 12:30 am as I'm sitting next to Hayden's bed and watching the medics do their job to remove Hayden's outer coat and lift up his shirt to see the damage. It appeared that Hayden got stabbed in the side, and a bullet grazed his arm. Hayden had passed out on the chopper ride, but I guess I couldn't blame him. Hayden got hurt, and was exhausted from lack of sleep. One of the lead doctors and some helping nurses cleaned away the blood and began to stitch Hayden up, then they left him to rest. I didn't think I'd ever been so scared when I saw Hayden making his way towards us and then Theodore announced Hayden was hurt.
"Don't worry; he'll be fine and back on his feet by tomorrow," the nurse offered.
"I know, thank you," I replied calmly as he put his hand on Hayden's, then kissed his boyfriend's knuckles. I suppose there wasn't anything more I could do this evening but try to get some sleep myself; I relaxed in the chair the best I could and closed my eyes, but my hand didn't let go of Hayden's. Slowly, I began to drift off and knock out.
. . .
(March 30, 2020-9 am)
I woke up groggily and blinked a few times while adjusting to the light around me. I suddenly remembered I was in the CMC and had fallen asleep there last night after Hayden got hurt on the rescue mission. I sat up after realizing that I had slept hunched over while still holding Hayden's hand; I saw that Hayden was still asleep. I rubbed my eyes a little and yawned.
"Ah, good morning, Private Raseri," I heard a familiar voice say. I looked at the bed to my left and saw Lieutenant Hunters there, sitting up and awake.
"Sir; it's nice to you're alright. Didn't you get sent to the Combat Hospital?" I inquired.
"Yes, but as my surgery didn't take long and I was responded well a few hours later; they moved me over to CMC around 0500 hours," Kristopher informed.
"What time is it now?" I wondered.
"0900," Kristopher replied. Shit, had I slept that long? And Hayden was still out? "What happened last night?"
"It's kind of a blur to me," I admitted, then started explaining things from when Hayden sent Shield Team with Spear and Axe to extraction, then Sword and Strike came to retrieve Fang, Claw, and Wing. I told him everything. "And then after the grenade line; we couldn't find Hayden until he came walking out three minutes later and was hurt. A graze on the right arm, and stab on the left side,"
"So Hayden saved the entire platoon?" Kristopher questioned as I nodded. "I knew I made the right choice in naming him my second in command," the man smiled. I heard groaning to my right as I quickly looked at Hayden's stirring figure.
"Hayden?!" I asked quickly. Hayden's eyes opened slowly and glanced around, then his green eyes fell on me as he smiled softly. "Oh, thank the Gods! You have no idea how worried I've been about you,"
"I-I'm okay. I got held back in the smoke, and got stabbed from someone behind on the side. I got away, but then a shot fired and it caused the graze," Hayden revealed.
"You could barely walk," I sighed.
"It was the smoke, Troy. I inhaled way too much and went into a coughing fit, by the time I made it out; my lungs and chest were killing me," Hayden informed. I leaned over and kissed his forehead, still holding his hand.
"I'm just grateful you're okay," I admitted with some relief.
"I had a feeling there was something going on between you two," Kristopher stated as Hayden and I looked at him nervously. "You can tell me the truth,"
"Troy and I have been dating since July 2019," Hayden enlightened.
"Don't worry; you're not in trouble. The military doesn't care about your sexual orientation or if you date someone within your own platoon as long as you're not breaking any rules and it's not getting in the way of doing your duty," Kristopher remarked.
"So it's okay if we hold hands and kiss other than on date nights?" I wondered as Kristopher arched a brow.
"Once a month, Troy and I stay behind in the barrack instead of going to the Chow Hall and have a breakfast, lunch, or dinner date; we usually base it on if we have a guard, patrol, or mission," Hayden explained.
"Ah. Then yes, it's okay. I'm sure you know that you two aren't allowed to make out in public, though, and no form of any intimacy while deployed," Kristopher stared.
"We assumed as much, and no worried anyway; we aren't at that stage in our relationship," I mentioned.
"Then you two are perfectly fine. Just be mindful of others," Kristopher nodded.
"We will. Thank you, Lieutenant Hunters," Hayden replied.
"It doesn't offend you, right?" I inquired, Kristopher shook his head with a chuckle. "Then I don't don't feel bad about doing this," I grinned as before Hayden could say anything, I leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Hayden's face lit up, but he ended up melting into it. The kiss held until I heard someone clear their throat; I pulled back and glanced over to see the members of Inferno there, and Commander Bludvist.
"Well, I guess it's out now," Kristopher laughed a bit.
"Hah, told you they were dating!" Harry announced as the rest of the platoon groaned and Donovan even chuckled and shook his head.
"How long have you known?" I asked Harry.
"Since the day we arrived when you kissed Hayden's forehead before he went to sleep," Harry smirked.
"We had our suspicions over the last seven months when you two stay behind in the barrack once a month, sometimes more," Stacy giggled.
"But it was apparent last night when you carried Hayden to the chopper, and refused to leave his side all night. We all came in here at 0600 when Lieutenant Hunters was moved; you were holding Hayden's hand and hunched over on the bed," Eira informed.
"And before you ask, no. None of us mind or care as long you're both happy," Andrew informed.
"Good to see you're awake, Staff Sergeant Haddock," Donovan stepped forward. "I wanted to come by and personally tell you job well done on the rescue last night. Not exactly protocol, but you did great,"
"Thank you, Commander, but I couldn't have done it without Troy," Hayden admitted.
"How so?" Kristopher wondered.
"After we all regrouped and were pinned; I was terrified of making a move and having something go wrong. Troy is the one who helped me face that fear by reminding me that sometimes you gotta screw protocol and trust a split-second, last resort decision even if it seems a bit crazy," Hayden stated.
"Hey, you did fine, babe. All I did was make you remember what you did when I was in trouble on the mountainside. The rest was all you because protective instinct kicked in. And somehow, the only one who ended up hurt in that idea was you," I kissed Hayden's cheek as he blushed a bit.
"How'd you come up with that anyway?" Theodore inquired.
"We had nowhere to run but straight ahead, but we were blocked by enemies. I figured it was dark and if we used flashers to surprise and blind them, then blasters; they wouldn't have time recover while we bolted through the smoke. The plan wouldn't have worked if it were daytime," Hayden shrugged. "I try to always have a last-minute idea on reservation, but when we got pinned; I got scared of everything that could go wrong and held off executing it,"
"Anyone would have been rightfully afraid in that situation, Sergeant Haddock. Any person can act strong, but the strongest of them all are the ones who admit when they are scared and need help because they don't know what to do. That's what you did. What makes a real leader is when they listen to others around them and overcome fear as a team. There can't be a team without a leader, and there can't be a leader without a team. Always remember that you are stronger when you stand together as one," Donovan informed.
"That's right. Marines stand next to one another; they never stand alone. We always do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. As far as I'm concerned; you did everything you were supposed to last night, Sergeant Haddock," Kristopher added in.
"And with that said; we'll get out of here so the medic can check you over," Donovan smiled. Moments later, Inferno Platoon and Commander Bludvist left the CMC as I hugged my boyfriend.
"I told you that you could do it," I winked as we kissed again. Kristopher chuckled and shook his had at the sight, then the medic came over to see how Hayden's wounds were healing. I know for me; I'm glad my boyfriend is awake, alright, and now, we don't have to hide our relationship!
. . .
[Berk; Gabriel's Apartment]
=Normal POV=
(Tuesday, April 7th, 2020-6:45 pm)
Unfortunately, Gabriel's secret about living on Berk came out when Avery had pulled him over for going ten over the speed limit. Gabriel admitted he was only in a rush because Hayden had called, but Gabriel's phone died when Hayden was trying to tell Gabriel that something had happened. Avery mentioned it to Spencer later on at the station that she pulled Gabriel over, and his license address was for a Berk residence. This only caused a chain reaction for Spencer and Vivian to ask why Gabriel moved to Berk, and Gabriel coming up with a lie saying that it was Hayden's apartment, and Gabriel was just living there until Hayden's tour was over. The Haddock parents bought it and somehow; it turned them and the former friends coming over because Gabriel got word that Hayden had been hurt, but never told how bad on April 2nd. Here it was the 7th, and Hayden managed to message Gabriel and let him know that he was going to call tonight as soon as the guard was over so to be waiting. This just so happened to be the night Spencer and Vivian showed with the friends who all wanted answers on why Gabriel didn't say anything sooner.
"You said he would call," Vivian reminded.
"And he will, Viv; just relax. You shouldn't even be here; I don't know why I let you in," Gabriel rolled his eyes. Thank the Gods he had gotten a message back to Hayden that everyone was over, and Gabriel was playing it off that this apartment was Hayden's. Gabriel had his laptop hooked up to the TV and Skype was signed in. Hayden's offline dot turned to green around 6:50 pm, then a box to accept or decline a call popped up. "See, there he is," Gabriel clicked the green video button, and sat back to wait for the call to connect and load.
"Hi, Uncle Gabe," Hayden greeted.
"Hey, laddie. You doing alright over there?" Gabriel asked.
"I'm still alive," Hayden chuckled.
"Not funny, Hayden. I almost had a heart attack when I got a call from your Lieutenant that you were hurt on a mission. You allowed to talk about it?" Gabriel wondered.
"It was just a rescue gone horribly wrong," Hayden sighed.
"How bad were you injured, son?" Spencer asked.
"Nothing I'm unable to heal from, Dad. Relax a little; I was trained to handle combat situations," Hayden rolled his eyes.
"What happened, kiddo?" Gabriel questioned.
"Short version; the Inferno Platoon was sent out as a whole to rescue two pinned down teams. LT got shot and went unconscious, and you know my rank permits me to take his place as Platoon Leader. I inhaled too much smoke and got a little disorientated. I was stabbed in the side from behind, then got grazed on the arm. I made it back to the others and some time on the flight back, I lost consciousness," Hayden informed.
"Don't sugarcoat it, Hayden! You saved our asses!" someone yelled as Hayden facepalmed.
"Did you really?" Fisher asked curiously.
"He sure did. Hayden got the entire platoon to safety by himself," another voice chuckled.
"I did not do it by myself, guys," Hayden remarked.
"It was your idea!" the males yelled back. There was a groan as Hayden looked behind him to one of the men trying to sleep.
"Keep your voices down it's almost 2200, and Troy is trying to sleep because he doesn't feel good," Hayden reminded.
"Sorry, Staff Sergeant Haddock," the males replied.
"Troy?" Spencer blinked. "Troy is as in Director Raseri's son Troy?"
"Mmhm. You didn't know? Troy and I joined together; he convinced me to sign up with him, and I figured why not? It's not like I had anything else going for me. Troy and I are friends, more than that even," Hayden stated. Spencer and Vivian blinked, so did the former friends. "How else do you think I knew you were told the truth about my profile being hacked and that I got framed at Barbarian Burger? Troy got his father to look into both matters, and I asked before Boot Camp started in January if he would be kind enough to let you know since you didn't want to believe me when I tried to tell you months prior that I didn't do it," he added.
"That means Director Raseri has known where you are the entire time we thought you we missing," Vivian stood quickly.
"Yes, and you will leave him alone about it. I moved when I was eighteen, and he was under no obligation to tell you my whereabouts. I didn't go far; you're literally standing in my apartment," Hayden enlightened. "Anyway, I better get going. We just got off a twelve-hour guard, and I'm beat. Don't harass Dustin, or Uncle Gabriel; I will know if you do. Talk to you soon, love you, goodnight," Hayden ended the call before anyone could ask anything.
"Wow, so the Director of Archipelago Law Enforcement has known where Hayden is since November 2018, and Hayden is friends with his oldest son…Didn't see that coming," Tyler said casually.
"Indeed, now will you all get out? I've gotta clean things up and get some sleep as I have work tomorrow," Gabriel ushered them. With no arguments, and most still in shock about the information received; the Haddock parents and ex-friends exited the apartment, and left the area. Gabriel let out a sigh of relief as he messaged Hayden.
They left, call me bk :p {Sent/Delivered; 7:13 pm}
Sure enough, second after the message showed Read; 7:14 pm, Hayden called back on Skype. "I owe you for saying this is your apartment," Gabriel breathed out in gratitude.
"No problem, Uncle Gabe. So, how's your night going?" Hayden asked with a smile. And from there; Hayden and Gabriel continued to talk about how things have been. Hayden gave Gabriel the full story about how he got hurt, and explained why he started providing more information about what happened after he moved out of his parent's house. Hayden said it had to do with preparing himself to tell them everything when he got home, and this would lessen the explanation if he did parts of it at different times. Gabriel could argue with that logic, and then around 8:10 pm; Hayden decided he needed to actually get some sleep, so the two said goodnight to one another and that was it for the evening.