Unintentional Hero

Author: Nightstar Fury of Nightstar Productions

Rated: M for a variety of things that will happen

Pairing: Hiccup/Astrid

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD

29: Schooled

When Hayden reached the his barrack, he was greeted with an uproar of cheering from Alpha Fire. It did feel good to be with them again and he was glad the tour was over and they were stationed in Berk. Only an hour from home, for him at least. Theo, and a few others from Basic were from Berk too. "Haddock, it's good to see you again." Theo greeted as he came over to hug him with a few pats on the back.

"Hey, Theo. Saved our bunk I see," Hayden chuckled a little.

"Always, kept up near the door this time." Theo nodded.

"Did ya take the DS job?" Jason asked curiously while Hayden jumped up on his bed to relax.

"I did, already put one of them in their place too!" Hayden remarked as he thought back to Dylan making the remark he had. Hayden couldn't believe those three of all people joined the military and he was stuck as their Drill Sergeant! Of course, he could have turned down the job if he wanted but he would need to kill time anyway so why not?

"How was leave?" Kyle Shaw smiled now from his bunk.

"Relaxing...and the best news was that the tour is over," Hayden sighed out.

"So...you feeling better? Weren't exactly looking the best before ya left." Theo looked at him now.

"I feel great, spent every night with Avery and get your minds outta the gutter...Not like that-well, not fully at least..." Hayden grinned a bit as all eyes were on him now. "Aren't gonna go to bed until I tell you, are you?" They shook their heads as he sat up and shook his head with a sigh. "We didn't have sex...but we did enjoy a little foreplay last night," Hayden said finally.

"Th'atta boy, Haddock!" the guys cheered out patting his back.

"Alright alright, chill out. It's late and I'm beat...And for the love of God, next time you see Avery...don't say anything that I told you because she'll kill me and I don't put it past her that she could either..." Hayden mumbled as he headed to the bathroom to change into his sleepwear before climbing back into bed and laying down on his back with his eyes closed but he glanced over and saw them still looking at him. "What?"

"Come on, Haddock...details!" Jason asked.

"No way. Private information right there," Hayden stated firmly now.

"Not even a little?" Theo asked with hope in his tone, Hayden sighed and shook his head. "Can ya at least tell us if you showed her why you're the man?" He grinned a little.

"How about I tell you this: we were lucky her parents were out of town for the night because she was begging for more at the top of her lungs," Silence a minute as he laid back down with his eyes closed waiting for it and then they were all cheering, hooting, and hollering at what he said. "Now go to bed," Hayden added and they slowly calmed down and eventually made it to their beds. The lights were flipped off as Hayden fell asleep about ten minutes later: tomorrow started another ten weeks of Basic where he was the Drill Sergeant of twenty others and three of them were people he knew from school. What joy for him to have to be in command of his two main bullies.

(The Next Morning)

As normal, Hayden woke up at the crack of dawn-actually it was even before that for he woke up at 4:30am to go running like always. He changed into his sweats and hit the track: he would run half the mile then jog the other half and he always did this twice to make it a total of two miles before walking around the track once and returning to the barrack as the others were getting up and preparing for the day. Being it was now 5am, Hayden went right to E barrack to see most of them just waking up or still asleep. He grinned at the memories. "Rise and shine boys and girls! It 0500 and time to shower and get ready. Girls can shower first since there are only about six of you, then the guys. Be ready in thirty minutes." Hayden commanded, at first they groaned then stepped quickly to get ready.

"Yes Drill Sergeant." they replied-all but two of them at least and Hayden knew specifically which two didn't: Ethan and Dylan-who Hayden was absolutely sure were going to give him the most trouble. This was fine because he'd give it right back. Hayden noticed Heather looking a little embarrassed, or maybe she was worried.

"Something wrong, Lanvik?" Hayden asked.

"N-No, Drill Sergeant...just um...I...kind'a got my period last night and I...bled through so I don't want to...walk past all them to the bathroom..." Heather looked down sheepishly, "And I...don't have any tampons...I forgot to grab them..." she added.

"Wait here!" Hayden told her as he left the barrack. He returned about ten minutes later with a bag and handed it to her, "That should get your through until the next time you visit the supply closet. I'll have someone come in to change the sheets for you-now come along. I'll lead you to the bathroom," Hayden said. She nodded, getting up as Hayden stayed right behind her until she reached the bathroom then he returned to the door and stood there waiting until 5:30am when thankfully all of them were out and ready. "Let's move. Every morning will begin this way: at 0500 which is five in the morning. You will learn military time in the next few weeks-basically it's a the twenty-four hour clock. Your training is all day, every day and split into three phases. Green, Black, and White. I will explain these more after the Physical Training-which you are beginning right now so follow me."

Without a hassle-shockingly, they followed him outside. "In order to move forward from this point and to graduate in ten weeks you are required to be able to pass Physical Training. Which is a set amount of sit ups, push ups, and a two mile run in a certain amount of time. You get graded on your time, and performance this is something you will do every single morning until boot camp is over. Now," He looked at them firmly. "It is not the same for everyone. So I need you to separate into two groups. Males and females who are between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one step to the left. Ages twenty-two to twenty-six, to the right." Hayden ordered. They split apart and waited for more orders.

"Morning, Lieutenant. Came out to see if you needed any help?" Theo asked.

"Who you got with you?" Hayden asked.

"Tarelto, Shaw, Palmer, and Sanchez," Theo motioned as each of them came up.

"Well, we're about to do PT. Here is how this is gonna go: Men ages seventeen to twenty-one, you will have two minutes to complete thirty-five push ups. Two minutes to do forty-seven sit ups. And then run two miles in sixteen minutes and thirty-six seconds. Women in the same age group...You have two minutes to do thirteen push ups, two minutes to do forty-seven sit ups, and run two miles in nineteen minutes and forty-two seconds." Hayden commanded.

"And for us, Drill Sergeant?" asked one of the girls from the right side where the older recruits were.

"Males: Thirty-one push ups, forty-three sit ups, then seventeen minutes and thirty second two mile run. Females: Eleven push ups, forty-three sit ups, and twenty minutes and thirty-six second two mile runs," Shaw answered now.

"Let's get started! You wanna eat breakfast on time at 6:30am you'll hurry up!" Hayden stated. It took a few moments but they all got ready as Hayden had his friends get ready to time each section out. Hayden walked around watching them all. He noticed the girls having more trouble with push ups. "You girls have twenty-two less push ups than the guys, this should be easy." Hayden stated.

"It's hard...girls aren't known for their strength in the arms..." Heather panted as she flopped to the ground.

"If you positioned your arms better, you wouldn't have so much force to hold up when going down," Hayden said flatly.

"Come on, Drill Sergeant. They've never had to do this before..." came the voice of one of the men who had finished his push ups already.

"Fair point, I'll show you once and then you have to do the rest from now on." Hayden said as he moved to the spot near the girls and got down positioning himself for push ups. "Keep your arms straight, if you angle them you'll slip. Keep your back angles slightly that way when you go down it will straight out. Feet together." He showed them while doing one push up as an example. It wasn't Hayden's style to just leave them hanging: he remembered how hard it was when he started.

"Like he could handle ten before getting tired..." Dylan said.

"Actually, the Lieutenant can do forty push ups, thirty sit ups, and a two mile run in under twenty minutes." Zackary Palmer chuckled.

"And seriously, don't disrespect your Drill Sergeant because he can make the next ten weeks hell for you!" Jason added with a nod.

"How can he do all that? I can't even do twenty push ups in ten minutes, let alone all that in twenty minutes..." asked another one of the recruits.

"Because I train every day. Every morning, I'm up at 4:30am doing a two mile run, one mile walk, twenty-five push ups and fifteen sit ups." Hayden remarked standing up now. No one really said anything else as the PT continued and Hayden just watched, or jogged slightly ahead of them when they started to get tired and it was comical to watch Ethan and Dylan get tired before the first mile was over. "Come on boys! Pick up the pace!" Hayden coached. By 6:45am, everyone finished by then as they stood before Hayden panting heavily. "Not bad, you'll get your scores by the end of the day. Now change up and get to the hall for breakfast. We're moving into drill and marching commands afterwards. Dismissed." He then walked away.

(A Week Later)

Their scores were finally where they needed to be for PT and today they were working with the rubber duck guns, the fake ones to learn how to hold and fire before using a real one. Hayden passed them out and continued the lesson. So far they'd learned the Soldier's Creed, and the seven army values, they learned how to use the radios and proper commands to use the radios for. Their drill and marching had improved too. Also proper first aid from simple wounds to full tourniquets. It hadn't been easy either but he managed to get them to do it without a problem. "What the heck are these?" Ethan asked when handed his fake gun.

"It's a rubber duck as we call it. It's a fake gun to teach you how to hold and fire the real ones," Hayden remarked.

"We don't need these, it's not that hard to fire a gun..." Dylan huffed. Hayden arched a brow. He might enjoy this way more than he should as his phone rang-he saw it was Avery, he answered it and saw her face come on screen.

"Hey Beautiful. In the middle of training, what's up?" Hayden asked with a smile.

"Sorry, Rachel harassed me to call you so she could ask if Ethan is surviving Basic. Have you seen him?"

"Yep, he's right here actually with Dylan. I'm their Drill Sergeant-and right now they are about to get schooled on not being cocky assholes with the guns because they think they know more than me," Hayden replied then turned his look on the boys making sure the camera was facing them, "Alright. Show me then since you seem to know more than me obviously," Hayden invited him as he grabbed for one of the real rifles and tossed it to him.

"HEY! Be careful with that, it could fire and hurt someone!" Ethan panicked, catching it.

"The safety is on, it wouldn't have fired. Let's see you show me how to take the safety off, load it, position it and fire at the target?" Hayden said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Pfft, easy." Ethan said as Hayden tossed a gun to Dylan too.

"You too, since you both seem to think it's so easy," Hayden added. The two of them searched the guns for the safety switch and after five minutes found it, they had trouble loading them, and Hayden fought back laughter when he saw how they positioned themselves. Oh Gods, this shouldn't be this amusing because they could actually hurt their shoulders this way but sometimes he liked to step back and let Karma do her job. Hayden watched as the two get ready to fire, "By the way...If you miss that bulls eye then you're both doing twenty-five push ups," he added, keeping the amusement from his voice. Both of them looked at one another nervously before firing and they were pushed back from the force and fell on their butts. The rest of the group laughed a little.

"Oh shut up...Like any of you could do it..." Ethan mumbled, embarrassed.

"You wouldn't have been pushed back if you were positioned properly. They were waiting for instructions but you two decided you think you know more so I let you do it. Now maybe you'll take the rubber duck gun and shut up so you can learn how to do it the right way!" Hayden said calmly. "How many times do I have to tell you that this isn't a game-it's real and messing up the way you did can cost someone their life. I know you two think you're strong, smart, and can handle this but you know nothing about it. Quit being cocky and start paying attention, or I will fail you both!" Hayden warned them

"Pfft, you boys are in for it. Did you forget that Hayden used his gun as a baseball bat with a grenade?" Avery chuckled out. Ethan and Dylan mumbled something about Hayden being cocky now.

"Just because you're the Drill Sergeant doesn't mean you know more than us. You probably couldn't handle the gun at sixteen when you did this..." Dylan stated.

"You're right. I didn't: first time I ever shot a gun, it knocked me on my ass. However, I never let it happen again. You can ask DS Ramirez to confirm that for you," Hayden stated as he took away the two guns.

"I heard my name. Talking about the best DS around, aren't ya Haddock?" DS Ramirez chuckled.

"You mean toughest, loudest, and made me want to punch more times than once Drill Sergeant? Than yeah, I'm talking about you," Hayden snickered.

"Oh come on, I wasn't that bad was it?" DS Ramirez asked.

"You made me do fifty push ups day one because Holgerson fucked up my blanket by accident? And then another fifty when the gun knocked me back, also sit ups and a run..." Hayden mumbled, "That's the story I was telling these two about. So why not pay attention when I teach? What if this was a life or death situation!? Your little stunt would of just gotten your entire squad killed if you missed the enemy who was holding a grenade,"

"Well these are just fake guns! And this is only practice, it's not a life or death situation!" Ethan argued, Hayden grinned now as he pulled a grenade from his vest and yanked the pin out with his teeth and holding it there.

"It is now. Five. Four," He continued counting.

"Take cover!" DS Ramirez shouted as the others quickly scrambled to hide behind something sturdy.

"Oh come on guys, its just a dummy grenade!" Dylan shook his head sighing, Hayden tossed it towards the forest line with his arms crossed over his chest then not more than two seconds later there was a loud explosion. Ethan and Dylan hit the ground as a tree fell to the ground behind Hayden.

Now calm as ever and the pin still in his mouth, "Whose the dummy now?" he spit it out glaring at them. "I told you boys, this ain't no game. You fuck up and someone dies,"

"So he got pushed back too?" Heather asked as the others returned being it was safe.

"And he never let it happen again. Let me give ya a few little fun facts on Lieutenant Haddock. During Basic, no matter what: if he messed up, he never made the same mistake twice. Haddock was quiet, never said much unless being talked to by a Drill Sergeant or with his friends. He paid attention, and he excelled in everything he did. He took charge when he wasn't supposed to, the others in his squadron always looked to him for answers and leadership in any exercise, and he always stayed cautious to observe any and all situations before making a move. He's a fast learner, and an even faster thinker. And hell if he doesn't have 100% shooter accuracy. You wanna learn how to become a soldier, he's the man to learn from. After all, he was promoted directly to Sergeant from the rank of Private on his BCT graduation day," DS Ramirez informed them.

"So right now, he could hit the target without even trying?" Someone asked.

"If he doesn't, I'll make him do fifty push ups right in front of you. Do it, Haddock!" DS Ramirez said tossing the gun at him. Hayden caught it with one hand as he tossed Tarelto his phone who turned it so Avery could watch as Hayden took off the safety, locked and loaded it, took a kneel position then aimed and fired at one target. Being it was automatic, he kept going as slowly the others watched him shoot bullets into the target in the shape of a middle finger. Just to be an ass he stood up with a grin as he slung the gun over his shoulder. He pulled his pistol and fired at the bulls eye without even looking. He put it back and stood with his arms over his chest. "As I said, you want to become a soldier...listen to him." DS Ramirez blinked a bit, he didn't know Hayden could do that.

"My Soldier Man...Have I ever told you it's wicked hot when you're in uniform like that? And Gods, when you hold that gun..." Avery swooned as Hayden chuckled at her.

"Easy does it there, Sky Eyes. Remember that I'm an hour away and can't leave base right now to entertain you," Hayden reminded her.

"You suck...Can't you sneak off for an hour?" Avery huffed, Hayden knew exactly what she wanted.

"Maybe later on," Hayden said.

"Haddock..." DS Ramirez warned.

"I was kidding, sir. Come on, I never break the rules..." he mentioned while he saw Avery's pout: he winked at her and she beamed. Hayden heard his friends start snickering and glared at them as they shut up. then turned a glare on Ethan and Dylan. "Let's get one thing straight you two...I don't care how much you don't like me for whatever reason you have-I doubt I'll ever know and frankly I don't give a damn. But you joined this military and it's my job to make you soldiers who defend the Archipelago from danger. I've just about had it with your cocky attitudes towards me. If you'd shut up and listen, pay attention, and apply what I teach you then you might actually do well. As of right now you two are the only two who have the lowest marks. You got eight weeks left, and if you fail then you repeat the entire ten weeks with me again. I am your Drill Sergeant, I am your commanding officer so you better just fucking listen or I will make your lives hell. I've been to war twice, and trained three other BCT groups. I know what I'm doing-you don't. Now if you two are done doubting my ability to shoot a gun, or do anything for that matter...we got work to do." Hayden stated. "But before I forget...I did say if you missed the target you'd be doing push ups, and for disobeying me, I'm adding more: so drop and give me thirty on the double! I'll call you later babe. Ericksen and Lanvik will survive Basic if they learn to shut up and follow instructions instead of giving me a hard time about the fact I'm their age and ranked so much higher in only three years time," Hayden said.

"Okay, love you baby." Avery blew a kiss at him as he hung up the phone as Ethan and Dylan just mumbled and did what they were told: afterwards and without another argument the lesson continued.