Change Of Heart
Pairing; Hector & Briana(Hiccup X OC)
Rating; M for Mature
Disclaimer; I do not own HTTYD or the songs I might use.
37. Remove A Mark
{Normal POV}
{The Next Day}
Aside from the few times that Hector woke up to puke; he remained asleep on the couch in the living room with Briana close by all day long, and through the night. Glenn left because he felt assured that Hector would be okay with so many others watching him. Plus, Glenn had work at 5 am, so he needed to get to his apartment and rest as well. Briana and Jeremy were the two main people keeping a watch on Hector. Victor, Ryder, Ethan, and Derek were in the basement. Sawyer, Aaron, Dimitri, and Kayne in their rooms. Toothless slept at the base of the couch, also monitoring his human friend. The other friends returned to their homes since there just wasn't enough room for everyone to be at Hector's place. Also, they assumed that Hector wouldn't want to wake up to find everyone there and wondering if he was okay or not. The matter was discussed when the friends were sure Hector was out; all of them were in agreement not to talk about anything that happened, and let Hector recall it on his own. The current time was 7:45 am as Hector was still sleeping.
"You think he'll remember anything?" Derek wondered.
"I hope not. I've seen Hector annoyed, pissed, upset, happy," Ryder started slowly.
"But never wholly depressed and enraged like yesterday," Victor finished his brother's train of thought.
"I cant say I blame the anger; he did find out his parents were murdered by the group of people who are after him. Also, Hector learned that the Chief of Police knew the car was tampered with," Aaron remarked.
"Still, Aaron; that raw emotion almost drove him over the edge if not for Briana realizing what Hector would do if he left this house," Kayne mentioned.
"And now we know that Rex wasn't captured," Jeremy sighed. There was a knock on the sliding door to the right of Dimitri as those who were in the living room were able to see that the friends had come over to check on Hector. Ethan unlocked it, then pulled the door open quietly with a finger to his lips.
"Hector's still sleeping?" Shane questioned.
"The last Hector was awake was around 2 am when he threw up five times," Briana informed while stroking Hector's hair. "Where is Thaxter, Cassandra, and Alexia today?"
"Cassie had to clean her room, then look for a part-time job. Alexia is helping her mom, and Thax has to work until 1 pm," TJ enlightened.
"Dimitri. What are we going to do about Hector being a target?" Sawyer inquired. "Serious business here; Hector's right. The guy has had three attempts on his life since last November. It's June now; seven months since he got out of juvie,"
"Rex has probably had people on Hector since his seventeenth birthday in the face of it," Dimitri rubbed his forehead. "There is no guarantee that Rex knows Hector talked during questioning in May 2016. However, Hector did stop Rex's ambush; the one that was meant to take us out,"
"So you're saying that Hector has been walking around with a target on his back for over a year?" Harper questioned.
"It's very possible, and more than likely the case. You have to figure that after Hector cornered Rex at the warehouse; Hector was still with us all the time, so it would have been impossible for Rex to get any guys close to taking Hector out. However, then Hector got arrested, and locked up for five months. Rex needed us out of the way to get at Hector because he knew we weren't around Hector to protect him. The attempted hit and run was when again?" Derek asked with his arms over his chest.
"December 2016, A week before Christmas," Alyssa informed.
"That was what? A month after Hector started at Berk Isle?" Victor wondered.
"Correct," Flynn nodded.
"Rex has been watching him, probably since he was released from juvie; waiting for a moment to order a strike. Hector mentioned this attack to his father?" Dimitri looked at the friends.
"I believe so, but we don't know for sure. I assume yes because Hector mentioned that his parents and Glenn insisted he has a form of protection after his birthday, which is when Hector said he got the gun, right?" Harper asked.
"Yes. Hector told us that Glenn gave his father the idea, and Hector said to us about the hit and run when we met up again, and that he was armed for self-defense," Kayne remarked.
"All that aside because times don't matter; how do we stop it? Hector will never heal from all this until he's safe, and we all know that. As long as there's a target on his back; Hector can't live free or happy, and that's why he wants to die so badly," Briana said firmly now. "There has to be something,"
"In most cases; two gangs can work out an agreement regarding the product, turf, and customers to keep peace and from members of opposite sides killing one another," Aaron explained.
"Can't we talk to Rex then?" Ethan suggested.
"As I said; most cases. This isn't a product, turf, or customer matter. Hector stopped a full assault by himself, then cornered Rex with a gun to his head; threatening to shoot him if the guy ever came near us again with the intent to harm or kill. This is a revenge mark," Aaron sighed.
"What does…that mean?" Harper asked.
"Revenge marks are placed on targets who pose a threat to that gang. This mark means that as soon the chance is available, they will kill the person with the tag. Typically, the only way to remove the score is for the person to be dead. However, Sons of Odin play the game differently; they'll drive someone to kill themselves for the satisfaction of seeing it happen, and keeping their hands clean. In this situation, the hit and run failed, so they went after Hector's parents, and as you've seen; little by little, they've been trying to back Hector into a corner," Derek sighed.
"To make him end his own life because he's sick of living with the mark on his back," Briana looked down.
"Hector isn't a threat to Sons of Odin, though; he was only protecting you all," Rylee interjected.
"Aye, but Hector immobilized, knocked out, and tied up everyone in that warehouse before making himself known to Rex. And he did it by himself. Hector was seventeen, and took down fully grown men alone using stealth without killing. Hector is an observer, and has particular skill sets as you've seen. Hector is a very dangerous adversary to enemy gangs, and they all know it. Rex, though, doesn't take lightly to that," Ryder explained.
"Hang on, let me ask something here. First off, why were you associating with these guys? And secondly, why did they set up an ambush to kill all of you?" Shane wondered.
"Sons of Odin is one of the first gangs formed, dating way back. It was believed that they had the most significant network regarding drugs and weapons. As we warned Hector before he came, these guys didn't play around, and it was rare if they would ally with any of the smaller gangs," Sawyer began to say.
"We managed to set up a meeting to work together because they contacted us. Hector was running late, so we left him a note where to find us, and we left. The meeting was going as any ally deal would, but Hector uncovered the truth by arriving late. Hector overheard some of the members talking about how we were foolish enough to think we'd want to become allies; all of it was a setup so they could wipe us off the map because we have the best product around, and a pretty big ring ourselves," Dimitri closed his eyes.
"So I hid out in the shadows to take care of everyone preparing for the attack. I tied them up, took their weapons, then waited for my moment to tell Rex that it wasn't happening," Hector's voice cut through as they all looked at him quickly.
"Thank the Gods you're awake finally," Briana smiled lightly as Hector sat up slowly and put a hand to his head, which was pounding. "How do you feel?"
"I'll let you know when I finish waking up," Hector muttered. "Why are we talking about my seventeenth birthday?"
"Briana wanted to know how-," Jeremy started as Victor elbowed him in the side quickly.
"How you managed to save our lives that night; why Rex hates you so much," Sawyer informed.
"Tch," Hector got to his feet, then closed his eyes while slowly walking to the bathroom; he stopped only a moment to glance at them. "Rex wants me dead because he's a sore loser who got his ass beat by a seventeen-year-old and was powerless to stop it," then he vanished around the corner.
"What was that for?" Jeremy grumbled, rubbing his side.
"Hector doesn't need to know what we were talking about because it will only make him mad if he finds out we're trying to help him. You know that if we get involved in revenge marks it could mean war. I don't need to remind you that Hector got pissed when those guys showed up and opened fire around them and us, so we're not gonna tell him anything," Victor huffed.
"Briana especially," Ethan added.
"Pretty sure Hector will go on a murderous rampage if anything happens to any of us by them," Derek shrugged. The bathroom door opened as Hector came out and plopped back on the couch with his eyes closed.
"Drank a little too much yesterday?" Aaron chuckled.
"Wasn't a good day," Hector mumbled, then he looked at Briana. "Did I fall asleep on you after getting sick?"
"You did, but it's okay; I didn't mind," Briana replied.
"And I fell asleep to you singing?" Hector wondered.
"Yeah, you kind of asked me to," Briana nodded.
"I thought I dreamed that. Was the thing you helped me with inside the bathroom a dream too?" Hector asked curiously as all eyes were suddenly on her as her face flushed with embarrassment.
"No, that actually happened," Briana squeaked out.
"Well, in case I didn't say it yesterday; thank you," Hector shot her a grateful smile.
"Mmhm, y-you're welcome," Briana managed. "Are you hungry?"
"A little, yeah. Why? You gonna cook for me?" Hector inquired.
"I was gonna try to," Briana muttered looking down.
"I think you'll do fine," Hector winked as Briana left the living room and entered the kitchen.
"What thing in the bathroom?" TJ said first.
"None of your business," Hector retorted coldly. "And it wasn't anything sexual, so get your minds outta the gutter," he added. Hector's eyes landed on the bottle of Jack Daniels, then he leaned forward to pick it up. "I know this was full the other day; I drink all that?"
"Yes, and straight too. Scared us, lad. Thought we might have to take you to the hospital," Dimitri mentioned.
"Sorry," Hector patted down his pockets and found the cap, then twisted it on the bottle. Toothless sat up and nuzzled Hector's face lovingly. "Hiya, pal," Hector rubbed the sides of his face, earning a purr from the panther. "What happened yesterday?" he finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Alyssa questioned.
"I remember having a beer, and fixing my bike. I grabbed a shower, and all of you were gone. Everything kind'a blanks out after that," Hector told them.
"You must have started drinking to cure your boredom. We all went to the mall," Harper stated.
"And we went to the city for a meeting with Xavier," Kayne informed.
"Huh," Hector sat back to relax now.
"What is it, Hector?" Jeremy wondered.
"Nothing, I guess. I just…feel like something else happened, but I can't remember what. I know it was bad, and I started drinking to relax," Hector shrugged. "Maybe it'll come to me later when I start working on mom's car," the others tensed a little. That's what got Hector hyped up, was finding out that his parent's car was tampered with, and they were murdered by Sons of Odin. The friends were confident that Hector would recall what went down if he began working on the car.
"Why don't you hold off on it a bit longer, Hector?" Ryder suggested.
"What for? I'm not gonna do anything big today; just look at it and work on the smaller fixes," Hector enlightened.
"You should wait," Flynn put a finger up.
"Again, why? I don't have school, or a job right now. I've got the free time to get it running, so I'm gonna do that," Hector responded, not understanding why they were trying to deter him from what he wanted to do.
"You only just went before the graves, and the car a week later might be too much at once. You have to give things time to settle," Alyssa mentioned.
"I appreciate you looking out for me guys, and girls, but really, I'll be okay," Hector remarked.
"Work on it another day, Hector," Aaron said now.
"Alright, what gives? For some reason; you all don't want me working on my mom's car. Does it have to do with why I can't remember anything about yesterday because I got blackout drunk?" Hector stood now. Briana walked into the room now holding a water bottle and plate of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese in them, some toast on the side. Briana shot them a look that clearly said to stop making it so apparent because Hector was starting to catch on.
"Here you go, something light for you. And after how much he had yesterday; it's probably best if he takes it easy today. That's why I decided that we're gonna go on a date to the park with Toothless and Sava," Briana said with a smile as Hector stared at her in surprise.
"You wanna take me on a date to the park?" Hector blinked.
"Well, you planned the last two, and we did say that we'd have more. So yeah, I am. Eat up, then go grab a shower. We'll pack a lunch, get a blanket, and our pets, then we'll walk there; it's not far," Briana giggled.
"Huh, well, alright. I'm down for a date day with you. I guess I can hold off on the car a little longer," Hector nodded with a smile. "And this looks great by the way," he took a bite.
"Did I do okay?" Briana asked nervously.
"It's amazing. Fluffiest, well-seasoned eggs I've ever had. Hell, they might be better than mine," Hector encouraged as Briana blushed. The friends were relieved that Hector agreed to wait while they found a way to take care of the evidence which would show Hector the truth about his parent's deaths. After Hector ate, Briana cleared away the dishes as Hector went to take a hot shower, and prepare for the unplanned date with Briana. As soon as Briana heard the water turn on and the curtain close, she put her hands on her hips.
"I hope you know that if I hadn't stepped in with the idea for a date; he would have put together that you're hiding something. I'm taking him out for the afternoon, so if you want your chance to fix the brake line and sticky pedal; that will be your chance. We don't need him going off again because next time; I might not be able to break through him. We got lucky, so let's not take advantage of it," Briana reminded.
"Aye, she's right. I'm sure Hector might remember at some point, but it's best we don't trigger him before then. Hector went off the handle yesterday, and maybe if there's some time in between where he has good days; the blow won't be so hard," Dimitri agreed.
"Back to what we were discussing," Briana grabbed their attention. "How would one go about getting this mark removed?"
"It's not that easy, Briana. Hector hurt Rex's ego, his pride, and he wants it back by killing the person who basically made him the laughing stock of every gang around. Sons of Odin leader gets upstaged by seventeen-year-old who stopped an entire ambush single-handedly. Unfortunately, you don't come back from that until you get revenge on the person who caused everything," Victor sighed.
"Rex kills Hector; he gets everything back. Typically, us gangs don't go around killing people and revenge marks were created at the start but haven't been used in about thirty years since we generally keep the peace between groups. The only way Rex recovers from the embarrassment, and gets his gang back up at the top with people being afraid of them is to kill Hector as the warning to others," Ethan closed his eyes.
"There has to be something," Briana tried again.
"And it gets worse from there because this is how gang wars start. Say Rex kills Hector, now he's killed a member of a rival gang; we go in to avenge him. Starts a massive problem, shootouts, more deaths. This is serious stuff, and unfortunately, we do take it to heart. We didn't move in after Hector lost his parents for the sole reason of keeping him company; we're here to keep him safe. Hector's already figured out that if he's alone; he's in trouble," Kayne informed.
"With us always around; they can't get a clear shot at him. Attacking all of us will start a war too, and involve the police. It gets messy, and they don't want that. All of us gangs try to stay off the police radar, and because of Hector, we've avoided it thus far. It's rules of the gang community that we all, rival or not, live by. If they hurt us, we destroy them. You kill one of us, and we'll kill one of you. Eye for an eye. However is it you want to call it, that's what this is. Either way; we will deal with this. You stay out of it because Hector will lose it if anything happens to you," Dimitri ordered. Briana bit her bottom lip, but she nodded.
"All we need you to do is keep him as happy as you can," Aaron smiled. "The only way we might be able to get Hector cleared is if we give Rex something better than blood, so to speak. It's a long shot, and we have to figure out what it would be, but that's our only chance unless Hector goes through with killing Rex,"
"At that point, Sons of Odin is done because they'll submit to Hector, swearing their loyalty to him. It's another way of the gangs. If your leader is beaten; you give yourself up to the person who did it or you die as well. Those members will join the group of the man or woman who, shall we say, dispatched their former leader. Hector said he wouldn't kill Rex, not unless the guy makes himself known to Hector, but the possibility is there," Derek enlightened firmly.
"And we know Hector will do it too, especially when he remembers that his parents were murdered on the orders of Rex," Ryder reminded softly. Briana understood, but still, she was going to try. If there was a way to end this without blood, she had to give it a shot. Briana now knew thanks the the Hell Drakes that there was a small chance in setting Hector free; and that was to remove his mark by offering Rex something better that Hector's life.