THIRTY TWO: Changing the rules

"I am en route," Dagur reported, his voice calm but edged with steel. The buff man's reputation was second to none, the leader of the Berserkers, the most infamous mercenary band in the Archipelago and he and his men had scrambled at the first words from his sister. Heather nodded, her eyes red-rimmed. The young woman was distraught, her voice breaking as she explained the situation and the brother in Dagur had felt a jolt of anxiety. He knew all too well how much his sister had invested in Tallon Fury, how much she imagined she loved him. And maybe she did, though Fury believed her affection was born of gratitude and much less healthy for that. The prison guard-turned-mercenary knew that the man he had saved, the man who became Tallon Fury, was profoundly uncomfortable with the situation because he felt she was unconsciously beholden to him. Any relationship with him after her rescue by him from slavery in the infamous Brothel, Betsy's, would feel wrong.

"Hurry," she urged him. "I saw them grab him. They hit him."

"Relax, sis," Dagur reassured her gently. "No one goes to the trouble of kidnapping someone to just kill them. If they've taken him, it's for a reason. And I think we all know why."

"To warn him off," Fishlegs said grimly. "He's exerting more pressure on Viggo Grimborn and on Eret. It's almost a direct challenge to Viggo's authority now."

"It is a direct challenge," Dagur said. "He knew there was a chance that they would behave like this-though he hoped that his connections and worth would protect him."

"The petition for him to stand for First Minister is accelerating," Fishlegs added slowly. "Viggo could just kill him to protect his position."

"No-we know exactly where Tallon is," Dagur told him. "That's where we're heading."

"How?" Heather frowned.

"His watch has a tracker in-he activated it when he put in the alert," Dagur revealed. "It's the same tech he uses in his planes. Small and very powerful. And it's monitoring his vitals. He's okay-for now."

"Who's done this?" Fishlegs asked, his voice icy. The husky lawyer was calm and good natured but anger and fear were boiling in his chest at the thought that his friend, the skinny, maimed, frantic ex-prisoner who had proven to be a generous, good and brilliant man, was in danger. Dagur paused.

"This will be the work of Viggo," he said. "Because the men who have taken Tallon are Ryker Grimborn's crew. The men who enforce his laws and warn off his rivals and anyone inconvenient or troublesome."

"And that certainly includes Tallon," Ruffnut commented, walking in. She wrenched the helmet off her head and stared at the speakerphone. "He's been single-minded in his pursuit of his vengeance. You got an ETA, D?"

"Thirty," the mercenary said without hesitation. "Need to make sure we can get into the location safely without tipping them off. These men have killed before and they have done a lot of damage to people who have annoyed them."

"And Ingen has a smart mouth on him," Ruff commented as the sounds of running footsteps closed. Fink burst into the room, his face stricken, with Tuffnut a few paces behind him.

"Where's my sister? he asked desperately.

"With Ingen," Heather told him honestly. The young man took a breath.

"And where is he?" he demanded.

"We don't know," Fishlegs said as Snotlout walked in, checking his tablet.

"They've taken him off island," he reported. "Heading west…towards High Plateau Island."

"Where they have a base-and where they are unlikely to be interrupted," Snotlout reported.

"Can't we report this to the police?" Fink asked wildly. "He's been kidnapped, for Thor's sake! And they've taken my sister. She's not guilty of anything! Surely they must…"

"I think…the Police won't care," Heather told him softly, resting her hand gently his shoulder.

"At best because he's off island so there would be jurisdictional issues but more likely…because they would be paid to turn a blind eye," Snotlout commented bleakly.

"Then First Minister Grimborn should be able to…"

"The First Minister already knows," Fishlegs commented grimly. The younger man reeled as he stared at the husky lawyer. "We think his men are the ones who have them." Wildly, Fink looked around.

"Why?" he asked, the word exploding from his lips. "How dare he?" His green eyes flashed in fury. "He makes such a big thing of being the man who stands for law and order and now he's kidnapped Tallon and my sister and…" Snotlout grabbed his arm and held him tight.

"Shh," he said urgently. "Fink-we cannot trust Viggo Grimborn. The man is nothing but evil. And he will not help us. But Tallon isn't helpless. He's harder and more dangerous than you know. He can defend himself-and I am sure that he will do everything to ensure that your sister is safe. And we have men on their way to rescue him."

"But why?" Fink sighed, collapsing into a chair and covering his face. "Why Tallon? Why Zeph?"

"Tallon is a nuisance, a challenge to their power," Snotlout told him. "And your sister was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tallon will protect her! Just like he protected you."

"Why should he?" the young man asked despondently.

"Because he's a good man," Ruff told him kindly.

"He puts up with us," Tuff added. "And he saved our lives when we were smugglers."

"Some of us more than once," Ruff added, looking pointedly at her brother. Eyes widened in shock, Fink stared at them.

"I know he said something but…for real?" he breathed. Tuff nodded.

"I know we assumed we were awesome but in fact, I guess we were actually really really muttonheadedly hopeless smugglers," he admitted with disarming frankness and almost unheard-of insight. "We were being ambushed and should all be dead-but Ingen saved us. He saved us all. So no matter how desperate it looks, I have absolute faith that he will come through." Heather rested her hand on the boy's other shoulder.

"Pray for him…and hope my brother gets to them in time," she said. But the young man looked up as her slowly and fearfully withdrew the phone from his pocket.

"I gotta tell my Mom," he sighed. "Thor alone knows what she'll say."

oOo

They'd put bags over his and Zephyr's heads and hauled them unceremoniously from the chopper, across ground that was uneven and grassy. There was a fresh breeze and the distant sounds of waterfalls. Overhead, there were the screams of gulls, harsh and jarring and the quiet honk of other, less familiar birds. He could hear the soft, panting breaths of the girl as she was hauled along and the sounds of their captors, moving purposefully and directly. He stumbled again and the grips on his arms tightened until there was a sudden loss of sound around him, telling him that he had entered a building. He allowed them the drag him along though his mind was spinning and he could feel panic rising in his chest. He was inside, locked up. Trapped.

He couldn't see the sky.

A door slammed shut and he heard the sharp exhale of the girl before they were thrown into a room and the bags ripped off. He hit hard, his balance less than optimal due to his prosthesis and lay there, gathering his breath and allowing his eyes to adjust to the return of light. They were in a small room with a concrete floor, metal walls and no furniture at all. There was no window or any sight of the outside and he felt his anxiety rise more, his body taut as a bowstrong. Zephyr crouched by him, her face ashen and anxious. As he looked, he could see that her eyes were red-rimmed and she looked like she had been crying, though she was plainly trying to appear brave. Slowly, he forced himself to untense a little so he could sit himself up and lean against her, offering what comfort he could. His cheek and chin felt swollen and stiff, bruised badly from the blows he had taken.

"Who are they?" she whispered, her eyes darting from wall to wall, trying to find some clue, some sign of hope. Hiccup sighed.

"They look like professionals," he murmured, eyeing the door carefully. He wasn't sure that they weren't listening to them and was keen not to reveal what he knew. "Someone has engaged them to snatch me from my own property. You don't kidnap someone to kill them." I hope. She looked up, her eyes wide.

"What…what's going to happen?" she murmured. He sighed and rubbed his cheek, grimacing at the hot pain.

"I suspect I'll be roughed up and threatened," he told her, forcing his voice to be calm though his heart was hammering in his chest. She sat on her haunches beside him and leaned against him.

"But why?" she asked him quietly. The door slammed open.

"Your friend isn't the hero you seem to think he is," a gruff voice announced. The huge, solid shape was sheathed in the same brown and grey camouflage outfit, his lower face covered with a mask that muffled his voice slightly. Dark glasses wrapped around his eyes, concealing the dark compassionless depths but Hiccup recognised the shaved head, the rough features and the voice of Ryker Grimborn, though he had met the man officially only once. Quietly, he lifted his chin and stared up into the cold face.

"While you are an out and out villain," he commented dryly. Ryker chuckled.

"You're in no position to talk," he scoffed, nodding to two men, who entered the cell and hauled the billionaire up. Unconsciously, he tensed, trying to conceal his sudden spike of fear. He knew that Zephyr had felt him tense, the loss of control of his destiny a horrific reminder of those years imprisoned. "How many people have suffered for what you have done?"

Too many have died, though I only fought to save my own life. Not that you would care. You kill for fun, when it's not necessary but just to ensure you are feared.

"None," he lied. "I practice my business ethically."

"And your private life?" Ryker scoffed as he gestured. Another man grabbed Zephyr and wrenched her to her feet. She struggled.

"Please," she whispered. "Please let me go."

"Let her go!" Hiccup said harshly, his eyes locking with Ryker's. "She innocent and not involved. Your disguises mean she can't identify anyone. And she's the daughter of Eret Eretson, one of the close friends of First Minister Viggo Grimborn. I am sure he would be displeased if you harmed his ally's daughter." It was only because he was looking that he noted the flicker of uncertainty cross Ryker's heavy brow, the faint wrinkle just as instantaneously dismissed.

"Then any harm that befalls her is on your conscience," he sneered as they were hauled along to another room. Both were forced onto metal chairs and their hands tied behind them. Zephyr looked up, trembling as Hiccup gritted his teeth.

"I think you need to own up to your own misdeeds," he told the man. Ryker punched him and his head snapped back, spots dancing before this eyes.

"You should mind your own business," he growled. Blinking, Hiccup dropped his head forward and spat blood.

"That's what I am doing," he said. "Minding my business, building business contacts, settling into home, giving back to the community…"

The next punch was blinding and Hiccup felt his vision grey. Zephyr's gasp of fear echoed before the world reassembled back in shape.

"You're meddling where you have no business," Ryker told him brutally. "Berk doesn't need your type."

"And what type is that?" Hiccup asked thickly. "Businessman? Philanthropist? Art Judge?"

"Interfering nobody who thinks he can upset the status quo and try to buy the control of the island," Ryker snapped, leaning close. "How could you possibly run an island when you can't even protect this child?" He nodded and one of his men fisted Zephyr's hair, pulling her head up and exposing her neck. She gasped, her eyes wide and flicking to Hiccup's battered face. Then she pressed her lips together and looked into Ryker's masked face.

"Why should he need to?" she asked him, her voice hitching with anxiety. "Neither of us asked to be kidnapped. Neither of us wanted this. And no one should be judged by the outcomes of the actions of evil criminals!" Swooping forward, the big man closed his hands around the young woman's pale throat.

"Those are brave words for a stupid little girl," he sneered, leaning so close she could feel his breath on her face. "Maybe I'll have a talk to you in private…" She paled and her breathing accelerated for a moment but then there was a calm that settled over her suddenly and her eyes locked with his and flashed with anger.

"I would check with my father and Minister Trayder," she spat. "I believe he has long harboured plans for me and would take very badly to you damaging his property!" There was a long pause as Ryker glared into her face.

"You think I care?" he hissed.

"You think Johann Trayder won't kill you?" she replied. "You think he'd ever forgive you touching the prize he's been cultivating for years?" Ryker's dark eyes flickered with something cold and very menacing.

"You show a lot more spunk than I'd expect for a little mouse," he breathed. "I doubt Johann would care."

"He'll care," Zephyr spat, breathing hard. "And he'll kill you if you touch me." Hiccup narrowed his eyes as the man raised his hand and slapped her hard. Instantly, he was up, driving himself forward and ramming his head hard into the bulky man's solar plexus. Staggering back and gasping for breath, Ryker was met by Hiccup's foot as he slammed it into his face. Breathing hard, he watched as the big man stumbled forward and punched him to the floor. Rolling away, Hiccup looked up as the man closed his big hand around his throat.

"You aren't as important she is," he sneered, tightening his grasp and throwing the billionaire back into the seat. "And you need to learn that there are risks to playing any game." Lifting his head, Hiccup stared at the man.

"I believe I know that far better than you," he said in a low voice. "The risks, the game, the stakes, the penalties. Have you ever paid them?" Ryker's heavy brows dipped.

"You know, you're a man who appeared out of nothing," he growled he lifted the man and slammed him so hard into the chair that he felt a sharp pain in his chest and back. "No past. No family. Nothing…" He paused. "Except your friends. Raquel Barf and Tyrone Belch. Heather Shearer. Simon Jorgensen. Finlay Ingerman. Nobodies. Pseudonyms. Losers. And leverage." Glaring up with hatred, Hiccup tried to look as if he wasn't fighting the urge to lunge furiously at the man. Every other consideration was gone, replaced with implacable rage at a man who would threaten the innocent, people not directly involved in order to gain an advantage for his brother's craven and treasonous ambition.

"You touch them, you threaten them and I will make it my mission to ensure everything you care for is destroyed," Hiccup choked, his words thick with hatred. Zephyr glanced over at him in surprise: it was a tone she had never heard the mild-mannered and generous billionaire use before.

"You're in no position to threaten me," Ryker sneered.

"Nor are you," Hiccup replied, almost ignoring the punch to the side that it earned him. Ribs definitely snapped with the blow.

"I have threatened, abused and killed without hesitation," Ryker breathed, his eyes lighting with cruel amusement. "How do you think Miss Barf or Miss Shearer will cope with the attentions of my men? How long do you think we would take to kill Mister Belch or maim your tame brief? We've proven we can get to you. We can come any time and do whatever we want."

Hiccup spat in his face.

"And so can I," he said blackly. "But worse. Because I have no family, no desire to back down and no qualms about doing what I must. You think politics is rough? Try business." Ryker began to laugh. "And you have a family as well."

The laughing stopped. Ryker turned away and waved a hand to his men.

"He's not longer amusing," he growled. "Teach him a lesson about what happens if you cross…men more powerful than ruthless than he can imagine." Looking up and steeling himself as three men closed on him, Hiccup allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and scooted away from Zephyr.

I've met them, he thought as the men closed on him. And they're the reason why you are all going down.

Then Zephyr screamed 'Watch out!' and he ducked the first blow as the men closed on him.

oOo

Like the well-oiled unit they were, Dagur's Berserkers crawled through the dense woodland of High Plateau Island as they closed on the base. Coming in under radar, they had landed on a small beach on the far side of the isolated rock, checking there was no surveillance or electronic detectors. As part of his job, Dagur had been researching the men who Tallon Fury was targeting so he had already studied every satellite image of the island-including those that were classified by various governments. He had even spoken discreetly to a man who had worked on the complex-before he had helped him vanish from the Archipelago to start a pristine new life in New Zealand. But the fact this mission was unplanned and in full daylight were making him antsy-and he knew that didn't help his anger management issues.

He had plans, of course-laid down in this eventuality because he had Tallon were friends. In fact, he was one of only two living people who knew Tallon Fury's true name, checked when he worked at Jotunheim as a prison guard because something had moved him about the skinny, beaten man who had been left to die in his cell after improbably fighting the champion and winning an impossible battle to save his life. Tallon Fury-or Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, a man who had been declared dead over sixteen years earlier-was a brave, decent man who had suffered far more than should have been possible for crimes he certainly hadn't committed. And who had found Dagur's stolen sister and rescued her.

He glanced over to Snorri, his second in command. Despite his name, the man was hard as nails and devoted to his leader. In fact, all of his Berserkers were the best of the best, men trained by the most exacting of military units and then lured away by the promise of adventure, money or freedom. Quietly, they closed on the complex.

"We're coming up on the limits of cameras and detectors," Snorri murmured as Dagur lifted his radio to his mouth.

"Tell me you got this, Gustav?" he murmured as the young hacker who worked for Tallon Fury hummed to himself.

"I got this," the young man said cheerfully. "Confirm they're inside-western detention area. I've sent the schematics to your pad, D. I'm scrubbing surveillance and all alarms and motion detectors in three…two…one…go get him!" Shaking his head at the young man's enthusiasm, he nodded and they moved forward. Beckoning three men towards him, he nodded to Snorri and in unison, they both lobbed grenades at the entrances.

All Helheim broke loose as the doors exploded inwards and the men closest to them were scattered like tumbleweed. Dagur and his men boiled in, their painted faces menacing as they ruthlessly gunned down everyone they encountered. Dagur and his team raced towards the location they were told Tallon was being held while the others ensured their exit was covered. Head down, eyes darting from side to side, he threw himself sideways as he saw a shadow move and his machine gun spat a long burst. There was the splatter of blood and the sounds of a body slumping down.

"Are we there yet, Mommy?" the mercenary growled over his radio. Gustav considered.

"Ten metres ahead and then on your right," he reported and Dagur ran forward, seeing the dead man hard by the door he was looking for. Checking the corridor once more, he motioned his men to take up station and then blasted the lock, kicking the door open.

Hiccup was lying curled up on the floor, badly beaten. Zephyr had managed to get her restraints off and had gently laid her hoodie over his body, cradling his head in her lap. She had thrown herself over him as the door was kicked in and she looked up, her blue eyes suddenly determined. She flung an arm up as if to ward the intruder off. Giving a sigh of relief, Dagur lowered his gun.

"Leave him alone!" the girl commanded them but the man gave his most reassuring smile and crouched down.

"Believe it or not, Miss Eretson, I'm a friend," he said, checking the battered prisoner.

"He is, you know," Hiccup mumbled, his swollen lips muffling his words. "Thanks." She gave a shuddering breath and he felt her start to tremble. Unconsciously, she gently stroked his hair off his battered face and he glanced up to see her face begin to crumble. He had lost his glasses along the way but hurt as he was, he levered himself up and wrapped his arms around her. With a muted sob, she buried her face in his chest, ignoring the bloodstains on the beige fabric. "Thank you for looking after me, Zephyr," he murmured as she curled against him.

"I knew you would look after me,' she whispered.

"You looked after yourself," he told her as Dagur glanced over his shoulder.

"Not the this isn't charming but you do know there are still some pretty bad men in this complex?" he prompted them as Hiccup nodded. He would rather curl up and sleep for another month, his body screaming at him for the abuse he had endured.

"And they're working for me," he said evenly, shifting his grasp on the girl to ensure she was wrapped up securely. "Has Ryker gotten away?" Dagur frowned, his eyes narrowing.

"I can sweep though we're not here for a full extermination," he reminded his friend.

"Let him go," the billionaire said tonelessly. "Kill everyone else."

There was a pause and the mercenary stared at him, the cell filled only with the breathy sobs of the girl.

"Are you sure?" he asked as Hiccup gave the slightest sob, stroking Zephyr's back.

"These men kidnapped me from my own property because I was a nuisance to them," he said in a cold voice. "They took this girl, this innocent and terrorised her-though she's smarter and braver than any of us would have guessed. She was smart enough to stop them raping or beating her to get at me-but it wasn't any decency that stopped them, only the threat of retribution by Minister Trayder. And they beat the crap out of me." He paused and his face hardened. "They threatened everyone in my employ-including your sister-to try to get me to back off. Everyone. And very personally. I was prepared to keep this civilised, Dag-but it seems that they don't understand the concept. So first, we exterminate these mad dogs and then we have a word with Ryker Kilian Grimborn."

He allowed the man to help him to his feet, gently keeping the girl protected in his arms. Dagur helped him limp to the door and checked the corridor. His men took up station around them as Dagur murmured orders into his radio.

"We'll get you out of here first and then we'll tidy up business," the mercenary said, finding the hairs at the back of his neck standing up at the ice in his friend's voice. There was a darkness there that he hadn't heard before. Hiccup nodded, his arms still wrapped around the girl through he could barely walk unaided.

"Thanks, my friend," he murmured. "Zephyr needs to be safe right now. She's innocent-and I want to preserve that." Nodding but watching the other man carefully, Dagur swiftly led them from the building and summoned his helicopter for the extraction.

"And you?" the mercenary asked him softly. Hiccup lifted his chin as the aircraft circled and began to descend. He nuzzled Zephyr's head and felt her arms tighten around him. His emerald eyes glittered with anger.

"I'll tell you when we get back home," he said and there was the briefest hint of a waver before he mastered himself. "But there's going to be a change of plans. I was targeting his greed to take him out but he's changed the rules. He wants to target those near to me-so I'll return the favour. And by the time he realises what's happening, he'll have no options at all."

-0-

A/N: High Plateau Island is of course 'New Berk'.