Chapter 33? This fic only has 40 chapters! Egads, we're almost there.

-HTTYD-

Sat in front of her was Grimborn, the new detective, perching calmly on her sofa like he was cordially invited in to begin with and made himself at home.

"What are you doing here?"

Her head still felt awful, and Astrid knew Hiccup had already left. Her mother would be en route, but to Astrid that sounded less like a safety net and more like a bad situation for said mother to be walking in to. Grimborn rose to his feet, not looking at all perturbed to have been caught basically breaking in to her place.

"I came by to check on your welfare, and the door was unlocked."

Hiccup must have forgotten to lock it in his frantic state before.

"That doesn't give you the right to just let yourself in and wait for me. Get out!"

He showed no signs of leaving, and Astrid swallowed heavily as he approached her. It wasn't a fair fight; if he knocked her head she'd probably pass out. Astrid tried to feel out where her phone was, a chill running down her back when she realised the lack of weight against her side, where it should have been resting in her pocket. Had she left it at Hiccup's in her haste to get away from Hiccup in a bad mood?

"I thought you would like to see something."

He had a phone, and after tapping on the screen a few times, Grimborn turned the screen to her. Astrid's heart caught in her throat as she saw what she realised was the video. The video of Hiccup - the Night Fury - coming to her rescue, in all it's bloody glory.

"Where did you get that?"

"It's been making the rounds on the darker edges of the internet. I take an interest."

"Isn't accessing the Dark Web illegal?"

Oh, her head hurt. Astrid wasn't quite up to a battle of wits. The curt rapping at the door snapped her attention from the phone screen, a mix of fear and relief coursing through her.

"Doors open mom!"

"Astrid?"

Grimborn took a single step back as the Hofferson mother entered Astrid's home, taking in the sight before her.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all. I merely came by to check on Miss Hofferson's welfare."

"And he was just leaving."

Astrid was relieved to see him turn away, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. As soon as Grimborn left, she locked the door behind him and sagged bonelessly into her mothers arms.

"What's going on love?"

She managed to haul her daughter over to the sofa, where the two sat as Astrid shivered, only just now feeling the extent of panic at how easily Grimborn had invaded her life, her space when she was already in a vulnerable state, recovering from the kidnap and Hiccup... had they broken up?

"I... uh. Hiccup and I had a fight."

"While you're in this condition!?"

Astrid winced.

"Not so loud! I have a concussion" her mother had the grace to look sheepish, and apologised before Astrid continued "I think we just... both of us were stressed cus of what happened and it was just stupid bickering cus we were close together and couldn't calm down."

She was babbling, because she couldn't tell her mother the truth, and with Eret gone, there was nobody Astrid could talk to about everything happening because nobody else had a clue. Not that she'd ever had much of a conversation with Eret when he wasn't interrogating her in the station.

"You look exhausted. Let's get you to bed. I'll sleep out here on the sofa. Blankets in the same place?"

Astrid nodded, and even though she'd not been awake long, she crawled in to bed anyway. Her heart leapt up to her throat when there was a knock at the door, but she heard her mom answer it before she could even get up.

"What are you doing here?"

"Astrid left her phone in my house. I'm returning it."

Hiccup! Before she could try and stand up and go to him, though she had no idea what to say or even if she actually wanted to see him, the door closed. Her mother entered the room and handed Astrid her phone, patted her head gently and told her to get some rest. Astrid knew a guilty sense of relief that Hiccup had just been and gone, no drama, no attempt to see her and no argument with her mother.

She slept anyway, though it was restless and fitful and Astrid woke a few hours later feeling more tired than when she went to sleep. Head still aching, she saw her phone flash up low battery in the darkened room. Plugging it in and seeing the early hour, she winced but her throat was too dry. Hiccup never forgot to put water on her bedside, out of habit from doing the same for his mother.

Padding out quietly, Astrid saw her mother fast asleep, filled a glass as quietly as she could and crept back to her room without disturbing her. As she sat on her bed, Astrid was hit with the realisation that much of her life had come to revolve around Hiccup and his secrets. While Astrid didn't go out of her way to spend time with her mom - the woman drove her mad, especially about marriage and babies, neither of which Astrid cared much for - she had spent time keeping said mother and Hiccup apart, because Hiccup was so uncomfortable around her.

She didn't begrudge Hiccup the effort, per se; serial killing aside, it was incredible he was as stable as he was after his upbringing, and his distaste for people in general wasn't very surprising. And in a way, Hiccup not wanting to be around her mom was probably actually him protecting her. Hiccup had a big secret and a bad temper, after all...

Gods, what a mess.

After a brief trip to the bathroom to pee and scrub the stale taste of sleep from her mouth, Astrid laid on her bed, staring at the wall (she couldn't stare at the ceiling, since she still couldn't lay on the back of her head).

She turned over a few thoughts in her mind, like should I tell Hiccup about Grimborn turning up? and did we actually break up or is it a break? in between flares of nausea she wasn't entirely sure were down to her concussion.

Whether or not they were actually broken up was probably a decision that rested largely with her. Hiccup had no prior relationship experience to go on, and he hadn't said they were done. Though it seemed pretty implicit based on his behaviour.

When five thirty in the morning rolled around, Astrid heard a car pulling up outside and had a slightly mad thought about the cafe, which now opened at six thirty to sell coffee to people on their way to work. What day was it? Glancing at the calendar, she nodded to herself, got up and peered out the window to see the sight of Heather letting herself in to the bakery, illuminated by a street light.

Scribbling a note for her mother, Astrid let herself out and padded down, giving Heather something of a fright before being invited in.

"I know you like our coffee, but this is a little overzealous, even for you."

"I... I have had a rough few days."

"Yeah. You were kidnapped, that can be pretty rough. Are you alright?"

Astrid shrugged, unsure exactly what she planned to get from the early hour visit.

"Got a concussion that's driving me mad. Especially since I'm meant to avoid high caffeine."

"We're out of decaf coffee, that's due in about half an hour, but there's decaf tea?"

Heather offered, and Astrid nodded gratefully. The other woman started setting up, putting things on to bake and making sure the various pots and tubs she needed were filled, before making them both drinks and perching opposite Astrid.

"So, what's up? The papers were pretty vague. Apparently you dodged them at the hospital."

Heather said, small grin on her face as Astrid let out a low chuckle.

"Yeah. It was just... I don't know how to rationalise owing my life to a serial killer."

"And you thought I could sympathise?"

Astrid shrugged.

"I guess? Honestly I wasn't even thinking that, I just wanted a friendlyy face to talk to."

Taking a long sip of her drink, Heather tapped her fingers on the side of her mug, then got up and walked away for a minute.

"Come through here."

Confused, Astrid went, finding herself in a back room, filled with random bits of equipment, most of it gathering dust.

"What's going on?"

"There's no cameras in here."

Astrid felt a little disconcerted, and more than a little nervous about why Heather was so keen to be unobserved.

"Why don't you want there to be any cameras?"

"Because I'm worried how you're going to react, and so I don't want it on video."

Gods, Astrid had too much going on for Heather to start getting weird and cryptic.

"You're scaring me."

Heather blinked, shaking her head.

"Not trying to. Uh. Ok. Might be a tough question" Astrid felt her heart quicken slightly at the look on Heather's face "is Hiccup the Night Fury?"


"So, did you carry on watching the camera after I got there?"

Hiccup asked his mom as he stirred his tea, having just got back from returning Astrid's phone. He only realised she'd left it - fallen down the side of the bed in her haste to get away, probably - when it started vibrating with a received text.

"Yes. It wasn't pleasant viewing, but I had to make sure you were safe. Who knows what that person could have had waiting?"

He'd suspected as much.

"Did it make you afraid of me?"

Valka shook her head, reaching for a biscuit from the plate next to her.

"No. I've long known what you're capable of, and you've never given me cause."

She pushed the plate over to him when Hiccup sat down, a strangely normal moment for the two of them against the backdrop of everything else, the rest of his life somehow more messy, tangled up in knots because of Astrid.

"It does make me worry for you, sometimes."

"How so?"

"I worry you'll lose your temper with the wrong person, or be too angry to be careful."

Fair concerns, he supposed. Astrid had said the same of his temper, as though she thought his control seemed thinner than before.

"That was... an unusual occurrence though. I've never had to rescue Astrid, or anyone, from a 'fan' before. And the fire wasn't my idea."

"I know, and I know you could never have done anything but go to her rescue."

"But she should never have been in a situation that required it to begin with, which only happened because I got involved with her in the first place. Maybe you were right all along."

Hiccup watched his mother think, weighing it back and forth.

"Perhaps. I was certainly against the idea of inviting someone in to our lives when you first met her."

"You aren't now?"

"Part of me is still very much against it, but another part of me has enjoyed seeing you fall in love. And another part has been very wary of how reckless Astrid makes you."

"Wow, that's a lot of parts."

His mother snickered, shaking her head.

"I don't know where you get your sarcasm from."

"You, and you damn well know it."

She let out a small laugh, and Hiccup felt a little lighter knowing she wasn't afraid of him. He couldn't imagine her being so dependent on him and scared of that. He flexed his hand on the table, grimacing at the state of his hand.

"I know the damage was already done, but I do wonder if I've exacerbated the problem by beating people to death. I can't really ask a medical professional."

"Are you still going through with the operation?"

"I think I have to, if I want to keep drawing without being in pain. Just hoping it doesn't turn out I've developed a tendency for keloids since I last had surgery and it ends up making things worse."

That was why he was going with his right hand first - if it got worse, he'd still have his dominant left hand to use.

"Although if Astrid ends up staying away for good, I'm gonna have to convince the hospital to let me go home alone. It's only a local, so they should so long as I don't drive myself."

His mother gave him a sad smile, and Hiccup understood how she saw through his 'practical' statement, and knew that if she didn't come back, it was going to hurt.

-HTTYD-

Poor Hiccup!