Through The Ups & Downs

Couple; Harrison X Briana

Rating; Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or any songs I might use! In addition, from this point in the story and in future chapters, I do not own the character Ella (Eira) Solveig. She belongs to a good friend, ShadowSpirit020.

47) Finishing This Mission

{Normal POV}

[Two Years Later; 10/6/2019]

So much time had passed since that day where Harrison and Briana got to finish their wedding and enjoy being with family and friends too. It was something that none of them ever forgot; every year, Harrison and Briana celebrated their son's birthdays and their wedding anniversaries together. Last year, it was the party for the twins Cayden and Colden and then the babies would be babysat by someone while Harrison and Briana enjoyed a date night for the anniversary of their wedding, after which, they'd come home when the kids were sleeping and make love before going to sleep themselves. Harrison still worked for Berkys, four days a week and only eight to nine-hour days. Harrison admitted to Calvin that while he loved working there and being assistant manager, he wanted more time with his wife and sons since he was still dealing with the military operations that were top-secret. Yes, even two years later, Harrison had not been able to tell them anything about what he was doing or where he went, but it happened to be that Harrison was going for a week at time every two months.

Harrison was tired of these missions and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they needed him to do it. For Odin's sake, it was just recon missions to figure out what Red Death was. The only intel they'd gathered was that it's a weapon of mass destruction and the creator of it had the power to make dragons do what he said. Harrison didn't like it anymore than his family and friends did, but what could he do. This was a major situation and apparently, military headquarters believed Harrison was the man for the job since this target worked with dragons and Harrison's dragon, Toothless, was good at making them listen to him. Something about evening out the playing field with two people who have the same ability. Harrison thought it was bullshit, but hey, it kept him busy and he knew he was keeping his family, friends, and home safe from danger.

Today was the day before the twins turned two, also Briana and Harrison would be celebrating their two years of marriage. As usual, everyone was coming over and later tonight, the twins would be staying with the Haddock family since Briana's family had them the year before. It was a fair trade off, besides, the families switched every other weekend to give the parents a break and get time with their grandbabies. Colden and Cayden were off bottles and pacifiers, they could use a spill proof cup, and were in the process of moving to toddler beds. In addition, the twins were also in the next stage of their car seats too and could feed themselves, to a degree. Both babies were walking with no trouble at all by fourteen months old and were able to talk a little. Colden and Cayden had just begun to put two words together such as car go and juice please. Little things that Briana and Harrison taught them. Other words were the standard Mama, Dada, Gam and Gamp for Briana's parents, then Nana and Papa for Harrison's folks. Jaz and Awex were for Jasmine and Alex, then Nate for Nathaniel.

Cayden and Colden could somewhat manage the dragon's names. Toof for Toothless and Nysar for Nightstar. And Stormsky was called Ormky. Yes, the twins were doing quite well with their words. Among other joyful things, Regina and Frankie had been together for three years, now engaged to be married in the summer of 2020. Another shocking relationship to form was Hailey and Trevor. Yes, Dexter's little sister was dating Trevor and they had been together for a year having gotten together July 2018. Also, there was Andy and Addilyn too, they got together Christmas Eve of 2017 and going on two years in two months. It was amazing to see everyone settling down and being happy. Syrus, Dexter, and TJ were still single but didn't mind it, however, Harrison had a sneaking suspicion that Skye and Dexter were getting closer. Oh, Emily and Nate were both taking Dragon Training together with Luna and Streamwing as they were finally sixteen years old. (A/N: I feel like I made an error somewhere in other chapters where I said that Streamwing hadn't bonded to anyone, but I just remembered that Streamwing bonded to Nate and Stormsky was the dragon NOT bonded and still with his parents, Toothless and Nightstar. So, just to clarify that if anyone got confused about the sudden switch because I was not paying attention, sorry! –NS)

Life was great, Harrison and Briana loved how things turned out for them ever since they got together when they met in Kuwait back in 2015. Today would be just once more happy day to celebrate all they had together. Everyone was over; The Haddocks, the Graysons, Addy, Andy, Regina, Frankie, TJ, Olivia, Chelsea, Aaron, Glenn, Syrus, Skye, Dexter, Trevor, and Hailey. Harrison and Briana took care of the food and cake, they just told everyone to show up around 2 pm and be ready to have a good time. That time was now, everyone was arriving; today would be a good day for everyone.

[A Few Hours Later]

With the time now being 5:15 pm, they were all sitting down to dinner when Harrison's cell phone rang. The party had been calm and entertaining as always, they did presents around 3:30 pm so the boys could play before supper time, the rest of that was spent snacking and talking about their lives. At 4:30 pm, Emily came over because Harrison told Nate he could invite her and Harrison shocked to find out that his brother had not asked Emily out yet, he thought for sure the two be dating by now, but perhaps both were focused on their studies so that was fine too.

"Who could that be?" Addilyn wondered. Harrison checked the caller's name and saw it 'General Robinson.' Harrison already had a bad feeling as to why he'd be calling out of the blue.

"General Robinson, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Harrison answered it calmly as everyone tensed nervously. Harrison blinked a few times then went to the door and opened it to see the man he was on the phone with standing in the doorway. "Okay, to what do I owe the unexpected visit? And please, come inside. It's chilly tonight, sir," he added respectfully. Marcus walked in and Harrison shut the door before he stood in front of him again.

"It's time, Sergeant Haddock," Marcus informed.

Harrison seemed to sigh heavily. "Alright. When do I leave?"

"As soon as you're able," Marcus stated.

"Give me a week to get things in order and pack, then I'll go on Toothless," Harrison replied.

"Good man. I hope you know how much we appreciate all you have done for in us the last three years regarding this operation, Sergeant Haddock. I'm sure I don't need to brief you since you have company over, but everything is in here. Location, terrain, weather for the last month, weapons, everything you'll need to carry this out," Marcus told him firmly.

"I'm just doing my job, General. I'll read it over later, tonight is my boy's birthdays, also mine and Briana's two year wedding anniversary," Harrison enlightened.

"Understood. Is there anything we can provide for you?" Marcus asked.

"Will you allow me to tell them?" Harrison asked calmly.

"Only what you must, but not everything. The basics," Marcus nodded.

"Confirmed, sir. I will contact you when I'm prepared to go," Harrison responded as the two men saluted one another and the general left.

"Another mission?" Nate asked curiously as Harrison nodded to him. "How long this time? Your last one was two months," the sixteen-year-old frowned.

"When is this going to be over, Harry? The boys are growing up fast and I feel like you've missed most of the first two years," Briana looked down.

"I know, I don't like it anymore than you, Milady. However, there is…a bit of good news for this trip," Harrison tried as everyone looked at him. "One, I can tell you the basics of what this has all been about. And two, this is the last mission, IF everything goes according to plan,"

"Wait, you can finally tell us?" they shouted in shock.

"I can tell you SOME, but not everything. Not yet," Harrison stated in a more clear tone so they would understand. They did not say anything, only nodded and waited for him to start. Harrison took a deep breath now. "For those of you who were on that first tour in Kuwait, how many remember when Toothless made all those dragons stop on the second day we were there?"

"All of us do. It's the day you got hit with the Nadder spine," Trevor stated calmly.

"Dunbar told me that there is a guy hiding in the shadows who has a way of controlling the dragons, and after what Toothless and I did, it was decided that the playing field so to speak, was even. So, when I was in Kuwait, and the US, I was undergoing special ops training. Then in May 2016, I was sent to Afghanistan to start tracking this guy down and it was anything but easy. Every time we found him, by next recon, he was gone. Over the last three years, we've finally pinned him as his main base and it's my job to go capture him and free the dragons he has trapped there," Harrison explained.

"And this guy, is it someone we know?" Dexter wondered.

"That's information I can't give you. This guy is seven kinds of crazy and he's the target I've been after for years now. There's one other reason we want him, he has this…weapon of mass destruction called Red Death and it's been part of my job to figure out what it is and what it does. So far, no luck with that as I have been able to get close enough. After I get this guy, we're gonna figure out the rest," Harrison stated.

"Hang on. You…keep saying you are gonna do this. You mean…with a team you're leading, right?" Briana asked. Harrison stayed quiet now. "Harrison,"

"No, I mean just me and Toothless," Harrison finally said as they were silent.

"You said you had teams!" Viviana reminded.

"I DID have teams," Harrison reiterated while leaning against the wall, looking out the window with his arms over his chest. "In the start, I worked with teams of twelve including me. Returning from missions, I was the only one to escape alive. Wounded, but alive nevertheless,"

"Harrison, what happ-," Aaron started to say.

"I don't want to talk about it, Major. First few missions didn't go so great, got captured and tortured once or twice. The rest of the team was killed in action and I'm the one who escaped. That's all you need to know," Harrison remarked. "I've been running the missions with Toothless, alone, since the night I left Nate's party," he added.

"Harrison Haddock, this is way too dangerous. I don't want you going!" Briana pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Bri, but I have to. This is the mission I was tasked with and I'm going to finish it no matter what," Harrison said firmly. "Now, can we drop this and just go back to having the party, please?" he asked.

"Why does it have to be you?" Nate asked sadly.

"I don't know, but it is me so I can't let everyone down. I'll be okay, don't worry," Harrison smiled as he ruffled Nate's hair. "This is what brothers are for, remember? And in this case, it's what soldiers are for. We all have a role to play in the safety of our homes and this role is mine,"

"Well, we don't like it. However, we're your friends and since we can't be there to help you out, then we send you with our support," Syrus informed with a smile and nod. Olivia and Chelsea did the same followed by Trevor, Dexter, Aaron, and Glenn.

"Us too," Regina added in with a nod from Frankie, TJ and Addilyn.

"Same here," Andy and Skye smile.

"Just come home safe," Viviana told him with an agreeing nod from Spencer, then the Graysons did the same and Nate hugged Harrison tightly.

"I'll always come home, this is where I belong," Harrison said as he kissed Briana deeply, then hugged her. "I promise I'll be okay and as fast as I can," he told her. Briana nodded as they relaxed a little and the party continued.

[A Week Later; Syria]

Harrison reached his location on time made quick work on infiltrating the base. However, something wasn't right. It was far too quiet to be a secret base, at least opposed to all the other times he'd been tracking this guy. Harrison made his way through the base until he reached what appeared to be a large meeting room and it was unguarded. Harrison kept his gun at the ready while making his way to the table, he saw a bunch of maps, locations circled on them, and then something on the bottom titled; Operation Red Death. Harrison quickly moved the other sheets of paper and scanned over the large document, his eyes widened as he discovered what 'Red Death' is. It wasn't a weapon at all, it was a huge dragon that the smaller dragons listened to! Harrison checked the maps, the first location it was headed to was…

Arc Isle.

Harrison wasted no time, he grabbed the documents and stuffed them into Toothless's saddlebag before mounting his dragon and the two took to the sky at top speed for their island. Not only was his family and friends there, the who island was in danger if that thing reached land before he did. Harrison grabbed his radio and quickly called in to the military base he stayed at for all these missions, well, at least the ones he did that took place in Syria.

"Alpha Fury to Command One. Code Red, level ten. Red Death IS NOT a weapon, it's a massive dragon. It's headed for Arc Isle along with the target. I'm on my way there now, warn them!" Harrison said quickly. There wasn't time to explain this, and they all knew if Harrison was calling in something that rushed, then it was nothing to mess around with and question. Harrison's mission was to find out information about Red Death, and capture his target. One thing was for sure, this guy made it personal and Harrison wasn't going to let that slide. This guy was putting Harrison's home in danger and Harrison was putting an end to it by finishing this mission.