=Hiccup's POV=
[Sunday, 6/19/2022-9:00 pm]
[Baghdad, Iraq; Archi Base]
It's only been two days and I already hate being away from Astrid. I think maybe I also held back from joining because I knew it would be just as hard on me as it was for her for us to be apart. However, I felt somewhat better to know that unlike the other tours, and most of this third one; Astrid was now my girlfriend again, and she was waiting for me back home. Only four months to go. The mission went well; it was done early Saturday morning into mid and a complete success too. I understood why I was needed to get it done; Toothless and I together make a near unbeatable team. We can communicate without having to speak. I understand Toothless's body language and he understands my signals. This on top of a very specific team I lead gets the job done. Once the mission was done; I grabbed a shower, some breakfast, and passed out. I didn't even have time to message home and let them know I was here.
I'm exhausted, again, but I know I need to check in back. I'm just gonna call real quick and then get some sleep. I grabbed my two-in-one tablet, which had a keyboard-style case and logged into Skype. Thankfully; the signal was holding pretty well. I saw everyone online; I assumed they had to maybe be together or all signed in to be able to do a group call if I called any of them. I made the obvious choice to call Astrid; we could probably talk for a bit on video chat and then I'd see if the others were available for a check in. I clicked Astrid's name, renamed to Milady, and started the call. I usually did just voice call first, to see how the quality would be and if that was alright; I'd switch to video.
"Hi, babe," Astrid greeted happily.
"Hey, beautiful," I replied. "How are you?"
"Good, good. Just relaxing with everyone," Astrid said.
"Yeah? Where are you?" I asked.
"Your parents' place. We were all hoping you'd call," Astrid informed. "How are you?"
"Signal strong enough for video, bro?" Dagur's voice cut in. I rolled my eyes and clicked the camera, waiting for it to load up; I saw them no problem with little to no lag.
"You look like shit," Thuggory pointed out.
"Maybe because I'm exhausted…" I retorted.
"How was the flight in?" Gobber asked.
"Average. I slept most of it, landed around…I don't know 12:45 am your time," I stated lightly.
"That was…Nearly 0300 for you. Sleep when you get there?" Eret inquired.
I shook my head at them. I was able to see Astrid front and center; then on her right were my parents and Gobber. Around the rest of the space was everyone else. I had to assume that they hooked the webcam up to the big screen to be able to get everyone in the shot. "No. I immediately got briefed for the mission and headed out half an hour later with Toothless and my Special Ops team headed out for the next four or so hours. Then there was final reports before I ate lunch, showered, and crashed. Woke up again around 2300, had a late snack, and tried to sleep again. Failed miserably,"
"What happened during the middle of the night then?" Thuggory asked.
"Well, around 0600, decided to shower and join the platoon for breakfast. Hung around the barrack for a bit; had a meeting with the platoon leaders and Bludvist…And then from 1 pm to…About two hours ago; I was on patrol and guard in a spot forty-five minutes away. Not fun at all…So I'm like…Dead right now," I yawned. "But wanted to call in so you'd know I was okay," I added tiredly.
"We miss you, Uncle Hiccup!" called Magne and Dagny.
"Miss you kids too. I promise when I get back I'll take both of you for the day and we can give mom and dad a break. Sound good?" I offered.
"Can we go to Archi Flags' Scarefest?" Magne asked.
"I'm sure we can work something out, as long as you're in you're best behavior for your mom and Auntie Heather. Alright?" I smiled.
"We will!" the two kids replied.
"You should get some sleep, son," Valka stated. I was so tired; I was laying on my bed with the tablet on my chest and dozing off despite knowing they were still there. "Hiccup?" I started to knock out. All of a sudden, I heard a bomb go off outside. I instantly snapped awake, sitting up and looking around.
"Haddock!" I felt a hand on my shoulder as I instantly grabbed my handgun and whipped around to see Johann there. "Ah! Please don't shoot me!" he put his hands up.
"For Thor's sake, Johann…" I narrowed my eyes.
"Can you please lower that gun so that my frightened soul can be granted safe passage back my body, please?" Johann asked.
I lowered the gun with a sigh, then glared. "What the hell is wrong with you? We're in a war zone! Why would you sneak up on someone who is sleeping, and you know it's the person who keeps his guns and weapons in immediate grabbing distance?!"
"I didn't know you were sleeping!" Johann stated quickly. "You had your back turned!"
"Yeah, because I heard an explosion outside. I was on guard, waking up and being attacked isn't exactly a new feeling for me. Odin above…I'm sorry, but don't ever sneak up on me…I could have killed you, Johann," I sighed.
"Noted for future reference…" Johann nodded.
"Now, what do you need?" I asked.
"Base is under attack; suit up. Bludvist knew you might be asleep, so he told me to make sure you were up and-," Johann began to ramble as Toothless began growling.
"Quiet," I told Johann.
"But Bludvist said-," Johann started.
"Shut up," I ordered again. "Hold this," I handed him the tablet.
"What's going on?" Johann asked. Without warning, an enemy broke into the barrack holding a rifle up.
"Get down!" I grabbed Johann's jacket and yanked him down as a few automatic shots went off. I put a finger to my lips and made a motion for him to stay down and in place. Johann nodded as I inched my way to look at where the enemy was. I grabbed my gun from under my pillow silently as I also gave the same motion to the tablet; I knew one of the guys would mute the sound on their end and explain that if anyone made a sound; it would mess me up. I closed my eyes a second before whipped around on one knee and firing. I missed and the guy fired back; I felt a bullet rip through my right side. I hit the ground, holding my side and cringing.
Toothless darted out, biting the man's leg and giving me the chance to weakly reach for my gun that got knocked away slightly. I panted a bit as I steadied my shot and fired, hitting the enemy in the head. Instantly; he fell dead on the barrack floor. I felt back, dropping the gun as Toothless whimpered for me and howled out.
. . .
=Normal POV=
[9:15 pm]
Johann scrambled over to Hiccup, panicking. "Haddock? Haddock!" Johann quickly checked over Hiccup, seeing the wound gushing blood. "Shit…" Johann quickly grabbed the blanket off the bed and pressed it against the wound to stop the bleeding. Hiccup yelled out in pain, breathing heavy. "Ssh…Ssh, I know…I know…Just hang in there, Haddock…" Johann told him.
"All of you be quiet!" Eret yelled to silence the panicked family and friends who basically just watch Hiccup get shot and was now in excruciating pain and bleeding pretty badly.
"Lieutenant Traytor! Call for medic, now! You can't help him on your own!" Dagur ordered. "You gotta stop panicking and call for help. He saved your life, now save his!"
Johann nodded, grabbing his radio while trying to hold pressure. "Come on, Haddock…Stay with me now…" Johann flipped the radio on. "Medic, Medic; this is Sword LT. Does anyone read me? Over,"
"Sword LT; this is Alpha Medic. I read you. Over,"came a female voice.
"Dragon LT is wounded in his barrack by an enemy from the attack. Category Red. Over," Johann exclaimed.
"I'm on my way! Keep pressure on and try to keep him awake! Over and out,"the female replied.
"See…Help is coming, Hiccup…Just hang in there," Johann said calmly.
"What happened!" Viggo came in quickly with Krogan and Drago. Behind them were quite a few members of the platoon as well.
"He got shot in the side by an enemy from the attack…Happened about two minutes ago," Johann stated as Krogan and Viggo jumped in to help hold pressure while still getting the clothing out of the way.
"Why is this on?" Drago lifted the tablet.
"Hiccup was talking to us, Captain. There was no time to do anything…" Dagur reported.
"I'll have someone update you, but this call has to end. Civilians aren't supposed to witness any of this, but I understand the circumstances of there being a surprise attack," Drago informed.
"We understand, sir. Please…Let us know how Haddock is?" Eret hoped.
"We will as soon as we know," Drago then ended the call and set the tablet on the bed as the medics rushed in and took over. Johann, Viggo, and Krogan backed up. "How did this happen?"
"I came into wake him up; he was falling asleep when I did. The bomb went off and I snuck up behind him, he didn't fire at me, but he was ready to. Then the enemy came in and Haddock saved me by pulling us down. Hiccup fired, missed. Enemy fired and hit him in the side. Toothless attacked, and Hiccup grabbed his gun and killed the enemy with a shot to the forehead before collapsing," Johann explained.
"How is he?" Krogan inquired.
"He'll live; we have the bleeding under control and there was an exit wound. We're gonna get him to the hospital to close him up; then he's probably looking at a six to eight weeks recover. I would advise light duty, but he'll be alright. We can give you a better idea once we get him where we can do a better job," the medic stated.
"Do what you must," Drago nodded. "Let's remove the body, and get this cleaned up. The attack was pushed back, so this is probably it for the night,"
"Yes, Captain," the soldiers replied.
. . .
[7:15 pm]
[Isle of Berk; Haddock Residence]
"Guys…" Dagur stated to Eret and Thuggory. "I know it's nerve-wracking, but can you stop pacing back and forth? You're making me dizzy,"
"He got shot right in front of us!" Snotlout remarked.
"It's not something you were supposed to see, but when the attack happened; our job is to stop enemies…Not turn off the call. You don't have time for that; you act, immediately," Thuggory said.
"Wi-Will he be alright?" Astrid forced herself to ask.
"That's a hard call to make without knowing the status of him right now. Bludvist said he'd update us when knew, all we can do is wait for that. But I promise that Hiccup is a fighter, Astrid. He's not gonna go dying when he just got you back," Dagur informed. Astrid managed a nod.
. . .
[9:45 pm]
It was getting late and everyone was ready to start heading home, but they wanted to know how Hiccup was. Everyone was also glad that Magne and Dagny hadn't see what happened to Hiccup because they were off playing in the den. Just as Stoick was about to make the call that as soon as anyone heard anything, everyone would get the update; Dagur's phone silenced the room. Dagur checked the caller ID to see that it was Bludvist.
"Bazirk here," Dagur answered. "Hi, Captain…How is Haddock?" Dagur listened closely. "That's…Good to hear," he breathed a sigh of relief. "No, they didn't see anything. Just heard some shots and when Johann set the tablet down, saw Haddock on the floor in pain…" he stated, putting a finger to his lips for the others to stay quiet about what he said. "Yes, I'll tell them. Thank you, sir. We'll see you Saturday night when we get back," Dagur informed. "Bye," he ended the call.
"You realize if Bludvist ever finds out you lied about what we saw; you're in huge trouble," Thuggory remarked.
"He ain't gonna find out if you don't say nothing, so shut it," Dagur stated. "I didn't lie about what was seen for his sake and all the shit that goes into civilians seen war-related things…I did it for Hiccup,"
"What do you mean?" Valka inquired.
"Hiccup woke up about half an hour after surgery and knew the call was going when everything happened; he started panicking and worrying about you all seeing something you shouldn't. Fearing you'd be traumatized…He wouldn't calm down, risking to reopen the wound, until Bludvist told him that we didn't see anything other than what I said we saw. Hiccup relaxed, and fell back asleep. So you will say nothing to him about what happened tonight…Got it?" Dagur said firmly.
"We understand," Gobber nodded, as did the others. "How is the lad?"
"He's alive, obviously," Dagur sighed. "The bleeding was managed when medics arrive; there was an exit wound which made things easier as far as surgery goes. Hiccup is stitched up and recovering in the hospital for a week or so until the wound closes. After that; he can return to light duty,"
"By light you mean desk work," Eret asked.
"Basically. He can return to full duty for at least three weeks. The wound wasn't god awful; his uniform took the brunt of it. Heh…And I always used to give him shit for wearing his full uniform in the barracks when we didn't have assignments. Hiccup always said; you never know what could happen, so I like to be prepared for anything and everything," Dagur chuckled lightly.
"So all the blood was just initial…Being shot?" Thuggory inquired.
"Yeah. Didn't hit anything vital; he's good and resting now. Bludvist says we can see him as soon as we get in if we want," Dagur nodded.
"Have him contact us, when he can?" Astrid hoped.
"I'm sure he will," Dagur smiled.
"Thanks," Astrid smiled lightly.
"Now…I think it's all time we get home and settle for the night," Mala offered. With no arguments; everyone said their goodbyes and left.
. . .
[10:00 pm]
[Hofferson Residence]
Astrid got home, said goodnight to her parents and went right to her bedroom. Astrid got ready for bed, used the bathroom, washed her face, and brushed her teeth before getting into bed and sighing heavily. Tonight was scary; it's exactly what she'd been scared of with Hiccup joining the military. Hiccup wasn't going to before the break up, but then we went through with it and Astrid said she supported and could handle this situation. Astrid wouldn't go back on her word; it was scary, but Hiccup was doing his job and she couldn't knock the one job that helped fight for peace and freedom. Especially when it was for the place she lived as well. Astrid set her phone to charge, but not before sending a message to Hiccup on Skype.
10:20 pm
I love you so much, Hiccup. With my everything. Rest well, and I can't wait to see you.
Astrid laid down and closed her eyes; sleep took her away ten minutes later.
. . .
[Monday, 6/19/2022-12:35 am]
[Baghdad, Iraq; Military Hospital]
Hiccup woke up five minutes prior to use the bathroom, getting help from an attending male nurse who helped Hiccup out of bed and into the bathroom, but then stayed outside until he was done to help him back. Once Hiccup was settled there; he heard the alert of Skype go off and reached for his table, brought in by Johann who figured he'd want it to kill time while recovering. Hiccup brought up the messages and smiled seeing the one from Astrid.
Milady, 12:20 am
I love you so much, Hiccup. With my everything. Rest well, and I can't wait to see you.
Hiccup smiled as he typed a reply back that he assumed she'd get in the morning.
12:36 am
Seeing this has already helped me feel a lot better. Sweet dreams, and know you'll be in mine tonight. Talk to you soon, and I can't wait to see you as well. I promise we'll take a day, no…A weekend away, camping at Dragon's Edge once I'm home. Just us, Milady. I love you so much.
Hiccup closed the cover to the tablet and set it on his bedside table before getting comfortable and closing his eyes. Not long after, maybe five or so minutes; Hiccup was out from sheer exhaustion.
