The Chief was exhausted, he'd been up all night going over the events of the previous day. It was currently five am and he'd still come up with little more than putting Deadly Nadder on leave while they attempt to track both her and Hiccup down. The thought of the now former co-quartermaster brought a heavy sigh form the man, he was finally trying to make amends between them only to learn the boy had been a villain all along; he just wondered how he missed it. "I should have known, I should've seen the signs." He said to himself, or so he believed. In his tired state he'd not heard the door to his quarters open.

"Well personally, I'm not surprised in the slightest. Anythin' less than 'Iccup revealing himself like he did would go right over yer head." Forge-arm spoke, blunt as ever. It was typically a trait that The Chief was grateful for since he didn't mince words or play politics with him like so many other veteran heroes tended to these days, but right now it was simply irritating.

"Gobber, I've been doing damage control all night. I'm not really in the mood to hear your thoughts on the matter of my somehow missing that Hiccup was the villain known as Night Fury." Chief said tiredly.

"Well that's just too bad, cause frankly I shoulda said this to ye years ago." His old friend said sternly, "The truth is that ye have been a right awful father to Hiccup ever since ye lost Valka." The mention of his late wife's name sent a surge of anger through him, it always had ever since the day he lost her and would continue until he finally brought Drago Bludvist to justice; dead or alive. Gobber seemed to pick up on that fact when he noticed the tightening of his fists. "And this is just an educated guess based on my havin' known ye for nigh thirty years; but you're currently more upset at the mention of her wife's name than you are my calling you an awful father."

All the rage within him was extinguished in a millisecond. The Chief mentally reran his friend's words and realized that he was spot on. The moment Valka's name hade been mentioned nothing else that had been said mattered, but Gobber knew why he was doing this; knew that he just wanted to get justice for not only his wife, but himself and his son as well. He said as much in his defense.

"Listen to me Stoick." Gobber said, using his real name to empathize just how serious this matter was to him. "Iccup never needed the person responsible to be caught or brought to justice or whatever, he needed his father. YOU were the one that needed to avenge Val and ye pushed everything that didn't directly help that goal in some way aside, starting with yer son."

"That's not true, I had people looking out for him his entire life! I had reports on him, always knew what was going on with him until he left for college and broke off all contact, even our best couldn't track him." Stoick protested.

"Oh aye ye had him followed, but that's not the same. Tell me, were ye there when he graduated high school as valedictorian even after being moved up two years ahead?" Gobber asked, Stoick shook his head. "Were you even aware that he'd skip two grades so that he could be challenged academically?" Again he shook his head. "What about when he graduated from college summa cum laude?" Another sake of his head. "Or when he received his engineering degree?" Another shake. "When he bought his own place?"

"ALRIGHT! You've made you point Gobber." Stoick shouted loudly, then a stray thought itched his tired brain. "How exactly were you aware of all that?"

Gobber gave him a smug smirk, "Simple. I WAS there of all those." Stoick's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Iccup came by and told ye himself about his high school graduation, I was in the room at the time, but ye brushed him off for some lead that wouldn't pan out and I went to show the lad some support. When he saw I came and ye didn't, he told me his college plans and kept in touch while he was there; eventually inviting me to his graduation from there as well. I may have also been his inspiration for pursuing engineering and helped him move into his first apartment after getting his degree. It was both the happiest and saddest day of my life when 'Iccup gave me a spare key and told me to visit anytime since I was the closest thing he had to a father, even though he technically still had his."

Stoick didn't know such pain come come from hearing something secondhand. He'd always believed keeping his son at arms length was in the best interest for his own safety, but now he realized that by doing so he didn't even notice when his son increased that distance and also entirely cut Stoick out of his life. In fact it had been Gobber who had suggested hiring Hiccup to help with quartermaster duties, and he also pressed the senior hero to try and reconcile with his son. Their last interaction spoke volumes about the state of their relationship when Stoick invited his son to dinner and he was hung up on without a word.

"All that aside Gobber, it doesn't make much difference now." The larger man sighed, "Hiccup has revealed himself as the villain known as Night Fury and is now in the wind with Deadly Nadder. Our position on villains is firm, hell be tracked down and arrested as any other would be."

His friend released a sad breath as he turned to leave, only stopping at the door to speak over his shoulder. "The lad hid under our noses for months, improved almost every faucet of hour jobs that he was involved with; and only revealed himself when the woman he clearly loves was in danger. If you remember he dealt with the thugs without power, until Hunter-mind threatened to kill Nadder. Had it been ye in his place and Val was being threatened, would ye have done things any different?" He left without waiting for an answer, they both knew it already.

Another long breath left The Chief as he grabbed a bottle of scotch and pour himself a generous helping. Razorwhip's suggestion was the only wiggle room he'd had to give Hiccup an leniency, there was nothing else he could do as a leader of heroes.

The door slid open again as Kingstail barged in. "Chief! We just got a report of your old Thunderdrum driving itself back into the city!" He said in a louder than necessary voice at this early hour.

Stoick rolled his eyes before facing the man, looks like it was going to be another long day.

Astrid woke to find a pair of arms wrapped around her. It was a feeling she was intimately familiar with even if it wasn't how the pair had fallen asleep the previous evening. Night Fury's arms around her was one of her favorite feelings in the world and she had underestimated just how much she missed it until this moment. She also knew full well what it was that she felt against her thigh as well, but that was a subject for another time when they had ironed out some of the wrinkles still between the two of them. In the moment however, she decided to just bask in the warmth of his body pressed into hers and savor the feeling of what hopefully will become commonplace for them.

Hiccup stirred to wakefulness a few minutes later, unconsciously pulling her closer and considered returning to the sweet embrace of sleep. However his mind snapped into gear and he realized that he was now spooning Astrid despite the two of them agreeing to keep to their own sides of the bed for a bit. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that both had to have gotten into this position while sleeping, but he was trying to be respectful towards her until she was comfortable with him again.

He never thought that removing the masks would cause them this much grief.

The pair were well aware that they were both awake, yet neither made the first move to separate themselves. It was only when the need to use the restroom arose that Astrid untangled herself from Hiccup; and only then did he realize that their hands had been intertwined as well. While she was in the bathroom, Hiccup dragged himself out of bed and put on a shirt before making his way to the kitchen to make breakfast while he scanned news articles and feeds for information on their situation. Not knowing how long they'd have to be under the radar, he'd bought at least two weeks worth of groceries so they would be set with food while they discussed where they went going forward.

Astrid emerged, showered and refreshed by the time Hiccup was finishing a third pancake for her. He'd learned very quickly that of the many skills the blonde possessed, cooking was a less than optimal one. He'd taught her a few basic recipes during their hotel weekends and when following them she could turn out a decent meal, it was when she tried to put a small spin on them that disaster tended to follow. He'd once made a joke about finally defeating her by challenging her to a cook off and making her destroy a part of Dragon's Edge herself; she had not been as amused as he had. Hiccup smiled fondly at the memory; he would like for their relationship to return to that level of teasing and fun, but knew that goal needed work to be put in to rebuild those feelings.

The love was still there for them both, the trust would need to be repaired.

He only had himself to blame. He'd chosen to run off and then hid his identity from her when the time came to be honest with her; part of him wondered if he had told her the truth that night when she broke down in front of him would they be in this mess? He shook his head; course they would, Viggo would have still come looking for him and still found the photo of them kissing.

But they could have been better prepared.

They ate is amicable silence, Astrid occasionally humming as she tasted the food. It was when Hiccup collected their plates and began to wash them that she spoke. "This is we're you stayed after you disappeared isn't it."

It wasn't a question even if the wording suggested it was. Hiccup nodded without looking at her, he could feel her eyes on him. "After that day when Trapper made his surprise debut and kissed you, I was pretty messed up. I told you about how I was awkward as a kid and had issues with my self worth." She hmm'd to acknowledge she remembered, "Well that brought it all rushing back. I felt as if everything between us had one big ploy and that was your way of delivering the fatal blow."

"Hiccup, I'd never do that!" Astrid protested. He finished drying the last plate and returned it to the cupboard were it belonged before turning to face her in earnest.

"Logically I knew that." He explained, "In my head I knew you truly cared and wouldn't do something like that. But the truth of the matter is that affairs of the heart are rarely based in logic. We're a prime example of that as two people on opposing sides of the super spectrum yet somehow still becoming romantically entwined. So seeing this guy swoop in and kiss the woman I love after I hadn't seen her for a month was more painful then your most potent poison spike could ever hope to be."

Astrid opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it when realizing he had a point. How many times had she asked herself what was she doing in the early days of their relationship? Her mind had known what she was doing was a terrible idea and by all accounts considered wrong, but her heart kept bringing her back to him. "I guess I can understand what you mean."

Hiccup smirked at that. "I thought you might, you're one of the smarter heroes."

"Former now, probably."

Hiccup's smirk grew a bit at that, "Not exactly." He said as he picked up a tablet and brought up the new article it had alerted him to while cooking, Astrid looked at the title alone before nearly spitting her coffee out.

Deadly Nadder takes leave of a sense from hero work.

"Looks like your friend has bought your reputation some time." Hiccup said before adopting a more serious face. "You can read that in full if you want, but after I have a promise to you I need to keep." Astrid paused her skimming of the article to look him in the eyes with a questioning brow raised.

Hiccup returned to his seat across the table from her. "I promised to answer any and all questions you have." He said never once breaking eye contact so she could see he meant every word, there would be no more secrets from him. "So what would you like to know first?"