Well... I don't know if this should still be called 'The Countdown' as it is now over for the U.K! Life as been so busy I can't even put into words how busy I have been. I can promise you I have been writing in my spare time and still have many unfinished stories that people have been requesting. Just know that even though the movie is over doesn't NOT mean I will stop writing in my spare time.
Please check Note at the end of the story for the Next Chapter details.
"In Plain Sight: What If?" Inspired by: 6X01 episode.
Summary: What would of happened if the glass had not stopped Johann's knife from hitting Hiccup?
"I'll take that bag of lenses, boy." Though Hiccup knew it was Johann saying those words he sounded like an entirely new kind of person. When turning around he didn't even recognise the man in front of him. His face, his expression, was completely different to the trader he knew for years of his life. The kind expression was replaced by something he had seen on many of his enemies. Evil.
Hiccup gasped as he saw Johann hold out a dagger to him threateningly. He gripped the handle of his bag with protection. "Look, what ever Krogan and Viggo are paying you," Hiccup said as he slowly began to move back, away from Johann as he began to step forward.
"Paying me? Those two?! I pay them, to serve at my feet." Johann told him.
"Why do you even want these, and why now?" Hiccup asked.
"Because they're the next step in finding the king of dragons. And the keys to yours truly becoming the richest man on earth." Johann explained as he stalked Hiccup in circles, not letting his dagger move from its target. As he talked Hiccup realised something that had happened a while back.
"Heather's lens." Hiccup gasped. Johann clapped.
"Ah ha, well done Hiccup. Don't be so morose, how do you think its been for me? Pretending all these years to actually care about you and your little friends? All the number of times I just wanted to scream at the time of my-" Before yelling Johann realised that Hiccup hadn't once yelled at him for being a traitor, or looked so shocked about it. "And yet I'm wondering why aren't you more surprised? And what do you find humours?"
"The twins and their rants." Hiccup said with a smile. Hiccup then went on to talk about all the times Johann had slowly began to give away about his cover working with the dragon hunters. All the way back to when the Edge was attacked and when he was at Outcast Island when Dagur escaped.
"The most difficult part was letting him think he actually stole my ship." Johann admitted.
"You've been behind all of this." Hiccup realised.
"Since as far back as Brakeneck Bog I've been doing everything humanly possible to rid the Archipelago of you and your Dragon Riders." Johann told him as he began to back Hiccup into a pile of junk. "But you have a most annoying habit of not dying when your suppose to."
"You have your own pesky habit. You never stop talking. You give away pretty much everything, especially when you think you've got the upper hand. You see when I did this little move to Toothless," Hiccup said as he moved his index finger in the air in circles, "to leave, leaving was the last thing I told him to do."
At that moment Toothless suddenly appeared growling at Johann threateningly from a pile of boxes near to the pair.
"The Sandbuster will surely hear if a Plasma Blast is fired." Johann pointed out.
"Properly, but I just don't see needing a Plasma Blast for this." Hiccup said as he looked over to Toothless. The pair looked at one another for a few seconds before Toothless decided to pounce. Unfortunately what they failed to see was as soon as Johann jumped out of the way Toothless fell into a net trap and was now hanging from the ceiling. Johann laughed as he walked back over to Hiccup.
"Now I believe we are all caught up. The lenses please. Now." Johann ordered. Hiccup sighed before handing Johann the bag of lenses. Johann snatched the bag from Hiccup's grip and opened it up with a evil smirk. Though it was quickly replaced with shock and anger as Johann pulled out a gold necklace Tuffnut had bought while with them. He threw the bag and necklace on the floor to see Hiccup had ran of a hid somewhere.
"Oh, Hiccup, why make this any more complicated than it needs to be? Perhaps, for old times' sake, I should regale you with tales of alligator races with the Sultan of Zanzibar or some such fictional account of my travels?" Johann asked.
As Johann continued to speak Hiccup moved from one place to another, keeping hid from his enemies eye. "That's right, Hiccup. The tales I sold you and your gullible father I plundered from real merchants before I sunk them and their ships." Hiccup slowly crept away from his spot and began to move to another. Unfortunately what he failed to realise was that Johann had spotted him. Johann pulled out a dagger from his belt and threw it towards Hiccup. With his back turned Hiccup was suddenly filled with pain as the dagger plunged through his skin into the back of his left shoulder. He cried out before falling to the floor in pain.
Toothless, who was still hanging from the netting began to screech in terror. Not caring about the noise he made the blasted a Plasma Blast at Johann, who was slowly approaching Hiccup. With the blast it ripped through the netting enough for it to break, freeing Toothless. Toothless ran over to his rider, who was laying on his front gasping in pain.
Then suddenly a loud yet familiar roar was heard. Toothless growled as the Sandbuster burst out of the sand, firing a blast towards the dragon and rider. Toothless fired a blast back protecting them. He then jumped over to the Sandbuster and began firing at it, hitting the dragon a couple of time, succeeding at scaring it away into a tunnel. Toothless then fired a Plasma Blast to the roof of the tunnel blocking of the exit.
As soon as the battle was over Toothless rushed over to Hiccup again, who was now leaning on his hand a little. "Johann." He saw a quick glimpse of Johann rushing of during the quick fight but not sure as to which direction. Toothless growled as he looked round the cave. "No Toothless. Another time." Hiccup said to the dragon in a weak voice. Toothless let out a small growl to his rider as he helped Hiccup up onto his feet enough for him to get onto the saddle. Placing his prosthetic in place Toothless quickly ran out of the cave as quickly as he could. As he took to the air Hiccup noticed how the Dragon Flyers had disappeared. 'The Twins must have dealt with them.'
"Hiccup!" Ruff and Tuff flew over to Hiccup, both with an excited look on their face. "Those Dragon Flies are no more." Ruff explained.
"Oh and you should of see the explosion. Oh how it was so magnificent. Even working with a traitor." Tuffnut said as he glared over to Ruffnut, who was glaring back.
"Says the double agent." Ruffnut said.
"Um guess. Neither of you were the traitor." Hiccup said weakly. The twins then glanced at him with confusion. Hiccup then fell forward a bit, his body feeling weaker by the moment. It was then the twins saw the dagger that was still sticking out of Hiccup's back left shoulder.
"Ur Hiccup? Did you know you have a dagger sticking out of your shoulder?" Tuffnut asked. Hiccup sighed.
"Yes Tuff, I know about the dagger. Another reason to get back to the Edge as quickly as possible." Hiccup told the twins.
"What was the first?" Ruffnut asked.
"I'm gonna pass out soon from the blood loss." Hiccup said before guiding Toothless in the direction towards the Edge.
xxx
And he was right. The moment Toothless landed on the platform of the Club House Hiccup fell of the saddle and onto the wooden ground. Dagur, Snotlout and Fishlegs, who were already in the Club House, saw the young Viking fall from his dragon. The trio rush over to him only to quickly notice the dagger in his back.
"Oh Thor, Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled as he knelt down next to his friend.
"What happened?" Snotlout yelled to the twins, concern shown on his face.
"We don't know. He and Johann disappeared and then Hiccup came back like this." Tuffnut explained.
"Funny that we didn't see Johann with Hiccup. Wonder where he went." Ruffnut said placing a hand on her chin.
Fishlegs looked at the dagger that was embedded in Hiccup's left shoulder. He looked over to Dagur. "We need to get him to his hut. Can you help carry him?"
"Of course." Dagur knelt down with Snotlout, the pair each taking Hiccup's arms and placing them round their shoulders. Hiccup groaned in pain as he was lifted to his feet. Fishlegs had already climbed onto Meatlug and headed of towards his hut to get the medical equipment. "Easy, brother. You're going to be okay."
They placed Hiccup on Sluther as Hookfang would carry Toothless up to the hut. Dagur climbed behind Hiccup to make sure he wouldn't fall of the dragon. He was careful not to touch the dagger since he didn't want to cause any more harm to his friend. The group flew up to Hiccup's hut were Fishlegs has already began to set out the equipment.
Dagur climbed off Sluther first so he could help Hiccup down from the dragon. As Hiccup slowly slid of the dragon towards Dagur and Snotlout he let out a loud moan of pain. "We've got you, Hiccup." Snotlout said as he and Dagur carried the rider over to his bed.
Slowly and gently they laid Hiccup down on his stomach. Fishlegs immanently began to inspect the dagger and where it was located, though it looked like he was having a bit of trouble. He grabbed a old rag and wrapped it round the dagger and pressed it down. Hiccup suddenly yelled. Toothless jumped towards his rider and growled at Fishlegs. "I'm sorry Toothless but I need to stop the bleeding."
"We need to get the dagger out." Snotlout pointed out.
"Yeah I know. But with where the dagger is located its going to be a lot harder, especially since I can't see the wound." Fishlegs explained. He then looked over to Ruffnut. "Ruffnut, get over here." Ruffnut quickly rushed over to Fishlegs. "Place your hands where mine are and keep pushing down."
"I-I don't know, what if I-" Ruffnut began to say with uncertainty but Fishlegs cut her off.
"We don't have time. I need your help." Fishlegs said. Ruff nodded before placing her hands on the wound. "Tuff, keep a look out for Heather and Astrid and make sure Astrid doesn't come in."
"Umm why?" Tuffnut asked.
"Because she will worrying to much and I can't have her get in the way." Fishlegs explained. Tuffnut nodded before stepping outside. "Dagur, start mixing up a herb for the wound. The ingredients and instructions are in my bag." Dagur nodded before walking over to the table to get to work. "Snotlout, get another dagger, the sharpest one you can find. We need to cut his armour and shirt away."
"You got it." Snotlout said as he ran out of the room to find what Fishlegs needed. Hiccup suddenly began to groan again.
"Dagur, how is the herb coming?" Fishlegs asked as he set out equipment for the stitches and other things he would need once the dagger was out.
"Nearly done." Dagur yelled over as he carried on stirring.
"Ruff, how much blood is he losing?" Fishlegs asked since he had his back turned to his friends.
"Urr, my hands are starting to stain red?" Ruffnut said, not sure exactly how to answer. Fishlegs quickly turned around to see Hiccup was in fact starting to lose more blood than he should be.
"Found one!" Snotlout came running in holding up a dagger in the air. He ran over to Fishlegs, holding the dagger out.
"Snotlout, I need you to cut down the middle if possible. It will make it easier to remove the clothing that way." Fishlegs explained as he stepped next to Ruffnut and opposite Snotlout. Snotlout nodded.
"Alright." He said as he placed the dagger at the top of Hiccup's neck where his armour began. With Fishlegs holding the armour so it would be easier to cut away, Snotlout placed the dagger on the armour and began to cut it in half. Hiccup groaned from the movement of his clothing.
"Easy, Hiccup. We've got you." Fishlegs said. Snotlout soon cut all the way down the middle. "Snotlout, swap sides. It will be easier for you to cut round the dagger this way." As the pair began to swap sides Tuffnut suddenly called.
"Ur guys, Astrid and Heather are back." Tuffnut called.
"Distract them, we can't let Astrid see Hiccup." Fishlegs called over to him. Tuffnut nodded before quickly closing the door again. Outside the sound of flapping wings was heard along with Tuffnut's voice. Fishlegs however tried to ignore it and stay focus on helping his friend.
"How am I supposed to cut round the wound enough to remove his armour?" Snotlout asked as he looked down, unsure of what he should do. Fishlegs looked at the wound and began to think. He then noticed a rip long enough for Snotlout to use to cut away from the wound.
"There, use the rip to cut away from the wound to where we already cut to." Fishlegs explained as he pointed from the small rip to the end where they had cut already. Snotlout nodded and placed the dagger at the rip, ready to start.
"Tuffnut, seriously, what's going on in there?" Astrid's voice was heard from behind the door.
"Nothing, nothing, no one is in there!" Tuffnut yelled, not sounding to convincing.
"Tuff, why can't we go in?" Heather asked. As Tuffnut carried on trying to keep the girls out of the hut Snotlout got the dagger in position ready to cut the rest of Hiccup's armour.
"Okay, Snotlout be careful and try not touch the dagger." Fishlegs said as he held onto Hiccup's shirt so Snotlout could get a better cut. Snotlout nodded.
"Okay." As he slowly moved the dagger to the rip the handle of his dagger softly touched the dagger in Hiccup's back.
"Ohhhahh!" Hiccup groaned. Snotlout tried to ignore it as he carefully began to cut the shirt. Only Toothless wasn't as quiet as he let out a roar of fright as Dagur, who had abandoned the herbs, tried to keep the Night Fury back.
"What was that? Was that Toothless?" Astrid said from behind the door.
"What? No, no, he's with Hiccup, and they're not here- owowow!" A loud sound of punching was heard behind the door. "Oh I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"
The door suddenly opened to show a worried Astrid, Heather standing behind her. There in front of here everyone froze. Dagur was trying to hold Toothless, Ruffnut was holding the wound round the dagger, and Fishlegs and Snotlout were trying to cut Hiccup's shirt away. But what was shocking her most was the dagger sticking out of Hiccup's back.
"What happened?!" Astrid yelled as she rushed over to Hiccup, standing next to Fishlegs.
"We don't know, he came back like this with the twins." Fishlegs explained. Astrid then turned to Ruffnut.
"What happened to him?!" She yelled at Ruffnut. Before Ruffnut could answer Fishlegs turned to her.
"Astrid, we don't have time we need to get the dagger out but first we need to cut away his shirt and I can't do that with you in the way." Fishlegs explained. Heather then appeared behind Astrid.
"Astrid let Fishlegs do his job." She said calmly as she began to move Astrid away but Astrid quickly yanked herself away from Heather.
"No, I'm not leaving him!" Astrid yelled.
"Then at least stay over there with Toothless so no one else is crowed around him." Fishlegs said as he carried on holding the shirt so it was easier for Snotlout to cut away. Soon the blade made its way to the end of the shirt.
"Got it." Snotlout said as he pulled the dagger away and placed it on the bed so he could move the material so it was now off Hiccup's back and away from the wound. Fishlegs now got a better look of where the dagger was located.
"Okay, Ruff remove your hands." Fishlegs ordered. Ruffnut removed her bloody hands from the wound and took a step back while Fishlegs moved next to Snotlout so he could look at the wound better. "From what I can tell the dagger landed between the shoulder blade and his spine."
"Then its a good thing you didn't removed it when Hiccup got here. Removing it the wrong way could of ended up doing more damage." Heather said as she walked over to look at the wound herself. "Dagur, how is the herb coming?"
"Its done." He told his sister as he pointed to the table where a bowl sat.
"Okay, Ruff, Tuff, get Toothless out of here." Heather told the twins. "He's going to go nuts when we have to remove the dagger."
"On it." The twins said as they took old of Toothless' saddle and began to pull him out of the room, using all their strength as the Night Fury didn't want to budge.
"Snotlout, can you get a bucket of water?" Heather asked.
"You got it." He said as he raced out of the room. Heather then looked over to Fishlegs.
"Do you know how to get the dagger out?" She asked.
"Yeah but its going to be tricky, and painful for Hiccup. We can't yank it out, its gonna have to be done slowly." Fishlegs explained. Heather sighed and turned to Astrid, who was standing away from the bed looking nervous.
"Astrid, Hiccup's gonna need you." Heather told her. Astrid nodded before quickly rushing over to Hiccup's bed side and kneeling down. Fishlegs looked over to Heather.
"Get the rag ready for pressure." Fishlegs said as he placed his hand on the handle. Hiccup let out a loud moan of pain. Astrid ran her fingers through his hair.
"Shhh, its okay. You're gonna be fine." She told him. She then moved her other hand to Hiccup's, giving it a soft squeeze.
"Got the water!" Snotlout yelled as he rushed back into the room, holding the bucket in the air.
"Bring it over here." Fishlegs told him. Snotlout nodded as he rushed over to Fishlegs and stood next to him as he placed the bucket on the floor. "Ready?" Fishlegs asked as he looked between Astrid and Heather. The pair nodded. Taking a deep breath Fishlegs slowly began to pull the dagger out.
"Ahhh!" Hiccup's screams could be heard from any part of the island. Everyone in the room did what they could to drown the horrific noise. Heather held onto Dagur for comfort. Fishlegs kept him mind on the dagger. All Astrid could do was stroke Hiccup's head and say comforting words to him, not like it would of made much difference.
Suddenly Hiccup began to move. This caused Fishlegs to panic as he quickly stopped moving the dagger. "Hold him down!" He yelled, not to anyone in particular. Dagur quickly rushed over to his 'brother' and held his body still to the best of his ability. Snotlout did the same, taking hold of his cousins legs. Once Hiccup was secure Fishlegs continued to pull on the dagger.
Hiccup continued to scream, causing much pain between everyone that was in the room. Astrid kept on trying to comfort Hiccup as much as she possibly could, but all she could do was allow him to squeeze her hand as Fishlegs tried to pull the dagger from his back as carefully as possible. She kept on whispering comforting words to him, but knew he properly wasn't hearing a single thing she was saying.
"Nearly there!" Fishlegs yelled over Hiccup's screams. "Heather get ready!"
"On it." Heather said with nerves but trying confidence.
"Just a little more Hiccup, hang on." Astrid whispered in Hiccup's ear as she stroked his hair with one hand, the other being squeezed to death by Hiccup's hand.
Suddenly Hiccup let out a gasp at the same time Fishlegs pulled out the dagger. "Got it! Heather now!"
Heather quickly got the rag and placed it down on the wound, hard. Hiccup cried out once again, now letting out shaky quick breaths. Astrid noticed this and quickly began to worry. "Hiccup! Hiccup, your okay."
Was he going into shock?
"Hiccup, breath, you gotta breath slower for me." Astrid tried to instruct him. Hiccup suddenly started to make sounds like he was trying to speak, but all that was coming out were loud moans. "Breath with me. In... Out." Astrid began to instruct.
Hiccup watched her, his eyes wide as he tried to copy her. Astrid carried on trying to help Hiccup get his breathing under control, her hand never leaving his own. Soon Hiccup found himself begin able to breath slower and easier. He closed his eyes, hoping it will help him concentrate better, which it did somehow. It also made he feel tired. Very tired. Slowly he began to feel himself slip into the darkness.
"Hiccup?" Astrid said softly. Hiccup made no sign that he heard her. "Hiccup." She said with more panic in her voice.
"Astrid." Fishlegs quickly said. Astrid looked up to him. "He's okay. The worst part is over. He's going to be fine."
xxx
First thing Hiccup felt when he opened his eyes was pain. Pain in his back all over. He felt like his left left shoulder had been torn apart and pulled back together. That didn't happen, right? Wait, what exactly did happen?
He suddenly felt a hand run over the back of his head, the fingers brushing softly against his scalp. Hiccup let out a soft sigh as he looked upwards to the source. Looking down at him with bright blue eyes was Astrid. "Hey." She said in a soft voice.
"Hey." Hiccup replied back. "Where's Toothless?"
"At the stables with the rest of the dragons. Fishlegs needed him out of the way so he could fix you up." Astrid explained.
"Fix me up? What do you mean?" Hiccup asked.
Astrid gave him a confused look. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?" Hiccup asked.
"Hiccup, you had a dagger in your back when I returned to the Edge." Astrid reminded him. Hiccup looked at her with confusion, trying to remember what had happened.
"Is that why I feel like my back feels like its been stitched back together?" Hiccup asked.
"Only by your shoulder had to be stitched. You did lose a lot of blood though." Astrid explained.
"Must be why I feel so out of it." Hiccup muttered. He suddenly lout out a not so pleasant coughing sound.
Astrid quickly stood up and walked over to the table next to his bed where a cup and jar of water sat. Once the water had been poured into the cup Astrid made her way back over to Hiccup. Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Can you move onto your side?"
"I think so." Hiccup answered. With Astrid's help Hiccup was able to make it onto his side long enough to get a couple of mouthfuls of water down his dry throat. As Astrid put the cup back on the side Hiccup slowly rolled back onto his front. Astrid sat back down in front of Hiccup, going back to stroking his hair.
"I'm not even gone for a day and your already getting hurt." Astrid muttered.
"It's not like I planed it, milady." Hiccup replied with a smirk.
"Then how exactly did it happen? The Twins said that you and Johann went to the Sandbuster's nest for the gems and then you come back with a dagger in your back." Astrid reminded him.
Hiccup's eyes suddenly widened. "Johann." He whispered. Astrid looked at him with confusion.
"What?"
"Get the riders over here, we need a meeting." Hiccup told her as he tried to sit up, slightly growling.
"What you need is rest." Astrid told him as she tried to push him back down genitally, but Hiccup wasn't having it.
"Astrid, we've been played."
Please know that the next chapter is NOT part of this One-Shot story. It is a chapter for a new story I am thinking about writing but don't want to carry on further if people will not be interested in reading it. You will understand once you have read it.