Two Walk's of Life

by the-unknown-guardian

Modern AU. Hiccelsa. Rated M for graphic conflicts and swearing. When a specialized team and a kingdom in need cross paths, things never go as expected. Watch as they battle enemies, handle their growing feelings, and their pasts. As the saying goes, "The only easy day was yesterday"

5. Operation Shell-Breaker

Chapter 5- Operation Shell-breaker

Castle

17MAY24—0630 HRS.

Elsa POV

I find myself unable to sleep because I can't stop thinking about what Toothless told me about Hiccup. How is he able to stay so positive if he's been through all that? Or is that all just a façade he puts up in front of others? If that's the case then what's the REAL Hiccup like? My alarm alerts me that it's now 6:45 am. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Hiccup since that night in the ballroom. I figure that if I get up and catch him after his work out, I may be able to sit and talk with him. I hurry and get dressed in my light blue 'Snow Queen' dress, as Anna dubs it, and head down stairs to grab some breakfast. It was close to 7:15 when I finished my breakfast and bused the plate to the kitchen. As I was putting them in the small dish washer, I noticed the sound of a door opening and closing. That must be Hiccup. Good now we can have a little chat. I turn to go back to the dining room when I see him come through the kitchen door. He's wearing a black Under Armor long sleeve that REALLY shows off the definition in his chest. He's also wearing a pair of beige cargo pants, a pair of black tactical gloves, brown military boots, and a desert camo ballcap. OH MY LORD. HE'S SCUPLTED FROM MARBLE AND CHISLED BY A GOD.

Hiccup POV

I shut the door to the gardens behind me and turn down my Breaking Benjamin playlist while grabbing an apple from the bowl by the door. As I pass through the door to the kitchen from the dining room, I come face to face with Queen Elsa. What is she staring at? I give myself a once over just to be safe then ask "uh your majesty, not to be rude but why are you staring at me?" I notice her blush "oh, uh, I-I was just caught off guard is all." Uh-huh 'caught off guard'. "So Hiccup how was your work out?" she asks with still a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. "It was good your maj…" "Please Hiccup, just Elsa is fine" she says with a smile. "Uh, ok, your maj.." She gives me a slightly playful glare. "Right, Elsa. As I was saying, it was good; It's nice to be able to run under such peaceful conditions. The views make it quite pleasant as well." I go to grab a bowl and some cereal, and see Elsa shuffle to the side to let me pass. "Uh Hiccup?" "Yes Elsa?" She's blushing once more. Man she's cute when she's blushing. Wait a minute Hiccup she's your charge and a queen, what could she possibly see in a monster like you? Plus it'd only hurt her to be involved with me. I see her expecting something akin to an answer "I'm sorry Elsa what was that?" She giggles a little "I said, do you mind if I join you for breakfast." Well wasn't expecting that "Oh, uh, sure" I say with a smile.

I pull the remaining ear bud from my ear, grab my bowl of cereal, and make my way to the dining room table. I hear Elsa following behind in a comfortable silence then take a seat next to me. I can see she's eager to ask questions, not many of which I'm sure I'm willing to answer. "Ok Elsa, I can see you're in a questioning mood so I'll answer a FEW questions." I repress a sigh when she smiles and asks her first one. "OK! So what's it like being a SEAL?" "Well it's definitely life changing. I've pushed my body to limits I never knew it had, and sometimes even beyond that. I've helped a lot of people…and hurt a lot too." I said as I think back a few missions ago. I must have spaced for a second, because I notice Elsa giving me a strange look. "Anyway, next question." "Ok, where are you from?" "A little town in upstate New York called Berk. I try not to think about Berk too much so I won't answer anymore questions about that." "Fair enough, were you ever married?" "No" I hate thinking back on this but it might sedate her pestering if I answer fully. "I was engaged though, however, it didn't work out. I broke it off when I came home from a long mission, and found her in bed with some Scottish prick from her college. Funny part is; she tried to blame me for walking in on them, then tried to tell me that she couldn't handle the 'pain of separation' and that he was there to comfort her. Needless to say, I haven't seen her since." Looks like my answer did what I was expecting it to, because I noticed her face fall and all she could say was "oh." We sat in silence for a moment before I decided to take my leave. "Well Elsa, it was nice to have this chat but I'm afraid I must be going. I have to shower still and then plan escape routes out of the castle should we ever have to evacuate you." She simply nods and continues to sit there with a blank look on her face. With that I stand up, nod my head, and say "enjoy the rest of your day Elsa." As I walk out of the dining room I pass Anna and offer a curt "good morning" which she returns. After that I continue on with my day.

Anna POV

I rolled out of bed around 8 and changed into some relaxing clothes. After a minute of doing my hair I made my way down to the dining room for breakfast. I figured Elsa was already up since she's always up before me. She usually meets me at the table with breakfast already ordered from our staff. What I didn't expect was for Hiccup to come strolling out of the dining room this late in the morning. Usually he's gone before even Elsa arrives, and not usually seen till long after dinner on his way to his room. Hell, even his men and The Guardians make a point to eat breakfast with us every so often. Hiccup is a strange one isn't he? Annnd now I'm talking to myself, great. After my greeting with Hiccup and the conversation in my head, I entered the dining room and was yet again surprised by the change in routine. Elsa was just sitting there as if she was thinking about something. Its apparent something was is troubling her since she didn't even notice me sit right next to her. And I feel it has something to do with the man who just walked out. "Elsa?" She breaks from her trance and looks to me "oh Anna, I didn't hear you come in, I'm sorry." "Sis, what's got you so troubled?" She looks at me and in her eyes I can she she's hurting but from what I'm not sure. "I spoke to Hiccup today, ya know in an effort to get to know him better, and he told me a few things." She paused for a second too long "And?" I asked to get her to continue.

She starts with a sigh "he told me what it was like to be a SEAL, but I feel that he's not telling me everything." "Well I'm sure there's a lot he can't talk about" or chooses not to for whatever reason. "I'm sure all of the guys here have stories that they'd rather not speak of." She nodded slightly "I'm sure you're right, but his answer still felt so…vague." Hmmm I wonder what he's hiding. "Hmm, well did he say anything else?" "Yea, he told me a little about where he's from, but again he was really vague. This time it seemed like he really didn't want to even remember, almost as if his home life was worse than his current one. When he told me that he got this far away look in his eyes, like he was remembering something upsetting." All I could say was "oh." She continued "that's not even the worst part. He also told me he was engaged…" I gasp "Elsa, I'm sorry….wait, did you say was?" She nodded and shed a few tears "he said he caught her cheating on him…then tried to blame him for it." "That's horrible!" "I know, and I think that's why he's not very trusting of anyone but his team." Well that would make sense. All of a sudden we hear a voice that sounds very familiar to me. "So he told you that much already huh?" I turned around to face Kristoff and feel a blush spread to my cheeks. He continues "well he seems to see something in you Elsa, but I think he's just too scared to let it show right now. However, I think I might be able to fill in the gaps that he left in the conversation you had earlier." He smiles sheepishly "just don't tell him, he might kill me…slowly. And I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemy." He laughs at the same time Elsa and I do. "If you follow me to my room we'll continue this there."

Kristoff POV

We conclude the walk to my room and upon my entry I gesture to the seats by the desk. Both girls quietly walk to the seats and sit. "I'm going to provide details to all three answers with one story. Just so you know, it's not a happy one nor is it short, but it will provide you with the answers you want. Let's begin shall we?"

Flashback

It's only my second mission with the team, but I already feel like they're family. LTJG Haddock is our team leader, and even though he's still kind of green behind the ears the others on the team will follow him without question. He's a man that needs not to demand respect, because he's already earned it from his men. He's gained mine as well, he promised me that I'd make it home alive and I did; even at the cost of his own safety. His long time friend ENS Tony 'Fishlegs' Ingerman has been with Hiccup since the beginning.

The two of them enlisted together after the two finished their expedited college programs. The two came in at the ripe age of 19 as nothing but a couple of scrawny toothpicks. I don't know what possessed them to join with a SPECWAR contract, but the payout was well worth the cost to them. After the hellish year of training and several missions later, some of which advanced them in rank, led us to this point.

I don't know much about the team before I joined them, but I do know that they're a well oiled machine and have never lost a man. That last part makes me excited but also a bit nervous, because eventually the luck has to run out.

Flashback Break

I can't help but look down and sigh "little did I know how right I was." The girls didn't say a word and just waited for me to continue. I could see the curiosity in their eyes, but also apprehension.

Flashback Continues

We were gearing up for our current mission. 'The mission is to infiltrate a cargo ship off the coast of Somalia that is suspected to be carrying military grade nuclear weapons. It's feared that these weapons may be used against US forces in the Middle East if sold to the wrong person. Our objective is to sneak in under the cover of darkness, plant charges on the ship, infiltrate the nearby camp and gather any intel possible, then make or exfil and scuttle the ship to the depths of Davy Jones. Any questions?' Fishlegs scanned the room after the brief, but before he could pass the floor off to Hiccup; one of the other new guys, whose name I didn't catch, spoke up. 'Actually sir, are there any side objectives for this mission?' Hiccup stepped up this time 'I got this Fishlegs.' He nodded 'Actually Irish, new intel received this morning states that an ISIS HVT has used this camp as a prior hideout. He's involved with several bombings at airports in Europe, as well as, the attempted bombing of the Louver in Paris. Secondary objective is to eliminate him and photograph the body. If possible bring the body with us to extraction. This objective only applies if the safety of the team and the main objective won't be compromised in the process. Any other questions?' Hiccup scanned the room and when no more questions came he went into the plan of attack.

24MAY20—2053 HRS.

C-130 Over Bendali Port—18954 FT.

I look around as everyone is readying their parachutes and checking gear one last time. I do one more once over of Irish's gear. He's carrying a Scar-SH with a 1x holographic sight, flashlight attachment, a modified heavy barrel, suppressor and a foregrip. On his hip sits a Beretta M9 along with a small tactical flashlight. His combat knife is stored just over his left shoulder for ease of access, and his pack contains some MREs, a small sleeping kit, a camelback, and some basic medical supplies. His kit, much like mine, is the standard for this mission with the only exception being Doc and Hiccup. Each of us brandishes our own specific weapon; I personally am a fan of the G36C with a 1x holographic sight and a magnifier, IR flashlight, suppressor, and an undermount M203 grenade launcher.

I am broken from my musings when the red light at the end of the ramp lights up. Hiccup walks over and lowers the door. After a few seconds he holds up five fingers and then begins to count down. After his last finger goes down he signals to the stack leader to initiate the jump. I watch them begin jumping one by one, and as I get closer to the ramp I can feel my heart beating hard in my chest. This is by far the best adrenaline rush ever experienced, and with that last though I walk off the ramp into the darkness with Hiccup right behind me. We freefall for what feels like forever, all the while watching our wrist worn altimeters. When the altimeter hits 1200 we all pull our chutes. However, Doc's primary was tangled in his secondary and failed to open. I reach out to grab him, but just missed his hand and he shoots passed me. I go to cut my chute when I notice Hiccup blow passed me in a attempt to get Doc. I notice them get closer and closer to the ground and feel this is then end for my best friend, and possibly Hiccup too. Suddenly, I notice a parachute deploy and feel slightly relieved until I notice their altitude. They may not be able to slow down in time. I see the two of them hit the landing field pretty hard. I narrow my body in an attempt to descend faster to check on them.

Flashback Break

I sigh "that was one of the scariest jumps I have ever seen. After that Hiccup has made it mandatory that everyone pack their own chute." I looked up to see Anna just staring at me wide eyed, and Elsa just had a blank expression. Anna spoke up "this mission seems off to a bad start and it's barely even started." I look down and nod "yea, and that's not even the worst to come." Elsa finds her voice "y-you mean to tell me it gets worse than that?" I simply just nod again "let me continue on and you'll see what I mean."

Flashback Continues

I land first with Meathead and Fishlegs hot on my trail. I immediately run over to the two 'Sven, Hiccup, you guys ok?!' I heard a groan and feel slightly relieved 'ugh, from now on I'm packing my own chutes. Kristoff, that you?' I pull the chute from over them and see Sven attached by a climbing clip to Hiccup's harness. Sven looks to be pretty cut up, but doesn't seem to be too bad off. I don't know if the same can be said for Hiccup, he seems to have taken the brunt of the fall. I hear Fishlegs run up while Meathead lands and regroups the rest of the team. Fishlegs looks at me then Sven 'Doc, how's Hiccup looking?' Out of nowhere Hiccup speaks up 'I'm fine Fishlegs.' He goes to sit up but winces when he puts weight on his left hand 'well except for a broken hand.' He somehow finds a way to joke about what just happened and just laughs it off.

Flashback Break

Anna cut me short "HOLD UP! You mean to tell me that Sven and Hiccup not only walked away from that little mishap, but also found a way to joke about it?!" "Well yea, in our line of work you kind of have to." Anna seemed kind of pissed with that response, and I just kind of laugh sheepishly. Elsa just kept unnaturally quiet, but I could see a hint of something in her eyes; not quite sure what though. "So Anna, any more questions?" I ask with a slight nervous laugh. This is one girl I really don't want to piss off. She glares at me and shakes her head, so I continue on.

Flashback Continues

After helping Hiccup up and getting Doc's cuts taken care of we proceeded on with the mission. The plan is for me and Hiccup to infiltrate the ship and plant the C4, while Fishlegs takes the rest of the team to the village. 'Alright guys, maintain radio silence. Only vital comms should be passed.' With that final word Hiccup turned to me 'let's go.' I nod and we turn and make our way toward the docks about half a click away. I take one last glance over my shoulder to see the others begin moving toward the village. 'Sir?...' 'Hiccup will do Kristoff' he says without looking back. 'Aren't you nervous? Ya know about Fishlegs taking the team, or being stuck with just a new guy?' I hear him chuckle quietly 'it's ok to be nervous Kristoff, I know I was my first few missions. As for Fishlegs, there's no better man for the job than him. I've known him longer than I've known my own parents.' Confusion hits me when he says that last statement, but he just continues on as if he never said it. 'And taking you with me doesn't make me nervous either.' Now I'm perplexed 'it doesn't?' He laughs a little 'No, I can tell by looking at you that know what it means to be part of this team. And for that I have no problem calling you my brother.' I can't help but feel shocked and even slightly…excited. He trusts me like that already? All of a sudden we see the ship ahead 'alright Kristoff, switch to night vision. We're going in using hand signals, maintain silence at all costs.' 'Roger.'

Flashback Break

"Ok ladies, I'm going to take a break from telling the story for a second. I have to go check up on the guys. I'm also going to make a head call and stop in the kitchen for a drink, would either of you like one?" Both girls just shake their heads "alright right then, give me about ten minutes."

Anna POV

"Wow Elsa, who knew Hiccup was such a badass?" I laugh we she turns to face me "he sure is, and ya know what?" "Hmm?" "That might be why he always wears gloves, because his hands are tore up from his exploits." Realization dawns on me "hey, maybe you're right. Think he has any other cool scars or stories?" I say with a smile. I see her face fall "something tells me this story is not as 'cool' as you'd like to think." Huh? "What makes you say that?" She maintains the frown she's wearing "well for example, have you noticed we've yet to meet this 'Fishlegs' guy? I think something might have happened to him." "What? Elsa stop being so negative, he's probably home with his lover or something." She smiles a bit "yea, maybe you're right." I give her a small sly grin "and here we are listening to stories about YOUR lover." She instantly blushes tomato red "w-what? Anna, what are you talking about?" I'm laughing so hard I almost fall off the chair "hahaha y- haha your face says it all." I say as I wipe a few tears from my eyes. She pouts for a moment then smirks a little "oh yea, well YOUR lover is telling us the story." I instantly go wide eyed "w-what? I-Imean…" Now she's laughing damnit she always knows how to shut me up. UGH. "Fine you win this round" I say as we both share in a bit more laughter. At that moment Kristoff walked back in damn that was a fast ten minutes. I see Elsa thinking the same thing. We turn and face him once more as he shuts the door.

Kristoff POV

As I walk back in I wee the girls laughing and I crack a smile. "What's got you guys laughing so hard?" Both girls look at each other then back to me "nothing." I give them a skeptical look that says 'yea, ok.' I go and sit back in the chair I was in earlier and pop the top on my Dr. Pepper. "I also brought 2 waters if you girls would like them." Elsa spoke up "we're ok for now but thank you." "Ok, I'll just put them on the desk in case you want them. Anyway let's get back to the story; where was I?" Anna jumped in "you we're at the part where the team had just split up, and you and Hiccup were about to take out the ship." "Ah, right."

Flashback Continues

We are almost to the objective and have encountered no resistance. As if he read my thoughts Hiccup spoke quietly 'I don't like this, we haven't seen hide nor hair of a guard the entire way here. This feels wrong.' 'I know, something definitely doesn't feel right.' 'Fuck it, let's just get the charges planted and get the hell out of here, before the situation changes.' 'Yea.' We made it the last few p-ways still not seeing a single enemy. We saw our objective straight ahead when Hiccup whispered once more 'ok, cover me I'll get these charges set centerline on the hull and we'll be outta here.' I turned and face the door 'on it now, go.' A few minutes later he tapped me on the shoulder 'let's move.' I began back the way we came and after some time we made it back to the ship's brow. All of a sudden I heard a static sound in my earpiece and broken up comms. '(static)co….I….say again…fi….assis(static)' Hiccup interjects 'say again. Fishlesgs?' He got no reply. 'Meathead?' Still nothing. 'Fuck, we have to move NOW!' He takes off in a dead sprint toward the village, and I immediately take off after him. 'Hiccup, what's the plan of attack?' I say while dodging tree branches and vines. 'That is the plan..attack.' After a 15 minute run we could see the village crest the hill.

We arrived on the enemy's left flank, and could instantly distinguish which building the others were in. The enemy had set up a PKP machine gun up in a second story window across from the building, and was providing suppressing fire to the doorway. Seeing the opportunity to take the machine gunner out I tossed a grenade up into the window, and 3 seconds later the nest was destroyed. 'Nice, Kristoff, now let's go clear that building and ease the fire on the others.' Without hesitation I made my way into the machine gunners building with Hiccup right on my six. We popped the first room and I dropped to a knee to take out the tango closest to us, while Hiccup remained standing and took out the two shooting through the window. Once, we had established cover Hiccup tried the radio once more 'Fishlegs? You there?' After a moment we heard a reply 'yea…I'm here' Hiccup wasted no time 'we're in the building to your immediate south so watch your fire. What's your status?' After a brief pause we hear 'we're running low on rounds, Meathead's been hit and….Irish is gone.' That last statement hit us hard; I could see Hiccup grit his teeth. 'Fuck, we're not losing anyone else today. Let's move Kristoff.' 'Fishlegs, continue to lay down fire on these guys, we're going to progress further along and thin their lines.' 'Roger.'

As we make our way through the small two story house and on to the next one we begin clearing out the place. Once that building is cleared we stacked up on the side door of the next house. Hiccup nods to me so I stepped out in front of the door and took a step to kick it in. Unfortunately when I did that a tango opened the door and instantly noticed me. Before I could get my muzzle on him he had already shot two rounds into my left shoulder and knocked me on my back. I looked up and was staring down the muzzle of his AK-47. Wow, this is how I'm going to die? I'd always thought I'd get to marry a nice girl and settle down somewhere, but I guess God has other plans for me. However, Hiccup must have intervened because I heard a round go wizzing passed my head rather than through it. When I looked up I saw Hiccup smash the man's gun into his face, and use the man's disorientation to grab his knife and insert it into the tango's neck. I instantly pulled my M9 and started taking out the tangos on the room in front of me. I dropped two before Hiccup grabbed me and pulled me behind cover. 'I'll go clear the room and give you the go to enter. Grab some med gear from your pack and get some gauze on that wound.' 'But Hiccup..' 'No buts, you'll be no good to be if you bleed out and it's not beneficial to take that room with just an M9.' I tried once more to speak 'The decision is FINAL.' With those words said he entered the room.

As I patched myself up, I heard several AKs go off and I could also make out the faint sound of a suppressed M416. After almost 15 grueling seconds all the noise inside stopped, and no call to enter came. 'Hiccup?' After stripping the rounds from my SCAR, I prepped myself to enter and take the room with my M9. Right before I could however, two taps came from the other side of the wall followed by the word 'Babe.' Instant relief washed over me as I replied with 'Ruth' and entered the room. When I entered I noticed the five guys scattered throughout the room. Several were sporting multiple bullet holes, and one even had Hiccup's carbon fiber knife sticking out of his neck. Hiccup was also sporting a few slash wounds that could be seen bleeding through his fatigues. He looked at me 'you good to go?' I instantly replied 'yea…guna need one hell of a massage to get rid of these knots once I heal though.' We both shared a small laugh and stacked up on the next room's door. 'This next room leads to a door that opens to a large pasture, once we clear this I'll radio for an evac and some air support.' 'Copy.' This time Hiccup busted the door in with a mule kick. The room was pretty easy to breach and clear, only two tangos were inside and were easily dealt with. Just as Hiccup said the room was bare except for a back door.

I watched out the window for any enemies to progress from further up the street. 'Hiccup, the others seem to have the attention of the rest of them. We should have no problem for a moment.' He nodded to me 'Right.' Then began to speak into his radio 'Alpha, Fury Actual, Come in.' 'We read you Fury Actual, what the fucks going on down there? It looks like a shit show.' 'Long story Alpha, I'm going to need immediate air support and evac.' 'Roger Fury Actual, two A-10s on station now, callsign Nightmare. I'm patching you through.' 'Nightmare, Fury Actual, you read me?' 'Nightmare here, you're Lima Charlie Fury Actual. On standby for strafing run.' 'Roger Nightmare, we've got a massive group Northwest of our pos and friendlies on both sides of the street. Danger close. I say again…danger close.' 'Roger Fury Actual, get your heads down and give us a minute to mop up.' 'You hear that Fishlegs?' 'Yea Hiccup.' I begin to hear the sound of a jet engine in the distance, then almost a split second later I hear a loud buzzing noise. Quickly after that the whine of a jet engine wizzing by is heard, and then….nothing.

Hiccup decided to use the lull in battle to regroup the rest of the team. 'Fishlegs.' 'Go Hiccup.' 'Quickly cross the street and enter the building to your south. Regroup on me while those guys circle around to make another pass.' 'Roger.' About three minutes later the team was regrouped in our building with Sven carrying Irish. The poor guy took a round to the head below the helmet line. I turned back to the window and continued scanning the street for more enemies. About a minute later another strafing run was heard, then a voice passed over the radio 'Fury Actual, Nightmare.' 'Go for Fury Actual.' 'We're being taken off station. A group of Marines are in over their heads and requesting support.' 'Roger Nightmare, thanks for the assist. When we make it out of this I owe you guys a drink.' 'I'm going to hold you to that Hiccup.' 'I know Thuggery, now go help out those Jarheads.' With that the radio went silent once more.

Flashback Break

I look back from the window and see Elsa just sitting there processing what I've told her so far. Anna however, looked at me with tears in her eyes and hands over her mouth. She whispered something that I didn't quite catch "what was that Anna?" She moved her hands and spoke a little louder "y-you w-were shot?" Oh, I wonder why that's so upsetting to her. "Yea, one went clean through and the other hit my shoulder blade and lodged itself there." "How many times?" I look at her shocked "what?" "How many times were you shot?" I stop to think for a second "Well I've been injured in battle a few times, not all of them are bullet wounds." She looked at me almost timidly "m-may I see?" Again she shocked me "what?" Tears threatening to spill once more "c-can I see your wounds….please." "Uh….sure."

Elsa POV

Anna, what the hell?! I look over at my sister to scold her, but one look in her eyes stops me in my tracks. Her eyes are reflecting so much hurt…and dare I say…love? As I look back over to Kristoff taking off his shirt I begin to think about Hiccup's scars. Toothless's words come flooding back to me in an instant. Kristoff seems a bit more open about his scars than Hiccup. Does that mean that Hiccup has been through worse? A gasp from Anna breaks me from my musings and directs my attention toward Kristoff. I can't help but gasp as well, especially when I notice the three small dot sized scars close to his heart. As expected the two on his left shoulder are there, and there's also a couple of decent length scars running across his chest and back. A few tears slip down Anna's cheek and I can even feel some welling up in my eyes. It must be hard for Anna to see someone like this, especially someone it's obvious she cares about. Would I have the same reaction if it was Hiccup standing in front of us? I have to ask about Hiccup. "Kristoff?" "Yes, Elsa?" "Is Hiccup that covered in scars as well?" I see him sigh and look down "actually Elsa, Hiccup is far worse off than most of us. Even Toothless. The guy has been to hell and lived to tell the tale. He's got a lot of scars and not just all physically. Most of his emotional one's are courtesy of that mother fucker Pitch Black." His face expressed the deep hatred for the man, and his eyes were showing a fire I can tell few have seen and lived to tell about. He continued "That son of a bitch took so much from Hiccup and in turn the team. He's hurt my brother and for that the man will pay dearly." His face softened "I'm sorry about that little rant; that's no way to speak in front of ladies." After recovering from my little shock I assured him it was ok. Anna was far too busy now ogling the poor shirtless man in front of her. I giggle at her she's so obvious about it. He speaks up once again "anyway let me redress…" "NO!" Anna blurted out. When she realized she did that she tried to save herself "I-I mean it is pretty hot in here. I'm sweating, I can't imagine how you feel sitting in the sun over there." If he knew she was lying he didn't show it, but I did pssh, nice try Anna. With that he sat back in his chair and continued on with the story.

Kristoff POV

Flashback Continue

We're all taking a short breath in the room before breaching the door. Since we have no idea what's on the other side, Hiccup has us all take stock of what ammo and equipment we have left. The results are far from good news, with only a few of us having a full magazine left. Fishlegs took my magazine and discarded SCAR since I can't raise my left arm to fire it anyway. Sven picked up a discarded AK figuring ammo would be in good supply, but it looks as if these guys were counting their rounds too. He only managed to scrape up two magazines worth of AK ammo. We were determined to bring Irish along with us, so I was to fireman carry Irish to the LZ. 'Ok' Hiccup spoke 'I'm going to take a peek outside. I haven't heard any noise since Nightmare's run and that worries me a little. Once I give the ok we'll move to the back of the field along the tree line and wait for cover.' We all just gave him a nod and kept quite. Hiccup reached out slowly and turned the handle of the door. With a resounding click it slowly made its way open courtesy of a slight push from Hiccup. With his M416 down range he scanned the field as he continued to push the door open.

A couple of agonizing seconds later an 'all clear' reverberated from outside. Once the call was made we all grabbed our little bit of gear and made our way into the field. Upon leaving the house I notice the field had little to offer in the terms of cover, so being spotted was defiantly a bad thing. However, there were a few hay bales that seemed pretty thick and the grass had to be a good 6 or 7 inches. I guess if need be would could crawl to the tree line, but that would take far too long. Said tree line was roughly half a mile from our current location, and it too seemed to be sparsely populated. Still a better option in the event a firefight does break out. It seems the strafing run did the job though. Many bodies littered the field; several we're even torn completely in half by the 30mm cannon from the A-10s. I'll admit, I have never seen carnage as gruesome as this.

Once Hiccup deemed the area safe we began toward the tree line. Nobody ran for fear of making too much noise, however, that didn't stop us from still being quick on our feet. About half way through the field, I heard a strange sound; one that seemed to be getting louder and drawing near. At first I couldn't place it, at least not until I saw two lights accompanying the sound. I resounded quickly with 'TRUCK!' but by then it was already too late. We all heard the screech of its tires and watched as several men jumped from the vehicle. 'BEHIND THE BALES, NOW!' Hiccup yelled as we all made for the closest hay bale. Fire instantly began raining down on us from the road. Myself, Hiccup, and Fishlegs took cover behind a bal while Sven and Meathead jumped behind another.

We returned fire, but only if we were sure we could stop someone…or drop them. All of a sudden over the radio we heard the voice of our saviors. 'Night Fury, Come in Night Fury.' Hiccup instantly hit his mic 'Fury Actual, Go.' 'This is Valkyre 1-6, we heard you guys could use some help. We have a 3 minute ETA, how copy?' 'I copy Valkyre, but I suggest you cut that time. We are low on rounds and pinned by enemy fire.' 'Copy Fury, I read you. We're doing our best to get there. Till then hunker down and stay safe.' 'Roger Valkyre.' Hiccup yelled to us over the gun fire. 'You heard em boys, we got three minutes of Hell then were home free.' He then turned to me 'Set him down. If we have to move we won't be able to take him with us.' That upset me but I understood where he was coming from, so I set Irish down respectfully and began to put rounds downrange.

About a minute into the gun battle I noticed the hay bales were starting to shred apart. 'Hiccup, our cover is diminishing rapidly.' He took note of it and quickly scanned around us. The enemy was making a heavy flanking maneuver from the tree line. This is a real shit show. 'Listen up, there's a small rock wall at our six, approximately 50 yards from our pos. If we turn and haul ass we might make it, but be wary of that tree line. I'm not sure how far the enemy has made it through. On my signal men.' I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I don't know if this will be the last time I see my brothers, but I'm sure as hell glad I got the opportunity to meet them.

Then the word came down from Hiccup….'MOVE!' That was all I needed to hear before I was off like a horse at the races. I kept my eyes on the rock wall, while the whole time I could hear rounds flying passed my body. At one point I could actually feel the heat of one that almost took my head off. I'm not going to die here! There's still too much to live for and these bastards are not going to rb me of that!' Before I knew it I was over the rockwall thanking God for letting me live through that. As I looked left and right I also saw that I was the first one to make it. I immediately glanced over the rock wall, pointed my M9 downrange, and began providing covering fire from my position. A couple of seconds later Meathead was over the wall with Sven right on his tail. Following my lead they also began to put rounds to the enemy. Hiccup and Fishlegs weren't very far behind.

Suddenly, time seemed to slow down as I watched Hiccup take a bullet to the right calf. He hit the ground about 15 yards from the wall. Fishlegs registered it quickly and turned back to help him. He swung Hiccup's arm over his shoulder and assisted him back to the wall. About 5 yards from the wall however, Fishlegs took a round to the back and stumbled. I went to grab them but was suppressed by enemy fire. When FIshlegs was about 2 yards from the wall he took another three rounds to the center of the back. He gasped out in pain as the bullets hit him, splattering blood all over Hiccup's face, and draining him of most of his energy. Fishlegs wasn't finished though, with his last remaining strength he tossed Hiccup over the wall and into safety. He fell to his knees just on the other side of the wall and started to fall forward. Foregoing the enemy fire I popped up, grabbed Fishlegs, and pulled him over the wall to us. 'Doc! Doc, get over hear Fishlegs is in bad shape.' I lean Fishlegs up against the wall and continue to lay my last remaining few shots downrange.

After my last three shots are expended, I turned to Doc and Hiccup to see if I could lend a hand. However, I can see that Doc is having trouble dealing with all of his injuries. Oh no. I hear Hiccup talking to Fishlegs across from me. 'Valkyre, where are you?! We need immeadiate MEDVAC, NOW!' 'We're still a minute out Fury. I'm doing what I can to get there.' Shit he's losing blood fast! I see Hiccup turn to Fishlegs, while I put pressure on a couple of his wounds. Hiccup begins speaking to FIshlegs 'Don't you give up on me. DO YOU HEAR?!' Fishlegs groans 'Hiccup…I don't know…if…I'm going…t-to make it out….of this one buddy.' Suddenly we heard a faint sound of a helicopter in the distance. Hiccup speaks with tears in his eyes 'hear that Fish? They're coming for us; you gotta stay strong. Come on man, you can't give up, not when supposed to marry Ruff. Think about you're little girl. SHE NEEDS TO KNOW HER FATHER!' Fishlegs just smiles and coughs up a little blood. 'H-Hiccup…(cough)….I want you to look after…her for me…(cough)…tell her…(cough)…what kind of man….I was…a-and…(cough)…tell Ruff I'm…s-sorry.' Hiccup's tears now run free 'I…I promise Fish.' With that Fishlegs smiled and drew his last breath.

Flashback Ends

3rd POV

Both girls are frozen on their chairs with hand over their mouths and tears in their eyes. Kristoff continued with a down trodden look "the helicopters arrived shortly after that and mopped up the remaining enemies. Then we rounded up Irish and Fishlegs and made our way back stateside. Hiccup didn't say a word to anyone till he passed the flag off to Fishleg's wife. Even then all he could say was sorry, and the worst part of it all? The town blamed Hiccup for his death, so much so his own father told him never to return." Anna jumped in with tears in her eyes "that's horrible! How could someone do that to their own son?!" " Trust me Anna, if you ever met this man you would see that Hiccup is better off without him." Elsa found the courage to speak "s-so Hiccup has no place to call home?" Kristoff nodded "yea, outside of whatever base he's stationed at, that is. To be honest, this was going to be his last assignment before he decided to call it quits. That's the case for most of us actually. I myself was thinking about settling down after all this was over, not sure where yet though." Anna blushed a bit "well, you know that Arendelle is quite peaceful. Having people of your stature here would also be beneficial. Don't you agree sis?" Anna looks to Elsa, who instantly perks up "absolutely! Actually once you retire I'd be more than happy to offer citizenship to any of you who wanted to live here."

Kristoff smiled "that's good to hear. Heck, maybe I'll run the idea by Hiccup and see if he wants to stay too. He did mention not going back to Berk when he retires, maybe he'll be open to it." Elsa attempts to hide her smile, but doesn't know she's been caught by her sister. Looks like Elsa's happy to hear that. Blackmail here I come. Anna deviously smiles to herself, while Kristoff just looks on in amusement. Heh, I just wish Hiccup would open up a bit more and go back to the way things used to be. He steals a glance at Elsa Maybe she can do what the rest of us have failed at. A chime from the clock brings the group out of their thoughts. Kristoff glances at the clock then speaks up "wow, 2100 already? Where did the time go? Anyway ladies I believe it's time I racked out." Elsa replied "yes, I do think it's time we let you be." Elsa nudges her sister and the two stand. She then continues "Good evening Kristoff and thank you for your time." Elsa opens the door and ushers her sister through when Kristoff replies "good evening to you as well and any time Elsa." With their greetings concluded, Elsa shut the door, bid her sister a good evening, and headed to her room. She doubted she'd get any sleep tonight as Kristoff's story weighed on her mind. She had a lot to think about.