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"

13. So It Begins

Chapter 13—So It Begins…

Hiccup's Room

06JUL24—0500 HRS.

Hiccup POV

'I guess I should get up and get my morning started early.' I looked around and put on my normal running gear. Right after that, I grabbed my camelback, made sure it was filled, and secured it on my back. The last thing I grabbed on my way out was my iPod. I looked at it making sure it was charged enough, before putting the ear buds in and selecting 'Twilight of the Thunder God' by Amon Amarth. I took a good look around the castle noticing a lack of activity, except for the castle guards, and myself. I let out a sigh 'love being up this early.' Without a further thought I made my way out of the castle and on to my usual running route.

0800 HRS.

Elsa POV

I made my way down to the kitchen after getting ready for the day. Upon my arrival, I noticed almost everyone was present. The only people missing were Toothless and Hiccup. 'I wonder where those two are.' I looked at the group at the table and asked the question, "have you guys seen Hiccup or Toothless this morning?" Sven was the first to answer, "Toothless is working out in the gym, and if I'm not mistaken, Hiccup also is out for this daily run." I gave a small nod as I replied "noted. Do you know if either of them has had breakfast yet?" This time it was Kristoff who answered "I doubt it. Nobody is usually up when Hiccup leaves, and Toothless prefers to eat after he is done lifting."

I let a smile warm my face as I looked at Anna. "So, Anna, what do you say we cook breakfast for them?" I could see the smile draw on her face too as she ecstatically replied "yes!" I looked at the men at the table as Anna got up and made her way over to me. "Do you know when the two of them will be done?" Kristoff answered once again "well, Toothless only started about thirty minutes ago, he should be done within the hour. As for Hiccup, I'm not too sure it just depends on how long he wants to run. That guy has stamina like Forrest Gump."

I looked at Anna "we should have enough time to make some pancakes and eggs for the two of them." She chimed in "oh! Don't forget the bacon too." I gave a small giggle "right, how could I forget. Let's get started." About thirty minutes later we heard a sound in the dining area. A few seconds later Toothless walked through the kitchen door, and was slightly surprised to see us in there. He cleared his throat "excuse me ladies, I wasn't aware you were in here." Anna gave a small giggle "no worries silly. We were just cooking you and Hiccup breakfast. We figured the two of you might not have had a chance to eat before the cooks stepped out for the morning."

A smile showed on his face as he replied "that's extremely nice of you. I bumped into Hiccup not long ago. He should be on his way back here soon. I would suggest you leave the tray in his room. He'll go there before he comes here." I looked at Anna, who looked right back as she spoke "we could do that. Just leave a note on the tray when you drop it off." Toothless gave a nod out of the corner of my eye as he chimed in "when I passed him he was finishing his run. That was about 10 minutes ago, he usually does fifteen minutes of stretching after that. If you head out now, you should catch him just before he arrives."

I gave a small smile and a nod as I replied "ok, I'll do just that then." A couple of minutes later I found myself outside of his room. 'I should knock just in case he is in there.' A few raps of my knuckles on the door, and a moment of silence roused no answer out of the room. I gave it one more try, on the off chance he didn't hear me. Once more, the reply was silence. I tested the door handle and found it was unlocked. 'Good, I can leave the tray inside.'

I walked in and instantly noticed the room was neatly set up. I could see that everything had its place in the room. The only thing out of the ordinary was the placement of the drinking pack he wore. 'A camelbak is what I think he called it.' It was sitting in the middle of the bed. 'Did he forget it when he left this morning?' I disregarded the thought as I walked to the foot of the bed and set the tray on a small chest residing there. I took one last look around the room, before I started to make my way to the door.

A noise stopped my progress. 'Did something on the tray fall over?' I turned around to look, but what I saw next caught me off guard. As soon as I turned around I was greeted with the sight of Hiccup walking out of the bathroom. He was as stark naked as the day he was born and using a towel to dry his face. A second later the towel came away from his face and his eyes met mine. My hands flew to my face as I yelled out "oh my god! I'm so sorry." I heard the a few sounds as he was speaking to me "what?...Why are you in here?" I turned and made haste out of the door as soon as I could, yelling "sorry!" the whole way out.

As soon as I was out of the room I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes in embarrassment. 'Oh my god! I can't believe I just walked in on him changing. I can't believe he looks that good though…No! bad Elsa! I'll be lucky if he ever wants to talk to me again after that…Still I guess it wasn't all bad…No, stop that train of thought now!' I let out a sigh 'that is going to be ingrained in my head forever. I'll never be able to look at him the same again.'

0830 HRS.

I tried to avoid him, but eventually fate decided that wasn't going to happen. I bumped into him finally while traversing the hallways. I could feel my face heating up as he opened conversation. I tried to maintain a formal atmosphere with him "Good Morning Hiccup." I could tell he was trying to remain composed "to you as well Elsa. Thank you for bringing breakfast by earlier." I could see a slight bit of red dusting his cheeks. I was trying to make this conversation short lived as I replied "You're welcome. I regret to inform you however, I must cut this conversation short. I have a meeting in a few minutes."

I saw a flash in his eyes briefly, but as quick as it came it was gone. He replied "ok. Hope all goes well. I gave a curt nod with a smile and bid him a good day.

Without seeming rude, I quickly excused myself from the hallway and toward my library. Once inside I shut the door in a hurry, but neglected to realize my sister was already in there. The sound of the door shutting alerted her to my presence, and she waved me over. "Elsa, good to see you. Come sit with me." I could hear the playful tone in her voice. 'This is going to be a long talk.'

As I took my seat in the adjacent chair, the smile on Anna's face grew larger and larger. Finally, after a moment of blissful silence the conversation began. "So, I heard you had a little run in with Hiccup." Despite my best attempts, I could feel the heat stinging my cheeks and resisted any attempts to retort. Unfortunately, Anna wasn't done "I can tell by the blush on your face, even if you don't want to speak. That's fine, I'll do the talking, and if worst comes to worse I'll just go speak to him about the incident." NO! I'd die of embarrassment. Finally, I relented and joined the, very one-sided, conversation. "What are you getting at here Anna?" The smile never left her face "oh come on Elsa. You mean to tell me that you didn't enjoy the free little show you got?"

Once more the blush crept to my cheeks, but this time there was no fighting it. I can't let her know she's right. Looks like I'll have to beat her at her own game. I took a breath to calm my slightly elevated heart rate, and let a small smile grace my face. "Oh, trying to pry into my love life are we little sister? Are you just curious that I'll give you a mental picture for you to compare to your own interest?" I could easily see her turn beat red as she tried to retort. "Ah well…I mean…you know." Got her. Now the finisher. "Oh, I see what's going on here. You're trying to figure out a way to get your hands on…what was his name again…Kristoff right? Well, I think he's a good man. I'll give my blessing, but I'll expect a few nieces and nephews soon."

Instantly, I saw the desired effect as all the blood rushed to her face. I let out a small chuckle. Hope she doesn't pass out. "Anyway Anna, I have to take my leave. I have a meeting with the council to discuss a few things. We'll have to get back to this conversation at a later time." She made no sound as I rose to my feet, and made my way out of the door.

1130 HRS.

Toothless POV

I walked into the operations center and found Hiccup and Kristoff standing over a map discussing sniper vantage points. Kristoff popped his head up and gave me a greeting "hey Tooth." I saw Hiccup give me a wave without looking up from the map. I could see the small smirk on Kristoff's face as he spoke. "Tooth, you hear about the free show our fearless leader here gave the queen?" Oh, I heard about it all right. I had to fight to suppress a laugh, at his expense, as I answered Kristoff. "Yes, I heard." I turned my attention to him as I continued "enlighten us Hiccup. What motivated you to greet the queen like that? Did you finally give into your desires?" I didn't stop the laugh that came tumbling out. I saw him take a breath before he looked up at the two of us. A small smirk grew on his face. Uh oh. That's never a good sign. He responded "oh, I know where my feelings for the queen stand. Can you say the same for the princess that I've seen your eyes following around? Seriously, if you stare any harder at her, you might just burn a hole in her." Once more laughter rumbled up from my chest as I watched Kristoff get burned. Hiccup then turned to face me. "Don't think you're getting off Scott free either." Uh oh. "I know all about you and the British girl who came with Jack and them. What was her name again?" He paused for effect before continuing "Sherrie? If I'm not mistaken. Or does she rather go by Stormfly?

Fuck…he's got me with that one. I gave a smirk "at least Sherrie and I know each other's feelings. In fact, I might have to pay her a visit after this brief." I felt the smile slip from my face as I continued to address both of them. "Seriously though you two, you need to man up and let them know. Both of you are aware how quickly things can be over. Don't miss an opportunity just because you have a little cold feet."

The two of them took a moment to ponder it over as a quiet stillness enveloped the room. Kristoff was the first to bounce back as he looked to Hiccup. "Hiccup?" Hiccup looked over at him as he proceeded on "mind if I go take care of something?" He seemed to think it over for a second as another short silence filled the room. Finally, he answered him "sure. Tooth is the last one I have to fill in on the plan anyway." A small smile graced Kristoff's face as he shot a thank you at Hiccup, before excusing himself from the room. Hiccup looked over at me "Tooth, I just found out that Elsa will be giving a speech to conclude the festivities."

Immediately the gears in my head began to spin. That would make ample opportunity for an attack to take place. Now I see what's got him so worked up. I glanced around the room one time. I wonder where Sherrie and her guys are at. Haven't seen them in a few days. He continued "she will be giving it from the palace balcony." I replied, "that explains the meeting you and Kristoff were having upon my arrival." I saw him give a head nod and retort "right. That is going to leave you in charge of the ground team. Kristoff will be taking the SAS operative Wolf to an over watch location in an adjacent watchtower. It will provide them with a three-hundred-degree vantage point. The remaining sixty degrees will be a blind spot. The good news however, is that any vantage points within that sixty-degree window prevents a clear line of sight to the speaker. The only exception is if the individual shifted a foot to the right. A small parking garage adjacent the castle bridge would provide a direct shot. A small team of Arendellian police will be located there."

He looked up at me, and I gave a nod of understanding. He continued on "you will be the acting team lead for the QRF. Jack will be your second in command. Your team will also include Meathead, Stormfly, Soap, Mute, and Doc. Myself, along with Deadeye, will be at the Queen's flank throughout the length of the speech. Chain of command will be as follows: Me, You, Jack, then soap. Let's hope we don't lose any more people than that. We're not expecting anything to happen, but we will be prepared for it."

I decided to interject "shouldn't we place one of our own by the parking garage? Not that I don't trust the police force here, I would just feel better about having a higher trained and more experienced individual there." He seemed to ponder it for a second before he gave his reply "I see what you mean, but unfortunately we don't have the necessary man power to support that. The queen has placed two of the men from the training evolution in charge of the small force there. Corporal Sharp and Sergeant Davis will be overseeing things. I know it's not enough to completely calm your suspicions, but it will have to do to sedate them." I let out a small sigh "you know this is going to go to shit, right? None of your plans, no matter how flawless, ever seem to go right." I could see his shoulders slump as he replied "I know. All we can hope for, is that we neutralize the threat before it anything bad can happen."

He shot me a serious look. "Between you and me, I'm expecting an assassination attempt on the Queen's life. I received intel from SOCOM about two hours ago. They notified me of a lack of personnel in an adjacent neighboring town not too far northwest from the border." He slid an infrared image over a lighted part of the table. The image depicted several white dots scatter throughout the town in a random manner. "This was taken seventy-two hours ago." He removed the first image, and slid another into its place. The second image showed no individual white dots, and instead showed one massive white blob located at the far-right corner. He continued on "this was taken forty-eight hours ago. As you can see, there is a large congregation here. We are unsure as to what it is, and the data image satellite won't be passing over that location for another twelve hours. We're going to have to wait for a real-time image, before we can confirm anything."

I let out a short sigh, "do we have any support in the area in case things go south?" He shook his head and spoke "no, other teams have been pulled to support the 11th MEU. They fell into a hotspot and needed emergency support. I'm not expecting a major offensive. At most I think it'll be a small skirmish. Pitch is clever, he won't act without all his trump cards in place. Drago on the other hand would act upon an opportunity like this. Drago may be clever, but he's reckless when angry, and we effectively pissed him off just by showing up here." I gave him a nod, and decided to approach a different topic. "Are you planning on telling her that her life is in danger?"

He responded almost instantly "no. I don't want to worry her on the off chance nothing goes wrong." I shot him a look "didn't you just say you were expecting something to happen?" He gave me a sheepish look, and I continued. "Well if you're not going to tell her, and I know you won't you hard headed son of a bitch, then at least spend some time with her. I was serious about what I said earlier. The lifespan of a military man is not very long in this day and age." He gave me a chuckle "you rhymed that." I shot him another look, and he ignored it as he resumed speaking. "I'm sure I'll see her around the castle. She is the queen after all, I can't just steal all of her time." I gave one last sigh as I made my way to the door. "You're fucking hopeless" I said as I walked out of the room.

07JUL24—0415 HRS.

Hiccup POV

Oh shit! This is way worse than I thought. I looked at the real-time image in my hand, and could feel my face pale. I had better wake up Jack and Toothless.

0505 HRS.

I watched as the two walked, in one bright eyed and the other looking worse for wear. Looks like Toothless had a good night, and judging by the humor in Jack's eyes he can tell too. I gave a small chuckle at my friend's expense as he shot me a confused look. I cleared my throat, and took on a serious aura. "Gentlemen, I received this last night." I slid the photo across the table to them. I watched as both of their eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Jack looked up at me and spoke "you know what this means right?" Toothless kept looking at the image in front of him as I replied "yes. It's going to be a full-scale offensive against the castle. Pitch must realize that we lack man power due to the current state of things in the world. I put in a call to SOCOM, but the earliest reinforcements could arrive would be early Saturday morning." I looked at Jack "any luck in getting any support?" He shook his head "no. We are in a similar situation. Hell, even MI6 can't provide any support. Looks like we're on our own for a while."

Toothless looked up at us finally as he responded. "It's going to be a long Friday. I really feel like I'm getting too old for this shit. Maybe it's time to retire." All three of us had a laugh, but the seriousness of the situation still weighed on us. I looked at the two, "you guys are dismissed. Toothless, can you brief the guys? I've yet to get any sleep." He gave me and nod and replied, "consider it done." I shot a thank you at the two as we left the room and went our separate ways.

1545 HRS.

My eyes shot open at the sound of a tap on my door. I sat up and shot a quick reply at the door telling the individual to hold on. Swinging my legs off the bed and firmly on the floor I moved over to the dresser to retrieve a pair of pants and a long sleeve button up, which I leave open. A short stroll to the door revealed Anna on the other side. I could see a distraught look on her face and invited her in. Once she was seated in the chair by the desk, I opened a conversation. "What can I do for you Anna?"

She took a breath, almost as if holding back a sob and replied, "is it true what I heard from Kristoff?" Fuck! I decided to see what she knew "what do you mean?" She seemed to get a little angry at that as she shot back her reply. "Don't play that with me! You know that someone is planning to harm Elsa on the day of her speech. You've even prepared for it, so why was it not mentioned to either of us until today?!" I let out a short sigh. "Listen Anna, you already know that a man is after your sister's life. I'm just planning to counteract to a terrorist's dream scenario. Do I think something will happen? Yes, I do. As to what I am not sure, so I planned for the most likely outcome. I didn't want to worry you or your sister, because in the end we would have it under control. Don't you trust us in that sense?"

I could see some of the anger leave her face as she answered, "well yes, I do. I'm just scared. I don't want anything happening to my sister. She's all I have left." I responded "don't worry Anna, nothing is going to happen to Elsa or you. You can count my life on it, and I can assure you the others think the same way." She still didn't seem relieved "how can you be so sure?" Once more I let out a sigh. I might regret telling her this…. Ah, fuck it! I looked her dead in the eyes as I answered "because…I've fallen in love with your sister. I'd die before I'd let her be harmed." I saw her eyes get as wide as saucers and the anger fade from her face. A smile replaced the frown that was there seconds ago.

She was quick to pick the conversation back up. "Oh my God! I knew it! I could tell by the way you looked at her! Wow, who would of though? First Kristoff confesses to me, now you and Elsa are getting together. Oh, it makes me so happy!" Kristoff and Anna are a thing? I had to stop her before she went off on a tangent. "Hold on Anna, me and Elsa are not getting together. You're the only person I've told besides Tooth." She took in a breath as shock settled in on her face. "Wait, you men to tell me you haven't told her yet?!" I shook my head as I responded "no, not yet. Honestly Anna, I'm happy for you and Kristoff. This will likely be his last assignment. His contract is up in six months, and he's been talking about getting out for a while now. I think you only solidified that decision. I on the other hand still have almost two years left on this rotation. In this line of work, that's a lifetime. I may not even make it that long. That's a big part of why I haven't told her."

Her face fell as she pondered over what I just told her. I continued "I don't want to hurt her. It wouldn't be fair to give her something like love on for her to lose it." She slowly nodded and responded, "I see what you mean, but you should at least give it a chance. I know Elsa can be a little hard headed when it comes to things like emotions, especially dealing with men. I think it has something to with an issue we had with a prince a couple of years back. I think deep down she feels something for you also, but she's fighting with it. Honestly, she just needs a kick in the pants to realize it."

I gave a soft chuckle "when did you become such a match maker Anna?" She let out a soft giggle as she responded, "I've always been better in matters dealing with the heart." She stood up and made her way to leave, but stopped in the door way. She shot a quick look over her shoulder and one last statement followed it. "I hope you sit down and talk to her today. Oh, and don't worry, what was discussed here will stay between us two." With her piece said, Anna made her way out and off to do who knows what.

She makes a lot of valid points. Maybe I should go… My thoughts were cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. "Hello?" A distinguishable voice spoke up on the other end. "Hic, it's Doc, a phone call came in for you from SOCOM. I also need to see you regarding your prosthetics. I think I found a way to fix that little wiring issue you mentioned." I let out a sigh as I replied "ok, I'm on my way." Hanging up, I buttoned my shirt and walked out the door letting my thoughts wander. Guess I'll have to sit down with Elsa after this. I'm going to take Anna's advice. There won't be any time to do it tomorrow. I was brought out of my musings as I stopped in front of the Ops center door. Let's get this over with.

2237 HRS.

Oh, come on! I can't believe it took that long for a phone call and a troubleshoot. I really hope Elsa hasn't gone to bed yet. I roved the hallways looking for Elsa, but so far, the search was coming up fruitless. I'll look for another fifteen minutes before I just call it. Finally, after ten minutes I saw Elsa coming out of the library. "Elsa, do you have a minute?" She jumped a little at hearing my voice, but relaxed when she realized it was me. Turing to look at me she invited me back into the library. She made her way over to a seat and gestured to the other one opposite her. As she did she opened the conversation "what can I do for you Hiccup?"

I took a deep breath as I started "there's something I'd like to tell you. Hear me all the way out before you reply." I saw her nod and took that as my signal to continue. "Having spent these past couple of months together has made me feel something I haven't felt in years. Something about you has changed something in me. All I'd like to do is see you smile, and make sure you're safe. Even if it cost me my own life in the process. It took me a while, but I realized what it was that you made me feel. I realize that I have fallen in love with you." I finished and felt somewhat relieved. The conversation between Anna and I still echoing in my head.

I noticed it get quite in the room for a moment before Elsa began to speak. "Listen Hiccup, don't take this the wrong way…" I felt my stomach bottoming out as she said that. I knew it was too good to be true. "…but I don't know if I feel the same way. I feel something for you, that much is true. I'm not sure if I can call it love though. Simply, because I don't know what love feels like, and that scares me." I did my best to keep a neutral face as she shot me down like a bomber in an air raid. "I'm sorry Hiccup. Please just give me some more time to think about all this." I gave her a weak ok and quickly excused myself from the room.

The trek to my room felt like a lifetime, as the previous conversation weighed heavily on me. I knew that was a stupid idea… I guess I was overdue for one… That hurt more than when I caught Astrid and that asshole Eric... I need some sleep I can't afford to lose focus, or else Elsa and Anna may pay the price. With that last thought, I slipped into my room. Not bothering to dress-down, I fell on the bed and attempted to drift off to sleep.

15 Minutes ago

Elsa POV

I watched as Hiccup left the library. A mix of emotions were flowing through me. The most prominent of those were joy and sorrow. I began the walk to my room after shutting the library door. My thoughts were running wild. He confessed! He LOVES me! What was the feeling in my stomach when he said that? It felt like butterflies or something, and my whole body got comfortably warm. I could feel a small smile drift on to my face as I continued to think about it. Here's that feeling of joy again. Just thinking about him gives me this feeling. Is this what he meant when he said he felt something? My mind decided to remind me of the other half of the conversation. Was it right what I said to him? He seemed down about it. Even if his face was neutral I could see s hint of sorrow in his eyes. I'll have to think about this some more. Maybe after this speech tomorrow, the two of us could sit down and re-discuss this topic. Maybe those feelings will be clearer once my mind is.

I found myself in my room a lot quicker than I thought. Seems like I was really lost in thought. I slipped out of my dress and over to the closet to get into a nightgown. Yes, right after the speech tomorrow I'll talk to him about this again.

08JUL24—0945 HRS.

I was awoken by a knock at my door followed by the voice of Anna. "Elsa, wake up. Geez, you never sleep this late." I looked over at the clock next to the bed. Oh wow, it's already 9?! "Ok Anna, thank you for the wake-up call." I got up out of bed, found a nice light blue satin dress, slipped it on, and sat down at the vanity mirror to do my hair. The dream from last night came creeping back into my mind. The only part I could remember though, was the very vivid lifeless eyes of Hiccup staring back at me. I could feel my stomach drop at the thought, and upon looking at my hair brush I noticed it had completely iced over. I haven't done that since I was younger. Could that dream be the cause? Or is the subject of the dream the cause? I quickly thawed the brush and finished doing my hair.

It took about fifteen minutes to finish my morning routine. After that I made my way to breakfast. Already sitting there was Anna, and surprisingly she was the only other. I shot her a confused look as I posed my question. "Where is everyone else?" She looked away for a second, before turning back to me. "They decided to set up extra security for the speech today. Something about 'never being too safe'. I doubt we'll see them before twelve." I gave her a nod and took a few bites out of my breakfast. A moment of silence passed over the table as we both ate our meals.

I decided to strike up a conversation to dissipate the lull. "So, I heard Kristoff and you decided to become an item." With a playful smirk and tone to my voice I continued "were you ever planning on telling your dear sister?" I saw her face turn beat red as I had a laugh at her expense. She stuttered "what?...h-how did you know?" I gave her a smirk as I replied, "you think I don't know what goes on in these halls?" She let out a huff "at least Kristoff asked me out. Seems like neither you or Hiccup has the courage to ask the other, and I don't know why." Ouch Anna. Low blow. I shot my reply back "we both have busy schedules. We haven't gotten a chance to talk about it." She shot me a look of skepticism as she replied "whatever you say Elsa. Just know, I don't believe that for a second."

She glanced up at the clock then back to me. "We need to get a move on it's already 1045, and you're supposed to open your speech at 11." I gave a nod as we both rose to our feet and made our way to the door.

1045 HRS.

Hiccup POV

I slipped my soft armor on over my tank top and began putting on my white button up shirt. I placed my ear-piece in as I clipped the radio mic to the sleeve of my shirt. Last thing I put on was the black jacket top and my sunglasses. My FN 5.7 was tucked into a holster in the back of my pants, and a small compact MP5K was slung across my chest under the jacket top. All that was left was a quick radio check with Toothless. "Fury 1, Fury Actual, comms check." A moment pause was all that was heard before his voice replied. "Lima Charlie, how me?" I responded, "read you the same, tango."

I made one last mental check of my gear. Radio, check. Weapons, check. Soft armor, check. Two extra 5.7 mags, check. Two extra 9 mil mags, check. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was 1050. Time to go meet Elsa. I made my way out of my room and toward the second-floor balcony overlooking the courtyard plaza. It was a short walk, one which had me arriving at the same time as Elsa and Deadeye. Deadeye was dressed like me and was flanking the queen on her left side. I gave him and nod and then faced the queen. I could see signs of something on her face, but I made no indication of noticing. She let out a small almost inaudible sigh as she turned to face the balcony door. I joined her on her right, as two servants opened the door and our small procession made its way out on the balcony.

The second we moved out of the safety of the castle, I was on high alert. I know Deadeye was acting in a similar fashion. Elsa made her way up to the podium, as we stayed a step behind. I let Elsa's voice filter out as I scanned the crowd for anything out of the ordinary. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Deadeye doing the same thing. The minutes began to tick by and nothing but the wind was changing.

About ten minutes had passed before I caught the sight of something out of the corner of my right eye. What was that? It looked like a flash…or a glint. I noticed that it came from the direction of the parking garage, and instantly got on the comms. In a hushed whisper I brought my right wrist up to my mouth. "Alpha 1, Fury actual, status?" I waited for a moment as all I heard was silence. I tried again "Alpha1, come in Alpha 1." Nothing but silence responded, as the lead feeling in my gut began to get heavier. Deadeye glanced over at me and gave a small nod, acknowledging the thoughts I was having.

Elsa POV

A small gust of wind caught me off guard as I took a small step back. Suddenly, "Elsa!" was shouted from my right as a loud crack echoed through the courtyard. It happened so fast, I didn't even notice something had hit me until I was on the ground. My whole chest hurt as I tried to gather my bearings. The sound in my ears had dulled to a ring, but I could distinctly hear someone shouting something.

After a moment, the ringing in my ears subsided and the sound of Hiccup's voice could be heard shouting orders. "…ok? Elsa are you ok?" I gave a small cough then replied "yes, but my chest really hurts." I could hear him give a sigh of relief as he continued on "good. A sniper attempted to take your life just now. As soon as the shot was made, our men counter sniped him. The QRF team is moving to your location, but has encountered some resistance. Apparently, Pitch has launched a full-scale attack. It seems to be isolated to the castle at the moment. The gates have been barricaded, and outside forces are having a tough time getting through."

I took a quick look at him and noticed a stain of red on the white undershirt he was wearing. He followed my gaze to the spot and gave a soft smile as he spoke "don't' worry. I only scraped my side on your podium when I dived over to knock you out of the way. Right now, I need you to go to the safe room with Deadeye. Anna should be on her way there now with a couple of the others. I have to make my way to the command center." Deadeye cut me off before I could speak "we need to move Elsa. We can't afford to be pinned here." I shot back a quick reply "don't you die!"

Hiccup POV

I gave a small laugh as I sent her on her way. I watched as the two departed the balcony. Elsa gave one last look back, before she was ushered away. Once she was gone, I took a shaky breath and pulled back the jacket top to reveal a sizable hole in my right chest. Fuck!