I had to re-upload the chapter because it glitched, not to mention write out a bit of it again (considering my original edited file has auto-deleted for quite some time.) So its probs different from the first time you read it, But should still carry in the same vein.

To those who are reading it for the first time... Ignore this part. (The original chapter showed a crap ton of code and I could not be bothered spending 3 hours deleting/fixing that trainwreck)

I am not happy that this glitched but I have fixed it now. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Repercussions

They say the Night Fury never steals anything and never misses, Alvin was so kind-hearted as to reiterate that when he thought he was victorious. (Thought being the operative word). This much was true (for the most part with the missing thing, he's not perfect after all). However they also say he's never harmed an innocent. Or something like that. This one… not so much.

It wasn't like it was intentional they were, well… People he tried to save… People that... trusted him… He didn't mean it! But it still happened, he's killed innocent people… People that didn't deserve to die… But then again who does deserve to die?... Hiccup barely lives without the guilt tearing him apart…

Guilt...

Guilt is a powerful feeling...

It can be avoided, run from, buried, ignored, denied but…. It doesn't go away... It always finds you, catches up, unearths itself, gets your attention and asserts its existence in some way or another.

It all depends not on the basis that other people must forgive you. It depends on whether you can forgive yourself.

-0-

Astrid woke with a start, the day was young, but she had hardly gotten any sleep. She had experienced a nightmare of the previous day. It was odd being aware of the psychological trauma that could affect you for the years to come. Kind of like mourning but being aware of the stages of grief, Denial, Anger, Depression, Recovery, Acceptance. Getting over a traumatic experience such as yesterday would probably go a similar way.

She's probably already in the denial stage… She doesn't feel like anythings wrong with her, But of course, her nightmare proves the contrary… It could still be shock, but does shock last for more than a day? Could she have post traumatic stress disorder? She doubted the last one. It's not like she went to war or anything, she only saw like, twenty, thirty people die that were trying to kill her.

Trying to kill her...

Since when did she become the target to be killed like a videogame character? Since when did she become the next victim in a dossier? She swallowed hard as she got a bit dizzy from simply sitting up. She took deep breaths to calm her racing heart and decided that screw it she was staying in bed all day today, minus the times she was hungry enough to eat.

One of those being now. But she still couldn't be bothered to move… She'd get some later.

-0-

Hiccup awoke with a yelp at the feeling of his head hitting the dashboard. He raised a hand to his head in pain and looked to see how his sleep was disturbed and saw none other than Tuffnut with his hands outstretched near him and his face producing an expression akin to something like; 'whoops' Hiccup rubbed his forehead exasperated.

"What was that for?" He began, Tuffnut grimaced at the red mark sure to be forming on his head right now but responded anyway.

"Well, you fell asleep in the car and I tried to shake you to wake you up, but I got distracted and well… You had a fight with the dash… And the dash won." He reasoned, Hiccup was still rather groggy from sleep but still raised a brow.

"And what was so important that got you distracted may I ask." Hiccup questioned. Tuffnut looked towards what must of got his attention and then shrugged.

"Nothing really, It was just something shiny, you know you see it in the corner of your eye, and you're just like. Woah! And it takes up all of your concentration, but when you look, it's not there?" He tried, Hiccup slowly put his head in his palm, regretting so once he realised he was touching the bruise.

"Whatever Tuff, I take it our shifts over then?" He said slightly irritated. Tuffnut shrugged again, still rather distracted.

"Yeah totes dude I got this. Snotlout's coming around in about five, Ruffnuts already here, but still in the car, said she's not doing anything productive until she's finished her coffee... I'd take that to heart if I were you." Tuffnut listed.

Hiccup sighed and left the squad car, He stretched his back and wiped the sleep from his eyes. he glanced at the apartment building he was guarding. Tuffnut and himself had been guarding her apartment for the first night. Tuff slept the early hours in the night while Hiccup got the morning.

Ruffnut and Snotlout had the day shift, lucky them. Stoick had strategically placed the twins on different shifts, two twins on one shift would be a disaster, even the twins understood that one. Though they probably saw it as an excuse to not be bound to each other in most senses of the word. One was rarely without the other so they probably relished the times they were secluded.

"Alright then, I'm going to head off, Also, Tell Ruff not to let Snotlout anywhere near Astrid- The person we're protecting… She's probably traumatised enough as it is… The last thing we need is Snotlout opening his mouth." Hiccup deadpanned. Tuffnut smirked and responded.

"Already on a first name basis! You mut Hiccup, Don't worry, Ruffnut will set him straight, protect your new soulmate." He jested winking. Hiccup sighed exasperated. That was the thing with their little gang. Snotlout was the one everyone was telling to stop. Hiccup on the other hand, they won't stop yelling go! He's never had a girlfriend or, well a partner before so they all tease him about it. (He doesn't care, really, he appreciates the support but seriously it gets annoying sometimes.) They've tried to set him up with every girl he can talk to not excluding his own cousin, unbeknownst to them at the time of course.

"Yeah, sure, Anyway. I'm off… Good luck with… Whatever it is you do on weekends. See you tonight. Don't forget we have another shift..." Hiccup had half a mind to make small talk and ask. He used to be rather close to the gang, before he lead a double life of course, now, he barely knows what they do anymore. But he was tired, and he needed to check in with Fishlegs, the only person who knew of his alter ego. Tuffnut however had other ideas and tried to inform him about exactly everything he did on weekends, starting with something about manicuring his pet chicken, but Hiccup brushed him off and walked towards his own squad car before he could get another word in.

He entered the car and wasted no time in pulling out of the side street and then onto the main road. The grey morning sky was a nice contrast to the dull grey asphalt in front of him. He drove in the rough direction of his friends house and put on some music to lift the mood. However, when he did, nothing but advertisements assaulted his ears. He reasoned silence was a more calm option and turned the radio back off.

He had time to think over the last day and a half. This whole hostage mess. He managed to kill one of his nemesis' well, Astrid did. And he now knows that they are well stocked with money. The guns they used, the helicopter on the roof.

He figured something more sinister was going on, he just needed to figure it out. If he could find one of their hideouts then he'd be able to get some more information. Hence why he was going to the only other person that he could collaborate with. Fishlegs. Fishlegs was all brain, he made Hiccups ideas come to life. Hiccup could create many practical things like Grappling hooks or attachments to his guns, But Fishlegs could work chemicals and technology like Hiccup never could.

Fishlegs could be talking to an earpiece to him when he's available and when Hiccup isn't storming in at a moment's notice. Fishlegs home-made all of Hiccups grenades, and he also gives Hiccup some free phones and other tech which is great… The only downside, he could never beat Fishlegs at a video game. Ever. That's a more serious problem than what it sounds.

Hiccup pulled up next to Fishlegs house on the outskirts of town, a rather old building that has been clearly renovated to some degree to keep it habitable. Hiccup exited the car and made his way to the dust covered morone porch and rang the doorbell.

A chubby and jovial lady opened the door and when she laid eyes on Hiccup a huge smile came across her face, it was Mrs Ingerman. She was always happy to see one of Fishlegs friends, yes, plural, Fishlegs had a rather moderate range of friends (More than Hiccup at least) but only Hiccup had the cool alter ego. (He hopes). He greeted the jubilant woman who had already offered him a drink and food as he walked inside.

"Uhh, No thanks mrs Ingerman, I'm fine. Usual place?" Hiccup asked, Mrs Ingerman was clueless about his life as a vigilante, if she overheard anything she'd figure that they were strategizing for a video game or something of the like.

"Usual place." She affirmed. Hiccup made his way to Fishlegs Gaming/Workshop/Geek cave room. However, contrary to the stereotypical basement dweller Fishlegs' type is meant to be, He actually has taken ahold of the attic room, many memories to be had there. There was everything in there, sans a pool table… or a pinball machine.

When Hiccup walked in Fishlegs was in the middle of an intense firefight in a game he was playing. Hiccup cleared his throat and the larger boy spun his chair towards interruption looking rather disgruntled but once he realised it was Hiccup he spun back around exited the probably crucial match he was playing. His dedication to video games was admirable (or sad depending on your viewpoint) but his dedication to his friend was higher.

"Hiccup!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. He rose from his chair in a heartbeat and Hiccup was being crushed from all sides in a bear hug. "When you went in there without warning me I freaked out. You know I hate it when you go in on an impulse" He continued. Hiccup fought for breathing space and was eventually granted it.

"Yeah, well… It was a surprise attack, and I decided to retaliate with a… Surprise attack." Hiccup tried to reason to try and avoid the scolding he was sure to get. At first he was met with was an unimpressed stare and a sigh. But eventually the lecture began began.

"You know one of these days you're unpredictability and you flair just won't be enough. You can't always pull a wildcard like this. What if one of these random urges you act on get you caught? What then? I hardly think I'm equipped to go on a solo prison break mission any time soon." Fishlegs reprimanded.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and responded. "Fishlegs literally every mission has a chance of me getting caught, killed found out etcetera etcetera. You knowing about it isn't going to help." He replied. Fishlegs was quick to counter.

"Yes but with my drones and bugs scouting for you there's a much better chance you'll come out, I don't know, alive." He snapped. Hiccup sighed and eventually just threw his hands up in frustration.

"Whatever, you win, I'll be more careful next time". He finished, Fishlegs opened his mouth to respond but Hiccup gave him a glare that meant the conversation was over.

There was a moderately awkward silence before Fishlegs changed the subject. "So.. What's your next move?" He asked. And Hiccup told him about the equipment they had and the money they must have and his idea to topple whatever organised criminals that had decided to mess with Berk. Fishlegs listened to his spiel and then chimed in his own thoughts.

"So you want me to search around and shit to find people we don't know anything about and stop an organisation we don't know anything about doing things we also know nothing about..." He said once Hiccup had finished.

"Fishlegs, we have leads, Alvin was working for them, we can easily find someone tied to him, and if he's working for them, no doubt other like minded people are bought out too. This is bigger than just this one attack. We just need to get some intel." Hiccup theorised as he gestured wildly to the ait. Fishlegs raised a brow.

"Yes and these people are also so easy to find. I'm sure they have easy to hack website broadcasting crucial information!" he rejoined sarcastically. Hiccup hummed in thought for a moment before making a response.

"You have a point, but, when we do get a lead, we get straight to work, keep your eyes peeled for stuff you see." He finished. Fishlegs nodded in agreement.

They just needed somewhere to start, they knew next to nothing about this attack except that it was a terrorist organisation that probably hired every gang in the city, (or maybe beyond) to work for them. So they were probably not from Berk… Rich… and professional. Hiccup realised he was probably signing up to more than he can handle… For what? For his own pleasure? To protect the people? For this one girl he saved? To protect his own sanity? Why? Deep down, he probably knows the answer.

-0-

Astrid woke up again in the early afternoon. A splendid time to wake up really. She was tempted to actually stay in all day… but the urge to eat was now stronger than her urge to become one with the mattress so she dragged herself out of bed and towards the kitchen.

She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. She barely managed to force herself to drink some water before she crashed last night. Now she realised she was quite famished and helped herself to a very large serving of eggs bacon and toast. (and pancakes and some cereal topped off by cheese). She wasn't the biggest fan of cooking, but she liked what she cooked, though sadly nobody else did for some strange reason.

Once she took off the necklace her dad gave her and had sat down to overeat probably she took note of the police cars still parked outside as she passed by her window. She couldn't deny it was a pretty comforting feeling having protection at the moment. She wasn't in the most resilient state given yesterday's events. She had time to think over said events as she devoured her breakfast… and probably lunch too. Night Fury did have an odd way of approaching things, comes in right on time, saves her, runs from police. He could have made an excellent criminal but he seems to see himself a hero, at least for the people he saves. The public themselves are rather divided, many believe he should stop and let police handle their own issues, but many look up to him.

He wasn't the only one either, there was another vigilante that has been seen in the past around Berk. That infamous vigilante disappeared into the abyss years ago, many believe he's dead. Some think he's still out there, watching, waiting, many theories have been made from turning to the darkside to training the Night Fury as a predecessor.

Night Fury aside she wondered about the people that captured her, why were there so many? It was merely an office, it could of been stormed by merely a few people and then those few could easily escape on the helicopter before police could make a response. Maybe it was a trap for the Night Fury? Get his attention with a hostage and kill him? If they were really after her then they would of done it in a more subtle way than fortifying the building and engaging in firefights with police.

It wasn't like her measly customer service job had anything of worth in it. Besides that new printer they got a few weeks back… Irrelevant. They were after her but again why so many? Probably to show they mean business, or to scare her uncle Finn into retiring or at the very least backing down from his political leadership. Finn has been singlehandedly trying to change the way politics look at things for years, she really looks up to him. He's the only politician not pushed around or swayed by money… but the downside of that is that the opposition start playing dirty. First it was merely attempts to ruin his name, then death threats and robberies of his house and then the suspicious death of her parents, and now this show of force and attempted public execution.

She finished her food and felt thoroughly sated as she placed her cutlery and plate (okay, cutlery and plates) into the dishwasher. She decided the rest of the day was a day of movies, it's not like she could leave the house until she had an escort anyway, that and they'd probably organise therapy and all that crap so she was stuck for now. She grabbed a bunch of her favorite movies, starting with Jurassic Park (So what she likes dinosaurs? sue her) and set up a blanket and snacks on the couch. She stayed like that well into the night having a lazy and very unproductive afternoon.

-0-

Hiccup had turned on the TV for about twenty seconds to see what was on before Fishlegs asked him to verse him in his favourite video game for the fifth time that day. He'd already been humiliated four times (despite his friend assuring him that he'd go easy) and he was going to keep whatever scraps of dignity that were left hanging from his obliterated pride. Unfortunately for him Fishlegs was persistent.

"No, Not again, you know very well that you'll go easy for the first three minutes, get bored of that, then show off and absolutely destroy me!" Hiccup accused. Fishlegs huffed as if to deny the claim but his smile gave it away. "Sore loser" He replied. Hiccup was raised his brows in mock offense before his phone buzzed next to him.

"Ahh, shit. Okay, I gotta go, My shifts coming up." He said as he halfheartedly noted that this text came from Snotlout. His dad had set up the same four people this week. Which meant him. Every night, for the next five to six days, in front of Astrids house, she would probably be moved to witness protection soon. And possibly have to change her name, and all that. Probably more paperwork for him.

"Ah, well you have fun with that. I'll call you if I see something, I'll search the dark web in a bit, Buuut you know, Can't be bothered right now." He shrugged. There was a few seconds silence before Hiccup nodded and began to grab his things. "Alright then, yeah call me if you get something and… Well… Yeah. I'll see you later?" He finished.

"Yeah, see you later, I'll be expecting a rematch." He said holding up his controller and shaking it as if it would tempt him in any way shape or form.

"Yeah I would but frankly. No." Hiccup laughed as he made his way towards the stairs.

"You'll be back. They always come back." He crooned as eerily as he could from his place on the couch with the chip tune music coming from the games soundtrack.

Hiccup made his way to the bottom floor and bid Mrs Ingerman goodbye. Once he had left he felt a sudden remorse and reluctance for going back. He was already a weirdo in her eyes, but the embarrassment for merely existing wasn't enough, there was the possibility she could at any moment realise he was Night Fury. Which would be probably the end of his life. So he wasn't too keen on that, he shook himself out of his anxious daze and laughed it off. She wouldn't come outside. they were protecting, not mingling. He just had to survive the week or whatever until she entered whatever the system demanded of her. He left the premises a little less nervous than what he expected, but only a little.

He picked up some food on the way, junk food but whatever, he's in perfect shape being Night Fury and all, he has to be. So one time isn't going to really be a problem. Hiccup arrived at the apartment block, parked and set himself up rather hastily, there were several curious neighbours milling about but Ruffnut and Snotlout had taken care of that decently enough. Snotlout was first to realise his arrival.

"Hey cousin, friend, old buddy old pal. Care to do me a small but important favour?" Snotlout nudged him playfully. Hiccup rolled his eyes expecting to have to shout him some money but Snotlout had different ideas.

"Well, Tuffnut here tells me you're getting in good with the lady of interest here. And I was wondering if you could help a cousin out a bit by gett-" Snotlout began but Hiccup didn't let him finish.

"Nope, And I'm not 'getting in good' as you put it, I'm merely being respectful and appropriate, something you seem to distinctly lack." He cut off deadpanning. He was met with a pout, (a tough and confident pout mind that, Snotlout really makes that clear when he's called out on it.)

"But cousin, dude, she's gorgeous. I'm the only one with enough guts to say it. I'm only saying what we're all thinking, I even caught Ruffnut taking second glances!" He tried, but Hiccup was quick to brush him off.

"I don't care Snotlout, and Ruffs only in it for a promotion, The point is, you're being an... Well you're being you. And I'm pretty sure she's not into you, hence the whole part where you need me to talk to her instead of you doing it yourself." Hiccup reasoned. Ruffnut who had been dealing with some pesky neighbours and their questions began to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"She could be shy, I mean, let's be honest, who wouldn't be timid in the middle of this rugged handsomeness." He boasted flexing and everything. Ruffnut finally gave her two cents.

"It's almost funny how he's still deluding himself" She told Hiccup smirking, she continued. "Hiccups a better looker than you Snot. Sorry hun." she finished. Snotlout dropped his arms in horror looking fairly scandalised.

"Come on Ruff, you're just saying that to spite me, Who's the real ladies man here. Him? Or this!" He supplied flexing again.

Ruffnut sighed. "You answered your own question nimwit." She said haphazardly. "Look Snotlout I'll answer your question with a question. How many girlfriends have you had, that you didn't have to pay?" She finished smug. Snotlout couldn't really give an honest answer if his dignity was going to remain intact, but Snotlout was beginning to get used to having no dignity.

"She may of been paid but she enjoyed it. And she offered in the first place. I was just… Desperate and she was exploiting me for something she wanted as well. Because she was smart." He said as if the memory of his senior prom wasn't painful enough for him. Hiccup, being done with this line of conversation changed the topic.

"So what time are you guys planning on leaving?" Hiccup began, Ruffnut shrugged and Snotlout answered. "You know, whenever, probably when Tuffnut gets here." As if on cue loud and obnoxious music came from a police squad car that almost squealed around the corner. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her brothers antics and Snotlout seemed to recognise the song and start nodding his head to it.

"Well, that settles that." Hiccup shrugged. Snotlout and Ruffnut greeted Tuffnut with a mix of friendly punches and banter. Hiccup stayed back, slightly glad they'd kept close if at the very least he hadn't. They turned to him and he smiled in return. Ruffnut patted Snotlout on the back and made her way to her car.

"Well we better get going." Ruffnut said before turning to Snotlout. "Dude you still coming out to the bar, I mean Tuffs on shift but you did say you were scoping out one chick that was there. And by scope I mean spy on, but I'm sure she'll discover that, along with all your other… Quirks at a later date. Anyways, What I'm trying to say is I'm bored, I need some entertainment, and you're failures will supply me well." She said with a playful smile. Snotlout raised a brow, but with the thought of hooking up with someone he was easily swayed, and by hooking up the more likely scenario was him leaving with many failed attempts and probably some bruises as well just like Ruffnut predicted.

"There won't be any failed attempts but yeah fine. Tuff, You'll just have to watch and learn next time buddy." He said. Tuffnut laughed and called out after him. "Yeah I'll learn how to lose my self-respect another day thanks!" Snotlout gave him a glare through the car window as the two squad cars revved into the distance but soon it was just Tuffnut and Hiccup.

"So. How good are you at scrabble?" He smirked. Hiccup frowned in confusion. "Wait what?" He replied in discombobulation.

"You know. Scrabble, I have it in the car because it hit me when I was in the shower. I was like, damn another boring night with Hiccup, watching the apartment, if only we could like do scrabble or something, and then I was like. Boom. Why not? So I reiterate, how good are you, because I am a scrabble master!" He finished his spiel.

Hiccup did not think he could spend the rest of the week on night shift alone with Tuff. He could handle him with the others around, but a whole twelve hours? Okay so he was going to go to sleep in a few hours and then they'd swap over and basically not talk. So it confused him to no end as to why Tuffnut thought scrabble was a good idea. but whatever. Hiccups wishes were technically going to be answered in a roundabout kind of way, because merely an hour into the watch he spotted movement.

This wasn't a neighbour or a cat, there were several of them, moving in the shadows of the alleyways. He secretly always knew they would come, Alvins remaining forces. Or maybe someone elses. He didn't think them so bold to attack now, But the thing is, they were not attacking now. They were merely watching, they couldn't afford the police alerting Headquarters and backup arriving, they were going to attack when one of them was asleep. Hiccup had to act fast.

"Uhh. Tuffnut, If I pay you to get me a coffee could you go down to the cafe and get me one? To go?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the alleyway as he tried not to let Tuffnut know something was up, the last thing he wanted was to put Tuffnut in too much danger. Tuffnut however seemed to be in a rational mood, as rational as Tuffnut gets at least.

"Uhh dude, you need to take your sleep soon. Coffee will do you no good, Shouldn't you be getting to that by th-" Hiccup didn't let him finish. "A tea then, I'll pay you twenty and you can keep the change, I just need something warm on my throat, and I can't be bothered to go myself, and plus, that's like, fifteen dollars for you." He persuaded.

Tuffnut was a sucker for bribery. "Fine, but next time get it on the way dude." Tuffnut said as he exited the car. He checked back towards the alleyway inconspicuously and knew he would have to be quick once Tuff was gone.

Tuffnuts music came blaring back on when he turned on his car but he turned it down quickly once he realised it was night time. He pulled out of the lot and made his way out of the vicinity. Hiccup exited the car with his NIght Fury bag and made a beeline for the apartment. He buzzed on Astrid's intercom.

"Uhh, hello?" He heard her say warily. "Uhh hey, Hiccup here, I was just wondering if I could use the foyer toilets quickly?" He questioned. There was a few seconds silence before the doors unlocked and he moved inside. He almost ran into the cubicle and began getting out his Night Fury gear, He suited up and was just tightening his mask when he heard the front door glass smash. He pulled his handgun out of the bag and checked to see if the safety was off and it was loaded.

It was showtime.

-0-

Astrid was halfway through her favorite scene when she heard music blaring from the parking lot below. She checked out her window just in time to see a police car driving away. And she tried not to panic, there was still one left, they must be pulling out for… A Coffee or something. She took deep breaths and sat back down on the couch just in time for the intercom buzzer to ring.

She gulped and her nerves began to scream that something was wrong, but she heard no gunfire, and she highly doubted assassins or something would ring on her doorbell. She played the intercom

"Uhh, hello?" she spoke into it cautiously. "Uhh hey, Hiccup here, I was just wondering if I could use the foyer toilets quickly?" was the timid voice of Hiccup she heard over the speaker.

She found it slightly odd that he was going now after someone just left but she saw no problem with it and let him in, feeling better that she knows at least he's here. She rushed back to her couch trying to shake out her nerves and turned the volume up to distract her from her gut feeling, Even if the volume was still on low she was too high up so she didn't even hear the glass break.

A few minutes later she heard a knock on her door. She rolled her eyes at what must be Hiccup, probably about to ask her something trivial, she had nothing to be worried about, it was just Hiccup, just Hiccup… She opened the door to ask Hiccup what he was doing up here.

It wasn't Hiccup.

In fact with the gun aimed in on her face she was not insane to think that this is her soon to be killer.

It was some random assassin with a gun to her head. Great. thats two for two days she's had a gun aimed in on her, what is this? World war two? She was too shocked at the development so she just stood there, Hiccup must of betrayed her, Must of been threatened or something, the other must have fled in fear or something.

She heard a shot and expected everything to end. But she didn't fall to the ground, her assassin did however.

I don't remember what I said last time but It was probably along the lines of - Astrid just can't catch a break can she XD

*Re-uploaded chapter*