A/N-Only one chapter left to go, and it will be up tomorrow!

Chapter 35

Reconciliation

"Hello, 911, what is your emergency?" "I-I'm calling to report a kidnapping." "Okay, what is your name?" "Denise Carlton." "Did you say Carlton? Like the name of that dragon boy?" Denise sighed, already too worked up to deal with these sorts of questions. "Yes, he's the one who was kidnapped. I'm his mother." "Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you tell us when he went missing?"

As Denise filed the report with the police, telling them what they believed happened, Astrid, Hiccup, and Toothless sat outside in the grass, while Hawken's dog Panda tried unsuccessfully to rouse Toothless into playing. "I hope they can find him," Astrid said. "If he ends up being gone for good I think it would tear everything apart." "You know him, though," Hiccup said. "Even if the police can't find him, he'll figure out a way to get back. He's got enough going for him." He looked over at Toothless, who was laying sullenly in the grass, tail twitching in anxiety. "I mean, if a dragon can't find their way back home, no one can. He'll show up again." They sat in silence for a little while longer, then Astrid turned back to Hiccup. "What do you think would happen if he did disappear forever, though?" She looked behind her at the portal. "We certainly wouldn't have reason to come here very often again. Would the portal close?" Hiccup shrugged and laid his head in his hands. "I'm not sure. I would hope not, since I know Hawken wanted us to someday be able to roam freely around this world too. But it would be too strange, I think, being here when he wasn't." He shook his head. "Let's not think about such morbid topics though."

A couple of minutes later, Denise came back out of the house. "Well, what did they say?" Hiccup asked urgently. "They said they'd try to find any leads, but we…. we don't have much to go off of. It'll take a day or two to get anything going though, but usually things are pretty organized." She looked back into the house. "I need to call Sam." She went back into the house. Astrid sighed and looked back at Hiccup. "Unless the person they're looking for is no longer even in this world," she said. Hiccup shot her a look. "The Terrors didn't see anyone come through the portal, so he's still on this earth." He looked at the house. "I'm going to tell her that if she finds anything, to come and get us, but we can't do anything more here, unfortunately." Astrid nodded, and while Hiccup went inside, her and Toothless went back to the cove. When Hiccup joined them, they flew to the village to let everyone know of the news.

Wind Furies may be fast, and I mean supersonic fast in short bursts, but traveling beyond the speed of sound is exhausting, and I could only go so fast for a few minutes at a time. The rest was pure gliding and regular-speed flying. Alaska is huge as well, so I barely made it past the peak of Denali (and up that high, even in late June it's freezing) before I had to really slow down and start looking for a place to rest. It didn't help that it was nearly midnight, and the sun was still up high in the sky, another wonderful aspect of Alaskan seasons. But for once, my tendency to read a variety of books paid off for me. I had a series based off of national park mysteries, and one was about Denali National Park. A little ways to the south of the massive mountain, there was supposed to be a small outpost ranger station, somewhere where I might be able to find some refuge for the night. Spending it out in the Alaskan wilds was a daunting idea, for even though I could stay dragon, I wasn't into the idea of coming against wolves or bears, or any of the other predators that made the northern forests their home. I landed on the mountain slopes, and after a couple minutes of heavy breathing and trying to slow my heart down, I took off again.

A few minutes and about 12 mountains later, I finally spotted a runway. In a park as big and remote as Denali is, roadways through the park aren't exactly feasible, so nearly all traffic is either by foot or by air. Good thing too, as that makes spotting small buildings from a distance a whole lot easier. I spilled air and began to descend toward the asphalt clearing. By pure luck, there happened to be a few people outside, doing who knows what, but that meant it was a whole lot easier to get their attention. It's hard to miss a large, white dragon coming in for a landing. As I coasted down to try and land on the runway, I saw the people begin to point and stare, though I couldn't hear what they were saying. As I got closer, a couple ran inside, only to quickly return with more people and, alarmingly, guns as well.

Once I was within a few hundred feet I began to pick up bits and pieces of conversation. "Is that what I think-" "Could be dangerous-" "maybe that boy I heard about from-"

I sighed and flared my wings out, putting my feet down to catch my landing, flapped a couple times to slow me down…..and missed my mark completely, landing hard and skidding across the pavement a few feet. I groaned and stood up, releasing my draconic characteristics and turning back to my normal self again breathing heavily from the exertion I had gone through. "Need… to remember….never to…..do that again," I panted, and slowly stood up straight, looking toward the crowd in front of me that had gathered. Admittedly, this was Alaska, so "crowd" is a relative term.

One of the rangers stepped hesitantly forward. "You….you do speak English, right?" she asked carefully. I gave her the fisheye. "You don't keep up on the news very much, do you?" I asked. "I am from the US, I do speak the common language." "Oh, sorry," the ranger said, a bit taken aback by my statement. "Uh, do you happen to be, uh, H-Hawk…. Hawker.. Hawkins?" I smiled and shook my head. "My no one gets my name right do they? It's Hawken. Yes, I'm the one you heard about in the news. Uh, question from me this time: is there a place I can stay around here for the night? I have a really long trip home, and I am absolutely exhausted." Another ranger stepped forward. "You're from Colorado, right?" I nodded. "Then what are you doing way up here? It's a little early season for vacationers and hikers." "I was brought here against my will. Kidnapped, you could say." "Kidnapped?!" the two rangers who had spoken up said in unison. I nodded. "Said his name was Malin. I don't suppose any of you know him, do you, considering he was working within the boundaries of the park here?" A couple whispers were passed, and the second ranger spoke up again. "You said Malin? That can't be right, because he was working on studying the grizzly bear populations in northern Denali. He kidnapped you?" Before I could answer, another ranger held up his hand. "Let's continue this inside, shall we?" he said. "You certainly look tired, and if your story is in fact true, you'll need to sit down and rest for a while."

We all filed in behind him and entered what looked almost like a lounge room. I was offered a soft chair, which I gladly took, and nearly fell asleep in, and everyone took up places around me. There were about 8 people total in the room not including me. "Okay, first off," the ranger we had followed inside began, "my name is Cody, and I'm the current supervisor for this station here. I worked with Malin for a while up north before I was promoted and moved here. Please, tell me what happened."

I recounted my story, talking about what I had actually seen in the building up there, and led up to my landing at the station. "So, the research outpost went down seven floors?" a ranger named Cindy asked. "Last time I was there, there were only two floors, one with offices and the other the lab room for the population tests. We never gave funding for anything larger. It wasn't all that big either." "Well, then he modified it somehow, and to quite an extent," I said, "or it was a different building altogether. I did see another, smaller building off to the east a little ways, maybe that was the research station." Cindy nodded. "That would make a lot more sense, certainly since the research station was brown in color when I was there a few months ago." I shrugged. "Well, in any case, I do apologize, but the building they had me in is no longer extant. But if it's any consolation there wasn't a single thing related to animal studies in there, everything was centered around researching me!"

Cody nodded. "Would it be alright if we contacted the police bureau and let them know that you're up here?" I raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I think I was gone for more than a day, so I'm certain someone's looking for me already. I know my family is probably worried sick and I certainly don't have any way of reaching them. My phone didn't come along for the trip." Cody smiled. "Alright, just asking. Yes or no would have sufficed." He looked to another man nearby, who nodded and walked out of the room through another door. Cody looked back at me. "Now, you need to just stay here and rest up. It sounds like you're planning on heading home on your own, and while I'm not sure if that's the safest option I guess that's the best we can do right now. In the meantime, I need-"

"Denali runway come in! We require assistance!" the two way on Cody's belt yammered. I immediately recognized the voice too. Cody grabbed the two way and responded. "Malin, is that you?" "Yeah, we need some help at the facility. There was a, uh, an accident, and we need assistance getting back to your station." Cody raised an eyebrow and looked at me, but responded as if there was nothing going on. "Alright, we'll send a couple of choppers up your way, that's the best we can get out before tomorrow. We'll discuss what to do about the accident when you get here." He looked at the ranger who had first spoken when I had arrived. "Julie, get a couple choppers running and send them up to the northern research facility pronto. And make sure to bring Malin here on the first trip, as we have a few things to discuss with him. Oh, and mind the wind coming off the peak at this time of night, it's a little unpredictable." Julie nodded and headed out right away. Cody looked back at me and nodded. "We'll get things straightened out before the night is up, don't worry."

BBBRRRRIIINNNGGG! BBBBRRRRIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!

Denise rushed to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" "Is this Denise Carlton?" "Yes, it is." "This is the police department. We received a call last night, and we found your son." Denise was silent for a moment, then spoke again into the phone. "Well, wh-where is he?" "The caller said that he was in a ranger station in Alaska."

"ALASKA!" Denise yelled, her heart racing again. "Please ma'am, calm down. They said he found his way to the ranger station in Denali national park. Don't worry, he's perfectly safe." Of course, Denise was going to worry anyways, as this was her son they were talking about, and Holly had heard her yell and was now blasting off question after question, which didn't help. "Are they going to bring him back here?" she asked. "I'm afraid not. We asked that, and they said they didn't have anything that would make the full trip. They said that…. well, he's planning on making his way home on his own." This didn't really sit well with Denise, but there wasn't much that could be done. Her son was currently thousands of miles away, and she couldn't exactly call him on his cell phone. She had tried that, and found the phone ringing off his desk in his room. "Is-is there anything else?" "We don't have any more information yet, other than that they're finding out who took him in the first place as we speak. If anything else comes up, we will be sure to call you."

Denise ended the phone call not long after, and then spent a couple minutes calming Holly down, and talking to her husband, who had come home immediately when he had found what happened, and had gone looking around all of northern Colorado that night to find out if there was a possibility Hawken had been taken somewhere close. After making sure everything was settled down at home, Denise started for the door. She turned around after a second thought and grabbed map, then headed out.

Following Hiccup's instructions he had given her the day before, Denise walked through the portal and over to the edge of the cove. There was a rustling behind her in the trees, and she spun around in worry, but calmed down when she saw one of the Terrors fly off in the direction of the village. Carefully, she made her way down into the cove, and sat on a makeshift bench Hiccup had fashioned, waiting.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, Denise heard the sound of wings and looked up to see Toothless and Thorn gliding in to land. As they did, Astrid and Hiccup dismounted and came running over to Denise.

"What's the news?" Hiccup asked hurriedly, stumbling over a small rock as he slowed down (even after a month, he still wasn't fully used to having feeling in his left foot). Denise waited until they were both near, and had sat down, then laid the map down and opened it up. "They said he was in Alaska," she said, pointing to the outline of the huge state, then at a smaller outline that marked Denali National Park. "He was at a ranger station here. I don't know if Hawken showed you, but our house would be here." She moved her finger down to a spot in the northern part of Colorado. Hiccup's and Astrid's eyes both widened. "So…..he's a long way from home, huh?" Hiccup said quietly. "Even for a full dragon, a straight flight of that distance would take a couple of days," Astrid added. "He'll have to stop and rest at some point too. Hawken isn't completely draconic, so he's probably not going to be home for at least a few days." Denise nodded. "It'll take longer, though. A straight flight wouldn't be easy, not for someone who's never seen the land. He'll take an easier path, maybe along the roads or the coast," she said, tracing her finger along the Pacific coast, then inland from there, "then head a path home. We've only been to that coast once, so he'll likely only know the one path in from there."

Hiccup sat back for a minute, not feeling as bad as he had when he heard Hawken was missing, but feeling deflated nonetheless. Then his eyes brightened a little bit. "Would it be possible for us to watch for him during the day?" he asked. Denise gave him a strange look. "You're not going to try and find him yourselves, are you?" she asked. "You don't know our world very well yet, and Hawken wouldn't stand for that, you know, especially if someone found you." Astrid shook her head, catching what Hiccup meant. "No, we just meant stay in the yard, watch for him if he comes back during the day." "Oh." Denise thought for a minute. "I…I guess. It might be good, since it would give Holly something to focus on besides her missing brother. She's not all that high in spirits right now. Just make sure no one sees you." She looked over at Toothless, who she was sure would come along as well, knowing how close he was to her son now as well. "Especially don't let anyone see him."

BBRRRBBBRRRBBBBRRRRRBBBBRRRRBBBBRRR!

I had been sitting, dozing off in the chair in the ranger's "living room" for a number of hours when I heard the sound of the helicopter returning outside. It had taken quite a while to get up there and back. "They're here," I said loudly, but didn't leave my seat, way too tired to move. After Malin was dealt with, I'd be heading off to find somewhere I could actually sleep, too. I knew also that Malin would be brought in here anyways, so there wasn't reason for me to move yet anyway. Cody rushed past me and headed outside. As the chopper landed and the sound of the rotors died away, I fine-tuned my hearing and caught the conversation outside, listening in. Julie spoke first.

"There seemed to have been a bit of a fire of some sort a few miles from the research station," I heard her say. "It seems the fire ran through a couple of the power lines heading to the research building, and everything went out over there." "So, that was the emergency? Is there a way to fix it soon?" I heard Cody ask. "Not with the equipment we have up there," Malin's voice sounded now. "It took out the poles and everything, along with a spare generator we had in the area." "Well," Cody began again, "let's get inside and we'll straighten this out." I heard their footsteps start to head my way. "Julie, we'll take care of these people, make sure you get some rest and we'll send Jill out in a few hours to see if anyone else needs help getting back." A door opened, and footsteps came down the hall, and by this point I noticed the rangers who were not busy had gathered in the doorways, leaning against them as if blocking the exits. Malin stepped through the hallway door and into the room, still facing away from me. "Y'know, I hope this doesn't affect the research process too much, we were really…." Malin trailed off as he looked at the gathering rangers in the other doorways. "Okay, what's going on here?" he asked, turning away from me and back toward Cody. "Turn around," he said. Malin did.

"So, can we start singing, 'It's a Small World After All' now?" I asked nonchalantly. Malin uttered a string of words I won't repeat, and attempted to sprint back out the door. He didn't make it past Cody. "Well, I guess that explains who was telling the truth," Cody said as he grabbed Malin by the arms and pushed him into a chair opposite from me. The other rangers filled in the room and shut the doors as Cody and Cindy stood guard on either side of Malin. "I think it's time for a long explanation, before you get carted off," Cody said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Malin tried to escape again once more, but after another failure, the story he was forced to lay out for us gave more than enough evidence to land him and about 15 other people in jail for life, on accounts of kidnapping, stealing of federal funds, what amounted to plans for terrorism of sorts, and so on. What he told basically summed up what he had so graciously spilled out for me when I was locked up: that he was planning on harnessing my (sadly for him non-reproducible) abilities and use them to take on the US military forces, to revolutionize our government, followed by dozens more, in order to lay out his own view of a proper world nation. Somehow this all came off to me as the ranting of your typical movie villain, and naturally everyone unanimously agreed something was fundamentally wrong with Malin.

Whatever the case with him, he and his cohorts were restrained until a plane could be called up to send them to a city where a proper court hearing could be held, and I, in the meantime, retired to a spare room to rest up for the trip I was planning ahead of me. To state it plainly, if I was going to get home in a decent amount of time, I would have to be smart about it. I didn't know the land, and so I was going to have to follow the coast of the Pacific until I found a road that would lead me inland and back to Colorado. It was going to be a long, tiring trip, so I beg your pardon if I was really cranky when I returned.