Hiccup's momentarily distraction cost him. Mirror ripped an arm out his grasp and clocked him right across the face again. She kicked him in the chest, pushing him back then leaped to her feet.

"So, Astrid is her name?" Hiccup narrowed his eyes and stood as well. Mirror was now in between him and the door. "Can't be too many of those running around. Well, especially now since this one's about to be wasted."

She was quick. Not on the same level as Astrid, but much better than Hiccup. She ripped daggers from her side and flung them across the hallway. Hiccup grabbed one, but let out a sharp yell, feeling a shot of pain erupt in his right shoulder. He flung back the dagger and ripped the other, sticky with crimson blood, from his muscle.

Mirror laughed again, watching Hiccup clutch his shoulder as the blood oozed between his fingertips. "Believe me kid, this is fun and all, but my boss had other plans for me tonight. Go on in and see what they've done to Astrid. I hope it was messy."

Hiccup growled and threw the last dagger, watching as it missed her side by a centimeter as she darted down the hallway. He should be chasing after her, tackling her to the ground and demanding answers, but suddenly, more muffled than before, there was another scream.

Astrid. Mirror obviously didn't know they were Guardians, because she suspected Astrid was already dead. Hiccup knew better. Ignoring his stinging shoulder and the warmth he could feel trickling down his shirt, he burst through the heavy door.

It was another hallway. Damn mansion. It was empty, in the sense no one alive was left in it. Four bodies littered the floor, all in different spots along the length of the hallway. They were all in the same, plain black suits. LeBeau must have had them waiting here for her. Blood had soaked into the carpet around each and Hiccup was suddenly thankful for Astrid's skill. Avoiding the pools of blood, he hurried to the door the last body was laid out in front of. Light was flickering on the other side and he could hear several, low voices and a quiet muffling.

With no plan at all, Hiccup flew open the doors and in a matter of seconds, his sensitive eyes took in every aspect of the room. Felix LeBeau was in front of an impressive fireplace, tux jacket removed and casually standing with hands win his pockets, but Hiccup noticed the bruised face and blood trickling from his nose. On the other side of the room were two more men in black suits. Each had several open wounds and scratches covering their faces, along with black eyes. They each held the arm of a blonde girl, arms tied behind her back. She was sitting in small wooden chair; shoeless, ankles bound, and new bruises covered her legs. A gag tied around her mouth kept her from speaking, but despite the injuries covering her body, she was still thrashing in their arms.

"Let her go." His voice was becoming less like his own. Surging heat shot down his spine and his lip pulled back over his teeth. LeBeau laughed, while one of them angled a gun towards Astrid's temple while the other pointed it at Hiccup.

"She just killed four of my best men," LeBeau said smoothly. "Nearly six and myself. I don't believe she will be going anywhere."

"I mean it," Hiccup growled. "Let her go. Now."

"Young man." LeBeau didn't look afraid. Instead, he looked amused. "I don't know who you are, but believe me when I say you don't get to leave here. My men will shoot both of you and I will get to go back to my party. There really iz no other option."

He made a hand gesture to the men and both guns clicked. Hiccup locked eyes with Astrid and she gave him the smallest nod. He lunged, dodging the bullet that shot by his head as Astrid swung her bound legs into the air, knocking the man who held her onto the floor. LeBeau shouted, but Hiccup had already smashed one man's head into the ground, either killing him or rendering him unconscious. The other tried to stand, but Astrid gave him a hard kick. Hiccup stood beside her and, as the man looked up, Hiccup punched him and he fell to the ground, unmoving.

Hiccup turned to LeBeau, who now wore the wide eyes and terrified frown he should. He had backed into a corner and was trembling, eyes moving swiftly between the couple and the door.

"Don't move," Hiccup told him. "Or things will just be worse for you."

Confident the man wouldn't make a run a run for it, Hiccup turned his attention to the blonde tied to the chair. He knelt down, swiftly untying the gag around her mouth.

"H-Hey," she gasped, giving him a small smile. "You took your sweet time."

"Yeah, well I wanted to make an entrance." He ripped off the ties on her ankles and reached around to undo her arms. Up close, he could finally see the extent of her pain. Dark red spots blended in with the dress, but Hiccup still noticed the splotches on her stomach and sides. Her lips were bloody as well and several black and purple marks were appearing under eyes. "You're bleeding."

"So are you." She nodded towards his shoulder, but a noise from behind them made her neck snapped to the side. Astrid narrowed his eyes beyond Hiccup's shoulder and he was instantly reminded of the man who nearly killed her standing right behind them. "Darling, due to the fact I was stabbed in the side and beaten, I'm finding it a little hard to move. Could you please bring Mr. LeBeau here for me?"

"With pleasure," Hiccup growled, immediately striding across the room. He ignored LeBeau's frantic attempts to bat him away and was easily able to get a tight hold on his collar and drag him across the room. He threw him down at Astrid's feet and took a step back against the wall.

Hiccup would let her handle the rest.

Astrid could feel her wound heavily now, slowly soaking the side of her dress, but she'd spent years learning to push away pain. A simple stab wound was nothing. LeBeau rolled onto his back, spitting out a mouthful of red tinged spit, before leaning up on his elbows in her direction.

"It's time to talk," she said unemotionally. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll make it quick. Painless."

"You're much braver now that your bodyguard iz here," he spat.

Astrid glanced at Hiccup. He folded his arms and glared at the man on the floor. She probably didn't have too much time until LeBeau pushed him over the edge.

"Careful," she hissed. "He bites."

She relished the nervous glance LeBeau gave to Hiccup and the way his throat bobbed. Suddenly, another sting of pain emitted from the wound on her side. Gripping it, and ignoring Hiccup's anxious look, she focused on the task at hand.

"Why are you covering the break in at CERN? We need to know who was there and what was taken." Her voice was demanding, but LeBeau snorted a laugh. Astrid brought her foot down painfully fast, hitting him the gut. While he flinched, she brought her fist back and hit him hard in the face, knocking his head back against the ground. "I don't think it's funny. Talk."

"It is my dear." His voice was muffled and wet as he spoke through the blood pouring from his nose. "Because I don't know. They came to me one night, promising I would be allowed to live in the new world if I helped them. They were quite convincing."

"Who?" Astrid was growing woozy. She had moved too fast. The dress was growing heavy with blood now.

"And desperate. They are losing hope on how to make it work. That's why they went to CERN, but they couldn't find anything to help them."

"Who?"

"Times up." Astrid jumped, hissing at the pain in her side, as Hiccup suddenly spoke, striding across the room. He wrapped an arm around Astrid's waist and helped her stand. "This little sneak called for backup and didn't tell us."

She could hear it now. The shouts and voices in the distance. LeBeau laughed, a sick, hair raising sound. "There iz nowhere for you to run. I have power here. The country iz on watch for your faces. I have men everywhere. If you manage to make it out this room alive, you will still be dead."

"Don't count on it." Hiccup muttered, shoving an item into Astrid's hands. She swayed, head growing head, and realized it was a loaded gun from the floor. Without even hesitating, she raised it and a second layer, Felix LeBeau was sprawled on the floor.

"Hic-Hiccup," Astrid started, but gasped, dropping the gun and clutching her side. When she brought her hand back, it was bright red. "We have to tell Snot-we can't go to the airport."

Her head was heavy, but incredibly light at the same time. She was vaguely aware of the hands gripping her and Hiccup's anxious eyes bending to look in her own.

"I know, I know. Just-just hang on, Astrid. Okay? Stay with me."

His hands left her and she could hear the shouting, much louder than before. Were they right outside the door? She couldn't tell. The blood loss was affecting her more than ever now. There was the sound was ripping fabric and suddenly Hiccup's bare chest was in front of her while he wrapped something tightly around her middle. Then there was more ripping, but it was soon accompanied with breaking furniture and shattering glass.

Hot hair blew past Astrid and a loud, low rumbling shook through her bones. All she could see was black. She clutched at the figure in front of her, feeling the smooth warmth of the scales lining Hiccup's neck. Heat rushed under her fingertips and the wall behind them exploded.

Everything was fuzzy now. Air rushed past her, blowing her hair wildly. Astrid was on her back or upside down. She didn't know. Her stomach and chest were pressed to warm scales as something firm held her there.

To the sound of heavy breathing and beating wings, she drifted off into unconsciousness.

Mirror hated waiting. It was such a bore, not to mention an aggravation. She wove her dark hair in between her fingertips, remembering how just a mere hour ago they were throwing daggers at that stupid little boy. Idiot. Probably a rookie in the FBI or something.

She was smugly wondering how Felix decided to dispose of the nuisances when she saw him. He walked swiftly to her, feet making no sound against the cement. They were alone in the abandoned warehouse.

"You're late," she snapped, her own purple boots echoing in the darkness. "If I had known you would keep me waiting this long, I could have stayed at LeBeau's for a little longer. I was having fun playing with these kids that snuck in."

"The French man is dead."

That stopped her. Pausing, Mirror eyed the man questioningly. "Did you kill him?"

"No. He was murdered by those 'kids.' A gunshot wound to the head. It doesn't matter though. We were nearly through with him. I would have done it myself in a week or so. You did get what we needed, correct?"

"Of course," Mirror purred. "It's in the mountains in the states. He made sure the transaction was nice and private. Now, we just need some more subjects to put the place in use."

"They found out what we were doing wrong." Mirror raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Human bodies can't handle the procedure."

"So, what the hell do we use?" she demanded. "A cow? How are not supposed to use a human?"

"What we need, is someone different," the cool voice drawled. "Someone super."

Mirror smiled wickedly at his reply. "Pitch, you evil, evil man."

had a ton of free time today so i knocked out the next chapter. im kinda losing my drive to work on my story Responsibilities. Those of you who read both of my stories, what do you think? Should i give this one more attention?

please review you guys :)