Thirteen: The New Plan
The emergency services were clustered around the smoking ruins of the Berserker Compound as Astrid Hofferson walked up, waving the Press ID she always carried and asking the typical questions any reporter would. She glimpsed some of the faces they had picked out through surveillance but there was no sign of Heather-and she knew that Dagur probably wasn't within thirty miles of the place. Now she could get a clear view, she could appreciate just how effectively the twins had paid Dagur's gang back for hurting their friend and she paused, then picked out the Watch Commander, standing by the leading fire appliance and walked up to him.
"So what happened?" she asked. The man frowned until she flashed her Press ID again.
"Jormundgandr Magazine? I'm really not familiar with…"
"Independent publisher-we cover anything," she told him confidently. "The house?"
"Looks like a gas explosion," the fireman told her with a shrug. "But the degree of collapse in such a sturdy old house is…remarkable." He leaned closer. "We suspect they had serious ordnance in there…which is why the place fell…" he added. Her eyes widened in appreciative surprise.
"Really?" she managed. "That's amazing…" And not at all related to demolitions experts blowing the place up…though they almost certainly had a large armoury…
"I can't let you get any closer because of the risk of additional explosions," he told her.
"Was anyone hurt?" she asked sympathetically. He sighed.
"A couple of staff are missing as well as a house guest…but the owner's sister is safe and has been taken away already to be with her family. The rest of the staff are trying to recover what they can from the rubble." Her azure gaze trailed over the Berserker gang members and she knew they had probably missed their chance…because they were leaving Berserk.
But where was Dagur?
She nodded thanks to the Watch Commander, mimed a couple of pictures using her phone-which was still non-functional-and then headed back towards the hotel room. She hoped Hiccup would be showered and capable of moving so they rejoin the others and regroup. And find out how Dagur uncovered Hiccup.
Returning to the optimistically-and inaccurately-named 'Hotel Splendid', Astrid gave a jaundiced look at the desk. The concierge was missing and the sounds of a football game were blasting from the room behind the desk, explaining his dereliction of duty. Shrugging, she headed up the stairs to room 15, her supplies clasped in her arms, her steps almost silent. She listened but the shower wasn't running any more so she assumed he would be resting-because, Gods, he needed it. She had thought that she was driven but meeting Fury had made her realise that she really had no clue what true obsession was. The man had thrown himself into the mission, performing feats she wouldn't have thought possible, going undercover without proper provision at the risk of his life…and she got the distinct impression that didn't feature especially highly on his radar. In fact, the soft words he had spoken in the sewer came back to her in a rush.
I was hurt long before we ever met. I was broken beyond repair…
If I fail…I want to give everything in the effort, Astrid. Grant me that chance. Because there is nothing else left.
She closed her eyes. The words were probably the most truthful he had spoken, his true feelings leaking from under his practiced mask of sass and sarcasm…and they hinted at a man who was beyond despair.
I am not sure your family would want you to die if you had a chance to live on.
Maybe I don't want to live on with them gone?
From what she had gathered, his family had been killed, as a result of Dagur…or by him. What Toothless had revealed about his father, locked in a coma for years until he had finally passed, broke her heart because she had seen the look in Hiccup's eyes when he had returned. His loss was the last straw and she knew what a sober and sane agent would do.
Leave him. Hand him to the authorities for his crimes and abandon the mission. No one would blame you-because everyone has failed against Dagur. And Spitelout wouldn't care…
Because Hiccup was a liability, a man who no longer cared if he lived or died-and that meant danger for all around him. He was obsessed with his vengeance and his cover was blown…
But he had friends who would fight for him, risking their lives on his behalf. And that subtly told her what kind of man he had been, what kind of friend he was. She couldn't imagine the twins offering their friendship and loyalty to anyone for a trivial reason and Toothless was smart and pragmatic. And his record…such of it that remained after Toothless had expunged it…was clearly exemplary.
He was a man who had served with distinction, lost everything when he should have been protected and was basically abandoned by those who should be overflowing with gratitude for his service. He deserved her help.
Sighing, she quietly opened the door and walked into the room, finding Fury asleep on the bed, exhausted by the tribulations of his day. A towel was wrapped around his lean shape, wiry muscles evident. His face, freed of his mask, was younger and looked more vulnerable, the planes of his face marked with freckles and bruising. His hair was a tousled auburn disaster, sticking in all directions but her eyes were drawn to the horrible red burns on his chest, evidence of the torture he had endured. Quietly, she pulled the tube of burn cream she had purchased from the pharmacy and rested it by the bed, while tenderly drawing the sheet up to half-cover him. And then she walked to the tiny chest of drawers, resting down the cardboard containers of noodles-she had tried the pizzeria but they had refused the stained and unpleasant money she had offered. Scanning the room, she shrugged off her coat and found his clothes, hung hopefully over a stone-cold radiator, and switched the iron back on. Smiling, she glanced back, hearing his breathing remain deep and even as he slept…and she stiffened…
There was a wound on his back, just to the left of the spine that had healed and was scarred, the tissue white showing it was an old wound. He had been shot in the back from point blank range.
Dagur.
Her mind supplied the details and she stared, breathing hard, her fists clenched as she silently promised that the man who did this-and slew his wife and son-would not be permitted to get away with it.
So she turned to her ironing, drying out and pressing his clothes professionally. They needed to keep moving…because though Dagur's men assumed Hiccup was dead, it probably wouldn't remain that way for long. And now they didn't even know where Dagur was.
oOo
Hiccup slowly awoke, aware that he was snuggled on his side, a towel wrapped around his otherwise naked body and a sheet pulled considerately up to his waist. His chest hurt and he frowned as he heard the unmistakeable sounds of someone ironing, a very quiet humming sounding above the hisses.
It was 'For the Dancing and the Dreaming', the old song that his father and mother had sung at his wedding to Cami. Frowning, still searching temporarily empty memory for where he was, he rocked his head to see a blurry blonde shape ironing, humming away. He winced, frowning.
"Cami?" he murmured as her head snapped round and his vision cleared. He groaned and pressed a hand protectively over the burns.
"Welcome back," Astrid said calmly, keeping the sympathy from her tone.
"Why? Where've I been?" he sassed back, his mask dropping instinctively back into place. "I thought you had gone out to fetch some supplies and make contact." He determined sat up, grimacing as he pulled his burns.
"Try the Flamazine cream," she advised him, gesturing to the tube at his side. "It's supposed to be excellent for burns." He snagged the tube, squeezed a little of the cream out and smeared it carefully over his burns.
"Thanks," he murmured. "Anything to drink?"
She handed him a cup of coffee and he swallowed the hot liquid rapidly, sighing.
"Okay-and the verdict?" he probed.
"Fish and Toothless are looking for the leak and finding us some proper munitions," she reported and handed him a container. "I'm afraid it's Chinese-since the pizza shop didn't like to look-or smell-of my money…"
"Can't think why," Hiccup sassed, tucking in hungrily. Grabbing her own, she sat on the sagging chair and tucked in as well. "Gods, sweet and sour chicken noodles with chicken balls. How did you know? I love this!"
"Always my favourite takeaway," Astrid confirmed, chewing. "Sorry it's not so hot but I didn't want to wake you-you looked like you needed the rest…" Emerald eyes flicked up and he stilled.
"That was very considerate, thank you," he said tonelessly. She frowned, catching the edge to his voice.
"Fury…you needed our help and you are on my team," she said, resting her container down. "I wasn't going to leave you there…"
"I failed," he said tonelessly. "I have never failed a contract before and this time, I let my desperation to kill him overcome my caution. It was a bad plan, a reckless plan based on inadequate intelligence and no confirmation of the location of the target…"
"So what do we need to do then?" she asked him as he listlessly poked the noodles with his chopsticks.
"Where is Dagur?" he murmured.
"We assumed he was out of town…maybe in the property he owns in Hysteria," she said thoughtfully. "And I guess you were hoping he would be coming to speak to you…" He shook his head.
"Hoping is amateur," he condemned flatly. "And damn it-you got me hooked as well. It almost cost me my life. We need to know where he is-and track his movements. And then we need him into the KZ on our terms."
"KZ?" Astrid was staring at him now: his tone was cold and utterly professional, a glimpse of the man he had been, the black ops sniper.
"Kill zone," he said without hesitation. She pursed her lips and laid her food down.
"So why would Dagur leave the safety of his stronghold?" she asked and then frowned. "And why did we think he was in the Townhouse anyway?"
"His coms must be routed through there," Hiccup said, spearing a chicken ball and chewing thoughtfully.
"So did he call Heather?" Astrid asked. "I mean, we got Fish to bug her lines. If he called, they could run a proper trace…" He nodded.
"You know, I've been looking in the wrong direction-we all have. Probably for years," he said bitterly. "He's been hiding. He doesn't come out for a challenge for a rival gang or to pretend to be quiet while committing atrocities. His only lever is his sister…"
"That went well," Astrid commented, diving in her container for the last few noodles.
"Again, we're looking at this the wrong way," Hiccup told her, finishing his meal. "We've been treating her as if she was a collateral. She's not: she's up to her neck in the family business. And for all her pretty act, she knows exactly what she's doing-both in defending her brother's bastard organisation…and in torturing me." His tone had turned savage. Astrid gasped. He took a long shuddering breath. "So we do to him what he has done to everyone else who crosses him."
She stared in shock: his face was grim and his eyes glittered coldly.
"We destroy everything he has and everything he cares for. So he either comes out or he loses everything," he said. Shaking her head, she clasped her hands.
"The Commander will never go for it," she said as he stared directly into her eyes.
"Then you have a choice," he told her. "How badly do you want to stop Dagur?"
oOo
"Fishlegs? This is Astrid."
The husky man stared at his phone. The woman was speaking very loudly and determinedly and he cast a glance at Snotlout, who was lounging on the bed, plucking his eyebrows.
"How are you?" he asked, trying to cover the microphone with his hand.
"I'm fine," she said loudly. "Any news?" Toothless nodded and the husky agent sighed.
"Absolutely no problems this end," he reported. "Fortunately, Snot is in contact with base so we've got plenty of back-up available if required…and they're fully apprised of our mission…every day…"
"That's useful," she bellowed.
"How is he?" Fishlegs added.
"We've got a problem," she yelled, causing Fishlegs to wrench the phone away from his ear. He winced and glanced worriedly at Toothless.
"What kind of problem?" he asked.
"Fury," Astrid said very loudly. "He's badly injured. Not fit to be moved. I think he's running a fever and is delirious. We're in the Hotel Splendid on Lunatic Row. Room 15. I'm heading out to see if I can find some antibiotics and something for his fever. This is very secret because he looks pretty helpless now. I'll be in contact soon."
"Astrid…" Fishlegs said urgently but she hung up as Toothless and Fishlegs shared a look. Then they both looked at Snotlout, who was leaping to his feet.
"Time for a run," he announced, grinning and dashing through the door. The two analysts paused and then tried not to laugh-but Fishlegs caught the triumphant look in Toothless's green eyes and burst out laughing.
"Do you think he knows what he's doing?" he chuckled. Toothless stared at the door and peered through the fisheye peep hole: Snotlout was walking briskly down the walkway, the phone already clamped to his ear.
"Exactly what we want," he said.
oOo
Hiccup accepted Astrid's gun, weighing the weapon in his left hand and checking the sights. Emerald eyes flicked up to inspect her face.
"You sure you trust me with this?" he asked her. She took a breath and nodded.
"With my life-because I know you deserve to get your shot," she told him firmly. "And you're the best shot I know." He checked the magazine and then slapped it back into place.
"You look after your weapon," he commented.
"Because my life depends on it," she reminded him, smiling. She had carefully cleaned it as he had showered because it was as stinking and unpleasant as everything else that had been though the sewer…though not so much now. He painfully levered himself to his feet, grimacing and tightening his grip on the firearm.
"So how long do you think it'll take your idiot lapdog to blabber to his father," he asked her dryly. There was a pause as she tried not to laugh, factoring in the few minutes it had taken her to walk back from the public payphone..
"If it takes him more than five minutes, he's slipping," she laughed. "Look, he hates the idea of us operating independently-mainly because we can ignore him and treat him like the muttonhead he is, rather than doing what his precious Daddy orders,"
"Make me glad I chose a different branch of the service to my father," he said absently. "Because Gods, that would have been awkward…" She looked at him, trying not to look intensely interested even though she was dying to ask. "I mean, he was Navy so if the great Admiral Haddock had introduced a sarcastic auburn fishbone as his son, all Helheim would have broken out. Thank Thor I chose the Army…" Smiling politely, she filed the information away to put into her search for his name and her means of breaking the deal. And though she no longer really wanted to put him away-because she found herself admiring his passion, single-mindedness and obvious exceptional skills-she had seen him gun down a large number of individuals with no remorse and he was a cold-blooded killer.
But then, if you retrained to be a ruthless and highly effective killer, you have to learn to set those human feelings aside on the job…
"So how do you plan to take everything away from Dagur?" she asked as he smiled, hearing rough noise. A beat-up camper van rumbled round the corner and parked obviously by the crosswalk, the windows wound down and smoke billowing from inside the vehicle.
"Hit him where it hurts," he smirked. "Heather." Her eyes widened.
"You're going to…?" she gasped, shocked and he hiked up an eyebrow, wincing as he pulled on his bruises.
"That would be far too merciful," he said coldly. "No, I'm going to ruin her irreparably and make sure they both know whose fault it is." She relaxed a little as the squeal of tyres sounded from he street. "And we have guests…" They exited swiftly, both ducking into the cleaning closet in the hall, the door ajar a fraction as Hiccup peered through the tiny gap. Cramped, unable to see and pressed indecently close to the tense hitman, Astrid didn't even dare move for fear of giving their location away.
Footsteps thundered up the stairs and four men that Hiccup recognised as Dagur's enforcers raced onto the landing, drew their weapons and erupted into the room. They yelled as the roar of gunfire filled the room, bullets shredding sheets, pillows, cushions, chairs, the mirror and the wall. But when the flashes of gunfire died away, there was an eerie silence.
"He isn't here," one said, glaring. "It was a bum lead…"
"Better find him," a second said. "Dagur hates it when you come up empty."
"And we can't upset Dagur," Hiccup announced, shoving the door open as he fired. Before the men could even turn to face him, he had gunned them down, walking forward to administer two more shots to men who were still twitching. Astrid emerged and stared in shock as Hiccup leaned forward, dipping his left index finger into the blood oozing from the nearest man's wounds and deliberately smeared it across the stained yellowish plaster on the wall.
DAGUR-
FURY IS COMING 4 U
And then he turned and sped down the stairs, past the cowering concierge. Taking a final look, she raced after him, nodding an apology and erupting onto the street as Hiccup just reached the camper van. Ruffnut stuck her head out of the window.
"Thorston taxi?" she asked with a grin. "Gods you look rough! I mean really terrible. In fact…oh, hi Astrid," she added. Grimacing, Hiccup sagged.
"Just get us out of here," he said, jumping into the smoke filled van. "Tuff-what the Helheim has been going on here?" The male twin looked up from the barbecue he had insanely set up in the middle of the van, sausages sizzling away.
"Naw," he said. "Just thought you'd appreciate a nice fresh banger. And I have some burgers and onions and…"
"Oh Thor, just get me away from here," the hitman groaned, collapsing onto the couch as Astrid entered and pulled to door closed before staring and starting to cough. Tuff nut gave a shrug.
"No onions for you then," he said.
