Hey all! I know I said I'd try and get this out earlier and I'm sorry I didn't. I do have a smidge of an explanation at the bottom, and some bad news. But here is the chapter first.

During breakfast the next morning, Toothless had mentioned that it was odd he hadn't gotten any calls or messages from RD for the day yet, but he found no reason to complain. As Toothless was watching television in the living room, Hiccup was cleaning up from breakfast. Just as he finished, Hiccup's phone buzzed. He paused for a moment, thinking that only Toothless had his number and that he wouldn't be texting him since he was right there, but then he remembered that yesterday Toothless had given the number to RD. Remembering what Toothless said, Hiccup immediately took the phone out and checked the message.

We need to talk. Without Toothless. A car will pick you up. Be outside in 5.

Hiccup would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit nervous at the prospect of seeing RD alone. But, Toothless did say never to miss a call from RD, and that probably includes texts. After sending back a quick confirmation Hiccup decided he should go tell Toothless what was going on. He hadn't even moved a step before another message came in.

And don't tell Toothless either.

This made Hiccup even more nervous. He could feel the beads of sweat start to form on his forehead. He'd really rather Toothless know where he was going to be, but would that make RD mad? He decided that he wanted Toothless to know. How would RD find out that he had told him? Surely Toothless wouldn't tell. Hiccup sent back another quick OK message to indicate he had received the message before addressing Toothless.

"Hey Toothless?"

"Hm?"

"So, um, I'm going to have to go out for a little while."

"Where are you going?" This was it; Hiccup's last chance to follow RD's orders to the letter. He stayed with his stance of wanting Toothless to know.

"RD wants to see me."

Toothless stood up immediately. Hiccup wasn't sure of it was out of concern or a reflex to the statement.

"Alright, let's go," Toothless said while turning off the television.

"No, Toothless, just me." When Toothless gave him a confused look, he continued. "He's sending a car to pick me up."

Toothless was silent for a moment before he responded. "I don't like this. I'll just follow behind you to see what's going on."

"I don't think that's the best idea," Hiccup said, becoming even more nervous than he was before. "RD said I shouldn't even tell you about this."

Toothless' eyes narrowed as he repeated that to himself in his head. He didn't like the sound of this. He knew that it was normal for RD to call to see a leader's assistant, but he had never heard of them being told not to tell their employer.

"Hiccup, I don't like the idea of you going to see him alone. Especially not so soon."

"I know Toothless, but if you come he'll know I told you."

Toothless couldn't find a way around it. Even if he followed the car he may be figured out. RD commonly sent a second car to watch the first car, and there was no way Toothless would be able to figure it out. Plus if he missed the meeting, Toothless didn't even want to imagine the consequences. It went against his better judgement, but he had to let Hiccup go.

"Alright, but take your phone." Thinking for a moment, Toothless added, "If you need to message me, use all lower case letters and I'll know you're fine. If you use even one capital I'm heading over there. And let me know if it's not the same place as yesterday. No text and I'm assuming it is. Got it?"

"Got it," Hiccup replied. He didn't say anything more as he grabbed his phone and gun (just in case), hugged Toothless, and headed out, but he actually thought the message system was a good idea just in case. He sincerely hoped he didn't have to use it though.

In the elevator he took the time to wonder how he was going to know which car it would be. RD had never specified. He figured he'd just look for a car sitting there waiting. Or maybe it would be one of the people that he had seen yesterday and he'd recognize them.

When Hiccup finally got outside of the building, he glanced around. It took him about three seconds before he was able to take an educated guess as to which car was there for him. There was a black Lincoln Continental (seriously, what was it with everyone using that car?), and standing next to it was a larger man about Hiccup's age or maybe a little older.

As Hiccup walked up to him slowly, the man looked up and asked, "Hiccup?" When Hiccup nodded the man continued. "Hi, I'm Fishlegs. So you're the guy who gets to work with Toothless? That's amazing!" Hiccup took this opportunity to cut Fishlegs off. After all, this was not the proper locale for a conversation on this subject matter.

"Hi Fishlegs! Um, maybe we could continue this conversation inside the car?" Hiccup asked, subconsciously placing a hand on the car.

"Oh, right! Your meeting. Don't want to be late for that! Sit up front though, I want to ask you some questions about Toothless."

Hiccup got into the car quickly, not wanting Fishlegs to draw any more attention to them. When Fishlegs got in they took off, and true to his word, he had more questions.

"So, what's it like working with Toothless? How did you meet? Have you gone on a lot of runs with him? Is he nice in casual situations? Did you live in the same condo building already or did Toothless get an extra unit to make sure you were always close by in case he needed you?"

"Whoa whoa, calm down Fishlegs! One at a time!" Hiccup interrupted. He didn't want to be rude, but he could only answer so many questions at once.

"Oh, sorry," Fishlegs said quietly, hanging his head slightly. Hiccup could hear the slight sadness in his voice, so he decided to answer some of the questions. He wasn't upset that he was asking questions, he just needed them to slow down.

"Toothless is nice enough," Hiccup said, not knowing what he should be spreading around and what Fishlegs already knew. "I haven't worked with Toothless very long, and the only run I've been on him was an accident. It was technically before I was working for him." Right after Hiccup said that, he regretted it. That just opened up the floor to even more questions, and Fishlegs took full advantage of the situation.

"What do you mean you weren't working with him yet? You ran into him in the middle of something? Did you help him or were you just a witness?" Fishlegs kept going on, clearly forgetting that Hiccup could only answer so many questions at once. This time, however, instead of interrupting, Hiccup let Fishlegs finish. He wasn't going to answer all of the questions, but rather give a generalized response that hopefully satisfied Fishleg's curiosity without giving away too much.

"Well, actually, what happened was he got injured…"

"Oh, I heard about that," Fishlegs interrupted, but Hiccup carried on like nothing had happened.

"And basically I helped him get out of the situation and get to a doctor. After that, well, I ended up working for him."

"Oh wow, so you guys already sort of had a connection to each other. It wasn't completely random him choosing you of all people to work with. You must really have had an impact on him because he always said he would never take anyone on."

'You have no idea,' Hiccup thought to himself, but he remained silent. For the rest of the car ride, the conversation turned a little more personal. Hiccup actually learned quite a bit about Fishlegs, and discovered they had quite a bit in common. In fact, Hiccup thought that they had the potential to become good friends, something he definitely didn't expect to find in the mob.

With a conversation Hiccup was interested in, time seemed to fly. Before he knew it, they had arrived at the farmhouse. Fortunately it was the same place as the meeting yesterday so Hiccup didn't have to worry about messaging Toothless.

When Fishlegs stopped the car, Hiccup moved to get out but noticed Fishlegs was staying in the car.

"Aren't you staying?" Hiccup asked.

"What? Oh, no, I don't work for RD. I work for Meatlug."

"Then why are you driving me?"

"Everyone has to do work for RD. That's just the way it works. I guess Toothless never explained that you'll have to do stuff for him too. In fact, you're probably here to receive a job."

Hiccup didn't like the sound of this, but he couldn't honestly say he hadn't seen this coming. He nodded his head as thanks to Fishlegs for the drive and as soon as the door was shut, Fishlegs sped off. It seemed like he wanted to get out of there quickly, and as Hiccup choked on the dust thrown up by the tires, he hoped that it wasn't a foreshadowing for what was to come.

Hiccup walked up to the building, and was met by the same procedure as last time. The same men in the camouflage tops and black pants, the same grey tray for his metal, and the same door slammed in his face before he was allowed to enter. Same as last time, he was given back everything except his gun after getting past the metal detector and told to head upstairs.

Hiccup could feel himself getting more and more nervous with every rickety step he took. His heartbeat elevated, his palms became sweaty, and he seemed to notice every small creak and sound the house made around him.

Before he knew it, he was outside the office door. He paused, but decided that there was no point in stalling. He was here and it was too late to change the situation. Knocking quickly, he waited until he heard a call from within beckoning him to enter. He entered and walked up to the desk, remaining standing. He had to wait a full minute before RD turned around to talk to him.

"Well, Hiccup, I have to say I'm impressed," RD said as he spun around. After waiting a second to make sure he wasn't interrupting, Hiccup spoke up.

"Impressed about what?" After a moment's hesitation, he added a quick, "Sir." He wasn't sure if that was necessary, but he'd rather not disrespect the man on their first private meeting.

"No need for the formalities, Hiccup. But as for what I'm impressed about," RD continued as he stood up. This made Hiccup even more uncomfortable, but he didn't allow his expression or posture to change. "Is that you managed to get employment with Toothless. He's never had an interest in taking on an assistant, and then there you come out of nowhere."

"Well, we met by chance really."

RD started to walk around to the other side of the desk, eyes never leaving Hiccup.

"Mhm. But that's just the meeting. Why did he connect with you? And the son of the specific police officer on his case no less. Doesn't it seem like there would be ulterior motives there?" At this point RD had started on a circuit just around Hiccup rather than the whole desk.

Hiccup had to focus some energy on not letting that whole question in his relationship resurface. He knew that Toothless legitimately loved him. They had been through this before. If anyone here had an ulterior motive it was RD, and Hiccup was not going to succumb to whatever game RD was trying to play.

"No, I don't believe so."

"But how can you be so sure?" RD asked. RD had officially stopped his pacing, and while Hiccup was not looking him in the eye he could feel RD's stare boring into him.

"Toothless and I connected before I knew who he was. We both had bad pasts and we connected through that." The moment that those words left Hiccup's mouth he regretted it. He forgot that he was talking to the man that effectively raised Toothless. Granted he had his real parents taken away from him, but still. Fortunately, RD seemed to ignore that part of the sentence.

"And your relationship with him now, how would you describe it?"

"Good friends?" Hiccup said, but it really came out as more of a question. He still couldn't figure out what RD was going for here. This clearly wasn't a meeting to give Hiccup a job to do or they probably would have been done by now.

"I find it very hard to believe that he didn't know who you were before you connected. I also find it hard to believe that you are just 'good friends'."

Hiccup was unsettled by this statement, but he continued to hide it.

"I don't understand."

RD backed up a little before starting, and when he did, he exploded. "DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! I KNOW MORE THAN YOU THINK! I WILL NOT HAVE MY BEST WORKER DISTRACTED BY A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP!"

Hiccup knew he had no choice but to try and stay calm and attempt a lie.

"This is not a romantic…" Hiccup started, but he never got to finish.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I KNOW ABOUT THE RESTAURANT, AND THE CLUB, AND THE GROCERY STORE! GUARDS!"

Just then, the two guards that had been guarding the door when Hiccup had arrived burst through the door, and before Hiccup could react they had grabbed both of his arms.

"Take him away," RD said, no longer yelling.

"Wait!" Hiccup called, self-protective instincts taking over and putting an idea in his head. "What if I left Toothless? Just walked out of his life?" Hiccup would never do such a thing, but he would have found a way to make it appear as if he had to RD.

RD seemed to ponder that for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "You know too much. I can't let you leave." After that, Hiccup watched wordlessly as he walked over to one of the bookcases and pulled on a book. Like something out of a movie, the bookcase swung open and revealed a secret staircase going down.

The guards immediately pulled Hiccup by his arms up to the staircase. It wasn't wide enough for all three to go down together, so the guard on his right released him and went in first. The guard on the left then pushed Hiccup into the staircase, and he had to grab onto the wall to prevent himself from falling down. The guard had quickly walked in and sealed the entrance behind him with a click, so Hiccup had no choice but to go down.

They walked down what Hiccup estimated to be about two flights of stairs, placing them in the basement. The lights were fairly dim, but not to the point of impairing vision. As soon as the staircase opened up into the dingy concrete room Hiccup looked around and noticed it looked like some sort of prison. There were metal bars dividing the room into 4 equal sections, each approximately ten square metres. Nowhere in the dungeon was there a window, or even a light well. Hiccup was seized by the arms once more and thrown into one of the cells, the door slamming shut behind him. He heard the clicking of the lock as he got up and immediately went back to the door.

"What, he's just going to leave me here?" Hiccup called after the men as they started back towards the staircase. He received no response however; they just kept walking.

Turning around, Hiccup took a closer look at his surroundings. It looked just like one of the prison cells his mother had shown him when he was really young, with a crappy bed and a metal toilet and sink. Hiccup flopped onto the bed, wondering what to do, when he felt pressure on the side of his leg from his pocket. It was then that it hit him that he had his cell phone.

Pulling it out, he prayed for bars. He mentally cursed when he saw he had none and started waving his phone and holding it in different places to try and find even a single bar. His miracle came when he held the phone as close as he could to the staircase. He got one bar, and that was enough to text.

SOS. Trapped. Staircase behind bookshelf

Holding his cell phone back in the spot where he got the bar, he silently prayed that it would go through and that Toothless would receive it quickly. After fifteen seconds of waiting, the tone signifying the message had been sent chimed and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. He was then shocked to notice that before he even brought his hand back down his phone vibrated to signify a new incoming message.

I'm coming

Well he wasn't expecting a response, but he wasn't complaining. He sat there staring at the phone for a moment when he heard a sound from the general direction of the staircase. Scrambling to put his cell phone away, he sat down on the bed and tried to look inconspicuous.

Not a second later RD came around the corner from the staircase, suit jacket removed from upstairs and a baseball bat in his hands. Hiccup immediately tensed as RD took out a key and opened the door. He considered bolting but where would he go? It would just make RD mad, so he figured he should wait for Toothless. He did stand up however.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Hiccup?"

"Of course not," Hiccup replied, trying to remain calm.

"Then did you not think that I would know if you used your cell phone?"

'Crap.'

Suddenly and without warning, RD wound up and swung the baseball bat. Hiccup threw his hands up to try and protect his head, but that wasn't where RD was aiming. RD hit Hiccup's left leg just below the knee with full force. Hiccup stumbled to the floor, and RD just kept wailing on the same leg. With each hit the pain grew worse, but Hiccup couldn't move. After a few hits Hiccup could hear the crack of bone and the pain got even worse. RD landed a few more hits before he stopped, reached into Hiccup's pocket, took his cell phone and left, muttering something about the incompetence of his guards. He locked the cell door once more and Hiccup tried to climb up onto the bed. It caused him copious amounts of pain to move his left leg, but he slowly pulled himself up. Tears had started to roll down his cheeks from the pain, and he wiped them away. There was nothing he could do but suck it up and wait for Toothless to get there.

Yup, that just happened. Dun dun dun! Except not really :P

Now normally this is where I post when the next chapter will be up. Sadly, I can't do that this time. There are a few reasons for this actually. First, I am experiencing a bit of writer's block right now. Second, after the next chapter there will be a large time jump, and I want to make sure that I deal with everything I want to before the jump in the next chapter. And third, school restarted a couple of weeks ago and I have a massive work load. It is more than any other semester I have had, and I really don't have sufficient time to write and proof. So for all of that, I am sorry. I will say the week of February 17 is my reading week, and I will try to have the next chapter up that week if not sooner. I'm sorry that is so far away, but school has to come first. So this story may be on what you could call a hiatus, just for a while though. It's a hiatus that I PROMISE is not permanent. This story will be completed as soon as I can. Until we meet again, I love and appreciate you all!