A/N: Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth II
…
"Come in!"
Hiccup entered the office of his CO. "Oh it's you, Captain. Have a seat. What can I do for you?"
Hiccup sat down, then glanced at the door before facing forward and responding. "Do you know what happened to Mark Hofferson, sir? I want to pay my respects."
"He was KIA in 2008. The same year you enlisted. He was buried in Ashvale."
"I see…"
"Anything else I can help you with, Captain?"
"No. Thank you sir."
Hiccup made to leave, but stopped when his CO spoke again. "Wait. If I may, what is this for, Haddock?"
"Just trying to do something nice for a fellow soldier, sir."
…
And that meant Hiccup ventured forth, into Ashvale graveyard to look for the right gravestone among all the others.
"Mark Hofferson… where is he… Aha!"
Hiccup knelt by the gravestone, to place a bouquet of black tulips, then turned away.
It's not my place to say anything to him…
And so Hiccup backtracked back down the path to the entrance/exit of the graveyard, only to freeze at the sight of a certain other person coming his way.
A person who froze when she noticed him.
Cami.
"I say. It seems I've spotted a cunt. Also, you do know I filed a restraining order against you, right?"
She shrugged after overcoming her surprise at spotting him there. "And you know that I'm not one for following the rules. Ironically it's exactly why you filed it."
"What do you want, Cami?"
"A truce. That's what I want."
"And then what? You're not hoping we'll magically become friends again, are you? You burned that bridge."
"I want to rebuild that bridge."
Her plea was ignored for the moment, as Hiccup received a call. "Hold that thought. Hello? I'm at Ashvale Finn, but I'll be back at the base soon; what do you need? Uh, no. Why? Okay. Alright, well I haven't seen her like I said. Not since last night. I'll go take a look around and call you as soon as I find her. Bye."
He hung up, facing Cami again. "You want to rebuild that bridge do you? Well I don't. I don't want you in my life anymore, but you can help. Astrid Hofferson. Remember her?"
Cami shrugged again. "Vaguely. We were never close."
"A colleague of mine has just told me she didn't show up for work today. You're going to help me find her."
"Alright. Where do we look first?"
"You check Gobber's bar. I'm going to check my house."
"Your house? Why would she be there?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow at Cami, who then blinked back at him when she caught his meaning.
"Really? But she always used to ignore you…"
"You want to keep talking or do you want to put down those roses you've got there and let's get to searching for Astrid?"
…
"Astrid? Are you in here?"
Back at home, his prompt went unanswered as he stood in the hallway. So he checked his bedroom, the living room, even the bathroom and the kitchen. No sign of life besides a certain black feline curled up, asleep on a couch in the living room.
So Hiccup took out his phone.
"Hello?"
"Gobber, do you know where Astrid is?"
"No. She left my bar last night, drunk, with her much less drunk friend. They didn't come back, so I thought she got home safe. So she didn't then?"
"Nope. Finn called me, saying that she didn't show up to work. I'm going to call the police."
"Alright. I'll go talk to Heather in the meantime. Let me know if you find her."
"I will find her."
Hanging up, Hiccup sighed. Somehow… gods…
…
The Haddock family residence was, put simply, a mansion.
That would be expected considering how long his family had owned it, but for Hiccup, it never failed to intimidate him. And that was why, when he drove up to the kiosk by the front gate, he kept his gaze on the guard within, rather than the slab of a building behind said kiosk.
"I need to see Mr Haddock."
"Mr Haddock is in a meeting. I can take a message from you however."
"Uh okay… Can you ask him if he knows where Astrid Hofferson lives? She's missing and he should have the local census data on that. Tell him to call me when he's out of his meeting."
"Will do, Mr…?"
"Henry Haddock. The mayor's son."
Hiccup then pressed a button to get the window up and put his car in reverse, ignoring the surprise that blossomed on the guard's face all the while.
He had just completed a cautious three-point turn when his phone started to ring. So he drew the car to a halt.
"Hello?" There was no immediate answer, which made Hiccup sigh. "Whoever this is, please make it quick. Kinda busy right now."
"You're the guy from the bar."
"What."
"The bar! The one with the fat disabled barman guy. You beat me up."
"Get to the point, please."
"We've got the blond bitch. We're at her house; at 14 Raven Point Park. We'll be waiting."
The line went dead and Hiccup took off immediately, hurtling down the narrow street, barely slowing any when the road widened and traffic joined him on his journey.
When his car came to a halt outside Astrid's house, tyres squealing, he took note of the two men from before standing outside, Astrid held between them.
Getting out of his car, he ignored the group, for the most part, both the men and Astrid's barely concealed look of fear for herself and concern regarding his arrival, except to say the following.
"Before we go and do… whatever that is meant to be, how about a drink, gentlemen?" asked Hiccup, reaching into the shopping bag which hung from his arm and producing a bottle of beer, which he held out for one of the men - the one not holding Astrid - to take.
The two exchanged glances, before one of them, presumably the leader, shrugged. "Sure."
And so, both bottles of beer in Hiccup's possession were accepted, during which there was a brief moment when Astrid was not being held, and she took the opportunity to slink away inside her house.
She nearly managed it, but the door creaked and she was spotted, so they gave chase.
One of them, that is. The other was prevented from doing so by Hiccup, who knocked him to the ground with a sucker punch to the back of the head and then knocked him out with a kick to the face before hurrying after the second assailant.
He caught up with him in the hallway inside Astrid's house, just in time to witness her deal a punch that caught him in the gut, before finishing with a blow to the back that sent him to the floor.
"Wow. Well it looks like I'm not needed."
Astrid spun to face him, then laughed. "Heh… Yeah. I've been taking a few self defense classes since the first time."
"Good job, milady. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to call the police… and an ambulance for you just in case."
"I can… get behind that," she said, only to suddenly fall over.
"Astrid? Astrid!"
…
You can stop looking for Astrid, Cami. I've found her.
Hiccup put his phone away after hitting send, turning in his seat to observe a certain blonde who was unconscious.
What happened back there? Why did you faint?
He wanted answers, which of course meant Astrid had to wake up. So he reached over and flicked her nose.
Her face contorted but she didn't wake up, so he did it again.
Same result.
Finally, Hiccup covered her mouth and nose with a hand, and so she, at last, jerked awake, her eyes snapping open to look at him.
He withdrew his hand and she levered herself up. "Told you I'd get you back for that, eventually."
"What? For what?" she asked, blinking the sleep away.
"For flicking my nose."
Astrid laughed after a pause. "You still remember that? Hiccup, it's been two weeks."
"And?"
"Quiet you," she snorted, looking around. "Hiccup, why are we in a hospital room?"
"You fainted for some reason. You don't remember?"
She shook her head. "Just remember feeling afraid, then relieved when that move I used on the guy actually worked. Nothing after that… can we get out of here?"
"Sure. Let me just call a doctor. You stay put there, hot stuff."
"Are-" she paused, then smirked. "Are you flirting with me right now, Haddock?"
He nodded. "Yep. How effective is it?"
"Can't tell yet. Continue?" she implored.
He laughed, shaking his head. "You mistake me for someone with lots of experience with flirting. That was my one and only line. I've only got that line and variations on it."
"Fair enough."
…
A/N: Next chapter is M rated again. Brace yourselves.