Welcome back! Thanks for always being so patient with me and my slow-ass writing, I'm trying to spread out my writing time over my two current fics and my third upcoming one so I'm not really able to post frequently. This chapter has a little more focus on Heather, getting to understand her life a little more, and a little Hiccstrid in there as well. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading :)
P.S.
I wanted this chapter to be titled; Flightless Birds, Grow Your Wings!, but apparently that's too long so I had to change it :/ So just encase you're wondering, that's why the title below is different than the title in the drop-down box.
Chapter 14: Flightless Birds, Grow Your Wings!
The room she sat in was cramped and dreary to say the least. The walls were made of concrete and the table and chairs were made of hard cold steel. She sat there on of the chairs, impatiently drumming her fingers on the table, creating tapping sounds that echoed through the small room, a crumpled scowl covering her face. Heavy footsteps approached from outside and she could hear the ka-chunk sound the bulky metal door made as it unlocked and opened. An officer escorted him inside, seating him in the chair across from hers and locking his cuffed hands to a metal loop in the middle of the table.
"Would you like me to stay?" The officer asked.
She shook her head, keeping her glare on the man in front of her. "That's not necessary, thank you."
The officer gave a quick nod and shuffled out of the room, locking the door behind him as he went. Once alone, the two just stared at each other for a few moments, her eyes pierced holes in him as she stared, he stared back nervously, unsure of what to say. "I was just-"
"Don't even say it, I've already heard it a dozen times," She said, cutting him off. "I cannot even believe how stupid you are, robbing a bank? Are you serious?"
"It was going to work okay? The guys I'm working with now are top tier geniuses, the only reason we were caught was because of that night rider guy, if he hadn't shown up-"
"Stop! Just stop!" She yelled, covering her face with one hand. "You're seriously blaming this on the guy that caught you? Really?"
"I'm telling you, the plan this guy had was genius! It's not like those idiots I was working with before, they're really smart!"
"I'm not going to argue that they were smart, because they actually dropped the stolen money and ran away, unlike your dumbass!" She yelled back, standing up, hands on the table. "How many times do we have to go through this!?" He didn't reply, and she sunk back down into her chair with a sigh. "Just wait until dad hears about this, I'm sure he'll be very pleased."
He shook his head. "Wait, wait, dad doesn't need to know about this, that's why I called you, can't we just keep this one from him?"
"No, we can't. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in? Who do you think is going to have to pay for your lawyer? It certainly won't be me,"
"Heather, please," He begged.
She sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I've tried, Dagur. I've tried to help you stay out of trouble with dad for how many years now? I can't do this anymore, you need to stop this,"
"That's what I was trying to do, I just needed that money to get a fresh start, so I could clean up and start a new life, with you guys," He said.
Heather shook her head. "How many times have you said that to me?"
"This time it's different."
She stood up and gathered her things. "Listen, I have to go to work, I'm going to talk to dad about this tonight, hopefully we can get you a lawyer by the end of the week. Luckily you didn't have any guns on you this time, so they won't be able to charge you with armed robbery."
"Wait, Heather-"
"I don't have time to listen to your excuses right now, I have an actual job, Dagur, an actual life outside of bailing you out," She turned and knocked on the door. "Just do yourself a favour, don't talk to anyone until we get you a lawyer."
"Heather, come on!"
The door opened up with a ka-chunk and she walked out of the room without even giving him a second glance. Heather had too much on her mind already, she didn't have time to worry about her brother anymore, if he wasn't going to try to get his life back together, she was done trying as well. She speed walked down the sidewalk, weaving through the busy streets of downtown Berk. It was a short walk from the police station to her office at the Terror Mail building, which was good considering how often she had to make trips down there. She'd have to tell her father tonight, then they'd probably have to speak with a lawyer on what to do about the charges. Heather sighed just thinking about all the things she'd have to do, with all the crime in Berk it usually took a lot of pushing and a week or two to get a meeting with a decent lawyer.
The office was filled with warm orange light as the sunset's glow flowed in from the large floor to ceiling windows. Most of the staff had begun to pack up to go home, people stood around by the elevators chatting as they waited. Heather sat in her cubicle, starting at her screen with tired eyes, filing through her inbox. The newest email popped up at the top, Oswald was the sender Dagur was the subject line. She clicked on it, scanning over the words and only reading the important parts. "You're being a good sister… I managed to get a meeting with a lawyer...we're seeing him tonight at 8:30...I know how busy you are with work...try to come if you can…" Heather mumbled under her breath as she skimmed through the email. Her eyes slowly trailed to the corner of her computer screen 6:08 she still had time to finish up, even time to eat dinner and change before heading over to the police station. She clicked through her emails one by one, and cleared off her desktop, making sure to sign out before turning the screen off. As she began to pack away her things, someone walked past her cubicle and stopped right in front of Astrid's.
"Hey, Astrid, you're still working?"
"Yeah, just trying to finish this article up."
Heather could see the top of his head from over the cubicle wall, his hand brushed over his hair as he cleared his throat. "Listen, I was thinking of going down to have a drink tonight, did you want to come with?"
"Sorry, I'm really busy right now, I'm probably staying in late tonight."
"Of course, just let me know if you're ever interested in getting a drink."
"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you," He said before walking off towards the elevators.
Heather threw her jacket over her arm, grabbed her purse, and leaned on the side of Astrid's cubicle. "So you're staying late tonight?"
"I know you heard me," She replied, eyes still glued to her computer screen.
"You should've accepted his offer, he's actually pretty cute," She said peering over the cubicle walls to see him waiting at the elevators. "Isn't this like the third time you've turned him down?"
"I've got some stuff to finish, and I also have to meet you-know-who on the roof tonight remember?" Astrid said. "Besides, I'm not really interested."
"Not interested in him or not interested in dating?"
She shrugged. "A little of both I guess. Even if I wanted to, I don't have the time, I work too much and nobody wants a workaholic girlfriend."
"That's not true."
"Really? Don't you remember what happened with my last boyfriend?" Astrid asked turning to look at her friend. "He called me a cold selfish bitch."
Heather scoffed. "Yeah, he was a total asshole,"
"He wasn't exactly an outlier." She said, turning back to her computer. "Everybody thinks my job is super cool until they actually start dating me, then they don't like it so much."
"So, what, are you just going to stay single forever? Is that what you want?" Heather asked, walking around to the entrance of her cubicle.
Astrid looked over at her. "You're one to talk, when was the last date you went on?"
"There's just a lot going on right now, I don't have the time."
"I see, so a completely different reason from mine right?"
Heather laughed and kicked Astrid's chair. "Shut up, I'll look for a boyfriend, eventually."
"Uh-huh."
"What are you writing about anyway?" She asked as she moved closer and leaned in to look at what Astrid was writing. "Oooh, another article about The Fantastic Night Fury? And you're meeting him tonight? Guess things are going well."
She snickered and whacked Heather in the side. "Ha-ha, this time it's not even on purpose, Magnus asked me to write another one since the last one did so well, plus he can't seem to stay out of the news lately."
"Right, I heard he stopped two bank robberies this week, seems like he's really starting to cement himself as a full-fledged hero," She said nodding. "I hope he's as good as they say he is, you're counting on him to stop the outcasts after all."
"Speaking of which," Astrid said spinning her chair around to face Heather. "Is the tracker still active and moving? Or has it settled down yet?"
"It's still active, let me check if they're in the same location," Heather said taking her phone out of her pocket. "Well it's still in the same place as it was last night, they might have finally settled on a new hideout location."
Astrid stood up and walked over to where Heather was standing, so that she could look at the phone herself. "Where is it?"
"Right there," Heather said pointing at the screen. "On that small island near the east side of Berk."
She squinted her eyes and leaned in closer to get a better look at the screen. "That tiny thing? Why would they pick a dinky little island like that to build their base on? Is there anything even on that island?"
"I don't think so, it's too small for anyone to justify building a harbour on it, so it's been completely unused for a while now, that's probably what they like about it. Those idiots are probably thinking that no one will find them there," Heather said with a smirk.
Astrid smirked back. "Well they're going to be in for a rude awakening when we show up," She said as she returned to her desk chair. "Does this island even have a name? I should tell the Night Fury about it tonight."
"I suppose it does now," She said looking down at her phone. "...Outcast Island."
"That's a good name," Astrid chuckled, continuing to type at her computer. "I'm almost done here, if you want to come up with me we can tell him about it together, you know you're in this just as much as I am."
Heather shook her head and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "That's alright, I've got some Important stuff to do tonight anyway, but maybe next time."
"Alright, suit yourself," Astrid said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She nodded and waved goodbye. "Yeah, I'll see you."
As the sun slowly set it filled the office with darkness, leaving only a few cubicles lit up by the dim blue light of their computer monitors. Astrid continued typing as the last few people left the office, soon it was just her in a large empty office. With a sigh she typed the last period of her article, leaning back in her chair as she did, looking over her finished work with a smile. The Night Fury was a hero, for once in all her years writing about crime in Berk, she finally had something positive to write. She knew how people saw him, how people saw Toothless, and she knew she had to change it, make them see him like she saw him. Astrid rubbed her neck and looked down at the time on the computer, it was almost time for her to meet the Night Fury on the roof again. She signed out of her computer and shut it off, quickly grabbing her things before heading towards the elevator.
She clutched her jacket closer to her body as she stepped out onto the rooftop, the weather had begun to warm up slightly but it was still bitterly cold at night when the sun had set. At the edge of the roof, near the west side of the building stood the Night Fury, looking over the edge as Toothless lay down beside him. "You made it," She said, a puff of vapor releasing from her mouth as she spoke. He turned around to look at her as she approached. "Thought you might be too busy with all your crime-fighting."
"You heard about that?"
"You do know what my job is right?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Not only have I heard about your heroic deeds, I've already finished writing a article about it, should come out sometime tomorrow, given that my editor approves it."
"You wrote good things I hope?"
Astrid smiled and wrinkled her nose. "Oh no, I wrote only bad things, about what a terrible person you are, thwarting bank robberies, saving my life, blech."
"That's actually not too far off of what everyone else is saying," He said with a chuckle. "I'm glad at least one journalist is on my side."
"Don't worry, I'll get them to come around eventually," She said touching his arm. "What you're doing, it's really courageous. You're exactly what this city needs right now, even if nobody else can see it."
"Thanks," He said smiling behind his mask. "...Did you find anything on the hard drive?" Hiccup knew the answer to his own question, and he knew how she would respond, but still he asked, because he wasn't supposed to know, he wasn't supposed to be Hiccup.
Astrid shook her head. "Unfortunately the plans to the machine weren't on it, it was something else, some sort of molecule or something, I've got some people working on it as we speak,"
He nodded. "That's too bad."
"And I've got other news."
"Other news?"
"We've already tracked down their new hideout, it's located on a small island near the east side of Berk, maybe we can find the rest of the creatures and the machine's plans there,"
"Do you really think it's a good idea to just go barreling into their hideout again? They're probably on edge after what happened, we have to figure out a new tactic," Hiccup said. "If they catch you in there…"
"You don't have to worry about me."
"I am worried though, even if you say they can't kill you, there are a lot of other things they could do, things I don't even want to imagine," He said. "There's got to be another way to find out if they're in there."
"Do you have something particular in mind?"
Hiccup paused in thought. He didn't know how to get in there, he just didn't want Astrid to have to go in again and he knew that if there were no better options he wouldn't be able to stop her. He wracked his brain for possible solutions, his mind naturally began to drift towards the one thing he was really good at, robotics. That was it, he had seen it while working at Gobber's lab, a tiny remote control robot, no larger than a ant, that was their solution. "A robot," He said. "You said you've used a tracking device right? Maybe you could get a robot and use it to see inside their hideout,"
"A robot?" Astrid scoffed. "Where on earth am I going to get a robot that can-" She paused and thought for a moment. Hiccup. "...Actually that just might work, I think I know someone that could help us out."
"That's great," He said. "Same time next week then?"
She nodded. "Sure…" He turned around and began walking back towards Toothless. "Wait, wait, there's just one thing I need to ask you."
Hiccup turned back around to face her. "What is it?"
"You said you were...from there, right?" Hiccup reluctantly nodded. "Was there anyone else...more like you? Not like Toothless, but, human?"
"Human?" Hiccup asked. She must be referring to Finn. He thought to himself. "I don't think so."
Astrid took a step forward. "Are you sure? Never? She would be...tall, with long brown hair, blue eyes, a long face, no one like that?" Her description could only be about one person, and his chest clenched up as he listened, Astrid was describing his mother, Valka. Despite everything, despite her uncle being missing, she was still concerned about his mother, a mother who had been missing for decades, a mother who was most certainly dead, his mother, Hiccup's mother. He just stared at her for awhile in silence. "Night Fury?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry."
Astrid sighed, her face dropped a little. "That's alright, I should've expected it."
"Are you alright?" He asked.
She looked at him with a sad smile. "I'm alright, but I really should get going, don't want to miss the last subway, I'll see you next week," She walked over to the roof's exit and grabbed onto the handle.
"Wait," Hiccup called out, "If you want, I can give you a ride back...I mean I already know where your house is, and it would be a lot faster."
"You don't have to worry about me."
"Do you ever get tired of saying that?"
Astrid laughed. "Not really."
"Come on, I want to give you a ride," He said, gesturing for her to come over with his head.
She opened her mouth to protest, but instead of saying anything, she just walked over to Toothless and climbed on after him. By now, having her ride on Toothless with him felt completely natural, like they had been doing it for a long time. They way her arms fit snugly around his waist, the way she leaned in and out with him, everything. Toothless wasn't an idiot, he could tell what was going on with Hiccup and he did his best to fly smoothly and slowly, passing all the prettiest parts of Berk and flying over the shoreline.
Astrid gently rested her chin on his shoulder as she looked over the silhouette of the city. "If only everyone else could see what I've seen, they'd understand that there's nothing to be afraid of," She said, moving one of her arms down to carefully stroke Toothless' side.
"You can make them see, you will make them," He said. "That's your job, what you're good at."
She chuckled softly into his shoulder. "It's good to know you have confidence in me."
"You're saying that like I didn't before, I always had confidence in you," He told her as Toothless swooped down onto the roof of her house.
Astrid couldn't help but blush a little, other than her parents and her uncle, nobody had ever said something like that so unabashedly to her. "Well it's good to hear it either way," She said climbing down off of Toothless, trying to hide her flushed cheeks. "Thank you."
"At this rate, you'll be using your roof more than your front door," He joked.
She shrugged. "Wouldn't bother me."
Hiccup cleared his throat awkwardly. "Right, well, I guess I'll see you next week then."
Astrid nodded as she unlatched the skylight and opened it up. "Yeah, I'll see you."
The two of them just stood there for a moment without saying anything, just looking at each other. Hiccup felt his heart rate quicken as he looked at her shadowy figure standing on the roof. Gods she's even beautiful in the dark. He thought to himself. "I should go then, bye," Hiccup finally said, Toothless leaped up into the air and flew off. From below, Astrid looked up at the darkness of the sky and smiled to herself before climbing through the skylight and back into her house.
The next few days would be quite busy, Astrid had a lot to get ready before the end of the week came. She sent out messages to everyone for a very important meeting, as always it would be held at the Black Sheep. Fishlegs and Hiccup came prepared, both knowing exactly what they were needed for as they shuffled through to the back of the restaurant. Neither one were expecting any surprises, least of all in an additional guest. Fishlegs stopped a few feet from the table, his eyes stopped to stare at the pretty raven-haired girl who was sitting next to Astrid in the booth. "Who's that?" He whispered to Hiccup.
Hiccup shook his head. "I don't know, I guess we'll find out," He said nudging Fishlegs towards the table.
Astrid looked up and smiled at them as they approached, both her and Heather stood up to greet them. "Thanks for coming on such short notice guys, we have some important stuff to discuss," They both nodded and looked over at Heather. "But first, this is Heather, she's been helping me with tracking the outcasts, and she's going to be working with us," Astrid said before looking over at Hiccup. "Heather this is Hiccup."
He shot her a crooked smiled and extended out his hand to shake hers. "Nice to meet you."
"Same here," She said.
Then Astrid turned to Fishlegs. "And this is Fishlegs."
Heather looked over at him, arm extended. "Hi Fishlegs."
He just stood there for a moment, awkwardly staring at her. "Oh, uh, yeah...nice to make your acquaintance, I'm Fishlegs...haha I guess she already said that…" He sputtered away, quickly shaking her hand and pulling away.
Heather smiled at him. "It's nice you meet you too."
Thanks again for reading, please leave any comments, questions, concerns, or cries of anguish in the reviews and I'll see you next time! Toodles!
