AN: Hello all my lovely readers! I hope you are enjoying the story. I had a goal in mind when I wrote this and that was to out do my most successful story 'To mend a valkyrie's heart'. Now as they say... "ON WITH THE SHOW!"  

Astrid's POV

The man who had come to kill me ended up saving mine and Soren's lives. Currently huddled in the back of his car I look as we reach the end of the dirt roads of the slums and head onto the asphalt freeway.

"You're not one of Drago's men." I stated as I finally get a better look at our savior who had shoved his sunglasses on his head. He looked no older than I.

"Mercenary." The man mumbles while keeping his eyes on the road. "That reminds me. There is a burner phone in the compartment between the backseat. Hand it to me."

I open the compartment and see the phone. Handing it quickly to the man I watch as he dials a number he clearly memorized. As he brings the phone to his ear he says to me. "Cover the boy's ears. He doesn't need to hear this."

I do as he asks and I hear Soren whine that he wants to know what is going on.

When the call connected he let out a string of cuss words I will never ever repeat. I didn't even know some of those words existed. After he finished cursing the man on the other end I heard him say. "I have a policy of not double-crossing my employers but you lot just crossed the line. You really shouldn't have pissed me off."

The man angrily shuts off the phone and throws it out of the window. I uncover Soren's ears and he immediately asks the man why he did that.

"Don't want them tracking us." He mumbled and as I looked out the window again I saw that we were approaching a suburban area.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked.

"One of my safe houses. We can lay low there and you are going to explain exactly who these guys are." He tells me and pulls into the driveway of an ordinary looking suburban two storey house.

Once the garage door closes he ushers us out of his car and into the house. We enter a kitchen and he looks both Soren and I up and down.

"What?" I ask holding Soren closer.

"You guys need to get cleaned up." He tells us. "I'll show you to the bathroom."

"Well can you at least tell us your name?" I ask.

"I don't think that will be relevant." He says. "We'll most likely be parting ways pretty soon."

"His name is Hiccup." Soren said. I look down and see that he was looking at the man's ID card.

"Why you little brat. Give me that." Hiccup said as he snatched his wallet back. "You need to learn to keep those sticky fingers out of my pockets."

"Wait you're just gonna leave us??" I asked completely perplexed as his previous statement dawned on me. "Why did you even save us to begin with?"

"Because I needed answers and you can provide them. Now go clean up. I'll have some new clothes ready for both of you and a first aid kit."

"What will you be doing?" Soren asked giving Hiccup an innocent yet overly curious look.

"Making lunch." Was the only answer we were given.

Hiccup's POV

As I had ushered them into the bathroom and placed some clothes I keep in case of emergencies, mind you...... very unlikely emergencies, for my 'guests' to wear I set out to see what I had in the cupboards and fridge. I had recently restocked this safe house so there should be plenty for all of us to eat.

I had just finished making some spaghetti with meatballs when I heard a crash upstairs. Before I even reach the stairs I see a small blur race past me followed by Astrid who was clad in only a towel and swinging a long handle bath brush threateningly.

"Soren get back here this instant." She yelled and chased the boy into the living room.

"Don't wanna!!" was shouted from behind the couch as I saw Soren flee once more.

When Astrid passed me again she yelled. "Don't just stand there. Help me catch him!"

I let out a sigh while wondering what even possessed me to take these two with me.

Astrid was heading back in my direction and Soren was looking back at her. I took my chance and scooped the kid up.

"NOOOOO" He yelled as he trashed about.

"Thanks" Astrid says as she takes the squirming boy from me.

"You're welcome" I tell her as I try not to look at her as a bit of the towel has slipped.

I quickly point to her and she squeaks in embarrassment as she tightens the towel and takes Soren back into the bath. I had seen a hint of a blush forming just as she trudged back up the stairs.

When they came back down both were dressed in comfortable clothes. Astrid had on a sweatshirt and jeans while Soren wore a pajama top.

I gesture to the table and we all decide to dig in.

"You guys might want to slow down." I tell them because they are eating like it was food from Valhalla.

"Oh Thor. I've never eaten something so delicious before." Astrid tells me between bites. Soren simply nods while picking up another meatball.

"You've never had spaghetti before?" I asked perplexed.

"We weren't allowed." Astrid told me between bites. "Only those in the compound who earned Drago's favor could eat like this."

"I don't even know the man and I'm already beginning to dislike him." I tell Astrid who nods.

"He said it was all to prepare us for when Dragontime was coming, but Alexi and I never believed him." Astrid mumbled as she put her fork down.

"Alexi...... was your sister?" I ask hesitantly and Astrid nods.

"I just wished she could taste this. We both wanted out of the compound and we were going to escape together, that is until we found out about Drago's plan. We couldn't let him go through with it." Astrid tells me solemnly.

We were interrupted by Soren who was asking for more.