Chapter 3

The second day in prison was probably as awkward as the first. The other inmates were shooting him nasty glares when Toothless' back was turned. As the weeks past Hiccup had gotten used to the hatred-filled stares he was getting. "You think by now I'd be used to it." He had told Astrid who came to visit him every Wednesday and Saturday.

Astrid had nodded as Hiccup started telling her what had happened on kitchen duty yesterday. "So this guy who is stirring the pot of mashed potatoes that was intended for the guards decided to get creative."

"What do you mean by creative?" Astrid had asked with a raised brow.

"He dumped a whole container of salt in it." When Hiccup told her that, Astrid nearly choked from laughter.

"I'm guessing the guards didn't like that very much." She mumbled.

"No, they did not." Hiccup told her. "They cut lunch short and demanded we tell them who did it."

"So did the guy get caught?" Astrid asked but Hiccup shook his head. "It might have just been all an 'accident'." He told her with a wink.

It was on another afternoon when they had some yard time that Hookfang spoke up "Your girl ain't visiting today?" His question was directed at Hiccup without him looking at their appointed 'mascot'. Barf and Belch were nearby and Toothless was shooting some hoops.

Hiccup looked at Hookfang oddly. The redhead never really said much to him and he assumed that for whatever reason the burly man disliked him. "She....... Eh..... said she may have found something to help my case." Hiccup told the man tentatively.

"That's good." Hookfang hummed. "Wish my little lady could do that."

"Your little lady?" Barf and Belch spoke in unison causing Hookfang to flush.

"You have a girlfriend Hookfang?" Hiccup took a chance and tested the waters by asking. 'Maybe this big tattooed guy that could snap me in half doesn't dislike me.' he mentally pondered.

Hookfang turned red from embarrassment, which only made the others much more curious. Toothless had finished his game and came over towards the group. "What I miss?" He asked while sitting down on one of the benches.

"Hookfang has a girl!" The twins teased in a sing song voice causing Hookfang to blush more.

"I got a wife." Hookfang spoke up causing the twins to quiet down and everyone to look at him in shock, and it wasn't only his friends that heard him. Several inmates nearby had been staring at him as well. "What you looking at?!" Hookfang growled at them causing them to scurry away.

"Never pegged you for the kind to settle down." Toothless mused as he patted his friend's back. "But why haven't we heard of her before?"

"Cause her previous boyfriend was a piece of work." Hookfang growled. "All of you scoot closer cause I'm only telling this story once. The group did as told and Hookfang got a dreamy look on his face. "I met my girl Windshear in Vegas. She was a lounge singer at the time."

"Ah love at first sight." Toothless actually giggled as he looked at his friend's face.

"Shut it you hopeless romantic." Hookfang grumbled. "Anyway I was working as an accountant in Nevada at the time, don't anyone give me that look!" Hookfang interjected. Hiccup raised a brow but wisely said nothing about Hookfang looking more like a biker than an accountant. "After a hard day's work I ended up at the bar she was singing at." The dreamy look was back. "She was a vision in her silvery gown and her voice was like a gift from the muses." Hookfang now was lost in his own world.

"I'm not the only one that's a hopeless romantic." Toothless smirked but then continued listening to the story. "Oh she was an angel." Hookfang gushed. "I returned many times to that bar just to hear her sing but one night as I was leaving I heard some commotion in the alley behind the bar. So I looked into the alley and I saw Windshear being hassled by some nasty guy. Chased him away I did and she recognized me as one of the regulars."

"We're assuming Windshear was her stage name." Barf and Belch interjected.

"Yeah, her real name was Wilhelmina......" Hookfang was still in lala land. "And we got to talking after her shows. I finally had the courage to ask her out but she was hesitant. Turns out she had a three year old to take care of and that guy was her abusive ex demanding she hand over her child as well as money."

"Damn man. He seems like an ass."

"Oh he was." Hookfang confirmed. "I had several run ins with the man while dating Wilhelmina. Nasty piece of work."

"But how did you get in here?" Hiccup asked as he knew this cellblock was high security. Surely anything involving domestic abuse or whatever the case might have been would have been in a low security cellblock.

"The guy wouldn't stop harassing my girl, even when I married her and adopted the kid. She once nearly broke it off with me because he sent a box of dead rats to her apartment. According to her the guy apparently had connections to the mob and she didn't want me to get caught in the crossfire." Toothless narrowed his eyes cause as a mob enforcer he knew the these types of guys that obsessed over women they left. "What happened?" Toothless finally asked.

"I got into a real bad fight with the guy one night." Hookfang admitted. "He's been hanging around the little girl's school and their apartment. Wilhelmina was afraid to go into work that day and she called me that night. I don't think she imagined I would confront the guy."

"I ended up beating the crap out of him." Hookfang admitted. "But I also ended up in the emergency room for stab wounds. Next thing I know I'm being cuffed to the bed by coppers telling me I'm under arrest for murder. You could imagine my reaction, I beat the guy up but got stabbed in the process. When I left he was most definitely alive. Next thing I know he's dead and I'm on trial for a revenge killing. The Prosecution nearly painted him as a saint for wanting to see his only child and Wilhelmina was being torn apart on the stand as a bad mother." The burly man growled. "I know she worked some less than reputable jobs before but it was to provide for her kid."

"Next thing I know I'm guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced to here." Hookfang grumbled. "I told mah girl to take the kid and hide. Her ex had mob connections and I don't know if they're still looking for her."

"And you sure you didn't kill this ex of her?" Toothless had to ask.

"I beat the guy up with my fists. He was shot to death." Hookfang told him. "The cops never found the weapon and theorized that I might have tossed it. That damn prosecutor wasn't any better either. He made it sound like I was planning to kill the guy all along. My momma would pull me over her leg and give me a trashing if she was still alive and heard I killed a man." Hookfang shuddered.

Toothless was silent for a while and when Hiccup nudged him he looked up. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just that if the ex had mob connections then the DA might have been on the take as well."

"On the take?" Hiccup questioned.

"You know getting kickbacks or bribes from the mafia to legally take care of some of their problems." Toothless mumbled. "I've seen it happen a lot. Berk might seem idealistic but it's a mafia controlled town. It's what your father had been trying to stop." Toothless confessed to Hiccup.

"Wait..... Hookfang who was the Prosecutor?" Hiccup asked as he hoped it wasn't what he thought.

"Some DA named Throk Anderson." Hookfang grumbled. "When I get my hands on him!" But Hiccup frowned as he thought about it all "Throk was the one that handled my case as well."

All of the others turned towards hiccup. "I think something bigger might be in play here."

Meanwhile a phone rang in an undisclosed location. "Hello?" A gruff voice answered. "Krogan, what is it?" There was some chatter on the other end before the man growled "I paid you to get rid of the father and son. I don't care if the brat is in prison now. I wanted him gone." There was more chatter on the other side of the line. "No you've disappointed me." the gruff man mumbled. "I'll have someone on the inside handle it. You just make sure you aren't a nuisance to me." The voice turned dark. "Remember what happened to Nightfury. We wouldn't have you falling into the same boat now would we." The call ended just as quickly as it was started before the shadowy person dailed another number. "Don't say anything, just listen." the man stated. "I want you to get rid of some people for me before they become a pain in the behind."