Accidental Fiancé

20: Close to home

A/N: Wow. I did NOT expect that amount of feedback. Thanks for everyone who reviewed! It seems there is a lot of concern about our favourite feline...so here's the answer...

-o-

Twenty: Close to Home

"Hiccup?" Astrid's voice was concerned enough to break through the fog of absolute panic that swathed him as he stared at Toothless's collar. "What's wrong?"

"Toothless..." he breathed. "No no no no no...she can't have..."

"What...?"

"This person has sent him his cat's collar," Dagur said calmly, handing the sheet to Astrid. "And the letter indicates it wasn't the first letter..."

"I got one yesterday but I didn't have a chance to see you yesterday and I got wrapped up in work and then this scandal nonsense first happened and we had to sort it out and the other one is home and..."

"And calm down," Dagur said evenly, his hand resting reassuringly on the man's tense shoulder. "I'm not blaming you. I just wanted you to let me know as soon as possible...because this sounds like your ex-girlfriend..."

"This is Bella alright..." Hiccup murmured and fumbled in his pocket for his phone, fingers shaking almost too much to unlock it. In fact his fingers were sweating too much for his thumbprint to register so he had to punch in his code...and then he flipped through his favourites and stabbed the number labelled DAD.

"Will someone explain what is happening?" Heather asked, walking forward through the now-empty Press Conference Room as Hiccup frantically redialled.

"Pick up, pick up..." he mumbled but was diverted to Voicemail once more. "Damnation. He's probably in one of those stupid Council Meetings and because it's me, he's letting it go to Voicemail. He doesn't think it's urgent!"

"Someone-who he thinks is Bella-has sent Hiccup a threatening letter and Toothless's collar..."

"And who is Toothless?" the red-haired man asked. Hiccup inspected him: he topped Hiccup by a solid half a head and was powerfully but athletically built. His red hair was cut short and swept off the man's face and his light hazel eyes were thoughtful. His voice was deep and serious.

"Throk Kriger, Astrid's lawyer," Heather explained as Hiccup frowned.

"My cat," Hiccup explained. "My best buddy, my constant companion...Bella threatened him when I moved out...well, she hated him anyway the feeling was definitely mutual. He used to poo on her laundry as a matter of course...meaning I had to do it again... She threatened to kill him and so I moved him back in with Dad..."

"Is he a pedigree? A valuable animal?" Throk asked sternly.

"He's my best friend!" Hiccup protested, his tone angry.

"Apart from the fact I'm your best friend...he's your best feline friend..." Astrid commented, "you cannot put a price on a person's beloved pet, Throk. It's a very personal, very cruel attack."

"I can't get through to Dad to check he's okay," Hiccup told him frantically.

"Wouldn't he have called you if he had gone missing?" Heather asked. "This has come through the normal mail so it had to be posted yesterday..."

"The postmark reads 10:05, yesterday's date, BERK," Dagur commented. "So he would have been missing for over twenty-four hours. I'm certain he would have informed you if he was MIA."

"Except he's a feisty cat and sometimes goes out prowling," Hiccup reported glumly.

"I can put a call through to the Mayor's Office to call you back," Heather offered but Hiccup shook his head reluctantly, his eyes ashamed.