The Contract

12: Unravelled

Twelve: Unravelled

Astrid glanced over her shoulder as the tsunami approached and on instinct, she clamped her hand around Hiccup's wrist the instant before the wave hit. And then she found herself thrown around, buffeted and tossed in the foul effluent. Every ounce of her being was focussed on surviving the immediate rush, keeping her head up and not swallowing any fluid. She felt herself flipped, colliding with another body and then dragged down...but as she felt herself sinking, she was hauled up and finally, she broke surface, her tortured lungs gasping urgently for the fetid air.

Hiccup was floating beside her, her grip on his arm the thing that had dragged them both to the surface. They were both coughing and soaked, still moving fast in the flow. He looked exhausted but he was determinedly swimming, pulling her along and she released her grip on his arm to pull alongside, gesturing.

"You okay?" she asked hoarsely and he managed to crack a smile.

"Just been captured, tortured, rescued and half-drowned in a sewer...never been better," he replied gruffly. "But I think we should get out of here before we die of bubonic plague!"

"There's a ladder over there," she said and struck out, hearing him splashing behind her and managing to thrash their way across the stream and make the ladder. As soon as she grabbed the metal, she half-turned and offered Hiccup her hand, feeling his grasp hers without hesitation. It was only when they were both hanging safely onto the metal that she saw him relax and look exhausted.

"Ladders," he groaned. "I'd even prefer a rope..."

"I wouldn't," Astrid sighed and slowly hauled herself onto the rusting structure, then stuck her hand out. "Come on, Fury. I didn't wade through this sewer just to leave you behind..."

"Well, that's a relief," he sassed and grabbed her hand, allowing her to help him pull himself up onto the ladder. It creaked alarmingly. "Any sign of the twins?" She sighed.

"You know, I'm not sure whether I should worry or not," she admitted. "I mean, they managed to blow up half the house, collapse the sewer and almost drown us...but they were the only ones who stepped up to come and help rescue you..." Hiccup coughed, painfully hauling himself up another step on the ladder.

"Shouldn't have bothered," he grunted, feeling his vision waver. "I failed-and I should have been left to my fate..." She glared at him, pausing in her ascent.

"Hiccup-you're on my team," she told him sternly. "And we don't leave our people behind..."

"But I'm not," he said bitterly. "I trusted the government, gave them my loyalty and my service once before-and look what happened! My family gone and I...was left for dead. So the only people I can trust are my friends. And you-for all your fine words, Agent Hofferson-want to lock me up for centuries for my crimes. You should have left me behind and saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars!" He blinked and almost let go-but she swung round, sliding down the side of the ladder to slam her feet on the rung below his, her arm wrapping round his shaking and sodden body.

"If you kill him, you win," she murmured. "And somehow, he knew. You said he was never there. And your details are so secret that he should never have found you the first time. So something is very wrong." She felt him lean against her, feeling the warmth streaming off his body, hoping he would appreciate that he wasn't alone. "We need to regroup."

"We need a shower," he murmured, his hands tightening around the rungs once more. "Boy, you're boneheaded, aren't you?"

"Hoffersons never give up," she told him firmly. "I'm a Viking through and through." He reached up and grasped the next rung, hauling his body up.