Hey guys ;P

Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Hiccup's POV

As soon as the door bell rang, Hiccup was on high alert. Who on earth would be here at this time?

He exchanged a glance with Merida, who had stood up from her seat by the table. Rapunzel was staring at Jack with an extremely strange expression, like she didn't know what to think of him. Frankly, Hiccup didn't either.

"Hiccup, all of you need to get out, quick, go out of the back." Astrid said, hurriedly clearing away the cups of coffee, evidence of their presence.

Merida rebutted almost immediately. "Are ya serious? How are we supposed ta get outta here with Jack like this?"

There was no way they'd be able to get to the car without being noticed, and Hiccup knew that he wouldn't be able to carry Jack for long, and even if the other boy was awake, he was in no condition to move fast.

"Just go, you can't stay. You'll get us all arrested."

Fishlegs twirled his wrists nervously, packing up his case. "Astrid's right, no one else would be here at this time. You need to go hide somewhere, and we'll get rid of the cops."

Merida let out a very colorful stream of curses, grabbing Rapunzel's hand and starting to pull her towards the back door. Hiccup leaned down by the couch, and Fishlegs helped him to sling the taller, heavier boy over his shoulder. That medicine had knocked him out like a light. Merida held the door open for him, and he gave Astrid a small nod of thanks before she turned the other way and went to greet whoever it was at the door, though he didn't miss the look on her face as turned away. Almost like regret.

Bidding a hurried goodbye to Fishlegs, Hiccup followed Merida and Rapunzel-who looked to have snapped out of her state of shock-through the small backyard behind Astrid's house.

The wooden fence surrounding the property was too high to scale with Jack, and Hiccup couldn't see a gate except for the one that would take them back to the front of the house.

"Oh shit." Hiccup muttered.

Rapunzel quickly ran to the fence. "C'mon, we don't have time for this." She had to jump to grab the top, and Merida helped her swing one of her legs over. Bracing herself from either side, she pulled Merida up and the two girls balanced over the top of the wood fence.

They leaned down to grab Jack's arms, and Hiccup lifted Jack's torso and they half-lifted him over, laying him across the fence in a way that looked to be quite painful. Once Jack was on the fence, Hiccup scaled the barrier and hopped over into the backyard of the adjoining property.

Merida and Rapunzel lifted Jack back up off the fence, helping Hiccup to put him back on his shoulders, before they both jumped off.

Knowing they had to move fast and quiet, the three of them silently crept along the fence-line, following it to the front of the house and onto the street.

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Aster's POV

He and Ana waited with varying degrees of patience. Ana, calm as always, stood slightly in front of him as they waited at the door of Astrid Hofferson's house.

Ana had called Aster immediately after Baby Tooth suggested to search for Haddock's old friends, and the two of them had gone to the station again and searched through the database. The closest known friend of Henry Haddock was Ms Hofferson.

After notifying Commissioner North, they had been allowed to travel to Iowa by helicopter, a much faster method of transport, though the Big Four had gotten a very big head-start. Aster just hoped that they hadn't moved on yet.

Hearing a rather suspicious amount of noise coming from inside the house, Ana was about to knock again when the door opened. Standing in the doorway was a young woman, around the same age as the members of the Big Four, with braided blonde hair and crystal blue eyes.

"Ms Hofferson?" Ana asked for confirmation, receiving a nod from the other woman.

Astrid Hofferson shifted uncomfortable. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Her voice was laced with well concealed sarcasm and malice, hinting to Aster that she obviously wasn't fond of law enforcement.

"I'm Detective Aster Bunnymund, this is Detective Toothiana Fey," Aster presented his badge. "We're investigating the criminal group known as the Big Four. We found that one of them, Henry Haddock, has known ties with you."

Astrid nodded. "Yes, we grew up together. But none of us has seen Henry in years, he left town as soon as he graduated high school."

Huh, likely story, Aster thought. Of course he knew that the kids were smart, they would've severed all contacts with family and friends, but they were in a desperate situation.

"There was quite a bit of noise inside, Ms Hofferson," Ana began, earning her a narrow-eyed look from Astrid. "Would you mind if we came inside and had a look around?"

"Of course not," the blonde plastered a forced smile on her face and stepped aside to let them in, and Aster caught her glaring daggers in Ana's direction as she passed.

The house was small, though more than big enough for a single person to live in. They walked down the hallway into the living room, where a large blonde man sat on the couch with a steaming mug in his hands. He looked up in shock at seeing them enter the room.

"Little late to have visitors, isn't it?" Aster inquired, scanning the room with sharp eyes.

The two blondes exchanged a look, and the man hurried to answer. "It's been a while since we saw each other last, we were just catching up."

Ana shot Aster a quick look before she turned a began to vigilantly search the house. Aster spotted Ms Hofferson open her mouth to protest, but she quickly changed her mind and shut up. A good decision.

The two of them didn't search houses often unless they were absolutely certain that the criminals were in there, but after the Big Four had gotten away so many times, they were taking every chance they got.

Astrid had taken an unnecessary amount of time to open the door for them, especially since she'd been awake, so she had either given Haddock time to hide, or time to escape.

If the crooks were on foot, they weren't likely to get very far. With one of them severely injured, they shouldn't be moving fast, and there was definitely no way they could get someone else to take them in.

Aster surveyed his suspects discreetly, noting the anxious behavior of the large blonde man. He kept wringing his hands, his eyes darted over the room but refusing to look at Aster, the sweat rolling in drops from his temples.

The detective could hear Ana opening and closing doors, searching through closets and rooms for anywhere that might be big enough to hide them. Not long after, she came back into the living and slightly shook her head at her partner.

They weren't in the house, but that didn't mean that they hadn't been. Which meant that they were outside in the streets somewhere.

Exchanging a glance with Aster, Ana stepped forward and politely offered to shake Astrid's hand, which the blonde girl reluctantly accepted. "Thank you for your time, sorry for being here so late."

Pasting on another fake grin, Ms Hofferson escorted them back to the front door. She shut the door on them the first chance she got.

"Jeez, someone's cranky," Ana remarked under her breath. Aster scanned the streets, noticing the parked 4X4 out front of the car in front of a Ford. One of those cars was surely Astrid's guest's, but who did the other car belong to?

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Merida's POV

To be completely honest, Merida was ecstatic to get out of that woman's house, no matter what the circumstances might've been. Running from the police was something she'd done before, she knew what to do and what to expect, but she did not know how to be civil with Hiccup's old friends and family.

Once upon a time, she would've tried to get along, but after she'd heard how they used to treat him, something inside her just flared with rage at even a mention of them.

Merida shook her head to distract herself from the thoughts; they needed to focus on finding a place to hide from the cops. Easier said than done when they were in an unfamiliar neighborhood, where every house was surely locked.

"We could try to get into a garage, but if there isn't a side door we won't be able to get in without making too much noise," Rapunzel contemplated their options quietly, her bright green eyes darting around to take in their surroundings.

Hiccup let out a huff, hefting Jack's limp form higher on his shoulder. "Guys, we need to find somewhere fast. As soon as those cops realize that we're not at Astrid's they'll search the streets."

Merida peeked around the front of the house from where they were standing, hoping to get a good view of the street. It was empty, save for a couple cars parked at the curb. Still, the areas was lit up with street lights, they would be spotted if anyone happened to look, without a doubt.

She knew they couldn't risk crossing the street yet, not with the cops only two houses behind them, but that didn't leave them with many other options.

"We could try ta find a house with a basement? They 'ave trapdoors don't they?" She suggested.

Hiccup looked behind her, checking to see if there was said door. "That's a good idea, we'll just have to hope they don't think of it too."

Merida nodded, understanding his thoughts. If they had to pick a lock to get in, they'd have to keep the door open so they could get back out.

Rising on her toes and pulling herself up slightly, Rapunzel poked her head over the fence beside them, looking at the side of the house next door. "There's one here," She whispered.

With a surprising amount of upper-body strength, she lifted herself up the rest of the way and jumped over.

"I'm just gonna go around," Hiccup stated, obviously reluctant to lift Jack over again. Merida smirked and followed Rapunzel's lead. The two girls crept along the edge of the property before they came to door to the basement.

It was secured with a padlock, like most were, but the metal was covered in rust from exposure to the weather. It would be a piece of cake to open. Pulling out a lock-pick (she always had one handy), Merida crouched and fiddled with the lock, pushing against the tumbler inside and opening it with alarming ease.

Tossing the padlock to the side, she and Rapunzel carefully lifted the doors, testing to see if the rusty hinges would creak. They had just opened the doors when Rapunzel gasped and shoved Merida against the side of the house, pressing herself against the wall.

Not a moment later, a flashlight moved past them, coming from the street behind them. Merida cursed softly, silently urging Hiccup to hurry up, and thanking him for going around the other way.

As the light disappeared, someone placed their hand on Merida's shoulder, causing for to jump violently. Almost letting out a yelp, she was stopped when another hand pressed over her mouth.

"Mer! Shh."

Merida sighed in relief, seeing that it was only Hiccup. He rolled his eyes at her, before hurrying down the stairs. Rapunzel followed, and Merida closed the doors behind them, sealing them in complete darkness.

Blinded by the black, Merida heard Hiccup cautiously make his way down the steep staircase, before there was a sharp but quiet smack and Hiccup let out a hiss of pain. "Ow!"

Rapunzel snorted softly, and Merida choked down a laugh when she guessed what had happened. She ducked so she wouldn't smack her forehead on the ceiling like Hiccup just did.

"You guys didn't bring a flashlight, did you?" Rapunzel asked from Merida's left.

The Scot almost shook her head, until she remembered that they wouldn't be able to see her. "There's bound ta be one in 'ere."

Hiccup grunted. "Good luck finding one," He remarked sarcastically. "Hey, is there anywhere for me to put Jack?"

"Just put 'im on tha floor, he ain't gonna notice."

At that moment, a soft light flickered on, spreading through the small chamber. Rapunzel lowered her hand from the switch she had just flicked.

The light revealed that the basement was mostly empty; there was a small collection of old tools on a rack of shelves off to one wall, and a few boxes of the house owner's belongings littered the floor.

The room was absolutely filthy, the residents obviously never came down here. Unfortunately for Jack, there wasn't a table or bench of any sort. Hiccup grimaced as he lowered himself onto one knee, letting Rapunzel pull Jack off his shoulders.

The blonde sat down with her boyfriend's head in her lap, ignorant to the filth she was in. She pressed a hand against his face, her brow creasing. "Well, your friend's medicine worked."

Merida flashed her eyes in Hiccup's direction, seeing his expression turn dark as he stood. "Why wouldn't he tell us."

"Hic, maybe he didn't know," Merida pursed her lips, but Hiccup wasn't done.

He looked down at his friend. "How could he not have known? His family died when he was fourteen, he's been like this for seven years, there's no way that he didn't know."

Rapunzel immediately jumped to Jack's defense. "Um, excuse me! You know that Jack would've told us, but now isn't the time to talk about this. You can ask him when he wakes up, okay?"

"And when will tha' be?" Merida questioned.

Rapunzel shrugged slightly with one shoulder. "Well, his fever's almost gone, he's practically freezing. I'm sure it won't be long."

Merida didn't think she'd ever seen Rapunzel look so glum. Usually, the pretty blonde was energetic and excitable, while managing to be serious and get Jack back in line. She was the peacekeeper of the group, even if she wasn't the most levelheaded.

But now, she looked like her whole world had flipped upside-down. Though Merida didn't exactly know the full story about how Jack had helped Rapunzel escape from her kidnapper, seeing Jack with an entirely new perspective, Merida supposed that maybe Rapunzel's world had spun out of balance.

Hiccup sighed in defeat, sinking low onto his haunches and pushing his fingers through his tousled hair. "Punz, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Hiccup," Rapunzel interjected softly.

Merida saw Hiccup begin to reply, but she quickly shot a hand up to shush him. Outside, she could hear something moving. The Scot glided across the small room and turned off the light, allowing the room to be consumed by the suffocating darkness again.

Seconds later, a weak light slowly streamed in through the gap in the doors before it passed again, followed periodically by several others. The police were diligently scouring the area for them, and judging by the number of flashlights, it wasn't just the two detectives.

Merida cursed mentally, praying to the old kings of Scotland that she was descended from, begging that the cops would bypass the unlocked doors. If they were found, they were trapped down here.

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Ana's POV

Ana and Aster had immediately hurried down the street, breaking into the mystery car. Ana noted that the car's registration plate was from the state over, where they had just come from.

There weren't any belongings in the vehicle, but there were dark patches on the back seat where something might have been spilled on it. Probably just water.

Aster flicked his bright greens towards her, his brow creased. "They were definitely here, they can't be too far away."

Ana nodded in agreement, feeling a buzz of excitement in her gut. There was no way that the Big Four could be moving fast, and they were likely to find a hiding place so they could protect their injured member. Listening to Aster calling in for backup, Ana had a feeling that they might actually catch them this time.

She shut the car door, making sure she had a gun and ammo, as well as her flashlight, on her belt; there was no way the Big Four would go quietly. To be completely honest, at this point, she'd be disappointed if they did.

"The local police are on their way," Aster informed her, checking his gun and turning on his flashlight.

Ana nodded. "Let's go."

Ooohh, the cops are closing in!

Trust me, this is not the end, not even close! I hope you liked it, there are still many questions left unanswered, they will be resolved, I promise. This isn't the end of Astrid and Fishlegs either, they still have something to tell Hiccup don't they?

Please R&R! ;D