Chapter 23

The following Monday morning we find Hiccup sitting in his nondescript Towncar that was parked near a small two-storey office building that had the words 'The Berk Ledger' on a sign.

There was a knock on his window not too long after. Hiccup rolled it down to see Viggo, dressed in his dark blue pinstripe suit. The man's hair was combed back and... 'Did he actually use hairgel?!' Hiccup thought upon seeing his appearance. Ryker stood nearby as well, also in a pinstripe suit though he was sporting dark sunglasses. They were here to make a statement. Hiccup supposed that after two years together they considered Astrid part of the Family now. Damian had certainly grown on his enforcers and while Astrid never involved herself with the business side of it all she did help run his household.

"Our target entered the building an hour ago," Viggo stated. "We tailed him through the weekend but nothing suspicious happened. He sat in his tiny apartment playing Call of Duty for hours. Even the twins were bored watching the man."

Hiccup then turned to the other party in the back of his car. "Snotlout are you ready?"

Snotlout who had been busy placing the folders he had out in his briefcase nodded. He too was dressed in a suit. A charcoal black one with a red tie.

"Let's go," Hiccup said as Viggo opened the car door, allowing him to step out. Hiccup too was dressed impeccably. Black pinstriped suit with a dark green tie along with a long black jacket framing his shoulders. This was about making a statement and he certainly did so as he walked into that building with Viggo and Ryker flanking him.

Hiccup didn't stop at the receptionist's desk. He wasn't here to ask for a meeting. He was here to demand it. As he walked past, the receptionist looked shocked and then got out of her chair to chase after their guest. She tried to get Hiccup's attention though stammered at the sight of Viggo and Ryker. The newspaper was small so when Hiccup and Co. entered the bullpen of the office everyone froze. "Where is the son of a bitch that dared to speak ill of my partner?!" Hiccup asked in an authoritative voice and most eyes instantly, though some unconsciously, went to a cubicle in the back. The person who had been looking towards the doors from his cubicle ducked back down as Hiccup approached.

"Sir! Sir! Please you can't just barge in here!" the receptionist who had been trailing behind the group finally worked up some courage.

"I want him," Hiccup said, pointing towards Wyatt "His boss, his boss's boss, and so on in a conference room in 10 minutes or I will make sure this newspaper ceases to exist."

Ten minutes later Hiccup was sitting in a small conference room sipping the tea the nervous receptionist had brought him. Viggo and Ryker stood behind him, flanking him and doing their best to look intimidating while Snotlout adjusted his tie. Wyatt had been dragged into the conference room already and sat on the other end of the long table, clearly looking nervous.

"Just what is going on here?!" A man shouted while slamming the door to the conference room open.

"Andrew wait!" Another man, quite older, followed trying to stop the hotblooded one.

"Sit," Hiccup ordered while taking another sip of his tea.

"Don't tell me to sit in my own goddamn..."

"Sit!" Hiccup said more forcefully now as the teacup clanked on the table. Ryker and Viggo made a motion to move if the other party got more confrontational. Luckily the elder of the men managed to calm the other down enough that he sat down though rather reluctantly.

"Do you know who I am?" Hiccup asked while folding his hands on his lap and looking at the three men in the room.

"Does this look like I care?!" Andrew uttered. "You barge in here and kidnap one of my reporters!"

"Well you should care," Hiccup responded. "Since I will be slapping your newspaper with a defamation lawsuit if I don't get a retraction,"

"Excuse me?!" Andrew uttered.

"Andrew this is Henry Haddock," The older man whispered. "You know, Wyatt's article, the one you ultimately approved. I warned you it would come back to bite us."

"Hmm..." Hiccup mumbled as he observed the two. He had a feeling something more was going on here. "I guess some introductions are in order. You already seem to know who I am and I certainly know who Wyatt is." He then gestured towards Snotlout, introducing him as his lawyer, and then Viggo and Ryker, introducing them as "Teddy bears really, unless you have the displeasure of disrespecting the Family."

"And you two are?"

"Theo Jurgens, News-editor. My boss, Andrew Silverman, Editor-in-Chief." The elder of the two men introduced as the other was still being difficult.

Hiccup nodded and then Snotlout threw the newspaper on the table with the article about Astrid for all to see. "I see you all recognize the article." He said while gouging their actions "I will make this simple. I want a retraction on this article as well as a public apology printed in your paper on the front page. Otherwise, my lawyer here will hit you with a defamation suit so hard it will bleed your little business dry."

"I apologize Mr. Haddock. To be honest with you there was some debate about publishing this article." Theo stated. "As News-Editor I found it highly unethical however, my opinion of the matter was vetoed."

"Don't you dare go trying to save your own ass, Theo!" Andrew growled. "Besides it's only defamation if the article was false! Oscar assured me his sources were credible!"

"His sources you say?" Hiccup tilted his head slightly. It was supposed to be a questioning gesture but with the Grimborne brothers flanking him it made the gesture look rather menacing.

"The only sources I could find were he and himself," Hiccup stated. "Facts in the article are twisted due to him hearing a secondhand rumor in High school."

"Wyatt assured me that his sources were credible but wanted to remain anonymous. A reporter isn't obligated to disclose his sources." Andrew doubled down.

"Well let's go through each of his statements then," Hiccup picked up the paper. "You called my partner a high school dropout," He growled. "You must know that GED records are public. Surely you've cross-referenced this?" he tilted his head. "Not only does my lovely partner have her GED but she also did the accelerated MBA for Business Administration last year. So that's one fact wrong."

"Now, onto the baby-trapping allegation," Hiccup continued while noticing how Andrew shot Oscar a look of WTF.

"While it is true that Ms. Hofferson and the Jimson heir had relations which resulted in a child no public records exist of custody arrangements or child support payments. As Havenholme is part of a state that makes Family court records public this is rather curious don't you think." Snotlout spoke up rather haughtily. "No such Family court records or Child support records exist. So not only has Ms. Hofferson never approached Mr. Jimson for any payments even though it is her right as I can assure you a paternity test had been conducted at the time. There is also no record of Ms. Hofferson receiving any financial compensation from the Jimson family over the years. If this was truly a baby-trap then she would have filed for any means of funds she could get yet none of that happened."

"Both of these are grounds for a defamation lawsuit. Let's not forget you likened my partner to a dog at the end of your article," Hiccup said as his voice turned icy. "That's a disrespect to me, that's a disrespect to the Family but most of all that is a disrespect to my partner who toiled all these years to give her son a better life."

"I will make my stance clear. Either this paper issues a retraction and a public apology in tomorrow's edition or I will make your lives a living hell." Hiccup stated imperiously. "Just so you know, this isn't a threat. It is a promise." With that, he stood up and walked out of the conference room followed by Viggo, Ryker, and Snotlout.

Hiccup didn't stay to see Andrew rounding on Oscar or Theo blaming Andrew for being opportunistic and pissing off someone they shouldn't have. Hiccup saw none of that as he entered his towncar and instructed his driver, this time, not Fishlegs, to drive him to Astrid's place of work.

"Are you going to discuss with her what I think you are?" Snotlout asked.

"Yes," Hiccup stated.

"It's a big step," his cousin replied.

"I am well aware of that and my mind is made up." Hiccup nodded. "You know I think of Damian as my own and the kid has expressed the same over the last two years."

"I know. That's why I have the paperwork ready. I just need Astrid's consent to file it." Snotlout stated. "I don't even think we need to bribe a judge with the way things are."

Hiccup nodded and then dialed Astrid's number to tell her he was on his way and asked if she could take an early lunch. Astrid replied immediately that she could and was happy to.

"Are you nervous?" Snotlout asked to which his cousin just shot im a 'Are you serious' look.