DETECTIVES

(A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction)

by: Astrid Camicazi N. Hofferson

Summary: Detectives Hiccup Haddock and Astrid Hofferson expect that there will be no problems for them to solve this Holidays but something unexpected happened. What would they do? (MODERN AU, Christmas Special)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.

A/N1: Hello, everyone! I'm back with a new story for you. This time, I've delved into the mystery genre with a dash of Hiccstrid romance! It's my first attempt at writing in this genre, and as English isn't my first language, I appreciate your patience and understanding. Feel free to provide constructive criticism; it's always helpful! Thank you and enjoy!

- HTTYD -

-ASTRID-

TODAY IS DECEMBER 24, a day before Christmas. The streets are filled with different colored lights and Christmas ornaments, as are the houses that surround the town. The snow is falling, and everyone is enjoying the season. Well, the coming days might be special for others, but for us detectives, it is just an ordinary day.

I am Astrid Hofferson, and I am a detective. Together with my best friend, a fellow detective, Hiccup Haddock, we solve different kinds of cases, simple or complex, no matter what the season is. We are always ready to help whoever needs us.

"Are you okay, Astrid? You looked very stressed," Hiccup asked worriedly about my condition.

"I am perfectly fine, Hiccup. Just spacing out a bit," I reassured him.

"I thought something happened." He smiled and handed me a mug of hot chocolate, which I gladly accepted.

"Thanks. But it's nothing," I said, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

"You sure? Maybe you just need a break from all the stress we've encountered. Besides, it's Christmas time. Everyone else is with their families. So, you better go somewhere else and relax."

Yes, you heard it right. All of our friends, who are our colleagues, went to their families to celebrate the occasion except for the two of us.

"Yeah, yeah. Says Mr. Workaholic," I said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from my companion.

"I know. But my point is we need to relax. Come on! Christmas occurs only once a year, and I think we should take a break from work. A vacation, I mean, or, let's just say, a nice Christmas dinner. Besides, we are both alone. We have no families left. So, I think we can spend time together, if you want to. It's not like any cases would happen," Hiccup said.

He had a point, actually. We don't have any families left. Nothing to spend time with. So maybe we can spend time together. But wait...

"Are you asking me for a date, Haddock? I never thought you would ask me out," I said teasingly.

He blushed at my comment but stuttered in defense.

"N-no! It's just a friendly dinner, like I said, if you wanted to."

"Fine, if you insist."

And that's it. We went out that night to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant. We had some talk while waiting for our food. Talks about work and personal life. A few moments later, the food we ordered was already served. The food was very tasty and actually worth the money. We also had red wine and desserts after that. He paid for the bill completely. I insisted on sharing the payment, but he refused. All is well that ends well. I never expected this night to go well. We are currently walking back to the detective agency without cases to solve. No worries or...

KYAHHHHHH!

...not.

We heard the scream of a woman just a few yards away from our current location. We immediately rushed to see what happened, and when we got there, a bloody corpse of a man was found lying on the sidewalk.

"It seems like we have a case to solve," I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah. I thought no more of this would happen, at least for today," my companion said.

A crying woman, who was currently embracing the dead body, saw us and immediately asked us a question.

"Who are you two, and what are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice was a bit groggy, but that might be because of her crying.

"I am Hiccup Haddock, and this is Astrid Hofferson," said my companion as we introduced ourselves to the woman. "And we are detectives. I advise you to stay away from the victim because this is now a crime scene, and you might contaminate the evidence that might lead us to the culprit."

"C-culprit? How can that happen? My friend jumped off the building. He committed suicide! And you are trying to say that someone killed him? He is a good man, and I think no one can do that to him," the woman said aggressively.

"Yes, it may appear to be suicide for now. But we also need to look at another angle that someone might have killed him. And that is what our job is for. We are going to find out the truth behind this," I told her, and I am glad that she listened. She stepped out of the way and let us investigate the crime. Whether it is suicide or not.

Hiccup wore his gloves and mask and started to take pictures of the crime for future reference. While I called the nearest police station and summoned them to deploy some officers to handle the case with us. After that, I approached the woman who found the corpse and asked for her statement.

"So tell me, Miss..."

"Sarah Johnson," the woman introduced herself.

"Okay, Miss Johnson. Tell me what happened," I demanded.

"I found my friend, Max, lying on the sidewalk with his face facing the path, drenched in a pool of blood. His face was crushed, and I was horrified by what I saw," she said, crying.

"What were you doing before you saw the corpse?" I asked her while jotting down her statement.

"I was on my way to his apartment room to visit him," the woman answered.

"Has the victim been caught up in a fight with someone recently?"

"No. Never."

"Do you know someone who has a motive to do that?"

"As far as I know, his sibling—"

She was cut off when we heard a police siren. The police went out of the car and helped Hiccup investigate the crime scene. I continued my interview with the woman, and it is like she has no alibi. But she gave some names of the people who are close to the victim and the ones who are mad at him. So far, we have two persons of interest. Or three, rather. I do not trust the woman. It is like she is hiding something. I left her with the other police officers and entered the crime scene.

"How was it?" I asked Hiccup.

"There is no evidence that can point out the culprit if this is a murder. However, we still have the corpse examined just in case," he answered. I could see from the expression on his face that he was disappointed, not only in how our night turned out but also because of the lack of clues that could point out the culprit, if there were any.

"Maybe we could really consider the possibility that it is suicide," I suggested.

"And if it is really a murder, the suspect did his thing very well," he said. "How about you? Any luck?"

"I got the woman's statement earlier. She is Sarah Johnson, and she is a close friend of the victim, Maxwell Green. She has no alibi. But I find her indeed suspicious. Though, according to her statement, there are people who might have a motive to kill Max. His brother, John Green, has been jealous of him ever since because, according to what she knew, John's parents favored Max more than him," I told him every detail of my interrogation.

"The woman might have told you a lie. We might have to consider Ms. Johnson as one of our primary suspects. Since she was the first to find the victim's brother, she and the victim's brother only?" he asked.

"Yeah. But she also told me that Max has a girlfriend named Elana Brown. They have been together for five years, and since then, they have had no fights," I answered.

"So, that crosses her off our list."

"Or maybe not. We could always use every single bit of doubt for any case that we solve."

"Good point. Anyway, I..." Hiccup started but was cut off by the arrival of a police officer, Officer Helga Holgerson, who called us.

"Detective Haddock and Detective Hofferson, two people arrived here. They introduced themselves as the brother and girlfriend of the victim," she said, and then she left right after.

"Okay. So, we need to get their statement. I will interrogate his brother while you go for his girlfriend. Is that okay with you?"

"Yup," I said affirmatively. "Let's get started. Time is running out. We don't want to waste our time, right?"

He nodded in agreement.

"Well, then."

We parted ways and started asking them some questions that might be essential for our investigation.

oOo

A FEW MINUTES have passed, and we have finished questioning the two. Actually, it took less time than we expected. Unfortunately, both of them also have no alibis. John and Elana were both at home, spending time with their families for the Holidays. But obviously, everyone's spending time with their families, except for us, of course.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this case is getting harder to solve, isn't it? The primary suspects have no alibis and all. No clues at all. Our only hope of solving this case is from the forensic examination results of Max's body," I said, almost losing hope.

"No. You may be right, Ast. But there's no perfect crime. There's a flaw in everything. Anyway, while we are waiting for the test results, we should probably check the victim's room and possessions, as well as the CCTV videos. I'm sure they have a CCTV in here," Hiccup suggested.

oOo

WE PROCEEDED TO the victim's room, 3rd floor Room 305, to check out his possessions. And from what Hiccup and I saw, it was indeed very...saw a small package from his brother, John. His phone's last call was from his friend Sarah, a few minutes before he died. And there's also a cup of tea, Cherry Hibiscus Tea. But I, we knew that there is something wrong with it.

After that, we checked the videos from the CCTV cameras, and we saw earlier that day that there was a delivery guy who came to give Max his package from John. It was a perfect normal scenario, but what baffled us was that the delivery guy wore shades and a hooded jacket that wasn't normal for a typical guy who delivers packages. Plus, he had a very feminine body. We also checked the CCTV videos from the neighboring building. Looks like with this, we are almost done with this case.

Then by the time we were done with what we're doing, the Forensic reports were already here and were handed down to us.

I opened the envelope, took out the paper and read it.

"What did it say?" my partner asked.

"There were traces of belladonna inside his body," I told him.

Then, all of a sudden, he smiled. No. It was more like a smirk. The smirk that he shows when he already knows the culprit.

"You do know the culprit already, don't you?" I asked.

"Yes, I do. But I know that you also know the culprit," he said.

"Positive."

"Perfect! Now, I think it's time to reveal who our culprit is."

oOo

WE ARE NOW gathered at the police station with our three primary suspects, namely, Sarah Johnson, John Green, and Elana Brown, to reveal who the culprit is.

"So, I assume that we are all here because you already found out the truth?" John asked us.

"You're right," I replied affirmatively.

"Then, what is it? Is it a suicide or a murder?" Elana asked this time.

"Murder. And one of you three is the suspect that we are looking for," Hiccup stated calmly.

"Given that the crime was almost perfect, It took a while to figure out. But there's always an imperfection in a perfect thing or scenario," Hiccup continued.

"Oh, please. Enough with the speech! Tell us who killed Max!" Sarah yelled at us, demanding an answer.

Hiccup and I looked at each other, and then we laughed. Like there was something very funny. The others were very confused about what's happening and tried to remain silent. A few moments later, I broke the silence.

"Don't be silly, Miss Johnson. You already knew the culprit," I said. "Right, Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded.

"The culprit is none other than you," Hiccup pointed his finger at Sarah. "Miss Sarah Johnson."

"How dare you! How can you do this to Max?! He has been your best friend ever since!" Elana said with rage as she rose up from her seat and attacked Sarah.

"Hey, stop!" Sarah commanded Elana, but she didn't listen. She pushed her to stop her, and then Sarah faced us. "You don't have proof that I killed Max, and why would I do such a thing?" She asked. Sarah was still acting as if she were innocent, though the truth had already been revealed.

"There is just one reason behind this: jealousy." I answered her question and started to explain the reason why. "The suspect killed the victim because she loves him so much and she can't take seeing him with another woman."

"Hence, what happened. Ms. Johnson sent Mr. Green a lot of Cherry Hibiscus tea, in which she addressed the sender as John Green, which contained belladonna, or devil berries. According to the analysis, it was ingested by the victim before he died."

John looked in Sarah's direction and glared at her.

"Sarah delivered the package to Max and disguised as a courier service delivery using some hooded jacket and button-up. Then when the victim already received the package, the culprit left the apartment and changed clothes. She was watching what the victim was doing by going on the rooftop of a neighboring building and by observing him using a pair of binoculars. Seeing him already drinking his tea, she decided to call him and convinced him to jump the building," Hiccup continued explaining.

"And because belladonna, when going into the human body's system, affects the victim's perception of things, he began hallucinating things and became easier to manipulate, or in other words, mind controlled. Being not in his normal state, Max followed Sarah's orders and went up to the rooftop of his apartment to jump. And when he did, Sarah purposely went back to see the corpse of her friend and acted like she was shocked by the unfortunate things that happened."

And that's where our deduction show ended, and a deep silence ensued. I looked at Sarah to see that the innocent mask she wore had already worn off.

"You are right. I killed Max," she admitted, letting out a sob. "If he can't be with me, why would I let another woman have him?"

"You are sick and insane! How can you do this? All of this foolishness is because of that damned jealousy!" said John. "Not to mention, you almost framed me up. But somehow, it failed."

"Says the sibling who is jealous of his sibling right from the very start!" countered Sarah. "And everything will be according to plan if these two don't start investigating!"

"We're just doing our job," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

I nodded at the statement.

"Yes, I admit. I am jealous of Max, but I would never do that to him. Blood is still thicker than water. Unlike you!"

"Bastard!"

"Enough of that! Take that woman away!" the chief of police said.

The others took her and put her in the cell with the other prisoners.

On the other hand, the police, Elana, and John were very grateful to us for what we did. Well, like I said, it's our job to bring justice to people.

After that, we left the station and went back home.

oOo

WE DIDN'T RETURN to the detective agency. This time we decided that it's better if we go home after all this Holiday fiasco. We went to my apartment. Actually, I can handle myself going back home. But Hiccup insisted on coming with me because he couldn't let me encounter danger, especially because it was already 3 a.m.

Oh...Guess what? It's already Christmas!

We reached my apartment by foot at 3:30 AM.

"Finally, we are here! I'm very tired, I said as we got inside the apartment.

"Me too. I can't believe that someone will perform a crime this time of the year!" says Hiccup as I gestured for him to sit on my couch, which he did not refuse.

"Well, what can I say? Love is the most powerful motivator for a person to commit such a serious crime, I told him.

"Yeah, love, he shrugged.

"Oh, by the way, Hiccup, do you like some coffee and perhaps some snacks as well?" I offered.

"No need. I'll go home, he replied.

"I insist. We just arrived in here, and besides, like you've said earlier, we should spend time together because, "I insist. We just arrived in here, and besides, like you've said earlier, we should spend time together because, y'know, we don't have families to spend time with anymore." I persuaded him. I hope he accepts my offer.

"Fine."

I smiled at him and went to my kitchen to prepare two cups of brewed coffee and, of course, some sandwiches just to ease my, or should I say, our feeling of hunger.

"By the way, your moves are very familiar. You know that I am a guy who is hard to get, Hiccup said cockily with a smirk?

"I'm not making any move!" I said defiantly.

"I'm just kidding. Geez, don't be too serious." Hiccup chuckled. "Besides, I really wanted to spend time with you. More likely because our peaceful night got ruined by that case. I'm sorry. Guess I really do have some bad luck like they always said, don't I?"

"It's not your fault, and you don't have to feel sorry about it, I assured him.

A few minutes later, the coffee and the sandwiches are already done. I went to the living room to serve the two of us the snack I had prepared.

"Here's your snack."

"Thanks."

There, we dig into the scrumptious food I prepared. He then stared at the television.

"Want to watch something?" I said as I passed him the remote control.

"It's alright. As long as I'm with you, Hiccup replied.

I blushed at his statement. But I quickly hid it from his sight.

"You know what? You're getting really cheesy, Hiccup!" I said in response.

"I know."

"That's right. You should."

He turned the television on and opened Netflix. He was about to choose the show we were going to watch, but then he hesitated and turned to me.

Oh, and are you sure that you really wanted me to choose?" He asked.

I simply nodded in response.

After that, he then settled on some mystery thriller film that is Rated MA. Despite its rating, I think the plot is promising, so I didn't really object.
A couple of moments later, the movie scene was very exciting and thrilling. In fact, it carried us away. Then, all of a sudden, the scene changed from suspense into a heated one. It started when the characters were making out. Well, this made me regret watching this movie, but out of curiosity, I still stared at the TV, and when the scene became really intense, I looked away just to see Hiccup staring at me and me staring at him.

Then, all of a sudden, he snapped.

He kissed me.

And I was clearly in shock because I never expected that to happen. Also, because it was my first kiss, ever.

A few seconds of awkward silence ensued. Then he finally decided to speak up.

"Look, Ast, I'm sorry," he said.

He probably thinks that I am mad at him and am going to slap him. But I'm not.

I quickly placed my index finger on his lips and told him:

"Don't be."

And then... I kissed him back.

I never expected Hiccup to be my first kiss. I have thought of someone else. But I am not complaining. I like the way he kissed me and...

"I like you, Hiccup/Astrid, we both said as we broke the kiss apart.

"Huh?"

"You do too? Since when?"

"Astrid, I have known you ever since, and you have been my best friend for years. I started liking you the first time I laid my eyes on you. Also, I like you not only because of your beauty... but also because of your wit and personality."

"Hiccup. You know I like you the way you like me. I don't remember how it started; it just came one day that I felt some spark when we were together, I confessed.

He smiled at me and hugged me in response. We broke the hug, and I looked at him shyly.

"So... are we together?" I asked him. You know? I am actually courageous to ask him like that, considering that he is the guy.

"Sort of. More likely. Dating? I don't know." He chuckled. "But we better take this relationship slowly."

"Yeah. You're right. Slowly but surely."

"Do you think we should tell them?" Hiccup asked me.

"Not yet. Because right now, I wanted to share these moments with you. You know them. If they knew about us, they would never stop bothering us."

"I agree."

We resumed watching the movie while snuggling each other. Then he spoke after a few moments.

"Oh, and before I forget, Merry Christmas, Astrid."

"Merry Christmas too, Hiccup."

oOo

THE NEXT DAY is a regular working day. We are back at the detective agency. Not only us but also our friends who are talking about what happened with their Christmas. Francis told us about their traditional family celebration. This year with his girlfriend, Heather, and Heather's brother, Damien. And based on how he narrated his experience, it seemed that his Holiday was very solemn and happy. In short, very much perfect.

The twins, Rachel and Trevor, on the other hand, told us about the Thorston Grand Family Reunion and different traditions, which we find very strange and weird. Well, we never bother because, with the Thorstons, being 'crazy' and 'weird' is already in their family dictionary.

Lastly, Sydney, who boasted about his out-of-the-country trip to the Maldives with his family this holiday season, which cost him 2 weeks of absence from the agency. But of course! Hiccup and I also told them how we spent our Christmas.

"That's what happened. Sarah killed Max because of jealousy." Hiccup finished telling them of what happened.

"And then she seemed to have NO regrets with everything that she did, I said.

"Shame! It was supposed to be a great holiday for everyone, and then that's what happened?" says Rachel.

"Yeah. You are absolutely correct, dear sister. A perfect Hiccstrid moment ruined!" Trevor added.

"Know what? Astrid was probably infected by a virus that spreads the disease of being a 'crime magnet' that she probably got from hanging out with Hiccup too much, Sydney told us with matching hand gestures that say I-know-it-all-duh'.

Hiccup gave him an icy glare, and I gave him a deadly look while the other three looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine. Just saying."

"Just think of the bright side. Your Christmas might be gory, but at least it became an unforgettable moment for the both of you, right?" Francis positively told us.

Hiccup and I looked at each other and nodded.

I tried to hide my smile and thought...

You guys have definitely no idea.

THE END

- HTTYD -

A/N2: And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed my story. It took me months to write this Christmas special, and I only finished it yesterday. It's actually my longest one-shot so far. It was quite challenging to incorporate all the elements: the crime, the investigation, the Hiccstrid fluff, and the overall HTTYD AU vibe. But I hope I pulled it off. Thank you for reading. Happy Holidays and God bless!

A/N3: Hello! After years of being inactive due to pursuing personal endeavors, I've decided to revisit some of my past works and update them. I've added more vivid descriptions and improved the overall syntax of the story. I hope that you'll enjoy reading the updated version.

Sincerely,

ACNHHH

Originally Published: December 24, 2019

Updated: February 20, 2024