An hour later, three footsore travellers limped into a very run down diner, almost collapsing into a corner booth and dumping various items of luggage beside them.

"My feet are dropping off!" Astrid protested and then her eyes widened, realising what she'd said. She looked apologetically at Hiccup but the auburn-haired man was too exhausted to notice.

"I'm ahead of you," he sighed, rubbing his left knee. His stump was really painful. A blonde waitress ambled up to the table.

"You want any drinks?" she asked.

"Cola," Astrid said and Fishlegs nodded as well.

"Triple coffee," Hiccup sighed. The woman winched up an eyebrow.

"You sure, honey? Our coffee is pretty strong!"

"And I'm more tired," he admitted. "Um-what's on the menu?"

"House burger, fries, slaw," the waitress said amiably. She looked very familiar with her long braids and grey eyes. Astrid frowned.

"Ruffnut Thornton?" she asked. The girl scribbled on her pad.

"Nope, don't stock any of those, just the house burger and..." Then she stopped and stared. "Astrid?"

"Ruff!!!" Astrid said and leap to her feet, hugging the girl firmly. Fishlegs grinned.

"Remember me?" he asked and Ruff grinned happily.

"Fishlegs!"

"Philip now," he said self-consciously. "Can't really have a  Financial and Tax Adviser called Fishlegs..."

"Well, you can but no one outside Berk would take you seriously..." Astrid noted. Then she frowned. "What're you doing here anyway?" Ruff rolled her eyes.

"Hmm, long story," she admitted. Astrid sat down and Ruff scooched alongside her.

"Tuff and I are truck drivers," she admitted and Astrid grinned.

"So you did it!" she laughed. Ruff nodded. "Thorston Thunder Trucking!"

"Yeah...but that damned Dagur and his friends sabotaged us and Tuff and I are working here to try to persuade the owner to get his mechanic son to mend B&B." Fishlegs frowned.

"B&B?" he asked.

"Our truck-Barf'n'Belch," the female twin explained. "Named after us two..." She paused. "Hey what're you doing here anyway, Ast?" There was a pause and Astrid sighed.

"Also a long story but Harry, Fish and I are heading back to Berk and we ended up thrown off the train when Fish pulled the communication cord..." 

"Hey!"

"Harry?" Ruff's voice was interested and her eyes drifted to Hiccup, who was sitting back in his seat, his eyes closed against the fierce headache he still had. "Ohhh...me likey! You've found one hot little Biker there, Astrid..."

"Hands off! I saw him first!" Astrid said fiercely and Hiccup's eyes snapped open. 

What was that? Astrid getting possessive over him? Oh Thor, if she ever found out who he really was, he was so extremely dead...

"Anyway, I ran into Harry's bike and..." Astrid paused. "Harry is a mechanic! He can fix your truck...if you promise to take us back to Berk in payment!" Hiccup sat up straighter and stared...but knew he couldn't protest. Astrid knew he had rebuilt his Night Fury all by himself and he was an engineer...

...not even counting all those years he had worked for Gobber, his Dad's lifelong friend, in his garage...

"Can you, Harry?" Ruff asked, her cool gaze flicking over the lean young man, the bruise on his face from the punch he received from the Motel manager. "Hey-do I know you? You look pretty familiar..."

"Just got one of those faces," he mumbled. Astrid stared at him.

"Can you?" she asked. Hiccup frowned. "Mend the truck?" He sighed and nodded.

"I can have a look," he offered. "But it depends what's wrong with it..."

"Dagur sabotaged it," Ruff growled. "We just made it here...but if we had been going round the mountain roads in Berk..."

"Dagur?" Astrid asked in a perplexed voice. 

"Dagur Oswaldson, son of the Boss of Berserk. He runs Berserker Haulage and tries to run any competitor out of business," Ruff explained. "He and his men play dirty..."

"So why are you and Tuff on his radar?" Fishlegs asked her thoughtfully. 

"Tuff may have called him a mutton-head," Ruff admitted. "And we did sort of steal one of his contracts for hauling Berk timber...so he kind of came after us..."

"And when B&B is running again, we're going after him..." Tuff announced, arriving. The male twin was the match of his sister in height and body shape-lean and angular, though his long blond hair was in dreadlocks. Both wore greyish pants and boots, cream shirts and khaki vests. 

"Only if you drop us in Berk, first," Astrid said determinedly. "We've been travelling for days...please, Ruff. It's the price for fixing the truck: all three of us, Meatlug and my luggage are taken back to Berk." The twins traded looks and nodded. 

So Hiccup found himself out in the freezing cold-without a house burger, fries, slaw or a triple coffee-and wrestled with the engine of the twins white and green truck, repairing what he could, fixing unfastened or severed lines, refilling oil, repairing brakes and finally tightening the steering. Eventually, exhausted, grimy and frozen, he limped back into the diner. 

"Done?" Tuff asked with a grin, then frowned. "Hey man-have I seen you before?"

"J-j-just got o-one of th-th-those faces..." Hiccup managed, his teeth chattering.

"Okay...let's get you loaded up..." Ruff began but Hiccup stopped and pointedly plonked himself on a seat, folding his arms..

"No," he said. "Not until I get my Odin-damned burger, fries, slaw and a QUADRUPLE coffee!" Astrid glanced up at him, opening her mouth to argue when she recalled he hadn't eaten, he had barely slept and he was the only one who had been out in the cold, working while the four friends had been catching up in the nice warm diner. She looked at Ruff and the girl hastily wrapped a takeout and handed over a flask of coffee.

"You can eat on the road, Biker Boy..."

"I still have a name..." he protested. 

"...because we oughtta move..." Ruff continued. Astrid frowned and looked suspiciously at the female twin.

"Ruff...why?" she demanded. Ruff got to her feet.

"Because the owner of the diner didn't actually give us permission to open up, serve customers and take food without paying..." she said heading rapidly for the door. A large SUV was pulling up and the driver looked mad. Fishlegs grabbed Meatlug and his bag, Astrid and Tuffnut grabbed her bags and Hiccup shoved his burger in his bag, flung his holdall over his shoulder and ran after them, taking care not to spill his coffee. Tuff was already starting up the truck as the others scrambled in. The twins' cabin had a sleeping space that got rapidly filled with Astrid's luggage, Meatlug, Fishlegs, Astrid and Hiccup. Ruff grinned and waved at the irate diner owner as she leapt up into the passenger seat and the truck pulled away with a hiss of brakes releasing. 

Astrid winced at the cursing she could hear through the window. "He really isn't happy," she commented as a shot whistled past the cabin.

"They're firing at us?" Hiccup asked, incredulously. "What the Hel did you two do?" Ruff turned to stare at him. "Hey! I was fixing this truck-I missed out on everything..."

"Um...may not have asked him at all if we could use his diner," Tuff mumbled. "But we stop here so often we guessed he wouldn't mind!"

Another shot zinged past the windshield.

"Believe me-he minds!" Hiccup yelled. "GO!" Tuff shifted gear and the truck accelerated forward. Astrid stared at the twins who were grinning and especially at Ruff, who was fumbling in the glove box for a brown paper bag. 

"Ruff...what have you got in there?" she asked suspiciously. The twins had been friends in school but they had always been wild...and revelled in destruction. Ruff grinned.

"Just some highly illegal fireworks..." she grinned. "Thorston specials..."

"Oh Gods," Fishlegs groaned. "Are these the same Thorston specials that almost blew up the Town Hall in Senior Year?"

That was the twins? Hiccup thought. Hey-I was blamed for that! He took a long chug of his coffee and chomped urgently into his burger. If this whole ride was going to go horribly wrong, he wanted it to happen on a full stomach. Ruff lit a Thorston Special and leaned out of the window...then lobbed the explosive backwards. There was a thud that shook the whole cabin and the truck lurched. From his vantage point, Hiccup saw an explosion in the mirror and their pursuers swerved. Another set zinged past the wing mirror.

"Hit him with another one, sis!" Tuff urged and his twin eagerly lit and launched another. A much louder bang shuddered through the truck and a large fireball rose from the road. The pursuing truck swerved into a bush. The twins whooped and leapt up, arms in the air.

"AARGH! Hands on the wheel!" Hiccup shouted. The twins turned to look at him.

"Hey..." Tuff protested. "There's nothing wrong with..."

The truck drifted off the right and the whole cabin shuddered. Tuff grabbed at the wheel and jerked the truck back onto the carriageway. Hiccup glared at him and drained his coffee. Astrid elbowed him.

"He's a nervous passenger," she apologised. He glared at her and tried to get comfortable against the side of the cabin. "Um...probably since I crashed into his motor bike..." Ruff, Tuff and Fishlegs all turned to stare at them. The truck drifted off the road again.

"TUFF!" Fishlegs screamed. The truck once again jerked onto the highway and even Astrid was scowling now. Tuff tutted. 

"Hey-blame him! He was supposed to mend the truck!" he protested. Hiccup closed his eyes, his head still pounding.

"Tuff-your truck doesn't have cruise control...and even if it did, you still have to hold the damned wheel!" he sighed. "Please don't crash us while I try to get some rest..." And he leaned against the side of the cabin, curled up and fell asleep.

His eyes snapped open as the truck jerked to a halt and Astrid shook him urgently.

"We have a problem," she hissed as he jerked upright, blinking tiredly.

"What?" he mumbled. She pointed to the side of the road...where an orange Mustang was parked with the hood up. He recognised the flames on the side of the car and the dragon's head painted on the hood...and the stocky, powerful shape in the black leather vest, sleeveless shirt and Berk-High cap. "Please tell me they're not..."

"SNOTMAN! DUDE!" Tuffnut called.

"Yup. That happened," Astrid said in a furious voice. "Ruff-a word?"

"In a moment, Ast-looks like the Snotman needs our help..." the female twin said cheerfully.

"Ruff-a word NOW...!" Astrid growled. "You cannot be serious about..."

"OF COURSE WE'LL GIVE YOU A LIFT HOME!" Tuff shouted cheerfully.

Both Hiccup and Astrid face-palmed at the same time as Ruff chuckled at their discomfort. "Ast-You can catch up with Snotlout on the way home to..." she began.

"Been there, done that, punched the lecherous swine in the face!" she snapped. Ruff's face fell.

"Oh, AWKWARD..." she noted. "Well, we'll just have to fit him in because..."

"YOU!" Snotlout said and scowled at the other passengers in the cabin. "I'm not travelling with HER and whoever that scrawny...is..." He cast Hiccup a disparaging glare and jabbed a finger at Astrid. "She'll have to go!" Hiccup rose to his feet and glared back at Snotlout.

"The agreement was that I mended the truck and you take us to Berk," he snapped. "So if you throw us off, I'll render your truck undrivable again. Fair?" 

There was a pause and Snotlout stared at him.

"Have I met you before?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I just have one of those faces, Snotman or whatever your stupid name is," Hiccup retorted angrily. "You insulted and upset Astrid and if you want to start setting conditions, you can damned well walk back to Berk!" The twins stared at him in shock. "What?" Tuff raised his hands in surrender.

"Nothing, my man," he said in a vaguely admiring voice. "That was...um...very masterful."

"Awesome," Ruff agreed. 

"Look-can Astrid sit with you, Ruff?" Hiccup asked. "Then Snotface can sit back with Philip and me."

"And Meatlug-you're always forgetting her," Fishlegs protested.

"No one's forgetting Meatlug but she sleeps in your lap, Fish," Astrid pointed out. Snotlout stared at the tall, auburn haired man for a moment and nodded.

"I'll get my gear from Hookfang," he sighed as Hiccup stared after him.

"What is it about you people and stupid names for your vehicles?" he asked before everyone stared at him.

"We're from Berk," came the reply from Tuff. "What else do you expect?"

oOo

Hiccup had tried to get back to sleep but Fishlegs had moved into the middle to keep Snotlout away from him and Meatlug keep licking the auburn-haired man's elbow. After a while, Hiccup wiped off his saliva-soaked elbow and sighed. "I'll bet that doesn't come out," he guessed.

Snotlout was speaking the time boasting about how awesome he was, how successful he was in helping to run Jorgensen Lumber and of course, what a hit he was with 'the ladies'. Fishlegs was answering politely but Hiccup just kept his eyes closed, trying to ignore the grating voice, the fact he was totally cramped and one of Astrid's cases was jammed against his back. He could hear Astrid talking in a low voice to Ruff, explaining about her unfortunate marriage and how little she had left. And how Snotlout really hit on her when they met on the road.

Ruff turned and glared at the stocky man just as he was boasting about how he had kissed Astrid when they met. Astrid stiffened and Hiccup could see she was really upset. Her reflection in the windshield didn't show the fierce Valkyrie he had traveled with: she looked sad and almost...broken. Stomach knotting with dismay, Hiccup knew he wanted to see her smile once more. But as she caught his concerned expression, she gave him a small smile and he felt his stomach flip. She turned round and looked directly at him, her azure eyes warming with gratitude for his concern.

"Thank you," she murmured, a hand trailing against his for the briefest of seconds. Then the truck jolted and the Hiccup's eyes widened. They had just passed a sign that had his heart sinking to his boots.

"Tuff-why are we just entering Berserk when you agreed to head to Berk?" he asked directly. Astrid snapped round and glared at Ruff who grinned.

"We will take you to Berk...once we've done what we planned to do," he said without contrition. 

"And we're only fifty miles and a couple of letters from Berk anyway..." Ruff added.

"Yeah...and now we've got our crew from back in School," Tuff continued.

"For what?" Fishlegs asked worriedly. The twins grinned.

"You're helping us get revenge on Dagur!" they said.