Hey guys!

Yes, I know! another new story (to add to pile of other stories that I should be working on) that will probably not be updated that regularly but I just had to get this down and get it out there. Plus I've never tried a modern AU before. Having read loads of these, some great ones by writers like Nightstar Productions, I finally decided to dip my toe in the pond. I'm not doing the High school setting though. This is going to be very different from that because that setting has been done better by other guys.

I don't know how long it will last. Hopefully not too long 10-15 chapters at least and the tone will be different too I think. most chapters will be fairly readable but there may be some swearing and more adult themes in later chapters. I will put warnings up as I go along. I think we can all take it without losing our minds.

Either way, many thanks for reading this and please let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Gone Guy

Chapter - 1

Mourning Flight

'Don't cry Hiccup! For the God's sake and everything you've worked for! Please Thor! Give me strength and please don't cry!

Such were the thoughts of the skinny 18 year old as he stood before his father, the all-powerful and all-knowing Stoick the Vast on the porch of their rather rustic home that nestled in the more up-market suburbs of Berk.

The summer had been very generous that year and even though the leaves were starting to turn various shades of orange and red, early September, even at 9am on a Saturday morning, was one of the hottest on record. Hiccup was grateful for this, as the beads of sweat pouring down his face could be easily written off as heat induced rather than the nerves that were literally clawing at his insides. The desire to just turn and bolt from the man that carried the dubious title of 'World's most neglectful father!' was nearly over-powering. But Hiccup had had all summer to prepare for this day and he held himself as straight and as proud as he could.

Not that that would make much difference to the 7 foot mountain of apathy that was currently staring down at him with that constant look of disappointment Hiccup had come to know and accept.

'I'm only a few minutes away!' Hiccup kept telling himself 'just a few more sentences and then that's it! It will all be over soon!'

"You'll call me when you get there!" Stoick grumbled, more of an order than a question.

"Yes sir." The standard reply Hiccup had given to most questions demands and orders the man had posed him over the years.

"I don't see why you have to travel so far Hiccup!" the man whined indignantly, bringing up the bone of contention he been gnawing on for months, "Berk has a perfectly fine university you can study at. You don't have to throw away your good life here by moving across the country to some college no-one's ever heard of. How do you expect to have any credibility when you graduate from there?! Waste of your time and my money I say!"

Again this was something Hiccup had counted on. The same stubborn, bull-headed argument to convince him to stay trapped in the hellhole that was Berk and this fantasy of a 'good life' Stoick harped on about. Apparently everything that wasn't done to Stoick's liking was a waste of his time and money. And it was the clearest example of how little attention Stoick paid his son and his abilities. For if Stoick had taken a bit more notice, he would have seen that Hiccup wasn't actually going to university at all!

Oh no, Hiccup was going somewhere much more interesting!

"I guess I'll wire the first batch of tuition fees to your account later?" Stoick huffed.

"Sure thing Dad, thanks" Hiccup offered as genuinely as he could, hoping he wouldn't sound ungrateful.

"Just don't be wasting it on drink or frivolousness, use it for what it was intended!" the big man added with a stern glint in his eye. Again Hiccup just nodded accepting the implied put-down like the good doormat he was expected to be, knowing full well he would not be touching one cent of his father's money. Not now or ever. He wouldn't need it where he was going.

"But at least use some of it to fix up that wreck of a car!" Stoick added tersely, gesturing the vehicle in the driveway "honestly, the neighbours must think it's a reject from my lot or that we have some hobo living here when they see it parked up!"

Hiccup felt his fists clench slightly as he glanced over at one of the few truly good things in his life. The chassis had been salvaged from Gobber's scrapyard and Hiccup had worked tirelessly in his spare time to rebuild it up to the machine it was today. Underneath it was a pristine, well-oiled, suped-up road monster and only Hiccup and Gobber knew that.

On the surface though, every single panel from bonnet to trunk had scratch marks, dents and faded neon paint stains marring its original faded green paint-job. Even Hiccup admitted the years of abuse the car had suffered at the hands of his tormentors made it look pretty wretched. He had lost count of how many times the car had been keyed, hit with baseball bats and had phallic symbols and homophobic slurs carved into the metal work. The neon paint had been tough to remove but it still left its lingering legacy when the sun bounced off the abused panels.

Hiccup and that car were a lot alike in a lot of ways, the young man mused. On the surface they been marred and hurt, beaten and abused. But the thing was, nobody truly knew just how powerful they were underneath. On quiet back roads Hiccup had taken 'Toothless' as he called it, well past 120 miles per hour, faster than any car any of his school 'friends' (as in bullies and people who knew his name) and teachers owned. He'd even outrun the cops one night (but that's a story for another time).

Hiccup's pleasant reverie was broken by Stoick sighing to break the silence of this very awkward farewell.

"Well then …. I guess it's time son." The man announced with barely any emotion signalling Hiccup that in no uncertain terms it was time to leave. "Work hard, do your best and try not to let us down! Where you go you carry all of us with you!"

'Oh if only you knew how much I will NOT be carrying any of you … ever again!' Hiccup thought as he bit his lower lip trying to quell his raging heart.

With that Stoick reached out a grasped Hiccup's right hand and gave it a good, tight, firm, Viking-death-grip like handshake. Hiccup gasped slightly as pain shot up his arm. It wasn't just because Stoick was inhumanly strong. Being a former college football star and always-on-the-go repo-man kept him in tip-top physical condition. But the real reason for the pain was Hiccup's arm and wrist had only been out of its plaster-cast two weeks now and it was still pretty tender.

He had his football loving cousin Snotlout and his cronies to thank for that when they ambushed him earlier in the year.

It was the reason he couldn't go to the prom (not that he was going to go anyway as no-one wanted to be his date).

It was the reason he thanked Odin he was left handed and could complete his final exams separately from the rest of the year group.

It was the reason he declined to give the valedictorian speech, passing the honour to Fishlegs and Astrid who came in joint second to him.

And it was also the reason that he and Stoick had not bothered to get a copy of Hiccup's graduation photo.

Because two minutes before they were due to have it taken, Snotlout, Tuffnutt and Snorri ambushed him yet again but with a thick black permanent marker and quickly scrawled the word "USELESS" down the outside of the cast in a way that couldn't be covered up in the photo. The resulting picture was a travesty of awkwardness that even left the professional photographer at a loss for words and a pitying look on his face (seriously someone should have gotten a picture of that!). In the image, Stoick's face barely contained his ire and frustration behind a tight thin-lipped smile while Hiccup, not doing much better, stood hunched and on the verge of tears awkwardly cradling his High-School diploma in one hand whilst trying at the same time to hide the markings on the plaster wrapped around his other arm. Suffice to say the picture looked horrible and Hiccup at first thanked Odin that the image would never see the light of day.

That was until he learned someone had in fact purchased a digital copy of it and within hours it had been posted on his Facebook wall along with dozens of mocking and derogatory comments from all who saw it. Seriously, Hiccup Haddock hated Facebook for reasons he didn't want to revisit right now … or ever.

Because after today none of that would matter.

Hiccup was going somewhere free of the taunting and hurt. At last he was leaving all of his torment behind. He was going to find peace.

Stoick finally released Hiccup's hand and the boy-recently-turned-man, with a nod turned and headed to the driver side of the car that contained every single thing he owned. Anything that didn't fit or he could live without, he had given to charity or thrown away.

Sliding into the hand-stitched black leather seat, Hiccup turned the key in the ignition and the car seemed to roar into life startling a few birds from the tree his mother planted beside his window the day he was born. Hiccup reminded himself to pay his respects to her grave before he put his plan into motion. In the rear view mirror, he noticed Stoick look thoroughly disappointed at the noise the car made as the curtains of a few nearby houses twitched at the disturbance. Hiccup lifted his hand to wave to good-bye but the red bearded giant simply shook his head in frustration and went back into the house, not sparing him a backward glance.

Hiccup let the hand drop to the gear stick.

"Well bud, looks like it's just you and me now", the young man muttered, his voice cracking as he eyed the pile of documents on the passenger seat, "Ready for one final adventure?"

The car seemed to warble in agreement as it revs mounted, the bright acidic green eyes painted on to the steering wheel giving him a look of reassurance. The warmth and pulsing hum coming from the turbo-charged V-8 engine seemed to match Hiccup's heartbeat and finally the boy allowed a bittersweet smile to cross his lips.

With a loud sigh of relief Hiccup, took off the handbrake, slid the car into gear and the pair of travellers pulled out of the drive and down the street. Hiccup had a number of stops to make and he didn't have much time.

He only made it half a mile before he had to stop and break down in tears, no-one hearing his loud sobs, muffled as they were by the thick windows of the car. The best part of working in a scrapyard? Plenty of material to make bullet-proof windows (again, a story for another day).

For a good twenty minutes all Hiccup could do was weep as finally the enormity of his achievement set in.

He had done it. He survived high-school. He survived the day-in, day-out torture that had followed him like a painful shadow. The bruises, cuts, scars and broken bones had been horrible. The taunts, mockery, abuse, constant berating and looks of disappointment had been heart-breaking. Even those who didn't take part in his torture were still guilty for their complete complicit apathy and refusal to help him. He had been fooled and betrayed more than once by those he thought might have been true friends.

The tears all came pouring out as Hiccup bitterly rejoiced his current state. He was of the legal age now to do whatever he wanted and no-one would be responsible but him. He could make his own decisions and live with the consequences leaving all of Berk free of having to deal with him at last. No-one could blame him or laugh at him for anything anymore. And at last he would not be forced to endure the company of people who looked on him with contempt and shame.

The steady reassuring green eyes on the steering wheel met the swollen eyes of the man as he sniffled at his revelation.

Hiccup was free. Surviving his life so far had been the longest most brutal test of endurance any God or man could devise Hiccup thought. As the young man reigned in his raging tears and composed himself, wiping his face with the sleeves of his shirt, Hiccup looked up and saw the quiet open road before him, calling him, enticing him to move forward and finally be free.

This was all Hiccup wanted, just him and Toothless and the open road so he could reach his final destination.

And that was exactly what he was going to do. With a turn of a key the engine exploded back into life and both driver and car sped off, finally unfettered by what had come before.

After today no-one would ever see Hiccup Horrendous Haddock … ever again.

Well there you go!

Intrigued? Interested?

I figured let's get the characters out into the world a little, I'm not sure how some of this plot will go. I've a few ideas but like the rest of my fics, I'll be taking it nice and slow and posting when I feel the chapters are good enough.

I like to theme my chapter titles for my fics so I'm looking for ideas for this story. Do I use a play on words? song titles? movie names? All suggestions are welcome.

For now chapter two is entitled 'DEAD WAIT'

As always any comments or feedback or P.M.'s are greatly appreciated.

Til next time

Be excellent to each other my friends!