Dragons, Superheroes and a Tear in Time

Chapter 49: There's a lot of yelling in this chapter (Hiccup)

—and honestly I think I'm projecting

Refer to the last chapter for Peter's recollection of the recent events

Previously:

Hiccup and Toothless relaxed with everyone in the tower after the battle, and witness Spider-Man reveal his identity.

Now:

The authors note at the end is kind of important, I'd love it if you'd please read it 😊
(Not edited)
Hiccup's POV

The Good Stephen reappears at midday the next day, after much of the night was spent partying and the morning was spent sleeping off the drinks and the injuries still carried from battle. Not in our rooms, no, we all crashed in the lounge room. Those of us that didn't drink—myself, the twins, Peter and Bruce— still passed out anyway, possibly from exhaustion.

"We figured it out." He stands in the middle of the room. I look at Toothless, who looks back at me in anticipation and a hint of wariness. I know that this Strange disappeared from the battle when Sam got hurt, only reappearing briefly to save our asses after we killed the evil him before vanishing again. He wasn't here when we got back to the tower at the end of the battle.

"You mean...?" I'm almost afraid to ask. I sit up. Everyone else is still asleep.

"You're going home." He gives me a smile, which is interesting considering I haven't seen him smile even once since I got here. It doesn't make me feel any better, though. The gravity of the situation still rests on my shoulders. Stay. Go.

I know he's been trying to get us home since we got here, but I also know I'm not as excited as I would have been a few days ago to find out I can go home. I take a second to think about his words. Home? Is that what I want? I glance at Toothless, who's already looking at me with rounded, soft eyes. Telling me that the decision is on me.

"Well, sir, I've been thinking..." I take a deep breath and look back to Strange. "I'm not so sure I want to... go home." I admit.

"And why is that?" He asks. He doesn't sound impressed.

"Well, I'm not sure there's going to be a home for us to return to. He said— he said that he'd destroyed everything." I rub my hand over Toothless' head as I talk, trying to keep myself grounded. "I don't think I could— I can't face seeing that."

He gives an exasperated scoff. "So you'd rather give up the opportunity to go home because of a chance that the other me was telling the truth?"

I give a thin smile, "Do you consider yourself to be a liar, Stephen?"

He doesn't answer to that.

"Hiccup?" I look over, hearing my name. Peter is looking at me from his position on one of the long soft seats. "Are you sure about this?"
I guess he'd heard us talking.

I sigh, dragging a hand down my face. "No, of course not, but I'm not willing to take the risk. I'd rather never see Astrid again then see her hurt. Or—or..."

"Will staying here help you?" When I don't respond he continues. "I noticed the... change. You're not you anymore."

I want to say You don't know that. I want to snap at him that he's known me for two days and that there's no way he is even remotely close to really knowing me. But I don't say that. Because I know he's right.