I'll Take Care Of You: Set in DOB. When Hiccup gets extremely sick in the middle of the night, Stoick has to take care of him- which would be great and all, being able to have some bonding time with his son... if it wasn't for Hiccup's hallucinations that Stoick still hated him and he was useless. Requested by Gabrielly790.

Hey, guys! Sorry I haven't updated lately, I've been busy with other stories and end of year testing… anyway, thanks to Gabrielly790, we have this awesome story! Thank you, Gabrielly790!

And it's almost funny writing this right now, because *voice lowers to a whisper* I may have just worked myself into a slight fever this morning as well as Hiccup... *laughs nervously*

But I still wanted to write this for you all, so here you are!

Stoick couldn't sleep.

At first, he thought it was nothing, and only turned over in his bed to try to find a more comfortable spot. But after a while, he sensed something was wrong. The house was too quiet… too still… a sense of apprehension filled the chief, and he suddenly wondered if Hiccup was alright.

Of course he's alright, Stoick told himself over and over again. It's the middle of the night, what could happen? You're probably just overreacting...

Yet as the minutes flew by, Stoick grew more and more anxious to see if everything was okay. He was about to get out of bed and go check on Hiccup, when, at that very moment, Toothless nudged open the door. His bright green eyes shone in the dark like beacons as dragon grunted, and gestured with his head to Stoick and then out of the room.

"Toothless?" the chief asked. "What is it? Is it Hiccup?" Toothless bobbed his head in a frenzy, and Stoick jumped out of bed. "Hiccup!" He raced out the door, Toothless by his side. "Hiccup?"

When he reached Hiccup's bedroom door, he didn't bother knocking. Stoick just barged in, his eyes darting this way and that. At first, nothing seemed to be wrong. Hiccup was in bed, asleep… but then Stoick heard his moans.

"Hiccup?" he whispered, slowly walking over to his son.

Hiccup replied with a pained groan, and rolled over in bed.

Stoick was getting worried, and he paced to Hiccup's bedside. "Son? Wake up, now. What hurts? Your leg?" He knew for a fact that Hiccup sometimes experienced phantom pains, and had a nasty habit of not telling anybody when he was having them.

"M'fine," Hiccup mumbled, but still moaned. "Don't want to… bother you…"

"Hiccup," Stoick said gently, "it's fine. All right, out with it. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing…"

"Hiccup."

"I… don't… feel all that well…"

Stoick's eyebrows lifted up in concern, and he crossed his arms. "Do you think you have a fever, lad?" When Hiccup didn't reply, the chief sighed. "Let me check your forehead, Hiccup. I don't want you getting any sicker."

Groaning, Hiccup rolled over in bed to face him, and that's when Stoick realized just how terrible the boy looked. His face was pale and sickly, he was shivering, and his green eyes were glazed with an obvious fever.

Stoick reached out with his hand and pressed it to his son's forehead. It was no surprise that Hiccup was burning up, but that didn't make it any less concerning. "You do have a fever, lad," Stoick said worriedly. "I'm going to have to try to break it…"

"You… don't have… to…" Hiccup slurred, his eyelids drooping. Gods, it was so hot… why did his head hurt so much?

"I'll be right back," the chief promised, edging away from the bed. "I'll just go downstairs to fetch a bucket of water and a rag…" He hated to leave Hiccup in a state like this, but he obviously needed to lower the boy's fever before it got any worse.

So Stoick hurried out of the room and down the stairs, propelled by the growing fear for Hiccup. It only took a few minutes to find a rag, but water was nowhere to be found. Stoick nearly cursed himself for not bringing in some earlier that evening. Now he'd have to go out to the well to get some.

I can't leave Hiccup, though, he told himself. The boy's got a bad fever, and… but he has Toothless to look after him while I'm gone. Stoick nodded, beginning to head out the door with an empty bucket in his hand. I'll only be gone for a little while. With one last glance up the stairs, the chief left his hut and headed to town.

That took longer than expected, Stoick grumbled to himself as he flung open his home's door. And it had. The amount of time it had taken for the water in the well to fill up his bucket seemed to last for hours, even though it probably took only a couple minutes.

Still, it felt like too much time had gone by since he had left his home, and he was anxious to see how Hiccup was doing, as the boy was still very much sick. So when Stoick heard a shriek from upstairs just as he opened the door, the natural thing to do was panic.

One moment the chief was calmly strolling through the door, the next he was bounding up the stairs, a bucket of water in one hand and a rag in the other. "Hiccup!" he shouted. "Hiccup, are you alright?" He burst into his son's room, panting.

Hiccup was awake in bed- sitting up, actually- and he was staring straight at Toothless. The boy let out another blood curdling scream as Toothless tried to comfort him. Hiccup looked up as his father came in, his eyes wide with pure fear. "Dad! There's a dragon in my room!" he shrieked, and scooted back in bed. "Get it away!"

Stoick went from mildly concerned to full-out terrified. Why didn't Hiccup recognize Toothless? He examined Hiccup closer, and noted that his eyes were even more glazed over than before. It's the fever, he realized. He must be delusional.

"Hiccup, Hiccup, it's alright," Stoick assured his son, walking over. Toothless rumbled, and blinked with confusion at Hiccup's behavior. "Did Toothless scare you?"

"T-T-Toothless?" Hiccup stuttered. He looked like he was about to faint.

"Yes, your dragon," Stoick explained, coming to his son's beside. He put the bucket of water on the floor, and dipped the rag in it. "Alright, I'm going to try to break your fever. Here." He brought out the wet cloth from the bucket and pressed it to Hiccup's forehead.

Eyes wide, Hiccup scooted back. "W-why are y-you acting so w-w-weird, Dad?" he asked. "Y-you usually don't c-care when I-I'm sick…"

Stoick cocked his head. "Yes, I do."

"What a-a-about that time w-when I-I-I got Eel Pox a-and you l-left me alone a-at home?"

The chief chewed at his lip, the painful memory being brought back to him. It was true. A few years back, Hiccup had gotten Eel Pox, but there was so much chiefing to do that day that he had had to leave Hiccup at home. Thankfully, Gobber stopped by that morning, and helped Hiccup through it. But Stoick had still left Hiccup alone, and that was something inexcusable.

"Hiccup, that was years ago," he reminded, dabbing at the boy's forehead with his rag. "I would never do that now."

"W-what changed?" Hiccup chattered, and looked even more pale than before, if that was possible. "I'm H-Hiccup the Useless, r-r-remember? No one c-cares about m-me… y-you should just g-go back t-to sleep and l-let me s-suffer…"

Stoick nearly dropped the rag in surprise. Hiccup the Useless... Hiccup hadn't been called that in a long time… and now that it was up in the air… he shook his head. "Hiccup, you're not useless. You saved the whole village from the Red Death, you brought peace between dragons and vikings, you-"

"What…?" Hiccup interrupted, looking bewildered. He dared to glance over at Toothless, who was staring at Hiccup with concern. The boy gulped. "N-no… I c-could never do a-any of that… I-I… I-I'm different…"

"And that's what makes you special," Stoick smiled.

Hiccup was about to reply, when his face scrunched up in pain. He let out a yelp and clutched his stomach. Stoick's countenance suddenly turned pale with fear, and he rushed to pick up the withering boy in his arms. "Son!"

"Stomach… hurts…" Hiccup gasped, his eyes squeezed shut. "I think I'm going to-"

Stoick knew what his boy meant, and quickly held him over an empty bucket in the room. Hiccup emptied his stomach, and groaned. "Dad… don't feel… great…"

"I know, I know," Stoick whispered, wiping at Hiccup's mouth with a cloth. "But don't worry- I'll take care of you. I'm never leaving you ever again." Just for affect, he held the boy closer. "You'll feel better in the morning. I promise."

Toothless rumbled, and began to walk towards Stoick and Hiccup. Hiccup, alarmed, drew in a panicked breath and clutched at his father's shoulder. "D-Dad…" he said weakly. "Dragon… right there…"

Knowing what he meant, Stoick laid his son down on the bed and turned to Toothless. "It appears Hiccup doesn't recognize you at the moment," he stated, raising an eyebrow. "So you're going to have to keep your distance for now, alright, dragon?"

Toothless, though reluctant, backed away and settled with sitting down on his rock in the corner of the room.

Stoick swerved back to Hiccup, who was now shivering. He knew that his boy's fever must be getting worse, and once more dipped the cloth he had in his hand into the bucket of cool water.

Hiccup moaned, rolling over on his stomach. Everything hurt... "Mom…"

That made Stoick freeze.

No, not just freeze, but also drop the cloth he was holding back into the water. Hiccup hadn't mentioned his mother in years, as Stoick disliked talking about her. It was probably fever induced that Hiccup believed his mother was still around, but it hurt Stoick's heart like he had been stabbed by a dagger.

Valka should be the one with Hiccup right now, not him. The boy needed a good mother around, like the other children had. Stoick couldn't fill that empty gap no matter how hard he tried. The chief swallowed, and looked over at Hiccup.

Hiccup was now lifting his head, and gave his father an odd look. "Why-" He let out a cough, which sounded too painful to be healthy. "Why a-are you s-s-still here?"

"I'd never leave," Stoick frowned, grabbing the cloth from the water. "Here, lad. Let's get you cooled down a bit. Your fever's gone up."

Hiccup rolled onto his back, his head propped up by a pillow. Sickness still was evident in his eyes, and the world around him seemed to be hazy. "Okay."

Stoick placed the cold rag on Hiccup's head, and the boy felt instant relief. His forehead had been on fire, he believed, but now the water in the rag was cooling him down. Hiccup closed his eyes as a drowsy consciousness unfurled.

Smiling, the chief patted Hiccup's limp arm. "There you go, lad… just go and fall asleep. I'll stay right here until you wake."

Hiccup's eyes peeked open. "Why… would you… do that…?"

"Because you're my son, and I love you." When Hiccup looked unconvinced, he sighed. "Hiccup… I love you. I do. I'd do anything in the world for you."

Hiccup shivered as his fever took grip of him again. "How can you love someone like me?" he whispered, his tone small and cowardly. "How can you love the useless? The forgotten?"

"Oh, Hiccup…" Stoick shook his head and allowed a smile to cross his lips. "You were never forgotten from the start. Maybe just pushed aside at times, or left out of different activities, but you were never forgotten. In fact, I thought about you every day."

Surprised, Hiccup smiled. "T-thanks, Dad," he mumbled. "Thank you…"

"I should be the one thanking you," Stoick returned. "You're the best son anyone could ask for."

"Really?"

"Really really."

Hiccup closed his eyes, the fever still strong inside of him, but not strong enough to prevent hope from entering his heart. "I-I love you t-too, Dad…" And then, without warning, he fell asleep, somewhere deep down knowing that his father would be there with him for the rest of the night.

And so Stoick and his boy were reunited at last.

Gooooooooood afternoon, Dragon's Edge! It's Purple, and Evil- and fever induced sarcasm- bringing you the end nooooooooootttttttttee! Hope you all enjoyed, and don't feel shy in leaving another request!

Well, I should PROBABLY do something relaxing now…

Like write some more! Mwahaha, happy reading!

-thepurplewriter333