Explaining what had happened in the year he had been missing was not an easy task, especially when trying to save face for Hiccup's abductors. The thing was, while Hiccup was indeed a victim, he no longer felt like one, at least not at the hands of Viggo and Ryker. The logical part of his mind insisted his was but Hiccup had squashed that long ago. So when his father sat him down in their kitchen – Hiccup was still pretty certain this was all a delusion, just a new form that he could no longer see he had with his previous ones – he gave an abbreviated version if events. He told his father about how he had been passed from one bounty hunter to another until he was delivered to Ryker. He spoke of the Hunters way if life and how he and the riders had jeopardized the livelihood of an entire tribe and his thoughts on ways to fix it.

Stoick listened patiently while Gobber cooked breakfast and Alvin broke out the mead, seemingly uncomfortable with the whole conversation. Dagur was oddly quiet in the corner, his emerald gaze never leaving Hiccup. He had become attached to Hiccup's hip since the now postponed execution. When Alvin gave him a ranked of mead he drank it down as if it was water. Alvin handed him his and then refilled the tankers. No one spoke but Hiccup and Stoick, and quite frankly Stoick wasn't satisfied by the answers he was getting. He pressed his son about the new scars, the piercings and tattoo but Hiccup seemed both reluctant and embarrassed to answer. He admitted that Viggo initially wanted him dead and then planned to sell him off as a slave, he was quick to point out this was at the very beginning of his capture, and some one who specialized in thrall's had come to "appraise" him. Keldor turned out to insane and would show up unannounced to torture him and that the brothers were unaware of what was going on behind clothes doors and that it was Ryker who saved him and cared for him while Viggo had Keldor put to death for taking his eyes and proceeding with a auction that wasn't supposed to happen and that the tattoo was supposes to be a deterrent that didn't go as planned when Drago showed up. He painted a pretty picture of the Grimborns, especially Ryker and his heroics, but Stoick wasn't buying it. With or without eyes, Stoick knew when his boy was lying. Sure being blind and having fake eyes meant less fidgeting and looking away when telling a big fat fib but Stoick knew. He knew his son all too well.

"Did you have relations with these men?" he asked, still keeping his voice gentle, afraid of if he lost his temper he may lose his son once more.

"Yes," Hiccup answered honestly. He paused, the fingers of one hand moving slowly over the length of his staff in a slow repetitive motion while he petted Toothless with the other. "It sort of just happened. I think it was supposed to mean anything at first but then it did. Ryker and I…we're in love."

Gobber inhaled sharply, the ladle falling into the pot. His blue eyes turned toward Stoick. Alvin made a low growling sound deep in his throat and Dagur sighed in resignation. Stoick was fuming and it took all his self control not to storm to the prison and rip off the Grimsborns heads.

"Son…he murdered a man to fake your death," Stoick tried to explain. "We thought you were dead."

Hiccup nodded as if it wasn't a big deal. "He did it so we can be together."

Stoick blinked in disbelief. "Hiccup…"

"When can I go to him?"

Stoick's mouth fell open. He didn't know how to answer. He had never seen his boy like this. This was no his Hiccup. The boy before him wasn't the spirited, rash, independent little hellion he had raise. This Hiccup had grown dependent on the men that stole him from his tribe. He was broken and couldn't see it.

"Perhaps later," Stoick said soothingly. "Right now let's try getting you back to a healthy weight."

"Are you going to let them go?" Hiccup pressed.

"Soon, son, soon," his father assured before pulling in into another tight embrace, having to reassure himself as much Hiccup that he was really home. Hiccup melted against him, hugging him back. "I'm just happy you're home, Hiccup."

"We all are," Gobber added, placing a hearty bowl of mutton before Hiccup. He squeezed the youth's shoulder and helped him back to his seat. "You eat up while Alvin, your father, and I talk outside. After you eat, rest for while. You've been through a lot."

Hiccup nodded but he was only half listening. The smell of Gobber's famous mutton had triggered a childhood memory and his hunger kicked in in full force. He dug into the food with a relish and began wolfing it down. Stoick went to stop him and encourage him to slow down but Dagur shuffled a little closer to Hiccup, placed a hand on his arm and began talking softly to him. Whatever he said worked and Hiccup began eating slowly. For the first time in many years, Stoick felt his son was in good hands with Dagur. Of course, if Dagur did do anything to hurt Hiccup he couldn't get very far with a broken leg and Stoick would throttle him.

The Hooligan chief patted his son's shoulder then followed the other to men outside.

"We can't let them go," Gobber announced the moment the front door was shut. "In his condition, Hiccup doesn't understand what's going on. It's like they brain washed him or bespelled him or ssomething. He ain't right in the head."

"Stockholm syndrome," Alvin explained. "Hiccup has been with them so long he's come to look up to them, which is normal if he was tortured and then cared for by them. Punishment and reward. They make the punishment so horrendous that the victim would do anything for the reward or even small comforts. This Ryker must have been the one giving them to him." At the doubtful look Stoick gave him, Alvin tried to explain further. "Think back to when he was sixteen and I captured him and Toothless with Mildew's help. Remember when Mildew pretended to be a victim as well and managed to learn some of his secrets to dragon training? Imagine that instead of being only a few days he was with me for a year, being forced to work for me while Mildew and MY Viggo whispered the things he needed to hear, encouragement and sweet promises. Eventually he would have come to rely on them to keep his sanity. This is what happened. Ryker must have played that role for Hiccup. While there is some feelings there for Viggo Grimborn, they're not the same as what he feels for Ryker. This could work in our favor. Keep Ryker as a political hostage and let Viggo go…"

"After signing the strictest peace treaty imaginable," Gobber added, seeing where Alvin was going with this.

Alvin nodded. "Viggo sent all that treasure. It wasn't payment for Hiccup's 'death' but a dowry. They planned to keep him, maybe as a consort. It would explain why they double crossed everyone at the auction. If they really meant to sell him they would have taken the highest bid not announce an anonymous one at the last moment."

Stoick pinched the bridge of his nose. "That doesn't make sense. Why have an auction it they had no intention of selling him?"

"Perhaps they changed their mind's," Gobber mused. "Maybe Hiccup changed them as much as they changed him. What if they…or Ryker, was serious about the dowry?"

"I'm not letting my only son marry either one of those men. I want grandchildren for crying out loud, and Hiccup deserves far better than some egomaniac, be it whichever Grimborn that sent the dowry," Stoick snapped. He removed his helmet and ran a hand through his hair, most of it having come loose from his typical braid. "Hiccup is home now. He's not the same boy he used to be but he'll heal and we'll all adjust."

"And the Grimborns?" asked Alvin.

"I don't know." He rubbed his head. "I need time to think. This has all been a lot to take in. I need to focus on Hiccup. The Grimborns can rot in prison a few more days. By then I should be able to figure out an iron clad peace treaty for Viggo to sign."

"Should I gather the council?" Gobber asked. "Spitelout has been fielding the questions about Hiccup's sudden return from the dead. A lot of people are still spooked."

"Later. For now, Hiccup is my top priority. Once he's settled I'll talk with the council."

"And Ryker?" Alvin pressed. "Hiccup will start getting desperate for him soon."

"Later," Stoick stated. He'd be much happier if the Grimborns were dead but he made his boy a promise and he was not about to break it.

. . .

Dagur sat nervously next to Hiccup. He hadn't said much since slowing the youth down so that he ate without making himself sick. Since their capture by Drago, Dagur had wanted to say so much to Hiccup but couldn't find the words. Now they were free but he still couldn't find the words.

"You're staring," Hiccup suddenly said as he lifted his tankard of mead.

"How do you do that?" Dagur asked, staring at the younger boy in awe. He glanced at Hiccup's eyes to make sure they were really fake and this wasn't some trick everyone had fallen for. But there was no movement to them, no twitch or anything. They were dead, fake and held not even a flicker of emotion.

"You know that shiver you get when someone is watching you?" Hiccup asked, holding the tankard before him.

Dagur shifted a little closer. "Yeah?"

"You've been giving me that since I was a kid and I've had it again ever since Dad made me come home. So whatever it is bugging You, you might as well ask." He took another sip of mead.

Dagur scratched the back of his neck. "Okay…who long have you been blind?"

"Maybe a month or so?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Do you mean did it hurt? Yeah, nothing like being wide awake while a madman gorges out your eyes as a bunch of rapists hold me down." He frowned, both hands wrapping around his tankard. "It's not the pain I remember most, it's the look on his face while he did it. Up until then I always thought you were the most twisted person I knew. No offense, but you always took a sick joy in hurting people, but Keldor…he was inside while he did it. I was forced to watch as he not only raped me but took one eye at a time and then when I couldn't see anymore, he burned the nerve endings. I thought maybe it was to keep me from bleeding to death but it was to make sure I never cried again. To keep me from shedding tears. I was drugged and conscious the whole time. He took my eyes and had his men rape me over and over again. Then used me as a prop to send Viggo a message of what was to come if he didn't fulfill his duties as chief. Keldor hated the fact that Ryker and I…" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "So yeah, it still hurts but not nearly as bad as the nightmares."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Putting you in this situation," Dagur said softly, feeling his guilt mounting. He felt worse now than when he thought Hiccup had been killed. "If I hadn't escaped prison or teamed up with Ryker…"

"You never would have found Heather or ended the war with the Outcasts and Hooligans. Dagur, I don't blame you for what happened. There's plenty of blame to go around." Reaching over, Hiccup found Dagur's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Besides, I learned a lot over the last year."

"How are you always so optimistic? You lost your sight yet you still stand up for your beliefs," Dagur mused, squeezing Hiccup's hand back. "I don't know how you do it."

Hiccup's face fell. "Things got bad, Dagur. I don't know what's real and what's a delusion. For all I know I can still be on Drago's ship or back at the fort being tortured by Keldor." He gave a joyless laugh. "I could be dead. I mean you died saving me and the riders and…" He fell silent when Dagur gently turned him around, cupped his cheek and then pressed their lips together. It was a chastised kiss at first, very brief and only the press of lips. It was innocent but sent warmth through Hiccup and he leaned into the kiss, willing to go further if only because of the conditioning he had been put through.

Dagur immediately pulled away when the door opened. "Ah…Yeah, so…Heather and I now co-chief Berserk and are looking for our dad, who is alive…somewhere out there…" he stumbled, trying to look innocent.

"Told You," Alvin teased Gobber, holding out his hand as if winning some bet.

Gobber rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Do you want seconds, lad?"

Hiccup's head turned away from Dagur toward the sound of his former mentors voice. "Yes, please."

Gobber raised a brow, Hiccup rarely ever asked for seconds, than grinned and took the bowl to refill it. "Judging by how thin you are, the Hunters didn't feed you well."

"Drago didn't. Ryker always made sure I ate everything on my plate until…" He gestured to his eyes. "Then it was more a matter of keeping me from slipping in and out of shock." He took back the bowl and dug in again.

For the rest of the day Stoick and Gobber just sat with Hiccup. The boy often slipped in and out of reality, sometimes confusing where he was and who he was talking to, thinking that he was dreaming until Toothless or Dagur touched him. In some ways it was like Hiccup was little again, when is attention would wander and some one would have to touch his shoulder to make him pay attention. Sometimes he would forget where he was completely and act very particular, in a way that was almost sexual and Stoick would have to snap him out of it by yelling his name which only served to confuse the boy and he would begin asking for Ryker again. By nightfall Stoick was as confused and lost as he had been the day he thought Hiccup had died. The boy who had returned to him was not the son he had lost.

After Hiccup was sound asleep for the night, Stoick met with the council. He was at a lost on what to do. Hiccup kept asking for Ryker, was pretty much begging for him at times. Stoick felt guilty for lying to the boy but there was no way he would ever allow either of the Grimborns near his child again. The damage to Hiccup's psyche was so great that only more harm could be done by allowing him near either brother. It left Stoick with only two options, kill the Grimborns as originally intended or banishing them from their territory. The third option, which he really didn't want to consider but had to, was doing as Alvin suggested and keeping one as a political hostage. The mere idea made Stoick sick but it was the one the council seemed most in favor of.

"They come from a rich tribe, Stoick," Spitelout pointed out as they sat around the table in the Great Hall. "Look at the treasure they sent us, more than Berk has ever had since the time of Hamish II. That was a dowry fit for a king."

"What are you saying, Spitelout? That we should marry Hiccup off to a member of their family?" Mulch asked, perplexed by the other man's statement.

"Not just any family member. Ryker," Spitelout answered. "Look, Stoick, I know he's your son but He's also my nephew. We have to do what's right for him and the tribe. By binding the house if Haddock to the house if Grimborn we prevent any future war and Viggo would be forced to pay Berk a percentage of his earnings toward Hiccup's wellbeing. It also give Hiccup a secondary protector which may be better than a dragon. No offense to Toothless."

Not-so-silent Sven nodded in agreement. "He's right, Stoick. Hiccup may no longer be able to be chief but he is still valuable to Berk. He needs a protector."

"So you lot want him to marry his rapist?" Gobber countered in disgust. "Do you know how insane that sounds?"

"We need to do what is best for Berk," Spitelout shot back.

"This isn't the stone age, Spitelout. Hiccup still has options."

"To do what? His life is over. He can't see, he can't lead, he's barely marriage material. The girl is loved is with another. Our only options are to marry him into a rich tribe or find someone willing to bare him an heir and Stoick wait until that child cones of age, another twenty some years from now, before retiring. Right now Snotlout is Hiccup's heir. He may not be ready to lead just yet but give him a few months…"

That started another argument amongst the council members. Snotlout had already been confirmed as the future chief of Berk only because Hiccup had been thought to be dead. With Hiccup back it put everything in limbo. Stoick didn't tell anyone about Drago's brand on Hiccup's chest, he was still trying to process the fact his son was or at least had been a thrall. To let Spitelout know about that was only to ensure Hiccup lost his chiefdom.

"The other option is to marry Hiccup and Snotlout!" Spitelout snap so loudly that even Stoick's head jerked up in surprise. His brother looked around in anger. "What? It's fine for Hiccup to marry Ryker but not my boy?"

"Spitelout, did you hear what you just said?" asked Stoick in shock.

"It's not the greatest idea but what else to you want?" Spitelout huffed, thumping back in his seat. "This isn't a topic we usually have to deal with. Dragon's, Outcast, Berserkers and war, that's what we normally handle. These Dragon Hunters and Hiccup are out of the norm…although Hiccup is often a key topic every session."

A soft smile lit Stoick's face at his brother's concession. "I agree, this is beyond anything we've dealt with before. But Hiccup is home now and regardless of his condition he is still a key member of this tribe. I can't in good consciousness marry him off to someone in hopes that they would care for him the way he needs to be cared for. The thing that everyone is forgetting here is that while Hiccup may be blind, he fought stronger and harder while under Drago's influence than ever before. He controlled not only the dragons on that ship but also ours AND took down over half the riders with only a staff. He may be crippled and blind but he's not helpless. If anything, he uses his disabilities as a weapon now, which we should all remember."

The men and women of the council stared at him. "So what do we do?" Phlegma asked, leaning forward. "It will time for Hiccup to adjust. Mentally…"

"He'll recover. He's not the only one of us to have been a prisoner of war. For now we just remind him he's home and safe," Stoick explained. "Now we need to figure out a binding peace treaty that will benefit both tribe's and ensure Hiccup's safety."

The problem was there was no way to guarantee Hiccup's safe for as the council spoke just outside stood a cloaked figure, listening intently as he eyed the upstairs window to the chief's large hut where Hiccup slept soundly, protected by his Nightfury as guards made their rounds. Hiccup was guarded by all sides but that would only last until chief returned home to protect the boy himself. Krogan could not make his move yet but soon. Soon he will avenge Drago's death and take what Ryker owes him, or he would kill the boy and let Berk and the Hunters destroy each other.