"You have me, no matter what." Inspired by Stephy010

Summary: Astrid waited everyday for 3 months for him to come home. But was he even alive?

3 months. That's how long she waited for him. 3 months since he left the edge. She remembers that morning every day. Him walking into the clubhouse, herself eating breakfast. Kissing her on the head before telling her he would be heading on patrol for the morning. She insisted on coming with him but he declined, say it would only be a few hours and then they could spend the rest of the day together.

Then it came to the next day and he hadn't returned. Then 2 days and he still hasn't returned. Then a week. After 7 days of searching they found Toothless on a small island with a broken wing and a couple of cuts. He was so frantic and panicky that it took more than a handful of Dragon Nip before he was knock out cold.

Astrid was terrified at that point. Toothless all beaten and banged up, Hiccup nowhere to be found. Was Hiccup even alive?

3 months later and the answer was still not answered. Every night she would sleep in Hiccups hut, feeling like it was the only way she wouldn't forget him. She would bring fish to Toothless everyday and stay with him for a few hours. He refused to let anyone fly him, which was understandable. At first he refused to eat as well but Astrid was finally able to convince him to. Stoick would send The A-Team out every few days to see if they could find any clues as to where is lost son was. The riders went out nearly everyday, each of them taking turns. But they would always come back empty handed.

When ever Astrid went out she would be out an till the sun went day. She didn't want to waste a second of daylight. And she wasn't giving up on him. He was to stubborn to die. Besides she made a promise to herself that when, not if when, she finds him she will personally kill him herself for scaring her like he has.

Then that morning it was Fishlegs' turn to go out looking. Astrid was sat in the stables with Toothless slowly rubbing his head. She would lean on his scales just thinking, daydreaming, about anything that could keep her hope going that Hiccup would return to her. She must of hoped just enough that day, because her dream finally became a reality.

She still remembers Snotlout running into the stables with a note in his hand. She remembers him yelling say, "Fishlegs found him! He's alive!"

It took everything in her not to scream at Snotlout, praying it wasn't just a trick he was playing on her. But deep down she knew even he wasn't that heartless. Both herself and Toothless ran to Hiccup's hut where Fishlegs wrote he would be landing. She got out all the medical supplies that Fishlegs wrote down while Snotlout wrote to Stoick about Hiccup being found. The twins worked on getting a couple of buckets of water, which was also written on the letter, which made Astrid a little bit nervous.

Then finally her heard the flapping of wings. Turning to the door she saw Meatlug flying towards the hut, Fishlegs on her back carrying someone. Once the dragon landed Snotlout rushed over and took Hiccup into his arms so Fishlegs could climb of. The pair then carried the unconscious rider over to his bed while Astrid got a good look of her betrothed.

His brown armour was missing, showing his ripped red shirt. His face looked almost beaten. She could make out a brown bruise on his right cheek while his left eye was purple. He had a small cut on his lip along with some blood under his nose. His pants were also ripped at the bottom and his boot was also missing.

"Easy, easy, he's got a wound on his right side." Fishlegs said as he and Snotlout genitally place Hiccup on his bed. A small groan escaped Hiccup's lips as his body was sat down. Astrid stood in the corner unsure of what she could do. "Snotlout, hold him so I can get his shirt of."

"Okay." Snotlout answered as he held Hiccup in place. Fishlegs then as careful as he could lifted Hiccup's arms up enough for the shirt to some of. Hiccup groaned louder at the movement.

"It's okay, we've got you Hiccup." Fishlegs told his friend. The pair then carefully laid Hiccup down on his bed. "Astrid, can you get a wet rag? He's getting a fever."

Without answering Astrid immediately ran over to the table where the rags were and placed one in the bucket of water. Once it was rinsed out she rushed over to Fishlegs and passed it to him. Fishlegs took the rag and placed it on Hiccup's forehead. She then walked round the bed so she was standing on the left side. Kneeling down she took Hiccup's hand into her own and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Fishlegs then stood up and walked over to the table and grabbed a couple of items. As he quickly came back over Astrid saw what he was holding. Stitching equipment. "How bad is the wound?" Astrid asked.

"He won't need a lot of stitches thankfully, but whatever did it to him got him still deep enough." Fishlegs explained as he got the equipment ready.

"By the way, where are the twins?" Snotlout asked as he looked round the room.

"With Toothless, trying to keep him in the stables." Astrid explained as she took the rag of Hiccup's forehead and placed it in the bucket again. She looked at his face as she gently placed the rag back on his head. She took another one and began to wipe his face clean on the dry blood and dirt.

"How much will he feel when you do the stitches?" Snotlout asked, sounding a little nervous. Fishlegs sighed as he threaded the needle and looked between the pair.

"We don't have time to numb the area before it could become infected. You guys might need to hold him down if he wakes up." Fishlegs told them.

Astrid felt so great full that Hiccup was unconscious when Fishlegs was stitching him up. He only needed 4 stitches so it was over fairly quickly. Once he was bandaged up the other's left to get some sleep, all except her though. Toothless was finally let in to see his rider, and since then the dragon hasn't left Hiccup's side. Astrid was almost fighting over sleep, wanting to try and stay awake as long as she could so she was conscious for when Hiccup woke up.

It had only been 2 hours since they found him so he could be out for the rest of the night, but Astrid didn't care. She needed to be awake for him so he wasn't scared when he woke up. So she could get him a drink for when he woke up. So she could answer any questions he might have. She just needed to keep her eyes open. Just keep them open.

XXX

She hadn't even realised she had fallen asleep an till she felt the pressure on her head. She slowly began to awake from her dreamless sleep to feeling something moving through her hair, almost like fingers. She sighed and leaned into the touch, a small smile forming on her lips.

Then she remembered.

Her eyes snapped open and her head shot up. Hiccup was still lying flat on his back but his eyes were wide open. He looked tired and weak, but he was okay.

"Hi." He said. Astrid stared at him for a few moments, trying to find the words that she should say to him. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she final found what she was going to say.

First things first, her fist met his uninjured left shoulder. Hiccup lout out a small 'ow!' before Astrid spoke to him.

"'Hi'?! That's all you've got to say?! 'Hi'?!" Astrid yelled. "You went missing for 3 months Hiccup! I thought you were dead! And all you have to say is 'hi'?!"

"Okay that's not all I've got to say," Hiccup said as he rubbed his shoulder.

"It better now be!" Astrid yelled once again.

"Astrid, calm down!" Hiccup said fairly loud this time. "I'll ex-explain-" he tried to speak but a cough suddenly came out. Astrid immediately stood up and got him a cup of water. Hiccup went to take it from her but she moved it out of his reach.

"Here, I've got you." She said as she placed her hand under his head. Hiccup gladly took the from the cup down his throat. After a couple of sips Astrid slowly pulled the cup back and placed it on the table next to his bed. She then felt his forehead and found his fever had gone down.

"Fishlegs already came in and checked on me. The fever has gone and there's no infection." Hiccup explained. Astrid nodded before taking a seat on the stool next to the bed.

"What happened?" She asked. Hiccup sighed before starting.

"Toothless and I got shot down by some Dragon Hunters on a island pretty far from here. We were there for a few day, before we escaped. Well sort of. They were waiting on Krogan to arrive, apparently the buyer he works for wanted me and Toothless. I was able to get out out of there but they took Toothless' tail fin so there was no flying out. I was able to hide Toothless before they found me and put me on the ship." Hiccup explained.

"But when we found Toothless he had a broken wing and a few cuts." Astrid pointed out.

"They wanted to know who we where allied with, the Edge and Berk. When I refused to tell they would torture Toothless. They weren't aloud to hurt him to much because this buyer wanted him in one piece. So I guess Toothless got lucky in a way." Hiccup muttered as he looked over to his sleeping dragon.

"What happened when you got captured?" Astrid asked.

"I was chained up for days, no food or water. I was able to escape a couple of times. When ever we where close to land I would try and jump of the boat and swim to the island, hoping I could find a dragon to train so I could get back here. I only succeeded twice. First time after a week on the boat, was able to hide on the island for about a day before they found me. Second time I was on the island for nearly a month. I escaped during a storm so it would of been harder for them to find me. They properly thought I was dead before they found me on the island." Hiccup said.

"What happened after they found you?" Astrid asked. Hiccup closed his eyes.

"Krogan ordered the men to stay on the island since they believed a storm was coming. He had them chain me on the boat and he beat me. He said I should be lucky since his master wanted me alive. It was like that for a couple of days before we set sail again. They were in the middle of dragging me onto the boat when a wild Deadly Nadder attacked. While they where distracted I jumped onto its back and it immediately flew away with me on it. We flew for a few hours before I began to lose consciousness. Next thing I new I was on the beach of a island. I was on there for just over a month before a couple of Dragon Hunters found me again. I was able to stop them but one got me good." Hiccup said as he looked down at his wound on his side. "I knew without any equipment I wouldn't last long. I guess it was a miracle Fishlegs found me when he did."

"But what if he didn't?" Astrid said quietly. Hiccup looked up at her a let out a small sigh.

"Astrid-"

"You were tortured and hurt for 3 months Hiccup. You still have this bounty on you head. Why does Krogan's buyer even want you?" Astrid asked. Hiccup shook his head.

"I have no idea. Maybe after hearing who I am he wants me to train dragons for him like Alvin did." Hiccup suggested.

"Why can't you be more careful? Why do people always want to hurt you?" Astrid whispered as a small tear fell from her eye. Hiccup placed his hand on her cheek and whipped the tear away.

"Astrid, look at me." Hiccup said in a almost serious tone. Astrid slowly looked over to him. "I'm not going anywhere. Remember, you have me no matter what."