When Blu had burst in and woke Rafael up at one in the morning, the toucan was just about ready to pluck his feathers out one by one, but when the words 'Pedro' and 'nightmare' left the bird's beak, he was up and in the air before the macaw even had a chance to blink. He arrived in record time and immediately shooed both Blu and Jewel away to get their kids back to sleep while he himself ducked into Pedro's temporary 'room'.

"Hey kid," he murmured, sitting down carefully next to him. He had only seen the bird so panic-stricken and terrified once before, the day Nico was taken, and even that seemed to pale in comparison. This was a whole other level of panic.

After the initial scare, Pedro had promptly broken down completely, and by this point was breathing hard and fast, his entire body trembling and curled up into a tight ball, muttering something inaudible.

Rafael didn't say another word, knowing that at this point they would have no effect. Whatever was going on in the smaller bird's head made him almost completely oblivious to the outside world. The best thing he could do was just let him know he was there and let the bird be until he had calmed down on his own. Then, with any luck, he could find out what had happened.

It took the best part of an hour to calm him down completely, get a brief explanation and settle him back down to sleep. By the time Rafael emerged, Jewel was almost beside herself with worry and Blu wasn't doing a very good job at calming her down.

"Is everything okay?" she asked in a hurried whisper the moment he stepped out.

"Well, he's asleep again, but I think this is going to affect him for a little while," Rafael explained quietly, "from what I could gather, in between the hiccups, he did in fact have a nightmare, but it felt real, and he is honestly convinced something's happened to Nico."

"What?" Blu asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"How is that possible?" Jewel whispered.

"I don't know," Rafael said, glancing back for a moment, "it could have just been a overly realistic nightmare, but those two..." he paused, sitting down as he tried to find the right words, "have you ever had that feeling, you know, where your stomach just knots up and you just feel wrong? For seemingly no reason whatsoever, but something inside you is just screaming that something has gone wrong somewhere, even though you have absolutely no evidence of it."

Both birds glanced at each other, nodding.

"From what he told me, that's the feeling he got the day Nico was taken," Rafael continued, "that's the reason he went to check he was okay, and discovered what happened. If you had asked me a few months ago if I believed in some sort of...psychic link, I probably would have laughed in your face, but now..." he sighed, "this time round it might just be the nightmare, but those two are close enough that if something like that did exist, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they knew what was happening to the other, even thousands of miles away. Not, of course, that they would know exactly what was going on or even all the time, just a feeling every now and again."

"Especially if it was something serious," Jewel added quietly.

Rafael sighed, looking back to the now quiet room, "let's hope that never happens."

Nico awoke to darkness, the thick smell of smoke filling his nostrils. As the haze cleared from his mind, pain quickly replaced it, making him immediately wish for unconsciousness again.

"Ow..." he murmured, trying to curl into a ball, like he thought that the smaller he was, the less it would hurt. But in this attempt, he made the discovery that he couldn't move his left leg and any attempt to do so caused unbearable agony to erupt in his foot.

Cracking one eye open, he looked around hazily. The sight of smoking rubble and flickering fires here and there reminded him of the situation, and who was in it with him. This realisation made him sit up fast, suddenly very awake.

"Ali! Ton-" he started, before a hacking cough cut him off, followed by another wave of pain in his foot.

"Nico!?" Ali's high pitched and terrified voice broke through and then a pair of wings wrapped themselves around him, supporting his weight. He could do no more than curl up against her and whimper pathetically. "Hey, hey, you're okay," she whispered, pulling him closer and stroking his feathers soothingly, "you're fi-" She tried to bite back a gasp. "You're gonna be fine," she tried again, "we're gonna get you out."

Somewhere in between trying to ignore the pain (and failing miserably) and trying to remember exactly what happened, her words filtered through.

"Get... me out?" he asked, absolutely hating how raspy his voice sounded.

"Don't worry about it," Ali said, sounding more scared than he ever expected her to be. In the short time he had known her, she seemed to be so tough, so strong. For her to sound this frightened; something must be wrong. "Everything's going to be okay."

It certainly didn't feel like it. At least, not at that moment. In fact, it felt an awful lot like his foot was actually stuck under something quite heavy. Between this and the smoke surrounding them, the whole situation seemed a bit hopeless.

He tried to crack an eye open, but was met by dirty yellow feathers and a dark sky.

"H- hey!" Ali cried suddenly, tightening her hold, "Leave us alone! Haven't you done enough?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," an unfamiliar voice said, "I want to help."

Nico shuffled in Ali's hold, with great difficulty, immediately ducking back down behind her wing when he caught a glimpse of 'Frank', the eagle working with Liana.

"And how do I know you're not just here to finish the job?" Ali accused.

"I just want to help," Frank repeated.

Suddenly, and making him gasp sharply, a weight was lifted off of his foot. He quickly took advantage of this newfound freedom and curled up tightly against Ali. This was an action he immediately regretted as any and all movement of his left leg caused agonising pain to shoot up from his foot. He tried to reach down to hold it out of instinct, though he could do nothing more than hover his wing over the injury, even a brush of a feather set off another wave of fresh agony.

Realising a conversation was still going on, he tuned back in.

"-throw her off, if she thinks he's dead he'll have a clear run home."

"N- no," Nico bit out, "she'll tell them, they can't think that."

Frank looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry for all this, really," he said, "I never realised she'd go this far, I honestly thought she'd give up after Rome, but she's relentless, if she knows you're alive, she'll never stop."

"She'll tell my f-family," Nico said, "I don't- I don't want them to think that I'm- that I'm-"

"I'll keep her distracted for as long as possible," Frank said, "I'll do what I can to keep her away from them until you can get home."

Nico just nodded, unable to speak again.

"Thank you," Ali said for him, "don't suppose you can help us find our friends and get to- to- to a doctor or something?"

"Of course."

Nico didn't really remember much of the next ten minutes before he finally passed out, his focus slipping in and out, the last thing he remembered at all was the sound of Tony's voice calling to them from somewhere beyond Frank's large body.

Then, everything was black.

The next time he woke up, it was to a feeling of absolute hunger. Like, hadn't eaten in days sort of hungry. Other than this feeling though, the rest of his body felt completely numb, like it wasn't even there.

More than anything though, he was just confused. He didn't even remember falling asleep. If that was even what he had been doing. Surely if he had been sleeping he wouldn't feel this tired.

He felt exhausted. Beyond exhausted even, it felt like he had just flown several thousand miles in one hit then run a marathon for good measure.

"Nico?" a voice said, somewhat familiar but not immediately recognisable to his hazy mind. It was soft, feminine and soothing, taking his mind off the feeling of nothingness.

"Are you awake Pajarito?" a second voice asked.

The sounds pounded through his head, making him realise how much that hurt too.

"Can you open your eyes for me?" the first voice said, "just let me know if you can hear me."

He could hear them alright, but what little he could feel of his body felt stiff and heavy, and he just about had enough energy to stay awake, let alone move anything. Even a movement as small as opening his eyes.

Despite this, he somehow managed to gather enough strength to force his eyelids to move, just a little, enough to open his eyes just a crack. The effort of this alone, coupled with almost blinding light nearly sent him spiralling back into unconsciousness, but he managed to cling on long enough to see Ali and Tia come into focus above him, relief clear on their expressions.

He tried to talk, but only managed to get out a croaked groan before his body decided that was enough and dragged him back into an exhausted slumber.

The next time he awoke, things were starting to look up.

While he was still drop-dead exhausted and his limbs felt like lead, but this time when he opened his eyes, he didn't pass out.

Small victories.

"Hey kid," Tony's concerned voice sounded from somewhere to his right. Unable to move his head without some form of protest from the rest of his body, he glanced over. He barely saw his brother out of the corner of his eye. He looked wrecked, like he hadn't slept in days. "How do you feel?" Tony asked, shuffling closer.

Nico shifted his gaze and glared at the ceiling for a few moments, cursing his own body's uncooperativeness, trying to force his voice to work. Eventually he was able croak out a single word.

"What...?"

Now he was fairly sure there was meant to be a full sentence there, but when he unable to get anymore out, he figured that pretty much summed up his feelings on the situation.

Tony laughed, the sound full of relief and joy. "Hold on, I'll get Ali and Tia."

But Nico wasn't awake to see them, unconsciousness pulling him back under as soon as there were no distractions keeping him awake.

The third time he clawed his way back into consciousness, it was to the sound of soft singing. Forcing his eyes open, he glanced towards the voice, turning his head ever so slightly. He couldn't help but cheer in his head when it didn't ache at all.

Sat with her back against his nest and feet propped up on the wall was Ali. She was clearly very unaware that he was even awake.

Her voice was quiet, but even in his dazed stupor, he could detect a lot of held in power to her voice that was just itching to get out. He quickly reminded himself to test that theory when he was more coherent.

He focused more on what she was singing, surprised to hear the softly sung words of a love song.

He wanted to keep listening, but a small tickle in the back of his throat choose then to make itself known.

Ali's reaction to his stifled cough was immediate. She was up and hovering at his side with a cup of water in an instant.

"Come on," she said, sliding a wing under his head, "You're gonna need to sit up now."

He nodded, his body suddenly desperate for water, allowing her to help him sit up. He gulped the water down at an alarming rate, drenching his parched throat. Eventually he fell back, gasping for air, onto the pillows that Ali had stacked behind him.

"How do you feel?" Ali asked, her expression full of concern.

"Not... sure," he replied, closing his eyes and rubbing at his temples, "something feels off."

It wasn't a lie, something felt very off.

Specifically, something in his left foot.

Or somewhat more specifically, in his... lack... of... a...

This time when he fell unconscious, it was because he fainted.

All three birds were hovering over him the next time he opened his eye. He had no idea how much time had passed. Minutes, hours, days, honestly he didn't care. All he could think about was the horrifying discovery he had made before he had fainted.

"We should probably explain," Tony said, a look of guilt passing over his face as he helped him sit up a bit more. Using far more delicacy than Nico liked. Injured or not, he hated being treated like a china doll.

"Do you remember what happened with Liana?" Tia asked. He nodded. "Do you remember what happened after?" He nodded again, dreading hearing the confirmation of what he already knew.

"After you blacked out," Ali explained, "we took you to a vet, they managed to get us fixed up, but your foot... well... it..."

"They had no choice," Tony butted in, finishing her sentence, "it was either you never walk again, or they take it... off..." he finished lamely, unwilling to say the words out loud.

"Okay," Nico said slowly, his voice still quite raspy from disuse, "because walking with one foot is going to be so easy."

"Ah, see," Tia cut in, "this was where Ali got very clever."

"Very clever indeed," Ali put in with a smug smile.

"And she made you a new one," Tia finished, grinning.

Nico was struggling to take everything in. The amount of questions battling for dominance inside his head was phenomenal.

"Alright, slow down," he said, "I need... to, well, it's a lot to take in all at once," he paused, steadying his breathing and briefly congratulating himself on how well he was handling. "First things first, how long was I out for?"

"About three and a half weeks," Ali said with a grimace, "give or take, the first few days were a bit of a blur."

"Right," Nico said, taking a deep breath. He had told Pedro a month and a half, so three and a half weeks, plus the few days before Liana, and week from Tokyo... that gave him about a week before they started worrying. Wonderful. He was definitely getting an earful when he got home. Though finding out he had lost a foot of all things should probably let him off the hook a little bit.

Oh my god, he thought, closing his eyes, I've lost a foot. Like, an actual limb. I am no longer in one piece, I also feel this should probably hurt more than it does.

"Exactly how many painkillers am I on?" he asked, looking ever so slightly confused, glancing down at his blanket covered feet (well, foot).

"None," Tony said, furrowing his brow, "why? Does it hurt? Do you want some?"

"No," Nico said quickly, calming the protectiveness coming out in his older brother, "that's what I'm wondering, it doesn't hurt at all, just feels a little strange."

"Like we said," Tia put in, "you've been out for nearly a month, your body's had plenty of time with no distractions or disturbances to heal properly. And it's gonna feel strange, probably will for the rest of your life. And it'll probably feel like it's still there sometimes, but we're gonna get you through this."

"And like Tia said, Ali's made you a new one," Tony said, "and while it's not fully tested, we kinda needed you awake for that, it looks pretty good."

"Pretty good?" Ali said darkly, crossing her wings and glaring at her brother, "I'll have you know I worked night and day on that for three weeks, it's damn near perfect thank you very much."

"I'm sure it is," Nico said, smiling for the first time since he woke up, "it's gonna need to be, we need to get to Rio, and soon, if Liana-"

"Liana," Tia said, very matter-of-factly, "is actually still on the island, Frank somehow convinced her to take a holiday, she's gotten nowhere near Rio."

"Even if she does make it back before us, it won't be by much," Ali said, "now you're awake, we're gonna get you up and flying in no time."

Nico nodded, then almost jumped out of his skin as his stomach gave a loud growl. "First though, how about something to eat?"

"You are wonderful."

Ali grinned.

"While I appreciate the compliment, I'm not so sure about the sarcastic tone," she said, holding out a wing to help her little brother up off the floor.

"Not actually aimed at you," Nico said, refusing to let go even when he was on his feet, "this is ridiculous, why can't I get this right?" He frowned down at his feet.

Ali, after weeks of experiments, had managed to create a prosthetic that, at a glance, no one would even notice. That is, if it wasn't very shiny and made of metal of course. Not only that, but it moved in every way his right foot could. It wasn't perfect, but it was as close as he was ever going to get. And walking was a lot easier than he expected it would be.

His balance was still a little off though.

"Don't worry about it, it's only day two, and honestly, considering you haven't done anything in a month, I'm surprised you're even off the ground."

Once he had eaten his body weight in food and gotten some proper sleep, it was straight onto building up his strength and within two days he could stay in the air for up to twenty minutes. After that he had to take at least an hour's break mind you, but it was a start.

Nico scoffed, "getting off the ground is the easy bit, it's getting back on it that seems to be a problem."

Because he couldn't physically feel when his left foot touched down, every time he landed, he ended up falling flat on his face.

Every. Single. Time.

"We'll get there, we've got time," Ali said with a laugh, "take a break though, don't want to overwork yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna get this though," Nico said, hopping to the end of the pier and sitting down, legs dangling over the edge.

"Of course, but it's not gonna happen overnight."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Nico muttered bitterly, but with a tiny smile, "when is that ship leaving again?"

"Tomorrow evening."

Both birds turned to see Tony, who had spoken, and Tia land behind them, looking very grim.

"And boy, we better be on it," Tia said, flopping down next to Ali and leaning against her heavily, "ready or not, we just got a tip off from Frank, they're leaving first thing in the morning, Frank's doing most of the flying, given his size."

"He said he'll stall her as best he can," Tony put it, "We're not going to get ahead, but we can try and keep up."

"Why does he stay with her?" Ali asked, leaning her head on Tia's and glancing at her two brothers. Nico had been unusually quiet, and it was worrying her a little. And the way he was looking between her and Tia with a tiny knowing smirk was somehow even more worrying.

"She's got something on him," Tony said dismally, "I don't know what, but he's clearly too scared of it coming to light. But he's still helping us, so we do have that in our favour."

A thoughtful silence followed, each bird thinking of their own theories.

"Enough of that though," Tia said, sitting up and looking round Ali to Nico, "how's the landing?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

Nico didn't answer immediately, glancing away with a look of embarrassment. There were a few snickers, and he turned back with an amused yet annoyed smile, still refusing to say a word.

"Still falls flat on his face every time he lands," Ali said for him, smirking wide, "and walks like he's drunk." Tia choked back a laugh and Nico glared at Ali, trying not to smile. While he would never admit it out loud, she was absolutely right. His balance was so off he couldn't even walk in a straight line.

"I'm working on it," he said, defending what was left of his dignity.

"Don't worry," Tony said, "we've got a week on a luxury cruise ship, we'll have you fixed by the time we reach the mainland."

"You'll be home in a month and then you can get this whole mess straightened out," Tia said with a smile.

A/N: This is what I meant when I said I was taking a risk. Even more dramatic than last time. I kinda figured if Dreamworks can do with Hiccup, so can I :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. And PLEASE review on this chapter if nothing else. I've been a little anxious about the direction I decided to take this, so it would be great to know know what you think :)