"How is he?" Snotlout asked when Astrid returned with a half eaten plate of boar. He stared at the plate, knowing what it meant but hoping he was wrong.

Astrid's face was one of misery. She place the dish on the table. "He actually ate more today than he has since we got home," she reported with a sigh. She turned and leaned against the table. Her gaze travelled over the group of friends who had all tried visiting Hiccup's hut only to be shunned and anxiously awaiting the all clear from Astrid to try again. "Not today, guys. We need to give him more time. He'll come back to us." She swallowed the lump in her throat at their down cast expression. "In the meantime we'll keep patrolling and watching out for the Hunters. Viggo is bound to attack."

There was a murmur of responses, more of which indicating the group of teens really didn't want to go back on patrol. That was all they were ever doing. They knew Viggo could attack at any moment and while it frightened them greatly no one really cared. All they cared about was their absent leader and friend.

Fishlegs rubbed his right arm. He had been keeping the furthest from Hiccup's hut, ashamed and angry at himself for his part in Hiccup's rape. He, like the others, had no choice but it didn't atop the guilt from consuming him. There were bags under his eyes. He had barely slept in the last few days and was keeping to himself, even withdrawing from Heather for fear of hurting her.

Snotlout was in a similar state but he was more vocal. "We can't just leave him up there. He's making himself sick. We should all go up there, show him were all still a tight knit group and…"

"And what? Let him go back into shock?" Dagur countered from where he stood next to Heather. He frowned at Snotlout. "Look, he's a strong kid but what happened to him…to us…that's not something that's just going to go away. Everyone handles it different. If it had only been one person that raped him, only Viggo or Ryker, maybe he'd recover a little faster but this…he's pretty much living with his rapists. Regardless if we were forced or not, we all took part in it. That's not something you just let go."

Tuffnut nodded sagely. "He learned something but each of us that most of us never would have admitted even to ourselves," he said, surprising everyone. He had been oddly serious since they returned to the Edge. He didn't meet anyone's gazes. "Whatever Viggo gave us made us do things we normally wouldn't do but might have thought of…if things were different."

Ruffnut blinked. "Wait…are you saying…"

"I said might," he snapped before storming out of the clubhouse.

"Should we be worried about him?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.

"Nah," Ruffnut assured. "He loves Hiccup but not like that. And even if he did he'd be straight forward if he was interested in him that way."

Dagur didn't look convinced and made a mental note to have a talk with Tuffnut about what happened later. So far everyone had been avoiding talking about what happened until now. "We should go after Viggo. End this now," he said sternly, causing the remaining riders to look at him in fear.

"We're not ready," Astrid interjected. "If we face them now we'll either go ballistic or freeze. I don't want to take that chance just yet."

"What we should do is go back to Berk. Hiccup is safe there. Stoick won't let anything happen to Hiccup," Snotlout declared. "What?"

"Hiccup wants to wait until after Ruffnut's moon time in case…"

"In case I'm pregnant," Ruffnut finished for Astrid. She hugged herself. She wasn't ready to be a mom and as much as she adored Hiccup, he wasn't the man she wanted to be tied to for the rest of her life. She wasn't ready for marriage and Hiccup loved Astrid not her. Heather squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

Astrid gave a small nod, then, not sure what else to do, grabbed a flask of fresh water and headed back toward Hiccup's hut. She paused midway to the door, turned on her heel, and handed it to Dagur. "Here…he…he wanted to talk to you. You're probably the only person he's not terrified of right now."

"Astrid," Dagur began, feeling the sudden weight of what she was asking. He met her gaze and saw something her had seen in her blue eyes before, complete and utter fear, even more than when they had been captured.

"I'll be up in a few minutes. Right now he needs a big brother, someone he doesn't feel threatened by," she explained, biting her lower lip. She pressed the flask into his hands.

Dagur would have laughed at the thought that Hiccup felt more threatened by his friends than him. He gave Astrid a small smile and squeezed her fingers. "We'll make Viggo pay for this," he promised.

He left the riders at the club house and made his way over the gang planks to Hiccup's hut. He glanced around to see where Tuffnut had gone, hopeful the male twin had not attempted to see Hiccup. The breath he didn't realise he was holding was slowly released when he spotted Tuffnut down below, sitting on the ground with his pet chicken. He liked Tuffnut, he really didn't want to get into a fight with him. He knew what it was like to be in love with someone he could never have.

Pushing that thought aside, he entered Hiccup's hut. He didn't bother knocking, Hiccup wouldn't answer even if he did. Toothless was guarding the entrance from his rock slab on the edge of the loft so no unwanted guests could get past him. The dragon raised his head and gave Dagur a surprised look before curling back on his slab, deeming Dagur safe to visit. Dagur climbed the steps up to the loft when he didn't find Hiccup on the main floor.

The youth was lying on his cot on side, facing the wall. Dagur let him be for the moment to give Toothless a little attention, scratching behind one ear. The Nightfury gave a low purr and leaned into the attentive fingers.

"You know lying in bed all day is going to start making everyone think you're lazy," he mused, addressing both dragon and rider. "People are starting to talk as if you're a ghost."

"Go away, Dagur," Hiccup murmured.

"And leave you all alone in this big empty hut? There's no fire in the hearth or anything."

"I like it cold."

"Liar, you hate the cold," Dagur countered with a tiny grin. So far this was the most Hiccup had spoken to him in days. He never realised just how much he needed to hear Hiccup's voice since finally becoming friends. "Tell you what, I'll start a fire and then we'll talk."

The younger man didn't answer, but he didn't have to. Dagur took over the hut as if it was his own. He started a fire in the hearth, stroking it until there was a strong, healthy flame. The hut slowly began to warm. Going back up to the loft, he checked on Hiccup but the youth had yet to move so Dagur sat on the chair next to the bed where Astrid no doubt sat earlier. He waited, using every technique he had learned to keep calm and patient. Time seemed to drag on forever.

"Thank you," Hiccup whispered after some time.

Perplexed, Dagur glanced down at him. "For what?"

Hiccup was silent for a while before finally sitting up and turning toward him. He didn't look up but tugged anxiously at one sleeve of his tunic. "For saving us…again."

"Saving…oh, yeah. No worries. I did what I had to." Dagur rubbed the back of his neck. "So how are you?"

The youth shrugged. "I still hurt. You know…down there. Thanks for…you know…not raping me."

Dagur gave a snort. "Yeah well…"

"Did you really say those thing to Ryker? About fantasizing about raping me? When we were enemies would you have…done that if you captured me?"

Dagur's face drained of color. "No!" he protested, reaching out for his brother before suddenly drawing back. "I was mad and drunk and…I don't know." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, truth?"

Hiccup looked up and Dagur cringed at the dark shadows under his eyes and pasty pale complexion. Hiccup was making himself sick holding up in his hut like this.

Sighing, Dagur admitted to something he never wanted Hiccup to ever know. "Yeah, I fantasized about doing a lot of things to you. That whole fake dragon attack at the peace treaty…it started then. Maybe before that but the more vivid ones started then. I stopped thinking or you as little defenseless Hiccup that needed my protection and guidance to manhood – that sounds stupid, huh – to this fierce little warrior that took on a Nightfury to save me. I mean that was some of the best acting I ever saw. I totally feel for it and suddenly saw you as my equal. No, you were better than me and I wanted to reach the same level. I wanted to be you. Then on Dragon Island…when I declared we were brothers…well I had planned on celebrating killing the Nightfury by making you a man. You know…take your virginity and bind our tribes by making you my mate. I didn't care what Stoick had to say because you were mine." He took a deep breath and avoided Hiccup's shocked gaze. "When I discovered it was all a trick I hated you. I hated everything about you. You lied and I wanted to make you pay. I wanted you to hurt. I wanted to dominate you. I wanted you to kiss my boots and beg for my forgiveness. I wanted to fuck you every time we faced off. I honest dreamed of you screaming my name as I rammed into you and…" He bite his lower lip, ashamed of some of his thoughts. "When I found Heather and we began working together it was like destiny. Way back when we were all little, you and her had been betrothed. I thought if I could reactivated that contract then we really would be brothers. And I began fantasizing about the three of us, kind of like the twins with you and…"

"Why didn't you?" Hiccup interrupted, drawing Dagur out of his rambling thoughts. "When Viggo gave me to you…why didn't you do it when you had the chance. Or on that island when the Hunters were after me? Or when you and Ryker captured me? Or when you kidnapped my Dad and forced me to surrender?"

Dagur blinked in surprise and stared at him as if the answer should be obvious. "Just because someone fantasizes about stupid things doesn't mean they'll ever do it. I mean you must have fantasized about all kinds of girls over the years but never made a move on them. I mean you and Astrid just started officially dating and haven't gotten pass kissing and light petting, right?"

Hiccup shrugged and looked away. "I guess."

"And how many times did you fantasize about killing Viggo and Ryker, or me and Alvin? Yet we're still alive and you're not a serial killer."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Dagur…"

"And how many times have you dreamt of knocking Snotlout or the twins six ways from Sunday? Or spanking Astrid? Or running away? Or completely wiping the Hunters?" Dagur continued. "Just because I've thought about bending you over and plowing that pale freckled ass of yours doesn't mean I'm ever actually going to do it. I have far more respect for you than that. Hel, I love you and I always will. Besides, who else can hide as many throwing knives as I do and get us out of there?"

"Thank you," Hiccup repeated, still looking shaken by the whole ordeal.

"You don't need to thank me. Not you that. It's my fault you were put in that situation. I was drunk and stupid and it will never happen again." He grasped Hiccup's shoulder, surprised when the youth didn't flinch as he did with the others. "We're brothers. It's my job to protect you, not put you in the danger I did. I thought Ryker was a friend, a role model for what a big brother should be. He was just another monster."

Hiccup nodded and Dagur wished he wouldn't forgive him so easily. He wanted Hiccup to get mad and yell at him, to hit him and call him a monster and blame him for everything that had happened, not accept it. He was broken. Viggo had successfully broken him and the others. None of them would ever attack the Hunters again. But that also left them open for attack. Dagur wasn't going to allow that.

"I need to leave for a few days. Do me a favor and eat. I need my old Hiccup back. I miss him," he told Hiccup, pressing his lips to the youth's brow. "I love you, little one."

Hiccup blinked in surprise as Dagur pulled away and stood. "Where are you going?" he asked, taking the flask Dagur offered.

"Just a little Berserker business. I'll be back in a few days." He hurried off before he could change his mind. He felt embarrassed by admitting some of his darkest fantasies to Hiccup. He never wanted Hiccup to know those things but he had felt compelled to tell him the truth, especially after what Viggo had done to them. He wanted Hiccup to know the difference between a fantasy and the twisted act Viggo had done. It was time Viggo and Ryker paid for what they had done.

He nearly walked into Astrid and Heather as they silently slipped into the hut.

"Where are you going?" Heather asked, worrying filling her at the determination in her brother.

"Did you two fight?" Astrid asked, glancing toward the loft where Hiccup now stood at the edge watching them in silence.

"I'll be back soon," he assured, giving both girls a quick hug before calling out for Shattermaster. He was gone before Hiccup made it to the main floor.

Astrid watched him leave with concern. The Berserker was known to be rash and unpredictable but after everything that happened there was telling what he might do.

It was a few days before anyone heard from Dagur. Heather returned to Berserker Island thinking he went to deal with chief stuff but it turned out he went to Berk. Of course no one knew that right away.

Hiccup was slowly starting to let the riders around him again but only one or two at a time. He didn't want to be scared of friends. Logically he knew they had no more choice in what had happened to them than he did, that in essence by being forced to have sex with him had been raped as well, psychologically rather than physically and that they were suffering to. That didn't stop the nightmares that would plague him at night though where he could feel their hot sweaty hands holding him down as he was gang raped by them. That didn't stop his screams when he would wake up after having an orgasm he did not want, still feeling them inside him even when he was all alone. He felt ashamed of himself for letting it still bother him, weak even though everyone assured him he was anything but.

The riders became extremely attentive to him. Astrid always made sure he ate, even if only a little. Snotlout made sure there was always firewood stacked by the hearth and would stoke the fire every morning and late evening. He barely spoke to Hiccup other than to make sure he was okay. Fishlegs took it upon himself to tidy the hut, but only the main floor, leaving Hiccup to sort out his feeling and hoping that their leader would one day forgive them and become part of the team again. The twins held back on the pranks and focused on caring for the dragons since Hiccup did not leave his hut for several days. When Hiccup finally did it wasn't truly by choice but to escape a new menace to the Edge…his father.

Dagur had told Stoick the Vast EVERYTHING and the elder chieftain was not happy. He swooped in on the riders in a rage, not at the teens and certainly not his son, but at the audacity of Viggo and Ryker to have ever considered harming them in such a way. He burst into Hiccup's hut in search of his boy and once he found him, nearly crushed him in an embrace, happy to see him yet fearful of the way Hiccup had become a recluse.

"This will either go really bad or really good," Dagur warned Astrid from the main floor as they listened to Hiccup objections to being squeezed until his ribs nearly broke. "But I thought you guys might need some extra protection for a few weeks."

She gave him a perplexed look. "Stoick and Gobber are only two men. If Viggo…" Her words trailed off when he stepped aside and gestured out to see. There were ships, dozens upon dozens of armed war ships in the bay that must have sailed in shortly after Stoick's arrival. And there were more further out. The sails hanging bore the sigils of the Berk, Berserk and Outcast. There were even Defenders of the Wing in the mix and Bog Burglars and Meatheads.

"All Berk's allies are here for Hiccup," Dagur explained. I told them what happened, not the details but enough to declare all out war against the Hunters. If any Hunter so much as nears the Edge they'll be obliterated. I'm taking another group to hunt down Viggo and Ryker. This will end, Astrid. I'm going to fix this," he promised.

"You're leaving again?" Hiccup asked, dodging his father and looking flustered at the unwanted attention. His eyes widened when he saw the ships outside. "Are we going to war?"

"In a manner speaking," Astrid answered, still surprised.

"I won't be long," Dagur assured. "My contact gave me their location. This will be over before week's end."

"You're not taking Viggo and Ryker on alone," Hiccup suddenly snapped. There was fear in his face, real fear that Dagur had never seen before. "I'll…we'll go with you."

Dagur shook his head and pulled Hiccup into a tight embrace, one of the very few people who still could without him completely freaking out. The youth still tensed and placed his hands on Dagur's chest to push him away but never quite did. He just stayed very still and waited for Dagur to let him go. "You're staying here, Hiccup," Dagur said firmly. "You all are."

He ran the fingers of his right hand along Hiccup's cheek, his thumb resting at the side of the younger man's mouth. For a moment all he could do wad stare at Hiccup's lips. Lips he once dreamed of kissing and biting, of making his own. He still thought of it from time to time but knew would never happen. Hiccup wasn't his and would never be. So he let Hiccup go. He did what he should have done years earlier and let him. They would never be together, not the way Dagur wanted them to be so it was time to move on.

He gave Hiccup a smile filled with adoration. "I'm going to end this," he promised one last time then took his leave, vowing that when he returned Viggo Grimborn would no longer be a threat to anyone ever again.

Note: there's one last chapter…how brutal should Dagur's revenge be? And how descriptive? I have nasty plans for the brothers but who can stomach the hell Dagur is about to unleash?