Finding the Grimborn brothers was surprisingly easy. In all the years Dagur had been chief he had never ready coordinated such a large scale attack in his life. He used every contact he made while being with the Hunters. Sent more Terror mail than could possibly be necessary, and pushed past his own insecurities to mend fences with tribes that had once viewed him as a threat all in the name of Hiccup. It was odd how one teen could have so much influence on so many people but Hiccup was highly viewed by an incredibly number of tribes, especially the Outcasts. When Alvin heard what had happened he was outraged and more than happy to team up with Dagur once more to seek revenge. Dagur wad a little scared of working with the Outcast chief again, the last tine had taken a downward spiral full of betrayals, near death and war that led to a three year imprisonment for the young Berserker. But that seemed forgot now that there was peace among their tribes and a foul insult committed against one of their closest allies. Alvin saw Hiccup as a nephew and anyone who hurt him would have to face the Outcasts.

The Grimborns were captured not far from their island fort in the mist of a routine and supposedly relaxing dragon hunting trip. There were five ships in total, a small hunting party that was easily surrounded by the more than twenty ship in the joint fleet Dagur had procured. The Hunters tried to flee but the attack was swift and the four lesser ships were destroyed without mercy. Every man was killed, either drowned or slaughtered. Captured dragons were freed and sent on their way until all that remained was the flag ship. By then Viggo was no longer so high and mighty.

Dagur had to give the brothers props. They fought hard and took down as many as they could before finally being captured and forced into irons. Dagur felt a tingle of manic glee at witnessing their downfall. It somehow felt fitting to be the one to capture then, even if it was with the help of the largest armada known to the Archipelago. He strolled into the Hunters flag ship with an air if authority, hands clasped behind his back, doing such an impressive impersonation of Viggo that even Hiccup would be impressed.

Viggo, however, wasn't.

"What is the meaning of this, Dagur?" he demanded, forced to his knees next to Ryker.

Dagur gave a laugh void of mirth or his usual manic tendency. "I would have thought you of everyone would have guessed by now." He squatted before the disgraced chief. "It's call redistribution. You know, what you calmed to be dishing out to Hiccup and his riders, except rape is not a noble form if revenge. Even I knew that and I'm supposed to be the deranged one." He patted Viggo's cheek before standing once more. "The thing is there's no fixing what you did. No replacing what you took. And you managed to piss off more than one or two tribes in the process. Now you're smart so tell me, what is the punishment for raping the heir of a rival tribe? If Hiccup were a woman and bared you child than you may be forced to marry but thankfully he's not and our people have more freedom than that."

Viggo narrowed his eyes but didn't answer.

Dagur gave him a grin. "You know it's kind of nice to be the one lecturing someone instead of always being treated like one of your idiot underlings," he told Viggo. "Have you ever heard of an eye for an eye? Whelp, since you blew that right out of the water so will we." He turned to Ryker. "And you're the OLDER brother, you're supposed to keep him under control. I can't believe I actually looked up to you as some roll model. Oh well, that's done wish now." He strolled across the deck toward Alvin who was watching the whole proceeding silently. "How am I doing?"

"Laying it a little thick. Let's get this over with," he warned, his cold blue eyes on the brothers.

"We're not leaving until they've suffer as much as my brother has," Dagur sneered before quickly calming himself. "Please," he added for good measure.

Alvin eyed the brothers before giving a nod. "My men are ready."

Dagur let out a small breath of relief. "Thank you." He didn't want Alvin backing out of this now that revenge was so close.

The brothers were relieved of every weapon. Unlike the Hunters, Dagur was thorough and had the men stripped down to their skivvies to make sure no one single blade was left available to them. Viggo's jewel encrusted sword was sword was taken as a trophy and wrapped in fine silk before being handed to Alvin for safe keeping.

"You don't have to do this, Dagur," Viggo tried to negotiate, feeling true fear of the Berserker for the first time. "We can work this out. If it's Hiccup you're worried about I can make things up to him. I can make Berk rich. I can make all your tribes rich. We'll find another place to hunt."

Dagur ignored him as he read over the manifest of captured dragons still in the hold. "You know, Hiccup is probably the most honorable man I know. Sure he lied about training dragons and that hurt my feelings, but he did it to protect them not cause a war. That was my hotheadedness. And as much as I would love feed you to the beasts I doubt he'd approve. Actually he won't approve of any of this…but we'll keep that secret. Oh! Oh! They have Speedstingers onboard!" He bounced on his feet excitedly for a moment. He grinned broadly at Viggo. "Do you know what's worse than being forced to have sex, it's having absolutely no control over your body while it happens. Throw them in with the Stingers. If they survive then there'll be a free for all in the mess hall."

The Grimborns tried to fight. They struggled and kicked until someone bashed the back of Viggo's head so hard he momentarily lost consciousness. It took some time but they were eventually thrown in cage the housed three Speedstingers. They left there for only a short, long enough to be stung multiple times each until they were fully paralyzed. After that the wingless dragons were released on the nearby island, not that the Hunters would care anymore.

Every tribe had members that were a little sick and off, the Outcasts and Berserkers were no different. Dagur didn't take part when the rapes began. He stayed on deck, holding Viggo's sword and staring off toward the Edge. At first the ship was relatively quiet, only the whimpers of two few living Hunters that remained. They would the ones to warn the rest of their tribe and allies not to mess with the Archipelago Vikings, especially Hiccup and his riders.

Soon the paralyzing effects of the Speedstingers sting wore of and cries could be heard. First angry grunts…that would be Ryker. Dagur couldn't believe he ever looked up to the man, even liked him enough to have had a short relationship in the tine they worked together, when Dagur had finally decided things were unlikely to ever develop between him and Hiccup and needing someone other than his sister to turn to. He knew those grunts, he would always remember that sound. They were echoed by a slightly higher pitched one. It wasn't ling before grunts turned to cries and them muffled screams. Dagur wished he could cover his ears but wouldn't. He would bare witness. Maybe not by sight but he would listen. The slapping of flesh, the grunts and cries as man after man took their pleasure from the Grimborns just as the Grimborns took from Hiccup. It went on forever. Hours passed and still men lined up for the two men below deck until finally Dagur could take no more and ordered an end to it.

All he could think of was Hiccup and how much he fought not to scream while everything was being stripped away from him. A teenage boy, barely a man, had been able to take more than either Viggo or Ryker. In Dagur's eyes that alone proved who was more of a man and who would fight to protect those he loved.

The brothers were dragged back to the deck and thrown to the floor covered in semen and blood. The horror of their debauchery plain for all to see. Ryker was semiconscious while Viggo slipped in and out.

"Dagur…" the elder of the two spoke as his arms were untied and he was spread eagle. Then men rushed to tie his limps to four dragons waiting on the deck.

Dagur stood over him, his face void of emotion. "You should have been chief," he told Ryker simply. "You could have stopped this before it got this far."

Ryker stared at him in confusion before looking at his surroundings, realization dawning on him. "Dagur, no…"

"We could have had something," Dagur finished. He waited long enough for Viggo to regain consciousness before nodding for the dragons to be released.

Viggo turned his head just in time to see the dragons take to the sky. For a moment there was silence as he watched in confusion. Then Ryker was screaming for a whole new reason as the dragons tried taking off in different directions, yanking his limps along with them. The screams filled with agony and then the tearing of flesh as the elder Grimborn was ripped limb from limb. Viggo's screams of horror mixed with his brother's as blood sprayed the deck and covered the Vikings below before what was left of Ryker's body came crushing to the deck. He bleed to death in a matter of seconds.

Viggo's eyes were wild as he looked around for some sort of help. "No…no! Hiccup would never allow this! You made your point, Dagur. Release me and you'll never see another Hunter in this region ever again."

Dagur truly looked Berserk when he stood over Viggo. Ryker blood covered his face and soaked his tunic. "You're right, I won't." He signaled his men to release the second batch of dragons.

Viggo's screams echoed over the sea, seeming to reach as far as Dragon's Edge and beyond. Hiccup paused in his work to look out over the sea, unsure what he had heard but instinctively knowing it was over. The tension that had filled him over the last week or so finally slipped away and for the first time in a very long time he allowed himself to relax.

Dagur made an example of the Grimborns. He sent parts of their bodies to the homeland and outer forts, a warning of what would happen to any who dared attacked one of his own. He made it clear that he was not afraid to go to war and wipe out entire nations to defend his people. Not just Berserkers but Hooligans, Outcasts, Bog Burglars, Meatheads, and Defenders of the Wing alike. The Archipelago was theirs and no one dare invade or touch their dragons. And this warning extended far past the Great Beyond. The Berserkers were the defenders of the Archipelago and they took their duty seriously.

. . .

"I'm just saying you could if you want to," Snotlout offered, sitting across from Hiccup after dinner.

Hiccup had never been so happy his father was not around for this particular conversation. He rubbed his forehead, trying to decide if he should grab Toothless and runaway of find a hole to bury himself in. "Snotlout…" Why was no one running to his defense on this?

"Just hear me out, okay? No pressure, but seeing as I did all that to you, you could easily do it to me. It wouldn't take too much. We can go my hut and…"

"Snotlout! Do you even hear what you're saying?" he finally snapped. "One; you're my cousin, and two; I'm not into guys. I love Astrid."

Snotlout looked a little surprised by Hiccup's outburst after over a week of being so timid. "Yeah, well duh, we all know that. It's just…I was thinking…"

"Always dangerous," Astrid remarked, placing a fresh tankard of mead next to Hiccup, knowing what Snotlout was getting at. It was all any of them had talked about since Hiccup started hanging out with them again. He was trying to escape his overbearing father only to land in the arms of his overbearing friends, some of which were trying to find a way to make up for what they had done to him in the most outlandish ways. Astrid had rebuked most of their ideas but the end choice was Hiccup's to make.

"Shut up, Astrid," Snotlout grumbled, shooting her a glare. "Anyway, it's different when you're on top and since I topped you then you should…"

"Completely erase that conversation from your memory," Dagur interjected, leaning against the door frame and giving Snotlout a hard, warning glare. "He's not into you or we would have agreed five minutes ago. Now be a good cousin and back off."

The raven haired youth looked up in shock then glared at him before finally shrugging. "I was just trying to help," he explained, stepping away from Hiccup.

"That's not the type of help my brother needs, thanks." Dagur gave him a hard look, a clear warning Hiccup was off limits, regardless who it was. He was suddenly taken back by the happy expression on Hiccup's face when he got up to greet.

"You're back," he said happily, giving the big happy smile Dagur had always hoped he would one day bestow upon him. It made Dagur's chest tighten in a mix of joy and guilt.

"Yeah, I'm back," he answered with a small nod. He wanted to hug his brother and tell him he made everything better but he couldn't just yet. "Ah…where's Stoick. I need to speak with him for just a moment and then I'm all yours."

The disappointed look on Hiccup's face nearly sent Dagur to his knees. It was one he had not seen in many years, before Toothless and all the dragon shenanigans. The youth glanced in the general direction of his hut. "Still packing my stuff. He says we're leaving at first light and going back to Berk. He won't chance another encounter with Viggo.

"Oh…uh…okay. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"What are you going to do, give him your dirty laundry? That smell rank," Tuffnut asked, gesturing to the bag hanging off Dagur's shoulder. "I mean it's seriously worse than Snotlout's socks."

"I don't wear socks," Snotlout shot back.

"Ewe…even worse."

Dagur rolled his eyes then gave Hiccup a reassuring smile. He gave Astrid a small nod, no words needed between them to explain what was going on. She eyed the bag for only a moment before returning the nod.

Dagur moved as quickly as his tired body could carry him. He and Shattermaster had flown all day to get back to the Edge. The ships were trailing behind them and would arrive sometime the next day but he had to speak to Stoick right away and assure him that Hiccup and the riders were safe now. The Grimborn brothers could never hurt Hiccup again.

He found Stoick on the lower level of Hiccup's hut with Gobber packing the last of Hiccup's tools. The hut looked bare now, void of life or ownership and Stoick now looked any years older than he had only days earlier. Hiccup's nightmares had no doubt kept him up at night.

The older chief gave a yawn and stretched out his large body when he spotted Dagur hurrying toward him. "Dagur, how did the hunt go?" he asked, his voice filled with much needed sleep that could not be hidden.

"Pretty good," Dagur answered hesitantly. He wasn't quite sure if he had done the right thing by killing the brothers and he was second guessing what he was about to do now. But it may be the only thing to assure Stoick that Hiccup was truly safe from Viggo Grimborn and that not even Ryker could avenge his brother. He wrapped his hand around the strings of one of the two bags he was carrying. "It's over. Hiccup has nothing to fear anymore."

He hurried handed the bag to Stoick and lowered his head, fully expecting an enraged lecture or punishment for going too far and doing something so horrendous that it may end the peace between their two tribes. He did it to protect Hiccup. If that meant angering Stoick he could live with that but he couldn't with the idea of Hiccup ever being hurt in such a way again.

Stoick opened the bag and looked inside. His eyes widened for only the briefest of moments before narrowing. Inside the bag were the severed heads of Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, the look of agony forever etched in their faces. "They suffered?"

"Ten fold for every harm inflected upon Hiccup," Dagur reported, still not meeting his gaze.

The elder chief nodded in satisfaction. "I'll dispose of them. You go be with your friends."

Friends. It was still such a strange concept but Dagur found himself filled with joy. He hurried back to the clubhouse, hoping Snotlout wasn't bothering Hiccup. He had one last gift and it was for Hiccup alone.

Dagur never bowed to anyone, not a king, not his father when he was chief, not Viggo or Alvin but that night he bowed before Hiccup as if he was were king of all kings and presented him with a gift worthy only of him. He held out Viggo's sword. "They'll never harm you or another dragon again," he swore, choosing to regale Hiccup with a very watered down version of the Grimborn brothers horrific death.

Maybe it was shock or maybe utter relief but Hiccup took the sword and stared at it for a long time before finally speaking. "They're gone?"

"Yeah, they're gone," Dagur confirmed.

A small relieved smile lifted Hiccup's lips. "Thank you…brother."

It was all Hiccup had to say. Dagur smiled brightly and told the story, leaving out all the gory details – he left those for Astrid and Heather when they got a free moment. It would take time before Hiccup was himself again and even more before he could truly trust his friends, not that he blamed them for what happened but the memory was still too fresh. Of course it was all made a little easy when Ruffnut came bouncing into the clubhouse yelling "moon time", as if having her period was the greatest thing in the world. And to her and Hiccup it was, and another reason for the gang to celebrate. The Grimborns were gone, Ruffnut was not pregnant, and Stoick had changed his mind about making the riders return to Berk right away, deciding to let Hiccup heal away from the rest of the tribe who would no doubt pester him with questions.

It was the first in what felt like ages Hiccup felt like himself again. He smiled and laughed, his fear diminishing. He didn't flinch when Astrid took his hand and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand, or when she leaned into him to whisper in his ear. It made Dagur happy to see Hiccup smiling and being himself again. That in itself made the whole mission worth it. Hiccup didn't need to know the details only that it was over once and for all.

That night, after everyone else headed to their huts, Hiccup followed Astrid to hers. They usually spent much of their time in his under the careful eye of Stoick the Vast, but his father and Gobber had left to camp out on the north side of the island. Apparently they needed a break away from the teens and the chaos that had recently consumed them all. Hiccup had no idea of their true reason. His thoughts were only of the young woman in front of him.

Astrid knew the truth about the fate of the Grimborns. Dagur didn't have to say the words, she knew from the look he gave her, the stench of death that came from the bag he had carried. She knew their threat was gone and that Dagur had gone above and beyond to protect Hiccup. Somehow she would thank the Berserker for that but for now her mind and heart was solely on Hiccup.

He sat on the edge of her bed, looking incredibly nervous as she began removing her armor.

"Just tell me to stop if it's too much," she told him soothingly, her shoulder pads falling to the floor.

"I'm okay," he breathed, swallowing a lump in his throat.

His gaze never left her as bit by bit she removed her clothing until she stood completely naked before him for the very first time. She bit her lower lip, a little nervous now that she had no clothing.

"Maybe I should…" Hiccup began, fumbling to remove his shirt.

"You don't have to," she assured, slowly approaching him. "After everything that happened, you don't have to do anything. I'll do whatever you want me to. "

"But you're still a virgin."

"Until almost two weeks ago so were you and the rest of the gang." She straddled his lap. "We don't have to have sex. You can just hold me."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "I don't deserve you."

Astrid hugged him back, her cheek resting on top of his head. "No, you deserve so much more."

She kissed his forehead only for him to lift his face to look up at her. Her lips travelled from his forehead down his nose to meet his lips. It was a slow and passionate kiss they had not shared since Viggo had captured them. They love making was slow, filled more with gentle touches and kisses, an exploration of each other's bodies. Astrid did her best to lead Hiccup, placing his hands where she wanted them but this was just as new for her as it was him. They fumbled and giggled just like they did when they first began officially dating. Eventually Hiccup stripped down as well as their make out session grew more and more heated.

He froze when they were about to go all the way, fear suddenly hitting him. "What if I hurt you? Ruffnut said it hurt when I first entered her and Viggo and Ryker tore me… I don't want to hurt you."

She smiled sweetly and stroked his cheek. "I'm more than willing to accept that pain to be with you," she answered.

It did hurt, that very first time she took him in. He filled every inch of her. They rocked together, moving in as if one. Pain soon became pleasure as Astrid adjusted to having Hiccup's length inside her. It felt so alien yet so perfectly right. Neither of them lasted long, only a few minutes. He pulled out before he came, not willing to let her get pregnant just yet but made sure her orgasm was a pleasant one before finishing himself by hand.

When they were done they snuggled together on the thin bed, warm and happy and pleasantly exhausted.

"Marry me," Astrid whispered against Hiccup's chin as she kissed it.

He stared at her for a moment in shock. "Are you serious?"

She leaned over him. "Marry me, Hiccup." She kissed him then asked again and again, even after he said yes. She asked and teased until they made love again and again throughout the whole night, both feeling alive and whole and at peace in one another's arms.

. . .

Far away, on the other side of the island a bomb fire filled the night. In the center burned a burlap lap bag that contained the severed heads of Viggo and Ryker Grimborn. Stoick stood watch with Gobber and Dagur by his side. The stoked the fire, made it burn hot. By morning the Grimborns would be but a memory, their sins a but forgotten. No longer a threat. No longer anything but ash.

The end