A/N: Wow, what a response from you all. Thanks again for the reviews! I may not reply to them all, but know that I appreciate each and every one of them!

Well, here's what you've been waiting for. It's time for Hiccup to finally learn why he's been put through so much torture. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, foul language warning. In case that upsets anyone.

Chapter Five

Revelation

"When will he wake up?"

"Hard to say. He lost a lot of blood."

"But he'll be okay, right?"

"Aye, he will. He'll be weak and dizzy for a few days, but Gothi says he'll pull through."

"He's a fighter. He's strong. He survived losing a leg, he can survive this. He will."

"I hope you're right. Gods, I hope you're right."

The words made sense, but Hiccup found it impossible to put them into context as he lay there, slowly rising from unconsciousness. His head felt heavy, as if someone had removed his brain and replaced it with metal from the forge. His arms and legs didn't seem to want to move, either. It seemed easiest to simply lie here in this bed and go back to sleep, except that there was something niggling in the back of his mind, something he couldn't quite remember.

And of course, he could hardly sleep with all those voices speaking around him. Seriously, was the whole village crammed into his bedroom?

"I did this." Hiccup recognized the voice as his father's. "I pushed him too far. You were right, all of you. I should never have gone through with it."

"We're all to blame, Stoick," came Gobber's voice, low and soothing. "We all had a hand in this."

"But it was my idea," Stoick countered. "I'm the chief, the responsibility for this lies with me and me alone." He sighed. "What kind of father does this to his own son?"

"You were only doing what you thought was best," Gobber replied. "No one's perfect, Stoick."

Stoick snorted. "There's being imperfect, and then there's driving your own son to try killing himself."

Something about these words seemed to bring Hiccup's mind back to life, though he still couldn't quite recall what had occurred to make him feel so lethargic. Something had happened to him…something bad…

There was a low crooning sound from his left, and as if waiting for this cue, Hiccup forced his eyes open. "T-Toothless?" he croaked, looking around.

The black dragon warbled in relief and licked his human's face. Hiccup grimaced but let out a weak chuckle. "Happy to see you too, bud."

He reached up to pat the Night Fury's head, but his hands still felt heavy and clumsy. He looked down at them, and out of the corner of his eye noticed the others. He froze, his eyes widening in confusion. There were people in his bedroom. Stoick was sitting in a chair near his pillow. Gobber stood just behind him. Hiccup's eyes scanned the crowd. Astrid was there. So was Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut. His uncle Spitelout. The healer Gothi. Mulch and Bucket. And even though he couldn't see them, he could sense that there were more people on the stairs leading up to his room. And they were all looking at him in a strange mixture of guilt, apprehension, and relief.

Remembering the voices he'd heard in his half-conscious state, he thought, Wow, the whole village really is here…

"D-Dad?" he stammered, sitting up. "What…ooh…" His vision blurred and the room spun as he moved. He clenched his eyes shut, thinking he might be sick, and clutched his forehead with one hand. His right hand.

"Easy, son," Stoick whispered, gently pushing him back into the bed. "Just take it easy. You've had a rough night."

"What are you…"

He fell silent. He had opened his eyes with his hand still clamped to his forehead, and his gaze had fallen on the thick layers of bandages that were wrapped around his wrist. He drew his hand back and blinked, nonplussed. When had he injured his wrist?

And then everything came flooding back: the rejection, the taunts, the hurt, losing Toothless, deciding to end it all…

His face broke, and his raised his hands to cover his eyes as they started to fill with tears. "Oh gods…" he gasped. "Oh gods I really am useless!"

"Hiccup," Stoick sighed, looking utterly lost.

"I couldn't even kill myself properly!" Hiccup moaned, his voice shaking. "Hiccup the Useless, the only Viking who can't kill anything, even himself!"

Stoick felt his heart break again. "Hiccup, you are not useless," he said firmly.

Hiccup turned away, rolling over onto his side, facing Toothless. The dragon rumbled in concern, clueless as to how to make his human feel better. "Why couldn't you just let me die?" he asked, his voice muffled by his hands. "Why? It would have been better for everyone. I'd have been out of your way. No one would have had to deal with me anymore…"

"Hiccup, you're my son!" Stoick cried. "I couldn't let you go! I need you, son. We all do."

Hiccup paused and turned his head, looking back at his father in confusion. "W-what?"

"Hiccup, nothing that's happened over the past two months has been real," Stoick said quickly, apparently hoping that confessing as rapidly as possible would make it easier. "You're not useless, son. You are the Dragon Trainer, the conqueror of the Red Death, the hero of Berk, the pride of the Haddock family." He reached out and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "You are my son, Hiccup. And…I love you. So much."

Hiccup stared at him, bewildered. After two months of disappointed glares and scolding, this sudden switch was more than he could handle. "I…I don't…what…"

Stoick sighed. "In a few days, we will be receiving a visit from Chief Mogadon of the Meathead Tribe. In his letter he expressed great interest in meeting our fabled Dragon Conqueror." He looked significantly down at Hiccup, who merely blinked and stayed silent. "Mogadon is…a collector of sorts. He likes to collect rare and exotic items, anything that is one-of-a-kind or unusual. When he mentioned meeting the Dragon Conqueror, I read between the lines. He would love to take you and add you to his collection, son.

"I couldn't let it happen. I was afraid. So I came up with a plan and called a meeting one night – that meeting you weren't allowed to attend – to tell everyone. The plan was that we would pretend Snotlout was the Dragon Conqueror. Hiccup, my boy, you're just so small and skinny that I feared you wouldn't last in battle if it came to that. Snotlout is bigger and stronger and looks more intimidating, and he could probably hold his own in a fight with Mogadon if necessary. I hoped that, by pretending Snotlout was the hero, Mogadon would be persuaded to not attempt anything, but even if he tried to take him, Snotlout would be able to protect himself.

"So we had to pretend that Snotlout defeated the Red Death and then make you appear as insignificant as possible so as not to attract Mogadon's attention. And I'm sorry to say that it meant we had to hurt you. We had to make you look and feel like a, well…" He broke eye contact with his son for a moment. "…a hiccup."

There was a long silence. Hiccup stared up at his father, his face blank and expressionless. There was a war waging in his eyes, though, the emotions flicking in and out so much that it was impossible for Stoick to see what he was feeling.

After a moment Hiccup croaked out, "Why…why didn't you just tell me? I…I wouldn't have minded pretending…"

Stoick shook his head. "No offense, son, but you're not good at acting or lying or keeping secrets. I feared that, if we told you, the game would be up before it started, and then Mogadon would declare war on us for trying to hide you from him. I thought…I thought it best for you not to know. Once you'd experienced it, you'd be able to play the part with no problem."

Silence fell again. Hiccup looked at his father for a long time before turning away to gaze up at Toothless. The dragon rumbled quietly, but Hiccup didn't respond. He turned his eyes down, staring at his injured wrist. He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. All that came out was a faint croak, and he snapped his jaws shut once more. No one said anything, watching apprehensively as he took in this sudden revelation.

Finally, his voice soft and toneless, Hiccup said, "So let me get this straight. You made me feel like I was useless, pushed me down, ignored me, treated me worse than a slave, took away everything that means anything to me, hurt me over and over again…for two months…in an attempt to…protect me?" He looked up at his father, waiting for his answer.

Stoick, not really knowing how to interpret Hiccup's expression, nodded. "Aye. That's right."

Hiccup stared at him, his face vacant. His eyes then roved over the others gathered around his bed, pausing for maybe a second longer on Astrid and Gobber. Then his gaze flickered back to his father. He sat up, ignoring the way his head swam at the sudden motion.

"Dad," he said in a voice that was slow, careful, and measured, "I didn't know it was possible for you to be this incredibly stupid."

A collective gasp went around the room. Stoick pulled back, his eyes wide in shock. No one said anything for a moment. Hiccup began to shake as rage started breaking through his carefully-maintained façade.

"I…" Stoick finally unstuck his throat. "I thought—"

"No you didn't think!" Hiccup snapped. "That's your problem! You never think! You never think about how your decisions are going to affect people! You decided to go off and find the dragons' nest even though I tried to tell you it was a hopeless battle! And you decided to hurt me instead of telling me the truth! The first time, I lost my leg. The second time, I tried to kill myself." He gripped his bandaged wrist, his knuckles white. "How many times am I going to have to injure myself before you finally decide to use your brain?! How many more times am I going to have to almost die before you realize that maybe your ideas suck?! How many more times are you going to hurt me?! How many more of your mistakes am I going to have to pay for?!"

A ringing silence followed this tirade. Hiccup, visibly trembling by now, looked away from the people around him, gazing down at his hands, drawing deep, shuddering breaths. Tears beaded in the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over.

"I'm sorry," Stoick finally managed to choke out. "I never…never wanted to hurt you like this, son."

Hiccup scoffed. "Never wanted to hurt me…" he repeated. He looked up at Toothless, who gazed sadly back. "Never wanted to hurt me…that's a laugh…"

"I was trying to protect you!" Stoick added, a pleading note entering his voice.

"Yeah, and how did that turn out for you?" Hiccup retorted coldly. "Gods, it's so great having a father who has absolutely no confidence in my ability to defend myself."

"That's not what I—"

"It's exactly what you meant," Hiccup interrupted. "Despite everything I've done, everything I've been through, you still see me as a useless little runt who can't take care of himself. Have you forgotten that I killed a dragon the size of a mountain? All the battles with Alvin and the Outcasts? Dagur and the Berserkers? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I can actually hold my own against an enemy? Did you forget about Toothless?" He gestured to the dragon at his side. "As long as I've got him beside me, nothing can harm me. You know that, Dad, yet still you thought hurting me was a better alternative than actually telling me what was going on so that maybe I'd be able to, oh I don't know, recognize a threat when I saw one?" He shook his head. "Thanks, Dad. Thanks for confirming that I really am useless in your eyes."

"You're not useless!" Stoick insisted. "Son, none of that was real—"

"Not real?!" Hiccup shouted. "Not real?! You think the pain you put me through wasn't real? That the last two months of torture weren't real? That this…" He thrust his wrist out and privately relished the sight of Stoick flinching away from it. "…isn't real?! How dare you! How dare you sit there and tell me that all this was just pretend, make-believe, that it wasn't real! You…" He faltered, his fury and heartbreak so intense that words failed him completely. He turned away, curling up as sobs finally burst from his chest, unstoppable. Stoick, at a loss, reached toward him, but Hiccup recoiled away and snarled, "Don't fucking touch me!"

There was another collective gasp. No one had ever heard Hiccup swear before.

"Get out!" Hiccup said. "All of you, get out!"

No one moved. "Hiccup—" Stoick began weakly.

"Get out of my room!" Hiccup screamed. "Get out of here! Get out! I hate you! I hate all of you! Get out, godsdamn it! Get out, get out, GET OUT!"

Any thoughts of trying to stay were immediately shattered when Toothless snarled and crouched into a predatory stance, ready to defend his human. Stoick, deciding that it was best not to antagonize an angry Night Fury, hastily stood and followed the others out the door. Astrid looked like she wanted to stay and speak, but Stoick forced her out. Soon he was the only other person left in the room. He paused just long enough to glance back at Hiccup. His son was curled up in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably, his whole body shaking in grief and rage. Stoick felt his own heart clench at seeing his son so broken, but Toothless was still growling, so he retreated without another word.

The moment the door was shut, Toothless ceased his defense and crooned down at Hiccup. The boy raised his head from his hands and threw his arms around his friend's neck, sobbing loudly into the shiny black scales. Toothless moaned softly deep in his throat, wondering what he could possibly do to ease his human's pain.

"T-Toothless," Hiccup gasped. "H-how…how could they d-do this to me? How c-could they hurt me s-so badly then say that n-none of it was r-real? How…how could they…?"

Toothless suddenly rose up onto his hind legs, and Hiccup, his arms still wrapped firmly around the dragon's neck, rose with him. He yelped in shock and confusion as Toothless waddled away from the bed, Hiccup dangling in front of him, swinging slightly to and fro. Then the dragon gently lowered to all fours again, allowing his human to stand for a brief moment before crumpling, his legs unsteady from losing so much blood.

He never hit the floor, though. Toothless was there to catch him.

"Toothless?" Hiccup looked up in bewilderment. "What are you…"

Toothless flashed his gummy smile, and Hiccup fell silent, understanding at last. His voice was thick with emotion when he murmured, "Thanks, bud."

He settled down, snuggling into his dragon's side. His scales were warm and soothing, and he sighed comfortably. Toothless curled his tail around, letting the remaining tailfin rest over Hiccup like a sheet. Hiccup allowed his eyes to close, pressing himself into the Night Fury, seeking and finding reassurance from the dragon's body. This was the one creature that had never turned on him, never doubted him, always stood by him no matter what, would never abandon him…

Before sleep claimed him, Hiccup whispered, "I love you, Toothless."

Toothless crooned back, and Hiccup didn't need to know the dragons' language to understand what he'd said.