Wrong Door.

Despite the fact he had been a BERK for almost six months, Hiccup Haddock continued to get lost in the warren of tunnels that knotted through the granite mountain and today, he was somewhere in the sub levels, utterly disorientated. And, worse, he had left his ID card and com on his desk as he wandered off to fetch the replacement cable from the IT stores so he was effectively trapped. The doors behind him were swipe-card access only and he could only go forward. He couldn't call for help and no one knew where he was.

Perfect, he thought bitterly, walking along the cool corridor. The lighting was rudimentary and there were pipes on the roof, leading deeper into the mountain...the only way he could go. He stared up and then wearily began to walk in the direction of the passage.

Still seventeen and skinny, lanky and self-conscious, Hiccup wasn't the most confident of teens. He had long been the outsider in his school, the skinny geek who was isolated and bullied by the popular kids. The lack of a mother and a largely absent father condemned the young man to constant taunts and sneers. When he was dragged to BERK, there had been no friends to miss him, just teachers who had been happy to forward him the last two courses he needed to graduate because of the huge extra credits he had already accrued. Two months ago, he had been awarded his High School Diploma while his old classmates were still in Senior Year and he was already busy with the modules of his degree. Of course, they hadn't known what to do with the General's useless son when he arrived and after an embarrassing argument between the various departments, they had dumped him in IT and registered him for a degree which he was ripping through with impressive speed. But he was still the outsider.

He turned another corner, his forest green eyes flicking over the plain corridor. He still dressed like a High School kid, with scruffy black jeans, black converse, black T-shirt under a green training top. His tousled dark auburn hair was usually wild, just above the collar and contrasting his pale, faintly freckled skin. He usually looked worried and being lost seriously wasn't helping. He sighed and stumbled on through the tunnel...and then he faced a blank door.

His eyes popped wide in shock and laid his hands flat on the door. There was an emergency release...but there was nowhere else he could go. The door behind him was swipe access and before him...could be anything. But he couldn't stay under the bowels of the mountain forever so, with a quick prayer to Odin, he pressed the release and opened the door. Quietly, he slid his skinny shape through the gap and then turned...to find himself in a large, brightly-lit chamber with piles of rocks laid on the floor...and between them...there were various large multi-coloured eggs... He backed away in shock, his eyes flicking across the space as the door clicked shut behind him. He turned in shock and slammed his hands on the blank portal, completely smooth and devoid of any means of opening. And then he spun again, pressing his skinny shape back against the metal.

He could see now he was in one of the Dragon containment areas...the Hatching Pit, if the eggs were any clue. And this clearly wasn't any old time...oh, no-this was Hiccup we were talking about. So obviously it was some particularly important event because he could see the huge shape in the General's uniform with the enormous russet beard and he could see and feel the scowl from across the Hatching Pit. Gods, he was really gonna pay for this. And then there were the alpha males who were lined up ready to try to bond with whatever dragon was hatching, men who despised Hiccup and who had already made clear what they would do to the skinny teen if he got in their way: Snotlout, his stocky and powerful cousin who had bullied him all his life; Dagur Oswaldson, the brother of his boss and a psychopathic sadist who terrified Hiccup; Savage, a man who lived up to his name; Eret Eretson, tall handsome and arrogant and Tuffnut Thorston, the crazy surfer dude who was snarky, weird and wild. All were glaring at him in a way that promised some serious lumps for the teen, looks that sent tremors of fear down his spine and were horrible reminders of hours writhing under the fists of his worst bullies back in school.

"Oy, Useless! What the Hel are you doing here?" Snotlout shouted furiously. Hiccup pressed back against the door harder and his eyes widened in fear.

"I-I got lost..." he stammered, his shoulders slumped and head down. "I-I'm sorry..."

"I'll make you fucking sorry, you pathetic little worm!" Dagur snarled, his pale green eyes narrowed in rage and tone menacing. "If you screw this up, I will literally make your life a living Hel..."

"On your own time, Dagur!" a voice boomed over the loudspeaker that Hiccup recognised as his father's. The General sounded mad. "Right now there is a dragon in play!"

Thanks, Dad. Way to protect your son. Now you've given him carte blanche to come after me and kick the crap out me at his leisure! Hang on...dragon? Oh Thor...

"Yeah-and he's mine!" Dagur snapped and lunged for the unseen creature. There was a small roar and a claw slashed fiercely at the man. He leapt back, three light claw-marks visible across his left cheek and eye. He swiped the thin smears of blood away angrily and grabbed at the creature. There was movement and the man snatched his hand back, giving a scream of pain at the bite he had received. Snotlout lunged forward and found himself bitten as well. Without thinking, he aimed a kick at the creature. There was a thud and a pained little croon. Hiccup edged forward a few paces, his neck craning to see what was happening. Despite the fact that he shouldn't be here, he found himself intensely curious and was desperate to see what was going on.

"HICCUP! Get out the way!" the General boomed over the loudspeaker and cringing, he backed away, feeling the furious eyes on his form. Savage pointedly clenched his fist and the teen realised no matter what happened, he was facing a beating. Standing in his corner, breathing hard and bowing his head, he felt his stomach clutch in fear. And then he saw movement and his eyes widened as the creature bounded into view, Savage and Dagur grabbing at the little dragon.

The creature was black and sleek, its rounded head and blunt muzzle flattened top to bottom with huge acid green eyes and small vertical appendages at the back of his head that Hiccup guessed were ears. The dragon had four sturdy legs; a long tail with stabiliser fins and bat-like wings, half unfurled and was about as tall as Hiccup's knee and maybe as long as he was tall. As Hiccup stole another glance, he saw the creature snap angrily at the grasping hands before then it saw him, suddenly bounding towards the shocked teen. Scared, completely unsure what to do, Hiccup cringed into the corner and saw the dragon leap at him. He hit the wall and slid down, cringing back as the dragon gave a small roar and bounded closer, crowding the cowering teen. Curling up, his left hand raised palm out to protect his head, Hiccup closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Please don't hurt me," he whispered.

And then something warm and dry pressed against his hand. Scales. On the muzzle of the dragon.

He froze: the dragon's nose was pressed hard against his outstretched hand, a rumbling purr sounding through the black body. Scared, Hiccup snatched a brief look to see the dragon crooning happily, resting against his touch. And when he looked at the dragon closer, it opened its eyes, the oblong pupils wide and very cute looking. Almost feeling his apprehension, the dragon opened his mouth and a moist pink tongue hung out, panting like a dog. Hiccup gave a scared laugh, the smile twisting his lips more difficult to resist as he stretched his other hand out to stroke the smooth, scaly face. The dragon leaned into his touch, purring more loudly.

"Hey, buddy," Hiccup said shakily, his eyes wide with wonder, feeling the dragon press lovingly into his caress. He rubbed the scaly face more confidently, caressing the head affectionately. The dragon was eagerly pressing against him and he found himself grinning at the eager antics of the newly hatched creature. It opened its mouth in a gummy smile and he frowned. "Toothless? I could have sworn..." he murmured as the others closed on him.

"What the Hel are you doing, Useless?" Snotlout threatened, his fists tight.

"Get away from my dragon!" Dagur snarled and kicked at the teen. Hiccup yelped as the heavy boot slammed into his hip and he cringed. Just as suddenly, the dragon snapped its head round, its retractible teeth snapping down and pupils narrowing to tight slits as a growl vibrated through the dragon.

"I think...he doesn't think he's yours!" Hiccup hazarded as Dagur lunged forward, grabbing his top and hauling the skinny teen right off his feet. His other hand slammed round furiously and the punch tossed the boy hard back a couple of yards to dump him in a heap on the floor, trying to curl away from the next blow. But as Dagur cocked his fist again, the dragon leapt between him and the teen, growling, and his mouth filling with a purple glow. He fired a blast that tossed the man back. Snotlout gaped then lunged at the dragon.

"Now I really want him!" he admitted and grabbed at the dragon. Before he could even reach, it had fired another small purple blast at him, slamming him back by Dagur. Eret and Tuffnut backed away, seeing the little dragon was very agitated and aggressive...but Savage grabbed at the dragon and ended up bitten and then blasted away. His back arched and head down, the dragon growled again, his throat glowing with plasma.

"All of you-back off!" the General boomed over the loudspeaker. "The beast is agitated. Give it some space!" Rebellious and casting Hiccup deeply menacing glares, the soldiers retreated and Hiccup slowly uncurled, trying to squirm away but the little dragon turned back, his pupils popping wide and giving a little whimper. The dragon instantly nuzzled against him, rubbing him frantically and giving small whimpers, then bounding up onto Hiccup's chest, the weight pushing the skinny teen down into the ground, the tongue swiping sticky saliva over his face. Touched by the desperate affection, Hiccup looked back at the distressed dragon and gently rubbed the side of its head.

"It's okay, buddy," he soothed, sitting up and watching the dragon back off of his chest. "You just need to calm down. You need to choose a rider. You need someone to care for you, buddy." The dragon whimpered and rubbed frantically against him. "Oh, no no no no no," Hiccup said, appalled. "No-you can't choose me. I'm...nobody. Nothing. You need a proper rider...someone who deserves you..." The dragon began to cry, pitiful whimpering sounds loud in the room. Hiccup leaned closer and hugged the little head fiercely. "Please don't make those whimper sounds," he pleaded. "You deserve better than me. Choose one of the others..."

"Eh, laddie...I think he's chosen ye and won't be deterred," Gobber's brogue said over the loudspeaker. The Colonel was Operations Officer, General Haddock's lifelong friend and Hiccup's de facto uncle. He was, in fact, one of the few people who cared if he lived or died...and one of very few that Hiccup trusted. In shock, Hiccup raised his head.

"He-he has?" he squeaked in an amazingly unmanly voice. Gobber nodded.

"Get yer scrawny ass over here and report for initial training and feeding!" Gobber ordered and gestured to the door at the far side of the pen. Slowly, Hiccup scrambled to his feet and the dragon instantly nuzzled against his leg. He leaned down and stroked the smooth head, fingers trailing through the dragons's several ear-flaps. Then he straightened up, pulling his training top straight and walked over, the dragon following him like a particularly well-trained dog. He caught a glimpse of the faces of the five rejected candidates.

"I'll see you later," Dagur hissed, his face a mask of hatred and Hiccup felt raw fear clutch his stomach. No matter what he did now, that man had marked him as an enemy. And he knew it wouldn't end well.