He was free of nightmares for once, curled on his side and snuggled under the quilt, his shaggy hair flopped over his peaceful face. A hand shook him urgently and his emerald eyes snapped open, dazed and disorientated as he sat up, breathing hard.

Astrid was facing him, frantic. Blinking and shaking his head to try to focus, he saw the woman breathing hard, a limp shape in her arms. Adrenaline surged through him and he instantly sat upright, eyes focussing on Emma.

"What happened?' he asked, his voice rough with sleep. 

"She-she's had a seizure!" she said, her voice almost a sob. There was real fear in her eyes, the limp child clutched to her body. "I-I don't know what to do..." Hiccup swung his legs round and reached forward, a hand resting briefly on the child's forehead: as expected, she was scorching hot.

"She has a high fever," he told Astrid softly. "I guess she's had a febrile convulsion. You need to cool her down and then we'll get her checked out." She nodded as he leaned forward, grabbing his prosthetic and strapping it on unselfconsciously. He stood then gently grasped her shoulder and led her to the bathroom. Astrid was hugging her daughter, gently rocking her and murmuring reassurances to the limp child. As she was gently lowering the little girl to the bathroom mat, Hiccup was wetting a hand towel under the faucet and wringing out the cold water. He handed her the cold, damp towel and gave an encouraging smile and she nodded, calming. 

"Thanks," she said gratefully, pressing the cold, damp towel against the child's flushed face. Emma gave a small moan but didn't wake and Hiccup fumbled in the cabinet, dragging out  a bottle of children's paracetamol and handing it over. Astrid's eyes widened in surprise.

"I picked it up when you moved in," he explained in a self-conscious voice, blushing. "Um...just in case." She looked up into his face and there was such a look of gratitude that it made his heart melt. He ran his hand through his hair and gave a small smile before she turned away, murmuring to Emma and coaxing the child to swallow the medicine. Emma was still limp and burning up and Astrid hugged the child to her chest. 

"She's still very hot," she sighed as he rewetted the towel and handed it back.

"What can I do?" he asked her evenly and she sighed. 

"I-I don't know," she said helplessly, her eyes swimming with tears. Hiccup felt himself cringe inwardly: Astrid was the strongest person he knew, a woman who had dealt with single parenthood, long hours and numerous setbacks without her friends-but she was desperate and in fear for her daughter. Hiccup paused, then awkwardly rose to his feet, the cringe unconscious but obvious. "Hiccup...does it hurt?" she asked suddenly. "Can you...show me?"

He swallowed. He hadn't shown his leg to anyone, hadn't shared his scars with his friends or family-because he had neither and he was still secretly convinced that once he showed his scars to Astrid, she would be as repulsed as Ana...would reject him like Ana. But he nodded.

"It's not pretty," he murmured and sat on the edge of the bath. "When the truck hit, I took the brunt of the impact. The front of the car was crumpled-and my left leg was trapped. Was crushed." 

Astrid nodded, still gently sponging down her daughter. She had seen the wreckage in the Berk Trader online archive and her mind imagined the tall, auburn-haired shape trapped, in pain. His green gaze flicked over the limp shape, her blonde hair framing her flushed face. 

"Ana was gotten out pretty quickly," he admitted. "But I was trapped and badly injured. I-I remember feeling such pain...and very, very faint. The doctors and firemen were more and more worried that I was dying. And I was just resigned to seeing my Mom and Dad again." Astrid's eyes widened: she hadn't registered both his parents were dead and the sympathy flared in her face. He gave a small smile. "It was almost comforting...the thought I could see them again...but I didn't want to die. They told me they needed to free me because I needed surgery to save my life. They said...they would have to remove my leg to free me. That my leg was crushed beyond saving, especially with the time since the crash. And then they gave me an injection. And then they cut it off. They said I would forget. But I remember."

His voice was emotionless, his eyes unfocussed. He swallowed, breathing hard. But he blinked, focussing on Emma. 

"So I have some pretty bad scars, especially from the amputation and the revision surgery they had to do to repair the mess they made of my leg. So...yeah...it hurts. " And he quietly pulled the leg up of his loose training pants that he used as pyjamas. Astrid's eyes widened as he briefly unstrapped the prosthetic to reveal his truncated leg, wincing at the sight of the horrible red scars clustered round the stump and reaching up past his knee. He looked up into her eyes-then lowered his in a shamed gesture as he refasten the prosthesis and let the pants leg drop down. "I'm sorry," he whispered and made to rise-but she reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing fiercely. 

"Hiccup-you have nothing to be sorry for," she told him strongly. "Look-those scars are part of you. They are the signs that you fought for your life, that you survived a crash that probably should have killed you. That you were strong enough to endure the pain, to overcome the injuries and carry on with your life."

"To be dumped by the girl I loved because I was less than human," he said bitterly. She paused.

"You told me that you turned the car at the last minute," she said slowly, feeling Emma shift in her arms and gently laying her down on the rug, wrapping the damp towel around her scorching shape. "In other words, you turned to save Ana-and accepted the direct impact yourself. You did that without thinking: you saved her at the cost of your leg. You survived a horrible accident. Those scars are the marks of your selfless bravery, of the fact you sacrificed yourself to save her."

"They're hideous," he said quietly. "And I am useless because of it...completely worthless..."

She was instantly up on her knees, grasping his hands and forcing him to look into her face. 

"Hiccup-you are the bravest, kindest, most generous man I know," she told him. "You saved Ana. You saved us. You are anything but worthless. Gods, you are amazing!"

"But the scars..."

She stared into his face and twitched up her vest top a few inches, then slid her pyjama bottoms down low over her hips. Hiccup's emerald eyes widened in shock as he saw her flat, pale stomach...and then he saw it: the pale scar cut low across her abdomen. 

"This scar was made because my child was in danger," she said in a fierce voice. "I was told that she could die or be permanently harmed if I didn't let them operate. And my only thought was to save her-no matter what happened to me. And this C-section scar reminds me every day that I was willing to do anything to save her. I am not ashamed, no matter how ugly it is, because it is part of me. It is testament to what I would do for the one I love."

She blinked fiercely and then she felt his hand on hers.

"You're amazing," he said softly, his eyes shining. "I don't deserve you as a friend." She huffed.

"Mutton-head-you are the best friend I have," she told him sternly. "I trust you completely." He gulped and then knelt back down by her and felt Emma's head. 

"She's still very hot," he murmured. And then the girl began twitching again, her eyes rolling back. Astrid gasped and clutched her gently to her chest and Hiccup paused, then lifted her to her feet. "We need to get her to the ER," he said decisively and Astrid stared at him. 

"I can't drive," she protested. "She's my baby! She needs me! What if she wakes and I'm not holding her..?"

"Get something warm on," he told her. "I'll drive!" She looked at him, her eyes wide with shock but his voice was calm and firm so she nodded, lifting the little girl and heading for her room to grab a jumper, boots and a coat. When she emerged, Hiccup was already in jeans, jumper, boots and his coat, a scarf wound around his neck. He grabbed his keys and hers, his wallet and phone and let them out into the icy and frigid Berk night. The cold almost took their breath away and Hiccup limped urgently to her car, unlocking the door and watching Astrid slide into the passenger sheet, the limp shape of Emma wrapped in a blanket and clutched in her arms. Then he walked round to the driver's seat and slid in. The door slammed shut.

He froze as he slid the key into the ignition and his breathing accelerated. His eyes saw the truck barreling towards him, heard the gasp of the woman beside him, felt the turn of his hands as he jerked the car round to offer his own life for Ana's...

...and he heard Astrid breathing, the soft almost sobbing breaths of a mother suffering agonies as her sick child lay limp in her arms. He had promised to help her.

And she hadn't recoiled from his scars, hadn't been repulsed by his lack of leg.

She had shown him her own scar, shared her pride at the reminder. And demanded that he have the same pride in his own wounds.

He could do this for Astrid.

He turned the key and the engine purred into life, his hand automatically pulling the seatbelt across his body. Astrid had already strapped herself and her child in as he put the car into gear and pulled out. His knuckles were white on the wheel and his eyes were dark with almost-panic but he snatched one last look.

This was for Astrid-and Emma. They were his friends. They had promised to be with him. He couldn't let them down.

And it was so late he should be safe from trucks as well.

So they drove unexpectedly swiftly through the deserted snowy streets and though Hiccup's palms were clammy with sweat and his throat felt dry, they made Berk General in record time and pulled up right outside the ER. He switched the engine off and exhaled in utter relief, then scrambled out and raced round to open the door and help Astrid out. They raced into the ER and Astrid ran straight to the nurse.

"Please-you have to help my daughter," she pleaded. "She's very feverish, it hasn't settled with the usual medicine and she's had two seizures..."

Emma and Astrid were whisked through into a cubicle and Hiccup looked around-then took a seat in the waiting room, hunching his shoulders and trying to calm his heart rate. His hands were shaking and he felt lightheaded. He had driven! And though he had felt a surge of panic, been plagued by the flashback of that horrific moment once more, it hadn't paralysed him-because he had needed to overcome it for his friends.

For Astrid.

He pressed his hands to his face and closed his eyes. It was all for Astrid, all for the blonde waitress who had determinedly befriended him when he had returned from his exile, escaped from his home for the first time since his life imploded and he was shattered. Astrid who had come up with the crazy idea to fix him up with a new girlfriend because she was determined that he shouldn't be alone-and because she had already given up on ever finding someone herself who would accept Emma along with her feisty mother. Astrid who had acted as chauffeur, wingman and constant voice of optimism despite disaster after disaster. Astrid who was the only reason he continued on this ridiculous charade.

Astrid who he would rather be going on the date with.

His eyes snapped open at the sudden revelation. Of course he would rather be on the date with Astrid! She was far and away the best part of any of the horrible dates she had endured throughout the whole process, starting with that riot at the pizzeria... He groaned. She was his friend and of course she would never see the 'cute kind generous' one-legged loser like that. He was lucky she was his friend and he should just be grateful for that and not jeopardise that friendship with some stupid notion. She hadn't recoiled from his scars-but that didn't mean should would ever want to be near him...like that. He should just accept his lot and be grateful for what Odin had granted him.

Astrid must never know.

He was dozing, his good leg drawn up to his chest and wrapped in his arms as a nurse came over and shook him. "Mr Haddock?" she asked and his eyes snapped open-then he nodded, blinking owlishly. "Mr Haddock-your partner and daughter are asking for you." His eyes slammed open and he started.

"They're..." he began and then caught himself. He forced himself to nod and levered himself up to his feet but fortunately the nurse missed his confusion, assuming it was because he had just woken. She smiled broadly and ushered him past the desk and into the back. He limped and peered around, hearing beeps, moans and the murmur of voices and felt the panic rise within him. The memories of when he woke in the ICU, finally realising how close he had been to dying, how much he had lost washed over him. His breathing had accelerated and he blinked, feeling lightheaded-but then the nurse pulled the curtains open and he was shown into a cubicle where Emma was lying on a trolley with an IV in her arm. Her eyes were open and she grinned as she saw him. He smiled-and then he saw Astrid, looking at him with a tender smile and warmth exploded in his chest, chasing away his panic.

"Hey," she said, rising to her feet from the chair by the trolley. She self-consciously brushed the bangs away from her left eye and blushed. Hiccup walked closer.

"How is she?" he asked then looked at Emma. "How are you?" Astrid nodded.

"She's much better," she admitted. "You've got a strep throat and an ear infection-haven't you, baby?" Emma nodded and gave a hoarse, childish cough. "And she had a couple of febrile convulsions because her fever was so high. You were absolutely right. How did you know?" Her voice was admiring. He rubbed the back of his neck and inched closer, looking embarrassed.

"Um...when you moved in, I started reading up on common childhood illnesses and problems...just in case," he explained sheepishly. 

"So you knew what to do," she realised. "Thank you, Hiccup." He smiled.

"You're welcome, Milady," he said, the anxiety settling in his chest. "And that's what friends do, after all. Help each other out..."

"But-but you knew what to do, you took control and you-you drove us here!" she said. Emma reached her small hand out for him and he gently took her warm grip, feeling her little fingers curl around his. 

"Thank you, Unca Hiccup," she smiled. Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Unca?" he echoed. Astrid smiled.

"Her idea," she apologised. "Sorry." He grinned, suddenly touched at the trust.

"No, it's-it's okay," he said in a soft voice. "I-I'm flattered."

"And sorry for telling the nurse you were...we were..." she said guiltily. "But they wouldn't have let you in otherwise..." Her hand tentatively brushed his and her fingers loosely tangled with his. "Thanks," she said. He smiled.

"No, I should be thanking you," he admitted. "You gave me the courage, the reason to get out and face my fears. I had to get you here..."

And then she lunged at him, her lips meeting his in a brief but scorching kiss. Instinctively, he leaned his head gently forward into the kiss, pressing sensuously against her lips and savouring the magical contact. When she pulled back, they were both breathing hard, eyes hazed with a mix of shock and affection.

"Sorry," Astrid mumbled but he lifted her chin with a finger, feeling as if he was floating. 

"I rather think that's my line," he murmured and rested his forehead against hers. She smiled.

"So what do we do now?" she murmured.