Astrid's eyes widened in shock as she received the call from Jelena at the nursery.

"You did WHAT?" she shouted. 

"We got the cops to arrest that red-haired man that was stalking your child!" Jelena reported proudly over the phone. 

"But he's already in prison!" she protested. "Oh Thor-you didn't...." She swallowed. "Was the guy you arrested tall, skinny, dark auburn hair?"

"Yes-that's what you described: red hair, green eyes..."

"Is this some sort of joke, Loki?" Astrid murmured tiredly. "No. The man who came was my friend, Hiccup Haddock, who I sent as an emergency replacement to collect Emma. The man you were supposed to look out for was Dagur Derange-I'm pretty certain I told you his name-who was arrested four days ago for abducting Emma from hospital."

"You didn't tell us that, did you?" Jelena replied accusingly. Astrid stiffened angrily-then sagged. 

"No, I didn't," she sighed. "But he's a good guy, my friend and he totally doesn't deserve this. Where is he?"

"He's been taken to Berk Central PD," Jelena told her and she winced at the words. "I wish we had listened to Emma. She was crying and calling him 'Unca Hiccup'! I thought she was confused..." Astrid sighed and cast Rolf a worried look. She knew the man would start to get irritated with the times she had needed to duck out of work and she wondered if she was risking her job-but she had to collect Emma and then she had to free Hiccup.

"My daughter isn't easily confused," she said firmly. "I'll be over shortly to collect her!" She saw Rolf sigh as she hung up. "I'm truly sorry, Rolf. It's Emma. I need to collect her..." The man huffed, staring across the assembled regulars at the counter. He knew they had passed through the lunchtime rush and it wasn't Astrid's fault.

"Couldn't you get someone else to collect her, for once?" he asked gruffly. Astrid sighed as she pulled on her coat.

"I did," she said bleakly. "I asked Hiccup. And the idiots called the cops and had him arrested!"

Everyone at the counter turned and stared at her in shock. They all knew Hiccup as the quiet, shy young man who was Astrid's 'special'-the guy she fussed over and looked after as if he were her boyfriend. And he had never done anything remotely out of the ordinary or troublesome except send back an order of treacle pudding Astrid had persuaded him to try because he had hated the taste. At the far end, Gobber frowned. The big two-limbed man shifted on his stool, his long braided blonde moustache moving gently as he shifted his bulky shape.  He rarely made lunchtimes because he worked in his own garage-but he had slipped in today because things were very quiet and heard the statement.

"What? They've arrested Hiccup? In Thor's name-why?" he asked. Astrid sighed, swiftly changing into her boots. 

"They mixed him up with Emma's Dad, who was stalking us but is now arrested," she explained. 

"Oh, the poor laddie," Gobber commented, his face concerned. "He certainly doesnae deserve that. He's as kind as they come and never hurt a fly..." Astrid frowned, her eyes narrowing.

"Wait-you know him?" she asked. Gobber nodded brashly, taking a sip from his beer.

"Of course-he's my godson!" he explained easily as everyone gaped at him. Even Sven was stunned to silence.  "I told him about this place when he went tae College-and when his father died, he stuck coming here every day as the only place he could feel comfortable, feel accepted. Feel like home." He paused. "And he's sweet on ye too, lass."

Astrid gaped at the indiscreet comment and then it struck her. She stamped her boots to make sure they were comfortable.

"No, no," she murmured. "No-he just wanted me out of his space. He couldn't possibly want me-with my child and my chaotic life and now getting him arrested..." Gobber gave a knowing grin, his prosthetic hook hand expertly slid round the stein of beer. 

"Ye may think yer know best, lass," Gobber said smugly. "But I know Hiccup. Since he came back after his crash, he's been looking so much happier every time yer talk tae him. I can see it in his eyes. Of course, he's so awkward and lacking in confidence that he would never say anything. I mean, the lad was always shy even when he was a skinny runt of a boy and being dumped by that Ana didn't do anything except mek him think he's even more worthless. But he needs to know that yer interested as well, lass-if yer are. Because he would ne'er believe that a beautiful lass like you would never want tae be with a fishbone like him!"

She was shaking her head-but then she stopped. The way Hiccup had reacted in the hospital was suddenly cast in a new light. He hadn't been rejecting her: he had been deeply hurt by her apparently abrupt decision to leave him, even though he had mastered his demons and got back behind the wheel because Astrid and Emma had needed him. And he must have assumed...

"He thought it was the leg," she murmured. "Gods, that poor guy..." Gobber frowned.

"Lassie?" he asked. Astrid pulled her purse on urgently. 

"I made a mistake," she said in a horribly guilty voice. "I thought he was happy to get rid of me and Emma because we caused him so much trouble...but he was trying to tell me he was interested, that he liked me...and when I offered to leave because I was worried about everything he was doing for us, he must have thought...I was rejecting him."

"Aye, that sounds like our Hiccup," Gobber said sagely, scratching the back of his bald head under the grey baseball cap. "Boy lacks any confidence so he wouldnae think tae fight for yer, lass. He'd just accept being rejected because he wants yer tae be happy-and believes he doesnae deserve tae be."

"Idiot!" Astrid raged, suddenly furious. "He let me think he wanted me away. He must have been really upset when we came to get our stuff and he was out. He would have just found us gone-and assume..." She sighed, running her fingers through her bangs. "How can I ever make it up to him?" Gobber stared at her and shrugged.

"Talk to him, lass," he advised her. "Look-my godson is hopeless at saying what he means and especially what he feels because he's scared of being rejected. And yer not much better either. If yer care for him, talk tae him, tell him what yer feel-and soon!" She nodded and headed for the door.

"Hang on, Hiccup-I'm coming!" she murmured as she dashed for her car.

oOo

Hiccup had managed to press his body into the furthest corner of the holding cell, an open cell where all the prisoners on remand were put together while awaiting processing. He was still in shock and panicking, almost hyperventilating as he hugged himself in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. There was no Astrid here to reassure him or tease him gently. And the others  in the cell were eyeing his skinny shape unsettlingly. 

"What yer in for?" a tall, buff, bald-headed man asked, his cold brown eyes and thin stripe of a manicured beard looking menacing. Hiccup swallowed.

"Mistaken identity," he managed, his voice a fairly unmanly squeak. "You?" The man gave a low chuckle.

"Not a mistake," he said easily. "I beat up a snitch for my boss." Hiccup paled.

"Oh," he managed, pressing himself even further back against the bars. His breathing accelerated further.

"They caught me dealing," a bulky man with a mean moustache added, his small dark eyes narrowing at the trembling shape. "Do I know you?"

"No! No!" Hiccup said instantly. "I-I'm not meant to be here!" The three other men in the cell were slumped over the benches, all snoring and looking drunkenly at the two big men. 

"Did the cop call you 'Haddock'?" the bald man asked and Hiccup's green eyes darted around, looking desperately for someone he could appeal to. 

"Um...yeah?" he mumbled, expecting a tide of abuse about his unfortunate surname. Here it comes-the fish jokes, he cringed inwardly. But he wasn't expecting the look they shared and the way they advanced on him, towering over his anxious shape.

"You're the one who told the cops where Dagur was hiding," Baldy said. Hiccup's eyes widened and he stared up. Moustache nodded.

"Mr Dagur was very angry about that," he said. Hiccup's brain screeched to a halt. How did Dagur know? How had Dagur even contacted these people? And what were they planning? How had they found him? And how bad was his luck?

"Um...is he?" he murmured. The bald man grabbed Hiccup's shirt and wrenched him to his feet. 

"And it's only the fact that you're his friend Jorgensen's cousin is saving you!" he growled. 

"Wh-what?' he mouthed, his eyes wide with fear. Moustache was suddenly behind him, holding his arms pinioned and he struggled desperately. "No..." he breathed, writhing against the grips that dug painfully into his arms and wrenched his painful shoulder. His legs were feeling like jelly.

"Of course, we still have to make sure you pay for turning him in," Baldy sneered, pulling back his fist. Hiccup struggled desperately but the man behind him was already laughing-so he kicked out, catching Baldy on the knee with his prosthetic then following it up with another hard kick a little higher. The man backed up a step, gave a low groan and stared at Hiccup with real hatred. "That is going to cost you!" Hiccup kicked out again, struggling fiercely-but Moustache wrenched his arms so hard he felt something tear in his shoulder and he gave a low cry-as the fist crunched into his gut. A hand snatched his hair, pulling his head up and he just saw a fist coming in from the side before the impact smeared his vision with red.

He sagged but was jerked up and fists pounded his body again. He whimpered and felt his vision beginning to grey. But there was one thought that kept him focussed, kept his jaws locked against a cry or any pleas that he knew would be futile:

Even knowing what I do now, if I had to do it again to help Astrid...I would.

Suddenly, there was movement and other shapes were clustered around his battered shape. He cringed as he was dropped and lifted his arms to try to protect his head but the drunks from the cell were attacking the others and he managed to scrabble back into the corner. 

"Leave him alone!"

"He's only a young lad!"

"What's he done to yer anyway?"

"He turned my boss into the cops..." 

Hiccup lifted his head, a small surge of defiance curling in his chest with the last of his courage. "He had kidnapped my girlfriend's little girl," he managed to mumble just loud enough for the drunks to hear. There was a collective growl and they grabbed Hiccup's two attackers, thumping them and driving them back. One of the drunks, a kindly looking man with a huge brown beard and scruffy brown hair leaned close to the curled up young man.

"You're Stoick's boy, aren't you?" he murmured gently. Hiccup nodded dumbly, his vision still swimming in and out. "I'm Ack-I served with your father." He peered at the battered face. "You'll be okay, lad. Just a few bruises." He looked up and bellowed. "MAN DOWN! INJURED PRISONER!"

Hiccup relaxed, his vision finally fading from the pain. He could hear the echoes of footsteps closing and distorted shouts before everything finally faded to black.

oOo

He regained consciousness laying curled on his side, bandages over the cut on his eyebrow and cheek and pretty much all of him hurting. A hand was curled around his, the fingers warm and strong and he painfully lifted his head. Astrid's azure eyes met his, concerned. Emma was sitting on the floor, colouring her Disney Princess book as he slowly raised his head, giving an almost unconscious whine of pain. In a second, she was on her feet, her braid dropping over her left shoulder as she leaned close.

"Hiccup? Oh, thank Thor! You're awake..." 

A brief instant of warmth surged for him before remembrance returned and he recalled they had left him. He swallowed.

"How did you guess?" he rasped painfully.

"Gods, what happened?" she asked him anxiously. He gave a small smile.

"Dagur really didn't like...I told the cops where he was..." he mumbled.

"But your cousin told you where he was," she pointed out. Hiccup sighed.

"Apparently that doesn't matter," he murmured thickly. "I was the one who told the cops." She looked stricken and ran a hand through her bangs. 

"Gods, I'm sorry, Hiccup," she began but he shook his head.

"It's okay, Astrid," he sighed.

"No, It's not," she said quietly, her face sad. "Look, I think we need to talk. I..." He closed his eyes.

"I don't want to be rude and I really am grateful for you being here but...can we not talk?" he asked her suddenly. "I really don't think there's much more to say. I'm hurt and I'm very, very tired. You have your daughter to look after and I get that. I've got one date left and I would really like you to be my wingman for that but if you don't want to, I can understand that." He sighed. "I don't think you realise how much I owe you and I can never repay all of that. But, right now, could you please leave?"

She stared at him, shocked. He was beaten and battered and looked as pathetic as she had ever seen him but his voice was astonishingly determined and she realised he was trying desperately to hold himself together. And she could force him to listen now but he had requested she go. It wasn't the time-and her heart was telling her that maybe, the time for the talk was already gone.

"As you wish," she said. "Of course, I'll be your wingman. Just let me know when you need me, Hiccup."

I need you now, Astrid. Gods, how I need you. But you've made it plain that you don't need or want me. And my heart is just too battered and bruised right now to cope. Maybe this last date will be the one...or a one...because I know now I can never have you.

But he said nothing and felt his heart break as she took her daughter's hand and walked away.