Thank you so much for your reviews and a massive especial thank you to all those of you who took time to write such detailed reviews, it means so much to hear exactly what you liked about a chapter and what interested you. I appreciate it so much, you'll never know. Hugs to you all!

TheWatchingEye – I hope this fulfils your curiosity…

ShipMistress – more voodoo please! And I'm glad you liked it xxx

CajunBear73 – yep, CBW indeed. And you'll have to judge how it feels…

Katveena – sorry the cute didn't happen when you expected, but hurrah you enjoyed it and found him in-character. Sorry for the long wait!

Razor95 -love the hulk reference , have to say the stakes are about to get higher.

Drachenmdchen – thank you for the lovely detailed review, I don't speak German at all but thankfully have a brilliant friend who could translate your comments. I'm so grateful for your re-reading and spotting the details, I wouldn't let him die, would I?

IcyForest – I'm glad you were surprised! Thanks for the details, the Spitelout scene was one of my favourite bits to write, and I'm a sucker for some heroic-type Eret. So, here's the scene you've been waiting for, I hope it is a favourite.

Guest – Aw, thanks, unique is what I was hoping for. And your idea is great, though not quite where this is going. I hope you enjoy another direction.

Valkyrie – You want it, you got it. And you're right, she does know where to jab when she has to. And she has to now, enjoy!

Wow, well, apologies for how long this chapter has taken, it was hard to write and turned into a bit of beast. Plus real life, you know? I hope you'll think it was worth it! (let me know!)

I did forget to say last time that this is set after HTTYD2 (and maybe 3? Who knows….) and I do envision them as married. I've referenced a lot of canon in this and a HUGE thank you goes out to the wonderful ShipMistress – have you read her stuff yet? Why not?- for all her help with that. You're sensational Shippy! I've also made one tiny reference to the books and a cheeky rtte6 callout, have fun spotting those!

Reviews and comments are my meat and drink, every single one adored and appreciated!

So, things are about to get even more serious. Hiccup has one final chance and, of course, it's Astrid. I guess you've been waiting for this.

Chapter Two

Astrid screwed her eyes shut for a second, as if the dark would blank out Gobber's answer. Absolutely not. It was totally unacceptable. Unthinkable! A world without Hiccup in it? She fought down the rising nausea. No. No way. Not going to happen. Not while she had breath in her body. There had to be a way.

"Gobber!" the shout came from below, "He's down!"

"Shit!" Gobber exclaimed. "Astrid lass, that means he's come back t'himself, for now anyway. And that means it didnae work. Again. Aw fer Thor's sake!" He slammed his hook into his palm and hunched over, a little ball of agony. Finally, he breathed deep them drew himself together. "Right. We dinnae ken how long we'll have this time, so we'd best get him fed if we can, before the next round. We might only have a wee bit o' time so we'd best make the most of it. Come on."

He turned for the Academy gate but Astrid gripped his arm.

"What is it lass? We dinnae have much time, I have tae…"

"Gobber," she dropped his name like a hammer. "This. This is stupid. Fighting? Actual physical fighting? Do you really think this is going to work?"

"Astrid, I've told yer, we have tae…"

"I know!" Astrid exclaimed, "I know, you said. We have to drive the rage up to break it. I get it. But this? Fighting? Letting him beat the Hel out of himself and his own tribe? For fuck's sake! That's never going to work! This is Hiccup. Hiccup Haddock. Don't you know it won't work? Odin's beard, Gobber, have you even met him?"

Gobber slumped. "Lass, we've done our best. What idea d'ye have? What would y' have us do?"

She met his affronted look squarely, eyes like blue flint. "What you should have done four fucking days ago. You give him to me."

o0o

Astrid faced the door to the small room at the back of the arena, the one Hiccup usually used as an office but today was a bolthole for what rest he could snatch. The wood blurred in front of her eyes and she blinked, swallowed to force down the Terrible Terrors swooping in her stomach. Slowly she drew in a long breath, steeling herself. Above, Toothless whined high and thin and she smiled somewhat shakily up at him.

"It's okay T, its okay, I'll sort this. I'll get him back for us, alright? I promise."

Looking back to the door she closed her eyes. Astrid had never been hugely bothered about religion; the gods were just, well, there. Part of everyday life, largely silent and taken for granted. That said, she'd always taken part in their festivals, done her share towards their offerings and if ever there was a moment to call in a favour, surely it was now.

"Father Odin," the prayer was murmured, barely more than a breath, "Allfather, let this idea be the right one, gift me your wisdom. Mighty Thor, lend me the power to face what I have to do, Magni give me strength to do it. Freyja, lady mother, you know how much I love him. Please, please let me keep him…." She paused, hesitant to call on the one God she'd never felt easy with. But…she sighed. Desperate times. "Loki, these may be the biggest lies I ever have to tell. Trickster, lend me your sharp tongue. Let them find their mark. For the future of Berk. For your people. For Hiccup."

The handle was cold and unforgiving, turning slowly under her hand.

"Lass," Gobber stopped her, "Are ye sure? I mean…"

Her stare killed the question in his mouth.

"Aye. Right. So be it. What would y'have me do then?"

"Get our house ready for Hiccup to come home. Or ready two longships for the journey to Valhalla. You'll know which."

"Lass…"

"Gobber. Those are the only two options I'm accepting."

"Alright then."

With one last clasp of her hand he stumped off towards the gate.

"Feeds on your demons does it?" Astrid whispered to herself. "Well, Hiccup has plenty of those. Let's go wake them up."

She opened the door.

Inside, it was dim and cloyingly hot. Sweat broke out instantly on her skin, courtesy of the giant fire burning brightly in the hearth. Where was Hiccup? Not at the table, not in the chair. Finally she spotted him, sleeping restlessly on the rug before the hearth, eyes closed and arms flung wide. He looked, to put it bluntly, wrecked. An angry bruise bloomed across one cheekbone, the other was eye swollen, blackening. All the skin she could see was mottled with a rainbow of other bruises, one leg lay awkwardly twisted, he burned red with fever. And he'd lost so much weight. Even through his tunic she could see the difference. What little softness he'd carried had burned away in the last four days leaving the planes of his face spare and stark where the fire flickered shadows across it. Astrid wanted to scoop him up, hold him and never let go ever again.

"What? I'll show you …"

Hiccup snarled and turned in his sleep and Astrid's heart leapt, started hammering. That was the reminder she needed. She couldn't lose focus, mustn't forget what she'd seen in the arena. Hiccup like this could be deadly. And she had a job to do.

Grabbing a mug from the table she stood over him and, whispering another quick plea to Loki, dropped it in the centre of his chest.

"Whaaaa…?" His eyes flew open as the mug bounced off and he shot up looking around frantically.

Astrid forced a mocking smile onto her face. "Rise and shine Haddock! Time to talk! Tell me, what the Hel is this yakshit?"

"Astrid?" Hiccup's smile was heart-breakingly bright at first, but as he woke properly it clouded uncertainly. "No, no, you're not mean to be here, I told Gobber, I said, you couldn't be here."

She snorted "Oh, I bet you did, I just bet you did. That's why you sent me away in the first place isn't it? To negotiate with the bloody Backward Barbarians? Needed me out of the way didn't you?"

"What? No, that's not…" he started to struggle to his feet, "Astrid, you can't…ah!"

Astrid grabbed him by the shirt front, hauled him to his feet, pulled his face down to hers and glared.

"Don't you fucking tell me what I can't," she spat, flinging him back so he stumbled, almost fell over the hearth, "Four days I spent sleeping in damp wool and eating raw mutton, all so you could pull this nonsense? You knew I'd see though your yakshit didn't you?"

"Astrid!" he pleaded "I have no idea what you're talking about! What yakshit?"

"This!" She waved a hand derisively, taking in his battered form, the dim room, the locked door. "This yakshit Hiccup. Poisoned. Turned into some sort of rage monster, some sort of fighter? You? Yakshit! You knew I'd see right through such a pathetic story. The question is, why are you telling it?"

Hiccup straightened up, the slightest edge hardening his voice. "Astrid, you have to leave, talk to Gobber…."

She laughed. "I have talked to Gobber, he obviously buys it, but not me. So, come on, what's all this about?"

"I can't….I haven't got time…" His voice dropped lower again and she saw his stance beginning to widen, his hands curl reflexively into fists, "I can't hold…You have to go!"

"No way." Astrid stepped toward him, planting her feet wide, mirroring him. "Show me what all this fuss is about."

"Get back."

She stepped closer again. "Show me."

His fists clenched tight. "Get back…"

Another step and they were almost toe to toe. "Show me."

Hiccup dragged in a ragged breath. He was blazing hot and practically vibrating with the effort of holding himself in check. He growled, "I said.. get back!"

"And I said SHOW ME!" Yelling, Astrid drew back her arm and swung, putting all her fears behind the blow. The slap rang loud in the small room and he rocked back. For a moment there was silence then Hiccup lifted his head, touched a finger to his split lip, hissed when he found the blood there. Eyes gone dark, he asked, low and dangerous, "What exactly did you want to see?"

There it was, that black-eyed stare, the razor-sharp smile she'd seen in the arena. For a moment Astrid quailed inside. Gods, he looked deadly. But then, surely, that had to mean her plan could work. She'd raised the demon, now she had to deal with it. Just please, gods, let it work. Swallowing the lump in her throat and forcing a casual air, she walked carefully back to the table.

"Oh, just whatever shit you were trying to pull," she answered, nonchalantly taking a drink from the heavy pitcher there, "Is this it?" she gestured vaguely at all of him, "Is this as good as it gets, Haddock? Really?"

"Astrid…" the hiss of her name raised the hairs on her arms but she pressed on.

"It's no wonder you wanted me out of the way, honestly. But I think I get it now. This is your way out isn't it? You never wanted to be Chief, so you've come up with this ridiculous way to worm out of it! Oh, no, Hiccup's gone crazy…" she mocked, "he can't possibly be Chief now, oh dear, we'd better let him go on his merry way and just fly about exploring the world like he's always wanted, what a shame, boo hoo. And then you get to dump your responsibilities and head off into the sunset. Well." She took another swallow, though the water threatened to stick in her throat. "You could have just done that anyway. Why didn't you just leave? It's not like anyone here really needs you."

"Astrid…" he took a step forwards and she forced herself to stay still.

"No, I mean it. Who needs you here? Really? Who are you after all? Just Hiccup the Useless."

He blinked at the use of the old childhood taunt, snapped, "No-one calls me that."

"No, of course they don't." She flashed him a brilliant grin, "Not to your face anyway."

He grimaced, "No-one…"

"I mean really though," Astrid interrupted quickly. She had to keep him listening, not talking, not thinking. She didn't want reason, she wanted rage. "when have you ever been anything else? Born too early, scrawny little thing, even your own Mother decided you weren't the bother. Yeah, we all thought she'd been eaten by a dragon, but now we know that wasn't true, don't we? She went pretty willingly, as it turns out. And faced with a lifetime of raising as poor a prospect as you, who wouldn't? Dragon fodder or lumbered with little Useless, I know what I'd have chosen."

Hiccup froze like a man dropped in icy water, shuddered and took several angry paces forwards eyes stormy, "That's not what happened!"

Her raised hand stopped him mid-step, close enough that she could hiss the rest in a whisper, "And that's not the worst of it, is it, Hiccup? She didn't only leave you, she never came back. She wasn't eaten, wasn't hurt and she never came back. All those years when she knew dragons weren't really a threat, when she knew they could be befriended, that they weren't really a danger to Berk and still, she never came back."

They weren't her words but his, words he'd shared in the dark voids of long sleepless nights following Stoick's death and Valka's return, when he'd cried for both his parents and she'd cradled, stroked his hair and let him weep,

"She never came back for me Astrid," he'd sobbed, "and she could have, she could have! All these years when I needed her and she never came for me! Why? Why did she never come? Was I not a good enough reason? Why?"

It had been a privilege to be there for him then, to hold him when he needed to fall apart and fold his secret fears into her own. But now she mined them, those sweet, sacred moments, used his own words as ammunition. It was despicable.

"She never came back for you because she realised what everyone else already knew. You weren't a proper Viking, not worth the trouble of raising you. What else could it have been? Your poor father, maybe without you perhaps he could have had his wife back…I wonder how much happier he would have been?"

The lunge was sudden when it came, but she was ready. Hiccup sprang, snarling, she swung the pitcher full force at his chest forcing him to catch it and stumble and used that moment to skitter quickly round the table, putting it between them. Her heart hammered, making her breath come quick. Gods, he'd been so much faster than she expected! Hiccup flung the pitcher across the room, smashing it against the wall in a shower of drops and splinters.

"I don't know what you're doing Astrid," he said, leaning low, both palms flat to the wood. He was breathing fast too but his smile was smooth, sharp at the edges as he eyed her appraisingly. Her skin crawled, she struggled not to show it.

"I don't know what you're doing. But I suggest you stop it. I've broken men's arms for less than that. Ask Tuffnut. But don't want to…No. I won't hurt you." The lascivious tone suggested he might have other ideas for her; the idea was unthinkable. Not like this! She had to distract him.

"Can't" she snapped crisply, clicking the 't'.

"What?"

"It's not won't hurt me," she scoffed "it's can't. Come on, you? Skinny little runt of a fishbone, muscles like knots in wet string. Check your lip, whose blood is that? Not mine. I've been pinning you since we were old enough to walk. You couldn't beat me then, you couldn't beat me now."

He took a few paces slowly around the table's edge, moving with a predator's grace.

"Is that a fact?"

Astrid matched him, circling the table, using the distance as a shield. "You want to try me? Really? It won't go well for you. I mean, come ooon, how many times have you gotten yourself kidnapped? Or captured? Tied up and thrown in the hold of a ship or a cage, waiting for someone else to rescue you? Bested over and over again by real Vikings." She pitched her taunts low, claimed his focus and saw his cheeks darken with rising blood. "If you couldn't beat them, do you really think you could take me down?"

"Astrid. Stop it." The command came out strained and Hiccup's fingertips were white as he dug them into the planks of the tabletop. The look on his face, a dark mix of anger and bewilderment tore at her resolve. She was hurting him. But wasn't that what she wanted? She made herself continue, her tongue a knife in her mouth.

"Why? Do you want to prove I'm wrong? Or do you want to run away again? You do that so well, after all. All those 'missions' off Berk, all those flights off on your own, always searching for something new, a way out of your responsibilities. As if we needed any more of your waifs and strays to take care of. Serving your own agenda, neglecting your responsibilities?" Hiccup opened his mouth but she ploughed on again, not daring to let him talk. "No, shut up, you know I'm right. How many times have you risked the safety and future of Berk by flying off to 'take care of things' yourself? Remember the Island of Night? Training those Whispering Deaths? Itchy Armpit? And how many other times? Plenty. And always you got out by blind luck or someone pulling your arse out of the fire. Me, Stoick, the Riders? Even bloody Dagur for Thor's sake." Shaping her voice into a sneer she leaned as close as she dared. "Like I said, not a proper Viking are you? So, if you're this desperate to leave us, you can. Berk needs a real Chief, and you never have been one!"

His hand flashed across the planks, swifter than a Speed Stinger, grabbing for her wrist. Gasping, she snatched it back out of reach but not before his clawing fingers scored deep lines across the back of her hand. Shit! The world rocked, Odin, that was Hiccup, and Odin, it hurt! But she was the woman who punched a Slitherwing and she wasn't going to fold at the first pain. Instead, she grinned.

"Oh, nearly sweetie, nearly, but…not quite." Lifting her hand she made a show of examining the red trail weeping down her wrist, always matching his pace round the table, then wriggled her fingers at him, laughing. "Hesitated didn't you? Still, should I be surprised? Isn't hesitating your thing? Should be your middle name really, Hiccup Hesitating Haddock the Third. Has quite a ring to it, don't you think?"

There was a loud thunk and several plates jumped as Hiccup crashed his fist onto the table. "Astrid, you really need to shut the fuck up," he hissed through gritted teeth, "right fucking now or…"

"Or?" she spat back, "one of your favourite words, isn't that right Haddock? Or, maybe, if, might, perhaps…Odin's beard, so many fuck ups! I mean really, how long did it take to take down Alvin? Or Dagur? How much of my childhood did I spend following you around on some stupid-ass mission that could have been avoided if you'd just acted instead of always trying to be clever? Not that all your planning and clever-clogs showing off got you anywhere either, did it? Let me see…" she counted the list theatrically on her fingers, lacing her voice with sarcasm and disgust. "So, you actually led a Skrill to Dagur, you lost the Flightmare to Viggo, you lost the Dragon Eye, oh, how many times? You lost Berk's gold, you lost your chance to play the Grimborns off against each other and instead got played by both of them, you led the team into danger more times than I can count and got most of us injured along the way - even Toothless, as if losing a tail wasn't enough of a price to pay for knowing you! You followed Johan's ruse and left the Edge undefended, same with Berk and that left my parents homeless, you flew right into the ambush which almost got Dagur killed, you failed to protect Defenders of the Wing Island, you failed to see the Dragon Eye lens on Heather's belt, though you have to admit, that was so stupid as to be almost funny, and don't even get me started on what happened with Johan and Krogan…."

Every time he'd ever made even the tiniest mistake. Every time he'd ever second-guessed himself or his judgement, every doubt he'd ever confided in her, she shaped them each into a blade and flung them at his heart, relentless. Each moment she listed felt like a piece flayed from her own hide, but what else was there to do? As each hit landed she saw him flinch and the impossible tension in his body ratchet up yet another notch, jaw clenched and shoulders tight, and that was what had to happen! Every time he'd blamed himself for a loss, or an injury, even those that weren't his fault, especially those that weren't his fault, she took those private conversations and sharpened them, scattered the thorns at his feet. Still he circled, picking up the pace and she sped up too, carried on, twisting the history of their lives round her words like a corkscrew until it was unrecognisable because his face was a storm, his chest heaving and she had, had to, make him break. Her clothes were soaked, her heart raced and her mouth was thick with the taste of lies and bile but if the venom flooding from her tongue was the only way to beat the venom in his veins then she could swallow back her revulsion and keep spewing. To get Hiccup back, anything.

It was working, Astrid could see it was working, the fights in the arena hadn't affected him anywhere near as much as this. There just needed to be more. Another wound had to re-open. The deepest. She faked an air of surprise.

"Oh and of course, your biggest mistake. You know which one I mean. The one that cost the most…Drago Bludvist."

"Enough."

The threat in his tone was hard and clear but Astrid pretended not to notice it. "Enough? What's the matter? Don't you want to be reminded how badly you failed that day? How you should have listened to everyone and stayed on Berk to protect it? How you dragged people you claimed to love into a war? How you decided to play peacekeeper instead of being a Chief and how others had to pay the price? How…"

"I said enough!" This time Hiccup's shout could have rivalled Thor's thunder and the air between them crackled with the lightning of the words still unspoken. Well, she would have to be the metal that brought them to the ground. So.

"How selfishly following your own fucking agenda dragged the rest of us into harm's way and," Astrid stared straight into his black, unblinking eyes and hurled the words as loud and hard and harsh as she could, "and how you hesitating to act, again, refusing to kill Drago when you could easily have done, talking while others were fighting, put Stoick, our Chief, your own father, straight into the line of fire and got him killed?"

For a long, long moment the room was still, as if even the sputtering fire held its breath. Then, in a whisper full of disgust Astrid slammed the blade home.

"You might as well have murdered him yourself."

The sound Hiccup made was nothing human. It was a howl of rage and loss and pain and betrayal and it cut Astrid through to the bone, so that she was too slow as he roared over the table towards her. The first blow took her in the stomach, driving the breath out of her lungs and folding her in half, the second smashed into her shoulder sending numbness running down her arm. Astrid staggered back gasping, crashing into the heavy chair. Grabbing the wooden backrest she whipped it round to fend him off but Hiccup wrenched it from her failing fingers and slammed it to the floor, smashing it to flinders. She slipped sideways just in time, evading his grip by millimetres but he pursued her relentlessly. Growling, grunting wordlessly all the while, Hiccup followed her round the room, round and round the table, a distorted perversion of the children's rhyme. His eyes never left her for a second. In the smothering heat and the flickers of the fire-lit shadows it was easy to believe that a demon hunted her and Astrid knew she was fighting for both their lives. Hiccup lunged again, this time grabbing a hold of her injured wrist but before he could pull her closer into his grip she hurled herself forward and smashed her forehead into his cheekbone with a sickening crack. The already swollen skin split and burst like a rotten plum showering her with hot blood. It loosened his hold for a split second and Astrid tore free. She turning to run for space but the liquor was in her eyes and, blinded, she crashed hip-first into the sharp corner of the table and lost her opportunity. Hiccup was on her instantly, pushing her back against the table's edge, hands bracketed around her body and smile crimson with the blood sheeting down his cheek. Knowing there was no way out forwards, Astrid threw herself back onto the table, gaining just enough room to curl up her legs, plant her feet and kick him squarely in the chest. Slammed back, he crashed heavily into the wall and she ran, but she had taken only a few steps before strong arms grabbed her from behind. Hiccup squeezed her tight, laughing mockingly, but Astrid refused to panic. Instead, she wrenched up her hands up, gripped his forearms and flipped him. The move was second nature given how many times she'd done it to Snotlout in the past and it worked perfectly. And if he had been Snotlout then the fight would have been over. But he wasn't. Instead of falling Hiccup twisted in the air and skidded to a landing, metal foot screeching hideously against the stone floor. Astrid was out of arm's reach and whirled to escape but was yanked suddenly backwards, a sharp pain in her head making her screech in agony. Pulling cruelly on her braid Hiccup bent her into an arch then swept out a leg, scooped her own feet from under her and sent her crashing face-first to the floor. Dazed, she was flipped over and Hiccup threw his weight onto her, sitting on her hips and pinning her arms under his knees, metal foot digging sharply into her thigh.

"Got you." It was a triumphant growl. "Now stay still."

Hands gripped either side of her face and she bucked her hips wildly to dislodge him but he lifted her head and slammed it into the ground. Stars flashed and warm copper flooded her mouth as she bit her tongue.

"I said." he repeated, punctuating each word with a thud, "Stay. Still."

Gasping for breath and with blackness threatening to take over her vision, Astrid could do nothing else.

o0o

She'd failed. Astrid felt the truth sink in, greater even than the crush of Hiccup's weight above her, and tears of anger and frustration and anguish prickled her eyes, threatening to overflow. She'd almost had him but she'd failed, and she'd lost for both of them because while Hiccup was unquestionably angry, angrier than she'd ever imagined him, the poison fever still had him and would take him down. He was talking now, his eerie calm belied the vicious press of fingertips against her temples. She bit back a sob.

"Now then, Astrid. Are you done with spouting all that shit?" he asked, tone and smile a grotesque distortion of his normal charm. "I mean, it would have been all very interesting for sure, if only it had been true, but it wasn't, was it? Not one word. And do you know how I know?" He leaned closer to her face, voice dropping to an intimate sibilant murmur. "I know, because you love me. You love me. If it was true, then you wouldn't, but you do so it isn't. I know all that yakshit isn't true, because you love me."

The conviction was on his face. Even through the wicked smile, the blood and the bruises it shined clearly, his last defence. His trust in her love for him. Her heart shattered into a million glass splinters and she screwed her eyes shut against it. Oh no, Sweet Freyja singing, just, no. Not this, Astrid cried silently, begging of any gods who might be listening please, of all things, not this. There was no answer except the sound of Hiccup's laboured breathing and the red hot press of fevered flesh. The bastards. So be it then, Freyja forgive her. Dizzy, sick and aching Astrid hardened her resolve against the screaming agony in her chest, balled her fists and scraped together the last shreds of her courage.

Opening her eyes she dragged in a breath, twisted and spat as best she could, blood dribbling trickling over her chin. "I don't."

"What?" he pulled her head straight again to face him. "Don't what?"

"I don't love you."

In other circumstances his expression would have been comical, eyebrows shooting up almost to his hairline. He let her face go and sat more upright, shaking his head. "Don't Astrid, don't even… That's ridiculous. Of course you do."

She shook hers as best she could, slowly, condescendingly. "Oh dear," she drawled "Look at the poor fool. You actually believed it didn't you? Every word. How funny. Really Hiccup, did you really think a woman like me would fall for a boy like you? Honestly? What did you have to offer? What's so wonderful about you?"

His smirk faltered a fraction as his brow furrowed. "Then why would you…?"

"Power," she answered. "I knew Stoick wouldn't live forever, I knew Berk would need a decent Chief and I knew that the Chief the tribe deserved was, well, me. How could I make sure that happened except by marrying the Heir? I figured I could easily take over control after the wedding was over with." She dredged up a giggle from some battered corner of her soul and hoped it didn't sound as false as she felt. "Of course it wasn't quite clear who that would be, what with you being so hilariously Useless, and I even had to keep your bloody cousin Snotlout in play for a while, so I have to say I was quite pleased when Toothless turned up and saved your reputation. I mean, you were a stringy streak of nothing much, but at least you were clean…Or did you never wonder why I didn't bother with you until after you'd trained a night fury? Talk about oblivious."

Hiccup surged forward again, eyes gone dark colour rising. As he bent down one hand came to rest on the floor, the other across her throat. He snarled viciously "Why are you saying that?"

Astrid fought down the panic threatening to overtake her. "Because it's true, muttonhead! Think about it, why would I lie to you now? You should be pleased, doesn't this make it easier for you to leave like you wanted? At least with you gone I'd be able to find myself a real man, I might take a look at E…Agh!" Her words were cut off as his fingers spasmed.

"No. That's not true. You do love me, all those times we've been together, all those nights..."

"Well," she coughed, "I guess some of it was sort of fun, but mostly, no, not really. I needed to snag the Heir of Berk, you were the Heir of Berk, so I had to keep you interested. What would have worked better? You're only a boy after all." Tears ran freely from the corners of her eyes, pooling on the floor below. Hiccup, blinded in rage and outrage didn't notice them.

"I don't believe you Astrid. I've had you screaming under me enough times…"

"Faked it."

"Faked?"

"Oh Gods! The ego on you!" Astrid managed to cackle, driven by terror into desperation as his hand tightened again. "Yes, Hiccup, faked!" Frantic, she called on every weapon she could imagine, screwed up her face in an approximation of bliss, "Ohhh, Hiccup, yes, oh, yes, nngh, fuck me, yes, Hiccup, you're so good, aaahhh…" abruptly snapping back she crowed again. "Seem familiar? Faked it! Faked everything in fact! Faked being interested in you, faked admiring you, faked enjoying your company, all of it." Astrid looked straight into those dark, dark eyes and with the dregs of her strength willed him to believe her. "Hiccup Haddock, I don't love you and I never did."

The noise was half shout, half sob and all pain. "It's not true. It's not true! It's! Not! True!" He screamed it over and over, saliva and agony drooling onto her face while his fingers squeezed relentlessly at her throat. She fought to drag in air, but there was almost none and her hands clawed uselessly at the ground. He was immovable.

"It's not true!" Totally lost in a madness of rage Hiccup stared wildly down at her, "Tell me Astrid." He cajoled, "Tell me that it isn't true and I'll let you go. Just say it isn't true."

His face swam in and out of focus and suddenly her mind gifted her a memory from years ago. Hiccup's face, younger, smiling, windblown, messy haired as always. "I can't imagine a world without you in it". The same held true now. Astrid had one last breath and she used it to gasp the only possible answer.

"Every. Single. Word."

She saw exactly the moment when he believed her. His face fractured, a light went out and instantly he looked years older. A shriek, something from the depths of Hel vomited up from his throat and every muscle in his body tightened impossibly, including the claw around Astrid's neck. She tried again to fight, to breathe, but her chest burned red and she felt herself go slack as the blackness crowded back in. One thought flitted across her failing mind, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry sweetheart, I tried".

Just as she resigned herself to meeting her Gods (and kicking their arses for allowing this shit), Hiccup's eyes rolled back in his head. Every one of his muscles slackened at once and he collapsed, toppling sideways and crashing into the hearth. Blessed air rushed into her lungs and Astrid sucked at it greedily. She could have lain on the floor forever and just breathed. But, Hiccup. Somehow she managed to roll and push herself up over to where he had fallen. A new line slashed his forehead but, mercifully he was breathing what seemed like normal, steady breaths. Tentatively Astrid laid a palm on his unbroken cheek and found him clammy, yes, but rapidly cooling. The fever had broken - he was going to live. Hiccup was going to live! For a second she knelt in stunned silence, then an insane joy flooded her veins making her grin hysterically. A laugh tried to escape but the sound that scratched out of her ravaged throat brought her up short. She was more than half choked and Hiccup was battered almost to a pulp with Thor only knew what injuries. It wasn't time for celebrations yet. Hauling herself to her feet Astrid hobbled across the tilting floor to the door and threw it wide into blinding sunshine.

"Gobber!" she croaked, hoping he was close enough to hear "Gobber! Get Gothi!" Her legs buckled under her, she went first to her knees and then fell full-length in the dust. "Gobber…" The last thing Astrid saw was a pair of feet; one shoe and one peg, racing across the arena. Then her eyes rolled shut.