Hey, thepurplewriter333! I was your Secret Odin! XD Sooooo you wanted a piece of writing with smolcup, Hiccup!kidnapped, Hiccup!coveredinblood (what is it with you and that), and some guilty!Stoick. And so, I managed to write out this little one-shot. I hope it satisfies, my friend! ENJOY!

Stoick's palms tingled with nervousness as he waited for his son to appear. He hadn't seen him in two… three… four days? It seemed it had been so long since Alvin had taken the boy… and in that time, what had happened? Had Hiccup been injured? Tortured? Was he even alive…?

He and his Berkians just attacked Outcast Island with everything they had, his sons' friends – the "Dragon Riders" – distracting the Outcasts by attacking the flank of the island to give him the opportunity to get Hiccup. His son's dragon, Toothless, was with the Riders, and so that left him alone to deal with the aftermath of… whatever had happened.

He still stood on his boat, glancing at the rocky island and anticipating his lad's return. It had been a few minutes since Spitelout and Gobber went in to rescue him, telling him to stay there as a guard in case they needed a warning that someone was coming. Stoick knew the real reason they'd left him, though – they hadn't wanted him to see Hiccup in case… well, in case there was something he didn't want to see. And admittedly, Stoick was grateful. Because there was always a chance that Hiccup was…

"Chief! We have 'im!"

Indescribable relief washed over him as Gobber called. The blacksmith's voice was excited, not dejected as it might be if something was wrong with Hiccup.

He's alright. Thank Odin.

He jogged over to the end of the ship closest to the island, peering in the direction of where the shout had come from. His mouth went dry as he saw the forms of Spitelout, Gobber… and his son approach. They neared the edge of the island where Stoick's vessel was, coming closer into view from the morning fog.

Hiccup. His mouth moved accordingly to the name, but no sound came out. His mind was suddenly overwhelmed at the sight of the boy coming towards him, and he blanched. It wasn't until Gobber and Spitelout and brought him onto the ship (soon leaving Hiccup and Stoick to privately reunite) he was he finally able to regain control of his senses.

But he wished he hadn't. Because all too soon, he realized son's clothes were covered in blood. It went from the collar of his shirt and it trickled down his vest… onto his tunic… his pants… oh, Thor, it was everywhere. It looked dried, so it wasn't a current wound, but it must've still been fairly new. He felt as if something was choking him.

As gingerly as possible, he grabbed Hiccup's forearms and pulled him in, so they were only a few inches away. The boy stared at the ground.

"You're covered in blood," Stoick said, almost faint in surprise. He felt sick. "Hiccup, what did those Outcasts do?" His nausea was quickly replaced by fury at incoming thoughts. He would kill Alvin if he'd touched the boy…

"Wasn't the Outcasts," Hiccup replied, not even looking up. He was so quiet, so… disheartened. "There was a dragon… they tried to make me train it, but they spooked it and…" He frowned, shaking his head, then wincing. "I almost trained it, Dad… but Alvin saw I was going to try and escape with it and he… Oh, Dad that poor dragon… they… they killed her…" He looked so upset that Stoick had a strange urge to hug him but held himself back not thinking Hiccup was in the mood for such affection.

"Where did it get you? I'll bandage you up right away…"

Hiccup coughed. "It happened a few days ago, I don't need anything… someone already cleaned me up… they just didn't clean my clothes…"

"Son, where did it get you?"

"My… my head." He pointed to the side of his face, then to the back of it. "Swiped me there." Stoick then became aware of the cut there and cursed himself for not noticing earlier. It was quite the injury, and he was amazed such a small boy was still standing after losing so much blood.

He realized he was being a bit insensitive to the situation. "Do you need anything, Hiccup?" he asked. In the surprise of the moment, he'd forgot to ask if he could do anything to make him more comfortable.

"Er… some water might be nice."

Yes. Water. Of course. He was probably dehydrated – and starved, judging from his scrawnier-than-usual appearance.

"Bring us some water!" he shouted at no one in particular, and Gobber soon limped over with a cup for his son. Hiccup drank from it hungrily, and nearly finished it in one go. Stoick took the cup from him when he signaled being finished.

"Alright, Hiccup?"

"Mm…" He looked down, staring at Stoick's boots. The chief was confused. What was wrong? Why was he so… withdrawn? It made no sense.

Gently, Stoick took Hiccup's face in his hands – lifting that pale face with a tenderness that only this boy could bring out of him – and he whispered, "Are you alright, son?"

And Hiccup's downcast eyes finally lifted and met his own. They were filled with an uncertainty that made Stoick's chest tighten.

"I'm okay, Dad."

He sounded normal. He looked almost normal. But he wasn't normal. That Stoick could tell.

He kept his hands around Hiccup's face, not really sure what to do with himself. He'd never been too good with the whole parenting thing… especially with comforting someone after they'd been through what his son had.

Thor… what had he been through? He didn't even know.

"Why don't we sit down?" He gestured to a nearby bench and led Hiccup over to it. As he began to sit Hiccup down, he noticed how his son winced, lifting a hand and holding it over his stomach.

"Something wrong?" he asked anxiously. Did the lad have a bruise, or was he sore from captivity?

"M'fine," Hiccup murmured, though his grimace said otherwise.

Stoick gave a low growl. "Did someone rough you up?"

"No," he said. "No one did anything to me." He let his hand fall to his side, giving that familiar roll of his eyes when his father worried too much. "I'm fine, Dad."

Stoick still had this nagging little feeling that something was wrong. His eyes trailed down to the place where Hiccup had been holding his hands to, and he sucked in a breath at the sight. His son's tunic was stained red. Not the dark brown from before, but a fresh crimson red.

"Odin above, Hiccup," he breathed. "You're bleeding. What – what happened? Are you injured?"

Hiccup glanced down at the spot on his tunic. "Oh, that? It's nothing, Dad…"

"You call that nothing?" He knelt down to get a closer look at the wound, biting his lip. He'd seen a lot of injured Vikings in his life and had long since gained an immunity to queasiness upon seeing these kinds of abrasions. However, seeing one on his son was a completely different story…

"It wasn't really even the Outcasts' fault," Hiccup said, tone as light as someone making a joke. As if he was about something funny. "You're always telling me how clumsy I am… well, after you guys scared away the Outcasts, I bumped into one of them and tripped and fell. Cut myself against a sharp rock. Guess I didn't really realize till now. But it barely hurts." He gave a breathy laugh, which was soon followed by a hiss. The red stain grew.

"Don't move," Stoick ordered, shooting a concerned glance up at his son's face. He squinted back at the injury. "I'm going to need to cut your tunic, so I can see how serious the wound is-"

"Dad – Dad, no, it's fine!" But when his father poked a finger at his stomach, he yelped and jerked away, cringing back. "I'm okay… a little… sore… but fine…!"

Stoick frowned, sensing that something was wrong. "Hiccup, what's the matter you, lad? I'm only trying to help you."

"It's okay, I can do it myself." The lad gave that weak smile – the one where he tried to convince everyone he was fine with, even if he wasn't. Stoick knew him well enough to recognize it.

"What's this about? I know something's bothering you. Hiccup… did something happen while you were captured?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Like I said, Alvin pretty much just locked me away the whole time… he may be a Viking, but he's no monster. I'm just… tired. Didn't get much sleep these past few days, you know? I've been alone… and captured… a-a-and I just need some rest…"

There it was. That crack in the voice that gave away everything. Though Stoick was confident Hiccup was telling the truth about Alvin, he knew he was lying when he said he was okay, because okay people didn't tremble and look as if one blow of wind would knock them over. He was slightly surprised at this, because though Hiccup'd been "the weakling" his entire life, he didn't really complain when he was in true pain and would try to hide it when he was ill.

Hmm. That struck a chord, there. "I'm fine." "I'm okay." "Nothing's wrong." Hiccup had told him those things countless times, always covering up his discomfort because he'd been raised to… that was how Vikings worked. And especially continuing to recover from being the village runt, he was obviously still wired to not show weakness… was that what this was all about?

He reached out and set a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Ah. I understand now, Hiccup – don't worry anymore, you can tell me the truth." He smiled encouragingly. Now that Hiccup heard his father saying it was alright to show some pain, things were all settled… right?

"No, Dad, really; I-I just want to get some sl… ooohhh-kay, I think I need to sit down for a minute."

As Hiccup was standing, he swayed on his feet, obviously dizzy. Stoick looked at his stomach wound and was dismayed to see the blood had blossomed.

Stoick rushed over before he could fall on his face, letting him lean against his side. He slowly helped Hiccup back over to the bench he'd backed away from and sat them down. Silly lad, always overexerting himself… "There, Hiccup, just take it easy… you've been through a lot…"

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, swallowing. His eyes were unfocused. "Sorry, just got dizzy for a second…"

"You've lost a lot of blood. Can I take a look at that scrape, now?"

"Dad. I'm… I'm okay…"

Why was he still pushing away? Hadn't Stoick cleared things up with him? Because it seemed that it hadn't… It soon dawned on him that things might not be as simple as the exchange of a few words. But he was never good with the whole connecting thing… Hiccup knew that, and he expected the boy to get by without soft words. However, it seemed he'd have to step out of his comfort zone on this one.

"Hiccup…" Gods. He was never one for words, never knowing how to voice his innermost feelings… the thought of deep conversations scared him more than any dragon ever had in his life. But the boy needed something to go on now, and as his father, it was his duty.

Thor help him…

"Hiccup, I know we never really cleared up some things after the battle with the Red Death." He cleared his throat. Not too bad so far. Moving on… "Speaking of… when I… I told you that you weren't my… son." And there it was. The real kicker that had him squirming in his seat. "And… I don't know if this is what this is about… but I'd like to say something, anyways, if it means anything to you. Hiccup, you may not be the strongest lad around, and maybe not the best Viking, either…"

"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup muttered, rubbing his stomach. However, he already seemed engaged in the conversation.

"…but… I've come to realize that I don't care so much about that anymore. Not at all, in fact, because having you as a son has taught me things I don't think any other lad ever could enlighten me on. Hiccup… I need you to understand that I only want you as a son. Even though I'm the chief of Berk… I'm also your father? And… and before Val and I even had you, we made a promise to each other that no matter what, it'd always be family first. I'm your father before I'm your chief… and I'll always… always be here for you. You're going to have to trust me on this when I say it's alright to tell me if you're hurting… there's nothing to be ashamed of, you hear me? And you're not being weak by doing so. Understand?"

Hiccup had been very quiet throughout all of this, and Stoick was relieved to finish and see how his son reacted. He'd tried to put all his emotion towards Hiccup in his words, but feared it wasn't enough. Had he succeeded to bring his son back…?

He got his answer as Hiccup let out a soft sigh and leaned into his chest, eyes squeezed shut. Stoick, still emotional from the realization of his words, returned the embrace heartily.

"It's alright," he soothed. "Everything will be fine, lad… you're safe…"

"Everything hurts," Hiccup muttered, pulling back. He winced. "I'm sorry for hiding it and acting weird… if I said too much, I knew I'd crack… I'm still getting used to the whole 'pride of Berk' thing. Heh… I guess we've both got things to learn." And then he gave that familiar crooked smile that told his father he was back to being Hiccup again.

"Yes, we do," Stoick agreed. "And I know that we've always had a… er… strained relationship, but we'll do better. I'll do better. And things will get better… you just wait and see."

The father and son stared at each other for a long time, just smiling and enjoying each other's company; and even though they didn't say anything, a thousand words were shared.