A very big thank you to my awesome beta reader xfallenangel13x!


Days later Joey woke in his bed, his honey eyes blinking open slowly as a white ceiling came faintly into view. His head was foggy,
like he'd been sleeping for a long time, and his body ached as if he'd been through a hard day's labor the day before. Stiff, bruised, and obviously hurt, he didn't move for a while, merely laying there. It was a struggle in its own to stay awake as his body tried to lull him back into unconsciousness.

Groaning quietly he shifted under his covers, yelping when a bolt of pain shot through his left arm and shoulder, causing him to lay back flat with a quiet sigh. The pain served as a quick reminder to never piss off a nesting dragon.

Using his right hand, he yanked his blanket off and glanced over to the side, seeing his arm wrapped all the way from his elbow, around his shoulder and collar. Worried about nerve damage, he tapped his fingers together, relieved when he was able to feel the skin rubbing together, although but sensation wasn't very strong.

"Well, I still got my arm..." he muttered as he tried sitting up again, letting out a sharp breath as he pushed away the pain. A glance around told him it was still early morning, the rays seeping through the sheets he had hanging over his windows. They were fairly weak, unlike the strong beams that were given off by a high afternoon sun. Placing his feet on the floor Joey stood slowly, his arm throbbing painfully as the blood rushed back to the injured appendage.

Shuffling stiffly, he made his way to a dresser and pulled out a pair of old grey sweatpants, sloppily sliding them on with one hand. After falling over a few times, he leaned against the wall for support and managed to get his pants up, deciding a shirt just wasn't worth the extra effort. It wasn't like he was going anywhere right now, anyway.

"Serenity?" he called out as he ambled into the hallway of his house, wondering if anyone was home.

"Joey!?" she yelled back, followed by the sound of feet hitting the floor at a quick pace. Knowing what was coming Joey braced himself, trying his best to shield his injured arm as his sister came flying out of her room. Without warning or consideration she flung herself into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and burying her head into his bare chest. "Joey you're awake! I was so worried!"

Frowning as he felt wet tears against his chest, he looked down at the top of his sister's head. "Worried? How long was I out for?"

"Days!" she sobbed lightly, struggling to get a hold on her emotions. "I was so scared when Dad didn't come back with you, but then Seto showed up with you."

"Seto?!" Joey had to keep himself from cringing. "Seto brought me here?"

Serenity gave a large sniff and pulled away from Joey with a nod. "Yeah, he and his dad helped get you out of the barn but Seto brought you into the house. Of course Dad had to act all worried, like he hadn't seen how hurt you were. I don't know if Kaiba fell for it though." She rubbed at her eyes to fight back tears.

"Tch." Joey clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth. "Well, I'm up now anyway. I could use some breakfast though, yeah?" he said with a smile, trying his best to hide the pain he was in. He always hated when she worried, it was like how his mother used to fuss over him. Serenity wasn't a child, she could take care of herself if needed, but the last thing Joey wanted was for the girl to feel like he was her responsibility.

Flashing one of her brilliant smiles, the young girl laced fingers with her brother's own, and dragged him to the other side of the house, into the kitchen area, where their father was cooking over the stove.

"You're up." he said, not turning to acknowledge the two.

"Yeah..." Joey said hesitantly, more interested in the bacon he was cooking, his mouth watered at the delicious smell. They hadn't had real bacon in months. No doubt it was a compliment of the check he'd gotten for Keller's eggs.

"Good, you can go clean out the stalls. I have to work on building a new one for Kaiba, so you'll be doing the cleaning." His tone left no room for argument.

"Even Keller's?" Joey asked watching as his father placed the bacon onto a plate then turned to face him, leaning his back against the counter.

"She doesn't have anymore eggs, so I don't see why not." he shrugged, taking a bit of bacon and biting a piece off.

Joey's face dropped, doing a quick math check in his head. "Huh?" he said stupidly, sure that she should still have one.

"Her last one was a dud," he explained, as if the fact didn't bother him or wasn't important.

"A dud?" He was so sure all of them had been healthy, at least they looked it. Normally false eggs were small and light. Hadn't his father checked each egg the night they'd been laid?

"What're you stupid? Yes, a dud. I threw it away when it cracked. Anyway, take the bike and get a move on." his dad said taking the last piece of cooked bacon and walking away to his room, shutting the door forcefully behind him.

"Wow, I thought for sure that was a good egg." he muttered as he stood and went to the fridge. To his dismay there was no more bacon, but he did find a generous helping of cooked ham which he helped himself to.

"I don't think it was bad..." he heard his sister's quiet voice from the table. With a piece of ham hanging from his mouth he chewed and gave her a questioning look.

Uneasily she glanced down the hall to where their father's room was. Once she was sure he wasn't coming back she whispered, "I think he's lying. You know how nasty he can be. The night he came home, after he threw it away, he was drunk."

Joey took the piece of ham from his mouth between his fingers while he chewed thoughtfully. "I hope she eats him one day..."

Now it was Serenity's turn to frown. "Don't say that!" The only thing she got in return was a shrug. "Just sayin'." He popped the last of the ham into his mouth and went back to his room, grabbing a shirt and slipping it on (with the help of his sister), then taking his hoodie, too, just in case it got cold. By the time he finished dressing and went back to the living room for his shoes Serenity was back in the kitchen, cooking what smelled like sausage.

Tying his shoe Joey stopped when a thought occurred to him. "Hey sis, how long did you say I was out for?" he asked looking up from his shoe laces.

"Three days, give or take a few hours." she said, looking up from the frying pan over her shoulder to him. "Why?"

Joey's face went blank momentarily before he shot up and raced out the front door, shouting good bye to his sister then hopping on his bike, ignoring the shooting agony that exploded from the wound in his arm.

"Joey!" Serenity's voice trailed after him in his haste, but she was unable to stop him. By the time she made it to the door he was already riding away on his bike.

Why hadn't he thought about it sooner?! The time he wasted talking to his dad when he could have been to the stable already. No-one had known about his egg, so no-one was able to check on it and make sure it kept warm! True, he had left the heated blankets on, but still knowing that it hadn't been tended to for days made him sick to his stomach. What if the worst had happened?

The worry made him pedal faster and he made it to the stables in half the time it normally took. When he hit the gravel out in front of the barn he slid his bike to a stop, dropping it on its side and running toward the door. "Just let it be alive... Please let it be alive!" he begged to some unseen force as he slid the large door open, running in ignoring the dragons that lay sleeping.

His hands slammed into the wall of the abandoned closet to stop himself as he searched for the loose board. When he found it he quickly pried it off to the side, wriggling between the boards and into the small room. There in the middle of the floor was the egg, wrapped in the blanket just the way he'd left it. Relief rushed over him and he crouched down to pick up the egg. He could feel the blood immediately drain from his face upon holding it.

"Cold..." he said breathlessly, smoothing his hand more firmly over the shell. "It's cold." He was shaking now. Not wanting to believe what he was feeling he took the egg up off the floor and held it softly to his cheek. It was stone cold, nothing in it was moving and it was still the same size as the day he had left it.

He gently set the egg on the ground and rest his forehead against it, tears trickling from his eyes, down his nose, and onto the lifeless egg. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, feeling completely responsible for the death of what was supposed to be his baby dragon. A different pain coursed through him, one he'd only felt once before, when his mother had died.

Alone, in the dark, and heartbroken, Joey sat for what could have been an hour, silently crying over the life and hope he had so suddenly lost. Never again would he take such a thing for granted, if he never had in the first place. Although he hadn't known the life growing in the egg, he'd loved it in some way, and now it was gone.

Once he had gathered himself enough Joey stood, tucking the cold heating blanket away in a corner and taking his egg up off the floor. He rubbed his running nose against his sleeve, still ignoring the horrible pain in his arm. The abuse it suffered on the ride over here hadn't gone unpunished, Joey just refused to allow it to bother him.

Squeezing himself back through the loose boards he took his egg outside and walked far out into the field until he settled on a quiet place. Kneeling, he set the egg beside him as he searched for a stone. When he found a large jagged slab of rock, he began to dig, not stopping until it was large enough to comfortably fit the egg. Silently he laid the egg into the hole and covered it gently with dirt, standing and dusting his hands off. Wiping a stay tear off his face he quietly went back to the barn, closing the door behind him as he went to start cleaning out the first stall. He slid the stall door open, coming face to face with the grey dragon.

Her head lifted lazily, her purple eyes gazing at Joey. Her whole demeanor was different than Keller, it was obvious she was more kind, less of a fighter. Too heartbroken to even speak, Joey grabbed a rake from outside the stall and came back, dragging the tool against the ground as he began to clean out the soiled hay. Joey disregarded her when she stood, shifting her weight from one front foot to another as she watched him. It wasn't until she moved closer that Joey bothered to look up.

"What?" he asked, his voice sharper than it should have been. She hadn't done anything to him, but still he felt angry, and it was easy to take it out on her. That realization was unsettling to him, it reminded him too much of his father. He quickly scolded himself for the action before pulling the rake back again to resume his job.

The dragon didn't seem to notice his tone, and if she did she dismissed it without a fuss. Rather than hiss at him she stood, boring her eyes into him as if searching for something.

Blinking a few times Joey looked down, not wanting to accidently challenge the dragon by staring. Staring was often the first and last mistake people would make when working with dragons, or any animal for that matter.

As he looked away the dragon's long neck shifted over to the side toward her eggs. Using the tip of her scaled nose she nudged her clutch around, shifting and moving her eggs. Just like she had when she took the egg from Joey she lifted one gently in her mouth, moving her neck gracefully back around then setting the egg at Joey's feet. To emphasize the point she gave it a small nudge closer to Joey, inviting him to pick it up.

Unlike the rest of the eggs, this one was larger, and had the slightest shades of grey to it. The others shone a brilliant gold, while this seemed to be dull; not quite as shiny. Warmth was radiating from the egg, and Joey guessed the dragon had just blown fire over it not too long ago. Confused, he looked up to the grey female.

She took a step back and wrapped her tail around her remaining eggs, giving Joey a slow blink before settling back down.

"What?" he asked, his mind still muddling with the physical and mental pain he was feeling. With a snort the dragon dismissed him, looking with lazy eyes from the egg to him. "It is your's isn't it?" she seemed to say.

Leaning over Joey bent down and picked up the egg, feeling how heavy it had grown. Inside he felt something move through the shell, causing it to shift slightly in his hands. The sensation sent a jolt through Joey's body, one that made his heart skip and his mind race. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

"Oh my god." he choked, feeling the tears he'd just managed to fight away come back again. His soft, blood shot honey brown eyes looked up at the dragon who was still watching him. "Thank you."

Unwrapping her tail the dragon stood again and softly took the egg from Joey, replacing it with the others then blowing a long stream of fire over them. Joey could swear he saw them all move slightly, twitching in pleasure as their mother's flame warmed them. Inhaling deeply the mother dragon looked back to Joey and they locked eyes for a moment, before she laid her head down on the ground. She didn't even bother to look up when Joey approached to get a closer look at his egg again.

The flame had heated the shell and now it shone a rosy red, but inside lingered a dark shape. It was the shape of a baby dragon, its nose tucked closely to its tail. Moving inside the egg, Joey could see its leg stretch out then settle back into place as it curled back up. Joey's heart swelled and he stepped back, feeling like he was somehow encroaching on her egg's space.

Grabbing his rake he went back and began to clean out the stall, his eyes glancing often to his egg and his second chance.


Next chapter Seto comes back, and this time he has a friend. Please review : )