The war was over. The battle, won. Good was victorious. The forces of evil, vanquished. Myself, a hero.

Supposedly.

Ten years ago, when this all started, I would've been whooping in the streets, flying loop-de-loops, blasting music and dancing the night away in a grand victory celebration.

Today, I stood over his last victim, crying. His blood on my fangs, my claws. My body littered with slashes, bruises, and burns, not even my dragon's scales enough of a guard against the Dark Dragon. My left eye, useless. My right leg, probably a lost cause. The fight remains a blur of blood and instinct, leaving me at a loss when or how I received either grave injury, only knowing pain as the adrenalin drained out of me.

But none of that mattered.

I had won. I had taken the monster's life. He was gone, forever. His followers, dead or scattered and disillusioned.

But the victims remained dead or destroyed. My own hands, now stained with life.

His death ended the nightmare, but offered no solutions for the tragedies left in its wake.

A female dragon lay dead before me. Curled protectively around an egg the size of a soccer ball.

I had promised her parents I would bring her home.

She's my age. Kidnapped and offered to him, the monster, as a sacrifice. Forced to be his mate.

The egg moved.

His child. Her child.

A child.

I was no child anymore. I knew what the Council's decision would be, what my orders were.

His child. A dark dragon. It could not be allowed to be born.

I took the egg gently in my claws, cradling it close to my chest.

I may have blood on my claws, but I am no murderer. I am Jake Long, the American Dragon. Protector of the Innocent, Champion of Good.

A hero.

The tears continued to pour down my face. Gone was any pride that would've hampered their fall.

"I promise," I vowed to the wrongly slain mother. "I will protect him."

"Jake!" screamed my enraged grandfather. "Fool! Idiot! – " followed by a long string of angry Cantonese that made me very grateful that I'd never learned Chinese.

"I'm not killing him."

"Gah! Killing – did I say anything about killing? You didn't have to kill it – but you did NOT have to save it!"

I was holding the egg in my hands, marveling at its size and warmth, the steady throb of an immature heart, the occasional thump of a kick or something.

"They didn't want him," I murmured, obviously not listening to my grandfather's scolding. "How could they not want him?"

"The child of that monster?! The product of rape?! Of course the very thought of it – !"

"She died protecting him, Gramps. And they won't even look at him."

Gramps opened his mouth to berate me some more, than must have seen something in my face 'cause he cut himself off and sighed.

"Jake, have you bonded with it?"

I looked up in surprise, jostled out of my reverie. "Huh?"

Gramps held out his hands, a blank, closed off look on his face. "Jake. Give me the egg."

Subconsciously I brought the egg closer to myself, hugging it protectively to my chest.

"I promise, Jake," he continued. "I will see to it that no one harms it."

"No," I said decisively, sounding wary even to myself.

"I will personally protect and raise it."

"NO!" I shouted angrily, then frowned, even as I hugged the egg tight, feeling the warmth and that steady throb.

"Jake, you're bonded."

I was too flustered to even try make sense of his words.

"It's, it's not that I don't trust you, Gramps! I just… I don't understand, but I… I have to…" I was starting to get tongue-tied, trying to justify not turning the egg over.

"Calm down, Jake. I didn't mean it, and I won't ask again."

I immediately felt something in me relax again.

"A bond is formed between parents and their unborn children. Dragons especially are fiercely possessive and protective. In the case of orphans, they often bond with the first protective adult of the same species to handle their egg after the split of their bond with their blood parents."

I was silent as I took in all of this.

"So… even before my vow…"

"The moment you picked up the egg, Jake."

I felt suddenly unstable, unbalanced, as the full impact crashed into me.

Parents. Egg. Bond. The strange feeling, so very different from what I, in my youth, knew as love, and yet that was the only word for it as I hugged the egg tight.

I would never, could never, give this up. Give him up.

I was going to be a father.

But I was nowhere near ready.

Somehow I ended up on my knees on the floor, breathing heavily, eyes wide and staring at the beautiful egg still pressed close to my chest, beating in time with my own heart.

I wasn't ready to be a father.

But I couldn't give up the egg. My egg. At the very thought, I felt my eyes flare in rage. The back of my mind suddenly understood why, despite their furious condemnation of my actions, not one person had tried to take the egg from me, not before, during, or even after the Council session.

But… oh god, a father. I couldn't even handle being a boyfriend. I could barely handle my finances, job, and apartment. The only thing I was good at, had ever been good at, was being the American Dragon. Protecting the magical community. Being a hero.

How could I be a father… ? The idea terrified me.

But I couldn't give him up. I couldn't. I would break.

And without knowing it, I was sobbing, hugging the egg tight. Terrified at the thought of what it meant. Horrified at the thought of losing it.

I felt arms around me and, in slight shock, realized my grandfather was giving me a hug. It took a minute, but I forced myself to calm down.

"The longer you hold the egg, Jake," he said softly, "the stronger the bond grows. You've been clinging to the egg for over eighteen hours – after twenty-four the bond will only be broken with death. You must decide now if you can do this."

I shuddered at the words, unable to reply.

"It will not be a normal child. It may even turn evil. Can you handle this? There's still time to change your mind."

I felt a sob in my throat and lowered my forehead to press it to the egg. I could swear I heard a low, sweet hum.

And felt myself begin to calm down. Mine. He was here. He was safe. I would take care of him, no matter what.

"I can't give him up, Gramps," I choked out, more tears spilling from my eyes at the thought. "He's… he's mine. My baby."

"Then you have my full support, Jake."

I looked up in surprise.

"I will recognize it and love it as any great-grandchild. Your child. Come what may."

There was silence as I stared at him, still feeling shaky, but suddenly warm and loved.

"Thank you, Gramps," I said softly. "So much."

"This will not be easy, Jake. Especially with you being unmarried. You will need your family and friends."

"I know," I replied. Not needing to hesitate any more. The decision was made.

"May I?" he asked, holding a hand out towards the egg.

My dragon instincts shouted a sharp no, growling that no one should ever touch my egg but me. I took a deep breath, forcibly calming myself, reminding myself that my grandfather wasn't going to steal my egg. He was family. He would support us.

Family.

My dragon side calmed down and I finally relaxed my hold on the egg. I nodded in reply to my Gramps' question, though my eyes were glued to his hand as he gently set it on top of the shell.

He closed his eyes for a minute. It passed quietly.

"We have about three months. We have magical obstetricians that specialize in dragon births, as well as many skilled pediatricians, that can be more specific and provide you with more information."

I felt a laugh tickle the back of my throat. "I… whoa, okay. I have to make baby appointments?"

Gramps laughed, bringing a full smile to my face. "Actually, they'll probably be queuing up for the chance. There hasn't been a dragon egg birth in over a hundred years."

"That's right," I said thoughtfully, mostly to myself. "We're born as humans and don't get our dragon forms until later."

"He'll be born a dragon, Jake. It'll be opposite – you'll have to train him to be human."

"Train?" I heard myself mumble warily. This just kept getting more complicated. Well, not that I expected it to be easy.

"And there will, most likely, constantly be assassins after the child's life."

I let out a bone-deep sigh.

But the sweet hum when I rested my forehead on my egg assured me everything would be okay.

"Do you want my help to explain things to your parents?"

This time I let out the short laugh, feeling myself relax at the concern in his tone.

"Nah. I think this is something I should do on my own. I haven't even called them since I left the last battle."

"Jake!" scolded Gramps.

"Well, in my defense, I was being dragged around by the Council trying to get me to give up my egg, then talking to her parents and avoiding the something like a billion hero-worshippers. Haley was at the celebrations, G, so they know it's over and I survived."

I tried not to think of the form my 'survival' had taken. The shocked faces as I limped past my comrades, dripping in blood both my own and the Dark Dragon's, cradling an egg to my chest and refusing to talk to anyone before I reported to the Council. The disgusted look on the magical doctor's face as he magically healed my wounds, especially my eye and leg, warning me to check into a hospital as soon as the Council released me.

I'd completely ignored his advice and gone to my Gramps' shop, naturally. I could now kind of see out of my damaged eye, I wasn't dripping in blood, and I could easily hide my limp. Why would I need a hospital? My egg took up too much of my mind to think about myself anyway.

"Everyone's worried, since you refused to show for said celebrations. You better get going, Jake."

"Yes, Gramps," I said, standing and bowing politely, which he returned, before heading out.

Author's Notes: Let me know if you have any questions, comments, complaints, or commendation! Thank you for reading, and please review!

To get a couple things out of the way, this takes place ten years in the future from ADJL canon, so Jake is 24. No, I will not be glued to canon but will take liberties with certain events. Yes, Jake was wounded in the final battle, but the focus of this story is on his egg and, perhaps in the future, his child. There will probably be some JakexRose, but this will not become a romance. Anything I forgot to explain? Review and let me know!