Chapter 11: Reflection of Shadows and Scars

For the first time since the events of the second Great Collapse, the Libra office remained closed and inactive for nearly an entire day. After leaving Bradbury General Hospital, the entire team wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep off their fatigue and worry and thus Klaus unanimously decided to give everyone an impromptu day off from Libra operations to recover both physically and mentally. No one had any objections to this and silently the group all parted ways to head to their respective residences while Lucky volunteered to accompany Hummer and Deldro back to Pandorum Asylum for the time being. After nearly ten hours of returning home and climbing into bed, the first one to stir from his slumber was Steven, if only due to the vibrating of his charging cell phone. With a low, tired groan, Steven rolled over and cracked his eyes open while fumbling for the device and removing it from the charging stand, taking vague note that it was well past 2:30 in the afternoon according to his bedside clock. Taking his phone in hand he tilted it to look at the caller ID and instantly his eyes shot open, now much more alert. Gilbert was calling him and his former dread started to return as he could only speculate what the elderly butler was contacting him about. Instantly he sat up and answered the call.

"Yes, is everything all right Gilbert?" Steven asked trying to sound as composed as his newly awakened self could be at that moment. He listened intently as Gilbert apologized for disturbing his much needed rest before he relayed his message over the phone. Almost immediately the dread Steven felt melted away and shifted into a calm, if not unsurprised, exasperation; not at the combat butler, but at the actions of a certain individual said butler was currently informing him of. "I see. Thanks for letting me know. I'll head down there shortly and take care of it." Gilbert thanked him and they both promptly ended the call. With a heavy sigh Steven threw his covers off and got up from his bed, wincing a little as he did so as his leg was still a little sore and proceeded to limp to the bathroom (opting not to use the crutch provided by the hospital that leaned against the wall by his nightstand) to quickly freshen up.

An hour later he was getting out of the taxi that had dropped him off in front of the familiar hospital once more and he proceeded inside. Gilbert was seated in the main lobby awaiting Steven's arrival. He did not have to say anything as the two shared a silent look of understanding and the combat butler bowed his head slightly in thankfulness. After stopping off at the receptionist and signing in, he proceeded down the halls to the ICU wing as swiftly as he could before rounding the corner that lead to that hallway down to Leo's room. Sure enough he was greeted with the very sight Gilbert had informed him of. Klaus sat in a small and uncomfortable-looking plastic chair against the wall across from Leo's room as the blinds to the observation window were down. With a slight shake of his head and another sigh, Steven silently made his way over to his friend and leader. Getting closer he took better notice of Klaus' appearance. His normally flawless and pristine formal clothing and hair was a bit wrinkled and disheveled, his red tie was loosened around his neck, and though his bandages from the day before were still present, they were slightly fewer in number. This was not too surprising as Klaus had always been a fast healer, however judging by his body language and expression, it was abundantly clear the red-haired man was still in dire need of more rest. His face was still a bit pale and he had light bags under his eyes, somehow noticeable even with his newly replaced glasses on, as his tired gaze stared intently at the ground and he sat leaning slightly forward with shoulders slouched, elbows resting on his knees, with his large hands loosely clasped in his lap. It wasn't until Steven made it half-way to the large man did the normally highly observant man take notice that he was no longer alone and he expectantly turned his gaze towards the newcomer. Upon noticing it was Steven, Klaus felt a small twinge of visible sheepishness at the second in command's deadpanned gaze and raised brow, as if he knew exactly what the scar-faced man was thinking. For a brief moment neither of them spoke and simply stared at each other before Steven eventually broke the ice (no pun intended).

"So…how long have you been staked out here?" Steven asked nonchalantly as he leaned his left shoulder against the wall beside him almost casually (though in reality he wanted to subtly take some of the weight off of his bad leg). Klaus averted his gaze out of both bashfulness and distraction as they instead refocused on the obscured window into Leo's hospital room.

"About two hours," he answered honestly, trying to not sound as exhausted and stressed as he looked. It did not work and Klaus knew it by Steven's subtle frown. He let out an exhale of air through his nose and continued. "I had come to relieve Gilbert so that he could return home and rest after nearly eight hours but he insisted he would stay as well. Not long after that, Miss Estevez ejected the both of us from Leonardo's room, heavily implying that I should leave to get more rest while she tended to him." Saying that last part out loud made Klaus sound almost like an overgrown child admitting his guilt to his guardian after committing some mild misdemeanor and Steven barely suppressed a snort at that thought as well as the combined mental visual of the shrunken doctor essentially kicking the much larger, flustered man out. Movement from the corner of his eye caught Steven's attention and he turned his gaze to look. Sonic had appeared in a blur of motion with a bag of chips he had somehow likely pilfered from a vending machine somewhere as the small simian struggled to open the plastic bag.

"I see Sonic has stuck around too," Steven said as the little monkey hopped onto Klaus' leg and held out the bag to him clearly asking for help in opening the frustrating thing. Klaus gave an affirmative hum as he obliged the primate and easily opened it before handing it back to Sonic who then let out a pleased chitter before proceeding to munch away on the corn chip treasures inside.

"He apparently hasn't gone too far from Leonardo's room since his admission according to Gilbert with the exception of acquiring some food," Klaus explained.

"Can't imagine where he gets that stubbornness from," Steven said wryly with a small smirk. It didn't last long though as it fell and gave way to a serious expression and Steven straightened up from the wall to look at the Brain Grid user directly. "Listen Klaus," he began, his tone stern. "I know you tend to be a bit of a bleeding heart, especially when it comes to the kid, but you can't keep neglecting your own health like this because you feel responsible about what happened." His words caused a subtle twitch of Klaus' large hands but Steven either did not notice or did not care to press further on it as he continued his case. "Dr. Estevez is the best doctor we can hope for and Leo is a fighter; you know that better than anyone apparently. But forcing yourself to stay by his side is doing nobody, especially yourself, any favors. You need to get more rest so you can be an effective leader not just for him but the rest of us too." Klaus was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"You're right Steven and I'm fully aware of that as well…" Klaus trailed off.

"But?" Steven inquired further with a raised brow sensing there was most likely a continuation to that sentence.

"But…there are other concerns that have my attention at the moment besides Leonardo's current welfare," he admitted averting his gaze in thought once more. Steven waited for the red-haired man to elaborate but Klaus instead remained silent, expression visibly taut and clouded with various thoughts that his exhausted and stressed mind apparently struggled to voice or make sense of in that moment. Steven's expression softened a bit and he clapped a firm hand on Klaus' tense shoulder causing him to redirect his attention back to his colleague.

"You're tired Klaus, you need a break. But I also understand where you're coming from," Steven admitted. "You aren't wrong about being concerned; after all, we were caught with our pants down for the first time in a long time and the kid nearly paid the price for it. Even with the King of Pain gone, we're still vulnerable while we pick up the pieces and so is he for that matter. So let's make a deal: while you get some rest and sort through whatever it is you need to, ideally without running yourself any more ragged than you already are, I'll take over Libra's main operations. We can also task one of the other inconspicuous members like Brigade or Anila to pop in every now and then if need be to keep an eye on him for your peace of mind instead of just relying on Dr. Estevez since she has her other patients and duties. Medically she can still keep us posted on his condition if there are any significant changes and besides," Steven paused his expression and tone taking on a teasing edge. "I'm pretty sure if you continue to stick around in this state she might have no choice but to forcibly sedate you and strap you to a bed until you've fully healed."

"I won't lie, I was seriously considering it," the familiar feminine voice cut in. The two men glanced up in her direction as the shrunken clone quietly closed the door to Leo's room as she gave them a cheeky grin having apparently heard the majority of their conversation. "Especially since Mr. Reinherz's more serious wounds are still healing. Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn't have allowed any of you to get discharged for at least another day or two but it wasn't my call at the time. Though that's not to say I won't force my hand if you give me enough reason to," she said staring pointedly at him through oversized lenses. "And before you ask, no, there are no changes in Leonardo's condition, negative or otherwise." Klaus, who had opened his mouth to ask that very question, quickly closed it again and let out a defeated sigh. Ideally he did not want to leave Leo but realistically, he knew he was being stubborn and a bit foolish. And as much as he did not want to admit it, the prospect of a nice, soft bed and some more sleep was almost too much to resist at that moment.

"All right," Klaus conceded before he slowly rose from the uncomfortable plastic chair and onto his feet causing Sonic (who had finished off the bag and was proceeding to search the bag for every crumb he could find) to jump off and glance up at them in silent inquiry.

"You'll keep an eye on him too while we're gone, won't you?" Steven asked the Beyondian primate with a small smile to which Sonic gave a squeak and quick salute of understanding. More or less satisfied, they both headed off towards the exit (Steven once more limping slightly the whole way) as Dr. Estevez and Sonic watched them both go.

In the hospital's main lobby, Gilbert sat patiently with one leg crossed over the other in one of the many chairs against the wall that had a direct line of sight to the doors Steven had gone through, hopefully to retrieve Klaus. While his posture and face was as professional and neutral as the rest of him, his mind was currently alight with his own thoughts. Naturally he was concerned about his young master's health and current state. When he had shown up to the hospital to give Gilbert some relief from the task of watching over the comatose Leo, looking almost more exhausted and worn down than when he had been previously, Gilbert's normally calm demeanor nearly fell and he wanted to protest in favor of having him return home to rest. However as a loyal butler of the youngest head of the esteemed Reinherz family, he knew it wasn't his place to speak against his master's wishes and had also known Klaus well enough to stubbornly refuse any course of action other than the one he was set on once he had made up his mind. So instead, Gilbert resolved to remain dutifully by his side until Klaus was satisfied. However after nearly and hour, Klaus' exhaustion became more apparent as the elderly combat butler picked up on the very subtle cues no one else but he had come to recognize over the years. When Dr. Estevez had shown up to kick them out of Leo's hospital room, Gilbert had hoped that would be enough and Klaus could finally be able to return home and focus on his recovery. Unfortunately that had not been the case as Klaus had wordlessly parked himself outside of Leo's room and refused to budge. Gilbert knew then that he had to take a more indirect approach to intervene and thus made the call to Steven. In the nearly 30 years Gilbert had served him, he had known Klaus to be a rational man, a tad headstrong perhaps, but a rational man nevertheless even in the worst of times or the most chaotic of situations. He knew where to draw the line and take a step back when he had to, which was why the elderly butler felt slightly more disconcerted with his unusual behavior this time around. And the reason why was painfully obvious.

The image of Leo's pitiful state as well as the events of what transpired in the Alterworld flashed through his mind and he felt his neutral expression slip slightly before quickly fixing it back in place. Honestly, Gilbert understood why Klaus was so distraught. Leo was a very likable young man who didn't deserve to endure that kind of cruelty. In fact, if he were to be perfectly honest, he was actually quite surprised Leo had stuck around at all after his prompt induction into Libra (especially after his first abduction that ended up landing him in the hospital in a full body cast). As one of the key figures in helping run Libra's information network, Gilbert had full access to everyone's background information in the city and when he had been tasked by Steven to dig into Leo's background upon his initial acceptance into Libra (couldn't be too careful after all), aside from his eyes, Leo really had no business being in such a dangerous city. However as he observed and got to know him, as well as hearing why he came to the city in the first place from Klaus, it was clear that he was as driven and capable as the other members despite not possessing any definitive combat abilities. Gilbert also discovered quickly enough that he was also very kind, thoughtful, and a hard worker as evidenced by his constant offers to assist him in various tasks such as errands or cleaning that no other member had offered, not that he expected anyone to. It was part of his job after all, to assist and serve his young master, and by extension Libra, in any way, no matter how big or small or how simple or difficult. Even so, the offer alone was always silently appreciated even if it created some subtle awkwardness for the boy in the beginning every time he was politely turned down. Honestly, it vaguely reminded him of Klaus and not just in the aspect of being mindful.

As a butler, it was his main duty to blend into the background and stand by to keep a watchful eye out for his young master's beck and call and as a result of doing so, it had made him quite adept at people watching. So as such, he observed and that was when the subtle similarities began to show themselves. They were both stubborn and protective of those they cared about, gentle and reserved and even a bit timid or easily flustered given the situation but also possessing a bit of a nasty temper when angered (though Leo's temper was more noticeable in reflexive verbal outbursts while Klaus' was more of a silent and much more intimidating fury), and recently even prior to all this curse business, he had come to realize that Leo had been subconsciously influenced by Klaus to some degree. In the beginning, Leo was quiet, noticeably anxious, and highly conscientious, and while he still was for the most part, back then it was almost to the point that he felt like he couldn't so much as sit on the furniture without thinking he may upset someone. Now though, he was much more at ease and even a bit more confident in his actions and involvement as he thought back to some of their past operations. The time Phillip had his brain extracted and Leo helped to lead them to the perpetrators, volunteering his services on his own accord to help eliminate the threat that resulted in the fellow who was gigantified and apparently tricked into inadvertently destroying the city by leading Sonic through the giant's body, and of course recklessly braving the second Great Collapse on foot until Gilbert had shown up to promptly get him to Klaus in time. While Leo had always had that spark of strong morality to him, Gilbert suspected the words and actions of the young Reinherz were also responsible in part for his subtle changes based on the way he sometimes caught Leo discreetly looking to Klaus whenever he was visibly bothered by something or other. While he was taught not to show much emotion that could interfere with his work or compromise the mindset or mood of those he served, Gilbert couldn't help but feel a miniscule spark of amusement at the subtle display of admiration as well as a twang of sympathy for the young man whenever he had such a troubled expression. Again the image of the gravely injured Leo lying in his hospital bed came to mind and Gilbert felt yet another, sharper twang that he fought down in order to prevent his emotions to show on his face. He took a controlled inhale of breath through his nose before softly letting it out. He supposed that it wasn't just Klaus' health and wellbeing he was concerned about.

At last the doors from the ICU wing opened and Klaus and Steven made their way through. Gilbert calmly stood to greet them with a cordial bow.

"Welcome back sirs. Shall I bring the car around to take you both home?"

"Actually, we need to head to the Office to get some things sorted out in preparation of resuming operations," Steven informed. Gilbert's professionally neutral expression did not waver though he felt the briefest twinge of hesitance thinking Klaus had somehow talked Steven out of letting him get some much needed rest. However he quickly realized after taking a quick glance to Klaus, who had a look on his face that was a mixture of exhausted resignation and an ambiguous sense of repurpose, that they had likely reached some sort of agreement.

"Understood," he replied. "Please wait here while I start up the car." Klaus gave a silent and grateful nod as he turned away to do so and Steven once more leaned against the waiting room's ivy coated wall to wait. As Gilbert walked away, he vaguely realized that the expression on his young master's face was almost strangely akin to that of Leo's; particularly whenever the younger man felt put off by something but didn't want to voice it in order to placate others, even if it was for his own benefit. The corner of his lips twitched into a faint, humorless smile. It appears as if Leo in turn influenced Klaus in some ways as well.
_

Returning to Pandorum Asylum was never a fun experience, prisoner or otherwise. The overly complicated and often times intrusive security measures and subsequent paperwork, the elaborate dark, dank concrete halls and linoleum floors, and uptight guards with high-powered weaponry were one thing; it was to be expected for such a high level security prison, especially when up against the chaotic inhabitants of Hellsalem's Lot. But then there was the warden. An older woman wearing a business suit, with a stack of gray hair that almost defied gravity, sullen cheeks and wearing an overly liberal amount of make up to almost give her a clownish appearance (something only Deldro was ballsy enough to point out to her face). She was always overly problematic whenever Libra requested permission to allow temporary bail to Hummer and Deldro whenever their assistance was needed. Even when said prisoners returned and all agreements were met, she always had some remark to make and threatened not to be so lenient the next time though Klaus or Steven had always managed to convince her otherwise. So when Lucky returned to escort the wounded Hummer and Deldro back, he knew there was going to be more in store than just some passive aggressive comments. Sure enough, upon noticing the bandages and injured state of the inmates in question, Warden Alice glared harshly at them and wordlessly directed them inside so they could discuss matters after they had been checked over again. After half a day where Hummer and Deldro rested while Lucky tried his best to smooth things over and keep from rescinding any future bailouts, they now all sat around a small table in a private interrogation room (the best thing they had to a mediation space apparently) with Lucky seated beside Hummer who was placed in high tech cuffs and shackles while Deldro's head protruded from his slit wrist and Warden Alice sat across from them, arms folded and clearly unhappy.

"So let me get this straight," she began with a stern glare. "Despite my constant misgivings about the repeated, temporary releases into your custody, you not only have the gall to return the inmates under my authority injured, but expect me to look the other way in future endeavors? Honestly, I believe after this latest debacle I have every right to refuse and forcibly remove you from these premises and lock them back up so they can continue out the rest of their sentence uninterrupted."

"Please be reasonable Warden Alice," Lucky calmly interjected. "Their injuries were the result of dealing with a potentially deadly threat to not just the city but humanity as a whole. These things are expected to happen in such a high stakes situation; surely you understand this. Furthermore their injuries were not life threatening, your medical staff even confirmed that for themselves. So it is not as though we were acting carelessly."

"That's not the point here!" She snapped. "It's about the actions and constant bargaining and appealing of you technical vigilantes that is undermining my authority that is the problem and you just play it off as if whatever happens as a result isn't a concern to you! Do you have any idea how this will reflect on not just myself but the stability of this prison?"

"Sure, because the public in this city is all clamoring over your reputation and this dump," Deldro muttered under his breath, feeling more irritated than usual due to lack of sleep from a combination of unnecessary tests and their still healing wounds. Normally Hummer would have chastised Deldro for making such comments but he instead was abnormally quiet and sullen as his gaze was focused downward in thought. Who did respond however was Warden Alice who growled and turned a pointed glare towards him. Not wanting to make things worse, Lucky attempted to quickly jump back into the conversation only for the audible buzzing of his phone to go off in his overcoat's pocket. She quickly redirected her irritated attention towards him as a result.

"Really?" She asked in exasperation as the bad luck bringer pulled out his phone on instinct and muttered a weak apology. Upon taking notice of Steven's name on his screen, Lucky felt a small pit of dread churn in the pit of his stomach and opened up the messaging app while bracing himself for any potential bad news and effectively ignoring the warden's further complaints. After finishing reading the message, Lucky let out a small sigh and turned his attention back to Warden Alice once more.

"I apologize again Warden Alice but it seems as though Klaus will be unavailable for an undetermined amount of time due to his injuries." That comment got Hummer's attention as he finally directed his gaze up from his thoughts to look at the older man. "However the second in command Steven, whom you spoke with before, just informed me that he would be willing to personally come in himself to negotiate on his behalf."

"Is Klaus okay?" Hummer found himself asking out of concern, speaking for the first time since their return.

"Yeah, Steven just says he needs more rest after returning to the hospital to check up on Leonardo." That comment caused Hummer to sit up a bit straighter and an insistent look replaced his formerly gloomy one.

"Were there any changes with Leo?" He asked hopefully. Unfortunately Lucky sighed and shook his head.

"He didn't say so I can only assume not." Hummer's expression fell and he deflated a bit.

"I see," he replied as Deldro just stayed silent and observed the interaction. Warden Alice too observed the interaction with visible confusion but before she could inquire about the unusual exchange and behavior from the normally chipper inmate, Hummer spoke again, this time sounding determined. "I wanna go visit him!"

"Huh?" the other three people in the room uttered in visible shock and confusion.

"I want to visit Leo. I know it's only been a day but I want to see for myself that he's okay and getting better. Can I Warden Alice?" Regaining her former irritation, she frowned and slapped a hand on the table in front of them.

"Absolutely not! Have you forgotten your position here? This is a prison and you are an inmate; there are no field trips for criminals!" She harshly rejected. However Hummer remained unfazed and persisted, almost rising from his chair were it not for the shackles that kept him chained to the floor.

"Please Warden!" He begged while stretching as far forward from his seat with his cuffed hands and Deldro up in response. The action and insistent pleading caught the woman mildly by surprise but she quickly recomposed herself and regained her firm demeanor. Wanting to de-escalate the situation, Lucky placed a hand on Hummer's shoulder and urged him to retake his seat. The handsome man gave Lucky a pleading look to which he was met with a firm look silently conveying him to settle down. Hummer complied and the older man then turned his attention to the authoritative female.

"With all due respect Warden, Libra has completed our portion of the usual agreement of returning Hummer and Deldro to your facility, alive and in good standing to serve out the rest of his sentence, upon completing their services to the community. Unfortunately as a result of those services most of us, including a member of ours who these two are on friendly terms with, was injured, said comrade especially so, and they are expressing their natural wishes to at the very least be aware of their condition. Given their involvement and lasting good behavior in your care this past year, surely it can't be so unreasonable as to allow this as some sort of reward, with a supervisory escort of course. I can also personally attend as well to ensure that there would be no problems or…negative urges, " Lucky expressed eyeing Deldro warily at the last sentiment who only grumbled something under the effect of "like I would when we're still injured, asshole." Regardless, Warden Alice's expression was unmoving.

"Again, this is a prison, not a motel where inmates can come and go as they please. And even if I was willing to entertain such a ridiculous request, the assurances of a person who invites disaster and an organization that does not keep their word doesn't hold much meaning to me." Lucky was silent for a moment from the pointed remark before he tried a different approach.

"Then perhaps a compromise," Lucky suggested. "If we could provide these two with remote access to check up on our colleague without leaving this facility then surely that wouldn't be a problem." Despite the reasonable suggestion, the warden looked as if she still wanted to refuse. However she mistakenly turned her glower from Lucky to Hummer and caught the sorry puppy dog look the handsome man was giving her that immediately caused a barely noticeable blush to heat up her cheeks and her glower wavered at the attractive, if not slightly pitiful, sight. Quickly averting her gaze and re-establishing her firm mask she thought it over and let out a begrudging sigh.

"Very well. Since it's clear that you won't let this go I suppose I can allow some leeway with your request." Instantly Hummer's expression brightened into a relieved and grateful smile.

"Thank you so much Warden," Hummer said while Deldro remained silent but seemingly content with the outcome. Lucky also appeared pleased at the decision and caught sight the conflicted look on the older woman's face.

"It's a bit too late today but I'll make arrangements to have a direct feed into Leonardo's hospital room set up by tomorrow," he informed before glancing hopefully to Warden Alice. "And, as for the possibility of a personal visit later down the road should there be any significant developments or…unfortunate outcomes?" A part of him hated to even consider the idea and use it to his advantage, especially after seeing Hummer's formerly exuberant expression fall into that of clear dread and sorrow at that possible reminder. However it seemed to have the desired effect on the warden as she observed Hummer's expression and her frown softened ever so slightly without completely losing her stern demeanor.

"…I'll consider it," she relented. Satisfied with the outcome, Lucky gave a faint smile before also thanking the warden. Their meeting eventually came to a close with plans to discuss the possibility of Hummer and Deldro's future releases with both Klaus and Steven at a later date. Hummer and Deldro were then promptly escorted back to their cell as Hummer pleasantly bid Lucky goodbye for the time being, evidently looking both eager and restless for the following day. Lucky gave a small smile and little wave as they were willingly lead away. Once they were out of sight Lucky's smile fell and he let out a tired sigh before one of the guards turned to him to escort him out of the building. Wordlessly Lucky complied and as they made their way to the exit his mind wandered. For some reason despite as positive of an outcome as he could have expected, Lucky felt oddly tense as well.

The next day Lucky arrived at Bradbury General Hospital with his small handheld video camera in tow. After speaking both with Steven (in place of Klaus who was persuaded into taking a nap at the time to get more rest by Gilbert) as well as Dr. Estevez after leaving Pandorum Asylum, it was agreed upon that Lucky would live stream the video feed to Hummer and Deldro's cell whenever he or another member would visit (as Dr. Estevez was reluctant to allow any sort of constant, outside monitoring equipment for both privacy and the sake of security as it could also interfere with the hospital equipment and the orderlies' duties). Libra had also resumed their normal operations that day and with everyone else busy and back to their own respective tasks to maintain the city's fragile peace and Klaus taking his temporary leave to recover, Lucky was the only one realistically left to the task. He waited patiently outside Leo's hospital room for one of the shrunken copies of Dr. Estevez to emerge as the blinds were once more closed. After about twenty minutes she finally emerged and gave him a small, pleasant smile.

"Well, there are no significant changes in his comatose state but his physical injuries are thankfully starting to show signs of healing so we want to minimize prolonged exposure to outside sources for his own health. You can go in to visit him but please keep it brief, no more than ten minutes at max while most of the necessary machinery that can interfere with the signal is not currently being used at the moment, though keep in mind that could change at any time. If you need anything or if something happens just press the call button to the nurse station on the switch by his bedside and either a nurse, doctor, or myself should arrive shortly." Lucky nodded in silent understanding before Dr. Estevez turned to attend to her other duties. He entered into the room and shut it firmly behind him before turning to the comatose and bandaged Leo that lay in the hospital bed. At the foot of his bed perched Sonic on the metal railing having apparently slipped into the room unnoticed at some point prior to his arrival. The Beyondian primate turned to look at him briefly to see who had come in before recognizing who it was and warily put some distance between himself and the bad luck man by scurrying on top of one of the larger pieces of hospital machinery that beeped as it assisted in monitoring Leo's condition. Lucky did not pay any mind to this as he was instead focused on Leo's form. From what he could see Leo looked the same as last time, broken and badly injured but resting with newly replaced bandages covering his wounds and eyes. He frowned as he focused on the bandages covering his face in particular and gripped the video camera in his pocket a little bit tighter in response. Meanwhile, Hummer and Deldro were anxiously waiting seated in front of a computer monitor (still in their shackles and cuffs) for the video feed Lucky had promised them. Warden Alice stood close by to oversee matters as well as she stood stoically with her hands behind her back.

"What's taking him so damn long?" Deldro asked irritated.

"I'm sure it'll be any minute now," Hummer replied sounding hopeful but feeling just as impatient. Not even a second later did the computer screen's formerly blue screen turn to static before switching to a close up image of Lucky in real time as he spoke into the camera.

"Sorry, it took a while to get the okay from Dr. Estevez; she just got finished with his check-up," he began. "Unfortunately there hasn't been any major changes in his condition but she did say his physical wounds are starting to heal. However she only gave me a small window of time to live stream this so I'll try to get as much as I can." The camera then shifted slightly and turned to show the image of Leo still in his hospital bed but at a much closer angle from inside the room close to the foot of his bed with a considerable portion of the wall with all the various machines and the closed blinds of the observation window to the right of the frame. Hummer gave a small sympathetic sigh upon seeing Leo's condition once more. Deldro eyed his partner and snorted at his reaction.

"Well what did you expect Dog? It's only been like a day and a half, of course he's still gonna look like shit," he remarked. Any normal person would have likely gotten angry or been put off with his generally crass and dismissive manner but Hummer was not a normal person. Instead, Hummer silently stared at the screen for a moment before giving a small smile and replying.

"I guess that's true but at least he's still alive." Deldro studied Hummer slightly taken aback by his response before just grunting. He supposed he shouldn't have been so surprised, that was just the kind of person Hummer was: blindly optimistic and stupidly cheerful, in other words, everything he wasn't. Even after being stuck together for so long it was still a foreign and unusual concept for him that he couldn't say he particularly enjoyed. Before being turned into the sentient plasma he now was, he never cared about anyone or anything or felt sorry for anyone and was content as such as he did what he wanted regardless of the consequences. Then his entire world was turned upside down in a red and gushy mess courtesy of his now ex-girlfriend Aligula and he ended up stuck in Hummer's veins as a result, begrudgingly getting to know the handsome man who was also a victim of Aligula's actions just like him. And while he still feels a sense of loathing and contempt for everyone, especially his ex, he also started to feel a slow but gradual shift in his uncaring and ruthless demeanor. He never knew the man prior but he could tell that what Aligula had done to him broke him more than he let on or was probably even aware of himself (and it was probably for the best that it stayed that way). During their forced union, Deldro could feel everything going through Hummer's body even in his liquidated form: the pain, the horror, the shock and finally, the breaking point of his mental state. When they engaged Exocrimson for the first time on accident, Hummer lost control and Deldro ended up taking over and going on a rampage as they escaped from Aligula's lair and destroyed everything they came across and hurting or killing many people in the process. Then Klaus stepped in and the rest was history.

The feeling of caring about something else besides yourself was both disgusting and annoying as hell. Even now he couldn't help but feel generally irritated and mildly unsettled not just over the man whose body he shared but the squinty eyed brat he had also risked both their lives to help save as he watched the live feed on the monitor screen. When he first met the kid, he was an unsightly, pitiful mess (though honestly he couldn't blame him too much since he had encountered Aligula for the first time and personally experienced her unique brand of crazy, though he never did exactly say what she did to him). But after the events of the second Great Collapse and witnessing what kinds of torture he endured at the hands of the Blood Breeds, he felt a slightly more pronounced spike of agitation and something else. The sappy feelings he often felt (that no way in hell belonged to him!) were there but there was something else: an understanding and pride of sorts. He at least understood what kind of degree of pain the kid was subjected to and Deldro had to admit that Leo's tenacity was admirable that he came out of it alive at all. Though despite that, seeing him in the state he was in was still an unwelcome sight as he could tell through Hummer's biorhythms that it was also affecting the handsome man more than he was admitting.

Warden Alice, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, could only gawk at the footage in evident shock at the sorry state of the unknown lad they spoke of and felt a flare of disapproval and displeasure.

"A child? Seriously? Just when I think that man and his group of vigilante hooligans can't get any more thoughtless. How could they allow such a thing to happen or even let such a normal-looking boy to join Libra in the first place?" She criticized more to herself rather than the two inmates. Feeling his irritation spike at that comment and finding a good outlet for his aggression, Deldro turned his head to retort but before he could even open his mouth someone else shockingly beat him to it.

"Don't talk about Klaus or Leo like that," Hummer declared firmly with a stern glare. "You don't know what kinds of things they have gone through or what they could be feeling or thinking." Warden Alice blinked in disbelief, too shocked by the uncharacteristic display of defensive aggression to even get angry. Deldro on the other hand gave Hummer a subtle glance before letting out an amused huff at the warden's expression and turned back his attention to the screen. Hummer also refocused his hardened gaze back onto the screen before it softened almost immediately upon landing on Leo. The distant recollection of being strapped down to an operating table with the blood draining out of him surrounded by countless beeping medical machines not unlike the ones surrounding Leo flashed through his mind and a chill traveled through him. While Hummer still couldn't remember everything that happened during that awful experience (and honestly hopes he never does), sometimes some things trickled through the cracks. However despite his lack of memories, the dread was still there, ingrained in his being and this experience only seemed to bring it out even more. The only difference was that this time it wasn't himself in the position of suffering and that was almost worse.

Leo was a good guy; he was kind and a good person to be around. Even in the few times they've interacted Leo never judged him for his status as a criminal, but instead was sympathetic with his situation (having revealed that he heard what happened from the Queen of Monomania herself when he was being held captive by her during the monster truck incident) yet still treated him normally. That meant more to Hummer than most people realized. Despite his usual sunny and often airheaded personality, Hummer wasn't a complete fool. He knew people tended to act strangely around him at times whenever they interacted with him or even looked at him (though why still eluded him, maybe they didn't like his outfit?). Regardless he always tried go on pretending like it never happened or even bothered him, but of course deep down it did a little bit. But Leo wasn't like that, not just him but Klaus and everyone else in Libra treated him like a normal person, or as normal as someone could be with his circumstances. So he resolved to help Libra however he could with his and Deldro's combined strength and abilities.

But then he got cocky, was overpowered not just once but essentially twice, and he nearly failed his friend to where he almost died as a result. While everyone else was able to deal with their adversary in the end, even after thinking if they switched up their game they would come out on top for sure, he and Deldro still couldn't win and ironically was saved by the very person who drastically altered his life in the first place of all people. He had mixed feelings about that as well as the words spoken to him by the burly, man-bat Blood Breed but above all else, he was disappointed in himself and worried for Leo. What if he broke too just like he did? Hummer clenched his fists as he continued to observe the live feed. That was when something else occurred to him, a memory of running through the ruined city during the second Great Collapse alongside Leo in stride. The look on his face then was that of determination, not surrender. Slowly Hummer's fists unfurled. That's right, Leo was a fighter. Even during this experience, in spite of all that agony he had gone through with the curse and his injuries, Leo never stopped fighting to get the King of Pain's true name for Klaus didn't he? He would come out of this; he had to. And in the meantime, things were going to change. He was going to get stronger so he could try to move forward too, just like Leo.

"I wonder if Mr. Abrams can get us some instructional videos or self-help books," Hummer wondered aloud causing Deldro and Warden Alice to give him a quizzical look at the out of nowhere inquiry. Unbeknownst to them, back at the hospital, Lucky was more concerned with his own thoughts and other matters. As he held the video camera in place on Leo's form, his gaze was focused downward in thought.

He would be the first to admit there was still some lingering regret about not being able to reach out to Libra and inform them in time of Pain and his actions. Even though it couldn't be helped and even though Leo said he didn't blame him for what had occurred, he still felt some small portion of responsibility but the past was the past. Pain was gone but there were even bigger problems now. The All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods was Libra's, no, humanity's greatest asset against the Blood Breed threat next to Klaus' sealing capabilities. If they lost either it would be a devastating blow to humanity's future. He didn't want to think about the possibility but if there was a chance that Leo didn't come out of his coma, how were they going to utilize his eyes for the greater good? It made him seem unfeeling or uncaring he knew and while he did feel some level of concern for the boy's welfare, as Fang Hunters, as Libra, sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Lucky shook his head slightly to rid himself of that reluctant train of thought. He'd focus on that possibility later. His gaze then shifted back up to Leo and he took in Leo's injuries more closely before his gaze drifted up to Leo's bandaged face focusing again on the bandages wrapped around his eyes.

He vaguely recalled their first encounter when Hellsalem's Lot usual abnormally dangerous conditions damaged Leo's eye. He had provided some minor supernatural first aid in hopes of helping to treat the precious artifact but unfortunately, whether it was due to the previous injury or the strain of using the eyes to such a degree, they ended up cracking anyway. Lucky was just thankful that he learned of the eyes' self-restoration capabilities though it still irked him that they were pushed to such a degree. Then again he supposed that if Leo hadn't pushed himself or his eyes then they would never have confirmed the alarming and vital information that they needed about the Elders Thirteen, or rather the infestation that resided in the void. He then thought back to the second Great Collapse when he had cautioned Leo about protecting the eyes but they still ended up cracked once more in his efforts to locate the final barrier Mary Macbeth and stop the King of Despair that controlled William Macbeth's body. He had given the boy an earful as he had his wounds treated for that but couldn't deny that his actions, as reckless as they were, helped to save the day and this time was no exception either.

As strong and capable as Klaus was, Lucky feared what would have likely happened if Leo hadn't acted when he did so he couldn't even get angry this time around. If anything, he was impressed with Leo's resolve and character despite his recklessness so he supposed it couldn't have been helped. After all it was not just his life but all their lives that were on the line too. But now the stability of not just his life, but also the future was at risk and he knew he had to do something. Lucky decided he would look more into supernatural remedies and solutions for if—when Leo regained consciousness. One thing was for sure, regardless of whatever happened next, they were going to have to keep a much closer eye (no pun intended) on Leo and his All-Seeing Eyes.

"I should also give Klaus and Steven the rest of the binding bandages and some of my extra first aid talismans as a precaution," Lucky mused to himself. Silence once more promptly fell and the Blood Breed expert let out a sigh before the sounds of a commotion came from outside the hospital room. Curious, Lucky set down the video camera with it still recording as he went over to the observation window to peer through the closed blinds. No sooner had he done that though did the sound of a few shouts followed by things crashing result in several objects come flying through the window, breaking the glass and tearing through the closed blinds (narrowly missing Lucky's face by inches but of course not leaving a single scratch on him). The objects flew past him and aimed right towards Sonic sitting on top of the monitoring machine. Thankfully due to Sonic's speed and reflexes, he panicked momentarily before darting out of the way avoiding getting struck just in time as the objects (now revealed to be several pieces of sharp surgical tools like scalpels) were embedded into the monitor causing it to spark and malfunction before shutting off. Scared half to death at the near miss, Sonic trembled as he clutched onto the pole of Leo's IV while Lucky could only blink in surprise as he tried to register the unexpected happening. A split second later, one of Dr. Estevez's clones came through the door with a look of momentary panic on her face. Seeing the tools impaled into the now non-operational machine (which thankfully wasn't one of the necessary machines that regulated Leo's vitals) and not in a person, she relaxed somewhat before turning to Lucky.

"I'm sorry Mr. Abrams but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. There was just an unexpected rush of patients that are going to need treatment and we're going to have to move Leonardo to another room since this one was…compromised."

"Ah, of course," Lucky said in understanding. Lucky approached the camera and grabbed it before cutting the live stream feed, unaware that Hummer, Deldro, and Warden Alice had seen the whole thing and sweatdropped. In retrospect, maybe having someone with a supernatural bull's-eye on their back plus the unnatural ability to deflect harm onto others go into a place where people were already hurt or in need of healing was probably not the best idea.
_

It wasn't until later that afternoon when K.K. finally had a moment to herself. The smog-filled wind blew across the rooftop she had been stationed on as she hastily packed up her high tech rifle with a scowl. The job itself wasn't anything major, just a small support mission in assisting with providing long range back up for a tense hostage situation involving a Beyondian crime boss who was cornered by HLPD. It was easily resolved with a single bullet to the mobster's gut and now he was being loaded up into the back of an ambulance to be transported to the prison's hospital. Despite that however she wasn't as satisfied as she normally would have been. K.K. slung her packed up rifle over her shoulder and sent a quick message on her cell phone to Steven to report the job was finished with a small, irritable growl. Despite not liking the ice-cold man so much, under normal circumstances she wouldn't particularly care that she had to temporarily report to him (especially since Klaus needed the rest and was barred from coming in for the sake of his own health, which she was in full agreement of). However she had been feeling more restless and aggravated than usual over the smallest things and of course hearing from Steven about what had happened at the hospital with Abrams involving his penchant for bad luck didn't improve her mood either. As she impatiently awaited a response, she let out a heavy sigh in an effort to curb her vexation before her mind went back to the day before.

When she had returned to her and her family's apartment from the hospital, wanting to just fall into bed and sleep away her stress, she had tried to be as quiet as possible upon entering their bedroom where her husband slept. As quietly and effectively as she could with her injuries, she changed out of her combat outfit and into her pajamas but could not stifle some groans of discomfort as she slipped into bed next to him. Her husband was both a light sleeper and highly attuned to any signs of distress from his wife and naturally stirred awake upon feeling the shift of weight on the bed. His tired eyes studied her for a moment before taking in the sight of the bandages and bruises on her and quickly sat up.

"What happened?" he asked concerned. Still lying down, she smiled in as reassuring a way as she could before responding.

"Just the usual," she said in a tone filled with exhaustion but her husband saw right through her attempts to play it off. He brushed away some loose strands of her blonde hair that fell into her face so he could observe her a bit closer.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked gently. Her fake smile slowly fell, knowing she had been caught, and she grunted to slowly sit up so that they could speak properly.

"A coworker of mine was just involved in an 'incident' and we had to clean up the mess," she said vaguely. "He's alive for now but…" she trailed off, not wanting to say any more. While never knowing the specifics of her job, he understood the general tendencies of his wife's line of work and therefore understood the reading between the lines. He didn't say anything but instead gingerly wrapped his arms around her so as not to harm her further and comforted her as she continued. "We were given the day off to recover. I'm fine, just sore and tired."

"I see," he said after a short pause. Another brief lapse of silence followed before he directed his gaze to hers. "But you know, if your coworker is in the same line of work as you, then I'm sure that he'll pull through just fine. For now you should just focus on getting all the rest you need. Even world-saving heroes need a break after all. And hey, since you have the day off, maybe later we could spend the day to relax as a family. Maybe order some takeout and watch a movie; it's been a long time since the four of us have done something together. I'm sure Kane and Zane would like that too." This time K.K. gave a genuine smile of appreciation as she nodded in agreement and returned the hug with one of her own. They sat like that in silence for a moment before the alarm clock next to their bed went off. Reacting quickly, he reached over to shut off the annoying appliance and let out a sigh as he got up and slid on his slippers and put on his robe.

"Guess I should start breakfast. Do you want me to save you anything?" K.K. shook her head in response.

"No, I'll save my appetite for dinner. Right now I just need some sleep." He gave her an understanding smile and nodded. Leaning down, her wonderful husband placed a tender kiss on her forehead in a silent gesture of comfort and reassurance before he exited the room to let her rest in peace. K.K. sat there for a moment, feeling conflicted despite the sensible reassurances of her husband as she still felt uneasy when she thought back to Leo. Ultimately she ended up deciding to take her husband's advice to rest and not focus on anything else right then. K.K. sighed and reached for her phone before hesitantly shutting it off to dissuade from receiving any unwanted calls or texts. She placed the phone down next to her side of the bed before easing herself back down onto the mattress, pulling the covers up and finally allowing her heavy eyelids to close as she drifted off to sleep and drowning out her lingering concerns with slumber.

K.K. was then snapped out of her recollection by her vibrating cell phone still clutched in her hand. Shaking her head to refocus she glanced at the response sent by Steven. "Good work. Remain on standby for now" was the message she received and K.K. let out a small huff, more or less satisfied with the reply but still feeling mildly distressed. She pocketed her cell phone and glanced upwards in thought.

"I should reload on ammo back at Patrick and Neyka's place just in case," she mused. "If nothing else maybe I can blow off some steam there." With that she headed for the ladder leading down the building's fire escape.

Once at the two weapon experts' workshop, K.K. gave her usual secret knock and waited. After a moment longer than usual, Neyka finally answered. Upon seeing that it was K.K. at the door, she gave a small smile and wordlessly gestured her inside. She complied, ignoring the usual, if not noticeably larger, mess of half-finished blueprints and tech parts spread about the floor and on the counters and shelves and promptly made her way inside where Patrick was hunched over some partially disassembled weapon, welding some circuitry in silence. However upon hearing the sounds of additional footfalls besides Neyka's he stopped and glanced up from his work.

"Hey K.K.," he greeted pleasantly, though not sounding quite as enthusiastic as he usually was. Naturally, the sniper took quick notice of this.

"Everything okay?" Patrick tried to play off her concern with a smirk but it instead came out more as a strained grimace.

"Yeah…well," Patrick's smirk fell and he decided it was just better to come clean. "Actually my muse and I are apparently not on speaking terms at the moment." Neyka came over with a couple of mugs of lukewarm coffee for the two of them and silently offered it to her and her partner to which they graciously accepted. "I guess losing the Agasaya Mark Two is still rubbin' me the wrong way and with…you know, everything else happening I guess my mind's not really in it at the moment." K.K. gave the dark skinned man a look of sympathy; that explained the half-finished tech and scattered plans she supposed.

"I know what you mean," she replied glancing down into her cup as Patrick sipped from his. She was silent for a moment as she stared at her murky reflection before letting out a loud growl of frustration and ruffled her blonde hair with her free hand. Patrick and Neyka observed this but didn't say anything; they didn't need to.

"Dammit! Why is everything so different this time around?" She asked aloud. Confused, Patrick and Neyka tilted their heads and raised their brows in clear inquiry allowing her to continue. "I mean, I know people in Libra get badly hurt or even killed every now and then and Leo especially is no exception with how much trouble seems to love finding him, but why does this time around feel so much more…unsettling?" Patrick and Neyka exchanged wary glances before Patrick spoke up, gently setting his mug down on the workbench beside him.

"Maybe because he might actually—"

"He won't die!" She cut him off with a dangerous tone and glare, daring him to continue. Patrick put his hands up in a silent gesture of surrender and immediately K.K. felt her irritation ebb away as she sighed again, feeling slightly guilty for going off on him. That was when Neyka, usually being one of little to no words, spoke up.

"Then why don't we go visit him?" The other two glanced at her, contemplating the possibility but unsure if they wanted to see the bad state Leo was in a second time. Before K.K. could reply the sound of her cell phone vibrating in her pocket caught their attention. Pulling it out, she was greeted with the sight of a text from Steven likely alerting her to another potential task. Feeling the overwhelming urge to shoot something (or someone) grow stronger, K.K. scowled and fought the urge to let out another growl before she stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Okay, maybe I should. Abrams did say before that Leo was showing signs of healing at least physically so if nothing else I could get an update on him," she reasoned. Patrick looked a bit thoughtful.

"We'll come with too, I could use a breather from rehashing old tech," he said rising from his seat as Neyka nodded in agreement once more falling back into her usual silence. K.K. gave him a small smile before again her cell phone buzzed and she glanced down to see another message from Steven as well as a portion of the text requesting her immediate assistance on the frontlines of another volatile situation before the screen went black. This time K.K. could not suppress the loud, frustrated growl that rose up from her throat and she clenched her jaw.

"It'll have to wait, duty calls," she informed with a huff before a sinister smile crossed her face. "You got any extra magazines for my rifle and pistols in back?" she asked sweetly. Patrick chuckled, knowing full well that K.K. finally found a healthy way to cope with her steadily building aggression.

"How many do you need?"

Early the next morning, Patrick, Neyka and K.K. met up in front of the hospital. After getting the new room information from the Alterworldly receptionist at the front desk and receiving the okay from Dr. Estevez, the three made their way down the hall of the ICU wing until they stopped in front of the observation window to Leo's new room. The blinds were drawn halfway shut but they could still roughly make out the shape of Leo in bed. Eagerly, K.K. went to the door and turned the handle before quickly entering with the two weapons enthusiasts right behind her. Sonic immediately turned his attention from fiddling with one of the stethoscopes left behind by one of the less attentive doctors and abandoned the object in order to greet the familiar faces. Smiling, Neyka held her arms out for Sonic to climb up and receive an affectionate scratch behind the ears. K.K. smiled faintly at the sight before refocusing back on the comatose Leo. He still looked mostly the same as the last time they had seen him though he appeared to have a bit more noticeable color in his cheeks and some of his bruises were starting to fade. She wasn't the only one who noticed this either.

"He does look a little better than last time," Patrick said as he glanced Leo over through his sunglasses. Neyka came over by his side and nodded in agreement as Sonic jumped out of her arms and ran to Leo's side on the bed to once more fiddle with the new toy he found (apparently in some sort of attempt to mimic what he saw the doctors do to monitor Leo earlier if they had to guess). K.K. hummed in agreement as she gazed down at the comatose lad who had steadily grown on her. Instinctively, she reached out a hand to brush some locks of messy hair out of his bandage-wrapped face when she stopped herself. That was when it clicked, the reason she felt so much more restless and aggravated lately: it was because he appealed to her motherly side.

Honestly she couldn't believe she didn't realize it sooner. Leo was a sweet boy, innocent and gentle though at the same time mature, polite and reserved…well, whenever Zapp wasn't egging him on with his teasing or he wasn't being thrown into perilous situations. Though they didn't always interact very often due to her constant involvement with various other armed operations both in and out of Libra (ironically much like her biological sons), whenever something particularly bad happened to the young man that she heard about or was present to witness, K.K. realized she often seemed to get a bit more riled up than usual though she always tried to suppress it for the most part. It wasn't exactly professional after all and she doubted Leo would likely have appreciated or felt comfortable with the attention had she acted fully on her motherly tendencies. She also seemed to take a particular interest in his life as well when it came to certain aspects like his sister or his lack of a love life (that topic was always a bit fun to tease him about during the rare peaceful moments they enjoyed a cup of coffee together while on standby). In retrospect, it was almost identical to how she interacts with her own sons though with more obvious differences.

Leo was a magnet for trouble though he can't exactly help it given the circumstances with his eyes that also seemed to come with a lot of emotional baggage for him. But despite that he never backed down when things got ugly. She saw that first hand during the second Great Collapse when she and Steven witnessed him running headlong through the frozen and electrified battlefield they had left behind in their wake in his efforts to reach and assist Klaus and again when he fought tooth and nail to protect his sister from that Alterworldly doctor prick that targeted them both for Leo's eyes. She felt both a sense of pride and fierce protectiveness that only a mother could during both of those instances and this incident with the King of Pain only threw that motherly urge into overdrive. Now aside from the aggravation of what that damned Blood Breed had done to Leo there was the frustration that there was nothing she could realistically do to help him when he is still in such bad shape as well as, as much as she didn't want to admit it, the fear of the potential worst case scenario. She shook her head to rid herself of that thought and took a breath to calm down a bit. He was showing signs of improving; that was what she needed to focus on. He was a fighter, he was going to get through this, and when he did, she was going to set some things straight with him. Call it motherly intuition but something told her that he would somehow end up blaming himself for what happened and they needed to take responsibility so that they could prevent a repeat of this situation. After all, that was what any real mother would do, right?

Patrick and Neyka observed the thoughtful look on the Libra sniper's face but chose to remain silent. It wasn't until the familiar, constant buzzing of K.K.'s cell phone sounded that the silence was finally broken. Immediately K.K. let out another irked growl as she pulled out her cell phone and saw that this time she was receiving a call from Steven. Realizing that her time was up, K.K. let out a heavy sigh and answered the call in a curt tone.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry to call so early K.K. but a short-notice operation has come up. We need you in the office ASAP," Steven replied sounding vaguely aware of her irritation but largely unfazed by her snappy response. She fought back another sigh.

"I'm on my way," she relented and then hung up before Steven could reply. She shoved the phone back into her red trench coat's pocket before glancing back to Patrick and Neyka but before she could say anything, Patrick beat her to it.

"Do what you gotta do K.K., Neyka and I can stick around for a while longer," Patrick assured as Neyka gave a silent double thumbs up. She gave them a small appreciative smile and nod before glancing back down to Leo briefly and then proceeding to swiftly leave the room and passing by the observation window to leave. Patrick and Neyka then turned their attentions back to Leo as the beeping of the medical equipment once more overtook the silence for a few more quiet moments. Patrick leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets as Neyka took a seat in the one chair situated in the room and sighed as a frown replaced Patrick's usual grin. Neyka looked to him curiously at the sulky display. Understanding her silent inquiry Patrick responded.

"Sometimes I just don't get how things could get this far," Patrick said. Since the two worked together so seamlessly and frequently they practically shared a brain so Neyka understood almost immediately what Patrick had meant. In the time that they had known Leo, he had always refused to use or even carry any of their weapons or gear for protection and the reason why always seemed to elude them both. While Neyka more or less accepted his decision, Patrick on the other hand was always insistent on it both out of pride for his work and concern for Leo's welfare. With as dangerous and chaotic as this city was and how often Leo ends up finding himself in one bad situation after another, it was frankly suicide not to have some kind of protection (hell, even they packed some kind of heat when out and about). He had even pointed this out to Leo at one point following the one time he actually had borrowed a weapon from them, a non-lethal stun baton, only to return to their workshop to apologize for losing the weapon beaten half to hell because he didn't have something stronger on him. What Leo had said had in response when Patrick grilled him on why he should really carry a better weapon on him stuck with him like unpleasant, sticky glue.

"I just don't have it in me to hurt others, even if they hurt me. As long as I get away alive then that's enough of a win for me." Patrick and Neyka both honestly didn't know what to think of that statement. The look of nonchalant acceptance on his face when he said this was both baffling and disconcerting but there had also been a hint of sadness too when he had spoken (or perhaps he was just imagining it). They then both thought back to a few days ago when this mess was apparently just starting out and recalled how sick Leo looked and acted. If what Klaus and Steven had told them was true about the happening of events, then that was likely the time when the curse that Leo was afflicted with was starting to take its hold on him. If Leo had just kept a better weapon on him, it wouldn't have stopped the Blood Breed, but maybe it would have slowed him down enough so Leo could have gotten away and gotten help from them and this entire ordeal would have never happened in the first place. But at the same time, in some morbid way, it was almost inspirational to see how far Leo would go to stay true to his own ideals. He found a way out of that dangerous situation the best way he could and without any kind of firepower other than his own grit. In spite of their passion for weaponry, Patrick and Neyka also had to respect that kind of restraint and pacifistic viewpoint. Patrick then gave an amused huff as his lips quirked upwards slightly.

"If only you could weaponize that kind of resilience. If he's half as stubborn about…" The large man trailed off as a look of inspiration dawned on him. Neyka looked to him, again knowing exactly what he was thinking, especially after catching the steadily growing grin on his face as he pulled out a small pocket notebook used to jot down what had apparently popped into mind. He let out a small, exuberant chuckle as he and Neyka exchanged an excited look as he finished scribbling while Sonic just looked on in curious confusion completely out of the loop. "Looks like my muse is back."

The two muttered and brainstormed for about an hour when a nurse finally came in to shoo them out so she could attend to Leo in peace (apparently they were going to be running a second series of examinations and X-Rays to make sure things were healing properly). After they were ushered out, the duo promptly left the hospital to make a quick supply run before returning to their workshop to get started. They also shot a quick message to both Steven and K.K. to update them on the situation with Leo though they received no reply back. Regardless, the two didn't think too much about it as they were eager to get started on their next project and was sure that someone would get to it eventually.
_

It wasn't until a day and a half later when the update from Patrick reached the rest of Libra. As it turned out, the unexpected operation Steven had informed K.K. of had progressed from a quick, minor raid on a small Alterworldly terrorist group that was brewing up some rather messed up stuff had developed into a series of prolonged hits on multiple locations in an effort to flush out the manufacturer and prevent their intended chemical warfare before it leaked out to the unsuspecting public. Eventually the wild goose chase ended before the main perpetrators had a chance to slip away after the sixth location Libra decimated and the lethal compounds they created were effectively contained and destroyed. During this time, Klaus had also begun to grow restless from his forced leave of absence and had articulated his desire to assist in the operation or at the very least visit Leo in the hospital due to the brief lapse of updates regarding his condition. However, Steven promptly shut him down. Apparently Gilbert had caught Klaus more than once working on something on his laptop in his personal study or attempting to leave his home to head to some unknown location when he was still supposed to be in bed resting from the last of his injuries. He had managed to once more talk the persistent man down and assured him as well as the others, who had also become silently concerned over the unsettling length of time that it had been since Leo's admission, that Dr. Estevez would have contacted them if there had been any significant changes and that they would just have to be patient. While most seemed to begrudgingly accept this, there were some (aside from their reluctant leader) who were not so satisfied with that prospect.

Zapp puffed on what seemed like his thousandth cigar over the course of the past few days as he angrily stewed in his spot on the office couch. A pile of half-smoked cigars and cigar butts sat on the ashtray before him on the coffee table as he crossed his arms and slouched back into the cushions after Steven had addressed the rest of the team following the successful operation. The Esmerelda Blood Freeze user had then left them to their own devices during their brief reprieve while he finished up the remaining reports and paperwork so Zapp used that time to numb his senses and thoughts with the nicotine. It wasn't until Zed had entered into the quiet room with closed book in hand that he finally snapped out of his absentminded haze. The Kagutsuchi branch user looked to the Shinatobe branch user, slightly more coherent than he previously was but still choosing not to say anything. The fish man took a seat in the armchair opposite of him with book still in hand. He seemed to contemplate something for the briefest of seconds before he directed his gaze to stare directly at his senior pupil.

"I think we should go visit Leo today." Zapp's gaze drifted from Zed down briefly to the book in his webbed hands before glancing back up to him; apparently it was some sort of medical book judging by the caduceus decorated on the spine.

"Yeah?" The white-haired male only uttered sounding mildly disinterested before taking the cigar out of his mouth and blowing out a stream of smoke. "Knock yourself out then Fish Face." Zed looked mildly aghast by the seemingly uncaring response.

"You don't want to go?"

"That's what I freakin' said, didn't I?" Zapp replied hotly. Choosing not to comment on the technicality of his phrasing, Zed instead asked the more prominent question.

"But aren't you worried about Leo?" This comment seemed to spark a flare of hostility as Zapp scowled and stamped out his current cigar into the pile of others in the ashtray with a bit more force than necessary causing some lingering ashes to fly out.

"No, I'm not!" Zapp snapped as he ground the pile of used up cigars further into the ashtray. "It's not like the Pube Head hasn't been in a freakin' hospital before and visiting him ain't gonna make him wake him up any faster. Besides, I got more important things to do than waste my time in some shitty hospital room." Before Zed could even think of how to respond, Zapp's head suddenly jerked forward as Chain materialized crouching down on top of his head.

"Like smoke until your lungs turn black?" she retorted with her usual indifference. However it didn't last as Zapp let out a loud and angry growl and suddenly got to his feet and summoned his Homuramaru causing Chain to nimbly leap backwards off of him mildly taken aback by the particularly hostile display of aggression. On instinct, Zed also got to his feet to intervene should things come to blows but Zapp didn't move other than to snarl and glare daggers at the two of them.

"What is your problem?" Chain asked heatedly. Seeming to finally realize how far things were being taken, Zapp huffed and dispelled his blade.

"Just piss off! If you wanna go waste your time watching over a brain dead sleeping beauty, be my guest." With that Zapp turned on his heels and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

"Asshole," Chain glowered while Zed silently glared at the door the white-haired male left through.

"He has certainly been more insufferable and belligerent than usual since Leo's admission," he admitted before then turning his attention to the Invisible Werewolf. "Speaking of which, would you be interested in visiting the hospital with me to check up on him?" Chain thought about it for a moment but looked apologetic.

"Can't; I have some last minute tasks to finish up for the Werewolf Bureau." Zed seemed a bit discouraged by the response but nodded to show that he at least understood.

Zapp stomped down the sidewalk, carelessly passing by or pushing past other pedestrians with his hands shoved into his pockets and grumbling under his breath and cursing everything he could think of.

"Stupid She Bitch and Fish Face, stupid Blood Breed and his fucking curse, stupid shithead and his freaking damsel in distress routine!" No sooner had that sentence escaped his lips did the recollection of Leo writhing in agony and crying out in suffering during the Maledictum's awakening cross his mind, just as it had every other time he thought of the young member. Zapp literally stopped in his tracks mid-tirade before shaking his head vigorously to clear his head of the unpleasant images. He didn't want to think about it anymore. Ever since he had woken up after getting back from the hospital, Leo's condition was the only thing that kept popping up in his mind as he tried to enjoy the benefits of his degenerate lifestyle during his unexpected day off.

"Fucking brat. Even when you're not even here, you're annoying as hell." Instinctively he reached into his vest's inner breast pocket for another cigar only to find to his frustration that he was all out. He cursed under his breath and let out a sigh before glancing around only to realize that he actually wasn't too far from one of his favorite dive bars. "Screw it, I could use a drink instead anyway." Zapp continued down and around the corner before ducking into one of the side alleys as a shortcut. He made it down a couple of lanes when movement to his left and a gruff and garbled shout caught his attention.

"Hey you, Huma!" Zapp stopped and turned his head towards the direction of the voice. Three suspiciously familiar Alterworldly thugs dressed in gangster clothing menacingly stalked towards him, one a slender, reptilian humanoid, the second an almost deformed insectoid with a bulbous head and the third a portly slug-like behemoth with several eyestalks and a (quite literally) big mouth. The slug-like thug called out to him again with a sneer. "You got some nerve cuttin' through here on our turf."

"Yeah," the insectoid punk chipped in. "And guess what, there's a toll to pay for those who wanna get through. So how's about you hand over one of your internal organs as payment and maybe we'll let you live."

"Or better yet, why don't we just take whatever other organs we'd like from ya along with your cash," the reptilian cackled as he grinned menacingly showing his sharp teeth. However Zapp was unimpressed and unfazed at the threat and just stared at them blankly before ignoring them and walking away.

"Screw off freaks. You small fry ain't worth my time," Zapp replied coldly. Naturally, this response did not sit well with the three hoodlums.

"What'd you say asshole?" the reptilian growled as all three of them postured themselves aggressively and stalked forward. Again, Zapp was unfazed but turned to face them and squared up to stand his ground.

"You got ears don't ya? I said piss off! I won't be so nice if you make me say it a third time." The three Beyondian baddies growled and positioned themselves as close to the Libra member as they dared in an attempt to intimidate him.

"What makes you think a lowly little Huma like you can talk to us like that huh?" the slug-like thug asked getting in Zapp's face as he leaned down towards him with large teeth bared.

"Yeah," the insectoid thug chimed in. "You wanna know what we did to the last Huma who tried to be a hero?" Zapp didn't respond. "We beat his squinty-eyed ass down so hard he likely ended up some emergency room and we'll do worse to you if you don't—" the thug didn't get the chance to finish as Zapp's fist collided with his mantis-shaped face. It didn't take a genius to know exactly who the creep was talking about and Zapp's building anger had finally reached the flash point. The other two thugs looked mildly shocked for a split second by the retaliation but quickly snapped out of it and moved to attack Zapp. The entire scuffle didn't last more than a minute as Zapp then proceeded to beat the ever-living daylights out of all three of them and promptly finishing up with a healthy dose of flames leaving them battered and scorched but still somehow alive. The three groaned in a defeated pile on the ground as Zapp stood over them scowling. He then leaned down and picked their pockets until he found a decent amount of cash on all three of them and pocketed it.

"Consider this a lenience fee for not killing you asswipes. And FYI, this alley is my turf now," he said smugly as he turned to leave. "Thanks for the cash losers." Zapp continued on his way not bothering to look back. After making it down another avenue, it was then that Zapp's stomach rumbled in hunger. Slowing a bit from his brisk stride, Zapp placed a hand on his stomach and reconsidered his options. A glance to his right out of the alley seemed to provide the answer as he saw the storefront of Dianne's diner on the corner across the street. Feeling a bit calmer than before, Zapp rethought his decision to get drunk at the bar (he was also pretty sure getting sloshed while still technically on the job wouldn't have been taken very kindly by Steven) and instead decided to opt into getting some comfort food with his generous, new allowance. He proceeded out of the alleyway and jaywalked across the street before entering through the door where the familiar waitress greeted him.

"Hey there," Vivian said from her usual spot behind the counter. She was in her usual white short-sleeved uniform shirt, blue jeans, and green apron with her short, blonde hair tucked into her red backwards baseball cap. "Welcome to—oh, it's you, one of Leo's coworkers," she said as Zapp just grunted and plopped himself down on the barstools in front of her. The diner wasn't too busy at that time of day so she poured him his usual drink of soda while Zapp just silently looked over the menu placed in front of him. Deciding he was just trying to figure out what he wanted to order, she left him to it to tend to her other tables. However as Zapp continued to stare at the table mat menu in front of him, he again couldn't focus on anything other than the past events.

He had never gotten this worked up before whenever the scrawny kid's danger prone ass got into trouble. Not to say he hadn't been completely unaffected by Leo's struggles whenever it occurred and he didn't hate Leo (he was admittedly good company and even better entertainment), but he had just mostly developed some sort of annoyed acceptance and indifference to it all. Although for some reason some instances stuck out in his mind more than others; the events leading up to the second Great Collapse when he went missing, the time his sister came to the city and he was stuck fighting for his and his sister's lives…this most recent mess with the King of Pain and his bullshit curse. God, why was he so fixated on this? Why couldn't he just forget about it and move on like he had with all the other times? Why was he so angry and defensive? The sound of someone trying to get his attention caused Zapp to snap his head up and blink in confusion.

"So…are you ready to order yet?" Vivian asked raising a brow with notepad and pen in hand. Zapp fumbled his thoughts and words for a bit before managing to give an intelligible answer.

"I'll just have the usual."

"Cheeseburger and fries, you got it," Vivian said as she took his menu and tucked it away before handing the order off to the cook. Zapp didn't say anything else and instead went back to staring mindlessly off into space, this time focusing on his drink after taking a sip from the straw. Taking note of his unusually distracted demeanor (usually he was more receptive to her, even if it was to try and comp a meal or occasionally ask her out on a date) and the absence of Leo, she decided to comment on it. "We don't normally see you in here alone, usually Leo's with you. We actually haven't seen him in a while, did he find a new diner or something?" She asked with a lighthearted tone and grin. Zapp felt his irritation start to spike and he shot her a brief glare. He considered whether or not he should say anything but the words left his mouth before he was even fully aware of it.

"The Pube Head's laid up in the hospital." Immediately Vivian's demeanor shifted from friendly to concerned and mildly embarrassed from her unintentional insensitivity.

"The hospital? My God, what happened to him?" the young woman asked with a creased brow and frown. Zapp snorted in response.

"It's freakin' Hellsalem's Lot, what the hell do you think happened to him?" Zapp retorted curtly. The kitchen's cook, who overheard the exchange, glanced up from his grill through the small service window to glare at the rude reply but chose not to say anything as he went back to cooking. Vivian too chose not to comment on the snappy remark as she had come to know that's just how he was sometimes. Though something else seemed to occur to her and her gaze softened a bit as she carefully collected his plate of quickly prepared food and setting it in front of him.

"I guess you must be pretty worried about him then," she said sympathetically. Zapp paused just before he bit into his greasy meal and glanced up to her. His first instinct was to naturally deny it but for some reason he couldn't find the words. Again the images of Leo's suffering flashed through his mind coupled with the words he uttered to them pleading for help during his initial admission into the hospital before they were even fully aware of the true extent of his situation. He lowered his burger before replying bluntly in a tone that had no real heat to his words.

"Why the hell should I be worried?" Vivian studied him for a moment almost in subtle disapproval before the call of another patron asking for a refill caught her attention.

"Well, you should think about checking up on him at least once. I'm sure he would like the company," she suggested before grabbing her coffee pot and walking away to tend to the other customers. Zapp didn't say anything as he watched her go before he glanced back down at his burger and, after a brief moment of pause, forcing himself to take a bite.
_

Zed made his way down the sidewalk alongside the busy road as he walked to Bradbury General Hospital. He needed a breath of fresh air after the stifling and lingering tension created by Zapp. As he walked in silence he observed some passersby, both Huma and Beyondian, and how they interacted and talked amongst each other. He saw some Huma and Beyondian teenagers were having a heated, though not unfriendly competition on some handheld gaming systems as they waited at a bus stop while a couple of Huma women passed by him whispering over some gossip and even two Alterworldly males in business attire were laughing and chatting over a cigarette when a human coworker approached and joined them with his own pack of smokes. Not one of them looked at Zed as he passed them by and Zed in retrospect found it a bit ironic that he blended in almost too well considering his previous experiences. He let out a quiet sigh at that reminder, thinking back to his master's words.

"You're the only horrific thing like you on this planet so you're bound to live a life of loneliness so impressive that you'll wish you'll have opted for the simplicity of having your vital organs melt within you." While Zed had chosen the chance of life that day and did not regret it, he still felt a bit of truth to his master's harsh words. He knew he was neither human nor Beyondian but something else entirely and would have no one who could relate to him and perhaps it was part of why he always seemed to distance himself from others and had problems forming close ties with people. He understood most things thanks to the books he read and the knowledge he attained from them and what was taught to him by his master but often had difficulty understanding the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and even now the concept of camaraderie, while not unwelcome, was still foreign to him. But then he came to Hellsalem's Lot and joined (or more accurately, was surrendered to) Libra and everything sort of changed.

Before he could contemplate things further the sight of the hospital came into view and Zed glanced up at the large ivy-coated building with giant creature protruding from it's walls and blue medical cross imprinted on its forehead. Without another thought Zed entered inside into the main lobby and walked up to the Alterworldly female humanoid receptionist at the front desk. After signing in, the receptionist glanced at the sign in sheet and hummed.

"Mr. Watch seems to be quite popular, we actually had another person show up to see him just now." A look of surprise graced Zed's face as he glanced up to her.

"Really? Who was it by chance?" He inquired. The receptionist shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I was just getting back from break when I heard someone ask what room he was in." Curiosity took hold of him as the thanked the receptionist and turned to walk into the ICU wing towards Leo's room. He silently wondered who it was that the receptionist had heard ask about Leo and mused that maybe it was another friend of Leo's through his other part time job who had somehow heard about what happened to him. Before he could entertain that thought, he found out the truth quickly enough upon turning the corner and stopping short of the person standing just outside Leo's room.

Zapp stood with his hands shoved into his pockets looking down intently at the door's knob as if he was trying to open it with his mind if he stared at it hard enough. Zed also noted the blinds to Leo's room were closed so they couldn't see in. Eventually Zapp seemed to realize there was someone else there with him and he finally tore his attention away from the door and saw Zed looking visibly surprised.

"What are you lookin' at Fish Sticks?" Zapp quipped ignoring the merman's shock. Zed recovered quickly enough and replied, disregarding yet another intended insult in the form of a nickname.

"I'm just surprised to see you here. I thought you said you weren't worried about—" Zapp quickly cut him off.

"I ain't worried about him!" He insisted brusquely. "My usual plans just fell through and I was hungry. Then I remembered that the cafeteria in this dump gave free food to visitors of patients so I came for a free meal. Unfortunately I have to actually visit the shithead before I ate otherwise it'd look suspicious," Zapp justified offhandedly averting his gaze from the fish-man hybrid. Zed wasn't sure how to process the reasoning of his obviously fabricated excuse (not to mention taking notice of the subtle grease stains and leftover crumbs on the front of his black shirt) but nevertheless decided to humor him.

"I see. Shall we go in and see him then?" Zapp grumbled some answer under his breath and turned back to the door to twist the knob and enter. Zed watched him, feeling the corners of his mouth perk up with a faint smile at the transparency of his senior pupil and colleague before he too entered into the room. However he was again stopped short after nearly bumping into Zapp who stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the doorway staring wide-eyed into the room. Zed turned his head to see why and froze. Leo's bed was empty and neatly made as if nobody had been there and the medical equipment had been shut off and put away. Panic slowly gripped the two as they tried to provide some sort of believable excuse.

"Are you sure this is the right room? The one Patrick and K.K. visited?" Zed asked looking to Zapp.

"Yes I'm sure!" Zapp snapped. "I asked the front to double check just in case and even if I was wrong you showed up here too didn't you?" Zed had to give him that but it didn't ease the tension at all. Before they could contemplate any potentially devastating conclusions, Dr. Estevez's shrunken clone peered into the room and approached them having been drawn by their raised voices.

"Please keep your voices down. People are trying to rest," she scolded despite taking notice of the duo's panic and dread.

"Dr. Estevez, where is Leo?" Zed asked tentatively. Now understanding their concerns, her stern expression softened a bit.

"Leonardo is fine. He's still comatose but his condition is considered lower risk now and his injuries were healing well so we moved him out of ICU and into recovery only about an hour ago. We hadn't yet had a chance to update anyone and didn't think anyone would be in to visit him today," she informed. Almost instantly the two Big Dipper Style users felt relief replace their former panic and they let out simultaneous breaths they didn't know they were holding.

"What room is he in?" Zed followed up.

"Room 251. You can get there through the corridor here, down the hall to your left and through the second set of double doors but please be sure to keep your voices down." The two nodded in understanding and thanked her before leaving for their destination. Eventually they arrived in front of Leo's new room and entered where sure enough they found said member still unconscious and hooked up to an IV, EKG and pulse monitor that beeped rhythmically. The room itself was no longer as pristine as the walls of the ICU but was still immaculate even as ivy and vines coated them in a healthy dose of vegetation. Zapp and Zed approached the bed halfway to get a better look at Leo's condition. True to her word, Leo's injuries were much lighter than they saw last time.

More of his bruises had faded to the point that they were almost barely noticeable unless you looked closely though some were still starkly evident on his skin as were most of the stitches from his wounds and incisions. A healthy amount of color had returned to his face but was still a bit pale while bandages were still wrapped around his eyes and other lingering cuts. His breathing was much deeper and steadier than last time as a breathing tube replaced his oxygen mask that fed a healthy flow of oxygen into his lungs through his nose and his arm and leg were still in their sling and cast.

"He does indeed look a lot better doesn't he?" Zed said feeling slightly more at ease. Zapp only grunted halfheartedly in affirmation as he studied Leo closely. The constant aggravation he had felt for the past several days seemed to finally abate and an inexplicable feeling of placidity replaced it. Zed took close notice of this and felt the smallest twinge of amusement. Leave it to Leo to keep Zapp in check, even when unconscious. Zed's amusement faded a bit though when his yellow eyes trailed over the particular injury Leo sustained to his eyes and his mind flashed back to the horrors Leo endured by the hands of not just the ruthless Elder Blood Breed but the Maledictum et Cruciabuntur as well.

Being in such a dismal situation must have been both terrifying and lonely, not knowing whether he would die there or if anyone would find him. Zed knew what that was like; when the Count that had created him had left him behind and again when he had his breathing pods stolen. His master had been the one to save him in that first instance but Leo…When he had come to following passing out from the combination of exhaustion and shock from being left in Libra's care, Leo had been the first friendly face he met. He had been kind and respectful, a stark contrast to Zapp during their initial meeting, and tried to make him feel as comfortable as he could in Libra. Honestly, at first he didn't know why Leo was even in Libra, All-Seeing Eyes or not. Living in such a city and taking part in such dangerous activities didn't suit someone like Leo and for a while Zed couldn't understand it. But then Zapp of all people stood up for him and set him straight during the second Great Collapse and seeing the lengths Leo was willing to go through to help his friends during said event only proved the man's point further.

"We're Libra you idiot. Nothing breaks our resolve, not a damn thing. And that ordinary, normal kid is part of our team." Zapp hadn't been wrong; Leo may not have the combat abilities the rest of them did, but he had the resolve. If he didn't, he never would have held out and came through in time to provide the one thing that helped put an end to the King of Pain and his ambitions. And it wasn't just during major instances either. He recalled what Gilbert had informed him of when his breathing pods were taken from him by the two men/cyborgs, how it had been Leo originally who set out to track down the pair in hopes of retrieving them solely for the reason so that he could be included in the New Year's party instead of stuck in his tank until they could be replaced. He had been so taken aback by the lengths not just he, but even Chain and Zapp had gone to in order to help him that he couldn't even articulate how grateful he felt. The best he had done was treat Leo to a nice lunch with his own money from his origami performances in the park but it still didn't feel like enough. Zed clenched his webbed fists. Having comrades, friends, it was something he had come to treasure despite being different and this time, it was his turn to show some resolve. When Leo awoke, he would make a better effort in returning the favor of his kindness to him.

Zed studied Leo for a moment longer before letting his gaze glance around the room. That was when something occurred to him.

"Didn't Steven, K.K., Patrick, and Neyka say that Sonic had been staying by Leo's side during his recovery?" Zapp looked to him curiously, brow arched slightly in questioning.

"Yeah?"

"So then where exactly is he?" Zapp glanced around the room for any sign of the little primate but did not see him. Unconcerned however, Zapp merely shrugged.

"Probably had to take a shit or something. Can't imagine staying in one place watching over a sleeping bag of pubes is good entertainment." Zed let out an exasperated huff and glared at him.

"Must you be so crude?" he scolded lightly. In spite of thinking that Zapp may have had a point in Sonic needing to take a break to tend to some necessary needs, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong about the situation. "I'm going to ask around and check if someone has seen him." Zed proceeded towards the door before quickly looking back to him. "Will you stay and keep an eye on Leo just in case?" Zapp rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he replied disinterestedly before plopping down in one of the chairs close to the hospital bed. Satisfied, Zed exited and closed the door gently behind him. The sound of Zed's footsteps faded down the hall and Zapp turned his attention back to the unresponsive Leo. He leaned back in the padded chair and folded his arms as he tried to relax. His formerly placid manner was starting to shift into a subtle unease and he tried to focus on anything else in the room as a result but his gaze kept falling back onto Leo. He recalled the words of Zed and Vivian from earlier that day and another spark of irritation flared up causing him to let out an annoyed growl under his breath.

"Stupid, helpless, sad sack of a—" Before Zapp could continue his small tirade, a small, involuntary jerk of Leo's body halted Zapp right in his tracks. On instinct, Zapp shot out of his chair and took a preemptive step forward to be ready to act and waited for anything else to happen. When nothing did, Zapp's tense body relaxed and he let out a sigh before he realized what he had done. With a vexed scoff he sat back down in his seat refolding his arms and slouched back trying to play it off when this time K.K.'s disembodied voice rang through his mind.

"Oh please, anyone with one eye can see that you really do care about him. So quit with the posturing." His scowl deepened and his fingertips dug into his upper arms. He'd be damned if he'd be caught caring about anyone else beside himself. It would make him seem…vulnerable. And if he was vulnerable, that could be exploited, and with life or death stakes, that was something he couldn't afford (both for the sake of his pride and for whatever small conscience he had). That was one of the few good lessons that old buzzard of a master had at least taught him back during his time learning the Kagutsuchi style of the Big Dipper Blood Technique. He didn't endure years of torturous hell just to be labeled as some wimp. He wasn't some softie; he wasn't like Leo. His grip on his arms loosened up a bit and his scowl fell slightly when he thought back to what Leo had endured.

No, Leo may be vulnerable and a big softie but he wasn't a (complete) wimp. When he thought back to their initial meeting following mistaking him for that clown Johnny Landis and hearing his story, he had thought the turd was a coward and a scumbag but upon seeing how far he would go to achieve his goal and getting to know him, he had come to realize that he had been wrong about him (as much as he didn't want to admit it). Leo had the guts and the drive to back up whatever decision he made or action he took despite his normally timid nature and he had proved it a number of times. And despite his usual douchey actions and tendencies towards him, Leo always stuck by his side and maybe helped him out once or twice in turn. But just because he felt like he had a job to do or a favor to repay didn't mean he cared about the kid of course! He was just ensuring his own interests! Just because he got pissed when that bloodsucking piece of shit Blood Breed and his curse nearly killed the brat and almost screwed them all over didn't mean he was weak! He retaliated as hard as he did because no one fucks with Libra! Just because he felt aggravated and on edge because Leo wouldn't fucking wake up and they could all move on didn't mean…Zapp's line of thought trailed off and he let out a sigh before he glanced back up to Leo. Like clockwork, another reminder of Leo writhing and coughing up blood ran through his mind and a small twinge of pity twisted in the pit of his stomach before he forced it deep down.

"Dammit, this so isn't like me," Zapp muttered under his breath. Zed came back into the room and his formerly somber expression quickly shifted back into a distant indifference as he looked to the merman appearing almost bored.

"No one says they saw anything," Zed reported entering the room once more.

"Relax, I'm sure the monkey is fine," Zapp replied with minor exasperation. Zed appeared thoughtful but didn't seem entirely convinced as something still felt off. Before he could voice his concerns however did the door open and an attending human nurse peek her head into the room.

"I'm sorry you two but I'm afraid visiting hours for Mr. Watch are over for the day and we need to ask you to leave so we can tend to him in just a bit. But you're welcome to return tomorrow to visit him again." Slightly dispirited by the news, Zed nodded while Zapp looked noticeably dissatisfied.

"Of course miss," Zed replied respectfully. "We'll leave momentarily." She nodded in understanding and shut the door to wait outside and give them a bit more privacy. The two sighed and Zapp got up from the chair once more to stretch his arms above his head.

"Welp, I did my community service for the day. Time for some grub," Zapp quipped nonchalantly causing Zed, who had been focused on Leo to check him over one last time, to redirect his attention and send him a stern glare.

"You really are quite insensitive, you know that?"

"Oh cry me a river Bait Breath," Zapp retorted as Zed turned to exit the room and Zapp followed promptly behind him. Just before Zapp exited fully through the doorway did he glance back momentarily to study Leo one last time and his formerly repressed pity surged back.

"You better not die shit-for-brains, otherwise I'll never let you live it down," Zapp mumbled before turning to follow Zed out and shutting the door behind him. Maybe he did care…just a little bit, not that anyone would ever know.

Within ten seconds of the door closing and the sounds of all nearby footsteps fading away, a familiar female rematerialized in Leo's room leaping down from her crouched position on top of the countertop and sink combination supply station near the far wall opposite of Leo's bed. Chain's gaze lingered on the door, mildly intrigued by what she had witnessed from Zapp during her stake out in Leo's room when they had first entered. She had actually debated on whether or not she should pull her usual stunt of planting both feet onto the back of Zapp's head as payback for what had happened before and upon hearing his initial complaint towards Leo but changed her mind when she saw how he reacted when Leo involuntarily spasmed and decided to cut him a break for once.

"Hmph, guess even shit-eating monkeys can have a heart…albeit a small one," she mused to herself before turning her attention back to Leo in the hospital bed. She approached almost hesitantly to get a better look at him. Zed had been right; Leo looked mercifully better than last time. Not a hundred percent, but definitely better. Some of her unease melted away but she still felt a touch of discontent thinking back to how the past events played out.

Being an Invisible Werewolf came with severe risks. The ability to dilute one's very existence was a useful but also dangerous capability, one could lose themselves so completely they could fade out of existence. Chain had always been someone who knew those risks and her own limits and was skilled and careful enough to not have to worry too much about them though even she had gotten close once or twice (were it not for her personal cipher that anchored her to reality during her latest near miss with Velved Rheinkeimer, she would have likely fallen victim to the same fate, not that the oblivious Steven was even aware of his role in that matter). When someone's existence was already so very fragile it was only natural she seemed to come off as indifferent or even a bit cruel towards others. But in reality, she cared a lot more than most people realized.

When Leo had been mugged by that pig-headed tourist creep and his little sidekick, she had just so happened to be passing by. She had considered to stop and help him but due to her usual aloof nature and not wanting to get involved had decided to let Leo take care of it himself. However, after a few minutes she doubled back to at least make sure he was okay and instead she saw him badly beaten and stumbling away as he sulked about having his money stolen (money she had later learned was for his sister). She felt anger and guilt churn her stomach and she made the decision to track the two men down and retrieve what was taken from him. While she did get back what was taken from Leo and returning it in the most inconspicuous manner she could by sticking it in the back of his sweatshirt's collar, she still felt mildly guilty about not stepping in sooner. She thought she had managed to redeem herself when Zed's breathing apparatus was stolen but this event with the King of Pain had reminded her of just how powerless she could actually be sometimes.

Not just once, but twice she had tried to protect Leo but even with her skills she failed. The guilt and frustration at being easily subdued twice by the same enemy, Blood Breed or not, was aggravating. Even though things ended as well as they could have it did not ease those feelings as she still felt upset at being able to do so little during the course of the incident. It occurred to her then in a twisted case of irony that this is probably how Leo felt during most of their operations and her lips twitched into a wry, humorless smirk before it fell back into a neutral frown. She had to wonder how Leo, someone who has a formidable but sometimes impractical ability (especially in terms of combat much like herself), could not run away either in the most dangerous of circumstances or the most minor of altercations. Wasn't it just easier to avoid it in the first place with those eyes of his? Why did he feel like he always had to get involved even when it hurt or endangered him? It was something she both respected and detested because as much as she didn't always let it show, she cared about him (and everyone else in Libra for that matter, though Zapp was up for debate). He was like a little brother to the team and to her and she didn't mind his company at all when they interacted and had friendly discussions or even when she overhears or discreetly watches his arguments, gaming sessions and other "guy stuff" with Zapp and Zed. She tried to regain some distance for the sake of her own principals but before she knew it, she found herself watching over him more and more in her diluted form than she had previously even though he was largely unaware of it. And while she had no real desire to inform him of that particular detail, maybe she should reconsider how she interacts with him better in the future.

The sounds of footfalls were heard as they approached Leo's room. On instinct Chain diluted herself to where she was once more invisible to anyone who would enter. She expected it to be one of the doctors or nurses coming to tend to Leo like she had overheard before and did not want to leave just yet. However instead of seeing a nurse in scrubs when the door opened, she saw what appeared to be a human male in a disheveled, white lab coat and surgical mask covering his face rolling in a service cart with a sheet draped over it. Chain eyed them suspiciously as the man closed the door behind him and her suspicions were confirmed when the first man tapped on the cart and another more muscular male crawled out from under the sheet and stood up with noticeable, bleeding scratches on his face and arms and a disgruntled frown.

"Couldn't believe how easy that was," the man in the lab coat commented pulling down his mask revealing a sinister smile.

"Speak for yourself," the other man retorted. "You weren't the one hiding under a cramped metal cart and scratched all to hell by that damn monkey we had to lock up after waiting for the drugs to kick in."

"Regardless, at least it all went off without a hitch, even if we did have to wait a few days for the right opportunity," the first male replied as he propped a chair under the door handle and the service cart right against it locking the wheels in place to create a makeshift barricade. Chain observed them warily, internally debating whether or not she should jump in right away or wait and see what else happens. The two unknown men then turned to the unconscious Leo and a devious grin finally made its way onto the muscular man's face.

"Guess the boss was right about the kid's condition. This will be the easiest job yet. And with Libra preoccupied with cleaning up the remnants from that terrorist group they won't even be aware we've taken their biggest advantage from them." The man in the lab coat smirked and pulled out a large hunting knife from the sheath hidden under his coat and grinned devilishly.

"Good thing he's in a coma, that way we don't have to worry about him making too much noise as we cut his eyes out. Think we should pull the plug when we're done to show him some mercy or just let him bleed out?" The muscular man snorted.

"Don't be stupid, we don't have that kind of time to carve out his eyes…" the muscular man stopped and leaned down to feel around under the cart before pulling out a cadaver saw and turning back to his partner. "Let's just cut his head off and bring it back with us. Once we pry the eyes out we can mail the head back to Libra as a gift," he suggested darkly with a wicked chuckle followed by the other man. Chain had heard enough and a look of fury ran across her face. Without another thought she plunged her diluted hands into their chests, grasping their hearts tightly with each hand, not hard enough to crush them but enough to painfully restrict them. Both men immediately stopped cackling and looks of shock, confusion, pain and fear swirled on their faces as they gasped and dropped their respective weapons with a metallic clank on the linoleum. Chain undiluted a portion of her head and face so that they could see and hear her.

"Touch him and even this hospital and its doctors won't be able to save you," she growled menacingly. The two men turned their heads to glance over their shoulders at the speaker and upon seeing the disturbing sight of a partially diluted Chain whose face was warped with rage, she constricted her hold on both hearts briefly and the two men let out strangled whimpers before falling unconscious. Chain pulled her phased arms out of the two men's chests and they collapsed to the ground in a heap as she fully rematerialized. Unsure and uncaring if they were dead or not, Chain promptly pulled out her cell phone and unlocked it to contact Steven. If she wanted to make things up to Leo, whether because of her own guilt or the fact that she cared for the wellbeing of the young man, this seemed like the best place to start. The phone rang as she held it up to her ear before Steven promptly answered.

"Steven, it's Chain. We have a problem."
_

To say Steven was livid was nothing short of an understatement. Though he did his best to not let it show on the outside, inwardly he was seething! While the assassination attempt on Leo was thankfully thwarted by Chain (who had also managed to successfully locate and free Sonic from the confines of a locked storage trunk), he was furious at not only the bastards who had made the attempt on Leo's life but at himself for not properly following up on Klaus' concerns by taking better precautions. The only positive thing about this near mishap was that Dr. Estevez had managed to resuscitate the two thugs after having been informed by Chain what had nearly taken place in her hospital and they had been taken into custody where they could be interrogated and punished. Despite how unnervingly calm and even she sounded on the phone, Steven could tell that Dr. Estevez was more than a little displeased at the breach of security and attempt on one of her patients. However a bigger concern now presented itself. According to what Chain had overheard, it seemed as if the two men had been tasked with this job by someone who had knowledge on Leo's connection with Libra and about the All-Seeing Eyes. After mulling it over a bit, Steven made the decision not to inform anyone of what nearly transpired, especially Klaus. The team didn't need the extra stress and were on edge enough as it was without this new information and if Klaus found out he would no doubt forgo his promise at recovery in lieu of taking matters into his own hands. However this left the question of how exactly to proceed next in with dealing with this new development.

Steven set his phone down on his desk and leaned back in the chair tapping a finger on the wooden surface as contemplated the best course of action. First thing was first, he had to set up a stricter watch on Leo's new room now that he was moved to an area with easier public access since there was a very good possibility whoever was responsible for the assassination attempt would try again. But even if they didn't, Steven couldn't ignore the fact that someone had that sensitive information about Libra's connection to him and the All-Seeing Eyes and lord knows if it got leaked to anyone else. This matter was serious and needed to be dealt with quickly but unfortunately with himself acting as temporary leader and not wanting to alert or expose the others to this potential risk, he couldn't deal with the issue himself or through normal means. So that only left one real option.

The scar-faced man sat back upright in his chair and grabbed his phone off his desk before typing in the number for his personal task force. He waited for his contact on the other line to answer the call and after a few rings he did.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Steven began calmly. "Listen, I have an important task for you that's going to require a bit of digging and getting your hands dirty. There's been a breach of information regarding a member of Libra and I need you to track down who was responsible and how."

"Understood," the smooth male voice on the other end replied. "And what would you like us to do once we find that information?" Steven thought for a moment before responding.

"Neutralize but don't terminate. You might want to start with two men who were recently taken into custody by the HLPD from Bradbury General Hospital. Report back immediately after you deal with the damage control regarding the leaked information and detain those responsible. I want to meet them personally to make sure they understand exactly how badly they screwed up. Though feel free to punish them properly if they prove difficult. I'll send the name of our operative to you shortly."

"Understood sir. I'll contact you again once our task is complete." With that, Steven ended the call and messaged his contact Leo's name and waited a few restless moments before he received the confirmation message. He then dialed Brigade and Anila as well as Dr. Estevez to set up a plan of action regarding Leo's protection and care. An agreement was quickly established and Steven tried to let the matter rest for the time being and returned to his paperwork. Though as he tried to focus he couldn't help but feel strangely dissatisfied and tense though chalked it up to the added workload. Within a matter of hours as Steven was completing some last minute files he finally received a text message from his contact listing only an address. His tension dissipated slightly as he understood the meaning of the message and smirked. He quickly finished up the last of the paperwork before standing up and straightening his suit. He replied to the message telling them good work before announcing he was on his way. Without waiting for a response he pocketed the phone and headed for the door eager to have a nice, long chat with the ones responsible and unaware of a few sparse ice crystals that trailed behind each footstep he took closer to the door.

After the anticipated "meeting" and "discussion" and reaching a favorable conclusion, Steven finally made his way home later that evening in slightly better spirits. It had turned out that the group that had put out the hit on Leo was the small time remnants of a group of heavily armed thugs Libra had helped disband after the more dangerous of the bunch were "subdued" during their previous mission at the Gauccione Mansion some time ago. Apparently wanting revenge on how quickly their group was dissected and taken down they started some surveillance on the weakest looking member (i.e. Leo) and only found out about his eyes by pure coincidence when Leo had used them to protect himself during another operation but not knowing exactly what they were, only that they were likely valuable. Though because they lacked the manpower and influence they had formerly possessed it had been difficult for them to act until recently and more importantly, it turned out that thankfully no one else had been informed of Leo's connection with Libra or that he possessed the All-Seeing Eyes. After some "persuasion" on Steven's part the blubbering party swore that they would keep their mouths shut and Steven left the "cleanup" to his task force after thanking them for their assistance.

While Steven was satisfied with the outcome it did not take away from the perturbation of how an outside party could target their members so easily. Not to say that Leo was the only person that has been targeted, almost everyone in Libra has been at one point, even himself, but it always seemed much more dire when it came to Leo. After all, aside from his eyes he had no real way of defending himself and Libra would lose so much more than just a member if anything were to happen to him and his eyes. In retrospect he supposed it was a bit…cold (pardon the pun) of him but Steven had always been a realistic man. He sighed from the lingering unease and exhaustion that suddenly descended onto him as he turned the key to unlock his front door. After stepping through the front door into his luxurious apartment, he was met with the clanking of dishes and light splashing of water coming from his kitchen. His Alterworldly housekeeper Veded turned from her task of washing dishes and greeted him with a smile.

"Welcome home sir," she greeted pleasantly. She was a portly orange Alterworldly woman with a downward sloping mouth and floppy ear-like protrusions with black tips and hoof-like hands wearing a green smock and white apron and head rag. Reflexively Steven returned the friendly smile with a small one of his own and nodded wordlessly in appreciation as he glanced around the apartment.

"The place looks great as usual Veded. Thanks for your hard work," he replied as she scrubbed a plate in the soapy water and rinsed it. That was when his gaze landed on a platter of her prepared roast beef that he always enjoyed. "You even cooked? You didn't have to go through the extra trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," she replied finishing the last plate and placing it in the drying rack before draining the sink and removing her yellow cleaning gloves. "You've seemed a bit more stressed lately so I thought I'd help by giving you a good meal so you can rest a bit easier." Steven's neutral smile fell and his expression changed into mild surprise for a brief second before relaxing into a more genuine smirk of amusement. He had forgotten that she was quite adept at reading people.

"Well, I guess you could say that," Steven admitted scratching his cheek a bit distractedly. "Work has been a bit difficult lately since my boss has taken some time off and we've been down another man due to…medical reasons," he admitted vaguely as a grim frown replaced his formerly pleased countenance. Concern crossed her features and her brow furrowed in worry.

"Goodness I hope it's nothing serious." Steven didn't respond but the way his frown deepened slightly already told her all that she needed to know. Feeling a bit guilty at the change in his disposition, she fumbled out an apology but Steven snapped his attention back to her and shook his head.

"It's alright, no harm done," Steven assured trying to play it off with a weak grin. "He's receiving excellent care but the morale at our office has been a little low as a result," Steven explained. The kind Beyondian woman nodded in understanding.

"I can imagine," she replied. "Your coworker must be someone you and your office care a great deal for if you're so concerned like this." Once more, Steven's expression changed from cool and collected to a mixture of surprise and bemusement. He considered his housekeeper's words for a moment before the wall clock struck 9:00 pm drawing both of their attentions.

"Geeze, I didn't realize what time it was," Steven said sounding mildly taken aback. "Sorry to keep you here so late Veded, I'll be sure to pay you extra for the trouble."

"Again it's no trouble sir," Veded assured as she removed her apron and head rag and headed for the front to put her coat and knit cap on and grab her purse. Steven handed Veded her payment as he saw her out. "Have a good night Mr. Starphase," she said with a small bow of her head.

"You too," he responded with a small wave before turning to head back inside before she stopped and briefly hesitated before calling out to him to get his attention. "Mr. Starphase." Steven stopped to look at her questioningly. "It might not be my place to say this, but perhaps you should visit your coworker. Who knows, it might be good for the both of you." He let the suggestion sink in, looking a bit thoughtful as Veded took that as her cue to leave. When she disappeared around the corner, Steven went back inside and sighed rubbing the back of his neck as he considered the piece of advice Veded had given him. Maybe he should check up on Leo just so that he could personally get an update on the boy and make sure the precautions he took were put into place effectively if nothing else. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and messaged Dr. Estevez about stopping by for an update the next day before heading to the kitchen to grab a plate and enjoy the delicious meal provided by Veded and a glass of wine to help him relax.
Steven woke up early the next day with a message from Dr. Estevez that he could stop by later in the afternoon. Content with the arrangement, the Esmerelda Blood Freeze user got ready for the day and proceeded to the Office to get as much of the day's work as he could done. The hours went by faster than he expected and around 2:00 pm the second in command Libra member found himself walking through the double doors of the hospital where one of Dr. Estevez's clones and Magra de Grana waited for him. They greeted each other with a handshake and briefly bowed his head respectfully to the Alterworldly hospital director.

"I see your limp is gone now," the shrunken doctor commented taking note of his lengthy strides towards them. Steven smiled pleasantly and nodded in agreement.

"I suppose there was something good that came out being stuck at a desk and off my feet nearly all week," he remarked coolly. Returning the good-natured joke with a small grin she turned and motioned for Steven to follow them down the corridors to which he complied.

"I'd like to thank you for being so accommodating with the measures concerning Leo's protection Director De Grana," Steven began.

"If it's for the safety of our patients it's hardly a bother," he replied without looking back as he hopped down the hall. "However, you have to understand some of the measures you suggested were a bit unreasonable like vetting certain staff exclusively for young Leonardo's care or allowing additional armed personnel to patrol the hospital, even discreetly. Despite your good intentions it might distress other patients if they were to notice something amiss and we don't want to take specialists away that are needed to care for other patients."

"That's fair," Steven admitted.

"However stationing someone within the room at all times under the guise of a guest is an acceptable compromise especially given the delicate circumstances of what nearly transpired yesterday," Magra continued. Steven barely suppressed a wince and spark of irritation at the reminder though his expression remained pleasantly calm.

"And someone is currently stationed in his room at this time?" Steven verified.

"Yes," Dr. Estevez replied as they passed by the cafeteria doors on their way towards the recovery wing. "A woman from your agency has been watching over Leonardo for the past few hours. Curly, black hair pulled into a bun, glasses, dark skin, business casual."

"Anila," Steven confirmed with a nod. "The next member should be by later to take over though I would like to stop by for a bit to check up on him for myself."

"Of course," Magra de Grana responded. Before they could proceed further, a Beyondian nurse with pink skin and compound eyes approached them hurriedly causing them to stop.

"I apologize for interrupting sir but you have an urgent phone call at the nurse's station," she spoke looking to the hospital director.

"Ah yes, I'll be there shortly," Magra replied before she promptly left. "Duty calls it seems. Please inform Miss Estevez or myself should you need anything further."

"I will and thank you again," Steven replied cordially before the Alterworldly medical professional quickly hopped away. The shrunken clone of Dr. Estevez glanced to her wristwatch and took notice of the time.

"I apologize as well Mr. Starphase but it appears that it is time to start my rounds so I won't be able to accompany you to Leonardo's room."

"That's all right," Steven assured. "I can find my way there." She nodded in response.

"If anything comes up just ask a nurse to page me," she said before turning on her heels and heading through a set of double doors opposite of the ones leading to recovery. Steven was about to head towards the recovery wing when the faint, alluring smell of something cooking wafted down the hall from the cafeteria. Realizing he hadn't really eaten since breakfast, Steven debated whether or not he should grab something quick to eat before heading to Leo's room but caved when he also picked up the distinct smell of roasted coffee beans. Unable to resist the enticing smells, Steven backtracked a bit to quickly grab a turkey sandwich, banana nut muffin and cup of the wonderful, caffeinated liquid for a quick lunch before once more proceeding towards Leo's hospital room. He arrived in front of the room and entered through to see Anila seated in one of the room's padded chairs with one leg crossed over the other flipping through a stack of papers from her satchel that leaned against the wall next to her chair evidently getting some work done while she waited. She glanced up from her task to see Steven and spoke.

"Hello Mr. Starphase," she greeted in her usual professional manner. Steven took notice of the slightly fatigued and frazzled state she was in.

"Afternoon," he returned with his usual small, pleasant smile. "How long have you been here?"

"About six hours or so," she replied rubbing her tired eyes under her glasses and Steven hummed in acknowledgement before he took a sip of his coffee.

"Why don't you go and take a break. You look like you could use the pick-me-up, I know I did," he said gesturing to the cup grasped in his hand. "I can take over until you get back." Anila looked a bit thoughtful but nevertheless gathered her things together.

"If you're sure. I actually could use a break to stretch my legs," she said standing and slinging the satchel over her shoulder. "I'll be back shortly."

"Take your time," Steven replied as she walked past him and left through the door and closed it gently behind her. After she had left, Steven turned his attention to Leo who still lay unconscious in the hospital bed. Sonic was there as well resting on the pillow beside Leo's head. Though as if sensing the ice user's presence, Sonic slowly awoke with mild alarm to scope out his surroundings (likely still on edge about before) and his large eyes fell on Steven. Recognizing the man as no threat, Sonic relaxed and chirped in greeting before stretching and making himself comfortable on the pillow once more, snuggling up closer to the side of Leo's head to try and doze off again. Steven felt a small smile form at the sight as he approached the chair on the right side of Leo's bed opposite of where Anila sat against the wall away from the beeping medical equipment. He set down his plastic-wrapped sandwich and muffin and carefully placed his coffee on the small counter beside Leo's bed closest to his chair before he turned to approach the comatose lad to get a better look at his condition.

Leo appeared just as Chain described and took subtle relief in the fact that he was healing well. Steven took a few steps back to sit in his seat and sighed staring blankly ahead at the comatose Leo. He honestly wasn't really sure what to have expected by doing this. It wasn't like he doubted Dr. Estevez's care and medical skills and trusted that the best-case scenario would occur eventually. But there was still that niggling possibility in the back of his mind, what if he didn't?

Well, operationally that was simple: they would take a devastating hit. Leo's eyes had become a valuable and useful asset for Libra. Not just for their usual operations but against Blood Breeds especially. If they lost Leo and his eyes, taking down Blood Breeds would become exceedingly more difficult, just like before. Steven recalled with perfect clarity how much they all secretly dreaded whenever they would get a call about a Blood Breed sighting before Leo came along because it usually meant that they were all going to require a trip to the hospital to recover from their extensive wounds and blood loss just from wearing the damn thing down enough to where their regenerative abilities could not catch up to their accumulated injuries or simply chasing them away, forget even sealing them. Thankfully they hadn't run into too many Elders but even lower ranking ones always managed to get several of their men killed. Then Leo came along and suddenly they were taking down Blood Breeds with so much more ease and efficiency and of course with far less bloodshed. Honestly, Steven felt the tiniest bit of jealousy and inferiority when he had first heard about the All-Seeing Eyes' capability from Abrams following his and K.K.'s clash with that pink-haired vampire and her newly turned minion in the subway tunnels less than a year ago (since he was so out of it from his severe injuries to really understand what happened at the time). Though that wasn't to say he had any kind of animosity towards the young man. On the contrary, he had come to develop an almost unspoken respect and liking to the lad.

He had to admit that despite trusting in Klaus' judgment at the time, he had his doubts about Leo's joining of Libra initially. After all, All-Seeing Eyes or not, the kid didn't really have much in the ways of combat skills and even living in this city was considered dangerous never mind protecting it. That, coupled with the fact that if anyone were to find out about him and his eyes he would likely become a walking target, concerned him and his suspicions were proven right when not even a few days later Leo had been taken hostage by those Alterworldly human smugglers and their illusionary technology. Though instead of quitting like he had thought he would do, Leo toughed it out even after ending up in the hospital on several occasions and as more time passed Steven found his doubts beginning to dissipate little by little no matter what circumstances Leo found himself in, regardless of whatever misgivings he may have had at the time.

"The way he runs headlong into danger like that kind of reminds me of someone," K.K.'s teasing voice rang in Steven's mind causing Steven to smirk as he recalled how he could have sworn he saw Klaus in Leo's place for a brief moment as he ran through the chaos that was the second Great Collapse. Honestly he couldn't have agreed more. Leo came through it to assist Libra in their successes and objectives no matter the obstacles even when he almost expected him not to and nowhere was that more evident then during this ordeal with the King of Pain. Steven paused and his mind retraced over the course of events as his smirk fell.

"Maybe we've come to rely almost too much on his eyes now," Steven thought to himself as he recalled Leo's difficulty in the beginning when at the mall and their high-stakes showdown in the Alterworld, and subsequently how much Leo suffered during the course of the Maledictum's awakening. A small wave of sympathy briefly washed over him at that particular memory and settled uncomfortably in his gut along with his hunger. Being reminded of the latter and looking to distract himself from the sensation, Steven glanced over to his acquired snack and grabbed the banana nut muffin. He undid the plastic that protected the pastry causing Sonic to stir and sniff the air, eventually locking his gaze onto Steven when he took a bite. Though Steven was too distracted to notice anything else until Sonic actually scampered over to him and hopped up onto his knee. Surprised and confused by the formerly aloof simian's sudden closeness, Steven raised a brow in silent inquiry but upon catching how Sonic's eyes glanced from him to the muffin and back to him did he understand what Sonic wanted. Letting out a humorless huff, he smirked again and tore off a chunk of muffin and held it out for the little monkey. With a gleeful chitter, Sonic took the offered food and swiftly stuffed the whole thing into his mouth before bounding back over onto Leo's bed content.

"Nice to know you bounced back so quickly after your experience yesterday," Steven quipped teasingly to Sonic who just glanced at him while he chewed and swallowed. That was when something occurred to him and he almost laughed out loud at the irony.

Most people (except for Klaus and Veded) had a hard time reading him through his calm, collected and often times detached façade as often times it made him seem cold or distant in spite of his neutral pleasantness (perhaps that was partially why K.K. disliked him?). Though the reality was that sometimes, letting others get too close hurts worse than keeping them away and it can leave you with scars that can never truly heal. Steven absentmindedly traced the scar on the left side of his face at that sentiment. He was then reminded of the last time he let his guard down around others when he thought he had befriended Ellen and Larry and their many acquaintances. For a while he let himself believe that he had made some genuine friendships until he caught onto their true intentions, eventually foiling their plans in taking him alive for their boss to get to Libra. He always knew that was just part of the risks in their line of work but it still stung more than he liked to admit (though Veded's surprising appearance with her children after the fact had helped soften the blow a bit). He sometimes had to wonder how Leo dealt with it so well.

Despite his usually indifferent though courteous disposition, Leo would still seek him out or confide some things in him and so when Steven had asked Leo about what exactly happened when he had gone missing prior to the second Great Collapse, he told him about how Mary Macbeth and the King of Despair that controlled William Macbeth's body conspired against him for the use of his eyes. However what almost shocked Steven more was that Leo held no real ill well towards Mary or William even if they had wanted to do so with malicious intent rather than being forced to make a desperate decision and he seemingly didn't even need to think twice about it. The fact that Leo could still be open and trusting of others, could be humane and compassionate and forgive and forget even when they did hurt him, was something else Steven admired and even felt a little bit jealous of. This experience will likely leave the kid with some pretty nasty scars, whether they be physical or mental or perhaps both it was hard to say. But if he knew Leo as well as he liked to think he had, maybe the kid would be okay. And if the young man could fight against a soul-binding curse and the Elder Class Blood Breed that hurt him, then what was his excuse? Again, Steven traced the scar on his face. No, not all scars can be healed, but eventually they can stop hurting.

"Who'd have thought it would take the actions of a Blood Breed to put these kinds of things into perspective," Steven mumbled with a dry chuckle before he finished the rest of his muffin. About fifteen minutes later once Steven had also eaten his sandwich and drank his now lukewarm coffee, Anila returned with her own coffee in hand looking a little bit more composed though still relatively tired.

"I needed that more than I thought I did," she said. "Thank you for stepping in momentarily Mr. Starphase. I can take over again if you have more tasks to complete back at the Office." Steven thought about it for a bit and glanced to his watch.

"I suppose I should head back to make sure things are okay," Steven agreed getting to his feet. "Brigade should be by within the next hour or two to relieve you for the day but if he doesn't show contact me." Anila nodded in understanding and resumed her post by Leo's side and Steven turned to leave but stopped to promptly turn back to her. "And Anila." She cast him a curious glance. "Be sure to get some rest tonight. If you need to take the day off to get the rest of your work done I'm sure we can find someone to cover you tomorrow." Visibly shocked by the unusually earnest request, she could only nod again in understanding. Steven gave his usual pleasant smile before casting the young bedridden member one last look before actually leaving the room. Each step that took him down the hall felt a bit lighter than it previously had in a while and as Steven exited the building he could only think about what Veded had told him the night before with an amused grin. It seemed she had been right yet again.
_

After an entire week of restlessness and inactivity from his strict bed rest (at least whenever Gilbert or someone from his team wasn't checking up on him after being caught doing some miniscule tasks), Klaus' injuries were healed and he could not take sitting around any longer. After a quick checkup by Gilbert, the now fully recovered man found himself tapping a finger impatiently on his thigh staring absentmindedly out the window as he sat in the back seat of the car Gilbert drove to the Office. The first thing he wanted to do was get an update on what had occurred during his absence and make sure everything was taken care of operationally before he visited Leo in the hospital at the first opportunity he could. Gilbert had kindly taken the liberty of keeping him up to date about the status of Leo's recovery and had been kept in the loop about his improving condition but still wanted to see the young man for himself. Eventually they pulled into the hidden garage's secret entrance and waited until the platform beneath their vehicle raised them to the top-most floor and Gilbert drove and parked the car in an unoccupied spot next to his combat Nautilus. Gilbert exited the driver's seat and was about to make his way to open Klaus' door but his young master had already gotten out on his own and headed towards the elevators. Gilbert locked the car doors with the key fob and followed right after Klaus. They got into the elevator and rode it up in silence but the air around Klaus was almost tangible though he maintained a calm composure. The elevator dinged and the two made their way towards the doors and entered into the Office where Steven, Lucky, K.K., Chain, Zapp and Zed were waiting. Though upon seeing Klaus, Zapp charged forward, eyes gleaming, and leapt into the air looking to apparently get the drop on him.

"I GOTCHA THIS TIME FOR SURE CHIEF!" the white-haired man hollered. However Klaus predictably reacted by simply sidestepping the attack, grabbing the back of his collar and wrapped a thick arm around Zapp's arms and neck, grasping the arm holding the back of Zapp's vest, and putting him in a weird combination of a joint lock and chokehold. Zapp predictably struggled to try and escape while protesting and cursing and as a result only succeeded in running out of oxygen before passing out. Once he did Klaus immediately released him and wordlessly carried the man over to the couch and gently dropped him onto it, not even fazed in the slightest while the others save for Gilbert just sweatdropped at the spectacle.

"Welcome back Klaus," Lucky said trying to get things back on track. "Looks like you've rested and healed well." Klaus hummed in the affirmative as he approached the group and Gilbert wordlessly proceeded to brew some tea.

"I'm doing much better though I apologize for any inconvenience my absence might have caused you all."

"Don't worry about it Klausie," K.K. replied with a lighthearted grin and playful punch to his bulky arm that didn't even budge. "We held up just fine."

"That's right. In fact we were just about to give out everyone's tasks for the day," Steven included gesturing to some papers he held in hand before he took a quick glance through the documents. "Actually you know what, I think we've got things covered for the day unless something substantial pops up. You haven't been checked over by Dr. Estevez yet have you? It'd be a good idea to get the all clear from her personally at Bradbury just to be on the safe side." Klaus blinked at the request and his red brows furrowed in confusion and disagreement but before he could open his mouth to kindly turn down the proposal, that was when he caught Steven's small smirk and realized the true, subtle intention behind the suggestion. A look of understanding quickly took its place and he gave his friend a faint, grateful smile and nodded.

"In that case I'll head there now," Klaus said as he turned on his heels and headed for the door he just came through. Gilbert set the teapot down and motioned to follow Klaus so that he could drive him there but Klaus merely held up a hand to stop him, silently conveying that he would head there alone. Respecting his master's wishes, Gilbert obeyed and went back to serve the tea to the other gathered operatives. "Please inform me of what I've missed when I return," he said to Steven before exiting through the door.

"And here I thought we'd have to twist his arm a bit more," K.K. joked. Zed nodded in agreement.

"He did appear a bit tense when he had entered initially but seemed to relax somewhat after that unexpected display of aggression on Zapp's part. I wonder if such a thing was therapeutic for him," he said seemingly not understanding the underlying true meaning of the conversation. Chain looked a bit smug and contemplative.

"It was certainly therapeutic for me so I guess the Turd Monkey is good for something after all," she remarked with a smug tone as they all cast a glance over to Zapp where Gilbert was using smelling salts to rouse him from his preemptive slumber. Zapp snorted and stirred awake, sitting up and blearily glanced around in confusion.

"H-Huh, whazzat?" He uttered before what had just transpired returned to him and cursed loudly, throwing himself back onto the couch to sulk at yet another loss that had been roughly handed to him.

Klaus exited the market he briefly stopped at clutching a bouquet of flowers and a plastic grocery bag with something inside. He hailed a taxi and could feel his normally vast patience and wear thinner and thinner on the ride there. After an almost agonizing twenty minutes he arrived and he promptly thanked the human driver, paid, and exited with items in hand. Once he stepped through the doorway and entered into the lobby he made his way to Leo's room in the recovery wing, walking calmly yet with purpose. On his way there one of Dr. Estevez's shrunken clones looked up from her clipboard and took notice of the Libra leader.

"Mr. Reinherz," she said in greeting grabbing his attention. Klaus stopped and turned to the medical professional.

"Good morning Miss Estevez," he greeted politely.

"I see you're doing much better," she commented glancing him over and smiling in approval over his much better state. "Normally I would like to think you'd be here for a check up but I think I know you better by now."

"I've been told Leonardo's condition has been improving and wanted to visit him and offer a gift that could help brighten things in his room if that is acceptable," the fanged man replied gesturing to the bouquet.

"It's fine," Dr. Estevez assured with a nod and smile. "Plastic vases are available in the cupboard under the sink in each room. I won't keep you any longer but I would like you to stop by later so that I can examine your injuries to make sure there are no unexpected complications." Klaus nodded in understanding and she turned away to go back to what she was doing before while Klaus resumed his march towards Leo's room. When he finally reached the room, Klaus hesitated only for a brief moment before reaching for the door handle and turning it to bear witness to what waited for him inside.

The steady beeping of the medical equipment greeted his ears as Leo lay unmoving in the bed. His chest rose and fell with each unlabored, steady breath he took from the oxygen that flowed into his nostrils from the breathing tube that had replaced his oxygen mask at some point and the IV in his right arm continued to drip the necessary medication and fluids to keep him hydrated and stable. His relocated left arm was still in its sling draped over his stomach and the cast on his right leg remained unchanged though he hardly sported any excessive bandages than last time save for the ones that wrapped around his eyes and a few remaining wounds that were still healing. Color had now completely returned to his cheeks though he still seemed a bit pale likely from lack of sunlight and the dark bruises that once littered his skin had now almost entirely faded with the exception of a few stubborn ones that still held a sickly green or faint purple color. Most of his noticeable stitches were removed leaving pale pink scars from the incisions that peeked out from the wrappings and loose mint green hospital gown but would also likely heal with a bit more time. Sonic, who had been in the middle of grooming Leo's unruly, brown tufts of hair, glanced up to see who had entered now and saw Klaus.

The Brain Grid user released a breath feeling slightly more at ease after confirming that Leo was indeed alive and well, although still comatose and healing. He quietly shut the door behind him and made his way to the sink where he got the vase from where Dr. Estevez had told him it was and placed the bouquet of flowers in it along with some water from the tap and added the packet of plant nutrients that were included in the bundle before approaching Leo's bedside and placing the vase carefully on the counter beside him. Sonic watched the man curiously, leaping onto the counter to inspect the flowers and sniffing them with a pleased expression before finally turning to the giant man and chirped in greeting.

"Hello to you as well Sonic," Klaus replied. Sonic stared back at him before his attention then drifted down to the plastic bag still held in his hand. Following his gaze, Klaus held up the bag to show him and answer his obvious inquiry. "I brought something to properly thank you for watching over Leonardo as well for as your assistance prior in the Alterworld." Sonic tilted his head intrigued as Klaus reached into the bag and pulled out the object that immediately caused Sonic's large eyes to widen and sparkle, chattering with delight. Klaus held out the bushel of bananas in his large hand and offered it out to the little monkey, to which Sonic moved with blinding speed to snatch the entire bushel from Klaus' palm and promptly disappeared surprising Klaus a bit before he reappeared on top of one of the high cabinets of medical supplies in the corner of the room to enjoy his reward. Sonic greedily stuffed one of the already peeled fruits into his mouth as his cheeks bulged like a hamster and he blushed, sighing in bliss. Klaus chuckled in amusement at the sight before his gaze fell back down onto Leo and his amusement faded. Seeing him lie there so still after all the thrashing and suffering he endured was an unsettling contrast to say the least and Klaus had to take a breath to remind himself that Leo was alive and would pull through. He pulled up one of the padded chairs closer to Leo's bedside and took a seat. For a while Klaus just observed Leo closely, listening to the sound of his breathing and the rhythmic beeping of the medical machinery, before his mind went back to the same thoughts that had been plaguing him ever since Leo's admission.

Klaus thought back to the day he first met Leo, how he allowed himself to be taken for the late Johnny Landis just so he could meet them and plead for their help. Klaus had naturally been at least a little wary at first, especially when Femt unleashed his usual shenanigans at the same time, but he instinctively still moved to protect the boy unsure if he was even someone who could be trusted. But when Leo had told them his story whilst calling himself a coward and weeping with grief over the awful memory of his sister's sacrifice, that was when he knew that he was no threat, just someone given a power he didn't understand looking for help and unaware of his own worth. He knew he couldn't turn Leo away after that and so he gave him a choice, he would join Libra and assist them and in exchange they would help him however way they could (something they had been admittedly neglectful about) and that was the start of it all.

Despite the dangers he encountered during an operation or even in his daily life since joining Libra, Klaus noticed subtle changes in Leo. Barely noticeable at first but eventually Leo began to grow little by little every day and after each operation. He overcame whatever obstacle this city seemed to throw at him even if he didn't come out of it completely unscathed and endured more than his fair share of hardships as well like being constantly hurt, captured, or even homeless and seeking refuge at the office and lord knows what other kind of examples he wasn't even aware of. Regardless, he still remained the same optimistic, selfless, and hardworking person they had all come to know and he showed them that every day. Because of his perseverance, he became a reliable ally for Libra, because of his kindness, he became a dear friend to not only himself but also everyone else on the team, and because of his bravery, he became a hero to the city and even the world on many occasions and Klaus couldn't have been more proud to have him as a part of the team.

Though Klaus knew full well of the risks of Leo joining Libra and the potential danger the young man would no doubt find himself in not just by joining, but should word get out about him possessing the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods. He had just assured himself and everyone else's concerns that if something should happen that they would deal with it…however, it was clear now that he had been perhaps too overconfident. Despite the positive outcomes in the end, Leo still wound up in more treacherous circumstances that should have been allowed to happen in the first place and this time they had gotten so close to losing Leo completely because they couldn't protect him, because he couldn't protect him.

"Who knows, if you were actually there, not only could you have saved him from that instance, but maybe you could have easily stopped me and prevented all this from happening in the first place." Pain's words sprang up in Klaus' mind and he clenched his fists in response in both anger and guilt. The Elder Class Blood Breed had tried to get under his skin about the fact that they allowed this sort of thing to happen in order to toy with Klaus but the aggravating thing was that it was not because they lacked the means or the desire to do so; it was because Leo had always refused such measures. He still recalled Leo's words perfectly when he first offered to set him up with better protection than just having Zapp acting as his bodyguard.

"I'm not worth all the trouble Klaus. I appreciate everything you guys have done for me already but I don't want to be any more of a burden than I already am to you. But if anything does happen then I promise I'll do what I can on my own." It wasn't that Klaus doubted Leo's capabilities, after all he had shown his resourcefulness and intelligence many times when in a pinch, but Klaus still felt uneasy and dissatisfied with the response, never mind the desire to protest such self-deprecating words whenever he heard something similar. Nevertheless, he still chose to respect Leo's wishes and tried to accept it. However whenever something did end up happening that left him injured or in danger as a result he often wondered why he was so stubbornly adamant about accepting their offer. At first Klaus thought Leo was just being humble or was embarrassed to receive such treatment (and maybe that was partially true) but suddenly the things Pain had told him during their fight started to resonate a little louder.

"What instantly drew me to him wasn't just his eyes, it was his suffering. All the pain he has and is still enduring and how he oh so desperately tries to hide that desolation, letting it fester so deep down inside so that no one can see…His doubts and fears, his self-loathing, his insecurities and misery…And why wouldn't he feel like that? After all, he is in essence a Huma that the Gods decided would be nothing more than an instrument to be used by those who seek power and control…to have your life dictated and over-written on a mere whim by higher beings and your only purpose in life that was once limitless now defined to be nothing short of a plaything. Carrying a weight like that on your shoulders would be enough to destroy any person's self-worth without being able to confide in anyone who could possibly understand how he feels."

Though Klaus still believed one hundred percent in what he had told Pain about Leo's strength he had to wonder…was that truly how Leo felt sometimes?

"You clearly don't really know anything about that whelp at all."

Klaus clenched his jaw and tightened his fists a little more before forcing them to relax before he accidentally broke something. He sighed and tried to calm himself as he came to the unwelcome realization that, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Pain had been right about one thing: they couldn't always be there to protect him. As long as Leo was a part of Libra and possessed the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods, these things would continue to happen.

"But it never should have gotten to this point in the first place," Klaus muttered solemnly under his breath staring at his lap before glancing up to Leo. Again, remorse squirmed in his gut when he thought back to his initial dismissal of Leo's concerns prior to the start of this mess and the way he suffered constantly not just from the effects of the Maledictum et Cruciabuntur but from what he also must have endured while in the hands of the Blood Breeds that imprisoned him. In spite of all that suffering, Leo still found the fortitude, regardless of the consequences to himself, to provide them with the one thing that resulted in their victory. If that wasn't a testament to Leo's strength, Klaus didn't know what was but it didn't help to ease his own apprehension. That was when something occurred to him. The Alterworldly sorceress that had helped them had mentioned something about a price that he would have to pay. Perhaps this was the price she was referring to: his own, nagging guilt and regret over his own inaction and the unsettling fear that something like this or worse could happen again. Suddenly he felt like he understood Leo's own guilt towards his sister's blindness just a little bit better now.

Klaus let out a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes briefly to recollect himself from that grim train of thought and reopened them to study Leo once more, his gaze now one of firm determination rather than solemn disquiet. Regardless of what could or couldn't have been prevented Klaus knew one thing, he wasn't going to allow this pattern to continue any longer. Just as Leo had, he would use the guilt as a means to drive him. He silently vowed that he would take better steps to not only ensure Leo's life for the future, but also assist him in whatever struggles or consequences that may come of this experience. Perhaps he could convince Leo to consider learning some form of self-defense once he fully recovers. Klaus also realized that maybe it was also time to start fulfilling his end of the deal he had made with Leo so long ago. By this time, Sonic had polished off the last banana, leaving the peels messily strewn about as he patted his full stomach in satisfaction, and observed Klaus from his perch in curiosity as he pulled out his smart phone. Klaus tapped on the messenger app and texted Steven a brief update to the situation as well as informing him that he would actually not be returning to the office as soon as he anticipated, only giving the excuse that he was looking into something important. Within a matter of a few minutes Steven responded with a confirmation of understanding, not questioning Klaus' actions though he was sure Steven was curious as to what he was up to, and that they would talk more when Klaus got back. Klaus then closed the messenger app and pulled up his phone's Internet app to do some preliminary research as Sonic scurried down from the cabinet and onto his broad shoulder and they both settled in to wait by Leo's side for however long it would take.
_

Klaus had stayed in Leo's room as long as he could but after nearly seven hours (one hour longer than the usual cut off time for visitation), Dr. Estevez had to put her foot down and once more shooed the large, red-haired man from Leo's room. His solo-research had unfortunately been less than productive but Klaus remained undeterred nevertheless as he returned to the office following his much-prolonged examination in an effort to appease the shrunken doctor. There he and Steven had met to discuss matters pertaining to Libra's operations and available manpower as Klaus was caught up to date about what he had missed during his absence whilst figuring out how to best set up protective care for Leo for as long as he might be in his vulnerable state. Over the next five days, multiple lower-ranking Libra operatives were either assigned in or out of Leo's room or discreetly watching over it from a distance though some visited voluntarily including K.K., Chain, Zed, Zapp (oddly enough), Steven, and of course Klaus himself. They had tried to stay as positive as they could but with each day that passed with no changes, the harder it became to believe that Leo would wake up at all and before they knew it, nearly two weeks had gone by.

Klaus and Steven were sitting in Leo's hospital room facing towards each other as a chessboard sat between the two of them on the small table, likely trying to distract their restive selves from their steadily increasing concerns. Sonic was present, as per usual, dozing a bit whilst trying to sun himself on the windowsill with the faint streams of fog-obscured sunlight that filtered through the window located between the two men. Lulled by the rhythmic beeping machines and occasional clacking of chess pieces on the wooden surface, Sonic's large eyes started to close until his ear twitched and his eyes snapped open. He immediately righted himself up, catching Klaus' attention as he leapt off the windowsill. Steven was in the middle of contemplating his next move but when he finally made his play and glanced up to Klaus to see his reaction, he instead found Klaus' direction turned elsewhere, posture rigid and eyes noticeably wider with disbelief. Following his gaze he turned his head to see what had him so transfixed and found himself straightening up as well.

Sonic leaned closely over Leo's form as his fingers twitched and his head shifted slightly on the pillow. It wasn't until a few faint noises and groans escaped his lips that Klaus was broken from his frozen state and he quickly rose from his chair and took a tentative step closer.

"Leonardo?" Klaus said in a low, hopeful voice. Leo's brow creased in response before relaxing as he could only assume Leo had finally opened his eyes from behind the bandages. When Leo did not move or respond right away, Klaus had opened his mouth to try again but stopped mid-action when Leo finally turned his head towards Klaus' direction. Leo seemed to observe them almost as if he couldn't quite process anything that he may have been seeing (or couldn't see?) and Klaus and Steven both panicked for a split second as they thought back to Dr. Estevez's warnings about potential repercussions of the coma or his overheating eyes. However, their worries faded a bit when Leo opened his mouth to try and speak.

"K-Klau—" was all Leo could hoarsely get out before he broke into a coughing fit startling them all and causing Sonic to chatter in distress. Jumping into action, Klaus grabbed a nearby empty glass next to a pitcher of ice water kindly provided to them by one of the nurses and poured a glass as Steven quickly hit the call button to alert Dr. Estevez. Plunking a straw in the water, Klaus placed a hand behind Leo's back to gently ease him up. On shaky limbs, Leo allowed himself to be assisted upright after finding moving his left was difficult and he weakly grasped the glass with his good limb as Klaus held it, taking a drink from the straw. He winced a bit as the cool liquid ran down his parched and likely still raw esophagus but regardless guzzled more than half of the glass before pulling away to take a breath and let out a few light coughs to clear his throat. Klaus set the glass down and gently eased him back against the slanted mattress and pillow as the now calmer Sonic immediately cozied up to Leo's side, wrapping his small arms around his side evidently glad that his human friend was finally awake. Leo rested momentarily in the hospital bed and glanced between Klaus and Steven looking quite lost and out of it likely as a result from his coma.

"What happened?" Leo rasped out, exhaustion and confusion heavily lacing his tone. Again Klaus and Steven felt the unsettling sensation of dread as they considered the possible ramifications of Leo's coma and the curse that had plagued him. The two men exchanged wary glances with each other but before either of them could say anything, three of Dr. Estevez's clones walked briskly into the room. Looking simultaneously surprised and pleased for the briefest of moments, two of the copies immediately got to work assessing Leo's condition while the third motioned for Klaus and Steven to give them some room before then turning to Leo.

"Glad to see you're finally awake Mr. Watch," she said with a pleasant smile as her copies did a quick checking the hospital equipment's readings and assessing Leo's vitals as he lay there confused. "You've been in a coma for quite a while following your less than ideal experience." Leo blinked owlishly under the bandages as his sluggish mind tried to process the new information.

"A coma?" he repeated bewildered. Seeing Leo's reaction, Dr. Estevez quickly cut in to try and mitigate the possibility of triggering any kind of further trauma.

"I know you have a lot of questions and concerns but right now I need to complete a full check-up to make sure there are no immediate complications," she explained as she donned her stethoscope. The clone listened to Leo's heartbeat while another took his blood pressure and urged him to lean forward to physically examine him for potential bedsores and the third checked his reflexes and motor skills. "Do you feel any pain at all?"

"No, not really," Leo replied slowly becoming more coherent. Though after a bit of thought he added on. "But I feel kinda…numb, and weak."

"That's likely due to the small amount of pain medication still left in your system as well as muscle atrophy, which is to be expected given the amount of time you've been immobile." She looked a bit pensive before asking her next query. "And how are your eyes?" Klaus and Steven waited in anxious silence for Leo's response.

"Everything is kind of blurry and my head feels a little achy but…I can still see okay." Mild relief filled them as one clone hummed and wrote down the results of their findings as well as Leo's account on the clipboard hanging on the wall by the door. After a few more tense minutes of questions and examinations, the three clones shut down and stored the hospital machinery that was no longer needed (though leaving him still attached to his IV, breathing tube, and a small pulse monitor as a precaution) and gave them a small, satisfied smile.

"Well, it looks like you're recovering quite well from when you were first brought in but it also seems like you have some blank spots in memory due to the severe trauma you endured. With any luck it may restore itself over time but it's hard to say for sure, though I don't expect it to have any seriously severe consequences if it doesn't. We will however have to keep you here for a bit longer under observation to be on the safe side until you're fully recovered to make sure there are no unexpected issues that may arise. I also would like to run a few more tests on your eyes to make sure there is no lasting, serious damage but we will discuss the details of your care more a bit later. For now, just try and focus on getting some more rest."

"Okay," Leo agreed. She then turned her attention to Klaus and Steven.

"If anything else comes up don't hesitate to use the call button and a nurse or myself should be by to assist." The two Libra men nodded in understanding.

"We will. Thank you doctor," Steven said gratefully she nodded and the three clones left the room and shut the door behind them. At long last, the tension finally seemed to release its hold on Klaus and he let out a relieved breath before taking a seat next to Leo's bed and focusing on him.

"We are so grateful that you are all right Leonardo," Klaus said earnestly.

"I'll say. You gave us a hell of a scare for a while there kid," Steven agreed with a small smile in his usual nonchalant manner.

"I'm sorry," Leo apologized, sheepishly bowing his head to glance down into his lap where Sonic had comfortably repositioned himself.

"Don't be," Klaus interjected gently. "What happened was in no way any fault of your own. If anything, we are the ones who owe you an apology for how things transpired." Leo blanched, feeling a bit awkward as he shook his head and waved his good hand in disagreement.

"You don't need to apologize for anything Klaus. I was the one who got caught in the first place and you guys were the ones who saved me…again." Klaus opened his mouth to protest but Steven cut in to stop the potential apology war.

"Well let's just agree to say that the real culprit behind this mess is no longer a concern." That comment seemed to bring the other two back to the present as they realized Steven was right. Leo turned to them with an expression of both curiosity and dread.

"How long was I in the coma?" Klaus was a bit hesitant but answered regardless.

"Nearly two weeks," he replied and predictably Leo gaped in shock.

"Two weeks?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Well, to be more precise, more like 12 days, 8 hours, 43 minutes and 27 seconds," he corrected glancing to the room's wall clock. "You're lucky it wasn't any longer than that," he added before suddenly something seemed to occur to him. "Which reminds me, I have an important call to make. Excuse me." With that said he headed for the door and left the room leaving Klaus and Leo behind in a bit of an awkward silence as they both seemed to struggle to figure out what to say next. Eventually, after coming to terms with the amount of time that had passed, Leo spoke up before Klaus had the opportunity.

"So, what exactly happened when I was, you know, captured and unconscious?" The series of events from the past two and a half weeks rushed back to Klaus with startling speed. Seeing as though Leo didn't really remember most of his rescue, he was unsure exactly how much he wanted to tell him in fear of possibly triggering some kind of post-traumatic stress and contemplated downplaying the events for him. However he quickly decided against it and chided himself for thinking poorly of Leo's almost uncanny ability to bounce back. For better or worse, he owed it to Leo to be honest with him especially after everything that's happened.

And so, Klaus obliged and for the next fifteen minutes he told Leo everything that had occurred following his kidnapping by the King of Pain: their dismal return to the Office, Femt's unexpected proposal and alliance, the tense hours of meticulous planning and much anticipated discovery of Leo's location, the journey into the Alterworld and sneaking into the factory with Femt's assistance, the harrowing battle with Pain and all of his Blood Breed forces and finally, after much internal deliberation, how Leo had entered into his coma following narrowly avoiding certain death from the Maledictum's awakening into self-awareness and his subsequent transport to the hospital. While Klaus had not been too specific about the details regarding the unknown Alterworldly sorceress' involvement (or what she had let slip following the successful curse removal as Klaus did not want to divulge that part to anyone just yet), Leo thought that he could vaguely recall the distant voices of Klaus and the others at some point but figured he had likely just imaged it or was subconsciously embellishing the story with false memories. Nevertheless, a small feeling of warmth flickered through him at that nice sentiment before the suffocating and persistent feelings of self-reproach and shame snuffed it out and brought him back to reality as the memories started to slowly trickle back to him.

"So in the end I just ended up causing more trouble for everyone again and nearly got you all killed," he said dejectedly glancing back down at his lap and allowing Sonic to gaze up at him sympathetically while Klaus listened in clear disapproval though his expression did not accurately convey it. "I'm sorry I was such a burden to you."

Klaus' expression then immediately shifted from neutral to visibly upset and in a rare display of physical anger, Klaus stamped his foot hard enough to nearly crack the tile beneath him causing both Leo and Sonic to jump and panic (pulse monitor showing the subtle rise of Leo's heart rate). Immediately Leo turned to face Klaus and began to apologize, obviously thinking he had been the one at fault to upset the usually gentle giant. Although in actuality, Leo's words had triggered the unwelcome words spoken by Pain that still continued to ring in his head.

"You clearly don't really know anything about that whelp at all."

Klaus directed his attention to the flustered and guilt-ridden lad and spoke in a stern voice that instantly caught his attention.

"Leonardo."

"Y-Yes?" Leo stuttered, shrinking back slightly as Klaus got to his feet. He remained in place for a moment but stared intently at him.

"You know for a fact that that is not even remotely true, don't you?" Leo's fear and panic was momentarily replaced by surprise and puzzlement at that statement as Klaus continued. "You are far stronger than you realize or seem to give yourself credit for and for the sake of preventing future disagreements I'd like to clarify some things for you." Klaus approached the stunned male and knelt down so that he was eye level to him and gently but firmly grasped his shoulders.

"Please engrave what I am about to say into your heart Leonardo because I never want you to forget or doubt them again. I don't know what kind of life you've lead up until arriving in Hellsalem's Lot nor what kinds of hardships you've suffered in the past or perhaps are struggling with even now, but I do know one thing: you are not a burden. You are not useless and you are not a tool. You, a normal young man, have overcome many struggles most people have never and will never experience and helped to resolve many a crisis that threatened both the city and the world, some instances of which you did single-handedly including protecting your sister against a threat none of us were even aware of. I'm not sure if you recall, but quite some time ago I told you that it wasn't just your eyes that we welcomed into Libra however it seems that I failed to elaborate what else we welcomed from you." Klaus paused to let his next words sink in.

"It was your spirit Leonardo; your will that remains unyielding in spite of the overwhelming adversity, your altruism that compels you to fight for the sake of others no matter the cost, and the immeasurable strength you possess that allows you to triumph in your endeavors. Were it not for your actions in not only fighting the Maledictum et Cruciabuntur head-on for as long and as hard as you did, but procuring the King of Pain's true name in addition, we all likely would not have made it out of that situation alive. Do not ever question your worth again because you, Leonardo Watch, are and will always be a proud and valued member of Libra, one that I'm glad I have the pleasure in knowing. And I know for a fact that I am not the only one who thinks this as well."

Leo could only stare mouth slightly agape at Klaus, the very personification of strength as far as he was concerned, as he tried to process every word he had heard from him. Klaus eventually released his grip from his shoulders but before Leo could find his voice to inquire what Klaus had meant with that last sentence, loud noises from the hall outside and several fast-approaching footsteps neared the door causing Leo and Klaus both to direct their attention towards it. No sooner had they done so did the door practically fly open and K.K. stood in the doorway with a look of expectant urgency before her one good eye landed on Leo and she broke into a wide grin and rushed him with a small, delighted squeal pulling him into a firm hug while still being careful to not further harm him as Klaus rose back to his feet.

"About time you woke up kiddo," she fussed as Leo became a bit flustered at the unexpected show of affection. Almost instantly, Zed then arrived stopping in the doorway with a look of visible relief.

"Leo, thank goodness you're—"

"Out of the way squid-for-brains! I got a bone to pick with that squinty-eyed little nut sack!" Zapp interrupted trying to get into the room but only succeeding to get them both stuck in the doorway despite Zed's protests. The two struggled for a moment before suddenly they were both catapulted into the room courtesy of Chain who planted one foot into each of their backs with enough force to send the both of them face planting into the ground as she stayed crouched on top of them. "SERIOUSLY?!" Zapp shouted lifting his head up to reveal a bloody nose from the hard impact.

"Why me as well?" Zed questioned also lifting his head up with a visible red mark where his nose would have been as Chain hopped off of them.

"You were in the way," she replied nonchalantly. The two Big Dipper Style users quickly got to their feet when Patrick and Neyka then entered into the room.

"Yo Leo! Good to see you're not dead," Patrick said boisterously with his usual grin and enthusiasm. Neyka, who was in the middle of giving him a silent yet cheerful wave in greeting, then stopped to glare pointedly at him for the potentially insensitive remark and gave Patrick a slug in the arm. "Oops, uh, my bad," the dark-skinned weapons-lover sheepishly apologized rubbing the back of his head. Hummer and Deldro then quickly peeked into the room and Hummer's handsome face lit up immediately.

"Leo! We came as soon as we heard you were awake," Hummer exclaimed quickly striding into the room.

"Ha! The kid didn't croak after all. The warden owes me five zeroes," Deldro commented smugly.

"When did you place bets?" Hummer asked looking to his plasma partner curiously. Before he could reply, the sound of a brief feminine shriek and crashing of metal was heard before the wheel from a wheelchair rolled past the open doorway prior to Lucky entering the room followed by Steven and Gilbert who brought up the rear.

"You know, I didn't call you all to inform you of the kid's condition just so you could lay waste to the hospital," Steven deadpanned.

"I agree, you all need to have better control over yourselves, honestly," Lucky replied with a light scolding tone, causing Steven to roll his eyes at his obliviousness before glancing up to Leo and his exasperation shifted into a grin.

"Hope you don't mind the extra, impromptu company kid. I figured if they didn't stop by now they would have just bugged you later," Steven said jokingly.

"Who's bugging who?" Lucky interjected almost offended before turning his attention to Leo with a pleased grin. "In any case, it's good to finally see you up and at-'em Leonardo," Lucky said as Gilbert approached Klaus' side and gave the young man a polite bow of his head and faint smile in his own silent greeting. "And, how are your eyes?"

"Really? That's the first thing you ask him," K.K. snipped relinquishing the flabbergasted Leo from her hug to glare at the harbinger of bad luck.

"Now, now, it's a fair question," Steven tried to calmly reason which only succeeded in getting K.K. to turn on him.

"You're no better!" she retorted with a scowl causing Steven to raise his hands in a placating gesture. Zapp brushed himself off from his fall and snorted.

"Christ, don't you people have anything better to do instead of falling all over yourselves to check up on the Pube Head?"

"Then why are you here exactly?" Zed retorted in a flat tone. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but on at least two or three different occasions, didn't you visit Leo here in the hospital prior when he was still comatose because you were wor—"

"For the last freakin' time, I was NOT worried! I just had nothing better to do!" Zapp interjected defensively.

"But you're not denying the fact that you came here on your own free will now when there's no other plausible excuse why," Chain cut in, doubling down on calling out Zapp's BS.

"Who the hell asked you, She-Bitch?!" Zapp protested loudly turning a bit red at the sudden exposure. As if summoned by Zapp's inquiry (or perhaps more because of the loud commotion and swearing), the fully-grown version of Dr. Estevez entered back into the room with a displeased expression.

"Please keep your voices down," Dr. Estevez scolded. "I understand you all are relieved upon seeing Leonardo's recovery but this is still a hospital and you are disturbing the other patients." Some of the Libra crew had the decency to look a bit abashed by this reminder while others were unfazed and continued their squabbling.

"Our apologies Miss Estevez," Klaus said taking the liberty to speak for his team turning his attention towards the doctor.

Leo however was speechless. As he looked to each member in the room, who were momentarily lost in their own squabbles or interactions with each other that they paid him no mind, he took in the sight of their shimmering, golden auras that seemed to blaze brighter than the fog-obscured sun did and it sparked the same miniscule sensation of warmth in his chest. All the negative emotions that he had felt during the past several weeks, maybe even months, began to slowly melt away from the nearly overwhelming heat that was quickly spreading through him, overtaking the numbness resulting from the lingering painkillers in his system. That was when he finally seemed to recognize the proper name for this warmth and sensation.

Acceptance.

So overcome by this revelation and the almost burning warmth that seemed to scald him from the inside-out, Leo slowly grasped the blanket and sheets in his right hand and his body and shoulders began to tremble, startling Sonic who was still seated in his lap as he quickly whirled around to try and console him. Quickly picking up on his apparent distress, Klaus also became alarmed and turned his focus to him but his panic was short lived as Leo began to laugh, quietly and first, before slowly building into warm, mirthful chuckles as loud as his still sore throat could manage. This captured the attention of the others present in the room and they all collectively ceased their communications and turned to Leo, clearly concerned and confused. Slowly however, the chuckles gradually turned to gentle weeping. Sniveling, he repeatedly wiped what he could of his face and curled forward in on himself as much as his sore body could manage but was still unable to stop the tears that dampened the bandages over his eyes; so moved by the wonderfulness and ridiculousness of it all but unsure of how else to react. Understanding his silent plight, everyone in the room did not interfere and instead just gave the young holder of the All-Seeing Eyes his space, quiet sobs escaping from his mouth and a few stray tears running from underneath his bandages as they allowed him to unleash his pent up emotions without judgment.
_

Author's Notes: While I'm sure most of you are tired of me saying this, I'll still say it regardless, I'm sorry it took so long to get this out! I won't bore you with my excuses so let's just get into it. This chapter was by-far my favorite one to work on; it was also the very chapter that I had been looking to do when I first started creating and writing this story so I hope you all like it as much as I did. Hopefully I didn't make everyone too OOC but let me know what you all think, I'd really like to hear from you. It looks like Leo is finally starting to get some closure after his awful experience with Pain and hopefully Libra can help him pull himself together now that everything is said and done! With one chapter left it has been a roller coaster but unfortunately, as time and energy is something I've been severely lacking, I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted (it will probably take about as long as it took to get this chapter out but as always I'll do my best to get it done ASAP). I actually need some time to plot out the next chapter as writer's block had been hitting me hard but on a positive note, I also hinted last chapter that I may have something special planned at the end so you'll have to check back in the next chapter to see what it could be! Thanks so much to himekuroyuki853, Malmal0523, Afiana Arch, DreamSeeker35, nightwalker .shiffer, kyunauzunami, oriharaizayatr248, Cheshide, and allka for favoriting and following this story! I hope to see you all, as well as all my other readers who have been sticking with this story, in the conclusion. Until next time!