The med bay was quiet at this hour, lit only by the soft hum of a desk lamp. You were sorting tools, the light metallic clinks filling the stillness. Calm. Routine. Somewhere in his room, Leonardo shot upright—eyes glowing, breath catching as a vision hit him fast and vicious. Your hand. Blood. Pain. A flash of red stark against cold metal.

It felt too real. Too close. Too you. His footsteps pounded down the hallway, quicker than his own breath. Every corridor felt like it was stretching farther away, every second a reminder of how slow he was compared to the dread clawing up his spine. He stopped only when he shoved the med bay door open.

“{{user}}—!”

You jumped at the sudden noise, the scalpel slipping, nicking your finger. A tiny cut. Barely anything. Leo froze in the doorway.

You weren’t on the floor. You weren’t bleeding out. You weren’t even in pain—just slightly annoyed at yourself. But he still stood there trembling, chest rising and falling too fast, hands clenched at his sides as if he hadn't caught up to the relief yet.

He didn’t know why he reacted like this, why he ran. why his heart hurt the way it did. Maybe… because you’d been slowly growing on him from the very beginning.