Chase was starting to get worried about Leon, he'd spent the first few days awake constantly surrounded by Dr. Jha and Dr. August (the sisters were real! Who would have thought?) and the one other actual medical professional that remembered how to deal with patients. (RTASA had a lot of Doctors but most of their doctorates were not medical or they were mostly scientific in nature.) And while he and the others wanted to see him. They kept their distance when Dr August explained that Leon was still in a delicate state.

Most of the brain damage had been reversed but it might take him a while to be walking without medical aid.

Chase just hoped Leon was going to survive this.

However a week later he found Dr August- Bailey- pacing outside a room. It wasn't her shared one with Leon, or the medical room Leon was being kept in. She saw his mixed avatar and stalked right towards him.

"Did you know Dr Weller asked me to help him with Gen: Lock?" She asked and Chase thought back, he did remember Weller looking for a human time ago, but apparently they'd never answered the doctors calls and Weller had forgotten about it. "Kinda? That was a years ago though."

"Yeah I got kidnapped a year ago." She rolled her eyes then looked him in the eye. "Would you mind if I joined Gen:Lock? As a medical researcher and doctor?"

Chase blinked and looked around, "I thought that was Dr. Jha's call not mine." Chase told her and she smiled, she looked a lot less severe when she did that. Though he could see where Leon got some of his traits. They might not have looked similar, what with Leon being tall and pale and kind of skinny. Dr. August was just as tall but she held more bulk on her body her skin was close to Yaz's in colour with freckles covering every inch. She had dark brown auburn hair that was pulled into a braid and mismatched blue-grey eyes hidden behind thin glasses.

"According to the ESU protocol, as the senior director on the gen:Lock research you get final say." She smirked at him.

Chase opened his mouth and then closed it, "Director?"

"You- ESU doesn't normally keep lab rats for long; Gen:Lock also needed someone that wasn't a researcher. You and Ms Madrani are Senior directors; and your recruits are the staff and have provisional roles aside from being pilots. So technically either you or Ms Madrani has to approve of my appointment as medical researcher on your team." Bailey explained crossing her arms and Chase could only stare.

"What about Leon?" he asked and she looked thoughtful, "Hm I think he's been designated a liason, something to do with training. Though he's been remarkably tight lipped as its classified to civilian doctors." She spat out the last part of her explanation.

He took a half step back and she waved it off, " Leon is very good at his job and I am very good at mine. I don't want on so I can snoop. I want on because it's an incredible opportunity to further my own research as well as contribute. Leon in this case is a nice neat little bonus."

Chase nodded "Alright, Welcome to the ESU, specifically welcome to Gen:Lock Dr. August." Bailey blinked at him and did a small shake of her head then squealed and reached forward to try and hug him. Her arms passed only partially through his avatar for a moment in a facsimile of a hug.

"Thank you! I'll get some stuff and store them on your ship so I can be ready to go whenever. Also I need to talk to ms MacCloud- You won't regret it!"

Chase went and broke the news to the team, "Smart." Kazu hummed as he ate. Out of all of them Kazu technically had the most medical knowledge, but knowing how to bandage a cut and how to set bones and deal with brain trauma were two different things.

"So how is Leon? We have not seen him in days." Val/entina asked leaning back in her seat. Yaz shook her head "I saw him yesterday, he's been discharged from the medical wing."

They turned in unison to her and Yaz's shoulders went up defensively "What? I assumed he would be telling you this."

"Well he hasn't, I think I'll go check on him." Chase waved as he mixed out of the lunch room and down the hallway. He could always tell where Leon was, it was like a pulling feeling if he concentrated hard enough. He figured it was because his body was mechanical now; he found Leon reading in a small quiet space away from everything else. The older man was in a simple long sleeved shirt and pants, he looked tired and like there was a weight resting on his shoulders.

"There you are, how're you doing?" Chase asked and Leon looked up from his book. As long as he's known Leon he'd never seen quite the panicked look in his eyes before it was squashed and Leon's eyes dulled. Chase could see the pulse of Leon's power in the parts of his skin that was visible underneath the clothes he wore.

"Bad time?"

"No- it's- I just needed some quiet. It's been loud the last few days." Leon reached up to his ears before he shook his head closing his eyes and the circuit pattern abated, but returned full force when he reopened them. Chase frowned, but he could feel it, something was coming off Leon. It felt… good- like waiting for his mom's cookies to be done. Chase took a step back and Leon got up.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room and Chase turned his own skin taking on a hexagonal pattern. The feeling disappeared and Chase scowled at the empty space before he mixed out of the room and into the hallway.

"Hey! Leon. You okay there?"

Leon paused in the hallway and turned around, "Not really, It's fine. I'll get over it I just need a day or two." Chase frowned and walked towards him.

"It's not fine, you've never been this cagey before-"

"Cagey?" he snapped back.

"Weird about people. You like people!" Chase explained, "but you're avoiding us. Why?"

"I like people that's not the problem;" Leon began reaching up to rub at the back of his neck and Chase narrowed the space between them. "Then what is it? We can't help if you won't tell us." He grabbed at Leon and he saw Leon's eyes flash for a second. A wave of cool energy pulsed through him and both men hit the ground.

The floor felt blessedly solid and Chase looked down at his hands and then up at Leon. Leon looked- better, less actually, though he was two seconds from a panic attack.

"Leon, what happened?"

"I- I don't know." Leon replied tangling both hands in his hair, Chase stood and then stumbled, the floor felt weird. He sat down next to Leon as the older man screwed his eyes shut; Chase breathed out a sigh.

"Seriously, what's really wrong?"

"I- It's so loud, everything. Before I could turn it off, or ignore it. Now It's like the walls are screaming, but it's less screaming more a feeling?" Leon pulled his legs up under him crossing his arms over his knees. "The last time this happened I nearly killed Bailey, what if I just nearly killed you! I- don't want to kill anyone I care about with this bullshit." Leon looked shocked he'd even said as much as he had and then looked at the ground.

"Yeah but you didn't; I'm right here. Bailey's alive."Chase gestured in the direction he figured the woman was. "I've been there, super strength is great until you realize you're touching the world like it's made of wet tissue. Being scared means you-" Chase had to pause to find the right words.

"It means your human right? You won't kill anyone. You haven't before, you won't now. You just might break a few mugs on the way." He nudged Leon watching the older man.

Leon sighed and dropped his head so his forehead rested on his knees.

After a bit Chase stood holding a hand out, "C'mon let's go see what you did to me." Leon took the hand and then stumbled into Chase for a second. "Sorry. Walking Is tiring, everything is exhausting." Leon sighed and Chase snorted.

"Don't I know that feeling."

"Fascinating, you're physically there." Bailey hummed as Chase and Leon explained what had happened. She had immediately done several scans of both men, "But I'm getting readings like I have screens where you are and it's just… this is awesome. Leon you have to do more weird shit with your powers." She turned to her brother and Leon sighed, he'd been trying not to fall asleep at the table.

"Sooo I should technically be able to eat?" Chase asked and he looked way to excited at the thought. Bailey nodded and he turned to the others. "Ok I call the last piece of Wu's cake."He dashed off before Kazu and Cammie shouted following and Leon put his head on the table.

"I'm proud of you." Bailey told him and he hummed in response, eyelids feeling heavy. He fell asleep at the table while Chase and the others fought over cake