Leo narrowed his eyes, glaring at the parallel bars in front of him; he couldn't stifle the feeling that he was staring down an enemy on the battlefield. Though the situations weren't too different, if he thought about it. Both were something he had to fight, something keeping him from his goal. Leo had to resist the urge to let out a bitter laugh. He'd faced Krang Prime, a literally unbeatable enemy, and here he was working up the courage just to stand and take a step.

Like a true leader. What a joke.

A quiet voice broke into his thoughts.

"Leo? You okay?"

The slider's eyes moved straight to Usagi, who was looking at him with obvious concern. Those deep brown eyes sent a now familiar quiver through him, and Leo felt his face heat. He quickly grinned, pleading to the universe that he wasn't literally blushing.

"Yeah, sorry. Just, uh, psyching myself up, y' know?"

He felt an immediate desire to bite off his own tongue.

'Psyching myself up'? That one's lamer than me.

But if Usagi shared the sentiment, he didn't show it. He just returned Leo's smile.

"Take as long as you need… whenever you're ready."

Over the past few days, Himari had been leaving certain aspects of Leo's therapy to Usagi, saying only that other yokai needed her services and she had full confidence in him. The rabbit had indeed proved just as patient and encouraging an instructor, though he seemed as puzzled as Leo as to how his grandmother had gotten this sudden upswing in demand.

Taking a deep breath, Leo placed both hands on the parallel bars. Bracing himself, he slowly lifted himself out of the wheelchair and clenched his teeth at the now familiar throbbing in his leg.

Don't be a baby, you've taken way worse than this. Just take a step and keep going.

Taking one more quick, steadying breath, the slider began moving forward. But after just a few steps, the throbbing grew worse. Leo gritted his teeth and ordered himself to keep going, to not collapse. But sure enough, on the very next step his leg gave. The slider barely caught himself in time to avoid faceplanting on the floor and managed to lower himself carefully without hurting his leg more.

Letting out a growl, Leo curled his hand into a tight fist and slammed it against the floor.

"Why can't I do this?!" he snapped, unable to stop several distressed chirps from bursting out right behind the words. He knew he was being somewhat childish, but he was too frustrated and just plain tired to care. He shouldn't be here, he wasn't supposed to be here… he was supposed to be out there, supporting his brothers, leading his team, fixing the problem, making things right!

He was so lost in his fury that he barely noticed the hand resting on his shoulder, and it wasn't until a faint voice filtered through that he realized Usagi was speaking.

"-asy, Leo… deep breaths. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight."

Almost instinctually, the slider began the technique, vaguely aware of Usagi following along. After a few unsuccessful tries, Leo finally managed to match his breathing to the rabbit's. It took several rounds of breathing, but the angry buzzing in his head finally began to ease.

Usagi spoke again, his voice calm and gentle in that strange way that soothed Leo's nerves rather than irked them.

"Now ground yourself and say it."

This response, too, was automatic. Leo placed his palms on the floor, splaying his fingers as he pressed down just slightly. He drew in another deep breath and allowed the mantra to flow through his mind before speaking it.

"I am the rock against which the surf crashes. Nothing can break me."

A gentle hand patted his shoulder.

"Good. You're doing great, Leo."

Usagi's voice had a pride in it that made Leo's chest swell, and for some reason he felt a strange urge to curl his toes. But the intensity of the feeling faded as the ever-looming discouragement crept back in, and the slider couldn't stop himself from letting out a weary sigh.

"No need to exaggerate, cottontail." The words were meant to be a joke but came out so flat he winced. Still, he managed a soft chuckle. Usagi let out a soft huff of laughter himself, but his voice was full of nothing but concern when he spoke.

"What makes you think I'm exaggerating?"

Leo managed to keep his smile, but he had a feeling it looked as brittle as it felt.

"We were both in the same room just now, right?"

"Yeah," Usagi replied. "But we obviously didn't see the same thing."

He settled down on the floor himself, keeping a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"You've made huge progress, Leo, and everyone sees that. But you don't… or you just don't think it's enough."

Frustration frayed at the slider's temper, and he fought to keep the sharpness out of his voice. He didn't want to take his anger out on his newfound friend.

"I just… I shouldn't be here. This new Shredder's out there doing whatever twisted stuff he's cooking up, and after the Krang, I…"

He shivered, the onslaught of memories chilling his blood. Explosions, screaming, Mikey and Donnie falling away from the Technodrome, Raph baring down on him with blazing Krang-possessed eyes… innocent people, his brothers, his friends…

"I can't." The words escaped as a hoarse whisper. Leo tightened his fists, his voice gaining strength. "I can't let anything like that happen again."

Usagi only raised a brow.

"You say that like you just stood by and did nothing while it happened."

Those words brought all the frustration and anger boiling back up, and this time Leo found himself unable to control it.

"I might as well have!" he snapped. "None of it would've happened if I'd done nothing to begin with!"

Rather than reacting with indignation or irritation, which Leo wholly expected, Usagi's face remained calm. That alone was enough to surprise the slider, but what left him truly speechless was the rabbit's eyes. The dark yet warm brown orbs were filling with a sadness so profound that Leo felt his heart twinge. He found himself unable to break his own gaze away, a sudden knot of emotion forming in his throat. But before either could speak, the sound of rapid footsteps approached. Both Leo and Usagi looked up to see Raph enter with a big grin.

"Hey, Leo! We just heard from Casey, she said they're back from their sweep of the city, and her and Junior r' coming for a vist."

Leo felt an immediate surge of excitement, the previous exchange falling to the back of his mind. After he'd recovered enough to be out of danger, Casey and his mom had gone off together to do a complete recon of the whole city. Cassandra had taken to the whole 'having a son from another timeline barely younger than me' situation with surprising enthusiasm and took the immediate opportunity to turn a high-risk mission into their first mother-son bonding experience. And to no one's real surprise, the two Joneses had clicked together like missing puzzle pieces from the start. They'd kept in touch throughout, relaying everything they learned, but it felt like ages since they'd last seen the two.

"When'll they get here?" the slider asked.

"Tomorrow," Raph said, still grinning. "I know Casey's gonna be glad t' see how good you're doing."

Despite the happiness Leo felt over the impeding visit, the words also brought a pang of unease. He couldn't help but think of the admiration that Casey had never completely stopped directing his way. Not all of it was for the sensei he knew, but Leo knew he still saw him, and the slider could never suppress the fear that Casey was comparing the two… and finding the one he had lacking.

"And all we've got is this guy."

The words came unbidden, echoing in Leo's head with sharp, unpleasant clarity. He saw Raph's eyes soften and knew that his brother was likely guessing what was going through Leo's head.

"You're not less, little brother," he said softly.

A hand rested on his arm then, and the slider looked to see Usagi directing a very similar look at him. His voice was just as gentle.

"Not by a long shot."

Leo blinked in surprise, wondering if an understanding had instinctually crossed between Raph and their new friend. But the reassurance their support brought was undeniable, and he felt a genuine smile come to his face.

"Thanks."

Almost unbidden, he placed his own hand on Usagi's. The rabbit looked just as startled by the act as Leo, but despite the slight blush that no doubt matched his, Usagi gave his arm a slight squeeze.

"No problem," he said, returning the smile.