The unfamiliar feeling of a scaly tail wrapping around his wrist startles Leo, and he nearly jerks away before realizing that's Donnie. Donnie, who's never been the best at physical comfort, still reaching out to Leo even as he keeps the rest of himself tucked away.

They tried to save him. Of course they did.

But...

A bifurcated time branch echoes in his memory. And that makes the most sense, right? There must be two versions of what happened in the Prison Dimension: one, where Leo was pulled through a portal, escaped hell, got to go home, and the other...

Leo feels the sting of it, right through his chest.

Why wasn't it me?

It's not Donnie's fault. Not his fault that he saved his own Leo, and not this one. Leo doesn't feel bitter towards him.

But he does feel bitterness, creeping up into his heart. Because someone else got to go home. Someone else got to be with his family. Someone else got to be warm and safe and loved.

And Leo gets to be this.

A ghost.

It's not fair.

He can't move, to reassure Donnie, to comfort him back. He's too devastated to do anything right now. It feels like his one wish was just shown to him, and then snatched away.

He wishes he'd never known.