Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. The last bit is an au for the end of S1 Ep8 and it involves slight spoilers but nothing specific.
In many ways Leo Elster reminded Mattie of a stray cat.
Always out and about. Always on the run. Always trying to find a home, a safe place.
Often mistreated by humans.
Always, always suspicious.
Potentially dangerous when being cornered.
Unaccustomed with human interaction.
And like a stray cat he sometimes seemed to approach other people emotionally, but once they crossed a line that was often not even visible to them, he would hiss and get his claws out, metaphorically speaking of course. He was half synth, not bucking Wolverine.
Interacting with him felt a lot like getting a cat to get used to somebody new. It involved a lot of sitting down, waiting patiently for him to be comfortable and then letting him approach in his own pace.
She once had tried the equivalent to "here kitty, kitty, kitty!" when she wanted to know something about Mia's root code. It didn't go well and he spent the whole day being even grumpier and snarkier than ever.
But Mattie knew that under the layers of sarcasm, worries, suspicion, hurt and actual dirt; there was actually something vulnerable and sweet.
She had witnessed both sides of him already. When he couldn't find Mia in Anita's body and then when he finally did.
It was weird seeing him letting his guard down for his family. She always felt not only like witnessing but like intruding. Sometimes he tolerated her presence in these situations. Sometimes she left on her own accord, when she felt how uncomfortable she was making them.
But when she was allowed in, it was nice to see how much they trusted each other, and protected each other. Mattie often assumed that in this respect he really was like a stray cat. Once you gained his trust he would love you forever.
But right now he was more of a feral cat, only bond to his group, unaccustomed to human interaction.
But he was trying. Trying to be nice, trying to trust her, trying to interact.
Mattie always felt though that he trusted more in her abilities than in her as a person.
When he needed help he trusted her to get it done and get it right. A cat doesn't trust in you to feed her. A cat trusts in your ability to use a tin opener when she wants to be fed.
But then sometimes it seemed like he started to see her, and maybe trust her as a person. He had smiled at her and reassured her and he had seemed to be genuine with it.
But then he had been captured, hurt again, used again. But he came back.
However a stray cat can turn into two things. Again into a pet or again into a feral cat. If Leo would have been a cat, now it had been the time to state that he went feral again. But he wasn't a cat. And this time Mattie was not having any of it.
"Leo!"
He turned around, Mia and Max as well.
Mattie reached out for a handshake. After a few seconds of confusion he smiled at her and then slowly shook her hand.
"I learned a lot from you, thanks for that."
"I learned a lot from you, too", he replied, "take care, Mattie."
"You too."
They turned around and proceeded to walk away.
"Leo! I hope you find it. A home I mean."
He turned around and gave her one last smile.
Mattie turned around as well. It was time to go back to her own home.
"A street cat called Leo", she muttered and smiled to herself.
Who knew, maybe he would come back. Maybe he trusted her enough to actually know that he could come back.
Maybe one day she would gain his trust and maybe, just maybe one day in a far-away future, one day he would probably come back to stay. That was just the thing with Leo Elster, once you gained his trust he would love you forever.