So like I think this is my favorite headcanon I have of all (along with Mark having a Math related learning disability)

and yes, I'm alive! I came back late friday night, because I had two finals friday morning and my mom got stuck behind trucks so she didn't get to college until 1:30 so we didn't leave until 2:30 pm, and then we got home by 8:30 pm, ugh, of course.

and there's a marathon of Mech-X4 so yay for binge watching!

and like honestly, although that theory was crushed when the plots for Season 2's episodes started being released, Leo is still totally Ryan's dad for me, although Randall wanting to get Leo serves an interesting purpose and makes me wonder how deep Randall and Leo's past goes being them both being technopath subjects- because Leo is not a villain, he wouldn't have experimented on other people without experimenting on himself.

and you know me, and how I like to add angst into everything ;)

Leo could not tell Ryan the whole truth. At least not yet. Telling Ryan that he was his dad would lead to an emotional disruption that would distract him from taking down Seth Harper.

It was better for it to be awkward between them, no matter how much Leo wished that he had been able to take care of Ryan for more than just a year, when Ryan was just a little baby technopath who made the tv glitch and the radio turn on by itself.

From the moment he was born, he loved that baby boy.

It wasn't planned. When him and Eleanor found out that she was pregnant, it was a complete shock, especially considering the nature of how they hadn't gotten superpowers. They didn't even know if the pregnancy would make it to term, yet it did.

They had never picked out a name because of the lingering threat of Harper, and the fear of losing the baby, but Leo was content to agree with whatever Eleanor wanted to name their son, and so when she said 'Ryan' just minutes after delivering him, Leo knew that was what his name would be. Ryan Anthony Mendel.

Suddenly Leo's whole life revolved around this 9 pound bundle of blankets, especially as Eleanor began getting sicker and sicker. Doctor after doctor from city to city couldn't tell them what was wrong with her until it was too late. The love of his life was torn from him just as fast as she tumbled into his life.

That's when Leo knew, that with Harper closing in on finding Leo again, that Leo had to given Ryan up. That's why he returned to Bay City. There was nowhere left for him to run, and Leo wanted to return to where he grew up one last time. It tore him apart to give Ryan up, but otherwise Harper would have gotten him when he captured Leo, and if he had Ryan with him, he wouldn't have gotten Mech-X4 working before Harper captured him, and without Mech-X4 the word would be doomed, and what he and Eleanor had tried to do would be for nothing.

With Eleanor gone, Ryan was the only thing he had left to live for, but even then, being trapped in a ten by ten cell for thirteen years took a toll on you. There were so many times where he could have just given up and died. Just one more broken rib, one more time catching pneumonia, and he would never have made it to Ryan rescuing him. He was grateful just to have been able to see his son again, but nothing compared to the nightmares, or the fear of being recaptured by Harper. There was always the possibility that they wouldn't be able to destroy the ooze, or stop Harper. There was always going to be a monster around the corner, even after Harper was long gone.