A/N - So, here's a chapter 2! See what you think and let me know, it's twice as long as the first one but I had more to say so it had to be longer. Thanks so much to TheAlpaca'sSubmarineSandwich for my first ever review on my first ever fanfic, this is kind of for you because I wrote it immediately after reading your review :) enjoy!

At the loss of contact he knew she was gone.

Leo cursed lightly as he glimpsed Lisa's hair whip round the corner. Her wig lay on the floor where it must have fallen when she scrambled out of bed.

The whole struggle had lasted only seconds and Leo was still sitting dumb, sluggish with sleep. He rubbed his bleary eyes and hauled himself off the floor. In the back of his mind he marvelled at the strength of Lisa's punch, it wasn't bad but he was sure he was going to have a bruise.

Having not heard the workshop door open or close, he knew Lisa hadn't gone outside. That was good, in her state who knew what could happen to her. He took his time descending the rickety wooden stairs, cautiously and quietly. The last thing he wanted was the Maestro to come running in and see Lisa without her wig.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he stood still for a moment. It was difficult to see in the night-time half-light so he used his ears instead. He listened intently to the sounds around him. There was still the clucking of the broody chickens, the swish of the rag in the breeze but no sleeping apprentice noises could be heard from down here. Scuffling in the corner. He turned his head towards the sound. It was too small. A mouse perhaps, judging by the squeaking. He filtered it out.

Leo used to dismiss his ears. They weren't important to him, just odd, fleshy growths on the sides of a person's head which could, in some cases, make or break their appearance; their level of attractiveness to others depending on their size or angle. Now they fascinated him: the anatomy, the science of an ear, this amazing palette of sound, a net ready to catch each and every delicious movement around him. You don't need your eyes to see. Hearing just one sound can show you a great number of pictures and just like paintings, each one can mean something different to each person. A soft hum might show a violin or a singer to Lisa; an engine or a small machine to Leo. Art isn't just in the visible or even the tangible. It can be enjoyed through sound, words, music or touch or feeling.

Although trying to find Lisa in the dark may not have been as insightful as Leo's philosophical musings, it did not make them irrelevant.

Ah, there, a human sniffling, In the background, ragged breathing and slight shuffling. It came from behind him, along the back wall. Leo frowned. He still couldn't see her. He squinted to the left of a tall bookcase, where the sound had seemed to come from. There was the middle workbench with Tom's bowls of paint on top, a scraggy cloth laid over it. He noticed it was lying slightly out of alignment, one bowl closer to the edge of the bench, like someone had pulled it.

He sighed then turned to his right and picked up a candle from a small table and found matches in a drawer. He lit the candle and turned again to face the back wall.

With the help of the extra light, Leo spotted the toe of a foot protruding from beneath the workbench, behind the cloth. Relieved to have found her but still cautious, he dropped to the floor and placed the candle in a holder next to him.

"Tom?" He whispered gently to the tablecloth, "It's just me, you're ok, you just had a bad dream. Try not to panic, I'm going to lift the cloth…ok? This cloth isn't as good at witty conversation as you, I'm going to have to give up on it." He hoped his little whispered joke might help Lisa feel more at ease but when he lifted the cloth with his hand, so it no longer hung past the top of the bench, Lisa flinched and crawled further back, away from him. She kept going back until she came up against the wall and was forced to stop.

"Shh, shh, shh, Lisa, Lisa, it's ok." Leo quickly swapped to using her real name in an effort to get through to her.

She looked so small there, hunched up under the table, head resting on her arms, forearms supported by her knees, wavy brown hair falling over her face like a curtain. Leo imagined it had the texture of silk. He had a sudden urge to paint her but pushed it aside, favouring the stronger and more sensible urge to make her feel better. Her shoulders shook, whether with shivers or sobs he wasn't sure. He took a deep breath and spoke again, at the sound of his voice Lisa froze.

"Lisa, Lisa you're ok, you're going to be fine, just calm down. You're here with me, Leo, remember?"

Lisa's voice finally reached him from her huddle, "Please don't hurt me." She whispered, clearly terrified.

Leo gasped, "I would never hurt you Lisa, It's me." Why did she think he was going to hurt her? Was it because he'd grabbed her? He hadn't meant to scare her, he just wanted to help. "Look at me, look at me." He still spoke softly, emphasising 'look' and then sat silently, waiting.

Very slowly, Lisa raised her head. Leo could see that, although her cheeks were tearstained, her eyes were now clearer than they had been. It appeared the nightmare had finally left her. Even so, she was obviously shaken by the experience, still scared. Her eyes darted around, from Leo's own to the room behind him to her nearest escape route, the main door.

Leo reached his hand out towards her and was relieved to see that she did not flinch. She leaned away slightly and made no effort to take his hand. But she didn't flinch.

"Take my hand, ok? Come on," He coaxed her tentatively. She carefully took his hand and allowed him to pull her a little closer, "That's it, now just-"

Lisa suddenly launched herself at him. At first he thought she was panicking again but when she reached him she just pulled herself close to his chest and closed her eyes.

"-come out of there." Leo finished his sentence lamely. He then put his arms around her in a firm embrace. "It's ok, you're ok. Everything's going to be fine. It was just a dream." He comforted her as best he could but couldn't help feeling a little useless.

As he rubbed her back with his hand, Lisa started to relax a little, she turned her face up to Leo's and sounding tearful said, "Don't let him hurt me again, please."

Leo frowned, "Who? It was just a dream Lisa." Her eyes became unfocussed for a moment, "I had to escape." Her fingers scrunched up his shirt in to bunches of strained fabric and fist.

Leo watched her, as she seemed lost in some memory, probably whatever horrible dream it was that had put her in this state. He looked a little harder at Lisa's face. Her complexion was really quite pale and there were tiny beads of sweat on her forehead, her mouth was slightly open and her lips were dry. Her eyelashes were still sticking together with the remnants of tears and her cheeks seemed almost sunken.

He slowly took his hand from her body and placed the back of it against her forehead. It felt unusually hot considering the cool air in the room. He thought back to the previous day, Lisa had been quieter than normal; she had turned down ice cream with him, Mac and Lorenzo and had gone to bed early. It dawned on him that she must be sick, probably just a virus but the fever must have affected her sleep and by extension her nightmare.

It was true that it wasn't the first time he'd been woken by Lisa's cries but that was partly to do with being so close to her, spatially, and that fact that he himself was a light sleeper. Usually a little nudge sorted it out and they both glossed over the issue. He'd once asked her about her nightmares but the look on her face had been one of such fear that he had never brought it up again, after a hasty change of subject.

Leo pulled himself out of his thoughts and pushed Lisa away from his chest. When she was steadily sitting on her own he put on a stern expression, "You should have told me you're not feeling well."

"What?" Lisa looked confused then avoided his gaze, "I'm fine."

Leo raised his eyebrows.

Lisa frowned then reluctantly rephrased, "I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"Come on, you're going back to bed straight away and in the morning you're telling Maestro that you're sick so he can let you rest." Leo asserted, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Leo." Lisa groaned but allowed him to guide her back upstairs. She was so exhausted by the top that Leo had to support her to their corner.

His worried eyes watched her for a long while before he fell asleep again himself.