Leo should have been more careful. He thought he had been careful. It was just one time that he let his guard down, that he forgot that he didn't live in the house alone, that his bionic housemates – not siblings, not family, because they don't care; he's not important enough anyway – were superhuman, that they could catch him at any minute –

Because he's been caught.

And now he's staring at Adam with a deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face and a razor pressed to his stomach, too frozen with fear and guilt and shame and self-hatred to move, to speak, to run –

And Adam's just staring and silent which is worse than if he was talking because this is Adam. He should be saying something stupid, not reading the atmosphere, not understanding –

And finally Leo says the first thing that comes to mind and hopes it's enough to keep Adam away, to keep him quiet, to save his own skin.

"This looks bad, doesn't it?"

He tries to be witty and confident like his therapist taught him, but his voice is quiet and meek and scared and you sound like a child. A pathetic, whiny, sorry excuse for a baby.

"Dude, doesn't that hurt?" Adam asks.

Leo looks down at his stomach, at the scars and cuts and the currently bleeding ones and he wants to cry but not in front of Adam, and is Adam really that stupid? He hopes that he is because then maybe this can be brushed off. Maybe his secret can stay a secret. Sort of.

"Nah, it's cool," he says. Stupid. You couldn't have said something else? Did your brain shrink to half the size it already is? Pea-brain.

Adam shuffles awkwardly, as if he wants to reach out or walk closer to Leo, but doesn't. Leo is thankful for that, but eyes the open door behind the older boy nervously. At any minute, someone else – someone smarter – could walk in. Anyone. Any minute. Anyone. Anyone.

"You shouldn't do that to yourself."

Leo lets go of the razor, lets it fall to the bed, but doesn't care to clean up the blood on his stomach.

"Don't tell Davenport." He doesn't mean to sound so scared. He doesn't mean to beg.

"But –"

"Please?" He sounds so weak. He's such a baby. He's so pathetic.

Adam hesitates. "Okay. I promise. But…You really shouldn't hurt yourself."

Get him away! Or run away! You stupid, pathetic boy.

And, like always, Leo listens. He runs. He's not as fast as Bree, but Bree isn't there. He easily gets past a confused and stunned Adam and enters one of the hall closets. He closes the door and collapses against it, crying.

He collects himself after a few minutes and returns to his now Adam-free room. He cleans his cuts before trying to find Adam. He needs to keep this quiet. Maybe he can bribe Adam.

He's too late.

He hears the bionic siblings speaking in hushed voices, but not quiet enough so that he can't hear.

"Guys…Leo's cutting himself," Chase says, cutting off whatever sort of arguing was going on between Adam and Bree.

"We need to tell Mr. Davenport and Tasha," Bree says, shooting a look at Adam.

"But I promised him I wouldn't say anything," Adam replies.

"It's for his own good, Adam," Chase says. "Trust me."

Leo runs to his room and doesn't come out for the rest of the night, opting instead to cut and then sleep and then cut some more.

1 year ago to present

Leo: age 13-14

He was happy for his mom. He really was. She looked beautiful in her wedding dress. And somehow, she and Mr. Davenport made a great couple. Leo watched them be all lovey-dovey from the sidelines, already feeling like a third wheel.

So when he met Adam, Bree, and Chase, he took to them like flies to honey. They were teenagers, like him. They had awesome powers. And even though they already has a sibling bond with each other, maybe he could become part of that. Maybe he wouldn't be left behind by his mother's marriage.

Maybe he would still matter to someone.

For the most part, it was great. He had friends, no, siblings. He always had at least one person to back him up. When he got down or upset from the bullying or from the constant rejections from the beautiful popular girls from school, he knew that one of his bionic siblings could cheer him up.

And then Marcus came along and ruined it. He ruined it all. What Leo didn't understand was, why him? He was just the dorky teenaged son of the wife of a rich guy. Nothing special. And yet Marcus wanted to ruin his life.

So he marked him as evil.

Leo didn't realize how evil Marcus was until much later. He found an evil lair and everything! But no one believed him. He knew he wasn't delusional. Depressed? A little. But delusional? No.

Bree's words haunted him for weeks afterwards: "I believe you Leo. I also believe that, as a family, we are going to get you the help you so desperately need."

It hit a little too close to home. And for it to be said as a joke, as if he was stupid, as if needing therapy was stupid – it was too much.

And so the descent into a deep depression began.