At the end of his shift Leo had taken a tired Erin back to his house. He'd arranged it with social services that he would let her stay for the night with the intention of getting things sorted for Erin tomorrow. Everyone had agreed that Erin would be in no state to sort things out rationally when she was still in a state from the meeting with Jane in Leo's office. The journey from the lab to Leo's house was a quiet one, Erin had suddenly fallen silent when they'd left the lab and was now staring intently at her hands as she clasped and unclasped them in a nervous state. They pulled up to his house and Leo sighed as he finally realised why Erin had gone quiet, the last time she had been in a house would have been when she was at home with her mother. The last memories she would have of her home would be being beaten and raped by people she thought cared about her.

"I promise you you'll be safe here for the night" Leo said as they got out of the car

Erin said nothing as she grabbed her rucksack of belongings and followed Leo to the front door. He let her in and she hung about in the hallway seemingly unsure of what to do

Leo smiled gently at the nervous young girl before him "You go in there" he said gesturing to the living room "And I'm going to make us something to eat and we'll have a little chat"

Erin nodded and moved into the living room, all the while she kept her gaze down at her feet. She sat down on one of the chairs tentatively as Leo bustled about in the kitchen. She finally plucked up the courage to gaze around at her surroundings and her eyes fell upon a picture of Leo, a woman and a young girl

"My family" she heard a voice say and she turned around to see Leo standing in the doorway "They died a few years ago"

"I'm sorry" Erin mumbled

"I know how much it hurts to loose someone"

"But it doesn't…I don't miss her, I don't feel sad that she's gone" Erin said looking back down at her feet

"That's understandable, she abused you Erin and now she's gone it's natural to feel…relieved, but what about your dad?"

Erin tensed at the word and Leo bit his tongue annoyed at himself for pushing her so hard "I'm sorry I shouldn't…"

"No it's fine" Erin relaxed slightly "He died when I was a baby, I don't really remember him but I'm sure plain Jane the useless social worker told you all about him" She said rolling her eyes

Leo chuckled "I'll admit she's not the world's best social worker"

"Understatement of the century…" Erin muttered

"…But I know a bit about your dad" Leo said picking and choosing his words carefully, Erin turned to him and gestured for him to continue "I know that he suffered from depression and he…he took his own life"

"Mum told me it was my fault. She said that I was really bad as a baby so dad killed himself so he wouldn't have to be around me"

Leo bit his lip to steady his emotions and sat down beside Erin "That's not true at all. Depression is a fairly common mental illness and sometimes it can get too much for people. I bet your dad loved you very much but he was unable to cope with things and so he thought the best way to deal with it would be to end his life. But that wasn't your fault; you were only a little baby"

"But she said…" Erin was nearly on the brink of tears

"She told you lies, Erin. She told you lots of lies which she thought justified hurting you. But they're all false and she did not have the right to hurt you in that way"

Leo put his arm around Erin's shaking shoulders and the Erin leaned into him. Leo suddenly felt very protective of her, like he used to when his daughter was alive. He sat with Erin for a few minutes in silence, the two of them just content with each other's company. Suddenly the cooking timer rang making both of them jump in shock

"I better go and get that" he said standing up "My cooking's bad enough without it being burnt to a crisp"

Erin smiled gently wiping a few stray tears from her face. This was the one house she felt comfortable in and although her future felt uncertain, this evening Erin felt safer than she had done in her whole life.


A few hours later, Leo was just making his way upstairs when his phone rang. Cursing under his breath he grabbed it quickly before it woke up Erin, who he'd just settled down on his sofa

"Leo?" he heard Nikki's voice

"Nikki, how are you?" Leo said quietly

"I'm fine…Is she alright Leo?"

Leo smiled, touched at Nikki concern for the young girl "She fine. In fact she's just dropped off to sleep on my sofa"

"Good" Nikki's voice sounded relieved as soon as she heard that Erin was safe for the night "What's going to happen to her?"

"Tonight she's staying here. Tomorrow she's going to meet with another social worker who's going through her case file tonight and hopefully things will get sorted out" Leo said listening to the sound of Erin's gentle breathing coming from the living room

"It's just…" Nikki paused fumbling for the right words "I don't want her to go to any strangers"

"Neither do I Nikki" Leo sighed "Neither do I"


The next morning Leo made his way downstairs quietly so as not to disturb Erin but was pleasantly surprised when he saw awake and folding up the blankets he'd given her the night before

"You're up early" he said yawning slightly

"Force of habit" Erin said wrinkling her nose

"Unusual habit for most teenagers" Leo smiled

"I can't help it. For some reason I can't sleep past four o' clock" Erin shrugged

"Well the early bird will catch the proverbial worm" Leo said and Erin laughed

She liked the way Leo talked to her, he'd actually engage her in a conversation and talk to her like an adult. Not like the social workers who patronised her, nor like her mother who ignored her completely unless she was screaming at her while Erin got another beating

"We're going to leave to go to the lab in about half an hour and then your new social workers going to meet us there"

"It's not Jane is it?" Erin grimaced

"No" Leo said "It's a new one. And there are going to sort things out but you have to stay calm and not run out of the room"

"Sorry about that" Erin said looking sheepish "It got too much"

"I know" Leo said gently "But we need to get this sorted in a calm and reasonable manner"

"I'm sorry" Erin said looking up at Leo "I've caused so much trouble and I keep disrupting your whole life"

Leo shook his head "That's not true at all. Erin, you lived in a place that wasn't right for you. It doesn't matter that you ran away or were too frightened to tell us anything to begin with. It's completely understandable, but the main thing is that we get you safe and in a place where you don't have to feel scared anymore"

Erin nodded and flicked a loose strand of hair out of her face. She wanted to believe Leo but her mother had planted seeds of doubt in her mind many years ago. All the years of lies and deceit still played on Erin's mind. Although she truly wanted to believe what Leo was telling her, Erin Jones had given up on a happy ending years ago.