Chapter 8: Meltdown

In the weeks that passed until he was healed enough to get to his feet without help, Dyna barely spoke to him. He tried but she had withdrawn into herself. She was in her room most of the time, coming down to eat, and check on his stitches. The last time he saw her, she had taken the stitches out. He had tried the stairs to get to her but he hadn't been able to deal with the left over pain enough to get up them. He was sitting on the couch with Lisa, who had gotten him addicted to one of her shows and was talking intensely about it (she was the one person who seemed to be enjoying that he was bedridden) when he heard Dyna come down the stairs. She barely looked at him as she made for the door, grabbing a coat.

"Where are you going?" He called after her and when she didn't answer he got to his feet and pulled on shoes following after her. Lisa made a noise of protest but he could hear Mick talking her down. For someone so small in comparison to him or Mick she walked pretty fast and he almost lost her a couple of times. She went through one of the less populated parks, near the back that was over run with nature, that nearly no one headed back there. He had to slow down, the pain in his side starting to catch up with him. By the time he caught up with her, she was sitting on the ground electricity flowing over her fingers and tears were falling silently.

"Dyna." She looked up startled and quickly shook her head getting to her feet.

"Stay away from me." The energy pulsed and rubbed her hands together nervously. Leo took a step closer to her, his hands up.

"Dyna trust me, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know but I might hurt you...I already did." Her voice was soft, and he shook his head.

"This was not your fault, you didn't do this. Dyna talk to me, don't shut me out."

"But it is my fault! I killed him, I didn't even think about it. I saw him stab you and I lost it. I can't control myself...I'm a monster, just like everyone else like me. I'm not an better, I thought I could be but I'm not." Another pulse and she hit her knees, arms wrapped around herself. The electricity shot out, in tune with her intense emotions and some of the trees nearby retained the scorch marks. She looked around and tightened in on herself even more. The more she did this the worst it got. He leaned down in front of her and she tried to back away.

"Leo do-" He grabbed her hands and she couldn't get the rest of the words out of her mouth.

"You aren't going to hurt me. Just take a breath, you are scared and I get that but your powers go in turn with your emotions. You don't realize how strongly you feel, you give everything over to that feeling. Its wonderful and so are you...You aren't a monster." He ran his thumbs over the top of her hands and she settled down, leaning closer towards him until the electricity stopped.

"See. Feeling better now?" Leo helped her up to her feet, holding onto her arms as she brushed her hair behind her shoulders. She playfully shoved him back before looking at the damage she had caused. "Don't worry about it, it was looking a little over grown over here anyways." Her hand found his again and she let him lead her away. She didn't pay attention to where they were going until a cool breeze brushed over her skin. She look down over the bridge at the calm water. He stood next to her, giving her the time to get her thoughts together.

"You're pretty clever for a thief."

"Well that comes with the job description. I couldn't do my job properly if I wasn't." He chuckled, coughing softly and rubbing his side.

"It still hurts?"

"A little but it isn't anything that I can't handle. How's yours? No headache or anything?" She shook her head with a smile and looked down at her hands, the power jumped between her fingers then stopped. She knew she wasn't going to be perfect but she was going to find a way to control this.

"No, I feel pretty good besides the whole meltdown I had."

"Good." More silence and she started feeling a little edgy.

"Why did you chase after me? You didn't have to, you aren't responsible for me." She looked down at the water, brushing her fingers through her hair. Her reflection look like a mess, and she felt the urge to cry. Everything seemed to be tipping in one uncontrollable direction, she didn't even know why she bothered asking the question. Did she even want to know the answer?

"You are part of my family now, we look after one another." She smiled softly at him.

"Its weird...family. It never meant anything to me before."

"Dyna...you mean a lot to me. I wouldn't have risked my life for any other reason and you don't need to blame yourself for what I did to myself. I made that choice and I got myself in that situation." She listened to him with a small nod of her head but she didn't completely agree. Yes she had warned him but she hadn't done enough to stop him. She knew the whole time where Julius could be and she could have gone there beforehand and stopped herself but she had been so afraid.

"I could be stronger."

"You are stronger than you think you. You just need practicing refining that strength." Leo took her hand, pulling her close into a hug. She was caught off guard, he had never been the most affectionate. She wrapped her arms around him gently. He pulled back slowly and brushed her hair back out of her face.

"Never doubt yourself Dyna." She didn't know what to say and she could feel the blush on her face. This wasn't something she had ever expected from anyone, kindness and comforting wasn't something she had grown up to expect. She knew he had his moments but this was more than that.

"How's your wound?" Leo barely heard her, her voice was so soft. "You chased after me, you might have opened it more."

"Its fine, doesn't hurt...come on lets go home and you can double check it." She nodded and walked next to him as they headed back home. Lisa and Mick both waited by the door for them but they didn't ask question, just looked relieved to see both of them. Dyna gave Leo a smile before she pulled him to sit down on the couch and took a look. It was nearly healed and it didn't look like he had done any damage to it. She didn't stay downstairs long before heading to her room for a little bit, Lisa following her.

Leonard stared after her from his place on the couch and Mick cleared his throat to get his partners attention. Leo looked up at the pyromanic, surprised to see him still here. "I thought you would have gone out for the day." Mick ignored the comment, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked Leo up and down with a partially judgemental glare and took a deep breath before he started to talk. Leo was his partner, always but he knew he owned his best friend an apology, he knew Dyna deserved one as well. She deserved a place here just as much as he did and it was Leo's decision to make whether she stayed. His hatred towards her...it hadn't been fair. He had just grown so use to it just being the two of them and including Lisa had been a lot easier but it had been hard to share Leo with someone new.

"You have feelings for you don't you?"

"I don't know...its...I don't know how to explain how I feel." He loved watching her when she didn't think anyone was watching and she was the one person he felt he could be open with, no judgement. She was unique and he had never wanted to be around someone as much as he did her. It was a strange and terrifying feelings, like his heart was skipping a beat and the rest of his body couldn't keep up.

"Don't let this go Len. She's so pure and honest, you need that in your life. She loves you...I can tell she does. Maybe she doesn't know yet but she does and I see the way you look at her. You don't want to let this slip by." Mick patted his partner on the shoulder before walking out of the room. "No one would do what she did, without that kind of emotion."

Leo watched as Mick walked away, considering what he had said before getting up and stopping by Dyna's room on the way to his. He could hear her and Lisa talking and laughing and it was soft and beautiful. With a smile he walked to his room. He wasn't going to let her go but he was going to give it time, time for her to find herself before she had to find him. He kept who is was so deep down...so many years of scars and hidden emotions. Maybe she would break down those walls.