Well...I sort of just created a chapter of angst (at least, I think) haha. I guess this ended up focusing more on Mia than Leo but it's her thoughts on him so it sort of still fits. Mentions of child death, suicide, mental health and blood/injury warning.

Summary: The repercussions of David's death cause a panic in the Elster household. Leo goes missing.

I finally got another chapter done :) I have one more planned, hopefully I'll get round to it but at least I managed to get this one out too. Normal, if anything seems wrong or there's any spelling please let me know.

I can't recall if we know the age of Leo when Beatrice/Karen was created or when David died, so I guessed with the chapter title- if anyone knows or thinks differently just let me know and I'll change the age. :)

The sudden passing of David Elster had been a shock to them all. They had known he had struggled with his problems for a while but for most of the time it had seemed his work had kept him occupied. The 'saving' of Leo had brightened his spirits for a short while, the absolute wonderment of bringing his own son back from the dead and giving him a second life- something many people around the world would surely cherish- shined so brightly in his darkness that he had almost seemed a different man. It didn't last long. Once he knew Leo was managing his new situation, and once he knew that he was working past his mother's death, David returned swiftly back to his work. Leo may have been handling the situation ok, with the help of the synths, but David did not. He mourned for his wife, how he could not have saved her or helped her quick enough. He mourned for his son, how he had been so close to losing him that day too. And although he was overjoyed at what he had achieved in saving Leo's life, it also chewed away at him daily that he had given his son so much to handle, he had given his most precious boy a weight so heavy to bear for the rest of his life.

Mia watched as David became more and more detached. She spoke daily to him and promised he confide in her on a daily basis. It hadn't been enough.

The rejection of the 'new Beatrice' had finally been the icing on the cake for the scientist. It had been his hope to have his family back, to give Leo that final spark of happiness he wished he could see in the boy's eyes. He wanted his wife back, the wife he had fallen in love with and cherished, even after her sickness grew worse. But Leo didn't want her, he didn't want this replica of his mother, the same woman he did not truly know. Leo didn't know Beatrice, at least not the Beatrice David had loved so long ago. No, the boy only knew the chaotic woman who needed caring for, who could not control her mind or the demons she struggled with. He knew only the woman who had, though quite by accident, killed him. As a boy, Leo had always wished his mother better, wanting to get to know her as who she really was.

"This is your chance my boy, this is our second chance." David had pleaded, Leo's yells of outrage drowning out the words as Mia gestured for the father to take this knew synth away.

That was when David finally gave up. Mia thought it had been a struggle for him for too long, the grief of his home life, as well as the always present but never spoken about guilt of creating these mindless beings, mindless slaves. The man was proud of them, certainly, they were his wonderful creation that gripped the world in a mad frenzy of popularity, but he knew deep down that he had only created a new set of workers, yes sirs-no sirs, that had no capability to fight for themselves. It had gnawed away at him, and Mia had seen the moment his light truly went out; With Leo's firm declaration that this 'robot' was not his mother, and the tears of pain as he had to look upon her face again.

David had turned away that night, his eyes landing on his first synthetic creation a second longer than usual, and Mia had known that those eyes had given up. David didn't have a son any longer, the boy was in the hands of his creations, he didn't have a wife, and deep down he knew he could not allow this synth to live with her troubled memories. The things he cherished most, even if he had not realised it for a long time, were lost to him. Creating a thousand, a million, a trillion, more synths would not fill the fire in his heart. Leo did that. And Beatrice.

"I'm a disappointment to my own son Mia, he hates me."

"Maybe if you spent more time with him, David, your son is wonderful, and I know the both of you would cherish getting to know one another better. He has changed, he has grown so much stronger, but even with us he still needs a father."

"I cannot, I cannot be the father he needs. I don't know how, I failed him, too busy looking after his mother and too busy with my work. I look at him and I don't know him, he does not know me. I look at him and I see Beatrice and I remember it all, I remember her years of pain and I remember you screaming that my son was dead. They would both still be here had I not locked myself away down here. I failed them trying to be the best I could somewhere else."

She had promised to speak to Leo once he had calmed, once she had him under control and the shaking stopped, and she had had a chance to talk it through with him. She held him in her arms for hours until his tears dried and he fell asleep.

We'll talk it through tomorrow little one. She had thought.

It had been too late. The next day Leo had gone to his father, only to find him in a fit of rage and disappointment, destroying his workshop. Fred had pulled Leo away, tugging at the sleeve of his jumper and a guiding arm around his shoulder to move him down the corridor. Leo did not need to see that, to see his father breakdown just as his mother had done countless times. Yet Leo reacted in his own way, he wanted to scream and shout at his father, he wanted to cry and let everything out. Fred pulled harder, Niska standing by as backup and Mia fighting off her desire to take him into her arms. The synths kept him at bay until both Elsters had a chance to control their feelings. They never got a chance to sort the situation, for David gave up the fight, he left his only son in the hands of 4 synths that day.

Leo had struggled most after that. The death struck him harder than even he thought it would- half for he had never expected it to happen. Hiding his emotions as he always did best he would only grieve in the privacy of his own room, with Mia silently and secretly listening in through the door.

She felt helpless. Not just for Leo but for David, and for her fellow siblings. She should have done more to save her 'Father', to talk him out of what he did and given him more support, even if she did feel that there was very little she could have done. Leo closed himself off- even more so than usual- but did not let his true emotions show in person. He put on an act when they were together, pretending that he had to get on with life and he had never had a true relationship with his father in the first place. But Mia could see the pain, she could see his fading red rings and the slight glassy shine of his eyes from recently shed tears. She saw him working his hands, busying his mind with something else. Her brothers and sister worried, they worried for Leo and for their future.

"What happens now?" Max had asked, Fred's arm on his to comfort him.

"Nothing Maxi, we're fine."

Niska scoffed. "Yes, because of course we can stay here after news gets out of his death. How are we meant to hide ourselves then? And what will happen to Leo?"

"Not helping Nis."

"The house doesn't belong to anyone. It was left in Leo's name but we can't exactly bring him out. 'Look, Leo actually lived, don't worry, he's partially synthetic'." Niska's sarcastic tone bit back.

Mia stood up, rarely seen anger marring her features. "That is enough Niska. Max, don't worry, we'll sort this out."

"I. I just do not want us being split up."

Mia walked forward and wrapped her arms around her little brother. "We won't. I promise."

News had followed soon after that David Elster was dead. Few people came to the house, primarily because it was so secluded and because very few people knew of it's exact location. In truth, there was little reason for anyone to visit, as far as they knew, nobody resided there. In the news it was stated that the house was first and foremost left to David's son, and secondly to an old unidentifiable friend who had yet to do anything about it. It was left alone, left to rot and grow- an abandoned relic, just as the scientist himself. Within a short while the electricity was switched off, as was the water and the gas. Electricity was no problem, David had installed many generators for his work, with solar, wind and water power to keep it stored up. A lake and stream provided water- of course distilled and purified by some quick set up from Leo- and cooking was done naturally. They set up well, if not for the constant worry of being found and forced out.

Leo was torn, Mia knew that. He simultaneously did not want to leave and yet so truly did not wish to stay. The halls were haunted, the rooms a nightmarish memory for him that would not go away. With each step he could remember what had happened, where the corridor had lead him 5, 8, 10 years ago. Mia often found him staring into space, his eyes damp. He would tell her about the time his mother hit him, thinking him a stranger as he stood on the landing, or the time he had fallen down the stairs in his haste to get his father when Beatrice's condition flared worse than ever. Each day, each hour, each second was a reliving terror for him and yet, this was his home, it was the last thing he had of both his parents.

After a few weeks he took to going on long walks around the estate. The forests providing a longing solitude, promising freedom and refreshing his mind. He would bathe in the stream, stating the cold felt wonderful on his skin, waking his mind up and washing everything away if even for a short time. He told Mia these things sometimes, and she longed for days that he would open up to her more, just as he had when he was younger. Leo had changed so very much and it scared her. When he didn't talk to her for days she would sometimes follow him, or keep a watchful eye from one of the top windows, just to be safe. She was terrified that he would become like David, or worse, Beatrice.

"Be careful." She would always say before he left the house first thing in the morning.

Sometimes he replied, a short "yes" or "'f course". Other times he would look at her, his eyes pleading and looking so close to telling her everything, before turning away out the door without a single word.

"This won't last forever MiMi." He had once said. They had been discussing staying in the house and hiding, as well as Leo's state of mind. Mia had begged him to open up, to tell her if staying at the house was doing him good or bad.

"How long do you think we can keep this up?"
"Tell me everything Leo, I need to know you're ok."

"This won't last forever MiMi." She had no idea which question he had been answering that day.

XXX

"He's been gone for too long Niska." Mia heard as Max followed his sister through the hall to the kitchen where she and Fred were working. "Ah there you are, tell her I'm right."

"Excuse me Max?" Fred smiled.

"Leo. He's..."

Niska interrupted him, an assured tone to her voice. "He thinks we need to worry about Leo being gone for so long. I told him, he spends some nights in the woods now, he likes camping. Besides, it's not even getting dark yet, he has hours to be back."

"She is right about that one Max, he has spent a lot of evenings in the woods recently."

"But Fred, he seemed worse again this morning. I heard him crying again last night and I think he had a nightmare."

"He did. I went into him and he pushed me out." Mia's throat caught at the words, she always hated when Leo turned her away, it reminded her of when she was first created and how he hated her. She never wanted it to be that way again.

It may not have been the best thing to say for Max though, for it added an extra frown line to his young face. "You see. He pushed Mia away, that is not good behaviour. I say we go and look for him."

"Just leave it Max, you know how angry he gets when he thinks we're belittling him." Niska plugged herself in and sat down.

"Are you not worried? Do you not care?"

"Of course I do Max, he's my little brother, just as you are, but I know his anger and if he sees us following or looking for him he'll detach himself even more."

The look on Max's face was pure shock, he was astounded. They had all been terrified for Leo's mental state as of late and yet it seemed Fred and Niska suddenly didn't care. Mia felt his beautiful large eyes fall on her.

"Mia. Please tell me you think I'm right."

She didn't know. She really didn't. It was true that Leo spent a number of nights in the woods now, having found a hobby in camping and self sufficiency. Yet it was also true he had seemed to have taken a real turn for the worse the last few days. Niska was right to tell them to leave him be, but Max was also right to worry. "I think...I think we need to give him space. I know your worry Maxi, I really do, but Niska's right, he's a deer in headlights and right now he's at his most fearful. We will give him 'til nightfall, then one of us will go and find him, with a story of making sure he has enough blankets, and judge it from that. Ok?"

Please oh please let her be right. At this stage it could be a 50/50 choice, a fork in the road, and she hoped she had chosen the right one.

Max seemed content, though he showed a little panic left in his eyes. He nodded before walking away and up the stairs- no doubt to stare from the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother.

XX

Now Mia panicked. Her system seemed to overload with the fear that coursed through her, she felt on fire and her cables thrummed with energy. It was midnight and not a trace of Leo was found. He was not in the clearing he usually used for camping, and he was not by the stream where he sometimes set up on warmer nights. They ran through the woods, even as far as the border wall that none of them usually ventured to.

"LEO!" Mia screamed as Maxi did just a few metres away. She choked on another shout, fear short circuiting her for a second.

A hand landed on her arm making her turn suddenly. "Leo?"

It was Niska, shaking her head. She had an uncharacteristically worried look to her face and a tenderness to her eyes. "No. But sister, do not panic, we'll find him. He's our Leo, he knows how to look after himself- learnt from the best if I don't say so myself."

She smiled, and Mia couldn't help but chuckle with her. "I always wondered why David never made you with a bigger head. I'd say it's needed for all that self confidence."

They smiled, though it became strained again, and once more they split up to find their loved one.

When Fred had come back a short while ago from the forest declaring Leo not in his usual spots, they all ran upstairs to check every room, no confirmation between them needed. As soon as the whole house and gardens had been covered they had ran into the woods, to the stream and the outbuildings dotted around. Now there was just a small area left, a small pond Beatrice had pleaded for in her clearer days. She had created it, with the help of David and Mia, with trees around it, fish swimming, frogs resting on the lilies and between the reeds. Flowers grew in patches encircling the water and a small statue of an angel watched over it all.

"That's for you my angel. A guardian to watch over you forever and always." Leo had been all of 1 years old at the time, and Beatrice had loved him fiercely. Her illness began to take hold shortly after, and she had told Mia that she wanted to create the space for Leo before she fully lost herself. "Something of me, for him."

As she walked closer she could hear the trickle of water, and the croaking of frogs halfway into their breading season. The torch was poor and shone a light on only the smallest area, but as she swung it around she saw the angel lying face first on the ground, mud caking her features and flowers crushed under her wings. Moving the light, the beam highlighted other flowers pulled up and thrown far away, or floating on the pond's surface. Tree's had broken branches and it was clear some had been used as bats on the statue, flowers and reeds. The bench they had placed there not long ago had been destroyed, the wood splintered and the seat lying on the floor. Some wood had been strewn around, littering the grassy areas. And as Mia slowly brought the torch round another time she saw, right there in her beam, Leo. He was laid on his side, back to her, in a recently created dirt patch. Grass had been torn up, ripped and stabbed at with a plank of wood from the bench, until a small mound of dirt replaced the once lush greenery.

"Leo." She whispered, the breath leaving her as she ran forward. It was an obstacle course to get to him, around the pond, over the angel, mind the bench wood and try and not destroy what was left of the flowers. Finally she reached him, her hand making contact on his shoulder. "Oh Leo, you're so cold."

He really was, the skin just below his tshirt sleeve was almost icy to the touch. It wasn't particularly a cold night, but having spent however long in the fresh air had cooled his body. Her panic returned, feeling little life in him- no verbal response, no stiffness as he tensed his body, or shaking through tears instead. Slowly she turned him on his back, his body lolling with the movement. His head stayed to the side, facing the dirt as he had before and she saw his eyes closed, his face pale.

"No." Not again.

Before she lost herself to fear she felt for a pulse and breath, one hand on his neck, one on his chest. The torch dropped to the ground, shining on his blood stained hands. She found what she was looking for, a pulse, albeit far too steady for her liking, and a breath.

Turning quickly she yelled. "I'VE GOT HIM. BEATRICE'S POND."

Looking back she saw the blood, now dry, flaking on his hands. "Oh little one, what have you been doing?"

She gently stroked his head as she waited for the approaching footsteps, glad when the action allowed her to feel his breath on her arm and face- something to cling to, to help fight off her worry.

"What has he done?"

Three torch beams roamed over the once beautiful area, taking in the damage. Max ran forward first, getting over his initial shock and deciding his brother was priority.

"Is he ok?"

"He needs charging." Was all she said. The longer she had sat there, the more time she had managed to think, rather than panic, she realised that the signs were not good. His heartbeat was too slow, his occasional wheezing and short breath was not good. And of course, his cold skin. "Fred, get him to the house now. Max run ahead and get a battery ready, he's dangerously low on charge."

It was a second before she was watching Fred run from them with Leo in his arms, shock freezing her body in some terrible déjà vu of his drowning.

"Get him to the house, I have emergency equipment there. Run Fred, run!" David followed the synth as Mia was frozen on the spot, Niska holding her tight. She couldn't move, all she was capable of was watching as Fred and Leo became smaller. Her hands were still wet, though her circuits were fine, the waterprotection doing it's job- oh god, she was going to lose Leo.

"Mia, come on. Not now, don't do this again, he needs you. Mia!" Niska took her shoulders and shook her, tapping her face to get her to focus. "We got to him in time. YOU got to him in time. Again. Come on, he'll want you when he wakes up, just like last time."

Niska pulled her from the ground and together they followed the path back to the house.

Max had been right. And if they lost Leo now, it would be her fault, just as it had been that day when she took her eyes off of him for one minute.

A small part of her hated Beatrice too, for it always seemed to be her that took him away from them.

XX

"How are his hands?" Her own hand had never left Leo's hair, caressing it for his comfort and her own.

They had walked into the kitchen with Leo on the table, a sleeping bag below him, a blanket on top of him and a cable protruding from his side. He was still pale but his cheeks were rosy from the change in temperature- that was good, Fred had reminded her, it meant his body was still responding well. They had almost been too late though, his levels were too low and another half hour would have meant certain death. "You have to remember to be careful" Mia had once warned him after he had collapsed from low charge. It hadn't been his first time, and for the first few months it became a regular thing, with the young boy not recognizing the difference between normal fatigue and level of power supply. One day he had confessed to her he sometimes did it to feel something, to feel anything other than sadness. She had berated him and told him how much she worried, that she would not, under any circumstances, lose him again. This time though it had been...suicide? Maybe Leo had never intended on charging himself.

"No Mia, perhaps his emotions took over and he realised too late. Don't think that because David did it, Leo will too."

Niska, somehow the voice of reasoning that day, had comforted her as they sped back to the house, telling her that she had been the one to convince them everything was alright and not Mia, and that Leo would be ok because he was strong and had been through worse. Perhaps that was the case, perhaps he had only realised when his fit of anger had ebbed, it sure looked like he had collapsed suddenly into the dirt.

"They're fine. I think he cut them on the wood when he was decimating the grass." Fred had chuckled, clearly a picture of Leo stabbing the ground playing in his mind. "There are a few deep splinters I had trouble getting out but nothing to worry about."

No-body said anything, only nodded their heads as they kept watch over Leo. After a few moments Fred's voice reassured, "Mia. He's ok."

After that, they lapsed into silence, the only sounds being Leo's shallow- but now steady- breaths, and the whirr of the battery as it charged him. Max too took a power supply and set himself up next to Leo as he placed the cable into his own body. It wasn't really needed- Mia had seen him charging only that morning- it was more of a nervous task to keep him occupied, something for him to do. Fred walked off to close curtains and turn off lights- though nobody ventured to the house, they took all the precautions to make it seem as abandoned as it was meant to be. Black out curtains lined every window and they only used the big lights in the kitchen, with candles, torches or small lamps in the living room and bedrooms. Niska seemed fidgety, not sure what to do as they waited, and she eventually took out a book left on the side and began to read quietly to herself.

Mia found solace in the silence, just listening to Leo breath, knowing the battery was giving him his life back, and hearing the occasional ruffle as Niska turned a page. She knew that once he woke her worries would not go away, for she would have to make sure nothing happened to him again, she would have to watch his every move and make him tell her his feelings. She would become the bad guy, not letting him leave the house, either at all or without one of the synths. He may resent her for what she would have to do but she would accept it, knowing that she was keeping him safe.

It was nearly an hour later, Fred had returned and was checking Leo's bandages when blue eyes cracked open. Mia smiled, his eyes finding hers as soon as they were able to focus.

"MiMi." He croaked.

She simultaneously wanted to shout at him and tell him she loved him, and that what he had put her through was never to be repeated. "I thought I'd lost you."

He didn't reply, but he turned his gaze away in shame for a split second, pretending to eye up Fred's work on his hands. When he looked at her again his eyes were full of tears. "I was so angry MiMi. I couldn't feel anything else, it was just...white hot fury. I didn't even feel my hands cutting."

She stroked a thumb over his cheek, wiping away some of the tears. "You should have come to me, I told you that I would always be there. We promised each other."

"I...I was just sad, when I left, I had a dream and I needed some time. But I walked to her pond, I never even planned on going there I swear and..." He turned his eyes to the ceiling. "She promised the angel would always look after us. It was a lie. We're not safe. It didn't save her, or me and it didn't save dad. It was a lie and so is everything else."

Mia watched as his anger took hold of the misery. She stroked his face faster, shushing him and hoping it would calm him. Only when Fred moved did she look away.

In his anger Leo was balling his fists, his nails digging into his palms and opening up the cuts.

"No. Leo stop it. Stop it." Fred raised his voice, but didn't shout, he never shouted at Leo. The two of them worked hard to open his hands and once they did they each took hold, their fingers entwining into his to stop him from further damage. Fred on his left, Mia on his right.

Niska walked past to dim the lights before placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "Sleep, don't make me tell you off. I won't be as nice as Mia and Fred."

Leo smiled, it was tight but a smile none the less as he looked up to his sister. "I'm not scared of you."

"Well you should be." Again, the threat fell short as she laughed, and Mia saw the devotion between the two as they both shared a sentimental look. Niska and Leo didn't always seem the closest of the siblings, but there were often hidden looks or moments that proved otherwise and this was one of them.

They all sat back down, Max declared his levels well enough to unplug but returned to his space hear Leo's legs the moment he replaced the battery, a hand on his leg, wanting the confirmation his brother was there, in his grasp.

It would be another 12 hours at least before Leo could be unplugged, he would get agitated and annoyed at being on the table but Mia would remind him he had to face his own consequences. It was times like this when she had to be firm, had to smile a little less and make sure he understood the cost of his mistakes. A true mother's talent, as had once been pointed out to her.

She looked down at her son who had fallen asleep once again, a peaceful look on his face. Mia knew things would never be ok, and that they may well face severe problems in the future, but if they had what they had had today, and what they always shared, they would make it through.

"This won't last forever MiMi." Leo's reasoning may well have been pessimistic, but Mia would change that, she would show him that anything that came there way they would fight, that it would indeed not last forever.