He should have known that it would never be that easy. Leon Kennedy should have known that once experiencing the horror that was Raccoon City, his life would never be the same. He remembered always bragging to his friends about how seeing a dead body wouldn't so much as faze him, back when he first told them he wanted to be a cop. A dead body probably wouldn't have fazed him, but one that was half eaten and rose from the dead would.

He had thought it was over, and then he got that email from Claire, and right then and there, he feared that it would never be truly over.

A smile spread across his face at the thought of her name. He had it so bad, that even just hearing her name would brighten his day. It had been a while since he had last seen her, a few years at least, but he could still picture her face as if he had just seen her yesterday. True beauty would never leave a man's brain.

Her long, auburn hair was always thrown up into a loose ponytail. Her clear baby blue eyes seemed like the perfect contrast against her hair, and always sucked Leon right in, even with just so much as a glance. She was a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl, something else that drew Leon to her. She wasn't like those girls you'd see hanging around the mall that had to wear three pounds of makeup, have a crap load of hairspray in their hair, and have clothes that barely covered anything. She could wear no makeup, throw her hair up in a ponytail, have on loose jeans and a sweatshirt, and she would still be the best damn thing he'd ever seen.

Leon shook the thoughts from his mind as he pulled up to his driveway. It had been so long since he had last been home. Too long.

Upon returning from Spain with Ashley, the President told Leon to take some time off work and recuperate. Normally, Leon would have fought against it. He loved his job more than anything, even though it always took him away from those he cared so much about. Sometimes, he felt like it was the only thing keeping him sane. But the brush with death, yet again, had helped Leon realize that some things should never be left unsaid. If he had learned anything from Raccoon City, it was that life was short. He had let the world keep spinning without telling her how much she meant to him, because he always figured he had time. But after experiencing the horrors that lurked in Spain, he knew that his time could run out at any second.

And so that's why he was coming back. He had to see her, touch her, to let her know just how much she'd meant to him all these years.

Leon stepped out of his car, his hand pulling out a set of keys that were lodged deep into his pocket. Nothing's changed, he noted. Over the years, Leon had not only grown closer to Claire, but to her big brother as well. Whenever Leon left for work, Chris would go back and forth between houses, just to make sure the inside didn't get completely covered with dust and suffocate Leon in a surprise attack when he returned. Facing hordes of undead monsters, not a problem. Walking into a room and being ambushed by dust, something that Leon would have preferred to not experience.

It was quiet when he entered his house, closing the door shut silently behind him. Chris wasn't here, that's for sure. Leon remembered one day when he was on his way home, he wasn't even out of his car and he could hear the music blaring from inside his house. His poor neighbors. He walked into the house to see Chris sitting on the couch, his mouth full of a sandwich he had just taken a huge bite out of. Yup, that was Chris Redfield, alright.

It was quiet here, almost too quiet. Though the horrors were over, Leon still remembered that the silent moments in both Raccoon City and Spain were the ones where he was about to come face to face with the undead. It still sent shivers running down his spine, even though he knew he was safe at home.

He threw his bags down and grabbed a hold of his cell phone, dialing a number quickly before putting it up to his ear. After a few rings, a husky voice could be heard on the other end.

"Hey, Kennedy! What's up, buddy? You home already?"

Leon smiled and chuckled, nodding his head, though he knew Chris couldn't see it through the phone. "Oh yeah. Hey, thanks for looking after my place again, it looks great!"

"Oh, well you can thank Jill for that one."

"Oh no…you had a girl over at my place? I told you no!" Leon joked. No, but seriously, Chris had a girl, he had Jill over at his place. He looked hesitantly at his couch, and then sent another glance up the stairs towards his bedroom. Wonderful. There's a nice image to have when he's trying to go to sleep tonight. Chris's naked ass rolling around on both his bed and his couch. He shuddered at the sheer thought.

Chris let out a bellowing laugh. "Sorry, dad. What are you up to today?"

"Not much. I was just gonna unpack, jump in the shower, and then I figured I might come over to see you and Jill. That alright?"

"Sounds perfect. I'll see you in a bit, alright?"

"Sounds good." With that, Leon hung up his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

He grabbed a hold of his bags and dragged himself up the stairs. He walked into his bedroom and threw his bags on the bed as he began to unpack them. He shuddered as he studied his bed sheets. It didn't look like anyone had been on his bed. But then again, he was sure Chris could tidy up. Actually, maybe not. It was Chris Redfield he was talking about, after all. Leon shrugged and walked over to his bathroom, preparing himself for a shower. There was one solution, and one solution only; burn the bed sheets.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Kennedy, man, it's good to finally see you again!" Chris wrapped his arms tightly around Leon, squeezing him with as much force he could summon. Leon struggled for air as he pushed the man away from him, his eyes studying Chris's arms in shock.

"Jesus, Chris. When did you start taking steroids?" Leon let out a laugh as he walked into his friend's house.

Chris waved Leon's comment away. "You wish you could have guns like these."

"Yeah, we're all really proud."

Chris turned around, Leon's eyes falling on the women who came towards them. If Leon didn't know that Chris and Jill had moved in together, he would have guessed that the woman in front of him was some random that Chris had brought home. He hardly recognized her, she had changed so much.

The last time Leon saw Jill, she was still sporting short dark brown hair. It surprised him to see that she had grown it out to well past her elbows and that it had been colored to resemble the sun. She still had that same welcoming smile, and her clear blue eyes still lit up when she talked. That was no surprise.

"Hey, Jill, it's good to see you again. Wow, you've changed so much." Leon told her, wrapping his arms around her for a quick hug. Chris watched on with a huge grin on his face, happy to see that the original Raccoon City family was almost all back together yet again.

"It's good to see you too. I'll leave you guys to your guy talk; I was just running to the store. You guys want anything?"

Leon shook his head with a polite smile on his face. Still, always thinking of others.

"Oh, can you pick me up some bacon? I went to make some this morning, but I couldn't find any."

Jill opened the door and turned around, shaking her head at Chris. "That's because you eat that stuff like no tomorrow. One of these days, Redfield. One of these days you're gonna drop dead from all the crap you eat." And with that, Jill was gone.

Chris grabbed Leon a beer from the fridge as they both took a seat at the dinning room table. Leon cracked open his beer, taking a swig from it. God it felt good to just relax with a friend and have a beer. If he hadn't made it back from Spain, he had to admit, beer was definitely up there on the list of things he'd miss.

"So, what's going on with you and Jill now?" Leon asked, curious about their arrangements. It must not be easy to share a place with someone you have such strong feelings for, and vice versa.

Chris shrugged and took a mouthful of beer before answering his friend's question. "Nothing, man. I just can't bring myself to tell her. I don't want to blow this friendship, and if she doesn't feel the same way, that's all it'll do."

"Chris, I've told you, she does. A monkey could tell you that she does."

Chris shot Leon a cold stare before he squinted, staring deep into Leon's eyes. This was not a subject that he liked to talk about. All it ever seemed to do was upset him for being such a damn coward when it came to feelings and Jill Valentine. "Have you talked to Claire since you came back into town?"

Leon's heart nearly stopped beating at the mention of her name. He could feel the heat rushing to his face and could do no more than hope it wasn't turning into a blush. "I haven't. I was debating whether or not I should drop by her place to see her. She still living at the same place?"

Chris nodded. "She is. She's at work now though. But she was supposed to come out tonight with Jill and I. Why don't you come with, you can give her a nice surprise."

Chris watched his friend carefully, reading the emotions that were spread across his face. In Chris's eyes, no one was good enough for his little sister. But Leon, however, came pretty damn close. He knew that Leon had made some mistakes in the past, like leaving Claire behind while he headed to Washington to take a job with the President. But when it came down to it, Chris would have probably done the same thing.

When it came to protecting the innocent, it was a trait that both he and Leon possessed. He never blamed Leon for leaving Claire behind, even though he could see the sorrow that lurked within his little sister's eyes. He knew that eventually, Leon would come back for her. When two people share the bond that Leon and Claire do, something always draws them back to one another.

"Yeah, that's sounds pretty good. I'll be there."

Leon took a deep gulp of beer, trying to calm the nerves that were standing at attention throughout his body. Of course, being chased through a village by a maniac wielding a chainsaw didn't make his heart skip a beat, but the thought of seeing Claire Redfield in the flesh did. That was the thing about Claire Redfield; she always had a way with him.