19. Leon

Leon knew he shouldn't tease Claire. Anyone smart enough would know that messing with a Redfield was as bad a signing for a death sentence, but for some reason, he found himself unable to stop himself from doing it. Claire's flustered face wasn't something you could see every day, and he thought it was adorable.

"Flirt…" she said, rolling her eyes, and Leon couldn't help but laugh.

Leon coughed loudly and said, in a loud voice, something that was mostly meant for the two gossiping girls to hear.

"As if my wife needed to be worried about anything; you should already know I only have eyes for you..." he smirked at her shocked face.

Leon had to make a great effort to fight the urgent necessity to laugh at Claire's horrified face. The pale complexion of Claire's face had turned from a seething crimson, and her bright cerulean eyes looked around with an expression that begged that none of the individuals around them had heard the blonde's comment. Leon noticed that the people in the seats nearby looked at them and murmured; the pair of girls who had been watching him were visibly disappointed.

"Get used to it, Mrs. Kennedy…" Leon whispered with a snort.

"You're having too much fun with this, aren't you?"

"Watching you get flustered? If I have to be honest, yes, I am. This is probably the best flight I've been in…"

"What happened to the cool, stoic agent I knew?"

"He's your husband now...so I might take certain liberties…"

Claire crossed her arms and stared at him accusingly, and he had drowned another laugh. Claire was giving him a softened version of Chris's intimidating glare, a glare that most of Chris's men called the Redfield Death Glare. He could imagine how scary that look could be if it came from the older Redfield, but coming from Claire and in the current situation, it was sort of adorable.

"Ah, I can't deal with you right now…" she said, rolling her eyes.

Claire clicked her tongue irritably, pretending to be upset. Leon knew her well enough to know that she wasn't as mad as she tried to make him think. Claire was now giving him the cold shoulder as she flipped through the pages of a book.

"Are you that mad?"

"I'm not mad...I'm irritated. That's different…"

"Oh, so you are talking to me? There I thought you'd ignore me for the rest of the flight…"

"I'm not a high school girl, Leon," Claire replied without looking away from her book, "Besides, with how talkative you are today, it'd be impossible to ignore you…"

"It's not always that I get to have a nice flight companion, after all."

"Oh, really?" Claire said, putting the book down and looking at him frowning.

"Right, sorry that I was teasing you. "

"Don't worry. It's part of the job, I know."

"Well, yes…and you look cute when you're flustered like that…"

"You're doing it again, Leon…"

"Ok, forget I said something…" he laughed, "Back to more serious topics. We'll be landing in less than two hours…"

"So fast? Wow. I can believe I'll finally get home…"

"Yeah, but we'll have to take it slow for now. I am sure you'll need some time to get used to your new routine..."

"You underestimate my adaptive abilities, Leon."

"Oh, I don't. I've seen your abilities in action, but you still need some rest. I promised Chris that I'd take care of you, after all. I don't want to see you pushing yourself too far."

"I won't. I promise. Besides, I won't be doing anything that I haven't done before…" Claire replied, patting his arm, "Though it'd be strange to be in the same place with you…"

"I always thought, you'll do well in the DSO, anyway…"

"And I always told you I am not agent material…" she laughed, "Well, I'll be stuck in a laboratory, so I guess I shouldn't complain. "

"You'll be ok. You'll get a chance to meet Sherry, too."

"Oh, Sherry…" Claire smiled, "It's been ages since I last saw her. She must be all grown up already…"

Claire seemed lost in thought. Claire was right. Sherry was no longer the little girl that she had once taken under her wing when they were fleeing from Racoon City. The little girl had grown into a woman and was now an experienced agent. He knew Claire would be proud of her.

"Now that makes me feel old…" Claire laughed.

"That makes us two…"

"The only difference...it's that you look better as you grow old, while I…"

"Look stunning…?"

Claire laughed at the man, and Leon smiled.

"I don't think you should worry about how you look. You're quite beautiful no matter your age…"

"Seriously, Leon. Where's the button to turn off the casanova mode?" Claire said, searching around his arm teasingly, "but seriously...I'll love to meet Sherry."

"I'll ask Hunnigan to contact her. If she's around, she can drop by our home…"

Our home. The words sounded so weird, but somehow it made him feel strangely pleased.

"I am sure she'll be more than willing to come and take a look at my wife."

"Haha, is Sherry part of your fangirl group?"

"More than a fangirl, she's a jealous little sister…" he chuckled.

Sherry Birkin had self-claimed herself to be Leon's little sister, and as a little sister, she had taken as her duty to judge any possible love interest that came into Leon's life. It wasn't like he had many, but Sherry would often do background checks of any of his female partners and would often get bombarded with awkward questions. To Leon, the whole thing seemed rather cute and amusing. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been doing random and personal questions to Helena. He could only imagine the girl's reaction when she heard that he had gotten married to a woman she didn't know without telling her anything. She'll be very surprised when she finds out it was Claire.

"The type of sister who thinks no one woman is good enough for her brother?" Claire laughed, "Oh, I remember when I had that phase with Chris…"

"You're telling me Chris had love interests…?"

"When he was a teen, yeah. It was before he joined the army, then he focused only on work. I did freak off a couple of silly snobby girls, though…"

Picturing a younger Chris with a girl was something hard to do for Leon, but imagining Claire doing the things Sherry did, was much more natural.

"So the overprotectiveness went both ways?"

"Hey, we only had each other. Of course, we were apprehensive. So, how many girlfriends has Sherry scared away?"

"None, since there hasn't been any. She did creep off a couple of agents, though. I think she even convinced one that I was gay…"

"Oh, dear. Was the woman that bad?"

"The stalker type...yeah, no big deal. Sherry did me a favor, getting rid of her."

"That's my girl…" she laughed, "So I assume she approves agent Harper?"

"I think she still doesn't trust her, but yes. She accepts Hunnigan though…."

"Oh, will I get to meet the famous operator?"

"You'll get your chance to meet her. I think you two would get along."

"Cool…"

Their conversation was interrupted by the flight attendant who came pushing the drinks cart. The woman politely asked them what they wanted and Leon turned to Claire.

"Juice? Or do you want something stronger? Scotch? Vodka?" he half-joked.

"No alcohol for me, honey. I can't drink. Tea is fine, thank you."

The fly attendant served them two cups: tea for Claire and coffee for Leon. Leon watched Claire put the sachet of sugar into the cup and stir it slowly with her spoon.

"No alcohol?"

"I take antidepressants, Leon. You know those two don't mix…"

"You are still taking them?"

Leon thought the woman wasn't taking them anymore. Hiwamura hadn't mentioned it again.

"No benzos, but I'm still taking my original treatment…" she replied, sipping her tea.

"You never mentioned taking antidepressants before. You should have told me…"

"It wasn't important." she shrugged, "I guess Saya told you why I took them."

"She mentioned something…"

"It helped me deal with the t-Phobos. It was working fine."

"Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"It was a complicated thing to say." Claire smiled sarcastically and said in a soft and fake voice," Hey, What's up, Leon? How have you been? Me? Oh, you know, the usual. Got abducted by a crazy scientist, injected with a fucking mutated virus, and guess what? It seems my DNA recombined with the virus, and now I have some weird genetic mutation that makes me a permanent asymptomatic host for it. It only makes me a little depressed, so I'm taking antidepressants as treatments. Sure, that would have been the best conversation topic ever."

" What do you mean, recombined?"

"Basic principles of viral infection. Viruses infect healthy cells, hijack the cellular machinery to replicate themselves; in some cases, the viral DNA integrates into the host genome, causing a mutation by recombination...sometimes it's good, and sometimes it goes bad. It was a good case, I guess…"

Leon looked at her, concerned, but she shook her hair and smiled, waving her hand.

"It's fine. The symptoms aren't that bad once you get used to it, and with the drugs, they're much more tolerable."

"And exactly what are those?"

"Insomnia, dizziness, paranoia…" Claire shrugged, "It's fine, though.."

Claire smiled at him, and Leon knew that the smile was to ease him.

"You should have told me…"

"Sorry, I didn't think it was important and that you'll care about it."

"Of course I care," Leon replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, " Let's make a deal…"

"Huh?"

"From now on, you'll tell everything, ok? Stupid or not, I don't care."

"Everything?"

"Yeah, if you're not feeling well or something. Chris told me you often keep things to yourself. I'm asking you not to do it. I need to know, ok?"

"Oh…" Claire seemed surprised, "I guess...I can do that."

"What about the... other things?"

"It's there…" Claire said, unconsciously rubbing her temple, "I can kind of feel it, but...it's hard to explain. I'll tell you if anything changes."

Leon nodded silently and sipped his coffee. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on Claire so that he would notice any strange behavior or anything that could seem off.

Leon had forgotten how tedious going through costumes was when it was a commercial flight. His trips were usually on official flights, so he was exempted from the regular protocol. The officer who attended them, at least, seemed to be nice, and in a good mood. The man had congratulated him on his wedding and remarked how lucky he was with such a pretty wife. Claire still flinched a little whenever she got called Mrs. Kennedy, and Leon felt like laughing each time she looked at him perturbed.

After a few long minutes filling out papers and answering questions, the two finally made it through the arrival door. The blonde agent scanned the crowd until he found the familiar dark hair of a woman.

"Helena!" he waved at her while he guided Claire to where she was waiting for them.

"Leon…. Welcome back." Helena waved at him.

"Thanks for coming to receive us. This is Clai…Clara…"

"New Mrs. Kennedy…" Helena smiled as she stretched her hand and shook Claire's with a friendly gesture, "Helena Harper…"

"Nice to finally meet you, agent Harper…"

"Please, Helena is fine. It gets tedious when they keep calling you agent…" Helena replied with a chuckle, "It is nice to meet the famous Clara, at last…"

"I doubt I am that famous…"

"You have no idea. Wait until you get to the office. You seem to be the topic of the month…"

Claire let out a soft sigh and looked at Leon with an "I told you so…" look. Leon only smiled. He grabbed her hand and turned to Helena.

"Let's get back. Clara is probably tired from the trip."

"Of course, I'll lead you to the car."

Leon, Claire, and Helena walked to the parking lot. Leon had been holding Claire's hand to the car, something that Helena did not miss. She looked at the couple and laughed to herself.

"Never thought I would live to the day I'd see Leon with a wedding band." She said as she drove, taking the highway.

As they were in a safe spot, Claire felt much more at ease. She didn't need to pretend she was someone else, and Leon didn't have to act as her husband.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing…" Claire said frankly, "And what makes it even crazier….he's married to me."

"I don't think that's so crazy. He did speak a lot about you often…"

"He did, did he?" Claire asked, looking at the blonde agent curiously.

"It's not important…" Leon replied quickly, "So how's the situation so far?"

"All has been taken care of, and thank Hunnigan for that. Clara Kennedy née Driscoll is an official member of the DSO, now. You got assigned to the R+D department, but you'll get to work on your place."

"Ah, that's a relief…" Claire sighed.

"So everyone knows…?"

"That you're married now? Yeah, let me tell you, a lot of people didn't take the news well. Agent Birkin was quite indignant."

"She'll be fine after she meets my wife."

"Sure thing. I heard agent Birkin knew you…" Helena added, looking at Claire through the back mirror.

"Yeah, we were together during the Racoon Incident…" Claire replied, "We haven't seen each other in a while."

"I was hoping to let her meet her anyway," Leon commented, " but I haven't asked Hunnigan if Sherry is around town."

"Agent Birkin is around, ok? She said she wouldn't leave until she gave you a piece of her mind." Helena said, amused.

"That girl took too many traits from you, Claire." Leon sighed.

"Me?"

"She learned from you…"

Claire laughed, and she saw Helena smirk.

"That girl has Leon eating from her palm. You can't imagine it…"

"Oh, I sure can. She's got him like that since she was 12…" Claire replied, shaking her head, "That little devil, but Leon is probably right. I might have taught her a thing or two…"

"You taught her how to handle Leon?" Helena asked teasingly.

"More like how to not fall into his sweet-talking."

Leon decided that it was time to change the topic.

"So Helena, any news from Dr. Chambers?"

"No. It seems she got a dead end with that thing. The last time I checked, she seemed quite frustrated."

"Poor Rebecca. I've been there too…" Claire whispered, "I should call her and help..."

"You?" Helena asked, surprised.

"I take Hunnigan hasn't tell you, then."

"Tell me what?"

"That I was the one who was passing the viral data to you?" Claire shrugged.

"The viral data? Wait a second. She was the tipster? The one who gave us the info for the vaccine developments and all that?"

"Why does everyone assume it was only me? It was my team…" Claire said, tortured.

"Yes, it was Claire and her team who were passing us that information. She will be working on that again, under the protection of the DSO now, as Clara Driscoll…"

"Kennedy, apparently…" Claire said, rolling her eyes, and Leon winked at her.

"Wow, I guess it makes sense now. We haven't had any new tips for a while. I suppose that explains a lot." Helena said.

"Yeah...remind me to get those guys an ear pull. Me being absent isn't an excuse to slack off…"

"You can't blame them if they were mourning. Honestly, those were pretty depressing months. Even Leon's temper was a mess…"

"It wasn't…" Leon defended himself.

"Right...burying yourself under tons of missions isn't a coping mechanism," Helena said skeptically.

"It's been busy for eight months."

"Whatever you say, Leon." Helena laughed, "We are almost in your new home."

"It seems like a nice neighborhood. Perhaps a little too fancy."

"Leon never complained about living."

"Mostly because I rarely spent time here…"

"So, we're staying in your apartment?" Claire asked, looking at Leon.

"Yeah…" Leon shrugged, "Chris and I discussed it, and it seemed safer than getting a new one. The place is already secured and everything…"

"And we will be neighbors, in case you get sick of Leon…" Helena snorted.

"Thanks for the offering," Claire laughed.

"The whole building belongs to the government, so it should be safe...in general." Helena explained, "Besides, if Leon got married, he would most likely bring his wife to his home, wouldn't he?"

Leon's department was pretty big for one person, and it was quite dull in decorations. The blonde hadn't bothered with decorations when he knew he wouldn't spend that much time in there. The place was liveable, at least.

"Wow...and I thought my place was plain…" Claire chuckled, "This place seems colder than the fridge we keep our samples, Leon. You seriously need to consider a decorator…"

"It's not like it matters. I'm not much around."

"You will know that Clara is going to be around. I've told him he needs to make it more homelike, but as a guy, as he is, he doesn't care…"

"Yeah, Chris's apartment was much like that, too. Except he is a little messier. I guess I can handle that since I am free until Monday. Mind if I do some decor?"

"Do as you please, Claire. I really don't mind."

"Leon, Leon...you never say that to a girl unless you want to end up with pink bed sheets and fluffy pillows…" Helena said, crossing her arms.

"I can't see Claire buying pink bed covers…"

"No, I wouldn't. I was thinking more about flowers and things like that …"

"I can live with plants."

"Good to know. I guess I'll go unpack then."

"Yeah, your room is the one up the stairs to the right," Leon told her.

Claire nodded and walked away, leaving Leon and Helena standing in the living room. The brown-haired woman crossed her arms and looked at Leon.

"Well, she's pretty…" Helena said, "By how you described her, I thought she'd be all tomboyish."

"She's tough, but I never said she wasn't feminine. Have they figured out about Mobius?"

"Last time I checked, no. The group seems good at covering their tracks. Some of our operators in FOS are trying to catch their tail, but they are sneaky. Is it true she can't remember?"

"More or less…" Leon replied, "She remembers some things, but it seems that she has some post-traumatic amnesia thing…"

"That sounds bad. Is she alright?"

"She says she is, but I'll be keeping an eye on her, just in case," Leon said, watching the spot where Claire had disappeared. Helena was going to work with them, so telling her the truth was the most logical thing to do. "She was infected with a new virus, and it seems that the virus that she got from the Russian island a few years ago left her with some unpleasant effects, too. I had no idea until recently..."

"Wow, that seems rough. So, a new virus. Is it safe? I mean..."

"It seems like it. She hasn't shown any particular symptoms, so…"

"She is immune to the virus?"

"We haven't figured that out yet. All we know for now is that Mobius seems to be after her. They made that clear in the message they left for the BSAA."

"Crazy bastards…" Helena sighed, "They just have to go around ruining people's lives, don't they?"

"That's what they do best."

"When Simmons took Deborah, they did awful things to her." Helena said bitterly, "She looks like a nice woman that doesn't deserve to get treated that way," she added, looking up the stairs.

"She is. Claire has gone through a lot of things that she didn't deserve. It's a little touchy topic, so…"

"I know. I won't ask too many questions about it. Don't worry."

"Thanks."

"You really are concerned about her, aren't you?"

"She's a close friend…"

"Right, is it complicated too?"

"Too?"

"Like with Ada Wong…"

"...no, with Claire, things are…"

"What about me?" Claire asked, coming down the stairs. Her patented ponytail was back in place.

Leon smiled. Without the glasses and the ponytail back in place, Claire was back to her old self.

"I thought you were told, no ponytails…" Leon said with a grin.

"In public. AS far as I am concerned...I'm at home with you guys who already know I am Claire." Claire replied, walking down the stairs, "so you called my name?"

"Oh, we were discussing details from the mission, that's all." Helena answered, " so...what now?"

"I should call Chris…" Claire remembered, "He'll want me to check in...and I should call Saya too. It'd be good if she can send me some files from the past eight months so that I can catch up."

"I told you to take it easy, Claire."

"I'm a Redfield. Taking it easy isn't in my genes…"

Helena smiled. Leon could tell that Helena had liked Claire, so far.

"Well, you need to try; because I won't let you do anything work-related until Monday."

"Great...48 h doing nothing useful for the world…"

"Your existence is useful enough, Claire."

"That sounded corny…but thanks for the cheer."

"How about we get to know each other? Let's have some girls' time. I'm sure you are sick of Leon being on your tail all day."

"Nah, Leon is a good companion, but I'd love to know you better considering that you'll have to bear with me for who knows how long."

"Ok, then I'll let you two chat. I'll go check in with Hunnigan and Chris…"

"Send some love to Chris for me…"

"You can send him love, yourself, later. I don't think he'll receive any love from me..."

Leon left the room, leaving the two women in a friendly conversation. Once out of the living room, the agent pulled out his cell phone and dialed Chris's number.

The call with Chris lasted a few minutes. The elder Redfield seemed relieved to hear that they had reached their destination without problems and told him that he planned to return to the USA in a few days. The hint they had found had led them to a ship that was floating adrift in the Irish sea, a few miles from Cardigan Bay. The ship looked suspicious, but after boarding and investigating it, they found nothing: no corpses, no B.O.W.s, no secret labs, nothing.

"To tell the truth, I don't even know why a ship was floating adrift there, to begin with." Chris's annoyed voice said through the line, "Jill thinks it might have been a diversion."

"A diversion? From what? The real location…"

"God knows what...the point is there was nothing there to find, so we are back to square one. BSAA will keep scouting the area, but for the time being, I'll rather stay closer to Claire. Just in case…"

"You are welcome to visit at any time, Chris…"

"Yeah, thanks. So is everything ready in the DSO?"

"It should. I was planning to call and check it up after speaking with you, but Hunnigan is reliable, so I am sure everything is in order. Claire should start working on Monday."

"I talked to Adams and Rebecca. They want to see Claire as soon as she's settled. Knowing Rebecca, she's probably anxious to have one of her complicated conversations with Claire."

"I don't doubt Claire can handle that conversation,"

"Where's she now?"

"In the living room. Talking with Helena. Those two seem to be enjoying themselves"

Leon looked towards the living room from where he was standing. Claire and Helena were sitting on the couch. After Leon left the room to make his call, they had made tea, and now, both were talking like old friends.

"So...she's ok? Nothing abnormal?"

"Not really. She's fine, as far as I can see. If anything changes, you'd be the first person I'd notify."

"Ok...Then we'll talk later."

As soon as the call was over, Leon pressed the Hunnigan number and waited for the agent to respond.

"Hello, Leon…"

"Hi, Hunnigan.."

"How was the flight?"

"Nicer than I would have expected. We are back in my apartment now. Everything is in order, and I think Claire is all settled down."

"That's good to hear. I was about to call you. I just received a call from Hopkins. BSAA was requesting Clai...Clara's assistance in the study of Mexican sample."

"Yeah, I know. I just spoke with Chris…"

"That will be her first assignment under the DSO jurisdiction. I'm sure she will find the job familiar…"

"Yeah, no doubt she will. So, everything is in order?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be sending the files that Dr. Chamber sent me to you. Show them to Clara. See what she thinks of it."

"Ok…"

"Anything else you need, Leon?"

"Yeah, how's your research on Mobius going?"

"Sneaky they are. I'll let you know if I come up with anything, you know that."

"Yeah, ok… then, I'll see you on Monday."

"See you, Leon, and be careful…"

Leon put away his phone and entered the living room just in time to hear Helena laughing loudly.

"So Leon crashed the police car?" Claire said, shaking her head, "Oh, that's so Deja vú…"

"You two seem to be having fun…"

"Just a long trip down memory lane…" Claire smiled, "You didn't tell me you crashed a police car, again…."

"In my defense...it's not easy to drive when zombies are trying to eat you."

"That's not an excuse!" Claire laughed, "Well, you two are in one piece, so I guess that went well despite that…"

"Yeah, Leon was pretty cool back then."

"It's Leon. Has it ever been not cool?"

"I should take that as a compliment…"

"You do that, Leon. I'm just feeding your ego…" Claire laughed, "So how did the call go? Did you talk to Chris?"

"Yeah, he's coming back in a couple of days. The lead had taken them to a dead end, so…"

"He's coming back to look after me…"

"Yeah, also...Dr. Chambers wants to talk to you. I still need to confirm the date, but you'll probably meet her this Monday."

"Cool...that's good."

"And... Hunnigan just sent me the data that Dr. Chambers got until now. She wants you to take a look at them."

"Oh, that sounds like perfect reading before bed."

"I never imagined you'll be a nerd…" Helena said good-naturedly.

"Believe you're not the only one, but being underestimated sometimes works well…"

"So...Back then, with the C-virus…"

"Oh, yeah. I was the one who sent the data about the vaccine and Jake Muller's antibodies," Claire replied as she walked to the counter and poured some water in a cup, "At the time, I didn't work with you guys. I never liked Simmons, but Hopkins was already a good acquaintance. Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, I wasn't able to help more with the outbreak that took place then."

"I heard you were missing at the time…"

"Yeah, trapped in a soviet island frozen in time. Not a nice experience."

"Sorry…"

"Don't worry. I already crossed that bridge," Claire replied, coming back and offering Leon a cup, "Ceylon. I know you like it…"

"Thanks…" he replied, grabbing the cup, "Here's the data…"

Leon gave Claire his phone, and she began flipping through the files. For Leon and Helena, the documents looked like a lot of words and complicated diagrams, but Claire seemed fascinated by it.

"Yeah, just what I thought. Rebecca hasn't been able to replicate the virus since she hasn't found the target cell…"

"And that's bad?"

"Well, yeah. Without propagation, it's hard to define the pathology mechanism, which, by default, causes the selected genes to amplify is much more difficult… "

"So we won't know what that thing is unless they can propagate it?"

"Not necessarily. I said it was difficult, not impossible."

"Think you can do it?" Leon asked.

"I can try…" Claire replied, looking through the files, "The structure may give an idea. Rebecca was doing a good job; I think she was on the right track...however, without infected cells to work or study, her research was certainly hands tied."

"This sure is complicated…"

"Sometimes it is, yes…" Claire said, looking at some pictures, "Especially when it is a completely new virus that isn't in the database yet; then again...never underestimate Molecular Biologist who happens to be a Redfield. If there's a flaw in the family is that we are stubborn as mules. I will figure this out even if I have to spend hours in a cold chamber. Don't worry. Leave it to me."

"That's not happening," Leon said, knocking Claire's head softly, "You're not skipping sleep hours under my watch…"

"You need to stop hanging out with Chris."

Claire rubbed her head and rolled her eyes, but Leon smirked and sat down by her side; he picked the mobile phone from Claire's hand and put it on the table.

"It's getting late. I'll head back to my apartment." Helena said, "If you need anything, just call, ok? Leon may be a super agent, but there's no way he'll ever understand some of the female needs."

"Thank you, Helena. I'll keep it in mind." she laughed.

Claire and Leon accompanied Helena to the door and watched her walk to her apartment a couple of doors beyond Leon's apartment. The pair exchanged glances and entered the apartment again.

"Hungry?" she asked, "Seems like Helena did grocery shopping for you. I could cook you something."

"Ah? Oh yeah…" Leon replied, "need some help?"

"That's fine. You can sit there and make me company. I have enough bad experiences with men in the kitchen…"

"And how many men have you had in the kitchen?" Leon said, sitting on the breakfast bench while Claire was removing ingredients from the refrigerator, "You make it sound like a herd…"

"If you consider Chris's men as a herd, then you're right." she said, washing and starting to chop the ingredients "the sure are brave men that eat like wolves, but suck in kitchen chores…"

Leon chuckled. He stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"Then I should try to save the dignity of men in your eyes…"

Leon took the knife from Claire's hand and began to chop the vegetables with practiced skill. Claire looked at him, surprised, and laughed.

"Well, look at that. Handsome and with cooking skills," Claire said, shaking her head, "Seriously, Leon. You need to stop being such a model man …"

"I used to help my mom in the kitchen when I was younger." Leon replied as he watched Claire pull out the pan from one of the cabinets and pour the oil into it, "I was the youngest child in the family, and I always ended up doing the things my siblings avoided...like cooking. I ended up enjoying it, though…"

"You had a brother and sister, right?"

"Yeah. My brother is with the Marines. He got stationed in the Hawaiin base a year ago. My sister lives in Chicago with her husband and the rest of the family."

"Nephews?"

"Two...twins. Annoying little devils…"

"Can't be that bad…"

"That's because you don't know them. Those two would drive anyone crazy, even you, child lover..."

"Who knows? I do have a touch with children…" Claire said as she mixed the contents of the pan with a smile. "I bet you're their favorite uncle."

"If that were true, they wouldn't pester me that much on the rare occasions that I go visit…"

"Now, there is where you are wrong…" Claire laughed, " kids do that when they want attention. They only want you to play with them, most likely."

"You sound experienced."

"I do work... working with kids in Terra Save. I know they do all kinds of kinky things when they want attention…"

"Maybe I should bring you along next time I visit. You'll know what I'm talking about."

"Sure, bring a random stranger to visit your family…"

Leon remained pensive for a few moments while watching Claire serve the plates, but the woman seemed so absorbed in her task that she did not realize that the agent was looking at her.

"Dinner is served," she announced, "Well, not bad, Leon. You can now brag your cooking skills on Chris's nose…"

"Huh...I'm sure Chris will love that." Leon snorted, serving two glasses of water, "well, let's try your cooking…"

Leon took a bite of the food and found out that it tasted delicious. Perhaps it was a placebo effect by the concept of homemade cooking, but he felt that the food tasted slightly different than the usual take out he would have eaten if he'd been by himself.

"So…? Did I pass the test?"

Leon chewed and swallowed his bite. He looked at the young woman''s expectant look and smiled.

"Now I can go to the office and brag that my wife can cook …" he teased.

"Oh, stop teasing me and eat.."