A/N: I am highly thankful to all my readers for supporting this story and my reviewers Shirahane Aikawa, Lancelot-Albion, Mercenary Nemesis and Deep Shadowz for leaving their reviews.

Note: Italicized part is flashback!

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or any of its characters appearing in the story, they all belong to Capcom.

Chapter 18

(Kate's POV)

Leon didn't say anything and left before I could stop him, I tore my eyes off the door and looked out again. He never in his life took me seriously for any matter, whether it was matter of life or death. The only times he listened to me were when we were at missions, when we discussed strategy. So many times we were in trouble because he didn't listen to me, many times he forgot to pay electricity bills even when I reminded him five times a day, in the end I had to do that for him or he would just get fed up of me yelling at him for that to do the work. I kept my head on my knees and looked out as Brenda's parent said goodbye to her in-laws and I sighed closing my eyes.

"Did you pay the electricity bill", I asked him the first thing he got home, I was really mad at him.
"Nope", he replied dropping himself of the couch.
"Do I have the pleasure of you telling me, why you didn't do that?", I asked crossing my arms.
"Cause you did that", he said switching on the television, "I can't do what you've already done."
"At least pay the phone bills, it has gone dead", I said giving up the argument and asking him again what he won't do.
"Like I care", he replied turning on the volume.
"I want you to pay them by tomorrow", I sort of warned him as he took out the cigarettes, "And how many times do I have to tell you to smoke outside."

"It's my place, my home, why should I go outside", he argued.
"Because I am allergic to its smoke", I told him as he took a huge chug in his lungs, "More over its…"
"Like I care", he said and blew out the cigarette smoke at my face.

"Kate", Leslie called shaking me lightly and I looked at her, she looked a bit concerned about something.
"You okay?", Jessica asked sitting near my feet.
"I am fine", I told them, "I was just looking out."
"We thought something happened when you didn't respond in the first place", Leslie said sitting on the bed.
"I was thinking something", I told them.
"About what?", Jessica asked.

"Nothing you girls worry yourself with", I said smiling at them, thank god I am an Agent otherwise it would have so hard for me.
And a double thanks that mom came interrupting in the conversation, "Kate, we need your help if you are feeling any better", she said.
"I am all better now", I said getting up and then headed out with everybody.

(Leon's POV)

Shadow just whined and I looked down at him, then he raised his head and ran back in the house. I barely stopped myself from going after him, when he left me he runs for Kate, the one person he likes more than me. I looked at the moon and couldn't help but think about what I was thinking for past few hours. Yeah I never took what Kate said seriously and every time faced one or the other trouble. Many times I couldn't help but wonder if only I had listened to her sometimes or at least that day we would have got things settled between us two.

"Leon", I turned to find Kate's Dad.
"Hey come on join me father-in-law", I said beckoning him.
"Well I am happy that you two at least consider each other married", he said walking towards me.
"How did you find me?", I asked him, trying to change the topic.
"Well I asked Kate, she had no idea and said if only Shadow was around he could show me the way", he replied.
"Shadow got you here?", I asked looking for him around.
"Yeah he did get me here and then ran off", he told me.
"Probably went to be with Kate", I muttered a bit loudly.
"He took a liking to her", he said looking into horizon.
"So much that I sometimes doubt him to be my pet, I mean he loves her so much and I… ", I stopped in mid-sentence hoping he would understand.
"You hate her?", it was more of a question then a statement.
"I…", I don't know how to answer that, "I never hated Kate, I just couldn't get along with her."

"Well I can't blame you on this one; Kate is really stubborn and doesn't easily adjust with people. Take my and her mother's side family for example even after she spent her whole childhood with these guys and saying that she can't stand them is not lying, is it", he said.
"No, she did every possible thing to get along with me, its maybe because of me it that it's not working out", I told him, "She has no problem adjusting with people, if that were the case then she might not have been this good to my parents."
"Maybe she's good to them because you're good to us", he suggested, "Especially me after all I had done, she can't remain angry with me because I am her father but I am nothing to you."
"If that were the case then, she wouldn't have come back after that incident", I said remembering, "She might have told them the truth but she came back 'cause Dad asked her to come home, she could have made them see the bitter truth knowing very well that Dad would agree with her, she never once said that she wants to go with you guys."

"Do you regret the fact that she stayed", he asked me.
"I regret the fact that she did it because of my parents", I told him.
"So you don't want her in this relationship", he asked.
"There is no relationship to begin with", I told him with a laugh.
"As her father it pains me to hear that", he said with a deep sigh.
"But don't you know the situation between us, we are two poles apart", I said looking at him, "I guess you don't, otherwise you wouldn't have put us together in the first place."
"But doesn't opposite poles attract each other", he stated the fact, "the only problem is you two aren't willing to move."

(Kate's POV)

"Welcome!", my aunt Rose, Susanne's mom said opening the door for the so-much talked family of the day, a sophisticated upper class lady standing by her husband's left and her above average looking son standing on her left. If Susanne is able to impress them then she's getting married too.
"We are not late are we?", the woman asked.
"Oh no, not at all. We were all expecting you", Aunt Rose said, "Please make yourself comfortable."

The family got in and settled down and then introduction round began and I excused myself because I really found it boring plus Mom asked me to get Daddy, who was supposed to get Leon. I climbed up the stairs and met Dad in the corridor and he told me Leon is getting himself ready to come down to the Dinner.

I walked down with him and we stood next to Mum and my Aunt introduced Dad and then me saying, "This is Kate", she smiled saying.
"So this is the girl you talked about", the man said.
"The girl is really fine", the woman said looking over the spectacles and then looked at her son and he just nodded looking me from head to toe.
"Uh… she's not the girl I talked about", Aunt Rose said, "It was my daughter Susanne", she said pushing her in front of them. She was really dressed well for the occasion, she looked great too.

The woman looked at Susanne and maybe I was thinking too much but did she compare me with her? Maybe sensing that and not being rude to anyone, Aunt Rose told us all to get to the dinner table and I helped them serve dinner and had this feeling as if someone was watching me. When I was in the kitchen getting more plates I heard a bit hustle bustle and walked out to find Leon was down too with Shadow, who walked to me wagging his tail. I only smiled at Shadow and just then Mrs. Shaw, the lady who was here to meet Susanne said, "The food is really delicious, I liked to know who made it?"

"Kate", Leon answered before anyone could answer and I was really taken aback.
The lady looked at me, guess she remembered me, "It was Susanne", Aunt Rose said.
"He just said Kate", Mr. Shaw said.
"He just called for Kate, didn't you", my aunt asked him.
"No I answered her question", Leon said taking bit more rice, "The chicken curry, rice, mixed vegetable, roasted chicken wings, Tuna, fruit salad are made by Kate. The rest I don't know but, the things I just said are made by Kate", he said smiling.
"No, no, Susanne taught Kate cooking so they both have same taste in food. These all are made by Susanne, he's mistaken", my aunt said getting a bit nervous.
"I can forget everything but I can't forget the taste that Kate puts in her cooking", he said looking at me.

(Leon's POV)

I noticed a brief smile on Kate's face and then she said, "I only helped Susanne with the cooking", Kate lied and told me to keep my mouth shut for the moment. After she served everyone dinner she sat by me to have dinner and a trivial chat began during the dinner table and everybody began telling the guest where they lived and what field they were in.

"So you stay here?", Mr. Shaw asked Kate.
"No, I stay at DC with my…", she was saying.

(Kate's POV)

"I stay and work at DC too, what a coincidence", Jason, the guy who could be Susanne's future groom said, "I work with the Police Department K-9 unit."
Hearing K-9 unit Shadow began barking and Leon hushed him and he quieted down, "Sorry, he doesn't like people from K-9 Corps."
"So you work for the police too", Jason asked him.
"Yeah you can say that", Leon said to him.
"So what unit do you work for", he asked again.
"I used to be cop only for a day…", Leon was saying when Dad nudged him, "What I meant was that I was supposed to be a cop then I…"
"Ended being a Surveillance Officer", Dad saved Leon but I felt the thing he said about being cop for a day was true and importantly I never knew about it. Many times Leon's mother mentioned how he wanted to be a cop but what made him an Agent I never knew, more of I never asked him.

"So what do you do for a living?", he asked me again.
I came up with a blank, "I work with my Dad, and help him do paper work."
"That's incredible my Dad was a cop too and you work with your Dad, we are so much similar", He said delighted and everybody was looking at me, "If you don't mind me asking how old are you?"
"25", I replied shrugging not knowing why he was asking me that.
"Wow you are young, beautiful, smart and…", he was saying.
"Taken", Leon said to him smiling smugly.
"Huh…?", Jason didn't understand him neither anyone of us.
"I said she's taken", Leon said smiling.
"You have a boyfriend?", Jason asked me and now I understood what was going on, so dumb of me.
"No", I said and quickly added, "But I have a husband."
"A husband?", his mother literally screamed.
"Him", I pointed to Leon.

"So you're young, smart, beautiful and… married?", he tried to confirm.
"Yes I have been proudly married for 5 years", I said smiling at him and then it hit me what I had said, to others it was just a sentence but to me and Leon the sentence has its own meaning because I had said, 'Proudly Married.'

The lady was a bit humiliated for literally asking me to marry his son and was not able to meet my eyes afterwards and I wasn't able to meet Leon's eyes after the dinner, the twins kept giving me curious looks and were in search of an opportunity to tease me. I excused myself on account of taking Shadow out for a walk so I could think about the things that I haven't thought for a while. For starters since when did I became proudly married, last time I checked it was just married for 5 years and now I am proudly married.

I couldn't help but smile and looked at Shadow who was running off in a distance. Shadow loved me as if he was my pet not Leon's, strange thing was that he took a liking to me from the first day, to be precise the moment he saw me. Spending five years with him made me realize that was big achievement, although Shadow did not bite anybody without any reason but he was the most hostile dog I've ever seen.

I smiled as he ran back to me, "Hey!", I almost jumped in surprise when Leon spoke these words, "Lost somewhere?"
"No, I was just thinking", I told him.
"Doesn't it mean the same", Leon said rubbing the back of his head.
"No", I said and he smiled and kissed my cheek, "How dare you kiss me?", I said grabbing hold of his collar, since the last two times I was too much surprised to react.
"It was just a peck", he said smiling.
"It means the same thing", I growled at him.
"If being lost and thinking means different, then kiss and peck and different too?", he said smiling more.
"Shut up", I said leaving his collar.

"Hey", Leon said stopping me.
"What?", I couldn't help but be furious a bit.
"I was just suggesting if we can walk Shadow together", he asked me.
"Together?", I couldn't help but say, "I thought you…"
"That I hated being with you", he said and he took a deep breath, "Look if you want to know what I am thinking just ask me okay, don't go thinking anything by yourself. You might end up thinking the opposite."

We shared a long silence when I remember him saying that he was cop once, "Leon, can I ask you something", I asked looking at him expectantly.
"Anything Darling", he replied kicking a pebble and then added quickly, "Just forget the last word it slipped."
"It's okay", I said to him.
"It's okay if I called you darling?", he asked what it seemed seriously, "I am asking seriously", he cleared my all doubts.
"You said you were cop for a day, what does that mean?", I asked my question instead of answering his.

(Leon's POV)

I was taken aback at the question, I was least expecting it from her. I never thought she paid that much attention to that thing. She knew that her father knew me before my coming to the Academy but she didn't know why we knew each other. She was totally oblivious that I was involved with her father in bringing down Umbrella. She never knew anything, I don't know if her Dad told her anything or not but I would never tell her about what happened in Raccoon.

"They kicked me out because of my bad work", I replied as coldly as I could.
"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard", Kate said, "look if you don't wanna tell me it's okay by me", she looked at the time, "Well we better head back it's getting late. Can you call him?"
I whistled and Shadow came running towards us, "Time to go home", I only said and again we walked back in silence.

(Kate's POV)

I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed Leon was not by my side, Shadow wasn't there too. So I got up and checked kitchen, if he went to have water and then I climbed upstairs and checked the bathroom too. I wasn't feeling right about this, he was behaving oddly after I asked him what he meant by being cop for a day.

I was heading down the stairs but then I was reminded of his hiding place and I went up and saw him sitting in usual place in the cold wind Shadow laying down by his side. Shadow whined and Leon looked at him, I decided to go and ask him what he was doing out there, when he spoke, "I can't tell her buddy, you know. I don't want her to know it… I want to keep her away from all this. I would never let her know…"

(Leon's POV)

"Wouldn't let me know what?", I turned and spotted Kate, standing at the roof door. I didn't answer her, "Look you've to tell me please", she insisted worried about something.
"It is nothing I was thinking about something else", I made an excuse.
She grabbed my face with both of her hands and made me look in her eye, "Tell me I want to know", she said with tears in her eyes.
"And I don't want to tell you", I snapped coldly.
"Look I wanna know everything", she demanded.
"Who are you to demand that?", I asked back as coldly as I could.

Kate didn't argue to that and then she managed a sarcastic smile on her face, "Yeah right, who I am to ask that? I am nobody but wait, wait I know what importance I have in your life. I am that page in your book which you didn't want in the first place, I am that wound that's keep getting worse as the time passes by; I am that unwanted person with whom you are tied together for the rest of life", she said as tears filled her eyes, "Sorry that I disturbed you", she backed away and left.

I knew she would have stopped if I asked her to but I also knew that she didn't belong with me. I don't know what her father saw in me that he got us married but I know one thing that if she is the unwanted page in my book then I am the unwanted book, if she's the wound that's kept getting worse then I am the reason why her wounds won't heal. And if she's the unwanted person with whom I am tied together for the rest of my life then I am unwanted person with whom she is meant to spend her life.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. I apologize for any inconvenience due to any mistakes in the text.