A/N: I am grateful to all the readers that are following the story and a special mention to the reviewers Shirahane Aikawa and Mercenary Nemesis for their valuable insights.

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident evil or any of the characters; they all belong to Capcom.

Chapter 30

(Kate's POV)

My phone buzzed as I hailed a cab after picking up Shadow from the White House, "Where are you babe?", Leon asked , he seemed happy and in his flirty mood.
"I am heading home, honey", I told him mocking his flirty tone, his flirting was increasing day by day that it almost annoyed me now.
"Wish I could cut work and be home with you so we could…", he replied stepping up the ladder of flirting.
"Leon", I warned him cutting in between but I was smiling and maybe blushing, since my face did feel warm.

"Just kidding sweetheart", Leon laughed at the other side, "Anyways I just called to tell you not to make dinner for me, I'll be having my dinner with the President."
"Really?", I asked him in doubt.
"Well not actually I am just escorting him to this huge party, so I'll be really late and have my dinner there and if not then I might not want to have dinner at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, so its better you don't bother yourself with it", he explained.
"I am making dinner for you", I said with a weight in my voice that I don't want any arguments on this.
"As you say darling", he flirted again and a laugh escaped my lips, "Huh… I wish I was there to see you laugh", he sighed as if love struck.
"I think you should see a doctor, you've acting really and I mean really weird lately", I told him, since he talked to me all the way home, was flirting with me and the most important we talked like a real husband and wife for the first time in five years.
"You are my Doctor", he said sighing again.
"You're out of your mind", I said in disbelief, I mean really there was no end to his flirting.
"I am here but my mind is set on you", he said not giving up on his flirting.
"Leon, its too much stop it", I said but all his comments were making me blush profusely, "Don't you have work to do?", and just then I heard Ashley's voice calling his name.

"Yeah I have", Leon replied uninterested which was new, "I have to go, see you later bye", he said to me hurriedly as Ashley asked him if he was done with his private personal call.
"Yeah you too take care and try to be home soon", I said to him.
"Yeah I'll try", he said and I know he was smiling, "Bye."
"Bye", I replied and disconnected the call.

"Your husband?", the driver asked and I couldn't help but raise my brows at him for overhearing my conversation with Leon.
"Yeah", I replied casually looking out of the window.
"Now you must be thinking how I knew that", he started to speak again, "I can tell by the way you talked to him. Newly married I guess since after six months you start fighting. By the way aren't you too much young to get married?"
"No", I replied snapping at him, "I am 26, my husband he is 28 and we have been happily married for past five years", I continued.
"Relax I didn't meant it that way", the driver said as we stopped at front of the house.
"So how exactly you meant it", I asked him offended and that shut him up, "Here's your fare keep the change", I added getting out.

I moved inside the house and stood with my back against the door thinking about what I just did or said. I said I was happily married, at first I used to say we are married which changed to proudly married and now I said happily married. Until now I argued with Leon and now I was arguing for Leon. I didn't know if I felt this from the beginning or developed these feelings sometime in between. I really didn't know or believe what was happening in my life, it all felt like dream. Leon is changing, I am changing and this relationship which I thought was stuck was running at a fast speed that I had no idea where it was heading, to a happy place or to a cliff. I should be feeling happy about it but why am I getting this feeling of restlessness as if it's just the calm before the storm. I really hoped it was not.

(Leon's POV)

"Leon, how does this one looks on me?", Ashley asked as she put on a orange dress and before I could answer her she switched that one with a green color dress, "I think this one is more hot."
'As south pole', I thought taking in a deep breath and I inhaled something that got my senses haywire. It was her perfume and I thought I was thinking too much since other women also used that but it was particularly her scent that always got me restless, 'Maybe she's not here that's why I am hallucinating', I thought to myself.

It's been a month that I hadn't even so much as touched her and it was again making me restless day by day. It's been five years and it's was nearly impossible to control my feelings, since it was an undeniable fact that she was one of the hottest women. Somehow arguing with her kept my feelings dormant and it only slipped out over long periods of time in our weak moments, but flirting with her just made those feelings develop really fast and they were getting intense over time, although our arguments had considerably reduced but we are no close to loving each other either.

I sighed, thinking about her and my phone buzzed. I looked at it, seeing it was Kate I didn't waste any time and picked it up, "Hey sweetheart!", my words made Ashley look at me.
"Leon", she said in disbelief, "please don't flirt with me on the phone!"
"I am not flirting, it comes naturally", I flirted even more.
"Leon tell me how this dress is", Ashley asked shouting at top of her lungs shoving a dress at my face.
"It's good", I said without even giving it a look.
"What's good?", Kate asked from the other end.
"Whatever you said", I said to her.
"I told you about a stalker", she said, "A guy who was following me."
"Where are you? I am coming there", I said standing, I was ready to head where she was right now but she laughed.
"You weren't listening, were you", she asked between her laughs, "Relax I was just checking, actually I asked what you were doing?"
"Out with Ashley on a shopping spree, I guess", I told her uninterested, "What are you doing babe?"
"You had your lunch?", she asked concerned.
"Not yet", I answered, "You didn't answer my question."
"Umm… out with twins and mom", she told me, "And its lunch time take Ashley with you too."
"No I won't, I want it to be peaceful", I said to her, "And what do you mean you are out? Where are you exactly?"
"Umm… look around maybe I am close", she said and I didn't need to ask again.
"Where?", I asked her, "I thought I was just being delusional when I felt you close by."

(Kate's POV)

"You felt me close by!", I repeated surprised watching Leon as he tried to search for me.
"Yeah I smelled your perfume", Leon said on the phone looking around for me, "Tell me where you are, I couldn't seem to find you."
"Look straight", I told him and he pushed Ashley aside, because of her he wasn't able to see me until now. He looked at me and fell. I rushed to him concerned and kneeled down by his side, Ashley was shaking him to get back to consciousness, "Leon", I called slapping him a bit and she looked at me.

"Ms. Cornor?! Thank god you are here. I don't know what to do", Ashley said a bit panicking
"Ms. Graham please get him some water", I said to Ashley and she gave me a nod and hurried away to get water, "Leon!", I called again worried.
"I must be dreaming", he muttered opening his eyes.
"No you're not", the twins said to him kneeling on his other side.
"Are you okay?", I asked him as he sat up.
"I am fine", he said smiling widely for some reason and it was clear that he faked his fall.
"Here Leon have water", Ashley said offering him water.

Leon took the glass of water and drank from it but for some reason his eyes were fixated on me. His gaze made me feel a little uncomfortable and I nervously tucked my hanging hair behind the ear. We all stood up with twins and Ashley asking if he was alright. Leon gave them a slight nod telling them that he was fine and then he again looked at as checking me out, taking in details of how I looked. I didn't really know what I felt more nervous or appreciated.

"Girls!", mom said appearing out of the rows or clothes and we all looked at her, "How does this look on me?", she asked looking up from the dress to us, "Didn't we decide to not disturb Leon?!", she said confused spotting Leon among us.
"Not to disturb me?", Leon said looking at me.
"Well we are around here for 1 hour and spotted you from the beginning", Leslie said and both Leon and I looked at her. Leon looked at her to listen to her and I looked at her for making her stop saying stupid things.
"And we said there's Leon, let's say hi", Jessica continued and it was her turn to receive a silencing glare from me.
"But Kate said no, he's working", Leslie said looking at me smiling mischievously.
"Yeah I agreed you looked busy with Miss Graham", Mom said giving Ashley a nod, "Sorry for interference Ms. Graham."
"Oh its fine", Ashley said smiling casually.
"Come on girls let the guy work", mom said and twins sighed, "work hard, Leon", she added giving him a pat on back before moving in the opposite direction.
"See you later Leon", twins said and followed mom.

I moved to follow twins but Leon grabbed my arm and it would be totally wrong to say that I wasn't expecting this, "Won't you say goodbye to me?", he asked.
I turned to look at him, "Is it necessary?", I asked him and he closed the gap between us.
"Hey have lunch with me?", he asked barely in a whisper.
"I am not sure about this Leon. You're at work", I said to him looking at Ashley over his shoulder and his smile faded.

"Not sure about what Ms. Cornor?", Ashley asked pulling out a yellow and green dress, "How would this look on me?"
"You'll look like a banana", Leslie commented rather loudly and I hit her softly glaring making her remember she was talking about the President's daughter here, "Oh sorry Mom's calling you", she nodded her head over to where she and Jessica were waiting for us.
"Agreed", Ashley said checking herself out in the mirror, "Anyways please join us for lunch."
"Us?!", I said a bit doubtfully.
"We'd love to", the twins answered, Jessica made her way to us because we were taking too much time and Ashley smiled.
"I'd just go and change", she said and again headed for the trial room.

"She was asking out of formality, you didn't have to say yes", I couldn't help but scold the twins.
"We just wanted to have lunch with Leon", the twins chorus, "Don't you too?"
"I…", I began but then I didn't know what to say. If I say I wanted to then there would be no end to twins' teasing and if I say I didn't then Leon might get upset.
"You girls! What are you doing move!", mom said furiously, "let the man work in peace", she scolded us, "Sorry about this Leon", she apologized to him.
"Ms. Graham asked us to have lunch with her" , Leslie informed as she ducked to dodge her hand which was raised to grab her by ear.
"Always joking", mom even got more furious and moved to grab Jessica's ear.
"Tell her", they both chorused from behind me.
"It's the truth she invited us", I told mom.
"She did?", mom asked me doubtfully and I nodded, "Oh", she calmed down, "but I promised your dad that I'd have lunch with him."
"How can you have lunch with him if you are shopping with us", Leslie said making a point.
"Well I meant if I had lunch I'll have it with him", mom said, "So you guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves."
"I am taking the car, you get home by cab", she said smiling, "good day dears", she smiled at all of us.
"Oldies just want to spend some alone time together", Leslie said as we watched mom disappear between the rows of clothes.
"Let's go, I am ready!", Ashley said appearing back.

The twins and Ashley walked ahead and Leon and I followed them. To my surprise Ashley was going well with twins. I just wished that twins don't offend her somehow. I looked sideways and as always Leon was busy with his PDA. Leon unlocked the car and we moved to take seats. I move to take my usual seat by Leon's side but Ashley beat me to it, so I rounded about and sat on the back seat just behind the driver's seat and Leon drove to the restaurant. The whole drive was quite loud with twins and Ashley talking and laughing about something or the other.

Just then Leon pushed breaks so suddenly that I bumped violently against his seat due to momentum, "Leon drive properly", I said to him furiously.
"You are driving me crazy and telling me to drive carefully", he whispered and I looked away blushing, "We're at the destination", he said loudly and got out and opened the door for me.
"Thank you", I smiled at him.
"Pleasure", he smiled even more and locked the car once everyone was out.

(Leon's POV)

"She sure is enjoying their company", Kate said referring to Ashley and twins respectively as we walked inside the restaurant.
"And I am loving yours", I replied to Kate and she looked at me furiously, "You look beautiful even when you're angry."
"So how am I supposed to react then?", she asked raising her brow.
"You are best just the way you are", I told her and she rolled her eyes but I could make out her happiness underneath her furiousness. She enjoyed me flirting with her as much as I enjoyed it with her.

"Hey our friends are here too", Leslie said looking in the direction of teens, once we got ourselves a table.
"Where?", Ashley asked looking in the same direction.
Jessica also looked too in that direction too, "Yeah, there's everybody. They said they were coming here", she said.
"Let's say hi", Leslie said getting up.
"Yeah c'mon", Jessica said getting up too.
"Can I come too?", Ashley asked excitedly.
"Yep sure", Jessica and the three of them left us alone.

Kate watched the twins as they made their way to their friends, "You think we should go too", Kate asked since we knew twins friends. They were none other than Sherry, Lott, Lily, Barry's daughters and a couple of their friends from School.
"Nah Kate give the kids their privacy", I said to her and she looked at me, sighed out of boredom.
"Are you bored?", I asked her.
"Maybe a bit", she said looked outside the window by which we had our table.
"Should I entertain you?", I asked her and she looked at me.
"I am not in mood for your jokes or flirting", she said warningly and resumed to look out.
"I think I flirted enough and I've been joking all my life", I said and she looked at me concerned.
"You feeling alright?", she asked relaxing on her chair, "Admitting something like that is rare for you. Actually it's the first time."
"There's first time for everything", I told her.
"I thought that would definitely offend you somehow", she said surprised.
"I can act like I am offended", I said to her, "But I think we should just sit and chat, know each other more."

(Kate's POV)

"What do you want to know?", I asked Leon as waiter brought our drinks.
"Umm… something that I don't know about you that's hard", he thought a bit, "I know every possible detail about you", he concluded shrugging.
"Oh really?! Let's put you to test", I said to him smiling, "My favorite Color?"
"White", he replied.
"How do I like my coffee?", I asked him.
"With one teaspoon sugar and a little bit of milk", he told the exact thing as if he was reading that from a recipe book.
"So, what about my preferred breakfast?", I said.
"Not too fancy but simple butter and toast, but toast should be medium roasted", he replied.
"Ice-cream?", I queried.
"Chocolate", he replied

"You won't be able to answer this", I said and asked, "The first mission I did without you."
"Assassination of national criminal, who seemed to be getting out of the clutches of police and jurisdiction due to lack of evidences", Leon replied without a breaking a sweat.
"How many guys I have dated during high school", I asked.
"Only 2, Jack and Georgel", I replied, "Jack broke up with you because you won't let him kiss you and you broke up with George cause he forcibly kissed you, when you punched and broke his nose with a single punch and he ran away."
"Good", I said remembering the day I did that, "So know my figure?", I asked raising by brow.
"Hmmm… let's see 36 24 36", he replied with a grin on his face. He knew it from the beginning but pretended to think.
"Nice Guess, now I bet you can't answer this one", I said smiling since people always get confused about it, "My eye color?"
"Dark blue like oceans", he replied and his answered left me in shock while he just smiled.

(Leon's POV)

"Okay you know everything I guess", Kate said sighing.
"So you want to ask anything about me?", I said to her.
"I am not as clueless about you as you think I am", she said drinking her juice, "I know all there is to know about you."
"Your turn to play trivia then", I said relaxing back, "So, what's my favorite color?", I started with the question she started with.
"Blue", she replied without any delay, this was a no brainer everyone knows that.
"My favorite beverage?", I asked again.
"Coffee, preferably strong black coffee", she replied promptly, "Vodka, Whiskey or white wine if you are talking about alcohol."
"Okay, my favorite movie?", I asked her next.
"Every horror movie there is, especially anything with zombies", she replied as if she knew it from the beginning.
"Most loved breakfast", I questioned.
"Same as mine butter and toast", she said smiling.
"Favorite sport?", I asked hoping she doesn't know that.
"Soccer", she replied confidently glaring at me maybe because I got hurt playing that when we went for her cousin's wedding.

"Okay I bet you don't know this one, My first crush?", I asked her smiling.
"In High School, girl named Violet", she replied shooting every doubt down.
"First Kiss", I queried.
"Your ex-girlfriend, Gina", she replied again without a doubt and I was really amazed that she knew all this.
"Number of women I dated in whole", I asked at last.
"19", she replied, "I am counting the one you dated for a week in Academy."

"My favorite jacket?", I asked again.
"The one Claire got for you and you lost it in Europe saving Ashley", she replied.
"Memorable mission", I asked yet again, "The one I remember every day."
"Our marriage", she replied smiling.
"My RPD batch number?", I asked going with the flow, forgetting that she doesn't even know I was a cop before becoming an Agent.
"RPD?", Kate repeated puzzled asking for an answer, "This has something to do with your being cop for one day right?", she asked and I had no answer to it.

A/N: Thanks for taking out time to read. I hope you enjoyed it. I apologize if you had any inconvenience due to any mistakes in the text.