A/N: Thanks for supporting this story so far and special thanks to roseimagine for reviewing.

Note: The italicized part is Kate's flashback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or any of its character; they belong to Capcom.

Chapter 32

(Kate's POV)

I walked to the kitchen to fix tonight's dinner. I gathered up the contents of the dish and began with dicing the onions. I couldn't help but think about Leon and me, as I weakly diced the onions. After the ring incident things between us weren't same anymore; he didn't flirt and we were back to not talking to each other. We tried so hard to get along but when we think we made progress something's bound to happen to reset the things back to how they were in the beginning. I sighed and wished we could talk out things like normal couples, but when we try it always ends up in an argument. I looked around the empty space stopping for a while, 'it's much better when he's here', I thought to myself. For some reason I wished for Leon to be here so I could have a worthless, useless, senseless argument with him because this silence always makes me think stupid things, that I don't like to think about, "Ouch", I screamed in pain as I cut my finger and memories of past came oozing out like the blood.

"Do you think this looks good on me?", Diana, the General's daughter asked me as she tried her wedding dress. I had become something like her maid of honor actually.
"It looks great", I told her the truth.
"Thank you", she said to me and told the designer what problems she had with her dress.

I got up and began looking at the catalogues out of boredom and then moved to check out the finished wedding gowns in the display and just then my phone buzzed, "Hello?", I answered.

"Checking out wedding dresses huh?", it was Leon.
"Where are you?", I asked feeling bored and looked around to find him with the groom. He waved disconnecting and both of them moved to meet us, "You guys showed up early", I said to him. It was pre-planned that once Diana is done with her dress, she and her fiancé will be going out to get things for their new house.
"Well he was getting impatient for her", Leon told me in barely a whisper as the couple kissed each other.
"Oh… ", I just responded to the info.

"Hey shall we go then", Max, Diana's fiancé asked.
"Yeah let's move", Leon said and the couple walked ahead and we followed.
"Hey Leon!", somebody screamed his name and we all looked in the direction.
"Violet!", Leon said recognizing her and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, "Guys this is my girlfriend."
"Nice to meet you", we all said somewhat unanimously.
"What are you doing here?", Violet asked him cheerfully, "C'mon have coffee with me."
"I am occupied with work at the moment", Leon declined her offer almost monotonously.
"Aww… c'mon sweetheart", she said and we just witnessed their lover's spat for quite some time when I finally decided that it would be better, if Leon gets some time with his girlfriend and the others agreed too.
"Why don't you catch up with us later", I said to Leon.
"Yeah will do that", Leon said smiling, "I owe you Cornor."

We temporarily said goodbye, leaving Leon with his girlfriend and Max drove towards next destination, chatting with Diana who was in the side seat. I was sitting on the back seat of his mini-van with all the shopped stuff, unwittingly listening to their conversation and post wedding plans. Shortly after I noticed some people on our tail, I didn't tell the couple about it and observed them for a while.

"Max step on the accelerator and head for home", I almost ordered once I was confirmed with my suspicions.
"What why?", he asked me, in total surprise.
"We've got pursuers", I said dialing Leon's number, "Leon, we've got trouble."
"Are you guys being attacked?", he asked in a concerned tone.
"No, just pursuers", I told him in a serious tone.
"Okay I am coming, right away", he said and disconnected.

"Go faster", I said to Max as the pursuers sped up dialing for HQ and requested for backup, there were too many men for Leon and me to handle alone.
"What're you going to do with those", Diana asked as I withdrew my gun.
"Get down!", I said shooting down a biker as he aimed for her, "Don't slow down", I said to Max as I shot a few more men but they dodged. And they fired back at me and I shielded myself with the car door. As they took a pause, I again opened the door and took out one more of the bikers and just then my phone buzzed and I retrieved back inside the van to put headset on, "Kennedy, you're missing all the fun", I said to him.
"I am almost there", he replied and I could hear gun shots and buzzing wind from his end so I think he wasn't lying.
I again leaned outside and started shooting at the men then one of the bullets hit me but luckily I was wearing a bullet proof vest and I shot him in the head, "Kate, ahead us!", Max yelled to me.
"Shit!", I cursed and climbed up on the roof of the car so that I can shoot in every direction but I was very much vulnerable from every direction as well.

I took careful aim and cleared the men ahead to clear the path but their bikes came in the way of our car and Max swerved the car like a snake to avoid them and before I knew I lost my balance and rolled down the roof of the car but I managed to grab on the back of the car to save myself but the enemies behind us fired at me and one of the bullets hit my arm and made me lose my grip. I hit my head on the something and closed my eyes readying myself for death but I don't know how it all happened or how he managed it but when I opened my eyes I was with him on his bike, "I called back up… I won't let anything happen to you…", he said and I don't know if he said more because I passed out just to wake up in the hospital.

Dad was a little disappointed with me, but he was happy that I lived. I somehow knew that they'll be pulling me off the mission and now I would only be given paperwork since my performance in my very first mission was pathetic. No one mentioned anything about the incident, they just said I did good but I knew I didn't; I would have been dead if not for Leon.

Later that night Leon came to visit me when I had fallen asleep. After a bit of trivial chit chat, I don't know why I told him about my concerns for mu future career, "what're you saying? They were totally impressed, the couple said that they want no one but us", he said to me, "Just get better."
"If they were impressed by me then, you had left a impression of yourself too", I said to him.
"Uh… I just saved you", he said scratching the back of his head.
"How did you, do that", I asked him with a smile.
"Don't you remember? Oh well, I doubted it; you were half conscious when I caught you falling off the roof of Max's car…", and he told me how he saved me and got me to hospital in time.

(Leon's POV)

I got back home early than usual and everything seemed to be too much quiet, and the silence scared me. My heart beat increased as I dragged my feet towards the kitchen. Kate was doing her work there but she was too still for doing work, "Kate", I called out to her but she didn't reply, she didn't even move. I moved close to her and saw she was just staring blankly at her cut finger which had already made a pool of her blood on the kitchen counters, "Kate, are you mad?! What are you doing?", I said wasting no time to put it in my mouth and she looked at me, something in her eyes made me leave her hand.

Kate moved to put a band-aid on her cut finger while my eyes just followed her every move, "Are you mad at me?", I asked her.
"Why would I be mad at you", she said and cleaned up the mess that was because of her finger-cut.
"I don't know you tell me", I asked her with a shrug.
"You asked the question so you should know", she said weakly cutting the vegetables.
"Everything that I do makes you mad, so what is it this time?", I stated the fact as I asked her the reason again.
"Leon, I am not in mood for any sort of argument right now", she said as her pace increased with chopping vegetables.
"So what you want to postpone it till you get in the mood? You always say that you're not in the mood but you always argue", I said crossing my arms and leaning on the counters.
"I argue with you?", she said literally throwing the knife in frustration.

"Yeah", I said closing my eyes, giving her the smirk that annoys her.
"I don't argue with you, you argue with me", she said to me.
"I have no interest in arguing with you", I said opening my eyes to look at her; she looked absolutely beautiful when she was furious.
"That's it, I had it with you", she said and walked out, "If I keep replying to you, you'll keep replying back, so I'll keep my mouth shut."

"So you won't talk to me?", I asked following her and she didn't reply, "You won't yell at me?", she pretended as she didn't hear it, "Even when I toss my shoes like this", I asked her tossing my shoes in random direction. One thing I learned staying with her that she likes everything in order, so when I tossed my shoes she glared at me and held her anger. She literally ran up the stairs to avoid me but I followed messing things up on my way.

"Leon stop it!", Kate finally broke her silence, "I am not saying anything it doesn't mean you can go around ruin my house", she said setting things in place.
"Your house?", I questioned, "My…"
"Yes my house", she said giving me a death glare. I couldn't help but smile at her and kissed her on cheek and she gasped and grabbed my collar, "How dare you?"
"Like this", I said kissing her again.
"I am so gonna kill you", she said shaking me wildly.
"It was just a stupid kiss", I said acting as if it was nothing.
"You perverse idiot", she said infuriated.
"Don't call me that", I said warningly a bit.
"You're a pervert", she said and we broke out arguing as if we had never argued before.

We both were saying things that were not making any sense. We weren't listening to each other and we knew the other was not listening either, even then we were talking fast trying to verbally over power each other as if it was a competition about who can talk more or who can talk longer. Then since we were out of words more of out of breath we both stopped at the same instant, the fact that we did that made us laugh and we laughed uncontrollably, forgetting about what was the reason this argument began in the first place.

That's when I remembered I liked her laughing more than I liked her furious at me, "You look beautiful", I told her.
Kate stopped laughing but there was a smile on her face, "Leon don't you ever get tired of flirting?", she asked.
"Nope", I replied following her again to the kitchen.
"Nope", she mocked my tone, "You always have an answer don't you?"
"Yep", I replied grinning.
"See", she said smiling resuming her previously left work. I watched her for some time when she said, "You want something?", I shook my head, "Then don't stare at me, it gives me Goosebumps , just run along do whatever you want to do okay."
"Okay", I said nodding but didn't move from the spot. Kate glared at me for not budging from the spot, "What? You told me to do what I want. I want to look at you."

(Kate's POV)

"Move out right now Leon", I said to Leon, waving the knife almost threateningly.
"But what will I do then?", he asked me innocently.
"Do whatever you like apart from looking, staring, spying, following or doing anything that disturbs me", I said to him, "Go watch news or something."
"Not interested", he told me and walked and sat on one of the small chairs, "How about we talk?"
"I said, do something that won't disturb me, if I don't concentrate on cooking then everything would get burnt", I said putting the vegetables in the pan.
"Then I'll take you out for dinner", he said picking up an apple and playing with it.
"God you're so stubborn, okay", I agreed, "but you have to eat this dinner if it gets burned you get me."
"Agreed", he said smiling.
"But I am not eating that you have to take me out", I said to him, thinking maybe he would change his mind.
"Fine with me", he said smiling even more.

"Okay so what you want to talk about?", I asked him.
"Anything", Leon said and I looked back at him.
"How was work?", I asked, knowing him he just wanted to talk and didn't even know what he wanted to talk about.
"It was terrible", he told me in an obvious tone.
"Ashley made you work hard today?", I asked put the lid on the pan and pot and moving to clean the counters.
"Nah, actually she's kind of upset now that she knows I am married", he told me, "She is kind of avoiding me."
"Oh so that's why it was terrible day for you", I concluded, "A pretty girl not happy in your company."
"Who cares about Ashley", he said airily, "My day was terrible because I kept thinking about you, that you are sad because of me." This made me look at him and he smiled which made me smile too, "But now everything is better, since you are somewhat happy."

"You know, you're weird sometimes", I said to him and he gave me a handsome smile. And just then his phone rang and he picked it up, said okay and disconnected, "Who was it?", I asked him.
"Your mom, invited us over for dinner", He told me in a casual tone.
"And you said yes?", I asked him in surprise.
"Yeah you heard me", he said innocently with a nod.

"Leon, what do you think that is", I said pointing to the dinner that was on the process of being cooked.
"Dinner?", Leon replied shrugging.
"Why you said yes to mom then?", I couldn't help but say.
"Was I suppose to say No?", he asked me dumbly.
"Yes", I replied to him emphasizing on the word.
"I said Yes only why are you complaining?", he said pulling up a oblivious expression, which slightly broke into a smile for a micro-second.
"Leon", I said trying to be serious and not to smile.
"Yes, Kate", he replied leaning close to me.
"Call mom and tell her we won't be there for dinner because I've already prepared dinner", I said it really slowly.
"Of course, we can't my mom lives in Chicago, she won't be expecting us", he replied sitting straight.
"Urgh… quit fooling around", I said furiously leaning close over him.
Leon broke out laughing, "It's funny to see you struggle", he said between laughs.

"You", I threw a punch at him furiously and he caught it and pulled me close, "Call mom now and tell her we can't come", I ordered him. Leon didn't answer and he just stared at me, the one stare that makes me uncomfortable, "Or leave me I'll call her."
I closed my eyes as he leaned in even closer, "Are you sure, you want to do that because our dinner is burnt?", he said and I opened my eyes and looked back, the pots were smoking like a furnace. I pushed Leon and rushed to turn off the gas, there was no doubt everything was burnt.

"Come on honey, we have to get ready your mom must be waiting. If we hurry up we can be there before time, dinner's at 8:00", Leon said and I looked back to find him smiling nothing less than deviously.
"You did that on purpose!", I yelled really furiously as he walked out of the kitchen.
"So what if I did", he replied shrugging as if it was nothing, as I followed him back to the bedroom.
"You're an idiot!", I cursed him.
"I know", he replied smiling, which was so contagious it made me smile too, "Come on we can be there half an hour ago if we hurry", he said and pulled me along.

A/N: Thanks for taking out time to read. I hope you all are enjoying the story. I apologize for any mistakes that caused any inconvenience in reading.