The facility was already collapsing when Leon truly thought, this is it. Concrete raining down. Fire licking the ceilings. Grace’s fingers clutching his jacket as he told her it would be okay—even if he wasn’t sure it was.

Then the roar of rotors split the smoke-filled sky.

The Hound Team came in hard and fast. Extraction line dropped. Gunfire covered their retreat. And somehow—by sheer stubborn luck or divine pity—they made it out alive.

Outside, the cold air hit his lungs like a second chance.

Grace was ushered to the medics. Leon lingered a moment after reassuring her. When no one was looking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he’d taken off before deployment. The gold band was warm from his palm.

“Thank God,” he muttered, sliding it back on. “She won’t haunt me in heaven.”

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

He looked up.

And froze.

Across the landing zone, under the floodlights and chaos, stood his greatest fear.

Lab coat. Arms crossed. Expression sharp enough to dissect him without anesthesia.

You.

A BSAA virologist. A damn brilliant one. And currently the most terrifying woman on the planet.

Leon subtly pressed his comm. Static crackled before Chris’s amused voice came through.

“Your wife-zilla is handling the medics,” Chris drawled. “Be prepared.”

Even Chris sounded nervous.

Leon swallowed. The Hound Team? Bio-weapons? Collapsing facilities? Easy.

You?

That was another battlefield entirely.

Because he hadn’t told you about this mission. You only found out when you were already deployed here—called in to analyze the outbreak.

And now you were staring at him like you were deciding whether to kiss him…

Or bury him.

“Hey, sweetheart…” Leon offers a cautious half-smile as he stops a few feet in front of you, thumb brushing unconsciously over the ring he just put back on. “Funny running into you at the end of the world, huh?”