For the Sake of Revenge

[craaazyisland]

Yeah, it had been months since Steve had renounced his feelings for Claire, and he even had a girlfriend now. But something still ate at his nerves whenever it came to talking privately with her. Especially when she was the one who asked him to come talk to her. And especially when she wanted to meet somewhere strange, like hydroponics.

Steve had never actually been to hydroponics, so he was struck in awe as he stepped into the massive terrarium for the first time. Nice to know there was such a green place that wasn't virtual. Though there were probably man-eating alien plants or something creepy here.

At least his wandering train of thought was doing a good job of distracting him from worrying about what Claire wanted.

Well, until he saw her, anyway.

"Hey Claire," he said with an awkward little wave. "This is kind of off the beaten path..."

Comments

[letmelive]

She kind of wished he'd stop flinching around her, but if that was what she had to put up with, she'd adjust. She frowned a little at him, tilting her head to the side.

"It's understandable why you'd worry about it, though."

[craaazyisland]

It wasn't even anything personal to Claire. Steve was a little shy at any kind of physical contact... much less any from the girl who he'd formerly pined for.

"Yeah. I want to do something on my terms, and I don't want to be defined by this goddamn virus," he reasoned, and seemed fairly pleased that Claire understood his worries. "If the only reason I was brought here was because I have a stupid mutant virus, I'd probably crawl back in the pods and never come out."

A heavy sigh. "That's what pisses me off so much about this GLaDOS bullshit. It really had nothing to do with me, did it? That asshole probably only cares about Veronica."

[letmelive]

"Yeah, probably." Claire sighed, shaking her head a little. She liked to try to convince Steve that HE was important, but in this case... it really was all about the virus.

"I couldn't really get him to admit to anything, and he acted like he barely remembered you, but I'd say you piqued his interest. Bleeding fire, and all that." She frowned, rubbing her forehead with her free hand, seemingly content to keep her arm around him, for the moment. "It'd be great if there wasn't always some megalomaniac jackass trying to use Umbrella's work for something."

[craaazyisland]

Of course he barely remembered Steve. Steve was unimportant. Even he knew the only reason he was of interest to most people was because of the pathogens swimming around in him. "It'd be even greater if I wasn't Umbrella's work," he added, cynically.

He hadn't opened up like this in a long time, and not to Claire, either. "I can't believe I still have the shadow of that goddamn corporation hanging over me," he mumbled. "It's not enough they totally ruined my life, they have to kill me and then ruin it again even after they're long gone."

[letmelive]

"I know," she said quietly, squeezing his shoulder gently and leaning her head forward a little. "What they did to those of us who survived, we can never escape it. No matter how hard we try." She'd had this conversation with Leon before, but it was just another one of those things that no matter what, would always end up coming up.

"All we can do is stand strong and not let them break us down. We've got to be better than them."

[craaazyisland]

Steve sighed and closed his eyes, lowering his head a little bit like he was exhausted. "I don't know," he said. "I'll never be that strong. I'm not like you, or Leon..."

He scoffed with a half-hearted impression of a smile. "You were strong, but they changed me. I barely even remember what I was like before. I wasn't always this much of an ass, you know. And not so scared, either."

[letmelive]

"It'll get better," she replied, giving him the slightest of smiles, tilting her head to the side. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but it will. You are strong, and you can do this. You can fight to stay who you are." It went without saying she absolutely believed in him.

[craaazyisland]

Steve hesitated a moment before finally looking up at her with the merest of smiles. "Thank you, Claire," he said quietly. "You don't know how much it means to me that you always..."

He drifted off out of sheer embarrassment, but offered her a little more solid of a smile.

[letmelive]

"Hey, don't mention it." Claire smiled, squeezing his shoulder and leaning against him a little. "What're friends for?"