Disclaimer: Resident Evil doesn't belong to me. Claire and Steve belong to Capcom.

Author's notes: Trying to kill some time and keep the people who don't have Darkside Chronicles yet entertained! Please enjoy! That'd be spoilers for Resident Evil Code: Veronica and Darkside Chronicles (maybe.) Based off of the scene at the end of RECV(x.) Really short one shot drabble. Enjoy! Reviews would be fantastic.

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"Oh, Steve...."

He had to hurt. I'd dealt with death so often in the last three months – Raccoon City and now this. I'd put so many zombies down that a situation like this – losing somebody I loved - had never even crossed my mind.

He was fighting. Fighting to stay awake. His breath was coming in ragged gasps. There was no sound in the cavernous room except for the sound of his pained breaths. He was shaking all over. His hands were quivering so hard he could hardly hold mine.

He took my hand, cupping it gently against his own face. His eyes were closed. A forced smile curved his lips. My hand made contact with his face and his pain seemed to ease. He nuzzled against my hand like a child. My palm fit so perfectly against his cheek.

"You're...warm." He said, voice hardly above a whisper. The words felt like another blow from one of Alexia's tentacles. It hurt. Hurt my heart, made it feel like it was going to burst out of my chest.

"Steve, You've got to hang in there. My brother's come to save us. We're gonna get out of here."

I knew what was going to happen. I tried to tell myself that he'd be okay. That he'd pull through this. We'd all go home, and he'd come to college with me. Chris would continue fighting Umbrella elsewhere, and he'd leave me behind with Steve. But I knew...

"Your brother kept his promise." There was another deep, shuddering breath. A quick glance downward and I could see deep bruises forming along his pallid chest. His ribs were broken. "I'm sorry I can't." His eyes were open now. Blue eyes fixated on my own. His grip was weakening. His skin was starting to become cold and clammy to the touch. The color was completely gone from his face.

"W-what? What are you saying?"

Another pained breath from the boy. It physically hurt me to watch him be in that much pain. His eyes were half-closed now. He didn't have the strength to keep them open anymore. I watched the energy drain out of him as the seconds ticked away. Tick tick tick. He was getting worse before my eyes... another three seconds that took him further away from me.

"I'm glad... that I met you." His smile widened. "I .... I-I...I love you, Claire." There was a soft exhale. His last breath wasn't as pained as his earlier ones.

"Steve?" Calm at first. Calmer than it should have been as my eyes were locked onto his corpse. I... could call him back to me. "S..Steve?" My throat was tight, tears springing to my eyes and my stomach felt as though it had been dipped in hot lead as the panic set in. "Steve!"

He wasn't breathing anymore. It hurt. I hurt. My heart ached, my lungs were so tight that it was hard to breathe. I felt like I was going to be sick.

He never even had the chance to stop running or to stop being afraid before it was all over.