Cleve

"Don’t worry, Claire. Your knight in shining armor is here."

- Steve, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

Cleve is the het ship between Claire Redfield and Steve Burnside from the Resident Evil fandom.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica
In December of 1998, three months after the Raccoon City Incident, Claire is still searching for her brother Chris Redfield. Her search takes her to an Umbrella owned facility in Paris where she is discovered and met with resistance. Claire attempts an escape, though is captured by Rodrigo Juan Raval, an Umbrella military commander and is shipped to the remote Rockfort Island facility. Hours later she awakens from being knocked out by a guard to the sound of explosions. Claire receives an opportunity when an inexplicable air raid on the island wipes out most of the island inhabitants and damages the majority of its structures. Unfortunately, the air raid also causes the accidental release of t-Virus samples and B.O.Ws, which spread quickly and wipe out the remaining survivors.

On the surface of the prison, Claire and Steve meet when Steve believes Claire to be a zombie. He fires a minigun at her, with Claire taking cover. She finds a handgun lying next to her and proceeds to fire at a spotlight, startling Steve. Steve throws his hands in the air, telling her not to shoot. Claire demands to know who he is, hearing her speak, Steve realizes she’s not a zombie. He tells her to wait and that he’s coming over. Claire keeps her gun pointed on him as Steve tries to explain himself, calling her “beautiful” in the process. The two exchange names, with Steve commenting that he’ll remember Claire’s name. Steve continues to explain that there’s an airport somewhere, once he finds it he can escape from the island. He suddenly ends the conversation and leaves Claire. Claire yells for him to wait and Steve tells her that he doesn’t want her following him, as she’ll only slow him down. With that, Steve leaves and Claire continues on her own.

Claire and Steve meet again when Claire finds him hunched over a computer, reading about Chris Redfield. Noticing that Claire and Chris share a surname, Steve asks if he’s a “relative of yours or something,” leading to Claire telling him that Chris is her brother. Steve informs her that Chris is under surveillance by Umbrella. With this new information, Claire makes the effort to connect Leon Kennedy, for him to let Chris know that he’s being monitored. Steve makes a lame joke about sending Chris the coordinates instead, with Claire snapping back that she will. Steve tells her that he won’t come, that Claire will just “end up disappointed if you relay on others”. Claire is sure that Chris will come to the island, leading to Steve storming out of the computer room. Claire is left there questioning, “What was that all about?”

Later, Claire makes her way for the Ashford Mansion, an Umbrella base, where she hears Steve’s cries for help. Claire manages to stop him from being crushed in one of the mansion’s traps. Steve emerges from the trap with two gold handguns, Lugers, and Claire wanting them. If Claire has something fully automatic, he’ll trade. Claire thinks, though after a moment of silence, Steve suddenly leaves again, with Claire yelling for him to wait.

Later, Claire is trapped in the mansion’s warehouse where Alfred Ashford unleashes a Bandersnatch on her. Once Claire successfully kills the first one, a second one jumps out and grips her by the head. Steve jumps through a window and shoots the creature, causing it to release Claire; he then proceeds to shoot it back against a wall, killing it. Steve turns around, telling Claire, ''“Don’t worry, Claire. Your knight in shining armor is here.”'' Steve reaches down with one of the empty golden Lugers, having unloaded all the ammo into the Banderstanch. In return, Claire gives Steve her also empty two fully automatic machine guns. Steve feels cheated when he realizes the guns are empty. Claire tells him where he can get more ammo, which has Steve allowing Claire to step on his back in order to reach it. Once the ammo is grabbed, Claire and Steve begin a decent into the B1 level under Alfred’s command.

Steve clears out all of the zombies from their path so Claire is able to go through easily. Once finished, he proclaims that the guns are “a lot more reliable than any person”. Claire is shocked, simply saying, “Than people?” Steve coldly turns away from her saying he “doesn’t want to talk about it” when Claire tries bringing up where his family is. Claire attempts to pry some more, which leads to Steve unloading a full round of ammo into a wall in frustration. Claire sadly looks on as Steve leaves for an elevator with Claire following moments later.

Steve waits for Claire to join him. Once she does, the walkway beneath them collapses, with Claire getting part way pinned beneath the rubble. As Steve is reaching for her, she warns him of a closing-in zombie. Steve turns to shoot it, though is stunned to see who it is, stumbling back. Steve closes his eyes and says he can’t. The zombie turns its attention to a still pinned Claire. It’s seconds from killing her when Steve finally moves; yelling, “Father!!” He unloads the remaining ammo into his father, saving Claire. Realizing why Steve had a difficult time, Claire is heartbroken to see Steve collapse onto his knees as he cries for his twice dead father.

Once freeing Claire from the rubble, Steve tells her of his father’s dealings with Umbrella, leading to him, his father and his mother being taken to the island where his mother was gunned down and he and his father are taken prisoners with his father becoming infected with the T-Virus during the air raid. Claire gently places her hand on Steve’s shoulder, telling him to rest as he continues coming to grips with his loss.

Awhile later, Claire is confronted by Alexia Ashford in her bedroom. Alexia aims to shoot Claire when Steve bursts through the door, taking a bullet to his shoulder for his troubles. Claire asks if Steve is alright, and Steve insists he’s fine, that he just has a “scratch”. The two then chase after Alexia as she runs through a secret door. They’re ambushed by Alfred, and Steve is able to kick him off without problem. Alfred turns to see himself in the mirror and screams, this making him run out of the room. They realize Alfred and Alexia are the same person; Alfred.

Out in the courtyard, the alarm sounds of self-destruct being activated and Claire and Steve see planes of the remaining survivors flying overheard. Seeing as they too should leave, they make for the airport with Steve taking the lead. Once Claire raises the bridge blocking their path, Steve takes the controls and flies them off the island. As they have a moment of peace, they stare longingly into each other’s eyes before Steve turns away and apologizes to Claire for causing her trouble when they first met. Claire tells him that it’s okay, as it was hard on the both of them. With Steve now having no family, he truly wishes Claire finds her brother as he knows “what it’s like to alone,” this breaking Claire’s heart.

Back on the island, Alfred takes control of their plane by autopilot, claiming he won’t allow them to leave. With their plane heading for an unknown location, Claire and Steve sit on the floor, Claire leaning on him with her head on Steve’s shoulder, asleep. Steve leans in to kiss Claire, when Claire shifts in her sleep, startling him back. Steve stands up and walks for the cockpit window, wondering where they are. He loudly questions this to Claire, waking her up. He figures out that they’re in the Antarctic when their plane descends rapidly for the ground and crashes through a building, knocking them both out.

Sometime later, Claire wakes up first. She nudges Steve awake, whose surprised they’re not dead yet. Steve kicks down the plane door and jumps down. He reaches up to catch Claire as she also jumps. Still in a weaken state, Steve falls over with Claire landing on top of him, and with Steve warping his arms around her. After a moment of awkward silence, Claire gets her off of him. Claire reaches down to help him up, though Steve denies the offer, standing up on his own. He insists they need to spit up, before running off a head.

Claire and Steve meet up again when Steve calls out to her about a drilling truck. As Steve is working the controls, Claire walks behind him and leans against a control box. Steve gets distracted by this, watching Claire look relaxed. Steve accidentally hits the drilling truck against a large pipe, releasing poisonous gas. As Steve is attempting damage control, Claire grabs him by his hand and hauls him out of the room. Steve angry with himself for that, saying, “It’s all my fault” Claire is quick to tell him not to say that, and that they’ll get out of there, together. With the gas as a new threat, they figure they’ll have better luck spiting up again to stop it. Steve runs off first, with Claire repeating about them both getting out of there together.

Claire manages to shut off the gas. Just has she turns the crank, Alfred appears from behind her and aims to shoot. Steve emerges from a doorway, while dodging Alfred’s bullets, is able to shoot him off the walkway, having him fall over the railing. As Alfred is standing up, he falls over the edge of a large sunken area of the ground. Claire and Steve use the drilling truck to drill through to the outside of the building where they attempt another escape. As Claire is about to make her way though, she stops dead in her tacks as the Nosferatu, a mutated Alexander Ashford, appears through the heavy snow. One of Nosferatu’s appendages hits Steve over the edge. Steve manages to hang by one arm when Claire runs for him, attempting to help him back up. Nosferatu inches closer when Claire tells Steve to keep hanging on so she can “wake” the monster. Steve insists she forget about him, before telling her to run. Claire is able to kill the Nosferatu and run back for Steve, pulling him back up over the edge. The two lay next to each other, catching their breath. Steve apologizes for failing her and Claire tells him not to worry about it. Once Claire has already walked away, Steve swears he’ll protect Claire “next time”. The two head for a snow truck where they make another escape attempt and drive off. Alfred, in the meantime, is not dead. He manages to make a slow pace for Alexia, secure in a tube. As Alfred is crawling up the stairs for her, Alexia awakens. Claire and Steve are hit by an unknown force, flipping their truck.

Hours later, Claire is found and rescued by her brother, Chris, in a replica of Spencer’s Mansion. Chris tells her they need leave the base when Claire insists they search for Steve. Chris agrees, when Alexia emerges above them on the second story level. She soon leaves with Chris and Claire realizing she might know where Steve is. As she disappears behind a door, a large tentacle breaks through the wall, destroying the walkway, causing Chris to fall and injury his knee. He tells Claire to go on without him and she follows Alexia’s direction.

Claire finds Steve deep in a medieval-like basement locked in a cell, strapped to a chair with a large ax across his chest. She releases his binds and attempts to lift the ax, though to no avail. Steve reveals Alexia wants to conduct the same experiment on him as she did to her own father, the Nosferatu. Steve starts complaining about not being able to breath and begging for help. Within seconds, he mutates, using the ax that once held him as a weapon against Claire. Claire manages to run for the gate of the cell as it closes between them. With nowhere to go, Claire leans helplessly against the wall in heartbreak watching Steve work at breaking down the gate. The tentacle breaks through again and crushes her in its tight grip. Steve breaks through the gate and is moments from killing her with the ax when he stops mere inches from her throat. Steve screams Claire’s name, before slicing down on the tentacle, saving her. The tentacle slams Steve hard against the back wall as it retreats back into the hole it made. Claire carefully makes her way for Steve, coming down a bit from his mutation form. Steve gently takes Claire’s hand; bringing it to his cheek, commenting on how warm it is. Claire begs Steve to hang on, that her brother is there. Steve tells her that her brother kept his promise, though he cannot. He tells Claire, ''“I’m glad that I met you. I… I love you, Claire.”'' Steve succumbs to the mutation, dying with Claire screaming his name, then shaking him and then crying onto his body.

Once Claire is found by her brother again, the entire base’s self-destruct is activated, Chris having activated it. After Alexia is killed by Chris, Claire is grabbed by Albert Wesker. Not being Wesker’s main target, he shoves her towards Chris when Chris catches up to them. Wesker taunts Claire about using Steve as a “good specimen,” as he still has a sample of the t-Veronica virus within him. Claire runs for him and screams, “Don’t you touch him!” Chris is forced to hold her back. A short time later, Claire escapes from the base with Chris, with Steve presumably being obliterated in the explosions.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica

 * Steve calls Claire “beautiful”.
 * Steve saves Claire from a Bandersnatch.
 * Claire gives Steve her two machine guns.
 * Steve allows Claire to step on his back for ammo.
 * Steve kills his zombiefied father to save Claire.
 * Claire gently places her hand on Steve’s shoulder, telling him to rest.
 * Steve saves Claire from being gunned down by Alexia.
 * Steve and Claire share a moment of staring longingly into each other’s eyes.
 * Steve apologizes for causing Claire trouble when they first met.
 * Steve and Claire sit on the floor with Claire resting her head on Steve’s shoulder, asleep.
 * Steve leans in to kiss Claire.
 * Steve jumps first from the crashed plane; reaches up to catch Claire as she jumps down.
 * Steve wraps his arms around Claire as she falls onto him.
 * Claire reaches down to help Steve up.
 * Steve gets distracted by Claire, watching her look relaxed.
 * Claire pulls Steve up over the edge.
 * Steve swears he’ll protect Claire.
 * After Claire found by Chris, she insists they then search for Steve.
 * Steve breaks through his mutation enough to spear Claire’s life.
 * Steve gently takes Claire’s hand; bringing it to his cheek, commenting how warm it is.
 * Steve tells Claire he’s glad he met her and that he loves her.
 * Claire tries to shake Steve wake.
 * Claire cries over Steve’s dead body.

Quotes
"Claire? Hmm, nice. I’ll remember that."

- Steve, after Claire gives her name, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

"Don’t worry, Claire. Your knight in shining armor is here."

- Steve, after he saves Claire from a Bandersnatch, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

"What took you so long? I was starting to get worried."

- Steve to Claire, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

"I swear I’ll protect you next time, Claire."

- Steve, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

"Your hand… warm."

- Steve, holding Claire’s hand to his cheek, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

"Don’t you touch him!"

- Claire to Wesker, about using Steve, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.

Fanon
Steve is Claire’s first romantic interest of the series, the two having mutual feelings for each other. Fans were expectedly disappointed when Steve ends up dying during their only game together. With Steve being dead and Code: Veronica being an older game of the series, the ship itself as become less popular over the years.

On AO3, Cleve has over 80 works in its tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Claire/Steve tag on FanFiction.net
 * Claire/Steve tag on FanFiction.net
 * Claire/Steve tag on FanFiction.net

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