Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rose didn’t know what was happening, as all she could remember that one minute is ending her Audio Diary for her son. Greg had already done his, and all of a sudden her hand was grabbed as they ran. What were they running from? Why was there screaming? She could stop whatever was happening but soon, a pain in her abdomen started to increase its presence. Was time already? Had 9 months really passed? Time with Greg was fast. It was so fuzzy, and all she could feel was being so numb and weak. Steven was coming, and she would have to leave very soon.

Greg helped the birthing process before he jumped back as his wife poofs all of a sudden. Looking around to see if anyone bad was going to attack him, he clears the basket in hand. He was going to hand his lover a lovely basket of flowers, but life had other plans. He took everything out and took his jacket off and put it in there. Gently picking up his son, he smiles as he softly puts his son in his basket. He puts the two Audio Diaries in the basket, covering the baby so he wouldn't get killed by some crazy person. Taking out a card, he writes nicely the boy's name before he feels something pierce his chest. Looking down, he sees that he is bleeding. He shakily puts the bloodied card in basket before laying down protectivily. 

" S-Sorry Stchu-ball... that I can't be there... for you... " 

Greg coughs up a lot of blood, before he stops breathing. The Civil war rages within the city that was suppose to be a utopia in the eye in it's creator. Instead it is a hellhole, with murders and crazed drug addicts roam the city freely. Greg Universe, a man so nice and caring but awkward laid dead at his son's basket. His love, Rose Quartz was no human but gem, and was to give up her form for the young baby to be able to be born into this world. The baby was mostly quiet in his basket, never making a peep but it started to get cold, and he started to get hungry. So, he started to whimper before crying for he deceased parents, wanting the warmth of someone. He, of course without knowing, attracted the wrong people. Splicers. People who were no longer human, but addicts who would do anything for their ADAM intake. 

" Oooh, What's this, a little runt? "

" Tch, it ain't got ADAM, it's worthless! "

" Ya think we should kill it for fun? "

" Of course! ta things annoying piece of shit! "

Two splicers hunched over, the first one had already taken the protective layer that was suppose to keep him hidden off. The second had his sickle near the baby's face. But... as faith would have it... The splicers weren't the only things that the baby attracted with his cry. There, watching them like prey, was a big sister who was a prototype of her series. She was a protector of Little Sisters, but to hear a baby’s cry for love, attention, and food... it made her want to protect the baby. Seeing that the splicers were getting too close for comfort near the baby, she screeches, in hope to drive them away. Of course, this worked, after all who would want to mess with something that sounds like a Big Daddy? The war rages on, but now It had been a day ago to That this all took place. It’s how the blood that was still somewhat fresh on the man’s body that made her come to such conclusions. Carefully, she looks down at the baby, whose eyes were still close. A newborn, and it’s parents seemed deceased. What a poor thing. The Big Sister looks over, to see the bloodied card with a name on it. 

  Steven Quartz Universe 

 She turned to see it was also a photo of the man and a women. Those have must of been Steven’s parents. Looking down, she would be smiling if she could show her emotions. First, she picked up the Audio Diaries and puts them safely on her before picking up the small child. Steven started to whimper, he must’ve been hungry, but the Big Sister had no idea what to do. Unless... with quick thinking, she took off with the photo, two Audio Diaries and a baby towards the hidden lair of Dr. Brigid Tenebaum. Surely, a women who takes care of the Little Ones, also known as Little Sisters, would know how to care for a baby. When she arrived, she stopped her tracks before hesitantly knocking on the vent. She could hear crawling, which was a good sign but she hoped that this Little One was not infected with ADAM. With her luck, it was just a normal little girl. 

  “ Hello Big Sister, anything you- Aaaawwww! A baby! “ 

  The little one found herself falling in love with the little baby in the Big Sister’s arms. Leaning in, the protector whispers something that only the little ones could understand before the little girl nodded. 

“ I’ll inform of Baby brother right away! “ 

  With that, she takes off back into the vent. Looking down, she thought about what the normal little one said. Baby brother, of course, if she could, she would smiling lovingly at the baby in her arms. Of course baby Steven was apart of the family, and although it was a strange family, it was family nonetheless. Vowing herself to devote her life in protecting the little bean in her arms for the rest of his life. Her radio came on, and a voice suddenly came on. It was Tenenbaum, luckily. 

“ I heard you found a babe. Quickly, head over to the train station, I have a formula here almost ready. “

The radio turns off, leading the Big Sister to gently put the baby in the basket. Using what she had, she gently tied him to the metal of the basket so he doesn’t fly out. Once finished, she puts it back on and starts to make her way towards the train station.  Quickly making her way safely and thoroughly through the rubble of was once a ‘ beautiful ‘ utopia of a city, though Rapture was anything but a utopia. A substance so strong in made people loose their god damn minds, the same substance could be put into a little girl’s body and make a reproduction of the substance. A man who unfairly ruled with a chain around his fist. Infusing a human bodies to hunk of bodies just like her. Sighing, she gets to the train station, knocking on the glass to get Tenenbaum’s attention. Pulling up the covering, the dark skinned woman watches as the prototype Big Sister takes out a tiny baby, whimpering out of hunger. The woman’s eyes soften, as she sends out a little one to go fetch the baby. 

“ The poor thing... it must have gone a while without food. I’m sending one of my little ones to get him, Subject Beta. “ 

Nodding, she stares at the nearby vent until seeing a little girl climb out and down from it. Kneeling so she was at the height of the child , she softly holds her arms it. The little girl was going to cautiously pick up the baby Steven until looking at the vent. Understanding the situation, she gets up and waits as the little one climbs back into the vent and holds out her arms. Gently placing the baby into the child’s arm, the girl carefully makes her way back into the small room. Going back to the booth, she’s shows Tenebaum the note, which was a photo of a tall  woman and man and then the two Audio Diaries. The woman takes a good look at the items before her as she takes them inside the booth. 

 “ I‘ll make sure he gets these when he is older. Now, about his survival, you wouldn’t mind being his own... personal Big Sister, would you Subject Beta? “

The Big Sister thought about, she wouldn’t mind taking care of this child. After all, she did feel a sort of connection with him. Although the Big Sister showed no face, Tenenbaum only smiled, knowing exactly what she was thinking. 

“ Well then, you are now Steven’s Big Sister. Now, onto important matters. Subject Beta, won’t you go find baby equipment? “ 

Nodding, the Big Sister makes her way into Rapture to find what baby Steven needed. The doctor turns around, looking at the little one holding the tiny baby boy in her arms, she smiled. She walks over, taking the baby out of her arms as the little girl gets down from the vent. Another little girl runs up to the doctor and gives her the bottle of formula that one of the little ones found a bit back. Holding the little one, she smiles down as she puts the nipple softly in Steven’s mouth, who held the bottle. It had been a long time since she took care of a baby, and it made her smile. Then, she notices the pink gem in his stomach, which furrowed her eyebrows. 

“ What is this, little one? “ 

She whispers to herself as she softly touches the pink gem where his belly button was suppose to be. She wouldn’t quiet be understand the gem on him when he was older. Sighing softly, looking down as she pulled the bottle out of his mouth, she smiled gently. 

“ You look like a little rose bud. I think... that shall be your nickname, little Rose Bud. “

She hums, as the little girls surround Tenenbaum as baby Steven slept soundly. 

Chapter Text

Soft hums filled the mostly empty room, as the drips of water leaking from somewhere in the room. A child, a young boy was collecting a red liquidly substance from a body. He was a short boy for being 12, his rose like brown hair was all curled and somewhat messy, his overalls had some patches, dirt, and blood over it as a pocket held a makeshift star that seemed to be made by a child. A worn blue shirt was underneath, being very dirty as the child seemed to wear no shoes or socks at all. He was a bit dirty, with some blood on his face and definitely on his feet. He had a small little hat, ones that poor newspaper boys would wear. There was a small opening in his overalls and shirt, revealing a little pink gem where his belly button should be. This was Steven, or Little Rose Bud he's called by Brigid Tenenbaum, and he's was a special little boy. ADAM, the red substance couldn't affect Steven like it could with other humans, so Tenebaum was testing his blood right now to see if it had any properties that could help the little girls known as Little Sisters get rid of all the ADAM in them. He was also called the ' Little Hope of Rapture ' because of the properties of his body. 

Steven was collecting some ADAM for himself, after all he needed to help miss Tenenbaum with her experiment that would help all his all the girls. He love all his sisters, well he considers them sisters since he grew up with most of them. He heard the platter of feet behind him, and scrapping of metal across the floor which made the rest of the color of his already pale face drain. He turns around to see a spider splicer, as starts to quiver, from Tenenbaum had told him, all he needed to do was scream. So, he did, clutching the little device he collects ADAM with as the splicer covered his ears in pain. With a growl, the splicer raised his sickle in the air. 

“ Won’t you just shut the fuck up, you stupid little runt! “

Steven covered his head as the sickle started to come down fast. But he never felt it land on, which means... Looking up, he could see his Big Sister, Beta, or Subject Beta as Tenenbaum calls her, violently impaling the spider splicer in the chest. She did her iconic screech with one throw, makes the splicer fly back and almost break through the wall behind him. He groans as the Big Sister walks to him. He cowards, raising his shaking hands in front of his face as blood seem to be pouring from a lot of the mutated wounds. 

“ P-Please, spare me! I won’t hurt ‘im ever again! “ 

But the splicer already made a fatal mistake going after the young boy, as with a snap, she incinerates they body before slicing down, starting from the head all away down to the crotch. Pulling back, the guardian watches as the flame start to die out, it was hard to distinguish if it was a body beforehand. Turning around, the Big Sister drops to her knee and checks the child, seeing if they were any wounds that were visible. Steven only smiled and gave a thumbs up. 

” Don’t worry, Beta, I’m okay now since you came along! Now then, I think I need to find another body, the ADAM doesn’t quite fill up the bottle and that may be a problem because my ‘ magical blood ‘- “

He moves his fingers up and down to emphasize on his ‘ magical blood ‘ before he giggles to himself. Behind the helmet, Beta couldn't help but to smile at the boy’s actions. Although he maybe 12, he was still very childish and pure, in her opinion, too childish and pure for the likes of Rapture. 

” might not work, and I want it to work! I want to help people as much as I can! You understand where I’m getting at, right Beta? “ 

She nods, holding her hands out so he could climb over her shoulder to the basket he decorated. There were drawings of little rose buds on the metal, and little stars on it too. Inside the basket there was a little blanket for Steven to cuddle into and some snacks if he got hungry. Truly, she was the best sister ever, and no one could match up to Beta. Snuggling into the blanket, he clutches the metal of the basket as she starts moving. Moving the blanket down a bit, he looks at his strange belly button, why did he have to be different? All of his sisters had normal belly buttons but he apparently had this... gem stuck in him. He asked Beta before but even she had no clue on why he had a pink gem belly button. It was a mystery, like so how he couldn’t get addicted to ADAM. From what Tenenbaum had told him, his blood just... didn’t like ADAM so it turned into something else completely before turning into blood again. Or when it was in his belly, it seemed to complete disappear altogether, like it never existed at all. Tenenbaum told him that if she could find out the middle part of when his blood isn’t blood, she could probably make it into something that healed people! That made him smile, he wanted to heal people. He didn’t like it when people got hurt unless they were splicers trying to kill him, even then they were once people. 

Steven felt Beta stop, as he stands up and looks over her shoulder. It was a strange gem like pad of sorts, as he tilts his head, they were here again? He wondered why she would stop here and just looked at it. Then again, it did look out of place in Rapture, since was bright and shiny. She tries to look over her shoulder as she pats his head softly. The kid giggle as he sat back down in the basket as she made her move. Since he lived with sisters who could detect when an ‘ angel ‘ had ADAM, he picked up a thing or two from them. 

“ Wait! That one has ADAM in it! “ 

Beta stops as he climbs on to her shoulder before she picked him up and set him down. Scurrying over, Steven sits down on his knees and takes out his little device. Looking behind him, he could see that Beta was on guard, making sure no splicer would attack him. So, humming softly, he sticks the needle of the device into the corpse as he starts sucking the ADAM out of it. Once the bottle was filled, he stood up and looked at Beta, showing the full bottle until... 

“ A UKULELE!!! “ 

He runs pass Beta, as she turns around. There laid a dirtied ukulele, but it seemed it hadn’t been touched in a while. Brushing off the dirt and dust, Steven tunes the little instrument and looks at Beta with stars in his eyes. 

“ Can I keep it please? That old one Tenenbaum gave me is broken. “ 

He quivers his lips as Beta bends down and picks up the child holding the ukulele. He smiled brightly as she sets him on her shoulder, as he proceeds to get into the basket. He clutched the ukulele close to him as she was off to go back to Tenenbaum. Steven looks up, as he could see a whale passing by from the glass on the ceiling. Rapture, the place he’s called home for some long, he’s never been to the surface as Tenenbaum talks about. Apparently there is a thing called the ‘ Sun ‘ on the surface, and the people there are actual people and are nothing like splicers. His tired eyes go half lidded, he wondered how warm the sun is, all he knew that it was warm. He longed to feel it on his skin, and the people on the surface, he wondered how they acted. Are they nice? Are they mean? Do they like to play the ukulele like him? He wondered if there was little boys like him, and if there are little girls who are different from his sisters down here. A pat on his head signified they were home, that they were back in the comforts and safety of Tenebaum’s hideout. Getting down from Beta, he scurried over to the vent, climbing up into the hole and making his way to the ticket booth.

Beta gave Tenenbaum the Ukulele and ADAM collecting device that Steven has, in turn the dark skinned women smiled. He pops out from the other end, in which all his sisters yell in excitement. Steven gets down and instantly gets bombarded by hugs, as he laughs and hugs as many as he can back. Tenenbaum makes her way through the crowd of children as she pats the young boy’s head. 

“ I see you had a very eventful day. “ 

“ I did! I should tell you all about it! “

Steven starts to ramble about his day, exaggerating here and there and walk around in circles. The little ones listened to Steven intently as Tenenbaum chuckles here and there. She replaces the the nipple of the bottle with a needle, before calling Steven over. The boy happily walks over and waves at Beta through the window, who waved back. Climbing on to the counter, he sits down and raises up his arm. Taking the syringe, she slowly pierces it through the skin and injects the ADAM into Steven. After pulling it out, she pats it down with rubbing alcohol and putting a nice clean band aid on the skin.

" There, now we wait for 3 hours, that's when the blood becomes the state it is in the middle. " 

The kid nods as he jumps down from the counter, running over and climbing up the vent. Tenenbaum only smiles, that child was independent, he didn't need anyone to tell him what to do. Steven runs over and climbs up on to Beta and gets into the basket. 

" I want to explore... That weird gem pad thingy! …Please? " 

Beta soon was off with Steven, going to explore the underwater city to his heart content. He loved this place even though it could be full of dangers, there was just new stuff to see, new Audio Diaries to listen to, and new stuff to collect as own personal items. It was home, it wasn't a very safe home, but it was home to Steven, and he wouldn't want anything to change at all.

Chapter Text

He pat the flat surface, it was surprisingly clean and smooth for something being in Rapture. Beta was no where to be seen, as she had hidden herself amongst the darkness of the ceilings. Steven looks around the strange pad, to see any clues on why it was here, and what it was needed for until seeing an Audio Diary. Steven had seen many Audio Diaries around Rapture, they were common in the past to just recorded it as if you were talking to someone, just like a normal diary. The picture showed of someone he had not seen before, but what captivated him was that on her forehead seemed to be an... egg??? Looking at his belly, he looks at the picture again, maybe she... was like him... did that mean there was people on the surface who also had a gem on their body. The very thought of not being the only one made him excited beyond belief! He turns it on, seeing what this... ' Pearl ' had to say, hey she had a gem for a name! 

" … Is... Is this this even on? Oh... good... I can't believe Rose started seeing a human man as her love interest! I'm way better, I should've been one for her, but she was more interested in the man. She says that ' Greg ' is so funny, and has a lot of things to say. I can make her laugh and smile, I can teach her about things but she insists that this... man is for her. I honestly don't see what she sees in him, he acts like a human child more than anything... but... he makes her happy, so I have to give him that. Anyways, I think I'll just be spending my time at the temple, it hurts me to see them together and not have it be me. Luckily, Andrew Ryan let us build a warp pad here in Rapture. Well, that's all I have to say. Pearl out. " 

Steven tilts his head, who was this Pearl and why was she so angry that her friend for finding love? That didn't matter, all that he knew that this ' warp pad ' was made because this Pearl and her friends were allowed to make it. So that was a clue, he smiles before hearing a strange activation noise and could somewhat see a bright light from behind him. Jumping down, Beta shields little Rose Bud as he hides in her arms. She picks him up and rans towards the corner of the room and jumped up like a spider using one arm to clutch the wall as the other held Steven tightly. Once the light dimmed, Steven looks down at the ' warp pad ' below and sees a pink girl, her hair was up in two buns, and seemed to wear a white shirt with puff pink shoulder things, funny looking pink pants and pink shoes. It seemed to Steven that this girl really liked the color pink a lot. Watching her, he could see that she was angry before looking around her, in shock and curiosity as if she wasn't meaning to come to Rapture at all. 

Steven looks at the ceiling once Beta started to move downwards fast, there was a spider splicer. Running over, she places Steven by the girl, viewing her as ' safe ' after observing her previous actions she jumps upwards to slash at the splicer. Spinel and Steven look at each other, as Spinel's look held fear and distrust while Steven's held hope, stars and curiosity in his eyes staring at the girl before him. He instantly took notice of the heart shaped thing poking off her chest and smiled widely as she took a step back. 

" W-Who are you? What was that, that thing that put you down? Where am I? What is the thing fighting? Why are you looking at my gem like that? "

" Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, I'm Steven or Rose Bud, either one is good. That was Big Sister Beta, she let's me call her Beta but she prefers others to call her Subject Beta. This is Rapture! My home, and that's a splicer, well a spider splicer and... "

That's when she saw the pink girl's eyes look down at his open belly button, which held his strange pink gem there. She looks at Steven before muttering something under her breath. Before Steven could ask, she pulls him away, off the warp pad as a thug splicer went and broke the pad. The boy was going to say thank you as Beta finishes the spider splicer and attacks the thug splicer when he saw the terror in her eyes. 

" No... NO! My only way home! I... I didn't mean to come here, I just got so mad at Pearl being so... bossy to me! I didn't mean to be trap here. " 

Tears started to fall down her cheeks as Steven panics, what does he do?? None of his sisters ever really cried nor did he, they just accepted reality as it was. While she was crying, more splicers came, as Beta tried to hold them all off, she could see that there was one behind the two of them. Noticing the Big Sister's glance behind them, he could see a wrench coming down fast, so on instinct, he grabs the pink one and holds her close to him, willing to take the impact. But... the impact never came, as the Steven looks up to see pink. Looking around, it seemed they were in a pink bubble as he look down at his belly button. It was glowing as Spinel stares at him. 

" You... you saved me. " 

He looks at the pink girl dead in the eyes, as all color drained from his face. The girl's smile slightly fades. 

" I don't know how I did this nor do I know how to get out of this thing. "

" Oh... " 

" But it's cool! I've never done anything like this before? "

" Seriously... ? "

" … Yeah... " 

It was silence before a tap made itself apparent on the bubble, making the jump before Steven smiles and puts a hand on the bubble's interior surface. 

" Beta! Can you try to pop the bubble, I don't know how I did this in the first place. "

The Big Sister nods as the two move to one side so they don't get stabbed by the Subject's Beta's weapon. 

" Okay, it's my turn to ask the questions. What's your name? Where do you come from? How did you activate that ' warp pad ' thingy? Do you really know Pearl? I only know her because of the Audio Diary she left down here. Oh, and you're like me too with having a strange gem thingy on you. " 

The pink girl looks at Steven, with a strange look as she responds. 

" I'm Spinel, I come from Beach City. I... I just did because Gems can automatically activate the warp pad. I do, I live with her and what's an ' Audio Diary '? And of course I have a gem, all Gems have a gem, it's their very being.... did you not know that as a Gem? " 

Spinel looks at him curiously as Steven gets confused before the two jumped again in fright as Beta manages to pop the bubble. He looks at her strangely, like as she was wearing something funny on her.

" Gem? "

" Yeah, you know... Gems? The Crystal Gems? We save planet Earth from Homeworld, do you not know what Gems are, Steven... ? "

Steven only looks at her as he climbs up onto Beta's shoulder, before shaking his head and whispers something to Beta as he holds his ear close. He then looks back at Spinel once their ' conversation ' was over, although to Spinel it just looked like Steven was just talking and Beta didn't respond at all. Actually, it just seemed to her that this ' Big Sister ' doesn't talk at all since she didn't say anything during the fight, beforehand or now. 

" Beta and I don't know what you're talking about, but we know someone that might! She also could get you home since earlier you seem to really wanted to go home to this Beach City place badly. " 

Holding out his hand, Spinel takes it with caution and was pulled up. Although Beta didn't completely trust this... pink skinned person, she seemed nice enough and didn't hurt Steven. When the both of them got in the basket, Beta started to make her way through Rapture before getting surrounded by other Big Sisters. Halting in her tracks, the speakers come on to reveal HER voice, Sofia Lamb. 

" Subject Beta. The first of your series... you seem to possess such a... extraordinary child right there, I never seen a child with such... powers to per say. Now, if you want to live, all you got to do is give me the child and you can go about protecting other Little Sisters. But, if you choose to disobey, all these Big Sisters that came after you will tear you to shreds to give me that... special little boy. Would you do it for me...? Or will you be a disobey and let yourself die in the hands of those who came after you. "

Steven seemed to be nervous, but Beta kept her stance. This child... the little one she found as a baby, who was all defenseless, this child she raised to the young boy he was now... She wasn't going to easily give Sofia Lamb she wanted, after all this was HER little brother, and he wasn't some thing to experiment on. Grabbing the child, Spinel watched in tension as she almost set Steven down on the ground. Almost. She started running, to the nearest vent in which she quickly and gently shoved the child in. Then she does the same with Spinel as Steven cries out Beta's name as She looks into the vent before running out, leading the other Big Sisters astray. Spinel just push Steven further into the vent as his face gave a look of distraught. 

" I... I can't believe she's willing to risk herself to become a traitor in Sofia's eyes for me... " 

Steven's voice quivered, as if he was holding back a lump in his throat as he crawled through the tunnel like system. Spinel only followed as she sighs sadly, but tries to cheer him up. 

" Well, that just shows how much she loves you. I mean, that's what all ' Big Sisters ' on the surface do. "

Her attempts of trying to cheer Steven up were useless, he was quiet for the time being. That was until he started to speak. 

" Everything was perfect, you know? We lived in peace, for the most part. Then you came along... and it's like I activated a part of me I never knew of... which is awesome... but I guess all good things come with a price, huh? "

Spinel could only frown... she really just ruined this boy's life, huh?

Chapter Text

They’ve been crawling in this vent for quite some time now. Spinel had no idea what to say to the boy in front of her, leading her to Diamond knows where. At this point, she began to ponder if the rest of the Crystal Gems are worried for her at the moment. All she could do was sigh. Steven stopped and turned to her, his eyes filled with worried.

“ Hey, are you okay? “

“ Oh yeah... just thinking about some thoughts is all. “

She smiled widely. Steven honestly quite interested her, as she’s never met a gem who didn’t know they were a gem. He suddenly stopped, which made her ponder until she saw light. He turns around and starts climbing down, ushering her to follow along with his hand. And so, Spinel followed such action before hearing muttering and whispering behind her. After landing her two squeaky shoes on the floor she turns around to reveal a lot of little girls. They all look somewhat similar to each other. Steven had a huge smile on his face as moved his arms to show them off.

“ Welcome to our hideout, Spinel! These are all my sisters. Everyone, say hi to Spinel. “

There was the quiet ones who only made a squeak when saying hi. Then there was the loud ones who bellowed a hello. Then there was girls who said a normal hello. Some glared, some smiled. Some looked worried, others looked relaxed. The pink heart shaped gem found quite amusing in all honesty. She felt the boy grab her hand softly and started to lead her somewhere in this hideout. She started to really look around her surrounding. It was an old train station booth, all run down and old as there were leaks here and there. Then there was a window. Spinel softly pulled her hand out, making Steven confused. She walked over to window, and watches all the fish swim by along with sharks and whales.

“ Are we... Are we really at the bottom of the ocean? “

“ Yeah? This place is called Rapture. I’m sure you heard about from the Pearl person, right? “

The gem could only shake her head as her eyes continued to stare out the window.

“ No, not at all. I didn’t even know this place existed. Pearl never really spoke of this, neither has Garnet or Amethyst. “

Steven stayed silent for a bit as he watched the wonder and curiosity fade into a frown.

“ You know, this view reminds me of a place I’ve been in for a long time. “

The boy perked up as he continued to listen.

“ I was there my whole life basically. And it was so beautiful. I had a best friend who I cared for deeply. “

The gem bit her lip as she continued the story.

“ One day, she told me that we should play a little game. And she told me to stand very still. And I did, as I watched her drift away. “

Spinel was about to continued until a voice she never heard seemingly came out of nowhere.

“ And who might you be, little one? “

Turning around, the pink alien was faced with a women who looked to be in her 50’s. Although she was old, she was very pretty to Spinel at least.

“ Oh! This is Spinel, Tenebaum! She came from this gem pad thingy called a ‘ Warp pad ‘ and is from the surface! She wants to go back home so I was hopping you could help us? “

Tenebaum, the women, chuckled and patted the boy’s hair. He gets all pouty as she walks over to the heart shaped gem.

“ I haven’t seen a Crystal Gem in years, but I didn’t think they would have a new member over the years this place started to rot. “

“ You know Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst??? “

Stars lit up in Spinel’s eyes. Hope of being able to get out of here and go home started to grow within her.

“ Indeed I did. But why can’t you use the warp pad to get back to surface? “

“ A splicer broke it, Tenebaum. “

Tenebaum groaned, and then sighed. She then looks at Steven with his little gem. She knew all along he was half gem, it was the fact that gem like aliens from space that took the female pronouns that she knew he was wouldn’t believe in. She looks at the time before realizing she would have to extract some of the blood to examine.

“ Alright. I’ll help you get back to the surface Spinel. As for you Steven, I’ll need to take some blood from you. “

“ Oh yeah! Because my body hates ADAM. “

Tenebaum chuckles as she leads the boy to another room where Spinel couldn’t go. The pink gem groans as she sat herself down on the dirty floor.

“ Now what can I do? At the moment, I can’t go home because the warp pad is broken and I don’t know how far this city is from the temple. Besides, I genuinely only know Steven and all his sisters kinda creep me out. And also this place is kinda scary with its corrupted looking humans. “

She looks down at the floor before frowning at the small pool of water showing her reflection.

“ I miss the gems. I miss everyone. I hope they know I’m missing and will go looking for me. “

Her face then contorts into anger.

“ Tch. I doubt Pearl would even look for me because after all, I am just ‘ Rose Quartz’s replacement ‘ and ‘ I don’t really matter ‘ “

She tried imitating Pearl’s voice while shapeshifting her head to look like Pearls.

“ Stupid Pearl. “

Steven came walking out, as Spinel quickly shapeshifts her face back and wipes away any tears that made themselves present. She didn’t want to show Steven any her small problems, as they had bigger things to worry about. Such as finding away to get home and helping his Big Sister. The boy smiled and held out a hand.

“ Wanna get a tour around Rapture? I know how to make sure to stay out of Sofia Lamb’s way so we don’t get in trouble. “

He winks as the pink gem blushes and smiles.

“ Sure. I mean, you have that bubble thing, don’t’cha? “

“ I guess so! Let’s go! “

He leads the way towards the vent and climbed up in it. He waved his sisters a bye as they all waved back. He lends out a hand for Spinel, who gladly accepts it. She gets in as Steven leads the way to their new adventure so it seems. Once they get to another vent entrance, he climbs down and helps Spinel down too. The pink heart shaped gem looked at the view in front of her in awe. There were trees in a city that was at the bottom of the ocean.

“ This is Arcadia! This place is what gives Rapture it’s oxygen. C’mon! This place has a lot of cool stuff I can show you! “

Grabbing her hand softly like before, he leads her to a place where there were patterned sliding doors with flowers on them. And when they went in, she was in awe.

“ This is so pretty! And look, there’s a little stream. “

Her smile fades as she looks around the place. This reminded her of the Garden as she sat on one of the small bridges.

“ What’s wrong? “

Steven frowns, sitting by her and looking the gem who seemed to be gloomy. She snaps out of it before smiling and waving her hands.

“ Ah, dont worry, it’s just bad memories is all. “

Her face pales as a figure appeared from a red smoke that was behind Steven. It brought its gun towards the boy’s head as Steven turns his head to his side.

“ Spinel? “

“ Steven. We gotta go. “

She grabs his hand and they jump into the water as a loud bang goes off.

“ You can’t get away from me, ADAM carriers! “

Crouching down into the tunnel of sewage water, before panted heavily before looking at each other.

“ Now what do we do? “

The boy looked shocked and scared. He looked down at his feet while quivering.

“ I don’t know. I would usually have Beta around who would be able to kill splicers... But she’s not here so I don’t know. “

Tears started to well up in his eyes as Spinel hugs him. Both sat in a tunnel only they could be in and sat there as the boy sobbed. What were they going to do now?

Chapter Text

After awhile of crying, Steven rubbed his eyes and looked at the now sleeping Spinel. He didn’t know that gems slept, then again he didn’t there was a race of humans called gems. Poking his head out, he examines the are to see if the Houdini splicer was still around. Luckily, he didn’t see any while in the canal. Moving Spinel off of him gently, he quietly makes his way out to examine the area above. Jumping and grabbing the edge, he pulls himself up to higher ground. He saw no splicers, making him sigh in relief. He jumps back down to go tell Spinel that the coast was clear. He frowns when he realizes that Beta wasn’t around to help them. Looking behind him, he spoke in a whisper.

“ I hope you’re okay, Beta. “

He faces forward and walks towards the tunnel quietly. Squatting down, he shakes the gem softly to wake her. She groans and opens her eyes, blinking until they focus. She smiles and sits up.

“ What’s up, Steven? “

“ The Houdini splicer that was after us is gone. So we can go to the vent and find a place safer to explore! “

Spinel and Steven stood up and went over to the wall. Steven jumped and grabbed the ledge. Spinel, however, stretched her legs up and stepped over the ledge. Steven looked at awe with stars in his eyes and he sat up.

“ That. Was. Awesome! How did you do that??? “

“ I dunno. I’ve always been able to do that. “

The boy grabbed her hand and rushes over to the nearby vent. But before they could make it, Spider splicers jumped down from the ceiling and blocked them. Behind them, Houdini splicers appeared with their weapons.

“ Looks like we’re getting some ADAM boys. “

One of the Houdini splicers said. They all chuckled as they closer to the two. Spinel closes her eyes before opening them, revealing a determined look. She holds up her fist in a boxing stance, being ready to fight.

“ What are you doing, Spinel??? “

“ I’m a Crystal Gem, and the Crystal Gems fight to defend Earth. Er, at the moment I fight to defend us. “

She had a goofy smile as the splicers go in to attack. Spinel makes a big fist and swung it around the splicers. While dazed, Steven took Spinel’s hand and ran the other direction, huffing and puffing. The pink gem looks behind to see the Spider splicers following on the ceiling. Steven finds another vent, smiling, but the Houdini splicers beaten them to it. Appearing in front of the vent, they ready their weapons as the two stop in their tracks.

“ Do you have another idea, Spinel!? “

“ Uh... I don’t know! “

They were trapped, and only one carried ADAM. They held each other’s hand and waited for their end to come. But... it never came. A roar made itself clear as day and smashing of skulls against walls were heard. Steven and Spinel looked at the direction to see a Big Daddy using its drill against a splicer. It drilled into the stomach, as intestines wrapped themselves around the drill. Blood was flying everywhere as the splicer screamed in agony. It pulled away, making the intestines fly and land on a Houdini splicer’s face. Soon enough, the Big Daddy pulled out a machine gun. Shooting the last and only splicer alive, it made sure that the bullets pierce the body. Once it was done on it’s killing spree, it looked at the child and gem. Steven was shocked and happy that someone came to their rescue. Spinel, was a lot more shocked and surprised. She didn’t know how to respond as she never seen a fight so violent before. Not even the Crystal Gems fought battles like this one.

The Big Daddy walked over to the children, kneeling down and checking to see if they were alright. Spinel snapped out of her daze and looked at the Big Daddy. For some reason, the glow from the glass (where you would be able to see the face but couldn’t since it was fogged) emitted a caring glow. The Big Daddy groaned, and Steven was quick to respond.

“ Yeah! We’re alright! We’re not harmed. “

He smiled as the Big Daddy was now groaning at him. Steven nodded and looked over to Spinel.

“ He says his name is Subject Delta, but we can call him Delta, and he can take us back to the train station safely! “

“ Well, that’s good! Thank you Delta for saving us. “

Spinel smiles as Delta as he lends out his arms to let the two up on his shoulder. They climb up onto his shoulder as he started walking around Arcadia to find the exit.

“ Hey. Thanks for trying to stop those splicers Spinel. “

The pink gem looks over to the boy in overalls, who smiled softly at her. She smiled back and winked.

“ Its no problem Steven. After all, that’s what friends do. They help each other in dire situations. “

Steven blinked at the heart buns girl, confused.

“ You... consider me a friend? “

“ Of course I do! What else are we? “

She wasn’t expecting to be suddenly hugged. She looks down to Steven, who looked up with tears in his eyes.

“ I’ve always wanted a friend... “

Spinel hugged back.

“ Me too, Steven. And now we have each other. “

They pulled back and watched as Delta lead them back to Tenebaum.

Chapter Text

“ YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS RIGHT NOW! “

Pearl grabbed at her hair in frustration at the pink gem in front of her.

“ What! I only did what you asked of me! “

The Crystal Gems has just warped back to the temple from a mission. Pearl had asked Spinel to tie down the corrupted with Amethyst so they could poof it. However, because Amethyst was busy helping Pearl and Garnet, she thought she could do it on her own. When she did tie it down with her arms, the corrupted had flung her off.

“ I asked you to have Amethyst help you, but you did it own and look what ended up happening! “

The corrupted had escaped the grasp of the Crystal Gems, so they couldn’t poof or bubble it. But Spinel could only glare.

“ Amethyst was busy helping you and Garnet, Pearl! I thought I would be at least strong enough to hold it down! “

“ Well you aren’t strong enough! And now we failed our mission because of you! “

Garnet and Amethyst could only watch the scene in front of them. The purple gem could only hold a concern look on her faces as she looks up to the deep red gem.

“ Uh, G, what can we do to stop them fighting like this? “

“ At the moment, nothing. But when they leave to calm down, we’ll talk to Pearl first and then Spinel. That will make them make up with each other. “

They continued to watch as the pale and pink gem go at it. And with it, continue to make harsh insults with each other.

“ WELL, YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A POINTY BOSSY BIRD FACE. “

Pearl gotten all red in the face and soon finally snapped at Spinel.

“ WELL, THE ONLY REASON WE EVER GONE TO THE GARDEN AND BROUGHT YOU BACK HERE IS BECAUSE YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A REPLACEMENT. “

The pale gem huffed and made a smirk before realization hit her. She covered her mouth and looked down at Spinel. The pink gem’s face went from being pissed off and pouty to suddenly filled with shocked and sadness.

“ W... What? “

“ Spinel, I didn’t mean what I said- “

“ Enough. “

Pearl looked at Garnet, who had took off her visor off at this point.

“ We need to talk, Pearl. “

Although Garnet held a calm look, the tension she gave off said otherwise. Amethyst walked over to Spinel, who was already making a waterfall with her eyes. She made no sound while crying though as the purple gem started speak.

“ Hey, I know that hurts. Trust me, I’ve gotten into plenty of P arguments myself. She can be hurtful but she doesn’t mean it at the end of the day. “

She lays a hand on the puffy shoulder pad before the pink gem yanks it away. She looks at Amethyst.

“ Who am I replacing. “

“ What? You ain’t- “

“ WHO AM I REPLACING, AMETHYST? “

Spinel’s lip was quivering as she glared at all three of them. Garnet stood quiet, Amethyst was trying to calm her down but Spinel kept pulling away. It was Pearl who spoke.

“ Rose Quartz. But like I was going to say, I didn’t- “

“ So this whole time I was nothing but this ‘ Rose ‘ person’s replacement. “

This time, they looked away shamefully. Spinel stomps her foot and runs towards the warp pad, glaring at the three Crystal Gems before being warped away to who knows where. It stayed silent for awhile, no one making a sound. Not a peep.

“ You’re going to have make it up with more than just an apology, Pearl. “

“ I know Garnet. I said something that I shouldn’t. She isn’t a replacement. Not at all. I was only angry. “

Pearl covered her face, while Amethyst walks away from the situation since Garnet has Pearl handled.

A few hours go by, and the warp pad hadn’t even turned on once, and it was starting to concern the Crystal Gems. They checked around Beach City just to make sure that if Spinel did warp back when they weren’t there and went into town. They found out that no one had seen her all day except this morning before the mission. At this point, Pearl was freaking out.

“ What if I made her so mad and sad that she never wants to come back her ever again? What if she went to defeat that corrupted to show that she wasn’t a replacement and her gem got cracked? WHAT IF SHE SHATTERED BY A HOMEWORLD GEM THAT WAS OUT TO GET US!!!??? “

Pearl screamed while running around in circles. Garnet puts a hand on her shoulder to stop her from running away.

“ Pearl. We’re all worried about Spinel whereabouts but this isn’t the time to freak out. “

Pearl takes deep breaths but clutched her hair.

“ Garent! We have to find her! I have to find here and apologize to her. Do you have any idea where she could be??? “

The fusion looks away and shakes her head as Pearl continues to scream. It was very chaotic time, and they had no idea that the pink heart shaped playmate may be deep in the ocean far away in a forgotten underwater city...

Chapter Text

A familiar area had reveal itself to a very sleepy Steven and a very awake Spinel. The pink gem shakes Steven softy to wake him.

“ Steven, we’re back at the train station. We should get going before we take up more of Delta’s time. “

Steven nods tiredly as they both slid off the Bog Daddy. Spinel looks at Delta and smiles.

“ Thank you! “

The pink gem holds the boy’s hand softly. Steven rubs his eyes softly until a screech made him pull away and widen his eyes. He knew that screech and who it exactly belong to.

“ BETA! “

He cried, turning around to see his Big Sister jumping down from somewhere high above near the ceiling. She screech, the glass glowing a deep red. Steven had never ever see a red that deep coming from her. Thee two turn when a handheld radio on Subject Delta gave off a static sound until a Tenenbaum’s came through.

“ Try not to kill her, Subject Delta. That is Subject Beta, and that little boy you saved is her Little One. She’s under the influence. “

The Big Daddy groan, getting out his machine gun and putting amour-piercing bullets. Spinel drags Steven, who was shocked and worried about his Big Sister, to the nearby vent.

“ Steven! Are you there? Earth to Steven! “

The boy looked at the pink gem, unable to fathom that his strong sister was being controlled by someone. Most likely Sofia Lamb but he couldn’t just put the blame on someone without evidence.

“ ... I can’t leave here until I know my sister is back. “

“ But you can be killed if we stayed out here while they battle! “

Steven narrowed his eyes in confusion, before looking up and at her.

“ What do you mean I get killed? Don’t you mean we? Unless there’s something you’re not telling me. “

Spinel started to get nervous. She never told Steven about poofing since he never asked for it and never poofed in front of his either. It wasn’t like she was intentionally hiding information from him.

“ You misunderstanding the situation, Steven. I don’t mean to hide info from you. “

But the boy was stubborn.

“ You know friends are suppose to tell each other everything? You can’t just hide from me! “

Adverting her eyes, her hands start to shake as Steven stood up and walked towards her.

“ I’ll tell you! Just calm down! “

She was speaking, but because of all the noises from the fight between the Big Daddy and Big Sister, it went unheard.

“ Repeat that! “

“ It’s called poofing and we do it when our forms that are made of light get damaged. You don’t have to be harsh to me! “

And with that, Spinel ran away from her argument again, but this time she felt as if she was in Pearl’s place. Being unheard when a child is yelling at you for withholding information from them even though it was basically for the better. Steven instantly felt bad and regretted the way he acted to his first and only friend. He was stressed because his Big Sister wasn’t completely herself. But that didn’t give him the right to lash out on Spinel like that.

The red from the glass face that Beta wore started to dim down and soon enough was gone after minutes of battling. She fell on her knees, breathing heavily from the looks of it from her chest going up and down slowly. Subject Delta walked towards the Big Sister cautiously before kneeling in front of her, checking if she was alright. Beta looks up, as they spoke for a bit through groans and moans. A language only other Big Daddies, Big Sisters, Little Sisters, and Steven could understand. With that, Delta holds out a hand for her and thus Beta takes it. Helping her up while getting up himself, they shake hands as if making some sort of deal. Delta’s radio goes off once more to reveal Tenenbaum once more.

“ Good job for not killing her, Subject Delta. I know it must have been hard as other Big Sisters are not like Beta. But I’m glad that you two have become allies. You can now continue your mission on saving your little one, Delta. “

While an alliance form and Subject Delta continued on with own story, Beta noticed a sad looking Steven sitting against the vent. She walks over to him, sitting on her knees as she puts a hand gently on his cheek. He looks up, cheeks stained with tears as his eyes held them back.

“ Beta, I think I ruined my first and only friendship. “

Chapter Text

All she knew that she was running through a city she didn’t even know at all. First it was Pearl that hurt her feelings... no... it all started with Pink. Pink left her in the Garden. All alone. By herself. For Diamond knows how long. If the Crystal Gems didn’t find her, how long would she have waited? Pink was the start of this, and then Pearl and now Steven. But maybe she overreacted. The pink gem stops in her tracks, looking around with tears on her eyes. All around her was trees, it was a little miniature park you would see in the big cities. And the ceiling was made of glass, you could see a lot of marine animals pass by. She wipes her tears away and stared in awe of the ceiling. Tensing up, Spinel realized she wasn’t the only one here. It was honestly a surprised that wasn’t welcomed at all. Looking down there happened to be a pipe in her chest, right under her Gem.

“ Uh-oh. “

Suddenly there was smoke, and the heart gem dropped to the ground. The thuggish splicer grumbles and walks off, unsatisfied with his kill. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. And yet the gem had yet to form back. It only sat there as Big Daddies, Little Sisters, Big Sisters, and splicers passed by the gem. Then, there was a glow. A pink glow, as her form shaped but then stopped to reshape itself. Her gem turned upside down as she was brought back into Arcadia. Opening her eyes, the first key difference was that her eyes changed from cartoony 1920’s-40’s eyes for pink with iris’. She looked down to see her shoes had become pointy boots. And since when did her shoulder pads become pointy? Spinel also notices that her torse is a dark pinkish-purple.

“ W-what the heck happened to me??? I look scarier! “

She ran over to the nearest bathrooms and stared at herself in the mirror. Now she really stood out in Rapture as she touches her cheeks, tracing down 3 bold black lines that ran down from both eyes.

“ Gee... did my argument with Steven made me look like this when I reformed? “

She moves her hands up to the upright messy pigtails that replaced her heart buns. She frowned as she looked at her gem.

“ Is there something wrong with me? Am I... Defective? “

Spinel questioned herself. She didn’t know what to make of it... but maybe somebody she just met knew. She smiled as she quickly runs out and towards the nearest vent. She stretched her arms up, clings against the entrance and pulled herself up. And then she crawled. The gem had no idea where the hell she was going but she was going to find the hideout no matter what. After what seemed like forever I’m crawling on that vent, she found her way to the hideout. Jumping out, she wandered around, saying hi to the girls that waved or said hi. A glimpse of Tenenbaum is caught out of the corner of her eye.

“ Tenenbaum! “

The older women turned around, smiling of the gem in front of her.

“ Spinel. It seems that you finally came back. Rose Bud was worried sick about where you were. “

Spinel could only look at her new boots in shame. She ran away from her problems again. But what could she do? She was meant to be Pink’s friend without having any problems. This was all still very new to her.

“ When he comes back, I’ll apologize. “

Tenenbaum knelt down in front of her and examined her new look.

“ You look very different compared to the first time we’ve met. “

“ I know, I got poofed by splicers, almost shattered... er killed in a more human sense of things. “

Tenenbaum gets up and walks towards a door, before ushering the heart shaped gem to follow her. Walking behind the women, Spinel decided this would be a very good time to actually examine the area. After all if this Crystal Gem was staying anywhere than the temple, she’ll need to familiarize herself.

“ You stand way too out with those clothes you have. You’ll need to reform into something more like this. “

The gem watches as she pulls out a dress like the one all of Steven sisters’ wears. And so she examined it, before glowing again as her shape changes. When reformed, an Alice in Wonderland dress is on Spinel. It’s a dark magenta with bright pink hearts on it. She has her boots, but now her pigtails are downwards instead of defying gravity.

“ How does this look? “

“ It looks good on you. “

After thanking Tenenbaum, Spinel walks into the room where the other girls are playing. She sat down with some and started playing with them to wait for Steven. After all, she’s made the mistake of going into Rapture alone. She doesn’t need to do that again.