Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had been sure that the last egg - so much smaller than the others - wouldn't hatch. But it did. And, in retrospect, Jasper supposed that they shouldn't be surprised. After all, she had never thought that she'd mate with a Gem like Peridot on a dismal rainy night on a primitive star-forsaken ball of mud and organic matter when both of them were longing for home. But she had. That had only been the start though; neither of them had even suspected that the smaller Gem could possibly conceive. Such a thing had been rare even before the Kindergartens had removed the necessity to reproduce hundreds of thousands of years ago. Either by accident or design – depending on who you asked – bearing young had been unheard of on Homeworld for as long as Jasper could remember.

So both Jasper and Peridot – whose initial reaction could best have been described as 'revolted terror' – had assumed that the eggs developing within the green Gem would be no more than inert stones produced by some ghostly relic of long-redundant biological processes present in Peridot's genes. Indeed, Jasper had promised the technician – while her hand was being crushed in the surprisingly strong grip of hovering digits – that she would never speak of it again, that it had never happened, that the Homeworld authorities would never, ever know. It would have been an easy enough promise to keep, but then Peridot had discovered that all five of the eggs – even the last one which was much smaller and duller than the others – were registering life signs on her scanners.

Neither of them had known what to do. Peridot was an expert at maintaining a Kindergarten, but had no idea how to deal with Gem eggs. Jasper had a rudimentary knowledge of how the Kindergartens worked but had never really paid much attention; she didn't question where her soldiers came from as long as they were capable of fighting. Acting on half-remembered stories and the vaguest trace of instincts, Peridot had jury-rigged a heat lamp from some parts she had managed to scavenge from the wrecked ship and placed the eggs under it. Jasper had been sure that they needed to be turned regularly and Peridot had accepted that in lieu of not having any better ideas.

All of the eggs were smooth ovoid shapes about the size of a human fist and bright, faintly iridescent, green. The four larger ones had a glossy sheen that the smaller one lacked; instead its surface was matte and slightly pitted. But neither Peridot nor Jasper knew if that was bad, or if it meant that the Gem inside was a different type from the others. Likewise, they had no idea whether the eggs would hatch into peridots, or jaspers, or different Gems entirely. As far as either of them were aware, a Gem's type was set as the seed gem that was planted in the Kindergarten. How it worked with eggs they'd just have to wait and see – assuming that they did actually hatch.

It would have been easy to tip the lot of them into the sea and forget about them, but every time Jasper had considered that option, she'd found herself unable to suggest it to Peridot. And from the occasional furtive looks she'd gotten from the technician, Jasper had wondered if she was having similar thoughts too.

And then the first one had hatched.

Time was hard to measure on the single-sunned, single-mooned planet they were stranded on. It had been a Kindergarten world, so Peridot knew how long it took for a planetary rotation and a solar revolution but equating it to Homeworld time was difficult. Neither of them knew how or even if humans measured time, but since they also had no idea how long it would take for the eggs to hatch – if they even would – then it was a moot point. But after several lunar orbits, one of the eggs had cracked from within and was immediately enveloped in a bright nimbus of light. When it faded the egg had gone and in its place was a miniature Peridot no larger than Jasper's hand. They had stared at it, not sure what to expect. A Kindergarten Gem would have been immediately ready for battle – but then again, a Kindergarten Gem would have been full-sized.

Instead, the tiny Peridot had looked around itself groggily, glanced up at the adult Gems looming overhead, then curled itself into a ball and stopped moving. Jasper had guessed that meant it was dead and given that by all rights it shouldn't have existed, that wasn't surprising. But it didn't disappear into its gem, and according to Peridot's scanners it was still very much alive. Just… dormant? Gems didn't need sleep, but after racking her brains Peridot had surmised that immature Gems – Gemlings – might. Unlike Kindergarten Gems they would need to grow to their full size unaided, and for that it seemed they needed periods of dormancy. According to Peridot, some Kindergarten runts had a tendency to sleep even though they didn't need it, something to do with their stunted development. And before Jasper had been able to give that much thought, the next egg had hatched.

By the time the next day cycle had completed, the four larger eggs had all hatched and four small Peridots were snuggled in a pile under the heat lamp, with the remaining egg at the centre. Maybe it was normal for gemlings to be the same type as the Gem who'd carried them. Jasper certainly didn't have any better ideas, and neither did Peridot for once. The technician had carefully examined each of her miniature doppelgangers with gentle fascination and her actual hands, her usually sour expression – which had only grown more bitter in the time they'd been trapped here – softening as she did. Jasper had never seen her remove any of her limb enhancements before, not even when they had mated. It was obvious that Peridot felt an uncharacteristic warmth towards their offspring, and Jasper didn't question it. The warrior Gem wasn't sure how well she'd be able to deny it if Peridot accused her of concealing similar emotions.

Neither of them had thought the final egg would hatch. They had left it in place beneath the lamp because Peridot's scanners were still picking up lifesigns within it, but as the planet completed rotation after rotation it seemed inevitable that those would eventually fade. Then, as the system's sun rose for the fifth time after the other eggs had hatched, it finally cracked. Jasper had been outside at the time, keeping watch for the Crystal Gems. The cave Peridot had holed up in was deep enough below ground to block any scanners they might have, but that didn't mean they wouldn't find them. Though if Jasper was to be completely honest with herself, those rebels were a secondary concern now. It was Homeworld they had to worry about.

When she'd returned to the cave, Peridot had been hunched over the gemlings with her back to the submerged entrance. She must have heard Jasper surface, but didn't turn around. Jasper's first thought was that the final egg had gone inert and even though she'd expected that she still felt an odd pang of what couldn't possibly be pain in response. But when she'd crouched beside the technician, Jasper immediately saw that the last egg had gone and in its place was a tiny gemling with her own colours. A Jasper type. But not like her, or like its siblings. The Peridot gemlings all looked like miniature versions of their parent, but the proportions of the Jasper were wrong. Its limbs were short and stubby like the stunted Amethyst that the Crystal Gems had taken in, and it was much smaller than the others. A runt.

Kindergartens had produced runts, Jasper knew that. Only about one in a thousand as long as the facility was being properly maintained. But there was only one way to deal with them. Well, unless you were Rose Quartz apparently but that was hardly surprising. Runts were weak by nature and often suffered from other defects – at least that was Homeworld's justification for the regrettable but necessary act of culling them upon creation. One look at Peridot's face had been enough to tell Jasper that the green Gem was thinking along similar lines. And with good reason – one of the duties of a Kindergarten technician was to carry out the culls. No doubt Peridot had done it before… but never like this.

The runt hadn't moved or even opened its eyes yet; instead it was huddled on its side, unmoving. After a moment of consideration, Jasper carefully picked it up, noting that it felt colder than its siblings despite having been beneath the lamp with them. Beside her, Peridot stiffened with a sharp inhalation as if she was about to stop the larger Gem… or just bracing herself for the inevitable. Looking down at the tiny gemling cupped in her hand, not even larger than her palm, Jasper wondered what the easiest way to do this would be. Peridot would know, but Jasper didn't want to ask - this would be hard enough for her already. But it had to be done. It was merciful. The runt wouldn't thrive, it would be a waste of resources, it would never be a warrior and if it didn't die outright it would corrupt and be a danger to its siblings. At least that was what Homeworld's response would have been to a Kindergarten runt, but the one that was running around with the Crystal Gems seemed capable enough and was singularly uncorrupted. Maybe if Jasper left this runt where those sentimental fools would find it then they'd look after it. Then again, since it was technically a Homeworld Gem, maybe they'd just kill it. Better to do it herself. At least then she'd know it had been quick.

Steeling herself, Jasper shifted one callused thumb to the back of the runt's neck. Almost without thinking, she stroked the small thing gently as she gathered her resolve. It would have been much easier to do this if it had been a Kindergarten Gem. Then it would have had a chance to fight back at least. And the third time Jasper hesitated, the gemling runt finally stirred. Rolling onto its back, its eyes slowly opened to glare up at the world that had made it small and weak. It had yellow eyes just like Jasper's, which slowly focused on the warrior Gem whose thumb was now beneath its chin instead of on the nape of its neck. As if it somehow sensed her intent, it made a small squeaky noise that might have been a growl and sank tiny needle-sharp teeth into Jasper's hand.

There was a moment of awkward silence broken only by the runt's muffled sounds of aggression, then Jasper had laughed and the tension in the cave had drained away as she and Peridot both relaxed. Jasper had tried to dislodge the little gemling by shaking her thumb, but it had only sunk its teeth deeper with pugnacious determination. It only let go when set down among its siblings and immediately burrowed its way into the middle of the group where it was warmest, ignoring the drowsy chirps of protest as it made itself comfortable and went to sleep using one of the other gemlings as a pillow.

"We're not on Homeworld," Jasper had said in response to Peridot's unspoken question. "Besides, any Gem that attacks as soon as it opens its eyes is made to be a fighter."

There was a long silence as the two of them looked down at their brood. Peridot's arms were wrapped around herself, her relief at Jasper's actions overshadowed by the realisation that had hit her like a comet when the larger Gem had mentioned Homeworld.

"We… we can't ever go back now, can we?" Peridot asked numbly. She started in surprise as Jasper laid a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see the striped Gem looking down at her with sympathy which clearly showed that Jasper had already realised that fact days ago.

"No." Jasper's voice was firm but uncharacteristically gentle. "Not any more."

Chapter Text

"I'm loyal. I've always been loyal," Peridot moaned, her head in her hands. "I've always done as I was ordered. Always. Even if I thought the orders were dumb, like coming to this backwater to reactivate some antique Kindergarten when there are hundreds of planets closer to places that actually matter that could be used instead. I still did as I was told. I never complained. Not to anyone's face anyway."

Jasper didn't interrupt; she'd already tried to interject a couple of times and the technician had simply kept talking as if she hadn't heard. Clearly the speech wasn't aimed at the warrior Gem, and Jasper was happy to let her talk. It had been a whole day since the runt had hatched and the cave was full of turquoise light as the sun reached the right angle to refract through the underwater entrance. Jasper was pretty sure that Peridot hadn't shut up for most of the cycle, her voice a constant, panicked mutter against the background noise of the waves.

The gemlings were lying in a pile in Jasper's broad lap with the heat lamp aimed at them. The warrior Gem had sat cross-legged beside them last night to keep an eye on them, and soon afterwards one of the little Peridots had disengaged herself from her siblings, clambered over Jasper's knee and burrowed into the thick white hair that had pooled in her lap. It didn't take long for the rest of the brood to join her, though the runt had immediately disappeared beneath her larger sisters. Concerned that the tiny gemling was being smothered, Jasper had fished her out only to be bitten for her trouble. The runt had growled at her briefly, then retreated back into the gemling pile - obviously there by choice.

Peridot had noticed the brood moving but hadn't commented as she absently adjusted the angle of the heat lamp to their new position. The technician had spent the night soul-searching with her own running commentary; Jasper had spent it watching the gemlings with quiet fascination. Surprisingly the two older Peridots had striped markings - Jasper had never seen Peridots with stripes. The second oldest had stripes like Jasper, sharp and angular, but the eldest's markings were soft-edged and gently curved. The two younger Peridots had hatched simultaneously and were completely identical - Jasper hoped that Peridot could tell them apart because she certainly couldn't. It was hard to get a good look at the runt since all of her except a tuft of white hair was currently beneath her siblings.

So far, the gemlings had done little except for sleep. Hatching must have been tougher than it had looked. The eldest Peridot was currently awake but showed no inclination of moving, content with just looking at her surroundings and up at Jasper. The little thing was definitely cognisant though, her large, dark eyes following Jasper's finger as the large Gem waved it at her. And when the hand moved closer – cautiously because Jasper was now well aware of how hard gemlings could bite – the little Peridot reached up to grab Jasper's forefinger with her tiny hands. She made no attempt to bite though, and simply studied the dark orange fingertip with apparent interest.

"Curious little thing, aren't ya?" Jasper chuckled quietly, lightly tapping the gemling's nose and getting a smile in response as it chirruped up at her. The only vocalisations she'd heard the brood make were either electronic-sounding chirps from the Peridots and the runt's squeaky growls. Maybe they'd have to learn to talk; Kindergarten Gems had language pre-loaded into their seed gem along with all other necessary skills. Jasper wondered if they'd need to be taught to speak, or if they'd pick it up on their own.

"…not even LISTENING, are you?!" Jasper had tuned out Peridot's monologue, so it took the large Gem a few moments to realise that the words were in fact directed at her. Looking up, Jasper saw that the technician was glaring at her, looking like she was either about to lose her temper or burst into tears. Jasper didn't like either of those options, both were sure to upset the gemlings.

"Didn't think you were talking to me," Jasper replied with a conscious effort to keep her voice conciliatory. "Sorry." That was definitely not a word she used very often, and before she'd ended up on this planet she'd never have dreamed of apologising to a low-ranking Gem like Peridot. Stars, she hadn't even apologised to Lapis Lazuli – in the end she'd simply submitted to the ocean Gem's will. If they'd been alone then the warrior Gem would have been happy to let Peridot rage and scream to her heart's content instead of swallowing her pride like this, but the brood were more important.

Peridot had been thrown by the apology, blinking at the larger Gem in surprise. "I… I was just saying that you seem to be taking this really well," she said eventually, shock softening her tone from fury to mild irritation. "We can't go home, Jasper. We're stuck here. Forever."

"Peri, I knew I wasn't going home the moment I washed up outside." Strangely, Jasper found she wasn't angry. She had been at the time, Jasper had spent that night raging at the uncaring ocean, hurling sand and rocks into it while she spat insults aimed at Lapis, that damned fusion who'd beaten her on the ship, the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz, the juvenile human who smelled like Rose Quartz, the solar system in general and Earth in specific. But when she tried to recall that rage it slipped away from her memory like sand through her fingers. Instead she found herself looking down at the gemlings snuggled in her lap, and all that she'd lost since coming to this planet didn't seem so terrible after all.

"How?" Peridot demanded, seeming to take offence at how easily Jasper had brushed off their situation. "You probably *could* go back if you wanted to since you weren't the one who carried. The scanners probably wouldn't pick up any anomalies from you."

Although the technician sounded angry, Jasper was astute enough to pick up the tremble in Peridot's voice that she was trying hard to conceal with jealous resentment. It wasn't so much that the green Gem was envious of Jasper's much better prospects for returning to Homeworld – though that was certainly on her mind. Peridot was scared. Jasper was extremely familiar with fear as she'd used it as a weapon often enough, and she could sense it now. Peridot was afraid of being left alone here with their currently-helpless brood. Although Jasper was offended by the implication that she'd run back to Homeworld instead of confronting their situation, the presence of the gemlings in her lap made her swallow her outraged retort. It went down like a jagged piece of flint.

"Well, first of all if I went back to Homeworld then Yellow Diamond would want to know why the Kindergarten wasn't back online," Jasper explained. She'd gone over the scenario so many times in her head that she could almost see the expression on her superior's face. "So I would have to explain to her that I'd been defeated. By Rose Quartz and her rebels. Again. Yellow Diamond was magnanimous enough to forgive me the first time…" A shiver ran down Jasper's spine as she remembered kneeling before her commander after the evacuation as the remaining ships headed for Homeworld. She hadn't seen Yellow Diamond's expression then either – at least not directly because her eyes had been firmly fixed on the floor of the audience chamber. But Yellow Diamond's contemptuous glower had been reflected up at her from the polished stone and the coldness of the marble was no match for the coldness of her eyes. "I don't think she'd be so merciful a second time."

Peridot was about to say something when Jasper continued, shaking off the memory. "Secondly, I don't run away from my responsibilities. And right now I'm responsible for our offspring. I'm not leaving them. Or you." Looking up from their brood, Jasper met Peridot's gaze and held it. "You can't go back to Homeworld. They definitely can't go to Homeworld. And if I'm not returning in triumph then Yellow Diamond won't want me back. I'd rather stay here with all of you. Besides," she added with a crooked smile, "if Rose Quartz could put up with this miserable planet then so can I."

There was silence for several long seconds as Peridot looked away wrapping her arms around herself. "What do we do when Homeworld send a probe to find us? Or if they send a patrol?"

"We can hide from a probe," Jasper replied, shrugging. "Can't be that hard, since those Crystal Gems have been doing it for thousands of years. And if the probes don't find us, they won't send a patrol. Like you said, this place is a backwater. Homeworld's not going to waste resources on it if it's going to cost them. They'll most likely cut their losses when we don't come back and move on." The large Gem sounded curiously certain, and Peridot frowned.

"How can you be sure?" the technician asked. "They know that some of Rose's rebels are still here, maybe they'll want to exterminate them on principle. You thought they were a waste of your time after all, you wanted me to just blast them with the ship."

"Yeah, and I was wrong, wasn't I?" Looking down at the gemlings, Jasper saw that the eldest one had gone back to sleep, though the tiny Peridot was still holding on to her finger like a comfort blanket. The scowl that had spread across Jasper's striped face at the memory of the fight with the fusion slowly faded into a smile at the sight. "Clearly they don't plan on going anywhere so they're not a threat to Homeworld. If they want this ball of dirt so bad, Homeworld will just let them have it. It's not worth the effort of taking it."

"So you're saying we're just expendable then?" Peridot actually sounded shocked. It made Jasper realise how young the technician actually was. Peridot wasn't even in her second millennia; she wouldn't remember any of the major conflicts that Jasper had fought in. Most of them would have been long before she was seeded. "Okay, so I guess it's not like Homeworld is short of Peridots," the green Gem said after correctly guessing that Jasper's silence was affirmation. "And they wouldn't have cared about Lapis as long as she led us to the Crystal Gem base. But I'd still have thought that they'd want you back…"

Jasper shrugged slightly, careful not to disturb the gemlings. "Like I said, I already got defeated here once. This was my chance to make up for that, and I blew it. They'll sweep me under the rug just like Rose and her rebels. There's a reason you never knew some of them would still be here. As far as the Homeworld authorities were concerned, the rebellion didn't happen. That's why they left this planet alone for so long. There's not many of us left who were here, and we don't talk about it."

Peridot was about to make Jasper talk about it – she could tell there was more to the story than what the warrior Gem was telling her – but at that moment there was a chime from the scanner she'd managed to kludge together from salvage. It sensed Gem energy signatures – vitally important when hiding from other Gems – no matter how faint or small, from fragments of Gem tech to large angry fusions. A single chime meant it was likely to be just another piece of her ship; even now there were still parts washing up on the beach once in a while. Then there was another chime, but this time it came from Jasper's lap and was followed by another.

One of the two identical Peridot gemlings had woken up, and was enthusiastically mimicking the sound the scanner had made, filling the cave with a barrage of noise that would have indicated an incoming strike force if it had been coming from the scanner. Peridot couldn't help but laugh as Jasper chuckled softly, feeling an odd surge of warmth that made everything seem better, if only for a moment. "Did you know they could do that?" the technician asked as the brood in Jasper's lap shifted, the other gemlings chirping or growling at the noise their sibling was making.

"No," Jasper replied as the runt emerged from the gemling pile and tackled her loud sibling. The Peridot gemling was much larger, but the rest of the brood seemed to agree with their small sister and the chiming sounds the green gemling was making were soon muffled as she was pushed to the bottom of the pile. It didn't take the Peridot long to scramble back out, this gemling clearly wanted to see what was going on around her, but she had taken the hint and stopped making so much noise. "I guess they'll need to sort out their pecking order themselves," Jasper commented. "They won't be ranked like Kindergarten Gems, will they?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Peridot replied, examining the scanner. "Guess that's one more thing we'll just have to find out." Looking at the energy signatures Peridot grinned broadly; the levels were high but inactive. That meant a weapon, and the ship had possessed some powerful blasters. One of those mounted above the submerged entrance to the cavern would certainly be a deterrent to any Crystal Gems who happened to find them. "Looks like we might finally have something to use to defend this place," she told Jasper as she retrieved one of the destabilizers she'd managed to repair. No sense in taking chances.

"Want me to go get it?" Jasper asked. "If it's a gun, it'll be heavy."

The thought of Jasper manhandling delicate Gem technology made Peridot grimace, imagining the warrior Gem returning with mangled scrap. "One of us needs to stay with the gemlings," the technician replied. "And I can just bubble it to float it back. Besides, it's not far, it shouldn't take long."

"Yeah, and what if the Crystal Gems are there?" Jasper sounded doubtful, though she definitely wasn't averse to staying with the brood. She wondered what other sounds they might mimic if they heard them. "They have scanners too."

"Oh please," Peridot huffed contemptuously. "Any tech they've got is antique, if they had half-decent scanners they'd have found us long before now. I'll be careful," she added to cut off any further objections as she headed over to the pool that led to the outside world. "If it looks like a trap I'll come back. It'll be fine." With little elegance and a large splash, Peridot dived into the water and vanished. The sound echoed through the cavern… then kept echoing as the little Peridot gemling found a new sound to imitate. At least this one didn't sound like an alarm.

Chapter Text

Frowning at the handheld scanner – a smaller and more precise version of the one back in the cave - Peridot recalibrated it once again but the flashing icon on the virtual map didn't move. It was still blinking stubbornly above a rock face rather than at the tideline where the technician would have expected to find whatever was setting it off. Grumbling to herself, Peridot followed it anyway, hoping this didn't mean that some humans had already found the item. They'd probably either use it to light fires or start worshipping it if the survey texts on the planet were anything to go by. Granted, those hadn't been updated for several thousand years, but how much could a species change in that time?

But when Peridot reached the spot that the scanner had identified, there was no sign of primates – or any Gem tech – at all. Instead she was staring at an eroded rock face that appeared to be mostly comprised of shale. Weather and tidal surges in combination with the mineral's slaty cleavage and high fissility had fractured it into sheets that were gradually eroding away – there were already fragments of the rock heaped beneath it and scattered out across the sand where high tides had tossed them. The technician's lip curled as she looked at it; the crystalline cliffs of Homeworld could have withstood the beating of the waves for aeons without losing so much as a lithic fragment. This planet was just so… so *soft*.

Repressing a shudder, Peridot clipped the scanner to her waistband and splayed the fingers of her left hand into a screen while she ran her right hand over the horribly uneven surface. The scanner could show her where Gem energy signatures were coming from, but she wanted more detail on what this thing actually was, since it definitely hadn't come from her ship. Not that it was entirely surprising given that this had previously been a Kindergarten world and had been abandoned in a hurry – there was sure to be bits and pieces of Gem technology scattered everywhere. Peridot just wanted to be sure that this thing was worth excavating first. For all she knew it could be an antique and obsolete communicator or something equally as useless.

There was a soft hum as Peridot's fingers brushed across the cliff face, waves of invisible energy probing and analysing the rock and whatever it was hiding. Looking at the results on the hovering screen, the technician grunted in irritation. Either the stone was interfering with her sensors or the item was damaged – she couldn't get a definite identification. It was certainly Gem technology though, and it was too powerful to be a simple communicator or other debris. Possibly it was some kind of energy source but stars alone knew if it would be compatible with modern Gem technology. There was only one way to find out, and Peridot was reasonably sure that she would be able to make some kind of use out of it.

Flicking the screen away, Peridot laid both hands against the fractured rock, working her fingers into some of the larger cracks. Feeling it shift slightly, the green Gem grimaced in disgust. Pulling it apart by hand would be easy enough, but that kind of grunt work was far too inefficient for Peridot's taste. Instead, she used the sonic emitters in her fingertips to vibrate through the faults in the stone, gently at first but then with greater and more targeted frequency as she felt it begin to shift. Sand and dust spilled out of the fractures as they slowly began to widen, small fragments of shale falling to the sand as they were shaken loose. Feeling a large section starting to give way, Peridot stopped the vibrations and took hold of it firmly. The last thing she wanted was to have to dig herself out of a pile of hardened clay if the rest of the face collapsed as well.

Much to the technician's relief, the large slab of shale came cleanly away from the cliff without starting a rockfall - finally something was going her way. Tossing the shale to one side, where it shattered into fragments, Peridot looked back at the raw stone she'd uncovered and immediately did a double take. What she'd uncovered wasn't any kind of technology – instead she was looking at an oval, faceted gemstone of brilliant vermillion red which jutted out from the dark grey rock like a cyclopean eye.

For a millisecond, all Peridot could do was stare at the gem in surprise as the scanners in her visor identified it as a Cinnabar – a Gem type that Peridot had never heard of, let alone encountered. And that millisecond was all the time it took for it to shift slightly then come loose, dropping to the sand with a soft thud. For another vital moment Peridot hesitated, unsure of whether to bubble the gem or run for Jasper. Before she could decide on either course, the oval gem rose into the air as it began to glow brightly, humming with a faint melody. As she took a cautious step backwards, Peridot's hand brushed the hilt of the destabiliser at her waist then closed on it as she remembered it was there. The presence of the weapon in her hand was reassuring and Peridot regained some of her composure as she held it in front of herself. Maybe this Gem would be grateful for their release. If not, the destabiliser would send them straight back into their gemstone.

The glow around the stone quickly coalesced into the featureless mannequin-like form that was the basis for humanoid Gem constructs. Peridot tightened her grip on the destabilizer in readiness as curling hair billowed out around the figure's head while loose, old-fashioned robes formed around it… then seemed to retract as the glowing form jerked and spasmed as if wracked by intense pain. Taking another few steps back, Peridot wondered if the gem was damaged. She'd only seen one side of it after all. But this was unlike anything else she'd ever heard of – a Gem couldn't regenerate if their stone was damaged. Once they lost their physical form that was it.

Suddenly the musical harmony of the red stone shifted and changed, becoming harsh and discordant before fading into a keening wail that set Peridot's teeth on edge. Unseen forces seemed to twist and shred the glowing figure, tearing its lower limbs into tatters as its arms lengthened and gained extra joints. And the thing that hit the ground as the gem glow vanished like mist was as far removed from humanoid as it was from Gemkind.

Eight spindly legs ending in hooked talons supported a bulbous abdomen, both covered in segmented plates of spiked, calcified chitin. A further two limbs at the front sported vicious pincers, giving it the initial appearance of a monstrous spider crab. But where the creature's eyestalks would have been there rose an upper body – also clad in chitin plates despite its vaguely human shape – possessing two barbed raptorial arms which it held folded against its chest as the insectile head regarded the technician from its fifteen foot height with huge compound eyes. Each prismatic eye appeared to have three pupils, and all six of them were fixed on Peridot. There was no sign of the gemstone it had formed from.

The scanners in Peridot's visor were going crazy as they tried to analyse the creature, still identifying it as a Cinnabar, but also tagging it as two separate species of Earth crustacean and pinging her with errors and conflict messages as they tried to resolve the results into a single lifeform. Peridot could feel cold fear welling up inside her, the sensation similar to what choking would feel like for a human. She took another step backwards, slowly and carefully, fragments of shale cracking beneath her feet.

"You keep back," she warned, her voice wavering between sharp authority and shrill panic. She jabbed the destabilizer towards the creature threateningly, and to her vast relief it crackled viciously in response to the Gem abomination's proximity. Whatever this thing was, the destabilizer sensed it as a Gem and with any luck it would have a better effect on the monster than it had on the Steven.

The Gem monster cocked its head to the side, one eye following the destabilizer while the other remained focused on Peridot. The technician didn't see it move, but recoiled with a yell of shock as something whipcracked past her in a blur that was faster than the speed of sound. The destabilizer had gone; for a moment Peridot thought it had somehow been vapourised but then she heard something hit the sand to one side of her.

The weapon was still perfectly intact as it landed on the beach. And it was still tightly clutched in Peridot's right hand – which was still attached to an arm that had been neatly severed at the elbow. Eyes wide in shock, Peridot stared at the stump where the limb had been – it had been sheared through as cleanly as a laser cut. And then she screamed.

Surrendering to terror, Peridot turned and ran. If she could just get back to the cave she'd be safe, the creature was too big to follow her through the entrance. She could hear it skittering across the beach behind her like a gigantic arachnid, and instinctively jinked to one side as she sensed rather than saw one of its pincers snap towards her. The claw snapped past her at head height, and Peridot put on an extra burst of terror-fuelled speed. She didn't want to die here on this miserable planet. She didn't want to die at all. She wanted to be safe back on Homeworld with her standard maintenance routine and familiar stars and clean surfaces that weren't coated with dirt or vegetation. Failing that, she wanted to be safe in the cave, somewhere behind Jasper with her gemlings held safely away from this monster's talons.

The creature's shadow loomed over Peridot as it gained on her, then suddenly dropped low. For a single shining moment Peridot thought it had tripped, that it had caught one of its spindly legs on something, that she'd be able to escape. Then there was another thundering crack as the Gem monster brought its deadly upper limbs back into play, snapping out faster than lightning to knock Peridot sprawling across the sand. The technician sobbed as she desperately tried to scramble back to her feet with one arm… and now one leg as well. The other had been torn off at the hip with the same surgical neatness as her arm.

Flopping onto her back like a landed fish, Peridot could feel tears streaming down her face as she stared up at the creature towering over her. "Please…" she whimpered softly, automatically, unable to think of anything else as her visor flashed increasingly urgent error messages at her. "Please, please, please…"

With a sinuous, boneless movement, the creature brought its upper body down to look closely at the green Gem as she continued to mouth desperate pleas. They died in Peridot's throat as she saw cold, unreasoning hatred in the monster's eyes and a dreadful hunger. A slot-like mouth opened below its bulging eyes, lined not with teeth but with grinding plates designed for crushing minerals. Crushing gems. Peridot could see her own triangular gem reflected in the creature's six pupils, and knew then that it was waiting for her to retreat to the stone. Then it would eat it. There would be no coming back for her.

Still sobbing, Peridot shook her head helplessly as if she could somehow wish the monster away by denying it. She could feel an odd, insistent pressure in her gem, her mangled body flickering and losing its coherence as its condition became critical. The technician desperately fought against the fog threatening to consume her mind, trying to stay formed, knowing that as soon as she returned to her gem she was doomed. It was a losing battle, and she knew it. Most of all, she wished she'd taken the time to say goodbye to the gemlings properly. Jasper at least would understand. The gemlings probably wouldn't even remember her.

And at that moment, a boulder the size of a human vehicle arced gracefully over Peridot's head to smash into the monster's lower body, knocking it flat.

Chapter Text

The noisy little Peridot had shown absolutely no interest in going back to sleep like her sisters, and had soon gotten bored of their company. The little thing was currently investigating the cave with some interest, scampering around on all-fours as newly emerged Kindergarten Gems sometimes did. It took some time to break them of that habit as Jasper recalled, but since the gemling wasn't a fully-formed warrior there was no need to take things so fast. Eventually the others stirred as well, either out of irritation at their sister's continual chirps of excited discovery, or because they'd gotten curious.

Jasper kept a careful eye on the brood as they explored their surroundings, unsure of what would happen if they were hurt. She didn't know if they would regenerate since they weren't mature Gems, and she certainly didn't want to take any chances. The loud Peridot and her identical twin seemed to be fascinated by the items of Gem technology that their parents had painstakingly managed to collect; even the parts that were scrap. The eldest of the brood seemed to be fascinated by the pool, while the other striped Peridot was more interested in the light patterns being reflected across the cave walls. And the runt had taken an interest in the walls themselves, scratching at them with tiny hands.

It was the oldest one that was worrying Jasper the most – one slip and the gemling would be in the water, assuming she didn't decide to jump in first. Deciding to move closer to be within grabbing distance, Jasper got to her feet then froze as she heard a loud snap from the runt's direction. Whipping round towards the source of the sound, Jasper saw that the runt had managed to pry a fragment of shale from the wall and was looking at it speculatively. Compared to the little Jasper, the piece of rock was almost a third of her size but the gemling held it in both hands without any apparent strain. And then put it in her mouth, gnawing on it like an animal or a human.

"Hey! Stop that!" Quickly moving over to the smallest gemling – having to carefully step around the rest of the brood as they rushed over to see what their sister was doing – Jasper reached down to pluck the rock from the runt's grasp. The gemling glared at her with gimlet eyes, small hands tightening on her prize as she growled warningly. To Jasper's consternation her smallest daughter proved to have an extremely strong grip – although the warrior Gem tugged at the piece of stone with as much of her strength as she thought was wise, it didn't budge.

"That could be bad for you, stop eating… biting… chewing… Whatever you're doing with that thing, knock it off," Jasper ordered, not without a note of uncertainty. "It's not natural," she added with a grimace.

If the runt understood, she clearly had no intention of doing as she was told. Instead she continued to either suck or chew on the rock – it was hard to tell which – and kept up a low growl until Jasper moved her hand back. Then there was another snap as one of the Peridots worked her hands into the same fault her sister had discovered and broke off her own shard of shale, which also went straight into the gemling's mouth. Within moments, all of the brood were happily gnawing on pieces of the sedimentary rock while Jasper gesticulated at them helplessly.

"That's going to make you sick," the warrior Gem said warningly. "Don't say I didn't warn you; I'm not taking the blame for this when Peri gets back." Running one hand through her white mane, Jasper sighed in frustration. The gemlings certainly didn't seem to be suffering any ill-effects so far, and for all she knew maybe they needed to consume minerals to grow. But surely if that was the case they'd need something purer than glorified clay. Maybe Peridot would have some idea of how to handle this when she got back. Maybe the Crystal Gems… no, that wasn't an option.

Another chime from the scanner immediately seized Jasper's attention. The large Gem drew in her breath sharply as the sound continued in a slow rhythm that was gradually growing faster. That wasn't a piece of the ship, that sounded like something that was either getting closer – which could only be the Crystal Gems – or an energy signature that was rising in strength. Like a ship's blaster charging – could Peridot be testing whatever she'd found? Leaving the gemlings to their rocks, Jasper moved over to investigate the scanner's screen and immediately felt a chill as she saw the readings. The energy levels were fluctuating wildly, looking almost like a Gem reforming, but the spikes were erratic and… wrong.

The worst part was that Jasper had a horrible suspicion of what this could be, and if she was right then Peridot was out there alone. The technician had combat training of course, but even the Crystal Gems' runt had been able to best her and if Jasper's suspicions were right then she'd have no chance against the thing that was waking. Looking back towards the gemlings, Jasper cursed under her breath. She didn't want to leave them alone, but she had to help Peridot.

Springing into action, the warrior Gem seized bits and pieces of salvaged wreckage and swiftly constructed them into a rough corral against the cave wall. Some of it was probably delicate but at this moment Jasper couldn't care less as she twisted cables and antenna together into a barrier that would hopefully contain the brood. Darting over to the gemlings, Jasper scooped them all up – ignoring the muffled chirps and growls of protest – then deposited them within the crude pen she'd constructed.

"Stay here," Jasper ordered, hoping that they understood. "I'll be back soon." On a sudden flash of inspiration, the large Gem smashed her fist against the cave wall behind the brood, shattering a large section of shale which showered down in fragments around them. "There. That should keep you occupied. Go nuts." Pausing only long enough to make sure the gemlings were all there, Jasper whirled around – her hair flaring out behind her like a cape – and ran for the exit pool.

Jasper heard the scream even before she broke the surface, the distorted sound clearing and sharpening like a blade of glass as the warrior Gem burst out of the water. It was unmistakeably Peridot's voice. Snarling, Jasper clawed her way to the shore and started running as soon as her feet hit the bottom. She could see Peridot's footprints leading off along the sand towards a stony section of the beach where it curved around out of sight and followed them, not even taking a moment to call the technician's name. Jasper already knew she was in trouble and didn't want to give the source any warning of her presence.

Rounding the corner, Jasper sucked in a sharp breath as she saw the thing attacking Peridot – the technician helpless beneath its spindly limbs. For a moment the large Gem was lost in memory as her mind's eye filled with images of similar monsters, hundreds of them, writhing and flailing across the barren field where the Homeworld forces had met Rose Quartz's rebels for the final time. For all she knew, this might have been one of the Crystal Gems at one point… or one of her own troops. Shaking herself back to the present with a growl, Jasper seized a huge spur of rock jutting from the ground and tore it loose with an echoing crack, hurling it at the monster and charging without waiting for it to hit.

A glance was enough to tell Jasper that Peridot was badly injured, missing both an arm and a leg. Even so, as the impact of the boulder knocked the creature to the ground the green Gem still gamely tried to crawl away instead of retreating into her gem to regenerate. For a fleeting moment Jasper was immeasurably proud of her. Then everything else was pushed to the back of her mind as the spiderlike crab monster shook the rock off its back and scrambled to its feet. Jasper's vision went yellow as she summoned her helmet, but all the warrior Gem could see was red.

With a howl of unbridled rage, Jasper's fist flashed out to smash into the creature's upper torso as it turned to face her. Searing pain immediately brought her back to her senses as her fist was impaled by several of the chitin spikes that covered the monster's carapace. Recoiling and wrenching herself free, Jasper instinctively dropped to the sand and rolled to the side to avoid the abomination's counterattack – its pincers slamming into the empty ground where she'd been only moments before as its upper limbs whipped through the air with a vicious snap.

Jasper could hear Peridot panting as the technician desperately tried to widen the distance between herself and the monster – she couldn't see that its attention was now firmly fixed on the warrior Gem as it studied her with its globular eyes. It almost seemed as if the creature recognised her. Not that it made any difference right now; Jasper was intent on sending it back into its gem regardless. Circling it carefully – remembering how overconfidence had brought her down in the fight with the fusion back on the ship – Jasper blocked another swipe from its pincers. Those were dangerous, but no more than toys compared to the scything upper limbs which it was currently drawing back up against its chest for another strike.

Lunging forwards before it had the chance to swipe at her again, Jasper struck at the monster's torso once more – this time with a headbutt, not her fist. The impact of her helm's crest against the creature's exoskeleton knocked it off-balance - but more importantly it had shattered the spikes where it had struck. Jasper immediately followed up with a punch to the same spot. Hissing furiously, the monster skittered to one side with incredible speed, its forelimbs snapping out at Jasper as she wheeled around to follow it. The warrior Gem had been expecting the attack and was already dropping low to roll beneath the blow – all it achieved was to slice off an arms' length of Jasper's hair.

Which fell to the ground with an unnaturally substantial thump.

Jasper's head snapped towards the sound – and luckily for her the monster did the same. The large tuft of hair fluttered in the non-existent breeze, then to Jasper's horror a small green figure popped her head out, disorientated by her fall. Seeing the creature towering overhead – Jasper's roll had taken her to its other side and now it was between her and the gemling – the tiny Peridot squeaked in alarm and burrowed back into the pile of white hair she had been clinging to. Jasper guessed that the gemling must have snagged the end of her mane when she had left the brood. And in her worry for Peridot, she hadn't noticed. But the monster had certainly noticed and pivoted around to bring its forelimbs smashing down upon the clump of hair the little Gem was hiding in.

Or at least it would have done if Jasper hadn't thrown caution to the wind and leapt onto the back of its crab body. The chitin spikes perforated the warrior Gem's lower legs and palms as she landed among them on her hands and knees, but the pain was inconsequential. Tearing her hands free, Jasper punched the creature squarely in its upper back – the spikes savaging her fists yet again – throwing its blow off-kilter so that the scything limbs gashed furrows into the sand to one side of the gemling's hiding place instead of piercing through it.

With a chitter of rage, the creature's head swivelled around to try and catch sight of its attacker as its pincers snapped awkwardly at the weight on its back. One managed to fasten on Jasper's right wrist but she ignored it, waiting for the monster's head to be at the right angle then striking out with another headbutt. This one was aimed directly at one of the creature's bulbous eyes – which burst like a grape as her helm smashed into it, spraying Jasper's face with ichor that tasted like brine.

Keening in agony, the monster careered off across the beach with Jasper still on its back, its pincer still holding her arm in a vicelike grip. Pulling her legs free of the spikes that had pierced them, Jasper took hold of the pincer with her free hand and leapt clear. The pincer's grasp didn't slacken which was what Jasper had been counting on – instead the entire limb tore free from the monster's body with a satisfying, gristly pop. The awful noises it was making – like diamonds on glass – rose in pitch until Jasper could barely hear them.

Scooping up the gemling along with a handful of sand and hair, Jasper clasped the tiny Peridot to her chest protectively. Apparently the gemling didn't feel this was safe enough, as she immediately scrambled into Jasper's mane and around to the back of her neck where she clung tightly, chirruping softly and trembling with fear. Jasper didn't try to pull her back – this way she had both hands free. Taking hold of the severed pincer, the warrior Gem twisted the spindly limb apart and by the time the monster turned back to face her, Jasper had armed herself with a foot-long spike of serrated chitin that had been part of its claw.

The creature was still oozing ichor from its crushed eye and the raw socket where its pincer had been, but there was plenty of fight left in it. If anything, it seemed enraged by its injuries rather than discouraged and let out a burbling screech of fury as it charged at Jasper with staggering speed. Its forelimbs slashed out to tear her in half but again Jasper slid beneath them, collapsing onto her back as her legs shot out like pistons to slam into the creature's smooth underside and sending it hurtling back against the sand. Its spiked carapace – so effective at blocking blows – sank into the ground like a series of darts and held it in place as its spindly legs flailed helplessly at empty air. And before it could wriggle loose, Jasper was on top of its belly and smashed her makeshift chitin blade through it. Ignoring the monster's screeches – even though they sounded almost like those of a Gem – Jasper struck again and again until its legs stiffened spasmodically then evaporated into smoke as its body vanished into an oval gem of bright, poisonous vermillion.

Dropping to the sand, Jasper snatched the red gem out of the air before it could hit the ground. She tightened her grip on the faceted stone until it made a crystalline creak of protest as the pressure threatened to shatter it. All she had to do was close her fist and put it out of its misery - it would never reform and be a threat again. But then, after a moment's thought, Jasper reconsidered that plan and imprisoned it in a striped orange bubble instead. She could think of at least two scenarios where it would be more useful to have it intact, especially if it attacked Gems on sight.

"You okay?" Jasper asked the gemling that was still clinging tightly to her hair. "You can come out now, it's gone." The only response was a soft chirp as the tiny Peridot's grip tightened – the gemling clearly had no intention of emerging any time soon. "That's why I told you to stay in the cave," Jasper told the little Gem; relief at her safety softening her sharp tone. "Like your siblings… oh stars please tell me they stayed put…"

As no answer was forthcoming from the gemling, Jasper instead jogged over to where Peridot had managed to drag herself. Even if she had to look for the rest of the brood later, she wasn't going back without the technician's gem. But to her amazement, Peridot was still in her physical form – and still trying to move even though all she could manage now was to gouge weakly at the sand with her remaining hand. Crouching beside her, Jasper laid a hand on the green Gem's shoulder only for Peridot to cry out in fear and flinch away.

"It's okay Peri, it's me." Gently turning the green Gem over, Jasper saw the terror in the technician's eyes. It began to fade as Peridot realised what and who she was looking at – clearly she was focusing so hard on maintaining her physical form that she barely knew what was happening around her. "Just go into your gem, I'll keep you safe," Jasper said, trying to sound comforting. It was a relatively new experience for her.

Peridot's head shook slightly, but Jasper wasn't sure if it was denial or just spasmodic. The fear had returned to her eyes which was confusing – regeneration was nothing to be afraid of. Jasper had done it so many times that it was routine to her now, a minor inconvenience. From the way Peridot was acting it was as if she'd never…

Realisation struck the warrior Gem like a blow. "You've never regenerated before, have you?" she asked, carefully lifting what remained of Peridot's body. The technician's head shook again, this time in a definite no. "It's nothing to be afraid of," Jasper said, leaning down to carefully examine Peridot's gem. "You just go into your gem then reform your body when you're ready. You can change it too – I used to have short hair you know. And your gem is absolutely fine," she added. "Not even a scratch, so there won't be any problems when you reform. Okay?"

Peridot struggled to reply, her body flickering as its outline wavered. It was clearly taking all of her strength to keep projecting it – even speech was too much. The technician let her head fall back against Jasper's supporting hand and looked up at her wearily. Her visor had already gone so it was easy to see the strain in Peridot's face – despite Jasper's words she still seemed unwilling to release her physical form. Then her eyes widened in horror as a small green head cautiously emerged from behind Jasper's neck. She'd brought the gemlings with her?

"What-" Peridot only managed to get one word out. She'd needed all of her concentration to keep projecting her body and the moment of distraction was enough to break it. With a soft pop and puff of smoke she vanished like the monster before her, leaving a triangular green gem in Jasper's palm and an untidy jumble of limb attachments around them as the gemling wailed in anguish. The warrior Gem lifted the gem gently and slipped it under the band of her vest to keep it safe then detached the whimpering gemling from her hair.

"Don't worry, she'll be back and yelling at you in no time," Jasper said as she held the little Peridot against her chest – gently but securely so there was no chance of her getting loose. Gathering up Peridot's scattered limb extensions, Jasper counted the fingers to make sure they were all there then bubbled them for safekeeping and wedged the orange sphere under her arm. Taking a firmer hold of the bubbled red gem with her free hand, the large Gem turned back towards the cave. "Now let's go see if your sisters are any better at following orders than you are…"

Chapter Text

At first the gemlings hadn't noticed that anything was amiss as they squabbled briefly over the pile of rock shards Jasper had left for them. The runt didn't participate in the short scrum over the shale fragments - the piece she'd broken off for herself was still bigger than any of the ones in the pile despite her gnawing. It didn't take long for her siblings to each find a shard they were happy with, and they were soon settled contentedly. The scanner was still chiming with insistent urgency, and one of the two identical Peridots chirped irritably at her twin for continuing to echo it.

But her twin wasn't there.

Blinking in confusion, the little Peridot dropped her piece of shale and looked about herself, her chirps now calls instead of complaints. There were her other siblings - the striped ones and the small orange. But there was no other Peridot to be seen. Realising their sister's distress, the other gemlings also abandoned their shards and added their voices to the call as they searched the pen for their missing sibling. Within seconds it was obvious that she was nowhere to be found, and the gemlings' chirps became plaintive as they looked out of gaps in their corral at the empty cave beyond and realised that for the first time in their short lives they were utterly alone. Not only was one of their sisters missing, but so were both of the big ones - the warm orange giant and the green one who made noises at them.

The echoing cries of the gemlings became soft whimpers that were drowned out by the rapid chimes of the scanner, a warning light casting flashes of ominous scarlet against the walls of the cave. Taking charge of the situation, the runt herded her sisters into the far corner of the pen where they huddled together in frightened silence. The tiny Jasper crouched in front of her larger siblings protectively, a low snarl rumbling in her throat as she glared at the flashing scanner. It didn't matter that she was the smallest - some instinct told her that this was her task. Attack. Guard. Protect.

After what felt like an eternity to the gemlings, the scanner fell silent and the red light disappeared. Rather than reassuring them, this only emphasised that the cave was empty - there were no sounds of the big ones moving or speaking. The only noises they could hear besides the runt's low growl were the muffled thud and suck of the waves on the rock outside and the gentle lap of the pool. They weren't comforting sounds; the acoustics of the empty cave transformed them into an eerie echo that made the runt's hackles rise even further while her sisters clustered together with fearful whines.

The minutes ticked past slowly, marked by the rhythmic throb of the sea and underscored by the runt's low growl. The gemling's yellow eyes were fixed on what parts of the pool she could see through the spars and plates of Jasper's makeshift fence - the sounds there were different, the runt somehow knew that if anything came into the cave then it would be from there. Her suspicions were proved correct as everything suddenly went dark - something large had blocked the light filtering through the pool. Then it exploded through the surface, water spraying across both the cave and the gemlings as a hulking figure stepped out. Behind the runt her sisters pressed into the corner of the pen in fear but the smallest gemling didn't move. If this thing was a threat then she would fight it with all the small strength and considerable ferocity she possessed, regardless of its size.

The first thing Jasper noticed when she emerged into the cavern was how dark it had become. She'd kicked the heat lamp over when she'd left and hadn't noticed - it was currently lying against the wall, its hood jammed up against the rock. Retrieving it, she pushed the bubbled Cinnabar into the highest point of the cave, well out of the reach of curious gemlings, then let the bubble containing Peridot's limb enhancements drop to the floor. Turning back to the corral she'd constructed - the Peridot gemling still clasped tightly to her chest - the warrior Gem shone the lamp towards it. As the warm golden light washed over the pen, Jasper felt the knot of anxiety in her belly tighten as it revealed a pile of shale pieces but no gemlings. Swinging it further around, the warrior Gem heaved a sigh of relief as she saw four pairs of eyes reflect the light back at her from a dark huddle in the far corner of the enclosure.

"Thank the stars," Jasper murmured as she moved closer and set the lamp down. She smiled warmly - an expression that had rarely crossed her face until a few cycles ago - as she saw that the runt was crouched in front of her frightened sisters like a guardian, protecting them. Wrenching the fence apart, and no doubt breaking things that Peridot would complain about when she regenerated, Jasper slowly sank down to sit cross-legged in front of the gap, wincing as the assorted injuries to her physical form throbbed in protest.

Setting the little Peridot down gently, Jasper nudged her towards her siblings. But the gemling refused to let go of her hand, and before Jasper could detach her the rest of the brood came stampeding out of the pen to throw themselves into the large Gem's lap. They didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Jasper was still soaking wet, snuggling against her regardless as they chirped at her. For once the runt wasn't growling, instead she was making soft mewling sounds as she butted her head into the palm of Jasper's descending hand.

"It's okay, I'm here." The warrior Gem ruffled the small gemling's hair then checked the others as well. The errant Peridot had been tackled by her twin but didn't seem to mind and the two older gemlings had settled against Jasper's midsection, clinging to her vest. Jasper lifted each one in turn to make sure they were unharmed then let them settle in her lap which was slowly drying under the heat lamp. Retrieving Peridot's gem, Jasper examined it carefully under the light, relieved to see that her initial assessment had been correct – no scratches, chips or cracks to be seen. The eldest Peridot climbed her arm to see what she was holding, looking at the gem curiously then reaching out to touch it.

For a moment Jasper was concerned that the gemling might try to bite Peridot's gem like they had with the shale, but all she did was look at it with what seemed to be bewilderment. Whining softly, the striped gemling patted the stone's smooth surface, then repeated the action when there was no response. A moment later the runt hauled herself up on to Jasper's wrist beside her sister and copied her actions - shaking the inert gemstone as if trying to wake it up. With a jolt, Jasper realised that was exactly what they were doing - somehow they instinctively knew the stone was Peridot and they wanted her to come back.

"Don't worry, she'll be back soon," Jasper told them, carefully setting Peridot's gem down on her lap after another gemling tried to scramble up beside her siblings, accidentally knocking the striped Peridot off in the process. Now that they could all reach their parent's stone, the gemlings clustered around it - chirping softly and whimpering. Jasper stroked them gently with one hand to comfort them, her other arm curled around them in a protective curve. One by one they slowly fell asleep – snuggling down beside Peridot's gem – until the only one left awake was the runt, purring quietly as Jasper's callused thumb rubbed back and forth across her back.

"You did good looking after your sisters, squirt," Jasper told her, settling herself against the cave wall. Her back felt like the only part of her that hadn't taken any damage in the fight with the corrupt Cinnabar – her perforated limbs were throbbing and there were shallow punctures in her chest and belly that she hadn't even noticed. Going into her gem to regenerate wasn't an option – someone had to watch the gemlings. But Jasper knew that her physical form would repair itself given time and rest, just at a much slower rate. The warrior Gem didn't mind – she needed time to think anyway. If there were still Gem monsters roaming this planet then that changed things. There was only one option for them that Jasper could see now, and Peridot wasn't going to like it any more than she did. Glancing down at the green gem that was now mostly buried by gemlings, Jasper wondered how Peridot was coping with her first regeneration and how long it would take. At least it couldn't possibly be any more traumatic than what had forced her into her gem in the first place.

*****

The rain came down in sheets, turning the sand into a gritty paste that clung to Peridot's boots and worked its way into her joints, making her stumble awkwardly as it was ground to powder in her ankle mechanisms. The technician almost jettisoned both of her lower leg enhancements then and there in sheer frustration – she hated this planet, she hated this situation, she hated that nobody had responded to her distress signals, she hated her superiors for sending her on this stupid mission, she hated the Crystal Gems and right now she even hated her so-called escort who was sitting staring at the sea and had been for hours. It wasn't even interesting, just a body of saline water filled with yet more organic contaminants like the rest of this stupid rock.

Throwing herself down beside Jasper – feeling more sand working its way beneath her clothing and sorely tempted to blast it into vitrification – Peridot heaved a frustrated sigh and shot a reproachful look towards the larger Gem. "So are you actually going to do anything useful? All you've done since you washed up is sit here and mope. So the fusion beat you, big deal, get over it." Back on the ship, Peridot would never have dared to speak to Jasper with such disrespect. But that had been before she'd been stranded here and forced to live by her wits and whatever she could scavenge while Jasper had gone off to live under the sea with Lapis Lazuli or whatever it was they'd been doing.

There was no response from the warrior Gem, only a brooding silence that might once have intimidated the technician. But not any more. "We can still turn this around Jasper," Peridot continued, a note of pleading creeping into her voice. "All we need to do is get an update on the Cluster - that was our mission in the first place. Forget Rose Quartz and the Steven. We don't even need to retrieve the Cluster, we just need a status report then we just need to wait until someone gets my distress signal and comes to…"

"No-one will be coming, Peridot." Jasper's voice was flat and emotionless. "We're on our own."

The certainty in her voice sent a chill down Peridot's spine. "Someone must be coming," she retorted with brittle, fear-tinged sharpness. "Why wouldn't they? Homeworld must have noticed that the ship was destroyed, they'll want to know why."

"They know why." The warrior Gem's response was terse. "The only thing they'll want to know is why we let that happen. But they won't risk sending another ship to find out."

"Then how in all the stars are we supposed to report back?" Peridot snapped. "Is Yellow Diamond just going to abandon us here?" The only response from Jasper was a grim silence which spoke volumes. "No. No, this can't be happening." The technician's voice rose in both pitch and panic. "I'm a loyal Gem, they wouldn't just leave me here to rot! I told you we were supposed to check on the Cluster but no, you had to take that Steven thing – whatever the hell it is – back to Yellow Diamond and all you managed was to get your ass kicked by that 'shameless display' of a fusion!" A small part of Peridot's mind was screaming at her to stop. Jasper outranked her by several orders and an entire caste. But all of her frustrations had finally reached boiling point and Peridot's only outlet was sitting beside her not even meeting her gaze.

"We weren't supposed to take prisoners," the green Gem ranted. "We were supposed to destroy any resistance, not throw it in cells so it could just break out again and wreck the ship! I should just have ignored your stupid orders as soon as they went against our mission objectives and jettisoned you along with the Crystal Gems. This is all your fault!" Blinded by tears of rage and anguish, Peridot knew she'd crossed the line. In fact, she was so far beyond the line that she wouldn't have been able to see it with a scope. Technicians did not talk back to soldiers. Technicians did as they were told and kept their mouths shut. Huddling into a ball to brace herself for the inevitable blow as best she could, Peridot sobbed into her knees as she heard Jasper move.

A huge hand closed on her shoulder, and for a moment Peridot wondered if Jasper was going to tear off her arm. That wouldn't be difficult for the warrior Gem. Hoping it would be over quickly, Peridot gritted her teeth… but nothing happened. The hand on her shoulder was just that – the grip strong but not painfully so. And to Peridot's great surprise, both the contact and the strength were reassuring. The technician had been dismissive of Jasper's fight with the fusion, but she couldn't deny she felt much, much more secure now that the larger Gem was here with her. She opened her mouth to apologise, but all that came out was a low, desolate wail.

"I just want to go home..." Peridot wept, turning to bury her face in Jasper's broad chest as she clung to the warrior Gem with both arms. The hand on her shoulder drew back sharply as Jasper tensed in obvious bewilderment, then an arm settled around her waist. It encircled her body completely, whereas both of Peridot's arms weren't enough to reach around Jasper's back. But it felt safe.

*****

The first thing Peridot realised was that she was floating in mid-air. The second was that she was back in the cave. And the third was that she was falling, her startled cry cutting off with a gasp as she landed awkwardly half in and half across Jasper's lap. Blinking in disorientation, the technician raised a hand to rub at her forehead with a dizzy groan and started in surprise as she realised that her fingers were flesh, not metal. She felt Jasper's arms around her, shifting her into a more comfortable position, then heard a chorus of chirrups as small figures leapt onto her from their hiding spots in Jasper's hair. The gemlings.

"How are you feeling?" the large Gem asked. Peridot didn't answer immediately – instead she took careful stock of the gemlings snuggling into her midsection. Four small Peridots and a tiny Jasper – all present and unharmed. They were safe.

"I guess I'm fine," Peridot eventually replied, giving herself a cursory check just to be sure. "You were right, that was nothing to be afraid of." Now that it was over, Peridot couldn't help feeling somewhat embarrassed about her fear of regeneration. She'd been expecting to come back to find her severed limbs missing, but they had reformed with the rest of her. Looking up at Jasper however, she saw that the orange Gem appeared distinctly uncomfortable, gazing off to one side as if there was something incredibly fascinating on the far wall. Looking down at herself once more, Peridot counted her fingers, but those were all there too. She could even see her limb enhancements sitting in a bubble on the other side of the cave. Jasper had obviously remembered to gather them up which was certainly above Peridot's expectations. And the gemlings were completely fine, if anything they were slightly larger. "Look, if you've got bad news then just tell me," Peridot said firmly. "I'm fine. Our brood are fine. We're obviously not prisoners of Homeworld or those Crystal clods. Whatever's bothering you can't be that bad."

"You think?" Jasper's head swung round towards the technician, her expression strangely apprehensive. "You're not going to like this."

"Try me," Peridot countered. "Stars know that there's not much about our situation that I like in the first place. I don't think there's anything you can say that will make things worse."

Taking a deep breath that she didn't need, Jasper held it for a moment then blew it out in a long sigh. "Okay then." Peridot could see anger and resentment in the warrior Gem's eyes, but it wasn't aimed at her. And it faded as Jasper looked down at Peridot and their offspring. "We're out of options, Peri. We need to contact the Crystal Gems."

Wonderful. Apparently Jasper had lost her mind.

Chapter Text

Not a fic update I'm afraid - but this fanart is so adorable that I had to share it. This is by dragon-master-13.deviantart.com and is the scene from Chapter 5 where Jasper returns to find the runt protecting her sisters. The runt is in front, the eldest Peridot is on the left, the second eldest on the right and one of the twins is in the middle. IT'S SO FREAKING CUTE!

Chapter Text

It took nearly three day and night cycles for Peridot to reform, and Jasper spent that time either deep in contemplation or watching their brood with an interest that was completely new to her. The large Gem spent most of the first day sitting against the cave wall as her injuries healed. Her physical form repaired itself much faster than a human body – but still far too slow for Jasper's taste when she could have just retreated into her gem and reformed within a fraction of a single Earth revolution. However, watching the gemlings more than made up for the inconvenience, no matter how much Jasper's wounds itched as they closed.

The tiny Gems had spent the first two days sticking close to Jasper as if they were afraid she'd leave again. They were still displaying an unnatural habit of gnawing on rock fragments, but now they would dart away to retrieve a piece then immediately return to Jasper's side. The warrior Gem had given up trying to discourage them from the habit – it didn't appear to be doing them any harm and now that she thought about it, Jasper realised they would have to draw nutrients from somewhere. In a Kindergarten the incubating Gems would have been forcibly injected with energy the robotic attendants had leeched from the planet, but the gemlings didn't seem to require that level of sustenance. Probably because they weren't being speed-grown to maturity like Kindergarten Gems.

On the third morning the gemlings had finally untangled themselves from their customary pile in Jasper's lap and one by one they'd hopped down to explore the cave. All except for one of the two identical Peridots who had remained in Jasper's lap – the large Gem was certain that it was the one who'd managed to hitch a ride out of the cave in her hair. Obviously that one's curiosity was sated for now. The gemlings were still moving around on all-fours, but now they were faster and more confident as they moved around the cavern. The eldest once again moved to the pool that led to the outside world, as if she was attracted to the sunlight refracting through it. The other three decided to investigate the fence that Jasper had hurriedly made to contain them – the runt even made an enthusiastic attempt to climb it. She'd actually managed to get herself about an entire foot off the ground when she lost her grip and fell into Jasper's waiting hands.

"Not bad for a first attempt," Jasper told the little Gem as she set her down gently. The runt didn't even try to bite her, butting her head against Jasper's palm instead and purring softly as the warrior Gem patted her hair. The other gemlings – except for the eldest – came scampering over as well, clamouring for attention as they joined their smallest sister. Gathering them up in one arm, Jasper stroked the three gemlings with a slow, calming rhythm. Three soon became four as the Peridot who'd been sticking close to her wriggled in beside her siblings, Jasper's arm easily big enough to accommodate them. Lying alongside each other, it became obvious that the second eldest Peridot – the one with jagged stripes like Jasper – was somewhat larger than the twins, her pale yellow hair starting to lose its neat shape and fluff out into the beginnings of a mane.

Wondering if the eldest shared these traits, Jasper looked over to where the gemling had been crouched by the pool… and jolted sharply with a curse as she saw that the little Peridot was leaning precariously over the water's edge, a small arm outstretched as if she was trying to reach something. Setting the other gemlings down gently, Jasper strode quickly across the cave to grab the striped gemling and lift her away from the water, ignoring her protesting wail.

"Oh no, you're way too small for that," Jasper said firmly, holding the small Peridot in both hands so there was no way for her to wriggle loose. "I don't know if you can swim, but it's much too early to be finding out, the tide could sweep you right out." Looking down into the pool, Jasper could see the sand at the bottom glowing a warm, buttery gold as it caught a shaft of sunlight from outside. Maybe that was what had attracted the gemling.

Then something moved.

Dropping to one knee and leaning closer for a better look – though making sure that she still had a good grip on the gemling in the process – Jasper drew in her breath sharply as she saw an eight-legged shape inch slowly out from beneath a rocky overhang. Apparently oblivious to her presence, the crab shuffled across the bottom of the pool, moving towards the exit. The striped Peridot in Jasper's hands chirped, managing to slip one small arm through her parent's fingers to gesture at the creature. Maybe the crab was what she'd been so interested in, not the water.

Jasper's first impulse was to smash it, cold sweat prickling down her spine at the thought of the corrupted Gem monster she'd fought. She couldn't help a paranoid glance over to where the Cinnabar was bubbled – she wasn't surprised to see it hadn't moved, but she was still relieved. But where it had been a titanic abomination, the crab that was making its laughably slow way across the bottom of the pool was even smaller than the runt. And instead of a bright, toxic red, its carapace was a dull greenish-brown and completely smooth, its legs short and bowed instead of long and spindly. It looked absolutely harmless.

Still, Jasper wasn't feeling particularly charitable towards crustaceans, and it would be the work of a moment to scoop the creature up and smash it beneath her boot. Her eldest daughter wouldn't even have the time to wriggle loose from her remaining hand, and… as Jasper automatically looked down at the gemling, she hesitated. The little Peridot was gazing at the crab with wide-eyed fascination, the look that Jasper had sometimes seen on Kindergarten Gems' faces when they were taken off-world for the first time and got their first good look at the stars without an atmosphere in the way. Jasper wondered what the gemling would look like if it saw her crush the invertebrate against the stone floor. And decided that she didn't want to find out, so instead they watched the small crab make its unhurried exit oblivious to the doom it had so narrowly avoided.

Turning back to the other gemlings, Jasper blinked in surprise as she saw that the runt and the other striped Peridot were squaring off against each other while the twins watched with apparent interest. The smaller gemling was growling and her sister responded with a challenging trill as they sized each other up. Before Jasper could get over to them, they charged at each other and butted heads as if they were wearing helms like their parent. However, as they weren't wearing helmets the collision appeared to daze them, both gemlings falling flat with pained squeaks of dismay.

Setting the eldest gemling down next to the twins, Jasper sat beside them and reached out to separate the erstwhile combatants, lifting one in each hand. "Okay, that's enough of that. What in the stars brought that on?" Even as she asked the rhetorical question, Jasper wondered if the striped Peridot's Jasper-type traits were to blame. A Peridot-type Gem, like most of the technician classes, would know better than to attack one of the warrior classes, even if they'd just emerged from a Kindergarten. Maybe this one thought she was a Jasper? Or maybe it was because her sibling was a runt; maybe the striped gemling didn't recognise her sister as a warrior-type because she was so small. Or maybe it was just because they were gemlings, not Kindergarten Gems – they hadn't been imprinted with hierarchy or class specifications when they were created. Jasper didn't know enough about gemlings to make a guess – hell, nearly everything she knew about gemlings she'd learned in the last few days. No wonder Homeworld had switched to using Kindergartens instead of reproduction – the results were much easier to predict.

Carefully placing the two gemlings on her lap, Jasper wondered if letting them go was a good idea. And immediately realised that it wasn't – the moment her grip slackened her daughters had wriggled loose and leapt at each other again. This time they didn't try to butt heads; instead they began to tussle like miniature wrestlers. Jasper was about to pull them apart but hesitated when she realised that the gemlings didn't seem to be actually hurting each other. The striped Peridot was bigger and heavier, but wasn't using her superior strength to force her smaller sibling into submission. And while the runt was nipping at her sister, the bites weren't hard. Jasper was well aware that the tiny gemling could draw blood if she wanted. Maybe they were just… playing? That was another strange concept, but Jasper reasoned that she enjoyed practice sparring with other warrior Gems regardless of whether Homeworld was on a war footing or not. Maybe this was similar, just on a much smaller scale.

If it was playing, then the other gemlings didn't seem keen to join in, preferring to stay next to Peridot's gem which was lying where Jasper had left it. Occasionally one of them would shake it and chirp - they still didn't seem to have realised that wouldn't do much good. The behaviour had annoyed Jasper at first, but then she had reminded herself that it wasn't their fault. They didn't understand regeneration, or Jasper's explanation that their mother would be back soon. All they knew was that Peridot was gone, and that upset them. So Jasper had bit back her frustration just as she had when Peridot had been screaming accusations and blame at her back on the beach.

A part of her – a large part – had wanted to strike the technician for her insubordination and unbelievable insolence. But Jasper hadn't been able to deny, not even to herself, that Peridot had a point. All the technician had wanted to do was follow her orders, not abandon them in favour of taking what was left of Rose Quartz back to Yellow Diamond in the hope it might gain back some of the favour she'd lost thousands of years before. And it didn't help that there were a lot of things – hundreds of them – that Jasper would rather do than go anywhere near the Cluster, unless she was putting it out of its misery. The Gems fused together to make it had been enemies, there was no doubt about that. Jasper had probably even shattered some of them herself. But they had fought and died bravely. They didn't deserve… that. It was necessary, she accepted that, but it wasn't the first time she'd had qualms about something Homeworld felt was necessary.

…behind her Carnelian was screaming, close enough for her voice to slice through the cacophony of shrieks echoing across the battlefield. And when Jasper looked around she felt a cold chill of unwelcome vindication as she saw that her lieutenant was writhing on the ground just like Rose Quartz's troops, shuddering as her form warped like clay being shaped by an unseen, malevolent hand. They'd told her the weapon would only work on the Crystal Gems. Either they'd been wrong… or they'd lied…

Banishing the memory with a grunt, Jasper looked down to see that the runt was now sitting squarely on the middle of the striped Peridot's back. The larger gemling was finding it impossible to dislodge her; feet and arms flailing backwards at the weight that was just out of her reach. Eventually she went limp with a grudging chirp and the runt rolled off her – obviously the winner of this match.

"Good job," Jasper congratulated the small gemling, ruffling her hair with her thumb. "And you'll do better next time," she added to the Peridot, gently scratching her head. "Just don't let your sister pin you like that, you might be bigger than she is but you're not quite strong enough to buck her off." To Jasper's relief, there didn't seem to be any animosity between the two gemlings – both of them settled down to sleep beside each other without any qualms. Lifting the other three along with Peridot's gem, Jasper set them down beside their siblings where they curled up beside them. One of the twins took hold of a length of Jasper's hair, winding it between her forearms until it was in a large, soft roll then snuggling into it like a pillow. The other was resting her head on Peridot's gem, as was the eldest of the brood. Within moments, the only sounds in the cave were an occasional sleepy chirp and the muted rush of the sea.

Sitting still as a statue, Jasper watched her brood sleep with a smile she wasn't aware of. They were such tiny, helpless things. It almost didn't make sense that they were so important to her – if they'd been Kindergarten Gems then she knew that she'd have been disgusted by their weakness. Instead she wanted to protect and nurture them. The former was at least a desire she was familiar with, but the latter was new and strange, much like the way her loyalties had underwent a tectonic shift from being a faithful servant of Homeworld and Yellow Diamond to being ready to fight them on sight. Jasper had served the Diamond Authority for millennia, and her loyalty had never once swayed, not even when her army had devolved into screeching abominations around her purely for the sake of spiting the rebellious Rose Quartz. But she would fight anyone who threatened her offspring, no matter who or why.

Maybe that was why gemlings were almost unknown on Homeworld; a historical curiosity that had been cast aside in favour of the much more efficient Kindergartens. Efficient they certainly were, but Jasper had never felt much connection with Kindergarten Gems, and no doubt the feeling was mutual – the only bond they all knew was to the Diamond Authority. Gemlings challenged that bond, if the instinctive feelings Jasper was experiencing were anything to go by.

Casting her mind back to the history lessons she'd been forced to sit through after clawing her way out of the rock face which had birthed her, Jasper tried to remember what she'd been taught about Kindergartens. Something about how natural reproduction was extremely rare and time consuming and the cost-benefit analysis was vastly inferior to Kindergarten production which guaranteed large numbers of flawless Gems of specific engineered types with a 99.98% success rate. The warrior Gem found herself wondering just how much of it was true – obviously the part about Kindergarten efficiency was, but they hadn't told them much about Gem reproduction except for it being rare. Had it always been that way? Jasper had no idea, but she could see these strange, loyalty-shifting emotions being a threat to the Diamond Authority.

And she wondered – not for the first time – if the Crystal Gems would know any more than she did. Rose Quartz had been older than her, much older, and had objected to the Kindergarten process even before it threatened her pet planet. And they had a Pearl whose class – if memory served – was used to care for Gemlings to allow the parents to resume more important duties in addition to their services as technicians and aides. Jasper was sure that was one of the reasons they'd been replaced with the Peridot class. With no more need for nurturing, the Pearl class had been shelved in favour of one which was primarily geared towards technology and repair. And even if the Crystal Gem Pearl wasn't old enough to have been involved in caring for gemlings, she'd still have those skills hardcoded into her molecular structure. She'd know more about how to raise them than Jasper and Peridot combined.

Sighing, Jasper shifted slightly to set her back against the cave wall, being careful not to wake the brood nestled in her lap. The Crystal Gems knew this planet. They'd survived here for thousands of years despite the hundreds of Gem monsters that had been set loose to lay waste to the Earth when Homeworld had abandoned it. They'd successfully managed to conceal themselves from any Homeworld surveillance probes and kept the planet isolated from the warp network. And they'd beaten her. Jasper had been armed with a ship, the latest in Gem technology, a skilled technician and an informant. And she was a warrior Gem, made purely for combat unlike any of the Crystal Gems. And they had beaten her. Destroyed her ship. Even if she had managed to remain in control of Malachite, Jasper wasn't sure if she could have beaten them. What if they had fused together? Jasper had seen multi-Gem fusions in the final battle against Rose all those millennia ago and they had been formidable foes. If she was to approach them now, surrender, show them the gemlings… could they possibly be formidable allies?

The small thing that Rose had become would accept the brood, Jasper was sure of it. Rose would have accepted them. Then again, Rose had always been quick to accept an honest surrender and turn enemies into allies. That was one of the things that had made her such a threat to the Diamond Authority, who preferred to use turncoats and failures as salutary lessons. On the day of that final, fateful battle for Earth, Jasper knew that if she'd thrown her weapon down and knelt to Rose instead of organising the retreat of what was left of Homeworld's army, she would have been made a Crystal Gem. Briefly, Jasper wondered what that would have been like. She wouldn't have had to suffer Yellow Diamond's displeasure, or her humiliating defeat at the hands of the fusion, or…

"Let's stay on this miserable planet... together!"

Jasper's shudder was automatic, her arms instinctively curling around and over the gemlings protectively. Of course, if she had surrendered to Rose, then she'd never have been placed with Peridot as an escort. And if that had never happened, then her brood would never have been born. No matter what else had happened to Jasper in this ill-fated mission, the gemlings made it worthwhile. That was why she had to make sure they were protected, even if it meant prostrating herself in front of the damned fusion and begging for mercy. If it kept her daughters safe, then that was all that mattered. Because if Homeworld found them, they would be unlikely to react well to the unsanctioned creation of Gem life, especially outside the controlled environment of a Kindergarten. And if there was anything left of Rose Quartz in the hybrid that called itself Steven, she wouldn't let the gemlings be harmed.

A sudden flash from Jasper's lap made her start, waking the gemlings as well. Looking down, the warrior Gem saw that Peridot's gem was glowing brightly while the gemlings were watching it with wide eyes and bristling hair. As it rose into the air, the brood immediately sought refuge in Jasper's mane, clambering up it to perch on her shoulders as the green gem floated higher and watching it suspiciously.

"It's okay," Jasper reassured them. "This just means that Peri's coming back. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you." As the glowing aura around the stone coalesced into a humanoid shape, Jasper couldn't help feeling somewhat uneasy. She was glad that Peridot was back of course but she doubted the technician would be over the moon at the prospect of contacting the Crystal Gems. Quite the opposite. But there was no more time to consider it, first of all Jasper had to make sure that Peridot landed on her lap, not on a gemling…

Chapter Text

Peridot was on her feet in a moment, the gemlings cradled close to her chest as she glared at Jasper in outraged disbelief. Much to the technician's annoyance, without her limb enhancements Jasper was taller than her even when seated.

"Have you completely taken leave of your senses?" Peridot spat furiously, slowly backing away from the other Gem. "You want to go to those Crystal clods and just offer them our helpless offspring? What, you think they'll be delighted and won't just shatter them on the spot?" Shivering at the thought, Peridot hugged her daughters to herself protectively. The gemlings had begun to chirp in distress, sensing their mother's anger and fear. One of the Peridots managed to wriggle loose and, to the technician's everlasting dismay, the gemling immediately ran to Jasper and vanished into the orange Gem's wild mane. However, Jasper herself had remained seated and was holding Peridot's glower with a calm, steady gaze.

"We need help, Peri." Jasper said, her tone suggesting that she wasn't entirely happy with the idea herself. "We won't get it from Homeworld. Stars, if they find us then shattering would be the kindest thing they'd do to us. So we're stuck here. With the Cluster. And other monsters like that one," she added, gesturing towards the bubbled Cinnabar. "We need allies, and the Crystal Gems are the only ones that we-"

"You KEPT it?!" Peridot's horrified screech drowned out Jasper's words as she turned to see the bubbled Gem, her eyes wide with terror. The gemlings in her arms started to struggle with protesting whines as her grip tightened around them reflexively. "And there's MORE?!" Peridot's first instinct was to run for the exit before the monster in the bubble regenerated itself, but the thought of there being others out there waiting for her froze her in place. In such an enclosed space there was no way that even Jasper could fight the crab monster that was lurking inside the red Gem, but what if there were more of them waiting just outside? What if they decided to carve their way through the rock to get at the defenceless gemlings? Earth rock wouldn't be dense enough to stop monsters like that from clawing their way through. And as for the Cluster, that thing would kill them all without even trying…

"Peridot, you're scaring them." The technician had been so lost in those awful thoughts – picturing them in gruesomely vivid detail – that she hadn't even noticed Jasper stand up until the larger Gem took hold of her arms and gently pried them apart. Two more of the Peridot gemlings – a striped one and one of the twins – immediately scrambled free and leapt into Jasper's arms then disappeared into her hair. The warrior Gem towered over Peridot now, the technician's eyes barely level with her waist. But once the gemlings had settled, Jasper sat back down, tugging at Peridot's arm gently to encourage her to do the same. Peridot obeyed automatically, still preoccupied with visions of impending doom. The remaining two gemlings in her arms – the eldest and the runt – were snuggling into her chest now that they were no longer being crushed against it, and for some reason that calmed Peridot more than anything else.

"Will you hear me out now?" Jasper asked. Peridot didn't reply immediately, looking down at the gemlings in her lap as she stroked their heads gently. Every time she touched them without her limb enhancements she was amazed by the softness of their hair and how warm they were. The other three slowly emerged from Jasper's mane to see what was happening; small green heads popping out first like mushrooms. Seeing that their siblings were settled comfortably in Peridot's lap instead of being squashed against her chest, they slid down Jasper's arms and then hopped across to snuggle down beside their drowsy sisters. Apparently the five of them liked to sleep in a pile.

"Fine," Peridot huffed, though some of the edge had gone from her voice. "Tell me why you think contacting those rebels is a good idea, but it better be convincing."

"Well, if we're not going to report back to Homeworld and submit to whatever they want to do to us and our offspring once they find out we successfully bred, then that makes us rebels as well," Jasper stated, seeing Peridot flinch at the prospect of turning their brood over to Homeworld authorities. "It doesn't matter how loyal we are Peri, we've done something that shouldn't be possible, let alone authorised. The loyal thing to do now would be to let them do whatever they want with us and our children. Anything else would be treason. You understand that, right?"

Peridot nodded shortly, blinking back tears. Having worked on Kindergartens for so many years, she knew exactly what would happen with the helpless gemlings that were currently snuggled together in her lap. She could visualise the little things being handed out to her Peridot sisters like lab specimens… and being treated as such. No matter how loyal she was, Peridot couldn't let that happen.

"Right," Jasper continued. "The Crystal Gems are our only potential allies on this planet. And we'll need allies, Peri. We need to know more about this planet, about humans, about how many Gem monsters are still out there. I was there when they were made, and there were hundreds of them. Stars know how many are left and how many the Crystal Gems have destroyed."

"Where did they come from?" Peridot asked. "The monsters, I mean. The only things I've seen that are even remotely like that are the Cluster prototypes. And they're not nearly as dangerous as the thing that attacked me."

Jasper's face twisted into a bitter grimace as she replied. "They used to be Gems. Some were part of Rose Quartz's army, some were part of mine." The warrior Gem's gaze grew distant, seeing the battlefield in her mind's eye. "In the final battle for this planet, the Homeworld authorities decided to use an experimental weapon which was supposed to only affect rebel Gems. The idea was that if we couldn't take the planet back from Rose Quartz, we'd render it uninhabitable. We had to evacuate when it affected Homeworld soldiers as well, and I remember Yellow Diamond saying that it didn't matter because that just meant there were even more monsters here – they'd wipe out all sentient life on the planet within a few centuries."

"Gee, I can see that was a rousing success," Peridot commented acidly. "It's not like there's billions of humans infesting the place or anything."

"There wouldn't be if it wasn't for Rose Quartz and whatever was left of her army," Jasper replied. "Somehow they've managed to keep the monsters in check, even though there must have been only a handful of them left after that battle. Rose Quartz wanted to protect the humans and this planet - that was why she rebelled in the first place. So if we want the gemlings to be safe, being with the Crystal Gems would be the best place for them."

"Oh yeah?" Peridot didn't sound convinced. "We're Homeworld Gems Jasper; we never fought on their side. You fought against them – we both did! So why would they want to protect our offspring? Maybe they'd just shatter them instead!"

"They won't hurt the gemlings, I can promise you that." Unlike Peridot, there wasn't a trace of uncertainty in Jasper's voice. "The Crystal Gems followed Rose Quartz, and whatever Rose Quartz might have been or done, she would never have harmed gemlings. Stars, she thought that humans were innocent creatures that needed to be protected."

"But Rose Quartz isn't…" Peridot began, then fell silent as Jasper shook her head.

"She isn't gone, not completely. That Steven thing has her gem, it's almost like he's her gemling except he isn't a full Gem. I have no idea how she managed that, but…" Jasper indicated the sleeping gemlings, "I have no idea how we did that either. And if this Steven is like Rose at all, he won't harm our children either. Neither will the Crystal Gems - they might be rebels but they wouldn't have followed Rose if they didn't share her values."

"Okay, I get it, they won't harm the gemlings." The technician seemed to be satisfied on that point, but still uneasy. "What about us though? What if they keep the gemlings and harvest us?" To Peridot's discomfort, Jasper didn't have an immediate response; instead the larger Gem shifted uncomfortably where she sat.

"If we surrender, then I don't think they'll hurt us," Jasper admitted eventually. "I'm pretty sure they won't harvest us – Rose Quartz never liked that either. But I can't guarantee that we won't end up like Cinnabar there," she added, gesturing towards the bubbled Gem. Seeing Peridot's eyes widen in panic, Jasper quickly continued. "I think you'll be fine though," she said, placing a large hand on Peridot's knee. "I was in command. You were just following orders. That much is true after all. And you've never fought them before – they're far more likely to be holding a grudge against me."

"And you still think we should contact them?" Peridot asked, her tone suggesting that Jasper had perhaps hit her head too hard when fighting the corrupted Cinnabar. "Wait, this isn't because you just want a rematch with the fusion, is it?" she asked suspiciously.

Jasper shook her head in response. "No. I'm not going to fight any of them. My plan is to go outside and wait on the beach until they find me – I'm assuming they can still track our energy signatures. I'd go to their base, but then they might consider that an attack. I don't want to give them a reason to fight me."

From Peridot's expression it was clear that the technician was now certain that Jasper had a concussion. "So… you're just going to sit there and wait, then surrender when they get here?" That wasn't the Jasper that Peridot was familiar with. Then again, the Jasper she had been familiar with would never have shown such affection towards their gemlings. Or been so gentle with Peridot herself. Maybe it wasn't a head injury after all – maybe it was something to do with Earth's atmosphere or gravity or the ludicrous amount of water covering the planet's surface.

"So… what happens if they bubble you? They'll be sure to find me and the gemlings next, what am I supposed to do?" Despite her words, the concern that was in Peridot's voice wasn't just for herself and her brood.

"Tell them I forced you." Jasper's response was simple. "You followed my orders because you were afraid of me. I'll tell them you only did as you were told when they get here. And if they ask why we mated, tell them I forced that too. They'll be more sympathetic if they think I abused you. You're a young Gem and you've never been away from Homeworld before, you're alone and afraid and you have gemlings. That should be enough to put their minds at ease."

"But Jasper," Peridot protested. "If I blame everything on you then if they bubble you, they'll never let you out. And besides," she added uncomfortably, "it isn't true. Stars, it's my fault you're even here, I'm the one who wanted an escort. And…" The technician's voice tailed off as she looked away, then down at the gemlings sleeping in her lap. "I… don't think I could tell them you forced me to mate. Then I'd have to tell our brood that as well, and I couldn't do that. I mean, I'll lie about everything else being your fault, sure." Peridot's chuckle was forced and brittle. "But not that part. Surely if these clods are as merciful as you think then me being a young Gem alone with gemlings will be good enough, right?"

Jasper didn't look entirely happy with the compromise, but eventually sighed and shrugged. "I still think they'd look on you more kindly if they thought I'd abused you, but you're right. You're young, alone and have gemlings to care for. If that's not enough then they've fallen a long way from Rose Quartz's cause. But you have to tell them that you were just following orders," Jasper added insistently. "And you have to tell them about the Cluster, you'll need to find a way to either stop it or keep it dormant." At those words, Peridot's eyes almost bugged out of her head.

"What?" The technician's voice was a strangled squeak. "I should just tell them that Homeworld took the shards of their fallen allies and forcibly fused them into that abomination? They'll harvest me for sure!"

"Not if you warn them about it," Jasper said reassuringly. "You were only being sent to check on it, you couldn't possibly be responsible for it, even the Crystal Gems would see that. You're not anywhere near old enough to have had any hand in its creation. And if they could handle several hundred corrupted Gem monsters, they'll find a way to deal with the Cluster."

There was silence for a few moments, then Peridot nodded tightly. The tears had returned but she fought them back, not wanting Jasper to see them. "So… when are you planning to go out and wait for them?" she asked with forced calm. "Tomorrow?"

"There's no sense in waiting," Jasper replied. "I might as well go out now, the sooner they find us the better for the gemlings." Shifting position to kneel in front of Peridot, Jasper carefully lifted each of the tiny Gems one by one. The gemlings made soft, drowsy noises as Jasper stroked each of them in turn and placed a gentle kiss on their heads. Peridot watched her quietly, struck by the tenderness of the gesture.

"You don't really think the Crystal Gems will bubble you, do you?" Peridot's voice was nervous, but both she and Jasper knew that wasn't the only emotion behind the question.

"I don't know," the warrior Gem replied, setting the runt back down with her sisters. The little thing hadn't even bitten her when she'd been lifted from the gemling pile, only growled sleepily into Jasper's palm. "Maybe, maybe not. Better me than you or the little ones. Take care of them, Peri. And yourself." Quickly, as if nervous herself, Jasper thrust her head forwards and kissed Peridot's gem briefly, then jolted backwards as if she'd been burned and leapt to her feet while the technician blinked in surprise.

It took a couple of seconds for Peridot's shock to wear off, and in those seconds Jasper had moved to the pool leading to the outside world. But rather than jump into it, the orange Gem had hesitated, looking back at Peridot and the gemlings. As their gazes met, Jasper looked away quickly, like she was embarrassed.

"Peri… leave your limb enhancers off," the warrior Gem finished awkwardly, as if she'd suddenly changed what she was going to say. "You look a lot more vulnerable without them." For a moment it looked like Jasper was going to say something else, but instead she plunged into the pool, leaving Peridot alone with her brood.

Swallowing hard, Peridot's arms tightened slightly around the sleeping gemlings. "Be careful you big clod," she muttered to herself, glad that Jasper wasn't there to hear the catch in her voice. "I'd prefer you back in one piece, and not in a bubble."

Chapter Text

Naturally it was the fusion who came to investigate.

Jasper wasn't surprised – she'd been expecting that the Crystal Gems would send the one who'd already beaten her once. She was more surprised by how quickly the fusion had arrived; the planet's sun had barely set when Jasper had heard the footsteps behind her as she sat watching the retreating tide. In a way she was glad – ever since she had surfaced after leaving Peridot and their offspring the warrior Gem had been plagued with doubts and an instinct that told her to go back to the cavern and destroy anyone or anything that tried to get in after her.

Slowly and carefully, Jasper had gotten to her feet and turned around, her hands at her sides. Her gem itched with the need to summon her helm, but the large Gem knew that would be a very bad idea. She'd found herself facing the fusion whose arms were crossed over her chest, the moonlight glittering on the crystalline knuckles of her gauntlets. The next few minutes had been spent in a tense, uncomfortable silence which was heavy with the mutual knowledge that it could explode into sudden violence at any second. Eventually, the fusion spoke first.

"You separated." For a moment, Jasper had the crazy suspicion that the Crystal Gem somehow knew about Peridot and the gemlings and was accusing her of leaving them. Then she remembered that the last time they'd met, she had been Malachite.

"Yes. Lapis left me here." Not for the first time, Jasper wondered if it had been coincidence that the ocean Gem had dumped her so close to Peridot's hiding place, or if Lazuli had somehow known she was here. "I don't know where she is now," she added, guessing that would be the next question. Given that she hadn't been bubbled yet, things were going better than she had expected.

There were another few moments of awkward silence as the fusion studied Jasper from behind her mirrored shades, weighing her options. The larger Gem didn't move – if this was going to end in violence then she didn't want to be the one who initiated it. Besides, maybe she could beat the fusion if she kept her head, which might win her some respect in the rebel's eyes. But the Crystal Gem still made no move, aggressive or otherwise.

"You wanted us to find you. Why?" To Jasper's surprise, the fusion didn't sound suspicious at all; instead there was a note of genuine curiosity in her voice.

"The situation has changed. We can't go back to Homeworld." Since the fusion had gotten straight to the point, Jasper supposed that she might as well follow suit.

"We?" the fusion asked, the barest hint of an eyebrow appearing over her shades.

"Peridot and I," Jasper replied, feeling an uncomfortable sense of betrayal now that she'd made the Crystal Gems aware of the technician's location. "Something happened that… well…" Despite herself, Jasper found she didn't want to mention the gemlings. Not here. Not in the open. Not where someone could hear them. "It'll be easier if I just show you," she finished lamely, kicking herself as she realised that the fusion would probably assume this was a trap – that was exactly what Jasper would have assumed herself in the rebel's position.

More silence, even more awkward this time. Jasper's eyes dropped to the sandy ground, growing increasingly uncomfortable beneath the fusion's hidden gaze. The warrior Gem waited for the rebel to ask her if she thought she was stupid. But what the fusion did say surprised her even more.

"All right, show me." The fusion's arms dropped to her sides as she cocked her head to the side expectantly.

Momentarily wrong-footed – though it was hardly like she'd been right-footed through this entire encounter – Jasper blinked in surprise, then gestured towards the rocky inlet where the entrance to the cave was hidden. "Follow me, it's this way." As she turned to lead the way, Jasper half-expected a fist to smash into her spine, but all the fusion did was to keep pace with her as the warrior Gem walked away. All of Jasper's instincts were screaming at her - some familiar and telling her not to let a potential enemy follow so closely, others new and insisting that she keep her offspring hidden and safe. Gritting her teeth, Jasper ignored them and hoped she was doing the right thing. Last time she'd ignored her instincts, she'd seen Gems that she'd fought with for centuries devolve into monstrosities before her eyes. She'd told herself it was the price of loyalty and obedience then. Now those loyalties had changed.

Reaching the water, Jasper waded out to the diving spot that led to the cave, and gestured towards it. "There's a tunnel underwater, it leads to a cave. I'll go first," she added, hoping that would make the situation look less like the trap it appeared to be. "Peridot might panic if she saw you first." The thought of the technician waiting alone in there with their helpless brood made something sharp twist in Jasper's gut. "You won't hurt her, will you?" It struck Jasper that she should probably have asked that first. "She was only following orders; none of this was her fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame me."
Again, the fusion studied Jasper for a few moments before speaking. "You're trying to protect her." It wasn't an accusation, if anything the Crystal Gem sounded surprised. "I won't hurt her," she continued. "We know Homeworld sent her, she didn't come here of her own accord."

Jasper supposed that she would just have to trust the fusion; it was too late to turn back now that the rebel knew where the cave was. Steeling herself, and praying that she was doing the right thing – for Peridot and their brood, not Yellow Diamond for once – Jasper dove into the water.

Peridot wished that Jasper had stayed, that she'd never let her go outside to wait for the Crystal Gems. The logic had been sound enough – it still was – but now that she was alone with their brood all the technician wanted was for Jasper to be back again. The gemlings were still sleeping in her lap – tiny, vulnerable things that Peridot wanted to hide somewhere so they couldn't be found. Especially now that Jasper had gone. She scanned the cave briefly, looking for any likely crevices or gaps that would be large enough for the gemlings, but still small enough for her to conceal with her body.

The technician was starting to consider whether she should carve a hiding place out of the rock with a laser when the water in the pool rippled unnaturally, the dim evening light that was filtering through vanishing behind a dark shape. Her hand immediately went to the destabiliser that she'd tucked into the back of her suit – not drawing it, just making sure it was within easy reach. Belatedly, it struck her that it would probably have been a good idea to put her limb enhancements back on, but it was too late for that now.

Tensing as a large shape emerged from the water, Peridot relaxed with a sigh as she saw Jasper's shaggy mane. Maybe the warrior Gem had changed her mind after all. But then their eyes met and Peridot saw something there that she'd never seen before – uncertainty. As Jasper moved towards her, Peridot saw another shape in the pool and her gaze darted back to Jasper in mute fear. Surely the other Gem wouldn't have let herself be followed if there was any danger to the gemlings. Surely.

"It'll be okay Peri," Jasper said quietly, her voice reassuring in spite of the doubt in her eyes. "I won't…" Her voice tailed off as the second Gem entered the cave – the fusion! Peridot's body went rigid as the Crystal Gem pulled herself out of the water and got to her feet. Why would the Crystal Gems have sent the war machine if their intentions were anything but aggressive? The gemlings in her lap began to chirp and squeak as they felt Peridot tense, and the fusion's head immediately snapped towards the sound before the technician could make any attempt to hide them.

For several moments the adult Gems were motionless. The Crystal Gem had sucked in a sharp breath as she saw the gemlings, and although the shades hid her eyes, they couldn't hide her expression of utter shock. Then the fusion shuddered violently as if she was about to split apart – Peridot wondered if that was exactly what was happening – but seemed to regain control as she let out a long, shaky sigh.

"Stars," the fusion murmured softly, then took a few careful steps towards Peridot. Her hands were held outspread in front of her in a peaceful gesture, but the effect was ruined by the heavy gauntlets she wore. Peridot's gaze fixed on them fearfully, wondering how easy it would be for the Crystal Gem to crush her brood with those weapons. Noticing this, the fusion made a quick, flicking motion and the heavy gloves evaporated back into her gems. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said with surprising gentleness, turning her hands so that they were palm-up, gems completely exposed.

Peridot knew the gesture was intended to reassure her, that the fusion was deliberately putting herself in a vulnerable position to demonstrate trust, but she still had to fight the urge to grab for the destabiliser as the fusion knelt slowly in front of her. The gemlings were all awake now, still chirping as they looked curiously up at the new Gem with a complete absence of fear. All except for the runt, who seemed to have picked up on her mother's fear and was watching the fusion closely, her small mane bristling.

"These are yours?" the fusion asked, still with the same gentle tone. Peridot could only nod mutely, realising now that there was no way she could grab the destabiliser without the Crystal Gem noticing. She should have given it to Jasper. The technician nearly threw caution to the wind and grabbed it anyway as the fusion's hands moved towards her brood, but then they stopped. "Can I…" the rebel began, but at that moment the runt seemed to decide that this stranger was an enemy and launched herself from Peridot's lap to sink her teeth into the fusion's index finger.

The technician's eyes went wide in horror at the sight of her smallest daughter dangling from the fusion's hand and beside the Crystal Gem Jasper took a step forwards. But then the fusion started to laugh, and the tension dissipated despite the small gemling's growls.

"This one's made to be a fighter," the fusion commented, unconsciously echoing Jasper's words as she raised her hand to get a better look at the gemling. The runt hung from her finger like a fish on a line, then seemed to realise that perhaps she'd been too hasty as neither of her parents were attacking the stranger. Releasing her grip, the gemling dropped into the hand that the fusion had cupped beneath her. Peridot tensed again – if the Crystal Gem had any intent of taking revenge on her daughter for the indignity now would be the perfect time. Instead, the fusion only set the runt down amidst her sisters, still chuckling softly.

Peridot had unconsciously wrapped her arms around her brood, as if she was afraid the fusion might try to snatch them away. But as the Crystal Gem returned the runt to her, the technician slowly began to relax. The fusion was still staring at the gemlings in fascination and making small sounds of wonder as they looked back at her curiously. On some level, Peridot felt a strange sense of gratification that the rebel was obviously admiring her offspring. It felt right.

Standing to one side, Jasper gradually let her guard down now that it was clear that the fusion wasn't going to harm Peridot or their offspring. She hadn't been convinced when the Crystal Gem had exposed her gems – that was certainly a conciliatory gesture, but having fought the fusion Jasper had also suspected it might be a sign of how little the rebel feared them. However, Jasper was adept at reading opponents' body language, and there was no trace of aggression or threat in the Crystal Gem's posture as she knelt before Peridot. The fusion had leaned closer to get a better look at the gemlings, but was still respecting Peridot's personal space and had her hands folded in her lap.

"I've never seen gemlings before." The fusion's voice echoed strangely, as if more than one voice was speaking. "You're sure Homeworld doesn't know anything about this?" The question was directed at both Jasper and Peridot and was concerned rather than suspicious.

Peridot flinched at the name, her arms automatically tightening around the gemlings once more. "No! They can't know!" she said, her voice shrill with anxiety. "If they knew about this - about them - then they'd want to know how it happened. They'd take them away! Us too," she added, with a nervous glance towards Jasper. "You're not going to contact them, are you?" For all Peridot knew, the Crystal Gems might sell them out to Homeworld in return for amnesty for their stupid planet.

"Of course not," the fusion replied reassuringly. "Homeworld would want to take us too, if they didn't just shatter us immediately." Rocking back on her heels, the Crystal Gem looked up at Jasper. "It looks like we're on the same side now," she commented. "We'll help you, if that's what you want."

The warrior Gem couldn't help a grimace – despite their situation, asking for help was still a humiliating experience. And the fusion knew it; Jasper knew that what she was really asking was 'do you surrender?' But Jasper also knew that the Crystal Gems held the upper hand now, and the fusion could very well have forced her to her knees to beg for assistance. Jasper would probably have done that herself had their positions been reversed. "We would be grateful for your help," she said eventually, glancing down at Peridot and their brood. "We have to do what's best for our offspring," she added, the bitter edge vanishing from her voice.

The fusion nodded in acknowledgement, getting back to her feet. "Then we should go back to the temple. It'll be safer for you there. Amethyst!" She shouted the last word, and moments later a sleek shape leapt up from the pool in a graceful arc and landed on four webbed feet. Peridot recognised it as a species of Earth mustelid, but she wasn't sure if those should be bright purple. The otter rose onto its hind legs, then glowed and stretched as it transformed back into the Crystal Gem runt. The undersized quartz glared at both Jasper and Peridot with obvious antagonism, but the fusion turned and raised a hand to forestall her. "It's all right, Amethyst. Peridot and Jasper are coming back to the temple with us and their gemlings."

"Their what?" The purple Gem scowled, but her expression turned to bewilderment as she saw the gemlings in Peridot's arms – all of them looking up at her and chirping curiously. She looked back at the fusion whose expression Jasper couldn't see, but the Amethyst seemed to be somewhat reassured by what she saw there, her stance relaxing a little. "Okay G, if that's what you think." Her voice was doubtful though, and the glare she flashed towards Jasper spoke volumes - there was definitely still a grudge there. Jasper could live with that if it meant her gemlings were safe.

Casting a wary look towards the purple Gem, Peridot looked up at Jasper nervously. The technician obviously didn't want to ask 'are you sure this is a good idea' with both of the Crystal Gems there, but the query was plain to read in her expression. In her arms, the gemlings were starting to try and wriggle loose, obviously curious about the strangers and wanting a better look at them. They certainly weren't afraid.

Almost imperceptibly, Jasper nodded, and held out a hand to help Peridot to her feet. The technician hesitated for a moment but then reached up to take it, carefully balancing the gemlings in the crook of her other arm. One of the twins immediately swarmed up to Jasper's shoulder to where she could get a better look at the Crystal Gems. Before the warrior Gem could grab her, the gemling sprang at the fusion and caught hold of her shades, chirping at her reflection in fascination.

"And this one's inquisitive," the fusion commented, deftly catching the little Peridot as she lost her grip. "You might want to bubble them for the journey," she added, gently handing the gemling back to Peridot.