Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Waiting.

That's all she's known for a while now.

Counting.

Something she had been doing just as long.

Watching.

There wasn't more she could do.

Hurting.

No matter what she pushed from her mind, the thorns made certain of it.

But hoping.

That's all her life was.

She closed her eyes for just a moment, struggling to remember the smile she wanted to see. Over time, the once-thought certainties of her perfect memory were fading. What did her eyes look like? What did her voice sound like? How did it feel to hold her hand? She sighed, continuing her sorry attempt until- something different. A noise. Something ear-piercing compared to the silence and the wind. But...a noise. A familiar noise. A warp! It was Pink! Spinel's eyes shot open, only to see a Quartz standing where her Diamond should be. She deflated. But, at least she had company, something she hadn't had in a long, long time.

The closer the pink Quartz came, the easier it was to tell that she was disturbed. She was slowly looking around, taking in the sight of the long dead garden, and the disheveled Gem in its middle as she walked, her white dress trailing in the dust. She tried to keep a straight face, but Spinel could sense how distraught she was. It was like a cloud of heavy fog surrounding every inch of her form. But she didn't say anything. The Quartz, however, did, her eyes hovering on the mummified remains of flowers before meeting hers. "Hello..." She began, kneeling to meet her eyes."I am Rose Quartz." She had a nice voice.

"I'm Spinel..." She croaked. The small Gem flinched, startled by the sound of her own voice. "Did Pink send you..?" Was that really what she sounded like..?  She thought, too busy trying to force a smile to notice Rose's eyes grow sadder.

"No..she. She didn't send me." Then why was she here? "Pink is...gone. She can't hurt you anymore." Gone. Pink was-

"Gone..?" Rose was just phrasing it wrong, right? She was just off planet, or something, right? "Wh-What do you mean, gone?" Her voice wavered with uncertainty. Rose visibly hesitated.

"Pink Diamond was... shattered."

No

No, no, no, no- No, this wasn't real. She was just imagining this. Pink always laughed about how big of an imagination she had. Spinel let out an unnatural sound of despair, tears welling up in her eyes. Something had taken her Diamond from her. She was gone. The pink Gem fell to her knees, holding her once heart-shaped buns. She hadn't realized it before, but her form was aching. When she moved, she sounded like old, dead rubber. As every single ounce of hope drained, she was left weak. She could tell Rose was trying to say something, but she couldn't hear, much too caught up in her own grief.

She was gone. She was gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. All of her waiting, all of her hoping,  all for the revelation of a friend that would never return.

Neither of them could tell if the pink Gem was sobbing, laughing, or both, but either way, the intensity of it- of this whole situation was taking a toll. It hurt. Physically. She held her hair tighter. Her weakness wouldn't allow much more before-

"Spinel!"

She had vanished into a cloud of mist, her gem falling to the ground.

Rose was left alone. She didn't know how to feel. But she bottled them up nonetheless. She wouldn't have to deal with them for very long, anyway.

The Quartz gently scooped the large, heart-shaped gem into her hands, coating them in dust and dirt.

Pausing for a moment to take one last look at the garden, the soon-to-be finally uninhabited garden, before she left.

Chapter Text

The warplight came and went as Rose entered The Temple. As usual, Pearl was waiting for her. "Rose, you're back." She said, a twinge of sadness in her voice, holding one of her arms. It took her a moment to realize that she was holding something. Something gem-like. If it was a corrupted Gem, it would've been bubbled, so it must have been important. "...What is that?" She asked, holding her hands together nervously. Rose silently adjusted her grip, revealing Spinel's Gem. Pearl's eyes widened. "I-Is that..?" She nodded.

"Get the others..." Was all she said. Pearl looked like she wanted to say something, but thought it best to do as told. She could ask questions later.

Eventually, the four had convened. Pearl looked concerned, Amethyst looked curious, and Garnet? Garnet looked anxious.

"Everyone, this is Spinel." Rose introduced. The other Gems stayed quiet. (Aside from Amethyst, who was promptly shushed by Pearl) "She used to belong to Pink Diamond." As she spoke, the pale Gem covered her mouth. She seemed.. uncomfortable. Garnet's expression, as far as they could tell, didn't change. Amethyst, however, piped up immediately.

"Why is she in her gem?" Pearl glared at her for interrupting.

"She's weak. I found her in Pink Diamond's garden. I'm not sure how long she's been there, but she hasn't seen light in many years. So please, everyone, try to be gentle." Pearl bristled at the implications.

"W-Wait, you don't mean she'll be joining us, right??" She asked, agitated.

"She will. I think she'll be a great addition to the team."

"I'm..not so sure." Garnet finally spoke, adjusting her glasses. "From what I've seen, she's unpredictable. Every future she's in, she's different. Even her reformation has so many possibilities." Much to her surprise, Rose looked...moved?

"Garnet, do you know what that means?" Rose asked. "She's like a human.." Pearl was the only one to catch the look in her eyes. A deep regret just below the surface. Something she had seen throughout their years together. "She's not like us, she's somehow taken herself into her own hands." The fusion nodded, but didn't seem too convinced. After all, she was a Gem, not a human. That, with her unpredictability, made her dangerous. The futures with her attacking were few and far between, but the fact that they were there at all made her untrustworthy. But even if she didn't trust Spinel, she trusted Rose. And despite everything, the small Quartz didn't really understand what the problem was. Why were they complaining about another teammate? One as fun as a human, even?

But no matter what any of them thought, one thing was certain: Spinel was staying.

Chapter Text

Three weeks.

Three weeks is how long it took for her to reform.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was...elsewhere. Did Rose take her somewhere? She didn't really care, to be honest, but she was in a strange little room with all sorts of weird items. There was this strange squishy slab of fabric beneath her, behind her was a small table made out of organic material, with a light source pointing at a basket almost completely filled with more fabric. Was that where she was being kept? And to her left was- Spinel almost jumped out of her gem. It was a Gemoid being in a crisscross position with a bowl of something in its lap. It had long, shaggy hair, strange clothes, and an utterly gobsmacked look on its face. The two stood there, staring at each other in surprise. "Who- ..Who are you??" Spinel asked, raising a gloved hand to point at him.

"G-Greg-" He responded, "And, uh, you are..??"

"I'm...I'm Spinel." She answered. At this point, she had completely forgotten about grieving, she was much, much too confused for that. "Do you, um, know why I'm..wherever this is?" She asked awkwardly.

'Greg' put his bowl to the side and patted the slab, which Spinel assumed meant 'sit, this might take a little explaining.' "Well, you're in my van, for starters." He chuckled. Spinel didn't understand, but smiled anyway. "As for how you got here, Pearl gave you to me. Which, when I think about it, probably means she doesn't like you very much."

The Gem huffed in amusement. "Yeah, that makes sense. I don't think the last Pearl I met liked me much either." The confusion was starting to wear off, which wasn't great. She sighed, trying to calm herself

"Hey, are you okay..?" Greg asked, which surprised Spinel. Organics must have a deep understanding of feelings, if he could tell from a sigh. How nice...

"I'm- I'm alright, nothin' you gotta worry about." She smiled. Or at least tried to.

He didn't want to push. "Okay...Well, hey, how about you take a walk? It might be good for you." Spinel nodded slightly.

"Yeah, that sounds nice... Might as well stretch these ol' legs of mine." She flashed a smile before standing up and walking to the doors of the van. It took her a second to figure out how to open them, but once she did, she was greeted by blinding brightness as she stepped onto...sand. Starlight...she hadn't felt that in such a long time. It was so warm... Spinel couldn't help but bask for a while. She looked around. To her right, there was water, lots of it, as far as the eye could see. It was loud, practically deafening. But she didn't mind. To her left, there was a settlement. She could only assume it belonged to more of whatever Greg was. And in front of her, a massive statue built into a cliff. That must be where the other Gems were. So, without a second thought, she ventured forth, looking down at her feet as she remembered how to walk. Whatever this place was, it was beautiful. Pink would have loved it... If only she could see...

The statue was even bigger up close. As most things were. Spinel could tell it depicted a Gem, but who? She couldn't bring herself to put much thought into it. She was already thinking too much.

But that didn't last long, as a flash of blue light came from a small indent in the stone. Spinel froze as a small group of Gems turned the corner, talking between each other. She first recognized Rose, then noticed a strange Garnet, a tiny Amethyst, and- "Pearl??" The pink Gem blurted, eyes wide. The four stopped in their tracks, staring. "What are you doing here??" The Amethyst and Garnet both turned to look at her with confusion, but before they could ask any questions, Rose approached, taking her attention away from Pearl.

"Hello, Spinel, how are you feeling..? It's nice to see you again." She smiled softly. Spinel, on the other hand, frowned slightly.

"....I could be better.." She mumbled, holding her arms. Rose sighed. "I'm tired, Rose. I dunno where I am, and I dunno what t' do without her."

Rose kneeled down, like when they first met, and placed her hands on Spinel's shoulders. "You're on Earth. Here, you can do whatever you want. And there's so much to do." The Quartz gave her a gentle, encouraging smile. Spinel was skeptical. Pink Diamond's colony? But it doesn't look colonized... She must have been shattered as soon as she left her... But these four were here, on her planet. Did they shatter her...? She couldn't assume. That would be wrong. But it was best to be wary...

"If you're tired, you can start by taking a nap! I know a great spot!" Amethyst spoke up. Spinel looked to Rose, who nodded. She was hoping for an answer as to what a 'nap' was, but a nod was good enough.

"Well, um, I don't see why not..?" And that's all the small Quartz needed to hear.

"Yes! Follow me!" Was the last thing she said before scurrying off. As she followed, Spinel caught Pearl's glare.

She really didn't like her, did she..?

Chapter Text

It was a nice start to a beautiful day, Steven opened the window to watch the sunrise- something he usually did when he woke up early enough.

"...Everyone's out. Guess I'm making us breakfast." And he did just that, rummaging through the cabinets and tossing boxes onto the floor as he looked for everything to make a nice stack of waffles. He looked at his beautiful syrupy creation with pride, then to the clock on the wall. "8 o'clock, that means Spinel isss..." He drew out as he searched the ceiling until he saw a pink blob. "..Napping in the rafters, as usual!"

Giggling mischievously, Steven quietly opened a container of strawberries, took one in his hand, and aimed. With the skill of someone who has done this before, he threw it at the sleeping Gem, hitting her harmlessly on the back, the small fruit landing on the wooden beam beside her. "First try!" He pumped his fist as Spinel shifted. Peaking her head down, she looked at the culprit, berry in hand, beam in the other, before lowering herself onto the floor.

"I think you dropped something." The pink Gem huffed in amusement as she handed him the strawberry. As soon as she looked away from Steven, she saw the mess. "..Somethings, more like." She chuckled. "All this for some waffles?" She asked playfully.

"It's not just waffles, Spinel; it's breakfast!" He explained, opening his arms dramatically. "You know, the most important meal of the day!" The pink Gem looked down at him with a smile.

"Alright, I get it, kiddo." She laughed again, ruffling his hair. "So," She started, sitting down at the counter in a relaxed position, followed by Steven soon after. "Why'd you call me down? Ya need somethin'?"

He shifted. "Well, I thought we could all have breakfast together.. All five of us."

Spinel could feel his awkward sincerity, and smiled. Sighing, she tilted her head in agreement. "Yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? But Amethyst's been out on the town all night, and I overheard Pearl muttering about a lost sword, and Garnet? Well, I can only assume she's on a mission." She could tell it was difficult for Steven to practically be living alone. She felt guilty. Even though she was around, she spent hours on end just sleeping. And one of the most important things about humans, she knew, was that they needed company. Something she could wholeheartedly relate to.

Steven nodded somberly, but a grin quickly appeared on his face. "Well, you're here. How about we spend the day together, just you and me?" The pink Gem smiled back, straightening politely.

"Alright, I'm listening. Been a while since we hung out one-on-one." Turning to face him, Spinel rested her head on her hand, happy to listen.

"Really?! I mean- alright..." He fumbled, trying to seem cool, which only made Spinel snicker. "Uh, anyway, I was thinking, after we have breakfast, we could go explore in the woods!!"

She scrunched her face uncomfortably at the notion, looking away. "Uhh, I'm not..." Spinel trailed off once she saw Steven giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes known to Gem. She sighed. "Alright, yeah, that sounds good." She covered her worry with a smile, her agreement making the boy beam.

And with that, the plans were made. The two talked over the waffles; Steven, like usual, asked what she dreamed about, and Spinel, in turn, explained. Luckily, they usually had a plot to them, so it was easy to do so. Eventually, Steven recalled a story he had heard from Sadie about a monster in the forest. Overall, a normal bonding session for the pair. Over the years, Steven had come to the conclusion that she wasn't much for physical activities, and mainly suggested things like crafts, television, and video/board games. All of which, she seemed to enjoy, especially the games; she always understood them, even when they played Citchen Calamity, which not even Garnet seemed to get.

Just like Spinel thought, the forest was... Not Great. Plants as far as she could see. The anxious Gem stayed close to Steven as she shifted uncomfortably around the leaf litter. The boy hadn't noticed at first, just keeping the two occupied with conversation, which Spinel appreciated.

"What do you think we'll find, Spinel? I'm thinking maybe a nice picnic spot, or a squirrel city, or maybe buried treasure!!" He yammered, turning to Spinel, who looked about two shades paler. The things she would do for him. While all of this was expected, the thing she didn't expect was for him to notice how she avoided a dead tree with tangled roots. "It's okay, Spinel." She glanced at him. "I'm sure the monster isn't real. You don't have to be afraid!" The Gem 'hmm'-ed uncertainly. She would tell him later. He didn't need to be bothered with that.

After a few more minutes of (what Steven would call) a nice walk and a few more conversation starters, Steven eventually hit her with;

"Hey, Spinel. Do you know how to juggle?" At this question, her face lit up in pleasant surprise, naturally surprising him in turn.

"Ha! Do I?!" She exclaimed, taking the lead, walking backwards to face Steven. "I was practically the only Gem on the planet who did!"

Whenever Spinel got excited, Steven did too. And of course he did; it was hard to find something that Spinel was so passionate about. "That's so cool! Why didn't you tell me before??"

The Gem just shrugged with a twinge of awkwardness in her tone. "Well, you've never asked until now. I guess I kinda assumed that you knew already."

He thought for a second before nodding, and replied with; "Yeah, that's a fair point. Makes sense." After another pause, he looked back up at her and asked, "Well, do you think you could do that right now..?"

Spinel grinned. "I thought you'd never ask!" Looking around for something to use, she quickly spotted a few nicely sized stones scattered about. She stretched her arm to gather them, absentmindedly tossing one in her hand to warm up. "I gotta warn you, I haven't done this in a loong while, so I might be a tad rusty." But despite that, she let her "muscle" memory kick in as she started juggling one, then two, then all three, humming a jaunty, alien tune. It was just like the good old days.

And Steven was impressed, to say the least, stars in his eyes as he bounced in place. "Woa-ho-hoah," He laughed, "It's like you were made for this!!" The Gem made an amused noise.

"Heh, yeah, I guess you could-" Spinel was cut off by a loud creeeeaAAAAKK that echoed through the forest, causing birds to fly off, and the Gem to jump, yelping as she dropped her rocks, one landing square on her head.

"Are you okay?" Steven seemed more worried about her than the sound.

"Yeah..." She nodded, putting a hand to the pain. "Did you see what that was? It sounded like old wood, or somethin'."

He shook his head. "No, but it's probably fine. Maybe a tree just fell?"

"Hm, well, I guess they do make a sound." Spinel nudged his arm, trying to calm herself with a joke. Steven just looked at her. "....Didn't hit, did it?"

"Nope!" He answered with a polite smile.

"Ah, can't win 'em all, I s'pose." She shrugged, residual anxiety in her eyes.

And so they trekked on, Steven humming that same tune that she had just a moment ago.

So, things were going amazing. Is what the both of them thought, for very different reasons. To Steven, the wildlife was beautiful, birds singing, the sun shining through the leaves, in his mind, Spinel should love this; she always enjoyed the nature around their house, after all.

But to Spinel, the forest was taking its toll.

The light she wanted was stifled by the trees out to get her, with their wild, reaching branches. And the birds laughed at her. Laughed about how she couldn't even have a nice day out with someone she cared about. But something felt wrong. So, so wrong. She felt it deep in her gem. Ugh, no, you're just being paranoid. She thought, shaking her head. There's nothing to worry about. You're just. Being. Pa- crrrrrrreeeeeaaAAAAAAAAKK!!

It sounded closer. She quickly turned to look at Steven. He seemed to be getting nervous, too, but she could tell he was trying to be brave.

"Steven, we should go." She whispered.

"What?? No, I wanna stay!" He insisted much too loudly for her taste, looking up at her.

"Shhh!! I know- I know." The pink Gem waved her hands, quickly looking around before stepping closer to Steven. "I just don't like the odds of this many falling trees."

"But Spinel, i-" CRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAKKKK!!! A perfectly healthy tree fell into the small clearing, just a foot in front of them. And left in its place was a giant, terrifying, tree monster. Its roar bleeding into the sound of the crashing tree.

Spinel's first thought was to step in front of Steven and shield him from harm. But her second drew a blank. She was frozen. She just stared at the beast, eyes wide, like a deer in the headlights, visibly.

"Okay, Spinel, I want to leave now-" Steven got close.

No response.

"H-Hey, you were right- We need to get the Gems..! Spinel? S-Spinel??" He reached up to shake her.

Nothing.

Not until the monster had set its sights on Steven- the only thing that moved. The tree-beast snaked one of its root-like limbs across the ground and grabbed the boy by the legs, pulling him towards it. He screamed.

"STEVEN!!" Spinel cried, snapping out of her daze. No. No, no, no, no, no. She wasn't going to let him get hurt. She couldn't fight. Everyone knew it. She was too weak to even try. But she couldn't let this happen. Not here. Not now. Not on her watch. Now was not the time for panicking. It only took a second for her to make her foot big enough to stomp on its root, causing the monster to let him go and withdraw its limb.

Spinel looked at Steven for a moment, and seeing that he was fine, whipped around to look up at the beast. That was all it took to push through her fear of its twisted limbs and gnarled teeth. And like that, she lunged.

Steven watched with a mix of horror and excitement as Spinel leaped onto the beast, stretching her arms around it, once, then twice, then three times, and squeezed, cracking its bark-like exoskeleton with the force. He didn't know that she could do that, and by the look on her face, she didn't either. But the monster refused to go down easy, writhing around to try to shake her until it slammed its back into another tree, crushing her. Her grip loosened enough for it to break free. But to Steven's surprise, when it pulled back, Spinel seemed relatively unharmed, only a little scraped up by the armor as she fell to the forest floor. Even though she was winded, Spinel got back up and the beast turned around, snapping its jaws at her. The pink Gem jumped back, and used the seconds it'd take to get to her to grow her fists to the size of her body, holding its jaws open before throwing it to the side.

But Steven had noticed something she hadn't- something in its mouth. It was a gem! "Spinel!! Its mouth!!!" He shouted. Unfortunately, she just glanced at him with a confused look before the tree monster recovered, charging right at her. With a yelp, Spinel bounced away, and scurried behind it. By the time it had turned around, she had lassoed a branch above her and pulled herself into the treetops, leaving the beast looking around wildly.

Spinel was able to catch her breath, and think. Steven waved her down, about to speak, but she made a frantic shushing motion, pointing to the tree-beast. He nodded, and instead charaded opening its mouth, and him reaching in to grab something. Spinel shook her head- she had no idea why he was suggesting that, but it was way too dangerous! But Steven mouthed, 'trust me'. The pink Gem scrunched her face, obviously unsure as she looked between him, and the monster. Until she furrowed her brow and nodded sharply. She held up her hand. Three. Two. One. Then jumped onto its back, winding her arms around it again, with two extra coils for good measure, Spinel used her feet to open its bottom jaw, and her hands to open its top, and shouted "GO!!!!!"

And that was Steven's cue, he weaved his way up its legs, dodged its writhing limbs, and jumped into its mouth, landing right by its gem. The beast was ready to bite, but Spinel held it back. Steven reached up, grabbed the stone, and pulled with all his strength until- poof!

The duo fell to the ground, the gem getting knocked from his hand as they caught their breath.

"Oh my stars, we did it-" Spinel laughed in disbelief.

"I can't believe it!! Spinel, you were so cool!!!!" Steven shouted, stars in his eyes.

"Awh, geez, I dunno if I was cool enough to garner a reaction like that." She deflected the compliment. "But I didn't realize just how useful my powers could be!" She continued, getting to her feet, and helping Steven up, completely missing the fallen gem. "All I thought they were good for was gettin' stuff of the top shelf and pullin' silly faces!" She motioned for them to leave.

"We should do this again!!!" He beamed as the two started walking back to the city.

Spinel smiled back, ruffling his hair. "Well, I dunno about that, but you were awesome, too-!!"

Later

As soon as the two got back to the house, Spinel had passed out on the couch. Something Steven had come to expect.

Eventually, the Gems had returned from their, presumably, second mission of the day. And just like that, Steven ran up to them, stars in his eyes, bouncing in place.

"Guys, guys!! Me and Spinel fought a giant tree monster!!!" He announced.

The three looked to the sleeping Gem, then back to him.

"Steven, are you sure you didn't dream it, or whatever it's called..?" Pearl asked with amusement. He looked to Amethyst.

"Hey, I gotta agree with her. You know I like Spinel as much as you do, buut, that sounds kiiinda unbelievable.." She shrugged.

"What?? But we did! I-It was really cool!" He tried. But the two just left. Garnet gave him a pat on the head before following behind.

He slumped. "Aw, man...."

~☆