Chapter Text
Steven stepped off of the Warp Pad, tugging his jacket closer to himself. There was a path beneath his feet that would wind around, going along the scenic route, but Steven didn’t take it. Instead, he turned and walked straight into the rose bushes - he knew where he was going.
This place was rarely visited, now that most corrupted gems had been healed. The few that might need to visit The Fountain were either in Yellow's care, or could simply get healed at Steven's house using essences. It was lucky for the half diamond, who hissed under his breath as thorns pricked his bare legs. Steven wasn't used to the pain of something not immediately healing, even if the thorns couldn't draw blood.
Steven eventually reached The Fountain, walking back onto the gravel path and through the star shaped archway. The water inside was beautiful - pink, with streaks of white, yellow, and blue that mixed in with squiggles and loops around each other. Rose herself cried a rainbow of colors now, and Steven avoided looking at the statue, looking at the sunset behind her instead.
He ran a hand through his hair, grimacing as it brushed past pink horns, almost hidden completely. Steven pulled out his phone, staring at pink and brown hair through the dim screen and moving around curls until he was sure there was nothing showing.
Steven walked to the edge of the pool, staring down at the multicolored water. It had been 2 months, give or take, since Steven corrupted.
It was fine, at first. All Steven wanted to do after his meltdown was stay at home and watch Crying Breakfast Friends, sitting in his room until he was forced to come out and take care of himself. He didn’t even know his hair had changed color until he looked in the mirror days later, seeing the bright color spreading out across the left half of his hair in streaks.
The spines, curved and sharp on the underside of his arms, were a lot more annoying than a minor hair change. If he stood the wrong way they poked into his sides, if he swung his arm too fast they tore through anything in their way, fabric and skin alike. The matching set of spines on his calves were easier to manage, but his pants had to be rolled up into shorts, unless he wanted to rock ripped jeans.
The worst part was the stares when he finally left his room. He could feel how everyone connected the dots between him and the monster on the beach. They stared at his horns before he started pushing his hair forward to hide them. The hybrid could barely stand talking to anyone in Beach City, and it seemed mutual when even his family were tripping over their words anytime they asked him if he was okay.
His only savior was Connie suggesting that he start planning a road trip. It was a nice suggestion, the thought of getting out of Beach City was one of the only things that made him excited anymore. They were only halfway through planning, but…
Steven sat down on the steps of the Fountains pool, folding his hands in his lap and watching the pink water float in and out of his palms. His gaze drifted past them, at the spines connected to his calves. Any tiny marks left by the thorns had healed themselves with little sparkles in the water, leaving just the corruption.
If he pretended hard enough, the color was a close enough match that he could pretend there were no corruption marks at all.
And stars, did he wish that was the case. Sometimes, the thought that he should be exempt from corruption because he was a Diamond floated through. Other times, he thought his human side should have been able to protect him from it. It didn't matter, since apparently corruption treated everyone the same. Steven should just be glad he didn't remember any of it, honestly.
Blue had suggested that the corruption was connected to his emotions the same way the rest of his transformation was, but that just made Steven feel worse. He had started going to a therapist, he was talking about his emotions - they would have been gone at this point, wouldn't they?
Which was why Steven had even come to the Fountain in the first place, but that seemed like a bust too. He fell forward into the water, flopping to float on his back.
There was no soft feeling as the water healed him, no sparkles. There was nothing to heal. The damage was far too deep, he was too broken to be fixed.
He was an idiot for thinking the fountain could do anything for him. The corruption had almost completely taken out his powers, but it wasn't like when Spinel rejuvenated him. It had done what it could, he had just managed to find the limit of his healing.
Steven stared up into the sky, eyes tracing the clouds. The sunset wasn't as pretty as it was at home. Soft oranges were muted by the overwhelming amount of pink around him, and the quiet sound of the wind was dull compared to the sound of the ocean he had grown up with.
He breathed in and out, measured. His breath paused, briefly, when he floated past the middle of the pool and Rose's Statue appeared in the corner of his vision.
She would have been so much worse, if she had corrupted. It was a mystery that Pink didn't, being trapped in a dark room for weeks whenever she did something wrong. Maybe Steven was just weaker. He had established peace wherever he wanted to go, he could explore the whole galaxy freely. Yet, when faced with the mere idea of his friends having freedom, he collapsed and forced everyone to be there for him. How selfish was that-?
Steven heard a splash, startling. His arms flailed on instinct, and he barely had time to gasp before his head was under water.
The gasp got cut off abruptly as water flooded into his mouth and nose. Steven panicked, hands going to cover his mouth as he coughed uselessly, only getting more and more water in his airways.
His foot brushed against the bottom of the pool and he pushed up, but didn't breach the water. Steven was struggling too much with his breathing, and.. His instincts to swim up weren't kicking in.
The realization made Steven's eyes widen, slowly drifting to his knees at the bottom of the pool as he choked. He was drowning, but there was no pain. His lungs were spasming as his body tried to get air, but the healing essences in the fountain prevented him from feeling any of the burn.
If there was one, singular way to have a painless death, this was it.
Steven tried to look up at the surface, but all he could see was a haze of pink with darkness at the edges, quickly growing to obscure his vision.
Is this... the worst way to go?
Drowning in his mothers own healing tears, after the worst year of his life? After letting down everyone that cared for him?
How would he die if he survived, right here? Would he had to sit through the pain of being stabbed? Shattered? There were so many ways for him to die, and..
Steven didn't think he could convince himself to swim back up, even if he had the strength to.
-something poked his cheek.
“...ey? Hello…?” Everything sounded muted, far away. Steven tried to open his eyes, but all he saw was a blur of colors that vaguely resembled a person.
A small hand pat against his chest, "I'm going to… Stay here, okay?"
The colors smeared across his vision, making Steven’s head spin. He was suddenly looking up at a sky of blue. It was hard to think, and each shallow breath he took was a painful reminder that he had almost drowned.
Steven rolled onto his side, hissing in pain as the spines in his arms poked him. His cheek rested against the sand, and Steven slowly realized he wasn't at the fountain anymore. Had he actually drowned, then? If he was found by a gem, then why would they warp with him? Was there a beach near the fountain...?
Thinking just made a headache form, and Steven groaned in pain, shutting his brain off. He already wasn't used to pain, and a headache on top of the pain in his chest was more than he could deal with.
He laid there, trying to breath as shallowly as possible. All he could hear was the rattle in his lungs with every breath, and the quiet sound of waves hitting the shore.
Steven had fallen half-asleep when the person came back, someone else trailing behind them. They stopped somewhere above and in front of Steven, talking quietly to each other.
Both voices were so familiar, and Steven was content to just lay there, letting the familiarity lull him to sleep-
-A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and roughly pulled him up, shaking Steven. He opened his eyes to Amethyst right in his face, yelling loud enough to make his ears ring. “WAKE UP!!!"
"I’m awake, I'm-” Steven responded, cutting off into a coughing fit. He weakly pushed at Amethysts hands, and as soon as she let go he collapsed into a ball.
One of them pat his back as he coughed up the water in his lungs, and when Steven could finally stopped coughing, he just sat there for a moment and breathed. The rattling was gone, even if there was still some lingering pain in his chest. Thank the stars.
Amethyst spoke up when she realized Steven wasn’t going to, “Jeez dude, you okay?"
“Yeah Ames, I’m-..." Steven looked up at Amethyst, trailing off as he saw Steven standing next to him. Himself. Shorter, and wearing that red shirt design he had been wearing his whole life. “-..okay.”
He looked between his younger self and Amethyst, noting that Amethyst was also back to her old form, a grey shirt and blank pants that Steven hadn't seen in years throwing him for a loop. He felt his brain stutter to a stop, headache only getting worse as he tried to figure out what was going on.
“You don’t seem like it." Amethyst quipped, Younger Steven and her sharing a concerned glance when Steven just blinked slowly in confusion, still glancing between the two.
“Uh- I’m gonna go get a towel?"
Younger Steven hesitated before running off, the place where his hand was on Steven's back suddenly feeling cold. All of him felt cold, actually. His clothes were soaking wet, so it wasn't a surprise, but Steven still shivered, pulling at his jacket with a frown.
“So…”
Amethyst grabbed his attention as she trailed off, stepping closer to him. she poked at the spines that were ripped through the fabric of his jacket. "What's going on here?”
"Uh.” Steven really didn't want to answer that. He tried to pretend that he misread the question as 'why are you here,' but the only explanations Steven could think of were ‘I’m dead’ or ‘I'm in the past'. Saying one of those wouldn't go well, so..."I think I time traveled?"
Amethyst laughed, taking Steven off guard. “No duh! I was asking about these things, dude!”
She poked the spikes again, and Steven looked away nervously. “What do you mean ‘no duh’?? That's-"
"HEY!!" Younger Steven called out from his left, Steven cutting himself off to look over in relief.
The kid ran down the steps of the beach house with a folded towel held above his head, and Steven smiled when he realized that he had washed up barely 10 feet away from home.
"I got the towel!!” Younger Steven tossed it at him, landing on his head. Steven started drying off his curls, keeping the towel over his head as much as possible to keep his horns hidden. He didn't know if the two had seen them yet, but there was no harm in trying.
"Thanks, uh- Steven." He stumbled a bit when saying his own name, but it was worth it when Younger Steven gasped, stars appearing in his eyes.
“How do you know my name?"
Amethyst threw an arm around Steven, “ ‘Cause he is you, dude!"
“What?!? No way, that’s so cool!!"
Steven listened to their conversation as he brushed Amethyst away again and shakily stood up, briefly sparing a thought as to why he felt so weak still. He knew his healing abilities weren't completely gone, but if they were weak enough that if Steven got into any danger...
Steven shook his head and squeezed the last of the water out of his hair, jumping when Younger Steven poked one of the spines on his legs.
“How did you get these? Did you-"
"How about we talk about this inside? I'm still wet, and it's cold out here.” Steven cut his younger self off, patting his head with a strained smile. The kid nodded, and Steven sighed in relief as they followed him back to the house.
Steven grabbed the hem of his shirt and sighed as they walked, knowing that there wasn't going to be anything in the house that fits him. [He couldn't just... drown again and get a dry change of clothes in his own time, could he?]
Once the three reached the porch, Steven stepped to the side and took off his jacket, wincing at the sound of tearing fabric. It would be fine, the jacket was thankfully his chroma copy that could mend itself - but he still cringed when Amethyst looked over at the sound.
He wrung out his jacket over the porch as his younger self and Amethyst walked inside, loud conversation cutting off as the door closed behind her. Steven checked his pockets, taking out his phone [that was hopefully fine due to Peridot's upgrades] and putting it in his back pocket. The jacket was left out on the porch's table to dry and Steven took a deep breath, opening the front door of the house.
Pearl rushed over as soon as Steven walked in, squishing his cheeks as she looked him over. She was about to say something, but faltered when her thumb skimmed over the corruption marks under his eyes, frowning. "Are you really Steven?"
Steven tried to give an answer, but couldn't do anything but mumble as Pearl held his face.
"Give him space, Pearl." Garnet spoke from the kitchen. Pearl straightened up, cheeks turning blue as she let Steven go and took a small step back.
Steven shot Garnet a grateful smile, before blinking. Their kitchen looked a lot...brighter? Looking around the rest of the living room, he realized that the area where the stairs to his room were a lot dimmer, the front of the house missing the windows to the right of the door. The light in the kitchen was coming from Steven's loft, the window above not yet blocked by a wall. He forgot that the bathroom's door had even been moved until now, but it was also back to being in a hallway separate from the living room.
"I forgot how different this place looked," Steven said, watching his younger self run up the loft's stairs.
Amethyst made a confused noise from where she was on the couch. "What changed? It took forever for us to build this thing, i can't imagine doing more."
"Oh please, as if you helped." Pearl scoffed. Steven glanced between the two of them, stepping in before Amethyst could respond.
"Not that much, actually. Bi-iii...." He trailed off. Oh stars, he couldn't mention Bismuth, he doesn't even know if she's been unbubbled yet. Realizing there was no saving the sentence, he glanced between Garnet and Pearl and cleared his throat. "I needed a room expansion, and... the front of the house got destroyed a few times."
Pearl looked concerned, opening her mouth but getting cut off as Younger Steven jumped down from the loft onto the coffee table, pointing dramatically at Steven. "OKAY! Future Steven, i have very important questions to ask you!"
Younger Steven had on a detectives hat and cape, and when no one moved he gestured to the couch very politely. "Please, sit down so i can question you."
Steven had to cover his mouth as he chuckled, and did as he was told. "Of course. This is very important."
He was sure the other gems would say something about needing to properly question Steven, but instead Amethyst shuffled to make room for Garnet and Pearl as they sat down too. His younger self pulled out a notepad, using the fact he was standing on the coffee table to be a bit taller than Steven. The effort to be intimidating like the movies wasn't un-appreciated, but... Younger Steven's face was too cute for him to actually take the kid seriously, especially when he could tell the kid was barely taking himself seriously.
"First question! Do you still like Cookie Cats?"
"Yeah."
"How old are you?"
Steven had to think for a second on that one, almost answering 15 before his brain caught up. "Uh- 17."
Younger Steven had stars in his eyes, and clearly wanted to ask more about it, but held back to continue his game of Detective Steven. He wrote the answer down on his notepad, humming and tapping the pen to his chin.
"I have a question." Garnet stated, and Steven paled.
His younger self smiled, waving his hand toward Steven. "Go ahead! This is an open investigation!"
"How is your gem?" The wording was weird, but Steven's hand drifted over the spikes on his arms self-consciously. Amethyst and Pearl's eyes both followed the movement, and Steven chuckled.
"Haha- uhm, you mean... my powers? My shield, and stuff?"
Younger Steven gasped, suddenly taking up Steven's entire vision. "WE GET A SHIELD??"
Steven nodded, holding out his arm [at an angle, since Younger Steven was standing right where he usually did it] and prepared to summon his shield. He hadn't actually tried to summon his shield in the past two months, only aware that his other powers weren't working.
Thankfully, after a moment of fizzling his shield flickered into existence. Everyone in the room gasped, and Steven winced at the effort it took to keep the shield up.
"Your mother's shield..." Pearl muttered softly, and Steven took that as a sign he could finally let the shield down, letting out a small sigh of relief.
"Woah!! How did you do that?! Can you show me?" Younger Steven questioned, leaning forward. Steven had to lean back as his younger self just kept leaning in closer, half worried the kid was going to fall off the coffee table.
"Uh-maybe? We'll see."
Amethyst hopped up off the couch, stretching her arms behind her head. "Alright, my turn. Do you wanna play some Lonely Blade?"
Pearl frowned. "Amethyst, we haven't-"
"Mehmehmeh- Steven, c'mon! Show off your skills, dude! You finally have someone better at the game than you!" Amethyst jumped up to the loft.
Younger Steven gasped, "just like the Dark Blade..."
Steven smiled, standing up and using his height to just lift himself up to the loft as Steven climbed the stairs. Garnet and Pearl shot one last glance at the 3 of them before moving to the Temple, Pearl talking quietly as the two left.
The microwave slowly whirred, spinning a cookie cat themed mug. Steven sat on the counter beside it, face smushed against the glass as he waited.
There was only one window to the left of the front door, moonlight barely reaching the kitchen, and the other window in Steven's loft had it's curtains drawn. The house was so much darker than he was used to, and he was already missing the future.
It wasn't really about the future, though - Steven mostly missed his clothes. He had barely managed to get away from his younger self and Amethyst long enough to throw his shirt and jacket in the washer, but they still reeked of rose water. Steven could swear that the white parts of his varsity jacket had been stained pink from the fountain, but it was hard to tell in the dark.
He would need to go ask his dad for clothes, if he couldn't figure out how to leave. At least his lifelong habit of wearing hand-me-downs meant that Steven wouldn't need to go buy a whole new wardrobe, but the idea of having to introduce himself to his dad, while he barely even looked huma-
The microwave beeped loudly, Steven jerking his head away from the door and opening it as quickly as he could. He carefully grabbed the cup of tea he made and closed the microwave door, taking a small sip.
He was glad that Amethyst saved him from getting questioned right in front of his younger self, but he knew he had to tell them about his corruption soon. There was no avoiding it, he just- Steven didn't have an answer, much less a good one.
... At least the Gems were the only ones who knew what corruption was. He could walk down to Beach City and they would still think Steven wasn't human, but they wouldn't immediately realize 'oh hey, Steven had a meltdown so bad he literally turned into a giant monster and almost wrecked the town godzilla style. We should all constantly stare at him and ask if he's doing okay-'
Okay, time to stop thinking about that. Considering his options, Steven took another long sip of his tea. He couldn't do anything that woke up Younger Steven, but he had enough things to think about to sit in the kitchen and drink tea all night. Steven knew tea had caffeine in it, but it wasn't like he was going to sleep anyway. Sometime after he turned 15, he got tired a lot less often, and Little Homeschool had gotten him used to pulling all nighters.
He could leave and take a walk around the beach, but if he left the Gems might freak out, or assume he just went back to the future. Probably both.
... Was sitting on the porch an option? He liked sitting out there and watching the sun rise, even if he didn't do it very often. After a moment, Steven shrugged to himself, scooting off the counter.
Right as he took a step toward the front door, a chime sounded out from behind him. Steven turned, blanking as Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet all exited the Temple. They stared at each other for a minute. And then another.
Pearl clapped her hands, breaking the silence. "Oh! Steven! We didn't expect to see you!"
she made sure to keep her voice down, but Steven still tilted his head up toward the loft anyway, using his tea as an excuse to not talk. Garnet spoke, tilting her visors. "Your awake. It's late."
The silence continued until Steven finally responded, taking a glance toward the front door before accepting his fate. "Not tired. How are you guys?"
No one responded as Steven got himself settled on a stool, the spines on his calves getting hooked on the chair. He felt the stare from the Gems, and knew that Garnet was probably waiting until he chose the direction of the conversation. Briefly, he wondered if Garnet was able to predict anything he was going to do. His own Garnet insisted on living in the present, but Steven truthfully had no clue how often Garnet planned out entire conversations to go a certain way.
Steven had stayed quiet long enough that Amethyst spoke up, walking over to sit next to him on the counter. "Any idea how you got here?"
"Nope. just..." Steven thought about how it felt to drown. The painlessness of it. What even caused him to fall in? "... passed out in my bed, and woke up on the beach."
"Man, the future just spit you straight into the ocean, no warning? That blows."
"Yeah." Steven's voice shook as he agreed, and he glanced down at his cup of tea. His hands still weren't pink, his face didn't feel lit up. He was fine. The smell of rose water in his clothes was still noticeable, and he put his face as close to tea as he could to try to block out the smell.
Garnet and Pearl had walked over while he wasn't paying attention, Garnet resting her hip on the counter as Pearl stood next to a stool. Reluctantly, Pearl started speaking. "Well, there's one artifact we're aware of that can travel across time, so we may be able to get you back to the future relatively soon! The Glass of Time is hidden in an ancient structure, and we've been visiting it every 100 years to try to find it."
"Why every 100 years?" Steven asked. He had a vague memory, and Pearl's answer confirmed it.
"The Glass of Time is being stored with thousands of fakes, and whenever someone grabs the wrong one, the structure floods itself for 100 years. It's...." Pearl trailed off, losing confidence as she went to explain.
Garnet picked up the sentence. "We don't know what it looks like."
"Not that it's an issue-!" Pearl started, getting interrupted by an especially loud snore from Younger Steven in the loft. She paled, and everyone went silent, realizing just how loud they had gotten.
After a moment, a much softer snore echoed out, and his younger self rolled over in his sleep. Steven picked up the conversation, speaking just barely loud enough for the gems to hear him. "I've been there. I know which one it is, don't worry."
Pearl smiled, breathing out in relief. "Good! It's still flooded for 2 and a half months, but you should be able to go back to your time."
"Two Steven's for the spring sounds like a pretty good deal to me." Amethyst quipped, grinning. "We gotta give you a nickname!"
"A nickname?"
"Two Steven's will be confusing for the two of you." Garnet agreed, just barely smiling.
"Steve-one and Steve-two? Twoven? Twoie?" Amethyst started throwing out ideas, Steven chuckling as she went on.
Pearl shushed Amethyst, pointing toward the loft before turning to Steven. "do you have any nicknames that Steven doesn't have yet?"
Steven finished off his tea, setting the cup down on the counter as he thought. Amethyst was the main person who gave him nicknames, but all of the ones that stuck were ones that Ames had already been using for years. Connie called him Biscuit, but...it felt weird for anyone aside from Connie to call him that.
There was also Pink, but that wasn't an option. Thinking along that line, though... Steven recalled the tape left for him in Lion's mane, and the almost identical one left in Dad's van. He did have a backup name, technically. "Nora?"
Pearl straightened up, clasping her hands together. "Nora?"
"Yeah. It's what Mom was going to name me if i was a girl."
Suddenly, Stev-Nora was in a hug, and he heard Pearl sniffle from over his shoulder. He hugged her back, looking at Garnet when she spoke. "We still have something else to talk about."
Pearl let go of the hug, and Nora cringed as he felt her arms get caught on the spikes for a second. "I-”
"Steven." Garnet interrupted, staring him down. Nora looked away, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Your shield took more effort than it should have, and it surprised you. Something is wrong."
"Look, we're just concerned." Amethyst spoke softly, waving her hand vaguely as she tried to soften Garnet's bluntness. "Those uh,,, those don't exactly look human, but we've never seen any gem have those either."
"Well- not any gem that's-" Pearl tried to correct, but stumbled over her words. Nora interrupted her, putting his head down on the counter.
"I know that we fight corrupted gems, by now. I know that i look like one." he mumbled into his arms. "...You aren't wrong. We figured out how to cure corrupted gems in the future, it just... leaves marks."
"But how did you get corrupted?” Pearl’s voice dropped to a whisper as she went high pitched, clutching her arms. "There's only one thing we know of that can cause corruption, and that hasn't happened in 6000 years! Do- they don't come back, do they?!"
Nora pressed his mouth into the thin line, trying to think of something he could say that wouldn't be a direct lie. His hesitation was enough of a confirmation, unfortunately, and Pearls hands covered her mouth as she shook her head.
He put his head down into his arms, as Amethyst whispered." You're human, you shouldn't even be able to...”
Nora didn't look up as the kitchen fell into tense silence, trying to find words that would reassure the gems. Way too much of what happened in the past relied on them trusting Steven to handle himself, and he didn't want to be constantly worried about. He took a breath to make sure his words came out calmly before speaking.
“It only happened a few months ago, and I can’t- I can’t tell you how I... got corrupted." he looked up from his arms, meeting Pearl's eyes. He knew it wouldn't be comforting to hear, but it was all he could say without explaining everything. “but I can tell you that I was the only one that got corrupted. No one else got hurt."
"And..." Nora felt tears come to the corners of his eyes. He doesn't remember much from being corrupted, but one of the only things he did remember was being hugged. Steven had woke up surrounded by love, and had been smothered with it to the point of exhaustion ever since. "...You guys did everything you could."
“If you guys want to prevent it though...keep an eye out for when he starts swelling up?” Nora tried to hide his face further in his arms, wincing when one of the spines poked his cheek. The others seemed confused, but Nora was too busy trying to forget how embarrassing it was to swell up like that to answer them.
Amethyst shrugged, hopping off the counter with a quiet goodnight that was followed up by Garnet, the two leaving to their room. Nora glanced over as Pearl walked behind him, and looked up to the loft again.
Steven was still laying in bed, softly snoring, and Nora could only hope he hadn't eavesdropped. Nora didn't know how obvious it was when he had eavesdropped on the gems in the past, but the gems rarely called him out on it if they had noticed. That conversation was heavy, too heavy for Steven to have overheard.
Nora must have spaced out, because he blinked back into focus as Pearls hand gently shook his shoulder. "Are you sure you aren’t tired?”
A new cup of hot tea was placed in front of him, and for some reason Nora felt like crying at the gesture. He glanced up at Steven’s TV, debating his options. "No, I'm okay. Thanks.”
He grabbed the cup carefully, looking out to the porch through the window, and offered a weak smile to Pearl. "Would you.. want to wait for the sunrise with me?”