Chapter Text
Sleep wasn’t going to come easily for Steven. He knew that. He’d experienced it in the past three days since he and Jasper were unfused. Sure, he could close his eyes and pretend well enough for the gems and his dad, but he couldn’t actually sleep. Every time he tried something, it kept him from truly drifting off into peaceful sleep. A stray memory, the smallest creaking of the wood, an overwhelming silence in his mind that should’ve been peaceful. But it wasn’t. It never was.
So here he was. Staring up at the ceiling instead of sleeping, the humming of the fridge and the faint crashing of waves were the only sounds present to keep the deafening silence from creeping in. Slowly, he glanced at his clock. Two in the morning. That meant Pearl would be coming out in about ten minutes to check on him… make sure he was still there. The thought was nice. Ever since she’d reformed, she’d set up a schedule to check on him. A part of him knew it was for her as well as him. Reassurance that he really was back.
Maybe when she came out, she’d be willing to stay with him. The thought brought a small smile to his face. She’d make him a nice warm cup of tea and sit with him. They’d talk about things that didn’t really matter, and she’d offer to watch one of his cartoons with him. She’d complain about the inaccuracies while he laughed and assured her it didn’t need to be accurate. It would be nice, and it may not be perfect or change anything, but he’d feel better even if only for a little while.
He sat up, deciding that if that was to be his plan, he might as well get ready for it. Fix up his bed, maybe grab a toy or two. He was just about to get up and get to it when something, no someone, grabbed him from behind.
His eyes went wide, hands flying to grab at the hand over his mouth. It wasn’t Jasper; he knew that immediately. She wouldn’t have snuck up on him, she’s far too direct for that. The knowledge did little to quell his panic. If anything, it made it worse. At least he knew what to expect with Jasper. Not with whoever this was.
He saw flashes of green as he struggled. He was embarrassingly easy to kidnap, Steven realized as he was carried out of the beachouse like a feisty sack of potatoes. Then, with a whirring, whoever was straight up nabbing him started to… fly?!
With a sharp jostle, Steven managed to free himself. His escape was short-lived as a green tractor beam snagged him.
“Grrr! Quit struggling so much the Steven!” He watched the beachhouse grow farther away the farther his kidnappers flew him. Though by now he’d realized who said kidnapper was. It had to be that green gem, the one that came with her. What was her name again? Pero… Per… Peridot- Yeah, it was Peridot! Right, hadn’t she escaped before the ship crashed? Back when…
Steven shut his eyes tightly as he refused to think about that right now. After all that was the past, this was something happening right now. He sighed, stuck in a mid-falling position in the tractor beam's hold, knowing he was probably in for a long night.
“So… where are we… going?” He decided to ask, figuring it might be best to get that part out of the way.
“To the only place I’ll have a chance to get off this gem-forsaken planet! Honestly, I’ve been trying to find you for multiple earth days- and you were just- not there! I could’ve been away from here already, but no.” Steven listened to her angry ramblings, making some sense out of it.
“Uh, sorry.” The apology was instinct. “I was kinda… in a situation.” He explained lamely, eyes darting around. They were well above the open ocean already, the starry sky above clear save for a few stray clouds. It was kinda nice, kinda not. He wasn’t as panicked as he should’ve been. Maybe because he knew the gems would notice he was gone soon, Garnet would use her future vision to figure out where he was being taken, and they’d come save him. Hopefully. They had to, they HAD to-
“Wait- you were trying to find me? Why? Why me?” Steven asked, finally picking up on that part of what Peridot said. He doubted it was for the same reason the gems and Lapis were looking for him. Actually, she probably didn’t even know Jasper and him had- nope, not thinking about it.
“I’ll explain when we arrive at our destination. If you cooperate, I’ll be sure to advocate for your retrieval in my report.”