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Steven honestly was pretty grateful for that ‘weirdness detector’ that Ford[1] had given him. He’d been following it for a while now, and it seemed the closer he got, the weirder things were. Random winds that would stir up out of nowhere, and if he was right, it felt like… a gem. That was as far as he was able to really get, he wasn’t able to narrow it down further. But wind gave him a pretty good guess.
It also gave him something to follow. If this really was a gem then it was possible it was one of the last corrupted gems, and for as much as Steven had accepted the war and rebellion and empire didn’t need him, well. The gem was probably scared. He found he couldn’t just walk away if he could at least nudge a scared gem to the right direction. When it seemed like the detector thing was going nuts, Steven turned it off and bent down close to the ground, looking around. “Hello… Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m okay, see? I don’t wanna hurt you.”
There was the sound of something snapping in the woods he was in, Steven looking towards the sound at once to see… a couple of humans? Why would- Oh, jeez, he would need to get them out of here before they got hurt. Before he could figure out a plan, a wind was kicking up and he looked in front of him to see- It was a corrupted gem. Oh boy that was some strong wind. Steven reached out and latched onto a tree root. Control the power. Don’t let it control you. He looked back at the gem again. “Hey. Hey, you’re okay.”
The gem made a clicking noise, Steven frowning as he tried to get a look at what kind of gem it was before he heard yelling. “Hey! Kid! Get the hell out of here!”
Steven looked over. Who the hell did these guys think they were? “You’re scaring her!” he tried to hush them, crouching himself down lower. Green gem. Wind. Ugh, come on Steven, put it together!
There was a burst of wind, not as great this time, but Steven could hear one of men mutter, “-another one of those fucking hippies who think everything is worth saving.”
...Alright, that was it. Glancing to them and narrowing his eyes, Steven held out a hand, summoning a bubble around them while he dealt with this. He looked back to the gem. She- “Beryl? Chrysoberyl?”
The gem seemed to stumble, staring at him in a way that wasn’t quite blank, which, okay. That was good- That was good! The gem was a Chrysoberyl. Before he could get close he heard one of the men shout, “What the fuck is this?!” If they didn’t shut the fuck up, it was gonna scare her even more. Steven slowly neared her.
“That’s your name? Chrysoberyl? It’s okay. I’m Steven. I’m a gem too. It’s okay, I don’t wanna hurt you.” That sharp clicking noise came back, the gem backing up as she looked ready to run - or fight back. “Shit- Okay. Okay, I’ll stay over here. I’ll stay over here, and you can stay over there, and we can be fine.” Would just fighting and poofing her be easier? Obviously, but… Steven was so tired of fighting. Would showing his gem help? She could see that he had a gem like her and that might calm her down?
“Hey, kid,” the other man, the one that wasn’t yelling and swearing. “I don’t know if you just want to help or something, but you should really get out of here before that thing turns on you.”
He looked back over to them, narrowing his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you even know what a gem is?”
“A what? ” That was a no. That was definitely a no. “Look, kid, that thing is dangerous it already did this to us-”
Steven looked them up and down, keeping Chrysoberyl in his periphery. Now that he was ‘distracted,’ that seemed to be calming her down. Okay. Okay, if that was what she needed. He adjusted his posture so that he was no longer aimed at her. “What exactly did she do?”
“Do you not see the giant pink bubble we’re in?! Plus that thing has caused crazy amounts of damage!”
That finally got him snorting and oh man, these guys didn't know shit. What did they think they were gonna do? "You think she made the bubble?"
“Do you see any other fucking weird things around here?!” Wow. They were just… so stupid. Jeez. Steven only rolled his eyes glancing back to Chrysoberyl. She was a lot closer. That was good. She was a lot less scared now.
"There's a girl," Steven murmured, trying to keep his gaze away from her to not scare her off. It was a tense minute before Steven felt a bump against his leg and, alright, that was new- But not bad! Glancing to her, he smiled. "Hey there. Don't worry. You're gonna heal." He raised his hand forming another bubble around her and picking it up in both hands.
There was a scramble from the bubble, Steven not bothering to pay attention as he sent her to the Temple, and, right, he would need to call the Gems real quick. Steven stood, brushing himself off. He absently deformed the bubble around the two humans, taking his phone out. He needed to find his car. Ah, shit, no signal.
“Stay right there.” Yeah, because he was just gonna- Why did the crazy humans have guns?!
Steven stared, summoning a shield up in front of him. "What the fuck is your problem?!" Shit, holy shit, humans had never- Holy shit it was happening again he could die out here in the forest away from home-
“My problem is that you and your little pet there are up to no good! What was your plan, huh? Destroy the entire town? Kill as many people as you could?”
" What?! " No- No! He wasn't like that, he wasn't like them! He wasn't like her!
The taller one lowered his gun. "Dean."
“It could be a trick and you know it, Sam,” the other - Dean - muttered, even as his gun lowered an inch. “Hey! You human?”
"Am I human?" That- That was their qualifier? "I- I'm half on my dad's side?" 'Sam' looked to the other one, shrugging. The other one lowered his gun a bit more, eyebrows raised.
“Uh huh. What are you on your mom’s side, then?”
"Uh… Gem?" He lifted his shirt — though he wasn't sure how much good it would do. "They're a kind of alien?"
“You’re… half alien…” Dean repeated, looking to Sam. “Think we should call for a nice white jacket for this one?”
They were both looking at each other, okay, now was time for Steven to bolt. Looking up, he glanced to them again before super jumping up into the tree branches. Shit though, what the fuck?! Who were these assholes?! Who the fuck just pulled out guns on someone?!
Stars, what had they been planning to do to that gem? Would they have killed her if they managed it? "Hey!" He glanced down and oh boy they noticed he was gone. "Hey, kid, how the fuck did you do that?!"
…Okay, that made him feel a little better. He just needed to find his fucking car, and get out of here. "Eat shit!"
“Hey! We’re just doing our fucking jobs here!” Yeah! Jobs that almost got people killed! God, he was gonna throttle them if he got the chance.
Okay. Speed. He could super speed, right? Steven looked back the way he came and man, he hoped that was the way back to the road. He glanced at them again before summoning one of his Rose shields. He tossed it down to the hill he'd been standing on and jumped after it, landing on it and using it to slide down.
“Hey! Get back here!” Yeah, like fuck he was getting back there. As it was Steven slid all the way down the hill before scrambling to catch his balance and breaking into a run towards where he last remembered seeing his car.
"Come on," he huffed, listening to the sounds of branches and leaves getting stepped on. " Come on! " Road! Aha! Steven ran out towards the road, looking up and down. "Dondai!" Hearing them get closer, he chanced a backwards glance before running to the Dondai. He threw himself in the seat, fumbling for his keys.
He saw the two just start to come out onto the road before Steven was getting the Dondai started and flooring it.
Steven didn't feel himself relax until he rounded a turn and he couldn't see them in his rearview anymore. That was… Holy crap. That was intense.
When he finally got into the next town, he picked up his phone. Amethyst. Amethyst could help him chill from all that. Thankfully it didn’t take long for her to pick up. “ What’s up dude? ”
Climbing out of his car, Steven looked around. "Hey, Amethyst. I just sent a gem over to you guys."
“ A gem? Whoa, hang on, like a corrupted gem? ”
"Yeah, I'm out here in South Idaho. Pretty sure she's a Chrysoberyl? That's not the freakiest part though. There were these humans with guns chasing after her."
“ Whoa, what? What do you mean there were humans with guns chasing after you?! ”
"Yeah! I don't- I don't know. There was a corrupted gem so I go try to save her, and these two guys show up and started freaking her out! I bubbled them, then I bubbled her and sent her over to you guys, then I let them go and the next thing I know, they're holding guns up at me!"
“ Dude what the shit? You help save their asses and then they try to kill you? Fuck, tell me you at least punched one of them. ”
" No, Amethyst, you know I'm a pacifist! I summoned up one of my walls, and I think one of them noticed I was freaking out, then the more dick one was like 'Are you human?' And I was like 'Yeah, I mean, kinda.' When they looked away, I ran and told them to eat shit."
There was a burst of laughter over the phone, Amethyst probably curled over with the force of it. Dork. “ Dude- Dude that’s great! You actually told them to eat shit? ”
Steven laughed. "Yeah, I actually said that. Like, I started to jet out and one was like 'hey, get back here!' I was kinda like 'uh, I'd rather be shattered?'" There was more cackling laughter and yeah… Yeah, that was a lot better.
“ Okay- Okay, okay, but you’re good, right? No bullet holes I need to freak out the others with or anything? ”
"Nope, I'm fine," he told her. "Not a scratch on me. It was kinda cool, cause I, like, shield-surfed down this big hill. Peridot and me are gonna have to race when I come back."
“ Yeah- Yeah, I think P would really love that. I’m placing my money on you, though. You’re scrappy. ”
"Yeah, I dunno what their problem was. I mean, they tried to call her my 'pet.' They obviously don't know shit about Gems."
“ Right? I mean, just as long as they didn’t follow you or anything you’ll probably never see ‘em again, right? Just chillax. ”
Didn't… follow… Oh shit. "Y'know, I'm just realizing that might be a problem."
“Yeah, it sure seems like it.” Ah… shit.
"Hey, Amethyst? I'm gonna have to call you back."
“ They followed you, didn’t they? ”
"I can take care of it." Probably. "Love you."
After a quick response from Amethyst, Steven hung up and looked to the two men who had followed him, the ‘Dean’ one looking smug. “Alright, then. Why don’t we go have a nice friendly little chat.”
"What makes you think I'm gonna do a thing you say?" Steven glanced around the street. They weren't alone, so while they couldn't try anything, Steven wasn't so apt to put any innocent people in the way of anything, either.
“I think you’re gonna do what I say because otherwise I’ll drag you off to a nice dark corner and question you there. Personally, though, I’m in the mood for some actual food. How lucky for you.”
Steven snorted, glancing down at himself. "You think you can take me?" Like, wow, he didn't like to start fights, but he could sure as fuck defend himself.
“Better than you could take me,” Dean muttered, eyes dark and hard before the one beside him burst into suppressed laughter.
“What’s stopping me from screaming that there are two weird guys trying to get me to follow them down a dark alley?”
“Look here, you little-”
“What my brother means to say is that we sort of make it our job to keep humans safe from things that aren’t human,” Sam interrupted, placing a hand don his ‘brother’s’ chest and pushing him back. “And sorry about him. He was dropped on his head as a kid.”
Steven looked him over. “You keep humans safe. So what are you?”
“We’re human!” Uh huh. That sounded more like a defense than a statement.
“We’re hunters,” Sam explained. “Humans who know what’s out there and work to protect others from things that would hurt them.”
Hunters… Hunters. “So you’re saying if I didn’t get there in time, you were going to shatter her? ”
“You glow pink? ” Dean didn’t look very impressed, but Sam, the smart one, apparently, took a step back. “And if need be yeah.”
Steven took a step back as well, re-evaluating them. “You’re shatterers. ” Makes sense. He kept finding people just like him, didn’t he?
“Look, I’m not sure what that means, but we’re just trying to do our job and keep people safe. I wouldn’t expect some half-human thing like you to understand.” That was it.
Steven pushed his power out, causing the two of them to stumble back before they landed on their asses. “You don’t know a damn thing about me. And if I ever see you near another fucking gem, I’ll assume you’re attacking.”
Dean looked ready to say something back before Sam was slapping a hand over his mouth with a calculating look in his eyes. “We’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
Looking at them, Steven looked around at the town. Guess he couldn’t stop here, then. Turning back to his car, he paused, and… That black car had been sitting behind his in the forest, too. Forming one of his bubble boxers, he clenched his fist until spikes formed. With a smirk, he set it against the side of the car and, walking back to his car, listened to the screeching sound as he dragged the spike against it.
There was a yell of rage from Dean, it sounded like, but Sam was probably holding him back as Steven got back into his car and settled in. Hopefully that little ‘scratch’ would remind them to not fuck with Gems and especially not to fuck with him. Getting into his car, Steven took a deep breath. He controlled the power. Making sure not to slam the car door shut, he turned his key, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror.
He didn’t fully look away until the hunters and their car were long behind him.
☆
Getting to the next town, Steven looked at his rearview again. Alright. He doubted they followed him this far. Looking at a motel, he put his car in park. He needed some fucking sleep. It didn’t take much to get a room, and as he grabbed his suitcase, he pulled out his phone and dialed Amethyst again. “Hey, Amethyst.”
“ Hey, dude. Everything all fixed with those wackjobs? ” Amethyst sounded both nonchalant and worried sick.
“I mean, I’m pretty sure,” he snorted. “I scared them off, and I’m at a motel. Last I looked, my rearview was clear. They said they were hunters. I kinda sorta totally went pink on them, but honestly? No regrets.”
“ Aw, yeah, that’s my boy! Did you punch one of them in the face, at least? Tell me you punched at least one of them in the face. ”
“I didn’t punch anyone in the face… But I kinda sorta maybe used my bubble boxers to key their car. Just a little. Again, no regrets,” he snorted.
“Dude… Ahaha dude! That’s so amazing! Oh my stars you should’ve taken a picture or something! ”
“I was more worried about getting my ass out of there. One of them seemed smart at least, and I could tell he didn’t want to fight, though. Their names were ‘Sam’ and ‘Dean,’ and the Dean asshole thought that he could try to drag me into an alley, or something. Do you know anything about ‘hunters?’ These guys took themselves way too seriously.”
“ Hunters? Uh… I dunno, sounds a bit familiar. I’ll ask Pearl on the downlow and text you the deets. ”
Steven stretched out on the bed, taking his jacket off. “Alright, cool, thanks Amethyst. I really need to hit the hay, today was exhausting. ”
“ Yeah, sounds like it. You rest little man, I’ll look into this and get some info. ”
“Thanks. Love you. Give my love to everyone else, too.”
Hanging up the call, Steven managed to raise his arm, phone in hand and take a selfie. ‘ Wiped out, but saved another gem. Just a usual Tuesday. ’ Yeah. That was good. And post. And now… Sleep.
☆
When Steven woke up, he stretched and yawned. Good nights’ sleep. That was great. He loved when that happened. Checking his phone, he grinned. He was glad they managed to heal Chrysoberyl. She looked like she was glad to be back, too.
Another look through showed that Amethyst had texted him a bunch of information about hunters, and, huh. Didn’t sound too bad, but those two had been fucked up. They were humans that took on the responsibility of protecting those unaware of the ‘otherworldly’ entities in the world… At its base, it sounded okay, but these guys wanted to shatter a corrupted gem!
Steven shook his head. He needed a shower, just to wash yesterday off.
His shower didn’t take long, and when Steven got dressed, he checked out his phone. A diner was supposed to be nearby. He’d quickly decided he loved diners. He could just get breakfast there and then take a bit to explore the town and just see what there was to do. He had seen a brochure in the lobby about some hiking trails and the forests had looked rather amazing from the quick look he had gotten.
Yeah. He’d eat a nice breakfast, check around town and maybe buy a few things for Connie, and then he’d check out the hiking trails. It was better than just sitting around and thinking about those idiots. Putting on his jacket, Steven nodded to himself and headed out the door to his car.
For a second, he thought he felt… something? He looked around, but… Well, he didn’t see anyone, and he didn’t feel any weird energies. He shook his head to himself. “Jeez, paranoid much?” Getting in his car, he set his phone in his dash clip, and set up the GPS to take him to his breakfast. And away!
Half an hour later and he turned out right - the breakfast at the diner was really good and plus they had pie! It was delicious and perfect and he was feeling a lot better about exploring a new town - especially with a few new updates on the new gem and how she was doing. He was just glad it worked and he hadn’t had to poof her, nor had the others. Although apparently Amethyst had gotten soaked while trying to corral her into the bath. Steven laughed as the bell rang behind him at the door, his phone set up across from him on the table as he video called Connie. “Yeah, it was really trippy. But… Like… I think that was one of the first times I was feeling good about my pink mode, and really in control.”
“ That’s good! I mean, not the whole them trying to shatter a gem or anything, but that you feel like you have more control over all of this. ” Connie smiled at him before giving a cute little giggle. “ Did you really key their car? ”
“Yeah. Oh man, the look on the short one’s face. Man Connie, you should have been there! You would have started dying, it was so hilarious.” He felt some kind of something from one of the other diners, but quickly brushed it off in favor of listening to Connie’s laughter. He took another bite of his pie, tilting his head back. “By the way? Best blackberry pie I’ve ever had in my life.”
“ You know, ” Connie started, pouting at the camera. “ You could always save me a slice and Lion it over. ”
“That’s… actually not a bad idea. I can also bubble it over to you, that’ll be infinitely easier,” he pointed out to her, slowly nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Connie burst into bright laughs, shaking her head, “ Look at you, thinking up all the best ideas over there. ”
Steven grinned at her. “Yeah, you know. It’s probably from spending so much time with you.”
“ You always know just the right thing to say, ” Connie teased, smiling at him and simply watching him for a moment. “ I think this trip is good for you. You look… I don’t know. Better, maybe? You look more relaxed, definitely. ”
“Yeah, well… I’ve been learning stuff, y’know? About myself, about life, y’know? It’s been pretty good, actually, despite, y’know… Other stuff. ” He leaned on his hand, elbow on the table as he looked out the window. “It’s… I mean, I miss home and all, but it’s still nice to have some independence away from the Gems, and from Dad, and everything.”
“ I think it’s something you need at this point, ” Connie said softly, quiet for a moment before softly laughing. When Steven looked over, she was smiling so beautifully. “ Remember when the Gems and your dad first met my parents? And we thought we would never see each other again so we ran away on a bus? ”
Steven held a hand to his head, chuckling. “Oh man, did we really do that? I think I blocked that whole day out. What were we thinking? ”
“ That we’d never see each other again, of course! ” Connie laughed, phone shaking with her for a moment. “ I was just thinking how that’s one of my favorite memories of us. ” Connie gave him a teasing grin. “ Now ask me why it’s my favorite. ”
“Wait wait wait, hold on.” Steven looked around- Ahah! Napkin! Steven held the napkin up, at the ready. “Okay. Why’s it your favorite?”
Connie burst into giggles for a good minute or two, finally looking up at him and gosh… She was just so… She was perfect. “ It’s one of my favorite memories because that was the day I realized that no matter where I ended up in life… I would want you to be right there with me. ”
Oh… Oh no… “Aw man…” Steven sniffled, his shoulders shaking. “ Connie. ” There they were. Oh stars, there were the tears.
“ Good idea on the napkin, huh? ” Connie was just smiling at him, looking so warm and fond and loving. “ Although I could have done without the grounding that followed that memory. ”
Even as he was crying and wiping at his face, Steven managed to laugh, “I was grounded from all kinds of tv for like a year after that. Garnet wasn’t kidding.”
“ Yeah, the thousand years thing was kind of strong. I’m glad she lifted it after just the year, though. ”
“Right? We had a whole season of ‘Under the Knife’ to catch up on! Speaking of, you haven’t started watching the new season without me, have you?”
“ You insult my honor! ” Connie wavered, rubbing at the back of her neck. “ Okay, so I watched the promos, but none of the episodes! ”
“ Connie! Okay, fine, but you know the rules! No spoilers, even if I beg! You know that I’ll just be upset when we watch it later!”
“ I know, I know, but oh, man… It’s gonna be so good. And awful. And good! And horrible! ”
“ Connie! ” Oh, she was gonna be the death of him. But that was alright. When a waitress came over to give him the check, Steven ordered another slice of pie to go. Connie was gonna love this. It was definitely one of the best pies he’d had on the road.
Once he was all set to go, Connie was running through their schedules. “ Okay, so I have some work at cram school that I need to do, I have that pre-test on Friday, and you said you’d meet up with Lars on that day, and then Saturday I have us both blocked off to stream Under The Knife so you had better get to a place with good wi-fi! ”
“You know I will. Oh, but I realized something else you need to schedule in, too!” Connie paused, looking up at Steven with a curious frown.
“ Really? What? ” Steven summoned up a bubble around the box of pie and focused. Connie’s room. Connie’s desk. Connie’s desk in her room. He tapped the bubble, sending it off, and grinning at her.
“Time to eat that pie.” Connie stared at him before startling back as the pie landed right in front of her, Connie silent before bursting into laughter.
“ Steven! I thought you could only send things to the temple! This is amazing! ”
He grinned back at her, picking up his phone and his messenger bag. “Yeah, well… I’ve been practicing a little, y’know? I’ll text you later, I’m gonna go on a hike,” he said, walking out of the diner with his attention on his phone. “The forest around this place is gorgeous! ”
“ Halfway across the country to run around the woods, ” Connie sighed dramatically, already opening her box of pie. It was cute. “ Enjoy your hike. ” Connie sat up a little, blowing a soft kiss to the phone. “ Love you. ”
He laughed, copying the action back at her. “Love you too. Give Lion my love. And your parents too!”
“ You know I will, ” Connie said softly. “ See you soon, Steven. ”
“Bye, Connie.” Hanging up the phone, Steven looked around the town. It was nice, if a little drab. But a hike was sure to be just the thing he needed!
Just as he decided it Steven paused because there… was that odd feeling again. He looked around, and even looked behind himself… Nothing. Weird. Maybe he really was just paranoid after all that.
It was a while into his hike before he realized what the feeling had been. “‘Scuse me! You Steven Universe?”
Steven frowned, looking over to the man. Huh. Kinda reminded him of Stan. He looked down at himself. "Uh… I guess so? Can I help you?" Please don’t be another Spinel.
“Yeah. I’m here to apologize on behalf of my two idgit sons.”
He tilted his head. "Your two… sons?" Wait a minute. "Those idiots I ran into a town back?"
“Unfortunately. I wish I could say you can’t pick your family, but, well.” The man shrugged, giving him a nod. “The name’s Bobby Singer. You’re Rose’s boy?”
Steven's eyes widened, and he straightened up an inch. "Y- Yeah. I am. You knew my mom?"
“In passing. Knew Pearl a bit better.” Bobby Singer… Oh! He knew that name!
"Oh! Oh, yeah, Pearl's mentioned you! Uh…" He looked around the forest. "Were you following me?"
“I wasn’t, but the boys were. Again, I apologize, I dropped them both on their heads when they were young.” There was an offended scoff a bit further behind Bobby. “Look, I just came here to apologize and let you know that these two don’t know nothing about gems, and in our kind of work what we usually find has a taste for human. I’ll make sure they know all gems go towards you and yours.”
"Oh." Well huh. That was sure darn kind of him. "Thanks. I don't know how much you know, about three years ago we finally found a way to heal them from their current state, so yeah, that would really mean a lot to me."
“Did you? Huh, that’s a load off my mind, then. Don’t worry, we’ll send them straight to you guys or I’ll just contact Pearl.”
Steven nodded at him. "Thank you so much, sir. Oh, and you can tell 'Dean' that if he's still looking to start something, I'd be happy to finish it."
“I”ll be sure that he knows,” Bobby chuckled. “It was nice meeting you. Give the others my best.”
"Thanks, you too." Well, that was a weight off his shoulders! Back to hiking!