AN: I need you guys to know something right now. There are two characters in this chapter who are part of the last episode of the newest StevenBomb. I watched it early due to not having TV, but if you haven't seen it I would suggest watching one of the 'That Will Be All' clips featuring Amethyst. Comment if you like the chapter and remember to support the show!

Jasper sat on the couch in the dark living room, watching and listening for anything unusual. If anyone had seen her, the only things they would have seen would be her long white hair and brilliant amber eyes. She didn't have a single mark or scar on her dark tan skin other then the ones that... That woman had given her on her nose.

She hated watch duty, and felt awful that Amethyst would be on watch next so soon after her last one. (And although she would never admit to it, she missed her little sister.) The last time the purple haired girl had been on night-watch duty (the day Lapis finally got that little nerd) she had fallen asleep.

Jasper yawned a bit as she grabbed her gun and started to polish it. The white haired woman smiled as she gaze fell to the 'J+B' carved into it. Her girlfriend had made it for her right before Jasper had been forced to leave her behind lest she be caught by the Diamond Authority and hauled back to their horrid facilities. God she missed Bismuth so much... Everyday she regretted not finding her in time to leave Homeworld...

She stiffened when she heard a door open. Who the hell was awake (besides her) at almost 1 in the morning?! She heard little footsteps and peered at the woman slipping down. Oh, Lapis' plaything, of course. What in the hell did Lapis find attractive about her? The blonde was pathetically small, and appeared completely harmless, Jasper knew for a fact that Lapis was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, no matter how much she denied it.

Peridot was wearing a simple dark green t-shirt and black shorts, her square glasses were a bit too big for her face, she looked like your average nerd. Not to mention the brat's voice was shrill, and she was jumpy, Jasper had no clue in the world what could have made Lazuli fall in love with her (Read: Jump off the deep end) and threaten her co-workers if they could POSSIBLY so much as be rude to her.

"Look kid, if you're trying to escape don't do it on my watch." She said and the small woman jumped, clearly she hadn't seen the buff woman. "Laz'll freak because I 'must have let you out' because I don't sleep on the job. Ever." She explained and Peridot nodded. "So do yourself a favour. Go. Back. To. Bed." The buff woman didn't even bother trying to be nice to the little brat. Not after waking her up the other night with her incessant crying. 'Oh boo-hoo, so you're in a mafia house, so what? You're being pampered and coddled by one of the richest women in the entire state of Delmarva, get over it already! Ungrateful little brat.'

Peridot shuffled her feet and played with her necklace nervously, "I'm hungry..." She muttered. The Hispanic woman rolled her eyes and gave a long sigh, she didn't get paid enough to start playing babysitter to Lapis' new toy. "I just want something small, please?" She said, her voice was quiet, almost begging. Jasper stood up and walked into the kitchen, she yanked the freezer open. The blonde just stood there watching her as if she expected something to happen.

"Well? Grab something. I'm not Lapis, I'm not gonna cater to your every whim." She snapped and Peridot nodded quickly, she grabbed a popsicle and ran back up the stairs after muttering a quick and shaky thank you.

Jasper sighed, that kid would be dead by the end of the month.

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Peridot Odelet

There was a small knock on her door. Peridot groaned, she was so tired, it had taken so long for her to fall to sleep last night. She wanted to go home so badly... She missed her apartment, even if it was cramped and had irritating neighbours, it was her home. There was another knock on her door, a little louder this time, (or maybe she was just more awake now) followed by Lapis' sugar sweet voice.

"Princess, can I come in?" She asked, and Peridot tried to say something in reply, but her voice came out as a broken creak, her throat ached. Lapis opened the door, her face filled with worry. "Are you okay Peri?" She asked, and the small girl nodded. Lapis walked in with a tray holding some food and a glass of pink lemonade, she set it down on the side of the bed.

"M-my... My throat hurts." Peridot croaked, and the blue haired girl nodded, she stroked the side of the blonde's face and her deep blue eyes were filled with sympathy.

She grabbed the glass and handed it to Peridot. "My poor angel... Here drink this, it should help." She said gently, the Greek woman sat up and downed almost the whole thing. It tasted sweet and pleasant, she smiled at Lapis and thanked her, making the taller girl blush. "I'm glad you like it, although I hope you're not getting sick sweetie, it'd break my heart to see you unhappy." Peridot shook her head.

"No, I'm not sick, I just couldn't sleep last night. If that happens my throat hurts the next morning." The blonde explained, but it only served to make the Hawaiian girl more worried.

"Why couldn't you sleep? Is it too cold in here? Is your bed okay, because I coul-" Peridot cut her off mid-sentence and put a hand on her arm.

She watched Lapis' gaze flick down to the hand on her arm, the taller girl blushed a bright red. "Listen to me please?" Peridot asked, and she looked up, nodding silently. "Sometimes it's just hard for me to sleep. The bed is nice, better than the one I have at home." She explained, and Lapis gave a small smile. "However, the room is a bit cold."

The blue haired woman's smile only grew. "Oh don't worry baby, I can fix that!" She said cheerfully before walking quickly out of the room, only to return a few moments later with a somewhat small dark blue blanket. "Here we are. We didn't use heat in your room until recently so you can use this blanket until it's warm enough. But if you want to you can keep it." She said, and placed it over Peridot. The Greek girl gave a happy sigh, being tired was making her stupid, it also made everything soft and warm to her. She sniffed at the air, remembering that Lapis had brought food, her stomach growled.

The criminal giggled softly and clicked her tongue. "Aww, someone's hungry." She cooed and Peridot blushed a bit, everything was so different with Lapis. If that had happened with Limone, the pretty blonde would have just rolled her eyes at Peridot. "Garnet and I made breakfast. Well, it was mostly Garnet. I just help set things up." She said with a small chuckle before Peridot sat up again. Lapis placed the tray in her lap, smiling when Peridot's eyes lit up upon seeing the chocolate chip pancakes, her favourite as a breakfast in bed!

Peridot tried to fight back a dark thought that was rising in the back of her mind, but it came through anyway. 'You will miss this when it's over.'

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Amethyst Prather

She laughed as she heard Skinny curse loudly. Amethyst poked her head around the wall of the abandoned elementary school and smiled when she saw her two most trusted partners playing basketball on the former school's cracked pavement and rusty metal poles and hoops. The sun was low in the sky, casting an orange glow over the whole place, making it look like the trees were on fire, it was awesome.

Skinny was just the woman's nickname of course, (hell, Amethyst was just a nickname, her old name had been Violet) she was tall and about as thin as the poles her and Carnelian were goofing off around. She was like her sister Jasper in a way, her hair was short but it was fluffy and white. She had amber eyes too, as well as an 'I'm better than you because I'm me.' sort of attitude. But that was where the similarities ended. They were physical opposites of each other, Skinny had many scars on her body from where Pink Diamond had burned her while trying to mark her (Skinny had been one of Pink's early pets) and her marking was different. When Pink had knocked her out she burned the poor woman's stomach.

Her girlfriend however, was very different. Carnelian was like Amethyst, short and chubby, which was a little funny when compared to Skinny. Although to the purple haired woman's dismay Carnelian, or Carny as she was sometimes called, was a bit taller than her. The girl was wild and somewhat reckless, she may have also been a little crazy (in a good way) but she was funny as well as fun-loving. Her hair was a constant chaotic mess of dark red, much like Amethyst's, but her bangs stuck up a bit oddly.

Her mark was on her shoulder, and it had been cut in by Blue Diamond to show Pink how to do it. She watched her girlfriend play with glee, the two loved it here, the slums were a sacred place for people like them.

She called out to the two of them, "Hey guys! I'm gonna go now, watch the place for me!" She shouted and they nodded in unison.

"Yes Boss!" Said Carnelian, Skinny gave her a thumbs up and a teasing smile.

"Have fun on night watch duty Boss." She said with a laugh. Amethyst stuck her tongue out at the Latina and flipped her off. She loved those two, the people who worked for her were like one big family. All she needed to do was free the rest of them from the Diamonds.

TIME SKIP

"Amethyst!" The short woman heard the second she walked into the house. She looked over towards the source of the noise, it was Peridot, sitting there with Lapis cuddling the small woman. Amethyst raised an eyebrow, what the hell Lapis' deal with this girl? Sure she was kinda nice, but she'd known Lapis for years, and she had never smiled, except for when she was drunk off her ass. In which case she just giggled at everything.

Still, whatever the cause, a Happy Lappy was infinitely better than her usual S.S Misery. Even if it was creepy and obsessive sometimes.

"H-hey Amethyst, hi!" She called and waved, like she was trying to get the purple haired girls attention. Lapis glared at her a little bit. "Where were you?" Peridot asked and the Hispanic girl simply shrugged.

"My District. Y'know, the Slums of the city?" She said nonchalantly and the blonde looked confused. "Right, right, you're still kinda new in town. Hang on, I'll show you." She explained as she pulled out her phone, the screen had a huge crack right through the middle of it. It was a shame, she liked that phone, oh well. She could get a new one tomorrow.

Lapis spoke up from her spot on the couch, Peridot was being held tightly in her arms, like she was jealous that someone else had her attention. "Come here and show her. We just got comfortable."

Amethyst rolled her eyes a little, she thought to herself, 'I'll be shocked if she's EVER comfortable near you.' But she bit her tongue and walked over to them. "Here's where I live, and yeah before you ask, it's a school. Well, WAS a school, they don't use it anymore." She said, scrolling through all of the pictures of her home, like the garbage dump. "This place is epic. Its got all kinds of weird stuff in it! Can't miss it either, it's like the first thing you see if you go straight west from here." She explained, and Peridot nodded.

"I... I see." She sounded a little disgusted. Amethyst shrugged and put her phone back in her pocket. Honestly! People these days, missing the value of a cool garbage dump, how sad!

She sat down on the arm of a chair and sighed, watching the house through the night was going to suck. Peridot yawned softly, and she heard Lapis start talking in the most disgustingly sweet voice Amethyst had ever heard. "What's the matter baby, are you tired?" She asked. The blonde nodded a little, she looked like she was thinking about something. "Alright, come on, let's get you to bed, you didn't sleep well last night anyway."

Peridot wiggled and squirmed, clearly wanting free from almost being in the psycho's lap. Once Lapis let her go Amethyst watched as the two walked up the stairs. "Good night Lapis." Said Peridot, and the blue haired girl's face brightened from being acknowledged by the woman who had no criminal history, but had stolen her heart.

Although... If Amethyst was being honest, it looked like Peridot desperately wanted nothing more than to give it back.

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Peridot(?) Odelet

It was three in the morning, she had slept for a little while, but Peridot was surprisingly good at waking herself up. She slowly crept out of her room and walked down the stairs. Her heart filled with joy when she saw Amethyst snoring somewhat loudly on the couch.

Sure she felt guilty about leaving (for some reason) but she kept that feeling pushed down as she silently slipped on her shoes. The Greek girl stared at the front door and took a deep breath. She looked at her necklace and rubbed her thumb over the heart shaped peridot in it, she had decided that she would keep the necklace, she liked it.

"Goodbye Lapis... Thanks for everything..." Peridot whispered. 'I'm sorry...'

And with that, she was out the door, running through the cavern like she had all of the worlds winds behind her. The city sky was filled with stars and there was a huge full moon out, it was gorgeous! It was rather chilly out, but Peridot barely felt it as she ran up the gravel pathway.

Peridot learned very quickly that Beach City was not a friendly place at night.

It was dark and eerie, she never went outside at night, so she'd had no clue. During the day the streets were filled with life, but now? It (coupled with what Lapis had told her) made her quite aware that there were VERY bad people out here. On the hunt.

There might have even been some people who were just as bad (or god forbid WORSE) than Lapis... (who she did not miss. No matter how much the thought of breaking her heart hurt Peridot.) How did criminals just hide in plain sight? How did they trick others into thinking that they were just normal people?!

Then again... Olive hadn't suspected that the beautiful woman who had come into her shop had been part of a mafia, heck she'd even had a bit of a small crush on her after their three hour long chat. (HAD a crush, Peridot did have a girlfriend!)

She officially hated Beach City during the nighttime. There weren't many people out walking around, but the ones that were out looked... Questionable. There were more people in the alleys then she thought, how well did they hide during the day? And why? These people needed help... She waved at one of them, but they just snapped at her and called her a flurry of rude names.

"Clod." She muttered and kept running, eventually reaching her beautiful little apartment. This felt almost too good to be true! She would be safe in her home and NOT in the arms of the pretty criminal! She went into the building and her eyes widened when she saw her apartment door, her fears from Halloween night had come been confirmed.

It really had been too good to be true. The new doorknob had been the first clue. The second?

The red paper on her door that read 'Evicted.'. She really HAD forgotten to pay rent.

Peridot felt tears well up in her eyes, she had nowhere to go now... She walked out of the building as her chest ached with fear and her bottom lip quivered. She sat down on the sidewalk, the cold wind was no longer behind her, now it just bit into her arms.

What was she going to do now?! The blonde had no money, she'd probably lost her job or something... Wait a minute... Her job, the same job that had landed her with Limone!

Her girlfriend lived in the next city over, Peridot had never actually seen her house, but she knew that those criminals wouldn't find her there! They might have known Beach City upside down and inside out, but it would still take a while to search, and Peridot would have already called the cops by then.

She smiled a bit and ran into one of the 24 hour coffee shops, "Excuse me ma'am?" She asked the poor teenager working at the counter, the tired girl looked down at her, looking like she was about to fall asleep standing up.

"Yeah..?"

"I don't mean to bother you but, if it's not too much trouble, can I use the phone?" The girl nodded and yawned. "I just need to borrow a quarter."

"Y-yeah sure, right over there..." She muttered and pointed over to the phone sitting on the wall. "Here." She handed Peridot the quarter and the blonde woman nodded her thanks.

She dialled in the number and waited. Oh she really needed Limone to pick up her phone! Her girlfriend had told her that she had an awful habit of waking up at unreasonable times. Peridot felt like she didn't have much time left until one of those criminals found out she had escaped.

Her heart skipped a beat when the ring was interrupted by Limone's voice. "Olive honey, what the hell are you doing up at 3:45 in the morning?" She asked, clearly unimpressed. Peridot was a little confused, Limone had been in her apartment, she'd been the one to report Peridot as missing. Shouldn't she have been worried? Oh well, it didn't matter, her girlfriend would help her.

"L-look sweetheart. It's hard to explain, but I need you to come pick me up, like right now-" She was cut off by her girlfriend's high pitched voice squawking angrily.

"You disappear for days on end, and then call me at almost 4 in the morning, to ask if I can pick you UP?! What the hell Olive?!" She shrieked and Peridot gave a nervous laugh.

"Just listen, please! I need help really badly, I can't get into my apartment, I need to go to your place, like right now!" Peridot tried to explain, "I could be in big trouble, but if I'm in your city the p-people who might um... Not be happy with me, they won't find me if I'm with you." Peridot had the feeling that if they found her Lapis would at least prevent them from hurting her, but she didn't want to just be stuck in that house forever!

Limone growled, the blonde girl must have been in a very bad mood. "Look honey, I know you want to live with me, and that's cute. But don't pull shit like this okay? It's not funny, and it makes you look dumber than you actually are."

"Limone please!" She cried, "It's not a joke I could be danger!"

"Good night Olive."

"No! Ple-" Click.

It was over, she was going to die. That had been her last hope, her last shot...

Now the question remained... What now? She didn't know the city... She supposed she could try to wait the mobsters out until she could safely try to travel to the next city over. But where to hide?

The dump that Amethyst showed her? Eww, no, that was disgusting and absolutely horrid... Peridot would never, EVER in a million years hide in such a place. But then, she smiled as she came to a wonderful realization.

That's right... She would NEVER hide in the dump, and that was exactly why she had to. Peridot started running west.

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Lapis Lazuli

She was so happy, her little princess had let her cuddle her last night! It seemed the poor thing had been attention starved (although Lapis wasn't surprised since her whore of a girlfriend didn't know how to treat her nicely).

Peridot was so sweet and warm, honestly that woman represented light for Lapis. A beautiful little light in the pitch black lake. Peridot was the colour in her black and white world. She was so happy to have found her.

She peeked downstairs and rolled her eyes when she saw Jasper and Amethyst arguing. The sisters cared deeply for one another, but the little debates were constant. They were always somewhat playful, but god they could get annoying. She walked over to Peridot's bedroom door.

She hadn't made food for her yet, but Lapis couldn't resist the urge to see her sweet, adorable angel. She knocked on the door. "Peri-baby, can I come in?" She asked... No answer. She smiled, the blonde was probably still asleep. She knocked again. "Come on my love, I want to see you!" She said cheerfully. Still nothing.

"I'm sorry about this." She said and slowly opened the door. Her heart stopped.

Peridot wasn't in her bed. She knew the blonde wasn't in the bathroom, the door was open. She probably wasn't downstairs, she would have been watching Jasper and Amethyst, and even if she wasn't Lapis would have heard her voice! Where was she?!

She looked under the bed, nothing. "Peridot please, if this is some kind of trick I don't like it!" She shouted, her voice filled with panic and desperation. Her head was starting to hurt, as well as her stomach and heart. Had Peridot run away?! At what time? What if someone hurt her?! Lapis' heart pounded in her chest, her eyes stung a little. She rubbed at them to try and make it stop (she'd never felt that before, what was that?) and ran down the stairs at top speed.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" The blue haired woman screeched. Making the two sisters jump. Sheena and Garnet looked at her from the kitchen doorway.

Sheena was the first to speak. "Who Peridot? She's not in her room?" The half-Korean woman asked. Lapis shook her head rapidly, the pain her stomach now made her want to vomit.

"No, I can't find her!" She snapped at them, and then it hit her. Peridot must have escaped in the night... When Amethyst was supposed to be watching the door. She turned on the short woman and snarled, "YOU! You let her out of the house!" Lapis roared.

Amethyst shook her head rapidly, "No, no! I heard something, so I went outside! I-it was just an animal... B-but she must have gotten out when I was getting rid of the animal in the cave!" She said, clearly panicking, Lapis had made fake threats before, and the others never really took her seriously. They knew she couldn't really feel anything before. They knew she had been just acting miserable to piss people off. Now they also knew she wasn't acting anymore.

Garnet stepped forward and spoke up. "If we want to find her we need to act fast, she's frightened, she doesn't know the city. There aren't many places in Beach City that Peridot knows she can hide in. It wouldn't be hard to find her." She said calmly, but the blue haired woman was still seething.

What if someone else had found her? What if she stumbled into a Diamond spy?! Just the thought of somebody out there getting their hands on Peridot... She was so tiny, she wouldn't be able to fight back! She was snapped out of her thoughts when Jasper spoke up.

"Well It'd be a good idea if we went in pairs to search for her. I'll go alone and send out my people to search. Sheena can go alone because nobody in the city really knows about her, so she can search easier. Garnet could go together with Amethyst, the two work together well anyway." She said, the other three nodded.

"What about me?" Lapis growled, but Jasper shook her head.

"If she changes her mind and comes back, you NEED to be here. But text Pearl, she could help along with the people you have working for you." Jasper was a phenomenal tactician when she wanted to be. Kind of like Rose.

She watched them stand there, staring at her. "Well?! What are you waiting for?! Go!" Lapis roared, Garnet and Amethyst left quickly, with Jasper leaving soon after. Sheena however, stayed behind for a minute. Lapis knew what she was doing, the pink haired woman was locking up all sharp objects, along with Lapis' pistol.

Her nails dug into her palms, Lapis felt sick, her heart ached and her mind was screaming for Peridot. She went up to the blonde's room and sat down on the bed. She groaned in pain as she held her head in her hands tightly, frustration and pain making her want to scream at the top of her lungs. Why wasn't she good enough? She'd tried so hard to be perfect for Peridot, she didn't know what to do... "Poor baby, you're out there all alone in the cold... We'll get you home, safe and sound. I promise that whatever you want, I'll do. If you don't want to be stuck in the house I'll take you with me places, you can explore the city with me, you'll be safe and happy, I promise."

She took out her phone and created 2 chat groups. One for the people she was allowed to kill and one she wasn't. She went to the expendable people first.

Lapis: I want everyone who works for me to get your asses out there and find Peridot! And I swear to god if you so much as think about hurting her to get her back I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER

Lucas: alright, I'm heading out. If I see her I'll tell you Lady Lazuli.

Lapis: Find her! Bring her back to me! Do as I say before I END your worthless life!

Issac: You don't take no for an answer do you?

Lapis: Not when it comes to my Peridot.

She sent them out a picture of the little blonde, and many of them told her they had started searching. She put her hand on Peridot's pillow, it was cold, meaning that she'd been gone for hours, and with the temperature dropping quickly, they needed to find her before she got sick. Not that Lapis wouldn't enjoy taking care of her, but the blue haired girl was so worried...

Her phone buzzed.

Pearl: I heard what happened. I'm searching for her right now, I've asked the police if they've seen her, but nobody seems to have found her.

Lapis: Don't go to the cops you dumbass if they find her we're screwed! They aren't all corrupt!

She groaned again. The police in Pearl's district had been bribed by Rose to keep quiet about them, and Pearl was a master of disguise, so she could easily pretend to be a concerned citizen, but cops were finicky. Rose had told them to leave robberies be for Sheena's sake, but kidnapping? Lapis wasn't sure how they would feel about that.

Lapis: any news?

Garnet: Not yet, it's only been about an hour, stay calm.

She sighed as she laid down on the bed, taking in Peridot's scent. How was she supposed to stay calm when the love of her life could be in danger?!

TIME SKIP

POV SHIFT- Garnet Avenir

She was searching through part of her district quickly, with Amethyst at her heels. The short woman was terrified, even though she knew she wasn't in any real danger. Lapis could threaten them all she liked, but she had made a promise to Rose. If she one day snapped and murdered any of them, the boss would kill her.

It had been about three hours since they had started to search the huge city, the sun would have been somewhat high by now, as it was 11:00, but it was cloudy out and cold. She knew it wouldn't snow for a long while yet, but rain was coming.

Garnet sighed a little shook her head. Peridot wasn't in the business district, there were almost no places to hide, and someone would have found her and called the police. She kept checking the news website, there were no changes on Olive's missing person article.

She heard Amethyst groan loudly beside her. "Ugh, we're NEVER gonna find her!" She shouted in frustration. Garnet looked at her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax Amethyst, we just need to keep looking. Trust me, we can find her. Think through her mind, see through her eyes." She said, and the tan skinned woman looked incredibly confused. "Peridot wasn't in her home, meaning she's either too scared or can't go back in, and my money's on the latter. So she's on her own in a city she barely knows being hunted down by the mafia and though she's scared she probably knows that we can't hurt her. If you were in a situation like that, what would you do?"

Amethyst gave a small smile. "Well I'd go somewhere where I think nobody would look. And she kinda knows the city. Lapis took her to Pearl's district a while ago." Garnet nodded and gestured for her to keep talking. "But... Sheena and P said she's not there. What other places does she know?" The small woman asked and looked up at her. Amethyst's deep blue, almost violet eyes lit up as she came to a realization.

"Yes? What is it?" Garnet asked with a small smile as her companion hopped on the spot.

"I know where she is!" Amethyst cried out, "I showed her parts of my home! I gotta text Carny!" She said with a huge smile, but Garnet shook her head.

"Peridot wouldn't go to your home, she'd run risk of you or the others finding her. She's clever, she knows we'd look in obvious places, as Pearl studied her and told us that she's a creature of logic, she's trying to outsmart us. Peridot is in what would be either the last place we'd look or a place we'd never look."

Amethyst looked down and tapped her hands on her forehead, she was trying to think quickly. The short mobsters head shot up and she grabbed Garnet's fingers. (Everyone was always careful about each others scars, and Garnet had been given two marks) "The dump, she looked all grossed out by it, of course she would hide there! We'd never look!"

The dark skinned girl grinned brightly, Amethyst and Jasper were jokingly called the bloodhounds of the group, they hadn't failed to find a person yet.

The two ran for a while, the taller of the two no longer to read Lapis' panicked and angry messages, she was losing her mind in that house, they needed to find that little woman and fast.

They entered the garbage dump quickly and Amethyst took the lead. The smell was horrid but they needed to be here. "Shut up for a second." Amethyst ordered, Garnet hadn't been talking, but she kept her mouth shut. There was a small sound being carried on the cold winds. Fast, high pitched breathing, and a nasally little voice whimpering on occasion.

After a moment Garnet heard a sniff, Peridot seemed to be crying, or at least she was on the verge of it. The tall woman turned to Amethyst and whispered, "I'm going to talk to her. You stay behind, you technically did let her out, she may be frightened to see you first, okay?" The Hispanic nodded and stayed a bit behind her as she walked over to the source of the sounds.

Garnet looked around, tying to listen for Peridot. She had to think, Peridot knew they couldn't hurt her. So she would hide somewhere that even if she was found they wouldn't be able to get to her without using force. She looked around what was small enough for her to hide in...?

She heard a tiny sniffle come from a huge barely rusted mailbox, it appeared to be new, but the legs had been melted off, it was laying on its side. The black haired woman knelt down and peered inside. There she was, curled up into a little ball just out of her reach, was Peridot. She saw the tall woman and started to shake, a few stray tears ran down her cheeks.

Garnet took of her sunglasses, showing her two differently coloured eyes. She gave the frightened girl a patient grin. "Hello Peridot, or Olive if you prefer. I'm glad you're alright. I think it would be for the best if you came with me" She said, keeping her voice even to try and calm her down. Peridot growled at her and snapped.

"No! I hate you!" She looked like a cornered cat. The dark woman sighed and shifted around so she was sitting on her knees.

"Come on now, you and I both know that's not true." She said, and Peridot went silent. "I want to talk to you, I'm not going to force you to go to the house. Can I just talk with you?" She asked. After a few moments the blonde nodded. "I would like to make a deal with you, with the two possibilities I can see working for you."

"I'm listening."

Garnet held out her left hand, the one that had a burn scar in it. A circle with lines inside that connected to make a square. The mark one of her mothers, Ruby, possessed on her left hand. "You can come with me, I will take you to a shelter, I will tell them that Lapis Lazuli has been an abusive partner, and I will never let her near you. You will never see Lapis again, but afterwards I can't guarantee anything for you, as I won't be able to watch over you." She said, and held out her right hand.

This hand was a bit different. The mark had been cut in, it was still a circle, but the lines connected to make a triangle in the center. The mark from her other mother, Sapphire. "Now excuse my pun, but on the other hand," She smiled when she heard Peridot let out a breathy laugh, "I can take you back to the house, where there are people who love and care about you, and want to be your friends. By now I've guessed that Lapis has realized the source of the problem and will most likely be making changes to suit what you want."

Peridot stared at her, her bright green eyes studying her carefully. "So what now?" She asked cautiously, Garnet moved her open hands out towards her.

"You decide your fate, pick which hand you want." She said, and after what seemed like days of waiting Peridot crawled forward and reached out. Garnet grinned as she grabbed at one of her hands.

Her right one.

She pulled the small woman out of the mailbox. "I must say, this was rather smart of you, hiding in a mailbox." She said, but Peridot didn't respond, she started to shiver. The blonde needed to get warm, and quickly. The tall woman grabbed her phone.

Garnet: Amethyst found her.

She decided that saying that the short woman found Peridot would put Amethyst back in Lapis' good books.

Lapis: oh my god thank you THANK YOU! Is she okay?

Garnet: Cold, tired, a little scared and probably hungry. But she's fine, we're bringing her home right now.

Lapis: okay, she's not hurt?

Garnet: No. And I'm going to tell you something. You need to tone down your behaviour, give her some freedom.

Lapis: Oh yes of course! I'm bringing her with me places and I'll go wherever she wants.

Garnet showed Peridot the message, she nodded and walked all the way back to the house silently. Garnet couldn't tell what she was thinking.

POV SHIFT- Peridot Odelet

She was basically wanting to cling to Garnet's leg when they got to her bedroom door. The house was dead silent, it was warm but she was still shaking. She'd decided that running away was a bad idea. Maybe this place could be home, she'd been happy in it this morning, and if she was being honest... She'd miss being treated so nicely...

She looked up at Garnet as the tall woman knocked on the door. "Lapis, there's someone here to see you." She said, the door swung open. Peridot flinched and took a step back, expecting to be yelled at for leaving. Garnet went to her room, leaving the two alone. (Amethyst went to her home after they had found her)

Instead of yelling Lapis was quiet and somber, "Look I... I know that I'm n-not perfect... I hurt people. But believe me, when I say I'm sorry... I mean it." She said, and the way she sounded made Peridot want to hug her. "If you want to go somewhere and just walk around and be you, that's okay. I wouldn't be mad at you for that. I love you too much to ever treat you like a prisoner."

Peridot nodded, and hugged her. Sure she was on her own planet, but she'd been nicer to Peridot in almost a week than anyone had been to her in years. 'Yeah, she's crazy... But she's crazy for me, and that's sounding less and less like a bad thing.'