A/N- I'm back! Sort of!

So, the chapters are kind of going to be coming a little slower than normal because recovery from surgery is kicking my butt (regulars to my streams are familiar with this). I also will have a couple fics for the ficlet collection and will be setting up another one.

This one has a bit of a time jump and is still extremely canon divergent.

And there's a cliff hanger. Sorry.

Feel free to read and review! I'm hoping everything still reads well. According to the folks in the stream, this reads alright, so here goes!

-Four Faces

She hated this post most of all. She would rather have been shattered and reprocessed than work on these rotations.

They were easy enough missions, anyway. She just needed to pilot the ships and send out the Rose de France Quartz soldiers and wait until they returned. She was no better than a Peridot now.

She hated everything about this type of Quartz soldier. She hated their name, she hated their looks, everything. They reeked of their home planet. They reminded her of failure. They reminded her of the past.

They reminded her of the Crystal Gems and Rose Quartz.

She had landed on an older former colony that had since been taken by the Alloys. This was a more dangerous mission, a squadron of twenty of the Rose de France soldiers had been sent out with her instead of the usual five. She watched as the small Quartz soldiers sneaked out towards the outpost and worked their way towards a central base camp for the Alloys. She sighed and pressed a button on her console, pulling up a hologram. Entertainment was given to her in the form of projections of Lazuli performances (how much more punishment were they willing to give her?), but at least it was better than watching these reminders of her failure do the job she was meant for.

A bright glow shook her out of her reverie. This had never happened before.

The screams came next and she bolted upright. Five of the twenty soldiers came running into view, chased by the liquid, metal mass. One was taken down and screamed in pain.

She had to get out of there. She began to power on the ship, preparing for take off.

One of the small Quartz soldiers noticed and began to push ahead more earnestly, her small legs carrying her towards the ship.

She had to get there before she was overtaken. Before her escort left.

"Please, open the door!" She cried out over her communicator. "You are clear on all sides, but you can't leave me here to be shattered!"

Something about the plaintive cry of the Quartz pierced her heart. Jasper opened the door to the ship and watched as the Quartz barely made it in, slamming the door shut on the Alloys that were in pursuit.

"We need to get out of here, now! No time to secure yourself," Jasper instructed as she prepared for takeoff.

The ship rocketed up, away from the danger for now. As they began to break away from the planet's orbit, Jasper could hear the soft whimpering from the rear of the ship's bridge.

"You're fine," she gruffly grumbled. "You didn't even get hurt."

"No ... but all the others did ... I didn't know that they could do that. Homeworld said we were immune ..."

"You're only partially human," Jasper sighed, exasperated. They are attracted to gem energy, not human ... who activated their weapon?"

"Facet 5, Cut 9X," the quartz snapped automatically. "She was frightened by an assimilated Pearl. I'm not sure why it always seems to be Pearls that send our kind into episodes. Luckily, I was closer to the ship."

"So, the bomb never detonated."

"Negative."

"We have to go back."

"Are you cracked?" The Quartz started. "If we land with all of that activity going on, then we will both be assimilated and they will have even more access to our secrets. How thrilled would they be to have a disgraced diamond and even more Rose de France Quartz in their grasp? We are not going back. Not until the activity level dies down on that planet."

Jasper grumbled and set a course for Homeworld. The hybrid Quartz would need sustenance soon. She watched as the small gem stared at the wall of the ship, unblinking and in her own world.

They did not notice the skittering sound in the belly of the ship.

The beach was warm and sunny, a perfect day for the young girl that lived in the Temple on the beach to go outside and play.

There were no missions that she could go on today, and she was old enough to take care of herself on these warm summer days. She strolled down the beach, feeling the warmth on her tan skin and enjoying the occasional breeze that whipped through her nearly black hair when she saw him.

She had only seen the boy a few times, but there was something that kept pulling her to talk to him. She hadn't yet, of course, but she wanted to. The young boy had wavy blonde hair that reached his shoulders and seemed to have a soft blue tint to his skin that reminded her a little bit of ice. He stared out at the sea, forlornly. She watched him as he sat, watching the waves come in. She was going to walk over to him and perhaps see what he was so interested in when she noticed the waves starting to get choppier. She tensed as she saw a creature begin to emerge from the water. She had been told by her parents and guardians about the creatures that they sometimes had to fight, but she never thought she would see one in person, especially without any of them near.

These creatures were rarer now and would always end up transforming after a few days into a humanoid creature. It would always delight the girl because it was like a scene out of the books she read with her mother and father. They were like princesses under an evil curse. She liked to think she was going to help save them some day. Of course, she knew that they were not really princesses (she was well aware of what gems were) but sometimes, she liked to imagine that they were.

The creature rose out of the ocean on spindly legs, its gem encrusted carapace twinkling in the sun. If it weren't for the spider-like appendages and the terrifying mandibles, this could almost have been a beautiful creature. A cursory look let her know that this was an Emerald. She had practiced with one of her grandmothers and now was the time to put it into practice. She brushed away the hair on her forehead, revealing a small, lilac gem.

"Watch out!" she cried out to the boy, running towards him as the gem on her forehead glowed. He looked up at her, eyes widened, as she summoned and launched a blue Trishul at the creature's eye before enclosing herself and the boy in a pink bubble.

"What is that?" He gasped.

"You must be new to Beach City," she smiled. "My name is Reeya. I live on the beach with my family. That was an Emerald. I need to get you to safety while she's distracted and then I can finish the fight with her. She could have hurt you!"

She began to roll the bubble towards the cliff, away from the corrupted Emerald who was busy howling and trying to remove the Trishul from her eye. When she felt they were safe enough, Reeya dropped the bubble and ran back toward the Emerald, summoning another Trishul before leaping at her with a loud cry. The boy watched, horrified, as Reeya stabbed and swiped, dodging the Emerald's attacks. Reeya slid under the Emerald's underbelly and looked up, noticing the gem of the creature. She smiled and then stabbed up, just to the side of it, into the Emerald's soft underbelly. The Emerald shrieked and retreated into her gem with a puff of smoke. Reeya smiled as the gem landed in her hands before she bubbled it and sent it to the Temple. She turned and saw the boy staring at her, mouth agape.

"That was so cool!" He cried out. "How did you do that?"

"I'm a Gem ... kind of! My dad is half Gem and my mom kind of has some Gem in her ... I guess? Most of my family is Gem though!" She grinned. "Technically, I'm a Rose de France Quartz! My aunts say I'm the only one of my kind! My Nani is the one who figured out what kind of Gem I am. Even though she's human, she's still really good with Gem stuff!"

"Oh cool ..."

"We're magic. We defend the Earth from corrupted gems and try to heal them. There aren't as many corrupted ones anymore since my dad healed a lot of them. We also help gems get used to human society."

"So ... like ... they're rock people?" The boy asked, confused.

Reeya giggled.

"Sort of ... I mean, all of their energy is stored in their gem and their bodies are just illusions ... not mine or my mom or dad's though," She explained. "So, are you just vacationing here? I only see you occasionally on the beach and rarely anytime except for summer."

"Well, we used to vacation here to visit my family, but my dad moved us out here to help my grandpa with his business. He says my uncle is 'kinda useless' so that's why we're here," The boy explained. "My name is Calvin ... you said you live here on the beach?"

"Yeah!" She smiled. "Come on! I'll show you!"

She grabbed his hand and paused for a moment. There was a spark between the two for just a moment. Reeya brushed it off and laughed nervously, taking the blushing Calvin back to the Temple. Calvin was awestruck, not even knowing that there had been a temple on the beach this entire time. Even more interesting to him was the house built into the side of it. The pair ran up the steps of the Beach House just as the warp pad activated. Reeya squealed with delight and ran in as a tall, thin woman with a round white gem in the center of her head appeared next to two taller people, one of them a maroon woman with shades that covered her eyes, and the other was a very attractive person with a skin tone similar to Reeya's and long dark hair. Their jaw was very strong, their body slightly curvaceous. Calvin watched as Reeya sprinted towards them, cheering.

"Garnet! Pearl! Stevonnie! You'll never believe what happened!" She cheered.

The attractive person laughed and picked her up and twirled her around. "Hi sweetie! What happened?"

"It was so cool, Stevonnie," Reeya started. "I -"

"She poofed and bubbled an Emerald," the maroon woman said with a small smile.

Stevonnie gasped. "Really? That is so wonderful, Reeya! We are so proud of you!"

Reeya beamed.

"It also looks like you've made a friend," the thin one smiled. "Who's this, Reeya?"

"Oh! This is Calvin, Grandma Pearl!" Reeya cheered. "He was on the beach when the Emerald showed up! It was kind of weird because the Emerald seemed to attack him first and he's a human, but I took care of it. He moved here with ..."

Calvin looked over at the maroon woman who stared at him. He felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her gaze. He noticed a small quirk in her lips as she smirked.

"Garnet, did you want to go into the Burning Room and grab the gem so Steven can work with her tonight?" Pearl whispered to the maroon one.

The maroon woman nodded and made her way to the Temple Door before looking back at Calvin with a warmer smile.

"It was nice to meet you Calvin. I look forward to seeing you again."

Calvin tilted his head as Garnet disappeared.

"She has Future Vision," Reeya explained. "So, she knows that we're going to hang out again someday." She then turned to Stevonnie again. "Would it be alright if I talk to mom and dad now?" Reeya asked sheepishly.

"Of course!" Stevonnie laughed. "See you later, sport!"

Soon, Stevonnie glowed and a tall, stocky, light skinned man appeared holding a smaller, dark skinned woman. They pressed their heads together with a smile before turning to look at Calvin and Reeya. The man knelt down, arms wide for a hug. Reeya embraced him tightly before turning to embrace her mother as well. She then turned to Calvin who stood, amazed, watching them.

"Calvin, this is my mom and dad, she chirped."

Calvin sheepishly waved.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. ..."

"Universe," Steven smiled. "But you don't have to be so formal. My name is Steven and this is Connie," he laughed.

"It's wonderful to meet you. Wait. Reeya, is this the boy who you told us about last year?" Connie asked, a playful smile spreading across her face.

The girl blushed and stammered.

"Come on, Connie," Steven joked. "You don't want to mess with her 'funky flow'."

At this, Reeya scrubbed her hand down her face in embarrasment before dragging Calvin away from her chuckling parents.

"Wow," he gasped, looking around. "I had no idea that this part of the beach even existed, much less that there were rock people here! So, your mom and dad were also ..."

"Oh, Stevonnie? Yeah, she's what's called a fusion. Lapis says that it is something that the gems do to take down bigger enemies. I'm not sure if I can fuse or not since I'm not fully gem, but my mom and dad do it all the time, so I bet I could, eventually."

"Who's Lapis?" Calvin asked.

"Oh! She's one of the gems! She lives in the ocean with her girlfriend, I think. I don't get to see her much, but occasionally she'll help out with a corrupted gem if Garnet says that we need Lapis' abilities. I'm just kind of surpried that we haven't seen Peridot or Amethyst -"

The door to the Temple opened and out stepped the aforementioned gems, Amethyst cheerful and joking, a smile on her lavender face, and Peridot, sleepily walking, her green face slightly flushed. Amethyst flitted into the kitchen, grabbing an assortment of foods to mix together in some horrifying amalgamation. Peridot simply sat on the kitchen stool before looking over to see Reeya. She immediately perked up and scurried over.

"Reeya! I didn't know you were up! This is great! Amethyst and I could watch that reboot of Camp Pining Hearts with you and -" She stopped when her eyes locked with Calvin's. She quirked an eyebrow. "Who is this, Reeya?" she asked. "He isn't bothering you, is he?"

Reeya laughed.

"No, no! He was on the beach and an Emerald attacked, so I saved him!" Reeya grinned. "Calvin, this is Peridot! She's kind of like an aunt to me also!"

Peridot tilted her head at him.

"You seem familiar. Are you sure I haven't met him, Reeya?" She asked.

"Pretty sure. I mean, this is the boy I had been talking about last summer that was on the beach, but I don't think you ever actually saw him.

"Hmm," Peridot nodded. "Well, before you can be approved as a friend for Reeya, I need to know what your view on Camp Pining Hearts is," the gem joked.

"No ..." Reeya started. "Calvin, if she starts to make you uncomfortable with this -"

"Nonsense! If he hasn't seen it, then we'll all watch it together," Peridot grinned, pulling both of them to the couch in front of the TV. Reeya groaned, embarrassed at the impression her "aunt" was making on Calvin.

As they watched TV, Calvin couldn't help but feel an oddly nostalgic feeling looking around the Beach House. Being around the gems felt oddly comforting, even if they were strange. He couldn't help but feel a strange kinship with the green gem that sat in between himself and Reeya. Like he had known all of them before somehow.

It was impossible, of course. He had never really met any of them (and had only seen Reeya from afar once or twice ... and come to think of it, he may have seen Steven at his grandfather's restaurant on occasion. Perhaps that was why this felt familiar.

He looked over at Reeya who blushed the moment they locked eyes. She only felt familiar to him in the way that the gems generally felt familiar, but there was something else about her. Something that tugged at a part of his soul (and made the strange birthmark he had on his back ache in a way it never had before). He wasn't sure why he felt his way, but he easily brushed it off as he eased himself into a conversation with her about books and the curious happenings of gem culture.

Calvin strolled down the boardwalk on his way to meet up with his father. The sun had nearly disappeared from the sky, causing feelings of dread to seep into his mind once again. His grandfather always told him that Calvin's father tended to be more of the anxious sort, so he wondered if that was why he got anxious so easily. He wondered if he got anything from his mother.

No, his dad did say he got something from her but never really mentioned what. Probably his odd birthmark ... That was what his dad called it, anyway, whenever he asked about it. Said that no one else in the family had it.

He sighed and continued on past the different shops on the boardwalk. His dad always said that almost nothing ever changed here. He wondered how true that really was. He had passed the Big Donut which still held the now rustic sign that had adorned many blogs online for how "retro" it was. Outside, a thin, rather crusty looking man swept. His hair was cut rather short, but there was evidence that he had once had gauges in his ears, something that was starting to come back into style again. He looked at the boy and huffed before continuing his work. Calvin sighed and continued walking.

One thing had changed though. While Fish Stew Pizza still sat on the boardwalk next to his father's current place of employment, the staffing had changed. Kofi, Jenny, and Kiki still worked there (much to Jenny's chagrin), but Nanefua had passed three years prior. Calvin remembered coming to Beach City for the funeral. It had been quite the event and he vaguely remembered now seeing Reeya and her mother and father there as well. Strange that he hadn't thought of it then. He had also never thought much about the strange woman that worked there. As he passed the restaurant, he met eyes with her, noticing the golden gem on her hand.

Suddenly, the name "Citrine" made sense. He wondered how many other gems were scattered throughout the city and how he never noticed them before.

He made his way into Beach Citywalk Fries and smiled, seeing his grandfather ambling about with an order of fries to a table in the corner.

"Well, hi there, Calvin!" The aging man smiled. "Your dad is in the back trying to get your useless uncle to help out with the grease traps. Why don't you sit down and I'll get you something to drink, kiddo."

"Thanks gram-pa," he replied, sitting at an empty table.

His grandfather disappeared into the back and out came the boy's father. A slender man wearing a uniform similar to his grandfather's. His wavy hair was cut shorter but he still resembled his son closely.

"Hey there, Calvin. I didn't know you were coming in so soon. Uncle Ronaldo was trying to slack off in the kitchen, so I needed to motivate him, otherwise I would've seen you come in, kiddo," he smiled, ruffling Calvin's hair. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good. I met someone on the beach."

"Oh? Who did you meet?"

"A girl. Her name was Reeya and I guess she lives on the beach in a temple ..." Calvin started, not noticing his father's expression change from happiness to sadness. "She said she was a gem ... or part gem at least. I didn't even know those were a thing!" Calvin exclaimed. "But she was really cool and she had a really cool, really large family."

"Heh, you don't say-"

"PeeDee, I'm sending Ronaldo home early again," Calvin's grandfather stated as he ushered Ronaldo out of the kitchen. The man was hunched over, complaining the entire way out as he was escorted. "It's more efficient to just work the two of us and not have him in our way today."

"I tell you, I'm onto something about those gems on the beach, Dad," Ronaldo explained. "Oh, hey Calvin," he said as he passed. Calvin took notice of how tense his father suddenly became as Ronaldo passed them. "But Dad, you have to let me work on this theory!"

"Not on work time. You can do it at home, unpaid!" The older man said with a final shove out the door before returning to sit down with his son and grandson. "Sorry you had to see that, Calvin. Your uncle has always had these crackpot theories about things that happen in he town. Granted, he was sort of right with the gems, but he keeps thinking that it's something bigger than it actually is. Though, lately, he's been on about robots or some nonsense like that. Anyway, how was your day, sport?"

"He was just telling me about how he found the Temple on the beach, Dad," PeeDee started.

"Oh ..."

"What's wrong with that temple?" Calvin asked. "Was I not supposed to go there?"

PeeDee looked to his grandfather.

"I think it's time you at least start to tell him a little bit, PeeDee," he smiled. "He's going to find out eventually."

PeeDee sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand.

"I'll tell you after work, alright, PeeDee? Why don't you and grandpa chat for a little bit?"

Calvin watched has his dad left for the cash register to take a few final orders for the night. He turned to his grandfather who looked after PeeDee sadly.

Maybe he didn't want to know.

Jasper watched as the Rose de France Quartz slept in a corner of the ship's bridge. She sighed in annoyance and returned her attention ahead. It was Facet 9A Cut 3X that had survived, she had assessed. Not really anything remarkable about this one, other than that she had outsmarted and outrun the Alloys. She supposed that had to count for something.

She often thought back to Blue Diamond's idea of mercy. There was still no actual Yellow Diamond in the court now, but most of the gem society had no idea. The Labradorites that ran the propaganda ministries were very effective at their jobs. She was still bitter about this, of course. She had just been doing what her predecessor had wanted. Did they not realize that Yellow Diamond's faction was all about honor. Those Crystal Gems did not have any honor. They did not deserve the treaty that had been worked out.

She grumbled, switching the ship to auto-pilot. She leaned back and turned on the approved entertainment once again. The Lapis Lazuli that danced in the hologram was different from the one before. This one's gem was on her throat. She was a special one. One that could have been Jasper's favorite if it weren't for her current prejudice against the entire gem type. Instead of simply dancing with the water, she controlled it with a beautiful voice as well. Jasper felt herself involuntarily smiling at the performance, letting herself get lulled into a trance.

She heard a strange scuffling sound and immediately perked up. That was not a normal sound for the ship. She turned off her program and began to head towards the sound. She passed the sleeping Quartz and huffed.

Stupid organic.

She continued on, winding through the corridors of the ship. She was at least pleased that this was a larger ship than her previous missions. She felt nostalgic for the hand ships of Yellow Diamond's faction, but she supposed White Diamond's ships were alright. She had even been given the Diamond shaped one, similar in shape to the Diamond Line Communicators. At least, whenever she landed on a planet, she could pretend that all who saw the ship would know that it was piloted by a Diamond.

She reached the central observation deck and listened for the noise again.

She froze in terror when she realized it sounded like it was dangerously close to the ship's heart. She bolted to the controls and locked down every door on the ship, launching the ship into its fastest possible speed. She couldn't take them to Homeworld. She would be shattered if she did.

But where else could she go and still have resources for the sleeping Quartz?

She knew the answer of course. It was so obvious, but she was not pleased with it. How would they be received on landing? She pondered making a landing in one of the less inhabited areas and decided on her course of action.

She opened the hatch near the heart's chamber, hoping that the Alloy would get sucked out of the ship as she set a course for Earth.