Warning: There isn't much joy in this chapter.
Spinel lifted one of the larger chucks of the ship and placed it with the pile of debris. Satisfied, her eyes shifted over to her boy, and saw three teens talking to him. She instantly recognized them as Sour Cream, Jenny, and Buck.
"Hey! You three!" She yelled, running over to them, "What's uh... What's up?"
"All is chill," Buck replied, "We're just taking Steven out to have some chill time."
Steven looked at up, "Should I, Spinel? I know we have a lot of stuff to clean up and I wanna-"
"The four of us have got it all handled," Spinel answered lovingly, "Go out and have some fun with them." She looked up at the Cool Kids, "But you three better get him home before 9."
"No sweat, ma'am," Sour Cream shrugged nonchalant, "He won't even have a scratch."
Spinel nodded and hugged Steven, giving him a kiss on the forehead, with Steven struggling to get out and protesting, "Hey! Stop!"
"Love ya too, Stevie."
It was late. Way too late. Spinel was getting increasingly worried. But really frustrated too.
"Ugh, I shouldn't have let him go with those stupid kids," Spinel grumbled, throwing the front door open, "No wonder their parents are always bugging them. They just don't listen to 'em."
Shape-shifting into a eagle, she flew up to scan around the city with her good eyesight. At first, it all seemed quiet, especially when she got near the fields. Right until she saw... Peridot's escape pod! It kept firing off multiple beams and even fired a signal. She knew who it was; Peridot.
Returning to her original form, Spinel landed on the ground, glaring at the orb, "Peridot! I knew you were still here!"
She ignored the panicked yells from the Cool Kids, knowing exactly what she was going to tell them and their parents.
"If you're trying to reach Homeworld to come here and destroy Earth, how about you think again!" She yelled as she swung her fist at the orb, knocking it to the ground and denting it.
Spinel threw herself onto it, "I won't ever let you harm Earth, or my friends, or the Gems, or especially not MY BABY!" She delivered another punch, almost breaking it.
"YO!" Buck shouted, "Stop!"
Spinel ignored him and held the escape pod up, her other arm winding into a spring and enlarging her fist, "Now, you're gonna go to space and stay there... FOR GOOD!" She prepared to punch it away-
"WAIT!" Jenny screamed, "STEVEN'S IN THERE!"
Spinel froze. Confused by what the girl meant. Looking back at the orb and squinting her eyes... she saw Steven floating in some kind of liquid, wounds all over his body. Almost as if her heart shattered from her realization, Spinel gasped in horror and tears pooled in her eyes.
She frantically broke the pod open, wrapping her arms around the boy and squeezed him into her chest, beginning to sob loudly. The Cool Kids could only watch this with concern and shock as the other Gems arrived.
"Spinel! We saw the signal! What's-" Pearl paused as she saw Spinel bawling her eyes out while hugging an injured, passed-out Steven, along with the Cool Kids standing.
Amethyst dispelled her whip, "What's... going on?"
"We..." Sour Cream began to explain, "We were just taking Steven out to have a fun day and we find this... thing."
"I-I wanted Steven to go inside it for a picture," Jenny confessed, "But I guess it was still working. We had fun with it for a while, but then he did something and then, the thing went crazy..."
"And uh... she came by and..." Buck trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
Garnet stared at the pink Gem, "Spinel, was Peridot here?"
But she didn't answer, and kept sobbing loudly, Steven remaining unconscious.
In the morning, Steven woke up, groaning from the slight pain. When he sat up, he saw Spinel sitting at the kitchen table, laying her head on the table and hidden under her arms.
When Steven recalled everything that happened last night, his eyes glistened and he walked downstairs. "Spinel?"
Spinel slowly lifted her head up, not saying a word.
Steven walked closer to her and hugged her from behind, "... I'm sorry... and... I forgive you."
The pink Gem's eyes went wide and more tears fell, "... O-Oh Steven... My baby..." She turned her body and returned the boy's hug, letting out a sigh.
... She almost killed the boy she swore to love and protect.
Let that sink in.