CHAPTER FOUR

"Hey, Steven!"

Steven stopped walking and turned around and waited for Connie to catch up to him. She jogged down the hallway, and then slowed down as she approached. "So, are you ready?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

"Ready?" he repeated in surprise. "Ready for what?"

"For the history exam, of course!" Connie came to a halt in front of a door and pushed it open to reveal a classroom.

"History exam?" A cold chill ran down his spine. "What history exam!?"

"The one about the Crystal Gems rebellion and war against Homeworld, of course," she explained. "You did study for it, right?"

"Of course!" he lied at once, but as he sat down at an empty desk, his mind was blank. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, vaguely aware that he was only wearing his underpants, but nobody else seemed to notice and so he decided to concentrate on the slightly more pressing problem of the exam he hadn't studied for because he'd never been to school. "Am I supposed to be here?" he said aloud.

"Shh," Rose scolded, and handed him the question sheet. Steven shut up and watched as she passed the papers around to the rest of the students before returning to the front of the class. "No talking. You have forty-five minutes. Your time starts now."

Steven stared down at the paper for a moment, and then took a deep breath and turned it over. Perhaps he could just wing it. He knew some stuff about the war, didn't he? A few details he'd managed to drag out of Pearl and Garnet over the years? But as he looked down at the questions, that faint hope immediately curled up and died.

All the questions were written in Gem language. He didn't even know where he was supposed to write his name.

Dread settled over him. He flicked to the next page, but that too was filled with the same unfamiliar squiggles. He turned his head to the side, trying to peek at Connie's paper, but she had her arm curled protectively around it, blocking his view. In desperation, he looked to his other side, but the seat next to him was empty. He frowned and turned to look at the rest of the room. All the other desks were occupied. Somebody was missing.

"Steven Universe, is there a problem?"

Steven snapped his head back to face his mother and blushed. "No, sorry." He picked up a pencil and stared blankly down at the paper, wondering where to even start.

A name. Start with a name.

He pressed the point of the pencil onto a blank spot and began writing, but instead of his own name, he watched another name take form.

Peridot.

He stopped and reread what he'd written. It sparked something in the back of his mind and he turned and looked around the room again. The faces were familiar, but one important one was missing. "Where's Peridot?"

The sound of scratching pencils stopped as everyone stared at him in silence. Rose sighed and shook her head sadly. "Peridot doesn't take this class anymore, Steven."

Steven blinked and looked down at the name on his paper again. "I have to find her," he said abruptly, and jumped to his feet.

"Steven, please, you're disrupting the class," Rose said in a pained tone as gasps and giggles erupted from the other students as they finally spotted his state of undress.

For a moment, he was tempted to sit back down and hide behind the cover of his desk, but the moment quickly passed. "I have to go, sorry."

"If you leave, you will fail this class," Rose warned.

"That's all right." He gave her a small, apologetic smile. "I'm not supposed to be here anyway." And with that, he strode open to the door and stepped outside into the hallway. The door swung shut behind him and suddenly, there was complete silence.

Steven looked up and down the hallway, noting how each direction looked completely identical, stretching endlessly into the distance. "Well, I came from that direction," he said to himself as he looked to the left. "So I guess I'll go this way." And then he turned right and began walking.

Time passed; how long, he had no idea. At some point his clothes returned, but he couldn't say when it had happened. It felt like weeks and at the same time, it was no more than a few seconds, but after an eternity of walking down the bland, empty hall, the lights ahead dimmed and then he was in darkness. He slowed down, wary of tripping over something. "Peridot?"

There was no reply, but somewhere up ahead, the darkness seemed somewhat less and so he began cautiously heading in that direction. Sure enough, after he'd walked some distance, the path ahead began to grow lighter and he sped up his pace. "Peridot!"

Without warning, he burst through into the light. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and he blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots from his eyes. Then they widened in relief when he spotted the struggling figure a few short meters away. "Peridot!"

It was then that he realized they were in the barn from her nightmares. Multicolored arms stuck up out of the ground, like gross alien flowers, their fingers flexing and groping for purchase. A lone, orange finger caressed the tip of his toes through his sandals, and he took a step back, revolted, and tripped another one behind him. "Oop!"

"Steven!" Peridot yanked her foot free and began trying to drag herself over to him, but with every step, eager, grasping hands clawed at her, hindering her progress. "Ugh, let go of me, you clods!" Peridot aimed a kick at one of the nearest hands and almost toppled over as well.

"I'm OK!" Steven called out. Weirdly enough, it was the truth – the hands brushed against him, but didn't seem interested in investigating him any further. But they were obviously very interested in attacking Peridot and so he summoned a bubble and began rolling towards her. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

The bubble bounced over the gem mutants and then she was in his arms, but there was no time to enjoy it because they both immediately fell over in an untidy heap. Recalling the last time something like this had happened, Steven flung his arms out wildly and immediately, spikes popped out of the shield surface and jammed into the ground, halting their forward momentum at once. Well, halting the bubble's forward momentum; Steven and Peridot both bounced off the inside and slid ungracefully to the bottom, where they lay in stunned silence for several seconds.

Peridot was the first to recover. She sat up and turned to him in concern. "Steven, are you all right!?"

"Yeah, I think so." He winced and sat up, rubbing his elbow and wondering if he'd feel this when he woke up. "Might have a bruise."

"Not that," she said, shaking her head impatiently. "I mean, are you all right, why are you here?"

"What?" he asked blankly, Then it clicked. "Oh! Yes, I'm fine, I suppose. I'm just asleep. I just..." He swallowed hard. "I had to try and find you."

"Steven!" She gave his shoulder a shove. "I know you haven't forgotten what happened to Jasper, corruption is contagious! This- this mental meeting could be another path of transmission! Get out of here!"

Steven shook his head. "Too late, I'm already here. If I'm infected, I'm infected. Which I'm not," he added hastily as her eyes widened in dismay. "It doesn't affect humans. I know, I know, half-human," he continued before she could point that out for him. "But I heard that song at the same time you did and nothing happened to me, so I'm pretty sure my human side makes me immune."

"Well, I just hope your hypothesis is correct," she snapped. Then she sighed and slumped against him. "But I must admit, I'm not entirely unhappy you're here."

"That's good." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Not entirely unhappy is exactly the reaction I was hoping for."

"Don't get me wrong, I still think you're insane," she murmured. "And if you're wrong about your immunity, I will blame myself entirely. But..." She shifted slightly and blushed. "I'm glad you're here with me now."

"Speaking of 'here'," Steven said, peering out of the pink-tinted shield, "what's with the barn?"

"Am I completely corrupted?" Peridot asked abruptly, ignoring his question.

"No, no, no," he quickly reassured her. "It's barely noticeable. Honest," he protested when she snorted. "Connie said you just look like you're sleeping. That's what gave me the idea to try and contact you this way."

"Hmm." Peridot nodded slowly. "I thought as much. Well, hoped. It's something of a relief to hear." She gazed out of the bubble as well, shivering slightly at the sound of hands rubbing across the outer surface. "I suspect this place is a- a sort of psychological battleground, designed to prey upon my fears and insecurities. You already know about the gem mutants, of course."

"So the barn...?" Steven asked again. "I thought you were happy there?"

Peridot shrugged. "I wasn't unhappy," she said slowly. "But it was... somewhat isolated. Lapis was my only company for most of the time, and I didn't feel much like part of the team. I assume that's also why my default form has altered," she added with distaste, and for the first time, Steven noticed the diamonds on her knees. "A way of reminding me that no matter how much I try to change, I was ultimately made for Yellow Diamond and I belong to her."

"What!? No you don't!" he argued at once. "She lost any claim to you when she tried to blow you up! No," he immediately corrected himself. "When she abandoned you here after the ship crashed. The Diamonds shouldn't be 'owning' other gems anyway, that's not right."

"Well, they do," Peridot said flatly. "That's how things work on Homeworld."

Steven opened his mouth to argue some more and then fell silent. She was right, that was how things worked on Homeworld. The war hadn't changed that at all. Bismuth was right, he found himself thinking. "You're not the only one who got a change of clothes," he said, mostly just to change the subject. "Before I got here, I dreamed I was taking an exam in my underpants."

Peridot laughed. "That sounds fun, can I visit your dreams instead?"

Steven laughed as well, then he stopped and sat up a little straighter. "Hey, that's actually not a bad idea. I mean, maybe not that dream, but I could try and dream us someplace else?"

Peridot hesitated for a moment, trying to keep her skyrocketing hopes under control. "Well. It's certainly worth a try," she said carefully.

"Do you have some place in mind?" He gave her a gentle squeeze. "Camp Pining Hearts? Museum of Modern Arts?" He hugged her a little tighter. "Venice?"

She sighed and snuggled against him. "Can you take me home?"

"I'll do my best," he promised, and closed his eyes. An image of the beach house began to take shape in his mind. The temple doorway and the warp pad, the kitchen and main room, his own room raised above it, Peridot's new room-

"Steven!"

His eyes snapped open at once. "What's wrong?"

"You were fading," she said in a small, frightened voice. "And I panicked, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's OK," he reassured her. "I probably did something wrong, I'll just try again."

Peridot bit her lip and then nodded slowly. "OK." She shuffled back a little and watched anxiously as he closed his eyes again, but to her dismay, he started to fade again until she could almost see the bubble and the barn through him. She reached out to grab his shirt and then stopped helplessly, terrified that her fingers would just pass straight through him. She opened her mouth to call him back, but before she could, his outline wavered and suddenly solidified again.

"Whoa, that was weird," he said shakily. "You were- I couldn't feel you any more." He rubbed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Did I - what was it, fade away again?"

"Yes." She sighed heavily. "I don't think this is going to work." And even though she'd tried not to hope, the failure still hurt and she stood up and turned away so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

"I can keep trying-"

"What's the point!?" Peridot snapped, angrily brushing the tears away. "This isn't a dream, it was stupid to think your dream powers would have any effect here."

Hurt, Steven opened his mouth to make a sharp retort, but then she turned her face slightly and he spotted the tear tracks on her face. "I know you're scared," he said quietly, and stood up as well and wrapped his arms around her rigid form. "I am too. But we have to keep trying." He tightened his hold on her a little. "You're not corrupted yet," he said fiercely.

Peridot stood stiffly in his embrace for a moment longer, and then sagged against him. "I apologize for shouting at you. I know you're just trying to help."

"It's OK." He kissed the top of her hair. "This is kind of an extreme situation here. Besides," he added, "my dream powers aren't completely useless. They got me here, after all."

A tiny smile appeared at the corner of Peridot's mouth. "That's true," she admitted.

"But you're right, this isn't a dream." He gazed outside the bubble at the pink-tinted limbs shuffling across the barn floor. A battleground, that's what Peridot had called it. Presumably the battle would be lost if the fusion experiments managed to overwhelm her. But how were they to win?

He turned in a small circle and spotted the barn entrance off to the side. "Come on, this way. Let's see if we can get out of here."

Peridot followed his gaze and nodded. "OK." She stood up a little straighter, suddenly filled with steely determination. "Let's do this."

They began walking. The bubble bumped over the disembodied limbs, spikes occasionally poofing them, and once again, time ceased to have any meaning. It could've been minutes, it could've been hours, but either way, the door stayed stubbornly out of reach. Then, without warning, one of the hands outside grabbed a spike and the bubble jolted to a halt, and they both stumbled and fell.

"Steven-"

Steven jumped back up onto his feet again. "Come on," he interrupted, holding a hand out to her. "We're almost there."

Peridot let him help her upright, and then pulled her hand free. "We've been 'almost there' for hours," she said quietly. "I... I think you should go now."

"No way-"

"Steven, please!" She gazed beseechingly up at him until he looked away. "Using your dream powers fatigues you, you know that. And that's just with regular dreams! I don't want to hurt you!"

"You won't-" he tried again.

"You don't know that!" She paused to gather her thoughts for a moment. "Do the gems know you're doing this?"

"Yes- well, sort of. I told Connie to tell them," he admitted.

"So if you fail to wake up, they'll know it's because you're here. They'll think you're trapped. And I don't know if they'll be able to wait for you to wake up, or if they'll panic and poof me to try and get you back." She sighed and hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "I can't say I would blame them," she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. "But I don't think that would be very good for me."

Steven grimaced. "I guess I hadn't thought of that," he admitted. He wanted to believe that the Crystal Gems would be sensible enough to wait for him, but she was right, they probably would panic and poof her. Restraint had never been one of their strong points. He huffed and wrapped his arms around her again. "I don't want to leave you here alone though."

"I don't want you to either." She turned her face slightly and listened to his heart beating. The rhythm was soothing and for a moment, she allowed herself to be lulled into a false sense of security. Because it was the only way she was going to find the strength to let him go. "But you need to. You need to tell the Gems you're safe. You need to tell them you've been able to contact me. You need to tell them-" She stopped talking and frowned as she finally became aware of the another faint sound. "Is that music?"

"Huh?" Steven raised his head and listened hard. Sure enough, he could just very faintly pick out a low, throbbing beat. "Ah! Yeah, Amethyst thought music might help, so she's put your playlist on."

"Well, you need to tell her to turn it up!" Peridot exclaimed. "How's that supposed to help me when I can't even tell what song it is?"

Steven couldn't help chuckling at that. "All right. I'll go and talk to them. But then I'm coming right back."

"OK." Peridot reluctantly stepped out of his arms and adopted a slightly untidy defensive position. "And I'll keep fighting."

"Kick their asses." He gave her a quick kiss and then closed his eyes, trying to picture the beach house once again.

"Oh, and Steven?"

His eyes snapped open at once. "Yes?"

"If..." She hesitated for a moment. "If I fail and succumb to the corruption, promise me you won't do anything stupid?"

"Like what?" he said warily.

"Like trying to come back here," she replied sternly. "It would be far too dangerous and I don't want you to do that. Just... poof me and bubble me." A tiny, wobbly smile appeared on her face. "And when Yellow Diamond shows up? Let me at her."

Steven laughed again, and then hugged her fiercely before she could see the tears in his eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered.

And then, before she could make him promise, he closed his eyes and vanished.

xxx

A/N: I don't usually take breaks in the middle of a story, but I just found out about Stevidot week and I wanna write some stuff for it, so this fic will be on pause until after that, and then I'll be right back.