A/N : *tap tap* Ahem... YamiTensi here, giving birth to stories so that my brain won't just start imagining stuff while I'm on the loo. Thank you Hexa1 for your words, a much-required drive for this side project *sniff sniff*. Thank you Emperor Machinedramon, The Literary Lord, and ZephyrTheMighty for favoriting, and DIALCARE and Einz Driver for favoriting and following! I have no idea what's the difference between the two but I'm happy you two did that nonetheless!

Emperor protects, muhfukkas!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my OCs.

~0~

Empire City

~0~

Red filled Lapis' vision as a burning emotion flooded her entire body. She wanted to rip the Gems apart with her bare hands, she wanted to see their gemstones trapped in a prison for eons just like her, and by the great universe, she wanted to feel their gems crushed, shattered underneath her heel.

Lapis would've run in there and decked Rose Quartz in the face if Reggie didn't suddenly grab her arm. She whirled around, demanding an explanation just by glaring at him. She breathed faster, as her rage threatened to spill out both metaphorically and literally, and she realized she was shaking.

"Calm down," Reggie growled quietly as an answer, still holding her wrist. "I can tell you have a grudge on them, but acting on it will just get us killed."

A grudge. The moronic group of rogue Gems who incited a full-blown civil war upon them, starting mass battles upon planets and planets, causing not a few Gems to- not just got poofed, but also shattered so they couldn't live once more. The very same good-for-nothing band of misfits that poofed her and got her trapped inside of that stupid mirror.

Yeah, just a minor grudge.

Lapis clenched her fists tighter and glared no less ferociously.

"Look," Reggie muttered more slowly this time, glancing at the four Gems cautiously walking over to them. "You're wounded, or at least weakened, and I have no idea who they are or what they're capable of. If you want vengeance I won't hold you back, but not now. At least let me help you get healed first, alright? I don't want you to die or… anything similar to death with your kind."

She gritted her teeth- her rage boiled so much to the point that in hindsight, she would be surprised by herself. But Lapis knew Reggie had a point.

…No, he had the point in their argument. The human was right, she was in no condition to fight, only to flee, and Reggie… well, despite her sheer hatred at the Crystal Gems, she also had heard rumors that Pink Diamond was shattered by Rose Quartz (How long ago did she hear that…?), and she had no idea how Reggie could win against them.

So Lapis closed her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling slightly in calming down. Her rage and hatred, her massive grudge… she put them aside… for now, at least, for their survival. She had been trapped, imprisoned, for who knows how long, and she wasn't in any way tempted for it to be repeated.

After she found herself breathing more slowly, her burning feeling dimmed, she opened her eyes and just… sighed. Her shoulders slumped, and Reggie held her arm tighter, this time in concern.

"Um, you okay?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing. "That sudden switch of yours doesn't look… healthy."

Lapis took a deep breath. "I'm… I'm fine. I just want this to be over. I just… want to go home."

Sympathy washed over Reggie's face, and he put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll help you out. You have my promise. Now… just let me do the talking."

She inhaled, then exhaled, and nodded. He nodded back, smiling as he pulled away, and turned to address yet their newest guests.

"Greetings, travelers," Reggie greeted somewhat merrily. "What brings you here? On that matter, how did you get in here?"

Rose Quartz bowed at the human, smiling politely. "Greetings to you as well, sir. We were here following an… energy anomaly, so you say. And, as for how we got in, we used the front door."

Lapis frowned. Energy anomaly… if she was the reason Reggie, that giant snake, and the Crystal Gems got to them, what else did she attract?

Wait… how did she attract them in the first place? Both Reggie and Rose Quartz claimed energy anomaly… but she didn't release any energy. Did her release from her prison unleash some sort of energy, somehow? She couldn't think of any other reason.

Wait, if that was true, then how did Reggie know to pull out her gem from the mirror? That would mean that the energy release happened before she got out… right? But Reggie also said that the source of energy was her mirror itself… was it maybe because she was in the mirror? But if that was the reason, then why didn't the mirror send energy any time before earlier?

Lapis held her arms, suddenly uncomfortable. What happened? And that wild anger earlier… Blue Diamond's Gems were known for their calm similar to a calm lake, barring a few boisterous ones (like the particular Aquamarines). That display of emotion was… unfamiliar, alien… concerning.

She shuddered. She really needed her gem healed. And Homeworld was the only place capable to do such a thing.

Reggie and the rebels talked.

"…This place may be abandoned, but it's still government property," the human told them, now somewhat irritated.

"Enough about us," the purple Quartz look-alike cut in, before pointing an accusatory finger at Reggie. "What the heck are you doing here? I don't think an intern is like, allowed in a place like this."

"Indeed they're not." Reggie turned back to Rose. "So… energy anomaly. Well, as long as you don't damage property that isn't already damaged, I'll permit you to search the perimeters… but you still have to leave after that."

Lapis shuffled a foot uneasily. She noticed that the Pearl and the tall red Gem didn't stand next to Rose, but instead next to Reggie and Lapis, effectively boxing them in.

Suddenly, Reggie gently grabbed Lapis' forearm with him and pulled her along. "Well, I'll be leaving you three here. Remember, you still have to leave."

Lapis, on her part, bit her lip. No way it would be that easy.

They managed to walk past Rose Quartz, while the other Crystal Gems watched them.

They almost go to the elevator shaft right before Rose's voice rang out, echoing in the empty basement.

"Wait, Sir Reginald," Rose called.

Reggie stopped, even though it was obvious that he didn't want to. "Yes?"

"If I may ask, who is that with you?"

In a burst of speed, the tall red Gem suddenly stood barring their path, crossing her arms. Her visored face stared impassively at them.

"Just…" Reggie glanced at Lapis. "A friend."

"A friend," Rose repeated. "Tell me, do you know who- or what she is?"

Reggie now fully turned to her. There was an unreadable expression on his face- and it made her squirm. "Well… I know enough that she is neither a human nor from Earth. And from your earlier conversation, Miss Rose, I now know that she isn't a soldier either. I was planning on asking Lapis later."

"No, she isn't a soldier indeed… but that doesn't make her any less dangerous." Rose Quartz turned around and faced them. "In our… society, Lapis Lazulis are not soldiers- they are terraformers."

Reggie stared at Quartz.

"Their duty is to modify any planet they are on to make it habitable for Gem-life. She was sent here to either… drown everything, or drain the ocean."

Reggie abruptly let go of her arm and looked at her. Lapis took a step back and glanced away.

There was a long, pregnant pause, and Lapis found it eerie that she couldn't hear anything. All the mess with that serpent, now this, made her forget. But when nobody spoke a word, she remembered how silent the complex was. She couldn't hear leaves moving in the wind, or the waves crashing on the beach, like she always heard when she was out there, oh how so long ago.

Lapis almost swore she could hear a ball of dust drop.

"…I take it your lack of denial means it's true," Reggie said, and she flinched. The human glanced at Rose. "And yet you said they are not as dangerous as soldiers?"

"I didn't say they are as dangerous as soldiers, I simply said they are not soldiers. Lapis Lazulis are dangerous, but they don't attack on sight, unlike soldiers."

'Don't attack on sight'. If the situation wasn't as tense as it was, Lapis would've snorted. She definitely did want to attack the Crystal Gems on sight. As it stood, she glanced at the human, immediately worried about her well-being. Just one decision from Reggie, and she would… by the Diamonds, she didn't want to know what would happen to her. She had heard rumors about Crystal Gems using mind control to turn any loyal gems into slaves of Rose Quartz. Stars, being shattered sounded more acceptable than that.

Reggie mercifully turned to Rose. "And what would you suggest I do?"

"Leave her with us," the Crystal Gem leader answered swiftly. "We are… used to handling Gems like her. We know what we are doing, Sir Reginald."

Lapis hoped nobody noticed how badly she shook.

"And you're implying I don't?" Reggie smiled, humorlessly.

"I'm saying that we're well equipped to deal with such Gem matters, being Gem ourselves. You might even say that this is our problem, and you shouldn't concern yourself with our problems."

Reggie turned back to Lapis. "I see."

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other, her wide, glassy eyes against Reginald Irons' dark ones. She couldn't the human's neutral expression, but she hoped she could convey enough 'No's!' in her face to prevent her from being taken away. At this point, she would rather just hop back into the mirror than go with the Crystal Gems.

Something glinted in the human's eyes. "Well… too bad, ladies. I'm taking her with me."

Lapis' eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I see." Rose exhaled, for some reason disappointed. "If I may ask, what do intend to do with her?"

"Well, I would tell you." Reggie then shrugged. "But I believe if I do, you'll know where to find us and then put a stop to our plans."

Lapis put a hand over her upper arm anxiously. She glanced at Rose Quartz to gauge the pink gem's reaction… and truthfully she didn't like what she saw.

"That is not entirely untrue." Rose smiled, almost sadly. "But I'm afraid I can't take any chances. Gems?"

Almost immediately, Rose Quartz's three companions summoned each of their weapons and charged. The tall red gem's summoned gauntlets were larger than her own fists, looking more like crystalline mechanical forearms instead of a pair of weapons.

Nevertheless, she attacked, and so Lapis moved to dodge. She prepared to duck, but Reggie had other plans- he shoved her away before ducking himself to dodge the surging fist. Lapis almost fell face-first to the floor, but managed to land on her hands and flipped herself back right before she got skewered by the Pearl's light spear.

The Pearl pulled her spear back, twirled it around before flourishing in a clearly challenging stance, narrowing her eyes. Lapis stood straight and crossed her arms across her chest, taking control of her water which was splashed around in the fiasco, gathering it around her in a pair of liquid tendrils.

Both of them glared at each other for a second, and the Pearl threw her weapon. Lapis outstretched a hand and a water tendril shot to catch it, just for the spear to suddenly dematerialize and Lapis realized the Pearl's plan.

Sliding underneath the watery appendage, Pearl summoned back her light spear and slashed vertically. Lapis managed to sidestep the initial attack and countered with a lash of her own tendril. The Pearl dodged then retaliated with a thrust, an attack which Lapis evaded as well. She jumped back quite a distance, recalling both of her tendrils before shooting them both at the Pearl.

With the range and the short distraction, Lapis quickly glanced aside and saw Reggie, empty-handed, busy evading the whip strikes by the short purple gem- the one with the Quartz hairdo. At the same time, the human became engaged with the tall red gem, hastily circling her so that more often than not the red gem stood between him and the Quartz-copy. With a momentary surge of relief at seeing that her ally was fine, she turned back to her current fight only to see the Pearl running at her.

She raised another water tentacle from the water puddles to defend herself, but then a thought suddenly struck her mind. Rose. Where was she-?

~0~

Poof!

The odd sound of a gem-kind perishing almost made Reggie look away, but he forced himself not to in account of being assaulted himself. He twisted around to not get lashed by the one named Amethyst's whip, and pulled back a fist to punch the gem's face.

He was forced to cancel the attack to dodge a barreling fist from behind him, then whirled around to gut-punch who he assumed to be Garnet. Unfortunately, the red gem managed to deflect the jab and sent one of her own, a strike he quickly sidestepped aside. No rest were given to him as Amethyst lashed at him, and he made more distance.

Reggie pulled out his .45 ACP, aimed, and fired. It managed to hit Garnet, but the bullet bounced off her armor. Garnet charged at him, fists pulled back and tensed for a pair of punches, and Amethyst wasn't far behind her. He aimed higher, this time intending on putting some lead between Garnet's sunglasses.

"Amethyst, Garnet. stand down."

Both Garnet and Amethyst immediately stopped, lowered their arms, and dismissed their weapons. The sudden, jarring act made him blink, but he didn't take long to take the chance and pulled the trigger.

Garnet, faster than the eye could see, quickly raised her hands, and the bullet bounced yet again against her body armor. Amethyst jumped back, her leap impossibly higher and longer than anyone with a stature like her should be able to be. Garnet simply returned to her ally's fold as well, with nary a word. Reggie narrowed his eyes as Amethyst glared at him, then slowly glanced at his blue companion.

Only to see not her, but Rose, wielding a giant pinker broadsword the size of a surfboard stabbed on the floor. On her other hand, she held onto something. Pearl peered on the thing Rose was holding, her spear nowhere in sight.

The lack of a blue gem with glassy eyes made Reggie pause.

Rose looked up. "There is no more need to fight, Sir Reginald. You have no longer any reason to."

Amethyst jumped away, landing next to her own allies. Now, all three of them surrounded Rose in a protective line. Rose, on her part, released her weapon and cupped the thing she held in her other hand.

Reggie could see it. A small, cracked thing, yet brightly blue and reflected light brilliantly.

He regarded it for a few seconds.

Reginald held out a hand. Rose saw this gesture and raised an elegant eyebrow at him.

"Yes?" she enquired. "What is the matter, Sir Reginald? The Lapis Lazuli is subdued. The Earth is safe… our home is safe."

"…You know, it's cute that you think you're the heroes of this little adventure." Oil bubbled from his palm. "But you're not. Welcome to Empire City, ladies."

~0~

Lapis gasped for air after she managed to reform. Her back ached as the memory of a giant pink broadsword slicing through her abdomen resurfaced. She landed on all four of her limbs on the ground. She was shaking, and her limbs felt unsteady, like they would just collapse and suddenly give in.

"Holy shit!" someone shouted. "Wait a second… Lapis?!"

She could feel gloved hands grabbing her, gently yet sternly helping her to sit down, patting her back yet also avoiding the crystal upon it. She was breathing quickly, her mind still a jumbled mess, all thanks to her effort to reform as quickly as possible.

"Lapis, you're breathing too quickly." The voice pointed out. "Calm down… we're safe. Those Crystal Gems aren't around or anywhere near us. We're alone."

Lapis glanced at the source of the voice and saw a being clad in black, dark eyes looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. Alarm and confusion swam within her, but then her head functioned properly and she remembered who it was.

She slumped her tense shoulders and tried to control her breathing, clenching her eyes shut. As she did, Reggie rubbed her back and held her hand- trying to calm her down, she guessed. She gripped the hand in her hold, enforcing the idea she was with friendlies.

It took a while, but her breathing evened out. Lapis opened her eyes again and saw where they were. They weren't in that research facility anymore, that was for sure.

"You okay, Lapis?" Reggie asked, putting a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Anything you need? You want water?"

She made a noise when she tried to speak at first- something similar to 'hlrgk'. She gulped her dry throat, then croaked out, "I-I'm fine, thank you for asking… where-where are we?"

Green foliage surrounded them, and tall trees loomed over them. Instead of the hard material floor of the complex she was held in, now the ground was brown- and soft… dirt. Leaves were strewn about from the trees, some green, some bronze. Far above and beyond the trees, she could see the looming figures of Earth mountains. Rays of sunlight shone through the canopy of the trees, lighting up the visage she saw. And by the stars, what a visage that was…

"Where... are we...?" she whispered.

Lapis looked up, directly at Earth's sun. She- she missed seeing the stars.

All of this, everything around her, so full of life after finally being free from her prison… she couldn't help it.

Lapis wept.

Cold, liquid light emerged from her broken eyes and flowed down her cheeks. A sob tore through her throat, and if she could easily move her arms, she would've wiped her tears away. As it stood, however, her arms laid limply by her sides as her entire body was wracked with tremors.

Reggie, probably seeing what was happening, helped her by wiping her tears away, and quietly held her.

"W-what are you doing?" she whispered, shaking and choking in her own tears.

"You look like you need someone to hold you," Reggie muttered, and Lapis continued to cry. "To be a prisoner for who knows how long… let it all out, Lapis Lazuli.

"From this day forward, you are a prisoner no longer."

~0~

"We're in the Dark City of Commorragh," Reggie explained, still squatting next to her while holding her hand. She had calmed down considerably- at least, she wouldn't suddenly start crying over the sun again... hopefully. "If we're not careful, we might just accidentally trigger a tri-prismic dimensional mirror keyed to the center of a sun."

Lapis turned to him, eyes wide.

"I'm joking." Reggie smiled, a hint of a grimace on his face. "We're still in Teton national forest. We just left the lab around, oh, maybe half an hour ago."

"The Crystal Gems-"

"Won't be following us." The human assured her. "I managed to harm one of them. They'd be too preoccupied with their ally than bother with us. We're safe now, you have my word."

She bit her lip, still uncomfortable with the close proximity of her enemies plus former prison. She glanced at the bushes, warily expecting a Crystal Gem to jump out and poof her again. Her hastened reformation cost Lapis her mobility, if she were to be dispelled again… it would cost her months to return.

Reggie thankfully seemed to notice her distress. "Well, we shouldn't dally for long. Let's get outta here quickly… wait, can you stand?"

Lapis shook her head, slowly looking at him.

The human grimaced. "Oof. Okay, new plan. Can you raise your arms?"

"Huh?"

"Can you?"

Deciding to just humour her companion, she let go of Reggie's hand and raised both of her own… well, tried to, at least. It took a considerable amount of effort, but she did manage to put her appendages in the air.

Quickly, Reggie turned his back to her and knelt down, telling her to put her arms around his neck. Lapis blinked, but she also did what he asked. And then, gently, Reggie slid his own arms under her thighs, and off she was, being carried on the human's back as Reggie ran slightly in the forest.

"Why didn't you just carry me like before?" she asked, confused. This process seemed more complicated than how he just easily swooped her up in his arms a while ago.

"Ah, well…" Reggie didn't slow down as he thought of an answer. "Well, it's just, I noticed how… uncomfortable you looked like, back when I accidentally touched that gemstone on your back. This way I'm sure it won't happen again."

"Oh." Heat flooded her cheeks, as she was actually touched by the gesture. "Oh… thanks, Reggie."

"Don't mention it, Lapis."

They ran- well, Reggie ran while she was carried- for she guessed as probably around 20 minutes or so. Almost abruptly, the trees were gone, and in front of them stretched a dark grey road, with sliced yellow lines in the middle of it, tracing as long at the path itself. Behind the road, the trees continued, so she assumed that the road itself was the one cutting through the forest.

It was empty, bar from a dark thing sitting on the dirt next to it. Reggie approached it, so she just sat on his back and watched. The human opened a vertical hatch, still careful not to drop her, and then proceeded to slowly lower her into a seat inside.

Lapis trusted him to not harm her, so she let go and watched him through the glass before her as he closed the hatch, ran around the thing she was in- she guessed it was a human vehicle- and then entered from another hatch on the other side.

Reggie did something on his end, and suddenly the vehicle rumbled. She jumped in her seat, and the human gave her a cheeky grin. Lapis rolled her eyes at him then crossed her arms. Suddenly, he reached over and her eyes widened at the close proximity between their heads- and then he returned, pulling a long, wide yet thin… thing with him, covering her, and attached the attachment at the end of the 'rope' next to her seat.

"Uh…" she looked down. "What are you doing?"

"A safety precaution," Reggie answered, doing the same thing to himself. "So you don't get thrown out of your seat. Don't tell me you don't have seatbelts in your world?"

"A what belt?"

"Nevermind. It's just something to protect you. You ready?"

She glanced down again, quite literally powerless to do anything. "Uh, sure?"

The engine in the human vehicle roared, and off they went.

"Er…" she glanced at the windows, seeing the trees move quickly- or maybe how quickly they moved. "Where are you taking me?"

"To my boss, Mr. House," Reggie answered, looking at the road before them. Lapis remembered what Reggie said before poofing the giant red serpent, something along the lines of 'The house always wins?' "I just need to tell him that you're here, and do some paperwork so people can't just shoot you on sight."

"Shoot me on what?"

"Can't blame them." Reggie shrugged. "Most people know off-planet creatures to be vile, deadly, or intent on enslaving life on Earth, or all of the above and more. We just need proof that you're not a threat, so you won't be harmed by anyone."

Lapis nodded, understanding that. So… humans did have experience regarding the interstellar. "I see… what comes after that?"

"Well, you do what you want, I guess. You said you want to go home?"

"Yeah… yeah, that's right."

"Do you have a plan?"

Lapis couldn't answer.

Reggie glanced at her. "Very well. We'll think of something after this is sorted out."

Soon after that, the travel sunk into silence. Reggie, it would seem, was focused on driving the vehicle to actually engage in small talk with her.

But she couldn't let one, final thing slide.

Initially, she had waited for the view to change, thinking it unwise to bring it up so soon, but when some time passed, she found herself impatient. No, not impatient. Just… incredibly anxious.

"Hey, Reggie," she spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Why… why are you doing this?"

"Doing what, exactly?" Reggie glanced at her.

Lapis wanted to raise her arms hopelessly, to emphasize her confusion and worry, until she remembered she couldn't move any of her limbs easily. "This… helping me. Rose Quartz- that giant pink gem- told the truth… my duty as a Lapis Lazuli is to alter landscapes to fit our needs…"

Reggie didn't answer her at once. After Lapis finished talking, he turned his attention back on the human road, but at the very least she could see the human thinking, even from beside him.

Just when Lapis was tempted to say 'nevermind', Reggie responded.

"Well… let's just say, I know bad people when I see them, Lazuli." The human glanced at her, then turned to the dark, empty grey road. "And when I see you, I don't see any 'ill intentions' or anything like that. All I see is… well, someone who's confused, and tired, and angry."

She turned away, grimacing. So much for being one of Blue Diamonds' children.

"But not evil," Reggie continued, unaware of her thoughts. "Because of that, I have no qualms about helping you. Don't worry about it, Lapis."

"But… but you understand about what I do, right?"

"Yup, I do." Reggie drummed his fingers. "I understand, indeed. And I'm not worried."

"…Why?"

Reggie smiled. "I just know you won't do anything bad."

Lapis sighed, not really happy dealing with cryptic creatures. The human in question cackled, clearly enjoying talking in circles.

"Point is, I do this because I simply want to help you," Reggie said, chuckling a bit. "To that end, I suggest you rest, Lapis. It's quite a long road ahead. Say… do you sleep?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "If we want to. But with nothing better to do inside of that stupid mirror, I've been sleeping for the last couple of years, Reggie. I'm not fond of sleeping anytime soon."

Reggie nodded. "Alright. What do you say about some music? So we don't get bored. Or worse, awkward."

Lapis furrowed her eyebrows. "Music?"

The human's smile grew into a grin, and he reached over to press some buttons on the panel between them. Almost immediately, she heard noises coming from… everywhere, as if from every nook and cranny of the vehicle. She guessed it was some sort of… human instrument?

"Sun is shinin' in the sky!" she soon heard a voice sang merrily. "There ain't a cloud in sight!"

Lapis gave Reggie a confused look, but the human just winked at her.

"It's stopped rainin', everybody's in the play! And don't you know? It's a beautiful new day, he-e-ey!"

Clang clang clANG CLANG!

Reggie burst out laughing at her bewildered expression.

~0~

With no sound, voice, or any noise in general that she could hear in her decades-old captivity, the colorful and cheerful music of the humans easily became one of the things she loved. At first, some of the lyrics didn't make sense to her ("Why is mister blue sky hiding from everyone?"), but Reggie explained that most of human songs' lyrics are metaphorical- which means they weren't literally true, but just a saying- a comparison.

Like some of the things Reggie said, like 'thrown out of the window', which didn't literally mean throwing something out of a window, but it just meant the idea wasn't viable anymore and could not- or at least wouldn't be preferable to- be used.

Human culture was vastly different from Gemkind's. It was much more… colorful, friendly, diverse. Compared to her 'life', if you could even call it that, in the prison that was her mirror, this new existence was… liberating. Stars, she might even use the word 'fun'.

But then, she realized, that the intensity of the entire thing- of the way a human lived- was too much for her. She wanted to ask Reggie to turn it off, but she was afraid that if she did, there wouldn't be any other way to fill the silence than talk, and she was way too nervous, and confused, to talk.

But she couldn't take it any longer, or otherwise, she would break down again. After passing an undetermined amount of time in the Earth forest (there were blinking icons on the platform in front of her, which she guessed must be Earth numbers, and that meant she had no idea how to read it), she shakily asked Reggie to turn it off. The human obliged.

The ride suddenly became suffocating from that point on. If it wasn't the constant noise of music, the silence could just get her. She almost, almost asked Reggie to turn the music on again just to get rid of the sheer uneasiness in her psyche, but then they emerged from a tunnel, and human civilization appeared before her very eyes.

Spires of human creation loomed in the distance. Reggie said they were called 'skyscrapers', and while most of them weren't as tall as the crystal spires on Homeworld, Lapis could understand their name. The human buildings towered over the roads, and thanks to the clear skies of Earth, she could see how tall they were. So tall, she could imagine them scraping the skies. Many other human vehicles, with various shapes and sizes, roamed the grey roads. Some of the grey roads were even elevated over each other, to accommodate for space she would guess. Not to mention the noises. It was as if she could hear every single honk, screech, and roar of human vehicles' engines.

Everything was so… lively. Compared to this, Lapis would just prefer her head being blasted by Reggie's music. She clenched her seat with whatever strength left in her immobile arms.

"Hey Lapis," Reggie suddenly spoke up.

She turned her head slowly around to face him, her eyes wide and her body shaking. "Y-yeah?"

"I… I want to apologize."

"Apologize… for what?" she asked, desperate for any sort of distraction.

Reggie shrugged, in an uncomfortable way. "For, well, you know… failing to protect you earlier."

"Oh, th-that." Lapis took a trembling breath, trying to calm herself down. This was beyond pathetic- she was one of Blue Diamond's gems! She was not going to let her emotions get the better of her, much less panicking from seeing mass sentient life for the first time in centuries. "Don't- don't worry about it, Reggie. I knew it would be impossible to get past the Crystal Gems unharmed. Honestly, you should be grateful. As a gem, I can reform. If you were the one Rose Quartz cut down…"

Lapis took another deep breath, this time in a more successful effort to calm her nerves. She could think, she could… remember, somewhat. Experience with humans was very limited to be sure, but she knew that gems were the only beings capable of regeneration as long as their crystals weren't shattered. They were lucky in that sense, immortal until they either go mad or their gems were shattered. Humans, from what she had gathered and observed thousands of years ago, weren't that… regenerative.

"That's still incompetent of me." Reggie sighed. "I'm the law enforcer here, I should've been able to protect you better. The fact that the enemies were very strong isn't an excuse, I at least should've managed to sneak you out."

Lapis tilted her head down, not really caring about her poofing. "Well, apology accepted, Reggie. Don't worry too much."

Reggie sighed again, before switching to another topic. "Say, Lapis… did it hurt? When you were forced to retreat back into your gem?"

"For… a moment, when the blade cut through me," she answered, seeing Reggie's wince. At least, it was easier than looking straight at the human city. "But the process itself is fairly painless."

"Well… that's… great to hear, I guess."

Then Reggie caught her trying to crush the seat with her hands. "You okay, Lapis?"

"Why-why wouldn't I be?" she slowly descended into panic as she tried to yank her hand up.

Reggie slowed down the vehicle, turning over to the right side of the road, and looked at her. She looked back right at him, hoping he didn't notice how stressed she suddenly became once more. The human turned to look at the sprawling, bustling city, back to her, then back to the city.

"Of course," Reggie suddenly said, "Sorry about that. It was dumb of me. Let me remedy that."

The vehicle slowed down and then turned so they faced a small, empty road. Nothing was in sight, par from black bags and other tiny materials laying on the road. Surrounding it, human structures towered over the small path, easily shadowing it. Reggie pressed a button above him, and Lapis could hear the noises of the city dimming.

She turned to her companion. "…Reggie? What did you do?"

"I can tell you were panicking. In hindsight, it should've been obvious." Reggie shook his head. "I apologize for that. I know an emptier route."

"Oh. That's…" she regarded him, seeing him in a better light. She smiled weakly- warmth took over her, and she could feel her body calming down. "Thank you, Reggie."

"Don't worry about it." Reggie smiled, winking friendlily. "Well, we're getting closer to my home, Empire City. Get ready, my blue pal. You're in for a meeting with House."

~0~

A/N : Hmph... look at me, making Fallout New Vegas and Borderlands 2 references in 2021.

Please tell me what you think, humans.