Yellow stood in the front courtyard of the Cane Island detention facility. Eyes scanning the carnage before her. The fire was devastating, so much so that the building was structurally compromised. The explosion breached the boiler room damaging the foundation.
The fire was nothing more than smoldering embers, and the injured were airlifted to nearby medical facilities. The only thing left was finding casualties and starting a manhunt for the fugitives. The general snorted; Aquamarine had underestimated Blue Diamond and the Crystal Gems. She was inside tearing the prison apart on the off chance they were still here. Yellow knew better. (Yellow knew Blue, there's no way she would have stayed on compound.)
It was early; the sun was just rising, making the water puddles on the ground look like molten metal. The air was already sticky and dense, it would be a hot South Carolina day. Yellow looked over to see the hulking figure of Jasper marching up. She was the only agent that the general took with her when White ordered her to the facility.
"What did you find in the parking garage?" Yellow said, her voice drawled out with practiced boredom. A tactic she frequently used to keep those around her from figuring out her train of thought.
"Weapons, ammo and a radio missing from the guard station and broken locker. The broken locker was checked out to Blue Diamond." Jasper replied, gruffly. She nodded to Yellow, and her wild mane of platinum blonde hair moved slightly with the motion.
"They've already left then." The general tsk'd shaking her head.
"It's obvious they did, ma'am." Even Jasper put the pieces together.
"Blue keeps an emergency bag with her when on assignment, in case she has to leave in a hurry. It's a good practice for anyone in our line of work. She keeps money and other resources in there. Almost all of it is untraceable." Yellow began strolling across the blackened courtyard and motioned for Jasper to follow.
"Err, then why is agent Aquamarine still inside looking for the suspects?" The six-foot woman asked nervously.
Yellow took a deep breath before answering her, "I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing inconsistencies in this situation." Yellow stopped and made sure that no one else was in earshot of their conversation.
"I'm not convinced everything happened as Aquamarine reported. I brought you along, Jasper because I trust you and your judgment. You are to report and answer to me only, is that understood?" The agent straightened and nodded. Jasper has been and still is one of her most trusted associates, she's been under Yellow's command for years now.
"What I'm about to share is to remain confidential until we figure out what has happened exactly." The general craned her neck to one side cracking it; on the quick flight over, she had dozed off in an awkward position.
"I believe that Aquamarine had a hand in the events that occurred here, and the situation didn't turn out as she desired. Which would explain why she's inside the facility still looking for our suspects,"
"And not proceeding with a manhunt of the area." Jasper finished Yellow's thoughts for her. The imposing woman clenched her jaw and glanced back to the ruined building.
"I can already tell you what's going to happen, and I'm going to ask you to play along for the time being. Aquamarine isn't going to find anything except corpses in that building. She will then start an organized manhunt. Maybe a 50-mile radius?" Yellow continued to stroll across the yard, and Jasper followed.
"It's a gross mishandling of the situation. Aquamarine doesn't have as much field experience as you or I. She's more accustomed to investigative research and criminal profiling." Jasper cleared her throat once Yellow was finished speaking.
"What will you be doing, ma'am?"
"Right now? You and I are going to find out where our fugitives escaped from. I'm going to follow the trail from there ahead of everyone else. I have a concern that if Aquamarine gets to them before you or I…, The truth will be obfuscated." Yellow had walked all the way from the courtyard, past the loading docks to the parking garage.
"The locker was pried open, then they went over to guard post four." Jasper walked the general through everything that was done without even being prompted. The officers in the room saluted both Yellow and Jasper, but the pair ignored them.
"My guess is they went back out and escaped through one of the drainage ditches." Jasper briskly walked back over to the garage entrance. "Nobody saw them do this, because at one point the power took out the electricity and the backup generators. It was a worst-case scenario situation for the facility."
Yellow Diamond nodded; Jasper was good. "Let's go check out the drainage system."
The pair hiked over to the muddy, gravel embankments that surrounded the entire facility. Reeds and other local fauna covered much of the area, really it should be cleaned and cut regularly. Complacency reared its ugly head.
Jasper skidded down, followed by Yellow. The pair inspecting the first of about a dozen drainage grates. Thick rusted metal crisscrossed over a five-foot-tall tunnel that went on for roughly another ten feet to an identical metal grate on the other side.
"Not this one," Jasper said more to herself.
"It has to be close, they wouldn't go out of their way unless there was reason to." Yellow huffed irately as she looked around.
The general trudged further down the ditch, as she looked around, she noted a semi-trailer nearby. Drainage grate number two… was completely rent from where it was initially anchored.
"Whoa," was Jasper's reply as Yellow gave her a smug look.
The two women followed the tunnel out to a small muddy inlet where multiple pairs of footprints were. "Here we are. They went south, at least for a time. What town is south of here, on the coast?"
"McClellanville, small town. Mostly Oyster boats and farms. Maybe a three to four-hour trek on foot, they would have had to swim across the Santee to get there." Jasper replied.
"Alright, I'm going to make a short visit to agent Aquamarine. You, agent Jasper, are going to play along and monitor her for me and help her organize a manhunt. Meanwhile, I'm going to break off and follow this trail… I'm estimating that the Crystal Gems have about a 10-hour lead, give or take." Yellow narrowed her eyes and peered across the river.
"Understood ma'am, but Aquamarine is not stupid. She's going to want to follow you, you're the best tracker the Authority has." Yellow looked over at Jasper.
"Normally I could stop her, but White has given her full control. Stall her. If you can't stall, at least tip me off if she's shadowing me." Jasper gave a stern nod to the general.
"We have to find the Crystal Gems and Blue Diamond first and foremost. If Aquamarine finds them before us, there will be a lot of unnecessary bloodshed. Then no one will know what truly happened."
… … … … … … … … …
The group was silent, an uneasy truce had mollified any anger that may have been simmering beneath the surface. Blue was dozing somewhat uncomfortably in the back; the highway they had been traversing was now quiet and dark. Steven had graciously moved to the seats a row over so she could be more comfortable. The Diamond was restless; however, she probably needed another dose of pain medication.
She looked down, her hand resting over the wound in her side. Blue lifted up the bottom of her shirt and swore softly as she saw the dark stain saturating the gauze. Even in the dark, she could see it. The wound wouldn't stop hemorrhaging.
"You still bleeding?" A scratchy voice said softly. Violet eyes and a bruised nose poked up from the seat in front of her.
"I don't know if the exit wound is as clean as it seems to be. I may still have shrapnel in my side." Blue let her head fall on the back of her seat.
"If we were a little closer to Delmarva, we could have used one of our… friends to help you out. But we're just shit out of luck right now." The violet eyes disappeared for a moment, and some rustling could be heard. Then a tan hand with a bottle of Tramadol came into view.
"Garnet gave you one pill last time, so I think that's probably good for now. No directions, this was meant for someone's pet…" A sheepish grin and a shrug followed.
The stout woman carefully leaned forward towards the front passenger seat and shook Garnet awake. "G, I think we need to stop. Blue D is having issues, and everyone probably needs a break."
"We're in a town called Emporia we crossed into Virginia about an hour ago. If I remember the map correctly, we're just outside of Norfolk; we should easily find a motel there." Pearl said, her eyes never leaving the road.
"I think that would be a good idea. We could all use a bed to sleep in for at least a night. That and we're pretty far out from the prison." The tennis instructor stretched and rubbed her eyes. The group had traveled far to the west, as far away from the coast as they could. Then doubled back towards Virginia Beach. The goal was to avoid the radius of any manhunts in operation.
The plan was going smoothly so far, they were a stone's throw away from DC. Blue only had to figure out how to discreetly contact White Diamond and inform her about Aquamarine. Then, whatever happens… happens.
The aged Volkswagen putted along the highway and turned into a parking lot with bright LED lights. They pierced the darkness that covered the interior of the van. Relief washed over the group when they parked, and Amethyst opened the door.
"Pearl and I will go in and see if there's vacancy. Stay put, we'll be back soon." The pair left, and only crickets could be heard outside along with soft sleeping sounds from an exhausted Steven Universe.
Blue sat up slowly and painfully shifted, she moved to exit, but the 12 year-old was comically hanging off the side of his seat. Arm and head dangling over the edge.
"Eh, how?" Blue was perplexed as Amethyst gave a throaty chuckle.
"Yeah, little man can sleep just about anywhere. Crazy little meatball." Blue watched as the woman beamed at the boy. Love softening the corners of her eyes.
"It must have been wonderful watching him grow the way he has." The Diamond had a wistful tone in her voice.
"Yeah, I mean, hell, it wasn't easy. I didn't sign on for it; me with a kid? Worst idea ever. But Rose didn't make it, and she would have wanted me and the others to look out for Steve-O." Amethyst shifted and half picked up Steven so that he was lying on her lap.
Blue looked away, tears rolling down her face. "Sorry, BD, this must be really hard for you. Finding out… everything like this. It's not sitting good with Garnet and me either. There's like, a lot of questions. We've just put it aside for now, ya know?"
"Hey, two rooms. 314 and 315, the rest is booked; there's a huge jazz festival in Norfolk this weekend." Garnet had popped her head into the side of the van and glanced over at Steven.
"Gotcha, G squad. Help me get Steve-O outta here?" The black woman nodded and carefully picked up Steven.
A shower and a warm bed sounded like heaven at the moment.
… … … … … … … … …
Steven woke up because a thin beam of sunlight was hitting his face. He stretched and noted an arm rested loosely across his waist. He looked over and saw Pearl sleeping next to him, her thin frame lightly rising and falling with slumber.
It finally dawned on the boy, they were in a hotel. Garnet was resting on the bed next to his, she was mostly awake. Her monochromatic eyes glanced at the boy before returning to the news on TV.
"Hello Steven, you slept for quite a while." Her soft British accent drifting through the air.
"When did we get to the hotel?" He yawned and stretched.
"Early, we're in Virginia close to Norfolk. We all figured we were in a good enough spot to take a break. You should probably take a shower, you'll feel better, I know I do." Steven got up enthusiastically, and ran for the bathroom.
It had been rough, everyone had been maintaining themselves with sanitizing wipes, but it was a tall order considering they swam through a swampy river at the outset. Steven turned on the water and jumped out of his clothes and just stood underneath the showerhead for a long moment. Best shower ever. He then shampooed and quickly finished; he wanted Pearl to have some hot water too.
The boy dried off and investigated the stitches over his left eyebrow. It seemed like forever since the accident happened. Really it had only been a week and a half at most. The bruise was a yellow-greenish color, and from what Steven could see, things were coming along nicely. The boy then wondered how Blue was doing.
Pearl had woken up and opened the curtains while Steven had been showering. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and looked owlishly at the boy. "Steven, did you dry off your back? The back of your shirt is all wet."
"Oh, uh, I guess I was in a hurry." Steven gave an apologetic grin. Pearl shook her head as she walked to the bathroom, and Garnet just chuckled.
"Where's Amethyst and Blue?" He really wanted to see both of them. Somehow not having them both near was making him feel anxious.
"It's alright Steven, they're in the room right next door, 315." Garnet seemed to pick up on his anxiety.
"I'm checking up on them." The boy said in a sing-song voice.
"Good, tell them we're getting ready, and we'll meet them downstairs at breakfast." The tennis instructor said as Steven walked out the door.
"Steve-meister!" Amethyst was just walking out of her room.
"Garnet said-"
"I heard her, I'm getting breakfast first. They got waffles downstairs!" She walked over to Steven and gave him a rough hug. The boy just laughed.
"Is Blue okay?"
"She's, hurting, but hanging in there. She'd probably like it if you stopped in." The stout woman handed him a key card and continued down the hall. "Waffles, Steven! Don't miss out!"
He used the key card and carefully opened the door, the room was just a mirror of the one he had been sleeping in. The curtains were still pulled shut with a halo of light encroaching at the edges. Blue sat on the edge of the bed closest to the door brushing her long silvery locks while watching the news.
"Hey, Blue!" Steven said he was satisfied to see her up and getting ready. The woman turned, her eyebrows canting up as she set the hairbrush down.
"Steven, you sleep alright, love?" Her lilting accent was warm, and she patted on the bed inviting Steven to sit next to her.
"Yeah, I guess I was tired. You feeling better?" He crawled up on the bed and sat cross-legged.
"It's amazing what a little sleep in a proper bed can do for you." Blue didn't answer Steven's question.
"Is that a yes or a no?" The boy said, narrowing his eyes.
"You shouldn't worry about how I'm doing." The Irish woman tilted her head up a bit.
"You still haven't answered my question, Blue," The 12 year-old persisted, he wasn't going to let this go.
"Why you cheeky little boy!" Blue said exasperatedly as she suddenly turned and started tickling Steven's sides. He laughed and squirmed until he had tears in his eyes.
"Blue stop!" Finally, the assault ended; the boy was lying on the bed catching his breath with Blue looming over him. She had a tender expression on her face that spoke volumes on how she felt about Steven.
"We're almost there, what's going to happen? Can-can I still see you?" The boy whispered, they had become so close.
"Of course, if that's what you'd like." The boy nodded, and Blue held him close. After a long moment, she pulled back and sat up.
"We should probably go downstairs, Garnet wants to figure out what to do next… and there's waffles." Blue chuckled and stood with Steven following suit.
The woman grabbed her bag and opened the door, letting Steven go ahead of her. The pair walked a ways down the hall towards the elevators when Blue stopped, holding her side.
"I knew you weren't okay!" Blue only shook her head.
"I don't have the luxury of being injured, I can't sit this out. I'm okay because I have to be, Steven." The boy was holding her hand; she needed to be in a hospital.
Blue let go of Steven's hand and gently carded her fingers through his hair, "Come, let's go downstairs and figure out what to do next." The duo started for the elevators again when a commanding voice rang out down the hall.
"What are you doing, Blue?"
A figure stood tall at the end of the hallway. She had black Kevlar armor and spiky blonde hair that was swept impeccably off to the side. Her eyes were the color of molten gold.
"How did you find us, Yellow!?" Blue stepped in front of Steven protectively.
"That's not important. What are you doing?" The blonde grit her teeth, and a distinct vein popped out of her right temple.
Just from the short conversation with Blue and other context clues, Steven knew this was Yellow Diamond.
