For what felt like an eternity Steven saw nothing but white. After a while the white that had engulfed his vision slowly began to dissipate. His vision was blurry and he could vaguely make out a figure below him. It was then that he realized that he was floating and it was also at that exact moment when his body was forcefully slammed onto the floor. Steven let out a groan when he felt something break under the weight of his body. Steven head was buzzing and his vision was having trouble focusing. He was aware of someone helping him stand. He blinked several times, ignoring the muffled voice of his helper until his vision finally cleared up. The first thing that he noticed was his location. He was back home in beach city which brought him a huge sense of relief because it meant that the gem artifact that he had foolishly touched had not killed him. Steven let out a sigh of relief. Steven turned to thank the person who helped him up. It was then, to his complete shock and horror that Steven saw himself. A much, much younger version of himself that was looking up at him with poorly veiled curiosity.
"Oh no! This is bad!" he exclaimed as his heart once again sank into his stomach. He was suddenly very much aware of his outfit. He mentally cursed himself. Why didn't he change outfits before going on that stupid mission? Thankfully, he knew that the younger version of himself wouldn't react negatively to his choice of clothing. He was also was fairly certain that Amethyst didn't understand the significance of his outfit, but if Pearl or Garnet saw him like this… The gems! Steven did a quick scan of the house and was extremely relieved when he didn't see them. The Artifact! Steven was certain that the artifact was the cause of his current problem and upon realizing that he no longer held it Steven felt his panic flare up again.
"This is very bad!" he said as he searched the floor in hopes of finding his only ticket back home.
"Huh? Are you hurt? Do you need help?" His younger self asked him.
Steven took a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew that he shouldn't act panicked around his younger self or he ran the risk scaring him. Steven opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by his younger self.
"Woah! You look just like me!" he exclaimed rather loudly. Steven winced. He had forgotten how energetic he used to be. When was the last time he had gotten that excited about anything?
"That's because I am you. From the future." he explained calmly as he lifted up one of the pieces of the coffee table and was relieved when he saw the gem artifact. It looked like it was still in one piece.
"Wow! Really?!" his younger self excitedly asked. "Why are you dressed as a fairy?" he giggled as he tugged on the hem of his outfit.
Steven blushed as he gently removed younger Stevens fingers from his outfit. He knew that his outfit looked a bit strange, but to be confused for a fairy was embarrassing. He had originally started wearing the outfit because it was expected of him back when the Diamonds still thought of him as their beloved Pink, but he continued to keep wearing it after because it had made the Diamonds more willing to listen to him. He smoothed out his outfit and brushed off small pieces of wood that had got caught on it. He carefully picked up the artifact and stood back up. Soon he would be back home and he could pretend that this little mishap never happened.
"Listen, Steven…" He began gently. It felt strange talking to himself "It was..." Steven paused trying to figure out a good word to describe this weird situation without offending his younger self "interesting… meeting you, but I have to go back to my own time now."
"Aww man!" past Steven pouted as he lightly kicked the ground in front of him looking extremely disappointed. "Can't you stay a little bit longer? We didn't even get to take a picture together." Steven begged, his eyes beginning to water slightly.
Steven winced he suddenly felt guilty for all the times he had used his puppy dog eyes on the crystal gems. How was he supposed to say no to that face? "Sorry Steven but I should probably go before anyone else sees m-" Steven was abruptly cut off by the sound of the warp pad activating behind him.
"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are back!" his younger self yelled happily while running past him.
Steven froze his back still turned to the gems. Shit. This was really bad. He couldn't let the gems see him dressed like this. He needed to get out now. Steven glanced at the artifact still in his hand before taking a deep breathe. He closed his eyes and willed the artifact to activate. He thought of his friends and family and of his home. Suddenly, he saw his body being engulfed in a white light. As quickly as the light came it disappeared and Steven was left floating off the floor before falling and landing on top of what used to be the coffee table for the second time that day.
"Great timing you guys!" past Steven eagerly pointed towards his future counterpart "You're just in tim-"
He was cut off by Amethysts laugh. "Who's the goof in the weird outfit?" she asked as she pointed towards the living room.
"Steven get behind us!" Pearl yelled when she finally noticed him. She pulled younger Steven closer to her body. "We'll handle this intruder." She said summoning her spear.
"You picked the wrong house to break into." Garnet said calmly as she cracked her neck and summoned her gauntlets.
Steven gulped. It didn't work he was still in the past. Maybe he wasn't specific enough? He thought about the morning before the mission and how he had skipped breakfast in favor of getting some more work done. He thought about the dilapidated pyramid ruins, and he thought of the moment he had grabbed the gem artifact. Hope filled his heart as he felt his body be engulfed in a now familiar white light. That hope quickly died the moment that the light surrounding his body flickered out and he was left to plument towards the floor.
"Don't hurt him! He-" Past Steven's cries were drowned out by the sound of the gems surprise.
"What the heck was that!" yelled Amethyst as she quickly summoned her weapon.
"Have humans always been able to do that?!" Pearl shrieked in surprise while glancing towards Garnet as if seeking some sort of explanation.
"Gems! Don't let him get away!" was Garnet's only response as she charged toward Steven.
"No! Stop!" younger Steven yelled as he ran to get in between the gems and his older counterpart, but Steven knew it was no use he wouldn't make it in time.
Fuck it. Steven thought as he quickly turned around and summoned his shield in order to prevent himself from being completely pulverized by Garnet. Garnet's fist hit his shield with enough strength that Steven felt the shockwaves of the punch reverberate through his body. Steven felt sweat begin to accumulate on his back. If he had waited a little longer to summon his shield he probably wouldn't be standing right now.
"That shield…" Garnet looked up at Steven in surprise which quickly turned into anger as she finally got a good look at what he was wearing. "That outfit…"
Steven felt his heart pounding in his chest. Garnet had said those two words with such hatred and contempt that Steven was now certain that Garnet knew the significance of his clothing. He was unsure before given that Sapphire was a member of Blue Diamond's court, but he had suspected that she might have seen Pink Diamond before since she was an aristocratic gem. If Garnet had recognized his outfit then he was certain that Pearl did. One quick glance in her direction had confirmed his fears. Pearl had dropped her spear and had both of her hands clamped over her mouth. She was shaking slightly as her muffled words attempted to make their way past her hands.
"Stop fighting!" younger Steven yelled wedging his body between Garnet and himself.
"Steven! Get away from him." Garnet ordered sternly. Steven felt a small shudder run down his back at her harsh tone. He could count on his fingers the amount of times he had seen Garnet this upset. His outfit must have resurfaced old memories of the Diamonds and he was certain that none of those memories were very pleasant.
"I can explain!" He yelled nervously with his shield still summoned in front of him just in case Garnet decided to attack again. He glanced up at the remaining members of the crystal gems to see if they would attack. Amethysts looked slightly confused, uncertainly glancing between Pearl, Garnet, and himself. Her confusion made sense to Steven, Garnet rarely let herself get this upset and Pearl's startled reaction probably only served to confuse her more. Pearl, while clearly still shaken up, had finally composed herself enough to pick up her spear. While it didn't look like she was going to attack right now the iron grip on her spear told Steven that he should pick his next words carefully.
"I…" Steven struggled to find the best words to explain his situation. "I… uh…" This was going horribly and the look on Garnet's face told him that she was quickly running out of patience.
"He's me from the future!" Younger Steven yelled still standing in front of his older self protectively. "He wasn't breaking in and he wasn't trying to hurt me." he explained in hopes of calming the gems. Steven held his breath and his muscles tensed as he waited for the gems to react to his younger self's explanation. For a moment all eyes in the room were focused on him and he suddenly felt very exposed.
Amethyst was the first to react.
"Dude, you look so old!" She exclaimed while putting away her weapon. Steven felt himself relax slightly at Amethyst reaction. She was always the best at rolling with the punches. She barely looked fazed by the situation at all. Steven thought that she sounded more curious than shocked.
"How old are you, like forty?" she guessed.
"I'm seventeen." he responded slightly offended at the comment. As Amethyst attempted to walk closer to him she was abruptly stopped by Garnet.
"Huh?" Amethyst looked up at Garnet in confusion.
"That's not Steven." Garnet said sternly.
"What do you mean? Look at him." Amethyst gestured toward older Steven. "Sure he's like really old now, but that's definitely Steven."
"Yeah! And he has my gem and he can even summon mom's shield." younger Steven chimed in eager to clear up this misunderstanding.
"It's true." Steven said as he slowly put away his shield. "I'm Steven." he gestured toward the gem on his stomach.
"It really is Steven." Pearl said her voice barely above a whisper. She quickly dissipated her weapon, but her rigid posture told Steven that she was still not completely comfortable with his presence.
"Garnet?" His younger self said as he worriedly looked at Garnet who was still in a fighting stance with her weapon summoned. Upon realizing that she was the focus of attention of everyone in the room Garnet quickly composed herself and dissipated her gauntlets.
"...I see." was her only response as she adjusted her visor; an action which Steven had come to associate with Garnet using her future vision. She was most likely trying to figure out more information about him by looking at the future. Maybe she was trying to assess whether or not he would attack them.
"Wow Steven that is a brave look." Amethyst commented clearly amused, ignoring her teammates strange behavior for the time being.
"Is that what I wear in the future?" his younger self asked him.
Steven mentally sighed. How was he supposed to explain his outfit without telling them about the Diamonds and about how his mom was actually… Steven took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts. His best course of action right now was to play dumb. The gems wouldn't risk bringing up the Diamonds while his younger self was here.
"No, we were in some ancient gem ruins and I touched this thingy" he gestured to the artifact still in his hand "and all of a sudden I showed up here dressed like this" he let out a nervous chuckle.
"You need to go back to your time." Garnet told him after a pause. Luckily, she did not press him for more information about his outfit.
"Aww what! Can't he stay a little longer?" his younger self asked.
"Sorry Steven, but Garnet is right. This Steven doesn't belong in our time." Pearl gently told his younger self who was pouting.
"I would go back if I could… it's just that… I can't" he said, glancing at the artifact in his hand.
"What do you mean you can't?!" Pearl asked worriedly.
"I tried using the artifact to go back already, but it just keeps sending me back here." he explained. He was suddenly overcome with exhaustion as the realization that he was stuck here hit him like a ton of bricks. "I think It might have gotten damaged when I first arrived here." he added after a pause of silence.
"Ha! I can't believe you broke it. You really are Steven." Amethyst snickered causing him to blush. When he first started going on missions he would touch and grab anything and everything that caught his attention. It had caused them many accidents, but he hadn't done something like that in such a long time.
"May I have a look?" Pearl asked.
Steven quickly handed over the artifact to Pearl. He shifted around nervously as Pearl inspected it.
"It appears to be an early prototype of the legendary glass of time. I've heard stories of gems disappearing after coming in contact with it, but I didn't actually believe that they were true." Pearl explained surprise evident in her voice.
"Can you fix it?" Steven asked Pearl.
"I'm not sure." Pearl responded after a pause." Steven felt his heart sink back into his stomach. "I can try, but it might take a while." she quickly added in what Steven thought was an attempt to comfort him.
"You know what that means?" asked his younger self. He paused as if waiting for someone to answer. "Slumber party!" he exclaimed happily seemingly unfazed by everyone's silence.
Steven sighed before smiling weakly at his younger self and he was rewarded with a thousand watt smile. He glanced over at the gems just in time to see Garnet and Pearl look at each other. He didn't need future vision to see that he was going to be the topic of their discussion later that night. Steven suppressed another sigh. At least he was home.
