This story was heavily inspired from A Tale of A Jade written by Vendicator.

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A man bent down to collect the shards of a shattered gem. He was a male, 18 years of age, standing at six feet tall with buzz cut blue hair and piercing yellow eyes. He wore a form fitting, sleeveless black shirt, blue jeans, blue vest, black combat boots, and matching padded gloves.

This was Jason West. "That marks a dozen since I left base." He stared at the corrupted shards of the monster he'd destroyed while five ethereal, blue and yellow falchions, floating around him, vanished. "How many of these things are there?"

Ever since he was cleared for duty, the soldier had been dealing with these monsters to prevent them from harming the innocent. He quickly surveyed the area. Fortunately, no one was around to be injured or killed by this thing.

Jason heard sirens in the distance, so he booked it out of there. Despite his status within the government, he was meant to be keeping a relatively low profile as he drove cross country. He quickly lept into his black SUV before driving off within the speed limit.

"I know they're responding to the monster attack, but they really should leave it to the World Army." The man thought.

He eventually pulled off into a parking lot and kept low in his seat as police cruisers came barreling by. Once they were gone, Jason turned to take stock of his weapons. Even if no one touched them, a good soldier should always ensure none of his weapons had been removed.

Once he determined that all his guns, blades, and other weapons were accounted for, Jason drove a couple of miles away before pulling into a gas station. He took out his phone and opened the latest message before reporting in on his progress.

The eastern part of the US was rampant with these monsters, and the World Government didn't need unsavory people becoming interested in them. The soldier leaned back, grabbed a backpack already full of shards, and dumped the ones he'd collected within.

"I wonder if a day will ever come when these monsters stop being a problem?" Jason contemplated before his phone vibrated. "Must be my new orders."

He zipped up the bag and placed it in his passenger seat before removing his gloves to look at the emeralds on the backs of his hands. The left was blue while the right was yellow. He took a deep breath before putting his gloves back on, gripping the wheel, and driving towards Beach City

"There's no way base can be right about this." Jason thought. "I know my father seemed certain, but every creature that is even remotely like me has wanted to maim, kill, and destroy. My mother and aunt were the exception."

Beach City

"Pearl! Watch it."

"I got it, Garnet! Amethyst, you too!"

"Don't worry… Whoa! Where's Steven?"

"Over here!"

A group of people, all of which aren't known to be human and are better known as the Crystal Gems, are currently fighting a monster on the beach. It was nothing new, but the giant blue-green wolf like monster was giving them a run for their money.

It was fast, nimble, and took its openings when presented. The four individuals working to try and contain the creature are no slouch when it comes to combat; however at least 3 of them could be considered non-human by their appearance alone.

The first was Pearl who had pale white skin, sky blue eyes, and pink hair that leads to a point. Her clothes consist of a sleeveless, sky-blue top with a silk transparent ballet skirt around her waist. The weapon she wields is a pearlescent spear, and she had a pearl gem on her forehead.

The second was Amethyst, and she was a bit more abnormal to the human eye. She had lilac skin, lavender hair, with her bangs covering her left eye, and dark purple eyes. She wore a light purple oversized tank top, and her weapon was a whip she pulls from her amethyst on her chest.

The third is Garnet. She had maroon skin with black hair styled to look like a cube-shaped afro. She wore a black and red bodysuit with crimson shoulder pads. Her weapon is a pair of crimson, magenta, and black gauntlets. She had two gems with one each in the palms of her hands.

Lastly, there is Steven Universe. He's a half-human, half-gem kid who is roughly the same size as Amethyst. He has curly black hair, black eyes, and wears a pink T-shirt that has a gold star in the center of it. He also wears blue jeans and pink flip-flop sandals.

Being the defenders of earth, the Crystal Gems have done what they can to protect the earth and its inhabitants from extraterrestrial, and otherwise harmful, creatures inhabiting the planet. Right now, is one such fight.

"We don't Steven." Garnet declared. "It's too nimble, so we wouldn't be able to hit it with that."

"Amethyst!" Pearl rolls out of the way as the monster lunges at her. "Distract it!"

"You got it." The purple gem whips the creature's face getting it to growl at her. "Hey, big ugly! Over here!"

The corrupted gem retaliated by attempting to swat her with his paw, but she jumped out the way leaving the creature's flank open.

"Gotcha." Pearl says confidently.

She hurled her spear at creature only for it to bat the weapon away. It disappeared and reappeared in Pearl's hand.

"We need a new plan." Amethyst declared as she dodged another attack.

"I'm open to ideas." Garnet says as her two allies form up on her sides.

Steven is shocked when a black SUV races by before skidding to a stop on the sand. Jason jumped out the driver door before throwing five knives at the wolf nicking it. The soldier then drew a great sword from the SUV while sparing a glance at the civilians.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I weren't seeing it. Three oddly colored, human looking beings… just like my mom and aunt." Jason's eyebrow rose upon seeing the kid from the dock begin a conversation with them. "They know each other?"

"Watch out!" The kid yelled.

The soldier bent back just as the monster swung, and its paw flew by mere inches from his nose.

He then stood while brandishing his great sword. "I can't afford to let myself be distracted. I'm better than that."

Jason charged the monster, which tries to nail him with a paw, but he slid under it. The soldier then ran under the monster and sliced into its stomach with his blade causing it to squeal in pain and anger. He held the sword before himself as the monster turned to face him.

"Steven, who is that?" Pearl asked.

She had been watching the strange human fight, and it was unlike anything other humans could do to her knowledge. Steven shrugs since he's just as much in the dark as the others.

"Garnet?" Pearl asks.

"No idea." She calmly replies.

"Amethyst?" Pearl asks but not as confident as she was in the previous two.

"Hey! What makes you think I know him?"

"I don't know! I just think-!"

"Guys, should we help him?" Steven asked getting their attention back on the fight.

"We should save him." Even if the human is an idiot, Pearl can't very well leave him to die.

Garnet thought otherwise. "No."

"What!?" Pearl asked incredulously. "Why not!?"

"It looks like he's got this."

"Huh?" Amethyst asked just as confused.

As a reply, Garnet pointed to the fight.

Jason ran up a stone wall just enough to avoid the monster sending him crashing into it. He then back flips onto the creature before moving to its head and thrusts the blade clean through it. This sends the monster back into its gem form.

The soldier landed on the beach and approached the gem while hearing footsteps behind him. He paid them no mind as he grabbed out a dagger and prepared to shatter the gem. A purple studded whip wrapped tightly around his arm stopping him. He saw it came from the purple lady.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked with surprise and irritation.

"What does it look like?" Jason asked. "I'm making sure it doesn't hurt anyone, so let go."

"How about no?" Amethyst sarcastically questioned as tightened her grip.

In response, the soldier dropped his dagger into his free hand and used it to cut the whip making his attacker fall back in surprise. Now that his hand was free, he tried to end this once more.

"Wait!" Steven got in his way. "You don't have to destroy it. We can just bubble it."

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked.

"Exactly what he means." Garnet informed.

She walked past him and the boy to the gem on the sand. Before Jason could stop her, she crouched and bubbled the gem in a pink bubble which floats in her hand. The man held a firm expression, but internally he was shocked. The woman tapped the bubble and it vanished.

"How did you do that?" The man asked.

"It's our job." She nonchalantly replies. "We fight these things, poof them, and collect the gems to make sure they don't hurt anyone."

"That's exactly what I do except without the lethality." He then noticed the gems in the palms of her hands which caused him to take note of the gems the others had. "They really… are like my mom and aunt.

"Anyway, thanks for the help." Garnet clasped him on the shoulder before rejoining the others. "But we got this."

In response, Jason took off his gloves and held up his arms in a way that allowed the three women to see the gems on the backs of his hands. They all react with shock as Steven looks on in amazement.

"He's a Crystal Gem too!" The kid pulled up his shirt to reveal that he had a pink gem where his bellybutton should be. "Not only that, but he's like me!"

"Those three are like my aunt and mother; however, he's like me." The only outward sign he gives is a gulp, but internally he is stunned. "We all have gems just like those monsters… Does that mean the theory around the base is true? Are they corrupted beings like any of us?"

"Hey, you alright?" Steven asked concerned.

Normally, the soldier was more in control of his emotions, so he must have let a lot of slip if this kid was picking up on it. "Yeah, I'll be okay." Jason touched his own gems. "I'm… I'm not alone. There are others like me."

For as shocking as this was, Jason honestly thought this assignment would end with him returning home. All his prior thoughts would be reaffirmed, but now he needed to get in good with this group.

"So, I suppose we should make a deal." Jason stated. "Questions and answers for both sides?"

"That would be best." Garnet replied. "C'mon, we'll talk at our place." She walked over to his SUV and picked up like it was nothing. "By the way, the name's Garnet."

"Amethyst." The purple woman stated.

"I'm Pearl." The pale woman introduced courteously.

"And I'm Steven." The boy declares.

"What's your name?" Pearl asked.

"Jason. My name is Jason West." The soldier replied.

Beach House

Jason followed Steven and the Crystal Gems to their home, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Granted, having the place within the mountain was a good idea since it lowered the risk of someone attacking from the back.

While someone could just tunnel right on down to the house, one would think the people within would be aware by then. The main problem he saw was the fact that even with this place tucked away, an enemy actively looking for them could find them by looking for the giant statue.

That wasn't even accounting for the tech disadvantage, but the base was decked out compared to most any other place on earth. Still, there were merits, and Jason had yet to reach a definitive conclusion. When they got there, the hybrids sat on the couch while the gems stood.

The gems, with Steven who was eager to help a fellow hybrid, filled Jason in on what exactly they do. They used something called a warp panel to go to the corrupted monsters or to locations of interest. These locations could have corrupted monsters or something of value to collect.

Jason kept his backstory simple since there was a lot he wouldn't disclose about his occupation. Essentially, to them, he was just a guy who traveled around fighting the corrupted monster and collecting an arsenal of weapons.

When he brought up his gem weapons, the gems were interested in seeing them. Now, Jason would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in seeing if this group knew anything about his mother and aunt. Honestly, he felt there was information even his own father hadn't told him.

If his father wasn't telling him everything, then no one else at the base would disobey him by saying something. So, Jason stood well away from everyone and summoned five swords, which orbited around him, before passing two of them to Garnet and Pearl.

At this point, Jason wasn't sure what his limit would be as when he started all he could summon was a single blade. While Garnet and Pearl investigated his weapons, Amethyst and Steven were amazed with sparkles practically surrounding them.

"Honestly, I think they're cool to." Jason admitted truthfully. "My dad said they belonged to my mom; however, it was my aunt who controlled them as I do now. He always told me they fought together."

"So, one of your emeralds summons the swords while the other lets you control them." Steven nodded in understanding, but he also had a look of confusion on his face. "How did you get both?"

"I'm not sure." Jason admitted. "I know for a fact that I share blood with my father, and regardless of who my mother was, considering I know little about either of them I could be wrong on which is my mother, I know one of them had to birth me."

"This is certainly interesting." Garnet had finished studying the blade. "I have a few ideas but nothing concrete. How about you Pearl? Know who this is?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm stumped." Pearl apologized as she and Garnet returned the falchions. "I can't decipher these markings or even who's weapon this is."

"Its fine." Jason returned all his blades. "Even though my father hasn't been forthcoming with a lot of information, it hasn't stopped me from looking."

"I'm sorry to hear you don't seem to know enough about your family." Steven apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Jason ruffled his hair. "Just as I don't blame my dad for being less than forthcoming with me, I can't blame your guys for not knowing anything."

"So, what now?" Amethyst asked.

"What exactly do you mean?" Jason asked.

"Well, you know about us, and we know about you." Pearl began. "Where do we go from here?"

Jason naturally wanted to stay, that was the mission, but he couldn't say that right away. "I could give you my number. If you ever need me, I'll make my way back here."

"That sounds promising." Pearl stated.

"Where do you live?" Steven asked.

"Despite what you might think, my father doesn't have a place for me." Jason lied. "I've actually been living out of my SUV for a few weeks now."

That last bit wasn't a complete lie. While he didn't have to live in the SUV, he had been on his journey over here. It was cheaper than getting a motel, and Jason was used to sleeping practically anywhere.

"You live in your SUV!?" Steven proclaims. "That's so cool! My dad lives in his van. Even if you do live in your SUV now, you could always come stay and sleep here instead.

"Gems, huddle up." Garnet proclaims while grabbing Steven and pushing the other gems out.

Now that he was alone, Jason stood and took a better look around the place. The wooden part of the house seemed normal, but the missing wall led to the stone part of the house. It had a crystal pad he assumed was the warp, and a door with gems in a star formation.

"Alright, we've come to a decision." Garnet declares as the Crystal Gems enter the house.

Judging by how happy Steven looked, Jason was sure he cold guess what their decision was. "So?"

"If you want, you can stay, but we expect you to help us fight when we ask you too." Peal replied. "Additionally, you must teach Steven whatever it is you know about your powers and try to help him hone his own."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"Steven is young." Garnet placed a hand on said kid's head. "He still has a lot to learn about being a Crystal Gem, and we don't fully know how to help him when we don't rightly know exactly 'what' he is. Considering you're the same as he is…"

"And with how awesome and cool you were at fighting that monster!" Amethyst happily interrupts.

"Correct, I guess." Pearl spoke up. "Basically, you show tremendous skill and adaptability for a human-gem hybrid, so we'd like you to teach Steven what it is you know."

None of that conflicted with Jason's mission, so those were easy terms to agree to. "Doing that should be no problem, so I'm in."

Amethyst and Steven high-fived, Pearl smiled with a nod, and Garnet gave a thumbs up.

"With that out of the way, I say we turn in since it's getting late." Garnet stated. "Jason, you'll have to take the couch for now."

"That's actually better than I thought I'd get." Jason shrugged. "Though, I would have been fine with whatever to be honest."

Pearl turned to the nearest closest. "I'll get some sheets."

"I'm going to head out for a minute and properly park my SUV." Jason moved to exit the building. "Based on what you said, monsters attack fairly regularly, so I'd like it to be in a somewhat protect area."

"Hurry back!" Pearl called out.

Jason waved back before jogging outside and getting into his SUV. He drove it to a relatively protected area before turning the engine off and casting his gaze to the backpack which held a dozen, shattered gems. This was only a few of the gems he's shattered during his career.

Until he met the Crystal Gems, he assumed there was no one else like his mother and aunt. Now, everything fell into place, and he didn't like it. Those corrupted monsters had to be corrupted gems. It's the only thing that made sense.

"I'm a gem hybrid." Jason might be a soldier, but the thought of ending the lives, unknowingly, of what made up half of him was a bit disturbing. ". These beings I thought of as monsters are part of half my heritage."

Jason's stomach turned a bit, and he contemplated shoving it in his glove box; however, a secret like this was liable to come out some way no matter how good he hid it. Considering he didn't have the base's gem crusher to dispose of them, it was best that he come clean.

So, this is a Steven Universe Fanfiction that does take heavy inspiration from another story. If any of you write this off for that reason, you're more than welcome to; however, I have every intention of eventually taking this in a full-on different direction rather than the small steps I will be initially taking towards that goal. If any of you have suggestions for this story, you're welcome to share them with me. As for this story, you can question how a government got away with gem destruction.

I'd argue though that in this universe governments would have tried this stuff before in the thousands of years the gems and corrupted gems have been part of the world. The World Government took all the failures and managed to create something that has escaped notice. You could ask how Garnet never knew, but I'd argue there's a shocking number of things Garnet was unaware of even with future vision.

Take your pick though I will say this story will be deviating from canon a lot anyways. Honestly, I could just boot the concept of future vision and make Garnet a leader without it. Regardless of what you think, this is an AU, but if it matters to you, you're more than welcome to share that with me. If you still don't like this story, there is always canon for you to enjoy. That's never going anywhere, and I still love it.