A/N: Howdy, all! I just went on ahead and waited till Thursday to update. And I'm glad I did. Cause I've got four new reviews, and some faves and follows. Thanks to coolosus1, Wulfen03, and sofiathe23rd for the faves and follows! and as a reply to the two reviews I can't reply to:

/TheGoldenDragwolf: Thank you very much!

/guest: If you've looked, you'll see that there was no need to update since I update weekly, every Thursdays or Fridays. But I'm so glad you're so eager to see this continue. No worries - Ace and I don't plan on ending this. At least until it ends. XP And I'm glad you like seeing characters reformed. I do too~

Now... without further ado, here we are with another perspective! give it up for Chapter Forty, everyone! I hope you like it!

Note: This chapter is set Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Forty: Trapped

A single Homeworld ship cut through the cold depths of space. The pilot was caught off guard when something appeared on her radar—something living. She slowed down, and turned on the screens, staring at it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the something living she was looking for. But she supposed she might as well scoop up this one anyway.

The orange Gem initiated the tractor beam sequence, pulling the other Gem, who kicked and silently screamed, into the ship, through a vent. She stood up tall, cracked her neck, and went down to the cell the blue Gem would automatically be put into by the beam. She stared at her for a few seconds, studying her. The tall blue Gem stared at her captive with wide eyes, a slight snarl on her lips.

Trapped.

Again.

This was just her luck, wasn't it? she reached out to touch the field, hoping to escape, but held back on it at the last second, thankfully. She didn't speak, just frowned at the Gem before her. The brawny, orange Gem punched the wall, rocking the entire vessel.

"WHERE IS PERIDOT FACET-2F5L, CUT-5XG?!" she roared, staring at the other one with an intense gaze.

Lapis flinched, but kept her wits about her. She soon shook her head, lowly remarking, "I have never seen her in my life..."

How could she have though? but, even if she had, she'd never squeal. She wasn't that type of Gem, anyway. Being trapped did that to people. Jasper sighed, and covered her face with her enormous hand, "Then who are you? where'd you come from? how'd you get stuck in space?"

"My name is Lapis Lazuli..." she replied, and then frowned. That was rather humiliating. She didn't like thinking about the fact that she'd gotten lost trying to get back home. But now she wasn't sure if she should've taken that route—to return. So she simply said, "And I don't know," to answer those two questions.

"You don't know? so you just formed, in the middle of space? I DON'T THINK SO! tell me the truth—tell me where you came from! are you a spy?!" she punched the wall again.

"I'm not a spy!" the blue Gem yelled, and then turned away slightly. "I wanted to find my way back home!"

"Then tell me how you got here in the first place. I'll take you to Homeworld if you do," Jasper said this in an honest, but dangerous way.

"..What will you do if I don't...?" Lapis challenged her, still not wanting to talk about it. She immediately regretted it, however, if the brief wide-eyed look on her face was any indication.

"I'll keep you here for a very long time," she then leaned closer. "And when my mission is complete, I will make sure you are shattered to bits. IS THAT CLEAR?!"

Lapis gasped, and nodded, frowning softly, "Clear..."

But she still didn't tell. It was simply too embarrassing. Just as embarrassing as it was for Bill Cipher to admit that he didn't know how he washed up on Beach City. And, maybe, on the inside, she preferred getting shattered over this situation. At least, maybe, she'd never be trapped again. Never again be conscious of the feeling.

"So... for the last time... tell me where you hail from. How you got so far out here. Or I personally will break you," Jasper glared at her. If looks could kill... Lapis would have been long since dead.

The hydro-Gem took a deep breath, and stated, "Homeworld... or Earth..." and then she muttered to herself, gripping her arm, "or a mirror..."

"Earth?" she frowned. "Stay here, Lazuli. I will be back." As though Lapis had a choice. She went up to the bridge, and set a course for this... Earth, as well as read up on it for a little while. Then she returned to Lapis, staring at her menacingly, "Tell me... how a puny Gem like you escaped the gravity field of a planet like that with no ship, no limb enhancers, or anything else!"

Lapis's eyes were wide. She shouldn't have told. Steven was brought to the forefront of her mind now. She'd put him in danger again. Oh, no...

She snapped out of it, and registered the large Quartz in her gaze once more. She answered, "I'm stronger than I look..."

"Oh? I'd like to see that," she deactivated the destabilizer field. "Prove it to me, Lapis Lazuli. Show me how strong you are!"

The Gem stepped out and looked around, and her frown deepened. There was no water. But then she got an idea. It may just save Steven. She sighed, "I'm not very powerful without water. But Earth has lots of it... and you're going there, anyway, aren't you?"

She nodded, "Can I trust you not to get yourself into trouble if I bring you up to the bridge?"

She smirked on the inside, and nodded too, "Of course you can."

"Good. Come on, then," she started walking, and then looked back at Lapis, with a warning, "and if you double-cross me... there will be no second chance."

Lapis gulped, almost tossing her plan into the trash, and followed Jasper, looking around at everything. She wondered if it would be worth it though. The Quartz wasn't even after that kind of thing. She was after another Gem. But why? she mulled over this and the plan some more, and, in the end, she decided to scrap it, and just wait and see. She'd act if Steven got in the way. But for now...

Jasper soon reached the bridge, and looked to Lapis, "You'll sit in the co-pilot seat. Don't touch anything." And she herself didn't touch anything either, not yet.

The Gem sat in the seat, and didn't touch anything, as was told. Even though she wanted to be a rebel. She didn't want to be shattered. So she kept her arms to herself, crossing her legs. It felt weird being here, especially since she had been treated as a captive for almost her entire life, and thus left out of the loop for how Homeworld's changed over the years. This was so new to her. So... alien, ironically enough. That was part of the reason she didn't touch anything. And yet it was also part of the reason she did want to touch stuff.

Eventually the ship stopped, the lines that the stars had become in the flight settling, and the Earth was large and visible in front of them.

"Hmm..." Jasper conducted a scan of the planet, and found various warps, as well as kindergartens. But one warp interested her more than the rest. To which she instructed the ship to begin flying.

Lapis, after a while of silence, eventually began, "So... you mentioned a Peridot..."

She couldn't finish it though, and was pretty much expecting Jasper to catch on. Last time she was here, Peridots were rather low on the hierarchical ladder, above Pearls but below Rubies. Or was it the other way around and the Rubies were below Peridots? either way, those green Gems were insignificant. Why did Homeworld want her enough to send a higher level Gem after her?

"I did. Have you seen her?" unfortunately, Jasper did not realize what Lapis was really implying, nor did she seem to take Lapis's first answer to heart.

She shook her head, sighing that the Quartz didn't get it, "No. I said I hadn't... but what I want to know is why..."

"Why? why what?"

"Why do you want her?" the blue Gem asked, feeling irritated.

"Why do I want her?" Jasper repeated the question, and then scoffed, "Yellow Diamond assigned me to retain her... for reasons unknown to me. I suspect, since she's an Era 2, that she has some other, secret significance. She wouldn't just run off if not, would she? no, she must be a spy, or a rebel!" Jasper laughed.

Lapis blinked, and nodded, now staring at the planet before her, "I see."

However, her thoughts suggested otherwise. "Secret significance"...? what did that entail? she really wanted to know, but didn't press. After all, this was all Jasper knew. She wouldn't get anything else out of her, and she was afraid she'd get shattered if she tried. Figures Yellow Diamond wouldn't even tell her high-ranking solder the goings-on. So, perhaps, if this wound up where she was somewhat thinking it was going, she'd find out for herself what this... "secret significance" was... and she highly doubted it was because this Peridot was a spy...

"This Earth... tell me about it. What's it like down there? anything dangerous?"

"Not really for us," Lapis muttered. She didn't like the thought of working for someone, but she'd have to. She'd get shattered if she didn't. "It's full of creatures... some called humans."

Even looking down at the Earth, she didn't really see what was so beautiful about it. Maybe a little, but she had been trapped there. And it was miserable. Jasper raised an eyebrow, "Humans?"

"Yes. They somewhat look like us, but.. not at the same time..." the Gem scrunched up her face a little. "And some of them appear male too..."

Jasper chuckled, "Earth definitely must be a strange place..."

"Definitely," Lapis nodded, finger on her chin. Good. They agreed on something. She didn't say that out loud though. Jasper then sped up, trying to get this over with.

The Gem narrowed her dark blue eyes. She reviewed her plan again. The one she tossed away. She still had to figure out what to do if Steven somehow got involved. Jasper soon began to slow down the vehicle—Beach City was visible far below. Lapis's eyes were wide. She remembered this was where Steven lived. She looked over at the Quartz, "Uh, maybe we shouldn't land there! I don't think the Gem you're looking for is in this location!"

"Land there? no, we're not going to land, Lazuli. We're going to methodically got to each major land mass and search for Gems," she began the procedure of scanning the area.

And then Lapis sighed of relief, leaning back into her seat. She nodded, "Alright."

She remembered there were other Gems there, however, and her landing when she found them would put Steven in danger. But chances are that Jasper wouldn't stop because none of them was the green Gem for whom she was looking. And then she was back on that. She hummed quietly. What significance could a Peridot possibly have?

And then suddenly...

"Found a contact!" Jasper called out, a small blip appearing at the beach. "Well, would you look at that? already found her!"

"What?" Lapis paled slightly, snapping out of her thoughts as her relief completely drained from her body language. "Uh, what if that's a false alarm? it seems way too obvious."

"It's a Gem of some sort, at least. There's not supposed to be any Gems on this planet... so it's of my concern, even if it isn't the rogue peridot."

Lapis bowed her head quickly, bringing it back up before Jasper noticed. She sighed, "Well, fine..."

But inside she was screaming.

"Good. Setting a course for it now..." they began to inch closer to the place. Now was Lapis's chance. Steven could be taken prisoner, too, or worse, if they continued...

Lapis looked around. She knew they were nearing water now. She inhaled, concentrating. The water in the ocean soon quickly jumped up and hit the ship. And the rain was becoming a giant storm. And to make herself look innocent, she gasped and reacted badly, "Oh no, the storm is really bad here! we should go to another place!"

"Storm? ha! this ship could make it through asteroid fields! a simple 'storm' isn't going to stop this baby!" Jasper revved the engines, grinning.

Well, she'd just have to try harder. She concentrated more, and the storm got worse. Much worse. They couldn't see what was in front of them now. And the water kept beating the ship. Another huge wave crashed into it, intent on sending the ship towards a certain place. Away from here. She gasped again, feeling the rattles, "Jasper! it's gotten really, really bad!"

Jasper gasped. Water began to leak through the ship, and there was beeping, and an alarm. "Shit! I lost control of the ship! Lazuli, come on, we have to get out of here before this thing falls apart!" she grabbed the blue Gem, and, without asking her, dragged her into an escape pod.

Lapis smirked to herself, but acted the part of a frightened bystander well. However, she hoped the ship would crash into the water harmlessly and not into the Beach House. The Gem didn't fight back. This was exactly what she wanted. She kept up the major storm, huffing and puffing with pretend anxiety. Jasper then made the ship shoot them out. They already somehow had been submerged under the water...

The ship had started falling when it lost visibility. Plus, Jasper wasn't really that great of a pilot. The hydro-Gem realized this, pressing up against the pod. She began to control the direction in which they moved. Up towards a certain town. Far away from here.

The pod was tiny, clearly not meant for someone of Jasper's size, or two people. On autopilot, the thing soared through the sea, before running out of power, it seemed, and stopping. Lapis felt extremely uncomfortable. She sighed, sarcastically muttering, "Great..."

She kept making the water move the pod though, almost tirelessly. At least she was getting them away from Beach City.

"Ugh... this is all your fault, isn't it?" Jasper glared at Lapis. "I hate you!"

"No, this isn't my fault. I tried to warn you about the storm," Lapis half-lied. There really was a storm here. She just worsened it. And now it seemed to stick. The waves were going crazy. At least, where they were and near Beach City. She sighed. She wished she thought it through a little better.

"It's because you were being a backseat driver!" she punched Lapis. Clearly she was not listening to reason.

"Ow! hey! you told me not to touch anything, and I obliged!" Lapis then frowned, rubbing her shoulder. And then there was a little thump, and it was clear what happened—they had hit the very bottom of the ocean floor. Her frown deepened. Now they were stuck like this because she lost her concentration. Fantastic. She placed a hand on the pod, and the other on her face, groaning.

Jasper growled. "I DON'T CARE!" she punched the roof of the pod, and the thing began to beep. Annoyingly. It was obviously only infuriating her more.

"Stop it! I need to get back my concentration!" the Gem grabbed her hair, trying to distract herself from the alarm. She closed her eyes, and focused on getting the water to push them up to the surface.

"Concentration for what?" Jasper asked in a dangerous tone.

"Getting us out of this mess!" Lapis shot back. The pod slowly but surely began to rise from the floor, being pushed up by the force of the current.

"How about I get us out of this mess, Lazuli?" Jasper punched a hole through the wall of the pod, and water began to trickle in. But Jasper didn't care. She ripped the pod open, and grabbed Lapis's hand again, pulling her up, swimming fast and strong.

Lapis's frown deepened. But she supposed this was more effective. And faster too. They'd end up on land soon. Preferably away from Beach City.

They eventually burst through the water, to find, much to Lapis's preference, there wasn't a single bit of land as far as the eye could see. Jasper huffed and puffed, her hand clenching around Lapis's wrist harder, "Gah! this is your fault, isn't it?"

"Like I said, this isn't my fault!" she screamed, shutting her eyes tightly due to pain.

"Liar!" Jasper held her up, over the water, and threw her.

And Lapis, before she hit the water again, grew her watery wings and flew upwards a little bit. She looked back down at Jasper, glaring at her, "You're the one who wanted to take the storm by the horns..."

"Come back here, right now. Or I will shatter you with my own bare hands!" Jasper yelled, swimming towards her, trying to grab her foot.

"I'm the only one who can get us out of this mess. The only one who knows a little more about Earth than any other Gem," Lapis kept a little away from her. "Shatter me and you'll be stranded with no information."

Jasper thought on this for only a second, pouting slightly, before she said, "Fine, Lazuli. I won't shatter you. But you have to take me somewhere safe," and then grabbed the blue Gem's foot.

"Good," and then she started flying away, Jasper barely weighing her down. She looked through the storm, trying to find some land. She eventually did. A strip of land with some trees. Lapis started her way over to it, unknowingly passing by a speedboat along the way...

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this one. We kinda think we messed up on our characters. I had Lapis, Ace had Jasper. I think she did well with Jasper, though. And I kinda was subconsciously mixing Lapis's old and current personality together, along with a hint of something else. So yeah... more parallels are drawn, and yet again the concept of a hierarchy is mentioned. This is so fun! remember - leave a review! I'll see you next week with the next one!