They had been hiding in an old abandoned water mill for three days now, and Steven was no closer to conquering the Earth than when they'd first left Beach City. Jasper understood that the Crystal Gems had him well-trained, to sit and stay, to be a good little Diamond when they told him to, but this was getting tiresome. How long was he planning on laying low out here, on the outskirts of some dusty farm town, avoiding himself and ignoring his destiny?

She'd given him the first day to recover, as he'd been too lethargic and grumpy to make much progress anyway. He'd just left behind everything he'd ever known, and had spent almost the entire night consuming hard liquor, so it made sense he wasn't feeling well. He'd tried explaining hangovers to her, with limited success, but she'd done her best to help him, securing for him Ibuprofen, water, energy bars and a new pair of shoes (as per his request. He'd packed light, really light, and right now, all he had to his name were the clothes on his back and an empty glass bottle). They had to use the last of the paper, and upon realizing this, he'd suddenly become very withdrawn and sad, but Jasper couldn't understand why.

The ensuing days were mostly just spent moping and hiding from the world, while the nights held nothing but crying spells and home-sick whimpering. It was enough to drive her mad, so on the third day, she approached him.

"My Diamond." She said, loudly enough to wake him up. He peered up at her blearily from under the thin blankets. He'd parked the Dondai in the spacious processing room of the mill, sleeping in the back with a throw he'd kept in the trunk. It must not have been a very good place to rest, because every morning he woke up looking more tired than the night before.

"Hm?" He asked, eyes droopy and red-rimmed, hair a mess. Jasper fought back a groan, realizing he'd been crying again.

She crossed her hands behind her back. "How's the plan for world conquest going?"

"...I'm working on it." He said, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. Even though it was late summer, it wasn't thick enough to keep him from shivering at night.

"...I see. Well, the first thing we'll need is an army. We could scour Homeworld for malcontent Quartzes, but the most efficient method would be to make them yourself."

"Make them? I can do that?"

Jasper nodded.

"Diamond ichor is a crucial ingredient in the production of soldiers."

"Oh. Huh." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Well, that does sound easier. If I make… if I make them myself, they probably wouldn't try to kill me on sight because I revamped their government…"

"So you agree?"

"I… yes. Yeah, I guess I agree."

Jasper grinned.

"We'll start immediately." She said. "I'll go scavenge an injector from the beta kindergarten." She turned towards the door, and Steven paled.

"W-wait, I'll come with you." He stumbled out from under the blankets, hastily trying to untangle himself.

"Why?" Asked Jasper, forgetting herself for a moment. "If you'll forgive my ignorance, My Diamond."

Steven looked down. "I just… I-I think we should go together. That's all."

"But you could be seen-"

"I don't care. You're not leaving me here all alone!" Steven shouted, the force of it making the wooden beams of the mill creak. For a moment, Jasper thought the roof would collapse on them, come down on her, an unstoppable, unsurvivable wall of spikes that would no doubt-

She shook her head, cursing inferior human structures for being so weak and fragile.

She realized they were both still standing in stunned silence. Jasper supposed it shouldn't have been such a shock to hear Steven raise his voice, but it was… welcomed. She appreciated the new assertiveness he was showing.

"I mean… I'm sorry. But. I'm coming with. That's a… that's final, I guess." Steven mumbled regretfully.

"As you command, My Diamond." Said Jasper, nodding in approval. "Be on guard, though. I'm sure the Crystal Gems are still hunting for you."

"...Yeah, I know."


"Ok… shit. Stay where you are. I see her. She's- oh fffu- get- get back." Steven frantically backtracked, and Jasper did her best to obey, but it was challenging with the heavy load they carried.

Steven had the drill end of the injector while Jasper held the tail, and while it wasn't too hard to lift, it certainly wasn't easy to maneuver.

Steven waited an entire minute before cautiously peeking past the corner again, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt that came over him. He'd thought that by coming here at night, they'd be avoiding any potential… confrontations, but they weren't so lucky.

Although it had taken a while to find an undamaged injector, it had gone smoothly enough, at least until they heard the warp chime. The sharp sound had barely given them enough warning to find cover in time.

It had not been fun trying to hide from Amethyst. Especially with how she kept calling his name, over and over, voice echoing through the cavernous gorge. She didn't sound angry or upset with him, she just sounded sad. Hopeless.

She stayed for over forty-five minutes, but had eventually given up, and he watched her trudge back to the warp pad with tears in her eyes. He knew they missed him, but they'd recover. They'd move on, just like they moved on from Rose. Well… Had they moved on from Rose?

Steven shook those thoughts away, turning back to Jasper.

"Ok, well. She's gone... " He sighed. "Let's just get this back to base."

"Yes, My Diamond."


They gently set the heavy machinery down onto the concrete floor of the warehouse, and Steven sighed, stretching his back.

"Ok! We've got, we got everything we needed, right, Jasper?"

"Well. We needed an injector. And now we have an injector."

"Ok, ok." Steven clapped his hands together, bringing them to his chest. He let out a long breath. "Now what?"

Jasper opened her mouth to explain, but brought her hand to her chin, face closed off in thought.

"Do you… do you know how to turn this thing on?" Steven asked.

"Uh. N… No I do not."

"...So I'm guessing you don't know how to… how to make new gems, either?"

She shook her head apologetically, and Steven mimicked her thinking face.

"Well, do you know any P… Peridots who could help us?" Steven asked.

"A few, mostly from Era 1, but they all hate you." Said Jasper. "You took their jobs."

Steven nodded, beginning to pace.

"Right, right right. Yeah. Ok. Um. Well. We've only been gone a few days, right?"

"Yes, Why?"

"Well, maybe… maybe we can work with this."


Jasper glanced uncertainly at Steven, not comforted by the nervous thumbs up he gave her. He had assured her that Peridot likely had no idea about his disappearance yet, since his family never called in the B team for anything other than dire emergencies. They hadn't called them last time he ran away, so he felt relatively good about this.

"Are you sure about this? I've worked with that Peridot before, and as annoying as she is, she's not that stupid."

"Jasper, please. I know Peridot, and she is smart, but she can also be pretty damn thick-headed." Steven said. "Also, I can shape shift my vocal chords." then, with Jasper's voice, he said, "She'll have like, no idea."

Jasper shuddered at hearing her own voice come from Steven's mouth, but nodded at him, giving him the space he needed. He was nowhere near as confident as he sounded, but this had to be done. If he couldn't make an army…

Jasper might leave.

He punched the numbers of the payphone with shaking fingers and held his breath while it rung, Jasper hunched patiently beside him. It wasn't nearly tall enough for her to fit comfortably inside the booth, so she stood with one foot outside, wary of getting stuck.

The phone wrung three times before Peridot answered. His throat closed up entirely.

"Hello?" Peridot's voice came in, echo-y and distorted by the line. "Um. Helloo?"

Steven shook, desperately opening and closing his mouth, trying to fight through the nerves but making no ground.

" ...Is this those kids again? Listen. If you don't cut this shit out right now, I'll find out where you live and gremlin the shit out of your neighborhood electricity grid-"

Jasper swiped the phone from Steven's unsteady hands, bringing it to her face.

"Hello. This is J- a common Strawberry Quartz soldi-Earth inhabitant," She spat the words out like they were rotten, "and I had a few questions for you, seeing as you are- were- a certified kindergartener."

"OHhh! Well, alright then! What did you want to know?"

"...How I was made."

"Right! Well, let's see, it all begins with some humble geothite…"

All too happy to answer questions, Peridot gave them a detailed list of steps to complete the process of production. Steven quickly busied himself by writing it all down, and Jasper leaned in so he could hear better.

Despite the fact that their plan was working, he was incredibly humiliated by the whole thing. He was a Diamond for stars sake, and he couldn't even make one lousy phonecall

But Jasper was still here. She wasn't going anywhere, not for now at least. He glared at his stupid, shaky hands, wondering why that was so hard to believe. Of course she'd stay. He was her…

...he was her Diamond…

Jasper hung up after all necessary information had been gathered, and Steven leaned against her, relieved it was over.

"Think she suspected anything?" He asked.

"With how she was handing out valuable information? I had no idea she was that dense."

Steven chuckled tiredly, although Jasper hadn't quite got the joke. He closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah, that's Peridot." He said, "She can be a little… hard-headed." He gave her finger guns, and she stared at him.

"...'Cause. Y'know. She's got a rock in her- yeah nevermind."

"Ehh… Yes. Well. I suggest that we get to work as soon as possible."

He frowned. "Do we… do we have enough information?"

"We have everything and more, My Diamond." Jasper rumbled. Steven sighed.

"Ok, cool. Let's, uh... get to work I guess."


Steven examined the weighty hunk of geothite in his hand, and turned his gaze down to the boiling pink mixture inside in the injector. He'd never really thought about how these things worked, they were so much more complicated than he remembered.

"Is this enough?" He asked Jasper.

"Yep." She said. "All we need now is your ichor."

"My what?"

"Your Diamond essence. You know." He looked at her blankly, and she frowned at him like he was stupid. "Use your liquids."

"Oh! Right! Ok, I totally got this." He held it to his lips and gave it a kiss, before gently letting it fall into the glowing pink broth beneath them.

"The secret ingredient is love." He told Jasper. She looked at him, barely hiding her disappointment.

"...Ew." She said.


From the moment they popped out of the ground, Steven was absolutely entranced with them. For the first time in a while, Jasper had actually seen him alert and engaged in… well, anything.

Jasper had never paid much attention to his Song before, she really wasn't that intuitive, but it was hard not to notice how loud and bright it had become, like he wanted the entire world to hear it.

Their starting army was tiny, made up of only about fifty Strawberry Quartzes (all that they had supplies for. Also, Steven's mouth had started getting dry), but Steven loved each and every one of them as if they were- well. They were his own. He'd made them.

Initially, Jasper had been very pleased with his sudden, newfound interest in world conquest. That is until he started "teaching them about the Earth".

She'd tried to convince him that battle training needed to begin immediately, but he'd insisted that it was their "Birthday" (whatever that was), and that they should be able to enjoy their first day of existence.

She'd stood by him without complaint as he took them on a tour, showing them trees and rocks and valleys. She held her tongue when he took them flower picking, tree climbing, and swimming. She even managed to keep herself from screaming in frustration when he had started singing, although it became extremely difficult when they started singing along.

She finally broke when he began teaching them how to play volleyball, begging him to give her a decent reason why he considered this knowledge valuable to them. He'd simply replied; "Volleyball is super important for world domination. It's- It's a team building exercise. Yeah."

Now the sun was setting, and the whole day had been wasted. They'd been better soldiers before Steven's unorthodox training methods, and she couldn't stand back and watch him ruin them any longer.

She approached him, unable to hide her annoyance at whatever stupid thing they were up to now.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Steven looked up from where he sat by the creek, as did the five or so quartzes next to him. There were more a little farther in the treeline; Steven promised them they could explore as long as they stayed where he could see them.

Steven himself was holding a caterpillar in his hand, looking up at her innocently.

"I'm teaching them about life on Earth."

"What use do they have for that information?"

"Well, if we're gonna… you know. Like. Take over, I want them to know what they're fighting for."

"Why would anyone want to fight for that pathetic thing?" Jasper pointed angrily at the caterpillar, reaching to take it out of Steven's hand. He easily swatted her arm away, scowling.

"I would." He snarled, voice dark and heavy, and Jasper felt a chill go down her spine. She backed up a step, giving him space.

"...My apologies, My Diamond." She said, watching him to see what he'd do next. "I… was slow to understand."

His gaze softened into something sad, and he looked back at the caterpillar, slouching. The Quartzes around them watched the exchange curiously. The sun slipped under the horizon.

"I just believe their time would be better spent… doing other things. They need training, My Diamond."

"I know." He said. "But, they also need to learn about stuff like this." He held up the caterpillar, watching it inch over his knuckles. "Or else what does this all matter?"

Jasper had a reply to that, but held onto it, sensing he wouldn't love hearing it. So instead, she stood by, letting him have his way. There would be other chances to change his mind, but for now, she'd give him this.

"Besides," He said, "the Quartzes love it."

"We love the bugs. The bugs are good." One of the closer ones said. Jasper glared at her, and she held up her hands in a placating manner and backed up.

"Hey, hey. No need to get… Ant-sy!" She said, grinning cheekily.

"Eyyyy!" Steven called out, exchanging finger guns with her while the caterpillar crawled up his sleeve.

"Yeah, why so waspish?" Said another Quartz, and Steven beamed at her in pride.

Jasper growled, leveling a fist.

"This ends now." She said, standing up rigidly. The Quartzes grinned nervously, retreating a little.

"That's right, guys." Steven said, standing up and holding his hands out. "Can't you see she's already… ticked off?"

The woods burst into laughter, and Jasper clenched her fists tightly. Her old army of corruptions had been easier to tolerate.


By the way: saiscribbles on tumblr made some awesome art for this chapter, you can see it (and find a link to the source) by looking up this fic on ao3. I'll try to paste a couple urls, but this demonic cesspool of a website keeps eating them, so i had to space them out into chunks:

archiveofourown (dot org) /works/26508163/chapters/64605121

saiscribbles . tumblr (dot com) /post/632246927724101632