It was quiet in the house as Garnet arrived home which was very uncommon. Living in a house with nine other people never allowed it to have this quiet atmosphere. Along with her parents Ruby and Sapphire she lived with her wife Pearl, there adopted son Steven and then the four foster kids. The sister pair of Amethyst and Jasper whos age difference was about 7 years, then the two teens in Jasper's age range named Lapis and Peridot.
Shutting the door behind her with a silent click Garnet took in the quiet, which was becoming a bit out of place to her. Next to the door sat a double banded rack for coats. All the pegs but hers and her parents were full. Several pairs of shoes sat under the racks, indicating that her wife and the kids were all home. This made her tense. It wasn't three o'clock yet. The kids shouldn't of been home from school for another hour, two for the sisters who were doing sports.
"Pearl?" Garnet called out as she took her coat off and hung it up on her peg "Are you home?"
"G-Garnet?" Pearl's startled voice echoed through the house.
Garnet frowned as she put her keys down on a little table they had next to the front door. She felt the muscles in her body tense as she forgoed removing her shoes instead to walk further into there house. There house was rather big. Five bedrooms, three and a half baths on the second floor with a gust room, kitchen/ breakfast nook, Livingroom, and bathroom on the first. They had worked hard for the life they had here and every step Garnet took down the small hall from the front door made her stomach drop further and further.
Garnet tended to move quietly through a house full of noise but the deafening silence made every foot fall echo against the walls. Thanks to her height she reached the doorway to the kitchen in a few strides. The only one in the kitchen was her wife.
"Pearl." Garnet said cooling taking a step into the room and stopping. Behind her shades her eyes locked onto her wife and noticed the ridged posture she had. Pearl's shoulders were tense and she stood straight as a board. She had her back to her as she stood at the sink. This was completely out of character. She always turned to face her and give her a kiss when she got home. She was always smiling or cleaning or scolding the kids. Pearl acting like this worried her.
"Is everything ok?" Garnet asked calmly as she tried to get her hands to relax at her sides.
"Everything is fine dear." Pearl said taking a plate out of the sink and drying it with a rag "Why do you ask?"
Garnet felt her hands ball into fists as her wife spoke. She never called her Dear. Her voice was a few octaves higher. The same voice for when she was upset. The only time she was this upset is when there old friend Rose had gone insane and tried to kill her son and all of them after he was born. The clattering of the pate in Pearl's hand into the pail next to the sink set stones into Garnet's being.
"Let me help you." Garnet said moving across the kitchen.
"N-No! Its fine!" Pearl said a little too loud as she waved over her shoulder "I'll be here a while! No need to bother you after work! Why don't you go up stairs and relax? I'll bring us some snacks when your ready. I know the double shifts at the hospital run you down."
Garnet moved slowly as she spoke "It's no problem Pearl." Coming up to her wife's side she silently took the rag from the sink side and held out her hand for something to dry. "You wash and I'll dry."
Garnet kept her head forward as she eyed her wife. From here she could see her wife face or, more importantly, she could see her face. Pearl's eyes were blood shot like she had been crying. She had a cut on her lower lip and the bottom of her jaw was a deep red. Garnet could see the dark marks littering the side of her wife's neck down to her wrinkled button up shirt that was pulled closed in a way that indicated to missing buttons. Her hair was slightly disheveled and from here she could not only see but feel how bad her wife was shaking next to her. If any indication that the water in the sink was vibrating as Pearl's arms were still set Garnet in high alert. Her own body became ridged at the sight of her wife falling to peace's next to her.
"How was your day off?" Garnet asked keeping herself as neutral as possible while leaning a bit closer to her wife. "Hope the kids didn't give you any trouble."
"My day has been uneventful." Pearl said with a slight quiver to her voice "The kids all came home sick today so they have been in there rooms ever since."
Garnet nodded and they continued to wash the dishes. They stood in complete silence for few minutes until Pearl took a shaky breath. Garnet slowly put the plate she and been drying back into the sink as she slightly turned towards her wife.
"Oh! I forgot." Pearl said "Did you remember to pick up the ingredients for the pies I wanted to make for Steven's fundraiser at school?"
Garnet paused as she got a bit confused at the question. Steven didn't have any fundraisers going on. She looked at her wife before shaking her head "No, write them down and I'll run out later and get them before the store closes."
Pearl nodded and quickly dried her hands as she took a notepad off the fridge and scribbling down on it. "Give me a second, its a lot of things since I have to make everything from scratch. You know how I hate using store bought processed stuff."
Garnet hummed as she watched her wife's hands shake. She could see Pearl writing very quickly and very sloppy for her. Garnet felt a shiver crawl up her spine as Pearl placed the pad next to her before turning back to the sink. "I don't think I missed anything... did I?"
Garnet felt the shiver shoot back down her spine and out to her limbs as she read the note.
'She found us. She learned our routine and she's in the house. She brought people. There watching us. They have the kids. They said if I tried to fight back they would hurt them. I think my arm is broken... Garnet I'm so scared'
"Looks good to me." Garnet said. "I'll take the list with me anyway." She ripped the note off the pad and put it in her pocket "Just so I don't forget anything."
"T-Thank you dear." Pearl said.
There was a cough in the quiet house and Garnet watched her wife nearly jump out of her skin. Her eyes started brimming with tears again as she took the towel from her wife's hands.
"I-I'm not feeling too good." Pearl said smiling up at her wife painfully "I think I'm going to go lay down."
"I'll go lay down with you." garnet said drying her hands and turning fully to face Pearl "If your not feeling good then you mite be coming down with what the kids got."
"Garnet-"
"I insist." Garnet gave her wife no room to argue as he took her hand. Garnet moved slowly as she led them to the stairs. Every step they took Garnet could hear another pair echoing behind them. The shaking of her wife's hand in hers made the situation all that much more real as they reached the landing. Thanks to her covered eyes she was able to look over there shoulders as she slowly started pulling her wife up the steps. She could see two big figures standing just out of sight in the living room. Thanks to the mirror over the fireplace she could see the back of there heads. Big, bad, and armed. Garnet felt herself frowning as she pulled Pearl a bit closer.
Every step up she felt her wife shaking more and more. Reaching the landing she didn't have to turn to know her wife was trying very hard not to start crying. Garnet silently pulled her wife up to her side and wrapped her arm tightly around her waist. Looking down the hall she could see every door was ajar. Garnet could see every room was dark. Even in the middle of the day the hallway was as dark as the atmosphere pouring out into the hall.
As the rooms went the one at the top of the stairs belonged to her parents. The next one was Lapis and Peridot's shared room. Across the hall was one bathroom. Next to that was Amethyst and Jasper's room. Steven's room was next to the sisters and across from the second bathroom. The final room at the end of the hall was Garnet and Pearl's. They preferred that room at the end because they could leave there door open on the days they felt they need to keep an eye on the kids a bit more closely then normal.
Garnet kept there pace steady as they moved down the hall. At very door they passed Garnet looked into the darkness from behind her shaded eyes. From Lapis and Peridot's room she could hear a slight wheezing sound. She had to fight the urge to walk in and check to see if Peridot had her inhaler on her. Passing Amethyst and Jasper's room she could hear unsteady breaths. She was all to familiar with the air needed after a panic attack. As they were about to pass Steven's room Garnet stopped. There was such a heavy feeling coming from his room that she just couldn't go by it.
"Garnet?" Pearl said tugging on her wife's shirt gently. Garnet could see the plea in her wife's eyes but Garnet just couldn't listen. She had to listen to her gut.
"You got out early." Garnet said pushing Steven's door open "Didn't know you were being released. We would of planned a party."
"Oh Garnet." Rose's voice answered from the dark as Garnet reached out for the light switch. "Now why would I ruin the surprise of being free? You just would of taken my family away from me again."
Flicking on the light led Garnet to the dread she felt. Rose was sitting on Steven's bed. Steven himself was laying on his side, his head in her lap. She was stroking her fingers threw his hair and every touch made the boy jump. He was trembling and looked like he had been crying for a while like her wife. Garnet could see that he wanted to jump up and run to them but was too afraid to move.
"We stopped being your family when you tried to kill us all." Garnet said holding Pearl tighter to her side.
"Managed to take Greg out just fine."
"Your not allowed to be around us."
"Thats your fault."
"Your dangerous Rose."
"I. Am. Not. Dangerous!" Rose said with each word getting louder and louder. "Don't say that again!"
Her face had gone from calm to angry in an instant. It was the same face she made before she snapped all those years ago. Her hand had gone to stroking Steven's hair to gripping a handful and making the small boy whimper.
"I'm sorry." Garnet said raising her free hand to show no threat "I won't say it again."
"G-Good." Rose said with a shaky breath as she let go of her grip on Steven's hair "Good."
"Rose." Garnet said gently "Where are the other kids."
"Kids?" Rose look at Garnet funny.
"The girls." Garnet said trying not to point them out by name. "Two of the rooms up here are shared by our girls."
"You made another family?" Rose looked a bit confused and annoyed "You-You moved on without me?"
"Were foster parents." Garnet said taking a risk. She took a small step into the room, keeping Pearl to her side but angled so she was slightly behind her like a shield.
"Those brats are all fine." Rose said tisking and rolling her eyes. "My boys are watching them."
"Your not alone?" Garnet asked keeping the edge from her voice. She hated when anyone insulted her kids. Pearl and herself knew the four girls weren't there's but they already felt like they were. Any jab at them the couple tended to take personally.
"No! No. No. No. No." Rose said waving her free hand around. "Why would I come alone? You all would leave again if I did so I brought some friends with me so we could be a big happy family again!"
"That sounds very nice." Garnet said placating her as she caught the two figures from downstairs come up to the landing quietly. Garnet felt Pearl start to shake more as there bedroom door opened with a creak. Her wife's boney fingers gripped the edge of Garnet's shirt tighter (one hand considerably weaker) as she pressed herself more into her side.
"Isn't it though." Rose said with a dreamy look on her face as she went back to smiling and petty Steven's hair.
"Rose."
"Hm?"
"Can I check on the girls?" Garnet asked gently.
"Why? There being good little rejects and staying quiet in there rooms."
"I just want to make sure there ok." Garnet said carefully "All this mite be too exciting at once."
"Why?" Rose said getting annoyed "My guys are with them. There fine."
"True but." Garnet said taking another small step "Remember how Pearl would get upset when a lot things happened all at once too fast?"
"She cried a lot."
"Yup. The girls do the same thing."
"Yea, yea." Rose said waving her off "Go check on them then come right back."
As Garnet turned to leave the room Rose spoke up. "But Pearl has to go into the bathroom."
"Why?" Garnet said as Pearl whimpered against her side.
"She was too loud earlier with her screaming." Rose talked as if it was the most casual conversation "If she is quiet this time then my boys won't hurt her more."
Garnet had no words as Pearl slowly let go of her. She couldn't even turn to look at her wife as she tried to keep her breathing level. "I-I-It's ok Garnet. I'll be good this time. I promise."
"That's my little Pearl." Rose said with a smile "Go do as your told."
It took a lot for Garnet to keep still and not keep Pearl at her side. She couldn't stop herself from turning just enough to watch her wife go into the bathroom, three figures following close behind. She tried her best to tune out the whimpers she could hear but it was hard. Oh so hard.
"Hurry up Garnet." Rose said waving her off as the taller girl felt two figures walk up behind her "Hurry and check on those rejects so you can hurry and come back."
Garnet said nothing as she turned and walked back out of Steven's room. Every fiber of her being was telling her to just grab him and get him away from Rose. She had to fight everything inside her as she turned and went to Lapis and Peridot's room first. As she pushed the door open the sound of wheezing became more loud. She slowly flicked on the light to see Lapis and Peridot sitting on the floor with a figure leaning against there closet door. Garnet paid no mind to the figures behind her as she walked in slowly and walked over to the girls.
From behind her shades she took the girls in. Lapis had several belts and scarves wrapped tightly around her to keep her arms at her sides. She was gagged with a pair of socks and was sitting tied up to the bed post on the floor. She was breathing hard and looked a bit ruffed up. Her shirt was torn, she was missing a shoe, and her hair was in her eyes. Peridot had her hands bound in front of her with a belt but looked still put together. Her glasses missing and her wheezing were the only thing she could see that was wrong from here. Garnet knelt in front of them slowly.
"Are you both ok?" She asked softly as she reached up and brushed Lapis' hair from her eyes. "Did anyone hurt you?"
"T-They t-t-they." Peridot was struggling between wheezes and Garnet placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Where's your inhaler?" Garnet asked calmly. Lapis mumbled something as Garnet reached up to ungag her.
"Don't do that." One of the figures behind them snapped "She will start running her mouth again."
"No, She won't." Garnet said looking Lapis in the eyes "She's going to be good and tell me where her inhaler is."
"I said no."
"If she has an asthma attack then she will run her mouth and will never shut up." Garnet said looking over her shoulder. "Do you really want a child's death on your hands?"
She could see just how uncomfortable the guys got at the mention of death. They didn't say anything else and Garnet turned back to took the socks from Lapis' mouth. Before the blue haired girl could finish taking a breath Garnet gave her a pointed look as she put the socks aside. She could see the struggle in Lapis' face as she fought the urge to start yelling and freaking out. She had seen her melt down and loose her crap before. It was never pleasant and fun for no-one. She would have complete freak out episodes when she first got here but has gotten better with her issues.
It took a few shaky breaths and hard looks before Lapis was able to utter out just enough words to not loose her mind. "In her backpack. On the back of her chair."
Garnet nodded as she stood she felt Peridot grab her pant leg. "Its alright." She said gently reaching down and petting her head. "I'm just getting your inhaler ok? I'm not going far."
Lapis nudged Peridots foot and the blonde reluctantly let Garnet go. They watched as she turned to the guy closest to the desk. "Can I have her bag please? It has her inhaler in it."
Instead of the guy handing it to her he grabbed it and shook the bags contents out onto the floor. Books, notebooks, pencils, pens, and lots of other things poured out all over the floor in one big clutter. It made Garnet flinch as Peridot's laptop fell out and hit the floor rather hard. After all this she was certain she would have to get it fixed. After the guy was done Garnet pointed to what she needed "Its right there. Its blue, next to the eraser."
The guy just smiled and kicked it over to her. Garnet gave him no reaction as she bent down and picked it up. After looking it over and making sure he didn't break it, she turned and crouched down in front of the girls again. She gently took Peridot's hands and placed it in her palms. Her hands didn't leave the trembling girls. She helped her raise it to her mouth and use it, afraid that Peridot was too scared to do it right. The small blonde wasn't a fighter like her roommate. She would rather hide behind a computer screen and throw facts at you instead of raising a finger in harm. At first they didn't get along but soon they became very close. They managed to link in and work off each others strengths and weaknesses to balance out the other.
"Deep breath hun." Garnet said gently running her fingers threw Peridot's curly hair "Remember what I taught you. Deep breaths and calming thoughts. Just like the tide on the sand. In and out. In and out."
Garnet kept petting Peridot's hair with one hand while the other held her hands together calmly, giving reassuring pressure. Garnet did nothing more then twitch her fingers as a muffled whimper filled the hallway for a moment. She felt her breath pick up slightly before forcing her own calm breath into her body. Both girls were watching her closely and could see her trying not to vibrate with emotion. It took a few moments more but Garnet found her center. "In and out." She said softly.
After she was sure Peridot was ok she turned and brushed Lapis' hair out of her face and behind her ears. She knew the teen hated her hair tucked away but given the situation she figured she would want to see what's going on.
"I have to go check on Jasper and Amethyst." Garnet said running the back of her hands over there cheeks gently "Need you to be quiet and listen ok? Just do as they say and they won't hurt you."
"That's what they said to Pearl." Lapis grumbled "Then they hurt her anyway."
"She was screaming so loud." Peridot whimpered.
"Deep breaths." Garnet said "Keep the balance."
With that Garnet stood. She could see the fear in the girls eyes but there wasn't anything they could do. Garnet turned and slowly made her way out of the room and across the hall. Her wife's whimpers were much more noticeable out here but she tried her best to push it to the back of her mind as she pushed open the sisters door.
"G-Garnet." Amethyst whimpered as Garnet flicked on the light "S-She's not moving."
Garnet nearly clocked the two guys in front of her. Amethyst was sitting on the floor with Jasper's head in her lap. The older sister looked pretty beat down. She had dried blood on her head and her chest was moving ever so slightly. Her hands were bound by a bed sheet all the way up to her elbows. Her knuckles were a bit beat up and red. The younger one didn't have herself bound. Considering how hard she was clinging to her sister and her age they probably thought she was no threat to them all like Steven.
"What happened?" Garnet asked as she walked in and right over to the girls "What did you do to her?"
"She tried to play hero so she got beat down like one." A guy said as Garnet knelt "We didn't kill her."
Garnet said nothing as she reached out to Jasper. She brushed her hair from her face as she spoke to Amethyst. "Are you ok?"
"I-Is she going to die?" Amethyst whimpered to Garnet as she held her sisters head tight to her.
"No. Even if she was you guys didn't ask permission first so your not allowed." Garnet teased slightly trying to get the younger girl to smile. It worked a bit.
"Rules are rules." Amethyst said wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Rules are rules." Garnet repeated as Jasper stirred a bit.
Garnet placed a hand on Amethyst's shoulder before she could get loud. She had to stay quiet. They all did. Getting loud and panicking would lead to more then just her wife getting hurt. That alone had Garnet want to kick every ass in the house. Her kids getting hit too made her want to bury all them six feet under.
"Don't move." Garnet said touching Jasper's cheek for a moment before looking at the dry blood. "Just keep calm and tell me what happened."
"Had a half day today." Jasper mumbled "When we got home we saw the front door was ajar. Made the others stay behind me as we came into the house. Herd Pearl crying and guys laughing when we got to the kitchen. We made it to the guest room and saw... They were doing such horrible things to her that we didn't know there was more in the house. Caught us by surprise. Managed to get them off Pearl with how much of a racket we were making. Put a few holes in the wall though, sorry bout that."
"Walls are replicable." Garnet said moving the teens hair from her forehead "I'm happy your alright though."
"You are?" Both sister looked at Garnet with surprise written all over there faces. They had a rough foster life, that was made very clear when there case worker had called them. It was a rough start with them always picking fights with everyone but after there first few months here, they mellowed out quite a bit. They learned to tone down on the anger and outbursts to the point where they would walk off when they were upset or angry to work out there issues instead of trying to fist fight everyone. It took a lot of work and time but walking away seemed to help them more then they wanted to admit. Just Garnet showing them that she cared about there safety made them look at her funny.
"Your our girls." Garnet said "Why wouldn't I?"
They said nothing as Garnet helped Jasper sit up slowly. She had her lean against the bed before tilting her head down. She gently parted her hair as Amethyst shifted closer to her sister. Garnet watched Jasper's face as she found where the bleeding was coming from. She touched just off to the side of it and Jasper hissed a bit in pain. "Hurt?"
"Nothin bad." Jasper mumbled "I can take it."
"Not the point." Garnet said looking over her shoulder "Need the first aid kit from the closet."
One of the guys grumbled but opened it and looked for it half heartedly. After pointing it out to him he gracelessly tossed it at box hit the floor and slid to hit her foot, the lid breaking in the process. Both sisters grumbled as Garnet silently turned it around and opened it. She discarded the lid and went about pulling out some medical tape and disinfecting wipes. Being one of the top nurses under her mum Sapphire at the hospital they were always prepared.
"This is going to sting a bit." She said turning back and folding her legs under herself to sit on them "Try not to move." Placing the items she needed in her lap, it only took one touch from the wipe to have the older teen let out a curse. "Keep your voice down." Garnet said "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"Like there hurting Pearl?" Amethyst asked softly.
Garnet didn't answer. She focused on Jasper. She steadily took care of her cut on her head. The teen did her best to hold still but it didn't stop the little curses from leaving her lips. Garnet grimaced at the language but couldn't fault her. Everything was chaotic and the situation horrible. After she was done she discarded the trash in her lap. "Better?"
Jasper nodded and she turned to look at Amethyst. "Are you hurt too?"
"Few bruises but nothing I can't walk off." Amethyst mumbled
"I know you can." Garnet reached out and brushed there hair behind there ears so she could see there faces clearly. "I need to go check on Steven. Need you two to be good ok? Stay quiet. Do as they say and they won't hurt you."
Before Garnet could move Amethyst reached out and death gripped her hand. The girl was shaking but not as bad as Peridot had been. her hands were more steady but not by much.
"I can hear her." Amethyst said with tears "Threw the wall... She's crying so hard."
"It will all be alright." Garnet said threw a tight jaw "I won't let them hurt you any more."
They all heard another muffled whimper threw the wall and the girls both caught Garnet taking deep shaking breaths. She was trying to hold it together. She wanted to remain as calm as possible in front of them all but the was slowly cracking at the edges. She felt like she would shatter into a thousand peace's any moment but she couldn't. Not now.
Garnet gave them both soft smiles before getting to her feet. She tapped her lips for a moment in a silent reminder before leaving the room. She went back to Steven's door and stopped at the entrance again.
"You took to long." Rose pouted "And my little pet is too loud."
Garnet was nearly shaking where she stood. Pearl is being quiet! She was doing so well... Doing everything they asked of her, and more! She was doing what they wanted so they wouldn't turn and hurt the girls. How could Rose say she was being loud?! Garnets thoughts screamed in her head.
"She is being very good." Garnet countered as calmly as she could "Remember there is a lot of excitement with you being back. Can't fault her being too excited but you don't want to get her too wound up."
"True Garnet, true." Rose said smiling fondly "She's always been a lively one."
Garnet watched as Rose thought things over in her jumbled brain. It was becoming too much to just stand there while her wife was being hurt just behind a door. Her muffled cries were making it hard to breath. Hard to stand still. Every fiber in her was screaming to save her wife. To beat every person down in this house who harmed her family. To get everyone out of the house to safety. Garnet was trying to think of the best way to get into the bathroom when the door opened. Rose started to say something but Garnet wasn't listening. She turned on her heals and went inside the bathroom, knocking the men out of the way as she went.
Garnet nearly shouted. Pearl was sitting on the floor against the far wall. She had a towel wrapped around her shoulders. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she was in such a tight ball she looked like she was going to fold into herself. Garnet made her way to her wife quickly and knelt in front of her.
"Pearl." Garnet said gently. She moved as slowly as she could reaching out to her wife. Pearl jumped very badly as Garnet's fingers brushed her shoulder "Pearl, its ok."
Pearl lifted her head and just let out a sob. She flung her arms around her wife tightly. Her tears stained Garnet's shirt and her body shook against her own. Garnet wrapped her arms around her wife tightly. She pulled Pearl against herself a much as she could. She wanted to tell her everything was over. That everything was ok. That they were all safe. But she couldn't. They were all still in a lot of danger. As much as Garnet wanted to just sit there and hold her crumbling wife she knew she couldn't.
Garnet slowly pulled her wife's arms from around her neck. Pearl's slight whimper killed her inside.
"I need to look you over." Garnet said gently.
Pearl nodded but couldn't look her wife in the eyes. Garnet did a quick once over and she didn't like anything she saw. Her wife was littered with handprints that would bruise over for weeks. Hickeys littered her neck in ugly dark patches. Her chest was red from rough treatment and her legs were just shaking too hard for her to get a good look. Her hair was a mess and her breathing was very rough.
"Deep breaths hun." Garnet said gently as she took off her shirt. Pearl always swam in Garnet's scrubs but it was the cleanest thing she had to cover her. She helped slip it over her wife's head and did her best to get her broken arm threw the one sleeve. That break was turning her arm an ugly purple and black. Garnet was afraid they mite of nicked a main artery but she couldn't check now.
Garnet leaned back a bit and reached into the dirty hamper next to the sink. She grabbed the first pair of pants she could find, which happened to be a pair of Lapis' basketball shorts. Both Lapis and her wife had small frames so they should fit Pearl fine. Garnet gently helped her wife put the shorts on as Pearl herself tried not to flinch too hard from being sore. After she was covered Garnet rocked back on her heals and opened the cabinet under the sink. Being in the medical profession the house was already stocked with most medical supplies you could imagine. After becoming foster parents they had gotten much more things, including Plan-B. Not knowing there girls orientations and not wanting to put them in an awkward situation they had gotten several boxes of Plan-B and hinted to it being under the sink for them. To her surprise and joy the boxes were just as they left them, unopened and still in the same exact place.
Garnet opened the box and took her wife's hand. "Just as a precaution." She said gently as she grabbed a small plastic cup and filled it with water. Pearl didn't argue popping the pills in her mouth and taking the cup. Garnet simply ran her fingers threw Pearl's hair as her wife drank the water. She brushed her hair back and tried to get it just enough like how she would wear it normally to make her feel a little better. Pearl had started shaking less the more Garnet played with her hair.
"Do you think you can stand?" She asked Pearl gently as she took her broken arm and folded it across her stomach.
"Not sure." Pearl said leaning forward and putting her head on Garnet's shoulder. "Are the girls ok?"
"There shaken up but mostly unharmed, Jasper's bit proud with helping you earlier, though she's sorry about the holes in the wall." That made Pearl snort and Garnet smiled slightly "Lets get you up."
"And Steven-"
"Still in his room." Garnet said cutting her wife off and wrapping her arms around her waist. "Ready?"
With a nod Garnet got her legs under her. She slowly helped Pearl to her feet. It took a few tries and gasps before Pearl could fully stand up straight. Her wife's face was a mix between pain and a deep frown. She leaned heavily into her taller wife and groaned a bit.
"I feel disgusting…" Pearl murmured and Garnet placed a kiss on her head.
She said nothing as she turned them to the bathroom door and slowly made there way out into the hallway. As they stepped towards Steven's room Rose snapped at them to stop. The guys who had come with her were dragging the girls out into the hallway. Peridot and Amethyst didn't fight were Lapis and Jasper grumbled but followed where they were shoved.
"What are you doing?" Garnet asked.
"I've been thinking." Rose said standing at Steven's door, the young boy tight in her grip. "That these girls are just in the way." Garnet's stomach dropped. "They need to go."
"No." Garnet said with enough force that Rose looked at her in shock. "You will not lay a finger on my girls."
"Your girls?" Rose said "There not your family, I am."
"Your not my family." Garnet said moving Pearl behind her as she started to get closer to Rose
"No."
"You stopped being my family when you tried to kill us."
"Stop it!"
"I did what I had to, to keep my family safe from you."
"I'm not dangerous!"
"You being back doesn't change a thing! You hurt my wife! You hurt my kids! I won't let you take everything away from us!"
"No!" Rose shoved the closest guy to her aside and grabbed the gun in his hand. She pointed it straight at Garnet the same time she stood between the girls, her wife and Her. She noticed as Rose got more and more unstable the guys who came with her started to back up, every moment passing showed the guys slowly retreating down the stairs. They saw just how crazy she was becoming and decided they wanted out. "You took my family away from me! I see now Greg wasn't the problem, you were!" She let go of Steven and threw him behind her.
"Steven!" Pearl called out.
"Shut up you slut!" Rose waved the gun around "He is my son, not yours!"
"You leave my moms and sisters alone!" Steven yelled standing up and hitting Rose in the back.
As Rose turned to yell at him Garnet moved. She ran forward and grabbed Rose's wrist. She knocked the gun up into the air as she basically body slammed her into the ground. The gun fired and the kids screamed in surprise.
"Steven, run!" Garnet yelled reaching forward and grabbing him by the shirt, throwing him behind her.
"Mom!" Steven yelled.
Garnet herd her wife telling the girls to run. There was arguing and shouting as Garnet struggled with Rose. Her grip was steel on her gun hand while her free one struggled to keep Roses free hand from grabbing her around the throat. They both thrashed about in the doorway to Steven's room. One trying to keep the upper hand while the other tried to take it. Garnet's knees were digging into the carpet harshly but Rose managed to buck her hips just enough for her to lose her stance. Rose quickly threw Garnet off her, slamming her into the door frame at a bad angle, cracking her back uncomfortably, and making the darker girl cry out in pain. Rose rocked to a sitting position and went to punch Garnet in the jaw. Garnet ducked at the last moment and tried to get some distance between them but Rose grabbed a fist full of her hair. She yanked back but Garnet used that to throw her elbow back into Rose's face. There was a cracking sound and Rose cried out, letting go of Garnet and giving her the space to get away. Garnet stumbled to her feet and quickly turned around, arms raised to fight.
Rose was holding her face with one hand, blood dripping between her fingers and onto the ground while the other took aim at Garnet's head. There was nothing in Steven's room to defend herself with so she just tensed her muscles and braced for a bang and when it came she had only one thought.
Least my family is safe...
~Some time later...~
Garnet thought the white light at the end of the tunnel was a metaphor. She was proven right when heaviness and pain filled her being. A slight groan left her lips as she took a deep breath. Her chest hurt but she could feel her heart beating. Garnet slowly flexed her fingers before trying to open her eyes. The bright lights made Garnet's head swim as her hand clumsily raised to cover her eyes.
"Mom!"
"S-Steven?" Garnet mumbled. She didn't have to wait long for an answer. Steven had jumped up next to her and flung his arms around Garnet's neck. He started to sob into her shoulder while stuttering out words.
"W-We were so worried y-y-you wouldn't wake up a-a-and and a-and-" his words melted into a jumbled mess as more arms suddenly joined his tiny ones. Words of panic and happiness filled here ears and made her internally happy, externally groaning.
"G-Garnet?" Pearl's voice cut threw the tears in her ears "Kids, let her breath!"
"Were just happy she's ok!" Peridot said as Garnet's shades suddenly found there way onto her face so she could see.
"You all alright?" Garnet asked as she was finally able to open her eyes to see. Pearl was off to her left, her hand gently running across her cheek. Steven was sitting on the bed to Garnet's right with Peridot and Lapis leaning on the end of the bed. Jasper was sitting just on the other end with her sister in her lap.
"Were ok." Pearl said. "Are you alright?"
"What happened?" Garnet asked.
"It was so cool!" Amethyst said practically jumping out of her sister lap "After you tackled that psycho into Steven's room Pearl made us all run down stairs. She was getting us out the front door when Ruby and Sapphire got home!"
"Yea! She took one look at Pearl and drew her gun! She told me to find your special whistle!" Steven said cutting into the story "She told me to pull it when I found it and she ran past us into the house! I remembered that you kept it with your coat."
Garnet smiled. The special whistle was an alarm of sorts all EMT's had. When pulled it would alert everyone in the area that one of there own was in trouble. "That's a good boy." She said with a small smile while reaching up to take his hand gently "Than what happened."
"Sapphire took all of us across the street." Lapis said "We waited with Vidalia while Sapphire was on the phone calling for help."
"We got worried when we herd gun shots." Jasper said "That would be breaking the rules."
"Rules?"
"Didn't ask permission first." She smirked "So you weren't allowed to die."
"Didn't ask first." Garnet chuckled before coughing a bit. "I feel like crap."
"S-She shot you in the chest." Pearl said taking her other hand "If the bullet would of hit you an inch down..."
"Your all ok." Garnet said shrugging and then regretting it "That's what's important to me."
"You should of seen all the cops and ambulances that showed up!" Steven was practically jumping next to her as he continued to tell his story "They were armed and when Ruby came out of the house she paid no mind to Sargent Yellow as she started shouting out orders."
"Vidalia took them all into the back of her house after Ruby ran back inside." Pearl said "Your mum stayed with them as they took me out to get looked at. Though I insisted I ride in with you."
"You threatened to kick Bismuth's teeth in if she put you in another ambulance." Sapphire's voice said as she and Ruby came into the room.
"I was worried!" Pearl said turning a bit red and then redder as the kids snickered at her.
"Mama you always worry." Steven said smiling.
"Cuz she loves you all." Garnet said reaching up and ruffling her sons hair "Just as much as I do."
"We told you nothing would happen to you." Pearl said softly looking around at there kids "That we wouldn't let anything bad happen."
"We keep our promises." Garnet added.
"Just like I keep mine." Ruby said walking into the room with Sargent Yellow close behind. She was Steven's aunt by blood and the only other family from Steven's side who bothered to be in his life, aside from his aunt Blue. "There will be an investigation but the social worker won't take any of them."
"The fault was not on either of your shoulders so your deemed not the responsible party in this accident." Yellow said "The fault is with the facility that was keeping Rose."
"Where-"
"She is being held at the local prison in solitary." Yellow said cutting off Garnet's question "She's being closely watched and the paperwork is being pushed threw to have her moved several states over to a high security facility where she can't get out without my personal authorization."
"Thank you." Garnet mumbled as relief and fatigue washed over her "Long as we get to keep our girls and our kids are safe, My wife and I will forever be grateful."
Note: What do I do instead of working on my other unfinished fics? Write a dark one shot. I'm still working on themof course but its slow.
I've always wanted to write something on the darker side and this is just me working towards that. I love the dark horror aspect of writing and hope this kinda sorta did that with the themes I had going on through it.
Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you all!