A/N: I actually had this finished last night-but lo, the internet problems abound! I had never been to a cafe that didn't have wifi for patrons until today. -.-" Nevertheless, this is the first chapter where I feel like my grasp on Tourmaline, Citrine and Apatite has finally snapped into place. They're no longer as amorphous and interchangeable to me, somehow. I'm not sure if it's just because this character has finally started noticing aesthetic details, or if I as a writer needed to marinate on them for this long. Either way, I now have some retroactive editing to do XD
In other news, some amazing and incredible and talented folks made art for this story. If you're interested, here is a link to them on the blog I guess I now have (theladyforester. tumblr [DOTCOM] /search/%23united+I+stand+%23fanart). You're naturally going to have to delete the spaces and write in the [DOTCOM], but other than that you should be fine :) You also might notice the profuse amount of gushing that I do about the art there. I wanted to do more of it here, but it's occurred to me that these A/N's are slowly swelling in length and I need to stop that, so I'm just going to leave it as a truly heartfelt thank you to jen-iii, rhinocio, and spatialheather. They are all talented human beings that you should support in their various artistic endeavors.
The air in the recreation facility today is so thick and tense that you could have sliced it with a knife. It doesn't feel like it did after Rhodochrosite was crushed. This isn't sad—not really. It's grim, and it's scared, and it's buried under layer upon layer of façades. Gems are still conversing, training, and playing games as per usual, but it just feels uneasy.
Dread coils in Sapphire's abdomen like heavy cables. She can See nothing in the near future that deserves a reaction like this, but only one question keeps rolling through her mind.
"Have you heard anything new on our Supervisor friend?"
Citrine snorts, and it's almost a genuine laugh. "Which one? You have quite a few."
Sapphire presses her lips together, but she supposes Citrine makes a good point. She and Ruby have found ways to make the most abusive Supervisors' lives miserable over the years, either overtly or covertly, and let it never be said that gem grudges are like candles in the wind.
"Well," Apatite begins with flourish. "Calcite was telling me—"
"Well, that's your first problem, Apatite," says Tourmaline. She pops one curvy green hip out and props a hand on it, gesturing with the other. "You're listening to Calcite. Do you even comprehend the level of hype that gem feeds into her gossip? It's her hobby!"
"It's true, it is," Citrine has to admit.
"I'm surprised her hobbies aren't more destructive," says Ruby frankly. She doesn't even bother to check if the little white gem is near their little huddle at the wall opposite the exercise mat (she isn't, and in all honesty Sapphire probably would have interrupted if she were, to spare her feelings, but that isn't the point). "Doesn't Calcite just feel sort of off to any of you?"
"Eh, so she has macabre tastes. She's young yet; all young gems do it, and then they grow out of it."
"I think that's just you, Tourmaline," says Apatite.
"And you still haven't grown out of it," Sapphire adds.
"What do you even know, Sapphire?"
"I have ears. I can hear the ones who cheer the loudest whenever Ruby and I spar." They still do it on a semi-regular basis, though recently they've needed a lookout posted at the rec center door. While some training is permitted in Containment Units, brawling is not, and a sparring match can so easily be labeled as brawling and insubordination by a Supervisor looking to be a dagger in your side. In Sapphire and Ruby's case, an alleged fracas would be used as evidence that Ruby clearly can't control her ward. At best, they would be separated as Ruby is shuffled back onto the general roster and Sapphire is assigned a new handler. At worst, the rehabilitation experiment that Ruby still represents would be considered a failure, and the disappointment would have to be taken care of in the worst way.
With the exception of Plagioclase and some of the friends she's managed to make within the cohort, the other inmates don't seem to mind helping out. Ruby and Sapphire's sparring matches are lively entertainment, after all, some of the best in the Unit; they don't want it to go away.
As a whole, Tourmaline is not terribly perturbed about being called out. She tucks some of her streaked, chin-length hair behind her ear and retorts, "It's not like I want either of you to poof, okay? I just get caught up in the atmosphere!"
"I hear you too, Tourmaline," says Ruby. "You get disappointed when it's not dangerous enough."
"If you two can hear me so loud and clear, then you're obviously not giving the match your all. And you wonder why I complain."
Sapphire places a hand on Ruby's arm. As tempting as it is, there is no arguing with Tourmaline about this.
"Anyway, as I was saying." Apatite casts a pointed look to the green gem, but Tourmaline remains unfazed. "There doesn't seem to be any news of her return, which is fortunate. We aren't the only ones she bothered. After she stomped about broadcasting her dogma of oppressed inmates being the key to a well behaved and easily controlled Containment Unit, I guess some Supervisors decided to give it a try."
Ruby sucks in a breath, and Sapphire can feel in the tense muscles under her fingers how deeply Ruby deplores being cut off from the rest of the Unit 6 community for so much of each day. Sapphire squeezes her arm. I know.
"What happened?" asks Ruby.
"Well, it was a crackdown," says Citrine. She lets out a shaky breath and rakes her fingers through her bright orange pixie cut. "It could have been worse—we've seen worse before—but it could have gone a lot better, too."
Ruby's arm falls out from under Sapphire's hand as she looks around the rec center. She soundlessly mouth the names of the gems they've all known for decades and centuries as her eyes alight on each of them. She turns back to their friends with a frown.
"We're not missing anyone."
"We're not," says Apatite. "But the other cohorts are. The last count I heard was twenty-eight."
No wonder Citrine is so distraught. A compassionate being like her wasn't built to weather through the destruction of her fellow gems.
"There have been worse crackdowns?" asks Sapphire.
"Inmates call them cullings," says Tourmaline helpfully. "We think it happens every thousand years or so to help with population control."
Of course Tourmaline would be the one to bring that up.
Sapphire doesn't know why she's surprised. Containment Unit 6 may be a lax place, relatively speaking, but it's still a Containment Unit.
"This wasn't one of those, though," says Sapphire. "From what Apatite says, this was a direct response to the Supervising ruby. Were the other Supervisors trying to emulate her? Try on the doctrine for themselves? Were they so stressed by the fact that she was here that they took it out on the inmates?"
"If they were trying to decompress, they wouldn't have shattered anyone. The Supervisors here aren't like that; they enjoy the game," says Tourmaline.
"Please don't call it that, Tourmaline," Citrine hisses as an intimate and pained look crosses her face. She is obviously remembering the last time a pair of Supervisors got her alone.
Tourmaline notices that, and winces. "Right. Sorry, Citrine. Honest."
Ruby's fists are clenched at her sides. Sapphire can hear her grinding her teeth from here. Her eyes are hard as she looks to Apatite, "Is the worst over?"
Apatite takes a breath as if suddenly overwhelmed by the gravity of the discussion. "It seems to be."
"Why wasn't our cohort affected?" asks Sapphire. "Or were others also spared?"
"The damaged seemed to vary largely depending upon the personality of the Supervisors that have primary charge over the cohort. Certain personalities seemed more willing to try the other ruby's doctrine than others," explains Apatite. "The reason ours wasn't tormented at all…" Apatite shrugs, pushes some of her long, dark blue hair over one shoulder, and gestures somewhat helplessly. "Well, it's probably because of you and Ruby. You've avenged enough bullied gems here that our Supervisors know it's better to live and let live."
"Which may not necessarily be a good thing, because if anything were to happen to you two…"
"Tourmaline, really?" says Citrine, her voice pitched high with incredulity and disapproval.
Sapphire blinks. Beside her, Ruby's fists loosen.
"You mean to tell me that you've never wondered how things might change around here without them?" Tourmaline glances at Ruby and Sapphire, and finally seems to notice their expressions. "Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the way you give the Supervisors a piece of their own medicine—but no one else here has your abilities. I'm not just talking about the elements, either, it's your teamwork. Nobody else here can match that! With standards set so high, the Supervisors will just laugh at whoever tries to fill your shoes."
"Tourmaline, what are you talking about?" asks Ruby. Her tone is sharp and hot like a fire poker. "Where would we go?"
This makes Tourmaline stop. Her pink eyes widen in her green face, and her mouth works soundlessly for a couple of seconds. She takes a small step back. "I-I just—"
"No, you're right," says Sapphire. She moves forward and rests her hand on Ruby's shoulder. The red gem pauses and relaxes slightly under her pressure, but Sapphire can feel her gaze acutely, wondering where this conversation has just turned. "I understand your concern, Tourmaline. We can't rely exclusively on the assumption that Ruby and I will always be here. This cohort needs a contingency plan, especially when we can all agree that Supervisors like Morganite and Kunzite are simply waiting for the right moment to strike. We coexist with them now, more or less, but it all hinges on the belief that Ruby and I will reap havoc on anyone who challenges that peace."
Citrine makes a noise in her throat that is either from fear or skepticism. Right now, the two feel closer than they should. "Sapphire, what do you think is going to happen?"
"In the foreseeable future, nothing Ruby and I can't handle," says Sapphire. She squeezes Ruby's shoulder once before letting her hand fall. I need to talk to you about this when we're alone. "But my Sight is finite, and it's always better to have a contingency plan and not need it than to need one and not have it."
"That's true…" Citrine trails off.
"That's what I've been trying to say this entire time!" cries Tourmaline, throwing up her arms. She's a little exasperated—but she's also visibly relieved that Ruby isn't looking at her like that anymore. Sapphire privately takes note of the reaction and files it away.
"A contingency plan seems a little paranoid to me, since you're both trapped here just as much as we are," says Apatite. "But having one certainly can't hurt. Did you have something in mind, Sapphire?"
"Nothing specific. I had hoped this was something we could all plan out together. As a cohort, even."
True to form, at this invitation Apatite perks right up. Networking and storing information about other gems is one of her specialties, after all. "Oh, and I know just the gems to start with!"