Chapter Text
Up In Flames
The first thing Pearl registered was heat and pain.
Pain like bolts of electricity shooting down from every nerve in her body. Her flesh warm as if she were standing next to the basement incinerator. Pearl opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the Diamond room, covered with smoke, glowing with red, and speckled with stars from her own faulty vision. Pearl sat upwards, gasping for air; smoke filled her lungs instead.
"My Diamond?" A croak, barely audible over the roaring flames. Pearl forced herself to stand on her quaking legs, glancing around the burning room. One part of her searched for her master, Pink Diamond, the other searched for an exit,
"My Diamond?" Pearl repeated. No response. Panic set in; Pearl looked around again, this time for an exit. Flames blocked every door and covered every wall, and were beginning to make their way towards her spot in the middle of the room. Doomed to die, tears fill Pearl’s eyes. Escape was fruitless. Her legs shook, knees knocking together. They threatened to give out from under her as she watched the flames crawl along the floorboards towards her feet.
She doesn't want to die.
A bout of something overcomes her. Pearl whirled around, facing the door of the entrance to the Diamond Room. Her eyes draw towards the viewing glass beside it. Her feet move before she can process her actions, and she barrels towards the glass, running through high red flames and curtains of thick smoke. Using her momentum, Pearl launched herself forward, arms covering her face as she collides with the glass. It gives way to her weight. Shards fly through the hot, smoky air, slicing through her Diamond-issued jacket and her skin. She hits the wooden floor, hot from the flames, and gasps for air barely provided in the hallway. Her head swims as she rolls over onto her stomach, yelping as the glass on the floor slices in effortlessly and pricks the flesh of her stomach. Damaged hands pressed down on the wood, pushing her weight up and leaving bloody handprints on the charred wood.
Reeling from the lack of oxygen and the pain of her sliced skin, she presses on with an arm wrapped around her stomach and a hand covering her mouth and nose. She turned on her feet and started down the side of the hallway with the least amount of fire. Pearl’s lungs seized as smoke enters them despite the barrier her hand provided, throwing her into a coughing fit as she ran. Her eyes burned from the heat and turned red from the smoke. Doors and walls blur into a single shape as she rushes down the hallways. She needed to get to the stairwell. Her ears pick up the sound of screaming and gunshots, seemingly coming from below.
'What in the world is going on?!' Her mind shouts at her. She shoulders open the exit door, right as a bullet whizzes past her ear and hits the wall in front of her. A frightened scream escapes from pink lips as she slammed the door shut and rushed down the stairs. Step by step she goes down, away from the larger extent of the flames. A flash of green and grey catches her eyes.
Standing by the stairs was a man; he appeared to be guarding the entrance. He wore makeshift metal armor and a gas mask; typical outsider garb. Adrenaline in full effect, Pearl doesn't stop to contemplate a plan as she runs down the stairs. The raider turns to look at her, rifle raised. She grabs ahold of the railing, using momentum to swing herself around the corner. Her legs hit him in the chest and he stumbles back into the railing, a few stray bullets firing from his rifle; a bullet grazes her cheek. The railing gives under his weight, and he loses his balance and falls, his terrified, muffled scream vibrating through the air before being silenced by a loud crack!
A part of her felt guilty, but she reasoned with herself that it was necessary, and that he would've most definitely killed her had she hesitated. It didn't stop her from feeling awful as she passed his twitching body, neck broken from the fall. Climbing down the last set of stairs, Pearl’s shoulder hits the second floor door, opening it. More twisting and turning hallways pass Pearl in blurred shapes. The only thing sticking out from the endless rusted brown and orange smear were the corpses, both gem class and raider, lining the floors. One charred corpse stood out to her, and she felt fresh tears come on as she recognized the face of Pearl #03.
Voices drift down the hall, and she halts. Panicked, she jumps behind an overturned table littered with bullet holes.
"Everyone is dead on this floor! We need to get out before the building collapses!" The first voice said to his partner. His partner’s answer was quick and snappish.
"We need to be thorough! Boss said no survivors, and Pink Diamond hasn't shown up yet." Pearl's breathing increased as the voice became louder. The raiders drew closer to her hiding spot.
'Why do they want my diamond?" She thought to herself as she searched for her escape. She caught sight of a loose beam on the ceiling, only a few red-hot metal rods holding it up. Eyes narrowed in determination, Pearl reached for a block of wood near her side. Hand gripping the wood in a white-knuckled grip, she waited until the raiders were only a few feet away from her. Their shadows stretched out in front of her; Pearl chucked the wood to a window, breaking it.
"What the hell?!" They drew closer, and it was then that Pearl realized her plan operated on sheer luck. The building creaked, dust and wood chips falling from the rafters. She could barely react before the large flaming beam detached from the ceiling, falling and landing on the raiders. Pained screams filled the air as the flames licked at their skin, burning away the leather and heating up their metal armor to the point where their skin melted into it. Pearl stood from her hiding spot and started down the hallways once more, once again telling herself that it was either them or her.
Lead settled in her stomach as she approached the next stairwell exit. The gunshots were louder than before. Pearl wondered if they are facing what remained of the quartz guards. Haziness begun to set in, and Pearl realized how little air she had been taking in. She inhaled the smoke-filled air for what little oxygen it provided, moving down the stairwell. The door to the first floor was ajar. From what she could hear, the gunfight was taking place in the next room.
Quartz soldiers surrounded the door, their backs to Pearl, exchanging fire with raiders on the other side of the canteen. She doesn't think twice as she rushes to a quartz’s side, hiding along with them behind a table.
"Shit, you survived that explosion?" the quartz’s voice rose as loud as it could over the cracking gunshots and roaring flames. Pearl nodded. The quartz leaned away from the debris and fired off her hand gun a few times, hitting one raider in the arm. "We need to get you out of here. Follow me." Reloading her handgun, the quartz turned to her fellow soldiers.
"Cover me! I'm taking 34 to safety." The quartz begins to move, and Pearl follows her. They ran out into the chaos, the quartz emptying her mag into the group while shouting back at Pearl to run in a zig-zag. Pearl ducked her head down as bullets flew past her. Two bullets sent two raiders to the floor, leaving an opening in their blockade. The quartz wasted no time dragging Pearl towards it. They exited the open room into another tight, scalding hallway.
A bullet grazes the skin of Pearl’s shoulder; the twinge of pain barely noticeable with the adrenaline pumping in her blood. More dead bodies lie on the ground as the quartz rushes her down to the end of the hallway, the sound of gunshots fading. She stopped at the corner and glanced around it.
"There’s more of them." The quartz mutters to herself. She leans back behind the wall, hand pressing Pearl away. Her other hand reaches to her belt, pulling a grenade free from it. "Keep away from the wall." She pulled the pin and threw the frag.
Seconds passed. Nothing. Then a cloud of grey smoke, a quake, and a shower of blood and limbs flying in different directions. The quartz grabs Pearl by her arm and pulled her around the corner. Pearl's foot hit something hard on the ground; a leg. A scream that turned into a dry heave ripped from her lips. The large soldier dragged her in front of a door. Large hands pulled on the handles and threw it open.
BLAM!
The quartz staggered back, chest filled with holes from the assailant’s shotgun. She crumpled to the floor, and Pearl faced her attacker with terrified eyes.
"Well, hello beautiful!" A soft purr combatted Pearl’s horrified scream. Bright blue eyes examined every inch of Pearl's body as the raider took a heavy step forward, the wood creaking beneath her metal boot. She clicked her tongue, and cocked the shotgun “Tis’ a shame the pretty one has to die." Pearl couldn't move, only watching as the raider took aim at the center of her chest.
A loud bang.
A bullet rips from the skin between the raider’s eyes, sending out a spurt of blood that landed on Pearl’s chest and face. She fell down to the floor in front of Pearl. Yelping and taking a step back, Pearl looked up at her savior. Behind the doorway stood Pink diamond, dressed in pristine pink tactical gear. Holstering her pistol, she regarded Pearl with an impassive expression.
”34, I see you’ve escaped. Come here.” Monotonous. As if everything was a simple inconvenience rather than a disaster. Compared to her Diamond, Pearl felt silly for her panic. She moved toward the tall woman, standing by her side as if she were accompanying her to a meeting, rather than escaping a burning hospital. Pink Diamond turned and started a calm stride out of the building, leading Pearl past the reception. She kept her eyes down to the floor, examining the dead raiders upon it, all executed with a perfect shot to the forehead. Pink Diamond gripped the rusted handle of the entrance door and turned it. A gust of hot wind and fresh air hit Pearl.
Pearl took in a deep breath that ended in a loud cough as they exited the burning building. Pink Diamond walked ahead, but Pearl’s legs shook so badly she fell to her knees. Pink Diamond stopped, not bothering to look back at her. Pearl gagged as her stomach flipped.
“Knock it off and come over here.” Pink Diamond finally said. Pearl glanced up to her with eyes brimming with tears. She forced herself to stand and her diamond began working forward again without sparing a second glance back at her. She wobbled after her. In the foggy distance were a dozen other gems standing in a tight circle. Pearl looked back to her diamond.
'How could she be so calm?' Her face betrayed nothing to Pearl. Her mind lapsed into another thought; the high of her adrenaline coming down. It brought in its wake pain and dizziness. She almost fell forward again as her diamond stopped to look over the group. She shot her a subtle glance.
"Stay with the group." An order. She looks over to a jade class. "Make sure she lives." Pearl fell to her knees as Pink Diamond began a calm stride back toward the hospital. The jade hurries over to Pearl’s spot on the ground, and she is quick to strip Pearl of her jacket.
"The back of your forearms are all tore up." Pearl wanted to snap at her for stating the obvious, but thought better of it. The jade turns to the group. "Hey, give me your sleeves." They oblige, grabbing ahold of their burned and tattered sleeves caked with blood and ash and tearing them from the seam. Pearl mused over how such good tailorship was ruined.
The jade tied the sleeves over Pearl's sliced and bleeding forearms. She pressed her hands onto the shoulder with a bullet in it, adding pressure. Pearl's head felt foggy, and her hearing and vision began to fail her as the jade spoke.
"Badly burned—bullet-- shoulder is -- blood loss." The jade splits into two images, and Pearl's head felt as if it were filled with lead.
"Hey don't---sleep! ---Concussed--." Pearl tries to obey. Her eyes roll back into her head, her condition catching up with her in the wake of her adrenaline.
"Don't--" She blacked out.
It was only a minute later when Pearl awoken, lying down on hot, crumbled pavement and staring up at a pitch black sky. Where is she? Her head rolls from one side to another as she observes her surroundings; she's in the lot. Her stomach twisted, and she quickly rolled over onto her palms and vomited out whatever of her dinner she hadn’t digested.
"Hey!" Pearl looks up, seeing the concerned face of the jade staring down at her. "Do you know where you are?" Pearl doesn't answer, wide eyes staring straight through her. She feels lightheaded.
"What year is it?" Simple question. Pearl answers without issue.
"2210." The jade nods, satisfied with her answer.
"What is your full I.D designation?" The next question wasn’t so clear. Pearl had to think for a moment.
"2210." A repeat of her last answer. The jade looked disappointed. A frown pulls on the jade’s lips as her she turns to the other gems standing by.
"Keep an eye on her; I'm going to get bio foam from the reserves." The jade rises from the ground and leaves Pearl's sight, off to find the named reserves. She attempts to focus her eyes, but her vision begins to fail again. She wanted to go to sleep. She fell over away from the puddle of regurgitation.
"Stay awake." One gem said, shaking her shoulder. Pearl grunted and swiped at the hand. The hand smacked her in return; her cheek stung from the hit, and more so from the graze being irritated. It began to bleed again.
"Open your eyes!" Had they closed? It was hard for her to acknowledge what was happening; everything seemed so muddled now. Another slap to her face jolted her from rest.
"Why do we care if the pearl dies?" One gem said to the other. Pearl felt angry; conditioning that told her to ignore such comments failing to suppress the emotion. She heard heavy footsteps behind her, and craned her neck to get a view of the person. Pink Diamond returned, once pristine body armor smeared with blood and char marks.
"Report." It didn't matter that she couldn't keep her eyes open; Pearl still served her duty to her diamond.
"12 and… uh… 12." Pearl replied. Her diamond sighed, turning away to look at something else out of her cone of vision.
"Where is the jade?" She asks another gem class.
"Who, me?” Pink Diamond shot a glare at the oblivious gem. “Uh, I think she left about 10 minutes ago to get bio foam from the reserves." Her diamond hummed.
"I have dealt with the remaining nuisances. The third floor collapsed while I was in there. The Hospital is done for." The gems had no time to reply as the jade came scurrying back towards the group. There was a metal canister under her arm, as well as a bottle.
"My Diamond, I had to borrow from the reserves." The jade says, giving a quick salute to Pink Diamond. She nods.
"You three." She points to three quartz classes. "Go to the reserves and bring its supplies back here." The trio nods, hurrying off and leaving Pearl’s line of vision.
The jade twisted open the canister, kneeling in front of Pearl and setting the cap down to the side. She scoops green sludge out of the can.
"Take off the bandaging and sit up." Pearl forces her arms to push herself off the ground. Leaning forward, she gingerly unwrapped the makeshift bandaging. The jade takes one of Pearl's hands and pulls them towards her, stretching out her arms. She slaps her hand down on the open wounds, coating them with the cold substance. Pearl shuddered as the jade smeared foam upwards to her shoulder, and then on the many burn marks. The wounds sealed over with a green artificial skin, the healing process beginning.
"Take these." The jade hands her two capsules. "It'll combat radiation from the foam." Pearl nods and pops the pills in her mouth, swallowing them with considerable effort. The jade pushes a bottle of water towards her.
"Stay hydrated." The jade stands and takes her leave, heading back to the group of gems. Pearl turns her gaze back to Pink Diamond.
"My diamond... what happened?"
She doesn't look at her as she replies.
"So, they finally sought to get rid of me. Shame."
"My diamond, if I may ask: What do you mean?" Pearl asks. Pink Diamond shakes her head.
"Stay put, I need to make a few calls." She strides off away from the group, crossing the lot and to a makeshift shed near the sand and dead grass. At that moment, the quartzes returned with armfuls of supplies. They set the supplies down, pulling tents from the pile. One quartz began setting up the pegs into the larger cracks and holes in the pavement. The other two began to untie the tents.
Her conditioning tells her to assist. Pearl begins to stand up, head reeling from the sudden movements.
"Sit your ass back down!" The jade snaps at her. Pearl plops back down on the ground, squeezing her eyes shut as the environment spins before her. She opens her eyes again to look down at her bio foamed wrists, thin green skin coated over her already-healed wounds. Pearl sighs as she digs her nails under the artificial skin, peeling it away.
'Why would raiders try to attack us?' Pearl muses to herself. She remembers being in the diamond room, and she remembers the quartz’s words. She survived an explosion-- that explains the aching all over her body, and the bout of unconsciousness she woke up from.
"Who in the world would try to attack my diamond?" The idea was unfathomable. Pearl falls back down onto the pavement, light blue eyes filled with unshed tears staring up into the dark sky. The sky rumbles in response. Soot-colored rain falls from the black clouds above, landing on Pearl and the ground below.
Two weeks passed. Two weeks of uncertainty as what remained of Pink Diamond's regime tried to stay alive. Inside a rather large tent stood Pink Diamond and Pearl, the latter by her side as the former talked into a radio. The radio clicked, fading into white noise until Pink Diamond twisted the dial, turning it off. She turned to the thin woman, diamond-shaped pupils boring straight into her.
"Call everyone to gather." Pink Diamond ordered her pearl. She nodded and turned, walking past the various tables and crates filled with supplies to the tents flaps.
She steps outside into the blazing mid-afternoon sun, facing the center of their makeshift camp.
"Everyone gather! Pink Diamond has an announcement." Pearl's voice was loud and clear. Gem classes exit their tents and shuffle over to the center, faces grim. Pearl stood aside, waiting for her diamond to make her appearance. It was only a few minutes later when the flaps of the tent opened and Pink Diamond stepped outside. She examined the group, eyes moving towards Pearl before snapping back to the group. She stands a bit straighter, an imposing figure amongst the group of intimidated gems.
"I have contacted White Diamond." Pink Diamond starts. "She has prepared a temporary base for us while we recuperate from our lost numbers. Our checkpoint is the Greenzone, outside of Empire City. After we reach the checkpoint, we'll go the rest of the way by automobile." A light chattering starts at the mention of automobiles, an old world technology not yet observed by Pink Diamond's regime.
"We'll not be traveling in a group; too dangerous. I'll send you out in pairs over the course of 6 weeks; I’ll be the last to go out." Pink Diamond says. Pearl purses her lips at the last sentence.
"My Diamond, what about-?" Pink Diamond shoots her a glare for speaking out of turn, shutting her up. Despite her annoyance, a small smirk pulls at the corner of her lips.
"You will be escorted on your own, 34." Pink Diamond said. She faces the group again. "Hired escorts will arrive in about a week’s time. Be prepared for your turn. Dismissed." The gems slowly began to scatter, and Pink Diamond turns away from them, facing her tent. Pearl moves to follow her.
"Stay outside, 34. I want to be alone." She nods and moves aside as the tent flaps close after her diamond. Standing rigidly, she watches as the other gems move back into their tents. A few sit themselves at the tables, taking inventory of the supplies atop them.
'Escorted on my own?! Why shouldn't I accompany MY Diamond?" Pearl's face morphs into a scowl as she thinks to herself. Her fingers twitch slightly before they clasp together in front of her.
'At least I'll get to see the wasteland.' A part of her is excited for the journey; another part says that her excitement was flawed. A Diamond and her dominion were not built for the outside. Pearl feels angry at herself for even thinking that way.
'Looks like someone will need to be reconditioned." Her inner voice mocked the words of her Diamond and her superiors. Her conditioning had been failing her ever since the hospital burned down. Pearl wonders if she should mention it to her diamond. She reasons with herself that Pink Diamond already has enough to worry about. Not like she was trying to save her own skin or anything.
Bang!
Pearl starts. Hot, gusty wind became flames licking at her skin, and the sight of the parking lot became visions of endless burning hallways. The vision flickers away as soon as it came, and she was instead facing an embarrassed quartz apologizing to others. Pearl’s erratic heartbeat began to slow, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't at the hospital.
She spares a glance back at it, burned and crumbled to the ground. A frown appears on thin, chapped lips at the memories that resurface from the sorrowful sight. Tears fill her eyes as she recalls the body of Pearl #03, the pearl she would share books she had stolen from the upper caste library with.
"I miss home."
Garnet raised a shot glass to her lips, taking a shot of whiskey that burned her throat as it slid down. Setting the glass back down on the scratched wooden counter, she let out a small sigh as she rubbed her eyes. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a woman taking a seat beside her. She regarded the woman with a side glance; the sight of her pink-hair made her blue and brown eyes widen.
"Now, you are just the person I'm looking for." The woman purrs. Garnet turned her head towards her.
"Huh." There was no disbelief in Garnet's tone, only boredom, as if she had heard the line a thousand times before. The pink-haired woman smiled.
"Oh yes. So many viable men and woman in this bar, but you- you caught my eye. Strong, beautiful, and you look like you can handle your own. My type of woman" Was she flirting? A soft chuckle spills from Garnet's thick lips.
"Not looking for personality, huh?” Garnet said. The woman laughs.
"Oh, I'm sure you’re a lovely person, but that's not what I'm looking for." Her vibrant green eyes become half lidded as she snakes her arm over to Garnet's bicep. Garnet's eyes drag down over the woman's body, examining her. They move from her head to her legs and back up, lingering on her breasts longer than they should have. She made eye contact with the woman again.
"Well, you might be my type of woman as well.” Garnet shot her a smirk.
“Not for personality either, huh?” The woman jokes and grins, turning her attention to the bartender, a mustached man with a brown business suit and an eyepatch. She waves him over.
"Hey Bartender!”
“Sam.”
“Whatever. How much is her tab?" She gestures to Garnet as she speaks. Sam frowns as he turns his attention back to scrubbing a glass in his hand.
"57." Sam answers.
"57?! That better not all be from today; I don't want to feed any habits." She sputters. She pulls out a metal box from a pocket in her leather jacket, pulling out a few playing cards from it. Garnet notices the letters ‘EC’ scrawled on the back of the cards, and raises an eyebrow. The woman hands Sam the currency.
"A water, too." Sam nods, opening a register near him and sticking the cards inside. He turns away from the two women. The woman faces Garnet again.
"I'm S, by the way." S waved her hand about as she talked. "I also love a woman that can handle her drink." Garnet smirks as she fiddles with her shot glass.
"Thanks for paying my tab. How ‘bout I get us a room?" Garnet offered, turning to face S. She let out a small laugh.
"Oh, believe me, I would love to. Unfortunately, I'm here for business, not pleasure." S said. Garnet frowned, disappointed, but urged her to go on with a gesture of her hand.
“I’ve heard about you from some... credible sources. Your success rate is something admirable." S starts, a sly grin spreading across her tanned features. “Let’s talk about that job you did for ol' Kofi last week. You know, clearing out that bandit camp that had been robbing his suppliers. Here's an interesting tidbit I heard; all them killed with a bullet to the head." She leans back on her elbow on the bar counter, taking the water that had been set down by Sam moments ago and taking a sip.
"Only two types of people perform headshots: those who have skill to show off, and those who don't want their victims to suffer. I hope it’s the former; my client is looking for skill." S finished. Garnet hummed, sitting up a bit straighter from her previously slouched position.
"So, are you gonna list all my accomplishments or are you gonna get to the point?” Garnet urged. S let out a little laugh.
"Impatient." She joked. “I admire how well you can rid the wasteland of scum, but the job I need you for is different." S set her water down.
"You'll be escorting a medium-high priority target from point A to point B; Beach city, Delmarva to Greenzone, outside Empire city." S explains. Garnet's face falls.
"Empire City? Your offer better be worth it." Garnet said. S frowns a bit, before continuing.
"It's a lot of money, I can assure you."
"Well, what is it?" Garnet said.
"200." Garnet barked out a laugh, bringing the filled shot glass to her lips. "Upfront." The laughter stopped.
"I'll pay you when you arrive at Beach city, a compensation for the supplies you'll need. After you deliver the target to Greenzone, I'll be there to give you the rest." S said. Garnet downs the glass. She sets it on the counter.
"How much on completion?"
"500." S said with a smirk. Garnet let out a full throated laugh, hitting the counter with her fist and startling a patron near her.
"You're joking?" Garnet said. An annoyed look crossed S's face.
"No, I'm not." S said. Garnet shakes her head.
"No deal. Stop wastin’ my time." Garnet dismisses the woman with a wave of her hand, turning her attention back toward the bar. She returned to her slouched position
"Then what's your counter offer? I'm willing to haggle." S crosses her arms.
"400 upfront. 900 on completion."
"1300?! Th-that's almost double!" S sputtered. Garnet sits back up.
"Will you provide supplies at the pick-up zone?" Garnet shot her a look. S frowns.
"No."
"Then 400 to compensate for what I have to buy for the trip. 900 for the long distance, havin’ to pass through Empire City, to replace whatever comes out of pocket once the 400 runs out, and because I'm the best." She said the last part with a smile on her lips. S frowns as the darker woman twisted her words against her. Letting out a heavy breath through her nose; she gives Garnet a forced smile.
"Alright... alright" She begins to laugh, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Okay, it's a deal." She holds out her hand to Garnet. She shook it firmly.
"So, am I still your type?" Her voice was low, a flirtatious smile appearing on her lips. S let out a laugh, standing up from the barstool.
"You were before you put me out 1300 cards. Be at Beach City in 5 weeks." S turns away from the darker woman, striding away from the bar and to the rusted metal door. Garnet watches after her. It clanks as it shuts. She hears footsteps behind her.
"You trust her?" Garnet turns to face Sam, frowning.
"Not one bit. Money is money though and my parents need it." Garnet answers. Sam moves to fill up her shot glass with the bottle in his hands; Garnet raises her hand, stopping him.
"Jus' a water." Sam nods.
"She looks like one of those Diamond-types. Maybe even a contracted killer straight from that hell forsaken city."
“She is. Check the cards; ‘EC’” Garnet said. Sam’s eye widened.
“You’re still taking it?” He asked.
“Like I said, money is money. I’ll keep an eye out when I go to pick up this 'target'" Garnet said. Sam nods.
"I'll let you know if anyone follows you out, or if that broad returns." Sam said.
"Thank you, Sam." Garnet offered him a smile. Sam waved her off, turning away to fetch her drink. Garnet ran her hand through her afro, sighing. Her other hand toyed with the empty shot glass.
"Empire city," Garnet let out a whistle. "Should've asked for more."