Chapter Text
Steven had always had extremely lucid dreams, so waking up in his childhood home wasn't actual that much of a shock to his system. It was almost nostalgic — a welcome contrast to some of the other dreams he'd had set in this place. He sat up in his bed overlooking the living room, kitchen, and the Temple. When he stretched the sleep from his arms, he noticed they were shorter. Okay, he was in his Classic Steven body. Again, not a new or surprising development.
Mid-morning sun reflected off of the warp pad and the crystals embedded in the Temple walls, making everything sparkle like a disco ball. The door to the Temple had the right number of gems, all in the right color. All of the clocks he could see from his bed seemed to have coherent, matching times. His brain was really putting in the work.
He flung off his blanket and stood up on the solid ground, his bare feet meeting finished wood. "Banana pajamas." He commented as he took in his current clothes situation. He paused at the sound of his voice. It was definitely coming from him, but it was an octave too high. Had he really used to sound like that?
He shrugged it off. Dream logic. Not much he could do about that. Intending to see what else this mixed up movie had in store, Steven jumped from his loft. He expected to float down, but gravity had other plans. He immediately ate it, the firm sofa the only thing breaking his fall.
"Not one of your best, Universe…" He grumbled, peeling himself up from the fabric. He wasn't convinced he could break a bone, but his arm was definitely sore. That was less sound dream logic.
Pain meant this wasn't a dream, right? Maybe, but he could have also just laid on his arm wrong. He bit his hand, attempting to kill two birds with one stone. It hurt. Obviously.
"Wait, the room didn't make me. I'm made of flesh, not clouds!" He exclaimed, flopping down on the sofa. He rubbed his throat mournfully. "I can make do with no powers, but no testosterone, either? What kind of cruel torture is this?"
His lamenting was interrupted by the sound of the Temple door opening. Steven looked over to see Pearl emerge, holding a sword of some kind.
"Oh, good morning, Steven," She said in slight surprise. "Usually you're out of the house by now."
"Why do you look like that?" He asked bluntly after looking her up and down a couple of times.
Pearl put a hand on her hip over the translucent skirt she hadn't sported in years. "Steven, I've looked like this your entire life."
Steven narrowed his eyes at that. "I'm… gonna go into town." Stars, why did he sound like that?
"In your pajamas?"
"I'm gonna go get dressed and then go into town." He amended, making his way upstairs while Pearl continued milling about.
While he was digging in his drawers for a shirt and some jeans, he counted his fingers. Ten total, five on each hand. He was running out of reality tests. Going into town would be a big one. If this was in his mom's room, like he was starting to suspect, everything would be weird. He took his wad of clothes into the bathroom and tried very hard not to look in the mirror as he got ready.
Steven knew that eating something would disrupt whatever was going on. He didn't want to go too far into town, lest he cause the room to go into overload, but he wasn't getting anywhere at home. Honestly, it was weird seeing Pearl in her old form, and he didn't want to think about it. He knew this was a symptom of his avoidant tendencies, but he was ignoring that, too. He drummed his fingers against his hip as he made his way down the steps onto the beach and towards the boardwalk.
He wasn't sure what he expected to find at the Big Donut, but it certainly wasn't Sadie hunched over the counter and Lars pretending to mop something up by the soda dispenser. Admittedly, yeah, that should have been exactly what he expected. Seeing Lars alive, though, hit him like a truck. He wasn't entirely sure how to process it. The pair of them working the shop was so familiar, but it clawed at Steven's chest painfully.
"You okay, Steven?" Sadie asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Huh?" Steven answered intelligently.
"He's probably just all emo about the Cookie Cat news." Lars shot over his shoulder with a rude smirk.
Steven furrowed his brow. "Cookie Cats? What about them?"
Sadie winced. "They got discontinued a while ago. We just ran out," she explained and shot a glare at Lars. "Sorry you had to find out from him."
Steven was totally confused. He turned around to see the Cookie Cat freezer still sitting in its spot it hadn't occupied for at least five years. His twelve year old face stared back at him, reflecting off of the glass peering into the empty shelves.
"No, no, nonono," he took a shaky step away from the freezer, stopping just short of running into Lars. "This can't be happening. This has to be a dream."
"Tough bits, man," Lars shoved him away curtly. "Guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers."
Steven steadied himself before rushing over to the counter. "Can I have a donut?"
"Wow, you got over that fast," Sadie said, slightly surprised. She started preparing a bag, not taking her eyes off of Steven. "What kind?"
"Any kind. Just… something." Steven dug some loose change and bills out of his pocket. He slammed it on the counter as Sadie passed him a glazed donut. He immediately snatched it from the bag and shoved the entire thing into his mouth at once.
It was warm. Slightly stale. The glaze stuck to his fingers and left a weird film on the roof of his mouth as he struggled to chew all of it. He swallowed it roughly.
"Fuck." He cursed, defeated.
Sadie's eyebrows shot up above her hairline and the Big Donut was quiet enough you could hear a pin drop. She shook herself out of her shock. "Steven!"
"I. Uh." Steven covered his mouth, realizing what he'd said. Lars started laughing maniacally. "Rough day?"
"Steven!" Lars wheezed. "Steven Universe said 'fuck!' I can die happy!"
"Maybe no dying." Steven said awkwardly. He needed to leave. He looked to Sadie apologetically. "Could I, um, maybe take the freezer?"
Sadie nodded, still minorly shell-shocked.
"Thanks," Steven loaded the freezer onto his back, fastening it with the cord. As he was leaving the Big Donut, he shot over his shoulder: "Sorry for freaking you out!"
As quickly as he could, he made his way back to the temple, holding onto the freezer cord for dear life. "Okay, so Cookie Cats," He summarized to himself, running out of breath as he stumbled onto the beach house steps. "Pearl is in her old form. I'm 12 again. There's probably a perfectly good explanation for this."
He flung the door to his house open and was met immediately by a centipeetle to the face. Before he could think, he launched it off of himself with a motion that would have usually summoned a bubble. Amethyst caught the centipeetle with her whip.
"Sup, Steven," She greeted casually. "Nice reflexes."
All three of the Crystal Gems were currently fighting centipeetles making their way towards the Temple door. Steven realized, just as Pearl scooped one into a choke-hold before it could reach the warp pad, that they weren't trying to get inside at all. They'd come from Centi, right? They were trying to get out.
Pearl poofed the one she was holding just as Amethyst poofed hers.
"Hold on! You don't need to poof them!" Steven cried, setting down the Cookie Cat freezer by the window.
Garnet tossed a centipeetle to Pearl. "Sorry about the mess, Steven," Pearl apologized. "We think these things are trying to get into the Temple."
"They're trying to get to the warp pad!" Steven interjected, stepping in between one of them and Amethyst. The centipeetle spat acid at the ground. Steven narrowly dodged it before Amethyst swooped in to poof it.
"Uh, these things don't have gems." Amethyst ignored him.
"There must be a mother somewhere." Garnet said, adjusting her visor. Had she always looked so… Ruby-y?
"Since you've poofed all of them, how about a ten minute recess?" Steven tried, making a time-out signal with his hands. His guardians looked at him suspiciously.
"Is something wrong, Steven?" Pearl asked.
"A lot of things, yeah. Biggest one being I think I'm stuck in the past?"
There was a beat of silence. Then Amethyst started laughing.
"Amethyst!" Pearl scolded.
"C'mon, P, that's ridiculous, you've gotta admit."
"Why do you think you're stuck in the past?" Pearl asked, ignoring her teammate. "You look the same as you did this morning."
"Well, it's either I'm stuck in the past or I made up five years of my life in my sleep."
Garnet looked completely unmoored, staring off into the middle distance. If Steven were to guess, he'd hazard that her future vision was currently going haywire. He knew how stressful that could be from the couple of times they'd been Sunstone and it just wouldn't work.
Stars, he really wanted to confide in his family, but these weren't the same gems he knew. Amethyst was laughing at his concerns, Pearl was being the mother hen to end all mother hens, and Garnet was letting the uncertainty of the future consume her. Steven knew how badly bottling things up could go, but…
"Eh, it's probably the latter," He lied easily. He put on a different, more dramatic despair. "Second, though, everything is over!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Pearl asked, concerned.
"Don't you see this empty freezer?" Steven gestured to the item in question. He couldn't help but think he sounded stilted. "Cookie Cats are gone forever and they're never coming back!"
He stifled a relieved smile at the way the gems' expressions softened, the status quo restored. He'd forgotten how easy it used to be to put them at ease.
"Well, maybe not forever…" Amethyst said with a smirk.
Steven put on his best childish ignorance face, looking at his other guardians expectantly. Garnet smiled at him.
"Check the fridge."
Steven gasped in such an exaggerated way even Jamie would have been appalled. The gems didn't notice, though, and they followed him as he jogged over to the fridge and flung open the freezer door.
He knew what was going to be there: enough Cookie Cats to last him until his next birthday and the soft glow of Connie's bracelet. Steven's well-practiced smile faltered when he saw the glow stick, but he shoved that down. Even on a good day, Steven couldn't stand thinking about that, so he simply wouldn't. Easy.
"Cookie Cats!" He plastered back on his excitement. He did the song last time, right? Steven cleared his throat.
“He’s a frozen treat with an all new taste!
“Cause he came to this planet from outer space!
“A refugee of an interstellar war,
“But now he’s at your local grocery store!
“Cookie Cat! He’s a pet for your tummy!
“Cookie Cat! He’s super duper yummy!
“Cookie Cat! He left his family behind!
“Cookie Cat!” He held aloft the sandwich he'd grabbed. “Now available at, uh, Gergins off of route 109?”
Amethyst laughed. "See? Told you he'd like them!"
"I told you." Garnet adjusted her visor.
Steven giggled at that, too. "Guess there's no time like the present," He said as he opened the packaging. He looked at the sandwich itself with stars in his eyes. "Hello, old friend."
He felt the adoring eyes of his family smiling down at him as he bit off one of the ears. Damn, it'd been so long since he'd had a Cookie Cat. He'd been able to get close with his own recipe, but nothing beat the real thing. He couldn't believe he'd almost started settling for Lion Lickers. He held is hand to his chest in a genuine gesture of contentment, closing his eyes and savoring the taste.
"Steven!" Pearl's voice crashed his train of thought. Steven opened his eyes to see the room bathed in a soft pink light.
"Quick! Try to summon your weapon!" Amethyst implored.
Steven set the ice cream down on the counter next to Amethyst and brought up an arm to summon his shield. Na-da. Ugh, that's right. He used to have to focus really hard on his emotions to get his powers to work at all. Which one was his shield? Protectiveness. Connection. He could feel the glow of his gem fading, but he didn't let that get him down, even as images of Spinel's injector popped up into his mind unsolicited. He just had to think. Jasper was about to destabilize Garnet. He winced internally. Probably not a good idea to think about Jasper. What else? Training with Connie? It was fading faster than he liked, and it still wasn't working!
"Dude, you look like you're going to poop yourself." Amethyst teased, signaling that Steven's effort were for naught.
"Amethyst!" Pearl squawked.
"Why didn't it work?" Steven asked. He lifted up his shirt and looked down at his gem accusatorially. "Come on, work with me here!"
"It's alright, Steven," Pearl said. "This is just the first time you've tried. There's a chance you might not even have powers at all. Only time will tell."
Steven tried to stop the grimace that crossed his face. He was unsure of how successful he was in that, given the subtle reactions from his guardians.
"C'mon dude, don't beat yourself up," Amethyst encouraged. "I'm sure five years from now, you'll have your powers down."
"That's not—" Steven was interrupted by the ground trembling. He braced himself against the fridge.
"It's the mother." Garnet declared.
"Already?" Steven remembered it taking much longer for Centi to show up properly.
"Weapon lessons will have to wait. Crystal Gems, roll out."
"Hold on! I'm coming too!" Steven quickly wrapped the remaining Cookie Cat back up and put it in the freezer.
"What? Steven, no. It's far too dangerous." Pearl chided.
"Hey, I'm a Crystal Gem, too!" Steven felt the indignation rising in his chest. He gestured at his shirt. "See? I've got the star on and everything! How am I supposed to learn to do anything if you won't let me come along?"
Pearl and Amethyst looked taken aback by Steven's outburst, but Garnet remained unmoved.
"There is no time. The mother is approaching the lighthouse." Garnet said. She turned towards the warp pad. "We have to go now."
The other two Crystal Gems followed Garnet, Steven trailing just behind them. Pearl put a hand out, stopping him. "We'll be right back, Steven."
They warped away.
Steven almost growled. He couldn't believe this. There had to be something he could do, even if his powers were busted. Centi was hurting and needed help, and all the gems were going to do was treat her like a monster. The least he could do would be to save her from a painful poofing.
He ran to the warp pad. There was no guarantee he'd be able to warp to the temple's hand, and he didn't know what he'd do once he got there. Climb? Sure. Didn't matter.
"C'mon. Take me to the laundry." He closed his eyes and focused. Pride filled him as he felt the warp stream form around him.
The first thing he heard when he arrived was a screech of pain from Centi, followed by the thud of a body against the ground.
If Steven timed it right, he could jump from the hand to the hill. He knew logically how he would do it, but he didn't know if his 12 year old body could keep up the pace. He took a step back before launching himself with a running start. The impact of his body against the sheer cliff face knocked the wind out of him, but he managed to white-knuckle some of the exposed rock, keeping himself from slipping down a twenty-foot drop. One of his sandals wasn't so lucky.
"You've got this, Universe," he winced to himself as he muscled up to the next nearest hand hold. "You've climbed up worse…"
His bare foot found a place to plant so he could scale more height. A tremor shot through the cliff side, and Steven held on for dear life.
Eventually, he cleared the last little bit to end up on the hill proper. The gems had their back to him, focusing on fighting Centi. The corrupted gem was coiled around the lighthouse, and the grass in front of her had been singed by her acidic spray.
Pearl launched a spear towards Centi's gem. Centi closed her mouth, taking the hit on the side of her head. She wailed in pain as the spear disintegrated.
"None of our attacks are working!" Pearl turned to Garnet, who summoned her gauntlets.
No more of this.
"Hey, Nephrite!" Steven yelled. The combat screeched to a halt, all eyes turning to him. "You don't have to fight! We want to help!"
The smallest shred of recognition crossed Centi's expression. Her form relaxed.
"What are you doing up here, dude?" Amethyst cracked her whip.
"Steven, go back inside." Garnet commanded.
"No!" Steven said, walking with determined steps towards Centi. He kept his hands where the corrupted gem could see them. She flinched as he set a hand on one of her segments.
"What are you doing?" Pearl asked. None of the other Crystal Gems had gotten any closer.
Steven smiled sadly. "I know you don't know who I am," he said, just loud enough that hopefully Centi could hear and as gently as possible so even if the language didn't make it through, the sentiment did. "I'm sorry I don't have a better way to help you right now. My powers are down, and we don't have an easy way to get to your ship."
He swallowed. "I know how much pain you're in, Nephrite. I know your damage runs deep, deeper than I could possibly fix on my own," he hugged her. "I refuse to treat you like a monster. I know it's not much, but your crew is waiting for you. And, even though I'm a stranger, I'm here, too."
Centi's body began to glow, shrinking down. For a second, her form looked like it was going to stabilize into its humanoid shape. She wasn't that lucky, though, and her form became much more similar to the other centipeetles. She squawked at Steven gratefully.
Before he could respond, Amethyst's whip wrapped around Centi. With a pull, she was dragged away and poofed in Garnet's gauntlets. With a single fluid motion, her gem was bubbled and sent off.
"Steven! That was extremely dangerous!" Pearl rushed forward, wrapping him in a bone crushing hug.
"How did you even do that?" Amethyst asked. She joined Pearl and Steven as the former loosened the hug to check for injuries. Steven waved her off.
"I…" Just said what I wished someone would have said to me. "She was scared. She couldn't help lashing out. The least I could do was offer her some kindness."
"How did you… how did you know it was a Nephrite?" Pearl asked hesitantly.
"Saw it in a dream?"
"It seems Steven wasn't lying when he told us he was from the future," Garnet added. "Hopefully one that is much kinder to gems like that Nephrite."
"So you…" Pearl mumbled. Steven didn't miss the way her hands twitched to cover her mouth.
"I know all about the Diamonds and the war, if that's what your asking," Steven swooped in to save her. "I know how those gems got like that, and I know how to fix it. I just… can't do anything about it yet. Not until I have better control of my powers."
"Until then, we'll do what we can. Treat the corrupted gems with as much kindness as we can and help you get a handle on your powers." Garnet smiled, adjusting her visor.
"Thanks." Steven smiled back.