Chapter Text
Her last bullet had been wasted on a runner she missed by an inch. Pearl’s heart sunk as her last piece of ammunition and their only protection whizzed past the infected’s ear, expertly hitting a far-off stop sign inside the ‘o’. If only she had enough time to marvel or laugh at her oddly precise aim, she would. Instead, Pearl gathered the bawling infant from Amethyst’s hold, snatching her small hand into her own, and ran for the hills.
Perhaps luck was finally smiling upon them when, after a couple of minutes of nonstop running, she whipped around to throw another fearful glance at their pursuer and found no one there.
Quickly seeking shelter, not trusting the silence engulfing the ruined streets for a mere second, she dragged Amethyst along to a desolate warehouse that had piqued her interest. It was not a sight to behold (aside from the vines climbing along the gutter that managed to bloom a strange type of flower) but it seemed remote. After two weeks of wandering about they were nearly running out of edible supplies and fresh water. They were all exhausted, dirty, lost, and now also defenseless. With Steven still crying his little lungs out it had to be better than standing dumbly in the middle of a street, attracting more unwanted attention.
“Pass me his bottle,” she ordered once inside, too busy rocking the baby in her arms to even look at Amethyst rummaging through her bag in search of Steven’s formula. Her efforts were all but futile though as Steven continued to scream even after being offered food. The girl sat anxiously behind a large steel barrel, uncharacteristically quiet, silently panicking and glancing around to see what she could do to help. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Pearl beginning to hyperventilate from all the outer stimuli and the crushing, suffocating lack of control over everything that she had been trusted to take care of.
If all that wasn’t enough to send her spiraling, a gunshot sounded through the warehouse, slicing through the air like a stone hitting the bottom of an empty well.
The sound carried through the main depot, ceasing Pearl’s train of thought completely. And just like that, it began anew and the blurry world came sharply into view. Panic set in, tuning out the noises that nearly sent her into a frenzy just a moment ago, and in a matter of seconds she was ready to jump back on her feet to sprint another kilometer or so just to do something, anything other than sit there helplessly with no real way to protect Steven and Amethyst, sentencing them all to a painful, miserable death.
Another gunshot answered. This time coming from behind her.
The sheer proximity at which the bullet passed by her made Pearl want to vomit but before she could even begin to feel faint a firm hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her away from the crate she’s been hiding behind.
The stranger took shelter where she had previously been hiding and reloaded their shotgun without sparring a single glance at Pearl or Amethyst. Pearl covered Steven’s ears as best as she could for the exchange of bullets only grew more intense from that point on; she found herself unable to react in any meaningful way at this sudden intrusion, not sure if the stranger wasn’t going to turn out ill-intentioned towards them in a second, but when she tried to get up and run back out of the building, the same rough hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards the crate.
“Stay put or they’ll shoot you.”
Her instincts told her to throw that piece of advice out of the window and run for her life but the sight of a very trembling Amethyst and Steven, who now only sobbed weakly, too tired from crying, grounded her enough to abide by the stranger’s order.
She scanned the upper floor for any assailants lurking on the loft and thankfully found no one there but the ground level of the building started to fill out with men and their weapons. Amethyst put her hand atop her own to help cut Steven off from all the racket.
She wasn’t very comforted by the thought of letting a stranger make sure they don’t get killed right then and there but at this point, she had no other choice. So, throwing her reservations and fears aside, she trusted whoever they were with their lives for just a moment.
She watched them with rapt attention and took note of how nearly careless they were; almost completely uncovered by the makeshift barricade, barely taking any shelter behind the crate, focused purely on reloading their gun and expertly taking down one by one of their assailants in a surely record-breaking time. Where stood almost ten of them just a few minutes ago, now they narrowed down to three or four; Pearl wasn’t certain, but she was not eager to accidentally get shot thanks to her curiosity. She had to trust that this would be taken care of.
A bullet hit the wall behind them, missing Amethyst’s head by pure millimeters. The girl cowered in fear and Pearl was surprised to hear a sob escaping her lips; she had managed to keep her composure up until that point. She pulled her closer behind the makeshift barricade and hugged Amethyst’s head close to her chest, so she at least didn’t have to witness bodies hitting the floor, one right after the other.
A painful, startling yell echoed through the warehouse following a loud thud of someone dropping to the ground. Pearl saw their protector get up from their spot and her gaze followed the mass of curls on their head up to the loft. Everything quieted down, they must’ve gotten the last one. A chill ran up Pearl’s spine as she realized she never even noticed the shooter on the balcony. Had she been the one to fend all of them off alone, she’d be done for.
What Pearl noticed among one of the first things about the stranger with the rifle was their physique. As they climbed up the rickety metal stairs she could see the defined muscles of their arm still gripping the rifle stiffly. As silly as it seemed, Pearl thanked whatever force there was for sending someone who could fight their way through all this danger just fine, judging by the impressive show of their skills with the rifle just a few moments before.
She kept rocking little Steven in her arms and shushing him but it did little to calm him down at first. She kissed his head and held him to her chest, shielding him from everything around them. “It’s okay, it’s okay, honey,” she cooed repeatedly to him until his hiccups turned into just soft whimpering. Amethyst squeezed herself into Pearl’s side, trying to get as close to her as possible without disturbing Steven.
“Is it over?” She whispered in a voice filled with tremor and once Pearl noticed the tears brimming in the girl’s eyes she leaned down to place a soft kiss on her hair before leaning her head on hers as they huddled together. She allowed herself to close her eyes for just a brief moment of peace before they had to step back outside and face the hostile world again.
Pearl nodded weakly against Amethyst’s short hair, “It’s over.”
Heavy footsteps sounded through the now deserted warehouse. Down the rickety stairs, through the dirty, faded, tiled floor before they stopped right before her. She looked up hesitantly, holding the children close.
“Pearl?”
That was the first time she managed to take a proper look at the stranger’s face. Sharp jawline, full lips slightly parted in surprise, and a button nose. Eyes, obscured by dark, angular shades she already knew were mismatched. A nasty scar ran through one of them behind the reflective surface. Pearl’s breath shuddered with relief.
“Garnet!”
A breathy laugh escaped her. „I can’t— is it— it’s really you?” She couldn’t help the smile drawing on her face and the tears had to go sooner or later. Garnet stood there, eyebrows raised in disbelief and mouth still hanging open with shock. Pearl could practically see the gears turning in her head as she slowly dropped to her knees beside the three of them. Pearl held out one arm forward, beckoning her closer, and the other woman, still confused but seemingly relieved at the sight of her, didn’t hesitate in scooping her up in her arms.
“Oh, you’re alive,” Pearl kept laughing through bittersweet tears until it turned into choking sobs, trying to fit all of her gratitude, longing, and happiness into that single embrace. Her hand rested on Garnet’s nape, holding onto her for dear life. She couldn’t believe the chances – or the sheer luck – that had them meeting after so long. She caught Amethyst looking at them incredulously through her peripheral but Pearl couldn’t process so many things at once; she chose to focus on peppering Garnet’s face with half-sobbed, tear-stained kisses. She could hear her breath on her neck, and as she felt her strong hands rub comforting circles into her back and hip Pearl realized just how desperately she’d missed the feeling of being held so tenderly by another person.
“What on Earth are you doing here?” Pearl felt the rumble of her deep voice against her neck. She shivered. Garnet shifted back slightly. “And with two children no less!”
She recognized a genuine worry in the way Garnet spoke but Pearl couldn’t help but feel like she was being scolded. “I didn’t exactly love the idea of having them walk right through a Red Zone either, Garnet!” She cried.
Steven was starting to wiggle uncomfortably in her arms due to being squished in the middle of an embrace. Garnet pulled back just enough to take a look at Steven. Pearl wondered whether she recognized the familiar glint in his eyes when Steven cocked his head at her curiously. She silently watched Garnet battle with herself whether she should berate her for being so irresponsible and bringing a literal newborn into an infected area or cry along with her, still struggling to register the situation they’d just found themselves in. Or maybe, just possibly, the sight of a newborn life right after killing a dozen men without a moment of hesitation was the factor that made her struggle to react in any meaningful way, Pearl thought somewhat bitterly. What a strange new reality they’ve found themselves in.
“He’s…hers,” Garnet looked up at her with a blank expression due to much more than just her reflective shades, “Isn’t he?”
Of course, he was. There was no mistaking that, not by Garnet, not in a million years. She didn't need Pearl's confirmation nor did she want it. It was better left unsaid that Rose finally got what she had always wanted. Pearl fixed Steven's little hat out of nervousness more so than the actual need for it. "It's a long story... and I'm just so tired," Pearl spoke softly into Garnet's shoulder allowing a couple more tears to escape down her face.
Amethyst scooted over to them shyly, making her presence known. Her hair fell into her face the way Pearl couldn’t stand it, but in that moment it made her look so frail. She didn’t have time to so much as blink before Garnet scooped her into her arms. Her heart shattered into pieces when she heard Amethyst break down sobbing with her face hidden in Garnet’s blood-splattered shirt.