Atonement

2 - Factory Reset

Blue Diamond loomed over Steven like a ginormous, blue goddess. He stood directly in the middle of the Diamond emblem decorating the center of the ornate floor.

For a long time, there was silence. Steven fidgeted in his place on the ground, hands tied behind his back with some sort of blue wire. There was no way he could slip his way out of them. Every time he'd tried, they'd become tighter.

The human/gem hybrid stared at the tile flooring below Blue Diamond, while she perched in her throne with perfect composure. Her hands rested in her lap, and her long, slim gown swept the floor beside her obedient pearl.

Larimar had been instructed to stand in the back of the room, and there were two quartzes at every entrance, weapons pointed at the hostage, ready for use. Steven took little notice of them. He just kept his unwavering attention at one spot on the floor and held his breathing as shallow as possible.

"You..." Blue Diamond whispered uncertainly. Steven tensed and looked up as he was addressed. It took all his willpower to keep a straight face, and his pulse at a calm pace.

"You... I held your shattered gem in my hand," Blue Diamond stated, demanding an answer through the cold tone of her voice. "You and the other rebels were shattered by Yellow Diamond's hand. Tell me exactly what really happened."

Blue Diamond stared down at Steven, and his gaze averted for a moment.

"Look at me," Blue punctuated every word, serious as a funeral. Steven swallowed and met her eyes again, flinching, but holding his mouth as tight as possible. His heart was racing, and the Diamond's unreadable stare was more than his eyes could handle.

"Now, answer my question. What really happened, and how did you fake all of your deaths?" Blue Diamond said, eyes unwinking. Even Blue Pearl seemed tense, but she was very good at hiding it.

"I..." Steven began, his voice shaky and weak. He had to think up a good lie, and soon. His mouth was dry, and he found it difficult to speak another word. Blue Diamond waited expectantly, raising an eyebrow in anticipation of what his answer would be.

"I wasn't shattered." Steven began, thinking over each of his words carefully as his cluttered mind could manage. He straightened his voice, speaking a little louder. "I was in the back of the room that Yellow Diamond hit with her blast. My gem was cracked, but I was able to muster a shield in time... I ran away under the cover of the smoke..."

Blue Diamond half-nodded, listening carefully. She shifted in her throne.

"And," she pressed, "What happened to the Pearl, the defect Quartz, the Peridot, the Lapis Lazuli, and the fusion?" She spoke the word 'fusion' with a downgrading hint of poison in her tone.

Steven shuddered, and allowed the annoyance of the level of disgrace she spoke about Garnet to spark a convincing act of emotion.

"I... I couldn't reach them before the blast," he lied, eyes falling to the floor again. Blue Diamond's face was unreadable.

"Larimar, is this true? Were there any other gems on the Earth when you visited?" Blue Diamond asked. Startled to be spoken to, Larimar snapped to attention, saluting with a diamond.

"My Diamond, I did not find trace of other beings while I was present there," she said, politely sucking up to her most cherished leader. Blue Diamond nodded once, then looked back down at the human.

"Look at me," She said again, slightly louder. Steven winced back up at her, expression a mix of a glare and of fear. He had to be brave. He couldn't let the Diamond think she had power over him.