Atom carries a tired and teary eyed Steven out of the hot forge and out into the cool nights air. The robots systems are running at max speed to keep Atom up right due to the circular hole in the middle of their torso.
As the two make it to the warp pad a single problem crosses Atoms mind.
"I can't use a warp pad..." they look down at Steven and see that he has fallen asleep. "Oh boy..."
Atom sets Steven down and shakes him awake. "I need you to use the warp pad so we can get home, okay?" Steven nods as he rubs his eyes and makes the warp pad activate.
Atom grabs Steven from the air and holds him again until the two finally land in Stevens bedroom, noticing the other gems playing cards on Stevens couch.
"You're back, How wonderful!" Pearl stands up happily but her mood dampens when she sees the state that the two are in and the lack of Bismuth.
Atom is quick to set Steven on the ground, allowing him to walk off and collapse onto his bed. "It's a long story, I'm sorry" Atom walks away from the gems and out onto the balcony while holding their arms around their chest.
A moment later Amethyst walks out to join them. "So... what happened in there dude?"
"Bismuth attacked us because we didn't want to use a weapon that could shatter a gem."
"Woah. That's rough bud." Amethyst nods and sits down next to Atom. "Something wrong with your stomach? Do you have a stomach ache. Wait can you even get stomach aches?"
"I got hit by the weapon." Amethyst shoots up with shock.
"How are you still alive dude!" Atom reveals the hole in their chest causing Amethyst to freak out.
"It missed my vitals?" Atom smiles slightly trying to make the situation better but it doesn't land.
"Can you help me back to the barn? I'm sure Peridot can fix me up." Amethyst looks at Atom in surprise.
"Dude! How are you so chill about this, I mean you have a hole in your chest!"
"Because I know that I will be fine, now Steven needs to be surrounded by his family so I just need you to quickly warp me to the barn." Amethyst still looks unsure. "Please?"
"Fine, let's go."
~~~
The two day their goodbyes as Amethyst warps away and Atom starts their short walk to the barn. They're guided by the moons light glowing down at them.
'Maybe it would be best to not let the others know' They move their hoodie so it's covering the obvious hole in their chest and it only just works.
"Atom! The Atom is back!" Peridot runs up to the bot with Lapis behind her.
"Come on! We're watching camp pining hearts!" Peridot grabs Atom hand making them quickly hide the hole with their other one.
As the three head inside, Atom takes a moment to admire the decoration that the two gems have put up in their absence.
"Atom? Are you alright?" Lapis and Peridot look down from the loft at the metal robot, waiting patiently for them to climb up and join the two.
"I'm all good." They give a thumbs up and climb to the loft where Lapis and Peridot have set up an old couch and tv.
Atom hesitantly sits down in the middle of the couch as Lapis and peridot are at opposite sides of the couch, making Atoms job of hiding their hole a lot harder than it needed to be.
Peridot starts the show and the two gems eyes are glued to the screen. Atom brings up their mainframe to check their damage, only to be met with a yellow warning sign right in the middle of their screen.
*get back to work* you're still in good condition* you don't need help* finish the mission*
Atom blinks away their screen and looks towards the tv, trying to ignore their warnings. They shut their eyes completely and rest their head on the couch, evidently falling into a temporary system shut down. Or as humans call it, falling asleep.
"That episode was better than the last one." Lapis says as Peridot agrees. "What do you think, Atom?" The two look over and finally notice that they have fallen asleep and shrug.
"I'm going to work on some of my tech, Goodnight Lazuli." Peridot climbs down the ladder and walks over to a big box filled with different broken pieces of technology. The item that Peridot has decided to work on is a home made signal intercepter. Just as a side hobby.
Meanwhile Lapis has moved towards the truck that is stuck on the front of the barn to watch the stars. She always felt safe watching the stars, almost as if none of her problems could hurt her when she was watching the stars. It definitely distracted her from her recent encounter with Jasper on the boat that Greg and Steven were on.
It seems as if everything is normal in the barn but it never stays that way for long.
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