Greg's family life wasn't like most people's.

Most parents worked nine-to-five jobs. Not the Blue Lady and Mr. Universe. She was a vampire leader, up at night, managing affairs and directing her people. He was a musician, a rockstar, with all sorts of odd hours for recording sessions and shows.

Honestly, Greg thought he had the better deal. Most of his composing and writing could be done at home, so when he wasn't on tour, he could make his own hours, come and go as he wanted. But Blue? Not only did she literally have to stay inside all day, her nights were filled with a practically endless amount of responsibilities.

She'd managed to get home 'early' last night, and they'd spent a couple hours talking and cuddling in bed before Greg had finally conked out. Now upon waking, Greg stretched as carefully as he could, trying not to disturb her. Only 8:37 AM, the bedside clock said. Best to let her rest.

He'd barely gotten a step out of bed when her eyes flickered open. "Greg?"

"Shh. Go back to sleep, starlight."

"Is that an order?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Just a suggestion," Greg said, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

She reciprocated, but once the kiss ended, she said, "Well, if I wasn't awake before, that morning breath certainly did it."

Greg laughed. It was a running joke with the two of them. Blue, of course, never got bad breath. She perpetually smelt of ice and iron.

She never held it against him. In fact, she took it as a chance to share a rare family breakfast with Steven. The boy's eyes lit up when he saw them come into the kitchen together, and he hurried to wrap the two of them in the biggest family hug he could manage.

The kitchen was a bit more of a mess that day than usual, since Iris wasn't around to help out. Greg wasn't entirely sure where she was; outside of Steven's lessons, she tended to keep her own schedule. She was off doing personal or court business, he could only assume.

Greg had never been the most efficient cook, Steven was about as clean as you could expect a twelve-year-old to be, and Amethyst…

Well. She had an interesting definition of 'edible'.

But then, his partner was discreetly drinking out of a blood bag in the corner, so who was he to judge?

Steven joined her for a few sucks, and even though Greg generally got queasy during his family's feeding, he couldn't help but watch out of the corner of his eye. During his turn to drink, the kid wore an expression like he was drinking pure unsweetened lemon juice. Steven started getting ill if he went too long without fresh blood, but that didn't mean he appreciated the taste. He was quick to wash the blood down with a tall glass of orange juice and some blueberry muffins.

When Greg had finished his coffee, he got up to start on the dishes, with Steven and Amethyst jumping up to help.

"Oh, come sit back down, dears," Blue said, beckoning to Steven and Greg. "We so rarely get the chance to talk like this."

"We can talk while we wash, Mom," said Steven.

"Not properly. Come. Leave Amethyst to it."

Greg hesitated, dish rag in his hand. But Amethyst just grinned at him, jerking her head back to the table. Greg smiled at her, taking a seat between his son and his partner.

It was a relaxed, lazy morning. Blue talked about some politics in her court, and how she was working on arranging a meeting with some senators. Steven excitedly told them about what he'd been learning in lessons- volcanoes and the Manananggal vampire courts of South East Asia. Greg had some wacky fan stories to share, and after a little pressure, hummed a bit from the latest song he was working on.

It was nice. Or, it was even more than that. Greg would have been quite content to sit in that kitchen with them forever.

As the morning wore on, though, Blue was stifling more and more yawns. Eventually she couldn't hide them; her jaw opened real wide, showing off those beautiful fangs of hers.

Steven giggled. In a sing-song voice he went, "Someone's sleepy~!"

"Yes, I suppose someone is," Blue agreed. "Sadly, you must be deprived of my company as I rest. I assume you two will find a way to entertain yourself without me?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Greg smirked, as Blue got up.

"Can we go to the beach?!" Steven asked, practically bouncing in his seat.

Greg's eyebrows went up. "It's October, kiddo."

"Pleaaasssseee."

Greg heard Blue's laughter echoing down the hall.

In the end, they went to that beach.

It was over an hour's drive to get there, and once they did, the water was choppy from the stiff ocean breeze. Just looking at the water made Greg shiver. But neither Steven or Amethyst had any such hesitation. They dove straight into the water, shrieking with excitement. Greg wasn't sure if their resistance could be chalked up to their magical natures, or just being kids.

Either way, Greg was more than happy to sit on a towel, paperback in his lap, half-listening to them play.

He had to admit- as reluctant as he'd been to let Amethyst in, he was glad they had. She was friendly, and certainly pulled her own weight around the house. More importantly, Steven seemed to have really cottoned on to her. He sometimes worried about him, stuck in the apartment, being home schooled. It was nice to see him with someone closer to his own age.

Greg did have to admit he had spent the past two full moons barely sleeping, a silver knife by the side of his bed. But there really hadn't been any reason to be frightened. They'd kept Amethyst in the cellar, Steven with her the whole time, and she'd been as docile as a sleepy puppy. It wouldn't be right to hold her condition against her.

And while Blue had been the one who persuaded Greg into letting Amethyst stay, she always seemed to wrinkle her nose at every little thing the girl did. Blue had always been a stickler for orderliness, and Amethyst was anything but orderly- what with all the messes she made and the coarse language she tended to use when she thought Steven was out of earshot. But that was okay. Despite all those minor annoyances, Blue still gave the girl a home when she needed it. And that was one of the many reasons why he loved Blue so much.

"Fetch!" Steven cried.

Greg looked up just in time to catch Amethyst jumping out of the water, and catching a tennis ball in her mouth.

He chuckled to himself. Yep. His family was pretty weird, alright. But that was okay. He liked a little weird.

Life had gotten a lot more interesting for Steven since Amethyst had had started living with him.

It used to be really hard to go out during the day when Dad wasn't around. Mom was super aware of all the dangerous monsters and enemies out there who might want to use a dhampir, so he wasn't supposed to go anywhere without company. Since Mom and Iris couldn't go into sunlight without wearing their heavy robes and hoods, that meant Steven used to get stuck inside with them, which was soooooo boring.

Mom hadn't been completely onboard with Amethyst getting to look after him at first, but after pleading and pleading, she'd changed her mind. Amethyst had promised to do everything she could to keep Steven safe, no matter what.

Privately, Steven thought it would be pretty cool to see her go all werewolf claws or something on an assassin. He'd never say that to Mom though. She'd probably freak out and get overprotective. Again.

The chances of something like that actually happening were ridiculously low, though. So in practice, Amethyst wasn't really his bodyguard. She was just his cool teen friend that could take him to the mall, or the movies, or the park and then give him a piggy back ride.

"Or doggy back rides," said Amethyst, after she'd run from one end of a baseball field to the other with him on his back.

"Yeah!" Steven agreed, giggling, as he rolled on the grass. "Hey, this full moon, do you think I could ride on your back?"

"Sure! You could try! I think it'll work."

Steven nodded. The more time she spent around him, the calmer and calmer she got in her wolf shape.

They hung out (or 'chilled', as Amethyst called it) in the park for about an hour- tossing a ball around, Amethyst pushing him on the swings, the two chasing each other through the playground. By the end of it, Steven was getting seriously tuckered out. The two of them settled at a picnic table, getting out the snacks they'd packed before. Delicious green apples, celery with peanut butter, peanuts, chips… Wasn't surprising that a couple of squirrels wandered over to get food.

Steven gave some to them happily, tossing peanuts their way as he munched on his own food.

"Hey," Steven said, pausing, holding a peanut in his hands. The two squirrels stared at him with big black eyes. "Let's see if you can- JUMP!"

He threw the peanut up high, and both squirrels jumped after it. Steven chuckled.

He could get the squirrels to jump ever higher after the food, but soon grew bored of that, and became more ambitious. He encouraged the squirrels to try other tricks; spinning in the air, playing dead, shaking his hand…

… but it didn't work.

The squirrels were clearly paying attention. He could feel their eyes, intent and alert, ears straining to hear him. They just… weren't listening to him.

"Nah, they're listening," Amethyst said. "They're just squirrels. They just can't understand you."

"You think?" said Steven, glumly tossing the squirrels a couple more peanuts.

"Oh yeah." Amethyst tossed a fistfull of chips into her mouth and chewed loudly. "I mean, if they could understand ya, I'm sure they'd do everything you asked."

Steven began to nod- he already knew animals liked him- but something in that phrasing made him pause. "What do you mean?"

Amethyst shrugged. "I dunno. It's just, why wouldn't someone listen to ya? You're super smart and awesome."

"Thanks," said Steven, blushing a little at the praise. "You're awesome too."

"I know," said Amethyst, puffing out her chest. "Not as awesome as you though."

Steven frowned. Amethyst didn't seem to notice, and just continued munching on her snacks.

All of a sudden, Steven didn't feel very hungry.

"Hey, Amethyst," he said at length. "Did you mean it before? When you said you'd do anything I ask?"

The werewolf's expression was unusually serious when she turned to him and said, without hesitation, "Yes."

Strange prickles ran down Steven's arms.

"Okay. Then… can you… tell me about the rebellion? What it was like living with them?"

Amethyst tilted her head, and shrugged. "Sure. Dunno why you'd want to know, though. They all sucked, like ya said."

"Yeah, but I wanna hear it from you." When Amethyst seemed to hesitate, he clasped his hands together and said, "Please, Amethyst. You promised."

Amethyst sighed. "Yeah, okay. I mean, I guess the rebellion is pretty big and stuff, but they didn't really tell me a lot about numbers or who lives where or stuff. Mostly I just lived with Rose and Pearl."

"The leaders," said Steven. He clenched his fists, remembering the terrifying stories of how they had killed Mom's sister in cold blood.

"Yeah. They were always going off for secret meetings and stuff. But when they weren't busy, they'd hang out with me. Or, well, Rose would. Pearl was always on my case about stuff. Getting me to clean my room, or go to combat practice, or finish classwork." Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Super annoying. But she'd cook me food and stuff, even though she didn't like eating and thought it was disgusting. Which is good, because to be honest," Amethyst smirked, "Rose is kind of an awful cook."

"They were making you learn combat?" Steven asked, recalling Mom's comments about how Amethyst was one of the rebellion's weapons.

"Well… they didn't make me, I guess. I asked them to teach me." Amethyst paused. "Okay, I begged 'em, if I'm being completely honest. But man, those classes are so boring. All those stretches and warmups and tactics, you know? Plus, Pearl was always going on about 'the art of the blade', and who even uses a sword these days?"

And so Amethyst went on and on. For all her initial reluctance, once she'd gotten going, she just talked and talked and talked. About… all sorts of stuff. Things Steven never would've thought about the rebels. About how the terrifying Rose Quartz kept a greenhouse full of plants, and how her second-in-command Pearl liked to dance ballet and fix cars, and how the witches Ruby and Sapphire would make cookies with smiley faces on them for their daughter and Amethyst.

"And sometimes… sometimes Sapphire would…" Amethyst trailed off.

Steven waited a few moments to see if she'd finish the sentence, and when she didn't, he asked, "Amethyst?"

There was a sniffling noise.

Steven peered at her. Amethyst was crying. Steven hadn't even known teenagers could cry.

"Are you okay?" Steven asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amethyst said, voice hitching a little.

"It sounds like… you miss them."

"Well, I don't." Amethyst wiped her eyes and sat up straight. "They're crap. They abandoned me. I shouldn't care about them, and I don't."

Steven stared at her, a knot tightening in his chest.

"Let's… just clean up, okay?" he suggested.

"Okay!" She grinned broadly, all traces of sadness vanishing in an instant. She hurried to pick up all their litter and toss it in a nearby trashcan. Steven went to try and help her, only to nearly trip over two fuzzy shapes at his feet.

It was the squirrels. They'd been sitting there the entire time. Watching him. Waiting for him to tell them something.

He'd completely forgotten they were there.

"Off you go," Steven said, waving his hand. They shook their heads and ran off.

"What next, boss?" Amethyst said, appearing at his shoulder. Steven nearly jumped.

"Uh- home," he said, trying to calm his frantically beating heart. "I need… to think about some things."

Iris could always tell when Steven wanted to say something.

It was something in the way he held himself, how he started breathing more quietly. If it weren't for the soft sounds of him shifting from foot to foot, he would've seemed completely still and silent. Whatever it was he wanted to say, he'd been hemming and hawing about it for nearly ten minutes at this point, so Iris decided to give her charge a little push. "Is there something I can help you with, My Liege?"

"Uh, yeah…" The scuffing of feet against the floor. The next words are so quiet that any being with lesser hearing would miss them. "Iris… Do you think I might be… Controlling Amethyst?"

Behind her bangs, Iris's eyebrows rose a fraction. "Of course, My Liege. In fact, I am quite certain of it." She reached out and placed a hand on his head. "But surely you knew this already?"

"Well… yeah… at the full moon. But I didn't think… all the time."

"Her animal instinct is with her all the time, not just during the full moon."

"Oh."

Steven went very, very quiet, aside from the sound of his heart, beating staccato in his chest.

Iris had thought Steven had known all of this already. Surely the Blue Lady had guided him.

But if she had not, then perhaps it wasn't Iris's place to reveal such a thing to Steven. However… she felt, privately, Steven deserved to understand the extent of his own abilities.

"Your mind is strong, Steven. Stronger than the minds of animals and lesser creatures around you. They will bend to you. It is the nature of all vampires."

"But…" There was a stretch of long silence. Iris waited for Steven to fill it. "But… if I'm telling Amethyst what to do… what if she doesn't want to be here?"

Ah. Of course. It was becoming clear to Iris.

"That is irrelevant, My Liege. We all have our roles to play. The werewolf's role is to serve you."

"... Oh."

Steven had been raised, by and large, away from the Courts. Away from their intrigue, their politics, their brutality. It had fostered in him a sweetness, a kindness. A gentleness that Iris had not seen since her distant days as a human, so so long ago.

Any 'decent' member of the Courts would call such a temperament unbecoming, but Iris loved that gentleness in Steven. She wanted to do all she could to protect it.

But as Steven went away without another word, she wondered how much longer she could.

"Please, Amethyst," Steven begged. "I want you to really focus."

"I am focusing."

"Okay! Okay." Steven let out a harsh puff of air, and it stung Amethyst to see him so agitated. "Just… Are you absolutely sure you're here because you want to be?"

She cocked her head curiously. "Uh, yeah. Duh."

He shook his head. "I mean, are you sure you don't just want to be here because I want you to be here?"

"Well… yeah," said Amethyst. "This is your house. I wouldn't be staying with you if you didn't let me."

"No… no… That's not-"

He was shaking now, looking borderline panicked, so Amethyst reached forward to give him a comforting hug.

This didn't seem to be the right thing to do. He flinched out of the embrace. Amethyst recoiled, not sure what she'd done wrong. "Dude, Steven... What's this… what's this all about?"

He was pulling on the string of his hoodie. "It's just… I've been thinking. Animals- they like me and listen to me. And you said that they'd obey me, if only they knew what I was saying. But… Amethyst- you're a werewolf. An animal. I can control you when you're in wolf shape. What if I'm just controlling you now?"

"Geez, man. You are way overthinking this."

"But-"

"No buts. 'Sides, I may be an animal, but then, isn't like, everybody? Humans are just monkeys or whatever."

Steven blanched, and Amethyst realized this might not have been the best thing to say.

She flung up her hands. "Look, what I mean is just… You're fun, Steven. Being with you is just… chill. You don't have to worry about this."

He bit his lip. With his little baby fangs, it was almost criminally adorable.

"Amethyst… you know a lot about vampires, right? Since you lived with them?"

She shrugged. "I wouldn't say a lot, but yeah."

"So just… Tell me. Completely honestly. Is it possible that I'm controlling you?"

Amethyst's first instinct was to reject the idea outright, but his blue eyes were big and pleading, so she leaned against the wall and really thought about it.

So. One: some vamps could control humans. Mostly on a pretty subtle, mild level, while a small number were more powerful. Those guys were higher ranking in the Courts, generally, least according to Rose. It was how they avoided being discovered, helped to ensure a stable supply of 'food'.

Two: some vampires could control animals. Amethyst was pretty sure she remembered Pearl lecturing about that. Wasn't considered very useful. Vampires didn't really like the taste of animal blood that much, apparently.

Three: And when it came to werewolves, vampires could….

Well. Amethyst didn't actually know. Vamps didn't like werewolves, as a rule. Part of it was just the whole 'opposites' things. Vampires- so fancy, restrained, elegant. Of course they hated any species whose whole thing was being hairy and messy.

But it went beyond that, though. The Vampire Courts had a vested interest in keeping the magical world a secret. "The Masquerade" they called it, wanting to be all fancy and important sounding. It was easier to control things that way, get food without people noticing, feeding off the homeless, the poor, the infirm. They were strict about who fed when and where, to make sure no one blew their cover. But werewolves couldn't be strict. Come the full moon, they all Changed, whether they liked it or not. So most Courts would kill a werewolf on sight, just to be safe.

(But Steven and Iris and his mom had protected her, because they were good. Obviously.)

She gave a little headshake. Besides the point.

The point was, if vamps could control werewolves, they wouldn't just kill 'em off. They'd be using them.

But… every vampire was different. And besides, Steven wasn't a normal vampire. He was a halfling. Maybe the rules were different for him.

"I… don't know," Amethyst answered slowly. "I guess… I mean, I guess it's possible."

Steven's eyes widened in alarm.

Amethyst, for her part, felt totally calm. Maybe it was possible, but the friendship and connection she had with Steven felt so genuine. No way that was forced.

But even if it was…. Would she mind? Amethyst was pretty sure she wouldn't, and some part of her recognised that was kinda weird.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man," chanted Steven, pacing in a circle. "This- there's gotta be some way to figure this out-"

"Maybe there is," said Amethyst.

"What- what do you mean?"

"I dunno. I guess… like… some sort of test or something?"

"A test! You're a genius!"

Amethyst puffed out her chest and grinned. "Sure am."

Steven said he just needed to come up with a plan. Amethyst was sure he could, since he was so clever. It only took him a couple minutes of pacing.

He took off her collar. Amethyst let him, even if it left her feeling weirdly naked and exposed.

"I need to give you some alone time. My family's going out for dinner in about an hour, and Iris has Court business. You'll have the entire apartment to yourself."

Amethyst nodded eagerly. "And… what do you want me to do?"

"Well, whatever you want to do."

She blinked. "Uh… okay."

Steven nodded. Got up to leave. Hung near the door for a few moments, looking at her, face worried.

"Hey man," she said. "It's gonna be fine."

"R-right. Okay. Bye."

He left.

Amethyst stared at the closed door for a few moments, then got up, and stared around the bedroom. Whatever she wanted, huh?

Over the past couple of months, her room had filled with all kinds of entertainment, though she didn't have much time for any of it- usually she was either hanging out with Steven somewhere else, or out cold.

Now she finally took the chance to enjoy all the cool stuff she has. She sprawled out on the bed and watched TubeTube videos, half-listening to the people moving out around outside. Somehow a list of the Top Ten Worst Ice Cream Flavors Ever Invented just didn't seem enough to keep her attention.

She found a few flash games online, tower defense and color matching things, the stuff that Pearl rolled her eyes at and called time wasters.

Ugh. Pearl.

Amethyst rolled off the bed and stomped over to the bookshelf. All the boring books were still there, but Steven had grabbed her some more fun ones. She grabbed one at random, flipping through it idly. Some geeky adventure novel thing, about a kid hero with an enchanted shield. Why not?

She started on the first chapter just as Steven and the rest of his family headed out. It was fun. Cool mystery, interesting characters, some neat fight scenes.

But after about forty minutes, she found she really didn't want to continue.

She dropped the book down on the desk, not bothering to mark her place. She stood up, stretched. Looked around for something else fun to do, and found nothing.

Maybe she could go into the living room and watch TV?

Nah. That didn't seem interesting either.

She was restless. Only to be expected, with the full moon just a few days away.

Wandering over to the window, she pulled back the blinds and stared up. The moon was hidden by a thick cover of clouds, but she could still feel it there.

This would be her third month there with Steven.

Amethyst gripped the windowsill. She didn't want to think about that. Didn't want to think of what had been before. Didn't matter, anyway.

She shook her head, like she was trying to get water out of her ears.

Hungry. She was hungry. She went to raid the kitchen.

Some leftover pasta, an apple and two cookies went a long way to settling her, but it still didn't do much. In fact, she thought she might have over ate. Which was ridiculous, she'd never over ate in her entire life, but she felt weird. Kinda nauseous.

She drank some water, didn't do much. Maybe a walk would help?

Just thinking it perked her up. Yeah, a walk. Something active, physical.

She hesitated a little at the door, realizing she didn't actually have any keys to lock it behind her. Eventually she shrugged. Place probably had tons of protective spells on it.

She set off.

There weren't a lot of people out. It was a dark, cool night, and even though it wasn't actively raining, it sure was threatening to. Amethyst didn't mind. She set down the street at a brisk jog, stomping heavier in the puddles than she had to, relishing the feel of cold water splashing her nice trousers. The darkness held no danger to her; she could see into the shadows, and take anything they might throw at her. She gained speed as she rushed down the sidewalks. Wind tousled her hair, carrying exotic, interesting smells. A feast of them, one she could only dine on this close to Changing. Gasoline, fast food, rotting leaves, cooking dinners, cats, garbage-

- vampire.

She stopped dead as the smell slammed into her.

It wasn't just that it was a vampire. It was that she recognised the individual smell, faint as it was, nearly drowned out by everything out. Cool and crisp, floral too, like lilies and green tea.

There was another smell, less noticeable at first for being so human. But it wasn't just a random human's. It was familiar, painfully so: hot, like charcoal and cinnamon….

She should leave. They'd left her behind.

But Amethyst found herself moving towards the smells regardless.

She crept through the shadows, telling herself what a terrible idea it was, but unable to stop. She'd nearly ate Steven cuz of them. They'd stopped watching her, abandoned her, left her alone in the forest and never picked her up-

- but… wait, hadn't Amethyst left the forest first?

She paused behind a trash can. There was the very car they'd been meant to pick her up in. A totally plain, ordinary looking SUV with dark tinted windows.

Its door flung open, the smell of cinnamon spilling out into the streets. "Amethyst?" Ruby called, holding something purple and glowing in her hands. "Amethyst! Please! Are you out here?!"

Another voice came from the car's. Pearl's. "Do you see her?"

"No, but the spell's activated… She has to… AMETHYST!"

Another door opened, and out stepped a second figure, sharp and lithe. A cool, crisp smell, chilled with worry and anxiety.

Amethyst's nails dug into her skin. It was a trick. It had to be.

Then they turned to face her, and in the light of the street lamps, Amethyst saw Ruby and Pearl's expression. Pleading, fearful, desperate.

Something inside her broke, and Amethyst stepped out from behind the trash can.

"G-guys?" Amethyst said, voice catching.

Their eyebrows flew up. They stared at her in a moment of muted shock. And then, in chorus they cried, "Amethyst!"

Ruby opened her arms for a hug, and automatically, Amethyst flung herself toward her. In moments she felt the woman wrapped around her, familiar and warm.

"Where have you been?" Pearl admonished. "We've been looking everywhere for you- Do you have any idea how worried-I can't believe you'd do something so irresponsible!"

But then she was hugging Amethyst too, her skin too-cold and too-hard, but comforting all the same. Amethyst squeezed back, burying her head into Pearl's chest, holding back a sudden and unexpected burn of tears.

This was what she wanted to do. She wanted to be with her family.

Iris was preparing Steven's breakfast of blueberry pancakes when she heard the sound of the apartment's front door opening.

She was instantly on alert. Her Lady and Greg had intended to wait out the day in the Court, and would not be home for hours. The only two other people with keys were Steven and Amethyst, who should have been both sleeping soundly in their rooms-

"Amethyst?" came Steven's voice. "Amethyst, is that you?"

He was whispering, a whole room and a corridor away, but Iris could still hear him. There was very little she could not.

"Yeah. It's me." The jangle of keys being shoved into a pocket.

"When I didn't find you in your bedroom, I thought… I was afraid that…"

"I went for a walk," said Amethyst. "Trust me, dude. I am exactly where I want to be."

A creak of floorboards, a small gasp, the rustle of fabric against fabric. The two of them were hugging.

Iris continued to wash the berries. It seemed that Amethyst had been out during the night, which was strange, and potentially worrying. The Lady would have to be informed. For now, nothing seemed to be immediately concerning. The boy and his werewolf came into the kitchen, and dug happily into breakfast.

When less than ten minutes later, the front door opened again, Iris heard it instantly.

Four sets of footsteps, moving quickly, right towards them. The smell of sulphur and mandrake roots filled her nostrils. And the unmistakable smell of cold iron.

A vampire.

"Steven!" she cried, reaching for the knife she always kept at her belt. "We must run-"

"That ain't gonna happen, Bangs," Amethyst growled.

Steven's voice was suddenly small and scared. "Ame? What are you-? Let go of me!"

Iris did not hesitate. She flexed the muscle in her wrist and felt the concealed knife slide from her forearm and fall into her hand.

She lunged at the werewolf, but a hand caught her by the wrist, ice cold.

"Don't you dare." The voice was nothing but a deadly hiss, but Iris knew it well; Pearl. One of the leaders of the rebellion.

"You will not have him!" Iris yelled. She found her balance and tried to kick her attacker, but Iris felt the wind of the rebel vampire's dodge brush against her cheek. Before she could regain herself, Iris felt her arm twist and contort, causing her to scream in pain.

Iris's senses were being overwhelmed. Partly by the growing smell of sulphur, but also by the pain that was shooting from her arm.

It was chaos.

Chaos, and terror, and uncertainty. Iris had never been a fighter. Not in her life as a human, nor her life beyond. The advantages of a vampire were hers; strength, agility, speed- but her opponent had these advantages as well. The rebel was trained, she was an expert, and Iris didn't even know who exactly Pearl had brought along.

Iris paused, just for a moment, and listened as best she could. And in that instant, she heard the barest whisper of her opponent shifting the weight on her feet. Know now where to strike, Iris kicked at the rebel's heels. Her grip loosened on Iris's arm and she exploited that moment, pulling her arm free and leaping back.

But before she could begin another attack, Iris began to feel the telltale hum of magic against her person. The rebel had brought magic users.

"Amethyst, we need that collar," a rebel Iris hadn't heard before. One of the spellcasters..

"Where'd ya put it, Steven?" Amethyst demanded.

"In- In my room- Amethyst, please, stop-"

But she wouldn't, and Iris knew it.

Iris leapt at the rebel vampire, jabbing and stabbing, trying to land a single blow. Her only hope now was to get her charge safely back to Her Lady's Court. A goal she would need to be quick in. She could hear Steven struggling against his attackers. He was so small, so weak for a vampire, and he was wholly unprepared. His heart was thundering with desperate terror-

- and then it began to slow. Ba dump, ba dump, ba dump…

"He's out!" one of the humans cried.

Iris felt a surge of fury and fear, and with a final slash managed to graze Pearl with her knife. The cut was clean, as was the yelp of surprise from the rebel, but the retaliatory punch Iris took across the jaw sent her falling backwards.

"Take him!" another human barked, and Iris could hear Steven being dragged across the floor. She had to- had to get to him-

But she couldn't. She couldn't. Her opponents were too strong, too powerful. Everywhere she tried to run, they were one step ahead of her, blocking her.

She could still hear shouting. Barked orders to search the building, find any useful documents, any incriminating evidence, anything, anything at all, which could be used against the Blue Lady and Her Court-

"I've gotten as much as I can!"

"Then we retreat!"

"We have two minutes until my flame spell activates. Two minutes."

Pearl's fist slammed against Iris's temple, leaving her on her knees. A cold breeze brushed against the back of Iris's neck as she felt the renegade lean next to her ear and whisper, "Run."

When Iris regained her bearings, only moments later, the rebels had fled. She charged after them, out of the house and down the corridor. She couldn't smell them- their scents were being blocked- but she could hear him. Heard Steven's heartbeat, slow and steady, sleeping- She was barely corporeal now, more air than flesh, a mist rolling down the staircase- She had to get them back before-

She reached the foyer, and the sunlight hit her.

If Iris had had a mouth, she would have screamed.

But she didn't. She just rushed forward. She could still- still save him-

The sunlight burned, burned, burned, and Iris fell to the floor. Her skin materialized, already charring.

She couldn't move forward. It was all she could manage to crawl out of the direct sunlight, to tuck herself under the blessed shade of a table.

"Steven-" she whispered.

There was a smell like cinnamon and charcoal, and above, a rush of heat as the Universe's apartment was engulfed in flames.

Waking up felt like crawling out of a thick, suffocating mud. Every time Steven got close to the surface, he was pulled back into the blackness.

Finally, though, Steven fought through. He didn't open his eyes immediately, if only because the thought of it was so exhausting. He just lay there. Breathing.

He was calm, relaxed. The bed beneath him was soft.

But the air was cold. He wondered why he didn't have a blanket; had it fallen off in the night? He tried to grasp around for it, but his arms were much too heavy to move. Not because of the now rapidly-withdrawing sleep, but because there was something on them. Something heavy… metallic… Handcuffs.

His breath hitched.

There were many strange voices, low and murmuring. He struggled to understand them.

"How long will we have to wait?"

"It'll take a few minutes for the spell to wear off…"

"But soon."

"There's still time, Amethyst. You don't need to be here."

Amethyst.

"No. No, I wanna. I'm the reason he's here."

Summoning all of his strength, Steven sat up and opened his eyes.

Amethyst met them, her expression stubborn and fierce and angry.

The memories of the raid on his home slammed in Steven all at once, and the realization of Amethyst's betrayal cut him deep.

But was it really betrayal, if she'd never chosen to be his friend in the first place?

Amethyst wasn't alone. The other attackers were there with her, the two humans and the vampire. And standing next to Amethyst, hand resting on her shoulder, was a second vampire. She was huge, and pink, from the frills of her dress, the curls of her hair, and the piercing shine of her eyes.

"Hello, young dhampir," said rebel leader, Rose. "We need to talk."

The night air was thick with the smell of ash. Two parents stood outside the remains of what had been their apartment.

Blue was crying. Thick, furious tears, punctuated only by cries for revenge.

Greg didn't have the energy. He just stood there, numb and hollow. He'd always been told magic stuff was dangerous, but until now, none of it had seemed real…

"Oh Steven," he said, "where are you?"

AN: Happy Halloween, dear readers!

But unfortunately, that's all we have planned for this particular AU this year. We'll see you here next October, when we'll continue the supernatural adventures of vampires, werewolves, and Steven Universe.