Author's note: This story begins in the middle of the Steven Universe episode "The Trial."

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The courtroom around him was cold as he endured the relentless hateful stares from the two Diamonds seated in front of him. He only had one line of defense: a shaky Zircon who didn't want him alive but had no choice but to fight for his life.

"Blue Diamond, for the purpose of this argument, may I present your palanquin?" The blue Zircon politely asked as she paced the trial hall.

Blue Diamond leaned down and stared at the gem. "Why?"

Zircon straightened up and fear entered her eyes. "I would like to demonstrate the unlikeliness of someone being able to approach Pink Diamond."

Blue leaned back and glanced at Yellow.

"No," she finally said. "I don't want a traitor near my property."

"Of course, my Diamond," Zircon said, flustered. She recovered after taking a deep breath and continued to pace. "Now, as the records show, Pink Diamond was shattered just outside a palanquin much like this. Witnesses say Pink had just stepped out and had only taken a few steps forward when Rose attacked her from the front!"

Blue Diamond made a distressed sound and turned away as she visualized the scene.

"But the question no one seems to be asking is how?" the Zircon continued.

"I've been asking that!" Blue exclaimed.

"And right you are to ask, my Diamond!" Zircon quickly recovered with a stutter. "Because at that time that Pink was shattered, Rose Quartz had been a recognized threat for several hundred years. There were no Rose Quartz soldiers in her entourage and none in her guard. So how did a Rose Quartz, with no business being anywhere near Pink Diamond, get so close in the first place? Where were Pink Diamond's attendants? Her Agates, Her Sapphires? And where was her Pearl? "

"They were with her, of course, they saw the whole thing!" Yellow shouted out in anger as she slammed her fist on her throne.

"But none of them saw Rose Quartz approach? Wouldn't her Sapphires have seen Rose Quartz coming? Wouldn't her Agates have tried to fight her off?" Zircon questioned, not paying attention to the rising tension in the room as the Diamonds took in this new information.

"She must have slipped past them!" Yellow insisted.

"Even if she did, wouldn't her Pearl have cried out an alarm, 'Watch out, My Diamond!?'" Zircon called in a sing-song over the top voice. "No, whoever did this was already close to Pink Diamond. Someone her guards would allow to get near her, someone she would listen to when asked to stop her palanquin and step outside, and someone with the authority to cover it up afterwards! Someone with supreme authority. Someone... like one of you!" She finished her statement by dramatically pointing at Blue and Yellow.

Blue gasped out and Yellow stood, her entire form rigid with anger.

Zircon didn't even have a chance to redeem herself before she was crushed under Yellow's boot. The Diamond lifted her leg and the remains to the gem glittered on the floor: shattered. The other Zircon quietly stepped back and formerly offered the Diamond salute when Yellow turned to her.

Yellow huffed and waved her away. The Zircon walked out of the room as swiftly as she was good, not even looking happy about her victory.

And Steven, he was staring at the gem fragments in front of him.

He really messed up.

That was all he could think as the Diamonds glared coldly down at him.

"You even managed to turn a member of my court against us," Blue said, her voice filled with so much anger that it sent chills down Steven's spine. "How dare you! Warping her mind to make her think we had a hand in Pink's shattering?!"

"I didn't…," Steven started, but Yellow stepped toward him.

"Imagine, if you had actually summoned your palanquin, Blue," she said, her voice cool. "I bet this traitor was planning on distracting us and making her escape!"

"I wasn't!" Steven said. "Please, listen to me. I have Rose Quartz's gem, but I don't know how she shattered Pink."

"Enough of your lies," Blue snarled. "I've heard enough. You'll be broken for this."

Yellow clapped her hands together. "About time! Let's shatter her where she stands."

Steven's heart stopped at these words and he felt Lars run forward and grab his arm in fear.

"No," Blue said as she looked over at Yellow.

"No?!" Yellow exclaimed.

"It should be all of us."

Silence filled the room as Yellow regarded Blue with a look of deep appreciation and respect.

"You're absolutely right," Yellow said with a nod. "White should be involved."

"White?" Steven asked, unable to help himself.

Both of the Diamonds looked down at him, disgust on their face as if Steven had insulted them to the highest degree.

"White Diamond?" Yellow spat out. "How dare you speak of her like you don't know her!"

Steven dropped his head, not wanting to escalate the situation. He really messed up. He knew this could happen, he knew there had been a chance that he would never return him. But to bring Lars into this? He glanced at the panicking teen who clung to his arm. He was talking, but the bubble over his head made it impossible to hear him. He had tears in his eyes as he looked at Steven.

"I have one request," Steven dared to ask. "Before you kill me."

The Diamonds looked down at him.

"We don't owe you anything," Blue sneered. "Not after what you did to her."

"No, you don't," Steven said, but he pressed on. "But this human has nothing to do with any of this. Please, let him go."

Yellow waved her hand. "We'll put him in the Zoo. He'll be happy there. A trophy for our victory over Rose Quartz."

"He needs to go home! To Earth!" Steven fought, but Yellow slammed her hand down on the arm of her throne.

"You don't make orders here," she told him, her voice sharp enough to cut through steel. "He will go into the Zoo."

Steven looked at Lars, who clearly had no idea what they meant by "zoo."

"Okay," Steven finally agreed, his voice smaller than he intended it to be. "Just don't hurt him." He stepped away from Lars and pulled his arm out of the teen's grasp. "I'm sorry," he told his friend. "I never wanted you to be apart of this."

A pearlescent dome appeared around the teen and swallowed him from view before it sunk back into the floor. A small weight was lifted from Steven's chest at the thought of Lars being safe before it was replaced with something much heavier.

He was going to die. He was going to die on Homeworld for his mother's crimes and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Pearl," Yellow barked. "Inform White's Pearl what transpired. We have an execution to plan."

"Yes, my Diamond," Yellow Pearl said before she left the room.

"Pearl, " Blue said to hers. "Get the guards and have them escort this traitor back to her cell."

"Yes, my Diamond," Blue Pearl said softly. She tapped a few buttons of her screen and the doors slid open.

Steven barely registered one of Aquamarine's Topaz guard picking him up and pinning him against her side, as if she was hugging him more than restraining him. He barely felt how hard she held him and didn't notice the sideways glances as she brought him back to the plain white room. She gently put him inside of it and the door closed behind.

He didn't pay any attention to it though.

How does someone process that they're going to die? Steven just stared blankly at the floor in front of him, unaware of the tears that streamed down his face as his mind replayed the moment he last saw his loved ones. They were in the ocean, yelling at him to jump down. Telling him not to do this.

And then he said what he knew could be his last words to them. I love you. He didn't even know if they heard him. If they really knew how much he meant it.

He slowly pulled his knees to his chest, but stopped as he looked down to his stomach. He lifted his shirt and examined his gem, which sat dormant. His mother wouldn't want this. But she wasn't here to protect him.

What would happen when they shattered his gem? Would he hear his mother's voice, screaming in pain? Would he see her before she died? Could he live without her gem?

Or would it be him? Would he be the one screaming in agony as they crushed the stone into dust? Would they try to poof him before they did it? Or would they want all of Homeworld to see his physical form shatter along with his gem? Or would he just be crushed by Yellow's heel too?

He let his shirt fall and he stared at his hands. He didn't know what to expect. He didn't even know if he was guilty. Zircon made a good point — how did his mom get so close to Pink? How did no one alert Pink? Why did no one jump to defend her?

Steven shook his head and wiped his eyes. None of that mattered now. All he knew is that he had a choice to make. He could either accept his fate and hope the Diamonds would leave the Earth alone, or he could fight. He caught sight of his reflection on the shiny floor. It was distorted and blurred, but he saw enough.

A scared kid couldn't fight off three Diamonds.

He drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He tore his eyes away from his reflection and every emotion drained out of him until he just felt numb acceptance. He put his head on top of his knees.

He was going to die here.

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Author's Note: First chapter, done! This should be a relatively long story (10+ chapters), but I have not yet started the full outline nor other chapters, so we'll see.

It's also my first Steven Universe Fanfiction without corruption (whoops). I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think and tell me your predictions! What do you think the Diamonds would have done with Steven if he never escaped Homeworld?