She opened her eyes.

At first, she was confused. Why had she been asleep? Gems didn't need sleep. Then again, her entire body ached. Perhaps she had retreated into her gem as a result of injury. That would explain the horrible emptiness she felt in her chest…

Sapphire.

"Sapphire?" Ruby whispered, struggling to her feet. She felt awful. The cold air surrounded her body, sending a chill down her spine. Where was Sapphire? Usually she could sense when her friends were close by. Then again, that could just be an ability of her friend's. "Sapphire? Sapphire!" Her shouts bounced off the walls of the small containment she was in, returning unanswered to her ears.

Looking around her cell frantically, she whipped her head around and let out a gasp of relief. Sapphire lay just a few feet away from her, eyes closed and motionless. Ruby wasted no time in running towards her friend, yelling her name quickly. "Sapphire, Sapphire, Sapph-"

Her cry was cut off as she collided with something. Blinking away tears of pain, the red gem took a hasty step back and rubbed her sore nose. "Ow! Hey, what's with this!" She glared angrily at the air in front of her, noticing a bit too late that there was a tiny gleam of light reflecting off it. It must be some sort of semi-invisible gem field…

As she drew herself up, utter panic swept through her again. Sapphire was lying on the other side of the field. Alone.

"SAPPHIRE!" Ruby screamed, banging her fists against the field in utter desperation. She knew she couldn't hope to break through it, but her other was lying so still… she couldn't be dead, but she wasn't waking up. What had they done to her? Why couldn't she hear her cries?

"Subject 1 has woken up." Ruby was shocked briefly out of her panic as a slightly raspy voice echoed through her cell, rather like Peridot's but different somehow. It seemed to be coming from somewhere outside the containment. "Preceding to remove soporific gases from subject 2's chamber. Recording reaction and emotional stages… now."

Almost as though she had been shocked, Sapphire's eyes snapped open. Ruby took a step back, not wanting to scare Sapphire lest the taller gem be in the same sleepy state she had been in. The blue gem blinked, pulling herself to her feet and looking around the cell blearily.

"Sapphire? Sapphire, can you hear me?" Ruby called. Sapphire showed absolutely no reaction. The red gem took in a deep breath, feeling the same uncomfortable butterflies start up in her stomach again. No, not butterflies - wasps. They stung her with anxiety, their pricks sending frantic venom through her head.

On the other side of the field, Sapphire was brushing down her dress and staring about, wondering what had happened. She couldn't see anything. Three of the walls of the small cell she was in were a bland white, while the fourth one just across from her was a strange blurry color. It flickered occasionally, prompting her to wonder exactly what it was.

As she peered at the strange wall, a pang of loneliness suddenly took hold of her. What was wrong? She felt as though something were horribly wrong, like something was gone…

Ruby.

Sapphire stood and looked around, heavy anxiety quickly etching itself on her face. "Ruby?" she called, panic shaking her tone. When no answer came, the blue gem shrunk into a corner, staring around frantically. "Ruby!" Still, there was no reply.

Shutting her eyes, Sapphire began to think as hard as she could. Ok. Ruby's gone. I'm trapped in a cell, most likely by homeworld gems because of the strange wall. That's most likely some sort of energy field. Also, I'm hearing some sort of crackling noise from the ceiling… How exactly could this get any worse?

Her question was answered as a voice came from near the ceiling, presumably from some sort of observation chamber. "Beginning test one. Technician, engage electric fields."

"Engaging." That was a familiar voice. Where had she heard that before?

The answer came as soon as the painful shock from the wall she was leaning against did. Peridot.

Sapphire let out a yelp and jumped away from the wall. A loud hum was being emitted from it, as though machinery was in use, and it was glowing faintly. She yelled again as another wall hummed and agonizing electricity jolted her teeth, spreading out from where her fingers were brushing it. She immediately ran into the middle of the room, away from the electric walls. All four were humming and glowing now, including the energy field to the right.

Sapphire took a deep breath. It's ok. As long as you don't lean on any walls, you won't be electrocuted and won't need to retreat into your gem. You're safe here.

Her mind was immediately changed as an incredible whirring started underneath her. Looking down, she swallowed down her dread as an unmistakable glow started beneath her feet. She barely had time to gasp before a huge surge of electricity entered the floor and hit her limbs like fire.

A loud shriek of pain tore its way from her throat as her limbs convulsed, the floor electrocuting her with terrifying intensity. She leaped into the air, only freed from the agony for a second before she crashed down into a world of pain again. Her earth-shattering cries began to die after a minute or two of spasming, her throat growing painfully raw and her limbs fatigued.

It was too horrible. The electricity reminded her so much of her red skinned companion, who had been able to channel energy with simply her hands. Every shock felt as though it were coming from her, though Sapphire knew it couldn't be.

Just as she thought that the electricity would become too much and she would retreat into her gem, the humming died down and the suffering ended. Letting out a faint moan of pain, Sapphire slumped to the floor and closed her eyes, tears welling up threateningly as she took a few deep breaths.

The humming disappeared in the surrounding walls, too. Once she was sure all electricity was gone, Sapphire opened her eyes and lifted her head, scanning the cell once again wearily. The crackling near the ceiling started up again.

"Test one completed. Beginning recovery observations on subject 2."

Sapphire didn't speak. She simply lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling silently and allowing her body to slowly recover.

"What? What's going on?!" Ruby shouted up towards the ceiling. What did they mean by electric fields? Why couldn't she get near Sapphire? Why did she have to be so close…

Of course, no reply came. Ruby let out a shout of pure anger and stomped furiously, her hands curling into tight fists. She punched the wall, feeling shame as she whimpered in pain. That wall had to be made out of something extremely hard.

Suddenly, she heard humming. Her gaze snapped up just in time to see Sapphire leap away from one of the walls, her mouth opening. Ruby's mouth dropped open when she heard a loud cry of agony from the blue gem. Why can I hear her too, when she can't hear me?

The red gem didn't have much time to dwell on this before her other leaped away from another wall, huddling in the center of the room. The humming grew even louder, and Ruby felt her lungs becoming dry as she let out a scream of pure terror and fury for her trapped companion when Sapphire sparked with electricity and cried out in pain.

The blue gem stayed in that position for almost a minute, twitching and shrieking, her cries eventually diminishing into whimpers. Ruby felt like throwing up as her shouts went unheard.

Her natural instinct was to protect the ones she loved, and most specifically the gem on the other side of the field. She was built to fight, to annihilate in order to save and guard her friends. But there was nothing to punch here. There was nothing she could do but sit and watch her love shake in utter anguish, her instinct fighting and fighting uselessly.

Finally, the energy seemed to die down as Sapphire fell, her twitching stopping. Ruby, who had been pounding angrily on the field to no avail, fell with her, eyes staring with panic and silent rage at the floor on the other side.

There was nothing either of them could do. Especially Ruby. She could only stare as the other gem picked herself up, a tear running down from underneath her hair and her shoulders hanging back. She was defeated. They were both defeated.

But there was clearly still so much more to come.

A/N: A side story I thought I'd do to get rid of my writer's block. Basically, in this story, Homeworld has captured Sapphire and Ruby and separated them. Peridot knows that they share an incredible bond, and the gem scientists want to know just how strong that bond is. So what do they do? Put Sapphire through increasing levels of pain in front of Ruby, watching her reaction until she breaks.

I should update relatively soon, if anybody actually likes this…