Steven continued to hold onto Spinel, mixed emotions overflowed his mind and heart, but the one thing he was so sure of, was that he was over joyed to be hugging Spinel once again. "I'm so sorry Spinel, I'm so sorry...." He apologized softly, running his right hand up and down her back, but his nose scrunched up from the smell of his dirty jacket that was still on her. "Steven stop apologizing god damn it and just let me hold you...." Spinel sniffled a bit as her head was still nuzzled into the crook of his neck and she clung to him even tighter than before. "S-Spinel I missed you to, b-but we can't stay like this..... sitting in the hallway I mean...." Steven explained softly, just in time as well as he heard rushing footsteps coming down the hallway. Spinel in a fit of panic, swung off of Stevens lap, yanked him off the ground in a split second, and shoved him and herself into a nearby closet. Steven's back collided onto one of the empty shelves, thanking his lucky stars that nothing was on that shelf, otherwise their position would have been given away. Speaking of positions, Steven hadn't even noticed this earlier, but with the empty closet being mostly shelves on the inside, and this made Spinel and him be extremely close to each other physically. In a split second in Steven's mind, it felt like it was just him and her in the world, and as he was about to say something he felt the fabric of her fingerless gloves cover his mouth, and he watched her give the "shush" motion with her index finger pressed up against her lips. The sound of rushing footsteps gradually became louder before fading away just as quickly, which earned a relieved sigh from the pair.

   "Fuck that was close...." Spinel sighed softly, now looking back at Steven and blushing a bit from how close they were. "W-We're pretty close....." Steven spoke softly, his face reddening as well, his brown eyes studying her pale face, and he now noticed make up stained tears that dried on her cheeks. "Y-Yea we are....." Spinel whispered softly, "I really am glad you're alive....b-but you need to get out of here, you could die and......i-i don't want to go through with that thought again...." she added on. Steven gulped a bit, slightly hesitant on how he was here not only to see Spinel, but also to rescue Pearl as well. "Spinel I'm sorry, but I came here to rescue Pearl as well" he admitted, and he watched Spinels face fall into a worried and dissapointed expression. "S-Steven no! You need to get out of here! I can't lose you again!" Spinel spoke softly but sternly, her body quaking with fear, "please Steven....not again....." she begged while clutching onto the shelves behind Steven. Steven bit his lip as he looked deeply into her eyes, "Spinel please.....I can't leave Pearl behind, even if we're not related she's still family.....the quicker I find her, the quicker I'm out of here....." he explained sternly, "....h-help me Spinel? Help me escape with Pearl and no one will know you're involved, please? I know I'm asking a lot and I know you don't want to risk everything you've worked so hard for but.....I'm begging you....." he begged. Spinel bit her lip, giving in to those puppy eyes ever so slowly, "damn it why do you have to be so cute?....." she grumbled. Steven sighed in relief, "do you know where she is?" He asked with hope in his voice. Spinel bit her lip, "Y-Yea I do.....she may not be in the best condition Steven I'm sorry...." she apologized as she leaned her forehead against his forehead, her voice quaky as she attempted to hold back her sobs once again. "I-I'm so s-sorry Steven, i-i was told to kill her and i-i just couldn't do it......I sh-shot her ear is all b-but I still feel h-horrible a-about doing it, sh-she reminded me so much of y-you and it d-didnt feel right to e-execute her..." Spinel sobbed, years of guilt and anguish have finally overflowed her corked up bottle of emotions, "I'm so s-sorry, p-please don't h-hate me...." she whimpered softly as she let the tears roll down her cheeks and fall on Steven's concerned face. Steven was full of mixed emotions once again, he wanted to be angry at Spinel for almost killing Pearl, but then he couldn't help but feel concerned for Spinel once he saw how she basically broke down under years of pressure and pain. "Spinel.....I don't hate you, I can see you've been feeling guilty about this, about everything you've done, you've already been punishing yourself for so long, but that ends right now......Yes you've done bad things, you've committed horrible acts, but I'm gonna help you right those wrongs......I'm gonna do the hardest part with you....." He spoke softly, his gentle hands reaching up and cupping her face to help reassure her, and his thumbs wiping away the tears. Spinel continued to whisper her apologies to Steven, she just wanted to stay like this forever, to spend however long she can to make up every horrible thing that she did to him, and to everyone that she wronged. "Hey....Hey Spinel it's ok, it's ok shhh it's ok...." Steven whispered softly and sweetly as he continued to wipe her tears away, his hands stained with make up tears, but then something clicked inside him, something he had been wanting to do and something that he hoped wouldn't get him slapped. Steven inhaled slowly, he then exhaled slowly  before bringing her face even closer to where he was now pressing his lips against hers in a reassuring and loving kiss. Spinel's body tensed up greatly from the gentle yet passionate kiss, she could feel the love that he has for her flowing in that kiss, and she greatly gave all of her love that she has for him right back into that kiss. They both felt that spark, that little flicker of that familiar flame for each other, that one spark that set off the fireworks of love, and both Steven and Spinel could feel that love exploding for one another in a burst of sparks and color. Steven, however, was the first to break the kiss, which earned a needy whimper from Spinel. "As much as I would love to do more....we need to go find Pearl...." He explained gently, watching her face twist from slight annoyance to defeat. "Yeah...yeah you're right....." Spinel admitted as she slightly opened the closet door to poke her head out, and after after checking to make sure the coast was clear, she grabbed Steven's hand and yanked him along with her to where Pearl was being held captive.

    "She's in here.... I'll keep watch as you untie her and get her bandaged up enough to where we can get the two of you out" Spinel explained as she opened the door to Pearl's room and shoved Steven inside, and then she rushed inside and closed the door enough to where it was left open a crack, perfect for keeping an eye out. Steven nodded at Spinel, but then gasped when he saw Pearl tied up in the chair, bruised and bloody from her injured ear. "Pearl?!?! Oh god!" Steven gulped as he rushed over to untie her from the chair, and he could feel her stir out of discomfort. "St-Steven? My b-baby is that you? You're alive!?...." Pearl asked with hope, and she felt her arms and legs loosen from her bindings. "Y-Yeah it's me Pearl, I'll explain everything later, but let's get you patched up and get us out of here" Steven explained quickly as he rushed around the room to look for a med-kit of some sorts, lucky for him there was a couple bandages he could use for the time being to help stop the bleeding. But as soon as Steven approached Pearl from the front, he was quickly enveloped in a hug from her, and he was quick to return the hug. Pearl was a crying mess as she hugged Steven tightly, and Steven was trying to hold back tears but eventually failed in doing so. "P-Pearl I'm so sorry....I-I'm so sorry I snapped at you....p-please forgive me..." Steven sniffled as he pulled away slightly from Pearl. "Steven it's ok, I'm just glad you're alive, I should be the one apologizing, but h-how did you even get here?!" Pearl asked with worry, then she gasped with fear, "were you kidnapped to?!?!" she asked. "N-No Pearl, Amethyst came up with a plan and I was a part of it, I volunteered to get you....b-but also to see Spinel again...." Steven admitted while a small blush developed on his face, "a-and she's gonna help us escape ok?" he explained. Pearl seemed a bit shocked, she looked into Steven's eyes before glancing over to Spinel, and she noticed it was clear that Spinel was watching her and Steven before darting her pink colored eyes to look back through the crack of the door. "Pearl please trust me, and please put your trust in Spinel even if it's for a little bit....." Steven asked with a Stern face, well, more like demanded really. Pearl bit her lip, extremely hesitant on trusting someone that almost killed them less than an hour ago, but one look at Steven's determined face made her reluctantly agree. Steven then smiled as he started to apply the bandage on Pearl's ear as best as he could, feeling her wince every now and then from when the fabric of the bandage touched her ear. "C'mon, c'mon you two, I don't know how long it'll be till someone comes looking for me, or to check if Pearl has been "offed" if you know what I mean" Spinel spoke as she glanced at Steven as he was just finishing with patching up Pearl, "god I really do hope this'll be a step towards him forgiving me...." she thought to herself. "Ok ok let's go" Pearl answered as she got up from the chair and grabbed Stevens hand before heading towards the door. Spinel held up a hand to motion the two to stop in their tracks, she poked her head out of the crack of the door and looked left, then right, and left once again before motioning to the two to follow after her. Soon it was a series of stop, go, and hide. Spinel always kept ahead of Pearl and Steven, checking around every corner to see if they'd run into trouble, luckily Spinel only needed to hide Steven and Pearl in a different room once, and she leaned against the doorframe to act as if nothing was wrong. Once the coast was clear, Spinel ushered Steven and Pearl out of the room and hurried them towards the exit, a side door that is attached to a wide open area of a room, their ticket out of there. "Ok go you two go! I'll make up something about Pearl escaping ok? Just go!" Spinel hissed out of urgency, "I'll punch myself if I have to alright? JUST go!" she added on as she hurriedly pushed Steven and Pearl to the exit. As Spinel was about to shove them out the door, a voice spoke among the darkness of the room, an unsettling yet calm voice was heard, and it was one that sent chills up Spinels spine. "Starlight? What are you doing?" was what was heard, and that prompted the trio to slowly look to where the voice was located, and all three pairs of wide eyed eyes landed on none other than Blanca "White" Diamond, and standing beside her was Celeste "Blue" Diamond, and Amber "Yellow" Diamond, "The Unholy Trinity" as they're called, and the leaders of the Diamonds Gang.