The Babysitter

Failed

Black's PoV:

Bursting out of the vent on the balcony, I quickly scan the area.

But nobody was to be seen.

My thoughts race as I begin to attempt to process what had happened. No... I've failed... I couldn't even keep one other person's child safe on my own.... how the heck did Lime cope?

I haven't failed..... failure isn't a thing, there's always a way through...

But you can't take back the past, can you?

I- well... I can make up for it...

But it's your fault that this happened. You could have saved everyone. And yet you chose not to.

I know and I REGRET EVERYTHING!

But do you?

YES!! It's obvious-

But is it?

SHUT UP! STOP SAYING 'BUT', AND STOP MAKING ME DOUBT MYSELF!

But I'm not making you doubt yourself, you're doing that already.

...

Not such an optimist any more, are you?

"Is she...." Lime calls from behind me, silencing my thoughts. That little voice of doubt that I'd let consume me.

Turning around, I just shake my head, unable to form words. Rose, Peach and Emerald were all nervously standing behind Lime.

"Where is she?" Emerald murmurs.

"I.... I don't know..." Rose answers, although her eyes were drawn to the railings of the balcony and I'm pretty sure she had it all figured out, the shock was evident in her expression. She grabs Peach's hand tightly and whispered "Let's go", pulling her back into the cafeteria.

"Why?" The shorter child asked, but followed anyway.

"I'm going to go with them" Emerald sighs, waiting until Lime gave a nod of agreement before scuttling off into the cafeteria with the others.

"We have to go back. Now. I don't care what NASA says, but we can't stay here any longer" Lime firmly declared.

"Yes" I quickly agree, "it's not safe here. But we can only leave when Scarlet is better"

"I... I'll tell the children that we're going back soon then. But we can't..... about Teal...."

"Definitely not" I nodded. They'd been through too much already...

Rose's PoV:

My eyes flicked between Black and Lime a few times, wondering what had happened. If Black was looking for Teal, then where was she? Why had he stopped?

"Is she...." Lime murmured, his dread-filled voice beginning to trail off.
That's the thing with Lime. He was so easy to read, it was impossible for him to hide anything... he physically couldn't.

"Where is she?" Emerald asked, turning around as he scanned for Teal. But I'd worked it out by now.

As my gaze began drifting to the balcony, I remembered what had happened here before. Yeah, I still didn't fully understand emotions, I'm not going to deny that... however I did know that ejection was a... sensitive subject for Peach. And I guess I didn't want her to be upset? I don't know...

She squeaked in confusion as I grabbed her hand, so I just whispered "Let's go", before pulling her into the cafeteria.

"Why?" She asked. I didn't give her a response, but she followed anyway. I was grateful that I didn't have to come up with an excuse.
A few seconds after, Emerald followed... I didn't turn around, but I could hear his footsteps.

"What do you think happened?!" He asks after catching up to us.

"I don't know!" I lie, "maybe she's hiding somewhere?"

"Oh... okay..." Emerald mumbles. I'm pretty sure he was a little older than I was, yet probably not as alert. Sure, he was smart, just not as good as I was at piecing things together.
He really believed that, huh? Or perhaps he was just choosing to believe...

Lime's PoV:

I walked to the greenhouse. After many failed attempts, I actually got there without help.

"It's Lime!" Chocolate, who was hugging Lapis, happily exclaims, breaking away from the older child and flying into my arms.

"Is everything okay?" Lemon nervously asks, "Black ran past and he looked scared"

"I-It's fine..." I assure, hoping my voice didn't waver too much. "We have good news though"

"Good news?!" Indigo squeals, squeezing Lemon into a hug.

"Too tight" her older sister gasps, and Indigo loosens her grip a tiny bit.

"What is it, Lime?" Lapis asks, clearly just as thrilled as the others, yet tried to maintain his calm, composed manner.

"We're going home. As soon as Scarlet gets better"

"Home?" Snow murmurs, gazing up at me with innocent eyes.

"Yes, Snow" I smile, and he thinks for a second, before proceeding to ask,

"Will mummy come home too?"

I feel a sharp pain in my chest as he says this. They're all so innocent...

"No..." I mumble, feeling a lump in my throat as I break the harsh news. "But I'll look after you all, and we can stay together... no more missions, no Mira, no space... we'll be safe"

"No space?" Chocolate murmurs, shocking me slightly.

"You... you want to go on another mission?" I ask, dumbfounded at his reaction.

"I... I don't know" he whimpers, gripping onto my arm tightly. "Mommy always wanted to go to space... and if she can't, then I want to go there for her"

"What about the bad people?" One of them asks. "Coal said they want to hurt us"

Turning around to source the voice, my eyes fall upon the frightened face of Indigo. "When Lapis asked Coal why his father was an imposter, that's what he said!" She whimpers.

"They... they don't want to hurt us. All they wanted was people to not go into space." I declare, thinking back to my previous conversation with Black.

"We need to get rid of them!" Lapis growls, "so they don't hurt anyone else!"

"But if we try to attack them, won't they just hurt us more?" Rose points out, walking into the room with Peach and Emerald by her side.
"We shouldn't give them a reason to hate us"

"That's true" Peach mumbles. "As much as we want revenge, what good would it do? They're clearly a powerful company... what are we?"

"We're powerful too'" Lemon insisted.

"Yeah," Lapis agreed, "we have each other. That's all we need"

"Exactly" a voice from behind me says. Black.
"All we need is each other. And if we attack ASAN, then we won't have each other any more. So all of you. Promise you won't do anything dangerous."

He has such a way with words...

The children agree and Black turns to me. "That includes you"

I silently nod in agreement, and he wraps his arms around me, trapping me in a tight hug. "Good" he murmurs.