"Greg?" Pearl called up the stairs to the balding man that sat on the edge of the bed at the top. He didn't move, didn't make any motion that he heard her. He just stared down at a glimmering red object in his hands, seemingly unaware of the world around him.
"Greg?" she called, a little louder this time, coming up the stairs as she did so. Still, no acknowledgement of her prescence. Gently, she walked up next to him, tapping him on the shoulder.
Startled, Greg Universe nearly dropped the object he had been holding, crying out in distress at his blunder. But Pearl, with delicate ease and quickness, caught it before it could hit the ground. Instead of handing it back to Greg, she took it gently in her own hands, cradling it against her chest. Her worried eyes glanced over it, looking for any signs of reimurgence.
Greg was rubbing his eyes wearily, not seeming to care that Pearl had taken over gem holding duty. He tried to stand up, but wobbled, and immediately flopped back down on the bed, laying back against it. His eyes stayed open, always staring, staring up at the ceiling that Rose Quartz and the other gems had helped him build years ago.
"Greg, when was the last time you slept?" A concerned Pearl looked at Greg. He was looking extremely exhausted. Pearl knew that gems didn't have to sleep, so there was no harm in not doing it. But for humans, not sleeping could lead to a number of health problems.
"What... is... sleep?" Greg managed to mumble. He went to blink, but his eyes stayed closed, thinking how nice sleep might be. But the next instant he realized he was about to slip into unconciousness, and sat up ubruptly, shaking his head back and fourth to wake himself.
"Can I just have my son back?" He said, looking sternly up at Pearl. She was currently mesmarized by the intricasies of the gem she held in her hands. She remembered fondly when Rose Quartz had belonged to the same one, and how until just four days ago it had belonged to Steven.
Pearl moved her gaze to the human, "Greg, when was the last time you ate?" Worry painted her face. All the gems were broken up about Steven, but none of them had normal human needs to attend to. When humans were upset, they often neglected their own well being. For gems, they just had to keep on going. They had to keep fighting, keep protecting the Earth, no matter if they felt like it or not.
"How can you expect me to eat at a time like this?! I might never see my son again!" Truth be told, the pangs of hunger had left him by the third day. Now there was just a knot in his stomach where food should be. "Now give me back the gem!" Greg reached out for it, but Pearl took a step back, staying just out of reach.
Four days earlier, Steven had been injured while out on a mission. The gems had thought he could take care of himself. He was capable of summoning his shield and his bubble upon command. He'd been tossed around in a few fights before, and was seemingly very scrappy and durable. Before Steven was adept at summoning his shield, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst were always so careful about keeping an eye on him during a battle. But as his skills had gotten better, they'd been giving him more and more slack, allowing him to take risks, and not generally babysitting him as much as they had before.
Unfortunately, the last mission had cost them dearly. Amethyst had the monster trapped in her whip, and Garnet had another hold on it for extra measure. Pearl had leapt into the air, to deliver a final blow to the head. Steven could see they had everything under control. He had just turned around to head back for the warp pad, eager to not miss the next episode of Crying Breakfast Friends. He knew the gems would catch up in a few seconds.
But as he turned around, the creature decided it wanted to make a last blow. It struggled from under the grasp of the two gems, wiggling it's claw out just enough that it was pointing in the same direction as Steven. It shot out several spikes from its claw tips, aimed right at Steven. All the gems were too far away to defend him in time.
"STEVEN!" They'd all cried out at once. But before he could respond, his back was pierced with the several shards from the corrupted gem. He dropped to his knees with a yelp, shaking for a few moments. Pearl finished off the corrupted gem, and Garnet quicky bubbled it. Panic was rising within all three.
It was a rookie mistake for all of them. This was all their fault. They should have listened to their better judgement, to that voice in the back of all their minds that said, he's still too young. But he was a crystal gem too. He had successfully defended them from the Homeworld gems. He'd rescued them from imprisonment. He had made such strides, such progress, all on his own. Even Greg's worry had begun to subside. It had caused them to become complacent, to stop babying Steven.
As they rushed over, Steven's body poofed away, leaving only the Rose Quartz gem. Amethyst was the first to reach it. She scooped it up in her hands, tears already spilling out from her eyes. Pearl was next, taking it gently from Amethyst as the purple gem buried her face in her hands. Pearl's body quivered, her fingers grazing over the polished stone. Garnet hung back as usual, but there was obvious concern written on her features.
Pearl looked up at her leader, her face streaked with tears. "Garnet, is he going to be okay?" She already knew Garnet wouldn't have an answer, but she wanted reassurance from somewhere. Steven might be gone for good, and it was all their fault. How could they have let this happen? What were they going to tell Greg?
"Steven is a crystal gem. He'll come back to us." Garnet replied firmly. She wasn't sure if she believed that herself, but she had to offer some bit of comfort to her teammates. "Come on, let's go back to the temple." Garnet knew there would be no more missions today. They would all need to rest and recuperate from what had just happened.
Amethyst and Pearl weren't sure if Garnet was right. But they were gems, and they always regenerated. Steven had poofed away just like they did when their bodies were too injured. But a half human gem was such an unkown territory. However, they realized that there was nothing more they could do but wait.