Nick glared half heartedly at the amethyst that was draging him off of the ship, and onto Homeworld. Really it was just to keep the facade that he was a helpless victim in this situation. His mind was going 90 miles per hour, though. He knew that Ashlon would be upset but that would just have to be something he'd deal with later. Right now he had bigger problems on his hands. More specifically, he needed to be alone, for just a few minutes. Luckily, he got his wish. The amethyst threw him into a container, and he pulled out his device. He was pushed through on a conveyor belt, getting a new pair of clothes, and a weird ear ring. He frowned. Not really his style. The machine spit him out into a shallow, beach type area, with no one around. Acting quickly, he dialed the number for the base.

"Subject 02. Have you found any important information."

He grinned. "These gems don't suspect a thing. Of course, I had to leave Subject 01 behind. As much as I hate it, her morality could jeaprodize the mission. I care about her too much for the consequences of failure to befall her."

Nick could almost feel the man on the other side nod. "Very well. Where are you at the moment?"

The teen looked around. "Seemingly somewhere on one of Homeworld's bases. You have my coordinates. Send a team here as fast as you can. One of the leaders came with me. I'm going to break out of confinement and pass my way out. Until then."

The man responded. "Until then."

Nick disabled the device, and pressed a button on it's side, and it morphed slowly into a chisel, sparking with electro-magnetic energy. He had to get out of here. Suddenly, he saw something. A very familiar Greg Universe was standing on the beach, his usual wild and unkempt hair, now tied into a clean braid. He seemed surprised.

"Hey! Aren't you Nick?"

Nick grinned. "Oh hey Mr. Universe! Fancy seeing you here."

The old rock-star chuckled good naturedly. "So they got you to?"

The teen rubbed his neck sheepishly." Yeah. Guess we're just going to have to break out somehow?"

Greg laughed. "I found a door, but it's not opening from this side any time soon. Trust me, I tried. We'll just have to wait for the gems to come get us."

Nick frowned a little, but hid it relatively quickly. "I'll be the judge of that. I want you to bring me to the door, please."

Greg looked confused for a second, before shrugging. "Probably can't hurt to try."

The two walked back to the where the door was, and Nick inspected it closely. He frowned when he saw that there weren't any control panels on this side. He sighed and stood up.

"Looks like we're stuck here for the time being."

Greg nodded. "I guess."

The two walked back to the rest of the people, and Nick was lost deep in thought. The old rock star looked a little concerned.

"Hey, I've noticed that you've been acting a little differently since the last time I saw you. Is it because you don't have you're girlfriend here."

He shook his head. "On the contrary. Knowing that she's back on Earth, safe from any of this makes me very happy. I'm just trying to think of a way to get us out."

Greg shrugged, munching on one of the purple friut from the tree. Nick looked carefully, before hearing the feminine voice that had been speaking to the two rang out.

" It's time to go for a bath."

The other humans happily jumped in the water. Nick watched as they played and played, and he suddenly thought of something. The playing. The bathing. The sustaining in general. For an alien covenant of merciless conquerors, they sure did treat these humans here luxoriusly. He frowned. Perhaps they would come in if one got hurt. So he grinned, and pointed to a young looking man with black hair, and deep brown eyes. The man walked over with a huge grin on his face.

"Hello! What did you want?"

Nick stood up carefully, and stretched.

Before punching him square in the jaw.

The man immediately went down, twitching some before going completely unconscious. Nick looked at the horror of the other humans, and the surprise and confusion Greg had written all over his face. Suddenly, an alarm sounded out, and the door opened, a swarm of amethysts came from the garden wall. Nick grabbed Greg's arm, and the two sprinted out, careful to escape. Greg looked over to Nick.

"So what now?"

The teen frowned. "No idea."

Soon, the sound of marching could be heard coming back their direction, and the two hid in the nearby corridor. Nick cursed under hid breath, and pulled out the phone-like device from his pocket.

"Headquartes. Update on that squad you sent. We've got a prisoner. Another human, Greg Universe to be exact. They'll arrive shortly? Good. We have to get out of here as soon as possible. I can't take on both diamonds by myself. Subject 01 should still be on Earth, why do you ask? Her tracker is on the base already?! That doesn't make any sense. Gah, I'll track her down, don't worry. Ok."

He slammed the device shut, and shoved it into his pocket, and faced Greg, who had a confused look on his face.

"What was that about?"

Nick frowned. "Buisness. Ashlon is on the base. I don't know how the hell she got here, but we've got to find her before the gems do. I've got her tracker here."

He tapped his wrist watch, and a small red dot appeared on the screen. Greg was still confused. He held up his hands.

"Look, I don't get it. What is all this about?"

Nick groaned. "It's nothing you need to worry about Greg, we've got it covered."

He continued to ignore Greg's questioning, and they followed the bleeping light to a space near the docking bay. Hushed voices could be heared from inside, and Nick glanced at his watch, the light being directly in front of him. He opened the door, and saw Peridot, Lapis, and Ashlon all sitting there, seemingly discussing some plans. They froze in shock when the door open, but it quickly dispersed when they saw who it was. Nick turned to Ashlon.

"What the hell are you doing here?

Ashlon frowned. "What do you mean? I came to save you."

Nick frowned as well. "You could've gotten yourself killed. You should've stayed on Earth."

The girl stood and looked at Nick incrediously. "Gotten myself killed? You're the one that got captured!"

Nick bared his teeth. "I got captured willingly! It's a part of our mission!"

Ashlon angrily looked at him. "Our mission?! Our mission is to gather intel on the gems! We were doing just fine!"

Nick shook his head, and his voice grew softer. "Ashlon, that's not our mission. Not fully at least."

Ashlon looked at him, obviously confused. "What do you mean."

The boy cursed, and looked at Ashlon sadly. "Your moralitly was a liability on the mission, so I couldn't tell you the full story. We have to eliminate the gems."

The room grew silent, as Ashlon looked at him incrediously.

"All of them?"

Nick nodded sadly. Ashlon looked at Lapis and Peridot, who had varying levels of shock and sadness on their faces.

Ashlon looked back to Nick, who's eyes were downcast, looking at the floor sadly. She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Even Steven?"

Nick jumped in surprise. "God no! He's a kid, and half human. I was ordered to bring him back to the institution. He'd have a memory wipe of the gems, and he'd join as a special ops agent, like you and me."

Ashlon gave Nick a pleading look. "Nick, we can't."

His look grew even more guilty. "We have orders. This is exactly why I couldn't tell you."

Ashlon was nearly on the verge of tears, but Nick wasn't budging from his stance. "But they're our friends! You can't deny that Nick! I know you well enough to know that you can't fake stuff like that!"

Nick covered his eyes with his hand. "I know. But they have a nature, Ashlon. They're conquerers, and if it weren't for the sudden whims of a soldier, humanity would probably be gone, save for that Zoo there. If even that. They're rocks when it comes down to it, and rocks are ridgid. Their make-up can't change."

Ashlon stepped forward. "But you can shape them. Into anything you want. You say that they can't change, but what about the resistance, and the rebels. Crystal Gems? Any of that ring a bell."

Nick nodded. "I said they have a nature. One day a soldier decided that she wanted power, so she turned on her home, and pushed them back. Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond herself."

This time, Greg spoke up. "You don't know a damned thing about Rose! She loved this planet, and all the life, and everything else. And you and your organization want to come back and ruin all her work to keep our species alive!?"

Ashlon nodded. "I agree with Greg! How can you go along with this Nick?"

Nick punched the wall full force, and it dented some. He looked ready to yell in anger, but stayed deathly quiet. His voice shook as he spoke.

"We cannot fail this mission Ashlon, because your morals interferred with it. They'll scrap you if we do and-" His voice broke off, and he slumped down to the wall, and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't loose you like we've lost everything else." He looked up to her with a shaky grin on his face. "You're all I have left." Ashlon let her tears fall. She wrapped her arms around his body, where he gently soothed her. He looked to Lapis and Peridot, who were still cautious seeming. He gave them an apologetic smile.

"She wasn't lying. I really do consider you two to be friends. But you have to understand."

They both nodded. They were gems after all, and they would face severe consequences if ever caught for their betrayl. Nick chuckled.

"Funnily enough, the Diamonds and the organization we work for aren't really that different are they."

And they sat in the room in silence.