Chapter 2: It's Not Unusual

Pearl was nervous. Well, more nervous than usual. She was used to rejection. Being in love with Rose Quartz, rejection was bound to happen. But Greg… Greg hurt she wasn't gonna lie. But she'd moved on. She even went to Empire City and had several big musical numbers about it. It was time to move on and "test the field" as Amethyst put it.

Pearl had been talking to the punk girl Sheena. While, Pearl was drawn to the punk girl because of her physical appearance to Rose, she had found Shannon quite different than her past target. In a good way. And Pearl was afraid of pushing Sheena away.

Pearl was not used to human culture. You would think living among humans would make this easier but no! Human culture changed so fast. What was forbidden a few decades ago is now standard. The rulers, the music, the food, it change at speed that Pearl couldn't keep track of. She was worried of making herself look like an idiot. Fortunately, for pearl she had Steven to help explain what was "cool."

Pearl and Sheena walked through the park. Sheena was laughing at something Pearl had said and Pearl had actually meant it to be funny. As the two walked they came across a stage; Steven, in a fake mustache, walked up to the two. "Help! Our band is about to play a set and we need a beautiful girl to be our singer."

Pearl pretended to be shocked. "Me? But I don't know how to sing… Okay!" With a flash of her gem, Pearl's outfit changed into bell bottoms, pumps, and a collared shirt with a floral pattern. She got on the stage. The band was made up of Greg, Lapis, Peridot, and Amethyst. The music began and Pearl grabbed the mic and began to sing.

"It's not unusual to be loved by anyone. It's not unusual to have fun with anyone but when I see you hanging about with anyone, it's not unusual to see me cry, I wanna die." As she sang, a crowd of girls and Mayor Dewey, formed around the stage. Pearls reached down and pulled Sheena up to the stage. As the two danced on stage a figure watched from the back.

Special Agent Douglas had a difficult job. He was in chief liaison between the Gems and the US government. What his job was supposed to be that after the Gems catch a monster, or recover an artifact, they call him explain where it was and what they did and that's that. But things are a lot more complicated than that. For one, the Gems are not as disconnected from humanity as the liked to pretend. Rose often started incredibly messy love affairs. The most memorable one was with than president Kennedy. Of all her lovers, the ones he didn't expect was Greg. College dropout, estranged from his family, failing musician; Douglas didn't think much of the kid. He and Greg had the standard chat. Douglas was shock that as the years went by, not only did Greg not leave, Rose seemed to change. Needless to say, when Rose decide to have Steven, it throw everything through a loop.

Complicating the matter was the the child was showing strange abilities. It became apparent to everyone it would be safer for both Greg and Steven if Steven lived at the Gems full time. But it didn't end there. Ships began to come to Earth, former POW's and defectors started living in a barn, and the Earth almost exploded. When Greg was abducted it was an emergency, but a manageable one. But when Steven and some kid got taken barely weeks later, the government couldn't kept ignoring it. The Gem situation was becoming more complicated than the Crystal Gems were still denying there was a problem or that they needed help. And help they needed.

Pearl was practical waltzing home. The night had been wonderful. Once she reached the temple. Peridot and Lapis walked up to her. "Alright Pearl, we held our end of the bargain, now we want our 100 bucks."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. Pearl walked over to a (temporary) pin and let loose a hundred male deer. Peridot and Lapis lead the pack riding two of them.

"Now I'm queen of the forest!" Peridot shouted as the two rode off into the distance.

"Is that something I need to be worried about?" Came a snid voice that Pearl knew all too well.

Pearl turned to see the aging human. "Special Agent Douglas," she said with a note of disdain in her voice. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Lars Barriga."

"He's fine."

"Fine. Fine. Trapped on an alien planet, undead and colored pink. You call that fine."

"You didn't have a problem when was Greg."

"Greg was knee deep in Gem affairs for years. He knew the risks. All the kid did was work at the local doughnut shop!" Douglas took to claim himself down. "Look, it's not just the US. The League of Nations is calling out for military action over this."

Pearl was shocked. "The treaty we signed…"

"Was written two hundred years ago, when the most advanced weapon we had was a cannon and all you guys did was hunt down mindless monsters. Now, now we have nuclear arms and Homeworld is sending down enemy combatants to capture civilians. The situation has changed and the rules will change with them. How involved you are in these new rules depends how well you can play ball."

Pearl sunk onto the floor and put her face in her hands. She looked older when she looked up. "What do we do?"