Disclaimer: Characters, settings, names from the cartoon television show 'Steven Universe' are creations and property of Rebecca sugar and Cartoon network. Any non-steven universe characters, settings, names, Gems, Gem powers, beliefs, mythology are my own creation.

Author's Note: After sticking up for herself to the most hostile crystal gem, Pearl. Lapis and Steven along with the rest of the crystal gems take a day to enjoy themselves despite all that's happened. Greg and Connie are also invited to a day at the beach and Barb Q. but Un-beknowst to all of them, Men from the big bad government have their shades set on the most interesting city in the east coast.

Tags: Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran, OC's, Lapis Lazuli, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Beach City, Gem Powers, Romance, Adventure, Comfort, Destiny.

Music Inspiration for Chapter: "Touch My Body" By: Mariah Carey

Chapter 10: Men in Suits

Thursday

7 May, 2016, 9:00 [Morning]

Palmyra, Maheswaran Residence

Connie's phone sat on her bed. The screen was on, on it was a text message from Steven dated from Wednesday. The text message was about The inclusion of Lapis Lazuli into the crystal gems. About Lapis Lazuli's freedom and the escape of Jasper. But it went on to include a date for a Barb Q beach party. Only Gems, Half-Gems, friends, Family and Lion are invited. Without telling Steven, but having to tell her mom.

Connie went out shopping for a bikini with her mother yesterday. Mrs. Maheswaran knew her daughter wouldn't listen to her if she told Connie not to go. That's why she was giving her daughter this opportunity to choose whatever she wanted. Anything as long as it wasn't to revealing or age appropriate. Connie went with a red and black polka dot two piece bikini. Mrs Maheswaran didn't want to admit it, but Connie in these last two years had really blossomed into a young woman. Her small chest was not so small, her non-existent curves had taken shape. And her few inches added to her height made her a tall, beautiful young woman.

Connie undressed out of her clothes in her bathroom and stepped back out into her bedroom when she was in her two piece bikini. She walked over to her wardrobe and opened the doors. On the inside of her left door she had a long rectangular mirror, with which she could look at herself. She adjusted the tops of her bikini, making sure they rested on her growing chest nicely. She flipped her hair back over her shoulders, practicing smiling, waving her hands and even what she was going to tell Steven when she saw him later on.

"Hi Steven, wow you look amazing. Me? This, this is something I had laying around. Do you like it? Nah, that sounds disingenuous."

Connie put aside trying to come up with a believable greeting, and instead focused on brushing her hair. "Relax Connie. It'll come out naturally when you see him." Connie touched her gemstone over her heart.

"When I see him," Connie's hand went from her gem up to her lips, "Steven..." she said his name softly and tenderly.

The White House, Washington D.C, Maryland

10:00 [Morning]

Sitting at his desk, listening to several different heads from different government agencies taking their turns to talk to him. The president of The United States kept his hands clasped together on his desk as the head of the FBI spoke to him. The topic of the matter was concerning Aliens, specifically Gems.

"Mr President I know this subject hasn't been spoke of until now, and I know you would rather not know. But whatever you believe in, we ask that you suspend it for this hour. We have gotten reports from a small city In Delaware called beach city. It was about an Alien spacecraft that crash landed on the side of a hill. A local whose created a blog about it, had put up credible photos of the wrecked craft. Our date shows that the craft belongs to the race classified as Sentient minerals, Gems for short. "

"Twelve thousand years ago Mr President, the alien race known as Gems came to earth during the last ice age. They were pretty much colonizers at first, settling on different planets and on their neighboring moons where they would set up bases, mostly underground and sometimes on the surface. They would set up their culture and influence their surrounding environment to match a similar one to their on their own home planet. However, that's where all the 'nice' things ended. Searching through years of compiled data. we learned that these colonizers who are feminine in appearance actually started setting up 'Parasite gardens' to create more of their kind."

"The process is one which uses up the richness of the soil, water, air and earth to create these parasite gems. After several hundred are born, the surrounding environment dies. The soil is dead, water ceases to exist. The air around these parasite gardens become heavy with fog and airborne toxins. And the earth is blackened. Mr, President, we were in contact with two Gems on earth in the eighties. one was a half gem, half human. and the other who saved the earth from the dominion of other gems. Her name was Rose Quartz."

The head of The CIA took up where the head of the FBI left off.

"We don't know what happened to the half human-gem Mr. President, he just stopped sending us information. but we know that Rose quartz along with several of her kind were the last sentient gems of their kind left on earth. The remainder who were left stranded here on earth, went mad and became corrupted. We allowed her team to stay to defend us from their own kind should they decide to return. As it turns out, they did. Before Rose 'died' she sent us a message saying she was going to leave behind someone who would take up her work; her son."

The President of The United States leaned back on his chair and massaged his forehead in deep thought. This was all too much to take in, too much all at once. The head of Homeland Security stood up and rested his briefcase on the president's desk. He opened it and pulled out several thick folders. In these folders were photos of 'kindergarten.' captured corrupted gems, photos of Gem spacecrafts in space and much, much more.

The President could not believe his eyes. Like much of the population, he thought earth and all of it's creatures were alone in this rotating show of stars. One of the photos were of Steven with his shield up, deflecting a beam from the spacecraft Peridot, Jasper and Lapis came down in. The president looked up at the head of his Homeland Security Agency and to the others heads sitting on the couches.

"Alright, what are you guys planning." asked the president.

"We don't know how long it's going to take for Rose's son to reach her level. We do know that there is still wreckage from the Gem spacecraft littering Beach City. Mr President, we have developed several pieces of technology that might defend us from this species thanks in part to the agreements we have with other alien species. But to properly combat these hostile gems, should they come back, we're going to need to recover pieces of that spacecraft."

"You all seem to be very well informed, if you're asking for my permission to go and recover portions of this craft, then you have my authority. Just please, no force or threat of death to people."

"We know sir, only the usual threat of incarceration will suffice. Boys, time to put those black suits and shades back on. And check to see if those old black LTD Crown Victorias are still operable."

Beach City, Crystal Temple Beach

11:30 [Morning]

Setting up his Bar B Q grill, Greg Universe placed charcoal inside of the grill and placed the grating on top of it. Steven was creating a wooden park bench for everyone to use when it was time to eat. Garnet wore a two piece bikini, the color of mahogany. She was sitting on a Sun lounge chair with her hands behind her head. Amethyst was wearing a one piece dark blue bikini, she was jumping around in the ocean. Swimming and picking up rocks to show Garnet and Pearl.

Pearl was also wearing a one piece bikini, sky blue in color. Also at this party was Carlos Montoya who arrived at the party an hour ago. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around Pearl's waist, kissing her temples and getting giggles and laughter out of her. Greg watched this and thought back to the time when he and Rose shared moments like that. Greg wondered how far Pearl allowed Carlos to get, his cheeks went red thinking about it and he returned back to manning the grill.

Lapis sat next to Greg's empty lounge chair. she had changed her attire to wearing a white off shoulder mid riff shirt with yellow stars shooting across it. Underneath she wore a black bra, as seen by her black bra straps. Below the waist she wore high waisted jean denim shorts. She looked over at Pearl just leaning back against Carlos, Pearl who looked to be the most level headed and in charge of the crystal gem, was utterly in love with with Carlos. Amethyst didn't appear to mind, but Garnet clearly had objections to this relationship.

"Hey Greg, where did Steven go?" Lapis spoke.

"Huh? Uh, I'm not sure Lapis. He was making a wooden bench for us to sit on. I guess he must have gone back to the house to look for something."

Lapis stood up out of her lounge chair and flew over to the beach house. Amethyst and Garnet watched her flying towards the beach house. Lapis landed on the deck of the beach house and walked around to the window that looked into Steven's bedroom area. She saw Steven changing out of his jeans and getting into a pair of swim trunks. She hid on the side of the window, looking in and spying on Steven.

Her cheeks went white with blush, looking at Steven's young body. His muscles were developing, his chest was tight, his abs which he never had the last time she saw him, were apparent to her. His facial features were sharp, not completely round. And his gem stone, located on his naval. Seemed to glow whenever he smiled, and he was smiling along.

She watched him go over to his phone which had rung. Steven grabbed his phone and checked on it. Lapis saw a smile come across Steven's face. He grabbed a black tank top and placed it on. He headed out the door and ran down the stairs. Lapis watched him run by his father, friends and head over around to the other side of the hill. She flew up into the sky and saw Steven accompanying someone back over to the beach party.

Lapis looked harder and saw a dark skin girl. She was wearing jean shorts, a black and red shirt and a bookbag. They came back around through the other side of the hill. She hovered and watched Steven and this other person stop. She wondered what was going on.

Steven and Connie

Steven stopped to catch his breath, he along with Connie were laughing and giggling. They ran all the way to the side of the crystal temple after Mrs. Maheswaran dropped Connie off.

"You're not even remotely tired Connie? Man I haven't ran like that since the Black heart artifact was after me."

"All the training i've been putting my self through has raised my stamina levels. Maybe I can train you sometime Steven."

"I would like that." Steven said. when he caught his breath, he raised and straightened himself from bending forward in fatigue.

Steven, still smiling looked over and saw Connie removing his book bag off her back. She started to pull her shirt up over her chest and head. Steven's smile left, his cheeks went pink and his palms became sweaty. Connie started to remove her jean shorts next, she bent down and pulled her shorts down her legs, dropping them around her ankles. She stepped out of them and flipped her brown hair back over her shoulders. Steven swallowed and took in the sight of his girlfriend. Beautiful in her red and black polka dot two piece bikini. Connie walked over to him, she grabbed the hem of his black tank top and pulled it over his head.

Steven felt his heart beat rate increase, his pupils dilate and feelings he's never known before emerging. Connie closed her eyes when she brought her face in closer to Steven's, she smelled of strawberries. Probably a lotion she put on before coming over. Steven wrapped an arm around Connie's back, slowly pulling her in. their lips met, pressed and meshed into one another. This kissing thing was still new to Steven, but he was getting the hang of it.

Connie's breathing picked up, Steven felt her tongue massaging his own. Their bodies were firmly pressed against one another, so much Steven could feel the beating of Connie's heart, just above her left breast. coincidentally It was also the spot Smoky's Gem was infused into. Steven felt his other hand rise, pressing itself onto Connie's other breast. An action which caused Connie to twitch a little, but one that did not make her back down. But, Lapis who watching these two young love birds making out, grew more jealous.

Her anger caused her to send a small tidal wave that rose several feet high and send it over to them. Connie who was facing the ocean, saw this tidal wave coming in rushing towards them. She pulled her lips away from Steven and knelt down on one knee. She placed her hands on the sand and erected two large hands made out of earth that covered them both. The earth hands clasped tightly together and withstood the impact of the ocean wave that crashed against it. The tide pulled back into the ocean and Lapis flew back over to where the rest of the gems were.

Connie undid the Earth Method technique and changed the earth hands into sand. Steven kept his hands on top of his head, to shield him from whatever Connie protected them from.

"Whoa, that was awkward. It's like the ocean was jealous or something. I heard and read from different cultures that the ocean is represented as female."

"Just like lapis...wait, lapis?" Steven said her name curiously. He looked up at the sky and saw nothing.

"Oh that's right, she's here also. Come on, let's go introduce me to her." Connie placed her clothes in her book bag, picked up her book bag and grabbed Steven's hand. Connie was excited to meet the gem that almost drowned her and Steven, but who ended up sacrificing herself so their could be peace on earth.

Crystal Temple Beach

12:10 [Noon]

Walking back over to the party, Greg spotted his son with someone who he thought was another girl. To his amazement, it was just Connie. Carlos took over taking care of the hot dogs, burgers and ribs that were being cooked so Greg could check up on Steven.

"Steven! Connie, it's so good to see you join us."

"Hey Mr. Universe. Wow, this is quite the party. Ooh I smell something good."

"Yeah, me and Carlos are cooking up Ribs, Hamburgers and-"

"Hotdogs!" Shouted Steven excitedly. Connie laughed and hugged Steven, Steven looked around and saw Pearl lying down on a lounge chair. Garnet was off somewhere, Amethyst shape shifting into a crab and messing with seagulls who tried to eat her. Then his eyes took him to Lapis who was standing at the shoreline, staring out at the Ocean.

Steven took Connie's hand, rubbed the top side of it against his cheek. Connie felt this and hugged him tighter. Greg noticed Connie's gem when she pulled away from his son. He wished it wasn't on her chest, but he needed to only look at It long enough to realize that this was not always on her, at least he think she had.

Steven lead Connie over to Lapis, he noticed that the more closer he got to her, the more he felt a coldness radiating from her. He was certain that Connie could feel it too.

"Lapis..." Steven spoke her name.

Lapis had her back turned to them. "Lapis" Steven said her name again. The cool air around Lapis dissipated, being replaced by the passing warm air of the summer season. Lapis turned around, pushed some of her hair back against her ear and smiled at Steven and Connie.

"Sorry Steven, I just got caught up at looking at the ocean. I was getting kind of worried when you left. Whose this?" Lapis asked, clearly referring to Connie who kept her arm wrapped around Steven's.

"Lapis, this is Connie Maheswaran. My girlfriend, best friend and partner in the fight against corrupted gems."

Connie took a step forward without releasing her arm around Steven's. She extended her other hand to Lapis, Lapis smiled warmly at Connie and took her hand. The instant their hands made contact, Lapis was taken to a white world with blue skies and white clouds with Connie standing in the middle. but standing just behind her was a Titanic size Giant made entirely out Stone. It wielded a round shield made of Osmium, a zweihander made of obsidian and the blade of diamond. The more Lapis looked, the more arms and heads it seemed to grow.

What Connie through her eyes was a massive wall of Water that took many shapes, just behind Lapis Lazuli. A wall as big as any mountain.

"My name is Lapis lazuli, it's honor to meet the girl whose stolen Steven's heart."

"It's honor to meet the Gem whose saved all of us by sacrificing herself."

Connie and Lapis shook hands and nodded their heads. They pulled back and Connie went back to Greg and to the other gems to show them what she could. Lapis stood, just staring at Steven. Steven rubbed the back of his head and saw the expression of Lapis's soft face go...sad.

Continued in Chapter 11, 'Recovery.'