Keystone. It was a good state, plenty of good food, good drinks, good motels! And Steven just, loved motels. It was a bit of an unpleasant time for a road trip, given the arguing earlier, and... After they split up. Ruby was off evaporating the pool, and Sapphire had... Frozen the toilet shut. Thankfully, Greg was there- With pizza! It smelled great, and it looked...

"SQUARE PIZZA?! What's wrong with this crazy state?!" It was an outrage! An infuriating, infinite outrage! Pizza? Square? Unbelievable. Impossible. It simply would not do. But, Greg persisted. "Son, there will come a time in your life when you learn to accept *all* pizza." Steven sighed, and took a... "Slice", from the pizza. A foolishly, impossibly *square* slice...

There was a noise though, sirens in the distance. "Whuh-oh- Hope that guy wasn't secretly an actual axe murderer." Steven looked at him, and laughed a bit. "That'd be pretty... Axe-iting?" "Hah!" And, that there was a good distraction. They spoke a bit more over more... "Slices", until eventually Steven asked something actually rather relevant. "Why can't Ruby and Sapphire just... Make up?"

"Sometimes people that love each other can hurt each other's feelings without meaning to. We should just give them some space."

"But I think they'd work it out if they'd just talk to each other!"

"Everything will be better in the morning. We'll all go to The Best Diner in the World, where we'll eat the best breakfast in the world!"

"You think that'll help?"

"Nothing like a little breakfast to bring people together!"

"You really are my favorite dad."

"I knew this pizza would put me over the top..."

The sirens got closer however, and soon the two Universes could actually see the flashing lights. "... Huh. That's a bit alarming. I hope it's not about something happening here." Just as Greg was getting ready to head into... Well, his van, since the hotel room was iced up, a police car parked by them, and a man walked out of it. He was tall, wearing the sort of suit you see on a superspy, and walking right towards them. "Good evening, gentlemen. A moment of your time? I assure you you're not in trouble, just looking for a missing kid."

... Well! That's certainly interesting! Greg shrugged a bit, but Steven nodded. "Sir, yes sir, Mr. Agent man!" The spy guy chuckled a bit. "No need for that, it's Agent Charlie. Now, there's this kid-" He said, pulling out a photo. "Dirty blond, kinda reddish hair, pale skin, short, bit on the heavier side- And most importantly, sick. The docs aren't sure what's up with him but either it or the meds for it have him delirious, and... Well, seems he slipped out. This sorta sick isn't the kinda thing you can walk off though, so if you see this kid- Reggie, Reggie Rolander, then give us a call." He said, as he pulled out a card.

Greg took it, and nodded. "We'll... Let you know, Agent Charlie." The man in the suit nodded, and left in the cop car once more. Greg sighed, and turned to Steven. "Geez that was weird." But Steven didn't seem to agree. "Now we've GOTTA get Garnet back together! So we can find the Reggie kid!" Greg sighed. "It's still going to take time for them to get back together, you know. Trying to rush it, even for this, won't speed it up."

Steven shrugged. "I can hope at least!"

Ruby was mad. Incredibly mad. She and Sapphire, just *tricked* like that, used like that- And- And by Pearl! Pearl of all people, betraying her and Sapphires trust like that. It was sickening. And Sapphire didn't even care! She just- Skipped past the anger and the yelling in her head, like it was *already handled*. "And- And another thing! She just- Didn't even care that I was mad! Just sitting there all icy and cold and- Calm!"

The one upside was that she'd found someone to rant to. Some kid, he said his name was Reggie? He understood gemsong weirdly well, even if he just felt off. "That... Sounds thematically appropriate?" He asked, shrugging a bit. "I'm not used to... Girls." "Girls, yeah. Well- It's, not! It is- I dunno! She just... It's like she doesn't CARE!" It was even more frustrating having to, just plaster up the gem talk with human words. Mercifully, he was able to at least be a sounding board for her frustrations without complaint.

"I- Can I contribute to the conversation or do you just want to rant?" He was weird like that, always asking if he could join the talk. He'd asked a few times now and Ruby had *said* yes, but it just drifted back into ranting. "I- Yes, sure, you already asked!" He flinched a bit, but nodded. "I, don't know all the details of this... Whatever in the world it is you have with Pearl and Sapphire, but- It sounds like the sorta thing you need to at least take SOME sorta action over. Like- Do you still want to be her friend after this? Pearl, I mean."

Ruby groaned and shouted into her hands. "Yes- No- NO! I DUNNO ALRIGHT?! We were- So close! Me, Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst, we were all that was left! We ARE all that's left!" "Why are you all named after rocks?" "Our moms all had a really weird friendship ANYWAYS! Point is- We were FRIENDS! Good ones- We're like- MOMS to steven, we are his parents, and to just- Do that to us- aAAAUGH! I just- Wanna punch her! Or throw a brick at her or- SOMETHING BESIDES JUST DROPPING IT!" Reggie nodded. "Then- Do something? Punch her in the gut or something? I dunno! Pearl did this to you, and wants to bounce back from it, so maybe get back at her sorta- Biggest thing YOU can do that SHE will let you bounce back from."

Ruby couldn't even keep pacing at this point. "But- I DONT want to hurt her- That just makes me as bad as her!" Reggie shook his head. "She violated your friendship. You biting her in the ankle over it is not the same." Ruby groaned. "That's- Augh. There's still Sapphire though." Reggie was about to say something, when he tensed. "I. Uh. I gotta go." Ruby looked over to him. "What- Why?" He shook his head. "I just- Do, alright they found me-"

But before he could even stand, he was grabbed from behind by a man in an agents suit. "Reggie Rolander, you should NOT have run off again-" But Reggie wasn't listening, frantically struggling. "LET ME GO, LET ME GO RIGHT NOW- RUBY HELP!" He was kicking, yelling, even as another officer warded off bystanders with his badge. Until... "You have the right to- AUGH MY KNEECAP!" The agent went down, from a heated up punch from Ruby. He dropped Reggie to attend to that, and she just grabbed him and ran. "STOP THAT CUBOID CHILD!"

The second officer nodded and took chase, even as Reggie and Ruby ran. "We have a room in the motel- Just hide in there and, trust me!" Reggie nodded. "I- I can't thank you enough for this, we literally just met five minutes ago." His voice was underlaid with something familiar, a harmonic note to it- But they were being chased, and it was not the time to analyze such things. Steven and Greg were *just* about to head into the van for bed (sapphire freezing the room and all), when- "OPEN THE DOOR OPEN THE DOOR SAPPHIRE OPEN THE DOOR PLEASE!" Ruby was yelling, Reggie in tow. The door opened for just long enough for Ruby and Reggie to enter with Steven and Greg, slamming shut as the officer was just about to enter.

Through the pounding on the door, discussion began. "I- Sapphire I am still VERY angry with you but we need Garnet for- Five minutes, just a bit- Just enough to get that guy to go away." Reggie was looking around at the iced up room, pulling his hoodie over himself just a bit tighter. "I- Where do I hide?" The strange, blue kid looked at him. "... Break the back window, place your shoes by it, hide in the closet and close your eyes. Steven, Greg, whatever Garnet says, just play along." She turned to Ruby. "Let us?"

Officer Tedsky was tired. Dead tired, in fact. He'd been chasing this same sick kid for hours now, and he wasn't even entirely sure the kid WAS sick, because that agent sure didn't seem trustworthy. Still, he'd do his duty. He saw them enter the apartment, the door slamming in his face before he could enter. He knocked, pounded more like, for minutes on end, before there was a shatter of glass, and some running around, and then Officer Tedsky really tried to force the door open, because that sounded like he needed to put the "protect" in "protect and serve".

Finally, the door opened, revealing a... Near totally frozen over room, with the tallest woman Tedsky had ever seen. "Ah, Ma'am? A missing child has been sighted entering your apartment, alongside... Someone who may be your daughter? What's with the..." The tall woman near immediately spoke. "There was an accident with the free ice. The red kid and the other one ran through here out the back window. Not my kid, though I do have one." Tedski nodded. "That's, concerning, what they did- Clean up the... Well, that room is a bit beyond saving now, but, keep clear of anywhere the kid touched. He's got some sorta sickness, dunno what, or if it can spread, but the docs can't fix it."

And wiith that, Tedsky left. He'd have to find the kid somewhere else.

Garnet wavered, and... Separated. "We still need to talk." Ruby said. "But I'm... I can talk, now." Sapphire nodded. "You can come out, now, Reginald." He flopped out of the closet, shivering and coated with frost. "I- uh- It's not Reginald, it's just Reggie. I- I need to go, they know I'm *here* now." Steven spoke up. "Wait- You're Reggie? Reggie Rolander? From the hospital?" Reggie locked up. "It- It wasn't a HOSPITAL- It was- It- Was-" He couldn't bring himself to say what it was, just, backing away from Steven. "Hey, hey, wait! I'm not gonna turn you in! You're scared. Really scared. Maybe we can help!"

Reggie sighed. "I- It's complicated. I just need to get out of the state, that usually works. I think Delmarva is nice?" He muttered something under his breath. 'Plenty of Cryptids too...' But he shook his head. "Anyways, unless by some miracle you're headed down there, I think this is where we part ways." Greg cleared his throat. "We actually are heading back to Delmarva. We're from beach city. We just, were going to go to The Best Diner In The World and get some free ice before heading back." Reggie paused. "... It's a bit weird that you're just immediately offering a free trip to Delmarva to me, but I'm not gonna look a gift square in the vertex. Steven seems friend-shaped enough for it at least."

"What does *any* of that mean?" Ruby asked. But, Reggie just shrugged. Steven piped up. "Hey, Reggie, wait- Are you actually sick?" Reggie was hesitant. He looked at Steven for a bit, considering. "... Kinda? But not the kind medicine can help with." Steven nodded. "Lemme try to help!" And then he licked his hand, and before Reggie could back away, because, *what in heck gosh darned*, he got a spitty High-five to the face. It helped the immediate area, at least, but also... Stevens hand went just a bit numb where he touched Reggie. The kid seemed to perk up at least, looking at himself, and then the Gems, with almost total confusion. "I... Thanks. This is... New."

Maybe things were finally looking up for him.