A/N: To make up for the extremely long hiatus, I'm posting this chapter today. Get ready, guys, for one of the most intense chapters here. Chapter Forty-Four. This made Ace and I cry.
So... WARNING: Possible Trigger Warning for Depression. And bring lots of tissues. I am not kidding.
I hope you enjoy.

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Forty-Four: One of the Worst is Over

Once they reached home, and stepped off the Warp Pad, the fusion separated into Bill and Gabriel again. The job was done after all, and the triangle, after the brief bout of grief passed, yelled happily before he attached himself to Steven in a hug, "Oh, kid! I missed you so much!"

He didn't care that his second-in-command and his brother were watching. He really didn't. He just cared that his friend was safe and sound once again. Steven snickered, "Really? wow... you really have changed, haven't you?"

"Oh, stop it, you!" the demon playfully quipped, grinning. He wasn't going to deny it this time.

Steven smiled, and hugged him, "I remember your first day here—you were really a jerk. Or, wait... I think that was your second day. Anyway... you've changed a lot since then, I think."

The demon sighed, "Yeah.. I was.. I'm glad I'm changing, quite frankly... before I didn't know what to think of this..." and smiled a little again, "but it's quite refreshing to get back into my old roots..." he frowned slightly, "and..." then looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry about it all, by the way..."

He hadn't known whether to love this or hate it, and he hated it a lot of the times he knew. But now? well, it made him feel good. His conscience wasn't eating away at him. If anything, it was praising him. Of course, it'd only been a couple days—he still had a long way to go.

"It's okay..." the boy smiled.

"Good..." Bill smiled back. He glanced over at Pyronica and Gabriel, and a small blush crossed his frame. It was the embarrassment finally settling in. But he ignored it. Pyronica just gave a thumbs up. Gabriel seemed antsy. He chuckled, and he thought of Garnet just then. Her favorite system to show approval was a thumbs up. The triangle soon sighed, "So... what now..?"

He glanced out the window. It was still raining horribly, and a thunderclap sounded in the distance. So much for going outside. And then he, for some reason, thought of the school, and its fundraiser. It was probably still canceled, especially with this terrible storm. He wondered whether the students were happy about it.

"Well... I'd like to put everything behind us. For good," Gabriel said, staring at Bill.

"You mean 'destroy the Void'," Bill returned the gaze, letting go of Steven. It wasn't really a question. Besides, the Void had recognized it was a permanent fish out of water. And the longer it was here, the longer that part of the past wouldn't fully be resolved.

Gabriel nodded, "Let's do it, then..."

Bill nodded too, a grimly determined look on his eye. He held a hand out for his brother, not for fusion, but as a symbol that they were together in this. He looked at Pyronica and stated, "If we don't come back, I'm leaving it to you to look after the kid."

Pyronica was a little put-off by this, but nodded.

"I'm pretty sure we'll come back," Gabriel chuckled.

"Hopefully," Bill barely chuckled as well, however. He still had that feeling about him. That everyone would be better off. He impatiently wiggled his fingers, waiting for Gabe to grab his hand.

Gabriel took his hand, "Here we go..."

Steven watched them, excited.

"Yeah... here we go.." he took a deep breath, and then activated the Warp Pad. Gabriel waited, antsy again. He wondered if the Void would stop him again. If it'd try to control him now, instead of Steven. The thought scared him.

"Bill, if something happens to me... just do it without me, alright?" he asked, heart threatening to beat out of his chest. Then again, he didn't have a heart. Or a chest.

Bill nodded, "Of course... I'll try my best.. brother," and then he hugged his brother, for the first time in a trillion years, and what may be the last.

Gabriel hugged back immediately, "Alright. Let's do this, then."

The demon nodded, and let go, still holding Gabe's hand. He broke his concentration on the Warp Stream, and the light fizzled out into that overwhelming darkness of the Void. Gabriel stared out into it, shuddering. Bill, squeezing his brother's hand a little tighter as comfort, kept up that expression of grim determination, and started building up energy, the energy to destroy the Void for good. He was sure he'd be able to do this, especially since he had Gabriel by his side. If not, well... Pyronica would have to pick up the slack. And they had to do it fast.

Gabriel also put together energy to get rid of the Void, "Three..."

Bill started glowing, but also started shuddering. He was starting to feel it. But he fought it off the best he could. He narrowed his eye, "Two..."

"One..." Gabriel got ready to let go, to strike at the heart of what he considered evil.

"Zero!" and they released the energy, and it created a strong energy field that pulsed throughout the entire area.

However... the Void absorbed the energy, it seemed.

"You cannot destroy what does not exist. You cannot destroy nothing. I reside in all empty space, and only by filling it up would you be able to destroy me."

"Hoo boy..." Bill frowned. He began thinking. Filling up an empty space... he sighed. Guess someone was probably going to have to be sacrificed anyway... again, he wanted it to be him.

"And that's impossible anyway, because this place is infinite," that booming voice told them, before either of the demons could suggest sacrificing themselves.

"Well, how are we supposed to do this then?" Bill glanced at Gabriel, who shrugged, uncertain.

"You might leave me here. There's little more you can do," the Void sighed. Gabriel, only then, realized how stupid the concept of destroying, sealing off, the Void was. And Bill did too. They couldn't. They just had to leave this behind. And hope no one else got stuck here.

He sighed as well, "Welp.. guess you'll just have to stick around."

"Over time, I will lose who I am, until I become what I was before you gave me a personality—I will be empty space. But, Gabriel... you will inherit the power. You will not be the Void, but you will still be a part of it, and be able to call upon its power as needed. That is your curse."

Gabriel seemed confused, his brow furrowed.

"Woah... that's actually pretty cool," the triangle smirked slightly. He understood it pretty well, on the contrary. It really did pay to be a scholar.

"Now... both of you... leave. And, Gabriel, learn to control your power before you use it in a serious situation. It is a bit unstable."

Gabriel still seemed a little confused, but he nodded, and took Bill's hand, pleading a bit, "Uh, can we get out of here?"

He nodded. "Of course," he then waved to the Void, feeling more than a little awkward, and reactivated the Warp Stream, setting it to go back home, and then simply stated now that the embarrassment set in again, "Welp... that was kinda awkward..."

Gabriel nodded, and soon they appeared on the Warp Pad in the Beach House. Pyronica looked over at them, "How did it go?"

"Well, we couldn't destroy the Void..." Bill frowned a bit. He still thought it was awkward. The triangle glanced at Gabriel again.

"Why not?" Pyronica asked, confused.

"It said we couldn't destroy nothing... which makes sense.." the demon replied, to which the flame demon nodded. He then glanced around, looking for Steven.

"Steven ran off. He said something about a human named Greg? I don't know," she shrugged.

"Oh? that's his dad then," he smiled, which turned a little sour. And then suddenly his eye widened. It was storming brutally out there still. He briefly screamed, and then shouted, "Wait, WHAT?! you let him go?!"

"He insisted on it—after his dad called him."

"Alone?" he nearly hyperventilated, "in that?! no no no! I'm gonna go after him, make sure nothing happens to him!" and he started making his way for the door, to the stormy outdoors, "and you guys, stay here and watch over the house."

"Wait, lemme come with you!" Gabriel ran after Bill. "Or... eh... can I watch over the house from the outside?"

"You can watch it from the outside!" Bill opened the door and floated off the balcony, into the pounding rain. Gabriel levitated out onto the balcony, kinda thinking about what the Void had said.

Bill looked around. It was so dark out here, never mind the occasional lightning, so he turned on his eyelight and started down the soaked and drenched beach. Far ahead, something else was running. The demon picked up on this, and raised an eyebrow.

"Steven?!" he called out, speeding up. He looked up at the sky every now and then. Maybe this would be a good opportunity... but no. He had to make sure Steven was alright first. A thunderclap crashed through the area, much louder than the rest, and he jumped out of surprise. Man, oh, man, was he going to give Greg quite the talking-to...

Steven, if it was him, either ignored him or didn't hear him—probably the latter. Bill called out louder, speeding up once more. He ignored the feeling of the rain, trying to catch up to the boy, if it was indeed Steven. He hoped it was. He didn't want anything else to happen to the kid. The figure stopped, and turned to look at him. He called out, "Bill, what are you doing here? you shouldn't be out here like this!"

Bill caught up, looking highly anxious, and shot back, "You shouldn't be either! it's a mess! I dunno why Greg ever thought it was okay for you to venture out into a storm like this!"

Lightning again. Another thunderclap. Another jump. Steven stared. "I'm fine! I can use my shield against anything that could hurt me!" he argued. "And... you should go back to the house."

Greg had told him that, specifically. He needed to come to It's a Wash alone, leave his friends at home. The demon looked confused for a second. He asked, "But.. why?" and frowned, "at least let me walk you there, kid..."

He knew full well the boy could defend himself, but he just didn't want anything to happen to him. He was determined not to have this end up like the school again, even though now he had no justifications to worry. Except this storm.

"Okay," Steven nodded, hoping that'd be alright, that this was allowed. Bill smiled a little. He summoned a strong and large umbrella out of his hat, and held it over both of them. Maybe this opportunity could wait another day or something. Steven obviously appreciated him.

He sighed, "Alright. Let's go."

The boy nodded, walked along, but then stopped, "Hold on... can we go back? I'm not sure about this... something feels wrong."

"Uh, sure, kid," Bill frowned slightly, staring at the boy. He felt something was wrong too, other than that persistent feeling, but couldn't grasp it. "What is it?"

"I don't know... everything just seems fishy. I think I should stay at the Temple, with you guys."

"Heh. Good choice..." the demon didn't exactly smile though. He looked up, at the dark, swirling clouds, and twitched slightly. What if he never got this chance again..?

Steven nodded again. "Let's go." He felt the need to hurry.

Suddenly, something clicked and broke inside Bill just then. Overwhelming, he felt it was, and he couldn't take it. The umbrella collapsed and disintegrated for no apparent reason, leaving them exposed to the rain. He decided to do this now...

He glanced at the boy, and then took off, away from him. Steven gasped, "Bill! where are you going?" he ran after him, terrified of losing his friend in this storm.

Fortunately the glow emanating from him would prevent that. Bill didn't answer. He kept running, looking up at the storm. He had to do this right. Maybe he'd finally finish where his parents left off. Lightning struck again, but it wasn't that far away this time. Immediately followed by vicious thunder that rumbled the place. But the demon wasn't jumpy this time. Steven ran after him, "Bill! wait!"

He barely slowed down. The demon broke down crying, caught in the storm of horrible thoughts, but didn't stop running. He shouted, brokenly, "Stop following me! you'll get hurt!"

They were near the mountain now, the cliffside. He began to make himself into a conduit for the lightning to detect.

"No! Bill! what... what did I do wrong?" Steven was breathless. "You have to tell me!"

"It's not anything you did! it's me! it's all me!" he started climbing up onto the cliff that had long since been fenced off, getting higher and higher. The lightning was a little closer now. Thunder struck yet again.

Steven did not falter in following his friend, climbing after him, "Please... Bill... come back! this isn't right!"

Maybe it was intuition.

"You're right! nothing's right about this! nor is anything right about me! I'm pathetic, and everyone and everything would be better off!" he shouted to the world, finally making it to the top. He was shaking all over, looking up at the swirling, tumultuous sky. Now he just had to wait. Or make it happen...

"No, Bill! you're better now..." he made it to the top as well, staring, "and I really care about you! you're awesome and I don't want you to leave... not like this... please? I... I'm sorry..." the thought hit Steven, just then. I'm not strong enough. I'm not even enough. I can't save him...

He couldn't look at the triangle anymore.

"Don't be sorry, kid. It's all on me.. I.. I wish I could feel like I was... but I don't... I did so many horrible things, and.. I can't..." Bill stood there, waiting, effectively giving up. Things were getting too much for him, things were getting to him too much. Things in the past and present. And the demon couldn't take it. He saw light gather up there, right above him now. He would've smiled if he felt so inclined. Maybe his parents would be happy. Everyone would be actually, he thought in his twisted and blind mind.

Suddenly, Steven ran right up to Bill, and hugged him, "No! I'm not letting you do this, Bill!"

"What?! kid, are you crazy?! you're gonna get struck too!" the demon tried to squirm out of his grasp. That lightning developed then, and it seemed slow motion when it came down to strike them both. The sound was so loud, so violent. It rumbled, and the flash of light was blinding. When Steven finally was able to see again, he saw his shield, protecting the two of them.

He smiled, "Bill... whatever happens... I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. I can't. You gotta promise you won't, alright?" he stared into Bill's eye, which was wide with tears flowing down from it.

The demon whispered the same word over and over again, and it rose into coherence, a "no", over and over again. He cried out, still trapped in those thoughts, "No! I deserve this! don't you get it? the chance is ruined now! lightning doesn't strike the same place twice!"

And he couldn't make it either. Not like this. He kept crying, and pushed the boy away, "I don't deserve your hugs! stay back!"

"No, Bill, please... if you do this, I'm going to jump off this cliff!" Steven warned, crying, tears streaming down his face.

"Y..you really would..?" the demon's eye widened, and then he frowned. The feeling got worse actually, not better, and the tears flowed even faster, intermingling with the rain, and he yelled again to the world, "OH, I'm such a terrible person! I'm the worst person ever to walk this planet! I'm pushing you to suicide now! and it's all my fault! WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME DEAD LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE?!"

Steven stared at him, wide-eyed, not sure what to say. He felt horrible, too, especially for even suggesting a thing like that. He sighed, "Bill... I really care about you. You're a wonderful person... why can't you see that? why can't you see...?"

Bill knelt eventually, still crying. He couldn't take this, and he couldn't understand. Why? he clutched at his arms, and whispered, but his voice nonetheless carried to Steven's ears, "Why do you...? why do you care, and no one else has..? I'm horrible and worthless... why..?"

"Bill... listen to yourself. You're not horrible, or worthless. You're one of the best friends I've ever had... and best friends protect each other! so you... I can't let you do anything with yourself. It'd... it'd destroy me, ya know?" Steven was really trying. He sniffled.

The demon looked up at him, eye wide again. He could almost barely believe this. He shook slightly, sniffling too, "But... why..? I... I don't understand... how can you.. how can you love someone like me...?"

"Because you're a good person, Bill. You try. That's more than someone like Lars can say. So please... don't do anything. Prove that you really have changed..."

He blinked, and his eye widened even farther. He remembered Lars. And their conflict. This made him feel a little sick inside, remorseful even, even if it was Lars's fault for the most part. But wow. He, a demon, was better than a human being...

Wow...

That really said something. And it opened mental floodlights that were now working to drive the dark storm of suicidal depression away. He couldn't say anything for a while, still shocked, still ruminating over this, and those tears were still rapidly intermingling with the rain. Steven hugged Bill, "I know it's hard. I know you feel like the scum of the Earth. I've been there too, you know. I know what it's like. But you have to work through it... for me... please..."

Bill took these words in, and sniffled some more. He had some questions, such as how and why Steven had actually felt like this; he hadn't seen the boy do anything as severe as the demon himself did. But he held back on those. If anything, it was also probably that empathy thing the kid had going on. He sighed, closing his eye, and finally hugged Steven back, "Okay... okay, kid... thank you... thank you so, so much..."

"No problem," Steven smiled and hugged him a little tighter. "I just... I don't want to see you doing anything like this again, okay?"

He nodded the best he could, "I won't... I promise..." and found himself smiling a little. The tears were still falling however, but they were now warm, tender, instead of cold and harsh. The storm, despite what everyone might have been thinking, didn't clear up. It kept going, still dark and swirling and ugly, and lightning struck again, but it was farther away, followed immediately by thunder. But they both knew and could find comfort in the fact that one of the worst was finally over...

A/N: And there you have it... yeesh... I almost cried posting this on Google Plus all those months ago. All those little feelings... came to a head. And created this. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I was Bill, and Ace had the Void, Gabriel, Pyronica, and Steven. One of the worst... is finally over. Literally. You've waited for this for MONTHS. lol
But here it is, finally. I'll resume the regularly scheduled posting now. Every Thursday or Saturday. So hang on, my readers! I'm back and here to stay! (...hopefully...)