A/N: I suppose the notif/review squad wasn't here for Chapter Fifty. lol Anyway, have Chapter Fifty-One. I had looked through and made sure no other chapter had the same name. XD
So, here ya go! I hope you enjoy~

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Fifty-One: The Calm Before the Real Storm

It was calm in the ocean. But the storm behind, gentle as it now was becoming, still raged about the waters near where the twins were heading. But their concern wasn't the storm. Not anymore. Peridot had amassed several checkers, chuckling. Surprisingly, she was winning, despite her confusion earlier and how alien it had been. She grinned, holding her cards, "This is so much fun! I'm winning!"

Stanford was frowning, looking a little shocked and disgruntled. He was staring down at his cards, and bit his lip, "That you are... it's remarkable..."

Stanley chuckled, "But not for long..."

Darkly, he discreetly pulled a card from a sleeve into his hand. "Ha! a full house!" he held them up proudly, grinning.

Peridot frowned slightly, and looked at her cards. Her eyes widened, and she held hers up too, "I think this is what you call.. a 'Royal Flush'. Whatever that means," and then she grinned again.

Stanford almost tossed his cards away, exasperated. He made a mental note to himself that Peridot could learn very, very quickly, and could put that to use in a highly advanced way. And that maybe he shouldn't teach her any more games that usually involve money. Stanley's eyes widened, "Are you counting cards? Poindexter, did you teach her how to do that?"

Never mind that Poker was a game of luck.

"I don't know if I did or not," he shook his head.

She reached forward for the rest of the checkers, grinning still, and the man just gave them all up, no questions asked, and he put down his cards. He picked up his Journal, and wrote down his mental note. Stan pushed his piles to her too, with a heavy heart.

"Well, that's that," Ford sighed, setting aside his Journal.

"Wait, we're not playing again?" the green Gem seemed saddened. This was the first time she ever had fun, in public, in her life. She had had to hide what little she could do for fun before, and often had fun in private. Back at Homeworld, fun not related to work was looked down upon; it was all business. And sometimes the business got... bloody. She sighed.

Stan shook his head. "It looks like the storm's let up a lot since we started playing. We might be able to make it through now..." he looked hopefully towards the clouds. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get to go home."

Peridot looked back at the storm as well. It did seem calmer, and the waves weren't thrashing like they were before; they could indeed traverse through it now. Ford smiled anxiously, beginning to put away the game, "You mean 'go to Antarctica to investigate the strange anomaly', Stanley. That's what we set off to do in the first place, after all."

The Gem tilted her head at this, becoming curious. She wanted to ask, but held her tongue. She figured maybe she'd find out.

"Oh..." Stan frowned a little, and then he nodded, smiling, "yeah, that too." He got up and headed to the wheel to get the three of them on their merry way. The game was now put away properly, and Ford's stomach growled again. He frowned a bit. The first thing they'd do, he promised himself, was to get a bite to eat. And they had to ask where Bill was anyway—if the demon wasn't showing off, that is. He smiled again, as he glanced at the case in which the quantum destabilizer was contained. Finally, they'd save the world again.

Peridot still looked rather sad, but she pushed it aside. The time for a confrontation was nigh, she felt. And, frankly, she was getting nervous too. This.. "Bill Cipher".. seemed incredibly powerful, considering how these two humans talked about him. She honestly didn't know if they'd all stand a chance. Stan seemed excited to finally be moving again. He put on his captain's hat and sped up the boat some more, turning it back towards their destination. At this rate, it wouldn't take long at all for them to arrive at this strange city.

Eventually, the smile faded into a frown of grim determination, the face Ford'd been wearing for nearly the entirety of this trip. He was ready. Stan was ready. He looked forwards, picking up his Journal and pocketing it in his trench coat. They could see land, in the distance, getting closer and closer every second, and the waves weren't a bother at all this time. And neither was the rain, for it faded to the point of near nonexistence. Peridot was also looking forward. But instead of grim determination, it was fear. Fear of what may happen to them. Sure, she had hope that things would be okay, but hope could only do so much.

"So, let's go over the plan one more time," Stan began, glancing at his brother. "We get in, we find Bill, and then we shoot him."

Ford nodded, sparing his brother a glance as well.

"Peridot," the ex-conman then continued, "stay with the ship and make sure everything in here is safe."

The green Gem frowned, but didn't exactly object to this. She understood the need for security, and sighed, saluting again, this time correcting it to the more Earthly one Stan had taught her, "Yes, sir. Um, I mean, captain."

And there was a plus to this. Should Lapis and Jasper happen to arrive at Beach City, she'd be safe on the boat and would be able to hide in the lower levels or behind the safe. It was a win-win. Sort of. She still didn't want anything bad happening to those two. But this demon needed to be stopped. And these two humans seemed capable enough to handle it. At least, she hoped so.

Stan chuckled. "Hey, do you wanna wear the captain's hat?" he held it out to her, with an encouraging smile. She kinda reminded him of Mabel.

Peridot blinked for a while, and then smiled a bit, especially at the smile he gave her, "Uh, sure?"

She stood up, walked over, took it and set it on her head, but the triangular hair was making it a little harder. Yep, the moment her hair dried, it immediately fixed itself. But she felt proud nonetheless, setting her hands on her hips and laughing. Ford looked up at her and smirked, but his expression was still majorly serious. They were about to face a world destroying, reality-warping, evil entity, after all.

Bill had gotten himself another cup of hot chocolate, and was relaxing in front of the fireplace, bundled in blankets. Wendy was lying near him, trying to wrap her head around the show they all watched. She hummed a little bit, and then looked out the window. The vicious storm had passed on, but it still wasn't exactly sunny. The redhead grew a little apprehensive at that moment, but she made sure to hide it. Connie was sitting by the window now, having woken back up a while ago, looking out. Steven was lying on his bed. And then Wendy's phone soon began to ring.

The teenager somewhat paled. She knew who this was. She took a deep breath, gathering her wits about her, sat up and got out her phone, answering it, "Sup?"

Bill looked up at her, anxious. He knew who this was too. He clutched the mug he was holding tighter, and made sure he was absolutely quiet.

"Hey, Wendy, we're on our way. We should be there in a couple of hours. Do us a favor and make sure no one's in our way, alright? we're not all too sure what this gun will do on humans," he said in his rough voice.

She nodded, holding back a gulp and a shudder, "Alright, dude. I'll make sure of it."

She didn't say anything else, however, for fear she'd slip up, and was tempted to hang up. But she didn't, and bit her lip as she glanced over at Connie; the brunette glanced at Wendy too, her brow furrowed. Bill watched the redhead carefully, shivering. He, in short, was terrified. Not only for himself, but for Steven as well. His time may be but a short fuse, now. And, again, the boy was going to be in the middle of it all.

"Is everything alright over there? is he still there?" he asked, biting his lip. He gazed out over the ocean, trying to get a better look at the city. Steven, like Bill, didn't do much but watch, mildly curious, but not quite a dead cat.

Wendy nodded, "Yes. And yes."

She couldn't lie. They'd see it soon enough. She looked at Bill, worried. He could take care of himself though, but at the same time she was afraid of that too. The golden demon set aside the mug of hot cocoa and burrowed himself under the blankets.

"Okay. Just make sure no one's in our way, sweetie," and he hung up.

Wendy stared at her screen for quite a while, seemingly shell-shocked, and then she got up, and sighed, brushing herself off and putting away her phone, "Well, that was Stan. He says they'll be here in two hours."

The triangle's breath hitched. So he had a couple hours left. Wait. Why was he thinking this way? he was powerful now, and he could feel it. He could easily defend himself. But he was working to leave his dark past behind. And resorting to offensive magic would undo all of that. Never mind his defensive magic. But his shields and barriers may accidentally deflect the blast back at them. And he didn't want that. Not anymore. Steven frowned, getting out of bed and heading downstairs, "Wait, what's going on?"

"We've gotta go, dudes," the redhead said, completely pale. "The storm lifted, so they are on their way."

She knew, however, that Steven wouldn't want to leave. It was mostly directed at the brunette anyway. Bill slowly came back out of the blankets, and grabbed his mug. He sipped at it continuously, still shivering.

Connie nodded, getting up, "Alright. Come on, Steven, we have to go."

Steven stared. "But... I can't just..." he glanced at Bill, sitting there like that, and then back at the girls, biting his lip.

The teenager understood, and nodded, "I hope you have a good plan, man."

She walked over to the door, and set her hand on the knob, waiting for the brunette. The demon remained surprisingly quiet, thinking on a lot of things. He finished his hot cocoa, and made the cup vanish then.

"Steven," Connie sighed, "we don't have all day. In fact, we only have two hours. You have to come with us... then it'll be over, and you can go home." She looked kinda sad and reluctant. It was a huge change from how hostile and urging she'd been before.

"I..." he didn't know what to say, shaking now.

Wendy wasn't going to intervene. She wasn't going to keep Steven from staying here with Bill. But she wasn't going to stop Connie from trying to convince him to come with them either. Bill looked over at the boy, and sighed, "Last chance, kid. I know you have a plan, and I know I'd have a bright future ahead of me, but... you can go with them, if you want." He then shrugged, "Just sayin'."

The boy eventually shook his head, and spoke, mostly to Connie, "No. I'm staying here with Bill. I have to. Who else is gonna look out for him?"

The demon smiled slightly, but it was full of worry. Wendy nodded again, "Well. That's that. Let's go, Connie."

And she opened the door and headed out, stepping out onto the balcony. She felt like she was forgetting something, however.

"Oh, okay..." the brunette looked even sadder, "stay safe then, or at least try to..." she then hugged the boy, and he hugged her back.

The redhead sighed, and then came back. She had remembered. So she joined the hug, close to tears. Bill watched, and found the resemblance was close to the ending of one of the Crying Breakfast Friends episodes. And he wasn't disgusted anymore. If anything, he was also close to tears. The time of the confrontation was drawing near every minute, every second. But he couldn't bring himself to join in the hug, despite knowing it would probably be one of his last. And his first with Wendy and Connie. He almost felt like he didn't deserve it at all.

Steven noticed and soon motioned him over, "C'mon, Bill, join in.. it's not a real group hug unless it's the entire group doing it!"

The demon blinked, and got up slowly. Wendy looked at him and smiled slightly. She was still a little apprehensive, but the triangle had proven to her that he could be trusted. Bill eventually smiled back, "Okay then, kid..." and floated over to them, and joined in, stretching and wrapping his arms around every participant. Warmth radiated from him, and it felt nice, despite it being dead in the middle of spring. He made sure to savor this, like he was starting to cherish a lot of things.

And then they all began to let go. Wendy, then the triangle, let go first of all, and she wiped the tears from her eyes, "Well, I'll hopefully catch ya later, man." She looked at Bill too, and nodded, "You too."

The demon's tearful smile broadened. Connie smiled sadly at the two, "No one die tonight, alright?"

Bill nodded, "I'll try, kid..." and then looked at Steven. He made a vow to protect him, just then.

Wendy crossed the room, back to the door, and waved at the unlikely duo. The golden triangle and the Gem kid waved back. And then she exited. Connie followed Wendy, bag secured on her person now, and asked uneasily, "D'ya think they stand a chance?"

The redhead sighed, making her way down the steps, "They might, dude. At least, I certainly hope they will."

She bit her lip again. She again never thought she'd say that. But Bill honestly deserved a second chance. A second chance to become empathetic again. A second chance at the good life. It would be a shame if it all died away.

"Me too," the brunette nodded, looking down. She hadn't really gotten to truly meet Bill, and she certainly hoped she'd be able to more. He seemed like a really great guy. And she saw it too. And Wendy, putting an arm around Connie to comfort her, was hoping she'd be able to visit and get to know the new Bill more as well...

A/N: Aaaand there you all have it! so Ace had Stan and Connie and Steven, and I had Peridot, Ford, Wendy and Bill. X3
Of course, the plan is going to be more elaborate than that. XD And the story seems like it's coming to an end. What will happen? well, we'll all find out. Hehe! so, leave a review, please. :3 I'd love to hear what you all thought about this.