Twoie stepped out of the temple with a tired sigh. Finally, he was done with yet another meeting/interrogation. They were starting to become more frequent. Pearl especially kept pushing him to reveal where Peridot was. Maybe he really should tell them more, but he didn't want to jeopardize Peridot's chance to become a Crystal Gem. She was a vital part of the future that eventually led to Era 3. His regret would be everlasting if he accidentally prevented that future from happening.

He pushed the stress down. After Peridot was captured, he'd tell them more about the future. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a box of juice. The room was really quiet, even with Steven asleep. That's odd… Normally, there was the sound of snoring. He looked up at Steven's bed.

He choked on his drink. The blankets were strewn about, and the bed was empty. "Steven?!" He called out as he gazed wildly around the room. No answer. "Stars, was that tonight?" He ran back into the burning room. All three gems stopped their discussion as he entered the room. "I think Peridot just kidnapped Steven!"

Garnet wiped her visor off her face. Everyone flinched at her harsh glare. She strode forward, grabbing him roughly by the collar of his shirt. "Why didn't you say anything? We just had a meeting about this!"

Twoie stammered in shock and fear. "I-I didn't know when it was actually going to happen! Besides, it had to happen! Peridot isn't going to hurt him, I promise. She actually-"

Garnet shoved him backward as she let him go. Twoie stumbled but managed to catch himself before he tripped. "Where is he? Where did Peridot take him?"

He couldn't hold back his shiver at her icy tone. "The G-galaxy warp."

"Let's go." Garnet gestured to the rest of the gems to follow her. They ignored him as they exited the temple. Twoie followed them to the warp pad but was halted from stepping onto it by Garnet's stern glare. "Not you. You've done enough. We will be talking about this when we return." They left him standing alone in the dark, empty room.

Twoie felt like his heart was breaking.

Steven looked away from the robotic foot he was holding. He was sure that what Peridot wanted to tell him was important, but Garnet had dismissed him when he tried to ask about it earlier. He had also tried to ask her why Twoie wasn't with them. That had been scary. She curtly replied that Twoie had allowed him to be kidnapped, and was not to be trusted. She wouldn't even allow him to defend his brother.

When everyone arrived back at the temple, Twoie was nowhere to be found. The gems were already stressed by Peridot, but his absence left them panicking. Garnet immediately took charge, directing the gems to locations to search for Twoie. Garnet went to the Kindergarten, Amethyst went to the car wash, and Pearl went to the garden. That was about half an hour ago.

"I wish I could ask Twoie why he didn't say anything." The pink gem on the temple door lit up and morphed into the entrance to Rose's room. Steven's eyes widened as he realized he could hear Twoie.

"-ike this? I get that it's frustrating, but stars do I hate how little everyone listens to me! First Pearl, now Garnet? At least Pearl, let me explain!" Gusts of wind buffeted Steven as he stepped inside, the door disappearing behind him. He gasped.

The room was a dark orangish-red. The normally pink, fluffy clouds were grey and swirling, just like a storm. Twoie was pacing back and forth while a pretty older lady was watching him. Her short dark hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a white button-up blouse with jean capris. She looked like she could be Connie's older sister. As the thought crossed his mind, the lady flickered. She morphed into his Connie, still standing and watching Twoie as he paced. She flickered back into the other lady again. Twoie must not have noticed him come in nor the flickering Connie(?) because he continued pacing. As he ranted, he switched between throwing his hands around and tugging at his hair.

"I don't understand how I ever put up with this? This is just like the time with Lapis and the mirror! And the Palanquin! I try to talk to them, and they shut me down! You wanted answers? Well, I'm trying to give you some! Just because I'm trying to be careful about saying too much doesn't mean I don't want to help! I didn't mean to let Steven get kidnapped, but he wasn't in any danger! At least let me explain, but nooo, she's too high and mighty to do so!"

"T-twoie?" Steven stepped forward, holding the cybernetic tighter in fear. His brother got annoyed sometimes, but Steven had never seen him this angry. Twoie didn't hear him over his rant. Steven gasped as Twoie's hands turned pink, the odd glow slowly increasing until his whole body was glowing. "T-twoie?"

"I just want to fix things, Connie! I want things to be okay again! I want to be okay again! It's hard reliving my past because there's more pressure on me to fix everything! I couldn't fix the argument between Garnet and Pearl. I failed at preventing Garnet from falling apart. I just stood by and let Steven get kidnapped because I'm too scared of making things worse to fix anything."

Steven stared as the lady, who was apparently older Connie, stabilized at his realization. Connie met his gaze and shook her head. He stayed where he was.

"Because whenever I try to fix something, I just make it worse. It happened with GHEM, it happened with Volleyball, it happened with Little Graduation! And now it's happening here! The Gems don't even trust me! I JUST KEEP SCREWING UP!" Twoie stomped his foot in rage. Wind billowed out from his action, blowing Cloud Connie apart due to its pressure. The shockwave raged with such force that Steven was harshly knocked to the ground.

"Augh!"

Twoie stiffened. No… He whipped around to see his little brother lying on his side. The cybernetic he was holding had been flung a couple of feet away. Steven slowly propped himself up on his elbow with a wince. He looked fine, but that wasn't enough to assuage Twoie's fears. He stepped forward, intent on checking him over, but the action made Steven flinch.

"S-steven?" The boy's eyes were awash with fear. He could see tears in the corners of his eyes. Twoie collapsed where he stood. 'I'm doing it all over again. It's just like Volleyball.' Flutter.

"Steven, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were here! Are you okay?" Steven sat up slowly. He nodded, though he couldn't hide his trembling.

"Twoie? What was that? What's wrong?" His older brother flinched. Of course, Steven was going to think of him first. He always put others before himself. That's just who Steven was. Flutter, flutter. Twoie's mouth felt dry. He felt like his throat had clogged up. He could feel the sting of tears in his eyes. The blood rushing in his ears. He crumpled in on himself.

Steven could feel tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. "How long have you been feeling like this? How long have you been sad?" No reply. The younger crawled over to his older self. Twoie scooted backward every time Steven got closer. "Twoie, please! I want to know what's wrong! I want to help you!"

Twoie shook his head in shame. "You can't…"

Steven's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

Twoie ducked his head, hair covering his eyes. "You can't, Steven. This is something that I was working on back home. I haven't been able to control it. I don't want to hurt you more than I already have."

Steven didn't notice the tears now streaming down his cheeks. "Twoie… It's okay. 'It's fine to not be fine,' remember?" Twoie clenched his fists.

"It's not fine for me, Steven. You're lucky the only thing I did was knock you down!" Steven crawled closer. This time, Twoie didn't retreat. Steven could see that his brother was trying not to cry. Flutter, flutter, flutter. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to make you deal with another problem. Trust me when I say I'm fine."

Steven tightly hugged Twoie. "But you're not fine! You're hurting! You've been hurting this whole time, but I don't want you to be! You're my big brother, and I care so much about you. You've already helped me so much! If I can help you, I want to." Twoie closed his eyes and brushed his hand through Steven's hair.

"You help by being around, Sunshine. I'm fine. I promise." Steven knew Twoie was lying to him.

"Why won't you let me help you? You've done so much for me. I'm actually learning things I've never known before. I feel less lonely. I feel like there's someone I can talk to about anything." He pulled away from Twoie. He tried to look him in the eyes, but the older boy kept his gaze glued to the ground. The soft sound of fluttering wings echoed in the background.

He held Twoie's face with both hands. "I love you, Twoie. You're the best big brother in the universe. If you don't really don't want to talk, I'll let it go for now, okay?" Twoie clenched his eyes in pain. He fought back a sob as he pulled his brother into another tight hug. He knew his little brother was trying to comfort him, but he couldn't hear him over the dark thoughts that were screaming in his mind.

You scared him! You're still scaring him! You were too angry to notice him! You were pink! You hurt him! You're still hurting him! You're lucky you didn't kill him! You're just like her!

Movement from above caught his eye. He looked up, and his eyes dilated in horror. Hundreds of butterflies were swirling above them. The fluttering of their wings softly echoed throughout the room. Twoie felt his heart in his throat. He needed to pull himself together. For Steven. He willed the room to dissipate the butterflies. "Okay." They sat in silence for a moment.

"Do you want to go listen to what Peridot has to say? I know it's bothering you." Steven shook his head. "Can we just stay like this? For a little longer?" Steven couldn't see him as Twoie bit his lip. As Twoie clenched his eyes shut in anger and grief at knowing how much he hurt his little brother by not noticing him come in. By being too consumed in his rage. He added a tick to his mental scoreboard. Yet, another screw-up.

"Sure, Sunshine."