Connie had been staring at the same sentence for over an hour, but wasn't getting any closer at grasping its meaning. Thoughts of Steven plagued her mind making it impossible for her to focus on her studies. Their last interaction had been short, barely even a minute, but Steven's refusal to discuss his issues followed by the abrupt ending of their call had given her enough cause for concern.
She leaned back into her chair, sparing a glance at the raindrops that pelted her window, and sighed. The musical ringing of her phone pulled her out of her thoughts. She picked it off the desk and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the sight of Pearl's name. The only times Pearl called were during life-and-death situations.
As she swiped to answer the call, her heart was almost in her throat. The other end of the call crackled before a voice that was not Pearl's spoke, "Something happened to Steven." It was Amethyst. Her words came out rushed and were tinged with worry. "How fast can you get your mom over here?"
The door to her house opened and closed, signalling the arrival of her mom from work. "We'll be right over," she said. Before she could ask any more questions the call became filled with the sounds of crying and worried voices before going dead.
She sprang up from her chair, dashed out of her room, and bolted down the stairs, nearly knocking over her mom in the process.
"Connie?!" her mom cried, latching onto the railing to steady herself. She sent her a stern look. "What has gotten into you? You know how I feel about running in the house."
"It's Steven," she said, voice cracking, "Something's wrong. I… he needs our help."
Her features immediately softened. "Let me grab my things."
While her mom busied herself with packing an assortment of medical supplies, Connie let out a high-pitched whistle and waited for Lion to arrive. Traveling by car would take too long and the stormy weather would only delay them more. Thankfully, her mom seemed to grasp the urgency of the situation and only hesitated slightly when getting on Lion.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky as they exited the swirling pink vortex that Lion used to travel. The large window in front of the beach house revealed an empty living room, no sign of Steven or the Crystal Gems anywhere. Connie pounded on the door, ready to break it down if she needed to only for it to creak open.
Wasting no time, Connie grabbed onto her mom's hand and practically dragged her up the stairs to Steven's bedroom. Normally, she would be mortified at the thought of just barging in unannounced, but the sounds of distant crying quashed any hesitance and compelled her to move even faster.
Shards of glass littered the bedroom floor. A dark blue tarp hastily taped to the broken sliding door was the only thing shielding the room from the cold gusts of wind and beads of icy rain that threatened to come in. The bed at the center of the room was surrounded by all the members of Steven's family.
Greg, who was seated at the edge of the bed with a small bundle of blankets cradled against his chest, whipped his head in their direction and visibly sagged in relief at the sight of them. Connie scanned the room, eyes flitting to every corner, but found no signs of Steven.
"Where's Steven?" she asked, pulling the attention of the three gems over to her. They shared worried looks, having a silent conversation amongst themselves. Connie swallowed, pulse racing at their continued silence. "Is he…"
"Steven is… sick," Greg said, breaking the tension. "He has a really high fever and keeps falling asleep."
Her mom nodded, putting on a mask of professionalism as she approached the small group. "Where is Steven?" she asked as she placed her leather medical bag on the bed and began to rifle through it.
"He's right here," Greg said, shifting the small mass of blankets so it fit more comfortably in his arms.
Her mom pursed her lips, eyebrows squishing together as she turned to stare at Greg. Connie took a few steps forward and examined the lump of blankets, eyeing it questioningly. Seeing the confusion on their faces, Greg pulled back the blanket slightly and revealed the sickly face of a young child. Sweat clung to his forehead and his cheeks were flushed a bright red.
Connie's breath hitched in her throat and her mouth fell open slightly. There, wrapped in a large blanket and cradled against Greg's chest was Steven. He squirmed and whined in protest of his only source of warmth being taken from him. She stared, but no matter how much she blinked the sight remained the same. Steven was a child again.
"... I see," her mom said, struggling to keep the shock out of her face. "How long since his… symptoms began."
Connie tried to listen to Greg's explanation—she really did, but her eyes kept wandering back over to Steven's boyish face. This wasn't the first time Steven had changed his physical age, but in the hectic events leading up to the final confrontation against the Diamonds and the recent incident with Spinel, Connie had almost forgotten about it. Dozens of questions swarmed around in her mind, most of them having to do with the how and why of the current situation.
Connie along with anyone who wasn't Greg was asked to leave the room until her mom's examination was complete. Amethyst and Pearl looked about ready to protest, but a single stern look from Garnet had them peacefully exiting the room, Connie trailing silently behind them.
It was only when they were all seated on the couch in the living room did Connie finally find her voice, "How?" It was only one word, but the gems knew exactly what she was referring to.
"We're not sure," Pearl answered. "When Steven ran off to Homeworld, we were all worri—"
"He ran off to Homeworld?" This was news to her. Last time they spoke about Homeworld and the Diamonds, Steven expressed his relief and not having to see them as often now that he was finished with his diplomatic missions. What reason could he have for going back to Homeworld?
"He hoped the Diamonds could help him control his new powers," Garnet said. "He didn't want us to follow…"
"The swelling and glowing…" Connie said, eyes widening. "At the hospital h—"
"Hold up," Amethyst said, voice rising an octave. "Hospital? When did Steven go to the hospital?"
Connie frowned. "He never told you?" Why would Steven withhold such important information from his own family? Why didn't he tell her that he was still struggling with his powers? She could have helped him, taken him back to the hospital, but Steven insisted he was fine. "He was swelling and glowing pink so I took him to the hospital, but…"
"Look, there's nothing to worry about. I'm okay." that's what he had said right before he hung up under the ridiculous excuse of not wanting to wake the gems up. What had happened since then that made him turn into a child?
"He told you he was fine," Garnet surmised, a deep frown on her face. "That there was nothing to worry about."
Connie nodded and the group sat in silence as they mulled over the new information. She didn't know for how long she sat there, but eventually the door to the bedroom clicked open and the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder.
The gems sat up straighter as her mom approached, an impassive look on her face. "Steven will be fine," she said before anyone could ask any questions. A wave of relief washed over the tense room. "I've given him some medication that should help reduce his fever. I recommend he rest and drink plenty of fluids. He should be fully recovered in a few days, but…" her emotionless facade cracked for a second as concern flashed across her eyes.
"But, what?" Amethyst asked, shifting in her seat. "He is going to get better, right?"
"Tell me, how familiar are you with Complex PTSD?"
No one responded, not even Connie had heard of such a thing before. She was familiar with PTSD and how soldiers and trauma survivors frequently experienced nightmares and flashbacks, but other than that she was as lost as the gems looked.
"A while ago, I ran some tests on Steven when he came to the hospital," her mom continued. Aside from grimacing at the mention of Steven's hospital visit, the gems remained silent. "His skeleton showed a clear history of trauma and while he has recovered physically…"
"He hasn't recovered mentally," Connie finished, realization dawning on her features. "Everything that happened when we were kids… the corrupted gems, the cluster, the diamonds…" The incident in White Diamond's head used to keep Connie up at night until she confided in her mom about it and was signed up for therapy. Now, she was rarely bothered by thoughts about the traumatic event, but as far as she knew Steven never went to therapy. Had he even told the gems or Greg about what happened that day? She doubted it since he hadn't even bothered to tell them about his hospital visit.
"I believe that's the cause of his sudden… transformation," her mom said. "As a way of coping with the traumatic events he's lived through, Steven has regressed to an age before they occurred."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Pearl exclaimed, shaking her head. "Steven didn't even learn to summon his shield until he was twelve, so why is he six now?"
"Well, it is possible that something traumatic that wasn't related to his gem powers happened to him at that age," her mom suggested. "Do you remember anything life-changing that happened when he was at that age?"
"No, nothing," Pearl insisted. "I don—"
"He moved in with us," Amethyst said softly.
Pearl whipped around to stare at her. "What?"
"That's the year we finished building the beach house," Amethyst explained. "When Steven turned six he moved in with us."
Pearl's expression crumbled and she fell silent.
Garnet's jaw clenched and her gaze fell to the floor.
Amethyst buried her face in her hands and let out a bitter chuckle, "Man, we really are bad at this."