A/N: Hello everyone, I am back with chapter twenty-three of this story. Here, we deal with the aftermath of last time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe
Steven, Lars and Sadie watched Aquamarine leave with the Ruby Squad. Once the Homeworld gems where gone, the three let out a sigh of relief. Lars quickly turned his attention to Sadie.
"Are you okay?" asked Lars.
"Yeah." answered Sadie flustered.
Sadie took a moment to calm down.
"Steven, is that the type of stuff that always happens?" asked Sadie concerned.
"Yeah. I'm used to it." answered Steven nonchalant.
"And your dad is okay with it?" asked Sadie surprised.
"He understands." answered Steven.
"I'm surprised nobody has called CPS." joked Sadie.
Steven felt his heart skip a beat.
"Steven, I need to tell you this sounds like a case where Child Protective Services might need to get involved." revealed Doctor Trudeau.
"What?!" asked Steven horrified.
"You're telling stories of battling aliens, going into space and facing certain death. These are not suitable for a fourteen year old." explained Doctor Trudeau.
"Steven!" cried Lars.
Steven snapped back to reality.
"Are you okay?" asked Sadie worried.
"Just my PTSD." answered Steven flatly.
"You're way to young for this." stated Sadie.
"I need to or else innocent people might get hurt." shrugged Steven.
Sadie turned to Lars.
"I'm not comfortable with you doing this." said Sadie.
"I figured that was coming." mused Lars.
"You've been killed." noted Sadie.
Lars shrugged his shoulders.
"Shit happens." said Lars.
"Is that you have to say?" asked Sadie in distress.
"Nothing else to say." answered Lars nonchalant.
"Sadie, we know they danger and we take the risk." said Steven.
"You have PTSD!" cried Sadie.
"Please calm down." requested Lars.
Tears began welling up in Sadie's eyes.
"Lars, I can't do this." said Sadie.
"Are you making me chose?" asked Lars.
"I...guess so." answered Sadie.
"We don't need to go this far!" exclaimed Steven worried.
"I chose both of you." said Lars.
Sadie got mad by this.
"Sadie, Lars wants to protect you and everyone else." noted Steven.
"Plus, I've already died so I'm too worried." added Lars.
Sadie took a moment.
"Okay Lars. It's fine." said Sadie.
"Really?" asked Lars surprised.
"I'm not going to change your mind." replied Sadie.
"Nope." confirmed Lars.
Sadie rubbed her face.
"I know you're worried about me." began Lars.
Sadie began sobbing.
"Sadie." said Lars softly.
Lars hugged his girlfriend.
"Everything will be okay. I'll keep you and everyone else safe." whispered Lars.
"I love you!" cried Sadie.
Lars kissed Sadie on the forehead.
"I love you to." said Lars.
The group split up. Lars walked Sadie home and stayed there with her. Sadie Miller had more than enough action for the day. Meanwhile, Steven went back home. He rounded Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Bismuth and Topaz up. Steven told them about the attack by Ruby Squad. He also told them about the odd arrival of Aquamarine.
"That's it." concluded Steven.
The gems shared puzzled looks.
"Are you sure that's how it ended?" asked Topaz skeptical.
"Yes." answered Steven firmly.
Amethyst looked at Garnet.
"Would a Ruby ever act on her own?" asked Amethyst unsure.
Garnet thought.
"It is highly unusual." answered Garnet.
"A Ruby would usually never act out of turn. That is a strict breech of the of the Homeworld hierarchy." said Pearl.
"Well it happened." said Steven.
"I'd give them credit for acting out on their own...if they weren't attacking us." admitted Bismuth.
"I take it we're not influencing them." sighed Steven.
"What do you mean?" asked Pearl confused.
"Gems that interact with us tend to act out of Homeworld's caste system and often join us." answered Steven.
"Like Peridot and Lapis." said Amethyst.
"And Topaz." added Bismuth.
"I doubt they're going to join us." said Pearl.
Garnet used her Future Vision.
"That's highly unlikely." confirmed Garnet.
"So the question is why they acted on their own." mused Pearl.
"Whatever the reason, we need to be prepared." said Bismuth.
Garnet nodded her in agreement.
"This is not over." said Garnet.
"Hey Topaz, you've been awful quiet." noted Amethyst.
"Something about this makes me uneasy." revealed Topaz distressed.
"Do you think this is some kind of trap?" asked Pearl worried.
"I did pretend to befriend you." answered Topaz guilty.
"But then you did." said Steven.
"It's not a trap." stated Garnet.
The Crystal Gems where relieved to hear this.
"Will they break with Aquamarine and Emerald?" asked Steven hopeful.
Garnet took a moment.
"It is possible." answered Garnet.
"We've taken care of these five before." said Amethyst confidently.
"Still, we cannot take them too lightly." warned Pearl.
"Pearl is right. We need to stay on guard." stated Garnet.
"Is there something we can do to protect the citizens of Beach City?" asked Steven.
Garnet again took a moment.
"We're doing all we can." answered Garnet.
Steven groaned.
"I know it's tough. But, we're doing everything we can." noted Bismuth.
Steven sighed.
"That is true." admitted Steven.
"For now, we'll continue to stay on guard and keep this new development in mind." stated Garnet.
The others all agreed.
"We should tell the others." said Topaz.
"I'll do it." offered Steven.
"One of us can tell the barn gems and you can tell Connie." offered Bismuth.
Steven shook his head.
"It's not a problem." said Steven.
"Then that is it for now." said Garnet.
The group split though Amethyst walked over to Steven.
"If something is wrong, tell me. Okay." requested Amethyst.
"Thanks." said Steven grateful.
Meanwhile, Aquamarine returned to the ship. Emerald was passing back and forth inside the ship. She mumbled angrily to herself as she did so. Emerald saw the Ruby Squad and growled angrily. Aquamarine dropped the five on the floor not caring where and how the fell. Navy fell first with Eyeball on top of her, Army on top of those two, Doc on top of those three and finally Leggy at the very top. The five struggled before they all stood vertical. Aquamarine rolled her eyes and flew over to where Emerald was. Both where facing the Ruby Squad.
"Well..." began Emerald.
Emerald tapped her foot.
"Who wants to start?" asked Emerald.
The Ruby Squad shared worried looks.
"Start talking." demanded Emerald angrily.
The Ruby Squad members gulped in unison.
"Talk you pillocks!" snapped Aquamarine.
"I'm sorry!" cried Leggy.
Army sneered in disgust.
"Pathetic." spat Aquamarine.
"We hoped to defeat the rebels." said Doc.
"Not duh." replied Aquamarine annoyed.
"We want to know why you acted on your own." noted Emerald.
"We hoped to prove our worth." said Navy.
The others gave her a surprised look.
"Go with it." whispered Navy.
Emerald and Aquamarine where clearly skeptical.
"We know we're only lowly Rubies."said Doc.
"So we wanted to prove we can do our job." added Army.
Emerald growled.
"You should now too never act without orders." said Emerald disgusted.
"We could have you all shattered and replaced with new Rubies in a snap." said Aquamarine.
Aquamarine snapped her fingers to put emphasis on this.
"We're sorry!" cried Leggy.
"Disgusting." muttered Army.
Eyeball stepped forward.
"We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for your fighting!" declared Eyeball.
The other Ruby Squad members couldn't believe what they where hearing.
"What are you talking about?" asked Emerald.
Army stepped up.
"The reason we haven't had success if because of your fighting." answered Army.
Aquamarine looked at the other Ruby Squad members.
"Do you three feel the same?" asked Aquamarine.
The Ruby Squad members shared a glance.
"Yes." answered Navy.
Navy stepped forward to join Eyeball and Army.
"This is unbelievable." said Emerald.
Doc stepped forward joining the other three.
"The five of us all agreed." said Doc.
The four turned to face Leggy.
"That's right. All five of us agree." said Leggy.
Leggy joined the others.
"I can't believe this!" cried Aquamarine.
"We can have you shattered." stated Emerald.
"I'm sure the Diamonds would love to hear about your constant fighting." replied Eyeball.
Emerald and Aquamarine shared concerned glances.
"Look, we can forgive this...transgression as long it doesn't happen again." said Emerald.
"One one condition." replied Doc.
"What is that?" asked Aquamarine.
"That you two stop this damn fighting." answered Navy.
Emerald and Aquamarine nodded.
"Okay." relented Emerald.
"Fine." relented Aquamarine.
Hours passed and finally, night time came. Steven got ready for bed and laid down. He lied under his covers. However, Steven was not able to sleep. The worries over the situation at hand kept him awake. Steven rolled back and forth unable to sleep. Instead, he laid on his side and looked out the window.
"This stinks." sighed Steven.
Steven looked at the quiet scene outside.
"How can this be so peaceful with all the crap going on?" asked Steven.
Steven let out an angered groan.
"Dammit." said Steven bitterly.
Steven quickly looked over at the door, but saw no gems.
"Last thing I need is to make the others worried." muttered Steven.
Steven laid back down.
"Why can't I be a normal kid?" asked Steven.
Steven rubbed his face with his hands.
"Now I have to see Doctor Trudeau soon." sighed Steven.
A/N: That's where we'll end things for now. I am putting this story on hiatus for now because I really need it. Next time, Steven gets ready for his meeting with Doctor Trudeau. Please review.