Connie felt her body unfreeze and she toppled to the ground, but something caught her before she hit it.
"Steven?"
But it wasn't the boy. Lion had swooped in under her and quickly carried her away. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on the field around her. Gems were swarming Steven again, who desperately twisted, turned, bucked and stomped, but he was being overwhelmed.
Connie noticed he didn't fight as hard as he was before. He didn't create any walls. He didn't force them away with his power. He just writhed and thrashed instinctively as their weapons dug into his skin.
And the gems. Only some of them attacked him. Others stayed on their knees; eyes pained as they looked at the monster they briefly shared a connection with. Most of them who watched had been corrupted themselves. Nephrite was the only one on her feet and begging others to stop fighting as she openly cried.
But no one listened, even if they too cried as they fought Steven. They all understood now. But they also understood that it wasn't over. Not yet.
The few new gems that joined the fight didn't understand, though. They pressed on, relentlessly.
White Diamond stood there stoic and unresponsive as Steven cried out in a mix of panic and pain.
"No, Lion!" Connie pulled on his mane and the cat stopped to look at her. "We need to get them to stop! Steven's still in there."
"Connie!" Greg shouted. He ran over to her and tried to pull her off the cat's back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Connie said as she pushed Greg away. "I need to get back to Steven!"
"What?!" Greg exclaimed. "Connie, I got help. They'll take him down. It's okay."
"No," Connie shook her head. "He's still there! I talked to him!'
Greg looked at the girl, not understanding. "Connie," he said gently. He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but the girl shrugged it off. "When I came back, you were frozen solid. If Lion hadn't grabbed you…"
Connie pushed him away and caught sight of her hand. Both her and Greg froze: her fingers were a deep pink. The same color as Steven's skin. As soon as she noticed it, her hand began to ache and throb.
"Connie," Greg said. "Is that…?"
Connie nodded and clenched her fist to hide her fingers. "It happened when I was in Steven's head."
"In his head?!"
Connie nodded. "When he froze all the gems, he connected with their minds and overwhelmed them. When I got there, I had some time to get through to Steven."
"And did you?"
Connie nodded again and looked over to the panicked monster as it roared loudly and smashed its tail against the ground. "He's fighting it," she told Greg. "But he can't do it without us."
Greg took a deep breath and his shoulders sagged in relief. "He's still in there?"
"Yes," Connie said. "But I don't know how much longer we have. I have to get to him."
"Then go," Greg said. "I'll get Sadie, Shep, and Kiki to safety."
Connie smiled at him and put her hand on Lion's mane. The cat looked at her as if he knew what she was going to ask him.
"Please, Lion, get me close to him," she asked.
After another moment of staring at the girl, the big cat turned to run toward Steven.
With each hit Steven took, Connie saw his eyes unfocus and more animalistic tendencies enter the monster's body language. The harder he fought, the more violent he became: The more his friends hurt him, the more of himself he lost.
"We need to stop them!" Connie yelled and Lion responded by jumping over gems head's and landing directly in front of Steven. He turned his back to Steven, puffed up his chest and let out a fierce roar. The impact flung the oncoming gems backward so Connie had room to work.
Lion growled as he dared anyone to approach him and the human he carried. Connie slowly got off him and faced Steven. She eyed his cuts, which oozed blood and saw his limbs tremble as he took a small step back from her.
"Steven?" she asked him softly.
"Connie, what are you doing?!" Pearl cried. Lion's growl kept her at bay and her shriek told Connie that Lion had snapped at her. "Get away from him!"
Connie ignored her and slowly raised her hand with the corruption scars. Steven began to growl at her, his eyes narrowing into slits as he watched her approach. His entire body language told her that he was unsure about her.
But then his eyes fell to her discolored fingers and he froze.
"It's okay," Connie told him. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Steven huffed out and his body tensed further as Connie continued to move forward.
"You remember your promise?" she asked him, aware that her hands were shaking. Steven lowered his head toward her and bared his teeth as he growled lowly in warning, like an animal backed in a corner.
"You promised to keep fighting," Connie told him, her voice too low for anyone but Steven to hear.
The monster blinked slowly and his back legs tensed and began to shake like he was getting ready to pounce on her.
"CONNIE!" Garnet yelled, but the human kept moving closer.
"You promised," Connie whispered, just feet from Steven now. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched her friend struggle with himself. His eyes kept unfocusing and focussing; growing angrier and more frustrated every time they did.
Connie watched his front arms shake as he slowly lowered himself so he was as close to Connie's height as he could be. His eyes focused on her and they softened slightly. His back half slowly sank too as he showed submission. He tilted his head down and his forehead met Connie's corrupted fingers.
"You promised to remember me," Connie breathed as she pressed her forehead to Steven's. He let out a whimper that only Connie could hear. "I got you," she told him. "Jam buds stick together."
Steven closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Connie felt his body relax.
The gems behind them began to stand down. Lion walked over to Connie and rubbed his face against her side before nudging Steven's with his nose.
"I don't believe it," she heard Pearl breathe behind them. "Steven?"
"Now's our chance," Garnet said. "Connie, can you talk to him? Get him to Rose's Fountain?"
Connie pulled her face back, but kept her hand on Steven and watched him open his eyes.
"We need to heal you," she told him. "Can you stay in control?"
She watched his face twitch as he strained to keep control of himself. His eyes briefly glowed and White moved forward one step, but he closed his eyes and turned his head violently to the side. White froze again.
An idea suddenly blossomed in her head.
"Or can you let White go?" Connie suggested when she saw how much the corrupt side of him fought back at the idea of healing him. The three Diamonds could help him here. Maybe they didn't need the fountain.
Steven's eyes traveled and focused on the largest gem in the galaxy. Connie heard a loud crash, which told her White had just fallen to her knees. Steven suddenly bucked his head and shook it wildly. He pawed at his ears and thrashed. He stepped away from Connie and his claws tore into the side of his head.
He roared, but it wasn't from the physical pain. Connie imagined the corruption lash out at Steven's mind; it smacked him, pulled him, pinned him down, but he still fought against them. He wasn't giving in. He was keeping his promise, no matter how many vines pulled him down.
Now was their chance.
Connie looked behind her and yelled. "White, Yellow, Blue!"
The Diamonds, who were pulling White to her feet, nodded. They ran forward and jumped. Their weight combined pinned Steven to the ground. All of their hands and gems glowed as they tried to heal the boy.
He thrashed beneath them, but his movements were getting weaker. His wounds closed sluggishly, but the healing wasn't taking effect nearly as quickly as Connie thought it would. Steven whimpered quietly and his eyes struggled to remain focused on Connie.
He was trying to tell her something. That this wasn't working. But why?!
Then it hit her. Three Diamonds couldn't heal corruption. But all four could.
Connie walked over to him and pressed her hand against his face again and looked right into his eyes, which were filled with pleading panic. She pressed her forehead against his once more.
Garnet walked up next to her and gently placed her hand on Steven's cheek and smiled small up at the corrupted boy. Pearl and Amethyst joined on either side of Connie too.
"We're here, dude," Amethyst told him. "We got you."
Greg, Sadie, Shep, and Kiki walked up next to her and all of them smiled at Steven before reaching out and placing a comforting hand on him too.
"It's okay," Connie gently told him. "We believe in you."
Steven closed his eyes and Connie swore she heard him hum a line to their jam song.
The Diamonds drew back as Steven's form began to glow. Everyone but Connie pulled their hands away as it shrank and turned humanoid. As soon as the glow faded, Connie pulled Steven close and felt him weakly latch onto her. She felt him tremble and felt tears roll onto her neck, but couldn't see his face. His arms and neck had patches of discoloration visible through his torn shirt; from deep pink corruption scars to angry bruises and half-healed cuts. It might have been the light, but Connie swore one scar looked like a vine that wrapped along his right arm and up to his shoulder.
But it was Steven.
Wordlessly, the gems and Greg got on their knees and wrapped their arms around him and Connie.
"Welcome back," Greg told his son as he ran his fingers through his son's hair.
"Steven, why didn't you tell us?" Pearl asked the boy sadly.
Garnet nodded, though unseen by the boy. "You're never alone," she told him. "We're always here for you."
Amethyst nodded and nudged the boy playfully. "Yeah dude, you helped us, after all. It's the least we could do."
Steven took a shuddering breath before he slowly nodded. His grip on Connie had significantly loosened as he quickly lost his strength. She held him all the tighter when she realized how pale he was.
"Steven?" she asked him as worry dominated her voice.
"I'm sorry," Steven breathed out before his body shuddered and went limp.
"Steven!" the gems cried out when he passed out. Greg reached out and Connie gently passed the boy to his father.
"He'll be okay," Greg said confidently. "It just took a lot out of him."
"One moment."
Everyone looked up as Blue knelt down beside them. She put her hand to her gem and it glowed soothingly before she lightly pressed one finger to Steven's chest. They watched the rest of his cuts close, bruises fade, and the bags under his eyes seemed to grow lighter, ever so slightly.
"There we are," she said gently as she pulled away from the boy. "Now he can rest easy."
Greg nodded and stood. He strained under the effort — he wasn't as young as he once was and Steven wasn't exactly a kid anymore — but he took his next steps with confidence. He wasn't about to let his son down again.
"Let's get him out of here," Greg said as he walked away from the wreckage of the city.
… … … … …
Author's note: One more chapter left!