Chapter Twenty-Two: Greg

It had started with an annoyed and slightly alarmed phone call from Priyanka Maheswaran on Monday evening. She'd brought Connie over to Beach City for her regular training session that morning, and when she'd arrived at the Temple to pick her up, the girl was nowhere to be seen. No Steven or Gems, either.

Greg had tried to keep her calm. Told the Maheswarans that the Crystal Gems were probably just out on a mission. That they'd be back soon enough.

They'd waited all night, calling both Steven and Connie's phone at regular intervals. Nobody had ever picked up. They'd both gone straight to voicemail, each and every time.

The Maheswarans had called the police in. Greg had been worried enough to let them, but he hadn't been very surprised when the authorities hadn't been able to figure anything out.

With the warp pad, the Crystal Gems could be anywhere on Earth. Heck, they might not even be on Earth at all. They might have been kidnapped, stolen by Homeworld, taken to space, held prisoner and tortured and awaiting execution and—

Greg had been trying very hard to hold it together.

He'd spent the last week living at the Temple. Sleeping in Steven's bed. Eating when he remembered. Immediately feeling like throwing up. Pacing back and forth. Answering the police's questions. Calling Steven and Connie, again and again, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, one of them would finally answer.

And then one did.

They'd sounded so weak, so confused and dazed. Not just the kids, but the Gems too, what little he'd made out. But he'd listened to them, and did what they said, because it had to work, it just had to—

The door to the Temple opened.

He blinked. It had opened up onto a wall of garish green and purple. It didn't look like any of the Gems' rooms he'd seen.

Then something from the wall had unfolded and, reaching out, revealed itself to be a pair of hands. The hands had opened and—

Steven. Connie.

They were alive!

Lapis and Peridot were there too, but Greg barely noticed as he pushed past them, running to the children and pulling them into a hug. Steven blinked at him, dazed, and Connie— Connie didn't even seem to be conscious —

There was a flash of light. The mass of green-pink that had been Alexandrite fell apart. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stumbled out of Rose's room, clutching at each other, staring around at the beach house as if it was the first time they'd seen it.

Or Pearl and Amethyst, at least. Garnet was right to the point.

"Hospital. Now."