Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Steven Universe or any other cartoon shows.

Same Night: Destroyed SHIELD Bunker Site

A couple of minutes later, after the old SHIELD bunker got bombed and Steven, Mabel, Marcy, and Pacifica left, STRIKE agents roam around the area for the four. A Quinjet hovering above gives light around the ruined site.

Jasper, with her weapon up, searches as she walks around. She steps to the area where the four were a couple of minutes ago and looks down, seeing two footprints: one of Steven's and one of Mabel/Iron Woman's. Jasper stands straight, and a couple of feet behind her is Agent Rollins, with his gun up, searching the area.

Jasper holds her hand to her earpiece, speaking into her radio, "Call in the asset."

Nathan's House: Kitchen

Nathan, in sweats, walks down the hallway towards his kitchen, and goes to his fridge, opens it, and grabs a carton of milk. He turns, sets the carton on the counter behind him, and does a double-take as he sees both of the Diamond Soldiers.

Nathan straightens up in seriousness and lets the fridge door close behind him. The male soldier is sitting at Nathan's table with his gun on the table. The female stands behind the male with her arms crossed. Both soldiers' faces hide in the dark.

Nathan's housekeeper, Renata, calls out to Nathan, "I'm going to go, General Nathan. You need anything before I leave?"

Nathan doesn't break his stare from the soldiers as he answers, "No... Uh, it's fine, Renata, you can go home."

Renata, standing in the hallway behind the kitchen where Nathan is standing, tells him, "Okay. Night-night."

Nathan tells Renata politely, "Good night." Renata turns, walks down the hallway, and leaves. Nathan stays silent until he hears the doors close. Then, he relaxes a bit and asks the soldiers, "Want some milk?" The Diamond Soldiers don't reply as Nathan grabs a glass from his cabinet. He shrugs when he doesn't hear an answer and starts pouring his milk into a glass. He tells them, "The timetable has moved. Our window is limited." He sets the milk carton down, takes a sip, and walks around his kitchen island towards the two as he tells them, "Four targets, Level Six." He walks over and sits across the Diamond Soldiers at the table, "They already cost me Ronaldo. I want confirmed death in 10 hours." The Diamond Soldiers don't move, and Renata interrupts them as she enters the kitchen.

Renata apologizes, "Sorry, General Nathan, I..."

Nathan quickly turns in his seat to look at her, "I-I forgot my..." She notices the Diamond Soldiers behind Nathan, "...phone." She looks between them all with fear in her eyes.

Nathan twists his face in annoyance, "Oh, Renata, I wish you would have knocked." Nathan picks up the gun from the table and shoots at Renata. She shrieks in pain and fear, stumbling back before Nathan shoots again and kills her.

Morning: Bridge

Mordecai Peterson is doing his normal early morning run. He's jogging across the bridge.

Mordecai's House: Kitchen

Mordecai returns home from his morning run. He grabs a jug of orange juice, still panting from his run. He opens it and is about to take a drink when he hears a knock at his balcony door. Confused, he sets the jug down and goes to his sliding door. He shoots up his blinds and opens the door to see a rough-looking Steven, Mabel, Marcy, and Pacifica with the Iron Woman suit standing behind Mabel, looking around.

Mordecai greets Steven, confused as to why they are at his house, "Hey, man."

Steven looks at Mordecai apologetically, "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."

Pacifica tells Mordecai, looking tired and exhausted,

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us."

Mordecai hesitates for a moment as he looks them over. Marcy is leaning against Pacifica for support, and she looks like she's going to pass out from pain and exhaustion. Mordecai tells them, "Not everyone." Mordecai takes a step back. Pacifica nuzzles Marcy forward, and she steps inside, with Pacifica following. Steven let Mabel go first before he follows.

Mordecai looks at Mabel's Iron Woman suit as it enters the house. He's taken back a bit when JARVIS's voice greets him, "Good morning, sir." Mordecai awkwardly nods, and the suit walks away. Mordecai looks around outside before closing the sliding door, locking it, and shooting the blinds down.

Minutes Later: Bedroom & Bathroom

Steven is in the bathroom, washing himself up. He looks at Marcy on the bed through the mirror. She's taking off a plastic wrap from around her cast, as she just took a shower and can't get her cast wet, and wearing new clothing.

Steven dries his hands with a towel and leans against the bathroom doorframe. He looks at Marcy, who is looking sad and thoughtful. Steven asks Marcy softly, "You okay?"

Marcy looks at Steven and nods, "Yeah."

Steven knows Marcy's lying and lightly throws the towel on the bathroom counter before walking towards Marcy. He sits on a chair in front of her, asking softly, "What's going on?"

Marcy doesn't look at Steven as she crumbles up the plastic wrap into a ball, but she sighs and admits, "When I first joined SHIELD." She looks at Steven, "I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA." She looks down shamefully and sighs, "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but..." She looks up at Steven with a tilt of her head and a faintly bitter smile, "I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

Steven nods as he tells Marcy what she told him (From Chapter 15), "There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."

Marcy looks at Steven, surprised with a light chuckle, and then her smile disappears. She looks at Steven seriously but gratefully and says, "I owe you." She's talking about how he saved her life back in the army camp where the building they were in exploded (From The Previous Chapter).

Steven shakes his head, telling Marcy softly, "It's okay."

Marcy gives Steven a light, narrowed-eye look, asking him seriously, "If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life," She gives Steven a look, "Now you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"

Steven confesses as he looks at Marcy, "I would now." Marcy looks at Steven, surprised. Steven lightly gives her a nudge with a faint smile, "And I'm always honest."

Pacifica walks in after hearing the last bit of their conversation. She's washed up with new clothing and stands to the side between the two. She gives Steven a light smirk, "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

Steven leans back in his chair, looking at Pacifica, "Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

Pacifica nods, accepting that, "Fairly enough." She smiles a bit at Steven.

Steven asks Pacifica, a bit concerned, "You doing okay?"

Pacifica looks at Steven and nods, telling him softly but truthfully, "Yeah, I just miss home and my little guy."

Marcy asks Pacifica jokingly, "What about the big guy?" She's talking about Dipper.

Pacifica chuckles at Marcy's question, and she nods a bit, "Him too."

Steven asks Pacifica curiously, "How old is Phillip now?" Pacifica looks at Steven, confused about how he knows her son's name. Steven notices and tells her, "Mabel told me."

Pacifica nods, a smile growing on her face, "I'm not surprised that Mabel told you. She's a proud auntie." The three in the room chuckle. Pacifica tells Steven proudly, "He's 2 years old now." Steven nods with a smile, and they get interrupted by Mordecai walking in.

Mordecai leans his arm on the doorframe, "I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing." He walks out, leaving, and Marcy and Steven stand up. Marcy throws out the plastic wrap that's been in her hands, the entire conversation with Steven.

Steven tells Marcy and Pacifica before they leave the room, "I'm gonna go check on Mabel." Pacifica nods silently.

Marcy nods, "Okay." Marcy and Pacifica leave the room and go downstairs.

Guest Bedroom

Steven moves to the other room where Mabel is. He hears sniffling and shaky breaths. Steven frowns and walks into the room, only to see Mabel looking down, fixing her bag as she cries. Steven softly calls out, "Mabel?"

Mabel immediately sniffles and wipes her tears away, smiling at Steven as he closes the door and walks over to her, "Hey, just making sure everything's in order here." She looks back down at her bag, not looking at Steven as she continues to roam through her bag.

Steven silently walks over to Mabel and sits down in front of her, gently grabbing her hands and stopping her from what she's doing. Mabel sniffles again as Steven takes the bag away from her, then wraps his arms around her and lifts her up, placing her on his lap and holding her to his chest as she breaks down crying about finding out HYDRA is the reason her parents are dead.

After a few moments, Mabel calms down and tells Steven, as she sniffles at his chest, "All this time, I thought my parents died in a freaking accident, but it was HYDRA that killed my parents. I was 12 years old... 12." She shakes her head, "No child should suffer the loss of their parents at that age."

Steven holds Mabel tighter. He tells her lowly, "I'm so sorry."

Mabel lifts her head up to look at Steven, "Thank you." Steven looks at her, confused. Mabel continues, "For coming into my life... for saving my life. We had a few ups and downs, but you never left me." Steven looks at her, listening intently while she continues, "You're always there to help me."

Steven raises his eyebrows with a little tilt, "Well, to be fair, you help me first." Steven smiles at Mabel.

Mabel chuckles lightly, "That's true." She stares into Steven's eyes, "I'm glad you're here." She makes a move and leans in to kiss Steven, but he looks down.

Steven shakes his head, saying lowly, "I can't. I'm sorry."

Mabel shakes her head, and tears form again as she feels embarrassed, "No, I'm sorry. It's just I..." She trails off as she struggles to tell Steven, "I've had feelings for you for a while, and I..." Steven looks at her with surprised, confused eyes. Mabel continues, "I just couldn't tell you because of everything that was going on and..." Mabel looks Steven in the eyes, "I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable or pressured... or anything." Mabel looks down as she admits, "I know we have had near-death experiences before, but after just finding out that HYDRA is still around and that they had my parents killed." She shakes her head, "I don't want to wait anymore..." Mabel looks at Steven in the eyes as she confesses, "I love you, Steven." Steven looks at Mabel, shocked by her confession, and doesn't move or say anything.

Mabel sniffles and nods, accepting Steven's silence. She is afraid, but knows she will get this reaction. Mabel gets off of Steven's lap, wipes her tears away, and grabs her bag again, standing up.

Steven watches Mabel's movements, still shocked. Mabel drops her bag on the bed. She tells him, "I'll be down in a minute." Steven snaps out of his shock and stands up, Mabel roaming through her bag again, "I just need-" She gets cut off by Steven as he walks up behind her, gently grabs her right shoulder, and turns her around, crashing his lips against hers as he places his hand on the side of her head. Shocked at first, Mabel kisses back, but Steven pulls away.

Steven looks at Mabel in the eyes, holding her face in his hands, "You have no idea how long I wanted to do that." Mabel looks at him, shocked, "You weren't the only one to have feelings for a while... and to be afraid of telling the other. But, knowing now that you feel the same, I'm not afraid to say this." Mabel stares at Steven speechless, as he confesses, "I love you, Mabel Pines." Steven rubs his thumbs on her cheeks, staring at her, waiting for something.