Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Steven Universe or any other cartoon shows.
Same Day: Street
Before Steven and the male Diamond Soldier/Lars can say or do anything, Mabel/Iron Woman flies towards them. The female Diamond Soldier punches the Iron Woman's suit Arc Reactor, damaging it badly as they hover over the ground. They drop down towards Steven and the male Diamond Soldier/Lars.
Mabel/Iron Woman grabs the female Diamond Soldier by the face and throws her off, accidentally taking off her mask. The female Diamond Soldier lands on her feet and rolls forward to stand beside Lars, while Mabel/Iron Woman crash lands by Steven. The female Diamond Soldier looks at Steven, revealing her face as Connie Maheswaran, Steven's best friend and the love of his life in the 20th century.
Steven looks even more shocked. He whispers a little loud, "Connie?" She looks at Steven, confused, just as Lars raises his gun and goes to shoot Steven.
Mordecai, with his falcon wings on and Marcy in his arms, flies in. Marcy kicks Connie while Mordecai kicks Lars, making them fly forward. They land on the ground but quickly roll to a stand. Both Lars and Connie look back at Steven, who is still panting and staring at them in shock.
Mordecai lets go of Marcy as they land on the ground, and Mabel/Iron Woman rolls onto her back, taking off the facial slit before dropping down to her back, panting heavily from her fight with the female Diamond Soldier, aka Connie. She sits up a bit and looks at the Diamond Soldiers. Her eyes widened as she recognized the two, and she looked at Steven in shock.
The Diamond Soldiers look at Steven in hesitation to decide before they quickly do and grab their guns, aiming them at Steven. Suddenly, a grenade bomb is shot over Steven's shoulder, who flinches, ducking his head as he raises his shield. Lars quickly grabs Connie as he turns around. They both run, and the bomb hits the truck beside them. It explodes.
Steven and Mabel look behind them and see Pacifica weakly holding up the male Diamond Soldier/Lars's machine gun, leaning against the back of the vehicle, weak from her gunshot wound. Steven looks back in the direction where Lars and Connie were previously standing, still in shock.
Mabel stands up, looking at Steven in shock. Then, they all hear sirens coming towards their way; Steven is still in shock and unable to move. Mordecai and Marcy look around as the SHIELD vehicles stop all around them. Pacifica weakly drops Lars's gun as she falls against the vehicle she's leaning against. Mabel/Iron Woman is overwhelmed by the sudden surprise and worries about Steven.
SHIELD agents, who are actually HYDRA agents, get out of the vehicles, aim their guns at the 5, and surround them as they cautiously speed-walk towards them.
The HYDRA agents are led by Jasper, who aims her gun at Steven, shouting her demands, "Drop the shield, Cap! Get on your knees!" Steven does what they say and drops his shield in front of him, "Get on your knees!" Marcy glares at the HYDRA agents as she and Mordecai hold their arms up in surrender, "Now! Get down! Get down!" Steven holds his hands up in surrender. He looks at Mabel/Iron Woman, who holds her arms up in surrender, "Get on your knees! Down!" Jasper comes closer to Steven, going behind him, and she kicks Steven's leg, making Steven kneel down. Jasper demands Steven as she holsters her gun, "Don't move." More agents come closer, and Mabel/Iron Woman is forced down to her knees. They grab her arms, seeing that the broken suit is not active. HYDRA agent Rollins is holding his gun up angrily at the back of Steven's head, who stares at the ground in shock/numbness. Jasper handcuffs Steven, looks at the News Channel 6 helicopter flying above them, and warns the agent holding Steven at gunpoint, "Put the gun down. Not here. Not here!" The agent lowers his gun and steps back, glaring at Steven angrily.
The HYDRA agents handcuffed Mordecai, Marcy, Pacifica, and Mabel. They took them all into custody, leading them towards the armored van as Steven stared at the ground, still processing the fact that his two childhood best friends were alive.
Minutes Later: SHIELD Armor Van
The 5 are being escorted back to the Triskelion, SHIELD headquarters, in the back of a van. Steven is on one side in a special heavy seat. It's built for strong/skilled people like him. Sitting across from him are Mordecai, Pacifica, Mabel, and Marcy, two HYDRA agents in front of them with their backs towards the driver. Mabel was stripped off of her broken/damaged suit, which was bagged beside Steven on the floor.
Sitting in a special seat with wrists cuffed in thick metal armor, Steven looked down towards the floor, "It was them. They looked right at me like they didn't even know me."
Mordecai is sitting closest to the two agents, with Pacifica on his right side, "How is that even possible? It was, like, 70 years ago." Marcy listens silently, looking to the floor as she holds her still bruised ribs and her cuffed hands hold her cast.
Steven answers, not moving or looking up, "Ronaldo. Lars's and Connie's whole unit was captured in '43. Ronaldo experimented on them. Whatever he did, it helped Lars and Connie survive the fall." Steven slowly looks up as he realizes, "They must have found and..." Pacifica looked forward, numb in pain, losing blood from the gunshot wound in her shoulder.
Mabel softly cuts Steven off, assuring him as she sits in front of him, "None of that's your fault, Steven."
Steven looks at Mabel as she looks at him with sad, sympathetic eyes. Steven looks down again and states truthfully, "Even when I had nothing, I had Lars and Connie."
Pacifica leans her head back, groaning quietly in pain. Mordecai looks at her and notices her shoulder is bleeding badly. He looks at the guards, stating, "We need to get a doctor here." He nods towards Pacifica as she closes her eyes to mask the pain she's in, "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."
One of the guards sitting closest to Mordecai pulls out an electric rod, activates it, and holds it threateningly towards Mordecai. Mordecai leans back in his seat, cautiously looking at the guard with a hard expression.
Suddenly, the guard flips the electric rod to their other hand, jabs it to the other guard in the chest and neutralizes him, then lifts their leg up, kicking him in the head, making the other guard hit his head on the car wall, knocking him out, he falls to the floor.
The 5 watch in confused and shock. The guard takes off their helmet, revealing it to be Agent Tambry Wu, who immediately complains about the helmet, "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." They all look at her silently as she flicks her bangs back while Mordecai looks at her in confusion. Tambry glances at him, then she looks to Steven and Mabel, asking about Mordecai, "Who's this guy?"
Outside: Road
SHIELD vehicles filled with HYDRA agents drive between buildings in an alleyway. They stop in a tunnel, and Jasper and her crew get out of the cars.
Jasper demands, her voice reflecting off the tunnel, "Five holes. Start digging." Jasper and Rollins take out their handguns and go over to the van, holding Steven, Mordecai, Pacifica, Mabel, Marcy, and a couple of other agents. They stand in front of the back doors, aiming their guns.
An agent looks at Jasper as she's holding the handle and Jasper nods, both her and Rollins ready and the agent opens the door, she step forward, ready to kill the 5 but they find the van empty with the one guard left unconscious and massive burnt hole in the car floor, Jasper lowers her gun, confused as she looks at the hole.
Unknown Location: Dam
Tambry has taken the five to a secret facility in another van. Tambry opens the back slide door. Steven jumps out first. Pacifica slowly makes her way out as she holds a medical bandage to her wound, trying to keep pressure. She makes her way out with the help of Mabel.
Steven grabs Pacifica by the waist, picking her up bridal-style, holding her as Mabel jumps out of the van, followed by Mordecai. The two turn and help Marcy out of the van, holding her arms. Mabel lets go of Marcy, letting her lean on Mordecai before she reaches into the van and slides the bag with her damaged/broken suit in it. With Agent Tambry's help, they carry the bag as Tambry leads them towards the Dam.
Tambry opens the gate. Mordecai holds it open with one hand while the other holds Marcy. Tambry enters first, followed by Mabel and Steven, who hold Pacifica bridal-style, and then Mordecai and Marcy.
Inside: Tunnel / Hallway
As the six walk down the hallway, a man runs towards them. Tambry calls out to the man, referring to Pacifica's wound, "GSW. She's lost at least a pint."
Mordecai shouts as he adds in, "Maybe two."
The man, who is a Doctor, shouts as he gestures over to him with his fingers, "Let me take her!"
Tambry tells the Doctor, "She'll want to see him first." Mabel, Steven, Pacifica, and Marcy look confused.
Medical Area
Tamrby takes the five to the medical area and pulls a plastic sheet aside. Mabel, Steven, Pacifica, and Marcy's eyes widen in shock. They're surprised to see Rick Sanchez, who's alive and lying in a medical bed.
Rick lifts his head up and looks at them, "About damn time." Minutes later, as the doctor is treating Pacifica's wound, both sitting down with Marcy beside her, waiting to be looked at. The doctor puts pressure on Pacifica's wound, and her face twists in pain as she groans quietly, trying to ignore the pain as Rick explains his medical problems, "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." With his arms crossed, Mordecai stands beside Tambry, who has her hands on her hips, and Steven, standing beside Mabel, who holds her arms as they are crossed over her chest.
The Doctor treating Pacifica's wound tells Rick, "Don't forget your collapsed lung."
Rick raises his eyebrows sarcastically, "Oh, let's not forget that." He relaxes, "Otherwise, I'm good."
Marcy looks tired and exhausted in her seat but points out to Rick, "They cut you open. Your heart stopped."
Rick tells Marcy, "Tetrodotoxin B." He explains, "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Danny developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."
Steven asks Rick, "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?"
Tambry immediately answers, "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful."
Rick states, "Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." Marcy and Pacifica look away, somewhat hurt and more offended. Mabel looks down, completely hurt.
Inside: Bank Vault
The STRIKE team, which are actually HYDRA agents, stands on guard along with Jack Rollins while HYDRA scientists and doctors fix Lars's metal arm, which was damaged by Pacifica's stun disk and Steven's shield (From Previous Chapter 21).
Lars sits shirtless as the scientists work on his arm. Another doctor examines on Connie's hand, who's in a sports bra. Lars and Connie stare forward blankly and numb.