Steven flew back into the house closely followed by the Crystal Gems. He couldn't stand to hear them croon on and on about helping him anymore, he just wanted to know better for once! "Please just let me be for a minute! Stop talking, I need it quiet!"

One more snide remark about his attitude, "You need to watch your attitude, little man," officially severed the rest of his fuse. They had swung a hammer at something that had begged them not to break it. If he hadn't understood the phrase 'the straw that broke the camels back' he sure as shit did now!

"That's it! All of Steven Universe has had all of your shit up to every 'here' we have! You're driving us crazy!" He grabbed at his hair and pulled harder than he ever had, feeling the sound barrier break around him as he screeched like a tea kettle at boiling.

His gem was pulsing in his stomach, an uncomfortable dinning vibration that made him shudder. Was this a new power brought on by overstimulation and anger?

'I need someone to fight for me, not with and about me!'

And then, he was shapeshifting. Taller, broader, and a vicious snarl settled on his bodies face only enhanced by the glowing pink there.

Pearl held shaky hands to her lips, choking on a sob. "St-Steven?"

Steven, or rather, who Steven had turned into, scowled. "Don't call me that."

"But that's your name, dude!"

Now he glowered at the runt– no, not even that could express the lack of compassion in his gaze. The purple gem recoiled as he corrected her gruffly, "No, it's not."

"Steven, you're not–,"

"Garnet, I swear to the stars that the next person, gem or human, to call me that is going to get cracked!" His fingers were clutched in the air, a hand so desperate to strangle in half dark humor, half complete sincerity. There was little room left for questioning if he was serious now, even with a strained smile and especially not with that glow and those Diamond eyes. He steadied himself and tried to speak lowly and gently. He had a name, hadn't he? "My name is Diamond. Don't call me Steven again."

Pearl finally found her voice again to meekly ask, "Like Pink Dia–,"

He laughed so hard a few dishes rattled off the counters. "The only way to make me closer to losing my shit is if you call me her name." His average apprehension and conflicted nature about his mother was gone. He could barely get it out, his tone was fatal and nauseous at even having to mention her indirectly. "It's just Diamond. And I need you people to stop attacking us before I retaliate and I promise you," He growled at Garnet. "That is not a future worth living for."

Just then, some girl and Greg, who he recognized as his barely respectable human father, bustled in at the same time. They opened their mouths to say hi, but faltered when they saw tears and Steven looking very much like he did before his mental breakdown a few weeks ago.

"Crystal Gems, fall back!" Garnet snapped. "He's not kidding!"

"Are you okay?" The girl asked taking a cautious step forward, completely ignoring the three's joint cry of alarm. "You look... different again..."

He stiffly turned to look down at her and tried to sneer, but found that he couldn't.

"Connie! Her name is Connie!!"

The voice of himself, but not himself bellowed out so loudly his ears felt like they were ringing. A piercing pain in his head to go along with it wasn't helpful either. "Connie." He tried speaking it, he knew how to do most things Steven did, but it felt interesting to murmur. Warm. He felt warmth in his chest and body.

"Human girlfriend!" The voice cried again. "Please just act like you're not a  sociopath to her!"

Instead of heeding the advice, Diamond stared at her for so long she got visibly uncomfortable. She shuffled and messed with the side of her jeans, a stray hand ticking away the curl in front of her ear.  She seemed to finish thinking and turned to glare over at the gems. "If you want me to help, I'm going to need an honest debriefing from all of you."

"Connie," He barely mouthed it, wanting to see if the name brought more meaning to it. His eyes broke away from her face to grit his teeth. This wasn't right, it didn't feel right. He felt very, very off kilter. But this girl was strange and wild to him.

Amethyst shot up onto her feet and threw her arms in the air. "What the hell is going on?! He barely recognizes Connie!"

Garnets visor disappeared with a shimmer and a sudden gasp moving her from stoic and concentrated. "That's not our Steven."

"Well, how'd ya figure that one out, Garnet? No, shit he's not our Steven, he just threatened to hurt us, you fucking dipknot!"

"Son... whatever is happening I want you to know we can figure it out together, okay?" Greg had to shout to be heard over all of the Crystal Gems losing their cool and arguing so loudly. "Everythings going to be okay! I-I'll make you a pie, we can talk about–," And like always, he kept rambling on with promises that didn't need promising.

Pearl was scream-crying into her hand, hunched and shaking. Garnet was trying to be firm and serious but the fear was so evident all it did was feed into Amethysts frustrated, confused yelling and crescendo it.

Diamond stared off into the distance as another piercing pain shot through his head. Everything was too loud and bright and he couldn't take it anymore. He was going to snap and his fists balling up was the last warning sign anyone would get if he lost it.

"Okay, that's enough, Hothead. You tried. My turn."

There was a brief pulsing of his gem and he grabbed his head as his form began to change again. No one but Connie (Connie...) had watched with truly wise eyes.

He shrunk this time, clothes evening out into a simple white button up and suit. His hair got silkier, slightly longer and shone even with the pink glow that had not left. It did lessen though, even if pink, angry to jaded eyes were searching around the chaos. How do they defuse the situation? How do they protect themself?

"Can you all just shut the hell up?!"

Silence filled the house as eyes split between Connie and... and...

And them. He could feel how dangerous they were, and he stepped away firmly. No one was going to hurt them, not on his watch.

"You guys were screaming at each other and he changed again!" Connie had tears racing down her face now and it left a bad taste in the hybrids mouth. "You're doing it again! You're making it about you instead of Steven!"

He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. Now he didn't like her. "Please don't call me that."

"H-he said 'please'! See, Garnet! Our Steven is–," Pearl was proudly trying to proclaim but Connie cut her off.

She walked forward and planted her feet in front of him. He was still taller than her by a couple of inches, but her scrunched up face and fierceness made him let her speak before he did. "We need to get you out of here. Whoever you are."

"Aslan. But... I guess you can call me Steven if you have to." He found his face prickling and hot suddenly. She was staring up at him completely unfettered by the change that must have clearly and very recently happened before her eyes. He supposed he was frightening by the way his family cowered in the background.

"They provoked me! Over and over that's what they always do!"

Aslan accidentally sighed aloud and Connie's face fell for a fraction of a second but that was too long for him. He grabbed her hand with literal light speed. "Okay."

"You're not going anywhere! We're going to talk about it!" Pearl interrupted with hands wiping at her still coming tears. "Connie, you need to stop enabling this behavior. You need to go home, you haven't raised him."

Finally, finally, Greg spoke up. "Oh for pete's sake, leave the poor kid alone! He's clearly struggling! Maybe..." He took a deep breath to calm his anger and regarded them kindly, but solemnly. "Maybe you guys need to take the backseat for once."

The trio grew sullen, but Aslan couldn't be bothered to notice once the threat was neutralized. The true threat was standing right in front of him, with calloused hands and beautiful skin and eyes. He swallowed, pushing those thoughts to the side. "We're leaving. That's final. Don't come after her, or us."

"And don't call my mom, I'll call my mom. You guys clearly need a minute to get your shit together." Connie tugged on his hand and he let her drag him along easily. Stars,  this girl certainly was bold.

"If you do decide to call her mom, you have a minute head start before I send Diamond hunting for you. You can be understanding and calm and rational, or you can be destabilized, poofed and worse." They all looked stricken, so he resisted a little at the door to regard them all one more time. "But I'd really rather not choose violence. I don't want to have to cut you guys out so Steven can get some peace and quiet."

The beach was humid and hot, clouds obscuring the sun trapped the moisture rising in the air from sheer temperature. Waves crashed onto the shore tumultuously, the smell of salt and seaweed and sand mingled in a way Aslan quite liked. Safe. This view felt quiet and away from people and safe.

Speaking of people.

Connie didn't seem to take notice of the scenery like he did, she marched along like a soldier going to war. When they rounded a rock she found what seemed to be a very particular spot and sat with his hand still in hers. He joined her silently, waiting for a visceral reaction like his family.

"Do you remember this spot?" Heavy nostalgia and hope filled her voice. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened a tiny bit, her grip on his hand was tighter. This must have been a special place for her, for them. Her eyes were hazy as memories played behind them, and she picked up a dead flower covered in sand.

He tried to remember, he should know this, and eventually it came to him. "Oh... yeah. That. Steven prefers if we don't revisit that."

Her eyes raised from the flower to his and light displayed itself right in front of him.  Deep orange. She was angry, no, less and more than that. Offended. Insulted. What was that outline around her? Was he literally seeing her aura? New powers were cool and all, but this one was very new. "Steven doesn't, huh?" She dropped the flower. "Guys are so stupid."

Immediately he bristled. "I'm not— w-we're not stupid!"

"So he is in there." She squinted into his eyes as if she could see him now banging at his pupils to let him out. "I rescind my previous statement. That's a stupid preference. I happen to quite like that memory, even if it's melancholy."

Aslan stared at her as a tidal wave of emotion failed to penetrate him. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?"

Connie laughed a little and picked the flower back up in her fingers. The stem was petrified from the salt in the air and the petals coated with sand from the ground, but she held it like it was precious. "I mean, as far as marriage proposals go, it was technically a win."

He thought on that, trying to force the information to come to him. "From a logical standpoint, I suppose you're right."

"Tell me about it!" She threw her hands in the air, her hidden exasperation bursting forth wildly. "I usually am! Tell a guy 'not now' and he takes it like 'not ever'! No, you sweet doofus. I just want to finish school first!"

Aslan laughed as she fell back onto the sand she would inevitably be covered in now until she showered. "Guys are kind of stupid."

She sat up and narrowed her eyes. "How many of you are there?"

He shrugged his lack of knowledge but his mouth said, "6 including Steven."

"Mind if I call my mom, S— Aslan?" Her tongue stuttered but she corrected herself with little trouble.

"Hospital! She's going to take us to the hospital!"

His face twitched at the near auditory sound of Steven filling in the blanks. Or, at least some of them. "Sure."

Obviously a hospital was not somewhere Steven wanted to be, but didn't that usually mean that was the right thing to do? Steven was so terribly wrong constantly, and Aslan's sole purpose was to balance that out.

Steven didn't have to know better anymore. Aslan knew better for him.