Steven knew he shouldn't be up so late, but he was having trouble sleeping and felt a drink of water and maybe a short walk on the beach would make him feel better.

He slipped out of bed and padded down the stairs, fetching a glass and sipping a cup full of cold water. The Gems' door glowed and Amethyst walked out, yawning widely. 

"Oh, hey Steven," she said sleepily. "What'chya doing?"

"I can't sleep," Steven told her. "What about you?"

"Eh, I'm kinda bored," Amethyst said. "Pearl is tidying her room and Garnet is trying to get to sleep. She hasn't done it much before. I think Ruby finds it a lot easier than Sapphire, so she's just practicing."

"Oh, cool," Steven said, pleased that the Gems were taking on some of the human traits he dealt with all the time. "Hey, you wanna take a walk on the beach with me?"

"Sure thing Steveo," Amethyst replied happily, and they left the house and set out across the beach.

"It's really cool that Garnet is trying to sleep," said Steven.

"Yeah. I don't see what's so hard, I do it all the time," Amethyst said.

"Do you ever dream?" Steven asked.

"Sometimes," Amethyst said. "I don't ever remember them though. Oh, wait, apart from this one dream I keep having-" she chortled. "Where all the watermelon Stevens all rise up and rebel and take over Beach City," she grinned at the memory. "Ha, that's a good one. What about you?"

"Sometimes," Steven said evenly. "I dreamt I was watching TV with Lion last night."

"Are you sure that was a dream?"

"Well, I wasn't at first, but then the Crying Breakfast Friends came out of the TV. You and Pearl and Garnet were all part of the show; Pearl was a banana with honey, Garnet was waffles and berries, and you were a pancake stack."

"Alright!" Laughed Amethyst. "The best type of breakfast! I feel so honored-"

But she was cut off by a noise piercing the peaceful salty night air. It was quiet at first, but then it swelled and got louder and louder. A terrible, gut wrenching scream which was so pitiful and filled with pain that it made Steven's heart break.

"What's that coming from?" He asked nervously.

"I'm not sure," Amethyst whispered. "Sounds like it's from over there." She pointed to the rock face around the other side of the house. It was steep and lined with trees, and at the very top was a thin road leading to the city.

They ran over, Steven's palms slicked with sweat and his brain churning out all the horrible things that could be causing someone to scream like that. When they reached the bottom of the hill the noise definitely sounded nearer, but they couldn't see anything. Then suddenly Amethyst said-

"Over there! Look!" And pointed to a spot a few meters away to the right. Something or someone was falling down the hill, smashing into trees and rocks. They rushed over, staring up at what was quite clearly a young boy.

He finally came to rest at the bottom of the hill, unconscious, and rolled onto the sand. Steven knelt down beside him. He was small and skinny, with dark skin and dark hair. He was wearing thin pyjamas, and any of his exposed skin was bruised, scratched and bloody. His leg stuck out at an odd angle.

"Is he alive?" Amethyst breathed. "How do you check if a human is alive?"

"Y-you check if they're breathing...." Steven said shakily. "And if they've got a pulse or a heartbeat." He leant over and pressed his ear to the boy's chest, hearing a frantic, juttery heartbeat. Steven exhaled with relief. "He's alive," he said. "But he looks really badly hurt. We've got to get him back to the house."

Amethyst nodded and promptly scooped up the boy in her arms and carried him easily across the beach.

They sprinted over the sand and up the stairs, banged open the door.

"Pearl! Garnet!" Steven yelled, helping Amethyst lay the boy carefully on the sofa.

The door glowed at once and the two of them hushed out.

"What is it? What's wrong, Steven?" Asked Pearl hysterically, grabbing him by the arms and checking him over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine- I-"

"Tell me what happened!" Pearl cried shrilly.

"Pearl." Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. "Enough. Steven, what is it?"

"Amethyst and I found this boy, he fell down that steep hill from the road to the city," Steven said quickly. "He brought him in-"

"Show us to him," Garnet instructed urgently.

They did, and after a brief analysis Pearl instructed Amethyst to light the fire, Steven to make some tea for them all, and Garnet fetched the first aid kit while Pearl stayed with the boy.

She stayed with him all night, and although she told Steven to go to bed, he waited up with her by the fire. Amethyst and Garnet prepared some food in the early hours of the morning while Steven kept the low burning fire going.

It was around six o'clock in the morning when he stirred.

Pearl and Garnet were in the kitchen, about to bring some food through for them, and Steven was sat reading beside the boy. They thought it would be better to wait for him to wake up than try to wake him up themselves. Also the Gems didn't know much at all about human injuries and ailments. They had to take Steven's word for most things. So they had decided to wait for him to wake up before choosing whether they needed to take him to hospital or not.

"Wh-"

Pearl looked up and quickly made her way through when she heard the hoarse voice from the boy. But then-

"The fuck?"

Pearl dropped the plate she was holding and ran through, horror struck. Steven was sat there, eyes wide.

"Garnet! Did he just say what I thought he said? Cover your ears, Steven!"