Steven has always wanted to be a Crystal Gem.

From the time he was old enough to crawl he loved the Gems, he looked up to them and wanted to be just like them. He wanted to learn how to use his powers, how to control them, because he had amazing capabilities and he wanted to use them to help people. Greg couldn't say no to that.

But he knew the risks.

Gem missions were dangerous. They fought everything from mutants to monsters to other Gems. They explored ancient crumbling ruins, places built by Gems and not designed for humans. The Crystal Gems were highly trained warriors with thousands of years of experience fighting, and even they made mistakes. Even they got injured badly enough that they had to regenerate.

But they didn't know if Steven could regenerate.

All the other Gems did it- Rose had even had to regenerate a handful of times in the many years they'd been together- but Steven was half human. If he got hurt badly enough there was no guarantee he would come back. And even if Steven was capable of regeneration, like so many of his other gem powers, he might not know how to regenerate without someone there to explain it to him.

One thing that had always been a comfort to Greg was that fact that Steven's weapon was a shield. As he gained more and more control over his abilities, summoning his shield or a bubble became almost reflexive to Steven, especially in dangerous situations. More often than not that keep him safe.

But Crystal Gem or no, Steven was still a kid. He was still human, and he still made mistakes.

So on some level, Greg had always expected this day to come. The day when the Gems approach him with tears in their eyes as they avoid meeting his, Steven nowhere in sight. What he doesn't expect is that, when that day comes, there isn't a Rose Quartz gem cradled in their hands, because Steven hasn't been poofed.

He's been abducted.

In an attempt to save his friends, Steven has told Homeworld Gems- direct servants of the Diamonds- that he is Rose Quartz.

And they believed him.

What Greg doesn't expect is that, when that day comes, the days that follow are not filled with anxious uncertainty, waiting, hoping that somehow Steven will come back, will be okay. They are far worse. They are filled with hopelessness and bleak certainty, knowing that Steven, his fourteen year old son, is going to be tortured and killed on the other side of the universe, and there's nothing Greg or any of the Gems can do to stop it from happening.