A/N: The story is not dead!

I am super sorry for not updating for so long, school and life got in the way for a bit, but I have been reading every review and keeping the nice little things all you great people said in my thoughts to keep me going when I did update it. School is almost ending for me soon and I will be able to get out chapters much quicker over summer vacation. That brings us to a new chapter in the story, yay. I still have a bit of thing thinking and storyboarding to do about where to take this but all suggestions are welcome, currently i'm just following the normal episodes and putting Horus in them to change their events a bit, later there will be more original stuff going on. If you have an idea for something cool you might want, throw it down to me in the reviews or a PM. Happy Reading (:

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Chapter 3: A Space Man's Homestead

Empty streets and homes shutting down lights for the night were all around Horus as he walked through the streets of the small little ocean side town. He was careful not to stick out too much as he was very obviously not a regular man walking down the street. He saw much of the same of what he was expecting. The humanity here was still fairly un-advanced, at least, comparatively to his time. Combustion engines and electric power were check and many other things he was glad to see here. They had long range communication and data sharing available to them as well as some aerodynamics flying above him.

He had things to work with here, he thought with a smile. Some worlds he had landed upon during the crusade had humans reduced as far back as the age of gunpowder and steel edged weapons.

In truth it was not beyond his capabilities to just craft some of these things himself, provided the tools and material. Primarchs were made with an innate understanding of the sciences and physical materials about them. Most of his brothers, even though they were meant to be brutal warriors and charismatic leaders, had advanced the worlds they were cast upon at birth, after being stolen from the earth, considerably with their superhuman intellects. Even Fulgrim, vain, self absorbed and not as suited to the task of an engineer as much as any human stuck at the job, managed to improve the energy output of his barren world so much that it was flourishing by the time he and his father had found him.

As he strolled along the deserted wooden board walk he heard commotion in the distance, walking past the shops he came across a washing facility of some sort, there was a highly decorated and colorful van sitting in the lot with a pair of legs under it. Cursing his luck for not getting here fast enough he hoped the human was all right. He ran over to the vehicle.

"Hey, you out there!" a voice shouted from below the van, hearing his stomping steps. "Can you use the lever over there and lift up this off of me? I'm a bit stuck." the voice said.

Glad there wasn't going to be a death his first day, well night, protecting this new humanity he ignored the leverage device and simply lifted the van by its rear. The man slowly crawled out and got up, albeit with many loud cracks and pops from his joints, he was middle aged and bearded with a bald head much like Horus's, though much more tan.

"Uh thanks, he said turning and eying the tall man who was still holding up his beloved van by its bumper. " Can you put that down, gently?" he asked politely. Horus obliged his request, setting it down softly on its wheels."I was working on it earlier and the suspension lowered on me after a while." he explained, relieved.

"How long were you under it?" Horus inquired, wondering how he could let himself be trapped so easily.

"A while actually, mid-day naps are going to be the end of me someday, heh heh." he said, clarifying the situation greatly. "The name's Greg Universe" he said extending a hand. Horus shook it, awkwardly considering his much larger hand, but still.

"I am Horus" he said proudly.

"Oh….very Egyptian." he said, looking the man up and down with a questioning stare. "I'm sure I would have seen you around before, so you must be new in Beach City, or are you just passing through?"

"I am coincidentally seeking residence in the area." he said to his new friendly acquaintance. Horus intended to remain largely unknown to the wider world because uniqueness tends to attract attention among humans. But it would be necessary to learn about the society he was in.

"Oh, the town is a pretty popular tourist spot so homes aren't exactly ready for sale, just condo's, I helped build a house out on the beach for my son a long time ago, that would probably be your best bet if you're the construction type." He said while inspecting the back of his vehicle.

Horus saw an important correlation here.

"You said a house on the beach, correct?" he asked quickly summoning the man's attention.

"Yeah, it took a while but it's pretty solid, nice view, wood flooring…." Horus cut him off

"With a giant statue behind it?" he said inquisitively.

"Yeah." said Greg slowly , now curious. "You walk by that area or something?" he asked.

"The Crystal Gems" he stated bluntly. "You know of them." he said.

"Oh geez." he said wide eyed and worriedly. "I hope they didn't cause you any trouble, they are good people, honestly, they just aren't….people people." he finished.

"No, it was I who caused them a fair bit of trouble, but we resolved that…..for the most part." he said looking back toward the beach. "You are the father of Steven then, yes?" he asked.

"Yep, little shtoo-ball is mine." he said. "He's been with them for a while, they teach him...things, and keep him safe…..sometimes." he said looking unsure of that last part. "His mom was one of them so it's only fair they get time with him too." he said, looking very sullen at the mention of her, much like Pearl from earlier.

Horus inspected him closely. He had suspected the child of being some kind of student or friend of their leader, but not offspring. He was slightly taken aback, the odds of two species being compatible in such a way was mind boggling in of itself.

"This explains, a lot" he said, slightly baffled. He leaned against the van, which shifted from his weight.

"So how exactly did you meet them, they usually aren't too fond of strangers dropping in." Greg said recognizing the confused expression on his face.

"Dropping in is a good expression to use." he said "I would ask your son, if you want the long story, the gems are the reason I ended up here from, a far way away." he said looking up into the night sky. Greg looked too and saw his meaning.

"You mean, not from here at all kind of far don't you?" he asked.

"Observant" he noted. "Yes, that kind." he said solemnly. "They also inadvertently saved my life. But I would prefer if you don't tell them that part. I have agreed to help them as a result of my new situation." Horus said looking down to the man. He was regarding his words with a wise expression,, he reminded Horus of his father's advisor, Malcador. He always had insight into things even the Primarchs did not think to ponder on, he was also dead because of Horus.

He decided he liked this Greg.

"Well a friend of them is a friend of mine I suppose, which is new because they don't have many friends at all. I won't bother you with many questions because Steven will talk my ear off next time I see him anyway. If it's a place to stay you need the car wash has a roof I suppose." he said. "Unless your going to build a whole house tonight." he mused.

"Yes actually." he said matter of factly. "Given the materials I could finish a decent structure in a few days, it would not be the fortress I had hoped to construct as a base, but it will make due." Horus said, imaging multiple designs of architecture in his mind.

"Uh, alright I guess, the gems worked pretty fast too. I remember all I had time to help with before they finished was the painting. I tell you what, you lift this van long enough for me to fix the part that broke, and tomorrow I'll drive you to get the tools I used to build Steven's house out of storage." Greg said to his very capable new friend.

This would prove to be a far more productive night than he had realized, thought Horus.

"Deal." Horus said, ready to set to work. He removed the deflated lift and picked the van back up by its end, giving Greg enough time to replace a small part under the chassis. He set it down and told Greg he would return at sunrise. He would have to find proper fortress building wood.

Steven hadn't been happy to fall asleep in the middle of the gems meeting with Horus, to be fair though it had been a tough night. He fell out of bed and looked down from his room glad to see the usual morning routine in his house, which was Amethyst eating random objects Pearl threw away while she was cooking breakfast and Garnet reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee she never seemed to actually touch. He walked down his steps to get to the restroom, his appearance going unnoticed by the gems because of the local news station (the one not operated by Ronaldo) blaring on the TV about how the entire Beach City Mayor Dewey Park tree population had been reduced to zero in one night by some kind of massive lumberjacking vandalism spree.

Coming out from the bathroom he was getting ready to set down for breakfast when loud banging came from the screen door.

"Steeeeven!" shouted an excited Greg. "Get out here I got doughnuts." he said.

Doughnuts was all he really had to say Steven decided as he raced to the door, with the gems and Pearl behind him still holding his plate and the hope that he would have an actual structured breakfast fading.

"What's the occasion Gregory?" asked Amethyst as she also reached for the beautiful pink box that promised sugary sweets to all only to be dashed as he raised it into the air.

"Sorry to break it to you but one is the limit, need to save some for our new friend working a little ways from the car wash, I believe guys you met him already." he said to a now pouty Amethyst.

"Oh you're talking about him." she said as she sulked in the corner with her one, single maple bar. Steven munched down happily, "Are you talking about Horus?" he asked loudly upon realizing he was being mentioned, "How did you meet him?"

"He saved me from starving to death while being trapped under my car, but that's a story for another day mister, we need to talk about why you're going through space portals and making friends with giant people from other dimensions." Greg said in as stern and fatherly tone as he could muster with a mouth full of doughnut.

"We are more at fault for that than him Greg" said Garnet from behind Steven. "We will be more careful in the future, you can count on it." she said as she adjusted her glasses with that trademark shine glaring whenever she was serious. Greg accepted this statement of hers.

"Well I suppose it can be forgiven just this once but only because he is so cool, have you seen what he is building on the other side of the hill?" Greg said with stars shining in his pupils.

"Is it a giant death ray from space?" Asked an equally excited Steven, much to the dismay of the Gems at the thought of Steven and any sort of death ray.

"No Steven, it's a house." Greg said plainly " But a really cool one, I came over to ask if you guys wanted to come with me to drop off some doughnuts and check it out." he said.

"He did say he would provide to his own arrangements." noted Garnet. "It would be wise to check up on him, lead the way Greg." she said

"Yay, road trip!." said Steven as he hobbled over to the van with his hands full of doughnuts.

The road trip was more of a three minute ride but Steven enjoyed it all the same. Riding to the other side of the hill directly opposite of Steven's beach house, they exited the van and marveled.

What was expected was a messy stack of lumber and some drawn up plans, what they saw was a veritable mansion made of several species of Oak, Maple and Hickory woods, all native to a certain Park nearby and currently making up a massive, multi storied structure.

Giant sloped arches and straight expertly measured angles and lines made of the exterior of the home, which looked like a huge gazebo leading to an extravagantly hand carved door of strange symbols and markings, a beautiful wolf shaped handle was outfitted onto the door knob. The home rose into looming and stoic walls with picturesque glass windows strategically placed to all angles of venue giving it not only excellent view of its natural surroundings but a modern and sleek appearance. And that was just the outside.

Lounging in a massive wooden throne angled in the grass facing the ocean was Horus himself, the primarch looking resplendently pleased at his progress and now standing up to greet his new visitors. His noble features seemed more handsome than before as the process of building seemed to have taken away some of the stresses of his dramatic entry to earth. He had unbuttoned some of his metallic grey suits fasteners and he seemed to flow in the wind, despite his lack of hair.

Or maybe he was just putting on a show to seem all the more fabulous of a homemaker, they would never know.

"Hello Crystal Gems, and my friend Greg." he said pleasantly as he walked to them.

Steven was pleased to see that he looked a considerable amount less threatening than the night before, even though he was still hilariously taller than nearly everyone present even, Garnet was caught up in his shadow.

"We brought doughnuts." Steven said raising the box as high as he could like he was going to present it directly to Horus's arms, which he could never hope to reach, at least at his current height.

"Doughnuts?" Horus asked as knelt down to sit at Stevens and the Gems level and receive the box. 'Oh, baked treats." he said happily and genuinely looked like he was excited as he took one from the box. "These will do excellently, thank you Steven."

Horus was genuinely excited because he honestly couldn't remember the last time he ate, it was even harder to recall the last time he had the chance to eat something that was made to taste good and not just keep him battle ready. Garnet and Amethyst sat next to Steven as they ate and Pearl excitedly rambled on asking how he had not only accomplished this in one night but managed to utilize near perfect geometric curves with no powered tools.

"I am a very efficient worker" he replied. "Although I know for a fact a few of my brothers could have done a significantly finer job on the inner structure itself."

He was not lying when he said that, Perturabo, the Lord of Iron was a savant at architecture and mathematics, structures unimagined and unrealized in ever shifting non-euclidean shape constantly passed through his mind even in the midst of intense battle. While Vulkan, the Firedrake was the finest artisan ever known to have graced the imperium save the Emperor himself. Together they could build a structure that would stand the test of a thousand years and bring mortals to their knees, weeping in its intense beauty. That is, if they did not kill each other at first sight and then Horus after.

He pushed the thought aside.

"Is this some kind of sundial?" Pearl asked with wonder, pointing to a large circular object covered in pillows and raised slightly above the ground a few feet from the throne he had made.

"No, that's actually-" he was interrupted mid sentence by a powerful sonic roar and flying pillows as a majestic pink feline surfaced and began rolling on his back and purring loudly on the dial.

"A sunbathing area for the Lion." he finished after the cat was done showing off. "He popped in earlier and seemed interested in watching me build so I made him a little stand to lie on." Horus said.

"That's so nice!" said Steven as he ran over to the large predator and petted his fluffy pink ears. "And he most certainly returned the gesture with love and affection right Lion?" Steven asked playfully. The cat snorted.

"Oh, almost forgot." said Greg reaching into his pocket. "I got you a phone to keep in touch with the gems in case you have to organize a mission or something." he said as he handed over a small sleek object in a plastic case. "It has voice recognition and mine and Stevens numbers on it so you just have to hold the button and ask." he said. Horus examined the communication device.

"Thank you Greg." he said as he turned it around and wondered if he could actually use it with his much larger than average digits. "Speaking of missions, I would like to know more about the nature of the work we are going to be doing." he said to Garnet which he had assumed correctly to be the leader of the gems from first sight the night before. She looked at the sky and back to him.

"It would be easier to just show you the threats than explain them, we did have a fairly simple recovery mission planned for today if you would like to come along." she said to him.

"I would very much like too." he said standing up

"We are just gonna bring him like that, right away?" Amethyst asked.

He is more than capable." said Garnet.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have another person watching Steven." stated Pearl as he ran up alongside her.

"You take him along with you?" Horus asked her.

"Only on the ones we are sure he can handle, although we are certainly not letting him hold anymore gem artifacts." she said with a scolding glare to him which he hardly noticed.

"He won't be able to hold this one anyway, we are going after the Shooting Star today." Garnet said confidently .

As the group approached the large cave, the atmosphere did not seem especially tense as one would expect from what had sounded like a serious mission to retrieve a dangerous artifact. Horus noted Steven jumping in excitement as they walked through sub-terrainan underpassess and vast tunnels. The long trek through the tunnel system was dark and cramped especially for Horus and Garnet, but they finally arrived where they needed to be.

"The cave holding the star should be just behind this rock face." said Pearl as she looked around excitedly in the large opening they had arrived. The entire wall of the cave of the massive rock face with a large crystals attached.

"Uh, you sure that's a rock?" Amethyst asked in seemingly perfect sync with the vast mound of crystal like slab detached itself from the wall and faced them. The body of the creature was massive and trunk like while it had two stubby appendages and two rather immobile legs. It was more of a semi mobile rock than anything dangerous. Still it barred their path.

"It's a corrupted gem, form up!" Garnet shouted over the scraping noises it generated as it barreled toward them in the relatively narrow chasm, it had to be pushed back. Garnet and Horus took up the front and braced to stop its charge as Amethyst and Pearl stood in front of Steven, weapons in hand.

Garnet and Horus wasted no time in reacting to its approach, she summoned her gauntlets and leaped up as Horus hurtled at peak velocity to jump and strike its upper half with his legs in an all out attack, a spear-head. He became a blur of grey movement as he suddenly appeared yards ahead of his previous location to leap and strike it with both feet, It reeled from his colossal impact but still standing. Garnet was given enough time to come after Horus and deliver a hammering blow from the air to its opposite side, Her gauntlets crashed into its surface and sent it smashing into the wall it came from. Both sides they had struck were heavily cracked but many more hits of the same strength would be needed to fell the monster.

Horus had a different idea, looking around the chasm he saw what he needed, he ran and brutally ripped a massive stalagmite off the wall nearly the size of himself. Despite his show of brute strength the rocky gem was attempting to stand, Pearl threw her spear, impaling a single hand to the wall, buying them time.

Horus and Garnet both took the massive rock in their arms and ran it to beast, like they had choreographed the action a thousand times, they both expertly shifted on their heels and hurled the sharp rock with all their might into the corrupted gems chest cavity. The resounding boom from the throw echoed in the cavern and the whole wall behind it shook as it struck. The gem poofed, leaving a small blue shape. Which Horus saw Pearl put in a strange bubble and send away.

For a short moment they were all laughing at the victory they had just had but it was cut short as falling debris and rocks rained around them. "Garnet, we need to evacuate Steven, quickly." Pearl said as she was helping Amethyst dig herself from a pile of ice.

"Looks like we had a bit too much fun." Garnet commented to Horus as she walked over to Steven and picked him up. She focused as a red hued bubble formed around the child.

"You can bubble me too?" Steven asked excitedly. Garnet sent him off with a tap on the top and without Horus really understanding what had just occurred, he realized he was going to have to dig himself out of a whole mountainside of ice. He smiled and looked to Garnet.

"Are all of the missions like this?" he asked her.

"Almost." she said as she braced her head.

My time here might just be far more fun than I had assumed, Horus thought as the ice surrounded him entirely.

Meanwhile Steven popped into a familiar red room with a whole lot more bubbles like the one he was floating in.