Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1: The Incident

“So. Walk us through what happened again?”

Catra covered her face with her hands. Maybe this was only true for tv shows but she kept reminding herself not to touch or drink anything, in case they took her DNA or fingerprints. She’d literally never done anything illegal – just in bad taste, like how she intentionally fucked up the coffee order of that weird sparkly-haired girl who came by every Thursday morning – but recent events had her convinced literally anything could happen these days.

“I’ve already been over this,” she sighed. “I don’t know what you’re missing from the first 12 times I’ve told you.”

It was freezing in this tiny gray little box that they were pretending counted as a room. She thought these things were supposed to be hot. You know – sweat the truth out of the bad guys or whatever? But it was fucking ice cold in there and the thin black flannel she’d thrown on over her work shirt, a tank that really never seemed appropriate for food service anyway, was doing nothing to help. Same for her ripped tights. The larger detective, the one that was practically busting out of her ill-fitted suit with her muscles, wasn’t being subtle about pushing a coffee cup closer to Catra.

She sat back and crossed her arms to avoid the urge to drink it. It probably tasted like shit anyway. Cops have terrible taste.

That cop, the scorpion one, had gone from sitting to pacing to standing and looming over Catra in the past 3 hours that they’d been stuck there. It was unclear what she was so frustrated about. She wasn’t the one trapped there. She could let Catra go and end this whenever she’d like. Instead, her ugly plaid tie was half undone and she’d managed to mess up her perfect platinum blonde pompadour. Her pincers were laying on the ice cold metal table a few inches from Catra, just being casually menacing.

“There’s a gaping hole in your story,” the cop said. Earlier, when she’d arrived on the scene, she was friendly and worried. Now she was acting like Catra was ruining her life somehow. “According to you, you were just minding your business. That doesn’t really explain how the… incident happened.”

“You make it sound like it’s a global political scandal,” Catra replied. She’d roll her eyes but she was too exhausted at this point.

“Well, a man was punched into a building,” the other cop pointed out, tilting her head in such a deeply curious way that one of her long purple ponytails touched the floor. 

Her energy was both more stable and more absolutely fucking bananas than her partner. She had shoved gadgets into Catra’s face back at the shop and on the ride over, completely nonplussed by the violence that Catra was trying to describe. During the questioning, all she bothered to do was tinker with her computer. It had occurred to Catra a couple of times that all of these machines looked too fancy to be property of the shitty Bright Moon PD, who had to hold a car wash last summer to pay for a new cruiser.

She glanced over at the officer nestled at the end of the table with her laptop. “...is he gonna be okay?”

“He got punched into a building!” the Scorpiani yelled. Her voice cracked and her eyes were wide with terror.

Catra could relate. Her whole concept of reality was breaking too.

“Look, I don’t know anything more than what I’ve told you. I got to work at 3am, like I always do. Everything seemed quiet and normal. I was unlocking the front door when someone ran up behind me. He put something hard in my back, a gun I’m assuming, and told me to let him in. I froze up. All of a sudden, I heard a loud thump behind us. The guy screamed and then he was gone. I don't understand why you don't believe me.”

“Because you are lying,” the purple-haired one said. Catra could appreciate the very blunt way she talked, if it wasn’t for the whole ‘holding her in a room against her will and making her answer the same stupid questions over and over again’ thing.

“I’m not.”

“No?” the Scorpiani asked. She stepped closer and slowly raised a pincer towards Catra’s face. “Then explain that mark around your eye.”

Catra caught her own reflection in the one-way mirror, like she had earlier that morning in the glass of the shop’s front door. Whatever was standing behind her – whatever saved her – glowed such a bright gold that it lit up the street. She only saw its vague image mirrored in the window for a brief second before it was gone.

She’d nearly fainted. First from seeing some otherworldly thing that definitely wasn’t supposed to exist. And then from the realization of what was on her face.

“So, I’m gonna ask you again. Who did this?”

“I don’t know,” Catra answered.

“The victim claims he-”

“Victim?! The guy tried to fucking rob me.”

“We don’t have proof of that, besides your word,” the purple one said. She was taking this much better than her partner. “You’re a noted liar with a history of violence. Three days ago, you told a 15 year-old that you were having an affair with his mother and you were coming over to kick his dad's ass and replace him.”

“One: some jerk named HoneyBadger69 was spamming my game so I told him to go to bed and keep it down because I was busy railing his mom. That's it! Two: I thought he was a 21 year-old little shit, not a literal child.”

“That doesn't make it better.”

“Hey, you fuck with my sanctuary, I fuck with you. Do you know how much time I've invested in it?”

“Yes. In total hours, fifteen thou-”

“Shh! Is that in my record? Why are the police tracking how much time I spend on my imaginary war bunker.”

Purple Hair frowned at her screen. “Most of your time seems to be put into strategizing how to destroy rival armies and maintain your place in the top 10 of all Etherian players in Witch Hunter: High Priestesses.”

“Top 5.”

“So you've probably made a lot of enemies, Wildcat,” the Scorpiani said, referencing Catra's screen name. How in the hell had they gotten ahold of that so quickly?

“Apparently they're all going through puberty so I don't think they're too much of a threat.”

“Why High Priestesses? Of all the Witch Hunter franchises?” the purple one asked.

“It's the only one that lets you literally rip a person's arms off and beat someone with them.”

She was apparently dissatisfied with that answer. “Did you know that there's a sect of players who believe the Witch Hunter franchise is a covert training ground for an incoming insurgency planned by the game’s development company, Prime?”

Not this bullshit. “We call them kooks. It's like 20 dudes who like to scream about how they're being targeted for being straight cis men. All sucking the dick of Daddy Prime.”

“Yes, Hordak Prime. Billionaire.”

“Rich, shitty kook,” Catra corrected. “What does any of this have to do with me being attacked?”

The cop shrugged. “Likely nothing. Just keeping all theories open until one is confirmed.”

“The guy wanted to rob me, not convert me to join Prime’s army of goons to fight imaginary witch priestesses so he can roll back parental leave rights or whatever he thinks is offensive to his delicate sensibilities.”

“Right. Imaginary,” the Scorpiani repeated.

The other cop continued on, “Though, the man in the hospital with the full-body cast was also obviously lying when he claimed he was out for a morning jog and an 8-foot tall glowing monster assaulted him.”

Catra hoped it wasn’t totally obvious how she’d begun to twitch. She shoved her hands under her thighs just in case. “That sounds completely fucking ridiculous. Are you seriously gonna take his word?”

The Scorpiani took a deep, shaky breath. “Glowing 8-foot monster? Would be hard to believe if I didn’t see the camera footage of the guy flying into the Marshall’s juniors section. And if I wasn’t staring at a glowing mark on your face, right where the guy says she managed to pop this ‘monster’ before they flung him into the air like a gnat.”

Catra glanced back at her reflection again. The big clumsy circle that glowed on her skin didn’t hurt, not like they did for other people. Kyle broke his arm in 4th grade and Rogelio screamed so loudly from the phantom pain that Catra still remembered hearing him from 3 classrooms away. The marks were gold now. That was new. She was used to bruises or scrapes in red. Easier to hide or pass off as actual injuries. A huge gold mark right over her coral blue eye – that would take days to fade. It’d be upfront and center til then, just putting all her business in the streets.

The Scorpiani looked stricken almost. “Look, you probably had a traumatic night. We’ll have all of this over with soon if you just tell me who did this.”

“I told you I don’t know,” Catra repeated yet again.

“You expect us to believe that you were saved by your soulmate and you don’t even know who they are?”

Perfuma scheduled her for the next morning, only if Catra promised that she’d catch a ride to work.

“Not a single godsdamn person is awake at this hour,” she’d argued. And if they were weird enough to be up, Catra didn’t trust them to operate a car.

She probably should have been afraid, which would have been a very reasonable response to nearly getting robbed. Honestly, she was at the time. For a brief second, when that idiot was poking steel into her back, Catra thought this might be the end. She was a little ashamed to admit though, that she was even more terrified when the bruise appeared.

Whoever the hell Catra’s soulmate was, they seemed to get banged up a lot. She was always waking up with random marks. For the first few years, it was the normal dings that a kid gets. In her teens, the bruises got bigger, like they were into karate or football or some other kind of contact sport. Over the last couple of years though, Catra had started to receive marks in the middle of the night. At first, she thought her soulmate was a cop (which, gross cause ACAB). Maybe a burglar? She’d hoped maybe they were a certain firefighter she knew. Last night confirmed it though.

Catra, who never had anything normal happen to her, was matched with a godsdamn 8-foot tall glowing monster. How fitting.

All she ever wanted was to hide in the background and be medium-happy. That wasn’t a lot to ask! Now she knew she was bound – completely, cosmically, irrevocably – to something weird and supernatural.

Catra was, quite honestly, scared shitless.

And that’s how Adora found her when she walked into the shop, smiling and whistling a tune off-key, as Catra shook so hard that her hands trembled as she refilled the tray of blueberry donuts.

She didn't have to turn around to know it was Adora. No one else stopped by at 5am, especially chipper and awake enough to whistle a tune. 

Also, no one else smelled like that. So sweet and yet earthy that Catra wanted to burrow into Adora's arms and maybe kinda lick the sweat from her neck. Except not, because that would violate the sacred and appropriately distant bond between customer and confectionery purveyor.

“Morning, Catra,” Adora sang, same as she did everyday, 5 days a week.

“Hey, Adora.” It wasn't really a shock to Catra that her own voice sounded so chill. She had a lot of practice pretending that everything was fine when her life was on the precipice of a sinkhole.

Adora didn't seem to notice anything off either way. “I didn't see you yesterday. Do anything fun on your day off?”

Since being harassed for hours by Etheria's two most bizarre cops and then spiraling about love and fate and destiny were very much not fun, Catra said, “Meh. Not really. Just got some rest.”

“You staying up late questing again?” Adora teased. The smile in her tone was as evident as the genuine concern. She was always worried about the ‘dangers of gaming,’ which Catra was pretty sure Adora had seen some local evening news story about. Adora loved to ask if Catra was sleeping or using the right kind of ergonomic chair or wearing blue light glasses. She once made the mistake of asking if Catra was protecting herself against carpal tunnel, leading to a very hilarious joke from Catra that Adora didn't have to worry about her hands because she was extremely talented with them.

(Adora had just laughed and left, which wasn't worth mentioning.)

“They're called rallies,” Catra reminded her. She couldn't see Adora, still too busy pretending that this row needed to be just perfect, but she could imagine her most loyal customer bopping her head up and down quickly in that way she did whenever she was listening really intently. “And no, I went to bed at a perfectly reasonable time.”

“What’s reasonable for folks like us?” Adora asked lightly, while her fingers drummed against the counter.

“Enough about my nighttime rituals. What can I get you?”

Adora drummed for just a tick longer before answering. “A dozen of whatever. Dealer’s choice.”

“A dozen plain cake donuts coming right up.” Catra faked a cheerful voice that didn’t remotely resemble how exhausted she felt inside.

“Catra, no!” Adora whined. “You know cake donuts are the worst. It’s like eating sugar-coated gravel.”

Ignoring that, Catra set about opening a box and filling it. “Don’t let Mermista hear you talking like that. Those cake ones are her pride and joy.”

“She hates them. I saw her throw one at a rude customer once. They make a better projectile than a breakfast.” Adora paused, then sounded momentarily terrified. Mermista had that effect on people. “Wait, she’s not here, right?”

“Didn’t see her.” Catra shrugged. “Our paths haven’t crossed the past couple days actually.”

Adora made a displeased grunt. “She’s supposed to be leaving right as you arrive. Does Perfuma know about this?”

“No one likes a narc, Adora.”

“I just worry about you being out so early all by yourself,” she mumbled.

The chocolate glazed in Catra’s hand nearly slipped to the floor. She caught it cause she wasn’t a complete bumbling simp, though her little heart was practically singing at the idea of Adora being concerned for her.

She spun around with a little flair, energy suddenly renewed. That was the thing about these morning visits from Adora – that sweet, radiant attitude of hers was almost fucking contagious. Catra never showed it, she’d rather die first thanks, but Adora’s bright mood rubbed off on her.

Anyway, she hit a speed bump in her quickly-devolving thoughts about Adora and rubbing off when the blonde frowned deeply. It was so grumpy, so morose and out of character, that Catra stopped cold, full box of donuts sitting precariously in her palm.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re wearing sunglasses. Indoors,” Adora said. She tilted forward to peer at Catra more closely. “I’d make fun of you for trying to be too cool but…um, are you okay?”

“Peachy,” Catra responded automatically. Adora didn’t look at all convinced. If anything, her worry quickly morphed into slight panic, based on the way she started to grip the counter absently. She didn’t even realize she was flexing probably, biceps stretching out her gray sweatshirt with the faded station 113 logo right over her heart.

“Hey,” Adora whispered. “You can tell me if something’s wrong.”

Catra gently placed the box on the counter between them. The fact that Adora didn’t even bother to glance down at it managed to convey how genuine she was being. Usually, she’d have her face stuffed with two donuts before Catra had even fully handed the order over.

Reluctantly, Catra admitted, “I got robbed yesterday. Some idiot tried to hold me up on my way in.” 

Adora’s face changed in a second. It was hard for Catra to read – she was upset clearly but also strangely antsy. 

Catra felt compelled to calm her by adding, “I’m fine. Not hurt at all. Some mysterious good samaritan saved me.”

“Oh,” Adora said, voice tight. “How nice.”

Catra felt something weird change in the air. A tension swept in that hadn’t been there before.

Adora was… jealous? Her face was all red, vein throbbing in her neck.

“Probably just your friendly neighborhood weirdo,” Catra muttered.

“Hmm,” Adora hummed, face still kinda sour. “Well, I’m, um, glad to see that you’re okay. Promise me you’ll be safe.”

She waited, genuinely expecting a promise apparently. Her gaze was so intense, so singularly focused on Catra. Even though Adora couldn’t make out her eyes behind the sunglasses, Catra felt like the blonde was trying to see right through her.

“I promise, whatever,” Catra grumbled.

Adora gave a nod before standing back up straight. From the pocket of her very tight (wonderfully indecently tight, Catra would say) red running shorts, which she insisted on wearing even when it was freezing outside, Adora produced the same amount of cash that she did every morning. 10 bucks for the donuts and a $5 bill for Catra’s otherwise perpetually empty tip jar.

“I better head home,” Adora said, already pushing a whole blueberry glazed into her mouth. “Gotta shower before bed.”

“Heh, let me know if you need help with those hard to reach places,” Catra offered with the grace of a person entirely new to the concept of words. 

For the first time since she brought up the whole almost-died-in-a-stick-up thing, Adora laughed.

“Bye, Catra,” she sang as she turned and left. “Remember – be careful!”

Catra watched her go, just a gorgeous oblivious dummy jogging down the road and awkwardly carrying a huge box. What the fuck had she been thinking? Volunteering herself to wash Adora down was definitely a thought best kept locked inside and hidden away forever, especially from herself.

She took a deep breath as Adora faded out of view. “That was fucking pathetic.”

“It really was,” a droll voice agreed from behind her. After yesterday, being snuck up on was developing as a new trigger apparently. Catra leapt so high into the air with shock that she was sure her heart had jumped right up her windpipe.

Mermista lazily strolled up next to her, not at all concerned that Catra was probably turning blue from asphyxiation. She bent over at the waist and dropped her entire torso across the counter. There was still a mess of flour and other ingredients on her arms and face, her turquoise bun just sorta barely hanging on for dear life. 

Mermista generally came in around closing and began prepping for the next day, supposedly only leaving once Catra arrived to relieve her. In reality, Mermista kept whatever fucking hours she wanted to keep and Perfuma was too terrified or exhausted or both to say anything.

Once she had managed to swallow the ol’ ticker back down into its rightful place and slow it down just a fraction, Catra shook out the rest of her nerves. Much more grounded and less convinced that her life now just existed in constant peril, she turned to Mermista.

“Why are you here?” ‘Witnessing the most horrible rejection in lesbian history,’ Catra added in her mind.

Mermista didn’t bother standing up. “Perfuma told me to stick around cause ‘strength in numbers’ or some shit. Except my shift felt brutal, dude, and I passed out in the back as soon as it was done. That lump that you kicked over by the flour palettes was me, you jerk.” 

“Okay, well, thanks for your service or something,” Catra said quickly. “You can go home and sleep now.”

“I cannot even believe that you've made zero progress in five months,” Mermista began, picking up a topic that Catra had made absolutely clear that she had zero interest in ever discussing ever ever. “Honestly, it was worth missing out on valuable hours with my bed just to confirm that with my own two eyes. If you'd told me that two attractive, relatively intelligent people couldn't figure out the world's most bizarre mating ritual, I’d think you were shitting me. But nope. You completely fucking whiffed it.”

“I literally offered to bathe her,” Catra groaned. “She genuinely doesn't even know I exist.”

“She comes by every single morning. Even weekends sometimes.” 

That was news to Catra, who never got scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays. That was when they drew their largest crowd of customers and Perfuma had correctly assessed that the register should be handled by someone who wouldn’t permanently scare everyone off. Aka Not Catra. 

“There's no way she's working all those night shifts,” Mermista pointed out and she was probably right. One time, Catra asked how the station was that night and Adora admitted that she was off. She'd just gone for a run out of habit. 10 miles from her house. Instead of sleeping.

“Yesterday, when I told her you were out, she just turned around and left. Didn't even buy anything.”

Now that was hard to imagine. Adora didn’t seem like the type to turn down food.

“You’re lying,” Catra replied, trying not to let all of these admittedly obvious clues go to her head and get her hopes up.

“Am I? Then why are you blushing?” Mermista smirked. “What’s up with the glasses anyway?”

Before Catra could stop her, Mermista suddenly reanimated to reach over and grab the sunglasses off of her face. She froze in shock, arms still in the air, when she got a look at Catra’s eyes.

“We’re not acknowledging this,” Catra said firmly.

“The fuck we’re not,” Mermista argued. “Who is it?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” It was a half-truth. Problem was Catra wasn’t really sure which part was the ‘truth’ there.

Mermista found that deeply unsatisfying, sucking her teeth for a moment. Without warning, she untied her teal track pants and pulled the right side down until her upper thigh was visible. Catra looked away as a reflex, more concerned for some reason with Mermista’s privacy than the fact that anyone could walk in and see her behind the counter in her underwear.

“Check this shit out,” Mermista ordered. She thrust her hip towards Catra. “Sea Hawk tried to skateboard yesterday and ended up embarrassing himself in front of an entire grade school.”

Very reluctantly, Catra allowed herself a little peek. On Mermista’s right hip was an oblong-shaped blob of red that ran half-way down her thigh. The color stood out so vibrantly against Mermista’s walnut-colored skin. It took Catra a second to realize that the mark perfectly matched the always crisp bandana that Sea Hawk wore around his neck. Sure, the significance of color had occurred to her once when he came to pick Mermista up after she’d taken a nasty burn and his right palm was unnaturally turquoise. But Catra had spent a lot of her life pretending that her red marks could mean literally anything and nothing; lots of people liked the color red. That gave her zero clues.

But this switch to gold? Maybe her soulmate was in a freak radioactive accident at the Zales in the mall?

“Gross,” Catra replied, catching herself before she began yet another spiral. “Your love for each other. Not the mark, I mean.”

“Best believe I made that boy kiss it and make it better." Mermista pulled her pants back up. “Sometimes the universe deals us a weird hand. We make do, right?” 

2: The Earthquake

When Catra woke up, it was fucking pouring. That felt like it shouldn’t be allowed to happen this time of year – things were terrible enough, no one needed to walk in the freezing rain at 3am. The streets had been especially dead. Even potential thieves had the good sense to stay home and snuggle up with some hot cocoa. Not Catra. No, never Catra. She had the great displeasure of trudging through this shitstorm with only the world’s cheapest umbrella that put in its notice and quit two blocks into the walk, collapsing in both on itself and Catra’s head.

Not Adora either, who had still managed to jog to the shop. Her little red raincoat was too thin for the frost and it resembled one of those disaster relief capes a lot more than an item actually sturdy enough to withstand bad weather. By the time she got to Plumeria Donuts, Adora was clearly soaked through. Her cute little hair poof had deflated and couldn’t contain the weight of the water so her overgrown bangs were falling down into her blue eyes. 

When she lifted the hem of her shirt practically all the way up to her ribcage to use it to dry her face, Catra just about fell over. She’d never really had a thing for muscles before, being basically a sloth herself, but Adora was (unsurprisingly) ripped. Her stomach looked hard enough to eat off of. 

Well, damn. Catra could already picture herself stuffing her face with ice cream in bed, listening to Alicia sing “you don’t know my name” on a loop while thinking about this moment.

For some reason, Adora was acting even weirder than usual. Which was really saying something because Catra had once watched her make two donuts pretend to kiss before eating them both. Sure, the weirder part was that Catra deeply wanted Adora to name the donuts after the two of them, since she was telling a whole damn story she’d recently read about two star-crossed lovers who’d had to overcome time and space to be together. But that’s neither here nor there.

Presently, Adora was practically vibrating with nerves, hands all fidgety.

“You good?” Catra asked as she slid Adora’s order across the counter. 

Last time Adora was this anxious, she had some kind of firefighter performance evaluation coming up. She aced it of course (and didn’t appreciate a certain someone asking how she'd rated in ‘rescuing cats from trees’) but Catra had to spend the two whole weeks leading up to it reminding Adora that she was gonna do fine. 

Adora nodded, absently fixing her shirt yet again. “How do you feel about sushi?”

“Sushi?” Catra asked, confused by the abrupt subject change.

“Yes.”

“Like…conceptually?”

Adora gave her an exasperated look that was thoroughly undermined by her bright smile. “Do you like it?”

“Conceptually?”

“Come on, Catra,” she whined. “It’s a simple question.”

That was funny. It felt somehow not simple at all.

“Yeah, I like sushi, Adora.”

“Cool. There’s a cool place not too far from here.”

“Cool,” Catra repeated. 

And then she waited. And waited. While Adora just stood there, slightly nodding like a complete dummy. 

Look, Catra had gotten a few girls in her day, usually friendships that grew into more over time. None of them were like Adora, obviously, put together and kind and had faces like a work of art, but Catra had been medium-smooth and shot her shot when the time was right. If Adora realized that Catra was available and cleary very fucking interested and also super available, then she had no clue what she was supposed to do next. 

Was she waiting for an invitation? Catra was telepathically sending literally dozens of them right now.

Maybe it was for the best that Adora remained totally clueless about how much Catra thirsted after her. With this new crap going on, Catra wasn't really sure what the protocol was for dating around once you'd met your soulmate. Had a subpoena for her search history been issued – which was the only way Catra would ever admit to this – it would find many many variations of the phrase ‘can I hook up with other people if my soulmate is gross.’ The results only turned up rambling nonsense about the purity of a soul connection. If Catra read one more article about how you'd finally feel whole with your other half, she was gonna claw her own eyes out. Not everyone (especially not all women, you creepy misogynistic buzzfeed listicle-writing weirdo) were just standing around waiting to have their mundane lives improved by some godsdamn stranger. 

‘Looks aren't that important if you're soulmates’ so many articles lectured. She'd love to see their reactions if they'd been matched with a fluorescent hulk. ‘Looks’ weren't her top priority – she was pretty sure she was kinda demi-sexual anyway, which was why her quick infatuation with Adora was so strange. It was more the problem of figuring out where to take a lagoon creature for a first date. Possible odors. Kissing mechanics.

“Thanks for the tip, I guess,” Catra said finally, just trying to fill the awkward silence.

“Tip?” Adora asked. She awkwardly glanced at the beat-up mason jar on the counter where Catra had messily scrawled ‘for all my hopes and dreams’ on a post-it before taping it on. It never really worked to guilt people into contributing. Except Adora. With a confused smile, she pulled some wet cash from her pocket and dropped it inside.

“Ugh, no,” Catra groaned. “Not that. I meant-”

The bell over the door rang and that was just about the only warning the two of them received before the shop was descended upon by a handful of hungover/possibly half-drunk frat boys. This happened occasionally since they weren’t too far from a decent diner, where wasted college kids would cap off a night out, and then notice the open donut place on their walk of shame and decide to pop in and annoy the shit out of the poor person behind the register. 

Adora quickly stepped aside as the guys all wrestled each other to be the first in line, slurring their orders or random questions at Catra. The dudes were a bit overwhelming, all tall and moving like red-eyed toddlers. Adora shot Catra a quick look that seemed to ask ‘are you okay?’

Catra’s responding nod clearly meant ‘yes, but can you stay for like 20 minutes so we can sort out what I think was you trying to finally ask me out?’

The skies seemed to open up completely then, rain beating down so hard that it sounded like loose change falling on the roof. Adora looked from the street to the giant cardboard box in her hand that was definitely gonna be ruined within seconds of stepping outside. Catra, getting orders screamed at her, was honestly fucking astounded that Adora was considering soggy donuts over clearing up whatever weird miscommunication just happened between them.

She must have been ogling Adora too long, mind still focused on not fucking this up, cause one of the boys in front of her tapped very loudly on the counter while the rest continued to raise their voices over each other. It was a cacophony of drunken nonsense that was way too fucking early to handle.

“Hey!” Adora yelled in a very authoritative voice that made Catra a little weak in the knees. The guys all immediately quieted, though most of them looked confused at being called out. “One at a time. And be polite.”

Appropriately scolded, they all grumbled quietly to themselves but formed a messy line. Catra noticed the only customer she was interested in actually interacting with reaching for the door handle.

“Adora-” she tried to call out.

“Later, Catra!” she sang back, sounding just a little sadder than usual, before jogging off into the downpour.

kyle2558355934
Need wood

wildcat
nah, im good

kyle2558355934
Catra please
Trying to upgrade hq

wildcat
oh, that was a request?
…
nah, im good

thelonandonly
Stop being ****** and send him the wood

wildcat
he can send troops out to the mill
kyle, you think you’re too good to farm for resources?

thelonandonly
I just watched you raid two different sanctuaries
Share your ******* spoils

silentbutdeadly
We’re in the same alliance
Let's remember to act like it

thelonandonly
Did you seriously just ******* send ME wood?!?

wildcat
this user no longer exists

thelonandonly
***** I wish
Stop raiding Seaworthy. They're our allies

wildcat
this user no longer exists

silentbutdeadly
Lonnie, can you send them back the resources that's she's forwarding to you
I'll go apologize
Before they try attacking

wildcat
let them attack
i've got 2b might
their general capped at 650m
i could use the laugh

She should have known that the chat notification would come after that. Stupid amateur move, showing any weakness on the battlefield. After Chadtastic (which: barf) had complained about them fighting in the group chat months ago, Lonnie had just begun to yell at Catra on the side.

Jumping onto her laptop, Catra plugged her phone in and turned on Twitch. If Lonnie wanted to bug her, Catra wasn’t about to lose valuable playing time just for a lecture.

On her screen, besides her impeccably set sanctuary and Lonnie already blowing up her chat, Catra could see the video feed of herself. She looked like absolute shit. If shit had gone on a weekend bender, gotten shaken down, and was also being haunted by a ghost maybe. 

thelonandonly
Why you picking fights?
What’s wrong with you?
Besides the usual
You look like crap
Go back to bed

Lonnie must have alerted Kyle and Rogelio cause they were quick to join as well.

kyle2558355934
omg catra
how’d you get so many training camps?

She felt her left eye twitch. “Have you seriously not upgraded yet?”

See – this! This level of incompetence is why they were still ranked as the second alliance.

silentbutdeadly
Send him some resources and maybe he’ll be able to…

It was sound logic but Catra was not in the mood to be reasonable. 

“I vote that we boot Kyle and ransack his sanctuary,” she suggested.

thelonandonly
For what?
Two cans of tuna and one whole piece of lumber?
Ain’t nothing over there worth stealing

kyle2558355934
Hey!
I have lots of nice stuff!

silentbutdeadly
It’s probably a bad idea to *encourage* them to rob you

kyle2558355934
Oh right
Ignore me. Nothing good over here

“Well, only one way to find out,” Catra said flippantly.

She made Kyle watch as she went back to the alliance screen and began searching for his user name. Once she found it amongst the 70 or so other faceless jerks they played with daily, she pretended to hover over the “Remove from Alliance” option. As Alliance Leader, this level of absolute unchecked power really made all the upkeep, maintenance, and downright babysitting she had to do completely worth it.

kyle2558355934
Hey, this isn’t fair

thelonandonly
Ignore her
She’s bluffing
We need you
Someone has to be canon fodder

silentbutdeadly
Cat, why you up so early?

She sighed and returned back to checking items off her daily quest list; there were always troops to train, supplies to farm, a perpetual war machine that needed to be sustained. It was 1am, a full 2 hours before she needed to be at work. Usually Catra slept until around 2, rushed to make herself presentable (maybe even slightly hot, Gods willing), and then dashed off to Plumeria Donuts as quickly as possible. Being up at this hour for her was probably what people with regular-ass 9-5 jobs felt like when a random car horn or something woke them up at 6am and they couldn’t get back to sleep.

Catra was miserable and she clearly looked it. Bags under her eyes, hair a fucking nest. She felt wrung out and on high alert, this whole soulmate mess still floating at the back of her mind nonstop.

In all honesty, she was kinda sorta hoping she could talk to these goons about it. As unfortunate of a journey as it was, she’d known the three of them practically her whole life. They knew better than anyone how opposed she was to the idea of soulmates, almost as much as Catra’s disbelief of the supernatural. In fact, those two phenomena had something in common in her mind – they were false and shouldn’t exist. Catra needed one true love and a happy ending about as much as she needed a wendigo or a necromancer.

Besides, the idea that a romantic relationship was so important that it deserved its own special permanent mark was some heteronormative nonsense that Catra did not prescribe to. People were only as useful and worthy as the monogamous love some horny unimaginative Gods forced them into? Yeah, fuck that noise. The Gods could have chosen to print something on Catra's skin that would actually be helpful. Like her food allergies, instead of just letting her nearly die the first time she tried pineapple.

“These are prime resource gathering hours,” she lied. 

What the fuck was she supposed to say? ‘A giant glowing monster was created to be my mate. Prepare for the weirdest wedding registry you’ve ever seen.’

silentbutdeadly
How’s the donut shop girl?

“I don’t know who that is. Lots of girls come into the shop.” ‘Pretend that I’ve never mentioned this one cause she’ll probably be scared off by my new magic girlfriend. If she ever even notices me anyway.’

thelonandonly
You still haven’t gotten her number?
Made a move of any kind?

kyle2558355934
Catra’s playing the long game
They’re getting to know each other slowly
It’s sweet

Gods, the last thing she needed was Kyle’s support. He and Rogelio had been dancing around each other, acting like they weren’t fully aware that they were each other’s mates for almost two decades now. No one had the guts to just… do something! Anything. Literally anything would be better than seeing each other everyday and not saying a single fucking word about the giant bruise-colored elephant in the room.

thelonandonly
…what’s wrong with your face?

“What’s wrong with yours? You want to go there, Lonnie?!” Catra asked belligerently. 

Speaking of bruises, her huge gold shiner was mostly healing but it left behind a slight ring, as if someone had placed a beer on Catra’s eye and forgotten to use a coaster like a decent person. She’d still been covering it with sunglasses when she was out in the world. It was a dumb careless mistake to forget them now.

She was opening her mouth to distract Lonnie with more deeply unnecessary misdirection when it felt like someone shook her shitty apartment building as if they were trying to dislodge a quarter from an arcade machine.

“What the fuck?!” Catra cried out as she got jostled around. A jar of thumbtacks fell off a shelf near her bed and landed with a loud clatter. It sounded like a few dishes in the kitchenette would need cleaning up later. The whole ground trembled and trembled for what was probably just a minute but felt like an eternity.

“Did someone open a hellmouth right underneath me?” she screamed into her computer. The movement was so violent that her brain felt like it was rattling in her head, the world whooshing back and forth, side to side.

For a second, Catra thought she’d never been more terrified in her life. Then she remembered the gun, the monster, the bruise from just a few days before and thought maybe she should start getting used to being permanently fucking horrified.

silentbutdeadly
It’s probably an earthquake
Go stand in a doorway

kyle2558355934
It’s not!

thelonandonly
Kyle’s right
It’s not shaking over here

kyle2558355934
It’s been happening all the time in random small areas around Bright Moon now
I read that it’s magic

“This has happened before? Where have I been?”

thelonandonly
Asleep probably
Been going on in the middle of the night for a few weeks now

Catra placed her palms onto her bed to ground herself. Her shitty little mattress on the floor was probably not the safest place to be but there weren’t many places to hide from the apocalypse in her studio apartment.

silentbutdeadly
The news says the plates underneath Bright Moon are shifting

kyle2558355934
Lies!
It’s a conspiracy
It’s the princesses!

thelonandonly
We really need to get that child filter on the internet, Ro
He’s one more subreddit away from claiming fluoride is a mind control poison

kyle2558355934
Wake up, sheeple!

Like a weevil, the building slowly began to cease wobbling until it came to a standstill. Catra’s heart and nerves, on the other hand, continued to shake for long after.

“Okay,” she huffed out. “We have earthquakes now. Got the memo.”

kyle2558355934
It’s princesses
I swear
They’re coming to reclaim their magic

thelonandonly
Repent your sins!
The end is nigh!

“You know, I blame myself for this. All those years trying to convince Kyle that the princesses are real and they’re hiding under his bed really did a number on him.”

kyle2558355934
You literally spend 85% of your life playing a game devoted to defeating the princesses
How do you not believe?

Catra sighed. He was so gullible.

“One, it’s priestesses . And the game is fiction, Kyle. I also play a game where I’m a duck who intentionally annoys humans. Do you believe in that too?”

silentbutdeadly
I mean
Ducks *are* real tho
Do you not know about ducks?!

thelonandonly
I’m not sure that’s a real game
Just sounds like your everyday life

“Regardless,” Catra said loudly, cause fuck them, she knew ducks were real and they were missing the point, “The princesses are a myth. A dumb old ancient myth. There’s no evil superpowers. No weird connection to Etheria’s core or whatever. No magic.”

As if to make her a complete liar, a giant beam of purple shot past her window suddenly.

It was fast enough that Catra could have convinced herself that it was an illusion. Huge purple laser-type shit didn’t blast past 3rd story apartments in Downtown Bright Moon.

No. Absolutely not. Maybe magic was a touchy subject right now, all things considered, but Catra was not having this.

She looked away from the window immediately, grateful that it was offscreen and the trio hadn’t noticed it.

silentbutdeadly
Didn’t you say Mermista grew up in Salineas
You should ask her about it
The princesses are supposed to be like heroes there

thelonandonly
Not like in FZ
All we ever heard growing up was that they punished bad kids and stole from poor people
A real fairytale lol

kyle2558355934
Cat?
Maybe you want to come stay with us for a little while?
Just to be safe?

Another bright purple flare shot up. Except this time, it wasn’t passing by. It was 20 feet or so away, heading right towards her apartment.

Catra kept her eyes trained on the game. She didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. Something in her just knew what would happen next. It was a terrible foreboding feeling, a living horror movie where you can see the jump-scare seconds before it happens.

‘Get out of the house!’ she screamed in her head, the same way she always did out loud at the theater and never failed to piss Lonnie off. But Catra was rooted to the spot, frozen in fear.

Destiny was coming calling and the bitch didn’t care if Catra pretended to not be home.

Refusing to look away from her sanctuary, she only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye – before the beam could make contact, the large golden monster thing-turned apparent soulmate flew right into its path. The force of it knocked them right into the window so hard that Catra’s AC flew out and onto her floor.

The stupid glowing abomination seemed to recover for just a moment before they glanced into the apartment. Catra didn’t have the nerve to make eye contact with them. Her brain couldn’t fathom their existence; she couldn’t even imagine what she’d see reflected back at her if she looked at them.

There was no time for them to linger as they took off flying again, some giant sword cocked in their hand to attack.

“Nope,” Catra said, sounding like a zombie. She ignored that every cell of her being felt like it was being lightly tasered. Bravely, she chanced a quick look inside her shirt. Right in the middle of her chest was a glowing gold bruise the size of a frisbee. “I’m safe here.”

3: The NPC

Adora had the day off. She’d come into contact with some sort of ‘occupational hazard', according to her and the fire chief had given her some time to recover. Catra could relate, her bizarre superhuman soulmate must’ve gotten hit by a tank or something because she had a new golden mark that took up most of her right calf.

When Adora had stopped by the day before, she didn’t look singed or injured in any way, moving around as quickly as usual and with no noticeable signs of fire damage or whatever. She had appeared a little differently, though, besides just being amused by Catra’s obvious concern for her well-being. Notably, Adora was wearing an annoying amount of clothing that day. A full gray department-issued sweatsuit. Gone were the shorts which were the highlight of Catra’s mornings. Though she had to admit that the pants Adora wore were so tight that one could practically make out every muscle in her thick, toned thighs.

During that particular visit, Catra had had no idea what the fuck Adora was talking about. Partially because Adora had decided to mix half a lemon poppy seed donut with half a blueberry one, using her mouth as a giant mixer. And partially because of the aforementioned thick-ass thighs.

She’d been extra chipper and had asked Catra a million questions, mostly about her ‘questing.’ Without trying to go into too many details and risk looking like a complete loser, Catra had briefly shared how Kyle's sanctuary had been attacked the night before and she had gone on a terror spree, raiding a whole alliance to avenge him. Catra liked to mess with Kyle but she wasn't gonna let anyone disrespect him. 

Adora wanted explanations of every single term Catra used, interrupting constantly until she was satisfied. Finally, on her way out the door, Adora had turned and said, “You’re so smart. Like, really smart. Sounds like you’re a brilliant strategist.”

24 hours later, Catra was still floating on those compliments. A girl she liked had told her that she was smart. It seemed childish but there was something really fucking nice about being appreciated for her intelligence. Seemed like no one else did that these days.

It was lucky that Adora had put her in such a good mood. Otherwise, Catra would absolutely not be able to put up with this awful glittery girl’s bullshit the next day. She was used to this asshole popping by for a cruller and a latte once a week, generally focused on her phone and not even acknowledging Catra’s existence. She was not used to them having to interact in any meaningful way.

“Look,” this pastel gremlin was saying very aggressively right in Catra’s face. “You already have the donuts. Just stack them into a tower and bam! You’ve basically got a cake.”

“We don’t do cakes,” Catra repeated for at least the fifth time.

The girl’s face got redder. It clashed a little with the fuschia bodysuit and jeans she was wearing under her pink pea coat. Catra was pretty sure if she pointed that out though, the girl would go ballistic.

It didn't matter how many times Catra explained that this was a donut shop, this particular customer was not interested in facts. She had apparently decided that she deserved cake from this establishment and was prepared to browbeat Catra into submission.

“Listen. I’m not asking you to go back there and bake a giant donut-shaped cake. I’m just asking you to throw some extra sprinkles and frosting on a few and stack them. I’ll pay you whatever you want for your time and labor.”

‘Look.’ ‘Listen.’ What was with all the directing? Catra was paying this request the appropriate amount of attention already, which was absolutely zero.

“We don’t do cakes,” was all Catra responded with. 

Could they do cakes? Probably. Should they? No. Would Catra ask Mermista for a special request and risk being annihilated? Not a fucking chance. 

The girl nearly shrieked in annoyance. “May I talk to a manager?”

“Glimmer,” a soothing, posh-accented voice said from the doorway. “What’s going on?”

Catra glanced over as a literal angelic being practically glided into the room. Her energy was too calm and way way too fancy for the store. Her pale purple face barely had laugh lines but Catra got the feeling that she was a lot older than she looked. She was dressed in a bodysuit that weirdly matched the girl’s but covered it in a lilac wool coat that draped her like a cape, running practically down to her ankles.

Glimmer or whatever turned to the woman, almost embarrassed for what she had just walked in on. “Sorry this is taking so long. I thought it would be a cute birthday idea since she loves this place. And what says ‘we care about you and want you to feel welcome’ more than cake?!” She paused to harrumph. “But this person isn’t being very helpful.”

“We don't do special orders,” Catra said to both of them.

“It’s just sprinkles!” Glimmer hissed, whipping back around to face her. “I can see the donuts right there. Pop some more decorations on them and I’ll come back for a stack in a couple days.”

“Why would anyone want tacky day-old donuts for their birthday?” Catra asked reasonably.

Behind Glimmer, the older woman snickered quietly.

Glimmer groaned. “You're insufferable. Your coffee’s not even that good – I only stop here cause it’s on the way to my therapist!” She paused to narrow her eyes in suspicion. “I don't understand why Adora likes it here so much. It isn't even on her commute route.”

Catra suddenly felt warm all over. She found herself standing up straighter, perking up completely. How did this cretin possibly get to know Adora? Know Adora’s birthday and buy her a stupid donut cake that didn’t exist?

“Adora?” Catra asked. Any attempts at keeping her voice cool were probably failing terribly. “You're friends with Adora?” Weeks of coming here while she loudly checked TikTok (without wearing headphones like a normal person!) and this was the first interesting thing Glimmer had said.

The older woman strode forward, moving to stand at the counter next to (who Catra was starting to believe was) her daughter. “Yes. Are you?” she asked.

Glimmer trained her beady eyes on Catra. Something about her face just silently screamed that she thought Catra was beneath both her and Adora. Maybe Catra was projecting. Adora was sweet and a good listener but never once had she taken any bait when Catra flirted with her. It was such a casual rejection that Catra had gotten used to it but… not.

“...No,” she answered. “I don’t think Adora and I count as friends.”

Glimmer sighed, as if annoyed by this interruption in her quest to get the unattainable. Of course, her annoyance just fueled Catra’s own even further. Maybe Adora wanted to be more than ‘friends’ with Glimmer. That made sense. Glimmer clearly came from money since she never bothered checking to see how much Catra charged her before paying. She probably had a career and a working car and a place to stay that wasn’t a dusty shoebox. And she was thoughtful and considerate if she remembered Adora’s favorite place and was so committed to getting her a special birthday treat that she was willing to harass a poor store employee.

That awful bruise on Catra’s leg started to ache out of nowhere, a new but sobering reminder that her soulmate was out there somewhere probably menacing local townspeople or busy with other glowing hulk business.

This was fine. Adora would be very happy with bright, shiny Glimmer. Their lives would be all daymoonshine and sparkles and Glimmer could be the one to receive a stripshow from Adora in her firefighter uniform, a very specific dream that Catra had been having for the past few months on a loop.

Catra would just go live in a cave with She-Hulk. This. was. fine.  

The older woman cleared her throat awkwardly. It was kinda with a shock that Catra realized she’d just been having a staredown with Glimmer for the past several moments.

Her possible-mother looked between the two of them curiously. “I see,” she said finally. “Well, Glimmer, it appears that your plan has hit a hitch. Perhaps we should just come by with your boyfriend on Adora's birthday and pick her up a fresh box of donuts.” 

Glimmer frowned in suspicion. “Why’d you say that so weirdly? You can just call him Bow, Mom.”

Ignoring that, she put her hand on Glimmer’s shoulder and politely pushed her towards the door. Glimmer went reluctantly, still watching her mom warily. 

The woman lingered a little longer. Catra hadn’t fully noticed how much the lady towered over her until she leaned across the counter to whisper, “It's January 19 by the way. Adora’s birthday. In case anyone wanted to do anything special for her.”

With a wink, she pushed a very confused Glimmer out the door.

The next morning during the 11am lull, Catra was still arguing with herself about whether or not it was a total creep move to buy Adora a birthday present, while she waited for Perfuma to arrive and let her go.

On the one hand, Catra had a couple good ideas. And Adora’s birthday was close enough that Catra could claim it was a ‘get well soon’ present if she felt like being a coward. She had a little bit of cash and she wasn’t planning on getting a gift that was extravagant or so pricey that it would make Adora uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Catra was basically a total stranger and this was a total creep move.

But what if-

Her train of thought screeched to a halt as she caught sight of a cop car creeping up slowly to the store and parking. It was one of those big bulky sedans, the kind that pretend to be unmarked and inconspicuous but really scream ‘yeah, obviously there’s a cop in here!’ A woman exited and stood next to the drivers side door, her appearance so purple and so bald that she resembled a baby throwing a fit. Except her face was eerily fucking blank as, instead of coming inside like a normal person, she turned to stare off into the distance, facing opposite of Catra and the store. 

Catra pretended to casually begin wiping down the counter as she watched the cop. The woman didn’t move once as she cleaned from end to end and back again before realizing how unconvincing this must look. Not a twitch, not even a deep breath it seemed.

Under the counter, Catra pulled her phone from her pocket.

wildcat
just saw an npc in real life

thelonandonly
Bitch run
That’s a glitch in the matrix

kyle2558355934
If this is the matrix then there’s no point in running, right?
Like we’re all already hooked up to the machines

thelonandonly
Stars Kyle
Have SOME spine please

silentbutdeadly
Shut up
Kyle’s smart
You two are just jealous

Catra kept one eye on the creepy weirdo and another on the text thread, wondering when Kyle was going to realize that Rogelio was in love with him. How fucking embarassing – not even remotely noticing that someone has a huge obvious crush on you.

After several minutes of watching those idiots devolve into text-fighting over literally nothing, Catra glanced back up. The cop was suddenly standing directly across from her at the counter.

“Uh, can I help you?” Catra asked, trying not to let her voice show that this person had scared the shit out of her.

“I’m Detective Light Hope.” Her voice was weirdly robotic, which just further fueled the theory that she was one of those blank non-playable characters that you’d encounter in a game. “I’d like to ask you a few questions about the attack you experienced several days ago.”

“Yeah, no. I already talked to the cops.”

Detective Hope removed a small moleskin notebook from the inside pocket of her navy blue suit. “Incorrect. Our records show that you fled the scene before officers arrived.”

Catra frowned. She knew cops were incompetent but fucking hell. She spent hours with those two and they didn’t bother sharing a single detail with anyone else in their department? Un-fucking-believable.

“Look, I don’t know their names but two of your guys questioned me for like half the day.”

Hope took out a little pencil that reminded Catra of the kind from putt putt. What a class act. “Do you remember which precinct they were from possibly?”

“Nope. I think they took me somewhere down on 12th Street? Hard to be certain. Trauma and all.”

Hope nodded once but didn’t write this down. “Description?”

“It was a building. Gray-”

“Of the officers?” Hope asked, just the edges of annoyance showing in her tone.

Catra’s natural instinct to lie to cops flared up quickly. “White, I think. One tall. One not.” And then she zipped her fucking lips, clear that this was all she planned on offering.

The detective gave Catra a long, hard look. This was clearly someone who was used to people cowering in front of her. That wasn’t really Catra’s bag. If this woman wanted to make things difficult, Catra could do difficult.

“That’s it? What about build? Estimated weight? Identifying features?”

“Sorry - was too busy dealing with the trauma, ” Catra replied, emphasizing that to remind everyone that she was the victim here. That seemed to have gotten lost somewhere.

“For the official record, what is your name?”

“Doesn’t seem like there is an official record. And I’m not opening one. I didn’t make a complaint.”

“I have reports from both the alleged assailant and the store he landed in. He claims you and the person who attacked him are working together. If I were you, I’d be eager to clear myself.”

For all the shit that had been happening lately, the idea of being blamed for this and going to jail wasn’t as scary as Detective Hope seemed to think. Catra’s soulmate could probably just rip the bars off anyway. She was starting to think of them with a distinct glowing gargoyle-vibe, which wasn’t appealing at all but could be worse.

“Well, then I should probably consult my legal counsel before I say anything further,” Catra said.

The pencil in Hope’s right hand nearly broke as her grip tightened in frustration. She opened her mouth once, before rethinking and closing it. With some struggle, she gritted out through clenched teeth, “Are you familiar with Adora Gray?”

It was such a fast shift in topics that Catra’s head almost spun. She had to force herself to answer like the tv lawyers always suggest. 

“I don’t recall,” Catra said, stomach feeling a little sick. How was Adora related to any of this?

“What about Glimmer Moon?”

The Thursday morning jerk? “I don’t recall.”

“Witnesses say they’ve both been seen hanging out here,” Hope pointed out. “You expect me to believe you don't know the names of some of your most frequent customers?”

“Lady, you've obviously never worked in customer service,” a bored voice said from behind Catra. The kitchen doors swung open and a very disheveled Mermista lumbered out. “Most folks don't even treat us like we're people. They're sure as fuck not giving us identifying info.”

“Mermista, can you please stop sleeping in the kit-” Perfuma’s words stopped as she rushed out and caught sight of the scene in front of her. Her eyes swept from Hope to both of her employees. She was typically a pretty chill person but something about the cop must have really fucked up her good vibes. “Oh. Can I help you?” 

Catra had known Perfuma ever since she spotted a weird poster at her favorite shitty coffee shop three years ago announcing that a new donut place was opening and in search of employees. Who posted jobs on actual community boards? Who then hired random strangers with little experience and no social skills?

Perfuma, apparently, who was now straightening her back and standing to her full height in a big show of how she wasn’t intimidated by Detective Light Hope. Even in her little pink and very unseasonable sundress, she was throwing some boss bitch energy.

Hope looked at the three of them and took a step back. Maybe she knew it was a failure trying to strong arm Catra with so many witnesses. Her eyes narrowed, probably trying to think through how to play this.

She was opening her mouth to make her next move when Catra’s eyes shot towards the front window. Strolling into view, lips pursed as if she was whistling like she often did, was Adora. She looked different – half of her hair was in a top-knot and the rest hung loose down the back of her neck. Instead of running clothes, she was wearing jeans and a big navy blue parka. 

Not for the first time, Catra wished she had Adora’s number. Usually it was so she could make some attempts at learning more about her or some more awkward one-sided flirting that Adora could casually shoot down. But now, she just wanted to protect Adora. Catra truly had no fucking clue what was happening, except she was certain that if Hope was looking for Adora then she had to get the blonde as far away as possible.

As subtly as she could manage, Catra’s tail poked Mermista in the leg a couple of times. All she got in response was a sly stomp on her foot from Mermista’s combat boots.

“Ma’am,” Hope began, ignoring Catra’s angry wince, “I think it would be best if you came back to the station with me to continue our conversation.”

Mermista bent at the waist to flop the top-half of her body onto the counter. When this was over, Catra would make a note to have Perfuma ask Mermista about this newly-developed narcolepsy. She never would herself, cause generally Catra preferred to not have dusty cake donuts launched at her face.

“Ma’am,” Mermista mimicked to Hope. “I’m gonna need to see some identification before you’re taking anyone anywhere.” She held her open hand out towards the officer.

Hope sighed very quietly, in a low tone that almost sounded like a frustrated growl. Nevertheless, she reached back into her suit to remove a slim wallet, which she easily handed over.

Catra used the distraction to slightly shift to the side, hoping against hope that Adora would catch her eye before she opened the door and the stupid bell alerted everyone to her arrival. As her hand reached for the handle, Adora’s head perked up, eyes already aiming right for the counter. A huge excited smile filled her face, so cute and perfect and charming that Catra almost instinctively grinned back before she remembered that she was a woman on a mission. With great regret, she frowned and gave Adora a small shake of her head.

Catra hadn’t gotten quite as far as telepathically messaging ‘Molly, you in danger, girl’ before Adora noticed Hope’s bright bald head. She watched Adora’s happy mood crumble as her steps slowed to a stop. Mermista was asking all sorts of questions now about Hope’s jurisdiction or other nonsense but Catra couldn’t look away while Adora’s brow dipped in anger and she set her jaw.

This was a bad time to learn that Angry Adora was actually quite hot. 

The door was wrenched open so harshly that Catra worried it might be dragged off its hinges. Everyone’s attention drew to Adora but she was zoomed in on Detective Light Hope, storming right up to her. Hope glanced back once to snatch her wallet out of Mermista’s hand before facing Adora head-on. She opened her mouth, though it seemed like Adora wasn’t interested in giving her a chance to introduce herself. Probably didn't need to anyway – these two definitely had history.

“Outside. Now,” Adora said quietly. Without addressing anyone else, she turned and quickly exited, disappearing back around the corner. The chill she brought in with her was really doing nothing to cool Catra down. Adora’s commanding voice was something she’d have to file away later for a more appropriate time when they didn’t all seem to be in trouble.

Hope followed her and then it was just Plumeria Donuts employees standing in shocked silence and wondering how their lives had led to this point.

“You have to follow them,” Mermista said. “Figure out what the fuck is up.”

Perfuma, generally the voice of reason, added, “Your shift is over. Nothing wrong with a casual walk in the area. Just to…make sure everything’s okay.”

It was freezing outside. Catra hated the cold and honestly, she should probably lay down after all this excitement. Perfuma tossed her her coat before Catra could overthink this.

Creeping along the front of the building, Catra pretended to casually text while trying to get close enough to hear Adora and Detective Hope’s angry, whispering voices coming from the narrow alley between Plumeria and the nail shop next door.

“Adora, you have to return to me and continue your preparations,” Hope said in a voice that was too creepy and collected for Catra’s tastes. 

“I’m never coming back. I’m going to do what’s right.”

“You don’t know what’s right. You’re still a child! You don’t know how to handle this. She-”

“I’m learning!” Adora interrupted. “And I’m learning exactly how deep your lies run.”

Hope must have just decided to ignore that because she seemed to pause before asking, “What is it that keeps bringing you back here? That girl? I've told you, Adora, you have to let go of these connections. You have a destiny.”

“Wha-what girl?” Adora’s voice was high and lying about as badly as a five-year-old caught pocketing a Snickers at 7/11. “There's no girl.”

“If you're unwilling to forget about her, I'll be forced to take care of it.” It sounded more like an actual threat rather than a casual attempt to scare. 

“Don't!” Adora yelled. At least, it sounded mostly like Adora. The voice was somehow louder…and larger maybe? 

Whatever the hell had happened must have scared the crap out of Detective Hope because she shot out of the alley, sprinting past Catra and to her car. Rather than just jumping in and taking off though, she ran around to the trunk to pop it. 

“Adora!” Catra shouted out as a warning, not taking her eyes off of Hope. 

It wasn’t the most helpful warning obviously. There wasn’t much more information that Catra could give, since Hope was well-hidden by the open trunk and all. She sure as shit wasn’t about to go over and examine the woman closely. Everything about this situation had ‘mind your business’ written all over it but Catra wasn’t about to just bail on Adora unless she knew the dummy was safe. 

All Catra could hear coming from the alley was Adora desperately whispering, “Turn back! Turn back!” over and over until she heard her own name.

When Hope emerged, moving around the car and raising her arm in the air in what felt like slo-mo, Catra cried out Adora's name again. This one was supposed to signal ‘she’s gonna shoot you’ but really came out like a panicked jumble of vowels.

In Hope's right hand was a..hmm...uh. Well, it was kinda like a laser pointer actually. The kind for presentations or fucking with a cat except maybe three times that size. So it wasn't necessarily scary obviously, just a little piece of metal and lights that Hope was wielding. Maybe it was the wielder –  Catra got the sense that Hope could pick up a plastic kids playset and it would be a deadly weapon.

Unfortunately, that nonsense ejaculation of sounds drew Hope's attention away from Adora and straight to Catra, standing useless and unprotected just 15-feet away. The direction of the cop’s arm changed until the little laser thing was pointing Catra's way.

She didn't have time to yell for Adora or anyone else for that matter (some deity maybe?) Hope was advancing and pressing a button, her brows drawn together in thought. 

Three. Three separate times this month that Catra's life had been in peril. She wasn't done having her quarter-life crisis. Her sanctuary was in the middle of an upgrade that she'd never be able to see. There was some tuna salad in her fridge that definitely needed to be thrown out and by the time anyone noticed she was gone, they'd probably have to call a hazmat team to get rid of it.

“No!” was the last thing Catra heard before everything went gold. She was pretty sure everything was supposed to go black when you died. And also, that she wasn't being immediately sucked up into the Good Place cause of being a subpar person and everything.

But the gold was so bright and blinding that it physically hurt to look at. It forced Catra's eyes shut, stumbling in the dark to find her way towards Adora.

She heard a grunt. A hiccup, of all fucking things. And then Catra didn't feel the light of 10,000 daymoons behind her eyelids anymore.

Tentatively, she opened her eyes while trying to do a mental scan of her body. Nothing felt lasered off at least. No pain, no damage. Maybe she was just in shock.

There was a second loud hiccup as a mess of limbs and blonde hair came into view.

“Pew pew!” Adora yelled in Hope's general direction. It seemed hard to do because Adora was fucking wasted. Her arms were all over the place as she lumbered around on unsteady legs. Her words were almost unintelligible, like someone crying and getting thrown out of the bar at last call.

Hope lowered the weapon, looking confused as all hell. Adora stepped further in front of Catra, still making gun noises with her mouth. She couldn't quite steady her hands enough to make a fake weapon. 

Catra let out a panicked laugh. “What the hell are you doing? She's trying to kill us.”

“She-Ra to the rescue!” Without a care for either of their personal safety, Adora launched her body at Catra. 

Had Catra thought before about holding Adora in her arms? Yeah, of course. That was a basically normal musing to have about someone who you saw everyday. 

Was Catra suddenly ready to have a beefy firefighter wrapped around her? Nope, certainly not.

Unable to think clearly, Catra stepped aside. Adora’s body hit the place where Catra had previously been standing, found only air, and proceeded to crumble to the ground like her bones were made of jelly. Catra grabbed her before she hit her head.

“You’re safe now,” Adora mumbled. Her eyes slipped shut as she faded into a deep sleep.

With Adora’s surprisingly heavy head cradled in her lap, Catra turned back towards Hope. The cop was still stunned by this bizarre turn of events. 

“What did you do?!” Catra yelled at her.

“Corrupted technology?” Hope muttered to herself, glancing down at the thing in her hand. “We must restore them to their former glory.” Suddenly preoccupied, Hope raced back to her car. She watched Adora intently as she reversed out of the lot and sped off into the street.

“Fucking kooks,” Catra said to herself. It wasn’t enough that weirdos were always ruining the Witch Hunter boards with conspiracy theories and calls to band together. No, now she had a fucking cop out here shooting people with lasers. And of course we couldn’t forget the whole flying monster soulmate thing.

She looked back down, prepared to ignore all of that and check Adora for injuries. Clearly whatever Hope hit her with had scrambled her brain or something.

To Catra’s shock, Adora was awake again, smiling like a dope. “Hey,” she slurred. “I know you. You’re…uh…You’re here.”

“Yep, that’s me. Always here,” Catra replied with a sigh. “You wouldn’t happen to know what’s wrong with you, would you?”

“Just taking a quick 5. I’ll be back on the field in no time, coach.” Adora tried to salute for some reason but her hand wouldn’t comply. Instead it swung up and slapped her right in the face.

“Yep, hospital it is then,” Catra said with a resolute nod. “Cool cool cool.”

“First date, whoo!” Adora cheered.

Purely out of surprise and sheer gay panic, Catra nearly flung Adora onto the ground. She was working to ask a clarifying question about how exactly the hell this counted as a date when Perfuma and Mermista rushed outside.

“Are you okay?” Perfuma asked, just as Mermista yelled, “I’m calling the fucking cops.”

“No more police,” Catra told her. “Can you get an ambulance though? I think Adora’s been poisoned or drugged or something.”

Adora snorted in amusement. “Can’t drug She-Ra. Silly kitty.”

Mermista whipped out her phone and began dialing immediately. Perfuma leaned down to inspect the dummy, a task which should have been simple if Adora didn’t decide to immediately begin squirming and trying to press her entire body into Catra’s lap. She behaved like a kid who didn’t want to get their booster shots until Perfuma was forced to just give up.

Mermista had moved on to giving 911 their address when she suddenly pulled her face away from the phone with a grimace.

“Uh, hello?” she asked. Even from several feet away, Catra could hear the weird clicking on the other line. “Dude, you still there?”

“Yes,” a weirdly familiar-sounded voice answered. “We will arrive in just a few minutes.”

The call dropped. Mermista threw a look that clearly said ‘bitch, what?’ at the other two conscious (and not shit-faced like a sorority girl during spring break) people next to her.

“They’re not supposed to hang up, right?” she asked.

Perfuma shook her head. “Catra, maybe we should try lifting Adora and getting her inside while we wait?”

“Catra?! Where is she?” Adora cried into the stomach of the person she was apparently looking for. “She's pretty.”

As if copying Adora, Catra’s arms decided they were now also useless. They deflated and fell to her sides.

Adora thought Catra was pretty. Adora thought Catra was pretty? Had she seen her own face?

Correctly Perfuma seemed to assess that Catra would be absolutely no help. She and Mermista lifted the girl to her feet gently while Adora just relaxed like dead weight. It took all three of them to keep her upright, Catra eventually jumping in to support once she was sure that all the deep lesbian vibes in her body weren’t about to jump out and scream ‘let’s buy a pottery store together!’

Twice, Adora fell asleep. Twice, when everyone tried to use this as an opportunity to just pick her up, Adora shot awake and tried to wrestle them while giggling like a madwoman. She wasn’t that much of a threat since her body still resembled one of those inflatable dolls outside a used car dealership.

More than a few customers either drove or walked by during this time, took one look at what must have appeared as three people trying to bury a body, and headed towards the coffee shop down the street.

When a gray van sped up to them a few minutes later, Catra just assumed it would take off too. Instead, it skidded to a stop a few feet away from them.

The side door slid open and the large scorpion cop who had interrogated her previously popped out.

“Hi!” she yelled cheerily, like they weren’t in the middle of a medical emergency. “We’ll take care of this now.”

“Oh, no!” Adora sang happily. “The cavalry’s here. Evil is in big trouble now.”

With surprising strength, Adora pushed herself off of Catra and began running towards the two. Half bent over, she kept her arms extended behind her like a bird about to take flight.

Catra made to chase after her until Purple Hair quickly rushed from behind the wheel to stand next to her partner.

They were absolutely not the people she wanted to see right now. After Hope, she needed a wide berth from cops. Also, showing up in an unmarked van was a huge red flag. And that was definitely Purple’s weird shrieky voice on Mermista’s phone.

“No. Not you two assholes again,” Catra tried to yell. “Stay away from her.”

But it was too late. Adora launched herself right at the duo. Scorpion intercepted her in mid-air with the skill of an all-pro receiver.

“Careful, little buddy,” she warned.

“I don’t remember her being so floppy,” the purple one said. She moved to examine Adora closer except the blonde was having none of that, scooting herself until she was dangling over the scorpion’s shoulders. 

Though the scorpion one kept letting Adora slip away like sand through her pincers, she was determined and had the advantage of retaining 100% of her motor skills and critical reasoning. While Adora attempted to climb her like a jungle gym, laughing the whole way, the cop got ahold of the blonde’s ankles.

“Please don’t test me. I’m a woman on the edge!” she pleaded as she tried to drop Adora into the van. Adora wiggled like a little worm until she was toppling onto the ground again.

“Big bug!” she yelled. “I wanna ride again!”

Finally, the scorpion gave up, picked up Adora like a ragdoll, and yeeted her inside the car. The two jumped in after her, speeding off down the road before Catra could do anything to stop them.

“I feel like we just witnessed a crime,” Mermista said after a long stunned silence.

“Oh, a few of them,” Perfuma added. “Catra, what’s going on around here?”

Before she could form an answer, Mermista continued. “The lights. The quakes. The fucking freaky shit that keeps popping up in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t know!” Catra screamed in frustration. “I don’t have any answers.” She kicked a pile of rocks as hard as she could.

No answers. No Adora. Fuck.

Chapter Text

4: The Roof

Five days. Catra hadn't seen Adora in five days. That wasn't like her. She always came by the shop, no matter what was going on. 

The dumb hospital said they couldn't give out patient info to strangers, including whether or not people were even patients in the first place. When Catra had called back ten minutes later, using a fake voice and identifying herself as Adora's wife, the same receptionist yelled, “Stop playing on my phone!”

The giant purple lunkhead at the fire station – the only one who was nice enough to not whistle and make kissy sounds at Catra like a 10 year old when she walked in – quietly told her that Adora was sick and taking a couple days off. 

“You Catra?” she asked, hands shoved into the pockets of her blue starchy chinos. 

She was built like a boulder. With Adora awakening some kind of interest in beefcakes in her, Catra saw how this woman could maybe be pretty hot. The way Catra was wired though, she’d need to spend at least 6 months in this woman’s presence learning all about her before she could even begin to feel the tingles of any kind of actual attraction. 

“Yeah,” she answered with a short nod. “Wait. How do you-”

“She talks about you,” the woman grunted out.

Catra fought to keep her voice neutral. “She does, huh? Like how?”

“Grizz,” she called to one of the guys playing cards around a small round table, this one a particularly hairy beasty, “What’s that Adora’s always saying about the donut shop girl? She wants to pass her a note asking if they’ll go steady?”

“Okay, well, thanks for fucking nothing,” Catra muttered, already turning to leave and never ever return here again.

“She wants to take her to a sock hop,” Grizz answered.

“She’s gonna make a promposal!” someone else called out behind Catra as she maneuvered onto the sidewalk.

Being vulnerable for 10 seconds was once again her downfall.

“Hey, kid,” the purple woman shouted after her. She sounded surprisingly kind considering she’d just let Catra get heckled out of the fire station. “If I see her, I’ll tell her you’re looking for her. Don’t worry, though. Adora’s tough.”

Catra was not worried. She barely knew the girl. However, as a member of the general public, it was practically her right to know that Adora, a public servant, was okay and not being held against her will by Etheria’s two most bizarre police officers. Her taxes paid Adora’s salary – Catra was allowed to make sure she was showing up to work. Probably.

She'd been out searching for Adora all day. Well, okay, fine. Half searching for Adora at those two places and half just kinda wandering the neighborhood hoping to run into her.

But it was getting dangerously close to reset time, when the game would begin a new day with new challenges and Catra needed to make sure her sanctuary was up and running to its fullest potential. Plus, everyone was on at reset time. This would be her best chance at getting Lonnie and Rogelio’s opinions on what to do. Too afraid to just text them out of the blue and explain everything, Catra figured she could at least jump on Twitch and then pretend to casually shift the conversation to the mystery that’d been keeping her up at night. Well, technically, one of the mysteries but this Adora stuff was helpfully distracting her from all the other trainwrecks in her life.

Catra’s neighborhood was kind’ve a dump, you know, in that lovable loser way. The buildings were too small, too narrow to fit all the folks they housed. She was sure that if people weren’t literally seemingly awake and out at all hours (her own nocturnal self included) that the local rodent population would have the time to unionize and take over, as they outnumbered the people 3 to 1. There was always some fucking racket, like the time Catra accidentally wandered up on two guys have a fistfight while a third guy sat literally 3 feet away, reading the fashion section of the newspaper. Where the fuck did one even get a newspaper these days?

Whatever. The point is when Catra first heard a bunch of weird sounds as she was rounding the block to head towards her place, she didn’t pay it any mind. Her ears picked up hands hitting flesh. Another fight, no surprise there. It came from up above, which, sure – that was strange. Most people didn’t go up on their roofs to throw hands. That added the thrill of possibly falling to your demise over a fucking game of cards or some shit.

There was what sounded like another punch landing. Then another. And another. Catra winced as someone let out a huge “Oof”, followed by a loud groan as another blow hit home. The more she walked towards her building, the closer the sound got. That repeated dull thud of a fist hitting a body – that didn’t sound like a battle. It sounded like a beat-down.

The poor bastard took what Catra imagined was a big punch right in the gut before they coughed and dry-heaved. Once she was safely in her apartment, maybe Catra would yell ‘I’m calling the cops’ out of the window. Hopefully that would get the assholes to disburse.

A couple doors down from her place, Catra realized she was literally right underneath this scuffle. With her luck, one of them would trip and fall, crushing her in the process. That particular building was only three stories tall. The guy could probably walk away with only a sprained ankle if Catra was an unintentional landing pad. 

“This is pointless,” she could just barely hear someone say. “You’ll never be able to beat me. Come home.”

Catra froze in her tracks. Because no. She’d been looking for Adora all day. It was impossible that the creepy cop who’d attacked her was literally a few feet from Catra’s home.

Purple lasers, flying hulk soulmates, and now this?

She weighed the pros and cons of getting involved. Unintentionally  becoming a witness to whatever was happening was a big con. Getting any further involved in the already-suspicious bullshit that seemed to follow her lately – another con.

The pros were incredibly limited. Maybe Catra would gleam some small clue about Adora? Or, at the very least, about what Adora was wrapped up in?

The universe had a funny sense of humor though because the next thing Catra heard was clearly Adora’s voice.

“Neve-”

She was cut off by what must have been another punch.

Without even thinking about it, Catra found herself speeding to get closer.

Not seeing any way up immediately, Catra glanced around for a back staircase or-or-or something to scale. Anything! Luckily, her pure panic didn’t win out over logic and it wasn’t too hard to find a fire escape one building over. Catra grabbed the recessed metal ladder hanging 6 feet off the ground and used it to pull herself up onto the landing outside of someone’s window. Thankfully, no one was home to scream at her or actually call the cops. From there, she raced up the stairs, not stopping until she reached the top of the building.

From the black tar-covered roof, Catra peered down at Adora and Hope. The detective was in another dark suit, this one slightly wrinkled from apparently kicking Adora’s ass. Aside from needing a press though, there didn’t appear anything else out of place for her as Hope casually paced next to Adora. The blonde, on the other hand, was knelt on the ground, trying to catch her breath. Her ponytail was mussed as all hell, face flushed and angry. Adora was clearly in so much pain that she had to grit her teeth to bear it.

“I am never,” she said slowly, pausing to take a shallow breath between words, “going back.”

Catra watched in horror as Detective Hope lazily lifted her boot-covered foot. With barely any effort, she placed it in Adora’s side and pushed until the girl’s arms gave out and she was forced to lay on the ground. Adora rolled onto her back, defiance and rage still all over her face as Detective Light Hope loomed over her.

Catra wasn’t about to wait around for whatever big finishing move Hope had in mind. This building was a bit higher than what she was prepared for though. She’d have to make a jump for it to reach Adora. Two stories down. Just, uh…tuck and roll when she hit the ground.

“Oh, shuttlecock!” Catra could hear being whispered from behind her.

She spun quickly. Obviously it was stupid move to race up here without checking to see if she was alone. But it was an emergency and it’s not like Catra had had any experience with any real life cloak and dagger shenanigans before. Cut her a break.

Trying (and failing horribly) to hide behind the door leading to the stairwell inside the building was that Scorpiani cop. Except she was dressed down today, a black tanktop and jeans and cherry red leather jacket the only thing covering her carapace and large muscles. She dwarfed the small structure though and Catra could clearly see her distinct white hair, pincers, and nervously swinging tail.

The other cop, the purple menace, didn’t even try to hide. She stood right in the open staring blatantly at the show in front of them.

“Wildcat, you really can’t be here,” the Scorpiani told her. “It’s too dangerous. How did you even find us?”

“Find you?” Catra asked incredulously. “I can’t seem to outrun you goons.”

“Catra lives two buildings away,” the brains of the operation explained. “That was why I suggested this might be the most opportune place to search. She-Ra seems to follow Catra. Likely because they're sou-”

She was cut off by a pincer not very subtly poking her in the stomach.

Catra felt her tail twitch in annoyance. She-Ra. That’s what Adora had called herself when she was all drunk or drugged or whatever bizarre shit happened to her. 

“Are you all using codenames? She-Ra – that’s Adora’s, right?”

The two exchanged a quick look.

“In a way, yes,” the Scorpiani said slowly. “Come on. I’ll get you out of here while Entrapta observes.”

“Entrapta,” Catra repeated, looking the other woman over. The name felt fitting, with all her gadgets and bullshit. For whatever clandestine shit they were up to, she’d worn black overalls with what appeared to be multiple recording devices shoved into her many pockets.

Catra set her jaw and made sure not to flinch as she walked over and got in the Scorpiani’s face. “I’m not going anywhere. Adora’s in trouble. I’m gonna help.”

She turned to figure out what the fuck she actually could even do, when the Scorpiani grabbed her hand.

“That’s what we’re here to do too.”

“Well, you’re doing a shit job of it,” Catra spat back, just as Hope landed a kick right in Adora’s ribs.

Entrapta and her partner shared another look.

“She’s going to transform,” Entrapta said finally. “Right now it’s…unstable. She doesn’t have full control. We shouldn’t get too close.”

“What does that mean? Who the hell are you two?” Catra demanded.

The Scorpiani shrunk back. Her pincers came up to cover her mouth anxiously. “Uh. Hello. I’m Scorpia. Cancer sun, Pisces moon, Cancer rising. ESFJ. House-”

“This isn’t speed dating!” Catra hissed. “Tell me who you really are.”

“We’re princesses,” Entrapta explained. And then she said nothing else as if that was sufficient and not a made-up thing that told Catra literally nothing.

“Oh, so you’re both delusional. Cool. Got it. I’ll just be on my way then.” Catra turned back, now absolutely sure that she needed to get Adora out of the grasps of all these fucking loons that she associated with.

Princesses? No wonder they’d asked her so much about Witch Hunter. They were kooks themselves.

“We’re part of a small group called the Alliance,” Scorpia added, clearly sensing that Catra wasn’t buying what they were selling. “We were asked to pick you up the other day and see if you knew anything, which you didn’t so that was great! Sorry we were so rude. I think we just got too into character.”

“Apology not accepted!” Catra hissed.

Scorpia winced. “Sure, fair is fair. Our main assignment is just making sure Adora’s safe. She doesn’t really make it easy though, running off at all hours, getting herself into scrapes.” 

They all watched as Adora attempted to rise to her feet, only to receive another swift kick from Light Hope.

“You still don’t understand your power, Adora,” the older woman began to lecture. “That’s why you cannot transform. You cannot even begin to fathom what She-Ra is capable of. I can show you the way.”

“No,” Adora muttered but she sounded so defeated. So close to her breaking point.

“We have to do something,” Catra begged the others.

“Well, see…the thing is….we’re not really supposed to fight,” Scorpia replied. She winced, either embarrassed by this or afraid of Catra’s reaction. Either would be appropriate. 

“Why the hell not?” Catra nearly yelled. “If you’re princesses like you say – which by the way, I don’t fucking believe a second of that – use your magic powers or whatever. Poof Adora out of here.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Entrapta said. “Powers are very specific. They’re not the unlimited, all-powerful magic of the myths you grew up with.”

“We’re only supposed to observe,” Scorpia added. “I’m very new to my powers. I barely understand them.”

“And my battle bots aren’t finished yet.” Then a wild look filled Entrapta’s eyes. “But you, Catra! You’ve logged thousands of hours in Witch Hunter. You should be a master tactician by now.”

“Well, it’s not like there’s turrets and shit here!” Catra huffed. She didn’t have 700,000 troops at her disposal or an alliance full of people to reinforce her. Also, she was pretty sure that in this particular scenario, she wasn’t supposed to be waging war against the magical beings. 

Catra took a deep breath. There was no time to take this all in. They needed a plan. They needed to know what could run Hope out of here long enough to get Adora to safety.

“We just need to distract her for a minute,” Catra told them. “Then strength in numbers.”

Once again, Entrapta and Scorpia exchanged a look, silently communicating with each other.

Catra had to hold herself back from full-on pleading. “Come on. You're not really cops, right? You'll help?”

“I applied to be a crossing guard but they told me I was too nice,” Scorpia replied.

Entrapta began pulling another random piece of tech from her pocket, this one resembling a mini-flashlight. “I actually invented the pre-cog technology from Minority Report. Before I destroyed it, it predicted the exact day I'd be arrested so I'm just living on borrowed time here. I'd love to help!”

Catra nodded, still unclear on where to file any of this shit for processing later. “Great. Let’s get weird.”

“So, magic-” Entrapta began.

“I don’t really have time for exposition right now,” Catra tried but Entrapta was unconcerned with the urgency of the moment.

“This is important! You have to know what you’re about to face, Catra.” 

“The cliffnotes please, Entrapta,” Scorpia suggested.

She looked very annoyed but complied, listing off quickly, “Fine. Magic is real. We’re princesses instead of priestesses. Descendents of ancient bloodlines, all connected to runestones, like the Moonstone here in the middle of Bright Park.”

“The old ruin?” Catra asked. It was just a strange old rock. Well, an old gem really, but it sat right in the center of a huge park uptown. It was more of a tourist attraction and a place to take instagram photos than anything.

Entrapta nodded. “Yes, lots of people forgot their history. You’ve come to think of them only as aging ruins now. But the runestones are still sights of great power. She-Ra can unlock more of that. I just haven't figured out how yet.”

“That’s what Hope is after,” Scorpia finished for her. “She, by the way, is an actual cop. And a ‘kook,’ like you say. She hates magic. According to Adora, Light Hope used to be her mentor. Now she wants to use She-Ra to bring more order to the planet.”

Catra whispered to herself, “Like G.L.O.W.,” thinking of one of the annoying big bosses you have to rally against in Witch Hunter. It was a creepy AI set on bringing order to the world at any cost, an enemy of both the priestesses and the rebellion, playing both sides until you took him out. Something told Catra that Light Hope was unlikely to fall victim to her placing a bunch of different-colored tiles in order and shooting gamma-powered shotguns at the woman.

“Okay, fine. Got all that,” Catra said. “So how does that help us?”

“Uhhh,” Scorpia helpfully replied.

Her non-idea was cut off by Adora’s screams. Hope was kneeling over her now, resorting to jabbing her fingers into all of the damage she’d done on Adora’s ribs.

Before Catra could open her mouth to suggest that they finally fucking do something, Scorpia grabbed her under one arm, grabbed Entrapta under the other, and took off sprinting towards the other roof. Mid-air, Catra wished she’d maybe thought through even a second of this before running straight into what could quickly escalate to a life-threatening situation.

They hit the ground hard. Scorpia’s landing shook the roof so much that Hope looked away from Adora for the first time. The big bug held up though, shielding Entrapta and Catra from the impact until she could place them gently on the ground.

“You-” was about all Hope could get out of her mouth before Scorpia raised a pincer at her.

Scorpia grimaced as if she was regretting what she was about to do. Catra watched in confusion as red tendrils of electricity began forming at Scorpia’s feet. Slowly, they eased their way up her legs, her torso, until they reached her shoulders and crawled up her pincers. With another grimace, Scorpia braced herself, widening her stance.

Hope’s face shifted from rage to ‘a plague on all your houses’ seconds before the electricity shot out of Scorpia’s pincer and hit Hope square in the chest. For a full minute, she shook like she was being tased. Fighting against it, teeth gritted and all, she tried to stay on her feet but finally was brought to her knees as the energy continued to course through her.

“Fascinating,” Entrapa whispered.

Catra was absolutely stunned. They weren't lying after all. Okay, no, they were probably lying about a shit ton of other things, but these two weirdos were definitely magic beings. You couldn't just fake a light show like that or at least not Hope convulsing on the ground, red sparks still flying off of her.

“I am so sorry,” Scorpia told Hope, while the woman continued to tremble. She dropped her pincer and the energy surrounding her dimmed until it was gone. “It’ll wear off in a bit. Probably. Maybe. I’ve never really done it on purpose before.” She stopped her rambling to lift Adora into her arms. “Just…stay here, okay? Don’t do anything evil please.”

It took some convincing to get Entrapta to leave Hope behind as the rest of them made their way into Catra’s apartment, the closest safe space. Entrapta had been interested in taking the detective with them to study Scorpia’s powers. Catra thought it probably wasn’t a good idea for any of them to pick up a person literally filled with electricity.

Catra gave the two of them her permission to leave and complete their shady business though, as long as she could keep Adora, who passed out as soon as Scorpia had picked her up.

Well, passed out after she’d given Catra a goofy smile and said “Hey, you,” in a weird, dreamy voice that had Catra fighting to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

Scorpia gently placed Adora in Catra’s bed. After some useless offers to make tea or run and grab medical supplies, Catra had finally pushed them both out.

Adora was breathing okay. Her heartbeat seemed normal. There were no cuts or lacerations, just some bruising on her torso that didn’t look good. No injuries to her head. She wasn't spitting up blood or anything so based on her knowledge from tv, Catra assumed that meant no internal bleeding. Adora probably just needed to rest.

Catra covered her in a blanket and joined Adora in bed, just to keep a close eye on her. And that’s how she stayed for hours, watching Adora’s chest steadily rise and fall. 

For the first time that she could remember, Catra missed reset time.

Catra awoke to a searing pain in her head. Her alarm. Fuck. She'd picked the loudest, most grating sound that her phone offered and every morning it was absolute hell but it worked. 

Without opening her eyes, she reached over to turn it off.

“Did you trap a soul in there or something? How'd you find such an awful alarm?”

Catra shot awake, sitting up in bed and pressing her back against the wall. There was Adora, still lying next to her and smiling shyly. She didn't look like someone who just woke up. Or someone who'd just been in a fight for her life.

No, Adora looked normal. Great, even. One might go so far as to say ‘gorgeous.’

“You okay?” she asked for some reason.

“Are you okay?” Catra turned back around on her, since she was the one who'd gone 12 rounds with the steel toe of a boot.

Adora sat up easily, no slow cautious movements or signs of pain. “Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for letting me crash.” She reached over and grabbed Catra's hand gently. “And thanks for the other day. Sorry I had to run off.”

‘I was worried sick,’ Catra started to say before remembering that they were indeed not friends and that was an overreaction.

“Do you need a hospital?” she tried instead.

“Oh, no,” Adora laughed nervously. “It wasn't that bad. I'm grood. Great and good. No need for that.”

With that same anxious energy, she suddenly jumped out of bed and began looking around, gathering her stuff.

“Let me just find my shoes and my jacket and I'll be out of your hair. Gotta get to the station.”

“They said you're taking some time off,” Catra pointed out.

Adora paused for a moment, one shoe halfway on. “You checked in on me?” She sounded a lot more pleased than Catra would be if a casual acquaintance was showing up at her work and asking around.

“Well, when someone gets kidnapped in front of you, you're duty-bound to look for them.”

“You didn't tell the cops, right?”

“No. Duh. From all I've seen, they're a part of whatever conspiracy you're wrapped up in.”

Adora snorted. “There's no conspiracy. I warned you about spending too much time online.”

Annoyed, Catra began to list off. “We've got fake cops with electricity powers. Real cops with rage issues. Kidnapping. Moonstones. Secret alliances. And that Glitterbomb fucker, who I'm sure is involved somehow cause she seems hella sus.” 

By the end, she realized she'd steadily raised her voice until she was screaming in Adora's face. When the hell had she even gotten out of bed and stormed over? Gods, this whole thing was starting to make Catra lose it.

Adora put her hands up in an attempt to calm her. “Everything's fine-”

“Nothing is fine, Adora! Everything's been covered in shit and lit aflame!” 

Yes, when given the chance to wrap her head around this, maybe Catra would be able to admit that the earthquakes and lasers and soulmate thing might have been slightly contributing to her panic. But Adora was here and tangible so she was getting the full brunt of it.

“Tell me what's going on,” Catra found herself demanding from yet another person.

Adora looked away to some spot on the wall just right of her. “Nothing,” she said quickly. “Just some, um, misunderstandings between me and an old friend.”

“She's hurting you.”

“She's not.”

Catra reached over to demonstrate this, tugging at the bottom of Adora's shirt until it was raised up to the band of her sports bra. She didn't even have time to register what a huge fucking overstep this was. On Adora's stomach, there wasn't a single mark from earlier in the evening. All of the bruising, the deep angry red and purple marks she'd seen while Adora slept, was gone. Like magic.

“You're a princess too,” Catra heard herself whisper. Because logically, yes, whatever the hell She-Ra was was probably something special if she could tap into runestones. Catra just hadn't had enough brain cells left over to put that together.

Adora made some kind of high-pitched lying liar sound of denial. Her hands rushed to smooth her shirt back down.

“No, I just…heal quickly? Firefighter and all. Fast, uh, healing metabolism?”

“Are you an idiot or do you just think I am?”

Adora scowled. “You can't get involved in this, Catra. Trust me. The less you know, the better.”

“Involved? You're the one who won't stop passing out in my arms!”

The accusation made Adora turn bright red but she finally met Catra's eyes once more.

“Why are you creeping around my apartment?”

“I wasn’t!” Adora denied quickly. “I was just...passing by, checking around to make sure you were okay.” Much much quieter, she admitted, “I’ve been trying to stay away from you for a little while actually.”

Catra felt her mouth sour. “Didn't realize I was so horrible to be around.”

Adora immediately looked horrified. “You're not! You're in danger! There's so much going on that you don't know about. I'm staying away to protect you.”

“You would have died twice without me.” Catra knew she had to stand her ground. This was ridiculous. Adora was trapped in some shady shit and wasn’t being reasonable at all.

“Okay, one: I saved you from the actual person creeping around here. And I wouldn't have died,” Adora said, rolling her eyes. “Hope isn't trying to kill me. She's not evil. Just... misguided.”

Catra couldn’t believe her fucking ears.

“Misguided is wearing socks with sandals. Not drugging someone or trying to throw them off a building!” She stopped to give Adora a hard stare, daring the girl to question how serious she was. “Why are you being so dumb? Let me help!”

Adora shook her head vehemently. “No! She’s starting to target you. She knows she can get to me through you. I can't let you get hurt, Catra! I have to protect you!”

It was idiotic. Adora could barely keep herself in one piece. How the hell was she supposed to keep Catra safe?

What an absolutely brave, annoying, thoughtful fucking dumbass.

Catra shrieked in a rage, which seemed to surprise Adora as much as it did herself. But truly, the most surprising part was that next Catra was closing the very short distance between the two of them. 

She practically slammed her lips into Adora’s, frustration and fear and want and months of longing just making Catra feel like she had to make the most of this moment where they were both relatively safe and together. Adora kissed her back frantically like she understood and felt it too.

Her hands gripped Catra’s hips hard. Catra’s fingers were pulling at Adora’s ponytail, which was already half-hanging on from the fight earlier. She completely ripped the elastic out so she could bury her claws into Adora’s long locs and pull her even closer.

There wasn’t a whole lot of grace or finesse to these kisses. Skill-wise, it was really only a couple steps up from a drunken makeout at last call down at the bar. But Catra didn’t mind. Fuck, the butterflies in her stomach and the heat she was starting to feel all over would argue that she downright loved it in fact.

Adora barely gave her space to breathe. Everytime Catra pulled away, Adora chased her lips, held her firmly like a lifeline. When Catra lifted her head and offered her neck just to give them both a break, Adora trailed kisses lower. She bit and sucked on Catra’s pulse point until she was sure there would be a bruise.

Aw, fuck. A bruise. Somewhere, Catra’s glowing soulmate was gonna have a phantom hickey.

A part of Catra felt…well, not bad. A little guilty maybe? Here she was, having the time of her life and kinda rejecting the poor bastard who’d been cosmically saddled with her.

She tried to pull away genuinely now, break off from Adora’s lips, which were soft and greedy and fucking perfect.

“Adora,” Catra called out weakly. Even to her ears, it sounded like a moaned plea for more.

So Adora obliged. Her hands slid around to cup Catra’s ass. Honestly, a few more minutes of this probably wouldn’t make a difference in the global scale of things. 30 seconds or 2 hours didn't matter — Catra had probably already broken some sacred soulmate rule that she knew nothing about. Might as well just keep going.

When those strong hands began to knead at her ass, Catra couldn’t hold back the purr that had been building in her chest. Good Gods, this was even better than she had imagined. 

Adora gave a pleased hum, teeth now working their way down to Catra’s collarbone. “Bed?”

Catra nodded quickly. She was about to sprint there herself when Adora used the grip on her ass to loft Catra right into the air. 

Or…at least she tried. Adora lifted her a couple inches before she stumbled, the two of them nearly falling until Adora caught her balance and kept them upright.

“I don’t need to be carried, dummy,” Catra said, laughing.

“It’s romantic!” Adora grumbled. She sounded annoyed at herself. After all, she’d just been in a knock-down drag-out battle. Even being a firefighting princess, she probably shouldn’t rush into anything too strenuous.

Catra would’ve pointed that out but Adora dove back in for another kiss. Needy hands pulled at her ass again until Catra felt her feet hovering a few inches from the floor. At first, Adora didn’t move. When she made no steps towards the bed, Catra braced herself for a very ungraceful descent to the floor. That was fine. At this point, any hard surface would do really.

Adora grunted, signaling that yes, maybe the floor was where they’d be spending the next hour or so. And then she groaned, so deeply that it reverberated through Catra’s chest, in tandem with her own purr.

The hands on her bottom grew stronger and more sure. Uh…and also, they literally grew. Adora was no longer just palming Catra’s ass, she’d engulfed it. The blonde hair around Catra’s claws felt longer and…deep-conditioned? Her feet were definitely no longer just a few inches from the ground; it felt like she was floating completely in the air.

Adora began to walk them towards the bed when Catra’s brain, clouded in horniness, finally snapped out of it. Her eyes shot open.

Adora was no longer Adora. No no no. She was bathed in that weird golden glow that Catra had now seen far too many times for her liking. In Adora’s place was an 8-foot living breathing warrior statue with ridiculously long hair billowing in the wind thanks to some invisible, conveniently-placed fan. Her simple jeans and a tshirt were gone, replaced by white spandex, gold shield thingies on her wrists and shoulders, and a fucking cape!

In a panic, Catra began to push against the now-way too muscular arms that held her. She dug the claws on her feet into the fucking concrete abs in front of her. Not-Adora barely seemed to feel it.

She opened her eyes at the sudden loss of Catra’s lips though. When she saw what probably looked like the face of a feral cat about to be dumped into a tub of ice cold water, Not-Adora (Maybe-Adora? Super Adora?) froze. It bought just enough time for Catra to jump out of her arms and into a corner to hide like a coward.

“Oh fuck,” Adora whispered, looking down at herself and back at Catra. Suddenly, she was frantic, the words spilling out quickly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to control it yet. Don’t freak out. Please. You don’t have to be afraid of She-Ra…of me.”

Okay, so scratch everything earlier. Cause yeah no. This was actually the most surprising part for Catra – Adora was She-Ra, sure. But She-Ra was the…

“Glowing monster!” Catra shouted in a complete daze. 

Those weren’t the words she’d meant to say. It was a sort of internal shorthand that Catra had been using. ‘Glowing monster’ was somehow much easier to believe and deal with than ‘my soulmate.’

But the words were out there, just hanging in the air between them. Adora stumbled back like she’d been slapped. Her mouth hung half open and her chest was heaving in panic. Even bathed in gold light and looking so different in her She-Ra skin, the look of pure hurt on her face was very much Adora.

Catra moved forward a step to take her hand, try to explain the million thoughts racing through her head at this moment. But Adora turned and rushed to the window, the AC she’d knocked out days ago still just sitting there nearby on the floor and leaving plenty of space for her to hop up on the windowsill in its place. Adora took one peek out into the streets then one last heartbroken look at Catra.

And then she leapt.

5: The Break In

There wasn’t a giant hole in the sidewalk so Catra figured that She-Ra used her magic powers and flew away. Fine. They each needed time to process or something.

Of course, Adora was processing that she’d just turned into a princess and basically been called disgusting by a complete idiot. Said idiot was processing that she’d found her fucking soulmate. And somehow, hilariously, her soulmate was not only a supernatural being but also the hot dorky weirdo that she’d been crushing on for months. It was kinda a lot.

As a rule, the universe never gave Catra what she wanted. She’d ask for a bike and get the world’s worst case of chickenpox instead. She’d be dying to go to the mall and end up at the dentist for an emergency extraction. And really, don’t even get her started on the debacle that was junior prom. Witnesses were probably still talking about that in horror.

The universe threw She-Ra/Adora at her on a platter. While Catra was sure that this was somehow a trick to poison her or something, she couldn’t help still wanting Adora. Nothing seemed to curb it. Catra tried working, tried throwing all of her time back into Witch Hunter, but all she could think about was Adora.

Adora sprinting in shorts, red all over from the cold. Adora trying to suggest the most disgusting donut flavors. Adora giving Catra useless advice on staying safe on ‘the web,’ like someone’s grandfather. Adora saving her from the robber and not even staying around to take credit. Adora on the verge of tears as Catra called her a monster.

silentbutdeadly
There’s been nothing about her in the news
She’s probably okay
Just laying low

kyle2558355934
Did you try calling her?

wildcat
Oh, I totally forgot phones exist
Let me just try that right now
…

thelonandonly
You saved her life and you still didn’t her ******* number?

Chadtastic
Guys, for real
Can you please not use the chat for this?
But yeah wildcat that’s ******* embarrassing you didn’t get her number

kyle2558355934
Shut up, Chad!
Cat, I mean *calling* her
Soulmate style

“Yeah, that’s how I tell Sea Hawk I’m ready to be picked up,” Mermista said, eyes still half-closed as she used a 50-pound bag of flour as a mattress with a smaller thing of sugar as a little pillow. 

Kyle didn’t actually have any guidance for how a soul call worked and tried to immediately shift the subject away from any knowledge he personally had about soulmates in general, the damn coward. The internet said a bunch of bullshit about feeling your bond and “breathing” the words to life. Honestly, the more research she did, the more Catra realized that many people didn’t actually ever manage to make meaningful contact with their soulmates; or they did, but navigating the whole cosmic-connection-to-actual-relationship pipeline was tricky. According to most accounts, this mess was a lot more complicated and a lot less black and white than the first page of internet search results would have you believe. 

So reliable info was hard to come by. Unfortunately, Catra knew of someone who very likely had intimate knowledge of this ludicrous ‘soul call’ process.

More unfortunately, she was able to find Mermista curled into a ball in the back of the kitchen, completely passed out. She was surprisingly helpful once Catra pretended to knock over a bunch of metal mixing bowls and Mermista startled awake.

Her use of the power was sus though. “You have a soul-level connection and you use it like a fucking Uber app?”

Mermista shrugged. “What the fuck else am I supposed to use it for? It’s not good for instructions. I can’t tell him to bring me a pizza or anything helpful.”

Perfuma strolled into the room, clearly en route towards the register. She stopped when she saw her only two employees committing the laziest act of time theft.

“Catra, did you leave the front unattended?” she asked rhetorically. Next, she turned to Mermista, “Are you still here? Please go to your home. I’m begging you. What if the health inspector comes and finds you using all of our equipment and ingredients to nap on?”

“It would be the least outrageous thing they’ve ever seen in a kitchen, trust me,” Mermista replied. “I’m teaching Catra how to call her soulmate.”

“Oh.” Perfuma fully turned towards them. Her attention was clearly piqued. “Still no luck getting in contact with Adora?”

Catra bared her teeth at both of them. “I never said my soulmate was Adora.”

“No, you just only started asking about soulmates and marks and destiny and shit when Adora suddenly stopped coming to the shop to stare at your face every morning,” Mermista said.

Perfuma gave a very pitying nod. Catra opened her mouth to tell them both to mind their business, only to be interrupted by Mermista.

“You have to think your thought until it vibrates.” 

If you’d given Catra 100 chances to guess what Mermista’s response would be, she’d never come up with that. 

“...what?”

Mermista impatiently huffed. “Ugh. Think about how much you want Adora-”

“I didn’t say it was her!” Catra tried to interrupt.

“-whoever and concentrate on that completely,” Mermista explained, now fully closing her eyes. She was pretending to demonstrate but Catra could tell she was just milking this for another nap.  “Think it and think it, over and over…” her voice faded out and Catra was certain that Mermista was already asleep again. Right up til she added, “Until it fucking vibrates.”

It was the worst advice Catra had ever gotten in her life. She was at home in bed, contemplating what absolute awful directions those were when someone knocked on her window. Her 3rd story window, to be precise.

The surprised scream Catra let out in response was apparently answer enough. She-Ra wrenched the window open and leapt through immediately, giant sword in hand, prepared to fight imaginary threats.

Catra had tried thinking about Adora for about 20 whole seconds before she gave up. It couldn’t have been more than 4 minutes later and Adora was already there. Huh. Just concentrate on her and an 8-foot lesbian shows up on your doorstep? You couldn’t even pay for service this good.

Adora did a quick scan of the room. When she didn’t find anything except Catra frozen on her mattress, she lowered the sword and relaxed her fighting stance.

In a flash, the blonde was cocking a hand on her hip and tilting her head to the right in a terrible attempt at being cool. “Hey,” she began, voice lower than usual. “What up?”

Catra was too astounded by her success to laugh at Adora behaving like a high school boy. “You came.” 

She could hear that she sounded breathless. She-Ra was…well, she definitely wasn’t a monster. So tall her head practically touched Catra’s low ceiling, so ripped and strong, thighs as thick as tree trunks, huge pillow-y boobs. Gulp. She-Ra was a fucking Goddess. Catra was amazed and proud of herself for not immediately weeping at how majestic this woman was. And she had Adora’s face – Adora’s open, doofy, cute as a fucking button face. 

Catra slyly moved one hand so she could clandestinely pinch herself. It was a helpful reminder to remain present and play it cool.

Adora laughed awkwardly. “Yeah. Not really sure what happened. I was out making sure things were okay. Then it was like…you were whistling. A song just for me, even.”

“You know I hate whistling,” Catra joked. Kinda. She did hate that stupid high-pitched sound but she'd never actually meant it any of the many many times that she'd told Adora to cut it out.

Adora whistled a few seconds of one of the annoying tunes she badgered Catra with each morning. When Catra reflexively grimaced, she laughed again. Adora paused for a deep breath. On the exhale, She-Ra faded away. She merely rolled off in waves of pale blue mist until standing in front of Catra, in jeans, a fire department tshirt, and a gold shimmering arm bracer that reminded Catra of one of her favorite Witch Hunters, was just regular degular Adora. 

Catra had missed her. So much. A surprising amount really.

“I’m sorry,” they both said in unison.

Catra didn’t wait for whatever fake-nice game of chicken people usually played. “Shut up. Take a seat.” She politely waited while Adora sat down on the bed next to her. “First: I’m sorry for what I called you last time. That’s what the guy you saved me from called you. I never even got a good look at you. Didn’t realize you were… you.”

Adora gave another nervous chuckle. “Yeah. I’m me. She-Ra’s just…me. Plain ol’ Adora.”

Catra frowned, not much liking the self-deprecating sound of that. “You saved my life, Adora. A couple times actually. And you save lives all the time, just as plain ol’ firefighter Adora.”

“I had to take a leave of absence from work,” she said. Her face was glum and Catra imagined it must have been hell not being able to do the thing that brought her so much joy. “Turns out being magical is a full-time job. I have to learn all this stuff and figure out how to use my powers.”

“I’m sorry. I know your job means a lot to you.”

Adora tried to smile but it fell short. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You didn’t,” Catra replied with a small shake of her head. “I was just surprised.”

“Yeah, me too,” Adora mumbled. “She-Ra tends to pop up at the worst possible moments. I wasn’t even intending to turn into her that day you got robbed – I just got there too early, saw the gun, panicked, and whoops! There she was. I'm still learning all sorts of things about her. Like how she can be drugged by broken old tech, apparently.”

“How'd this happen?”

“I found a sword – the sword – during a forest fire. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. The Whispering Woods is waaaay out of my company’s domain. But it was an all-hands-on-deck emergency so we volunteered.”

Catra remembered that. A bizarre occurrence a couple months prior where the overgrown park that separated the riffraff of Bright Moon City from the yuppies upstate suddenly went up in flames. Everyone thought it had to have been arson but she never heard anything concrete.

“I was removing a bunch of brush and then I just saw it there,” Adora continued. Her eyes glazed over a little like she was right back there again. “Just stabbed right into the ground. I probably could have left it but something about it called to me. Kinda like you tonight actually.”

So Catra was in a polycule with Adora and a sword? Got it. This was starting to sound more like the kind of treatment she was used to from the universe.

“Two people showed up looking for it at the same time. They’re nice. They’ve been trying to help me understand what this all means. Where I might come from.”

“What do you mean? ‘Where you come from’,” Catra repeated.

“Oh.” Adora glanced down. This was clearly info that she wasn’t super comfortable sharing.

“Sorry – you don’t owe me that.”

“No, it’s okay. I, uh…I want to tell you. I want to tell you lots of things.” Adora kicked her shoes off and resettled herself in the bed more comfortably, inching closer to Catra. 

How many times had she fantasized about this? Adora cozying up to her at home. Catra getting to be a one-person audience for all the things Adora wanted to share. Instinctively, she shifted even closer to the blonde, having to ignore the way all of her fur started to stand on end as if she'd been lightly shocked.

Adora took another deep breath before looking Catra in the eyes. “I got dropped off at a fire station when I was a baby. No one knows by who. I grew up mostly in foster homes. The squad from that station though – they always kept in touch. Always checked up on me.”

All of her altruism was starting to make a lot more sense. “That’s why you became a firefighter?”

“More or less,” Adora admitted. She seemed almost sheepish about it. “I wanted to help people, like they did.”

“And…” Catra asked slowly. Maybe she was reading too much into what she’d seen. “Detective Hope was one of them?”

“No, she came later.” Adora paused, searching for words. “She just kinda…showed up, I guess. When I was in high school, she popped up in class one day and said we’d been paired together in some sort of ‘disadvantaged youth/older mentor’ program. I don’t even remember signing up.”

Catra felt her claws start to extend against her will. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Anyway, she always gave me advice. Helped me get better at sports and school and everything. After a couple of years in community college, she really wanted me to join the police academy. I think she was really disappointed when I went to the FDBM academy instead.”

“Did you tell her about the sword?” Catra asked.

“I didn’t have to. She just stopped by my apartment the next night. Said she could feel that things were different. I was different. Etheria was different. It was time, she said.”

Catra regretted not just livestreaming this whole part of the conversation to Kyle. He’d probably have a dozen theories on what Hope’s game really was.

“What does she want you to do?” Whatever she’d told Adora was definitely only half the truth. But a glimpse into Hope’s plan was better than nothing.

“Etheria is made of magic,” Adora told her. “My friend Glimmer – her and her mom have confirmed that. I’ve seen what the two of them can do. The rest though…” Adora trailed off to put her face in her hands. “Light Hope thinks I can unlock more magic for us to use. She believes there’s a huge threat to Etheria on the horizon and I have to be prepared.”

“Sounds like you don’t believe that,” Catra gently observed. She was a bit relieved that she didn’t have to press Adora to see Hope’s bullshit. After the last time, with Adora swearing that Hope wasn’t a danger, Catra had plenty of reasons to be worried.

“Yeah, nope. She just wants power. She’s not even trying to hide it well. I guess she’s had this plan for years, doing all this research and hoarding all of these old antique weapons she’s found. Suddenly, she thinks she’s part of some big plan to ‘cure’ Etheria and I’m afraid of what she’ll do if anyone else gets in her way.” Adora lowered her hands to look at Catra. “That’s why I tried to keep my distance from you. Out of nowhere, Hope started asking all of these questions and I just couldn’t risk her hurting you to manipulate me. She’s gone completely off the deep end.”

Again, the idiot. Trying to be sweet and not considering for a second that Catra wasn’t someone who needed protecting. Catra slid a little closer, already prepared to explain just how much she was absolutely not some wilting damsel.

Adora just kept on being dumb though. “And I really like you. So much, Catra. I like seeing you all the time and I like your stories and the way your mind works and how funny you are.” She paused, like she was figuring out how to word this next part. “But, I…I don’t have a soulmate. At least, I don’t think. I’ve never gotten marks like everyone else. I noticed how you’d cover up sometimes – wear long sleeves when you didn’t need to or leave your hair down. I really don't want to overstep whatever you and your soulmate have.”

Catra almost laughed. It took a lot of self-control not to. After how she’d run Adora out last time, she didn’t want to seem insensitive after everything that had just been laid bare for her.

For real though. It was pretty hilarious.

“Adora. Have you considered that housing a magical being like She-Ra, who has magical healing abilities, might have interfered a bit? She-Ra’s not just the sword, right? Entrapta says you're all part of an ancient lineage. She-Ra’s you. Inside of you. Fixing you up, covering your injuries, like how she did a few nights ago.”

Catra watched as her eyes widened. 

“Shit,” Adora whispered. 

She looked off into the distance, likely calculating if this theory actually made any sense. Catra had no way of knowing; it was just a hunch. Magical person + magical body = - annoying soul marks. Catra was the one walking around carrying all the weight for them.

It was taking Adora too long to work this out though. Best to just skip ahead.

“You're so dumb,” she said as kindly as possible. She reached over and took Adora's hands, those ridiculous hands that carried swords and put out burning buildings and truly had no business being as soft as they were. “Adora, you're my so-” 

Catra cut herself off as she heard a floorboard creak. It sounded like it came from the bathroom, the only place that wasn’t immediately visible in her tiny studio. There was nothing in there but a window that never closed all the way, an ancient toilet that needed a paperclip to flush it, the sink you couldn’t run when anything else was on, and the narrowest shower ever created. Maybe a rodent had finally moved in to really round out the vibe.

“Did you hear that?” she asked.

Adora’s eyes were fully focused on Catra now though. She was practically leaning forward in her seat just to hang on to Cara’s every word. “No. What were you about to say?”

There was another faint creak.

“There it is again.”

“Just kinda felt important,” Adora urged, still laser-focused.

“Shh,” Catra ordered, straining her ears to pick up on anything.

“Catra-” Adora pleaded.

“What part of ‘shh’ don't you understand?” Catra shot back.

Before she could ask Adora to magically retrieve that giant sword of hers, just in case, the bathroom door shot open. Adora's hands wrenched away but Catra really couldn't focus on that as she herself was leaping to her feet. She'd had a couple break-ins in this place before – usually just kids thinking the apartment was empty and looking for something small yet valuable to nab.

“I've got a machete and a family of pitbulls I’m fostering,” Catra lied, like she had all the previous times before.

She expected to hear the person shoving themself back out the window. It was much easier to break into versus the heavy metal front door that the last tenants had installed; one day, she really needed to get bars put on that window so that these casual brushes with complete strangers in her own home weren’t so common. 

Instead of the retreating footsteps that Catra expected, as she crept closer, a long arm reached out and grabbed her wrist. She couldn't help the involuntary scream that leapt out of her throat. A second hand went to cover her mouth and then she was face to face with Detective Hope.

The woman looked wild. Feral almost. Her eyes were huge and the smile she gave was all predator as her grip tightened painfully.

“I'd apologize for the door but really, it's an upgrade,” she said.

Catra tried screaming but all that escaped Hope's palm on her mouth was panicked jumbles.

“You're coming with me. I've warned Adora time and again that she needs to let go of distractions like you in her life and focus on her mission. The mission is all that matters. Etheria must be aligned.”

Speaking of Adora, Catra could hear her in the bedroom somewhere whispering “Transform transform, gods please!”

“If Adora won't do what needs to be done,” Hope continued, “then I must. These Etherian bonds are quite beneath her anyway. What is a bug to a God?”

Theoretically, Catra agreed. In reality though, she was sure that she and Hope might differ on whatever batshit plan the woman had for getting Catra out of the way.

With way too much force, Hope yanked Catra's arm behind her back and spun her around. It was clearly an easy, practiced motion for her, one of the perks of the job for Hope probably. She must’ve not been used to having to do it with one hand though, cause she released Catra’s mouth to grab at her free arm.

“She-Ra!” Catra screamed as soon as she was free. Well, not free completely, she realized as a handcuff tightened around her right wrist. It was as fucking painful as it looked on tv, the metal biting into Catra’s skin roughly.

That now-familiar blinding gold light appeared in front of them immediately. Adora’s face was completely filled with rage. Hope truly had a lot of fucking gall for pissing off a giant lady with a sword.

“Let her go,” Adora practically growled. Her frame didn’t really fit into Catra’s bathroom doorway, even with the wood splintered a little from where it had been kicked open.

Catra didn’t expect to be released easily. That didn’t seem like how things worked with power-hungry weirdos who behaved like super villains. So she was shocked when the grip fell away from her left arm. Lightning fast, Hope reached down towards her own pocket. 

And then…

Well, that was kinda it...

Honestly, everything went so dark so fast that the next thing Catra expected to see was a boat waiting to take her across the River Styx. When she came back to slight consciousness though, she was definitely still in her shoddy-ass bathroom, laid out on the floor.

There was a searing pain in her head, a sort of repeated throbbing that felt like someone was trying to chisel into her brain.

“Oh, hi,” a voice said, trying to hide its panic with cheerfulness. “You’re awake. Everything’s okay, Catra.”

“Why are we lying to her? Bitch, we thought you were dead.”

Sadly, Catra was very much alive. Her head hurt so badly that she couldn’t focus enough to quite figure out what words were.

“Ooooraaa?” she mumbled helplessly. The cold tile felt good against her face. Maybe just a couple more hours down here and she’d feel better.

“What is she saying?” someone asked. It was probably…uh, that one. That…person. You know the one.

“Mmm,” Catra said, still trying to come up with the name of what she was sure was one of her dearest and closest friends.

“She probably has a concussion,” the other voice said. It was a ‘P-something’, right? “You can’t go back to sleep, Catra. Stay with us.”

It was a nice offer but the floor and sleeping forever sounded much much better. Hands cupped Catra’s face and began to shake it lightly. Whoever this was really needed to take a fucking chill pill. The floor wasn’t so bad. Maybe she should try it too and stop being so judgy.

Catra tried to slump down further to demonstrate how comfortable it was but found her movements limited by something hanging onto her wrist.

“Mmrow,” she complained.

“Stop it, Mermista!”

“Just one video! If she lives, she’s gonna fucking hate this.”

Living sounded like it took too much work so Catra just angled her body so that it was more comfortable to continue sprawling out without her arm. Who needed it anyway?

“Catra, please-”

Those words were cut off by Catra shrieking at the top of her lungs. She was jolted into full consciousness by a dousing of ice cold water right in her face. Her vision was still a little blurry and every time she moved her head, it felt like she was moving through a wet sandbox full of knives, but Catra was up and awake. She quickly became aware of her surroundings, of Perfuma and Mermista in front of her, and, most importantly, of Adora and Hope missing.

“I have to find Adora!” she shouted in a panic.

Perfuma, knelt down on the floor next to her, pointed towards Catra's arm. Hope had smartly handcuffed Catra to one of the rusty pipes leading to the sink. 

“Goddamnit!”

“What happened here?” Perfuma asked. “We've been trying to get ahold of you for hours.”

“That cop bust in and kidnapped Adora. We gotta figure out where they went.”

“Adora was here? In your home?” Mermista asked from where she was leaning against the broken doorway. “Yeah, we're gonna need to hear everything on the way. Just let me call Sea Hawk real quick. If anyone can pick a pair of handcuffs, it’s that hoodlum.”

As she walked away, Perfuma turned back to Catra. “How’s your head? Does anything hurt?”

“I feel like I fell into a cement mixer.” From her room, she could hear the bed shifting under Mermista’s weight. “You better not be taking a nap in there!”

Catra's head pounded, protesting the screaming very much. 

“Shh. I gotta focus!” Mermista yelled back.

Probably because of the concussion, it took Catra far too many long moments to realize that Mermista isn’t talking about using her phone. That gave her a half-baked idea.

“Hey, Merms. That connection – it go both ways?”

“Yeah, just like me and Hawk,” she joked.

“No, you jerk. I mean…could you use your dumb vibration trick to get him to vibrate back or whatever?”

Perfuma tilted her head in curiosity. “Like, instead of summoning Sea Hawk, could Mermista use it to get him to summon her, you mean?”

“Oh, so I'm an asshole for using it for a ride but now you wanna *69 your girlfriend?” Mermista asked.

Rather than waiting for confirmation, Catra decided to just try it herself. It was worth a shot at least. Plus, she didn't really have any other options while she was shackled to her fucking bathroom.

Perfuma seemed to think it was polite to give Catra privacy, puttering into the kitchen to grab water. The first attempt at this had barely taken any effort. Catra was hoping that wasn't just beginner's luck.

Relaxing her cuffed arm as much as she could, Catra tried to find her center or whatever. Deep breaths. Quiet her thoughts. Notice her body, which mostly just reminded her that she needed medical attention and not to go rushing off to save anyone.

It wasn't hard to let her brain drift to Adora, primarily cause, you know, Catra was worried out of her mind. 

She'd always thought of herself as a visual person for some reason without any evidence to back that up. Rather than trying to follow Mermista's advice and vibrate out towards Adora, Catra focused on conjuring the blonde in her head. Adora's eyes, her smile, her smell – oh, for fucks’ sake! 

Once it hit her how absolutely creepy this was becoming, Catra tried to pull back.

Right before she opened her eyes and decided to play this off as if it had never happened, Catra felt something latch on. It was kind’ve…an urgency tugging at the back of her head. That sort of feeling when you get somewhere and you’re completely certain that you left the stove on and you better book it back home fast. 

In opposition to literally all of her survival instincts, Catra leaned into it. It was a muddy connection, a staticy old rotary call during a thunderstorm, but it gave her hope. Catra tried making her mind as available as possible, which was hard to do when she deeply wanted to make fun of herself for believing this shit was real. Sure enough though, the more she relaxed and kept herself open to the connection, the clearer it began to feel. It was a fleeting shadow but it was very real.

Adora was terrified. Pissed. Defiant. Hopeless. Fighting like hell.

There was something there with her, some power that was almost as loud as her own feelings. It was just a hunch really, but Catra thought she might know exactly what it was. It fit with Hope’s scheme at least.

“The Moonstone,” Catra said aloud. “We gotta get to Bright Park.”

+1: The Sword

“Pandemonium” didn’t really fully describe the magnitude of the shitshow that greeted them in Bright Park. They had to stick close to avoid being mowed down by the droves of tourists and joggers and dog owners that were running from every direction, screaming and sweaty and wide-eyed with panic.

Catra was well aware that she'd been a coward for most of her life. She was never really the type to stick her neck out for someone else (since no one had ever done it for her) or leap at the chance to play hero. If this was literally anyone else, she'd already be packing a go bag and hotwiring someone's car to hightail it out of the city. 

But this was Adora. And Adora was, well… everything between them was complicated. Catra would have to set that aside – Adora was a giant warrior goddess who needed her help. Hope had shown that she'd stop at nothing and Catra imagined whatever her plan was, it didn't include puppies and cupcakes and universal healthcare for all. This was some deep shit. But. Save Adora, save the world, Catra figured.

The Moonstone stood at least 10 stories tall. Even with the huge trees surrounding, it wasn't hard to make out exactly where they needed to go. In all the years that Catra had lived in Bright Moon, she'd only seen the thing a handful of times. It was a massive, dull-looking gem, like a giant pearl that a titan-sized alien had accidentally dropped on their way back to their home planet and completely forgotten about. It was usually covered in some form of moss or other remnant of nature, water damage and time dimming its glow.

Not today. Today, the thing towered in the distance, gleaming majestically. That scared Catra even more than the people practically crawling over each other to get away from whatever horrors they'd just witnessed.

Together, Catra, Perfuma, and Mermista moved towards it. The closer they got, the more Catra understood the terror that people were running from. The air changed – it was hot and freezing and humid and dry all at once. Catra found herself struggling to breathe in it. Even the moons didn't know what the fuck they were supposed to do. All 12 seemed to be all out at once, the sky a mixture of day with darkness looming just behind it.

She expected to encounter news helicopters or cops or something. But even the birds seemed to be avoiding this place.

“This is fucking freaky,” Mermista mumbled. 

Catra turned to her, about to agree when she saw that Mermista’s focus wasn't on their creepy surroundings. It was on her own two hands. She looked mesmerized as she watched a turquoise glow, similar to the gold one Catra was used to seeing on She-Ra, slowly descend across her skin until Mermista was bathed in it.

“Oh my,” Perfuma said in similar wonder. 

A pale pink glow had begun to overtake her as well. A new light shined behind both of their eyes, otherworldly and yet weirdly comforting. This might actually help make it a fair fight with Hope; Catra could schedule time to freak out about the details of why and what was happening with her friends later.

Catra glanced down at her own hands to see if this princess shit was contagious. It wasn’t, she realized as her own regular-ass fingers proved. Figures. Everyone got powers and Catra ended up as the only basic bitch running around out here.

“How do you feel?” she asked, curious to know if there was some type of warning sign. Something that alerted them to the change.

“Strong,” Mermista responded. She swept one hand through the air. One of the nearby ponds that the park was full of rippled until a small stream shot right up in the sky.

“Everything.” Perfuma flicked her wrist and the trees in front of them parted immediately, lying out a clear and much faster path to the Moonstone. “Etheria is not in harmony with whatever’s happening here.”

“You’re taking this really well,” Catra pointed out. She was too concerned about Adora to be very worried about this, but she didn't get their deal. They were surprisingly calm for two people who just learned that the entire world was different from the way they'd always believed it was.

The two exchanged a knowing look.

“Before we found you, we ran into your two friends,” Perfuma began tentatively.

“She means the two kidnappers we became witnesses and/or accessories for,” Mermista interjected.

“And let’s just say, some things they said made sense.” Perfuma bowed her head slightly as if that explained anything to Catra. “We have a lot to talk about later.”

“So you’re both made of magic, great,” Catra said sarcastically. “Well, at least you’re using your powers for good.”

“...for now,” Mermista whispered with a creepy smile. 

Catra was 99% sure she was just joking. Another problem for Future Catra if she made it through this day. Mermista was the pettiest person she'd ever met so Catra wasn't looking forward to her having the ability to manipulate water. Kind’ve a cat's worst nightmare.

Grumbling to herself about how dumb this all was, Catra took the lead through the path created for them.

It took them several minutes, with Catra creeped out by the lack of animals, insects, or anything else remaining in the park, but when they reached the meadow that housed the Moonstone, she felt her panic finally rise to an appropriately high level. 

She-Ra was there in her full glory, billowing cape, golden glow, sword and all. It was hard to tell if she was even fully aware of her surroundings. Adora’s face was screwed shut in pain, eyes closed and teeth gritted. She stood just inches from the Moonstone while Light Hope kept a much safer, more reasonable distance, the fucking chickenshit.

As they tried to surreptitiously move closer, hiding as best as they could on basically flat land, Catra noticed the sword stabbed into the ground just near the runestone. Adora's hands were wrapped around the hilt in a vise grip. Catra couldn't tell if she was trying to pull it out or shove it further in but Adora seemed locked in place.

Most frightening, the sword seemed to be surging power right into the grass around it. It was a strange contrast to golden girl Adora, the weapon lit up in a cool pale blue. The energy traveled a few short feet to the Moonstone, which Catra was starting to notice was dimming slightly. Much like the shitty light in her kitchen, the runestone couldn’t seem to hold a full charge as it flickered brightly then weaker inconsistently.

“Concentrate!” Hope yelled. “Everyone is counting on you, Adora. Don’t you want to keep Etheria safe? Don’t you want to keep Catra safe?”

With a roar, She-Ra’s arms flexed and a jolt of magic flowed from the sword and into the Moonstone. The gem’s glow was bright enough to make the daymoons irrelevant for a moment.

“Yes,” Hope hissed, eyes totally bonkers. “More! Etheria must be aligned.”

More? Adora was clearly already giving it her all. Catra had a sinking feeling that this alignment was a one and done kind of situation. Once Hope got what she wanted, would she even have any use for Adora? Or was She-Ra just a battery? Maybe after she aligned the planet, she would just be…empty. Gone.

“We gotta get her out of there,” Catra said.

Perfuma nodded. Catra could have been making it up but she seemed to be glowing just a bit stronger as well. “Okay. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

She quickly extended both arms, palms facing upwards. The ground rumbled as a series of half a dozen brown roots stretched their way out of the dirt just ahead of them. Catra was a little awed by how quickly Perfuma had taken to her powers. Adora was still bumbling around like a newborn baby deer, unable to stay in her She-Ra form. That gave her an idea – maybe if Catra could get to go back to regular Adora that would be enough to stop this.

Perfuma’s great root offensive rose about 6 feet in the air before they darted towards Hope with surprising speed. For someone who was committed to non-violence, Perfuma didn’t seem very concerned with possibly running their enemies right through. It probably would have happened too, since Hope hadn’t even noticed them yet, if not for the giant fucking green nightmare fuel that erupted from the earth right in front of them. The roots uselessly bounced off of its body, looking like tiny toothpicks in comparison to its size.

“Don’t try to stop us,” Hope called out to the trio. “The Moonstone will protect itself if needed.”

As if in agreement, the gross thing in front of them half-lunged to scare them back. It resembled a worm, if worms were dinosaur-sized and had fallen into a vat of radioactive waste. The thing was probably more than twice as tall as She-Ra, with too many eyes and way too many tongues. There were teeth where teeth shouldn’t be. The next time Catra was feeling okay about herself and her choices, she was sure this abomination would immediately come to mind and ruin that, teetering on its giant fleshy green body and spitting in her general direction. 

“Guardians,” Mermista grumbled, already over this.

“Guardians?!” How was she so calm about this?!

“Gods, they really teach you nothing in FZ.” Mermista huffed, droning out, “Lying dormant in Etheria’s core, ancient protectors, blah blah.”

“You can’t skip over the important parts like that!”

“It’s fine,” Mermista groaned. “We’ll keep it busy. Just try turning Adora off or whatever. We don’t want to find out which of the creepy FZ myths are true.”

That was probably correct since the base level of FZ myths about the princesses involved people getting  flayed alive.

“Try to flank it from both sides then attack. I’ll keep an eye on Hope,” Catra instructed. Yes, her Witch Hunter experience was useless here but her run-ins with Hope had taught Catra to trust her instincts. Besides, you didn’t get out of FZ without knowing how to take down a bully.

Perfuma regrouped by clasping both hands in front of herself. She shot them up into the air before bringing them down in a stabbing motion that was not very becoming of a hippie. A nearby pine tree ripped itself out of the dirt to come at the guardian like a shiv. One of the creature’s several mouths opened to intercept it just as Mermista shot water from a nearby lake into a few of its eyes, stunning it.

Figuring that they had this covered, Catra dropped to all fours to race towards Adora. She was less than 10 feet away when a laser narrowly missed. It zoomed right past Catra’s eyes, where just a tick to the left, it would have probably hit her right in the temple. She skidded to a stop, falling on her knees, only to catch sight of Light Hope aiming for a second shot.

Serpentine. That’s all Catra could think to do. If she rushed at Hope, zigzagging around laser shots, she could take the woman down. It would give her a free path to Adora. It would also mean leaving Adora to continue having the life sucked out of her by the Moonstone. Or Catra could focus on saving Adora first and pray that Light Hope was a terrible shot. 

Those were shit options and Catra had only literal seconds to make a choice.

She regrouped quickly, running as fast as she could towards Adora. Hope wouldn’t shoot She-Ra. Probably, right? This whole thing hinged on keeping She-Ra alive and connected to the sword up until Hope no longer had use for her.

Catra dove behind the warrior as another beam flew towards them. It caught She-Ra right in the chest but she barely seemed to notice. Her hands stayed glued to the sword, her whole body stuck in place yet shaking from concentrating on whatever hoodoo Hope had set her up for.

Changing a glance around She-Ra’s shoulder, Catra spotted Hope beginning towards them.

“You should not have come,” she yelled. “You will only be in her way.”

“Hey, She-Ra, knock knock!” Catra whispered. “Any chance you’re able to defend yourself right now?”

It was unclear if this was her response or just a by-product of the process, but Adora let out a guttural groan.

“Okay, that’s fine. I got you, babe,” Catra told her. She sprang from behind She-Ra, readying herself to to launch at Hope and go absolutely fucking apeshit.

All the confusion, all the rage, the fear and panic she'd been feeling lately, Catra was glad to finally have a target to take that out on. Something tangible to sink her claws into. Besides, she liked Etheria more or less. It was where she kept all her stuff. Maybe it was just paranoia but Catra was sure that whatever Light Hope’s alignment meant, Etheria wouldn't be the same afterward.

Hope was advancing towards them, trying to set her aim on Catra. She swallowed her remaining nerves. Claws extended, Catra took off to attack. She narrowly dodged the first blast by faking to the left and throwing all of her weight to the right. Hope's reflexes weren't nearly as fast as hers, so Catra had that one advantage. But Catra was also in shit shape so diving to the ground meant she ended up landing rather ungracefully in the grass, wrists stinging.

Before she could recuperate, Hope was charging her weapon once more, prepared to take another shot.

A very quiet ‘whoosh’ flew past Catra’s head. An arrow of all fucking things landed right in the grass an inch from Hope’s ugly boots, the sharp point digging itself in deep. Catra didn’t have time to wonder if this was someone’s idea of a joke or if the local boy scouts had decided to drop in and help. Hope’s face held the same confusion and yet she was about to just step right over it when the arrow began beeping frantically. She lifted her leg, probably to run, when the…uh, end thing? Catra didn’t know shit about arrows!...exploded and a huge fucking net shot out and wrapped itself around Hope’s body. She went down with a heavy thud, practically foaming at the mouth as she tried to slither her way out.

Catra turned to look for her savior just in time to see that help was actually on its way. In the distance, Scorpia ran towards her, followed closely behind by Entrapta and some guy in a croptop carrying a full quiver on his shoulder. Interesting choice of battle gear.

Glimmer literally popped into existence in a burst of sparkles and glitter so completely fitting that Catra was amazed she wasn’t hallucinating that part. Overhead, a huge shadow quickly passed. Catra looked up and was just barely able to make out that MILF who Sparkles brought by Plumeria with her. Except now she had huge glimmering wings and was flying! straight towards the Moonstone.

While the others leapt into the fight, arrows, sparkles, and red electricity joining the barrels of plants and water that Catra already had to avoid getting accidentally hit by, she rushed back to Adora.

“The sword!” Entrapta screamed as she headed over as well.

“Yeah, source of power, needed to align the planet, yada yada,” Catra interrupted. She lowered her voice as she got nearer to Adora, not stopping until she was within reach to touch if she dared. 

This close up, beaming in all of her power, Adora looked like the brightest constellation of stars. It almost hurt to look at but Catra never wanted to look away. 

“Hey, She-Ra. Anyway you could give me a sign that you hear me?”

She-Ra’s face wrenched in further pain. “Ca…?” came out as a choked wail.

“Yeah, that’s me. Local donut purveyor and ne’er do well. Wanna hear a funny story? I’m actually here to save you this time.”

Entrapta was not concerned with their private moment as she intruded right in on it. “I’ve been studying the history of the sword. Origin, powers, weaknesses. Many ancient texts actually differ greatly on not only the sword’s capabilities but also its true intent.”  

“Can you give me the ‘we’re gonna die in the next 30 seconds’ version?” Catra asked. 

“It’s handcuffs,” Entrapta said impatiently, unaware that handcuffs were currently a sore subject around here. “The sword isn’t of Etheria. It’s for shackling Etheria. Keeping the planet’s magic weakened and more manageable. So that people like Light Hope can control it for themselves. If we don't stop it, she could control all of the planet. She could turn our entire world into a giant weapon of destruction and use it to wipe away all of the magic that she hates.”

Light Hope was currently still wrapped up in the net while Glimmer used her sparkle power to keep the woman temporarily blinded and confused.

“So how do we take the cuffs off?” Catra asked.

“I think we have to break the sword.”

“You think?”

Entrapta shrugged. “Well, it’s unlikely that anyone who was interested in the sword’s creation would have theorized on how to stop it. We just have to trust that this is the best course of action.”

Catra opened her mouth to ask more questions but was cut off by a tortuous yell from Adora. She turned back to She-Ra, who was screaming as if she was in unbearable pain. Catra’s eyes raced to find a cause – Hope was still down, the Guardian was still surrounded on all sides by the others. The only person she couldn’t place was-

At the top of the Moonstone, Glimmer’s mom was floating in the air, both palms towards the runestone while energy flowed from her straight into it. Glowing white waves that should have been calming – finally a responsible adult was present – except she seemed to just be making things even worse.

“What the hell is she doing?” Catra wondered aloud.

Entrapta pulled a pair of goggles from her overall pocket before putting them on to watch. “Angella’s powers are tied to the Moonstone. She’s probably trying to overpower She-Ra’s influence. I don’t think that will be effective.”

“Well, stop her! She’s hurting Adora!”

Entrapta looked like she might argue but Adora screamed again and the pure anguish in Catra’s blood must have been apparent in her face. Entrapta scrambled away, shouting in Angella’s direction.

Okay. Catra took a deep breath. They were a ragtag group of weirdos trying to beat fate. Trying to stop an ancient power from being unleashed and taking over their planet. Catra could do this. Okay.

She tried not to notice that she was trembling as she approached She-Ra. Seeing a goddess in such clear torment was somehow even more terrifying than all the threats that surrounded them. Adora was a part of something that was so so much bigger than any of them and Catra was sure that she couldn’t even begin to understand it.

She didn’t really have to understand it though. She understood Adora.

“Well, I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I think Hope was right, Adora,” Catra began. “You gotta let go.”

She-Ra practically growled in response, buckling down like she was pushing back against Angella’s attempts to kick her out of the Moonstone.

“You’re a helper, Adora. That’s why you became a firefighter, right? You’re one of those dummies who comes and saves the day. But this sword…whatever Hope’s doing is gonna hurt people. It’s probably gonna hurt everyone, you included. You gotta let go of this.”

She-Ra continued struggling, showing no signs that she’d heard any of that. Feeling particularly bold and out of good ideas, Catra let herself reach over. Her left hand cupped around Adora’s on the hilt of the sword.

It was like someone injected espresso right into her veins. A jolt shot through Catra that made her feel like she had enough power to kick Hope right into the stratosphere. It was dangerous and scary and fucking thrilling and so godsdamn alive.

She ripped her hand away with a shudder, tingling all over. There wasn’t a part of Catra that didn’t feel completely alert and…connected. Connected to power and Adora and Etheria.

Once she was able to slow her racing heart, Catra moved towards She-Ra. For the first time, Adora was staring back at her, semi-alert but still pained, like she was being torn apart from the inside.

“Catra?” Her voice sounded so small. Lost but surprisingly determined. “You have to leave. You can’t be near this.” 

Catra scoffed, trying not to get lost in Adora’s eyes, which were unnaturally brighter and bluer than ever. “Yeah, no shit, princess. I’m trying to get us both out of here. Now, put down the sword and let’s go.”

Adora shook her head. “I can’t. She-Ra – I need her to fix this. I can take back her power, undo what Light Hope’s done. I just need a little more time to get the sword to listen to me.”

They didn’t have time. Not with the apocalypse seemingly scheduled to arrive in the next couple of minutes.

“She-Ra’s not the sword. You know that. She’s in you, remember? She’s always been there. You just needed something to bring her out. But now you have and you don’t need the sword or Light Hope or even the fucking runestones anymore. Drop the sword and you can end all this right now.”

She-Ra closed her eyes once more. Her head lowered in defeat and Catra could feel how untethered she was. The glow of the Moonstone dimmed and surged with each breath that she took. But she still didn’t release the sword, holding on even though they were doomed.

“I’m sorry,” Adora whispered.

Catra, heart in her throat, somehow managed to reply, “You don’t hav-”

“No, I’m sorry, She-Ra,” Adora finished.

With one last anguished cry, she ripped the sword from the ground and lifted it above her head. The Moonstone flashed as the rush of power knocked Angella back, scrambling to not float away, and kicked Entrapta right on her ass, several feet off in the grass. Even the Guardian seemed to stand still.

From behind her, Catra heard Hope scream, “No!” There was more yelling then the sound of Glimmer shouting in pain.

But it was too late. Hope rushed forward just as She-Ra drove the sword into the side of the Moonstone, practically roaring in anger. The weapon, this ancient unknowable thing that held power untold, cracked from the impact, like a fucking Halloween prop. Tiny fractures formed up and down the blade right in front of their eyes, until it was just a useless relic.

She-Ra, still in all her wondrous golden splendor, stood there looking equal parts miserable and triumphant. Catra reached over, placing a hand on her forearm to comfort her. It probably didn’t mean much, not when Adora was holding her broken destiny in her hands. The simple touch drew a whimper from her that seemed out of character for such a giant warrior. 

The thing about touching a star though is that they fucking burn. For a brief second, everything around them went still. It made the ensuing rush of piercing sounds feel just that much more frightening and out of place. 

With one last gasp, the sword’s lifeforce buzzed. Screamed. Wept.

A flash of rainbow-colored light poured out of it in rays. They grew and grew, looming brighter until Catra could barely see anything else. That's why she didn't quite catch the sword exploding in She-Ra’s grip. Nor it taking Light Hope with it on its way out.

Metal and heat and power and magic splintered like shrapnel all around Catra. She wasn’t sure which of those many many awful options was tearing through her but the pain was so bad that she couldn't even open her mouth to scream.

It was too much for her to remain upright so Catra tumbled helplessly towards the ground. Strong glowing arms reached out to grab her before she was able to make contact. Gently, She-Ra turned Catra so that they were facing each other, the warrior knelt next to her rapidly failing body. 

The sky above was normal again, Catra noticed. It was almost sorta nice.

Once when they were teenagers, Lonnie accidentally kicked a soccer ball right smack-dab into Catra’s tits. It was kinda funny to think about now as she was gasping for breath, just like that day. Not as funny to think about how the last conversation she had with Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle would indeed be the last. She’d left so much unsaid.

Same with Adora, who was now fully panicking. She couldn’t seem to figure out where to focus as her eyes rushed from Catra’s face to all along her body, probably cataloging what must have looked like a complete horrorshow.

It took a lot of strength and courage but Catra glanced down at herself. Yeah, there were definitely holes where none should be. Pieces of her clothing ripped away or soaked through with blood already. Huge glowing gold marks peppered through the patchwork of her actual wounds.

She tried to say Adora’s name, begin to give them both some kind of closure.  

“‘s okay,” Catra muttered. It sounded wet. Weakly, she reached for her mouth but Adora’s thumb got there first, wiping something away. They both silently agreed to ignore how much red there was.

“It’s not,” Adora argued. Her voice sounded wet too. Before Catra could worry about that, she noticed the tears in Adora’s eyes. “I let you get hurt. I failed.”

Catra shook her head as much as she could manage. “You saved us.”

“I failed you.” 

There was a loud sound and a bright pop and suddenly Glimmer was there at their side. 

“My Gods.” She looked distraught. Catra wanted to tease her about not being there next Thursday to give her something to complain about in therapy but she probably shouldn't go out on a joke. “Adora, I can teleport her to a hospital.”

It was a kind offer but it was definitely too late. This was fine. Okay, technically, it wasn't. Catra was terrified but too tired to actually be that scared. She was freezing, which was the fucking worst. But her body didn't have the energy to mimic all the usual signs of anxiety since it seemed to be focused on silly critical functions like keeping her heart pumping for the next couple of minutes. So she felt shockingly chill. Epically bummed about all the shit she would miss and not knowing where her soul would venture to next, but at least she'd be heading out with dignity.

Her soul, jeez. Religion wasn't really a thing in her house growing up so Catra didn't know shit about the many afterlife levels that most Etherians believed in. Hopefully, there wouldn't be a test on that. Flirting with the admin would probably get her nowhere. Gods, it was her driving exam all over again and she’d probably up in the purgatory version of a learners permit for all of eternity.

All the stupid doom-googling she'd done on soulmates in the past few weeks had turned up a bunch of nonsense about what happens when one half dies. A lot of folks never even knew they had a mate, some anonymous person who they probably lost years ago when the marks suddenly stopped. Some grieved their whole lives, some moved on appreciating their free will. 

Adora could do whatever she wanted now. Girls would be lining up to date a magical hero firefighter. Good for her. This whole soulmate shit was kinda dumb anyway. Look at where destiny had just gotten them, fighting for their lives. Fate could go ahead and fuck right off.

“Mates,” Catra whispered, interrupting where Adora was arguing with Glimmer that she wasn't leaving.

She-Ra turned back to her, shocked and distraught. “I know!” she scoffed out. She shut her eyes for a second and tears broke out to pour down her perfect face.

It clicked for the first time – She-Ra was holding her. Entrapta had been right. Adora was special all along, not just some derp who stumbled onto a sword.

“No,” Catra added, voice coming out in a wheeze. “You're free now.” She hoped Adora realized she meant that in more ways than one.

An angel descended near them next, floating down and blocking the glow of the Moonstone. Apparently it was time to go already.

“Adora,” it said. “Let Glimmer take her. I'll carry you there as well.”

“No!” When Adora opened her eyes, they were unnaturally blue once again. “I can fix this.” Catra felt herself being pulled closer. “Come on, Catra. You're not done yet.”

She'd never exactly pictured herself as an old biddy. It was actually perfectly fine for her to be done now. Gods, she really should've cleaned out her fridge though. Now Catra would have an excuse to haunt Mermista for a while until it was taken care of. Something to look forward to in the afterlife at least.

She-Ra wrapped herself around Catra's weak body. She was warm, which helped. She rested their foreheads together as Catra tried in vain to reach up and hold her. She-Ra kept whispering but it was too hard to concentrate, to pick out words that she could understand. Slowly, Catra felt her eyes drift shut as her hands fell limply in the grass.

“Oh!” Glimmer said, thoroughly surprised when Catra shot up from underneath the counter. “You're here.”

Catra shrugged like she hadn't just been napping, assuming no one would be annoying enough to show up today. Most people’s brains were still reeling from the mysteries of the past week; rumors that the local donut shop was full of dangerous witches and under surveillance by the state was helping to keep lookie loos away. 

Catra was working on listening to Mermista’s advice. All this magic shit took a lot out of a person. Better grab some shut-eye wherever you can and the small crawlspace under the counter wasn’t such a bad place once some of the cobwebs were cleaned up.

“You look…”

“Alive?” Catra suggested.

“Alright for a corpse,” Glimmer finished.

Catra supposed she was looking a bit better than usual. Apparently She-Ra’s healing powers didn’t just stop at life-threatening injuries. That weird cracking sound her ankle made after she twisted it on a pothole in the sidewalk last year was finally gone. Her carpal tunnel from holding her phone for hours to play Witch Hunter had cleared up. Honestly, her fur was even softer. Catra would have to create a fake yelp for She-Ra and leave a 5-star review. ‘Highly recommend almost dying in her arms. 10/10 experience.’ Minus the residual exhaustion the past few days, Catra was feeling better than she had in years.

“Thanks, I guess. The usual?” 

Glimmer shook her head. “No, I’m here to meet with-”

“Sea-Ra!” Mermista yelled, jumping through the kitchen’s swinging doors. She had both hands in fists, resting on her hips, like the world’s corniest superhero.

“You’re planning to copyright that and sue Adora for infringement,” Catra guessed.

“My costume isn’t gonna pay for itself,” Mermista replied, dropping her stance. 

Glimmer looked like she was already regretting her whole life. “I don’t know why I have to repeat this yet again, but we’re not superheroes. We’re witches, descend-”

Mermista cut her off with, “Don’t care.”

“She’s already planning her own spin-off,” Catra warned. “There’s a 90% chance that she’s been a double agent this whole time.”

“I can’t believe I’m inviting you people further into my life,” Glimmer complained.

Perfuma exited the kitchen next, carrying three full mugs. So great, Catra would get to stand there and eavesdrop on their secret Alliance plans. As Perfuma began to lead the others towards a table, Glimmer lingered at the counter.

“You could join us, you know,” she offered. She didn't seem particularly happy about it but she was even more annoyed when Catra quickly shook her head. “There’ll be other threats to Etheria. We could use a tactician. Plus Scorpia, Entrapta, and my mom are all obsessed with you for some reason. I'm sure Adora would personally invite you but no one's seen her since…” Glimmer waved vaguely at Catra's torso, where her organs were once again intact and not spilling out everywhere.

Catra just stared her down. Glimmer was alright or whatever but it was fun to give her a hard time. Besides, it was appropriate to allow a person at least a few days after they almost died before you invited them for a second ride on that rollercoaster. Have some fucking manners, Glim.

With a sigh, Glimmer finally said, “If you run into her, tell her we're proud of her. And we'd love to have her back.” Her voice got small at the end, lonely and vulnerable in a way that made Catra uncomfortable.

She didn’t really know anything about Adora and Glimmer’s friendship so Catra continued to keep her mouth shut. Adora could make her own choices. With one last hopeful look, Glimmer relented to join Mermista and Perfuma.

kyle2558355934
The Witch Hunter devs want to create a new sanctuary skin based on the Battle of Bright Park

thelonandonly
**** no
They better make you a hero in the game or we’re rioting

silentbutdeadly
Prime released a statement saying that he doesn’t support real life princesses
Or witch hunting

wildcat
I’m releasing a statement saying he can eat a bag of *****
Agreed on the new hero tho
I’ll send him a bunch of unsolicited costume designs
I'm thinking something asymmetrical

kyle2558355934
I’m starting an online petition right now

thelonandonly
We’re proud of you, you ******* ****

Chadtastic
Dudes, come on
Congrats, wildcat
But can we keep the channel clear

kyle2558355934
Catra, omg
Did you just make me an Alliance Commander?
Ooh, can I kick Chad?

Chadtastic
The ****?

Catra laughed to herself as she entered the apartment quietly, leaving her shoes near the door and taking care to place her keys gently on the counter. Her plan was to tiptoe towards the bathroom, where the door still half-hung on. The super had promised that he'd get to fixing it some time in the next couple of weeks but Catra wasn't expecting to see him until the summer at earliest.

A quick shower would be nice and then she could pass out for the next 30 hours or so.

Her steps were quickly interrupted when Catra caught sight of Adora standing in the open fridge, completely awake for the first time in days.

“Hey, princess,” Catra whispered. “You’re up. You okay? Hungry? Thirsty?”

Adora rolled her eyes with a small smile. “You don't have to call me that. And you don't have to keep taking care of me. I'm feeling a little stronger.”

She looked it too. For the first several hours after Catra had felt herself fade to black only to be jolted back into a golden glowing consciousness, she and Adora had taken turns keeping watch over each other while one of them slipped into a deep, uneasy sleep. The healing process had taken so much out of both of them, though Catra supposed Adora had it worse. Even now, her skin was covered in blue marks, the same color of Catra’s right eye, that She-Ra didn’t seem to have enough energy to get rid of. Some were a constellation of nicks, others huge gashes that scrambled Catra’s brain a bit too much to think about for long.

“I know I don’t have to,” Catra replied. She wanted to. Adora had done the same for her. Hell, Adora had risked it all just because Catra told her to trust her. “You don’t have to stick around here and keep an eye on me.”

“I do,” Adora said quietly. “Since it was my fault and everything.”

Catra sighed, reluctant to go through this conversation again. What little clarity Adora had between long bouts of sleeping was spent on guilt-tripping herself for putting Catra in danger. For nearly killing her. It was so dumb.

She went to grab them both a glass of water from the kitchen and finally noticed what Adora was up to. Her first order of business after recovering some of her strength was to throw out everything in Catra’s fridge. Apparently being a hero extended to even common household chores. Adora looked a little sheepish as she tossed out the last takeout container that had been in there for probably ages.

Not too gently, Catra pushed the dummy out of the way, one hand firmly in the middle of her chest until Adora’s butt hit the counter and she relaxed. There wasn’t a lot of space in the kitchen so every time Catra made a move, tying up the trash, grabbing water, she had to ignore the electricity she felt as she casually brushed by Adora.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she repeated yet again. “You know that. Besides, it was kinda cool. I got to be all heroic and shit.”

Adora took the offered glass but barely seemed to notice it as she once again was examining Catra for any lingering wounds. For some reason, Adora was convinced that she didn’t heal her ‘correctly.’ Not that either of them was anywhere near strong enough to try it again.

Forgetting about the shower, Catra leaned against the counter next to her, leaving Adora plenty of space. They’d been sharing the apartment – the bed mostly, giving each other such a wide berth that it was practically platonic. Now that Adora knew they were soulmates, Catra didn’t want to feel like she was pressuring Adora into anything. It was sexy and thrilling to make out with a pining rando who just saved you from a rooftop fistfight. Doing it with your soulmate who you just brought back from the brink of death brought to mind much less sexy ideas like ‘commitment’ and ‘forever.’ She didn’t even know Catra’s last name. No need to rush into anything that Adora would regret later.

“Did you only do it cause we're…you know?” Adora asked with a shyness that Catra hadn't quite expected. It didn't match her usual calm confidence.

“I’m gonna need you to spell that out for me a bit more,” she said truthfully.

Adora sat the water down to lift the sleeve on her tshirt up to the shoulder. There was a particularly awful looking glowing blue slash that ran diagonally up her bicep, an unsettling reminder of what they’d survived. 

“Did you save me cause of this? Cause of us?”

For a long second, Catra just considered that. She hadn't really decided on a clear motive before rushing headfirst into the fight. Protecting Adora. Proving herself. Doing one good thing in her life. Letting go of this idea that any of their story – Catra's story – was already written in stone or that even ‘medium happy’ came without risks.

“No. It was the right thing to do,” Catra said resolutely. “That lady gave me a bad vibe. Like a ‘set the world on fire’ kinda vibe. I wasn't happy to be correct about that but someone had to stop her.”

This wasn't necessarily all exactly true. Afterward, as Adora tried to rush off with her in her arms, Catra had weakly rubbed it in Perfuma and Mermista’s faces that she was right the whole time. When she told the whole saga to Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle, Catra had practically rewritten the tale so that she was the genius who cracked Hope's plan from the start. Catra rarely got a win – she was allowed to milk this one a little, okay?

“How long have you known?” Adora asked. She tapped the glowing mark once more before lowering her sleeve.

Catra pointed towards her eye, though the evidence was long gone. “The first time you saved me. I didn't know it was you until we kissed though.”

“The glowing monster,” Adora said. She glanced off to the side, deep in thought. After a long moment, she started to laugh. “You really thought your soulmate was a huge glowing monster?!”

With a growl, Catra bit back, “Well, that’s all I saw! This is your fault for skulking around all mysteriously.”

Adora kept laughing. “I'm imagining you trying to introduce her to your friends. Going shopping for wedding dresses. Trying to sleep with her glowing like a giant flood light next to you.”

The dummy didn’t seem to realize she was the butt of her own joke. Last night, she'd been muttering Catra's name in her sleep and got so into whatever dream she was having that she transformed into She-Ra without even waking up. Catra’d had to cover her with a blanket like a lampshade to block out her annoying glow.

Now that Adora was improving, Catra figured it was time to approach the subject they’d been avoiding the past couple days. It’d been nice sharing space – actually ‘nice’ was an understatement for one of the better times of Catra’s life – but it had to come to an end sooner or later.

Taking a deep breath, Catra prepared herself for the speech she’d mentally been crafting since Adora’s big reveal. “Look. I want you to know that…just because we’re soulmates or whatever doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to be with me, Adora. I don't expect anything. I don't even believe in that bullshit. If you want out, I get it. No hard feelings.”

All traces of laughter were gone from Adora’s face. Instead, her features pinched themselves together.

“I-? Why wouldn’t I want to be with you? To at least try?” She scooched slightly closer, eyes suddenly intense. “Catra, I didn’t know who you were besides the cute, funny girl in the donut shop and so I changed my entire commute and workout routine just to see you every morning!” Adora loudly ranted. Then she seemed to realize she was yelling and looked mortified. At a much more appropriate volume, she said, “I hope it doesn’t sound creepy out loud to you too?”

Instead of a reasonable reply, a small gust of air came out of Catra. Out of her mouth to be clear. At least, she hoped it was.

“I don’t even like donuts that much. They clog your arteries. Thank Gods I had all those long runs to work ‘em off,” Adora added. Apparently, she was still talking. She was a firefighter, a person who saved lives. And she couldn’t even notice that Catra had gone still as a stick and was probably (once again) not on this mortal plane.

“This user no longer exists,” Catra whispered without thinking. To be fair, she definitely felt like she was dying again. Adora was the godsdamn possible savior of the planet or some shit and she was worried about pining after Catra like a weirdo?

“Uh…what does that mean?”

“Destiny hasn’t been super kind to you,” Catra felt compelled to point out.

“Oh my Gods, have you listened to anything I’ve said?!” Adora relaxed against the counter again, exasperated but smiling. “I’m dating you…I wanted to be dating you way before I even knew anything about us being soulmates. It’s pretty much irrelevant to me.”

Catra tilted her head in surprise. “Are we dating?”

“A second ago, you thought I wouldn’t want you. Now you’re trying to break up with me?” Adora asked, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

If the dummy wanted to be annoying, Catra could be annoying. “What is your definition of dating exactly, Adora?”

“We’re sharing a bed…” she pointed out.

“You’re convalescing.”

“So I’m no better than a sick aunt?”

Catra ignored the bundle of nerves her stomach was turning into. “Don’t you have to ask me out?”

“Subtle,” was the sarcastic response.

“Adora,” she said impatiently.

The blonde tried to make a serious face but it was ruined by the smile she kept trying to rein in. “Catra. How do you feel about sushi?”

“Like…conceptually?”

With a frustrated groan, Adora surged forward and kissed Catra, pulling blindly at her hips until they were flush together. When that didn’t seem sufficient enough for her, Adora let out a frustrated groan and, in one quick  and very thrilling tug, Catra was seated on the counter with her legs wrapped around the blonde’s waist. 

This was much better than their first kiss, a much more accurate representation of Catra's skillset, she thought. Though Adora was impatient, Catra slowed the pace down, gently teasing Adora's bottom lip with her fangs before slipping her just enough tongue to make her thirsty for more. A very lovely moan escaped Adora's mouth. 

Catra was diving in for more when suddenly the hips she was hugged across grew broader. She felt herself craning her neck up to continue meeting Adora’s lips, higher and higher until it was impossible to ignore.

She pulled back just a breath, only to find She-Ra standing before her. What a treat it was to watch Adora’s face go from disappointed to confused to immediately embarrassed.

“I’m sorry!” she said quickly. “I’m still trying to control her. Without the sword, she's even more tied to me. Tied to my emotions, I think.”

Catra savored this up-close look at She-Ra. She was a little worse for wear but really it was a wonder how much she’d grown on Catra since that first disastrous non-meet-cute. 

“Honestly, it's kinda starting to do it for me. Is that weird?”

Adora immediately perked up. “Oh, really? No, that’s good! I can totally work with that.”

She-Ra cut her a break and leaned down so she wasn’t fully towering above Catra. They resumed kissing, with Catra only sorta wondering how long it would be before she had to ask how this whole costume thing came off. The cape could be hot though. It had kinda replaced the firefighter strip show dream recently.

Adora pulled back from the kiss to move her hands to Catra's face. “Hey,” she whispered. “I choose you. This is all me. Not fate or destiny or the God-”

Catra shut her up with another lingering kiss, really letting herself melt in She-Ra’s arms.

“I know, princess,” she paused to whisper. “I choose you too.”