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Catra and her dignity didn't want Adora coming to the prison. She even blocked all visitation, like maybe if no one saw her there, she could pretend she spent the last ten months meditating in Bhutan and not eating Swiss Rolls and Maruchan from the commissary. Adora's never cared much for subtlety, though. And ten months without Catra is already ten months too long.So, quite frankly, it should be expected that she shows up at the prison on release day. The fact that she's holding five balloons that say Home Free!!! written in Sharpie underneath the scratched-out Get Well Soons is just an added bonus to fit the special occasion. The fact that she doesn't hear from Catra until an hour into her waiting - via text message, no less - should have also, quite frankly, been expected.She sighs as she clicks her phone open.
< Messages JLBRD Info
JLBRD [10:27am]: where are you
JLBRD [10:27am]: i'm at the park for the meet up
Adora [10:28am]: fuck, i'm at the prison
JLBRD [10:29am]: lol, i knew you'd come. you never listen
Adora [10:29am]: asshole
JLBRD [10:30am]: i told you not to
Adora [10:30am]: I'm sentimental. you know that.
JLBRD [10:30am]: i am, too. bring the balloons i saw you holding.
Adora [10:31am]: i'm popping them as we speak.
Adora [10:31am]: i'm also on my way.
She drives into the park an hour later with the deflated balloons in the back seat of her jeep. Maybe she stopped at Starbucks first and sat in the drive-through for an iced caramel macchiato. Maybe she knows her worth and she's willing to make Catra suffer until she realizes it, too.Except Catra doesn't even mention how late Adora is; she just hops in the passenger seat, throws her arms around Adora's shoulders, and starts sprinkling celebratory kisses all over her cheek, scrunching her fingers in Adora's hair as she nuzzles her nose against her skin. It takes everything inside Adora not to start purring at the affection. Catra's a turd even when she's tolerable, but Adora fucking missed her every single second she was gone."Hey, be careful," she says, playfully shouldering Catra away. It's impossible to contain the goofy way her mouth is grinning. "I don't want beef with your prison wife, heard those toothbrush shanks cut deep."Catra laughs as she pulls away, grabbing the macchiato from the cup holder and flinching when she takes a sip. "It's still hot, you bitch. I think I have frostbite from standing out there."Adora smiles back. "Froze my ass off waiting outside the prison, thought I'd return the favor.""I really didn't want you to come, you know," Catra says, taking another sip, slower this time. "I mean, I know I'm the love of your life, but—" she cuts off and tilts her head with a shrug, smiling too wide to be anything but appreciative. "You could have waited an extra thirty minutes.""The doctors call it ADHD," Adora says, waving her hand through the air. "And love of my life? Hardly. You should tell that to Gerald.""Your hamster?""My late husband," Adora scoffs, mock offended. "He left me everything, dear Gerry. The houses, the cars, all the money, two adult daughters convinced I poisoned his feeding tube. The charges didn't stick, by the way.""Mm, sounds fake," Catra hums. "Totally not your style.""You're right," Adora sighs. "The daughters wouldn't be mad at me; they'd be in on it. I'm rusty.""I missed you.""Of course, you did," Adora says. "How's mom?"Catra puts the cup back in the holder with a long, dramatic sigh. "She runs a book club and dictates the actions of every woman fifty plus. It's like if AARP decided to start a mafia, only scarier and with neck tattoos.""I expected the neck tattoos, but it's surprising the prison has that many copies of the same book."Catra snorts, laughing after and smacking Adora's shoulder with the back of her hand. "They mostly smuggle cigarettes - the book thing is just a front. She also has a chokehold on anything that goes in or out of the kitchen.""Oh," says Adora, thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Also, I missed you, too, by the way," she adds, because it feels important she slips that in before the moment passes. She gets, at most, three chances a year to tell Catra she likes her without getting shit for it. "I really mean that, honestly. No one burns pancakes quite the way you do.""Denny's would disagree," Catra counters, then sighs, "And also, could you not call her mom? I thought we were past that. She's still the bitch who stole Christmas for the first two decades of our lives.""Speak for yourself, I was the favorite," says Adora, smiling as she bites her lip. She feels so warm with Catra. "Is that really still a sore spot, by the way? I thought you'd get over it after the forced bonding time. Extended mother-daughter all-expense-paid getaway.""Fuck you, first off. And second, I don't know - she's just, actually not our mom," Catra says. Which is a good point. "And you hate her, too. So, like. Fuck you again, essentially," she frowns, and Adora can't help but laugh as Catra rolls her eyes at the whole thing. "Anyway, where are we going? It's my first day off cleaning duty in ten months, so it better be good. And there better be food.""I own a sandwich shop," Adora says, twisting the key to get the engine going. "A legit operation."Catra shakes her head as she buckles her seatbelt. "Right. So, who died and got conned into leaving it to you?""I already told you," Adora laughs, shifting the jeep into gear. "Good ol' Gerry. Which is actually short for Geraldine, but. Those are just Details.""Spill it," Catra urges, smiling again. "Come on, story time.""You're in for a whirlwind," Adora tells her. "It all started at the Bellagio Fountain at midnight," she hums, closing her eyes for nostalgic effect. "I was running a con using an army of hot, fit club promoters and she was wearing jean shorts longer than the list of reasons you need therapy.""I hate you," Catra laughs, "Also, ew. Really? Jorts.""God, no. Gerry would never. I actually met her when I was bartending, and she was immaculate. Like, literally: She only wore light colors, she could somehow pull off shoulder pads, and she showed up every single night at the bar just to order tonic water, stare at the crowd, and shoulder shimmy to any song that came out in the eighties. It took me two weeks to finally ask what her deal was, since she tipped twice her bill and I'm not rich enough to fuck that up, but she totally gave me an Aladdin whole new world experience.""Gross, did you have a crush on an old lady?"Adora rolls her eyes. "Okay, for the record: she wasn't old old. And B, no I did not okay. But she did have flawless caramel skin, perfect wing-tipped eyeliner, and was the only person in existence who could actually rock bleached eyebrows and not look like a complete idiot. I mean, think like, Rihanna in the Pour It Up music video, but somehow even better. And with bleached eyebrows to match her hair.""Blasphemous.""Not even.""No regular person looks better than Rihanna.""You didn't know her," Adora says sassily, driving toward the park entrance. "Also, she wasn't regular. Also also , it's not like I said she smelled better than Rihanna. Anyway, do I get to finish my story or not?"Catra squints her eyes, but in the end, she just says, "Go on.""Anywho, she was looking for a mentee," Adora explains. "A prodigy, if you will. And she thought I would be great since she'd heard so much about my accomplishments under Shadow Weaver, so—""Shadow Weaver. Okay," Catra says dryly. "I already hate where this is going." "Stop, just let me finish." Adora huffs a sigh. "You can't have a knee-jerk reaction anytime I say her name. She's not Voldemort.""Okay, but anyone who mentions your time with her as a good thing immediately sounds like an asshole.""We did some cool stuff," Adora says. "Anyway, that's not the point.""Whatever," Catra mumbles. "Does your old-lady-love-affair story actually have a point?""Okay, first: you asked me to tell the story, you turd. Second: Yes, it does have a point," Adora says, stopping at the park entrance and clicking her blinker on as she watches the traffic. "If you would just let me finish, I could tell you what I'm trying to build up to." Catra waves her hand to go on like it's Adora holding them up, and it takes everything inside of Adora not to turn the car the other way and drive Catra back to the prison. "It's wholly impossible to believe they let you out on good behavior. I call bullshit.""I can bring it out when I want to," Catra says in her defense. "Besides, you always take like twelve years to get to the point, so just let it out already. I want to turn on the radio, listen to something that's not your voice."Adora shakes her head as she turns out of the park, then says, "As I was getting to... Gerry brought me in because she thought something big was happening on the East Coast. And we were closing in on it, too. Then she just disappeared. We packed up the shop one night, she gave me the best advice I've ever been given, and then the next morning she stopped responding to my texts, and wasn't at her apartment. She was completely gone. That was a month ago. I've been on my own ever since.""Not to interrupt, but that sounds like a lot to unpack.""Yeah, no kidding,” Adora agrees. It was a lot. Ever since Shadow Weaver royally fucked up her childhood, she’s been hoping that a positive female role model would magically fall into her lap one day. A large piece of her thought maybe Gerry was the one. “Gerry leaving really messed me up, you know? I ended up getting one of those online therapists they're always advertising on TikTok. We spent the first 6 sessions processing the extent of my abandonment issues, and that was before we even got into the gritty work.""I’m really happy for you," Catra says, and it seems like a genuinely soft moment until she adds, "It's probably best that you talk to someone about your affinity for predatory relationships with older women."Adora wants to argue, but Catra has a point. "You're probably right," she says, "I've always been a sucker for a good cougar. I think it's the sophistication, you know? Something about the way they carry themselves."Catra snorts, laughing to herself as she lets her head fall back against the seat. "God, I wish you were joking about that," she says, then breathes a long sigh, and asks, "What was the great advice she gave you?""For some reason," says Adora, "I thought you'd be more interested in what we were closing in on."*
"There are really only three things you need in your life to achieve true happiness."
- Geraldine -
[Number One: Something To Do]
"I've been thinking of adding ricotta gnocchi to our menu," Adora says, unlocking the door of the sandwich shop and pushing it open. "Or maybe farro risotto with butternut squash and kale.""They both sound disgusting," Catra says, shoving her way inside and looking around. She stops in the middle of the space for a second before she walks over and grabs a menu off the counter and starts flipping through it. She's wearing the same army green, skinny-fit chinos she went in with, a PSG jersey she definitely stole from Adora, and the world's oldest pair of Thursday Boots and it's just. Weird. Both that she's actually here after ten months of being locked away, and that she's pretty much the same. Adora thought prison was supposed to be defining somehow, change a person. Catra's still… Catra. Not a single thing about her is different."This actually looks legit," Catra comments. "I thought you were shitting me right up until I saw the storefront. You've even got the red cedar countertops and polished concrete floors.""Okay, Martha Stewart," Adora laughs. "Who even knows that?""The choices were interior design magazines or the bible, so you know. Thought I'd learn something new.""Oh wow, Shadow Weaver was really using the library to shit on you?""Yeah, it was stupid," Catra sighs, shoving her hands in her pockets. "When do we eat?"Adora points over the counter. "I thought I'd show you the office first."Catra frowns at that. "Unless there's cooked meat and my literal weight in freshly crisped fries in there, then I have zero interest in whatever you want to show me in the back office."Adora smiles. "Okay, fine - there isn't food, but there is something better. I promise.""Why do I get the feeling it'll violate my parole?" Catra asks."Because it might," Adora says. It wouldn't really, she'd never put Catra in that situation, but she won't pass up an opportunity to mess with her. They'll have enough time to seriously process the prison thing later, probably. "But, it's worth it, I think." "Easy for you to say, you didn't have to share a cell with four other women and a toilet.""I know," Adora says, and decides not to make a joke of it. "It's actually worth it, though. And it wouldn't violate your parole. Promise."Catra scuffs the toe of her boot against the floor, and then she gives in. "Fine. But I've got twenty minutes max before I start to feel sick. I've been on timed meals for the better part of a year and lunch was supposed to be an hour ago," she pouts, rubbing her stomach. "Today was always the best lunch, too. I think my body is revolting since it's missing out on it.""Oh no, is it Taco Tuesday?" Adora quirks a brow and tilts her head, laughing when Catra rolls her eyes and frowns as she keeps emphatically rubbing her stomach. "Can't miss out on those stale tortillas and the mystery meat.""Hey, don't knock the mystery meat 'til you try the mystery meat," Catra says, smiling. "But seriously, my belly's doing somersaults." "I can throw some rat droppings on a tray if that makes you feel at home," Adora offers. "To be honest, it's probably all we have in stock."Catra laughs at that, lets her head tilt back and her cheeks bunch up her eyes. And there's something about how the sunlight mixes with the infectious way she's smiling that makes Adora want to pull her in and kiss her, ruck up her hair a bit. Wrap her in a hug. The thought pops up so suddenly that she misses what Catra says next and loses track of the fact they're still joking. It's weird how a lifetime of being inseparable made it easy to ignore how much she's into Catra. It's even weirder how only ten months of being apart ripped it out of her.Maybe that's really what her therapy sessions are about. Maybe she'll never tell Catra that.She still has a lot to work through."Stop staring, weirdo," Catra giggles. "Did you really just zone out in the middle of talking to me?""ADHD," Adora shrugs.Catra shakes her head. "Damn, you're down bad.""Horrendous," Adora says. "You should see the post-it monster on my fridge.""I'm sure I will," says Catra. "The office?""Right, yes," Adora perks up, then she quickly walks over, grabs Catra's hand, and marches them both through the door leading to the back kitchen. She hasn't so much as used the microwave since she took ownership of the shop with Geraldine, but she really could get it up and running if she wanted to, if she ever needed a way out of her day job."Christ," Catra says under her breath, looking around as Adora pulls them through toward the office. "You actually have a real kitchen. There's even a flat top grill and conveyor oven. You have a sandwich press! We can make so much food here.""Told you, it's legitimate," Adora hums. Then she gets to the office, pulls a framed picture of the Eiffel Tower off the wall, puts in the access code to the small door that's hidden behind it, and opens the door to reveal a shotgun mounted in the center of a wall cutout. It's a beautiful shotgun, too. A silver shooter with a Turkish walnut stock, brass knuckle grip, and a blade attached to its lower barrel. Catra called it the Lucky Star, back when they worked with Shadow Weaver. She's always said it's the only thing she's ever missed about her childhood.It took everything Adora had in her savings to get it back. It's why she ended up bartending in the first place. Needed the extra money."At least it has to look legitimate," Adora goes on. "It's what Geraldine said - has to be foolproof if we're using it for our base of operations. She was a stickler for the details, and all that. Before she disappeared.""Adora," Catra whispers, soft and quiet, cheeks splotching up the second she recognizes what she's looking at. It's rare that Catra's at a loss for words, always prides herself on having something to say. "I could kiss you for this," she manages after a few seconds of opening and closing her mouth. "Honestly, I'd do it right now if your lips weren't reserved only for women who wear Estée Lauder perfume.""Well," Adora says, and she squeezes Catra's hand. "I told you it was worth it.""Honestly, I don't even know what to say. I never thought I'd see it again."Adora shrugs. "Do you like it, at least? As a gift.""Jesus, yeah." Catra squeezes her hand back, eyes wide like she still can't believe it. "I love it, of course, I do. I just, you know, I want to actually use her," she sighs. "I want to be hunting vamps again, getting back to how we used to be. But, it's - everything is all messed up, isn't it? I can't hunt vampires without a license and Angella's being an ass about my Union membership. But, fuck," she breathes. "It's almost worth the risk to have her in my hands again." She reaches out to trail her fingers over the wood, then pulls her hand back like it's too risky even touching it."There wouldn't be any risk in it," Adora says, as nonchalant as she can manage. The shotgun was only part of the surprise. Turns out she's pretty efficient at making things happen when it means it'll put a smile on Catra's face. "I was able to convince Angella to reinstate your license with the Union. It's only preliminary, but she said she's fine with us partnering again, barring any violations, of course.""Adora," Catra says, turning to face Adora. And for a second, it's like she's frozen, or maybe just in shock. But it's not a good shock, not the kid on Christmas morning you got me more than I asked for shock. Which, Adora should have expected—Angella did say it'd be a cold day in hell before she let Catra back into the Union again—but it still catches Adora off guard. Catra wipes her free hand over her face, then she shifts from one foot to the other, then she sighs the longest sigh she's ever sighed, and asks, "Do I even want to know how you swung that?""No, but you should let me feed you before we discuss the terms."*"Glimmer!" Catra yells. "You're kidding me. I mean, I know you're not kidding me, but really?""Angella says the only way you're back in for sure is with a Union rep escort," Adora explains again. She waited until Catra finished inhaling her food and was reaching across the table with sticky fingers to grab Adora's wheat toast before she laid on the news that—"I need a babysitter, then? That's what you're saying," Catra asks."Basically, yes.""I hate this," Catra groans, letting her head tilt back. "Ugh, this is dumb." Adora knew she'd be dramatic, so she's glad she's got the food to mitigate. She pushes another piece of toast in Catra's direction and watches her eyes light up as she grabs it. "I guess it could be worse than Glimmer," she says, muffled as she chews. "I mean, at least she didn't assign me—""Scorpia? Yeah, that was her first pick. I had to haggle for Glimmer.""Haggle?" Catra asks. "Angella doesn't do anything cheap. What'd you do? Sell my soul this time?""Nope, just two weeks of Day Shift," Adora says brightly."God, fuck. Just sell my soul, instead.""I don't think she wants that," Adora shrugs. "Too much baggage to pull around. Maybe after therapy."Catra laughs a little, then takes a deep breath and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "Fuck. What do you even do during Day Shift?""I have some calls that came in the past few days. All need day work." Adora pulls out her phone and starts with the least appetizing on the list. "The first one is a tip about a familiar feeding shelter cats to juvies. I think they're hiding out at the abandoned bowling alley. Five of them.""Juvies are barely even vampires," Catra complains. She frowns at her empty plate and Adora lifts her hand to wave the waitress over for another round. She'll need all the food she can get for this. "They're fresh-turned with infants as Makers," she goes on. "No thoughts, no brain cells, just blood. They're more zombie than anything else. Where's the fun in that? I need a challenge."Adora knew this would be a hard sell. That's why she brought options. "We can kill an Elder. But it's residential, and it'd have to be clean. Knives only, no guns. I also have a tip on a nest, but that one's tough, and we'd need at least two more for a solid job.""Netossa and Spinnerella?""Sounds good to me," Adora says. She taps her fingers on the table and waits as Catra orders another stack of waffles. "Maybe we start with the juvies, though? It's been a while since we've done field work together, and we might need the money from the fangs. You'd be surprised how much it costs to keep up with the restaurant rent, heating and electricity, pest control. Plus I'm taking trips back and forth to Jersey once a week.""Gross, what for?" Catra asks."Gotta visit grandma," Adora explains, and she can't help it if she sounds a little bit demoralized. Ever since she lost Geraldine, she's had a hard time feeling as excited about their plan. It felt like they were really getting on, and then she was just... gone. "It was all part of the plan we sorted out, and when Gerry disappeared, I didn't know what else to do other than keep up with it.""That's great," Catra says, slow and skeptical. "Is this when you tell me why you had enough high-level connections on your reconnaissance wall to topple the entire East Coast vamp hierarchy? I know I said I want a challenge, but that looks like suicide.""It's complicated," Adora prefaces. "Gerry had this theory that every uber vamp on that wall was turned by one vampire.""Okay, so." Catra pauses for a beat, nibbling her lip as she considers that. "Are you saying there are a bunch of vamps that can survive getting their heads cut off all organizing under and listening to one guy?""That's the gist of it," Adora says, like it's simple and she didn't spend the better part of three months wrapping her head around everything Gerry was trying to explain to her. "According to Gerry, there's some underground bunker set-up that has a bunch of information useful for catching him, but it's apparently locked and no one knows where it is.""You're basically Nathan Drake, then," Catra says.Adora laughs at that, except this is serious. She doubted Gerry originally when she said the landscape of vamp activity on the East Coast was changing, but it's become apparent these last few months. Even Angella has picked up on it. It's why she was less hesitant about bringing Catra back in. She needs all of the Top Tier vamp hunters she can get for whatever's coming next."There's this like, super old lady that was allegedly a familiar with the vamp that set up the bunker. She's supposed to know all about it, but she has dementia, I think. Gerry was having me sit with her every week hoping she'd say something useful, but she hasn't. Not yet, at least.""Your only lead is an old lady with dementia?""I know," Adora groans. She clicks her phone screen off, leans back in her chair and runs a hand through her bangs. "She mostly just calls me Mara and talks about sandwiches. It's why we bought the shop. She used to own it, worked there all of her life. We thought there might be something there we could find to jog her memory, but we've got nothing."Catra puts her elbows on the table and leans forward on her hands. "This feels like a shitshow even by your standards. Who the fuck is Mara?""Who knows?" Adora shrugs, letting her head drop to the side. "I'm assuming Mara worked at the shop with her. I can't really find history on her, though. It's like she didn't exist or she disappeared. I even searched back to the early nineteen-hundreds when the shop first opened."Catra clicks her tongue against the top of her mouth, silent for a bit. "If this is plan A, what's plan B? What do we do if this falls through?""I don't know," Adora says, frowning. "We just have to stay prepared, then. The change is coming whether we want it to or not." She doesn't want to think about that possibility. Honestly, she doesn't want to still be in vamp hunting if it came to that. She'd rather be in a cottage somewhere - the mountains, the woods - secluded and safe, with a garden. And Catra. "Either way, we still have Day Shift. You ready to spend the day with Glimmer?"Catra sighs. "Do I have a choice?"*
"Give me that," Adora says, snatching the notepad from Catra and scratching off the fourth line. "Be cool, alright?" she adds, pointing her chin at the window. "Glimmer's walking up now.""You mean, don't hit her with your jeep?" Catra asks.Adora punches Catra in the shoulder, holding back her smile. "Shut up, she's not that bad.""She's Angella's daughter.""Angella isn't that bad," Adora says. "You're just shit at abiding by the codes.""That's easy to say when you don't regularly have vamps trying to rip a hole in your neck and fist it," Catra points out, and Adora snorts at that. "No, really," Catra goes on. "Let's be real here: Angella hasn't been in the field since Ricki Lake had a talk show, and Glimmer's a glorified paper-pushing product of nepotism. But yeah, let's listen to them. Let me tell the sadistic vamps to hold on a sec while I make a phone call to let the authorities know there's suspicious civilian activity at the scene before we get the fight rolling. ' Hey look, officer, there's totally a guy getting his head ripped off, and yeah - I could have prevented it, but I thought I'd call you first' ."Glimmer taps her knuckles on the door, and Adora sighs. "Look, I get it. I get it. But please try to behave while we have her with us. Just this once I need you to at least keep your code violations down to less than three a day. Any more than that and I can't talk her out of reporting back.""Whatever," Catra mumbles, then she clicks the locks open on the doors.Glimmer climbs in, gets settled in her seatbelt, then leans back and says, "Alright, listen. As long as we aren't headlining tonight's news with something we do today, I'm fine not reporting back. The bar is literally in hell and yet there are still three-to-one odds in the Union betting pool you'll somehow sink underneath it. So just, don't.""I'm guessing you didn't bet against me," Catra says."There's more money in it if you don't mess up," Glimmer shrugs. "Besides, you've still got parole. I figured your leash is short enough at the moment, that even you could pull off good behavior.""It's how she got the early release," Adora points out.Catra slaps her shoulder with the back of her hand. "We have a lot to kill these next few days. Maybe you should bring a hat so you don't get blood in your... quiff? What exactly do you call the Donald Trump special on your head? I'm curious.""Yeah, no worries, it's called a fuck you," Glimmer says back, voice lilting like she's actually being helpful. "It came out while you were in prison, so you probably haven't heard about it, yet. I'm sure Adora can catch you up on it.""Real classy, princess," Catra laughs, and Glimmer kicks the back of her seat.Adora sighs, long and exaggerated. "Can we just get along? Please.""I didn't run her over with the Jeep," Catra says, like that's a feat. "I call that getting along, wouldn't you, Glimmer?""I could make one phone call and end your whole career," Glimmer says. "Just give me a reason to do it, and it's done.""Yeah, sure," Catra grins. "And then you're back to a desk job."Glimmer's silent for a beat. Everyone in the Union knows she's applied to be a field worker on three separate occasions, and Angella's blocked her application every single time. It's truly a wonder she let Glimmer out for this, even if it is just Chaperoning the Day Shift with - arguably - two of the Top Five best hunters on the East Coast."I want to be in on it," Glimmer says finally. "I hate sitting behind the desk and working with Scorpia and not going on the Paris trips. Train me how to kill vamps, and I swear I don't report anything that doesn't make the news. My mom doesn't have to know.""I'm okay with that," Adora agrees."Deal," Catra says, and then she starts the engine.*"Juvies are pretty easy to deal with," Catra's saying, pacing along the lanes of the bowling alley with her shotgun thrown over her shoulder. "You can shoot 'em in the head, stake them, burn them, chop their heads off, silver to the body, garlic grenade. They're just fair game for any sort of kill."Glimmer grunts, barely holding off the juvie pinning her to the floor. "Catra! For the love of God, if you don't—""I wasn't finished with the lesson," Catra says grinning, laughing as she walks over and nudges the juvie with the toe of her boot. "If you find yourself in a position like this, you have a few options. Your number one priority is your neck, protect that. Your number two—""Okay, okay. I'm sorry!" Glimmer yells, dodging as the juvie snaps at her neck. She's going to pee her pants, Adora keeps thinking. She's probably peeing her pants right this second. "Being in the field is hard. I'm sorry! You win. You're the best hunter to ever hunt. Please .""Fine," Catra hums, then she clicks her shotgun and blows the head off of the final juvie. Blood and vamp chunks splatter against Glimmer's face and she rolls on her side, simultaneously hacking it up and hyperventilating. Adora thinks to comment on it, or jump in, or go off on Catra, but Glimmer sort of had it coming. She climbed out of the Jeep saying, "if you can do it, how hard can it be? " and even Adora can't defend that from a hard-earned lesson. Catra's never met a rule she won't break, sure, but the last thing anyone can say is that she's not talented. She's just... an asshole. Even on her best day.The thing is, though: she can't really help that she turned out that way, and Adora knows that better than anyone. Literally from the very first day they started training under Shadow Weaver, Catra was told she was going to die young, and going to die violently. And Catra never seemed to mind the violent part, but she was hellbent on at least living long enough to 'retire with some dignity'. The problem is that Shadow Weaver never seemed to notice her. So, if Catra worked the drills twice as long or trained twice as hard just to gain Shadow Weaver's approval, then it didn't take her long to figure out that her dis-approval was a much easier target. It's pretty much how she views the world now, like fighting for acceptance is an inherent sunken cost."Let's just grab the fangs," Adora suggests. "We'll need all the money we can get for the shop.""Will do," Catra says, giving Glimmer one last look-over and smiling to herself.*After they pack the teeth away, sell all five sets to the Union for a whopping six-hundred dollars, and drop Glimmer off back at her house, Adora drives them home to her studio apartment. She stopped being able to afford their two-bedroom a month after Catra got shipped away in cuffs, but Catra just plops on the couch like she's home, so Adora figures that's a conversation they don't need to have.They end up ordering Chinese take-out since Adora only has fish sticks and six-day-old pasta in her refrigerator, so they're an entire box of rice and three episodes into the eighth season of Alone on Netflix, when Catra asks, "Do you think I deserved to get put away for what I did?"Adora drops her chopsticks in her take-out box, chews the inside of her cheek, then very carefully says, "Deserve is kind of a loaded word. I mean, it depends on how you look at it, right?""I know," Catra says, "but I'm asking how do you look at it.""A hunter died," Adora says back. "A lot of humans were saved, though. There's just a lot of what ifs, you know? And I think it's easy for people like Angella to say if you'd followed protocol we'd still have the hunter and would have saved the people, but in actuality, we don't know that. So, I don't know. I think you made a call, and had good intentions, and there was a bad outcome, and it's kind of fucked, right? And complicated.""Adora," Catra starts.And Adora caves and huffs, "No, okay? I don't ever think you deserve bad things, but I know you. And when you don't take the time to let other people know you, too, they just. You feel like a loose cannon to them.""Thanks," Catra says."Yeah," Adora whispers, and then they're back to watching Alone .The next time either one of them speaks is twenty minutes later when Catra stretches out on the sofa and makes a show of yawning. "I can't believe your craigslist couch is actually going to be a better place to sleep than my cot."Adora scrunches her toes in the carpet and throws her empty box on the trash pile. This is usually the time of night when she feels the most alone and her depression hits the hardest. So, it's weird actually having Catra here. Not being by herself. "You okay?" Catra asks, when Adora doesn't respond."Oh, yeah," she says. "There are sheets, I think. In the closet next to the bathroom door.""I'll figure it out. But thanks." Catra shrugs, looking around the apartment. "I can't really fall asleep right away, anymore. So - yeah, I just have a routine now, you know? You don't have to wait up or anything. If you hear rustling it's probably me, not a burglar."Adora can't help smiling a little bit. She misses Catra being around the apartment, curling up at the foot of her bed; making enough noise to wake her up at weird hours; surprising her with breakfast when she's having a good morning. But her throat feels tight when she looks at the bed. She knows this feeling, the heavy weight she feels sitting on her chest. She can't help thinking about all the months she spent sleeping alone, waking up in a cold sweat looking frantically for Catra, sleeping in late or not at all. Staying up and staying out and not getting better, just getting worse with each day that passes."Catra," she says. Her voice is a little shaky, louder than she wanted it to be with the Netflix paused. Catra looks up from her nails. "You could just sleep in the bed," she mumbles, nodding towards it. "I don't mind if you - it's probably better than the couch, anyway.""You want to sleep together?" Adora can't really look her in the eyes, so she just nods a tiny bit. It's hard to keep the jokes running when she's finally come face-to-face with the darkness she's sat with ever since Catra left. "Yeah, sure," Catra says, and scoots over on the couch to knock shoulders with Adora. "Um, could I borrow some shorts or something? To sleep in."Adora nods and points to her clothes basket. She never bothered buying a dresser, just keeps the same clothes on rotation, picking them out of a pile and finally washing them when they smell too much. Catra finds some shorts and a t-shirt, goes into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth, and comes back out in Adora's clothes. Adora's already in the bed, so Catra walks over and slips under the sheets, yawning as she sinks her head against the pillow. "Thanks for getting me a toothbrush," she says. "I wouldn't even have thought of that, like stuff I might need.""You think I forgot you?""Nah, just." Catra sighs, adjusts her head against the pillow. "I don't know. It's easy for you to move on.""I guess so," Adora says dryly, turning and staring at the ceiling.There's a lump forming in her chest, growing bigger the longer Catra stares at the side of her face and lets the idea of Adora moving on hang between them. They're supposed to be a duo; just the two of them against the world. She doesn't know how Catra could say that; how she could say it and leave it there like she actually means it. Maybe it was easy for her to move on. Maybe she doesn't need Adora."You certainly didn't make it easy to miss you," she says, then squeezes her eyes shut because she doesn't want to be mean but her heart is racing. She can feel this ugly piece of her rearing its head, and she doesn't know how to stop, how to stop herself from being an ass. "I kept having to defend what you did so much that I started questioning it myself. Did you really have to do it that way? Really?""It's complicated, like you said," Catra whispers."Yeah," Adora whispers back. "It's always complicated with you.""I know," Catra says softly, then she turns on her side away from Adora and they both pretend to sleep.*The vibe feels weird all morning. Catra doesn't even give Glimmer shit when she climbs in the back of the jeep, just keeps her eyes on the road the whole time and hums along to whatever song comes on the radio.Adora knows she shouldn't have said what she said, but she feels so messed up about everything. She hasn't spent a day feeling like herself since Catra left, where she wasn't falling apart or feeling sad or thinking about how much she wanted her back. It just - it felt like a slap to the face to hear her say that, and it still stung when she woke up in the morning. It still stings now, with Catra giving her the silent treatment as if Adora doesn't have every right to be mad that her best friend abandoned her and assumed she wouldn't care about it."You don't think about your actions long term," Adora says, setting up a metal wire across a door frame inside the house of the Elder. Catra's standing next to her loading her shotgun, and Glimmer is doing a slow walk-through to see if she can make the first sighting. Adora should be focused on the hunt, especially with someone as powerful as an Elder, but - she's not herself when she's fighting with Catra. They need to get this sorted out. "You're so impulsive and reckless sometimes, and it's hard to defend. You know it's hard to defend."Catra sighs. "Yeah, yeah. You're glad I got locked up. I gathered that much from last night.""That's not true," Adora frowns. She hated every day that Catra was away. Every single moment. "I just think you don't take into account that sometimes your actions can have a ripple effect. And even if it's not always your intention or what you're immediately trying to do, it's that you're blind to what you're actually doing, how it'll fuck things up in the long term for people other than yourself."Catra just shrugs at that."That's not something you shrug at," Adora frowns. "Angella had to fall on a blade for you and lost her spot in the International Council since she can't control her own hunters . And I know you're always like fuck you to everyone else, but it's not always about you.""Yeah, but it's not just about Angella either, is it?" Catra spits, and there's an edge to her voice, cut with anger. "It's you too, right? You lost your bid to be an international hunter when Angella lost her seat.""Catra, I wasn't—""I saw the letter," Catra cuts her off. "I saw your acceptance in the mail for the Paris position.""I didn't put the transfer request in," Adora tries to explain. "Angella just thought..." you were holding me back , she starts to say, but instead goes with, "I could achieve more than I was here. Like I could be something bigger.""Maybe you're better off without me, then," Catra whispers. Adora can feel the sting of the words the second they leave her mouth, but she figures that was Catra's intention. Especially when she looks at the wire Adora's hanging and rolls her eyes. "It's fucking useless, by the way. You hang that before literally every hunt and it's never actually killed a single vampire."Adora hates this. She doesn't want them to be mean to each other. "It's bound to work at some point," she says. "I mean, statistically, there'll eventually be one.""Maybe," Catra says. "But maybe I won't have an eventually. Maybe some of us don't get to go to Paris and do better things and have a better life. Maybe some of us die young, and violently, and no one remembers us. But who cares, right?"Adora opens her mouth to respond to that, but Catra just walks away. They manage to find and kill the Elder.But unfortunately, as Glimmer points out when they pull out her fangs, she's ten years short of actually being an Elder. It wouldn't be a big deal normally, but the difference between Elder fangs and ten years shy is approximately eight thousand dollars.Adora didn't want to follow up on the tip about the nest, but now she needs to. Now she needs the money.She really hates her life.Truly.*She sleeps for six hours once they're home, a combination of sheer exhaustion and resurfaced depression, so when she wakes up at 2am to the smell of something burning it takes a second to reorient herself.She stumbles out of bed with her eyes half-closed, scrubbing sleep out of them like it'll do anything but ruin her eyesight long-term, and she finds Catra standing over a pot in the kitchen. Adora's never been one for the silent treatment or being passive-aggressive or ignoring any sorts of elephants in the room, so her immediate solution to remedy this whole thing is just to tackle it head-on. It goes about as well as it always does. She gets out, "Look, I know we're fighting," and Catra waves for her to stop talking."I tried to make the stupid farro risotto squash thing," Catra says, and she seems far away, like she's spent all night thinking about shit and it's all adding up to be too much. "I even went out and got all the right ingredients, no substitutes or anything so I had to hit like, three different groceries in the process."This is an apology, Adora realizes, and that wakes her up a bit. "It's alright, it's probably shit even when it's done right. Just like you said. We don't need to make it." She pauses a second, then, "Thanks, though. For trying.""Are you better off without me?" Catra asks, and it scares Adora a little that Catra won't meet her eyes, but it scares her a million times more when Catra actually does. She can't take the sincerity of it. The question feels like it's out of nowhere, but it isn't. Adora even had a dream about it. "I'm asking that seriously. I've never wanted to be in your way, and I hope you know that.""Not at all," Adora says. "I never would have gone to Paris without you, and I told Angella as much. I don't care what anyone says - Shadow Weaver, Angella, or otherwise - I'd never think that.""But why?"Adora just shrugs."That's not something you shrug at," Catra mumbles."That's my line," Adora murmurs.Catra just blinks at her for a minute, and her eyes feel infinite. It doesn't help that they're so pretty and different colors and Adora gets lost in them every time they're within six feet of each other."Why?" she finally asks again. "Is it pity?""No, what? You know it's not," Adora says right away. "It never has been.""It has to be something.""More than me just wanting you in my life?""Adora," Catra sighs, exhausted. "Everything else is pulling you away, and I'm just pulling you down.""That's not true.""It is.""Catra," Adora groans, shoving her fingers in her tangle of bangs and pretending to straighten them out, giving herself a minute to think of, and actually say something that's meaningful.This isn't the first time they've had a moment like this, where the room feels too small and Adora lets herself mistakenly think that Catra's in this just as much as she is. And she doesn't mean friendship, because she's never doubted Catra there, but she means in love . Sometimes she'll let her mind slip and make something out of nothing: think too much about a hint of something on Catra's face, or the way Catra keeps smiling even when she looks away, or the way she sometimes doesn't look away, how her eyes linger because she thinks Adora doesn't notice. But, she never knows with Catra. It could be love, or it could be nothing. What if it's nothing? She can't risk that."Why would I want to leave you?" she asks, instead of directly answering the question. "We've spent our entire lives together and as far as I'm concerned that's a highlight of my existence. Not a dark spot.""I just feel like a weight sometimes," Catra says, looking down inside the pot again, chewing on her lip for a second. "I feel like I'm this weight you're carrying around and you don't even notice how heavy I am anymore because you've been holding it so long. But one day you're going to realize how light you are without me, and then you'll—"Adora hugs her. It feels like the only thing she can do at this point. It's not even a smart decision, because Catra smells so much like Adora it's overwhelming, but Adora just swallows it in and shoves her nose into the crook of her neck and closes her eyes. It takes a bit, but eventually, Catra wraps her arms tight around Adora's back, the whole curve of her body fitting to Adora's as she breathes in her hair, which probably smells like ass since Adora did a shit job rinsing out the almost-elder vamp goo she got caked in it earlier."You're being dumb," she tells Catra."Is it dumb to believe something I've been hearing my whole life?""Yeah, when it's not true," Adora says. "When you know it's not true and you're giving in to it, anyway.""I mean, sure. But I don't always know that it's not true.""You're not some big weight on me," Adora tells her, pulling away to look at her again. "You're a piece of me. And it's only obvious when you're gone, because I don't feel lighter, I just feel like I'm missing something. It's like there's this giant hole in me and nothing else but you can ever fill it. This past year has proven that, and its been so stupid, because I'm just like, suspended in time when you're gone.""Yeah, me too," Catra says, letting her head fall against Adora's shoulder again. "Is that good, though? Doesn't that mean we're codependent?""I don't know," Adora says. "Probably. But, who cares if it's good or not? We never have.""You're right," Catra agrees. There's so much Adora wants to say into the silence, just open up and let it out that she's been so lonely, that it's hard having someone always there, another body in her space, and then just not having that. She wants to admit to so much, even the stuff she's too afraid to say to her therapist, but she doesn't know if they're there yet. She doesn't even know if she's there yet, if she has her shit sorted out enough to spill it out for Catra with any real rhyme or reason."Let's go to bed, then?" she says, instead of anything else on her mind.Catra hums against her hair in response, and then they walk over to the bed, both heavy and slow as they climb beneath the sheets. "I think I deserved it," Catra murmurs, when they're both settled against their pillows. "I thought about it a lot while I was away, how I've been a fuck up ever since we branched out on our own, and - I just. I don't know." "It's okay," Adora comforts, and she reaches over when Catra blinks up at her, trails her fingers up her arm, and rests her hand on her waist. Then she pulls at Catra until Catra gives in and scoots closer, curling against Adora's chest with her arms resting between them."We have to take Glimmer to a nest," Catra whispers, settling in snugly, pressing her nose against Adora's collarbone."Yeah, I know," Adora says, letting her face settle into the smell of her shampoo in Catra's hair. "Angella's probably going to kill us."*She wakes to Catra sitting on her bed with the neighborhood cat, and instead of questioning it, she asks, "Do you want breakfast? There's this place up the street. We can do reconnaissance." "I named him Melog," Catra says, letting him lick yogurt off a spoon.Adora lets her eyes adjust to the sunlight before she hums and says, "I'm pretty sure it's Jameson.""Says who?"Adora shrugs. As far as she knows, he doesn't actually belong to anyone. "Fine, it's Melog. Do you want breakfast? They have omelets and bagels and this really fancy french toast with cream cheese.""Shouldn't we be saving money?" Catra asks. "For the shop."Adora watches fondly as Catra scratches Melog's chin, and decides in that moment it's more important to feed Catra good food than worry about the rent for the sandwich shop. "I'll manage, always do. Bills get paid.""Do we need to talk about last night?""Nah," Adora decides. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Paris.""I'm sorry I just assumed," Catra whispers. She lets Melog jump off the bed, then she sets the yogurt on the nightstand and flops on her back next to Adora, soft and pretty in the morning sun. "What do you know about the nest? Was it at least a good tip?""Six uber vamps," Adora yawns, reaching up to smooth her hair behind her ear, turning on her side to better face Catra. "Got a tip from a hunter that thought we'd be better equipped to handle it.""That's weird, right? Six of them.""Yeah, they're normally solitary. That's what I mean. Things are different lately.""Do you really think we can find him?" Catra asks. "The leader.""I don't know," Adora says. "But I want to keep trying. Gerry really thought we had a chance.""Okay, then. We'll do it," Catra huffs, like she's just now making up her mind about it. "I'm all in for finding the secret bunker or whatever, but we might have to consider something other than the old lady.""I see her again this weekend," Adora sighs. "If we get nothing from her then, we can call it and regroup.""Sounds like a plan." Catra rolls over and throws her legs over the side of the bed, sits up. "I guess I'll let Melog back out, he did seem in his element when he was outside."Adora smiles and shakes her head. "Yeah, he's a pretty happy kitty."Fifteen minutes later, Adora's brushing her teeth and Catra's lingering in the doorway of the bathroom when she clears her throat and says, like she's been thinking about it for a long time, "You're the only person that thinks I'm anything special."Adora stops mid stroke with her toothbrush vibrating against her teeth. She wants to object to that right away, but she's also aware she'd just splash toothpaste everywhere. So she furrows her brows and shakes her head and hopes Catra gets the message."No, it's like," Catra stutters, pulling her shoulder off the wall and looking down at her hands as she twists them together. "I don't think you understand this feeling, and I don't mean that as an insult, but - some of us go through life with everyone always expecting us to prove ourselves. And I know to some extent that most people have to prove something at some point, but it's - it's harder for some of us. Everyone's always looking for me to show them that I'm good enough. But, the thing is - they already have it figured out for themselves. They already know I'm not good enough, so no matter what, it's like. Even if I succeed, I don't succeed. Even if the outcome is good, it's still bad if it's not perfect. The bar just keeps moving higher. You're the only person that isn't like that. You're the only one that actually thinks I am good enough," Catra finishes, looking up again. "I don't know if that makes sense."Adora finishes her teeth and nods, leaning over the sink to spit the toothpaste out. Then she rinses her mouth, wipes her lips with the back of her hand, and says, "Yeah, it makes sense. I understand what you're saying. I think I do. It's like - it's easier not to try, right?"Catra nods. "Yeah. I just feel like I shouldn't give them the satisfaction, the chance to pass judgment on me.""Yeah, that's fair. That's more than fair," Adora decides. "Fuck them. Really. Who cares what they think?"Catra smiles a little, tipping her head against the doorframe. "Thanks," she says. "Thanks for not telling me to prove them wrong, anyway."Adora starts to say she'd never suggest that, but she would have. Just yesterday, before this conversation, she would have. She can't imagine how exhausting that is for Catra. Having to live that way and feel that way and no one ever getting it. Adora wants to get it. "I just want you to be happy, more than anything. And yeah," she admits, "I hate it when people don't see how great you are. And I know I'm always encouraging you to show them 'cause I just - I want them to see what I see. But, when you put it like that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't. They don't deserve your energy.""They don't," Catra agrees, smiling wider."I'm always on your side," Adora tells her. "Even if I'm calling you out on your shit, I'm with you. Always.""I know, it's just—""I know," Adora says. "I forget sometimes, too.""Yeah," Catra nods. "Yeah." She takes a deep breath, and Adora can see her shoulders relax. "I'm glad we're okay again, though," she says, her whole face lighting up this time with her smile. "Anyway, we should probably try to make it to breakfast, yeah?"Adora smiles too, letting her own shoulders relax. "Yeah, let's head out. I'm starving." They invite Glimmer out to the restaurant and she looks ruffled when she makes it, hair scruffed up and fluffier than usual. "My head hurts," she says with a rasp, flopping down in her seat. "I think I slept like fifteen minutes between waking up and tossing, turning.""Having nightmares?" Catra asks, and there isn't even a cut to it. It's like she's asking genuinely. It makes Adora smile, then think about kissing Catra again, then blush for no reason. Vicious cycle. "Sometimes if you accidentally get blood in your mouth it fucks with your sleep, messes with your head." She waves her hand in front of her face for emphasis. "Sorry about the juvie thing the other day, forgot about that.""No it's fine," Glimmer assures her, like she's shocked, too. "It's not nightmares, it's—" she sighs. "You know how you gave me the orange powder rub, the one you said blocks the scent that dead vamps give off so none of their friends or whatever can track us after we kill them?"Catra snorts. Adora covers her mouth with the back of her hand, but it's still obvious she's laughing. "I don't want to sound inconsiderate, we've all been there, but did you like, you know?""Yeahhh," Glimmer groans, tossing her head back to stare at the ceiling. "I was lathering it on in the shower last night and I got some in my butt. Felt like my ass was on fire until like, an hour ago. I can still feel the tingling," she frowns. "What the fuck is even in that?""It's Shadow Weaver's recipe," Catra laughs. "She's my least favorite person, but she knew how to hunt. We've never been traced using that stuff, and we've ruffled more than a few feathers.""Is it worth it, though?" She twists in her seat like she's tantruming. "At this point, I'd rather be ambushed at 3am than wake up with my asshole pulsing. I thought I was going into shock, almost went to Emergency.""They've seen worse things in someone's ass," Catra says, like she's trying for comfort."We can get you a pineapple bowl," Adora tries. "They carve out a pineapple and fill it with nuts and berries and greek yogurt. You'll forget all about the burning thing.""Yeah, and then we're fighting a nest later with Spinnerella and Netossa," Catra adds.That one gets Glimmer's attention. "We don't tell my mom until after," she says, perking up and grabbing a menu off the table. "I'll need more than fruits and nuts to take on my first nest." *They arrive at the nest just past noon, and find Netossa and Spinnerella already waiting out front in their mobile cell phone repair van. Adora needs to invest in something like that, maybe a catering truck or dedicated delivery Lyft, so she's less suspicious doing residential jobs during Day Shift."All quiet so far," Spinnerella says, clipping four garlic grenades to her utility vest once they're standing outside the van getting ready. Catra's sharpening the knife on her shotgun against some leather, Glimmer's giving herself a pep talk, and Adora's portioning out metal wire to set up at neck height across the front door."Kill even one with the wire and I'll cook dinner for two weeks," Catra says.Adora rolls her eyes. "It's better to be prepared than not to be prepared. I'm doing it for safety, not to win a bet." She keeps portioning it out carefully, making sure it's the perfect length. "The day it finally works, you'll be thanking me. That's all that matters - doing the job when it needs to be done.""Okay, but it's basically superstition at this point," Catra laughs.Netossa laughs too, then she pulls out the gum she's chewing, squishes it between her fingers, and stuffs it in Spinnerella's mouth when Spinnerella looks up from her vest. "Garlic gum," she explains, to Adora's raised eyebrow. "Makes it so your spit is like acid to them in a close situation. We don't take our chances with ubers.""Yeah, we just put a down payment on a farm," Spinnerella smiles. "Can't die yet.""I respect that," Catra says, loading stakes into her shotgun. She lifts it after, eyes glinting in the sunlight as she toasts, "To dying violently, but not dying young. To living long enough to get retirement from the Union.""Hear! Hear!" Netossa shouts, raising her own gun in the air."Stop, you're gonna wake the vamps," Spinnerella laughs, and that somehow earns her a kiss from Netossa. It takes every ounce of willpower Adora has not to look at Catra in that moment."We ready to rock n' roll?" Netossa asks, once she pulls away."Hell yeah," Catra says, running over and knocking shoulders with Adora. "Let's kill some vamps."*The nest has ten uber vamps instead of six, which crosses the line from suspicious to slightly terrifying. Still, it's not really a match for the five of them. Even Glimmer gets a solo kill."It feels like they're escalating," Catra says, smudging blood off her cheek with the back of her hand before pulling out a vamp fang with her set of pliers. "This was definitely a hub."Netossa presses her boot into the chest of a dead vamp and uses it for leverage to pull her knife out. "I'm pretty sure we all need to lay low after this. They'll be scent tracing for these vampires once they figure out they've all disappeared. I haven't killed a nest this substantial in a long time.""I've already reported back to Angella," Glimmer tells them. Catra and Adora make eye contact. They didn't exactly clear the nest with Angella. And they brought Glimmer. "She's not happy," Glimmer confirms, like she's read their minds, "but this felt serious, like something big is mobilizing here. I've been processing hunt reports during my other shifts at the Union and there's an unusual uptick in uber vamp saturation."Spinneralla walks from the kitchen examining a few sets of fangs in her palm. "The two I killed in the kitchen both had scout markings. I've seen it on a few others we've killed the past few weeks as well. I don't think they're mobilizing for a takeover - it's like they're looking for something and willing to lose a lot of vampires to find it. Any tip I get back is usually from them poking around for information.""Anyone ever say what they're asking around about?" Adora asks. Gerry had the theory they'd be flooding the area, but they never had the chance to figure out what for. Spinneralla nods, shoving half the fangs in her pocket, giving the other half to Catra. "They're asking around about hunters. They're either sizing up the area or looking for someone.""Anyone kill a vamp they shouldn't have?" Netossa asks the room, and Adora looks at Catra again. They killed a lot of vampires no one would have touched when they worked with Shadow Weaver, but that was years ago. She doubts they'd mobilize a vendetta years later and start it as a scouting mission. "They're not making a fuss about us cutting their ranks, which means two things that are equally concerning: First, I doubt these are more than low-levels in their organization, despite how strong they are, and the second thing - they're playing the long game."There is no they , Adora realizes. This is all orchestrated by a he , one vampire searching for something and using his network of progeny to do it. Gerry was right.Maybe it's time she broke the news to Angella about her theory."Glimmer," Adora says, "I need to talk with you in private."They end up in the backyard, and before Adora can get a word in, Glimmer asks, "Do you think I could make a good hunter? I know the juvies got the jump on me, but I got in a solid three hits with the older one, and today I was in my zone. I've been thinking about applying for a switch come summer.""Angella would never let you switch," Adora says, running a hand through her hair. She doesn't want to sound discouraging, but it's the truth. "I'm pretty sure she'd have a heart attack if you went full-time, or did anything other than Day Shift while accompanied by her two most skilled hunters.""I know," Glimmer nods. "That's why I was thinking of Louisiana.""Not a good idea." Adora shakes her head. There's no amount of money that would convince her to work in Louisiana. It's basically a death sentence. "If you think the Northeast is bad, Louisiana is at least twenty times worse," she says. "We once did a paid job there with Shadow Weaver and I swear I've never seen her come that close to actually dying. We nearly pulled out, and she never left anything incomplete.""Oh wow." She can tell Glimmer's working it out in her head, but she doubts it's convincing enough. Glimmer's been denied enough times by Angella, she's likely to take whatever position she can get. It's a dangerous place to be in for a hunter. "I heard Shadow Weaver is secretly a vampire. Is that true?"Adora snorts. "If you mean a cold-hearted bitch, then yeah. That shoe definitely fits.""She's basically a legend, though," Glimmer adds. "I know it must have been shit training underneath her, but imagine if you hadn't. You wouldn't be half as good as you are now. You probably wouldn't even - sorry, fuck," she cuts off, eyes going wide. She holds up a hand, apologetic. "That was insensitive, considering.""No, it's okay," Adora assures her. "You're probably right. Still wouldn't wish it on anyone else. Either way, I wanted to talk to you about something else. I need you to get information back to your mom.""You can't do it yourself?"Adora isn't sure how to put this. "I need mediation. I don't want her shutting us down.""You know something about this," Glimmer pieces together, both a question and a realization. "Do you know what they're searching for? When did you figure it out?""I don't," Adora says. "That's what Catra and I are figuring out. We think this all leads back to one vampire. Someone really powerful with a lot of progeny, and enough influence for them to willingly take suicide missions.""You mean Prime?"Adora doesn't respond right away. Gerry never figured out a name, but Glimmer said it like it's common knowledge. She wonders if Angella's known this whole time. "The Union knows about this?""Maybe," Glimmer whispers. "He's classified. Only a few of us in the Union know he exists, and any information coming in we either try to cut it off or shut it down. We don't want to cause a mass panic with the hunters, so we don't even hint that a vamp like that could be out there. There hasn't been any news of him, though. Not in my time, at least. I just know - I'm only this familiar because Prime's the reason my mom stopped hunting.""I thought she stopped hunting because your dad—" Adora pauses. "Did he - was he the vampire that killed him?""He did something even worse." Glimmer takes a breath like she's calming herself. "He turned him.""He made your dad an uber vamp?""No, he didn't do it himself," she explains. "He had - he made a baby vamp do it."Adora can't stop the shock on her face. "You're saying he made your dad a juvie? Glimmer, that's - fuck.""Yeah." Glimmer looks at the ground, kicking her feet in the gravel like she can't bring herself to look Adora in the eyes. "Juvenile vampires can't really think, you know? They're just all reflex, going after blood like a zombie. But, they don't attack other vamps. Which just left my mom as the only target in the room. She made it out alive and he didn't, so. There's that."Prime made Angella kill her own husband.Adora doesn't say it out loud. She doesn't need to. "Glimmer, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."Glimmer waves it off and looks up again, takes a deep breath to steady herself. "Do you really think it's him?""If he fits that description, then yeah. I think he has a lot of progeny in high-level positions in the vamp world, and he's using them to get his tendrils in the city. I don't know what he wants yet, but it feels bad.""Fuck." Glimmer nods like that makes sense, then sighs. "If you're working on anything related to him, Angella will definitely pull me. But, I get it.""I'm sorry, Glimmer." Adora tilts her head because she cares about Glimmer. She wants her to get training and be a hunter, but she's hardly sure she wants to be working this herself. "Tell her we'll play it safe. We're just gathering information at this point. If anything looks suspicious or dangerous, we call her first.""Of course," Glimmer says. "I'll also tell her I trust you two, for what it's worth."Adora smiles. "Thanks. It's worth a lot.""Well, I mean it," Glimmer assures her. "You're really good together. When you mess up, Catra's there. And when she messes up, you're there. It's like you have a sixth sense for each other." She looks resigned when she says the next part, like she's regretting something. "I know people gave Catra a lot of shit about the hunter dying, including me. And I know the protocol is to wait for back up and she rushed in, but - I can't help thinking it would have been different if she was with you. I get the feeling she was operating the way she always does, except you weren't with her that time. I think if you were, you would have survived." Adora nods. She would have. She's spent a lot of nights thinking about that. "You know her and can keep up with her, and you two, you're just as in sync as Netossa and Spinnerella. You're a team. He died because he wasn't part of that team. And Catra looks bad for it. I just." Glimmer pauses like she's chewing on that. "I don't think she deserves the hate.""I know. Sometimes I think it was all my fault because I wasn't with her." Adora feels like crying but right now doesn't seem like a good time for tears. "I should have been there, I know that. But I had this thing—""Wait, no." Glimmer reaches over and gently touches her arm. "That's not what I meant at all. I'm just saying you two rely on each other and I think she got used to that and couldn't coordinate with the other hunter. I don't think either of you is inherently at fault. I think it's just unfortunate.""I get that, but I made a promise. And it just feels like," she shrugs, "I don't know. Like I let her down.""What does she have to say?""I never told her I felt that way," Adora answers. "It's like I'm afraid to say it, because deep down I know that's the version that's true.""Just tell her that," Glimmer says, as if it's that simple.Adora kicks the toe of her shoe in the dirt. "Maybe.""She never mentioned you once." Glimmer tilts her head to catch Adora's eyes. "She never said if you were there or if I had Adora or talked about what would have happened if you were by her side. She just owned up to it. In all of her statements, all of the Union documentation. She kept you out of it. And I'm not saying she'd throw you under the bus, but it didn't feel like she blamed you. More like she blamed herself.""Oh," is all Adora has to say for the next few seconds. Then, "I guess I should talk to her."*
"There are really only three things you need in your life to achieve true happiness."
- Geraldine -
[Number Two: Something To Look Forward To]
Adora's trying to make sense of the loan payments for the shop when Catra finds her in the back kitchen. "Enough to keep the lights on?" she asks, flicking the switch off and on, probably hoping for a laugh.The best Adora can do is a smile. "It's doable," she sighs, dropping the past due paper on top of the electric bill. She's not even sure why she's attached to this shop, keeping it open. There's nothing important here, and it's not like she'll ever hire a staff, get it up and running. But that's the dream, isn't it? Doing anything but vampire hunting. "You ever feel like - ever ask yourself what's the point? You know, with vamp hunting."Catra shrugs and takes a slow three steps toward the kitchen counter, towards Adora. "I don't know what else we'd be doing. It's what we were raised to do. Who else had a childhood filled with fighting nests on Christmas and hanging fangs on the mantle like prizes.""I know," Adora says, "but we could be normal. It'd be easier, yeah? We'd be safe.""You don't feel safe?" Catra asks, and it feels like an actual question. Adora isn't in the right headspace to give it an actual answer. She just might break figuring that one out. She shrugs instead of saying anything, pretends she's reading over the bills again.After a too-long pause, Catra follows up with, "So, you quit hunting? Netossa was saying how it's nice to see you back.""It was only temporary." Adora nibbles her lip, letting her eyes glaze over looking at the numbers. "Sort of felt like it's our thing, you know?""Yeah," Catra mumbles, and this is the first time Adora really notices how misaligned they are. They've been feeling their way through things the past few days, but they're not them yet. It's like their edges are mismatched, like they're suddenly pieces from two different puzzles. "You're still pretty fit, though. For someone who's gone nearly a year without a hunt.""I used to train with Gerry," Adora says. "She was good to spar with. I kept up with it after she left, gave me something to do. Helped keep me from going crazy." She finally looks up again and she hates how soft Catra looks. It makes it feel like there's not enough air in the room, makes her feel like she should start making confessions and seeing where things go. "You're pretty sharp, too."Catra shrugs. "Plenty of time to shadow box in my cell.""Yeah.""Are you going to tell me what's wrong? You've been off ever since you talked to Glimmer.""I'm figuring out my words first," Adora says. "But, I will.""Okay," Catra whispers, giving her a small nod. "What would we do if we quit vamp hunting?""We could sell the shop," Adora suggests. "Buy a small house with a big garden and never have to worry about accidentally getting scent masking powder in our ass or wonder if some random vamp is tracking us as we try to grocery shop.""Okay," Catra says again. "I guess twenty-six is too old to die young, anyway."Adora's smile comes easier this time. Catra's great at pulling it out of her. "I know it's not super old, but I'm pretty sure we weren't meant to last this long in this profession. I feel like I've lived six lifetimes already.""Eating take-out every day will do that to you," Catra retorts.That one gets a laugh from Adora. "Better than whatever Shadow Weaver cooked you up in the prison kitchen.""Say whatever you want, but Burrito Surprise Saturdays were an absolute hit.""I bet you have a stomach of fucking steel now.""You say that like you don't," Catra laughs. She takes another few steps and leans over the counter across from Adora. "It's not like we were eating casserole as teenagers. I'm pretty sure we survived on rainbow trout and grouse the time we lived in the forest.""Fuck, I forgot that. We tracked that nest for like, six months. We were only thirteen.""Yep," Catra hums. "I remember I killed two baby vamps and still got in trouble because you almost died trying to solo kill the leader." "You didn't deserve that.""Maybe," Catra says. "Dwelling on what you do and don't deserve is a setup for failure, though."Before she can stop herself, Adora blurts. "Angella isn't Shadow Weaver."Catra lifts an eyebrow. "What does that mean?""I don't know." Adora shrugs. She has this feeling for what she's trying to say, but not the right words. "I guess, like. I don't think she has this expectation you'll be a fuck up. I think she's hoping you succeed. She took the hit," Adora emphasizes. "You did time for it, but - she made sure it didn't ruin your life, didn't stop you from coming back. She made it seem like a system error, like it was her fault for bad training."Catra sighs, soft, like she's taking that apart in her head. Adora didn't mean it to be offensive or like she doesn't get what Catra's going through, but she trusts Angella. It's always good to have someone to have your back. "I don't know," Catra finally huffs. "I feel like we're running in circles with this whole thing. We keep tossing the blame back and forth, but in reality, the fault should fall on—""Me," Adora says, low.She wasn't lying when she talked to Glimmer. She can't help the feeling, the thought nagging in the back of her brain keeping her up at night. Because behind all of her depression, behind all of her anger and frustration with Catra being reckless: she feels guilty.Deep down, in a place she's tried to bury, she feels that it's actually her fault."I didn't go with you because I was meeting with the Paris team. I said Angella pulled me in for administrative stuff, but really I was the one that put in for you to have a fill-in while I met with the reps from the Paris office. I just wanted to tell them I wasn't going without you. That part was true. I really wasn't going to do it.""I know," Catra says quietly. "I know all of that."Adora blinks at her. "And you still consider it to be your fault?""Sure." Catra pauses again, like she's trying to be careful with what she's saying. "I can't blame you for how much I need you. It's not like you set me up or wanted me to fail, I just. I fucked up. I didn't read the situation correctly. I don't think I could do this without you, but that shouldn't hold you back from doing it without me.""I could never. I need you, too," Adora says. "It's why I didn't hunt while you were gone. It's not the same without you. I couldn't - I know I couldn't do it without you, either. It's why I feel so shitty for putting you in that position. I should have known. I should have - I don't know, fuck."Catra walks over and hugs Adora from behind, resting her mouth against the back of Adora's shoulder. It feels calming and safe. It feels like them, the old them, familiar enough to help loosen the knot in Adora's chest. She can hold off crying, maybe, if they can just stay like this. "That's what you've had on your mind?"Adora nods. "Yeah.""It's not your fault, Adora." There's something about the way Catra says her name that makes her throat clump up. She doesn't want to cry, but she's close. Catra must pick up on it, because the next thing she says is, "I was thinking about that recently, how good we are together, how we rely on each other. And I think that's fine. I bet Spinnerella would fuck up too, without Netossa."Adora chews on her lip for a second, catching her breath. "You think?""Shit, yeah," Catra gushes. There's something soft about it, helps Adora center herself. "They're basically a circus act, and I mean that in the best way," she says fondly. "They're like a machine. You think a machine can function without its critical parts? They'd be lost without each other."Adora smiles at that, softening against Catra. "Yeah, you're right," she hums. "Did you see them today? Sharing knives and bullets and chewing gum. They nearly took me out at one point 'cause I got too close to their choreography. I think they're actually unstoppable when they're together.""It's like watching poetry seeing them work. I think we're more like - we're less coordinated, for sure, but we get the job done. That's all that matters, even if we don't have the pizazz.""We could be like them if we wanted to. Probably even better," Adora says, and she means that. She could rule the world with Catra by her side. They could do anything they wanted to. The only hard part is the motivation. "We already have the hive mind, for better or worse. I'm pretty sure I can tell what you're thinking at any given moment.""You think we'd be a good married couple?" The question nearly knocks the wind from Adora's lungs. "We could be, right? Netossa and Spinnerella get tons of solicitation for work, and I think it helps, sells the whole gimmick or whatever. We'd be good at that, fighting vampires and being married, being together. We wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. We could get a farm, apparently.""Yeah, maybe," Adora says, ears on fire. "Angella says we at least fight like a married couple."Catra snorts. "See, we're already halfway there. We could even have our wedding somewhere foresty since you're into that, and I could pick out the food, some of those really fancy hors d'oeuvres." Adora can hear the smile in her voice. "You'd be a beautiful bride, too. We could be them.""Yeah, that's - yeah." Adora tries and fails to catch her breath thinking about beautiful bride ."We'll be okay," Catra says, nose nuzzling against the shell of Adora's ear.The moment is unexpectedly intense. Catra's attention to Adora makes her squirm, so she laughs awkwardly to diffuse the tension. She wonders if Catra's being so sweet because she implied she didn't feel safe earlier. And she doesn't, is the thing. She hasn't felt safe since Catra left, and then the whole thing with Gerry was so intense for a few months before she disappeared with no fucking trace.The only thing holding Adora together at this point is her determination to keep Catra from falling apart. She wanted Catra to return to something normal, something stable, and she's neither of those things regularly, but she will be. She has to be. "I know," she mumbles, forcing herself to look at the bills again, distract from what's going through her head right now, the electricity in her body. "We always are, yeah?""Yeah, we pull through. It's sort of our thing."Adora can't handle the intimacy of it. It feels like she's crumbling inside, so she switches the subject. "Yeah, you're right," she says fast. "Are you hungry, by the way? Think it's past your dinner time."Catra pulls her head away with that, then hums to herself and decides, "Yeah, I am, actually. Starving. Do you have any snacks here?" Her hands are still hugged around Adora's waist and that makes it hard to think, so Adora's happy for her sanity when Catra pulls off of her entirely and gets distracted.By pickled pickles, of all things.She walks over to tap her finger against the large jar on the shelf above the convection oven, looking at Adora as she licks her lips. "You think these are any good, forgot how hungry I get after a good hunt."Adora frowns just thinking of what could be in that jar. "Um, absolutely not," she says. "They've been here since we bought the place. And judging by how old the jar looks, they were here for a while before that, too.""I'll take my chances," Catra decides anyway, then she grabs the jar from the shelf and walks over to set it on the edge of the sink. Adora sighs to herself, then holds her breath in preparation for the airborne botulism about to be released. There's no use in arguing with Catra when she sets her mind to something. It's basically talking to a wall, except more difficult. And more frustrating. "You want some, too?""No thanks, I'd rather eat my own mucus," Adora says dryly, frowning at the side of Catra's face. She can't believe this is the same person she loses her mind over every single day. The same person that nearly made her heart stop a minute ago with an offhanded bride comment."Suit yourself," Catra shrugs, then she twists the lid on the jar, sniffs an entire lungful of the pickles, and barely a second later she gags with her entire body. "Holy fuck, this is rancid," she coughs, then makes an awful sound in the back of her throat. "This is not okay to have lying around. Not okay." Adora lifts her shirt collar above her nose and stares at Catra with as much judgment as she can muster. "I told you that. I literally just told you that." She's wasting her breath, though. The jar is already open and she can smell it wafting towards her even through her shirt. It's worse than vampire vomit. It could probably start the next pandemic. "Close it already," she instructs. "You're gonna get mold in your lungs. Why'd you even open it?""I just wanted a pickle." Catra's voice is an octave higher, and Adora can't tell if it's just her defending herself or actively getting lung poisoning from the bubonic plague resurfacing. "I didn't think it could actually be this - shit, wait," she cuts herself off, leaning closer to look at the jar, blinking like her eyes burn. "There's something in there. It's like, wedged inside the pickles in the center."That actually terrifies Adora. They can't release a virus and a new species. "Seriously, close it," she squeaks, grimacing and squeezing her hands together like she's being attacked. "Wait, what is it? What's in there?""I dunno, I just saw it," Catra says. She pinches her nose closed as she reaches inside the jar and snakes out a paper-thin plastic bag from the sludge. Then she slings it on the counter and shakes her hand like she touched fire. "Adora," she whines. "I'm gonna get a skin rash.""Kill them," Adora encourages. She doesn't even know what she's asking at this point, just wants the smell to go away. "You have to close it.""I think I got it in my lungs," Catra says, like she might cry about it. "I can taste the smell in the back of my throat. My eyes are watering. You do it."Adora hates everything. "Ugh, fine," she groans. Then she sucks in as deep a breath as she wants to risk, and walks over to twist the lid closed on the jar. She takes it outside afterward, puts it in the dumpster and spends a good five minutes breathing in the fresh air, letting her head clear. When she returns inside, Catra's washing the plastic bag off with soap in the sink. Her eyes are glassy, like maybe she was actually crying. And it's what she deserves, Adora thinks; maybe she should try listening for once."I get to pick the food for the wedding," Adora announces, walking up next to Catra. "I don't trust you with anything after that.""Fine, but I get to be there for the tastings," Catra says, not missing a beat. She holds up the plastic bag from the pickles. "I think there's actually something in here. Like cardstock, maybe."Oh. "Take it out," Adora says fast, impatiently."I am, hold on," Catra says, ripping the plastic. "Yeah, look." She pulls out a brown piece of cardstock.On the back, it says, September 9, 1985 . And on the front, there's a recipe:
RAZZ AND MARA'S SECRET SANDWICH RECIPE
ciabatta or focaccia, no substitutes. chicken breast marinated overnight (buttermilk, salt, white pepper, garlic powder). slaw (shredded green cabbage, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrot, diced celery stalk, mayo, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, apple cider, crumbled gorgonzola, salt, pepper). spicy sauce (red cayenne pepper, rice vinegar, water, salt, paprika). alt. spicy aioli (calabrian chile, tomato, garlic, mayo). avocado is fine (if fresh). bread chicken before frying. enjoy!
They're in the grocery less than twenty minutes later gathering ingredients. They get an obnoxious amount of food, not just what they need for the recipe, since Adora can't say no to anything Catra points at or gets excited about, and then they spend the car ride home badly singing duets with the heat on high and the windows partially down. It feels good not to work the Night Shift. Adora's sleep schedule hasn't been this consistent maybe ever in her life, and she actually gets to have breakfast and brunch food at the proper times instead of sleeping through it.She doesn't know if she'd admit it to Catra, but she doesn't miss it. She doesn't miss the excitement or the danger, or fighting mobs until the sun comes up, barely escaping with her life.This is it for her, and she's starting to come to terms with that. She's done after Prime, and she hopes Catra's done, too.*They make a stir-fry when they're back home. Adora chops vegetables and cooks the rice, while Catra handles the meat and makes a sauce. Then they get the chicken marinated and the slaw mixed together and store them both in the refrigerator to chill overnight. They eat dinner together on the couch again, tucked too close to each other so their elbows keep touching. When they haven't really moved away by the time they're done eating, Adora wonders if they've both just missed having someone close. Maybe she isn't the only one that's touch starved between the two of them."We could cuddle," she finds herself saying in the space between episodes of American Horror Stories . She doesn't preface it with anything or follow up with an explanation, so it's not a total surprise when Catra lifts her head and stares at her. She doesn't say anything, just keeps looking at Adora like she's trying to look away but can't bring herself to do it. Or maybe that's just how Adora feels looking at Catra, like they're stuck staring into each other's eyes, and also a little like her heart is beating too fast, like her breath is coming in too shallow.A scream comes from the television in the background, startling her. "We don't have to, I just thought—'' Adora trails off, not knowing what to say. Her voice seems small, strange, and she wonders if Catra's picking up on it, too. "Sorry, was just a thought.""No, I want to," Catra says. She hesitates a second before she turns and fits a hand against Adora's waist, pushes her down until her back is pressed against the couch. Then she climbs over and settles on top of her, face snuggled into the crook of Adora's shoulder. Adora closes her eyes, and for a moment her entire world is Catra - the only thing she can smell, can feel, the warmth of her, the pressure of her breathing. It's like the safest place she's ever been. She actually sighs once they're settled, so grateful for the feeling. "This good?" Catra asks. "I'm not too heavy?""No, you're good," Adora tells her, looping her arm around Catra's back. She slips a hand underneath her t-shirt, running her fingers along her spine. Another scream comes from the television and she can feel Catra breathe out a little laugh. "Maybe we should've turned that off.""I could sleep through anything," Catra says. "So tired after today.""Yeah, me too," Adora mumbles. She wants to lie underneath Catra like this forever. Six weeks ago the only thing she could think about was Gerry and their plan and looping Catra in when she got out and having something there for her to do. She just wanted - she doesn't know what she wanted, honestly. But now she wants out. Now she just wants this, and nothing else. It's all she needs."I want you to feel safe," Catra says, like she's in confession. And then, quieter, "I want to make sure you're safe."Adora's still stroking Catra's back. She takes a deep breath and turns so her nose is in her hair, and feels Catra shift and pull a pillow forward. She lifts up and readjusts her head onto it, making sure they're comfortable. "I'm okay, I think," she says when they've settled down again."Yeah, okay," Catra murmurs, like maybe she's not convinced. She doesn't press it, though. She says, "Let's just get some sleep, figure it out tomorrow," and then they're silent after that, breathing in sync until they both fall asleep.*They end up curled together on the couch during the night, so Adora, the big spoon, has to untangle herself when she wakes up in the morning. Her chest feels cold the second she pulls away, but she sucks it up and tip-toes to the bathroom.She's in the kitchen making coffee when Catra finally yawns herself awake. She greets Adora with a small, pleasant sound, and goes to the bathroom herself. Then she comes out and leans against the cabinets close enough that Adora can smell the minty fresh scent of her toothpaste. "Morning," she smiles. "You ready for a date with dementia, and hopefully a touch of nostalgia?"Adora smiles, ducking her head, then she offers her mug to Catra. Catra takes it and sips from it without hesitation. "Ready as I'll ever be," Adora sighs. "I know her so I'm like, trying not to get my hopes up. How'd you sleep?""I slept pretty good. Think I needed that. I forgot how much of a heater you are. It's nice. In the winter, at least."Adora hums in response to that, pulling another mug from the cabinet to pour more coffee. She can feel Catra's eyes tracking her as she moves, and it makes the silence feel charged between them, crackling like electricity. "We should get to making the sandwich," she says, slowly pouring from the kettle into her mug. "We might not get it right on the first try, don't want to miss visiting hours.""Sure thing," Catra says, and starts gathering up ingredients.*They spend the entire morning botching every single piece of the recipe from the number of eggs in the breading to the meat-slaw ratio, so it's a wonder they make it to Jersey on time; with minutes to spare, no less. Who cares if Adora still has bread crumbs clinging to her fringe. "It's best to turn off all expectations," she says to Catra outside Razz's door. "You'll be in for a ride, but most weeks it's fun, at least.""I still can't believe they let you in a gated community," Catra says, looking around at the neatly kept rows of condominiums. "You have a key! You could be a serial killer and they're just letting you in like it's nothing.""I'm pretty sure both Razz and the community are convinced I'm her granddaughter," Adora laughs. "Besides, I am a serial killer technically, and I still show up to make cookies with Grandma every week."Catra snorts at that, and Adora tucks the Tupperware holding the sandwich under her arm to twist the key inside the lock.They barely get the door closed behind them before Razz acknowledges they've arrived. "Mara, dearie. You're late," she shrills, head shoved into a cabinet as she rummages for something.Catra leans into Adora and whispers, "Thought we were early."Adora shakes her head, cupping the Tupperware to her chest. "Just roll with it. I find it only makes it more difficult if I argue.""Sure, works for - oh look a kitten!" Catra says excitedly, immediately walking off to kneel in front of the small orange cat in the middle of the rug in the living area. "Good morning kitty," she coos, lifting up the cat after offering it her hand. Then she sits cross-legged on the floor as she brings the cat up to her face and bumps noses with him. "Do you want some attention? Yes? Of course, you want attention."Adora's chest aches with how cute the whole thing is. She definitely has to do something about her Catra situation once they're finished with Prime. Assuming they live through this and there's actually an other side of it. Fuck. She sighs. "What are we up to today?" she calls out.Razz lifts her head to look over the cabinet and shouts, "Arugula. We need to go to the garden to pick it fresh.""It's winter, remember?" Adora gently points out."That's the best time!" Razz exclaims, grabbing her broom and shuffling towards Adora. She stops short once she reaches the living area, locking eyes on Catra and walking toward her. Catra pulls her face out of the cat's fluff long enough to look anxious when Razz eyes her suspiciously. What follows is a ten-second-long staring contest, before Razz hums and says, "I didn't know I had another cat."The sentence nearly startles Adora. She was preparing a million excuses for Catra's presence, but that - that throws her for a loop. "Oh, that one's mine," she recovers, giggling when Catra makes an annoyed face. "I brought her to play with Loo-Kee.""She's cute, this one," Razz says, reaching over and scratching her fingers in Catra's hair, tickling behind her ears. Catra makes a grumbling noise and Adora waves for her to go along with it. "Yeah, I think so, too. She also likes belly rubs.""I do not," Catra huffs."There, there, kitty," Razz says, petting her head. She looks back to Adora, then. "Oh! You've brought a sandwich for Madame Razz? Exciting.""Yeah, of course," Adora chirps. "I mean, you're always making sandwiches for me, thought I'd return the favor.""Nonsense," Razz yells. "You're always making sandwiches, Mara. Madame Razz is the one to eat them.""This is so weird," Catra mouths."Shut up," Adora mouths back.She turns to Razz to repsond, but Razz is already turned around, walking toward the kitchen and waving over her shoulder. "Bring the sandwich, Mara. Let's taste it. We have to get to the arugula.""Should I come with you?" Catra asks.Adora considers that, but she doesn't want to ruin the atmosphere. They have a good thing going today, she can sense it. "No, I can handle it. I'll call if I need you, alright? I think I can actually get somewhere today.""Yeah, sure," Catra shrugs, settling down again and focusing her attention on the cat in her lap.Adora follows along and meets Razz in the kitchen, and she's surprised to find herself in an easy conversation. Not that it should be surprising, Razz has given her good advice on more than one occasion, even gave her a list of reasons she should confess her love to Catra. But they've been off the last few weeks. Or maybe Adora's been off, fretting about Catra's release and catastrophizing Geraldine's disappearance.She's probably the weird one and Razz is just herself."You know, I've really gotten into sandwich making recently," she tells Razz while sneaking a finger of slaw, right from the sandwich."You remind so much of Mara," Razz replies, picking up the sandwich for a bite. It's so casual it nearly goes over Adora's head, but then she registers what exactly Razz just said and feels the blood rush from her cheeks. This is the first time Razz has ever clearly acknowledged that she and Mara are separate individuals. She wants to shower Razz with a barrage of questions, but she's patient. She can handle this. She can wait until Razz is done chewing before she lays it on thick.The second Razz swallows, she quickly asks, "Who's Mara?"Razz stares at Adora the way she usually does right before she says she needs her glasses so she can hear. But instead of something incoherent, she looks off and says, "Mara hasn't visited in so long. She-Ra should have been awake by now."Adora has no idea what the fuck that means. "Who's She-Ra?" she asks.Razz turns and blinks at her again, but this time gives a less meaningful, "But you're Mara, now. You have to wake her up.""I'm not Mara," Adora counters."No," Razz says instantly. "You're Adora. You're the last of the She-Ra bloodline."Adora skips a breath, takes a second too long to respond, and just like that - Razz is back to, "The arugula, Mara. Are you ready for the garden?""Um," Adora whispers. She feels like her brain is stuttering, tripping over itself. She needs to contact Glimmer or go to the archives or ask if she can visit Bow and see if the Union historian knows anything about She-Ra. "I think I have to leave early. I have - there's something I need to do.""No worries, dearie," Razz smiles, carefully placing the sandwich back in the Tupperware. "Make sure you take your cookies on the way out.""My cookies?" Adora asks. She's so confused, she's forgetting her own rule of just going along with it."On the table next to the door," Razz says, and then she turns and starts walking with the Tupperware toward the refrigerator.Adora leaves her there and goes to find Catra in the living room, on her back now with the cat resting happily on her belly. "Hey, what's up," she asks, smiling like she'd rather be where she is right now than literally anywhere else."I'm not sure," Adora says. "She said some weird stuff that I want to investigate.""Like what?""You ever heard of She-Ra?"Catra looks at the ceiling for a second, then back to Adora. "No, don't think so. What'd she say about them?"Adora shrugs and hesitates to say it out loud. It feels weird formulating it on her own lips. "She said I'm the last of the She-Ra bloodline.""Spooky," Catra comments, wiggling her fingers.Adora rolls her eyes. "She called me Adora when she said it, though. It's like she was talking to me, not Mara. She never calls me Adora, so - I don't know.""What are you thinking?""Bow, maybe?""Yeah, sounds good," Catra says, groaning as she stretches out, then she carefully removes the cat from her belly to return to a sitting position. "We'll have to ask Angella for clearance, first. If we've never heard of She-Ra, I doubt he'd tell us without the proper level.""Yeah, I'll talk to Glimmer," Adora sighs, reaching in her pocket for her phone to shoot, what did your mom say? , in a text to Glimmer. "Let's head out? I think we at least have something to keep us busy, even if it ends in a dead end.""For sure," Catra says, holding her knees as she stands up."You're getting old," Adora comments. "What's next? Back pain?""That ship has sailed," Catra laughs, leaning over to stretch her back for emphasis. "Can't believe you're like a fucking princess or something."Adora snorts. "Who even said that?""Last of the line," Catra says, in her best spooky voice."You know, part of me just didn't want to tell you for this exact reason.""You know me," Catra says brightly, skipping over and locking arms with Adora, pulling her toward the door. "You want to eat again?""Yeah, of course." Adora reaches for the handle of the door when they make it there, but she's startled into flinching by Razz yelling from behind them."Don't forget your cookies, dearie. Take a box for your orange cat, too.""Oh my god, let's just go," Catra whispers."Just take the cookies," Adora says, canting her hip toward the table. "They're just right there.""Whatever," Catra grumbles, then she grabs both boxes and tucks them against her chest.They can hear Razz humming a song to herself in the background as they leave.*"These are totally grandma cookies," Catra says, looking at one of the boxes in the car. She shoves them into the glove box with a huff, then leans back in her seat, watching the traffic for a second before she's restless again. "You have any other tips for Day Shift hunts?""Not at the moment," Adora says, eyes on the road but her mind floating elsewhere. This feels like it's becoming larger than she wanted it to be. She can't keep it sorted in her brain. It's like it's all getting out of hand. "We should lay low, anyway. Netossa was right, we haven't killed a nest like that in a long time. There'll be repercussions, probably. We can't keep making noise.""Yeah, you're right," Catra agrees, settling in her seat again. "You're not letting this get to you, are you?""I don't know." She's quiet after she says it, and when Catra doesn't fill in the space, she sighs and admits, "This started as like, just this thing I was doing, you know? I wasn't doing anything else and Gerry seemed cool, and it felt nice actually putting something together but not having to hunt. And I think a piece of me never thought this would go anywhere, but when Glimmer--" she pauses. "I think it all became real yesterday.""We can back out. We can always back out.""I've been telling myself that this whole time," Adora says. "But after this, it's like - it feels like I can't. What if none of this is coincidental?""You mean Gerry?""Yeah," Adora whispers."I figured it wasn't," Catra offers. "She scoped you out, pulled you in, put you in the exact place you needed to be. This always felt calculated, didn't it?"Adora feels dumb because Catra's right. She should have seen it sooner, that she wasn't a random hunter that Geraldine wanted to pull in. She should have known a lot earlier than this that she may actually be an integral part. "I guess it did. I was just too dumb to see it.""Or distracted." Catra reaches over and touches her arm with the backs of her knuckles. Adora reminds herself she's not allowed to cry, that she's holding it together because she has to. For Catra. She needs to be stable. "It's alright if you've been off your game. I would have been, too," Catra tries, and Adora nods. Her throat feels too tight to say anything. "It's a good thing I'm here now," she goes on. "We'll figure out your princess situation and get this asshole." She takes a deep breath before she says the next part. "And then we're done."Adora perks up. "Yeah?""Contrary to how it may appear, I've been listening to what you're telling me. You want out, yeah? Both of us.""Is that fair?""Someone died on a hunt I was on," Catra states, and leaves that lingering for a second. "I'm scared, too. That could have been you.""It wouldn't have been," Adora tells her, almost like a reflex. "I wouldn't--" she stops short. She's not sure where she's going with the statement. She wants to say i wouldn't do that to you , or she wouldn't let that happen , but the future keeps revealing itself to be closer than the mirror is making it out to be. She can't predict that anymore. They've officially outlasted the average hunter's active lifespan. "You're right," she lands on."Yeah." Catra scratches her fingernails against the armrest between them. "Unfortunately."*
"There are really only three things you need in your life to achieve true happiness."
- Geraldine -
[Number Three: Someone To Love]
They have lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant despite having a fridge stocked full of food, and it's calm between them, neither one of them bringing up any of the thirty-two things that could ruin the mood. Adora spends the rest of the afternoon thinking about all the ways her life is crumbling, wondering why Glimmer won't text her back, and figuring out how many vamps they'll have to kill to dig them out of the hole of debt she's mounting. By the time the sun goes down, she's already taken a two-hour depression nap and Catra's destroyed the kitchen making mozzarella pasta salad, cheesy bread, and Rotel dip for a bag of Doritos she's opened.It'd be easy for Adora to wall herself off and slip into the black hole she's become familiar with. But Catra's by her side now, and it's also easy to let herself enjoy how good that feels, let herself laugh at dumb jokes while they get the table messy as they're eating, let herself get her ass kicked in Mario Kart and not have a care about it, let Catra braid pigtails in her hair and tell her she looks cute and keep calling her princess ."It's nice having a day off," she says. They're playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate now, fighting two versus six against level nine computer bots. Adora's standing on one of the platforms charging smash as she waits for a computer player to fall into her. "At least it's nice doing this.""What did you normally do?" Catra's biting her lip in concentration, air camping as Peach while Adora's playing Lucina because she loves the sword characters. "Like, while you were gone?" Adora asks, knocking Dr. Mario off the stage and dropping off the platform to edgeguard. Catra uses an up smash to knock a Pichu off the screen."Yeah," Catra answers, and Adora jumps off the platform to up b a Yoshi that's been particularly annoying, sending him crashing off with an explosion. "That was risky as fuck," Catra says, leaning over her controller. They always get randomly competitive at video games, learned a long time ago it's best if they can find anything where they can be on teams rather than going against each other."He's really fucking annoying me," Adora mumbles, going for a grab and a downthrow on an Incineroar. "I don't know, I mostly just - I guess I was drinking quite a bit when you first went away. Lost a lot of nights like that. Then I went and got your shotty back, couldn't make rent on our apartment, ran out of money to keep drinking, and figured bartending could solve my drinking and my money problem.""That does sound like a you sequence of events," Catra comments, zoning off two enemies with her projectile."Yeah."Catra glances at her. "Did you want me to say something more insightful?""No," Adora says, "I guess I just feel embarrassed.""You don't have to do that with me. I know I always judge you for shit, but I never actually judge you for shit.""I know," Adora says, chaining a down tilt, dash, and a down smash to take the last stock of Yoshi. Of course, they fucking share stock just to be annoying."Do you?"Adora laughs. "Yeah - fuck, like. In theory, I know that, it's just weird admitting when you're not okay.""Do you want to make a blanket fort?" Catra loses her last stock and lets her controller drop in her lap. Adora's still on two stock, but there's no way they're winning this."Are you being serious?" Adora asks, falling off the screen instead of putting in the energy to save herself. They're all crowded on the edge anyway, staring like vultures."Yeah, sure, why not?" Catra shrugs, lifting her hands behind her head and leaning back against the couch.That's how they end up rearranging the coffee table and Adora's chesterfield couch, plus the ottoman she keeps at the foot of her bed, two bar stools and books for added weight, into a precarious tent of comforters and quilts. Both of them lie on the floor on the inside, Adora sprawled on her back and Catra cuddled against her side, forehead nestled underneath Adora's jaw. It feels so quiet in the calm inside the tent. It's easy to get lost in the darkness, pretend they're in the center of the universe, like they're weightless."I felt like we needed a safe space," Catra tells her. She's drawing mindless little circles over Adora's shirt on her belly, and it's making it hard for Adora to convince herself to keep breathing, scared she'll knock her fingers away and feel lost without Catra touching her."Don't think the vamps can get us here," Adora says. Catra laughs, zigzagging her finger instead of circling, and it makes Adora's cheeks feel warm, happy Catra can't see her blushing."I remember you were scared to sleep alone," Catra says eventually. "You would find excuses I needed to be in your bunk, or find a way to sneak into mine when I was sleeping.""I'm still scared of that, I think," Adora says. "Didn't figure that out until recently.""Did you find someone to keep you company? When I was away," Catra asks, and her voice has that tone people use when they're trying too hard to be casual. "I mean, other than your old lady friend, Geraldine.""Nah," Adora says in a hush, keeping her answer short so Catra can't hear her heart beating in her throat."You sure? You're pretty good at not being alone.""Turns out I'm pretty good at being alone, too," Adora mumbles."Were you doing it to like," Catra starts, pausing for a second to swallow, "to punish yourself?""What do you mean?" Adora asks, voice barely a whisper.Catra doesn't answer right away, so they sit in awkward silence until she finally gets herself to ask, "Did you feel like you weren't allowed to enjoy yourself because I was locked away?""Yeah," Adora admits. "But that wasn't--" she cuts short. She can swear she's having a fucking heart attack. She knows what she wants to say, but - maybe there shouldn't be a but. Maybe she should just say it. She closes her eyes, swallows hard, and just goes for it. "That wasn't why I didn't find company."She can feel Catra go still on top of her, her hand no longer tracing circles. "Oh, okay," Catra says. "Well, I don't want you to feel you need to punish yourself. I want you to be happy.""Don't do that," Adora says softly, and the entire room goes still, like there's no air between them. It takes every ounce of courage she has to finish and say, "Don't just ignore that I said that. It's not easy for me to like - I don't." She loses it then, her courage, and ends up cursing at herself under her breath.She just listens to the silence that sets in after that, the vague sound of neighbors in the background, the loud thuds her heartbeat keeps making. It feels like an eternity before Catra says, "I'm not dumb.""I never said you were," Adora says fast."No, let me finish," Catra says gently. "I know you're - I'm not oblivious, okay?" she follows up with, voice getting airy. "But my head won't - you have to actually say it. Like explicitly.""Oh," Adora responds, and knows immediately she needs to say more than that. It's probably too late to turn back now, anyway. "I guess I'm really into you," she gets out, small and hesitant. She feels so hot she's pretty sure she's blushing all the way down to her knees. She opens her eyes to stare at the top of the blanket fort like maybe that'll breathe some air into her lungs. "Shit," she mumbles, "It's not I guess . Sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I just - I spent the whole time you were in prison realizing I fell in love with you at some point without even realizing it, and it took you being gone to make me see that I'm hopeless for you. So yeah, I'm really into you. Explicitly.""Yeah?" Catra says, half question, half confirmation."Yeah," Adora whispers, then she closes her eyes again and lets her head sink further into the carpet, trying and failing to drown out the sound of her blood rushing through her ears. Which is probably why she misses the shift: Catra lifting her head to hover above her, Catra slipping her hand underneath Adora's shirt to rest her palm hot against her waist, Catra resting her weight on top of her, sinking heavily into Adora like she's melting them together. Adora barely notices any of it until she feels Catra's breath on her lips and time suddenly stops."Is it okay if I do this, then?" Catra asks, and then she kisses Adora, squeezes her hand against Adora's hip, holds her firm and steady against the floor. Adora's frozen for half a second beneath her, and then she goes soft, kisses back like a sigh of relief. And there's something perfect about her lips underneath Catra's, nothing but the inviting heat of Catra's mouth, her fingers dancing on Adora's side, Adora's brain finally taking a break from lighting itself on fire and giving her a few lovely seconds of relief to enjoy this moment.The whole thing is so impossibly gentle it makes Adora feel like she's spinning, like suddenly she's the earth and Catra's the sun and the only thing that's ever truly mattered in the universe is This Moment. She feels all fluttery and jittery, and maybe it's the only clear thought she's had all night, but a large part of her knows that Catra's feeling the same way, too. There's a soft, wet sound as they break apart, and then there's only the sound of their breathing. Adora blinks her eyes open, but she's not sure what to say, so she stays quiet.Catra speaks first. "Say something, will you? I just kissed my best friend, I'm having a heart attack."Adora starts giggling, and she can't see her own face, but she knows her cheeks have probably surpassed being pink for candy-apple red. She feels like her brain is in a blender, tossing around it's okay, it wasn't weird, i love you, kiss me again . So, she's surprised the only thing her mouth gets out is, "Yeah. Yeah, that was - I don't know." She nods and the tips of her ears sting from the heat they're generating. She tries to say something more substantial but ends up repeating, "Yeah," again, and figures that's all she has."Lovely, as always, Adora," Catra huffs. "We'll just agree the kiss was a bad idea, then?""No," Adora gasps, before she even has time to think about it. "I want - it was good. I liked it.""You could say that, then," Catra says, and Adora can tell she's frowning. "I'm nervous, too," she says slowly, "but this is the one time I'm actually advocating we openly communicate with each other." "Sorry, I don't mean to be useless, that was just really nice," Adora says. She can admit it's been a long time since she kissed someone who knew what they were doing. "I've thought about kissing you way more than I'm comfortable admitting and that still somehow was better than anything I've imagined.""Adora," Catra breathes, and her voice drops low enough that Adora makes this embarrassing sound in the back of her throat, blinking heavily before giving up and closing her eyes again. She wishes, with everything inside of her, that she could have control of her body right now, that she could stop everything from feeling too much all at once and just have a normal conversation with her friend. "Don't say my name like that," she says, too softly, opening her eyes again. It feels like her insides are twisted in knots, like she's all tangled up and only Catra can undo her. But Catra's also the thing getting her wound so tight. "It's like - it's making me feel crazy inside.""Christ," Catra says, breathes it out like she actually meant to think the word but couldn't keep it from coming out of her mouth. Then she leans in, her blunt nails dipping into the skin of Adora's waist, and her mouth is soft and fucking lush as she opens it and starts to kiss Adora again. Adora moans into it right away, too much pent up inside of her for her not to, and Catra laughs against her lips, shifting more into her space until she feels heavy on Adora's chest. And it's fucking familiar, is the thing, like Catra licking inside her mouth is an everyday occurrence and they've been doing it for years. It's the easiest thing in the world for Adora to close her eyes and melt into it, let Catra press her head back against the carpet and kiss her hard enough her lips start to get the swollen-tingly feeling.She likes doing this, she realizes, kissing without it going anywhere, with no real plan of stopping. She likes being underneath Catra, likes slipping her hand under her t-shirt, scratching her nails along Catra's back until she kisses Adora deep enough her mind goes blank. She likes gripping her fingers in Catra's hair, feeling how Catra gasps into the kiss when she squeezes a bit roughly, shifting her hips against Adora smooth like a reflex. She likes everything about kissing Catra. She nearly whines in protest when Catra finally pulls up to give them air."I hate that you're so good at this," Catra says, settling down and pressing her nose against Adora's neck. "Would you prefer I was bad?""Nah," Catra laughs, letting her fingers trail farther up Adora's shirt.Adora's phone rings, then. Startling them both, BBHMM by Rihanna playing. "Shit, that's Angella.""Voicemail?" Catra asks, splaying her hand on Adora's ribs."No, Glimmer hasn't gotten back to me all day," Adora remembers. "It's not like her, we need to answer.""Fuck," Catra huffs, scrambling from on top of Adora, feeling around to grab her phone. Once she has it, she quickly answers the call and clicks it onto speaker."Adora," Angella breathes, and Adora asks, "Glimmer?""She's okay. She's safe," Angella says. Adora lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, only to stop breathing again when Angella tells them, "You were right about Prime. He's escalating in the city.""I was?" Adora asks. She's not surprised, but she's... surprised."Yes," Angella says succinctly. "Sorry this is last second, but I received a credible tip that they've been nesting in the tunnels beneath the central Union headquarters.""Prime?""No, but his progeny, other followers. They're thinking of mobilizing soon, so--""You need us tonight?" Catra asks."Yes," Angella says. "I would have given advance notice if I'd known sooner, but the tip just came in an hour ago.""From who?" Adora briefly wonders if maybe Geraldine has resurfaced. "How do they know?""Nevermind that," Angella shuts her down. "I've organized a strategy that I'll text to you. I know the two of you love to go off script, but we need to keep this organized. Netossa and Spinneralla are already en route, and I'll be making this call to Juliet and Castaspella once I'm done with the two of you.""Shit," Catra mumbles. "What if they take the headquarters? We can't let them access the information in that building, right? I mean, that's - it's all of our identities, where we live, who we've killed." "I know," Angella says. "We have the infrastructure to blow the building as a last resort. It protects the hunters and any knowledge of their kills, but it destroys all of our files and the entire archive system. I can do it remotely, but I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that," she sighs. "We're a central hub for vampire intelligence, so global agencies are pushing for us to hold off on the last resort by all means necessary."Adora feels her anxiety bubbling up again. "So, that's why you're sending hunters in blind?""Only the ones I think can handle themselves," Angella says.Catra looks at Adora, a simple glance to let her know she's okay with backing away from this if Adora isn't comfortable. And as much as Adora would love to take her up on that, it's just not who she is. It's not who she was trained to be. "We're on our way, then," she says into the phone receiver. "We'll do what we can."*They're loaded into the jeep less than fifteen minutes later, only pausing to take a minute to go over the game plan. Catra's shotgun is in the backseat, along with an arsenal of garlic grenades, knives, and ammo; at least as much as they can fit on their person. There's this energy between them, familiar and laced with adrenaline. Adora thought she'd feel more hesitation, but it's more like she's at peace with it, ready for whatever happens next even if it turns out bad or different than she wants for herself. This is her life, for better or worse, and no matter how much she hates it or wants for it to change, she has a job to do. And no one else can take her place."What happened to two weeks of Day Shift?" Catra asks, paused at a stoplight on their way there. "Is it just me, or does Angella feel like she's going soft? I'm not even supposed to have my license back.""Say the word, and I keep driving until we hit Canada," Adora says calmly, one hand on the steering wheel, the other reaching out to rest on Catra's thigh.Catra sighs to herself and covers Adora's hand with her own. "I don't know," she says. "If I remember correctly, twenty-six is still a part of the youth vote. Maybe we're not too old to die young."Adora smiles to herself and rolls her eyes. "We're holding on to that, then?""It's prophecy, isn't it?""I think it's more Shadow Weaver being an asshole, but sure if you want it to be. It's prophecy.""We're going to be okay," Catra says, and it sounds sure enough that Adora can convince herself to believe it. "We can't die right after our first kiss, anyway. Then we'd be just like the TV lesbians."Adora snorts. "You're right," she agrees. "We're better than that.""Yeah," Catra says, and then they both settle into the quiet for the remainder of the ride.It only takes twenty minutes to get to their destination. Adora parks the jeep in a secluded alley, and then they take a few minutes getting strapped into their tactical vests.Adora loads a boot knife into her ankle holster and a Karambit on her rear waistband. Catra loads her vest with silver stakes to resupply her shotgun and they both make sure to take at least two garlic grenades. Adora can feel her instincts kicking in, her eyes and ears and skin becoming sensitive to everything around them. It's weird how easy it is for her to slip into it, like here is where she's taking off the mask and leaning in to who she really is, and everywhere else is where she's putting it on, where she's pretending to be someone she really isn't. She keeps telling herself she can change, that she's more than what Shadow Weaver made her to be, but is she really? She's not so sure.She can't imagine herself being good at anything other than this."We might need more than we have," Adora says. She's wielding two Desert OPS Sawback machetes, and she can handle them just as well as Catra can handle a gun, but she can't predict what they'll find once they're trapped inside the tunnels. "We roll it in slow," she instructs, and Catra nods in agreement. "The other hunters are coming from different angles, but we don't want to get pinched. We just - we have to be careful.""I know," Catra says, reaching out to run her fingers along the back of Adora's hand. "I don't know about you, but I really don't feel like dying tonight. And I'm pretty fucking stubborn when I want to be.""You mean you actually have a setting when you don't want to be?" Adora laughs, ears still alert to every noise around her. "I guess there's a lot about you that I still need to learn.""You've only scratched the surface," Catra teases, eyes light and playful. "We doing this or what?""Yeah, fuck. Yeah," Adora says, looking down and checking her watch. "We're inside the window, so it's probably good to get in now. Not looking forward to it, though. Haven't been in the sewer in so long.""Scared to get your nails dirty, princess?""Is that like, our thing now?" Adora asks. "Do I have to call you daddy when we have sex?""Adora!" Catra gasps, and Adora can't tell if she's startled by the joke or the idea of them having sex. Either way, Adora can't help the way her laugh tumbles out of her. "Literally, what? I feel like - I can't even recover from that," Catra says, laughing along with her. "That just sent me into the fucking stratosphere."Adora snorts, lifting her machete to bury her laugh into the back of her hand. "Shit," she says, out of breath, still giggling. "We actually need to go. We're gonna fuck the whole thing.""It's alright, it's just this way," Catra says. She walks off and Adora follows behind her. It's only a three-minute walk to the entrance they were assigned to, and after a minute of leveraging up the cover, they finally descend down the ladder to start trekking through the sludge. It's just as bad as Adora remembered it being, maybe even worse, like the past year of inflation has somehow made everyone's shit smell more. "Okay, I actually don't miss this," Catra says, voice low as she takes a second to look around the tunnel. "I forgot how dirty the Night Shift could get.""Yeah, I hate fighting in the sewers. I never liked jobs with enclosed spaces." Adora pauses a second, listening to the environment. "Why can't they congregate in Ikea?" she asks, lifting her boot half out of the muck. "At least we'd get meatballs there. And it's just as confusing navigating it as the sewers, so they're not losing out.""We should go to Ikea," Catra whispers, walking slowly along the tunnel. "We could test out all the beds.""And the meatballs?" Adora asks."And the meatballs," Catra says. "Is it just me, or does it smell like--""A rotting corpse?" Adora asks, clicking on the flashlight attached to her machete grip and shining it on the ceiling. There's what appears to be a middle-aged male draped across the pipe above them, in the mid to late stage of decomposition. She clicks her flashlight off. "I'd say we're definitely headed in the right direction.""I forgot," Catra hums, "is this the part where I alert the authorities, or should I wait and fight the vamps first?"Adora laughs, shaking her head. "Bunch of hypocrites, aren't they? All bets are off the table when their sanctum is under attack. But when it's just the neighborhood..." she trails off, then mumbles, "Fuck," right before she turns and sinks her machete into the head of a vampire standing behind her. "This is a setup.""I was afraid it might be," Catra says, pulling a stake from her belt and sinking it through his heart. Adora pulls her machete loose and watches his body hit the floor. Just then, another one drops from the ceiling and she barely lunges out of the way for Catra to get his head with a shot."We need to get someplace more advantageous," she decides, heart hammering in her chest. "We're sitting ducks here, and they obviously knew we were coming.""Fuck, you're right," Catra says, turning on her heels and running along the tunnel down the path Angella mapped. She makes a sharp left and Adora's right beside her, keeping up and watching out for anything lurking in the corner, or on the ceiling, or... in the water.She sees him a second before he launches upward and grabs the pipe on the ceiling. Catra's one step ahead, getting a shot in before he can make another move. The vamp falls lifeless to the floor, just as another rounds out of the turn up ahead. This time, Adora goes in with her machete, dodging a grab last second to get around him and deal a swift blow to get his head off.Catra looks like she's actually on the edge of hyperventilating when Adora runs back to join her. "Do you think Angella?""No," Adora says, firm. "But whoever gave her the tip was either setting her up or being set up.""The other hunters--""Can handle themselves," Adora assures her. Between the six of them, they can probably handle whatever they're running into, ambush or otherwise. Still, it's a bit harder if they're the ones being herded. "We need to go off the path. They'll probably know our intel, know our next moves.""Angella said we shouldn't," Catra says, taking pause, and it only hits Adora then, how much losing the other hunter must have affected Catra. "I just mean - I don't want.""It's okay," Adora tells her. She wants to be more reassuring, but they don't have the time. "The others will probably do the same. It's a smart play. We'll think of something. We'll get through this.""I know," Catra says, "I just."She's freezing up. Adora knows there's another vampire close by. She can feel it like a Spidey Sense. Her blood feels like ice running through her veins and her brain is too focused on survival to know how to handle this. "Catra," Adora says carefully. "Just listen to me. Trust me, okay? I'll get us out."She can hear shuffling off in the corridor where they're supposed to be headed, and for some reason, the look on Catra's face completely snaps her out of it: her hunter instinct, her will to keep going, her motivation to push on. She doesn't want to be doing this. She wants to be back home kissing Catra in the blanket fort. She wants to be figuring out what might have happened if Catra kept inching her hand higher. She wants to be tilted after failing a dozen times to two versus six the level nine bots in Smash. She doesn't want this to be her fight.She doesn't want this to be her life.Adora grabs a grenade from Catra's vest, pulls the pin, and throws it down the corridor to their left, the path they were supposed to take. Garlic-laced smoke starts to spread out from the grenade, and Adora can hear the shrill hiss of a vampire bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. Judging from how the sound is fading, though, he's decided to move away from them, running off in the opposite direction. It could be selfish, and it probably is, but running in blindly to fight a vampire nest of unknown size for the sake of not blowing up the Union headquarters feels like a shitty idea when Adora hasn't even had the chance to properly ask Catra if she wants to be her girlfriend.She nudges Catra in the opposite corridor, and Catra doesn't protest or argue. She just tags along without saying anything, both of them falling into step as they run through the tunnel system with no real direction. They keep going for what must be several minutes, and only stop moving when an alarm goes off somewhere deep in Adora's head. She pulls them to a halt, heart pounding roughly in her chest as she gets this terrifying, eerie feeling that someone's suddenly close behind them. But, just as quick as she senses them - there's a hand on her neck.She knows she's off her game and distracted, knows she's maybe panicking a little, but a vampire hasn't managed to sneak up on her like this since she was just a kid and barely had training. This has to be an Elder, she realizes. An old one, too. Probably at least six hundred years old if they're able to move silent enough and mask their presence enough, that Adora doesn't even know they're there until they're touching.Catra's as still as a statue standing next to her.If this is it, Adora at least wants to know who killed her.Her voice is shaking harder than her legs when she swallows and asks, "Is this Prime?" "No, it's not Prime, Adora," comes the voice from behind her, and the hint of annoyance sounds familiar.Adora nearly pees her pants in relief when it registers why. "Holy shit," she coughs. "Geraldine?"There's a long pause after that, the silence only broken by Catra repeating, more confused, "Geraldine?"Adora feels the grip loosen on her neck, and in a blur, Geraldine is standing in front of them. She still has her bleached eyebrows, but she has her hair slicked back now, wearing a hooded dress with a fancy blazer to go over it. "Adora," she says, clearly annoyed this time. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me Geraldine?""Like six, maybe," Adora answers."Wait, is that not your name?" Catra asks. "I'm so confused."Geraldine snatches Catra's shotgun, moves Catra to the right, and blows the head off of a vampire on the ceiling behind them - all in the span of two seconds. "No, my name is Light Hope," she says, handing Catra back her gun.Catra takes it back from her, eyes wide like she's in shock. Adora's in shock too, maybe. She had no idea Light Hope was a vampire. Which is probably why her brain is ignoring that fact and clinging to the name topic. "You just look more like a Geraldine," she defends. "Light Hope is such a weird name, like a nickname your mom gives you because you're her firstborn. I just wanted you to sound like, more sophisticated, you know?""She has a thing for sophisticated old ladies," Catra adds in, like she's still in shock, herself.Maybe it's because they both realize they couldn't kill Light Hope even if they wanted to. Not with just the two of them. Not with the weapons they have. Not in this enclosed space. Not with her being as old as she obviously is. She could snap them in half in a heartbeat and be halfway to Mexico in the next ten minutes. Adora doesn't know why she couldn't sense it before. "Are you going to kill us?" she asks, and it feels small, too quiet, like the words don't actually leave her mouth, just perch on her tongue."No, I don't play with my food before I eat it," Light Hope says. Adora wants to object to being referred to as an it , but she senses maybe now is not the time for that battle. "You're important to me. Which is why I'm frustrated with you being down here. I thought I told you to lay low.""Yeah, and then you disappeared.""And that was your cue to not lay low?""She was never going to listen to that," Catra comments. "You sort of wasted your breath there. No offense.""I'm realizing that," Light Hope sighs, then she makes a terrifying noise in the back of her throat, and decides, "We need to get out of here. There are more vampires down here than you probably realize. And I could track you through the scents of the ones you killed from the moment I entered the tunnels.""To be fair, you're also like, old enough to be God," Adora says."Not older than Prime," Light Hope says flatly, and for some reason that makes Adora's stomach drop. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you? And you're just down here, blindly rushing in.""You left me," Adora says, and it comes out more vulnerable than she wants it to be. She can feel Catra's fingertips on the back of her arm. This isn't the place. She shakes her head. "We're not leaving. Our friends are down here.""You were running away from them," Light Hope points out.Adora can't argue with that. "Okay, maybe we were running, but - we shouldn't have been."Light Hope's expression suggests Adora's saying exactly everything she doesn't want to hear. Even so, the next thing that comes out of her mouth is, "If we do this, there's no turning back. We're all in.""Do you know how to stop him?" Adora asks."Yes," Light Hope says. "You're how we stop him." Then she walks past Catra and Adora back toward the way they came from, nodding off in the distance as she says, "Let's go get your friends."It's not really hard from there. Light Hope is faster and older than anyone else they encounter, and it's not like Catra and Adora are just kids being dragged along behind Shadow Weaver. They handle their own weight, each killing a handful along the way. Light Hope points out, with no real effort to hide her frustration, each time they kill someone who's actually a progeny of Prime, and Adora keeps wondering if they're really doing the right thing.The question gets answered for her when they make it to the central nesting area and finally find Netossa, Spinnerella, Castaspella, and Juliet already waiting. It's always the right decision to go back for her friends. They're standing in an opening that's been made into a makeshift room, the concrete around the pipes removed in a circle radius. If there were any vampires here, they're long gone now."We all okay?" Adora asks, walking up with Light Hope and Catra. Everyone quiets down as they join the circle of hunters."You make a friend?" Netossa asks, gripping her gun tighter. Light Hope's eyes flick orange in response, and Netossa opens her mouth for a second, then relaxes. If Light Hope wanted them dead, it would have been done already. "Yeah, we're all fine," Netossa informs them. "We've just been waiting for you, thought you might have gotten lost."Adora feels embarrassed about their deviation, but it was only a few minutes in the grand scheme of things. They've otherwise spent the time fighting vampires. And they had the added help of Light Hope. "We were just fighting our way through the vampire crowd," she says, "Guess we all can't be as efficient as the lot of you. This nest is already larger than anything I've ever even heard about."It only takes a second of confused expressions for it to sink in for Adora. No one else had to fight to get here. "We're being tracked," Catra says, before Adora can get the words out herself. "They were only after us." Adora can see ' I told you so ' written on every inch of Light Hope's face. "Yeah," Juliet says, "other than a few rotting bodies along the way, it was otherwise uneventful. It felt more like a set-up than anything else. These tunnels are a lot of ground for one nest to keep protected.""Do you know Angella's source?" Adora asks. Juliet is probably closer to her than anyone else. Not including Glimmer, of course. Who still hasn't returned Adora's texts."Not sure, but she must trust them to call us down here with no reconnaissance," Juliet says. "I'm guessing if you didn't bring your vampire friend, it would have been a lot more of an ambush for you two.""Hence me telling you to lay low," Light Hope points out. There it is: the I told you so ."We should get out, then," Adora decides. "Before they start sending waves.""That works for us," Castapella says."Us too," Spinnerella joins in, leaning into Netossa. It's so familiar and soft, quietly romantic. It makes Adora think of Catra's mouth in the blanket fort, how warm she felt whenever Catra licked across her lips.Maybe Catra's thinking about that, too. She asks, "How's the farm?" and Spinnerella's eyes light up immediately."It's sounding a lot cozier after this," she laughs, then adds, "I don't like not knowing what's going on. It's one thing killing and tracking everyday vampires, it's another going after one who has a plan. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the hazard pay," she smiles, "but my longevity in this profession counts on them continuing to see each other as competition. I don't know how long we have if they're all organizing on this scale." She looks at Light Hope. "No offense to you, you seem - we're just - we're on different sides of this, you know?""I don't care if you skim off the riff-raff," Light Hope says plainly. "Frankly, they make us look bad." She taps Adora's shoulder, then. "Come. We're leaving. I need to get you somewhere safe.""Me too?" Catra asks."Would she come without you?" Light Hope responds, and then she turns and walks away.*Light Hope gives them an hour to shower and get packed, and she hands them an address she wants them to arrive at in the early morning. Catra goes into the shower first when they get back to the apartment. She comes out ten minutes later in joggers and a threadbare crewneck, towel drying her hair that's already starting to fluff up. It's getting long again, almost hanging past her jaw since she's overdue for a haircut, but Adora loves it when her hair starts blossoming out into a lion's mane, thinks she's cute that way.Catra takes another minute drying behind her ears and fluffing through her hair. Then she turns to Adora with a grin spreading across her face, crinkling in the corners of her eyes. "I know the whole vampire thing just happened, but before that," she says, biting her lip, "When we were in the blanket fort..." She keeps looking away from Adora, only chancing up glances from underneath her lashes like she's protecting her eyes from the sun. "That wasn't a fever dream, was it?" she asks. "I keep convincing myself I imagined it.""No, it happened," Adora confirms."So, you really are--""I'm into you, yeah," Adora says. She feels an overwhelming urge to kiss Catra again, right here and now, just to prove it to her. But she's a gentlewoman. She knows it's rude to mess up Catra's fresh shower when her lips probably smell like vampire guts and sewer water from the splashes. "You're into me, too?""Yeah, of course," Catra says, like she's dazed. Then she blushes as an afterthought.Adora thinks she might be smitten."Good that's settled, then," she smiles. "I think I'll hit the shower, so I'm not - you know.""Yeah, please, this is worse than your usual odor," Catra retorts.Adora grins the entire few steps to the bathroom.Her shower is the most cleansing thing she's ever experienced. It feels like she's washing off the sludge of the sewer, the sweat from the fighting, and the blood and vampire remnants. But it also feels like she's getting at something deeper, underneath her skin: the ten months of loneliness, and the depression, and the hopeless way she's felt about Catra. She scrubs until she's smiling, until her skin is pink and she feels light enough to float out of the shower from her happiness. She doesn't even mind the burn she gets from putting on the masking powder, when it's sinking into the raw bits of her freshly scrubbed skin. That just feels cleansing too, somehow.Everything feels better now that she finally has Catra. She brushes her teeth when she's finished, and wraps herself in her bathrobe since she forgot to take her clothes in. Catra's lying on the bed when she comes out, and Adora can see that she's organized a few outfits in separate piles on the floor. The Switch case is also lying next to the bag she was supposed to be packing, but she probably got too distracted to actually put anything inside of it. She's curled on her side on her phone now, but she glances up and lets it drop onto the bed when Adora shuts the bathroom door behind her."Hi," she says, smiling wide."Hey," Adora says automatically, then stops short once she starts to take a step. It only occurs to her now that she's just in a robe, and she and Catra are in this brand new, very delicate situationship. One where they make out and unabashedly say they like each other and Catra trails her hand underneath Adora's shirt, and Adora wishes Angella didn't call and interrupt her finding out what could have happened next.She feels weird and flushed thinking about it all for the next two seconds. Then she remembers that Catra's seen her naked at least a thousand before, and it doesn't make sense for it to matter anymore."Hey," Adora says again, and she practically skips across the room to hop on the bed right next to Catra."Your hair is wet," Catra points out."Astute observation, I also brushed my teeth," Adora hums. She says it to draw attention to her mouth. And it works, apparently, since Catra pulls her down to tease her by licking her lips, switching to placing little kisses all over Adora's face once it gets too wet between them.Adora sinks into her completely and grins, straddling Catra's thigh as she adjusts herself to get a hand underneath her sweatshirt. This time it isn't Catra pinning her down against the floor, so she has more room to do the things she wants to do. She digs her nails into Catra's waist and shifts her hips forward, making Catra gasp and leave her mouth hanging open so Adora can dip her tongue between her lips.It's nice kissing her like this, how soft and open Catra gets when she finally melts into it. She's fun and she's prickly, harsh, and too playful, or overwhelmingly everything at once. But she's different when she's letting Adora lick inside her mouth. And it's not even a fucking revelation, since everyone is different when they're kissing - that's the point - but Adora can't get enough of Catra's sharp breaths and soft moans. She can't get over how her chest quakes when Adora bites her lip, or how she's compliant when she's asked to be or takes over when she needs to. She's this whole new person when she's underneath Adora, and there's something exciting about that after twenty-six years of Adora thinking she knew everything about Catra that she possibly could know."Christ," she breathes, lifting up but keeping her lips just barely brushing against Catra's mouth. She feels so hot between her legs she wouldn't be surprised if she's soaked through Catra's joggers by now. "I know we're on a time constraint, but this feels too good to try stopping."Catra kisses her small and quick, then sighs a little, toying with her robe. "Can I ask you something?"Adora shifts against her, letting her eyes close with the friction. "Yeah, anything." "You don't have to answer," Catra starts with, "but did you only figure out you liked me when I was gone?"The question makes the room feel cold. Adora opens her eyes. She has a long, complicated response to that, but she's not so sure her brain could handle complex right this second. "Sort of," she answers honestly. "I just, I missed you so much, and at first it felt normal, like grief after someone's gone, and then it felt like, extra.""God, Adora," Catra murmurs, voice dropping in a way that makes Adora feel hot all over again. She slips her hands underneath Adora's robe and starts trailing up her thighs. "You drive me fucking crazy."The way she breathes it out makes Adora's belly twist hard enough it aches. She has to wait for it to calm before she says, "It's not intentional, just an occupational hazard of dating me."Catra pulls her back in and kisses her again. Adora settles heavily on top of her, rocking her hips and hoping it'll convince Catra to let her hands explore higher. "So, we're dating now?" she asks, giving Adora what she wants and pushing her hands high enough to cup her ass beneath her robe. Adora grips at her hip to anchor herself, fingers still underneath Catra's sweatshirt where there's warm, soft skin she can dig her nails into. Catra flexes her thigh between her legs, making Adora drop her head and moan against her lips. "Eager, aren't we?""Yeah," Adora breathes. It slips out of her like a reflex, broken and thoughtless as she runs on nothing but touch and the instinct to keep humping into Catra. She can feel Catra's nails digging into her skin, just on the edge of stinging, and she loves it so much it makes her frantic thinking what if they're actually not dating? "You don't want me?" she asks, which isn't the question she was aiming for, but it somehow gets her more than she was asking for."Fuck," Catra grunts, pulling her hands off like she's frustrated. Then she flips them over and gets her hips in between Adora's thighs, hovering above her with pretty, flushed cheeks and kissed-red lips. "It's not fair for you to ask me that," she says, and it sounds like she's breaking, but she's also digging her thumbs into Adora's waist, slowly circling her hips and giving Adora just enough friction. "We'll be late, won't we?"Adora hums at that until she realizes it's an actual question. She blinks a few times and tries to clear out her head, finally remembering they were doing something else before this. "Maybe," she says, still struggling to find something useful to say. "Do we still need time to pack?""Only a little," Catra says. And maybe the only thing unfair about this situation is the fact that she can slowly hump into Adora and still have the sense to formulate a sentence. "Our guns and knives are in the jeep, and it won't take ten minutes to throw some clothes and snacks into a duffle," she plans out loud. Those are both good points, Adora thinks, but she's on her back trying to get fucked, so anything that comes out of Catra's mouth is good enough for her to go along with at this point. "We have twenty minutes, maybe? And even that's pushing it.""That's okay," Adora decides, and it gets a smile from Catra. "Don't know if you can tell, but I'm pretty easy."Catra's laugh gushes out of her as she shakes her head at that. She looks so young for a second, like she's out of her depth trying to take this all in, pull it all apart. "I mean, yeah. Me too, actually," she finally says, then she lifts her hand and tucks her finger under the knot holding Adora's robe together. "Is this alright? If I undo this.""Yeah, of course," Adora says, torn between undoing it herself to get it done faster, or letting Catra undress her and getting to watch as she does it.She settles on the latter, and she's glad for it, too - gets to watch the way Catra's breath hitches the moment she pushes the robe apart, mouth falling open as she drinks Adora in. It's only obvious in this moment that maybe she's seen Adora naked before, but she's never actually seen Adora naked before. Not like this, not with every inch of Adora being free for her to explore and touch. She reaches up to cup Adora's breast, gently running the pad of her thumb over her nipple, and then she licks her lips and swallows like her mouth is too full, like she's salivating.Adora's so turned on watching what Catra does with her mouth, that she just might conjure up a demon with how hard she's manifesting. It's actually getting ridiculous - her thighs are trembling from bringing up the thought alone of Catra eating her out. "Fuck," she mumbles, ears getting warmer as she stares up at Catra, fully aware that she's flushed down to her chest and it's probably obvious how close she is already.Catra looks her over with her lips slightly parted, eyes trailing lower down Adora's body as she licks them again. "Can I?" she asks, voice getting raspy in that way it usually does when she tries to whisper. She's wavering on the edge of almost being confident, and that gets to Adora more than if Catra were absolutely sure over herself. When she flicks her eyes up again, it's surprising just how dark they've gotten.Adora's vaguely aware she was asked a question, but her breath feels lodged in her throat. "Yeah," she manages. "Yeah. shit, that's even fancier than I was expecting, to be honest.""Please," Catra laughs, so soft it's sweet. "You'll barely even last. Won't even get to enjoy my jaw being sore."Adora giggles, both because she's spacing, and also because it's true. "There's always next time, yeah?"Catra leans forward and kisses her lips, then kisses her high on her ribs, nose nuzzled right beneath Adora's breasts. "I usually like to take my time," she says, humming as she shifts back and kisses lower, and then she kisses lower again and lower again, until she's settled on her belly in between Adora's legs. Her breath alone has Adora's hips jerking. "But, I guess this is what happens when your girlfriend deprives herself for ten months while you're gone." She smiles as she looks up, trailing slow kisses along the inside of Adora's thigh. And it's entirely unfair how she's unraveling Adora, slowly taking her apart, doing it on purpose and casually being smug about it.Adora grips her fingers in Catra's hair and gently squeezes. "Girlfriend?" she asks, loving the feeling of holding the word in her mouth, rolling it off her tongue."Well, you're not just my friend," Catra hums, letting her lips trail along the crease of Adora's thigh."Yeah," Adora huffs. It's like she can't keep her head from spinning. "Maybe I didn't deprive myself," she revisits, and then she moans involuntarily when Catra lifts her hand and gently runs her knuckle along how wet she is. Her thighs open wider and her hips snap forward; then Catra turns her hand and sinks her finger inside Adora so quickly that Adora hardly realizes what's happening before she's instinctually rocking against it, arching her back with it. Catra curls her finger, presses up, and quirks her eyebrow like a question. Fuck. "Okay, yeah, maybe I did a little bit," she admits, voice coming out too breathy now. "There's always hindsight.""It's okay, you're pretty hot when you're aching for it," Catra says, then she drops her head lower and finally licks over Adora's clit, sucks it between her lips and makes it wet enough that Adora can hear the sound of it when she pulls up. "I could do this all night if we had the time," she whispers, and there's something too soft and too caring about the way she says it. Adora grips her fingers tighter in her hair, and Catra breathes her in, shaking her head like she's just now starting to lose herself. It's almost reverent when she says, "You're not fair, you know?"Adora assumes it's a rhetorical question, but she still asks "Why is that?", just to keep Catra talking, loves to hear the sound of her voice.Catra takes a few seconds to rub her lips against Adora's clit, like it's indulgent, just for herself, because she enjoys how it feels. Then she closes her eyes and says, "Because you're just as perfect as everyone says you are."Normally Adora would object, but the way Catra says it makes it feel like something she can't argue with. So she lifts her hips in response, letting them drop slowly. Then she does it again and again and again, until her head feels like it'll explode, until she's fucking herself on Catra's fingers, getting off more than she's willing to admit on the fact that Catra's just watching as she does it. It's like her entire body is trying to rip itself apart with how good she feels, heat curling in her belly and thighs, flooding her head, her chest.She's just about to beg for Catra to put her mouth on her again, when Catra leans forward and does it without direction - sucks Adora's clit between her lips and rolls her tongue around it. Adora closes her eyes and lets her head fall back, and she comes just like that, ears too full to know if she's even making sounds, her belly contracting like the orgasm is actually shocked out of her body.She almost feels embarrassed with how hard it is, how her body keeps jumping with little aftershocks following it. She’s still shaking from it when she starts to giggle and loosen her thighs from around Catra's head. "Fuck," she breathes. Her head is spinning and she feels a little spaced out, but she's still aware enough to realize, "Your confidence is going to be astronomical after this, isn't it?""You say that like it already wasn't," Catra laughs. Adora opens her eyes to watch her smile. "Hey, there," she says, climbing up Adora's body to place a sloppy kiss against her lips. Adora preens into it, reveling in how good she tastes when she's licking herself off of Catra's mouth. She fucking adores Catra, even more than her heart can handle. "Should I get myself off, too, or do you want the satisfaction of touching me for six seconds before I'm done?""Easiest decision ever," Adora sighs, happily, raising her knees as Catra pulls up and falls on her back right next to Adora. She thinks about lifting up so she can watch Catra as she looks down. But instead, she rolls on her side and pushes Catra with her, curls herself around Catra's back, and sneaks her hand underneath her sweatshirt. Then she reaches up and pinches Catra's nipple through the fabric of her sports bra. Catra juts her hips, grinding her ass back shamelessly against Adora. It's tempting to keep going like that - playing with her nipples and feeling Catra lose her mind from it - but Adora wants to make the most of her six seconds. "You should lift your leg," she says, dropping her hand to dip her thumb in Catra's waistband.Catra does as she says without hesitation and Adora pulls at the elastic of her pants, stretches it out, and lets it pop back against Catra's skin, kisses her neck as she grinds back against Adora again. "Look at that," Adora whispers, dipping her fingers below the waistband, scratching her nails in the soft patch of hair beneath the fabric. "I think that's already more than six seconds. Someone's an overachiever.""Adora," Catra whines, voice cracking like she's breaking as she turns and rubs her face against the comforter, ruffling her hair into an even bigger mess across her forehead. Adora closes her eyes and tries to steady herself, sniffing in the smell of Catra's body wash with her nose pushed against her neck. She could get lost in it if she wanted to, lose herself to the moment, and let them stay just like this. But she can't. As much as she would love to say fuck it and blow through the time constraint, she knows that Light Hope might just run down the highway and punch a hole in the hood of her jeep for making her wait a minute longer than she instructed. "You should touch me," Catra says, muffled against the sheets, "like – you can, like, inside of me, if you want. I like that." Her voice drops as she says it, whether because she's embarrassed or too spaced out, Adora doesn't know. Catra reaches for her wrist and pulls Adora's hand up to her mouth. "Here," she says, and sucks two of Adora's fingers in, swirling her tongue around them, getting them sloppy with her spit. Adora feels like she does a full reset, like her mind blanks out, and it's just her hips rocking into Catra as she slowly shoves her fingers deeper inside her mouth, dragging them out and pushing them back in just to hear Catra moan around them.Catra pulls off after a bit with a wet little noise, voice rasping when she says, "Please," and then again when she says, "we'll have to go soon, won't we?"The fact that Catra is begging for this is making Adora's chest swell, making her hump against Catra's ass like she's ready to come all over again. She reaches down and dips her hand back inside Catra's pants, sliding right past the patch of hair to rub her wet fingers in how slick Catra is, teasing her and getting a feel for it. Catra's gone all shuddery underneath her, eyes closed and lips parted, grinding her hips down into Adora's touch, breathing out yeah, and please, and just like that, like she's gone from pleading to starting up chant.Adora stops circling and slowly pushes one wet finger inside, pressing her palm against Catra's clit to give her friction as she works her hips into a rhythm. And then she starts chanting yeah yeah yeah, all over again, voice getting shaky, hips getting erratic as she bites against the covers. It only takes a second of Adora slipping her fingers out to circle over her clit for her to come apart, legs snapping tight around Adora's wrist as her body shakes with her orgasm.She stills after a minute, with her nose still pressed against the bed, hair both fluffed up and sweated against her forehead. It takes another few seconds for her breathing to settle down, then finally she's able to lift her head. "Jesus, Adora," she says weakly, and Adora can hear the smile in her voice.Adora starts to laugh, her face still shoved against Catra's neck, the hair underneath her lips damp from the condensation. "What now?" she asks softly, tightening her arm around Catra's waist."Well," Catra sighs. "Don't think we can sleep it off, can we?""Nah," Adora breathes, "It's a shame, too. You're so soft like this.""Fuck," Catra huffs. "I want to make out again, run my fingers through your hair. I want - god, we have to pack, though." "Yeah," Adora says, "Yeah." Then she breathes in another sigh, and falls on her back to break them apart.*It's still dark when they start the drive after stopping for gas, still enough time to make it to the coordinates of the cabin Light Hope gave them before the sun comes up. Catra chatters on and on about how fucked this whole thing is and how many vamps she's willing to kill, right up until she crashes and falls asleep in the passenger seat, face pressed against the window and body leaning on the seatbelt. Adora glances at her every few miles just to check-in, but Catra's otherwise motionless. She's a bit bored doing the drive alone, but she keeps the radio off so Catra can sleep, quietly thinking of all the plants she wants in her garden, all of the desserts she wants to bake, all of the things she wants to do with Catra when they finally say fuck it and retire. It's enough to keep her entertained until they're turning into Light Hope's property three hours after starting the drive."Wake up," she murmurs in Catra's ear, eyes focused outside the window watching Light Hope glare at them in the glow of the headlights. She looks like she just might actually punch a hole in Adora's jeep."So that's definitely terrifying," Catra comments, yawning and blinking her eyes into focus, doing the best stretch she can in the passenger seat. "She is hot and mysterious, though. I will give you that.""Yeah, she is," Adora says, then asks, "Are you ready for this?""Who knows," Catra responds, and then she yawns again and clicks her door open.Light Hope waits until they walk up to her before she pulls a more dramatic annoyed face. She's wearing an Adidas cropped hoodie with diamond print on the sleeves and matching joggers. It's weird seeing her not wearing shoulder pads, and in something sporty, no less. She almost looks soft, approachable even, if Adora didn't vividly remember her biting a hole in the neck of one of Prime's progeny a few hours ago."You're late," she says, and her teeth are so white, too. There's something oddly charming about a vampire that keeps up with dental hygiene. "Has there ever been a day in your life where you listened?""Has hell ever frozen over?" Catra asks, laughing when Adora knocks shoulders with her.Light Hope sighs from the bottom of her vampire soul, then she gestures for them to follow her inside.She gives them both water and sets out a super old can of peanuts and a relatively new box of cheez-its like she's had humans here before and only bought shelf-stable food. And then they take seats in soft chairs next to the warm glow of the fireplace. Adora's sharing a loveseat with Catra, soaking in her warmth and letting their knees knock together because they're unnecessarily close."Have you always lived here?" Adora asks, gesturing vaguely around her at the cabin."Possibly," Light Hope says."Are you going to elaborate on that?" Adora follows up with.Light Hope looks like she considers that, then she shrugs and says, "To be honest, probably not.""I feel that," Catra comments, reaching for the cheez-it box.Adora can't argue; she probably wouldn't either. She watches fondly as Catra grabs a handful of crackers and shoves them in her mouth, then she asks, "So, what exactly are you willing to tell us?""There's still a lot," Light Hope says softly, like a vague attempt at an apology. "I'm the last living vampire from my coven, so I'm naturally a little paranoid when it comes to me. But I can happily tell you all about you.""That works for me," Adora shrugs. "Does that involve She-Ra?""It has a lot to do with She-Ra," Light Hope tells them. "There are many things about vampires that humans don't know," she prefaces. "But, until 122 years ago, Prime was kept in check by She-Ra.""Adora's grandma?" asks Catra, muffled as she chews."No," Light Hope answers, face scrunching up like she's surprised at how much they don't know. She can't really blame them, though - they were trained to kill; not to be historians. "She-Ra wasn't directly your ancestor. She was actually - it's a little bit more complicated than that," she struggles to say, then she sits back in her chair and looks like she's contemplating. After a minute, she asks, "Have you ever heard the story of the first vampire?" Adora shakes her head.||
The Story of the First Vampire
On a cold winter day in the early 4th century BC, somewhere between the Laconian villages of Sellasia and Therapne, a rare deadly plague interacted with a bizarre genetic mutation in an otherwise average man, and created the very first Immortal in documented history: Avatar Wan.Wait, that's not right. The first Immortal was King D'Vann Grayskull.Legend has it, he returned to his village after a month-long trip to the market in the closest city, only to find that everyone had succumbed to a devastating plague. Grayskull was later infected himself by the remains of his parents, which ultimately led to his genetic transformation. (Fun fact: The earliest known 'documentation' of Grayskull was written by a storyteller named Severianus in 72 BC in his personal diary. According to Severianus, not only could Grayskull speak multiple languages, he could also recite the entirety of Sun Bin's Art of War. Predictably, he thought Grayskull was a great guy.)Approximately eighty years after surviving the plague, Grayskull met his wife Veena during his quest to become a master toolmaker, and they later gave birth to two sons: D'Are and Ro. Fortunately for Grayskull, and his inevitably long and lonely future, both of his sons inherited his Immortality trait. Unfortunately for him, only one son inherited the trait in its active form. (This is important to note because not all descendants of Grayskull inherit an active immortality trait, and only descendants with active traits can pass it in its active form to their offspring.)Several generations of Grayskull later, in the early 5th century, She-Ra was born: a descendant of Grayskull who happened to possess an active Immortality trait. It's imperative to point out that Immortals were not vampires, and thus far in history, immortality had only guaranteed immunity to death by disease, sickness, and aging. Immortals, however, were susceptible to being murdered (being hurt beyond enhanced regenerative abilities) and only possessed mild superhuman qualities relative to age (e.g., increased strength, stamina, smell, and hearing).This is, of course, until one fateful day when She-Ra was bitten by a bat, subsequently mutating her Immortality strain with bat DNA and making her the progenitor of the entire Vampire species. Soon after, she found out that her Immortality/Bat DNA hybrid strain were transferrable through a special biting and draining process, and set out to create her own special army of immortal vampires who loyally followed her.Two centuries later, she made a strategic deal with a dying king to turn him and his entire army into vampires. In return, the king and his army helped put an end to a years long, bloody war that vampires were having with an early mutation of [redacted species information].That king was Prime.Ultimately, the deal with Prime was a mistake.Three centuries after being turned, Prime would go on to make several problematic decisions (including, but not limited to: concealment, deception, revenge, and murder) that directly clashed with the way She-Ra ruled the network of vampire covens. His actions led to a split between the covens, creating two equal factions: one that followed him (modernly known as the Horde) and one that stayed with She-Ra (modernly know as the Rebellion). In an effort to avoid a catastrophic vampire civil war, they agreed to a power-sharing system in which only one vampire elder (i.e., either Prime or She-Ra) was allowed to be awake during any given century.During one Elder's century of ruling, the other Elder would be held in stasis and protected by a hybrid coven until the turn of the century when it was their time to be awoken. This system was honored until seventy-five years ago when, during his rule, Prime launched a surprise campaign to murder any and all descendants of Grayskull (dormant Immortality traits only), and all members of the hybrid coven protecting She-Ra.
That is the story of the first vampire, and how she accidentally created the tyrant who is Prime.
||"You're kidding," Adora says, shocked."I am not," Light Hope confirms.Adora can't even wrap her head around it. And it literally was just explained to her. "Why only the dormant traits? Wouldn't the active ones pose a bigger threat?""They would if they cared," Light Hope tells them. "The Grayskull family line are really elitist about Immortality. Most active trait members didn't reproduce, so there's maybe five of them in total. The rest of the descendants come from the lineage of the dormant traits.""But they wouldn't show up for Prime trying to kill them off? To kill off She-Ra."Light Hope shrugs, defeated. "They don't want to get involved. Prime is still dangerous to them. It's not worth the fight, and they think She-Ra brought this on herself. They think she was recklessly giving away Immortality with her vampire strain, and if it were up to them, they'd have us all killed off. She-Ra included."Maybe it's not Light Hope's intention, but things feel a bit hopeless. "So, what now?" Adora asks."Putting an Elder into stasis is easy - it just requires a starvation process. But waking an elder specifically requires the blood of a descendant of Grayskull. And only members of my coven know where She-Ra is being hidden."Catra reaches over and touches Adora's hand. "Are you saying that you and Adora are the only thing standing between Prime and whatever shit he has planned for the future of vampires?""Unfortunately, yes," Light Hope says, leaning forward in her chair. "Except there's an issue: Mara hid the key to She-Ra's tomb and made sure no one else, including me, knew where to find it.""Why would she do that?" Catra asks."To save my life," Light Hope says. "When you're old enough as a vampire, you can see someone's memories if you drink their blood. Me not knowing the location of the key is the only reason I'm alive. Prime is hoping I find it so he can use me to kill She-Ra himself. It also happens to be the only way we can awaken her."Adora suspected there'd be an issue. As overdramatic as it sounds, the only constant in her life (outside of Catra) is the fact that nothing can ever be simple; it's always complicated. She just found out her entire existence is nothing that she thought it was, save for the fact that it's still sort of pathetic. It's a lot to chew on. After a long minute, she asks the only question she has left to be answered: "How did I end up with Shadow Weaver?"The expression on Light Hope's face tells Adora what the answer is even before she says, "That was me. Your mother - she wasn't going to make it. I needed to keep you alive."Adora frowns immediately. "That's--""Amazing," Catra cuts in. "So you're the reason we even met, then?" she says, smiling wide as she gently twists their fingers together. "I guess I owe you a thanks for that. Adora's the reason I'm still here."The statement catches Light Hope off as much as it does Adora. But that's the absolute beauty of living with Catra. She can make even the worst situation romantic, overly simplistic. It gives Adora a much-needed second to take perspective. "It was a good plan," she decides. "I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to make it to twenty-six.""Shadow Weaver kept you hidden," Light Hope says. "Even I couldn't find you without several months of searching.""What now, then?" Adora asks again, realizing there's nothing left for them to do.Light Hope shrugs at that. "Razz is the only person I knew in Mara's life outside of me," she says. "If you didn't find the key with her, I guess - the only thing left to do is for us to try to fight.""That's what we always do, isn't it?" Adora asks, and then she sinks into the couch, closes her eyes, and lets it hit her how dead fucking tired she is.*Adora heads outside to the porch when the conversation's ended. The cold air feels good on her skin and the breeze feels good for her head, so she sits on the porch swing, closes her eyes, and tries to pretend that her world doesn't find a way to flip itself on its head at least once a year since the day she was born. She's surprised to see Light Hope when she opens her eyes to investigate who's sat down next to her."Catra called me an asshole," she explains, crossing her legs on the swing next to Adora. "She's right, though.""You've got your own shit," Adora says, letting her head fall. Which just leaves her to look at her hands and the pattern on Light Hope's pants, because she's pretty sure she'd start bawling at this point if she looked her in the eyes.She hasn't admitted it to anyone - not her therapist, not Catra, not even herself - but a large, very scary corner of her brain thought maybe Light Hope had been killed. In true Adora fashion, she also thought talking about her enough would maybe bring her back. In a million years she never thought it'd actually work. So now it feels like she's breaking almost, like seeing her alive is finally giving Adora permission to let herself cry."You were probably saving the world or whatever. I'm just the blood donor.""You're more than that," Light Hope says, reaching over to run the back of her finger along Adora's cheek. She pushes a loose strand of hair behind Adora's ear, sighs to herself, then says, "Get up, I'll make you hot chocolate and we can properly have this conversation."They go sit in the kitchen. Light Hope fills the kettle with slightly tan water from the tap, then brings it to a boil on her open flame stovetop. She finds the world's oldest packets of hot chocolate in the cabinets, pours them into old mugs, then mixes them together with the boiled tan water and dehydrated lactose and hands it to Adora like she's proud of herself. Adora takes it because she cares, but doesn't drink it because she wants to live.The kitchen is cool and drafty, and it's sort of grounding, like winter only kisses the land in these woods and doesn't completely swallow it like everywhere else on the East Coast. It occurs to her only now that sitting here in the middle of the night staring across at Light Hope is probably the best outcome Adora could have asked for after her sudden disappearance. "I gather you're not planning to explain yourself," she says, twisting her mug around on the table, letting the heat from it keep her hands warm."I brought us in, didn't I?" Light Hope laughs. Her eyes have hardly left Adora's face since they left the porch. "You were a mess," she says, more serious but still smiling. "I didn't expect it, you know? It caught me off guard.""I am human, you know that, right?" Adora says, tapping her fingers on her mug. "We're allowed at least one breakdown a year, I think. You just caught me in my like, ten-month-long one." She giggles as Light Hope lets her head tip down. "You're all serious now, though. I mean, you were before, but I remember you laughing more, having less fangs. You killed that one vamp so hard last night I actually had sympathy.""You don't understand," Light Hope says, and leaves that hanging between them.Adora shrugs. "You won't let me. You just - I don't know. You lied to me and sent me on wild goose chases and manipulated me, and when I was at my lowest point you were there for me, and it was - it was what I needed, I think. And then you left, and that shit like, it hurt, you know?""I know," Light Hope whispers.Adora can feel her cheeks heating up. Her head is also aching and her eyes feel too full. If she's not crying by the end of this conversation it'll be a miracle. "I want to understand," she says. "We're about to get fucked by Prime, and you're like, shit. You're like a goddamn Agatha Christie novel."Light Hope snorts at that. "My job is to guard the most powerful being in the world, and I fucked it up by falling in love. I think I'm allowed to close myself off after that, have a breakdown once a year."Adora rolls her eyes and smiles. "Touché," she says, breathing through the tightness in her chest. "Was it Mara? Her name keeps coming up.""Fuck," Light Hope breathes, like she'd cry herself if she could. "It hurts just thinking about her."Adora hums and blinks, wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "Tell me. I would like to know, if that's okay.""Yeah," Light Hope says. "I guess I - I've never met someone who was just good, you know? Like, genuinely." She looks down at her hands, running a thumb over the lines on her palm. "I know she didn't have an active Immortal trait, but she was still - she was so human, in all the little ways that make life feel precious. She wanted to live and have fun, and fall in love, and be in love. And she'd make fun of me for being so serious, but--""Someone has to realize when the ship is sinking," Adora says."And you always hate to be the one to point it out," Light Hope agrees. "Prime was always coming for us. She ended it herself in the end, let the key die with her. I know it was the right thing to do, but - it still fucking sucked.""Yeah," Adora sympathizes, looking down inside her hot chocolate. "You remind me so much of her," Light Hope whispers. "Sometimes I feel like I can't breathe when I look at you. Not like, in a romantic way," she says quickly, holding a hand up. "It's just that - at some point, you were no longer a job to me, you were my friend. You're a person to me, someone I care about and want good things for. I want you to be happy, and when I realized that - I had to go. I had to keep my distance so I could keep you safe."Adora hates that she gets that. "Okay, but you could have texted and ended our friendship like a normal person."She looks up, smiling as she catches Light Hope's eyes. Light Hope smiles back at her. "I never really left," she says. "I was always around, keeping my distance. It's how I was there last night, how I knew you were in trouble.""And now you're just a stalker.""Fuck you," Light Hope giggles, shifting into a groan as the weight of everything starts to settle in again. "I really don't know what we're supposed to do."Adora sighs. Yeah, there's still that. "Where could the key be? I know exactly where Catra would keep it."Light Hope shakes her head. "Mara was so smart. I was convinced it'd be Razz, but if it is, she doesn't even know herself.""You try getting her memories? With the blood thing.""I don't think it'd be worth anything. I've seen someone like that before, they get all mixed up, too confusing. I at least thought you'd remind her of Mara, too. I thought maybe she'd tell you.""I mean, I did," Adora says. "That's all she called me. And the last time we met she told me I was the last of the She-Ra bloodline, but there wasn't really much else. Maybe if we had more time..." She trails off."We can't risk it. It's better to spend our energy preparing.""It doesn't have to be just us." If they're going to fight, they should at least make it a battle. "I know a lot of badass hunters who'd be willing to risk their lives to put Prime in a grave. Just say the word, and I'll have them wherever you need them.""Yeah?" Light Hope asks.Adora nods. "Yeah, of course. It's what we live for.""That sounds good, then," Light Hope says, then she nibbles her lip for a second. "There's one other thing I wanted to ask, though."Adora lets her mug go and carefully places her hands in her lap. "You can ask me anything.""This is more... delicate," Light Hope tries to explain."How so?""Sometimes people have seen things or know things but they don't quite remember it. It's like going someplace as a kid, but not having the full memory as an adult.""You want to see my memories?" Adora asks. She should have seen this coming, but still - she's a little taken aback. "Does that mean you have to bite me?""Yes," Light Hope says. "But only if that's okay.""Yeah, it's okay," Adora says, then, "You know, I really have only seen you during the night."Light Hope just winks at her, and then she smiles.*Adora waits until they've gone the whole day, it's just before sundown, and she's making out with Catra on the sofa in the spare bedroom, before she decides to break the news."Light Hope wants to bite me," she says, slips it in just as they take a breath from kissing.Catra jerks up so abruptly she nearly falls from Adora's lap to the floor. "Seriously? You learn about one vampire relative and you suddenly decide you want to switch to the other side."Adora lets out a laugh and tugs Catra's shirt to pull her back down to kiss her again. "There's enough to go around. I'm sure Light Hope can turn you, too."Catra lifts up and flicks Adora's bangs out of her eyes. "There's no way you'd want me solidified as anything under the age of fifty. You'd spend all of eternity fantasizing about older-looking women.""Whatever," Adora says, a grin spreading across her face. "She doesn't want to turn me. She just wants to drink enough so she can see my memories.""Why?""Because," Adora starts, tickling Catra underneath her sweatshirt and making her giggle. "She thinks I maybe saw something I don't remember, or might have a clue about the key that she can pick out."Catra groans for so long Adora starts to pull on her shirt to cut her off, but she only stops so she can fall forward and sprinkle Adora's face with little kisses. "I'd consider it," she says, "but only if I get to bite you first, have to lay my claim so she doesn't forget whose you are."She knows it was probably just a joke, but Adora's heart feels too big in her chest just thinking about that. She wraps her arms tight around Catra's back and hugs them together. "Would that make you feel better?""A little," Catra says. "How do I let everyone know you're mine?"Adora slips her hand underneath her shirt to thumb over her spine. "You said it yourself. A bite. Like a lovebite."Catra's breath catches and she sits up, less dramatically this time. "Wait, are you serious?""Yeah, I mean, I think that'd be nice. We never really got the like, junior high through college experience since we were off killing vampires. I'm tragically behind on the amount of--""Adora," Catra cuts her off. "You just had to say 'yes' and then shut up so I can kiss you."Fine, then. "Yes," Adora says.Catra smiles and falls in to kiss her again, deep and hard and lovely. It has Adora's heart beating triple time, her mind going blank from happiness. "Is it too soon to say I love you?"Catra looks upset when she lifts her head to stare at Adora. As much as she can with flushed cheeks and kissed-red lips. "That's dumb, I've known you for at least a thousand years at this point.""Just like my vampire grandma," Adora says, humming as Catra smiles and shakes her head."Would you wake her, do you think? If we ever find the key.""Is Prime alive or dead in this scenario? Like, Grandma I love you, but not enough to unnecessarily unleash the original vampire back into the living world.""I think your mistress wouldn't agree with that.""She might," Adora says. "Mara at least convinced her that they didn't need to wake She-Ra.""Yeah, but they were totally boning," Catra says. "Her face always lights up whenever you say her name.""Does your face light up when people say my name?"There's a smile tugging on Catra's lips and her eyes are shining, and Adora knows she probably does light up just at the sound of her name, but she doesn't fight her when she says, "I'll say yes, but only because I know it'd probably get me another kiss faster than if I say no.""You are correct," Adora says, lifting up to kiss Catra's cute nose. "I love seeing you happy like this."Catra looks embarrassed at that, like her ears are actually going red. "Well, like, you make me happy," she says, and Adora has to fight every urge not to snuggle her into a suffocating hug. "So, it's easy when I'm with you."Adora beams at her, big and lopsided. "You know, if we were vampires we could be happy forever.""Please, some young version of us would just come and kill us in our sleep during Day Shift. And then what? There goes the whole relationship.""Mmm," Adora hums. "I love it when you say relationship."Catra laughs loud with her mouth open, then she leans in and presses her lips to Adora's ear to whisper, "Relationship, marriage, joint tax return, shared health insurance, separate bank accounts."Adora snorts. Her heart actually feels too full. "Hey," she says, "if you just turn a little bit, your lips would actually be on my neck. That way you can tell Light Hope you did it first.""Fuck," Catra mumbles, soft against Adora's ear like she's out of breath. Adora stretches out her neck for her, gasping as Catra kisses underneath her ear lobe and trails her lips down her jaw. She feels like she's coming apart by the time Catra finally gets her mouth on her neck. Catra attaches her lips and sucks hard, and Adora gasps and squeezes her closer, digging her nails into her back. She pulls off after a minute with a wet sound that goes straight to Adora's lower belly, then she kisses her jaw and nuzzles her ear before she pulls up to inspect it. "Yeah, this is perfect," she decides, reaching up to press her thumb into the center. "I think she'll get the message."*Adora knows a hickey is just a bruise from someone sucking on your skin until it's discolored, but she still feels like she's glowing when she leaves the room to search for Light Hope. It's like the high she gets right after having sex, but all they did was make out. She feels so warm and fucking giddy.She finds Light Hope in the kitchen and announces, "Okay, I'm ready."Light Hope looks up from her cell phone and instantly rolls her eyes, but her smile stretches from ear to ear. Adora feels a primal urge to flutter up her neck and show it off. "That's cute, isn't it? Is your girlfriend going to come and watch, or can I stop worrying I'll get staked in the back?""She's staying in the room," Adora says, "for that very reason. But like, could you carry me back after?""Yeah, of course," Light Hope says, coming around the counter. Adora lets herself get cornered with her back against the fridge. At least this way she has something to brace against and the metal is cool on her back. "You'll feel faint after this," she says, like she's a doctor informing Adora she'll feel a little prick."It's okay, it's just like giving blood, right? You've even got the cheez-its and peanuts ready in case I need a snack so I don't pass out and hit my head.""Adora," Light Hope sighs, "if you start feeling off, you have to tell me immediately.""Okay," Adora agrees, "but, just so I don't like, nag you constantly - are there any side effects that are just par for the course. Sometimes hunters tell rumors about having nightmares if you have encounters with a vamp.""It wouldn't be nightmares," Light Hope says with a measured tone. "But you will feel - sensitive? afterward, and maybe even have some involuntary sexual thoughts. In rare cases, those thoughts can be about me. But they're not real or true, and I know that. You should know that, too. The sensitivity and thoughts should go away completely after the first twenty-four hours. If they don't, don't feel embarrassed, just tell me. During the bite, it'll feel intense, but that should fade as soon as it ends."Adora will never live it down if she spends a night gagging for Light Hope in Catra's presence. She can already hear the old lady sex jokes abound. Still, she nods and says, "Okay, I'm ready."Light Hope nods and steps closer into her space, and then she bites her wrist and pulls away with her own blood on her teeth, on her mouth. "To help with healing after," she explains. Adora nods and closes her eyes, which may be a mistake because it makes it feel like her other senses are heightened. She gets a tingle all the way down to her toes when Light Hope grabs her hips and holds her against the fridge. "Tilt your head," she instructs, and Adora does. "This will take a few minutes. I won't be draining you, I promise. I will only drink what I need. But I have to be in contact with your blood so I can keep filtering through your memories.""What do you mean?" Adora asks."If I drink enough to kill you, I could get all of your memories that way. This way, I'd just have to stay in the bite a little longer than normal to be with your blood. But I won't have to drink as much.""Oh," Adora says, "I suppose that's fine.""Adora," Light Hope says, voice soft yet firm. "I need you to be sure this is okay.""I'm sure.""Good," Light Hope says, and then she leans in.Adora shivers when Light Hope's mouth connects with her skin, and then she gasps at the sharpness of the bite. The pain is sudden, but it doesn't last long, quickly replaced with an intense heat blanketing over her body, spreading through her limbs, making her brain foggy as she lets her head tilt back against the refrigerator. She feels weak-kneed and shaky, so standing was definitely a bad idea, but Light Hope is keeping her held up by her hips, and that's making it a little bit better. Everything just keeps building, though - like she's getting more and more out of it, so when she finally closes her eyes it's like relief, like time stops, space doesn't exist. She's just floating off to sea, alone on her back in infinite water, and then a minute later, there's just... Catra.She should have expected it, really. She could hardly look at Catra the entire afternoon without her head spinning, without her mind flitting back to last night and Catra's tongue. It got even worse when she thought about her fingers, and then she'd think about her--Adora.Adora snaps her eyes open and Light Hope is staring at her. Her body feels sweaty and the room feels cold, and she's dead still right now, but it's obvious she maybe wasn't a few seconds ago if the way Light Hope is gripping her hips is any indication."I'm finished," Light Hope says. "Are you feeling okay?""I was thinking about Catra," Adora tells her for some reason, and then her head starts to spin. "I think I'm getting dizzy, need to - have to sit.""You need to eat. When did you last have food? Something substantial." Adora doesn't answer right away, but she hears Light Hope whisper to herself, "Yes, it was yesterday, before the hunt. She was with Catra." She lets Adora's body drop against her chest. "You've gone too long without eating," she determines. "I can take you to Catra, and then I'll gather all of the snacks we have. If you'd like, I could kill a small animal for you.""It's okay," Adora says. "I think lying down would be enough for now."Light Hope picks her up with that, and Adora immediately wraps her legs around her waist and throws her arms around her shoulders. She knows Light Hope could instantly run them there, being a vampire and all, but instead she walks them there slowly, carefully navigating through the house so the ride feels smooth. Adora's losing herself in the lull of it when she's suddenly being poured into bed. Catra's wrapped against her side before she has a chance to get her eyes open. She's happy the room isn't spinning when she looks up to see her."My lovebite is gone," Catra says, gently rubbing her thumb over Adora's belly."Sorry," Light Hope says. "She needed to heal from the bite, and that - was just a side effect.""It's fine, I'll give her another," Catra decides. "She should eat, though?""Yes, I'll bring food," Light Hope tells them, then there's an awkward amount of silence that follows without her going anywhere. Adora turns to blink up at her."Everything okay?" she asks."Yes. I just wanted to say - I mean, just in case you feel - it helps a lot if you, um--" she cuts off abruptly, looking between the two of them. Adora swears if a vampire could blush Light Hope would be doing just that right now. "I don't know how to say this tastefully, I'm afraid. But, if you start feeling overwhelmed or heating up, it might help if you're able to, um... achieve something pleasurable. I'll be out hunting, so - you have the house to yourselves."Catra tilts her head, confused. "Excuse me, but what?""The bite, it - it has its side effects. They're mostly sexual in nature and can get pretty intense if you let them build up too long. But, I saw that you - that you two have already - it shouldn't be a problem."Adora's breath catches when it registers. "Oh.""Oh my god, gross," Catra gasps. "Did you see us having sex in her memory? That's a total invasion of privacy.""That wasn't my intention," Light Hope defends. Adora's never seen her look mortified. It's sort of cute, like normally she's etched in stone but right now she's just a deer in headlights. "I can't filter what I get, but I wasn't lingering or anything, it's just something I was able to see. Especially since it's um, a very big memory for her."Now Adora feels embarrassed. "Okay, we don't have to say anything else," she says quickly. "Thank you for everything, Light Hope. I'll just rest now. And wait for the food.""Of course," Light Hope says. "And, just to let you know - I didn't see the key.""It's okay, thanks for trying."Light Hope nods at that, and then she leaves the room. She comes back a few minutes later with two bottled waters, a box of Ritz crackers, a pack of rice cakes, and the cheez-its and peanuts from earlier. She said Adora might feel overwhelmed, but she doesn't right now, mostly just has a pleasant buzz and she feels a bit warm, almost like she gets when she's had three glasses of wine and she's snuggled under a blanket watching old episodes of Sex and the City. She makes it through half a pack of Ritz before she notices Catra's staring. "Would you like a kiss?""Yes, always," Catra says, "but that's not why I'm staring at you.""Is there something in my teeth?""No, it's just - you were just bitten by a vampire!" Catra frowns, "And you found out today that you're being hunted. And you also fucked me last night, so I figured you were already on a downward spiral.""I'm okay," Adora says. It's not really a lie, but she can't tell if it's the truth, either. She might actually fall apart once she gets the chance to sleep on everything. "I mean I did get a bit turned on from the bite, but I'm otherwise okay." Catra looks a little hurt, and Adora remembers to add, "I kept thinking about you during it.""Me?""Yeah, like, flashbacks to last night," Adora admits.A pleasant red starts to spread across Catra's cheeks. "Was she telling the truth? About it being big for you.""Yeah, of course. Was it for you, too?""Yeah, fuck," Catra breathes out. "I don't know how to say - how to explain how much I'm attracted to you in a way that like, encompasses just how much I'm attracted to you, but yeah. It was pretty big for me, too."Adora thinks she understands that. "No, I get it. I keep sneaking glances at you during the day."Catra ducks her head bashfully. "Yeah, I keep like - sometimes I'll just be sitting there and then I'll remember how you felt inside of me, and it's like, I'll get--" she cuts off, ears going red like she feels too embarrassed to say it out loud. "I don't know, I just - I don't know. It was good."Adora feels like her warmth is transitioning from snuggled under a blanket to marshmallow being roasted over a campfire, but she's liking this development. "You don't have to be embarrassed with me. I keep doing that, too," she says, and then as a clarification, "I also keep thinking about being inside of you. Like when you put my fingers in your mouth I thought I might rip in half," she says, feeling her insides knot together. There's something about the sound of her own voice too, like it's amplifying everything. "And it's quite distracting too, you know? I'm trying to process that my world is ending, but every time I look over I just remember how good you felt pressed against me. It's like I'm more obsessed with you than I am afraid of dying.""I thought you weren't afraid of dying," Catra whispers."I'm fucking terrified," Adora says, and Catra starts twisting her hands together. "What are you thinking?""I don't know," Catra lies, shrugging but not looking up."Do you want to give me another lovebite so Light Hope knows I'm yours?" Catra doesn't respond right away, but Adora hears her breath stutter, so she figures she's headed in the right direction. She's also feeling bold right now, more so than she usually is, like each choppy breath she takes further lowers her inhibitions. "Do you want me to give you a lovebite, so Light Hope knows you're mine?" she asks, and gets so caught up in that thought, she doesn't even wait for a response before she says, "Or I can give you one that's only for me to see. So I know you're mine."Catra skips over stuttered breathing and nearly chokes out her next breath. "Adora," she half-whines, and when she looks up, her cheeks are a lovely shade of red and her bottom lip is too, like maybe she was biting it. "I know you're - I know this maybe feels good right now, and it's exciting and new, but eventually the novelty will wear off, and I'm scared your interest will, too. Like maybe you were never into me, you know?" Adora shakes her head, because no. She doesn't know. She's maybe always been into Catra without even realizing it. "It's just -" she hesitates for a second, "yesterday you almost died, and today you were bitten, and like. I don't know. Would you even want to fuck me on a regular day? Like a Tuesday after dinner when we haven't fought a vamp in six years.""Catra," Adora sighs, rubbing her sweat-slicked palms on her pants. She's getting dizzy just thinking of all the boring ways she wants to fuck Catra. "That's literally the only thing I want to do, and m'not just saying that. I really do want to retire. And I want a cottage and a garden, and I want to fuck you in front of the fireplace underneath a blanket we quilted ourselves, while we're lying on top of the world's softest rug. I don't want to have sex with you because I think I'm going to die. I want to have sex with you, period. It just so happens that I think I might die."Adora's never felt her heartbeat so acutely, it's like she can actually feel her blood traveling through her skin, which only makes it better with the way it's building between her legs."Fuck," Catra mumbles, and it grabs Adora's attention, because it sounds more concerned than it does anything else. "Your eyes are like, black right now," she says. "Your pupils are so blown.""I think m'just horny," Adora says, like she's a few tequila shots in and can't stop her words from blurring together. She doesn't want to be talking about sex with Catra; she wants to be doing it. "We could like, we could have sex and I can show you. I can show you how much I like you."Catra nibbles her lip for a second, then, "I think you're like - I think it's the bite that's--""Yeah, but it's not," Adora cuts her off. Like, she knows that things are amplified, but it's not just the bite. "I feel like this on a normal day. I just feel it more physically right now, but everything - I won't wake up in the morning and suddenly it's not true. I'll probably wake up and spend the first ten minutes just thinking about kissing you.""Are you feeling sick? Do you - should I be concerned?"Adora takes stock of herself. She's feeling a lot of things right now, but being sick isn't one of them. "No, I think it's just, it's like I can feel -" she doesn't know the best way to describe it. "I'm just, warm. My skin feels really nice, like even the air around me is giving me a hug, almost. And it's also like I can feel my blood flowing, but it's not a bad thing. I just feel alive, and warm and good, and like, tactile. I want to be touching things. I want to be touching you."Catra quirks an eyebrow. "No headache or anything? You just feel... good?"Adora closes her eyes and lets her head tilt back, enjoys how great it feels to just exist right now. Her head is normally all fucked up thinking about one thing bad or suppressing another, but right now everything really does just feel... good. "Yeah, it's super nice," she says. "I'm pretty much blissed out talking about sex with you. And I know I said I want to be touching, but it wouldn't even have to be sexual. Like I'm pretty sure you could braid my hair and pet me a little, and I'd be just as happy doing that as I would be with something else.""Is that what you want?" Catra asks, and Adora can feel her scoot close, so by the time she opens her eyes again, their legs are practically touching and Catra's definitely close enough that Adora could lean over and kiss her. "I could braid your hair and pet you a little, or just cuddle you until you fall asleep.""Yeah, that'd be nice, or we could make out," Adora says. She likes feeling like this, likes how much talking gets her worked up. And that's not even so much a side-effect of the bite, like she knows she'd normally get worked up talking about doing shit with Catra, but she doesn't know if she'll ever have the courage again to do it with this much confidence. She might as well enjoy it while she can. "I keep thinking about how nice it'd feel kissing you right now. It's already good when we do it just regularly, so I don't know if like - is that okay?""Yeah, it's okay," Catra says, reaching over to tug the hem of Adora's shirt.Adora smiles as she falls into it. She nudges Catra down onto the bed, then settles on top of her between her legs, mind already flitting in and out by the time she presses in to kiss her lips. She feels so fucking slow right now, like honey or molasses, like she doesn't have a destination; she's just caught up in the journey. She kisses Catra three times with closed lips just enjoying how soft it is, each kiss lingering and tender, enough to make her head spin. She can tell it's working for Catra too, since her breath is getting labored, and when Adora finally flicks her tongue out to lick her bottom lip, Catra does an audible little gasp. It makes Adora giggle, then she leans in and licks her tongue right into the middle of Catra's slightly parted lips. Time slows down, or stops moving, or stops existing altogether. Adora doesn't know. She just knows that kissing Catra is better than kissing anyone else. Kissing Catra is better than doing anything else, better than eating Halloween candy out of her pumpkin after trick-or-treating all night, better than opening pokemon cards and getting a charizard in the pack, even better than when she actually got her first solo kill on a nest leader and Catra hugged her hard enough she thought she'd break her back. It's just like, good. It's so fucking good. Catra's hand is soft as she reaches up to smooth Adora's hair behind her ear, giggling into her mouth as they kiss and kiss and kiss."Your heart is beating so fast," Catra whispers, brushing her finger down Adora's jaw."Sorry, I think I'm like, really into this," Adora admits, squirming between Catra's legs, not sure how wet she is or if she is at all since her body is radiating the same level of warm pretty much uniformly across every single inch of her. She feels fucking infinite in this moment, though, like her ancestry stretches back to this ancient era and maybe this whole chunk of it is ending with her right now. She wonders if the sheep farmers and tool makers and warriors and seamstresses are all staring at her from the beyond and thinking--"You wanna go down on me?""Yeah," Adora says, licking her lips. She suddenly can't remember what thought she was just having, can only think about how perfect Catra's face looks. She's so beautiful, Adora wants to like, lick her chin. Vaguely, she registers that might be weird. "I think I might be high," she says. "Like from the vamp spit.""Yeah, I know, baby," Catra says, and it's so sweet, so gentle, it makes Adora want to melt. She imagines herself as a little puddle on the ground and then she giggles. Catra tucks her thumb underneath Adora's lip and pulls her mouth open. Then she lifts up and licks right into it. It's probably supposed to be a kiss, but Adora doesn't kiss back since she likes the way it feels when Catra's licking into her like that. "Yeah, you're basically just drooling on me," Catra giggles, "which is still pretty hot since you're you, but figured we could put that mouth to good use.""My mouth?""Yes, your mouth," Catra says, kissing her short and quick on the lips for emphasis. "Just sit up," she laughs, watching as Adora slowly lifts up to sit on her heels. She feels like she's floating as she watches Catra lift her hips and roll down her pants and underwear, so she's happy when she finally kicks them off the bed and gestures for Adora to come down again.She's excited as she gets settled on her belly, her eyes going wide just like they get on Christmas when she sees her presents. Which is fitting, she thinks. This feels worthy of tradition and celebration, of revelry and adoration. "I love you so much," she hums, scooting forward until she's resting between Catra's parted thighs. She feels Catra gently tangle her fingers in her hair, and that makes her feel calm, like she's at peace, like she really would have been satisfied with Catra just braiding her hair and petting her a little bit. The way she's scratching at Adora's scalp feels so encouraging, too. Thankfully, she doesn't have to settle for just petting.Thankfully, she gets Catra all to herself. She doesn't even feel like she needs to take this fast. Catra gently runs her fingers through her hair when she spends an entire minute staring with her already hazy eyes. She thumbs over Adora's ear when she spends another minute nuzzling her nose against her thigh. And then she yanks Adora's hair the second Adora finally presses her tongue in warm against her clit.Adora actually shudders into it, her body going limp as she licks her tongue out slow and slick where Catra's already wet. She's gentle at first, circling over Catra's clit with her tongue flat, but Catra yanks her hair again and she nearly breaks in half with how fast the heat twists through her. She can't keep her hips still after that, keeps humping against the soft, soft jersey sheets as licks inside Catra or swallows her down or sucks her clit. And Catra keeps her hands in Adora's hair, sometimes scratching at her scalp or pulling on her hair, sometimes twisting strands around her hand and guiding Adora's head.Adora went from blanket to marshmallow and now she's like a geyser; feels like she has so much heat built up in her belly and chest and lungs that if she breathed hard enough she could set all of California on fire."Fuck," Catra moans as her thighs start shaking. She cups the back of Adora's head and guides her back to her clit, and Adora starts to suck again as Catra's thighs clench tight around her head. She feels peaced out licking Catra as she comes, and then Catra grips her hair hard enough that Adora nearly splits in fucking two. Her orgasm rushes through her like the air during a drop on a roller coaster. She comes so hard her vision blacks, and it takes Catra calling her name for her to realize she's shaking. "Jesus, Adora," she's saying, pulling Adora's shirt until she fumbles up to cuddle under her chin. A second later, Catra's actually... giggling. "Did you really just come from humping the sheets?" she asks.Adora giggles too, sniffing and letting her body sinks heavily against Catra. "Actually it was the hair," she says. "When you were pulling it. I don't know, it just like, it did something for me, I think.""Adora likes getting her hair pulled, surprising absolutely no one," Catra teases."Catra likes Adora," Adora teases back, and then she keeps giggling to herself until she falls asleep.*Adora knows it’s too early when she wakes up. She can sort of remember Catra setting up an alarm after declaring they’ll be responsible, and it’s definitely not X Gon' Give it to Ya pulling her away from her dream. She gives it another minute before she determines she’s not going back to sleep, and then she finally registers that she’s actually being snuggled. They somehow ended up with Catra spooning her, pressed to her back with her hand tucked underneath Adora’s shirt and her lips smashed against her neck.She feels like the luckiest girl in the world, and also the warmest. She's fucking roasting underneath Catra.She also needs to pee. Adora carefully disentangles herself from Catra and goes to use the bathroom. Then she takes a quick shower, brushes her teeth, and heads into the kitchen to find Light Hope leaning against the counter. She feels like her chest swells when she sees her, like she just wants to thank her for last night.She starts to do just that, too. Even if it comes out weird."Hey, Light Hope," she says, stumbling into the kitchen feeling light as a fucking feather. "How are you this morning? I'm doing good, myself. Last night wasn't even bad, you know. Just wanted to give you an update. I felt a little high, but mostly just good, and Catra even -" Adora pauses, heart skipping a beat in her chest. It's like her brain's just now rebooting and now that her Catra-colored filter is off, she suddenly recognizes what's wrong with this situation. "Is it just me, or are you standing in the sunlight?""It's not just you," Light Hope says, and even for a vampire, she's gone pale. "That's - that's not normal, right?""Yeah," Light Hope whispers. "It's actually why I'm here. I wanted you to see it for yourself."Adora just blinks at her for a very, very long thirty seconds. It doesn't make sense. "Have you always - how long - when did - I've never seen a vampire survive in the sun," she goes with. "It's like the only thing we can count on as being a weakness." She can't help if she's panicking a little. Her entire world is being flip-turned upside down again, and it hasn't been that long since the last time. "Like, when silver fails or garlic doesn't work or you don't hit the exact spot with a stake or do more than cut off the head with an uber. It's sunlight. All we have is the sun, and here you are. Standing in it. I don't think I would have gotten into this profession if I knew this was a thing.""I know," Light Hope says sympathetically, and she seems so slow and so gentle for some reason, different than she normally is. Like for the first time since Adora's met her, all of her defenses are actually down. "I'd never seen this happen before either, not outside of She-Ra, not until this morning when -" she cuts short, twisting her hands together for a second, and then she opens and closes her mouth three times before she finally says, "I'm not sure what the best way to say this is, but I think I should go with the truth, if you'll allow me some time to explain.""Yeah, I mean, of course," Adora nods. She's still Light Hope, and Adora still trusts her, for better or for worse. "I'm not angry or anything, I'm just confused, mostly. But, take all the time you need."Light Hope nods and gives her a small, appreciative smile, then she takes a deep, calming breath before she says, "When I asked to bite you yesterday, I was already pretty certain that you didn't know where the key was.""But you wanted to be sure, right? I get that," Adora assures her. "No," Light Hope says, almost apologetically. "What I wanted was to see Mara."Adora's skin feels hot and cold at the same time, like she's heating up but also has chills. "And you knew you'd see her in my memory?" She takes a second to swallow. "Is Mara my mom?""No, sorry," Light Hope says fast. "When your mom died, we took you in. For a few months, it was - we were raising you until we realized you'd be safer somewhere else. Until we realized just how important it was that you survive.""And that's when you gave me to Shadow Weaver?""Yeah," Light Hope whispers. "I have my own memories of Mara, of course, but - when you filter through someone else's it's like you're reliving the experience. I just wanted that. I wanted Mara, and you're probably the only person left I could get that experience with. But, I shouldn't have lied.""It's okay, Adora says. "Honestly, I get it. Like, if Catra -" she cuts off and stops that dark thought right in its tracks. "I'd do anything to experience her again. And accessing my memories was harmless, relatively.""I just wanted to preface with that," Light Hope says, uneasy. "Because what I have to tell you might be weird and shocking, but I want you to know I haven't taken advantage of you, okay?""Okay," Adora says slowly. She's not sure she's happy with where this is going."When I was in your memories, there was -" she starts, then stops, then, "This is going to sound super weird and out of nowhere, I know, but do you remember when you were twelve and you and Catra were in the forest off exploring and she dared you to lick that dead squirrel?""Yeah, I like - shit, I almost died," Adora smiles, not sure why she remembers that fondly other than the fact that the whole thing pretty much sums up her and Catra's relationship. "I got super sick after. Shadow Weaver rarely does civilization, but even she thought I might need a hospital. Then I just got better one night.""I think you got the plague," Light Hope says.Adora snorts. "Like, Black Death? This isn't fourteenth-century Europe.""The plague has never left," Light Hope says flatly, like she's remembering how to be annoyed with Adora. "It's just preventable now and mostly treated with antibiotics, but there are still reported cases of the plague being found in things like--""Dead squirrels?""Dead squirrels," Light Hope confirms."So," Adora stretches out."I think you got whatever strain of the plague that was necessary to activate your Immortality trait."Adora can't help the way her mouth falls open. "No," is all she manages to say. "I know," Light Hope says, "but it also makes sense, doesn't it?" she asks. Adora shakes her head. It does not make sense. "You haven't been sick since you were twelve.""Yeah, because I have excellent immune health," Adora defends. "Why would - why do you even think that?""Because I drank your blood and now I'm walking in the sun, Adora. I haven't walked in the sun in 987 years, so I think I'd know if - how could I be doing that if you weren't an Immortal?"Adora doesn't know. It doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense. But, seeing Light Hope standing in the sun is... Well, it isn't as scary as Adora would expect it to be.With her color drained and the nervous way she's biting her lip, she looks a lot softer than she normally does, and it's making it hard to find her threatening. And she should be threatening, is the thing - standing in the sunlight makes her, inarguably, a thousand times more dangerous - but looking at her, Adora mostly just wants to give her a hug. It takes her a minute to realize why that even is. "987 years?" she asks, and Light Hope nods as her breath hitches in her throat. It occurs to Adora that she looks this soft because she's feeling the sun on her skin for the first time in a thousand years. She looks this soft because she's happy. And as much as Adora wants to freak out about it, she can't ruin this moment for her friend. "So, what does that mean?""I think it means we have a way to kill Prime," Light Hope says."How so?""He's not trying to kill you personally," Light Hope says. "He's allocated resources and sent his second in command, but he's not here himself. And the thing is, without the key or a viable threat of waking She-Ra, he can get away with sending Horde troops until we're too tired or to weak to fend them off.""But if he finds out I'm Immortal," Adora says, catching on. "He'll want to see it for himself.""Exactly," Light Hope says. "You're one of maybe six in the world, and you're the only one who's under 1600 years old or not a vampire. He's not going to want to kill you. He'll want you for himself, for his troops. Think of how strong he could be with an entire army of sunwalkers.""Okay, but that sounds terrifying," Adora says. Her chest feels tight. "Why would we even want to tell him?""It's the only way we catch him off guard," she says. "He's not going to wait to be smart and calculating. If he hears there's a chance for him to walk in the sun, he'll want to do it right away. And he's strong enough and confident enough to drop everything and come without a real plan.""And that's as weak as we're going to get him, isn't it?" Adora asks."It's probably our only chance without She-Ra. We just need his second in command to see me in the sun, and then we let it get back to him. He'll show up, I know it.""Okay," Adora sighs. She hates this plan, but she doesn't want to be negative, not right now. This is a good moment for Light Hope and they might not have very many of those left. "Do you wanna do brunch?"*"Are you a werewolf?" Catra asks, and Light Hope shoots a glare across the table that feels like a million daggers."I told you I don't want to discuss it," she says."Okay, but you're like, in the sun, and all you'll say is that you're a hybrid. That's like, that's game-changing and freaky, and - and Adora!" she gestures. "Adora, how are you not freaking out?"Adora makes eye contact with Light Hope, then clears her throat. She had every intention of telling Catra she's Immortal, but then Catra blinked her eyes open from her sleep this morning and Adora didn't want to ruin the moment. She just wants to be happy for a bit. Happy and eating waffles with Catra. "Because I know her and she's stubborn, and I'm more excited about the waffle bar than having her repeat she's not telling us for an hour.""Ugh, fine," Catra gives in, leaning against Adora to look at her menu. "Wait, shit, you can actually design your own waffle here? This is the real game-changer. I want chicken, bacon, and berries," she says excitedly, and then looks at Light Hope again. "So, if you're a werewolf, that means you can eat real food, right? Or is it limited to--""Catra," Light Hope says, very calm, very patient. "Let's just enjoy the sun, alright?""If I don't know you, I can't trust you," Catra says."Then don't trust me," Light Hope says politely. "There's just some information I don't feel comfortable giving out.""Are there others like you?""Not that I know of," Light Hope says.Catra looks like she considers that for a second, then, "Is Prime like you?""No," Light Hope says. "Does that answer enough of your questions?""For now," Catra concedes, but she leans in closer to Adora as she goes back to the menu.They order four waffles between the two of them, and Light Hope sips on water as she keeps her head turned out the window, eyes closed against the sun. Once they're nearly wrapped up eating, Light Hope tells them, "I have an idea.""What is it?" Catra asks, leaned back on the bench like she actually managed to get full."I was thinking Day Shift."Adora knows the plan, but she plays along, leans forward on the table. "Attack while they're vulnerable?""Exactly," Light Hope says. "They won't expect us to go this hard on the offensive. I know where his progeny have nests. And there's one between here and the city that's fairly accessible. I say we hit it hard, lay low and see how he responds, and go from there. We can get an advantage here.""I like that," Catra admits, like she's surprised it's a good idea. "Drawing him out gets him to us on our terms, which at least throws him a little bit for a loop. And if he sits back and doesn't take the bait, we're effectively dwindling his numbers with no real retaliation. How do you know where the nests are?""The vamp I drained in the sewer, his progeny. I have his memories.""Oh shit, the one you like, bit the neck off of?" Catra asks, scrunching up her face like she doesn't actively kill vampires for a living. "Honestly, I thought he was like your ex-boyfriend or something, no way he deserved that fatality."Light Hope laughs at that. "I just needed the information, and it worked, didn't it?""Sure," Catra smiles, "but maybe try yoga or diaphragmatic breathing for some of that pent-up frustration. That cannot be good for your aging."Light Hope rolls her eyes and then sighs a little, blinking at the sun. "You know, I didn't before, but I think we might have a shot at this. It's a long one, but there's hope.""Yeah?" Adora asks. "Should I actually plan a future? Plot out what we'll do with fangs that old?""Holy shit, I just thought about that. Could you even imagine the payout we would get?" Catra asks, like her brain is working overtime now. "They have to be worth at least a few million, each. He's like, the Elder of all Elders. We could get museum money, you know? The Paris archive would be all over that.""Shit, don't let the whole restaurant know," Adora jokes, and Catra drops her head, giggling. It's good to feel happy for once. It's nice to feel like they have a chance, like there's hope. Adora missed this."Do whatever you want with the fangs," Light Hope says. "Once I'm free, I'm taking a vacation.""Where to?" Adora asks.Light Hope hums, closing her eyes to the sun, and for a second it looks like she'll keep it to herself, then she says, "There's a 65-mile fjord in Glacier Bay where I spread Mara's ashes, think I'll visit there for a while, get to be with her." "That sounds nice," Catra says, and then they're all silent, sitting in a comfortable lull.A few minutes later, Light Hope asks, "Do you mind if we just stay here for a little bit? The sun feels really nice in this spot.""Yeah, of course," Adora says, so they hang out for a while. Catra grabs the Switch from the car, and they set it up on the table, losing at Smash and ordering bowls of berries to munch on in between. By the mid-afternoon, Adora feels full and lazy, and she can't help thinking that she wants this - the slow afternoons sitting in a patch of sun, snacking on fruit with Catra, laughing and having fun and being fucking happy. She wants it all, and she can have it, and she's determined to not let Prime ruin that.They pack up a little while after that, taking to-go boxes of waffles and whipped cream, and Light Hope actually smiles the entire walk to the car like she's a whole new person in the daytime."We need a team," Catra suggests. "You think Glimmer's up for tagging along during Day Shift, again?""I don't see why not," Adora says, pausing outside the car door. She reaches for her phone to shoot Glimmer another text, but can't find it."Did you lose your phone again?" Catra asks, laughing.Adora sighs. "Fuck, yeah. Think I left it on the table," she says, and Catra rolls her eyes. She runs back in and grabs her phone, sees she left the Switch too, and chooses not to mention that to Catra when she gets back outside. Catra doesn't ask, though. She just grabs Adora by the waist, smiling and shaking her head as she backs her against the jeep. "It's AD -""HD, yeah," Catra laughs, finishing her sentence. Then she leans in and kisses Adora before she pulls away and sighs. "You're frustrating, but I love you," she says. "Now text Glimmer before you forget."Adora laughs, but she makes sure she sends the message.*Glimmer finally texts her back later that night. She doesn't even acknowledge that she completely disappeared, just says, so louisiana is a bust, mom found out about the plan and contacted the office. apparently, i need at least a year of training 🙄
i thought i told you bad idea, Adora texts back immediately.
i'm almost 50, not married, living in my mom's house, and my boss is being a total butt turd booty, cut me some slack! i don't have options like you and catra.
you're barely 25, bow is amazing (he'll marry u i swear), your mom's house has like, a thousand rooms, and your boss is a total butt turd booty, i can't help you there but at least you have your health
touche, Glimmer types back.Adora rolls her eyes, smiling as she bites her lip and texts, where the fuck have you been? i've been texting u like crazylong story, Glimmer sends back, and then, don't want to send over text, we should meet. heard you've gone missing, too lol
yeah, long story. hang tomorrow?
it's a date, Glimmer sends back. you're in for a ride. oh! it's bow's birthday tomo and the crew is getting together, we're throwing a big party. u should come through! legit, everyone is worried about u two
yeah, sure. we're alright, tho. just holed up in a sex shack making babies xx 👀
le gasp, totally knew it. there's a poll at the union for whos most likely to secretly have nipple piercings, and catra's the top pick followed by sea hawk
ugh, i wish 👅 but no, sadly.
lollolol omg cant wait to see you!!! later later later, my mom wants to talk
okay, later~
They drive from Light Hope's cabin back to the city the next morning. The plan is for Light Hope to stir up trouble while they keep their heads down, and then in a few days drive back out to Light Hope's cabin to hide out. They split up for a bit once they get to the city, though - Light Hope going to suss out the plan, Catra going to suss out Melog, and Adora meets up with Glimmer at a Barnes and Noble. She apparently still hasn't gotten Bow a gift."So, Prime is like a real deal?" Glimmer asks, reading the back cover of a book from the Best Seller section."Yeah, he seems hardcore," Adora says, shoving a hand in her pocket. "He's smart, you know? Like, old school, six steps ahead of you smart. We think we might have a plan, but - I don't know. I just hope it works.""I'm sure it will," Glimmer says, and Adora lets herself smile at the confidence. They check out a few more books, then Glimmer leads them to the deserted autobiography section before she says, "So, a lot of like, weird shit has happened these past few days, but first off - sorry for the MIA.""Yeah, what the heck?" Adora says, nudging her shoulder. "So, what's up?""Ugh," Glimmer groans, as a preface. "So, I dropped my phone in the toilet, and it was old as shit and not waterproof and I lost literally all of my contacts and went on a downward spiral. And then I found out my dad is not only alive, but he's also an uber vamp and he feeds my mom intel occasionally. And they've been having this like, secret, nighttime love affair my whole life. But, it's no big deal. I needed a new cell phone, anyway.""What the fuck?" Adora laughs. She nearly says my grandma is a vampire too, but figures this maybe isn't the time. "That's crazy, right? But, I'm excited for you. I should be excited for you?""Yeah, it's like - I don't know." She shakes her head. "I guess you grow up learning to hate vamps, and then your dad is one and you realize there are some good ones out there, you know? Like, they're not all uniform. Which should make sense, honestly, but it's - it's like you get brainwashed.""I know," Adora says, "I've been figuring that out recently, too.""He feels like shit, by the way," Glimmer tells Adora. "He thinks they figured out he was giving my mom intel, and used that to set you and Catra up for the ambush in the sewer, but not sure why they targeted you, specifically. Unless it has to do with the nest, but Spinnerella and Netossa were also there.""I don't think it was a target," Adora deflects. "I think they maybe knew we'd split up, and figured they had better chances sending their entire force in one groups direction. That still would have been two dead hunters.""Yeah, you're right," Glimmer says. "Two of the best, too. What was up with the vamp that helped you?"Adora shrugs. "I think she just sensed a lot of activity around the area and she was like, turned against her will a million years ago, so she was fed up with the whole thing and had a soft spot for us.""That's lucky, then," Glimmer decides. "I'm glad you're okay, though.""Yeah, me too," Adora says. She looks at the shelf and sees I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy and points at it. "I heard this one's pretty good. We can tell him it's a joint gift."*She shows up with Catra to Bow's house later that night, and it's like time stops the second they enter the great room. All chatter comes to a halt and it's just the music in the background as everyone stares at them in what looks a little like shock.Luckily, Adora's fine with having attention on her. "Are we all staring because I look like shit," she starts, "or because some vampires tried to murder me, and then I disappeared for a few days? One of those is a regular occurrence.""Aw, don't say that," Glimmer says right away. "You don't look like shit that often."Adora snorts and everyone starts laughing, and Glimmer hops up to run and give both her and Catra a hug. "Glad you could make it, lovely seeing you. We have drinks and snacks and board games, and Cards Against Humanity if we're feeling risqué.""Take a breath, young killer," Catra says, scooping Glimmer into a solo hug and ruffling her hair. "I actually fucking missed you, how crazy is that?""Don't worry, it's probably just your altered sex brain. You'll be back to normal in no time.""Oh my god," Catra gasps, turning to Adora. "You did not.""Didn't what?" Adora scoffs. "Brag about dating you? Because I absolutely did. And will do it again. As fair warning. Like, all of tonight.""You're incorrigible," Catra says."Do you even know what that means?" Glimmer asks, and Catra pulls her hair instead of ruffling it."We finally have a party," Bow yells out of nowhere, appearing next to Glimmer with a cup in each hand. He's wearing a floral mesh crop top that literally only he could pull off. "Catra has short hair! Wait, she always has short hair."Catra takes a cup from him and makes a show of fluffing up her hair. "At least someone recognizes royalty when he sees it.""Yes, let's all bow to Adora and her noble squire," Bow says, and Adora grabs the second cup from him before he spills it on the floor in demonstration.Catra takes a drink and decides to laugh at that, instead of making a fuss over it. Adora realizes she's been nervous about hanging out with everyone again. It's all uncertain territory, and Catra's volatile even when she hasn't been in prison and she's not in a room full of loud, dumb hunters. But she's handling it even better than Adora is with her awkward, nervous hand placed on the center of Catra's back. "You're a dork," she says after a bit, "but you do look good in that shirt.""Catra, you are my new favorite person," Bow declares, then he grabs her by the elbow and says, "Come, we've all missed you and have embarrassing stories to tell of the times we tried to hunt without you there." He just takes Catra and leads her in the opposite direction. Adora's too shocked by this development to even follow along, but she doesn't miss the chance to admire how good Catra looks in her jeans.A few hours later, Adora's pleasantly warm and even more pleasantly drunk. She's happy and laughing and Catra's sitting on her lap, and she's surrounded by people laughing at her jokes. They beat Perfuma and Scorpia at beer pong, and sang a karaoke song with Sea Hawk and then another one with Glimmer. She thought it would be weird to reconnect with everyone, thought they'd be mad she disappeared or make it obvious she was depressed, but it feels like the easiest thing in the world talking about horror movies with Mermista.Partly, because Mermista doesn't care to bring up personal shit, but mostly because Mermista knows more about horror movies than anyone else, and she's super passionate about them, the way she is about murder mystery, so it's hard not to get wrapped up in it. "I just think Jordan Peele is like, breathing fresh air into something that was starting to get redundant and highly derivative, you know?"Catra giggles against the side of Adora's cheek. "I totally have to let her watch Nope," Adora says."Oh my god, please," Mermista lights up. "You should live text me her reaction throughout the whole thing, so I can relive it.""We could just invite you over," Adora offers.Mermista stares at her blankly. "Glimmer said you called it a sex shack.""It was one joke," Adora says.Mermista laughs, then does a transition that's only not awkward because it's her. "I heard you're retiring.""We're trying to. It's just like, getting old, you know? We've been hunting since we could walk, so it's not like it's something we just got into.""Yeah, I get that. You need hobbies, friend. And perspective."Adora sighs, feeling Catra relax in her lap like maybe she's fallen asleep. "I'm trying to get both, it's just hard.""Between wanting to get away from vamps and needing fangs for money?""Yeah, something like that," Adora says. "How are you, by the way?""I slept with Sea Hawk, but don't tell him I said that," Mermista giggles. "I've been denying it to everyone, it's driving him crazy."Adora laughs. "And that's good?""He kisses better when he's going crazy. Besides, I have to keep it spicy, you know?""I want it like, mild at best," Adora says."Spoken like a true white woman."Adora snorts hard enough she shakes Catra awake. It's only for a brief moment, though. Then she shoves her face in Adora's hair again. "I'm talking about vampires!" she yells, still laughing. "I can spice it up in the kitchen.""In the bedroom?""I'm dating Catra, aren't I? It's not like she's the Pope."Mermista hums at that. "I don't know, it's always the fiesty one's that go limp in the bedroom.""Okay, I am going to take her home now," Adora decides, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. "But it was lovely catching up with you.""It always is," Mermista says, then she gives Adora a kiss on the cheek, ruffles Catra's hair, and gets up to walk away.*Adora dreams about growing radishes with Catra and winning a pumpkin pie baking contest.She wakes up feeling more sober than she deserves to be, remembers she's a fucking Immortal, and sighs so long that Catra actually nuzzles her in her sleep."You awake or just having a bad dream?" Catra asks, soft voice floating into the sleepy silence.Adora opens her eyes and squints at the ceiling. "I dunno yet, but you're here, so. It can't be that bad, can it?"Catra snorts. "That's awake, then. What's on your mind?"Adora tries not to smile, but she can't help it. "Nothing, just thinking about like, actually having to get out of bed and do things today. I just want to stay here with you.""And that's all?"Adora nods, shoving her nose in Catra's hair and sniffing in the smell of Glimmer's shampoo. Then she remembers they're actually crashing with Angella. Technically. "Yeah, just that.""Okay," Catra says, and it's obvious there's tension, but Adora doesn't want to point it out. After a few minutes, and halfway into Adora falling back to sleep, Catra whispers, "Just tell me already.""Tell you what?" Adora mumbles, blinking her eyes awake again."Why Light Hope is walking around like a fucking sunflower and you're suddenly being shifty," Catra points out, then sighs and says, "She doesn't act like someone who's used to living in the sun. And you're uncharacteristically not interested in figuring out why.""Catra," Adora sighs."Because you already know why, right?" Catra asks. "I'm guessing it has to do with you and your fancy princess blood that she drank the night before she started soaking up sunlight like a desert cactus."Adora forgot Catra could always put two and two together. "Yeah," she admits. "I think - Light Hope's theory is that you helped activate my Immortal trait that time you dared me to lick that squirrel when we were twelve. And that she gained the ability to be in the sun when she drank from me because of that.""Are you saying you like, got the plague?""Yeah," Adora says."Because of me?" Catra asks."Yeah, I guess so. You're what catalyzed me being Immortal.""Literally, any other bloodline and I probably would have killed you, is what you're saying?"Fuck. Adora backtracks. "No, it's like, curable now. With antibiotics.""I was there. You almost died," Catra says."Well," Adora starts, "it's a good thing your girlfriend is destined for greatness."Catra sighs hard enough Adora feels it in her soul. "We're luring Prime in with you, aren't we?""Yeah, kind of," Adora admits. "But, it's all we have."There's a long minute of silence before Catra says, "You do realize if he catches you, he's not just going to kill you, right? He's going to feed from you, then pass you to his buddies, and you're like, basically going to live forever as a vampire juicebox. And you want that?""No," Adora whispers. "I want to be with you, and there's no better way to do that."Catra lifts up and Adora's afraid she's going to get chewed out for being fucking dumb, but instead, Catra just leans in and kisses her, and it's maybe the softest thing she's ever had the pleasure of experiencing."We are not going to die like TV lesbians," Catra tells her. "And we'll talk about the Immortal thing later, because right now I can't think about the fact that I'm aging and you're flourishing."Adora laughs. "You know, there are like a bunch of ways--""No," Catra says, then, "Let's get another hour of sleep before we get up.""Yeah, okay," Adora says. "Do you think you'd want to go on a date today? Like an official one.""Yeah," Catra hums. "I think I'd like that."*They don't end up going anywhere fancy for their date - just a BBQ place on the outskirts of the city - but Adora feels like they're at a five-star restaurant with how her nerves are eating her up inside. She's gone out to eat a million times with Catra, but this isn't a friendship thing, anymore. It's a relationship thing."So," Adora says, "I realized I've sucked you into this whole my family is Immortal and a crazy vampire is desperately trying to kill us thing and I feel a little like I need to apologize."Catra flicks her eyes up from the menu in surprise, scrunching her brow."I'm really sorry," Adora says, as sincerely as she knows how, tries to put every other time she's fucked up or gotten Catra roped into something crazy into it. "And I would definitely understand if you didn't want--"Catra rolls her eyes. "Of course, I do," she says smiling, kind of teasing, and it catches Adora off guard. They're actually at risk of dying, not just a vague threat, and she's so calm about it."Yeah, of course," Adora says, rolling with it, shooting Catra a smile, too.Catra's quiet after that, chewing on her lip and staring at the menu. They give their orders, and then they're both just on their phones. Adora doesn't know what's happening between them."Hey, this is a date, right?" she asks, setting her phone down and waiting for Catra to look up from the TikTok she's watching.Once she's done, she sets her phone down, too. "Yeah, that's what we agreed," she says. "Is there something wrong?" Adora asks. Catra just nibbles her lip again and then she shrugs. "Well, sorry if I fucked something up, I just - I don't know.""You're just like, being weird," Catra frowns. "Like, I want to date you, but not if that means we're not friends anymore. You don't have to apologize for me being there when someone's trying to hurt you."Oh."I know," Adora says, "generally. But, this time it's a lot, and I didn't want you to feel obligated.""Since when do I feel obligated?"Adora shrugs. "I don't know. I guess I just figured your life doesn't have to end just because mine does. I don't see it as jumping ship or not being loyal. I just think you deserve a chance at a regular life.""Adora," Catra groans, then, "I'm scared too, babe. But that'll never mean I make you do this alone. I'm here, and I'm not even thinking about going anywhere. So, stop ruining our date."As dumb as it sounds, the assurance sets something free in Adora, something she didn't know was weighing on her, a silent pressure she had been dealing with. "Yeah, sorry," she says, smiling again. "I'm just being dumb."When the food arrives, Catra flicks a macaroni noodle at Adora with her plastic spoon, offers her baked beans, and Adora grins, eats off Catra's fork, and offers her slaw to try. It feels weird stealing these moments while they're actively waiting for Light Hope to piss off Prime, but it's peaceful like this. They havent done anything extraordinary or beyond what they'd do regularly, but it's nice for them. It's calm.They end up at the bar a few minutes down the road, drinking soda and then beer and then hard liquor, and Adora's eyes are stuck on the curve of Catra's face, how wet her mouth gets after every time she takes a drink. An hour into the night, she gets a nice flushed color, like the warmth of the alcohol is settling through her, and she keeps making Adora cycle through songs on the jukebox as she tells the bartender stories about 'deer' hunting, and Adora keeps catching her sneaking glances over to look at her. She can't stop looking herself, at the softness of Catra's hair, thinking about twisting her fingers in it, thinking about the way she wants to lick up Catra's throat every single time she takes a vodka shot. Adora feels like a teenager discovering sex for the first time, like she's always horny and never stops thinking about it and can't get her head on straight to look at Catra without her mind overflowing with memories.She checks her phone as the night goes on, realizes it's past eleven and neither one of them should probably be driving, and she calls them a ride. "Let's go, Glimmer's here," she whispers into Catra's ear, tugging her sweater back on. Catra just turns so she can kiss against Adora's lips and hum into her mouth."Do you know how much I like your fingers?" she asks with flushed cheeks, and her eyes are blown."No," Adora starts, feeling something hot settle inside of her, "but you should tell me how much you like them when we get back to Angella's mansion. Would love to hear it.""I can tell you right now," Catra says simply, tucking her hands underneath Adora's sweater and climbing off her stool. Adora could probably never tell Catra no, but she does manage to get them out of the bar.Thankfully the car ride is relatively short because with the tension running through them they're barely shut and locked inside their room before Catra's pulling Adora's attention back to her fingers and apparently how perfectly they fit in Catra's mouth. They end up on the bed, both naked save for soft t-shirts; Catra lying on her back with Adora sitting up straddling her thigh. She keeps thinking about how pretty Catra's lips are as her eyes flutter shut and Adora presses her fingers deeper inside her mouth, dragging them out and pushing back in, over and over and over again. They keep going like that for what feels like ages, then Catra drops a hand between her own legs and Adora gets jittery grinding against her thigh, and they come apart together before collapsing into a heavy sleep.*"I kind of like this," Catra says the next evening, eating pull-apart Twizzlers and playing Fire Emblem on the Switch. Adora's trying to solve a Marvel movie crossword puzzle with Glimmer. "Why don't we do this more often?"Adora looks up and smiles at Catra. She's lying on her belly on the rug in the living room, wearing black leggings that are hugging her ass like nightfall descending over a mountain range. "I think it's because we're always off killing shit, but we can be doing this, too. I like this more.""If you could be an apple, what would you be?" Glimmer asks, pretending she's sending a text message but probably googling the answers. Adora grew suspicious after she casually knew the name of Ebony Maw."Probably Honey Crisp," Adora says right away.Catra snorts. "I'd be an Empire.""More like a Red Delicious," Adora says, licking her lips when Catra looks up at her to roll her eyes."Ew," Glimmer huffs, looking up and gasping like she's suddenly remembered something as she writes a name in the crossword. "I think it's obvious I'd be a Pink Lady.""Is your mom actually going to let you train?" Catra asks."She says she's thinking about it.""Really?" Adora asks, shocked."Yeah," Glimmer nods. "My dad thinks it's good I know how to defend myself, so he's actually talked some sense into her. I don't think she like, thinks I can't do it, though. She's just nervous.""Yeah, moms get like that," Adora sighs. "Unless they're Shadow Weaver.""She's not our mom," Catra groans, not looking up from her game."Are you still closing in on Prime?" Glimmer asks her. "My dad says they're all really dangerous.""Yeah, and we're being safe," Adora tells her, and she's mostly telling the truth. They haven't died yet. "I'm mostly just sad I have to retire with a bang, you know? Why can't I go out on juvies?""You were always going to go out with a bang," Glimmer laughs. "Is there any other way?"*As with all good things, their mini-vacation comes to an end the next afternoon. They're back at the cabin, eating donuts next to the large window in the sunlight, sitting on the soft sofas."I'm stronger than I used to be," Light Hope admits, after Catra proudly tells her she figured out her secret."How so?" Adora asks."I don't know," Light Hope says, "I haven't figured it all out, but I'm definitely physically able to do more than I used to be able to, and I'm a lot faster. I think your blood does more than just the sunlight thing.""That's definitely not good, right?" Catra asks, carefully licking cream filling from her donut in a way that goes straight to Adora's - heart. Definitely her heart. Because she loves Catra. "The sunlight is one thing, but if he gets stronger and faster, too... Aren't we just playing with fire at this point?""I think I have a good shot of holding my own with him," Light Hope says, "and with your help, and the aid of preparation - we might just have a real shot at doing this.""You really think so?" Adora asks.Light Hope nods. "I'm confident," she says. "His progeny have probably gotten word to him, so now it's just the waiting game. But, I really do think if we play this right, there's a good chance we win.""Well, let's play it right, then," Catra decides, popping her donut in her mouth.They spend the next three days getting prepared for what's next. They get the area surrounding the house properly equipped for defense - setting up trip wires for garlic grenades, silver laced nets in the trees, and silver spike pits hidden in the ground. And then they get the inside sorted with guns, knives, and garlic grenades stashed underneath the counters and underneath the chairs, underneath the table and cabinets and anywhere a weapon could fit. Adora even sets up her metal wire across the front door and keeps telling herself this is it.They're up early the next morning - or late the next night - standing silently in the kitchen over cups of hot coffee, trying their best to stay ready and alert and not crash where they're standing."We're really fucking up our sleep schedules," is Catra's interpretation of the situation."Technically, I don't sleep," Light Hope says."Technically I don't sleep," Adora mocks, then laughs, "You're always the life of the party, aren't you?""A party is not what I would call your life before I found you," Light Hope teases. "Anyway, we have like ten minutes before the sun comes up, so you'll be able to crash, then. We shouldn't be bothered.""I fucking hate the Night Shift schedule," Catra sighs. "Tell me again why we thought it was better than Day Shift? When's the last time we were actually able to keep consistent brunch dates when we were working Night Shift? Also, fresh Eggs Benedict and cream cheese French toast absolutely beat 2am Waffle House.""For sure," Adora says. "Day Shift is definitely where the cool kids are.""I don't know if I'd call you a cool kid, but you're definitely a cute kid," Catra laughs, reaching over to ruffle Adora's hair. Adora leans into it smiling and turning so she can pull Catra into a kiss. Light Hope throws a handful of Cheez-its at them as she laughs and makes a disgusted noise. And then, startling absolutely everyone: Prime comes crashing through the side of the house, smashing right through the wall in the dining room. It'd be comical, maybe, if he didn't immediately rush behind Light Hope, snatch her head from her body, and shove it in the kitchen cabinet.Adora and Catra are so fucking dumbstruck that they don't even move as he takes her still-moving body to lock it in the closet. And they're still standing stiff when he walks over to stand in front of the living room sofas. He looks remarkably calm for a guy who just took out half of a house wall and a head in less than ten seconds."You should come and sit," he offers, gesturing to the loveseat in front of him, and when Adora and Catra don't move right away, he says, "Please, I insist.""This is it, then," Catra mumbles, then she gives Adora a long kiss, and they walk over to join him."Do you find it frustrating?" Prime asks when they're in front of him, reaching out his hand for Adora only.Adora wants to slap it away or cut it off or punch him in his stupid face. But instead, she shakes the offered hand, and it's sort of a terrifying moment, she thinks, being so close to the one who killed off her bloodline. "I don't know what you mean," she says, sitting down as close as she can next to Catra.Prime sits too, leaning on the arm of his chair and comfortably crossing his legs. "Life and its finality," he says, then, "The decisions others make for you - ones you do not agree with - such as Light Hope's decision to house you with Shadow Weaver as she plotted against me.""I'm not sure," Adora says. She feels like she's shaking. She's too nervous for this.Prime sighs. "It is okay to speak freely, Adora. I encourage it.""Sorry, I'm just - honestly, I'm too worried about the possibility you'll kill me to even think straight.""I will not kill you," Prime says calmly, taking a slow breath and keeping his eyes focused on Adora. "Not without warning. Now, I would like to know your thoughts.""I think - well, don't you think this is a little extreme?" she asks, very carefully, trying to keep the conversation level enough to give them time to think. Time to figure out what the fuck they can possibly do. "You don't even know me, and yet you've sent so many vampires to find me, to kill me. You have no idea who I am.""Why is that extreme?" Prime asks back, and Adora isn't sure how he wants her to respond to that.She can tell it's not rhetorical, though. She supposes after nearly two millennia of living, she can see how it'd appeal to him to have a stimulating conversation. So, she tries to figure out what he can possibly find intriguing about her, interesting enough to sit her down and talk when he could so easily just take what he wants. She can't figure anything out. "I don't know what you want me to say," she finally settles on. "Does it suck that life ends? Yes. Does it suck that people make decisions for you that change your life? Yes. Do I kill innocent people just because I can? No.""Are vampires not innocent?" he asks, and there isn't an edge to it, any arrogance or indication he's expecting her to be wrong. It's like he's genuinely curious about what she thinks."Not when they're hurting innocent humans," Adora says, and she can feel Catra's nails digging into her thigh like she's nervous. Neither one of them are exactly eloquent, but Adora really needs to be if she's going to get them through this. She can't help it, though. She can't stop herself from getting worked up. "Vampires hurt innocent humans every day, and that's why we hunt. Nothing more.""Are they hurting humans, or are they trying to survive?" He pauses a second like he's choosing his own words carefully, then, "Is the gazelle not innocent when the lion hunts it?"Adora shrugs. She guesses everything can be a matter of perspective. "Well, in that case - aren't hunters just trying to survive, too? That's at the heart of evolution, isn't it? We're all just trying to survive.""Exactly," Prime says, and smiles like he's proud. It makes Adora feel a little sick inside. She doesn't want to make him proud. She doesn't think genocide is ever a good idea, and there's no way to make her think it's justified. She mostly wants to live, though - wants Catra to live - so if she has to play along, she will. She'll do whatever she needs to do to get them out of this. "Do you think it is right to hoard Immortality?""Do you think it's right to force it on others?" she asks, before she can think better of it."I can walk in the sun any day of the week and I would die in six seconds. Dying is always easy," Prime says, like it's that simple. "Living, however. It is not as guaranteed as death.""So, you want to guarantee life by killing innocent people?" Adora asks."Are you referring to your bloodline or the humans who we turn into vampires?""Both," Adora says. "You shouldn't be killing either.""I do not turn humans without consent. Even Micah expressed that he did not want to die before I turned him," Prime says. "If this has been your experience, then I am sorry you have been given that representation of vampires. As for your family," he hesitates. It makes Adora feel a little bolder when he does, like he's as concerned with what she thinks as she is with him. "I am only killing those who believe that life - that Immortality - should only be reserved for the few. For the humans they deem to be worthy.""You were deemed to be worthy," Adora says."This is true," Prime says. "But I once had a family. Friends. Children. She-Ra did not feel they were worthy." He tilts his head when he asks, "Do you know what it is like to watch everyone you love die?" He doesn't give her a chance to answer. "If you do not know, then you soon will. Have you already had the thought of possibly turning Catra?"The tension radiating from Catra is palpable. Adora takes a deep breath and decides - maybe lying isn't worth it. "I have," she admits. "That doesn't mean I'm right. It doesn't mean you're right, either.""So, you would let her die?"Adora clenches her jaw, takes a breath, and says, "No. Not if she didn't want to and I could do something.""This is how it started," Prime tells her. "The war between She-Ra and I. At the heart of it, it has always been about who does and who does not deserve Immortality.""Just because you're right at the start of something, doesn't mean you're right in the end," Adora says. "None of what we're talking about changes the fact that vampires aren't just killing for food now. They're doing it for sport. You started that, right? If you're the one turning people who aren't worthy. You let it get out of hand.""I have made a mess, this is true," Prime sighs, like he's confessing. "The power-sharing system never allowed for a true consolidation of power. I admit, it has not helped vampires feel there is stable leadership. But, She-Ra has not seen the shift of the last one hundred years. The only solution for peace and order is for us all to come together under solid leadership. They need a strong leader, not split allegiances.""So, they need you?" "And you," Prime says. "If you will join me. Adora - I believe you can be the new She-Ra.""But what if I just want to be the old Adora?" she asks, nibbling her lip because she feels like she may be close to crying and she can't do that. Not in front of Prime. "I just - I feel so tired," she says. "This is a lot.""It is a lot," Prime agrees. "I can give you time to think.""You'd do that?" She doesn't mean it to sound as small or as hopeful as it does, but it's already out of her mouth and she can't take it back. If Prime picks up on that, he doesn't let her know.He just looks out of the window, at the slow way dusk is turning to dawn, then he looks back to Adora and says, "Yes, but I will still need your blood today. I am afraid that is non-negotiable.""So much for consent," Adora mumbles."You have to understand my position," Prime says.The frustrating part is that she does understand. Instead of commenting on it, she asks, "Light Hope?""She will be coming with me," Prime informs her, "but you have my word that she will not be harmed. I would like to start our relationship built on a foundation of trust."He must know she's the only way to get to She-Ra, Adora thinks. And then she just thinks about Catra, about holding her after this, giving her a kiss, about the fact that they can maybe have another moment together after this. And decides she just wants this to end as quickly as it can so she can get to that.Even though every inch of her wants to say fuck you, she says, "You should hurry then. Before the sun. It's coming up, and you'll need my blood to survive it." "Very well, then," Prime says, and in the next second, he's off the sofa and tilting her head to the side. They're losing, she realizes, just as he sinks his fangs into her skin. They've actually lost.She spends the five seconds he's drinking from her feeling her heart sink because she's not sure what to do. A part of her feels like he may be telling the truth about the past, maybe even about what he envisions for their future, but she's getting an off feeling that his idea of peace and order may not line up with what she thinks is just or necessary. She won't die today maybe, but this might be setting them up for something worse in the future. So, she doesn't know where they go from here, especially now that she's given him the ability to walk in the sun.Prime pulls off with a gasp, stepping away from Adora right as the sun starts to rise over the horizon, as it filters through the trees and floods inside the windows of the cabin. Adora looks up at him then, just as Catra puts her head against her cheek and cuddles close against her body, and maybe it shouldn't be surprising, but... he looks just as soft as Light Hope did the moment she first told Adora she could walk in the sun. His eyes are wide and his face is open, and he keeps looking at his hands, twisting them in the rays of sunlight shining across his body.After a few seconds, he looks up at Adora - like it's a reverent moment just glancing in her direction, like she's the very first fire to ever be ignited, like she's actual sunlight, herself - and he whispers, "Thank you." Then he turns toward the front door, stares out at the sunset through the porch windows, and his head explodes.It is, inarguably, the second most confusing sequence of events that Adora has ever experienced."What the fuck?" Catra whispers, obviously in shock.Then, the most confusing sequence of events that Adora has ever experienced happens next: When a woman carrying a gun comes through the hole in the side of the house, walks over to where Prime's body is lying in a pile of goo and chunks, kicks her boot around in it for a second, and then finally turns to look at them as she says, "The way I see it, these fangs are mine." Adora can't tell if she's even breathing anymore. She feels like she's out of her fucking body. "If either one of you disagrees with that, you're welcome to file a complaint with management." Adora figures 'management' is her gun, by the way she tilts it forward. And then it hits her--as maybe the most shocking surprise of all today--that this is a fang poacher. As in, they're being fucking poached. As in, someone is literally hijacking their hunt to steal their fangs.This is the first time in her life someone has ever been bold enough to poach her and Catra."No complaints here," Catra says slowly. "The fangs are all yours.""Good, then," the poacher says, puffing up her chest.Adora's pretty sure she's still holding her breath, staring at the chunks on the floor as if they'll come back to life. Maybe she's dreaming. Maybe she never woke up."Out of god-honest respect," Catra says curiously, gently squeezing Adora's thigh, "can I ask you what gun you're using? Like, that was fucking silent. I didn't even register anyone had fired a weapon. I'm like, I'm in awe.""I engineered it myself," the poacher says, obviously pleased with herself, going from dark and mysterious to soft and flustered in under five seconds. "So I can't, you know. Like, tell you.""Yeah, I get it," Catra sighs. "Bravo, though. I mean, we're retiring after today, but if we weren't. I'd pay good money to get my hands on something like that. Actually, I'd pay even after retiring. Gotta shoot the deer with something.""I was thinking of starting a Patreon or Gofundme, actually.""She should, right?" Catra asks, squeezing Adora's thigh again, and Adora suddenly realizes that this is real, that this is a poacher, that Light Hope's head is in the fucking cabinet and they need to get rid of this woman."You totally should," she says, perking up. The poacher points over her shoulder. "Is it just me, or was that vampire not burning in the sun.""Special sunscreen," Adora says right away. "We're uh, we're with the Union," she admits. "We've been tracking this scientist vamp that's creating a special vamp sunscreen, but. He's not a problem anymore.""Yeah, thanks to you," Catra smiles. "We can even get you the Union rate on the fangs.""Wait, shit. Really?" the poacher asks. "You're not upset?""Shit, no. We've been trying to get him for ages, even looked like he was getting the jump on us.""Yeah, you don't look like you were in a good spot.""We definitely were not, so. Fangs are all yours," Catra says. "I'm Catra, by the way. This is Adora."The poacher relaxes a little and runs a hand through her bangs. "I'm Huntara," she says. "Sorry about all of this, by the way. If I knew you'd be so cool, I would have - honestly done the same thing, but I feel a little bad.""How'd you even know we were here?" Adora asks."Oh! I overheard you planning an Elder hunt in the waffle bar," Huntara informs them, like her stalking them is a casual thing. "I put an airtag in your Switch case when you left it on the table, and I've been tracking you for a few days. I was just going to show up and shake you down for one of the fangs after the fight, but -""They're both yours," Adora says in a hurry."Yeah, you got the kill," Catra says. "Drop us your number and we'll ring Angella to get you a day permit to sell your fangs down at the central hub.""Just these, or?""Whatever you have," Adora says. "Bring them all in.""You're not just yanking my chain?""We don't really yank chains," Catra says."Yeah, that's never been our thing," Adora adds in."Catra and Adora," Huntara says into the ether. "You know, that sounds familiar. Do you know Shadow Weaver?""I think everyone knows Shadow Weaver," Catra grumbles. "Can't get away from her.""Yeah, but I did some time a year ago," Huntara says, "and she paid me to be muscle for her book club. At night she'd get all sentimental from the hooch and talk about hunts she did with her girls.""Plural?" Catra asks. "Or just Adora.""Both of you," Huntara says. "She was proud of you, I think. Said you were both at the Union now, and how she raised you better than a life of being regulated hunters. That part she was disappointed in.""That does sound like her," Adora nods. "Well, if you're ever back again, tell her we said hi.""Will do," Huntara says, then she stares at them in awkward silence for a few seconds before, "Are you two like, good? Do you need me to hang around, or can I grab the fangs and head out?""We're good," Catra says, "Just leave a way we can get in touch.""Yeah, sure thing," Huntara says, then she leaves them her number, grabs the fangs from the vamp chunks, and walks off out of the hole in the side of the house.Catra leans over and kisses Adora's cheek the second she's gone. "You okay?""I don't know," Adora confesses. "I think I just need a few minutes to like, process. I just - maybe I need some time alone. That was really - I need a moment, okay?""Okay," Catra says gently, then whispers, "I'll go help Light Hope reattach her head," and she kisses Adora again before she gets up to walk over and unlock Light Hope's body from the closet.Adora takes a few seconds to think about everything that just happened, decides it was definitely fucking terrifying, and then she drops her face in her hands, exhales every breath of air inside her lungs, and lets herself cry.
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"I know you spend some time in the city, but you also have a house northeast with your garden. Are you there now?"Adora grins, playing with the loose thread on her cardigan sleeve. "Yep, we're here now. Although, with the flashes of cold we've been having, the garden isn't doing the best. We're also getting nuisance wildlife which is frustrating, but Catra thinks it's cute.""Don't tell them that," Catra says, throwing a grape at the side of Adora's head. Adora deflects it, laughing into her microphone. She's sitting at her computer desk in the sunlight and staring at a little woodchuck currently being a nuisance."Would she like to join us?" Scorpia laughs. "Perfuma would love her in the podcast.""No, she's too cool for us," Adora says, and Scorpia giggles, too. "She's actually working on the next video - roasted grape vanilla cake.""Yeah, yeah. That's right - you're pretty much YouTube famous now.""Yeah, for baking, no less," Adora says incredulously, and nearly mentions vampires but remembers that's not allowed. "It's funny because ten months ago we'd just like - we'd completely left our old life and neither one of us was any good at baking, but we're here now.""I think it's great," Scorpia tells her. "Like in your one video where you're basically demystifying homemade pasta and you're making these beautiful noodles, but it doesn't feel daunting for regular people watching, or people who aren't that skilled in the kitchen.""Yeah, it's what we're aiming for," Adora says, smiling at Catra as she gets carried away with taste testing. "You don't have to be some fancy chef to do a lot of these things, you know? It's okay just being like, regular. It's okay to have fun.""Definitely," Scorpia says. "So, let's talk about the cookbook."Adora hums at that, then she leans back in her chair as Catra sits on her lap and feeds her a piece of cake.*Two hours later, they're in the kitchen making snacks to go with their hot chocolates, and Catra's being cute as she gives herself a marshmallow fluff mustache. "You know, you could just ask me to kiss you. You don't have to be coy.""Who says I'm being coy?" Catra asks. "This is a treat for Melog. It's not my fault you're always thinking about my lips.""Oh my god," Adora gasps, "Please tell me you don't let him lick your lips. I have to kiss that mouth.""You say that like it's a chore," Catra whines."Never," Adora frowns. "I mean, I didn't think you'd be this needy when we first started dating, but I can't say I don't enjoy it.""Me? Needy?" Catra scoffs. "Says the one who can only sleep when she's curled against me in a blanket fort."Adora shrugs, then, "It's the only time I don't have nightmares." There's a long beat of silence, so she figures she can't just drop that there and leave it hanging between them. "It's just - I don't know. I didn't realize how much Prime showing up like that impacted me.""I know," Catra says gently, "I know, okay? I know. I'm sorry, I was just teasing," she quickly follows up with, and the pause between them makes it even more ridiculous that she has marshmallow fluff on her lip."Can I help you with that?" Adora smiles, tugging Catra's shirt to pull her closer."Are we changing the subject?" Catra asks, but she's smiling too, stumbling forward to press against Adora."I feel like we've hashed that out so much already, and the fact that I haven't gotten over it is—""Hey," Catra cuts her off. "He bit your neck, so. I think I'd have nightmares too if some weird, old guy tried to give me a hickey.""No, stop," Adora frowns. "Don't say it like that."Catra giggles and presses her lips against Adora's mouth, smiling but not kissing her. The marshmallow fluff is definitely too sticky to even be cute enough to use as kissing encouragement, but Adora still licks out to taste how sweet it is. "You're totally going to have to wash that off in the sink.""Yeah, I know," Catra says fast. "I knew it was a mistake the second I did it.""I mean, I could drool on your lip if you're into that.""I'm not opposed," Catra says, then laughs. "But, I'll wash it off."She pulls off of Adora then, and steps over to lean her head into the sink as she runs the water.Adora remembers only now that she finally remembered to take the cookies Razz gave them out of the glove box. It only took Catra six months of reminding her for Adora to actually do it. She considers that a feat. "Hey, guess what," she says, reaching into the cabinet where she hid them. "Someone finally did the thing she was supposed to do."She pulls out the two boxes of cookies and holds them up just as Catra pulls her head from the sink and shuts the water off. She starts shaking her head as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "Jesus, I thought I'd have to finally cave and do it myself.""Ye of little faith," Adora giggles."Whatever," Catra laughs, then she reaches over and grabs a box, turning it around in her hand. "These are like, ancient.""Razz is old, what do you expect?" Adora points out. "Let's just toss 'em and finish making our microwave smores. The entire new season of Making the Cut is online and I want to binge it before we go to bed.""Ambitious, aren't we?" Catra asks, flipping the box in her hand again. "I say we try them. We should have a celebratory cookie. We survived and we're alive, and Light Hope got her vacation, and we got our garden, and yeah. We should have some cookies.""Yeah, but like, also, we could just make cookies that are younger and better than this.""Since when have you thought younger was better?"Adora snorts. "Touche," she says, then, "I guess, fine. It can't be worse than the pickles, right? At least these are dry.""Famous last words," Catra giggles, and then she rips at the cardboard on the box she's holding.Adora does the same, and she's happy to see there's a sealed plastic bag inside. Maybe the cookies are actually preserved and she doesn't have to worry about getting the plague a second time. Even better, they look like the delicious little cookies that come in the metal tins around Christmas."So, this is weird," Catra mumbles, looking up from her box.Adora quirks an eyebrow. "That they actually look good?"Catra rolls her eyes. "This is exactly how I convinced you to lick the dead squirrel."Adora sighs. "Yeah, I was just thinking about that. But, at least I'm immune to the Plague, you know? And to being sick, apparently.""Yes, yes, my perfect girlfriend," Catra teases, and then she digs her hand in her box and pulls out a thin, metal octagon that has little divots along its sides. "I was referring to this, by the way. Does it, by any chance, look like a key that could unleash a vampire more powerful than Prime?"Adora opens her mouth, and then she closes her mouth, and then she opens it again and says, "No, it looks like something that needs to be buried underneath the azaleas. I think it'd make excellent fertilizer."Catra exhales like a deflating balloon, then gently places the key back in the box. "Good," she says. "Great. I'm glad we're on the same page." "Yeah, always," Adora smiles, and then she leans in to finally give Catra a kiss. She can still smell the marshmallow fluff that was on her lip, but it's not sticky anymore - just soft - and it makes Adora feel settled inside. Prime may have gotten into her head and given her nightmares, but she has the rest of eternity to do this with the girl she loves more than life itself.The only hard part of this whole thing will be convincing Catra that she needs to be a vampire to make that happen.