Cat(ra)astrophe - Ch1

Rating: T

Relationships: Catra/Adora

Tags: Post-Canon Universe, Catra Clones, Hurt/Comfort, Pov Catra, Pov Adora, Adora is in Love with Catra (She-Ra), Catra is in Love with Adora, Catra is bad at feelings, clear communication, as best they can, they are trying, Adora is so chill and cocky, everyone's going to therapy, 

The BFS had their hands full when they discovered three Catra clones while exploring Prime's damaged ship. They couldn't leave them there to die, but what were they going to do with them?

--

“Can I see the picture of the thing we are looking for again?” Adora asked curiously as she glanced around Prime’s old ship. The ship was completely covered with tree roots and plants which she had made with her magic a few months ago. It felt like they were in a greenhouse instead of in the ship of an intergalactic psychopath. The best friend squad had been slowly taking parts from the ship over time for Entrapta’s experiments but they hadn’t been so deep inside the belly of the ship until now.

The last four months had been a whirlwind of activity. Finding and discarding the technology that was left behind by the Horde, integrating the clones and ex-horde soldiers into society and dealing with all the creatures going absolutely bonkers on magic, including herself. Even this small reprieve for being away from the magic of Etheria was a nice relief to Adora.

The most important part of the last few months was pinned proudly on Catra’s chest. Adora’s broach, which was the first thing she had ever been able to call her own, now sat glistening on the woman she loved more than life itself. They had a small, but intimate wedding which was everything Adora wanted. Nothing showy or dramatic, it was just them and the people they loved while they showed their devotion to each other.

Adora watched her wife with affection as she rolled her duel-coloured eyes and approached Adora with the communicator. She walked with all the grace and swagger of a woman who knew she was being admired. The swing of her hips were smooth and liquid as she came to stand beside Adora, who wasted no time putting her arm around Catra to look at the offered screen.

Adora was still getting used to her own reaction to absorbing so much magic in the heart of Etheria. Her She-ra form and normal form seemed to have fused. Adora still hadn’t worked out how to get back to her normal form yet, and was now stuck at over six feet tall and had to replace all her clothing. She had worked out how to stop herself from glowing all the time and enough to keep her hair and eyes the normal colour, but other than that she just couldn’t seem to let the transformation go.

Entrapta had told Adora that once she expelled more of the magic she had stored she might be able to transform back. So they had plans to visit local planets and give them a little magical boost to help relieve Adora’s “magical hardon” as Glimmer had put it.

At the very least Catra didn’t seem to mind She-ra anymore and despite her complaints about her being too tall Adora still caught her admiring her arms and abs whenever she thought Adora wasn’t looking.

“It looks like this, Traps said it needs to have this symbol on it, it should be about a foot long,” Catra said looking up at Adora with a playful smile as she noticed Adora was looking at her instead of the screen.

“Got it, love you,” Adora said, squeezing her hip gently as Catra purred.

“Love you too. Now focus,” Catra said firmly but Adora didn’t miss how she squeezed Adora’s bicep before she stepped away. “I’m going to check this way, you go that way,” Catra called over her shoulder and Adora watched her tail sway before she followed the instructions she was given.

Entrapta wanted this cylindrical black object that she claimed was some kind of battery. That was easy enough to understand, but Adora wasn’t really sure what Entrapta and Hordak wanted to do with the battery. Adora trusted Entrapta but she could get carried away sometimes.

Adora went into the next room which was pitch black and she activated a little of her magic to dispel the shadows as she looked around. Being a walking torch can be handy sometimes.

She lifted some rubble easily and tossed it aside before she huffed, already bored of looking for this item. Nothing looked anything like the thing they were looking for. Maybe it was inside a machine? That would make sense.

Adora went to one of the wall panels and pulled the door off to look inside. The metal bent under her grip and clanged as she threw it to the ground. She was still getting used to her strength in this new form. Everything felt like paper under her fingertips.

Adora looked inside the compartment and could see lots of wires which she had no idea what to do with. She wasn’t the wires guy, that was Entrapta’s expertise. She grabbed a handful of wires and pulled them from their sockets. The lights in the room flicked on.

“Oh, nice,” Adora said as she looked around the room. This room was definitely bigger than it looked in the darkness. She heard a soft whirring noise come from the panel she had just been using and shrugged.

No idea what that meant.

Adora dropped the cords she was still holding and walked further into the room to explore. The edge of the room was filled with pods with green liquid inside and now appeared to be glowing. Adora moved closer to look inside the closest pod and recoiled at the image of a clone floating in the liquid. It wasn’t their fault they shared the face of Prime but it still surprised Adora when she wasn’t expecting to see them. She laughed at herself for getting jumpscared by a sleeping person before she walked on. She noticed a few other pods had clones in them as she passed. She should find a command console and release them from their tombs.

Entrapta had recently discovered the unfortunate truth of the clones' longevity after she was allowed ample opportunity to study them. They didn’t have very long lifespans. They grew quickly and grew old just as fast. These clones might only live a few years unless they can find enough fluid to keep them alive.

Adora thinks that keeping the clones alive might be what this device was for, since Entrapta was very devoted to the clones and trying to ensure they stayed alive. Everyone deserves a chance to live, even the clones of an intergalactic space emperor.

Adora came across the command console and clicked through the options available. It was a little odd that this computer was on, since most of the ship was broken from the plant life taking over. It appeared the life support systems were still working, which was good for the clones, but filled Adora with guilt that she hadn’t considered what happened to the clones trapped on the ship until now.

Adora clicked around until she found a warning that the life supports were failing, and the recommended action was to open all pods. Adora grinned, that was exactly what she wanted to do, how useful.

She clicked the button and heard a grinding sound all around her as the pods opened. She covered her ears as it echoed in the large room and waited for it to stop. She wondered how many clones she might have released and if she should have gotten her friends before doing this. Sometimes the clones were not very receptive to having free will.

Adora watched as a few of the clones got out of their tanks and started to walk around, not really looking to interact with Adora but obviously confused. Adora was considering if she should go talk to the three that were standing together as they stared at each other when she heard something that made her blood run cold.

“ADORA!” Catra’s voice cracked with distress and Adora immediately felt her body pulse with magic. She turned towards the voice.

“Catra!” she called before she heard a whimper and sprinted towards the sound. She found some of the roof had collapsed in this part of the chamber and blocked her way. The tree roots hanging from the roof were probably the cause. More of Adora’s handiwork. Adora considered punching her way through the solid metal but she didn’t know if that might hurt Catra.

“Adora, help! I’m stuck,” Catra said, her voice sounding scared. Adora grabbed the metal blocking her way and with a grunt yanked it out of the way. She knew she was glowing because she dispelled the inky colours around her as she entered the smaller dark chamber. She couldn’t really see inside so she tapped into more of her magic to dispel the shadows further.

She sighed with relief as Catra came into view and it took her a moment to notice something was wrong. This wasn’t her Catra, this Catra’s hair was cut short and she was wearing robes similar to the clones. Adora had seen her this way once before and it made her stomach drop. Adora was a little stunned as she tried to understand what was going on but the woman before her smiled just like Catra and walked closer to Adora.

“My hero,” she purred and Adora felt goosebumps erupt on her skin. It was uncanny how much she looked and sounded like Catra. Was this a clone or was Adora dreaming?

The woman was close now and Adora tried to keep her eyes on her incase this was a trap but it was impossible when she heard Catra’s voice sing out again.

“Adora?” Adora looked towards the sound, relieved that Catra was nearby to help navigate this unusual circumstance.

“Over here!” she called back.

Adora should have kept her eyes on her adversary though as the woman was apparently a bit of an opportunist. When Adora was distracted she felt the woman grab the back of her neck. She knew the woman couldn’t harm her with She-ra activated but she wasn’t expecting to be pulled into a kiss. Adora was so shocked that it took her a few seconds to realise she should not be letting this woman kiss her. This was not her wife.

Adora pulled back swiftly and blushed deeply as her She-ra form flicked the lights on and off in the dark space. She could see Catra’s smirk perfectly replicated before her and looked around to try to see if her Catra had seen anything.

What she was met with was another clone that held Catra’s visage. She blinked at the clone whose eyes were big and round as she blinked in response.

“I found you!” This clone said with excitement and hugged Adora. Adora was so confused about what was happening that when she heard more movement coming from the larger room she just prayed it wasn’t more clones.

“Catra?” she called hopefully and heard another voice that sounded just like Catra. She begged the voice to be the real one.

“Yeah?” Catra’s voice was dripping with sarcasm like the last time they spoke. Each clone was now standing on either side of her and holding her arms as they waited for Catra to walk around the rubble.

“Uh, help?” Adora asked, she didn’t know what to do. Should she be fighting them?

Catra rounded the metal Adora had tossed aside with a laugh.

“Help with wh- wow…” She stopped as her eyebrow went up for a moment before quickly coming down again in a glare.

“Help?” Adora asked as the one to her left started rubbing her face into Adora’s bicep. She was still glowing so there was no denying Catra had seen the issue.

“What the hell…” Catra said, stomping her way up to Adora before she grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her away from the two overly friendly clones. Catra clearly thought she shouldn’t be letting the clones near her. If Adora didn’t know any better, she would think Catra was jealous as she hissed at the clones. But Adora wasn’t stupid enough to voice that opinion. The second clone looked sufficiently cowed by the aggressive greeting but the first one just smirked. Catra did not like that.

“Where the hell did you two come from!” Catra snapped. The second one started making a soft whimpering noise and tried to get closer to Adora. The sound pulled at Adora’s heart strings as she tried to resist the urge to comfort the clone. Catra growled at her and the whimpering stopped.

“I came out of an egg filled with green water,” the second clone revealed, and the first one crossed her arms as she huffed.

“What she said,” she said before she looked over at Adora. Adora tried to glare at her but her cheeks coloured at the look on the clone's face. Adora knew that look.

“ADORA!” Glimmer’s voice filled the chamber as she yelled with urgency. Adora knew Catra could handle…herself? So when she came out of the room to see Glimmer and Bow trying to catch another Catra clone she just signed. The clone was attacking them so Adora raised her eyebrows but let She-ra power flow through her as she jumped into action. The clone recognised her immediately and hissed as she got closer.

Adora’s heart dropped at the look of fear and anger on the clone's face. Adora tried to be gentle but when your opponent is as pointy as Catra is, it's hard to manage. It only took a few minutes before this clone was tied up and sitting with the other two.

“Well, this is unexpected,” Glimmer commented and Catra glared at her.

“This is a violation! I can’t believe Prime cloned me,” Catra snapped.

“I hope there are only three,” Bow commented as they focused on collecting the other horde clones to get them to sit in a circle with the Catra clones to wait for instructions. The Horde clone closest to the angry clone almost got bitten after he ignored her growling. “We should get Entrapta,” Bow concluded with concern.

“I’m here!” Entrapta announced as she swung down from somewhere with her communicator. She looked at the clones curiously and grinned. “Fascinating! Are they exact copies?” Entrapta asked curiously as she looked at the second clone who shied away from her.

“We were kind of hoping you could tell us that,” Adora said and Entrapta nodded.

“I can do that, but I need my lab. Oh, I found the battery I was looking for, so we can go now,” she commented casually as she held up something that looked nothing like a battery to the group. They sighed but no one commented as they took the new group of clones back to Darla.

[...]

In Entrapta’s lab at Brightmoon, the best friend squad all stood waiting for the diagnosis. Catra stood before the three clones of herself which had been instructed to sit together on one side of the room. To everyone else she appeared to be glaring at them, but Adora could see how her tail whipped. She was standing guard and it was adorable.

The aggressive clone was the only one to remain tied up, her wrists and ankles cuffed as her tail lashed wildly. Adora was watching the clones with interest while Entrapta did her scans. When they needed a blood sample from the aggressive clone that had been difficult. Adora was thankful for She-ra’s healing powers to remove all the cuts she had received.

Adora looked over at the second clone that had greeted her and when she looked at her she noticed she was already looking at Adora and her ears perked up happily. Catra growled as she noticed the reaction and the clone hissed at her. They hadn’t really talked much, responding to Catra’s non-verbal warnings in kind.

“Adora,” The clone whined and Adora felt her leg twitch to go to her. She held herself back but Catra seemed to notice the involuntary reaction.

“Can you put your gay away please?” Catra demanded and Adora frowned at her a little. Catra was right, she shouldn’t be so reactive to them, but they were Catra in some capacity and it was hard to not give them her undivided attention.

“Interesting!” Entrapta finally spoke and everyone moved closer to see her computer screens. No one could understand the code on the screen but Entrapta seemed to remember that as she changed the view to something they could look at.

“What did you find out?” Glimmer asked as she looked at the full body scans of the clones. Adora felt the soft fur of her wife rub against her arm and wrapped her arm around her casually as she waited for answers. Adora felt the soft vibrations of a purr through her skin and was relieved Catra was feeling relaxed enough to purr.

“Adora,” Catra said to her left and she looked at her with confusion before she glanced down at the woman she had wrapped her arm around. The clone looked up at her with a happy little smile. Adora released the clone as Catra pushed her out of Adora’s arms.

“Sit down,” Catra gritted out, and Adora couldn’t help feeling protective. The clone wasn’t doing anything, just standing there and Catra was treating her like a fugitive. The clone tried to get around Catra to get back to Adora but Catra cut her off. “SIT DOWN,” Catra growled.

Adora put her hand on Catra’s shoulder as the clone returned to her seat. The first clone that greeted Adora watched the second return before she looked at Adora as she picked at her claws. Adora looked back at her wife who was not looking happy.

“Baby, relax, they can’t hurt me,” Adora reassured her as she pulled her closer. Catra came reluctantly but her little frown didn’t move.

“No, they can hurt you, you just don’t stay hurt,” Catra corrects and Adora nodded. It was true. Catra worried about Adora experiencing a lot of pain because her brain still had to process that, even if her body healed.

“It appears Prime was able to modify the clones to ensure preferred characteristics were amplified.” Entrapta cut in suddenly, clearly done with waiting for them to finish their conversation.

“What’s the point of that?” Bow asked curiously as he looked at the computer.

“I assume the goal was to manipulate Adora if the original Catra was unsuccessful.” Entrapta explained and Catra and Adora both scoffed like the idea was ridiculous.

“I would have just died,” Catra said at the same time Adora said “I wouldn’t let Catra die,” and Catra looked up at Adora with a small smirk. Adora rolled her eyes and put her arm around her wife quietly.

“These internal modifications to their personalities appeared to have changed small characteristics of the body markings.” Entrapta continued like no one had spoken at all. Entrapta points to the second Catra clone who hissed in surprise at the attention “To keep it simple. This one for example has had affection amplified. I assume it is to make her drawn to Adora as a protector. Allowing Adora to feel like a champion and manipulate her to not abandon Catra. So Adora will put herself in harm's way to protect her.” Entrapta said and the second clone tried to hide behind the first one. “Based on the limited testing we have already tried, she does not like other people touching her besides Adora.” Entrapta concluded as Bow looked at the scratch marks on his hands from trying to touch the clone.

“This must be pretty embarrassing for you to have your obsession with Adora manipulated like this.” Glimmer teased as she elbowed Catra playfully.

“I am NOT obsessed with Adora, Prime changed their personality to make them like that.” Catra snapped and Entrapta made a high pitched noise like she didn’t completely agree with that assessment.

“Let’s continue. This clone has had her amorous feelings amplified. I believe the point was to seduce Adora into distraction. Which I believe could have been successful based on the flirting that you both participated in during the war.” Entrapta continued.

“That was NOT flirting.” Catra sputtered with anger.

“I mean…I was flirting.” Adora grinned down at Catra. Catra glared at Adora but she could feel her tail wrap around Adora’s leg affectionately.

“Right, moving on. The last one” Entrapta motioned to the angry one still tied up. “She has had her anger amplified. So, her actions are particularly aggressive. She may settle down, but only time will tell.” Entrapta said, turning to face the team. Glimmer looked at Bow before she looked back at Entrapta.

“So what should we do to help them?” Glimmer asked and Catra scoffed.

“Send them to Dryl, obviously, they can hang out with all the other clones until the clock runs out,” Catra said harshly and Adora stood a little straighter.

“We can't do that, I know you don’t like the clones, but they are people and we have to do what we can to help extend their lives,” Adora said firmly and Catra glared at her.

“I am all for Primes clones having a full and enriched life on a farm somewhere, but these are my clones, don’t I get a say in what happens to them?” Catra asked, pulling herself out of Adora’s gentle hold. Adora let her arm fall to her side with a sigh.

“To an extent, yes, but if we find a way to stabilise the clones' lifespan we can’t just let them die,” Adora returned.

“Adora’s right, we promised to give them all the same treatment. A chance at life. So it's the same with these ones, even if they look like you,” Glimmer said and Entrapta nodded her head.

“I should be able to solve the lifespan issue soon, considering that we have the equipment I need to replicate the amniotic fluid. But I don’t think it would be wise for me to take them to Dryl considering their attachment to Adora,” Entrapta said as she used her hair to scratch her chin.

“They can’t stay at Brightmoon! We don’t know if they’re dangerous.” Catra snapped and Adora glanced over at the clones to see the affectionate one trying to come closer again. Adora glanced at the other two clones, the amorous one was watching Adora with so much intensity that she felt herself flush as she glanced over at the angry one. The last clone was sitting in her chair with her tail wrapped around herself and her knees up to her chest with her ears pushed back.

Adora didn’t know anything about genetics but that Catra’s body language didn’t scream "angry" to Adora, she kinda seemed scared. “What if they have a hidden mission?” Catra said as she looked at her friends.

“I did consider this, but we will need to study them here. The only way to find out if they are up to something is to keep them under observation until we know more.” Entrapta said and Catra huffed. Bow and Glimmer looked at each other for a moment and Bow was the one to speak.

“I know you are worried about Adora, but without the hive mind it's unlikely that these clones have any secret mission, and if they do, we can help them know better,” Bow said as Catra hissed at the clone trying to get close to Adora again. “Gently,” Bow said firmly and the clone hissed at Catra before she hid behind Adora.

“Fine, I guess we can study them” Catra looked at Adora and yanked her away from the clone with a glare. The clone hissed at Catra and backed away again. Adora wasn’t used to Catra just manhandling her. It was a new experience but she wasn’t exactly complaining.

It was kind of adorable to see Catra so worked up about someone else giving Adora attention. The last time someone hit-on Catra in front of Adora she had started to glow so brightly everyone was convinced they were under attack. Catra had teased her for the rest of the night, along with reassuring her that Adora had nothing to worry about. So, it was cute to see her wife act the same. Adora would need to remember to assure Catra the same way, that is if she didn't already know. 

“I guess we can be reassured that two of the clones don’t want to outright hurt Adora.” Glimmer said as she grinned.

“Not hurt her, no” Catra said as she glared at the clones. Adora blushed and smiled sheepishly at her wife. She really had no way to explain the way she reacted to Catra aside from the obvious answer. She was crazy about Catra and even someone who looked like her made her feel something.

“For analysis we should name them to avoid confusion.” Entrapta said as she typed on her computer keyboard.

“EASY” Glimmer exclaimed before she pointed to the affectionate clone “Ragdoll,” she pointed to the amorous clone “Angora,” and finally the angry clone “Ragamuffin.” Glimmer said with all the confidence of a 5 foot woman.

“Where did those come from?” Catra asked as she raised an eyebrow at Glimmer's antics.

“Just what came to mind, any complaints?” Glimmer shrugged. Catra grumbled under her breath, making it clear how much she hated this and Adora put her arm around her to sooth her.

“Don’t worry, it will be ok,” Adora said confidently and Catra huffed.

[...]

Ragdoll’s cries could be heard all through the castle as they echoed into the night. It was kind of impressive how loud and long she could scream if she really wanted to. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the clone was crying because Adora wasn’t with her.

They tried to hold out for as long as they could but eventually the best friend squad stood in front of the spare room trying to decide what to do.

“Perhaps we should let her out,” Entrapta suggested. She was wearing a pair of earmuffs which she made as soon as Ragdoll started crying.

“You’re kidding right?! Absolutely not.” Catra said firmly.

“I get that you are worried but she’s going to keep doing this all night and I want to sleep!” Glimmer yelled over the top of Ragdoll’s screaming.

“She just wants to be close to Adora, it’s not like Adora wouldn’t be able to stop her if she tries something.” Bow offered, trying to block out the sound with his hands over his ears.

“She certainly doesn’t appear viciously inclined, except towards the walls between her and Adora.” Entrapta joked and the best friend squad looked at her in surprise for a moment.

“She’s so cute though, she wouldn’t hurt Adora,” Bow defended.

“It’s the cute ones you have to watch out for,” Catra scolded and Bow pouted. Adora nudged Catra playfully.

“Like you?” Adora asked and Catra glared.

“I am not cute!” Catra defended as her friends ignored her growling. “Fine, let her out, if Adora thinks she can handle her then fine.” Catra said cupping her ears, Adora was grinning stupidly so Catra knew to brace herself.

“I have plenty of experience handling you.” Adora said too loudly over the screaming. Bow blushed and Glimmer made a gagging face, while Entrapta seemed uninterested as she checked her communication pad.

“First of all, you never ‘handled me’ I switched sides. Second of all, that is not me, and she doesn’t act like me, so you have no experience handling HER” Catra growled out, ignoring the light blush that came to her cheeks at Adora’s stupid comment. Adora kisses Catra’s cheek

“You’re sweet to worry.”

“You always say that when you are going to do the stupid thing anyway.” Catra said with a sigh and Adora grinned.

“Yep!” Adora said as she opened the door to the guest room and silence fell.

Ragdoll is inside the ring of the barrier, as soon as Adora steps into the room Ragdoll is purring loudly and her tail is lashing.

“So cute,” Bow said softly as he followed Adora into the room. Glimmer came inside and Angora sat up on the bed as Adora approached.

“Hey Adora,” Angora purred and Adora blushed softly as she offered a soft "hey” in response. Catra rolled her eyes at her wife. She was too easy.

“Not that I don’t love the slumber party, but surely you have a better option than this gilded cage,” Angora said, sliding off the bed and approaching the barrier.

“Sorry if it's uncomfortable,” Adora offered and Angora smiled.

“Oh, no, I love being trapped in here with screamy and grumpy,” Angora said and pulled the neck of her uniform away from her skin. “And being in these awful clothes,”

“We can get you some new clothes in the morning,” Glimmer offered as she stepped up to the barrier to let Ragdoll out. Angora leaned closer to the barrier and smiled with her fangs.

“Thanks cutie,” Angora said and Glimmer blushed brightly.

“Glimmer!” Catra said in surprise at her friend's reaction.

“What!?” Glimmer squeaked, clearly embarrassed.

“I had no idea,” Catra said with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Glimmer said, letting Ragdoll out of the barrier and she went to Adora to rub against her side. Catra growled.

“‘Traps, maybe you can make us some tracking bracelets or something, since you want to study us. Wouldn’t it be better to integrate us instead of locking us in a room alone?” Angora said as she picked at her claws.

Entrapta looked to be considering this but Catra was watching Angora, it was a good idea but it was something Catra would suggest in the same situation. In this same situation Catra would be up to something too. Catra stepped closer to the barrier.

“You’ve been in there for a few hours, you’ll be let out when you can prove you’re not a threat,” Catra said, staring into her own eyes across the barrier. Angora smirked.

“How can I prove that if I can’t do anything?” Angora challenged.

“She has a point. I can make bracelets that will prevent them from leaving the castle grounds,”

“We can alert the guards, it's not like you look like them, you are easy to distinguish as the original,” Glimmer said with a smile.

Angora whispered something to Catra which caused her tail to fluff up and lash violently.

“Fine, make the stupid bracelets, who cares right? Let's not treat them like a threat or anything,” Catra huffed. “She is not coming in our bed” Catra said pointing to Ragdoll and making Adora smile.

“I know baby, I’ll make up a cot for her,” Adora promised and Catra left to return to their room.

[...]

Adora was diligently setting up a cot for Ragdoll to sleep on and Catra was calmly keeping the clone away from her wife while she worked. The clone was watching Adora with interest and any time she thought Catra wasn’t paying attention she tried to get closer to the blonde.

Catra was alert and ready to knock this woman down to size if she thought she could touch what was hers.

“There! Finished,” Adora said as she stood, her smile glowed with pride and it was so cute that it was distracting.

“Good job Princess,” Catra said and Ragdoll weaved closer to Adora, pushing up against her side.

“Thank youuu” Ragdoll said and Adora was blushing as she smiled. Catra growled and grabbed Ragdoll and pulled her away from Adora by the arm. She didn’t understand how Adora could be so willing to let these clones close to her.

“You don’t get cuddle privileges, you're lucky I even let you in our room,” Catra growled and Ragdoll hissed at her.

Adora sighed softly as she pulled her hair out of her ponytail and pursed her lips.

“Can we talk about this? I don’t understand what the problem is. It’s not like she kissed me. She just wants-” Adora started but Catra cut her off.

“What?” Catra asked in a hard tone. Adora swallowed, looking guilty.

“I was going to tell you, I promise. There was just so much going on-”

“What. Happened.”

“Angora kissed me when I found her on Prime’s ship,” Adora winced as if she expected Catra to blow up at her and it made Catra angrier. The tension was palpable as Catra considered her wife. Catra was distinctly aware that Ragdoll had made herself scarce and Catra felt like the bad guy all over again. Even her own clone was hiding from her in fear of her unreasonable reactions.

“Did you kiss her back?” Catra asked, trying to keep her voice level, but it came out stone cold.

“No, of course not!” Adora defended, running her hand through her hair to soothe herself.

“But you let her kiss you,” Catra said, it was the only explanation. Adora was more than six feet tall. No one was kissing that woman without her allowing it.

“Let her? No! It just happened and I pulled away the second-” Adora started, looking a little frantic as she tried to explain herself.

“‘The second’ what? The second you remembered your wife? Or when you thought I might see you kissing another woman?!” Catra asked, her voice rising quickly as her control on her temper slipped. She was trying to be better, but every day was a battle against everything she knew.

Adora was quiet and Catra could clearly see on her face that was a thought that crossed her mind.

“Cat-” Adora tried again, her voice sounding lost and it only fueled Catra’s anger further.

“Can’t you see what they are?” Catra motioned wildly towards the bed which Ragdoll was hiding under the blankets. “They’re…” Catra felt tears prick at her eyes which she blinked away angrily “Prime cloned me, he took the worst parts of me and made them!” Catra said, pointing to the Ragdoll shaped lump in their bed. “And we don’t even know why he did it!”

“Cat-”

“All I know is there has to be a reason, a bad reason. Prime…” Catra took a shaky breath “They’re dangerous Adora. You can’t hold them, kiss them, or let them close enough to touch you. They’re dangerous,” Catra said, getting to her point and allowing Adora to speak.

“You don’t know that. We can’t just treat them badly because-”

“I do know that! I know!” Catra interjected.

“How?” Adora asked, she hadn’t raised her voice once and it made Catra all the more aware that she was yelling.

“Because they’re me! They are all horrible pieces of my puzzle. The worst of me, and the worst me only ever wanted to hurt you,” Catra said and Adora looked sad. Adora was silent for a moment like she was thinking.

“Can we have a time out?” Adora asked softly and Catra let out a sigh. Their therapist told them to try time outs during an argument so they could breathe and think about what they were trying to express. So far they had helped them when things got heated and they had stopped communicating effectively.

Catra wanted to storm out, to scream and lash out and break something. But instead she looked into the cool blue eyes of her wife, planted her feet and took some deep breaths. Adora did the same and they watched each other as they just breathed together for a few minutes.

“Is it ok if I start?” Adora asked and Catra nodded, her head was a jumble of emotions and thoughts but the breathing helped a little. “I know you are worried about them, and I’m sorry I am entertaining their attention. It’s hard to see them and not think of you. I know they aren’t you, but for a moment I forget, and I’ll try to be better about it,” Adora said and Catra nodded her head. “I know we don’t know if they are dangerous and we should watch them, but if it's me they're after, I can handle them.” Adora said and Catra took a breath.

“I understand that you think you are invincible, but you know I worry about you getting hurt. Even if you can heal, I don’t ever want to see you in a situation where it might be too late to save you ever again,” Catra said carefully, trying to stop her voice from wobbling as she thought of their time at the heart.

“Can I touch you? Specifically hug you,” Adora clarified and Catra nodded. Adora approached and wrapped her arms around Catra, who leaned into her chest to hide.

“You know you don’t have to ask,” Catra said softly.

“I don’t want to assume when we are fighting,” Adora whispered into her hair and Catra huffed a laugh.

“I don’t want them touching you, especially not kissing you,” Catra said firmly and felt Adora nod.

“I promise it won't happen again. She just caught me by surprise,” Adora said and Catra nodded. She was still angry, but she could admit that if the situation was reversed Catra would have a hard time with multiple Adora’s too.

“By the way…” Adora started softly as she tilted Catra’s head up to look her in the eyes. “I know there are parts of yourself that you still aren’t ready to love, but there isn’t any part of you that I don’t love,” Adora said softly as Catra tried to roll her eyes to stop the tears pricking at the corners.

“Too bad feeling isn’t mutual. I would love to change that hero complex of yours,” Catra said playfully and squeaked as Adora pinched her backside.

“Brat,” Adora said but she was smiling. She leaned down to kiss Catra but paused. Catra watched her curiously.

“Could you please try being nicer to them?” Adora asked and Catra pursed her lips uncertainly.

“I don’t trust them,” Catra argued.

“Understandable,” Adora nodded her head.

“They are probably up to something,” Catra continued and Adora smiled.

“Possibly,”

“Fine, I’ll try,” Catra condeeded and Adora grinned before she pulled Catra into a kiss. Catra stopped Adora by licking a long strip over her mouth. Adora pulled back looking confused and Catra grinned.

“You smelled like her, now come here,” Catra said, grabbing Adora’s loose hair to pull her into a heart-stopping kiss. They could deal with the clones. All they had to do was continue communicating and ensure there were no more misunderstandings.

Easy.