Disclaimer: I don't own She-Ra!

Title: Coup

Summary: Catra wins the war; a tale of murder, a surprising amount of bedrooms, and maybe things turning out okay.

…

Being incarcerated in the Horde is enlightening, Adora reflects. Kyle is seemingly shocked to see her- there'd been rumors, he said, but he didn't think she'd actually leave them (which, yeah, ouch). He just assumed she'd died. Lonnie chucks trays of food at her and her friends and leaves. Rogelio is about as talkative as ever when he comes to collect her, but his grip is soft.

"Nice room." Adora's compliment falls flat with the look on her face as she led inside with chains around her wrists. It is, as far as Horde bedrooms, quite nice indeed- decent size, only three rolls to sleep on, and even a defective ledge that could generously be labeled as a balcony attached to the end of it. "Who're you sharing with?"

"You sound jealous," Catra notes, waving to the guard with a single claw. She half-expects the soldier to remain on the principle, but they salute and walk out without a second glance. "Just some of my inner circle."

"It's Scorpia and someone else, isn't it?"

"Duh."

Adora noisily clanks her wrist bands. "Any particular reason you're inviting me back here, Captain Catra?"

That startles a laugh out of her. "You wish. I just wanted to show off my new digs." Catra pinches some of the chain links between her thumb and forefinger and leads her towards the balcony. "You know, Lord Hordak sentenced you and your little buddies to death two days ago."

"Lonnie said something about that." Adora leans over the edge. It's a long fall, true, but going splat in the middle of a work area would be counterproductive, so she doubts she's in any real danger. Of that, anyway. "Mind if I ask why?"

Catra shrugs. "I wasn't back yet."

"Ah," Adora says. "Should've known you requested special seats."

"Actually, I didn't get the chance this time. I only got back late last night... and I didn't know you were there until then."

She gets what the woman is hinting at fairly quickly. "They were waiting for your permission?"

Catra's smile is all teeth. "What can I say? I've got quite the pull around here." She examined her nails. "I couldn't care less if you die, of course, but they wanted to make sure I was okay with it."

"So you brought me here to brag?"

"Uh, yeah? C'mon, Adora, you can't not be impressed. My people were willing to disobey a direct order from Lord Hordak until I came back, just to please me."

Adora is actually pretty damn impressed. Catra was cutthroat and wily, yes, but this was more than just strategy. She had their loyalty; to the point they'd risk being executed in her place just to wait to deliver her to Catra on a silver platter. Shadow Weaver wished she'd had half of that respect. "Congrats, Catra."

"Wow, thanks," said Catra, dryly, eyebrow raised. "Don't go clambering or anything."

"I could break out of these, you know."

"Oh, sure, but then you'd be putting your little friends at risk. We both know you're too much of a sissy to do that." She turned her face into the wind. "To them, anyway."

Adora doesn't respond. They stand on the precipice and look out over the Horde, choked and swarmed with smog and sweat. It had been comforting to the both of them as children, but now Adora's eyes watered from the acrid stench.

"It's sickening, isn't it?" Catra asked. "So much wasted potential. I'll just have to fix that."

"You can't fix the Horde, Catra."

"That's quitters talk. Besides, I like a good challenge." The bristly fur on the edge of her tail brushed teasingly across Adora's elbow. "Or did spending so much time on easy street make you forget what that is?"

Adora glared at her.

Catra stuck her tongue out. "I'm not trying to 'fix' the Horde, Adora. There's a great foundation here, and I'm not looking to destroy that. Hordak wouldn't know how to use recourses safely if it bit him on the ass." She waved her hand over the twisted buildings. "Just imagine how strong this place could be with proper construction, with a properly trained army. None of that 'chuck children into simulators' shit. I'm talking all the stops."

"What then?"

She shrugged. "Have to get there, first."

The next time one of them is captured, it's Catra, and captured is a suspect phrase at best. She's notorious for slipping out of her cell with ease, taking every new lock and guard schedule as a fun, harder level in the game she feels Bright Moon is.

So Adora's not shocked, per say, when she comes out of the baths to find Catra lounging on her bed. It's more the lack of any pointy weapons aimed her way, including her claws.

"Two hours," Adora comments, sitting on the stiff bed. She's wrapped in towels, one around her waist and one over her neck, and her scars are prominent. She knows Catra's proud of them. Maybe that's why she's purring, tail idly swishing. "That's a new record."

Catra cracked open her blue eye. "I hope that's not the new uniform."

"Are you scent-marking my bed again?"

"Of course I am. Now you have to sleep knowing I was here."

"Catra, you know my nose is shit compared to yours."

"Ah, but you know what it is," she points out. "That's good enough for me."

"I hope you realize I can't hide you."

Catra tilted her head to the side. "You know, this feels more natural than you being promoted to Force Captain. We always wanted to be on the same level- now we are."

"Just with a lot more stabbing."

"Actually, this feels like a pretty average amount of stabbing." She rolled her eyes. "And, I mean, who in the rebellion was going to give me a real challenge? It's not a good story if I can't surpass my enemies."

Adora leaned back slightly, taking the towel from her neck. "That's what this is? A story?"

The other eye was open now. "If we're smart about this, it'll be good enough to be one."

"What are you really doing here?"

"Getting myself some plausible deniability."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Catra said. She checked the window- it was almost dawn. "Hordak's been dead for, say, two hours now? If it all went according to plan, anyway. I wasn't gonna stick around and wait to see."

It's a punch to the stomach. True, Adora had been fighting against the Horde for some time now, but she honestly hadn't expected to hear those words. Honestly wasn't even sure if Hordak could die. He was like the boogeyman- dark, shadowy, and never truly gone. "So. You won the game."

"You could say that," she replied. "Or you could say we just started."

It's a long three day battle when Adora and Catra meet on a hill of tall, dew-covered grass. It's chilly in this part of Etheria- forever fall, the leaves yellow and red and crunchy underfoot.

The red under their feet now might be more than just leaves.

"I'll cut you a deal, Princess," Catra said. "I'll help you fix the damage here if you give my men medical attention. And then maybe we can talk about sharing resources."

"Ending the war, are we?"

"You wish," she scoffed. "It's gonna take more than a couple of huts to end this." Catra's eyes met Adora's, and they were darker than anything she'd ever seen before, but not in a bad way. Adora saw something in them. Something like hope. "But it could be the start of something."

"I'd like that," Adora said.

They shook on it.

Author's Note: Listen I love Catra in Bright Moon content and all but I rlly feel like Catra could do a lot of great things with the Horde.

I know that Catra and Adora are gonna be more angsty/dark next season but right now I personally see them more as war rivals. Y'know like they meet at dawn to fight but also stop for snack breaks and shiz lol.

-Mandaree1