Adora had always been good at following orders.

Although they were called "instructions" back at the orphanage and they were as simple as making her bed in the morning, doing chores, or brushing her teeth three times a day. Later in the army, they were called "orders" and a usual doing what she was told to do kept her away from trouble.

Even better, she was good at it, she always knew that following orders would be necessary if she wanted to be a soldier and do her part in stopping the war.

Once she was enlisted, after she had finally been accepted in the army (with the help of Dr. Erskine, to participate in the super soldier program), following orders was the only thing that had kept her in the program. After all, those doctors who had rejected her applications before did have done so with her best interest in mind. The program was brutal and even on one or two occasions, she worried about passing out and dying in the middle of training. But focusing on the goal, and on what she needed to do in order to achieve it, kept her alive. The stolen moments she managed to glance at Agent Applesauce's profile were just a plus.

So for Adora, orders were like work acquaintances that have guided her through all her life and had helped her get to where she was in life. And it was those acquaintances, those daresay, companions that helped her go through the hardest time of her life.

It was after stopping the Evil Horde and being forced to crash the ship off the coast in Greenland that she woke up in a staged sickbay. After panicking and bolting from there so sure something had gone wrong, so sure she had been captured and became a Horde's poisoner that the strangest part of the life had begun.

Turns out, the serum had allowed her to enter a cryogenic state that instead of dying of hypothermia kept her alive for almost 70 years sleeping on ice. The war had ended but, in all that time they were never able to duplicate the Serum. She was the only super-soldier of what was supposed to be an Army, and now everyone thought she was some kind of superhero.

Everyone seemed to know her, although they were really nice, in reality, they just knew about her. People also called her a Captain although nowhere in between all those years she had been officially promoted.

There was even that time when a nice waitress used her 15-minute break to helped her install and use a banking app (and had also saved her phone number in Adora's phone just in case she needed more help in the future) just because she had run out of cash and ATMs were still difficult to use. She was grateful that almost everywhere she went a lot of strangers had shown kindness, but in the end, they were all still just strangers.

Everyone and everything was unfamiliar. She has a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings and still struggled from time to time, so she had tried (per her superior's instructions) to go out there and find something to do besides the army.

In paper, they seemed to be good instructions, so she gave it a try. But no matter which hobby she tried to engage in, the yearning and loneliness in her heart never lessen, never disappeared. Everything was so loud and bright, even in the day, there were screens everywhere. It was great that health and education had also improved but she missed the old times, he missed home.

However, the good old times were not the only things she missed.

There was a persistent emptiness that had woken up with her, a constant reminder of the abrupt ending previous life had.

Even after 70 years since she had last seen her, 70 years since she had last talked to her, 70 years after she had almost kissed her and it didn't matter how much she avoid thinking about it, Captain Greyskull still missed her as if no time at all had passed.

So after a lot of half-started hobbies, she returned to do what she did best. She officially joined the avengers, trained all day, and follow orders. At the end of each day she was exhausted, enough to almost fall unconscious just to avoid dreaming about blue and gold bright eyes.

It was for the best, every time she indulged in those dreams the cold pulsating pain on her chest was unbearable for days. That longing and aching for a place she never got to call home just because she had been too coward to get what she really wanted was torture. She had saved the world but had lost whom she craved to protect, craved to care for, craved to love.

So Adora yearned, missed something she didn't even give herself a chance to have. She had chosen duty over her own life and as some form of punishment she had woken up to live out of duty alone.

When these thoughts plagued her, she was usually at the Avengers tower and would exercise until she could not feel anything anymore. But here, well, here there were no distractors, so she was running by sheer willpower.

She had gotten to enjoy some moments in her new life, it was fun fighting the bad guys alongside the rest of the avengers. Life had been simpler when all she did was what she was told.

Now that she had time for reflecting, after project "Rebirth" she followed instructions because she believed in her superiors. She always trusted they were all working toward the same goal, if it was necessary to be working closer and closer with Agent Applesauce, so be it.

Then, after waking up she continued following instructions just so she could have something to do, anything to distract her from the hollow space in her chest every time she thought about said agent.

In fact, everything she did after waking up in a perpetual nightmare was specifically to stop her from thinking about a pair of cute pointy cat ears alongside that dazzling smile that showed just the tiniest tip of a sharp fang. Anything to stop thinking about a date she never made it to. She had zero experience in the dating game, but she figured not showing up was bad.

Dying, sacrificing herself to save everyone else had been easy, and she thought it made a valid excuse to stood someone up on their first date but not showing up because she had been sleeping was dumb and stupid and a terrible excuse, and thinking about it made her face blush, her blood boil, her ears burn, and her stomach to flip.

So Adora had been perfectly okay with following instructions as long as they didn't contradict her moral compass (like that time with the Sokovia accords...)

When she was a soldier, Adora followed orders because it was

necessary in order to achieve the common good and to protect the people she loved, it didn't matter the cost. It was her mission after all. Later, as an Avenger, she followed orders because of the common good, now that everyone she ever loved was dead, there was no one to protect, she changed her foucus to protect the whole world.

In Summary following instructions, obeying orders, protecting civilians, saving Earth, was something Adora was good at, and it was what had brought her here, to this exact moment.

Here she was, back in time.

Adora was instructed to return all the infinity stones, each one in a specific order, then to return to base once she had finished, all of that without being seen.

All the infinity stones had been returned, it had not been easy but all of them were returned exactly as she was instructed, after all, Adora had always followed instructions to the letter.

Until today. Today, Captain Adora Greyskull was deliberately disobeying them.

Here she was, standing at the front of a white big house, in the middle of a suburban area without being able to ring the door's black ring bell for god knows how long.

Every muscle in her body was cramped, screaming at her to move after too much time of inactivity. Yet she could not bring herself to move. It was so stupid, she had rung plenty of bells throughout her entire life, hell she rang bells in the year 2011 because thank god they still existed. But it seemed she was incapable of ringing this particular bell.

She glanced around noticing how nice the house was and how big the garden was. A black motorcycle was parked right in front of the garage door. It was the same one Agent Applesauce used back in the day, well not back in the day but in the present day. Adora shocked head, she needed to focus.

The bike was right in front of the garaged door, yet Agent Applesauce would rather leave it outside under the sun and the elements just to avoid the big, extenuating, not really that hard chore of opening and closing said garage door every time she needed a ride. At this thought, the corners of her lips turned upward her gaze softening, there were some things that never changed she figured smiling.

But what if things did change? What if Agent Applesauce had forgotten about her and moved on?

She had been a fool! Never had that idea crossed her mind until today. She never got to think that far, was it because of pure gullibility or stupidity she could not tell.

After all, forcing herself to never think about Agent Applesauce had been what had saved her of the millions of questions that were now swarming her mind.

Had she ever wondered what had happened to Adora after the ship crashed?

Had she ever recalled fondly those moments of friendship they had shared while fighting a war together?

Alone, at night, without a war to fight had the Agent ever thought about that almost kiss they never got to share?

Had she ever miss her?

Although their time together had been short it had been enough for Adora to decide she would never dance with anyone else, but had that short time spent together be enough for Agent Applesauce to decide the same?

No, she was not being fair. There was no way for the Agent to know. Adora was, in fact, declared missing in action and for years no one knew what had happened to her, by the time she woke up… It was too late for her to know.

She could never bring herself to visit the cemetery just as she could not bring herself to ring the damn bell. Adora was so closed to finally see her, to say all those things she had thought sleepless after sleepless nights that she just wished she could say to her.

All Adora had ever wanted was behind that door, yet she was incapable of moving. The fact that Adora had not met someone else didn't mean the agent had not done so as well. What if someone else opened the door? Like a partner or... a kid. What could she possibly say to them? That would be an awkward conversation.

Her hands got cold and clammy, her breathing was getting faster, nausea raised in her belly and her vision got blurry, but she knew it was a terrible time for one of those. Adora gathered herself and focus on her surroundings as she had done millions of times before. She saw the white door and the black ring bell, she smelled the fresh cut grass and the faint smell of baked bread from the bakery two blocks down, and she heard...

Oh,

She knew that song.

She knew that song!

It was the song Agent Applesauce promised to show Adora how to dance with... Suddenly a loud buzz resonated in her ears. Adora blinked to clear her vision and her head. When she opened her eyes the buzz was still resonating and she saw her hand pressing the back ring bell, her fingers turning white because of the pressure. The music stopped, next, she heard steps approaching her, someone was coming and opening the door. Adora was frozen in place, unable to remove her hand from the bell, only able to see in slow motion how the door opened in front of her.

It was too late to run now, if it was a kid or a partner there was no escape, at least the bell was not ringing anymore was it because she had finally removed her hand or the bell had simply stopped working she could not tell.

"Okay, okay, coming! If this is about the bike I swear-"

There she stood. Her hair was longer, tied in a high ponytail, her eyes as bright as she remembered. Said eyes were wide opened and her mouth was moving without making a sound.

She was not sure how, but Agent Applesauce was even more gorgeous than the last time she had seen her. Yet the Agent could not form any words.

"Hi" came Adora's raspy and squeaky voice, she cleared her throat to force herself to form more words "Um, remember me?" she asked hopefully but the Magicat remained motionless with her mouth agape. Adora's nerves were killing her "Please, say something" she begged while reaching for the Agent's hand looking directly at her eyes for permission to touch. It wasn't until she saw the small nod of the Agent's head when Adora finally held her hand.

the Magicat's hands were cold Adora noticed, so she guided her inside the house and helped her take a seat on the sofa "I'm sorry, but my orders included not being seen and since I'm not going back... not being seen is the least I can do" She apologized while letting go of the agent's hand to finally close the door behind them with a soft click. She then returned to the living room, the agent still seated where she had left her, she seemed catatonic but Adora was running out of time so she kneeled in front of her and gently snapped her fingers in front of her face "Are you okay, Agent?"

It might have been the wrong thing to say because the agent grabbed Adora's wrist in a vice grip and in a quick motion a knife was pressed against Adoras's throat "wait-" she tried but more force was applied to the knife at her throat and to her wrist shutting her up.

"Of all the dirty tricks I have seen, this is the worst!" she growled inches away from Adora's face "The audacity! not even basic background research... I'm the Director now" she added while pushing Adora away from her.

Captain Greyskull lost her balance and fell backward, in the few seconds Adora needed to get back to her feet a gun was already aimed at her chest "Okay" she said in a squeaky voice while raising her hands up in a surrender gesture as slowly as she could, this reunion was not turning up as she had imagined it would go "Director Applesauce it is"

The Magicat growled at Adora, the hand holding the gun trembling with rage "You have one minute to tell me who sent you and what were you planning to do"

Adora was not sure how long it had been since the end of the war so she was not sure what she could tell and not tell about. Honestly, she had no plan, after returning the last infinity stone she had activated the time travel thingy Stark had given her while thinking about going back home and somehow hand ended up here. She figured to start from the beginning was a good idea so she narrated working up in the future, she then told her about the avengers and lastly about the infinity stones and her mission to return them back in time.

The Director had listened attentively through the whole story, it seemed she wanted to ask some things but waited until the end when she finally asked "Wait, are you telling me you are disobeying direct orders just to come and see me? Adora would never do that! If you think you can come to my house with a crazy story about time travel and aliens and even worse, if you think I could believe it, then you are an idiot"

"Yes," Adora slowly nodded "But with all due respect, Director" she added, a smug smile forming on her lips "I am your idiot"

It might have been the right thing to say because after a pause she asked "Is it really you?" showing a vulnerability Adora had just seen once in the past from the Director.

"Yes. it is me" Adora affirmed, desperately tears forming in her eyes "I swear everything I have said is true"

Without leaving her sight from the Captain she dropped the gun and took a seat on the sofa again. Sighing, the Director closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose "So you woke up in the future, joined a group of superheroes, saved the world, and found the time to come visit old me?" she asked.

This time Adora didn't nod "Not, exactly" she said while putting her hands down "I'm here because I miss you" she added while walking toward the record player next to the sofa the Director was sitting in "I'm here because I have not been able to stop thinking about you and because I was not strong enough to resist the opportunity to see you again" The record player was turned on and a trumpet melody accompanied by an orchestra filled the room and she faced the Director. Adora finally faced the Magicat and offered her hand "Director Applesauce, may I have this dance?"

Instead of an answer, the Magicat threw herself at Captain Greyskull. Adora wrapped her arms around her waist as tight as she could without hurting her.

Thanks to their height difference Director Applesauce was able to burrow her nose in the crook of Adora's neck inhaling her sent "Enough with the Director thing" she said feign annoyance but the sound of her purring betrayed her "Please call me Catra" she finally mumbled while they both began swaying slowly with the music.

Adora Chuckled "Okay," she said softly, her lips gently brushing Catra's ear "Catra it is"

"Catra?" Adora asked while putting enough distance between them so they could look at each other's eyes "Can I kiss you?"

The Magicat nodded and she dived in, she was finally home.