AN: The spirit of whump possessed me. That's my excuse.

"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Adora waved to Bow and Glimmer as she walked into her cottage and closed the door behind her. "Catra, I'm home." She called, taking off her jacket. There was no answer.

"Love?" Adora frowned, listening for any sound in the dark house. Maybe Catra was asleep. It would explain why all the lights were off. It was awfully early for her wife to be down for the count, but Adora hadn't expected to be home so soon. Catra may simply have nodded off, assuming Adora would be much later.

She resolved to keep her voice down in case Catra was sleeping and crept to the couch to retrieve her wife's book. Mermista had gotten Catra really into the Mer-Mystery novels once the two finally got on speaking terms, and Catra was nearly done with the entire series. All she had left was this one, "The Case of Catfish and Cutlery." Catra loved the book and was planning on reading the spin-off series Catfish Capers when she finished.

Handling the book with care, Adora picked it up off the table and glanced over at the window, nearly giving herself a heart attack.

"Melog?" she asked quietly. The cat being was pacing nervously around the perimeter of the house, mane a sickly shade of yellow. They seemed unable to cross over an innocuous line of leaves in the backyard. When they meet eyes with Adora, Melog yowled loudly enough to be heard through the distance and windows before frantically nodding their head toward the top floor of the house. Something was wrong.

Adora headed upstairs as fast she could while still being quiet but stepped on some broken glass in the hallway. It crunched under her feet as she tried to see where it was from. When she reached for the lamp in one of the little alcoves, she discovered it broken, its glass strewn across the floor. She gave up on quiet.

"Catra?" Adora yelled, making a dash for their bedroom. When she arrived, she threw open the door and saw a devasting scene. The book tumbled from her hands carelessly and onto the blood-coated carpet.

Every window in the room was shattered, moonlight flowing into the room and illuminating the bloodbath. The red liquid was everyone, splattered across the walls and sprayed along the floor, all leading like a sick trail to where Catra lay on the ground, hands over the gaping wound in her stomach. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was still, but Adora refused to accept what that meant.

"Catra!" she screamed, throwing herself across the bedroom and scooping up the prone form of her wife. Her hand brushed a gaping hole in the back of Catra's neck and she readjusted her grip. Catra was warm, thankfully, but Adora wasn't sure if she was breathing. "No…. No, no no! wake up, Catra! Get up!" Adora resisted the urge to shake her as though she were asleep and desperately poured over ideas in her head.

What do I do, what do I do? What happened? Is she…. Melog! Melog was still here, so Catra couldn't be dead, right? Honestly, I have no idea what would happen if she were killed, which she's not. She's not! She can't be dead! Adora blocked out that train of thought quickly. How can I- OH!

Adora mentally slapped herself on the forehead and gently placed Catra back down. "For the Honor of Grayskull!" she summoned She-Ra and hefted Catra back into her arms. "It's gonna be okay, Catra," she whispered as She-Ra's magic flowed through them both. "You're going to be-"

Catra jolted in her arms violently. That can't be good. Maybe it's the healing working…. Catra started screaming, every wound She-Ra's magic touched beginning to bleed even more.

"NO!" Adora instantly recalled her magic, and Catra stopped convulsing. At least Adora was sure her wife was still breathing. You needed air to scream. "Okay, healing is a no-go. What else can I do?" she looked around the room, searching despite the dim light. After a moment, her eyes landed on the dimly glowing pink orb sitting on the windowsill. The flare!

When the couple first moved away from Brightmoon, Bow had given them the orb so that they could signal the castle in case of emergencies. Adora never thought she would use the device, but she was so glad for Bow's forethought.

She placed Catra gently onto the bed and ran over to the flare, unsure how it worked. A few tense moments later, she flipped a switch on the bottom, and the device started glowing outrageously bright. In a panic, Adora tossed it out the shattered window and the orb flew into the sky. It exploded in midair and set off a massive series of pink fireworks, nearly blinding Adora.

It took a few seconds for the dramatic display to work.

"I'm here!" Glimmer appeared in a burst of sparkles, fists raised and glowing. Adora looked up from where she was hunched over Catra. "What's going o- OH MY GODS!" in Glimmer's light, Catra looked even worse.

"We need to get her to the infirmary." Adora insisted, taking Catra back into her arms.

"She needs to go to Mystacor so they can heal her." Glimmer retorted.

"Magic won't do anything. I already tried." Adora lowered her head as the sound of Catra shrieking echoed in her head.

"Are you-"

"Infirmary, Glimmer. She doesn't have time for us to argue!" Adora snapped. Glimmer's eyes widened for a second before she recovered and nodded. She took Adora's arm and teleported the trio right into a Brightmoon medical wing hallway, startling one of the nurses.

"My Queen, what a pleas-"

"We have an emergency here." Glimmer cut him off. The nurse's eyes strayed to Catra, and he paled.

"Come with me!" he dashed down the hall. Adora rushed after him, but Glimmer grabbed her again and relocated them into the emergency chamber. The nurse burst in a few moments later and started giving orders. "We need a bed, three medics, suture tools, and someone to prep the operating room!" he cried, stirring the lazy atmosphere of the nighttime medical wing. Staff who had been idly chatting sprang into action and one of the doctors tried to whisk Catra out of Adora's hands.

"Wait…" she hesitated, hating the feeling of Catra leaving her hold.

"Ma'am, we need to close up some of those punctures before she loses too much blood." The doctor explained, an edge in her voice.

"Adora, let her go." Glimmer persuaded.

"No, I'm not letting her go!" Adora started to panic.

"Okay, those were the wrong words." Glimmer grimaced. "You need to let the doctors take care of her. She'll die if she doesn't get help yesterday." She reached forward and carefully slipped Catra from Adora's grip before passing her off to the doctor.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The doctor nodded and summoned a nurse with a wheeled bed to her side.

"You take good care of her. She saved the world." Glimmer said lowly.

"Oh, trust me, we know who she is." The nurse grumbled. Adora's eyes narrowed.

"You watch your tone, Carl." The doctor hissed.

"Right. Sorry." Carl didn't seem sorry at all, but the doctor brushed past him to put Catra on the bed before wheeling her off. Carl headed over to a medical cart and grabbed several needles.

"We shouldn't be here for this part." Glimmer took Adora's hand, still red with Catra's blood.

"I won't leave her." Adora's grip tightened in Glimmer's.

"You aren't leaving her. She's right here." Glimmer nodded to the bed as several medical staff crowed around it. "But we're going to be in the way soon, plus I don't really want you to see what happens next."

"I can handle-" Catra's agonized wail cut her off as one of the doctors drove a needle into her chest. Glimmer immediately teleported away before Adora could break out of her hold. "Catra!" Adora found herself out in the waiting room, searching for a way to get back.

"Let the doctors do their job!" Glimmer grabbed Adora's face and pulled it close to hers. "We have one to do ourselves."

AN: This was gonna be a oneshot, but I couldn't wait, so I went ahead and posted the first section. Plus, I always post something on Sundays now, so it felt right. There's more to come, so stay tuned!
As always, leave some love in the comments and I'll see you soon!