The teleportation trip back to the Fright Zone was, thankfully, lacking in water. For that, Perfuma was grateful. She was also equipped with an assortment of medicines – most dealt with pain in a variety of ways, and many had other uses of which Perfuma had no idea if they'd come in handy but she figured it was best to bring it and not need it. One of them had to be okay for Scorpia, right? Now they just to figure out how to determine that without finding out the hard way.

Perfuma and Glimmer flashed into a dim hallway within the Fright Zone. Glimmer blinked and glanced around. "Where are we?"

The blonde smiled and took Glimmer's hand. "Ooh! We're not far from Entrapta and Hordak's lab!"

It hadn't occurred to her until then that maybe the scientists could have a way to test the medication.

Perfuma made her way to the lab, pulling Glimmer along with her. She wasn't surprised to find Hordak there alone – Entrapta was likely either working on the dehumidifier or installing it if it was finished. She felt a tug of discomfort when he stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at her with his usual glare.

He was at a computer, and clicked it off before turning to face her entirely.

"What is it?" Hordak asked.

Perfuma blinked, her usual pleasantries caught in her throat. It was so strange to her to address someone so directly, without any of the usual hellos and how're yous to try and bring up the positive vibes at the start of the interaction. Still…it just didn't seem to be who Hordak was, and maybe it was just best to meet him at his level for now.

"Ah—I brought medicine for Scorpia. A few different kinds, in case they weren't all safe for scorpions," Perfuma said as she held up her bag, opened it and showed him the contents.

"You want me to test them," Hordak concluded.

Perfuma nodded. "Is it possible?"

Hordak cupped his chin, then turned to look at his unfinished clones. "…Yes. But I will need some of her blood, and some time. It won't take long once I have it."

"How do I get her blood?" Perfuma asked, pensively. It sounded like something that couldn't be done painlessly.

Hordak moved to his communicator and tapped on it. Entrapta's smiling face greeted him, Emily beeping behind her.

"Hordak!"

"Entrapta. Where are you?"

"Just finished the dehumidifier. On my way to install it in Scorpia's room!"

Hordak drummed his fingers against the table. "I need a vial of her blood, to test the medicine Perfuma brought."

"Oh! She got the drugs! Great! I'll bring a syringe."

Perfuma's smile twitched at Entrapta's word choices as she called out to the communicator. "Thanks-"

Entrapta had already hung up. Perfuma stood there with her mouth open in mid 'so much' as Hordak approached and wordlessly took the bag from her hands. He then turned his back to the two women and began to set up one of the large test tubes for his experiment.

Perfuma watched Hordak, closing her mouth. Should…she thank him? Say bye? Something else? "Okay, we'll…see you later! Thanks…?"

He didn't answer. Hordak was not one for unnecessary pleasantries.

Glimmer just watched the scene unfold by Perfuma's side, and gave the blonde a smile and a shrug.

Soon the two were out of the lab and on their way to the infirmary. However, on their way there they could hear Catra yelling. Perfuma's stomach dropped as soon as she heard the tone of the magicat's voice. Something happened, and given that Catra had last been in Scorpia's room (and knowing their history) Perfuma feared the worst.

Both Glimmer and Perfuma picked up the pace.

In a nearby storage room, Catra was pacing back and forth, hugging herself.

"I told you! I told you I was going to ruin it! All I do is hurt people!" Catra shouted.

Adora stood by the entrance of the storage room, watching her pace. "You didn't hurt her. You both just scared each other, that's all-"

"You saw the look on her face!" Catra turned to Adora, her tail poofed out behind her. "I've seen that look, Adora! She doesn't say it, because she just…doesn't like conflict. She doesn't like to hurt anyone's feelings, no matter how much they hurt her—Th-that's… just how she is! She wants to pretend everything is fine and pretend she doesn't hate me for what I did to her, but she does! She does, and-"

"Catra, she doesn't hate you," Adora argued.

"What's going on?" Perfuma and Glimmer called out at the same time, as the two arrived to the entrance of the storage room.

Catra hissed, reaching out to grab whatever was closest to her – a box of…whatever was in there. She couldn't tell and she didn't care to check, but it was light enough to throw and that's all that mattered. "Get her out of here!"

Perfuma tensed as she watched the Magicat lift the storage crate, prepared to jump or block with her vines if she needed to. "Catra," she forced her voice calm. "Put the crate down and tell me what happened."

Adora looked back to Glimmer and Perfuma pensively, feeling the light weight of the Bright Moon Queen's hand on her shoulder. "Ok—so—long story short, Catra and I were out of the room, we came back in. Scorpia was with Bow and she was awake. We weren't expecting it. I guess she wasn't expecting to see us? Catra and Scorpia both panicked. Scorpia started apologizing, Catra yelled, it was a bit of a mess-"

Perfuma furrowed her brow with worry. Scorpia was awake – as in more aware? Or in the same delirious state she had been in? She kept the question to herself, figuring at this point it didn't matter. If her first reaction to seeing Catra was panic and apologies, it was a testament to the abuse she endured. Even if the two had worked things out (or tried to, and Perfuma was behind them rebuilding their friendship on a more steady, stable and caring ground if they both wanted to), trauma ran deep and the scorpion couldn't help how she reacted even if she wasn't ill. Perfuma would be sad to say she wasn't surprised.

"I should never have come!" Catra covered her long ears.

"Catra, we both know Scorpia's not in her right mind right now," Glimmer said tenderly as she stepped by Adora's side, holding both hands up.

"How was Scorpia when you left?" Perfuma asked, looking to Adora.

Adora smiled weakly to her. "Not great, but Frosta and Bow are taking care of her, so…hopefully better than she was when we left."

Perfuma nodded, then backed up. Once Scorpia had recovered, she could return and help Catra deal with this – the magicat was long overdue for therapeutic meditation as it was (as it was hard to schedule such things in space). But Scorpia came first, and Catra had Adora and Glimmer to look after her.

The blonde rushed to the infirmary.

Despite the urge to shove the door open and throw herself to Scorpia's side as quickly as possible, Perfuma slowed to a stop and lightly knocked on the door. If Scorpia had such a bad reaction to being startled by Catra, Perfuma didn't want to risk scaring her further. She called in, "Scorpia? Bow? Frosta? It's Perfuma. I'm coming in."

Pushing the door open carefully, Perfuma glanced inside to find Bow sitting on the edge of the bed, and he and Scorpia hugging each other. Frosta was crouching behind the arachnid, using her powers to chill the towels around the young woman's tail.

Bow smiled to Perfuma, relief washing over him. "Look, Scorpia! Perfuma's here!"

Entrapta was also in the room, installing the dehumidifier with Emily's help.

"Hey Perfuma! I just got here. Bow said Scorpia just had a panic so figured I'd install this first before drawing her blood," Entrapta explained, jerking a gloved thumb to the syringe sitting on the table next to her before getting back to work.

Perfuma smiled to Entrapta though the other woman's back was turned, and she was unable to see it. She then looked to Bow and Scorpia worriedly as she approached them. Kneeling onto the bed, Perfuma reached out to brush her fingers through her companion's white hair. "Hey Sweetheart. I heard you got startled. How're you feeling?"

Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, Perfuma shifted her gaze to Frosta, who looked back to Perfuma with a concerned look and a 'so-so' hand gesture. She nodded and looked back to Bow and Scorpia – he had an equally worried expression.

Scorpia lifted her head to look back at Perfuma, her dark eyes distant and dull but nonetheless focused on her with a clarity that had grown sparse during her molt. After a short pause, the arachnid's eyes wavered and she smiled nervously. "Perfuma..! Hi…!" She stammered, straightening. "I'm so—I'm so glad to see you!"

Perfuma returned her smile, holding her hands out. "I'm so happy to see you, too, hon."

Scorpia moved, with Bow's urging, to Perfuma's open arms.

"See?" Bow said. "I told you she'd be right back."

Perfuma looked to Bow, perplexed, noting a slight tremor in the other woman's large frame before giving her a squeeze. "Scorpia? Were you worried I wasn't coming back?"

She felt Scorpia's embrace tighten. Perfuma's brows knit as she stroked the back of her companion's head and neck. Why would she think that? Glimmer was correct in that Scorpia wasn't in her right mind, right now, and that could be all there was to it…but Perfuma worried that her weakened state revealed thoughts that Scorpia couldn't hide, rather than inserted disruptive thoughts that the other woman wouldn't have otherwise had.

It was then she noticed the warmth radiating from the larger woman. Perfuma pulled back just enough to slide her fingers under Scorpia's forehead, the heat confirming her suspicion.

Fever.

Oh no.

Given the time she spent hidden in the dirtied, dusty Horror Hall, not keeping up with her health or nourishment other than what Perfuma coaxed into her, it shouldn't have been a surprise. And this was with the help of Frosta's chilled towels. Perfuma could only imagine the fever would be higher without it.

Perfuma looked towards the door. It was a good thing she brought many different medicines to Hordak to try. Hopefully one of the medicines that tended to fever additionally would be something she could have, but before he could get started, they needed to draw blood.

"Entrapta," Perfuma looked to the older woman. "I hate to rush you, but Scorpia has a fever. We need to get a sample of her blood to Hordak so he can test the medicines."

Scorpia tensed at the news, her bleary mind scrambling. "I-I'm okay—I'm okay-i-it's nothing, really-I-I'm a dessert…dessert bug-h-heat's…nothing…!"

"No rush, I'm all done!" Entrapta said as the dehumidifier hummed to life, and she popped up onto her feet with a clap of her hands.

"A fever?!" Frosta would have punched it in the face if it had one – and it wasn't the same face as her buddy – but a wet washcloth would have to do. With her exoskeleton properly chilled, the ice princess hopped off the bed and rushed off to retrieve just that.

With Bow's help, Perfuma at first tried to get her companion to lay down, but Scorpia pressed her cold, sore claws against the bed and pushed herself up to resist them.

"W-wait! Wait! I-I'm okay…!" Scorpia murmured urgently. "Y-you don't need to! I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Perfuma's brows knit with concern, but it was Bow who spoke first. "Scorpia, it's okay. I promise. You're not bothering us."

The blonde's eyes widened, and she felt Scorpia tense under her hands. "What…?"

Bow bit his lip, unsure if it was okay for him to repeat something said to him in presumed confidence, but in the end, he took a breath and went ahead with it. He spoke quietly. "When she first woke up, while you were gone, she was afraid you were mad at her. I could be wrong, but just the things she said…I think…she might be afraid of being too much trouble."

The archer wasn't sure what his friend thought would happen as a result of being *too much trouble*, but given what he knew about her treatment at the Horde he had enough of an imagination to guess. None of it was good.

Perfuma's listened to Bow, her heart dropping as the larger woman as she brought her pincers between them. "Scorpia…?"

"I…" The arachnid couldn't find the mental acuity to try and explain herself, not with Perfuma's sweet face and dark eyes watching her. She cringed. "I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Scorpia!" Frosta hopped back onto the bed – sinking down into the squishy mattress - a damp washcloth squeezed tightly in her small hands. "Don't do that! Patchy and I said no more dark thoughts, remember? We're not mad, and things are great between us! We're best buddies!"

Perfuma watched her closest friend cower, her heart breaking at the sight. She wasn't sure if the apologies were for what she said, or for being 'inconvenient', or something so ingrained in her that she'd apologize even if she didn't know why (though the flower princess didn't doubt its sincerity). What she did know was that she didn't want Scorpia spending another moment afraid or uncertain of where her loved ones stood.

"Shh… shh…" Her lithe hands gingerly rubbed the fleshier part of her arms – the small area uncovered by her exoskeleton. "It's okay. You're with us, now. You'll never be sick or hurt and alone, ever again."

As the reddening pincers parted enough for Scorpia to peek between them, Perfuma gingerly lifted one hand and slid it between her claws to touch her face. Resting her palm against Scorpia's too-warm cheek, she stroked her face with her thumb. "You know what the hardest part of all of this has been…?" Her voice was thick with warmth and affection. "It was not being able to reach you, not knowing where you were, or what had happened to you."

The arachnid's eyes watered. Perfuma held eye contact, her gaze as soft as the fingers that brushed her cheek. "I am so happy you're here. There's nowhere else I'd rather be then here by your side, helping you through this. The others feel the same way, I know it."

"We do!" Frosta said fiercely. Bow smiled and nodded.

Scorpia's dark eyes darted between them, then squeezed shut as a sharp sob escaped her – so quick and hard it came without warning. She ducked her head down and Perfuma slid her hand behind her neck to pull her into a hug. Frosta joined in on it, standing on the bed as she did so. Bow hugged the three of them as best he could with Scorpia's larger frame, his eyes wavering as he heard her muffled bawling. Faintly, he could hear Perfuma whispering assurances into her ear.

He looked over to Entrapta and Emily, who were standing nearby. Entrapta had her communicator in hand, seemingly oblivious to the emotional exchange. As soon as she was noticed, Emily scuttled closer to the side of the bed and leaned into the group hug as if she had been waiting for permission to do so.

"Entrapta?" Bow said quietly. After a moment, the scientist glanced up at him with a small sound from the back of her throat. "Sorry, to make you wait."

Entrapta waved her hand. "Take your time, I'm researching." She lifted her head and waved the syringe with her hair. "So…I don't know how to draw blood from a human? Or a Scorpion? According to my notes, it's not the same as drawing synthetic fluids from machines."

Notes: And Perfuma is back! Just in the nick of time, because the more lucid Scorpia gets the more riddled with the same anxiety that pushed her into hiding for so long she becomes. Fever, malaise and molting induced-brain fog isn't helping. They could really use some medicine for her, but would drugs that work on humans work the same way (or have detrimental effects) to bug people?

Finding the exact right place for a chapter break isn't my super power, haha. While I was writing the last chapter and this one I had been debating whether or not Entrapta would realistically be able to draw blood from a normal human without issue, and especially a Scorpion (given how all of the typical blood-draw places that I know of – crook of the arm and the fingers, are all at least partially covered in exoskeleton). She'd be the first one I think people would think of, especially since Entrapta's done surgeries, but the surgeries were specifically extracting tech from a person's nervous system. So I imagine the surgery consists of 'touching or interacting with the nervous system as little as possible, and otherwise work exclusively with the tech'. I don't imagine Entrapta has a flawless knowledge of human biology. So here she's trying to research it, but also combine that research with the mysteries of scorpion biology.

Of course, worst case scenario they could always draw blood the old draconian way. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!