Hordak imprisons Adora. He intends to find out more about her unborn child, and just how powerful it will be.
Set during S3 EP4

Entrapta lifted the sword. "With the sword connected to the portal machine, we should finally be able to bypass the planetary interference. I just have no idea how it works," She chuckled. Adora screamed at her through the gag. DON'T DO IT! STOP!

Hordak grumbled. "Must she be here?" He growled. Entrapta hummed. "Good question. I'm not sure if we just need the sword or of we need She-Ra, too," She mused. Adora levelled her with the best glare she could muster. "Adora, you wouldn't happen to know, would you?" A tendril of her purple hair pulled down the cloth covering her mouth. Adora spat. "No. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell the Horde," She hissed. Entrapta hesitated briefly, grinning quickly.: That's okay. I like figuring stuff out," She pulled the gag back up, but Adora spat it out. "Please, Entrapta, you don't wanna do this,"

"Silence!" Hordak snapped. Adora felt the ever-familiar burn of anger singe her veins. The baby kicked frantically at the change of emotion. She breathed deeply. "Entrapta, begin," He said. The anger gave way to rage as she faced the Horde leader. "You. You took me away from my family when I was a baby!" Hordak's head moved slightly, the only acknowledgement that he was listening. "You lied to me my whole life, about the Princesses, about Etheria, about who I am!" Her voice broke at the end, angry rage turning to tearful rage.

Hordak huffed. "I could not have lied to you about who you are. Because I have never known, nor cared, about someone as inconsequential as you,"

Adora glared at the back of his head. "You should care, because I'm the one who's gonna make sure you fail!" She yelled. Hordak spun. "I will not fail. You have no power to stop me. I am opening that portal. And I am going to use your own sword to wipe out the rest of you pathetic Rebellion once and for-"

Hordak's suit glitched and sparked as he fell to the ground.

Adora wasn't pleased to say she felt joy at seeing the man who ruined her life, brought to his very knees before her form... albeit not because of her, but nonetheless.

Hordak had her imprisoned again, relatively quickly. Apparently, until Entrapta could determine whether or not Adora (read, She-Ra) was needed, she was to be kept out of his sights. As, quote, "Pregnant women are a nuisance... especially if they serve the Rebellion,"

She was thrown into a prison cell, helpfully equipped with only a thin mattress and toilet. Ah well. She'd had less. She was reminded of when she and Bow and Glimmer camped in the woods... where Shadow Weaver proceeded to terrorise them with her stupid Shadow Spies.

She paced around the cell, somewhat thankful they'd not bothered to shackle her to the wall. They'd also removed her shoes, for some reason... she didn't like that. Her shoes were something she'd worn every day, every month, every year for most of her life. The reason for taking the shoes? "You can't run away if you get out with no shoes,"

Adora scoffed at the guard's face, gesturing to her six-month-old bump. "I can barely fucking walk like this, never mind running," The guard growled, so she shrugged. "But whatever makes you happy,"

And there she stayed, dealing with the... visits... from her old squad members.

They'd left her alone for the first two days, which suited her. Her head hurt from fighting Huntara only three days ago, her feet hurt (all the time anyway, but even more so now), her back had noticeably ached more and more as she grew closer and closer to her due date, her will to live was low, and nausea had just kept getting worse!

According to Angella, most "morning" sickness, despite it running throughout the entire day for Adora, tended to end somewhere around the fourth month, though sometimes it can run all the way through. How lucky was Adora?!

When she woke up the next morning, on her third day in the cell, she woke up sick. Barely sitting, she was gagging onto the floor. She pinched her throat tightly, a trick remembered from childhood, launching to the toilet in the corner where she proceeded to throw up everything from the last few days. Adora breathed deeply through her nose, and out of her mouth, trying to stop, or at least, ease the urge to regurgitate her innards.

She sniffed, wiping a hand across her eyes, smearing away the tears.

Her stomach gurgled and bubbled ominously, desperately trying to bring her organs to the surface. She pinched her throat in quick successions of three for two seconds each time. When she was a kid, she was quite sickly. Looking back on it, it made sense. Her immune system was probably meant for Eternian viruses, not Etherian viruses. The first few times she'd had a stomach bug had gone without a hitch. Shadow Weaver had been the one to nurse her through the sicknesses until she was six, at which point, she was deemed old enough to deal with it on her own.

She'd been okay until the age of ten. As it later turned it, it was her appendix going all screwy, but she didn't know that at the time. So, on her own, at the tender age of ten, she'd found a way to keep the vomiting at bay: by pinching her throat. It confused her body long enough to ignore the waves of nausea for her to escape the room she was in and die in peace.

And she'd stuck by that trick for the rest of her life.

"Prisoner!" A voice called.
Adora ignored them, resting her head on her arm. "What happened to you?" The voice called again. She briefly lifted her head. "Nothing," She mumbled. "You sick?" The voice asked. Adora grunted. "Go away," She moaned. The voice inhaled quickly. "Have you actually been sick?" The voice asked. Adora ignored them. "I'm not asking again," They said. "Then don't," Adora snapped, moving closer to the bowl, groaning. Her stomach gurgled again, heaving out vomit in terse, violent waves. After she finished heaving, she wiped her mouth. Then she recognised the voice.

"Hi, Adora."

Adora closed her eyes and felt her mouth turn down into a grimace. While still on her knees, Adora fought to compose herself, gripping the toilet on either side with straining fingers. It took all her stubbornness to retain a gag as she stood and faced the guard. "Lonnie," Adora acknowledged curtly.

Lonnie looked Adora up and down, noticing her pale, clammy skin glistening in the greenish lights, making her look even more sickly. "What's wrong with you?" She asked roughly. Every word Lonnie spoke fuelled Adora's headache. She shut one eye, wincing as she felt a sharp pain stab behind her eyeballs. "Nothing," Adora cleared her throat as she flushed the chain. Lonnie scoffed. "Yeah, well, you're lying. Look at you," She sniped.

Adora swallowed back a retch. "It-it's fine," She shuddered. Lonnie buzzed through the cell, holding a tray. She hesitated. "Why-why are you back?" She asked a few minutes later, still holding the tray. Adora, no longer feeling like she was gonna throw up her fucking child, she flushed the chain again and stumbled back to the bed. Lonnie dropped the tray with a shriek. "Holy hell, you're pregnant?!"

Adora grimaced, putting one hand on her aching abdomen and one against her forehead. "I'm less than five feet away, can you not scream?" She groaned softly. Lonnie sputtered from the door. Adora lay down on her side, facing the cell door. She shut her eyes, thankful that the burning of the cell lights had ceased. Just as the blessed clutches of sleep began to take hold, Lonnie began talking again.

"Whose is it?" Adora raised a brow. "You wouldn't know them," She said. Lonnie scoffed as she rubbed her neck. "Obviously... just... trying to make conversation," She mumbled. Adora pushed up on her elbow. "Why? You're supposed to hate me. We're on opposite sides, remember?" She snapped, recalling the braided girl's words to her a little over a year ago. Lonnie huffed. "Well screw me then," She turned. Adora sighed. "Wait," She called. Lonnie paused. "I'm sorry," Adora said. Lonnie's body froze. "I-I didn't leave you guys. I still consider you guys my friends... but I couldn't stay with the Horde... not after what I saw they were doing to innocent civilians," She watched the girl carefully. Lonnie stayed still for a few seconds longer.

Her shoulders dropped. "You're stupid then," She said. Adora frowned. "Why?" Lonnie turned briefly over her shoulder. "Because we're not friends anymore,"

Lonnie didn't come back again.

Around a week, maybe two (time had no concept anymore) passed before she had another old-squad member visit. Adora had been taken for a supervised medical check and walk around. "I'm not a fucking dog," She'd spat at the guard. He flintched slightly. "Hordak's orders are to keep the kid healthy. By default, that means you too,"

In the med room, she'd been manhandled and violated in about every possible way. Her arms were shackled to the bed, her legs were thrown into some stirrups, also bound tightly, her trousers were removed, even as she screamed profanities at the medical staff, and very, very cold things were put in places they weren't supposed to be.

All the while the guard from earlier watched. The male guard.

"Do you have any questions, prisoner?" The medical woman asked quickly, writing some stuff down. Adora wrinkled her nose, briefly debating spitting at her feet. "When will the sickness pass?" She asked instead. The woman frowned. "You're still experiencing morning sicnkess? At seven months?" Adora shrugged. "Last I checked, yeah. Every single morning, probably till early lunch," The medical woman hummed. "Do you have HG?"

"H what?" Adora shrugged. The woman rolled her eyes. "Hyperemesis gravidarum," She said. "Extreme morning sickness," She added. Adora shrugged again. "No idea. Probably not, it's never been mentioned before," The woman tutted. "I'd say you do. That'd explain why you're still sick at seven months. Most usual morning sickness's stop by month five, definitely by month six,"

Adora shrugged again. The woman rolled her eyes. "You can take her back now. I've written down in her file some new orders. She'll need more water and food delivered at more regular hours," The woman said. The other medical guy snorted. "What? So she can have luxury?" The woman leveled him with a glare. "No... unless you want to explain to Hordak why she and the baby by proxy died of dehydration or starvation?"

The medical guy grumbled and Adora was marched away again.

It was only once Adora got into the comfort of her cell again did she let her guard down. She had just enough time to turn around before she was heaving and retching over the nasty toilet. She threw up everything she had in her stomach from the last three days... which wasn't a whole lot. She had a small moment to catch her breath before she was leaning further over the toilet and retching again. When her stomach had calmed down, slightly, she pulled back and leaned against the wall, panting. She wiped her mouth and closed her eyes, trying to quench her raging nausea.

Adora didn't know if the cell opening was a trick of her ears or her mind. But the door opened and the same guard was there… grey ration bars in her hand, the nicest ones. "Prisoner," He greeted. Adora made a noise of acknowledgement. The guard walked in and placed them on her bed. "You should eat," He said. Adora whined lowly. "Ugh, I'd rather stab myself than eat right now,"

The guard snorted: and everything fell into place.

Adora whirled with a glare. "Kyle?!" She exclaimed.

Kyle didn't come back again. Nobody she'd known previously came to see her. Fair enough. In their eyes, she'd abandoned them.

So, she suffered alone. She woke up on her fourth week in containment to, surprise surprise, morning sicnkess again! It'd definitely gotten worse during her captivity.

Her stomach lurched as she sat up. Adora threw the scratchy blanket off, throwing herself onto the ground. The impact shook her knees as she crawled to the toilet, but she paid it no heed. She dry heaved painfully, grabbing the porcelain bowl tightly. It began to splinter slightly beneath her grip, but it didn't really register until a tiny bit chipped off into her finger. It began to ooze blood slowly.

She heaved again. Her head pounded with the unyielding attempts to vomit.

"Hey, A...dora?"

Fuck.
She heaved into the bowl again, this time tasting a tang of metal.
Oh great. She'd torn her oesophagus.

The cell room buzzed, temporarily removing the green lighting. "Ugh, you're sick again," The voice sneered. She shuddered. "Not sick," She grunted, fighting for control over her body. Since she'd left the Fright Zone, her body only seemed to run on fight mode out and about, but flight mode in the privacy and comfort of her safe spaces and friends.

"Oh? And what do you call this?" Catra retorted. She leaned against the wall, watching with a curled lip. "Not sick," She grunted again. Catra scoffed. "Then why are you being sick?" Adora sniffled and grabbed some tissue to wipe her mouth. Pointlessly, as she'd not actually thrown up.

"It's morning sickness" She sighed quietly a few minutes later. Catra's claws clacked against the ground as she sat on the creaky bed. "Is morning sickness not sickness now?" Adora felt her cheeks grow hot. She pressed her pounding forehead against the toilet seat, releasing the small burst of relief it provided. "Leave me alone, Catra. I don't have the energy for this shit,"

Her lip wobbled treacherously, despite her biting down to stop the tremours. Catra hummed. "Well, you're my prisoner. So you work on my time," She said. Adora shuddered a sigh out. She opened her mouth to speak, but cut herself off, opting to sigh again. The bed creaked as Catra shifted. "Why-" She sighed. Adora craned her head to listen. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you leave... me?"

Adora twisted her head back onto her arms. A sudden wave of emotion crashed over her body, quickly and dragging her under. She cried quietly into her arms, desperatly trying to keep the bodily shudders as subtle as she could.

Goddamn hormones.

Catra inhaled sharply. "Are... are you crying?" She asked. Adora sniffed quietly. "No," She mumbled wetly. The bed creaked again. Adora's tears burned into the sleeves of her white shirt, dampening it deeply. There was a hesitant hand on her shoulder. That was all it took, apparently.

Too upset to care, Adora flung herself into the body containing the hand. Catra grunted, but stayed steady. Her other hand wound around Adora's shoulder, tapping it awkwardly. Adora sobbed into Catra's shoulder, feeling the first real comfort since falling pregnant. Sure, Angella was great as well, but Angella was still a stranger. Not Catra. Catra would never be a stranger.

"What's wrong with you?" Catra mumbled. Adora sniffed. "Fuckin' hormones," She mumbled back. Catra snorted softly. "When are you gonna pop it out?" She asked. Adora shrugged, face still pressed into Catra's shoulder. "A few months," She said. "Somewhere near Christmas," She shrugged. "What's Christmas?" Catra asked. Adora shrugged. "No idea. A holiday apparently. Dunno what that is either,"

The two former friends and Horde cadets sat there in a pile on the dirty ground for several more minutes.

Catra broke it by scoffing. Adora grunted as she hit the ground awkwardly. Her elbow screamed in protest. "Catra?" She asked timidly. The Horde commander abruptly stood up, sneering. "God," She mumbled, scanning her hand on the door. "Catra, wait, please don't go!" Adora begged, leaning forward on her hands and knees. Catra hesitated by the door. "Please," She whispered.

Catra turned over her shoulder, just enough for Adora to see her bright yellow eye. "You were the one who left first,"

The next time Adora had a coherent memory was several days later. Catra hadn't returned, neither had Lonnie or Kyle. The only things she saw were variations of the Horde guard outfits, her eyelids, the cieling and the inside of the toilet bowl. At least, until the sixth day after Catra left.

The scorpian woman who'd stung her back in the waste was there. "Sorry Adora. Gotta take you to Hordak now," She'd said. Adora sighed. "Why apologise?" She mumbled. Scorpia gestured to her tail. "Hordak doesn't want you knowing the way to his lab," She said.

Adora simply held out her hand. "Go for it,"

The sting was quick as she floated into the endless blackness of unconsciousness. She woke, chained to a pole by laser-cuffs, back in his lab. There, in the middle, stood a contraption with her sword pulsating in the middle. Adora's body tingled with power the longer she stared at it. Her field of vision darkened momentarliy as a figure slithered in. Hordak grinned. "Ohh, she did it," The sudden sound of running footsteps made her turn to see Catra running in. The magicat spared her a split-second glance. Adora was surprised to see... concern? Nah... worry?

"The Princesses are here. There's no time to waste, we need to open the portal," She rushed. Adora's eyes widened. Hordak refused. "Where's Entrapta? I need her," Catra's face changed several times in three seconds, eventually settling on an expression Adora knew too well. "Who do you think let the Princesses in?" She lied.

Hordak gasped. "But she... she wouldn't," He mumbled. Catra cackled. "Did you really think she was on our side?" Hordak roared in her direction. "Oh, you can't trust anyone, especially a Princess," Catra turned to glare over her shoulder. Adora, knowing she was partly to blame for this whole mess, hung her head with a pitiful groan. "They'll just use you to get what they want. Open the portal and let's end this,"

"This way!" A voice Adora knew well shouted. She grunted, shaking the gag off. "Bow!"

Catra growled. "Forget about them. Pull the switch!" A blast of dark magic hit her in the chest, sending her across the sanctum. Adora yelled as she ducked, trying (in vain) to avoid the debris falling from the ceiling. Bursts of black beams shot across the room, swiftly followed by magical arrows and chunks of the building flying across.

Adora's tears left her eyes as she met the gaze of Catra's from across the room. The magicat's eyes were alight in pure fury, one Adora hadn't seen before. Her eyes flicked to her near-seven-month bump. She looked up again, seeing Catra's clawed hand on the switch. "Catra, please!" She begged. "Don't!"

Catra threw her an evil smirk, yanking on the switch.

Adora's heart fell to her feet. "No!" She screamed, yanking against the restraints. The portal began to hum louder and louder as her sword pulsated in the middle. Adora's head ached with the power... but all she could do was watch limply, hanging from the restraints.

I'm sorry Mara...

...

I failed.