Winter in Bright Moon was always rough. Because of the close proximity to the Whispering Woods district, the winter that took the forestry area by a chokehold, quickly shifted to the capitol after the holiday season, usually. Sometimes it'd start as early as mid-December, but oftentimes it would only take hold in mid-January. It'd stay with its icy claws dug in tightly until the beginning of March, sometimes even April where it'd be Spring until mid-June, boiling until mid-August, Autumn until mid-September, and winter until April again.

Catra knew first-hand that the winter sucked huge ass because she'd always catch a chest infection that'd bully her body until long after Christmas. She'd finally cracked Adora's shell some more in her cooped-up state between Christmas and New Year. Apparently, in the three years that she'd served, she'd only been to two bases. The central base, Bright Moon Army Reserve (or B-MAR, as she'd called it) and the Crimson Waste.

Aptly named after its scorching temperatures, Adora claimed. Despite using copious amounts on her pasty ass skin, she'd burned badly enough to need hospital treatment in the first few weeks there. As had most of her squad, including the LTC, Mara. Catra didn't fail to notice the sharp twist in the atmosphere when she was mentioned. "What was she then? Apart from a Sarge," Catra asked. Adora's eyes fixated on a point in the rug, glazing over as she spoke. "Officially, nothing else. But Mara always went through the effort to have friendly relationships with her subordinates," The blonde clutched her tea mug so tightly, that Catra wondered if it'd break. "Commanding respect was easier when the people you were trying to lead already liked you," Catra put her mug down on the table. "You sound like you speak from experience," She noted.

Adora remained staring at the rug, blinking sluggishly. Catra dug her toes into the blonde's thigh. "Hey, I'm talking," She wiggled her toes. Adora blinked harshly, slapping Catra's foot. "Fuck off, that hurts," Catra shrugged. "Always works," She answered. Adora rolled her eyes, losing some of the ram-rod straightness her spine always held, sinking into the sofa a bit more. She moved her left shoulder slightly, then dug it into the side with a squint. "You got a pillow?" She asked. Catra frowned a little at the request but handed over the one by her side. Adora grabbed it and folded it in half, tucking it behind her left shoulder and leaning against it.

Catra noted the way her shoulder dropped as if the tense line had been cut. "Better?" She asked. Adora nodded. "Mm-hmm. S'just a bad pain day I s'pose," She shook her head softly with a loud sigh. "Must be the weather," Catra hummed in agreement, sipping some more of her drink. A few moments passed before she spoke again. "So you never answered me," Adora finally turned to look in her direction. Catra was suddenly struck with the realisation of how tired Adora looked. Not physically, but just... tired. Like she'd been fighting her whole entire life on four hours of sleep.

"What?" She sighed. Catra shook her head lightly. If Adora didn't wanna be tired, she shouldn't've joined the fucking army. Her fault, and nobody else's. "You talking about Mara. It sounded like you knew from experience of commanding people," Catra caught onto the immediate tensing of Adora's shoulders. "I do," She answered shortly. "Like what? Were you in charge of people?" Adora's eyes became guarded. "Can we talk about this another day?" She shifted, reaching for the crutch leaning against the door. "I'm really tired and my leg hurts," Catra narrowed her eyes slightly. She wanted to ask what she meant by her leg hurting, but, ethically and morally, she couldn't. Catra was already on a slip n' slide to hell, and asking that question may very well turn it into a drop slide.

"Do you want any painkillers?" She asked instead. Adora hummed softly as she shook her head. "Nah, it's fine. I need strong ones, and you can only get those at a clinic or hospital," She heaved herself up, balancing on the crutch. "I ran out this morning, so I'll get some tomorrow," Adora cleared her throat softly as she hopped to her bedroom, having taken off the backup leg earlier that evening. Catra's eyes followed her movements laser-focused. "If you're sure?" She called. "Sometimes it can help just by taking the edge off," Adora shook her head with a bitter laugh. "Nothing takes the edge off, but thanks anyway,"

Catra could see a conversation closer from a mile away.

"See you in the morning," She called.

The following morning, Catra woke up to four texts on her phone and no Adora.

Blondie - 03:27: Woke up with a fever of 103, so went to hospital. Will text you if I have to stay overnight.

Blondie - 07:34: They're keeping me all day to see if the fever goes away. It hasn't rn, but we'll see.

Blondie - 12:20: fever still hasnt gone n they think melegg s ofected. comese me okss

Blondie - 12:21: *pls

Catra rubbed her face roughly, sighing heavily when her phone began to buzz in her grip. "'lo?" She mumbled in greeting."Good afternoon, Catherine," Angella's voice spoke from the speaker loud and clear. "Oh. Good, uh, good afternoon, Dean Moon," Catra fumbled the phone, scooching up the bed. "I haven't got much time on this call, so I will keep it short and sweet," Angella continued. Catra's heart fell into her feet. "I have been alerted that Adora is in urgent care for reasons undisclosed to me, by Colonel Light," Catra's heart fell further into her feet, squishing against her toes. "With all due respect, Dean Moon, what does this have to do with me?" Catra was already tugging on her hoodie and skinny jeans from the ground. "Seeing as you were, perhaps indirectly, connected to the situation via your physical confrontation with Hordak, I have been advised to bring you as a witness for the army's records,"

Catra grabbed her wallet from the side and car keys from the bowl. "Um... sure. What hospital? I was heading to see Adora anyway, to be fair," She fumbled with the front lock, jogging downstairs. "BMUC," Angella answered. "If you approach the desk and ask for Sergeant Major Light, they'll take it from there," Catra threw herself into the beat-up Mini, barely running on fumes and spite, and switched to Bluetooth. "Ok. I'm going there now," She said. Angella hummed from the other line. "Do not say anything until I get there... the army has a tendency to send their best talker out for situations like this, and more often than not, you end up confessing or saying things you didn't intend to," Catra hummed, bidding goodbye. She knew the army was clever with their words... that's how they'd convinced Adora that joining the army was the best way to avenge her brother's death.

Part of the reason Catra refused to have any connections to Adora when she was in the army was this very reason. Adora laying, pale as a sheet, in a hospital bed. Well... that might be exaggerating just a tad, but she was still pale in the bed and colder than usual to the touch. Catra stayed in the armchair to the side, mindlessly scrolling through shit on her phone as Adora slept. Truthfully, Catra had no idea what she was doing, just waiting. Some guy in the camo bullshit had taken her up to Adora's room in stiff silence, opened the door, stuffed her in and left again.

Catra knew he was just doing his job, but even so. A hello would've been nice. "We're not allowed to interact with the public on casual matters when we're on duty," Adora had told her once. "What do you mean, casual matters?" Catra replied. "Like, we can't go and sit in a coffee house or drink anything besides water in a clear bottle on duty, the only times we can speak is if we're being asked a question by a civilian, being talked to by a member of law enforcement or government, or our own commanders," She chuckled lightly. "Mara wasn't ever tight to the rules though. She'd always chat to the old ladies, even if Hope was around,"

Catra wouldn't get too much more out of her after that. At the mention of Mara, Adora would curl in on herself a little tighter and change the subject.

"You must be Catherine," A new voice spoke. She turned. "Depends who's asking," Catra answered. The woman by the door smiled in an odd way. It seemed like she was trying to reassure Catra that she posed no threat, yet, her smile suggested otherwise. Like she was trying to catch Catra out in a lie and bust her for it. "I'm sure you're aware of who I am," The woman continued. Catra shrugged. "I'm guessing you're the Sarg," She answered. Hope hummed. "Colonel Hope Light," She confirmed. "Or, you can just call me Hope," Catra nodded once. Hope jutted her chin to Adora. "I'm her commanding officer. Along with around a thousand soldiers," Hope walked across and stood by the edge of the metallic bed, pausing as she took in the vitals beeping on the monitor. "Technically, I only directly commanded seven-fifty, but as Colonel, I had to command a few high-ranking officers below me," She turned to Catra. "Such as Lieutenant Colonel Mara, before she passed on, and Adora," Catra hummed lowly. Maybe now she could learn more about Adora's exploits in the army.

"Adora was a high-ranking officer? What was she?" Catra pretended to act disinterested, but she was genuinely curious. Adora had always been a high achiever... Catra wondered just how high Adora had climbed in three years. "Adora is a Captain," Hope answered. Catra nodded. "Is that good?" Truthfully, she had no idea how high a captain was in the army. "For only serving three years, yes, it's very good. Not many have achieved such ranks in such time," Hope nodded. "What did she do? Who was she in charge of?" Catra barrelled. "Have you not asked Adora this, yourself?" Hope asked with a tinge of irritation in her voice. Catra felt her skin bristle. "She's otherwise engaged right now," She answered. Hope rolled her shoulder slightly, inhaling with a shark-like smile. "Adora wasn't "in charge" of anybody. She would oversee anywhere from sixty-two soldiers to one-ninety. Adora typically had one-fifty under her sight,"

Catra whistled lowly. "Damn,"

Hope hummed lowly in agreement, falling into silence for a few moments. "I suppose you understand why we are involved with Captain Greyskull's condition," Catra shrugged nonchalantly. "Nope. I haven't got a clue," She turned to stare at the Colonel. Hope hummed lowly, clearly not believing Catra. "I doubt that. You are close, no? We find it hard to believe that you simply do not know," Catra shrugged again. "I know she's unwell. Beyond that, I know nothing," She kept her gaze trained on the officer. "Well, in an altercation, of which we don't know the minute details, but we will find them out, the army-issued prosthesis was damaged beyond repair," Hope nodded in Adora's direction. "Our Orthotist determined the cause to be blunt force. Possibly a crowbar or something of that variety," Catra pretended to pick at her nails. "Thanks to the damage to the prosthesis, it irritated the surgical area and caused an infection," Hope paused. "If it were just a case of an infection, obviously, we wouldn't be involved. However, not only does the damage fall under a hate crime, it's also damaged official military property and will be dealt with by our own police force, in addition to the BMPD,"

Catra swallowed softly. "Well, I certainly didn't do it, so you can rest the glare," She said instead. Hope squinted slightly as if she were looking at her prey for the day. Catra kept her gaze steady, only looking away when Hope hummed softly, turning back to Adora. "I understand that you were a witness to the crime. You are here to give a statement, yes?" Catra cleared her throat. "Yeah, but I'm not speaking until Angella arrives," Hope cocked a brow. "Angella? Is she Adora's mother? We were under the impression Adora's parents served in the military," Catra tucked her phone away into her pocket. "No, Angella is our Dean. Seeing as the incident took place at the university, Angella Moon will be coming to help mitigate everything," Catra shifted. "And I suspect she'll be bringing the university's legal team with her... or at least representation,"

Hope gave a single nod. "I understand. It is wise to have legal representation when you can. Some of our officers, even I admit, can be a little intimidating to those of us who don't deal with them on a frequent basis," She paused. "As is their job," Catra scoffed softly. "I've spoken with the police before, and they're about as intimidating to a young woman as anything can get, so, I think I could've managed,"

Hope chuckled. "You have moxi. And I respect that. Not many women have it anymore, instead settling for a life of mediocrity and submission," She turned with a wolf-like grin. "But I can assure you, from personal experience, that our officers, that military police, are much worse than BMPD. They are designed and trained to be dealing with war criminals and deserters, some of which bench press twice your weight as a warm-up," Hope put her cap back on. "So, I can guarantee, you wouldn't fair quite as well as you think you would," Catra followed her to the door, a sneer curling at her lip. "Which isn't a reflection on you as a person, Catherine. I have been on the receiving end of interrogation with the military police before," Hope paused. "And believe me when I say it's harder to stand up for yourself against them than you think,"

Saying nothing further, Hope opened the door and pulled it closed behind.