I was drunk, okay

Dial C for Cult

(Chapter 2 of 4 woohoo)

Catra's POV

"Uh um, could you repeat that" i asked, while managing to pray to nearly every god I knew that what she hadn't said what I thought she had just said. "My friend Spinerella has gone missing, I'm at her and Netossa's place and apparently she's been missing for a few hours now, I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I can't help but feel like maybe the cult has something to do with this" she said in a hushed tone. The hand holding the phone falls limply to my side. Welp that was that, my fears were just confirmed, figures really, not even a day after learning all this shit and suddenly we're thrust head fucking first into it. I take a breath attempting to calm my nerves and the anger I can already feel growing before raising the phone back to my ear. "Adora I'm not trying to be rude, but are ya sure that the cult might have something to do with this". At the mention of the cult Hordak and Wrong Hordak both shared a look of shock before Hordak's morphed to anger and Wrong Hordak's morphed to fear (though I thought I could spot a hint of fear in Hordak's eyes as well). "What are you discussing" Hordak demanded with a sense of urgency in his voice as I side eyed him.  "I know it sounds crazy or that I'm paranoid, but I'm telling you Catra I have this feeling, it's to much of a coincidence" she said with absolute sincerity. I looked back to Hordak debating telling him what Adora had said, but I figured he was probably the best person to handle this stuff, I still made sure to run it by Adora first though. "Adora I've got Hordak with me now, you willing to share your thoughts with him" I asked. There was a short pause (though it felt like it dragged on long enough for my hair to grow three times longer). Eventually she responded. "Okay" she said as I put the phone on speaker.

Author POV

Catra placed the phone on the table as she and Hordak huddled around it, while Wrong Hordak was preoccupied with returning their half of the stolen food to the fridge (knocking over a few more things in it which led to them getting into a mini panic). "Adora, this is Hordak, why are you mentioning the cult, please tell me your at least in a private area" said Hordak, annoyance clearly present in his voice and ready to become anger depending on the answer given. "Yes I'm alone, but I'm sure someone will come looking for me soon if I stay out here for to long so we gotta make this short" Adora said with a steady tone that was attempting to hide her anxiety. Hordak took a breath clearly at least relieved that their secret was safe. "Very well then pro-" "HELLO NEW FRIEND" came Wrong Hordak's voice over the other end nearly causing Adora to drop her phone. Hordak shot his brother a look of daggers causing them to quickly retreat back to the fridge area. "Very well, proceed" Hordak repeated again, this time far less neutral. "Right, so just after I got back from our talk, I found my friend Glimmer waiting for me at our apartment, apparently our friend Spinerella had left early to go grab milk from the store and never returned, she's been gone for a few hours now, she isn't responding to any calls or texts and the police have been informed but so far theres been nothing" Adora finished, anxiously waiting for Hordak's response. It took a few seconds as Hordak processed the information before he finally spoke up, "while this is unfortunate, there is no grantee that the cult could have any involvement" he said neutrally. Catra gave him an unsure glance, not understanding how someone so paranoid as him could so easily deflect what could very well be a cult kidnapping, before Catra could voice her thoughts (likely in a much less polite way) Adora spoke up. "I understand that but it all just feels to coincidental, she goes missing right after I've been told all this, I mean, what if this is their way of saying they know I know and warning me to keep quiet about it" Adora said beginning to get more panicky by the second. "What if they start coming after my other friends or even me directly. What if. What if". Adora's breathing began to become erratic as she clutched her chest, dry sweat beginning to form around her forehead as she attempted to suck in air that didn't seem to want to enter her lungs. She might have dropped her phone if it weren't for the voice that came over it. "Hey, Hey Adora" came Catra's voice on the other end. Adora was briefly caught of guard by Catra's tone, it was the quickest and most soothing she'd ever heard her voice become, almost immediately she began to feel slightly more at ease which only increased as Catra continued to speak. "Adora please listen to me, I know this whole situation is scary, it's one huge fucking mess, but your not alone right now, we're here, I'm here, and honestly" Catra held her tongue, almost having to fight her next words out. Showing weakness was always something she struggled with, even more so around others. She glanced at Hordak who watched the display before him with a thoroughly uninterested expression, clearly more focused on steering the conversation back to its original course, while Wrong Hordak stayed by the fridge, holding their breath, trying not to make a sound. Despite her own insecurities, Catra knew she had to say what she was thinking, for Adora's sake. Eventually Catra let out a small sigh as she began to speak again. "The truth is...I'm scared too. This whole things just happened so fast and honestly it's fucked up beyond belief, but, knowing that I at least have you to help me with this, puts me a bit at ease and. And I hope I can be that for you too" Catra finished a small blush of embarrassment forming on her face, not only from showing weakness but also for being so open to the person she liked. Adora's breathing began to slowly calm as her voice while still a bit shaky but better than before was heard once more. "Believe me Catra, you already are" came Adora's voice as Catra's heart did a flip at the genuineness and care her voice carried. Her blush grew as she found she couldn't look at the phone anymore, as if it were Adora herself looking at her with the loving gaze she could tell she had at the moment. Despite it, Catra managed to speak. "Thank you" came her voice, it was much less soft than it had been before but Adora knew it still held all the sincerity it had previously had. If only they could see the lovesick smile that had formed on both their faces.

Adora POV

Eventually Hordak decided our little whatever that was was over and began to speak again. "Yes well even if the cult is behind your missing friend I'm afraid there's nothing we could do at the moment" he said. Annoyance began to bubble in me at what he said. "What do you mean you can't help, surely you have to know how these cult guys operate" I said hoping he had forgotten something that could lead us to where Spinerella was. "Unfortunately I simply cannot help you, I have no idea where their current base of operations is or if they have even begun the recruiting process already, all I know is they've likely been here a few days and will remain here for likely around two weeks or so before moving on, possibly longer if they are aware of me and my brother" he said still keeping that infuriatingly steady tone. The annoyance I previously felt turning to full anger at his apparent disinterest of my friends disappearance. "Well surely you have to know something" I asked not exactly politely. "Like what" he asked almost sounding more like a challenge, a challenge I accepted. "I don't know, something like a place they may choose to set up shop, possible people already in the cult, who they might choose to target, SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP" I shouted as Hordak responded clearly losing his own temper as well "Listen to me right now, I don't know where they are, who they might choose or who is already a part of them, for all we know your friend might already be a member" "DON'T YOU DARE IMPLY THAT" I shouted forgetting I was currently outside a house full of people. "Alright, alright, please calm down" came an anxious voice on the other end that I knew belonged to Wrong Hordak. "Listen friend, if your friend has been taken they will likely return very soon" they said. "What do you mean" I asked genuinely confused. "The recruitment process is surprisingly brief, especially if done through force, if Prime intends to make her a sleeper agent, which seems to be the case, they will return shortly after the process is complete" said Hordak grimly causing my anger to fade to worry, "but isn't there any thing we can do" I all but begged at this point. "I'm afraid not, until and if they even do return, all we can do is wait and hope for the best" said Hordak, with much more gloom in his voice than before, it made me feel a bit better that he at least seemed to care a little. "Okay, thank you for at least trying to help, I should probably head back in now, they're probably wondering where the hell I went to" I said trying to chuckle a bit but it came out a lot more sad than intended. "Very well and again, keep this whole thing discreet until I am ready to examine your friends properly" he said once again slipping back into his no nonsense voice. "Will do" I responded as if I were a solider just given orders. "Right" came Catra's voice, I assumed she was now not on speaker with how clearly she now sounded. "I'll call you tomorrow to see about any updates on your friend" she said, part of me knew it was mostly about the cult, but I like to imagine she too was worried about Spinerella, even if they didn't know each other well. "Right, thanks" I said this time with a more genuine tone. "And Adora" came Catra's voice. "We'll get through this...I promise". She hung up after that, probably to embarrassed to handle whatever I would've said next. I managed to smile a bit at that. I took a deep sigh before mumbling to myself this time. "Alright, time to head back inside" "uuuuhh Adora"...no. Please god no, do not let who I think it is be behind me. Perfuma, Mermista, hell, I'll settle for freakin Seahawk. But please don't let it be who I think it is. But as I turned around my worst fears were realised, and I knew any chance of this remaining a secret were out the window.

"God dammit Bow"

(This one was a fun to write)