It was pandemonium in the Fright Zone. The rebels seemed to have launched some kind of raid, and everyone who could be useful in a fight was at action stations. Naturally, this excluded Kyle. He supposed he could say he was keeping an eye on the prisoner, but if he was to be honest they were really just talking.
The prisoner—Bow—pointed to something behind Kyle and said “Buddy, you’re gonna want to stand aside for a minute.”
“Huh?” asked Kyle eloquently as he turned around. One of the other rebels was rushing for them, the guy from Salineas with the impressive moustache. Kyle stepped to one side, to let the rebel do whatever it was he wanted to do.
“What, not going to fight?” asked the pirate as he fiddled with the lock. Right, realised Kyle, the prisoner. Probably should have thought of that.
Kyle sighed wearily. “Why bother?”
“Huh. Well, you know the old saying: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Welcome to the Rebellion, first mate!”
Kyle blinked nervously. "Oh...um, uh, OK". Somewhere in the background Bow was being let out of his cell but all Kyle could do was freeze in horror as the full ramifications of what the pirate had said flooded through his mind. He was being dragooned into the Rebellion!
Defectors were the lowest of the low. Everyone knew that; really, it was obvious. A rebel could just be ignorant or deluded, but a traitor was someone who knew the truth of the world and yet abandoned the Horde for their own selfish gain. At least, that was the conventional wisdom. But then, Adora had defected, hadn’t she? And she was one of the least selfish people Kyle knew. What could possibly have driven her away from the Fright Zone? What could possibly have compelled her to stay with the princesses?
Bow patted his shoulder encouragingly. "You don't have to actually be his first mate. But you can come with us if you want."
"Well, I...I'm really not sure..."
The pirate grabbed him in both hands and slung him over a shoulder. This done, he bolted for the exit. "No time for prevaricating, lad! Freedom awaits!"
"Let me get this straight", commented Bow wryly as he ran alongside, "You're kidnapping him for the sake of his freedom."
"Exactly! The Rebellion is fighting for peace, right? It's the same principle."
Kyle wasn't entirely certain how that worked, but then he also wasn't entirely certain how being captured for freedom worked either so he decided he would just play along. If worst came to worst (as it so often did in his experience) at least he could probably escape the Rebels after they debauched themselves into a stupor, which he had been assured by his thorough Fright Zone education was what the despicable Rebels inevitably did after scoring a minor victory.
And what victory could be more minor than claiming him?
By the time they got him out to a waiting skiff, the atmosphere among the rebel strike team had taken a severe downturn. One of the raiders, apparently named Entrapta, had been caught in a blast of fire and perished. Kyle knew he should be happy that there was one less dangerous princess in the world, especially one that was clearly at least a little unhinged, but he couldn't find it within him to take joy in anyone's death. He wished the war wasn't necessary. If the princesses and their brainwashed minions could only understand how much better it would be for them to accept Hordak's gracious rule - but now, looking at them all mourning their fallen comrade, was hardly the time to proselytise.
Maybe if he stayed very still and quiet they'd just kind of forget he was there? That happened sometimes.
…
The room they were keeping him in was enormous. He had expected a tiny cell in whatever horrific dungeon was surely buried beneath this castle’s bright exterior but instead here he was sitting on a couch in a palatial apartment. It had gotten dark outside, and he was surprised to find that apart from the giant floating magic rock out the front (and that surely couldn’t be safe) the nights in this part of the world were tinged a dark blue. It was kinda nice.
He supposed he could see the logic in giving him such vast quarters. The room was so huge, and the surroundings so empty that if he tried to make a run for it the guards would spot him immediately. An inefficient way of keeping a prisoner, but who had ever expected the Rebellion to be anything other than inefficient?
The door opened and Kyle snapped to attention. Whatever torturer they’d sent would at least find him looking them in the eye. Or at least, that was what he thought until Adora stepped through and greeted him with a casual wave. “Hey there, Kyle.” She slumped down onto a sofa and sighed, “Let me tell you, you picked a crazy time to get recruited.”
There was so much he could say to her, but somehow the thing his mind landed on was “I’m sorry about your friend.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I only knew her a little while, but I can already tell it’s gonna be weird not having her around.”
“So...what’s gonna happen to me now?”
“Well, that’s being debated at the moment. It turns out Bright moon doesn’t really have a protocol in place for dealing with POWs.”
“Wait, I’m a POW?” He slumped down onto the bed, “I guess I am, aren’t I? Man, that’s weird to think about.”
Adora chuckled. “Dear Zonish Observer, I never thought it could happen to me...”
“Heh. Still, I do wish I could send a message to the rest of the squad, you know? Let them know I’m safe.”
"Yeah, it does suck that I never really get to see them. Well, fights.” She might have been about to say more, but she was cut off by a yawn.
Kyle belatedly noticed just how tired he was.
“You want me to sleep in here tonight?" asked Adora.
"Well, where would you sleep normally?"
"Oh, I have my own room here. But I know it's tough getting used to sleeping alone, so I figured we'd just share the bed tonight. Not quite the old barracks, but close enough."
He looked at the enormous round thing that was apparently what these people considered a bed and decided, "Well, it’s sure big enough. Thanks, Adora."
"Any time."
…
He woke the next morning to the sound of a gentle knocking at the door. “Kyle?” asked Bow from the other side, “You up?”
“I’m up”, he said, which was only a slight exaggeration. He was, in fact, buried somewhere deep inside the bed. Adora was somewhere off to his right, and she seemed to be rummaging around to start the day.
The door opened and he heard Bow come in. “Uh, you sure you’re up?” he asked.
Kyle poked his head out from under the covers and stretched while Adora leaned out the other side and looked fruitlessly for her bra. Bow, for his part, seemed oddly taken aback by the scene. Kyle really wasn’t sure why—what else did he expect it to look like when soldiers shared quarters? He put it from his mind just in time to notice something white sticking out from behind a cushion. He rose from the bed, strode over to it and flung the shirt (for that was what it was) it at Adora.
“Thanks, Kyle. Owe you one.”
“If you see my pants we’ll call it even.”
Bow shook his head and held his hands in front of him as if to push against what he was seeing. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you two together?"
Adora paused. "You...don't mean together in this room right now, do you?"
"No, like, together together. Like, with each other?"
Kyle turned to her. "Do you think he means like you and Catra? Or, you know, how you two used to be?"
"Well I mean sure, we're friends. Oh hey, is this your underwear?" She tossed it to him casually and he hopped for a moment to put it on.
Bow seemed to be trying to think of what to say next. "No, I mean—you know, boyfriend and girlfriend? Dating? Sleeping with each other?"
Adora slapped her forehead. "Oh! You mean fraternising. No, nothing like that. I don't like boys that way."
"And I like girls just fine but Adora's...I don't know, even if she liked boys back she's just not like that. We're just squadmates."
"Right."
"But you're comfortable sleeping naked in the same bed?"
Adora shrugged, her wayward bra in one hand and her left boot in the other, "Well yeah, we're squadmates. Squadmates share, that's how it works. Rogelio snores and Lonnie moves around in her sleep but you just gotta deal with that sometimes because that's what squadmates do."
Kyle pondered the matter for a second. "You know, if I was gonna pick someone to fraternise with..."
Adora nodded appreciatively. "Oh man, Lonnie's definitely hot. Wonder if she would have been into me."
"She would totally have been into you, Adora!" He paused. “Well, if she likes girls. I don’t think she’s ever mentioned.”
"Wait, who's Lonnie?" asked Bow.
"I'm pretty sure you've met her. Dark, shaved sides, always looks like she’s been on half rations for a week?"
Adora slapped her knee "Ha, she totally has resting hungry face."
"Right?"
"She looks like Dragstor when he has something in his boots!"
"She looks like Beastman in the rain!"
Adora collapsed on the bed, howling with laughter. "Oh, man! Remember that time Mantenna had the map upside down?"
"How could I forget? We got KP for two weeks!"
Adora sighed happily. "Man, I've missed this. Just...having someone else here who gets it, you know?"
They belatedly remembered that Bow was still in the room. “Bow!” said Kyle intelligently, “Sorry about that. Was there something you wanted?”
…
“So?” asked Glimmer over breakfast, as Bow struggled his way through a recounting of his morning.
He made a contemplative noise. “Bigger than I would have expected.”