Work Text:
“Focus, Tala, focus .”
Only the rush of air leaving her lips told Neon that she was verbally hissing at herself, her quiet scolding overwhelmed by the rib-shuddering volume of the music blaring through the club. Indiscernible voices roared just below the music as the crowd swarmed with adrenaline and dancing, the thick atmosphere turning only more suffocating when taking into account the awful heat and pungent stench of bitter, cheap alcohol.
Frankly, Neon would rather die than try to navigate through such a hectic environment, but unfortunately, her duty came before comfort. An unidentified Omega Agent had been pinpointed in Istanbul, instantly raising the protocol’s suspicion— and Neon’s nervous anticipation. But upon learning that the location was in a crowded bar, Neon had sighed in relief, figuring she’d be the last person to be shipped off to a venue full of Turkish-speaking adrenaline freaks; after all, she might as well be mute in comparison to the better suited, charming smooth-talkers, like Reyna or Jett, and she highly doubted that this stop would make any use of her lacking social skills. But, much to her annoyance, Jett was off on a mission based in Manchuria, and her ever reliable mentor seemed more than ready to thrust Neon straight into the spotlight of a chance for a victorious Omega capture– to which Neon vehemently argued that no , Neon was most definitely not suited for this sort of mission, and that it wasn’t at all fair that Reyna was trying to throw her protege straight into a situation that Reyna could handle just fine by herself.
However, Viper similarly seemed curious to see how Neon might handle herself in such an uncomfortable situation, and after having her wishes rudely overridden, Neon could only frown deeply as she soon found herself in Istanbul, slipping into the club, instantly hating the commotion just as much as she had thought she would.
Thankfully , Reyna and Sage were supposedly nearby, ready to come to her aid in the case that either Neon found herself on the precarious peak of death or she managed to actually subdue the Omega invader— the latter of which was “probably not going to happen”.
Reyna had bluntly shoved aside her concerns once again, reassuring her that the club wasn’t that bad, and that it’s not as if she had to talk to anybody.
All she needed to do was corner the target and wait for Reyna and Sage to help drag whoever had slipped through the portal.
Objectively, easy.
But… in action? Neon had her doubts.
Because more than being annoyed about the club and its overwhelming ambience, Neon was internally drowning in dread, unable to ignore the awful hunch she had about her target— that her target was going to be a stranger wearing her lover’s face.
Neither Reyna nor Viper had said anything about who the Omega Agent was, but was it really all that hard to guess who it might be, when Neon was in Istanbul ? The hometown of her girlfriend ?
Now that Neon thought about the misfortune brought upon her with this mission, she was starting to suspect that maybe Reyna was testing a bit more than just her physical capabilities.
Perhaps she was testing Neon’s mental endurance as well , by pitching her against somebody so familiar.
Still idly hovering near the entrance, Neon was quickly jolted out of her thoughts as somebody pushed her out of the way. Mumbling an unheard “Sorry…”, the Filipina scooted towards the wall with a repressed scowl.
“ Seriously . Get yourself together, Tala– it’s a mission, not a stupid party get-together.” Hissing to herself again, she took a slow breath, shuddering as she let the environment bleed into her mind, allowing the music to soften to booming background noise as she narrowed her eyes to focus. Carefully following the outskirts of the swarming crowd, Neon quickly scanned the passing, shadowy faces, prying for just a glance, just enough to be able to catch the easily-recognizable dark, grungy makeup and the scar torn across from cheek to cheek, the unmistakable ombre of dark, oily black hair fading to a musty white, or– most distinctly, in Neon’s opinion– the unmistakable flash of an icy blue-and-amber glare, which Neon would expect to be just as cold and condescending as when Neon first met Fade.
Only one glance– that’s all it would take for Neon to know she’d found who she was looking for.
But, to her annoyance, none of those features caught her eye as she passed by countless strangers, and growing antsy and nervous with the club’s contagious adrenaline, her mind began to dread the thought of failure.
Dreading that she really might go the whole mission without even catching a glimpse of the Omega Fade.
Surely not… right ?
A sudden flash of movement caught Neon’s eye, and momentarily halting her search, she squinted at the object. Flying up from the mass of people, a writhing orb of pink Radiance and dark smog hung in the air before splitting into two beams, shooting back down to two points– two victims – within the crowd, who seemed to be too distracted to care for the terrifying capabilities the Radiance was capable of.
Or the Radiant who was responsible for the targeted attacks.
That had to be her . Neon couldn’t mistake the signature orb, even if she wanted to– she had seen it so many times that it was almost a natural instinct to instantly recognize the inky manifestation of nightmares.
Fade .
Shakily pressing a finger to her earpiece, Neon felt her heartbeat pick up as she briefly updated her mentors, praying that Sage and Reyna would be able to hear her through the obnoxious music and ruckus. “ Sage? Sage, Reyna. I think I found the Omega Fade. I’m going for her. ”
Hardly expecting a response, Neon began to jog around the loose perimeter of heated dancing, debating on how to best approach wherever Fade would’ve released her Radiance, but it became blatantly clear that she wasn’t going to be able to reach Fade without having to push past a good amount of people, no matter how she tried to avoid it. With an aggravated sigh of reluctance, Neon spotted an opening to the crowd, and before she could talk herself out of the inevitable, she uncomfortably squeezed past a few drunken females, her face twisting in distaste. Refusing to let herself be distracted, she quickly drew her eyes back up to where the inky, glowing ball was hovering, just in time to watch it dissipate with a final, ugly pulse.
It took every nerve in her body to resist the annoyed sigh swelling in her chest.
Suddenly filled with urgency, the Filipina’s pace quickened as she narrowly darted between careless dancers, lightly pushing her way through the maze of bodies and hoping that she was going in the right direction. She almost ran into a man who seemed to be dancing so aggressively he was practically convulsing, but as she began to apologize, the words in her throat dried up in horror as she stumbled back. The man was indeed convulsing, his face smothered in a horrifically familiar Radiance with his mouth choking in a silent scream. Almost tripping over herself to get away from the man, Neon gasped, her heartbeat thudding in her ears to every heavy beat of the music coursing through the air as she hastily began to scan the crowd again. Through the cacophonous ruckus filling her mind, Neon could faintly hear a hiss, or a murmur, as if somebody were whispering to her, but it was quickly forgotten when, for a brief second, she caught the knowing stare of a certain somebody. The shared glance was gone as soon as it had happened when her target turned around and slipped past drunken partygoers.
Chasing after the woman, Neon did her best to avoid plowing straight through the crowd, but she soon began to care less for whoever she accidentally bumped into, little crackles of Radiance tailing after her quick strides. She was too determined to follow after Fade, especially now that she had some sort of confirmation of who she was supposed to subdue. To be frank, she wasn’t too sure how she’d do that just yet… but the little time she currently had would have to be spent following after Fade’s trail while it was still hot; surely, she’d figure out something .
If she could even get close enough to Fade, who had vanished like smoke.
Before she knew it, the number of people around her had dwindled as she strayed towards the outskirts of the dancing, the wall greeting her as a dead end for what she had thought had been Fade’s location. Panting softly as her narrowed eyes fiercely scanned for the sneaky woman, the Duelist failed to find any recognizable trace of the enemy Agent, and with a frustrated groan, she realized in annoyance that Fade had evaded Neon, likely taking off towards the exit lest Neon caught her first.
“ Tangina*… How could I have lost her?! ”
Frustration burned hot in her chest, though it only persisted for a few seconds before Neon was readying herself to race to the entrance, with the bleak hope that she might be able to intercept Fade before the Turkish woman could escape to Istanbul’s streets, where she’d surely lose Fade for good. With another sharp curse under her breath, the Duelist spun around, ready to start sprinting– only to be caught by the jaw, and met with a very, very familiar pair of eyes.
Cold fingers firmly squeezed against her jawbone, forcing a pained wince to cross Neon’s face, but she couldn’t find the mind to react aggressively, her heated, stress-driven attention too caught off guard for a proper retaliation as her lover’s voice smoothly fell from the stranger’s lips.
“Lost who? Were you looking for me too, Neon?”
Neon’s heartbeat stuttered, just as her words did.
“W-What?”
She could only stare with wide, shocked eyes, breathing heavily as her veins thrummed with adrenaline, hot with embarrassment with how close the other female was. Familiar fingers brushed against Neon’s jaw, grasping her chin and pushing her face up for the curious inspection of her “lover”. The air in Neon’s chest turned heavy when she couldn’t find the will to push Fade away, her lungs growing desperate for the need to breathe– but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t take in a single breath, too dizzy to even think of taking a breath. It was as if she had forgotten how to breathe, altogether.
A fascinated glimmer of interest glowed in Fade’s contrasting pupils, which grew brighter as a violet strobe light quickly passed over her face, only for her gaze to soon again be shadowed in the absence of the club’s epilepsy-inducing strobe lights. The heated chaos around them created such a noisy, disorienting mess of their minds, especially for Neon who seemed to have forgotten how to speak, thoughts spinning with a precarious cocktail of second-hand alcoholism and adrenaline that made even the most stupid ideas plausible. The world felt unstable, shaky and misshapen and broken in every sense; the floor trembled from the powerful bass of the music, shaking Neon’s stuttering heart against her ribcage, and every startling beat dragged her stumbling heartbeat’s pace faster, and faster .
And with it, came panic .
She couldn’t strike back now; there were too many witnesses, too many dangers, no matter how fast Neon could kill Fade and bolt away from the scene. Cypher wouldn’t be able to wipe the Internet of such blatant evidence of a Radiant murder, and furthermore, she couldn’t just kill Fade. A dead captive was hardly as useful as a living captive.
It seemed… that Neon had been cornered.
“ Were you looking for me?... Neon? ”
In the loose grip of her lover’s unfamiliar hand, Neon felt torn, confused. Such a bold and rousing advance only made her want the moment to stretch longer, but… she couldn’t resist her apprehension as she reminded herself: This was not her Fade, but a stranger. And so, she stayed wary– though, that didn’t stop the nauseating conflict between her affection and her animosity from keeping her irresolute and motionless. Helpless, almost. As if she were just waiting for Fade’s next move.
She hated it. She hated it so much .
It was dizzying. All of this was too dizzying.
“Wh- No, I- I… I was…”
Something in Fade’s gaze changed, turning darker as Neon’s stuttering only amused the Omega Agent, to which Neon immediately prevented her voice from embarrassing her any further. Noticing the hints of a smile twitching at the woman’s lips, Neon’s eyes instantly flicked downwards to watch as an affectionate grin grew on Fade’s lips– or, perhaps it was a mocking smirk.
Neon couldn’t tell– but whatever it might be, a harsh realization struck her, and it hurt her chest when she had to admit it to herself. It hurt her, and rebelliously, anger retaliated.
Fade was toying with her.
“Was…? Were you waiting for me to find you first?”
No. No.
Neon gulped, loosely wrapping her trembling fingers around Fade’s wrist. She shouldn’t– she shouldn’t … it felt so awful, but if she could... just for a while…
Would it be wrong if she said–?
“... M-Maybe .”
The brief flash of a blinding strobe light caused Neon to flinch, but she bravely stood her ground, even straightening her back as Fade huffed in surprise.
“Is that so?”
The Omega Agent toed the line, daring to push the boundaries as her eyes trailed down to Neon’s lips in an unsubtle suggestion to her thoughts. It felt unreal– like a dream, a nightmare, anything but the reality Neon was experiencing.
Neon needed to wake up… she needed to snap out of her daze. She needed to realize– she was being fooled. Her soft spot was being exploited, and she knew it.
… But she didn’t. All she did was watch, trembling as Fade leaned down slightly, and another thud of her pumping heart reminded her of just how startling Fade’s piercing eyes were at eye-level, locked in an intense, purposeful stare.
“Fade?...”
The mumble snatched away the last of the oxygen left in Neon’s stilled lungs, and finally, she remembered how to properly breathe, gasping sharply. Her eyes urgently avoided Fade’s, her lips pulling into a flustered frown as she tried to turn her head away. But the hand at her chin stubbornly refused to let her turn away, and Fade lifted her face just a hair higher with a slight tsk, leaving Neon’s flickering gaze with no choice other than to land back on the female.
It was so loud , both inside and out of her slipping mind, and Neon felt as if she might shatter, as if she might fall to the floor from embarrassment and never be able to look at Fade, hers or not hers, again.
No, she had to keep looking. She had to keep staring, into those horrible, beautifully-colored irises. She had to keep her guard up… She had to… to…
A wicked, but attractive smile tugged at Fade’s black-colored lips.
“You look rather flustered, Neon. Has the alcohol gotten to you?”
“I… I haven’t…”
Had she drunk? Was she drunk at that moment? She… couldn’t quite remember.
It felt as if she was– the crowd and the scene around them melting, blurring to white noise as Fade closely scrutinized her every reaction, just as she always would. Every limb, every inch of Neon, every cell of Neon’s body seemed to have doubled in weight, her movements slowed and hazy, her vision swaying with repressed excitement. She was not okay, in any shape or form– and yet, simultaneously, she felt fine. Pristine, unaffected, like a clean slate, coldly prepared for the next rush of emotions and thoughts. And sure enough, it came within seconds, her body cold and jittery with conflicted apprehension.
She just… had to…
“H… Hazal… I–”
After a dizzying moment of helplessness, Neon was finally freed from her prison of a daze, both relieved and disgusted as she recognized… the warmth of lips on her own . She should have pushed Ha– Fade away, but the urge was too quickly overridden by her instinctive desperation– and a sudden sense of purpose, which could only be fulfilled if she went along with Fade’s dirty move.
Hardly hesitating, she kissed back before she could even process that Fade’s hands had traveled down her sides, fingers gently curling around her hips to pull Neon closer, to press their lower halves together as Fade leaned forward to intensify their lip-locked embrace. Neon’s arms circled around the female’s neck with practiced comfort, tugging the older female closer before a startled little “M-Mmph!” escaped into the kiss as her back painfully crashed against the wall.
It was so wrong. Neon knew it, deep in her chest, that this was so low , for Fade to be playing so blatantly with Neon’s feelings, to manipulate her love and use it against her as a weakness. It was so fucked– for Neon… and for Fade.
But… Neon enjoyed it. She wanted it, almost, to fill the longing she always had for her lover– even if at that moment, it wasn’t truly her Hazal that she was kissing, touching, loving . It wasn’t right, in no world– but was it really so bad to indulge… when Fade was the one who set out the first spark to the disastrous wildfire Neon was about to feed into?
Untangling her arms from around the female, Neon aggressively forced their lips apart with a loud gasp, and as her face flushed darkly, she traced a hand down Fade’s front, before grabbing the older female’s belt and pulling her forward to lightly grind against Neon. A shuddering groan left Neon, and shakily pulling the Omega Agent back into a firm hug, Neon hooked her chin over Fade’s shoulder, whimpering softly.
“Y-Your thigh… Fade, please… ”
A pleased little groan left Neon’s lips as a sudden pressure grinded up against her crotch, followed by light nibbling along her throat. Neon’s hand shakily cradled the back of Fade’s head, weakly attempting to get the older female to bite harder, and when she did, Neon moaned, desperately grinding harder as her other hand momentarily fumbled to pull out her earpiece. After a second of struggling to get a grip on herself, Neon felt a small click under the pad of her finger as she finally managed to find her earpiece, and she forced the small earpiece into her fist, gripping onto it as she readjusted her arms back around Fade. Teeth bit harder, and at the following pain of Fade beginning to leave a mark against her throat, Neon whimpered, her fist with the earpiece momentarily loosening, only holding up the little device with three fingers while pressing her knuckles against her lip in a laughable attempt to muffle her moans.
It was unbearably good– and she hated how much it reminded her of her lover back home,
“Fade, Fade, please – W-Wait not- not here–” A final, mean nip of Fade’s teeth pulled a squeak out of Neon, but as Fade attempted to pull back, Neon buried her face against the Turkish woman’s neck with a loud whimper, her voice desperate and embarrassingly loud. “C-Can’t we– go to the bathroom? P-Please… I-I don’t want to be caught… ”
Fade’s laugh sent a hot rush of arousal up Neon’s body.
“Really?” Teasing fingers slowly massaged the front of Neon’s leggings, resulting in a surprised gasp as Neon’s hips weakly bucked against Fade’s hand. “I thought by the way you’re practically leaking all over my thigh, you’d just ask me to finger you right here.”
“I-I… I…” Weak syllables fell from Neon’s lips, breaking off to a sharp whine as Fade’s fingers found her clit and began to harshly press against the sensitive spot. “I-I do– I could- b-but not here- please, please, Fade, I-I’m– I really d- don’t –”
A soft kiss silenced Neon’s broken whimpering, followed by another amused chuckle. “God… You’re really something, Neon.”
“I-I just… don’t wanna be caught… l-like this… R-Reyna… S-She’d–”
“Alright, alright; I hear you. Don’t worry, tatlım.*”
Hands slid along Neon’s thighs, and the younger female shuddered, expecting to feel fingers digging into the sensitive flesh of her thighs or ass. But instead, much to her surprise, she was suddenly lifted up. The abrupt loss of footing caused Neon to instinctively hiss out Fade’s name, her face turning hot with embarrassment as Fade’s hands firmly pulled her hips flush against Fade’s waist, holding her up in a way that felt… shamefully familiar .
“F- Fade! --”
“ Relax , Tala–” An uncomfortable shudder ran up Neon’s spine at the teasing use of her name, and she hugged the female tighter as Fade began to move away from the heat of the club. “I’ve got you, so don’t worry.”
Neon’s breath hitched as her weight was suddenly heaved upwards to prevent Fade from accidentally dropping the younger. “A-Ah- And w-ww-we’re going t-to?–”
“Where else?”
Shakily tightening her fingers around the earpiece, Neon lightly rested her hand over her mouth as she panted softly, squeezing her thighs around Fade's waist. “I-I’m guessing bathrooms.”
“Mhm.”
At the soft hum, Neon nervously fiddled with the earpiece as the music began to fade, hazily watching the dancing crowd slowly shrinking. Guilt rested heavy in her throat, her stomach burning with adrenaline and arousal as her mind flashed with thoughts, thoughts that she wanted to bleach straight out of her mind, and she hoped the guilt in her mind would ease once this was all over.
She hoped she could forgive herself after all of this.
Blinking as Fade pushed a door open, the sudden lack of Fade’s arm support jolted Neon out of her busy headspace, and despite her quick reactions, she nearly fell as a result of her failure to find her footing. Thankfully, Fade’s hands immediately gripped her hips to support her, but before Neon could even sigh out a thank you, Fade’s lips had found Neon’s again, movements driven by the two’s renewed desperation for the addictive crash of lips and bodies. The needy pressure in Neon’s groin pushed her for more, begging for attention as Neon abruptly pulled Fade closer by the front of her vest. Stumbling backwards, Neon was just barely able to stop herself from hitting the bathroom sink counter, pressing her hand against the smooth edge as hands slowly slid up her body. The hot press of a tongue threw Neon off guard, and she gasped, softly groaning as she meekly sucked at Fade’s lower lip, gently nibbling and tugging before allowing the older female to pull away. Heavy breaths mixed as Fade leaned back in, but she stopped before their lips could melt into another heated kiss, their wet lips grazing against each other while their chests heaved with excited, frantic gasps. Neon shuddered as Fade chuckled, thighs tensing as the Omega Agent softly purred against the Alpha Agent’s slick lips.
“Up, on the counter.”
After a few more shaky breaths, Neon nodded slowly, tensing again at another hot burst of arousal that always seemed to follow after Fade’s every action. She honestly shouldn’t be enjoying it as much as she was, but… she couldn’t help it. It was Fade, damned Fade , who seemed to know exactly how to click all of Neon’s wants– and to satiate her own curiosity, she briefly locked eyes with Fade. Again, her heart betrayed the logical lack of decency in the situation, thudding against her ribcage earnestly when she noticed the all-too-familiar heat of lust, warm in the Initiator’s eyes in a way that felt off, but right enough for Neon to stave off her returning guilt. She held onto the tense moment for a heartbeat longer, and then gently pushed the older’s body back to give herself room. It took a first failure before the Filipina managed to pull herself up onto the counter, and anxiously biting her lip, she drew in a shaky breath as Fade leaned forward, pushing herself in between Neon’s legs as a hand delicately dragged against the side of the younger’s thigh.
“O-Oh-”
Unable to keep her gaze off of Fade’s henna-tattooed fingers, Neon became tense as her slow hand gently began to slide over her thigh, and soon, along the length of Neon’s belt. Her pace was so awfully slow , purposeful and teasing with the hopes of getting a reaction out of Neon, and despite her characteristic toughness, all the teasing brought out the annoyed petulance of Neon, frustration evident when her hips gave a frustrated jerk against Fade. At the Turkish woman’s snicker, Neon flushed, hissing as fingers finally trailed down to her damp crotch, drawing slow, leisurely lines down the front of her leggings.
“Aren’t you just the cutest thing– so needy, all eager to be touched, mm?”
When Neon refused to respond out of embarrassment, she was surprised by a hand quickly angling her face towards Fade, and a harsh grind of Fade’s thumb against Neon’s clit had the younger whining softly.
The sheer intensity of Fade’s gaze again seemed to tear out every breath in Neon’s body, leaving her to pant heavily, fighting for her breath as Fade expectantly tilted her head before letting go of Neon’s chin. Jolting at another rough drag of Fade’s thumb, Neon hesitantly gripped Fade’s hand while avoiding eye contact, repositioning it to press the hard edge of her palm against her clit and shuddering when the Initiator responded with a firm push of her hand.
“O-Ohhh... F-Fade, please…”
“Shhh– Any louder, and people might start hearing you through the music, Neon. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
With a heavy moan, Neon messily pulled the woman back into another heated kiss, failing to keep her needy noises from spilling out as Fade’s tongue easily pushed past her parted lips, unabashedly exploring her mouth. Neon forced Fade’s hand harder against her clit, choking on a groan as she refused to let Fade move her hand away.
Just for a little longer, Neon tried to convince herself. This wasn’t… that wrong… right?
Even if she was indulging in the pleasure, succumbing to her lust just enough to let this situation slide– she had to remind herself, repeating in her mind as Fade murmured such filthy praise against her lips and eliciting a shuddering moan from the female.
It’s all fake . It’s all just a pretense of the love Hazal always showed her, a masquerade created just to throw Neon off. Surely, this Fade had to be so damn proud of herself, having thought that she had reduced Neon to a flustered, heated mess.
But, perhaps, due to her cockiness… she overlooked one of Neon’s most defining characteristics, something that Fade hardly developed, much less understood, in her life of bounty hunting.
Fidelity.
The bathroom door suddenly slammed open, revealing a terrifyingly threatening Reyna, who seemed more than ready to bring down the whole damn club in a livid rage. Her eyes glowed with a menacing magenta, while she held a gun fiercely pointed at the two females as their kiss fell apart with an immediate urgency. Gratefully squeezing her fist around her earpiece, relief flooded through Neon, swiftly waking her up out of her heated lust as Fade abruptly turned with a hostile hiss. Black Radiance threateningly danced at her fingers, but before she could dedicate her full attention to to the woman at the opposite end of the gun, she was interrupted by Neon, who quickly pulled her into a fierce, suffocating hug, her fingers tightly digging into Fade’s nape as blue began to buzz in her fingers, her hair illuminating dangerously as she squeezed out a brief, half-hearted apology.
It was awful, to have come to this… but Fade should’ve expected more from whom she thought would be a lovely victim to toy around with.
Because at the end of the day, Neon wasn’t afraid of playing dirty either.
“I’m sorry, mahal.* ”