Hey, friends! Back at you with another oneshot. This was originally meant to be a part of my New World collection but it... grew. It's an idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while now. It's a bit different, but fun. Take it as you will.
City of Pleasure
"I've been a bad, bad girl."
Heels clicked and hips swayed as Lightning sashayed to the front of the stage, mic in hand, painted red lips matching her crimson strapless gown. Whistles erupted from the audience, the smartly dressed and deep pocketed patrons of Yusnaan, New York City's most extravagant and exclusive dining venue, as she took center stage.
"I've been careless with a delicate man."
Lightning's heavily shadowed eyes roamed her audience, lingering seductively on a select few faces in the crowd. As anticipated, the men eyed her back with obvious interest, a few grinning and nudging their buddies next to them.
"And it's a sad, sad world,
When a girl will break a boy,
Just because she can."
She shifted forward just enough for her cleavage to spill flirtatiously out of the dress' sweetheart neckline and gave the room a sultry little smirk before straightening again and turning from the audience.
"Don't you tell me to deny it.
I've done wrong and I want to,
Suffer for my sins."
The low, V-shaped back of the dress accentuated the curve of her hips and displayed a tantalizing amount of smooth, ivory flesh. Lightning shifted her hips and the long slit up the left side of her dress parted to reveal a bare, shapely leg.
"I've come to you,
'Cause I need guidance to be true.
And I just don't know where I can begin."
The spotlight followed her as she walked in a slow semicircle around the stage, eyes once again roaming the audience face by face. Her sharp, deliberate movements parted the skirt with each step, showing off toned calves elongated by cherry red pumps and just enough thigh to keep every male in the room fixated only on her.
"What I need is a good defense,
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal.
And I need to be redeemed,
To the one I've sinned against,
Because he's all I ever knew of love."
As she sang, Lightning walked to the edge of the stage where a short set of stairs led down to the dining floor. Placing a hand on her hip, she descended the stairs gracefully and men leaned forward in their seats to get a better look.
"Heaven help me for the way I am.
Save me from these evil deeds,
Before I get them done."
She trailed a hand feather light across the shoulder of a young man in a crisp black tux, however when he made to grab at her she had already relocated to the next table over to caress the cheek of an older gentleman, an affluent businessman, from the looks of him.
"I know tomorrow brings,
The consequence at hand.
But I keep livin' this day,
Like the next will never come."
She transition smoothly into the next verse as she made her rounds of the tables, flitting about like a sparrow, touching but never touched. She was driving her audience crazy and she knew it; perhaps even reveled in it. Her job was to entertain and she was nothing if not committed to her work.
"Oh, help me but don't tell me to deny it.
I've gotta cleanse myself of all these lies,
Till I'm good enough for him.
I've got a lot to lose,
And I'm bettin' high so I'm beggin' you,
Before it ends just tell me where to begin."
As the music built to a crescendo, she left the tables to walk a lap around the perimeter of the room.
"Let me know the way,
Before there's hell to pay.
Give me room to lay the law and let me go.
I've got to make a play,
To make my lover stay.
So what would an angel say,
The devil wants to know?"
Once again at the front, she dragged a hand from her neck down past her chest and her hooded gaze zeroed in on one particular member of the audience.
"What I need is a good defense.
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal."
Every eye in the room was on her as she walked toward a table situated in the middle of the room, near the stage.
"And I need to be redeemed,
To the one I've sinned against.
Because he's all I ever knew of love."
The audience's gaze was hungry as she passed by seat after seat before coming to a stop before, of all people, a teenager. The boy was impeccably dressed, likely the son of a politician or perhaps a mafia boss, although instead of being combed back or neatly parted to the side, his unruly silver hair was left to frame his face in layers of organized chaos. Mint green eyes looked up at Lightning with an unreadable expression as she stood before him.
Lightning locked eyes with the boy and surprised and excited whooping melded with groans of jealously as she put a hand on his chest and lowered herself to straddle his lap.
"What I need is a good defense.
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal."
She repeated the previous verses as her hand moved from his chest to his face to cradle his cheek delicately. The boy didn't move a muscle, still watching her impassively. Were they anywhere else, such conduct with a clear minor could get Lightning into loads of trouble, but Yusnaan didn't operate under the same set of rules as the outside world. The clientele of this particular establishment were the type who saw the law as merely the rules of a game, and every one of them were cheaters.
"And I need to be redeemed,
To the one I've sinned against."
She drew her fingers down the side of his face to rest beneath his chin and lifted it as she brought her own face down until a mere inch was all that separated them.
"Because he's all I ever knew..."
The boy's hand twitched.
"Of..."
Lightning closed the gap, her lips ghosting against his as she sang the final word.
"...Love."
It was right at that moment that the fuses for the building's power all shorted simultaneously and the restaurant was plunged into blackness. Gasps and inquiries issued from the tables surrounding them and Lightning felt a firm grip tighten on her wrist just as a low voice in her ear said, "Time to move, Light."
She was up in no time, swiftly freeing her hand and using it to pull Hope to his feet. "Did you get word from Snow?" she asked, immediately switching gears to business mode as he passed over her night vision goggles, which she quickly and efficiently strapped on over her eyes.
"Yes. He and Lebreau are on their way back to the branch. They got everything they needed," he answered as he fastened his own NVD. "I saw you make contact with the target. I assume you got what we need?"
The moment his goggles were in place, Lightning pulled him across the floor toward the emergency stairwell, carefully dodging patrons as she went. "Yeah. Room 1307. I swiped the key. How long do we have until the power comes back online?"
"Twelve minutes. Maqui is taking care of the backup generators." Hope followed her as she yanked the door open and began running up the stairs. "I thought Americans didn't make buildings with thirteenth floors."
"Apparently the owner of this hotel isn't the superstitious type." A large, painted number 3 loomed ahead and was quickly passed. Ten floors to go.
Hope continued to chatter as they raced up the building floor after floor. He relayed all the information Snow had given him via wireless com during her performance alongside a generous helping of snarky commentary regarding Snow's frequent tangents to gush about Serah's pregnancy. "I know the baby is due in a month. I really don't think anyone within a ten kilometer radius of his and Serah's house is likely to forget, the way he goes on about it," he grumbled as they passed floor eleven.
Lightning scoffed, her lips quirking up into a half smirk. "He's in his new parent honeymoon phase. You'll understand when you're older."
Behind her, Hope bristled. "Oh, so now I'm back to being a kid again, huh? Four minutes ago you were sitting on my lap." He sounded both irritated and exasperated—accompanied by a good amount of embarrassment. "What even was that? When did you learn to—I mean, I know you can act, but—"
Lightning felt her own cheeks flush and she faced stubbornly forward, hoping her partner's NVD wouldn't pick up the heat signal. "It was Snow's idea. We needed to be distracting and... well, it did do the trick."
"I must've missed the part where you started going to Snow for advice." Exasperation was winning out now in her partner's voice.
"If there was another expert on excessive revelry and entertainment on hand I would've gone to them instead. Did you have a recommendation?"
"Oh, I don't know... me, perhaps?" The door to the thirteenth floor was in front of them now and Lightning wasted no time yanking it open.
"Not on your life. I still remember the last time I went to you for performance advice and while blowing up the stage would certainly have sufficed as a distraction, it also would've alerted our targets that something was up—not to mention bring down the building and kill everyone." Numbers rushed by as they ran down the hallway searching for room 1307.
1328, 1326, 1324...
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
1318, 1316, 1314...
"I also recall telling you that next time it would be you on stage. Would you have preferred to wear the dress and heels?" They turned a corner and were fortuitously faced with the exact door they were looking for. "Finally," Lightning huffed as Hope skidded to a stop beside her.
"Where did you put the key, anyway? I didn't notice any pockets on that dress," he questioned, ignoring her previous comment.
"Boob pocket," was her simple reply, and if Hope had harbored any confusion as to what that meant it was answered when she reached down the front of her dress and procured the item in question.
Hope's gaze strayed briefly down to her chest before he forcefully relocated it back up to her face. "Oh."
Lightning unlocked the door and they filed into the room, eyes carefully peeled for any movement. Their pre-mission briefing assured them that nobody should be inside at the moment, but one could never be too careful.
As expected, the place was empty of all life apart from themselves and would be for at least another four minutes. Plenty of time to get what they needed and get out without anyone being the wiser. Usually Lightning would handle such a mission alone—fewer people involved meant less room for error, after all—and Hope's true value was in intelligence, not field work, but when Lightning's eyes landed on the laptop computer that was their target this time, she could appreciate why he had been instructed to tag along. Lightning was more than capable of a little rudimentary hacking, but when tasked with infiltrating the laptop of the CEO of the world's number one security company in under four minutes, it was time to call in a pro.
And if you're talking pros, you couldn't do better than Hope Estheim, the teenager who in another life had programmed an artificial intelligence capable of building a fal'Cie and then proceeded to design an entire functioning manmade planet.
A thumb drive and three minutes later had Hope tugging on her arm. "Come on, we've gotta move. The elevators will be coming back online any minute."
Lightning nodded. "Right. Did you get everything you needed?"
He held up the thumb drive. "Right here."
"Great." Lightning opened the door and followed Hope back out into the hallway. Lightning locked the door behind them and then they were off, racing back toward the stairwell.
"Out of curiosity," Hope spoke up as they fled through the doors and down the first flight of stairs, "how on earth are you able to move so quickly in those?" He gestured down at her red pumps with a gloved hand.
"Some things in life you just do," she deadpanned.
Hope hid a smirk. "You practiced, didn't you. I'll bet that's why you spent so much time at the track this week."
"How about you just focus on keeping up?" she retaliated, gracefully leaping down the remaining stairs to the next landing.
"Alright, alright!" he conceded, picking up the pace. "Yeesh, don't leave me behind!"
They'd made it to the fourth floor when the electricity turned back on, flooding the stairwell with yellow light. "Looks like we're out of time," Lightning observed, ripping off her NVD. Hope did the same. "Let's just get out of here as quickly as possible."
The two of them rushed down the last few staircases to the ground floor and were greeted with exactly what they were looking for in the form of a plain-looking metal door with a lit up sign above it reading EXIT. Hope grabbed the handle. "Here's hoping this doesn't set off a fire alarm or something," he muttered, then turned the handle and pushed.
And pushed.
"What the—" He threw his full body weight against the door but it failed to budge and instead produced a hollow clanging sound as it met resistance from something on the outside.
"Is it locked?" Lightning questioned impatiently, looking about ready to take over for him.
"No, something big and heavy is blocking it. I think some moron shoved a dumpster up against it," he ground out as he pushed with all his might one last time before giving up. "It's no use. There's no way we're gonna be moving that thing."
Lightning sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Great. Just goes to show that even the best plans aren't idiot-proof." She turned to the door they'd originally come through; the one that led back into the restaurant. "Looks like we're just going to have to try to blend in and go out the old fashioned way."
"But, Light," he protested, his expression darkening, "there's no way the guests in there are going to just let you leave. Not after the show you put on for them. You're tonight's 'hot commodity'." The warning in his words was clear.
Lightning scoffed. "Let me worry about that, Hope. You just follow along."
Before Hope could protest further, she opened the door and stepped inside, leaving her partner to scramble after her.
The restaurant was abuzz with excited chatter and theories about what caused the blackout when Lightning came waltzing back into their midst as sure as when she'd taken the stage a mere twenty minutes prior. Immediately, all eyes turned on her and, as expected, several gentlemen hurriedly left their seats to come speak with her.
"That was a stellar performance," one older gentleman said, taking her hand and kissing just below the knuckle. "You sing beautifully."
Another, younger and more eager man offered her his card. "You certainly know how to work a room. Listen, I run a club a few blocks from here and if you're interested in—"
He was cut off by another man placing his hand on the small of her back and steering her toward the front door, and while this was the direction she'd been intending to go, the man's foul cigarette stench and yellow teeth was not the accompaniment she'd been looking for. Particularly when he opened his mouth and said, in a heavy Brooklyn accent, "Hey, toots. You got anything on under that?" and then proceeded to smack her ass.
A few feet away, she saw Hope stiffen and level a dangerous look at the man, however his distaste was far outclassed by Lightning's own fury. The only thing keeping her from throwing the offensive man to the ground and stabbing a pointy heel through his hand was the knowledge that she and Hope had to get out of there as fast as possible and making a scene now was the worst thing either of them could do. So instead she reined in her fury and, exercising every bit of self restraint she had, politely removed his hand from her back and quickened her pace.
The closer she drew to the exit, however, the thicker the crowd of men looking to catch her attention became. Of course, she had been warned ahead of time what sort of establishment this was. She knew the guests expected her to leave with one of them. Had the mission gone according to plan she would've bypassed having to deal with this part by escaping through the fire exit, but of course the 'plan' hadn't panned out, and the gaggle of horny sleazeballs she'd been warned about was proving to be even more persistent than anticipated. Fortunately, Hope was well aware of the situation and had sidled up next to her, intent on doing what, she wasn't sure, but between the two of them, they'd come up with something. Although, Lightning did have a plan of her own if push came to shove.
And, as it happened, push came to shove the very next moment when she caught sight of the CEO she had pilfered the room key from during her performance talking to a couple of security guards and then looking over at her. Shit.
She caught Hope's eye and urgently mouthed. Gotta go. Now. And tossed her head toward the CEO. Hope looked over at the man and paled.
Lightning made a last ditch effort to push through the crowd. "Sorry, but I really have to go," she said firmly, somehow managing to squeeze through to the door, but right as she made to push it open an arm blocked her path. It took everything she had not to glare up at the man who dared stop her with the frigidness of a thousand tundras.
"Hey, pretty lady," he said easily, but there was a note of warning in his voice. "You can't just leave now." He leaned in and whispered so only she could hear. "You are under contract, Miss Belcourt, and I won't have you shitting all over the reputation of this establishment. Do you understand me?"
Lightning cursed mentally and checked the situation with the CEO. She saw the two security guards nod and begin heading in her direction. She inwardly cursed again. Time was up. Plan B, it was.
"Of course," she answered flatly. "I wouldn't dream of it."
At the manager's raised eyebrow, she grabbed Hope by the upper arm and yanked him around to face her. His attention was still on the situation with the security guards but it shifted to her very quickly when she grabbed his face and kissed him soundly. His eyes widened and he stiffened. A drawn out moment of confusion passed in which Lightning almost began to second guess her plan and then his arms were around her waist and his tongue was in her mouth and she was moving her hands up to rake though his soft, untamed hair.
The moment was broken when she tore herself away and addressed the murmuring crowd. "Thank you for your interest, but I'll be taking this one. Goodnight."
With that, she turned around and, finding the door no longer barred, shoved out into the night with a disbelieving and thoroughly rattled Hope in tow. Behind them, the last thing she heard as the door closed was, "Damn. That is one lucky-ass kid."
And then they were flying.
Lightning and Hope wasted no time and cheesed it out of there as fast as they could, en route to the side street where a getaway car was waiting for them. Lightning was the first to reach the car and she threw the driver's side door open, kicking off her heels and tossing them into the back seat before taking a seat and jamming the key into the ignition. Hope wasn't far behind, running around the passenger side and diving in just as she hit the gas, pulling away from the curb. Neither dared to let their concentration slip until they were several blocks away and on a main street, and then it was another several blocks before their tension finally evaporated into relief.
"That was... closer than usual," Hope finally spoke, breaking the silence.
Lightning cracked a smile. "But nothing compared to the good old days, right?" she remarked, shifting into neutral as they came to a stop at a light and then into first when the light immediately changed to green. Traffic was lighter in this part of town.
"The good old days involved a lot fewer invasions of my personal bubble," her partner grumped, propping his elbow up by the window and resting his cheek on his fist. "I'll be happy to go home next week. I'm tired of America."
Lightning ignored Hope's typical evasive bitching and focused instead on the first thing he said. She deliberated for a long moment and then came to a decision, her cheeks heating slightly. "I'd do it again," she admitted, feeling the heat flare up more from actually speaking the words aloud. "If you wanted me to, I mean."
Hope lifted his head off his hand and looked at her. "What?"
"Invade your personal bubble," she clarified, focusing on the road so that she wouldn't have to see the expression he was making. "I'd do it again."
Hope was silent for an extended moment and Lightning chanced a glance at him only to find him frowning at her. "Light," he said at last, "you really don't have to—"
She shook her head, cutting him off. "It was nice," she said before he could find his voice to finish his protest. "Kissing you... it was nice. To be honest, I've wanted to do it for a while now."
Hope was still frowning, but this time she could tell that it was from pure bewilderment at her confession.
"Don't read into it if you don't want to. I was just voicing my thoughts." She made a show of shrugging her shoulders with deliberate nonchalance.
They drove in silence for a few minutes. Taxis and buildings drifted by as Lightning calmly routed them to the branch headquarters where they would reconvene with Snow's team and drop off the thumb drive Hope had packed with juicy company secrets. As for Lightning, she was just looking forward to going back to her hotel and crashing for the next twelve hours. She was feeling unusually worn down.
"I'd like that."
The former soldier looked over at her partner, surprised. She hadn't been expecting him to say anything.
Hope wasn't looking at her. His gaze was trained out the window. The passing streetlights illuminated his expressionless face at regular intervals. "Don't read into it if you don't want to. I was just voicing my thoughts."
Lightning smirked just slightly and exhaled a dry chuckle as they sped off into the night. "Sure. Just don't be surprised if I do."
Hope didn't say anything but Lightning caught his smile reflected in the glass.
"And just so we're clear, next time you will be the one in the dress. The matter is not open to debate."
Hope's head fell forward over his knees. "Just drive, Light."
And I need to be redeemed,
To the one I've sinned against,
Because he's all I ever knew of love.
-Fiona Apple "Criminal"
End Note: So, basically this story came about because my friend and I thought it would be awesome if in the new world Lightning became a spy and Hope was her mission control. They pull it off so well in LR, after all. Of course, this time Hope ended up joining her on her mission. I also thought the idea of Lightning going undercover as a diva was hilarious.