AN - I just got back from the dentist. I CAN'T FEEL MY FACE. Anyway, here's a chapter.
The confused frown was clearly evident in Fang's expression, as she looked at Lightning loading her gun on the roof above the casino.
"It's... Not... That I'm complaining, it just feels like this alleged plan of yours is closer to something that Gadot would cook up."
"You asked for efficient, I'm giving you efficient." The pinkette shrugged, holstering her pistol. Fang stared incredulously, eye twitching.
"Come on, Fang. Thought you'd be keen for this kind of action." Noel called out behind them, walking into view with his rifle slung over his shoulder. "Gadot would be proud, Light."
The ex-officer chuckled and flashed a brilliant smile that made Fang's heart flutter. While the pinkette was having more frequent bouts of identity issues lately, the other side of the coin meant that when she was focused on the mission, on an end goal, she was practically unstoppable. If Fang took a moment to be honest with herself, Lightning seemed almost cold and calculated in her execution, a fact which if she dwelled on it too long unsettled her. Still, the plan seemed… simplistic in its implementation and her gut twisted on instinct. "I have grave concerns, though whether it's for my safety or your own is open for debate when you come up with ideas like this, Light. You're the last person I expected to just…"
"Just burst in and shoot all these motherfuckers, as Gadot would say?"
"Well, yeah."
"Fang," Lightning breathed, stepping forward and taking Fang's hand, "Do you honestly think that I wouldn't have thought all the angles through? The gala was the other night, tonight the Casino hall is closed for a private function. A private function that involves a meeting with the last of the Children of Etro's hierarchy that Noel here hasn't picked off."
"Oh," Fang replied, looking at her feet.
"Which just leaves us to do what we do best." Lightning finished, pressing her lips against Fang's ear and revelled in the shivers she caused and the goosebumps that appeared along the tattooed arms.
The Pulsian regarded her companion, deciding that she was just going to run with this calm and collected version of Lightning while it was still here, and deal with the concern niggling at the back of her mind later. "Noel, how much of the hierarchy have we got left to take out after your hunt?" Fang queried, eyeing off the room below from the window up top. He shrugged and started peering through his scope.
"Aside from the head honcho himself? Enough to be a problem this evening. Hoped I'd gotten more of them but these bastards are like cockroaches. Kind of like Vipers, really. Always coming out of the woodwork."
"Watch it, Noel.." Fang growled in warning, anger flaring at the jab. Lightning looked away with a wince, fingers slipping down to unbuckle the holding strap on her Blazefire.
"What? I'm just saying. You may be able to get away with things when all is said and done seeing as you're sleeping with her, but she knows my face. She knows my identity." He said with a shrug, spinning around and eyeing the pinkette off dangerously. "I've been in this game for a long time now, and I'll be damned if I let some supposed saviour of NORA end it for me." He snapped, hoisting his gun up at Lightning.
"Noel, what the hell are you doing?" Fang hissed, rage surfacing at a dangerous speed. Lightning placed a hand on her shoulder, but the Pulsian didn't turn. She only withdrew her attention from the man in front of her when she saw the barrel of Lightning's gunblade appear over her shoulder, pointed straight at him.
"He's made a deal with the Children of Etro. They have someone he cares about. Paddra Nsu Yeul, correct?" The pinkette said quietly, watching as the Shadow Hunter's eye twitched in recognition of the name. "I do my homework Noel, and I do it well. Like I said, I plan for every. Single. Angle."Lightning stepped out in front of her companion slowly, not making any sudden movements when the man was currently on a hair trigger. Fang's eyes widened and a savage snarl tore from her throat.
"Sorry Fang, and it's nothing personal Lightning," Noel sighed as he drew the laser sight to her chest. "I wish the deal didn't mean you had to die in exchange for a future with Yeul."
"They can't give you that future, Noel, but I can." Lightning said firmly, staring him down. "I know of the blood on your ledger, I have no reason to turn you in. But you're eating into my window of opportunity here and we're on a time limit to get this job done. So, put the gun down, let's finish what we started, and destroy the Children of Etro."
A flash appeared at the same time the rifle let out a thunderous crack, and Fang yelled out as she fell back. She looked up in a panic to find Lightning still standing there, blade extended on her Blazefire with a stone-cold expression on her face. Noel's rifle was split in two. The Pulsian stared in awe at the sight, jaw hung low. Noel dropped the other half of his rifle and fell backwards to the ground. "Is that all you got?" Lightning drawled, unimpressed.
"I…"
"You aimed high. That was never going to hit me even at this range. You don't have it in you to kill me." She finished, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Noel looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed of his actions. Lightning's gaze softened, and she knelt on the ground in front of him. "We found Yuna and brought her home to Rikku and Paine. What about Yeul? There is nowhere they can hide her where we won't find her, Noel."
"It's impossible to find her, I've been looking for years." He despaired, burying his face in his hands.
"We live to make the impossible, possible." Lightning urged, squeezing his shoulder while Fang looked on in complete disbelief. "Let me help you find her. Stop living in the shadows of your past Noel, and help us finish this."
He nodded slowly and allowed himself to be helped up by the pinkette's outstretched hand. "Though Noel, you try that shit again and Fang is probably going to tear you limb from limb."
"You say that like I'm not going to do that now." The Pulsian growled in the background. He paled a little, well aware of her notorious anger. Lightning slid an arm around her waist, nails scratching in gentle circles to attempt to placate her. Noel took his opportunity and bowed, retreating from the roof to enter the building.
Fang turned to the pinkette in confusion. It had all happened so fast she could barely process what had happened. "How…"
"Did I know he was going to try to kill me?" Lightning finished, watching his form vanish into the shadows. "Rygdea called me the other day saying he'd intercepted communication from Ardyn Izunia, the head of the CoE. He'd put out a hit request on my head to the Shadow Hunter, and had confirmed it had been picked up. My former handler wanted to give me fair warning in case the Hunter showed up in the Warrens, not knowing I was already aware of who he was."
"Shit, Light…" Fang breathed, visibly shaken. "How did you know he was going to miss?"
"… I didn't. Not exactly. I tampered with his gun on the way in here so that the recoil would be more than he's used to, force his aim up as he shot. It wasn't guaranteed to work but I like to think after enough time with you, Lady Luck is on my side."
Fang's lips thinned, not amused in the slightest. "So you knew all this, and were going to let me in on it when exactly?"
Lightning knew in an instant she'd misstepped with the brunette, knowing where the argument was about to head. "Fang.." She whispered, tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear, "I love you, but you have a terrible poker face. And you have a mild protective streak with me. If you had have known he was going to attempt to kill me, would you have even let him get to the roof?"
Narrowing her eyes, Fang opened her mouth to retort but came up empty. She knew Lightning was right, but it didn't stop it from stinging. "I promise I'll make it up to you, any way you want." The pinkette added with a smirk that threatened to undo Fang's bad mood.
"... Don't we have people to kill..." she relented with a grumble. Lightning kissed her on the cheek and smiled bashfully, dragging her fingers down the tanned arm.
Fang cocked the hammer on her pistol, choosing to take her anger out on the people that really deserved it. "Welp, let's go shoot all these motherfuckers then." She drawled, kicking the door open to the roof.
They filed into the building, sticking to the shadows and looking for plenty of vantage points. They crept into the main hall from the second floor, overlooking the small group from the balcony above. The two women moved up alongside Noel and Fang stared him down.
"I've known you for a long time mate, and I'm not stupid. I know what Yeul means to you Noel, but you should know by now what Light means to me. That was a stupid fucking stunt and you know it. You even think about pulling a single strand of hair from her head and there will be nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide where I won't grant you an agonizingly slow, painful death." She growled, flashing her teeth close to his face.
A single tear slipped down his cheek and his breath came out in a ragged shudder. "I... Know. I... Couldn't. Yeul wouldn't want that, to know that her freedom came at the cost of another life. They said they were going to kill her if I didn't do the job."
"And there is still time for that, young Shadow Hunter." A voice called out from below them, and Fang flinched. The trio peered over the balcony to find about twenty guns aimed squarely at them. Ardyn Izunia stood at the back of the crew, arms folded and looking amused.
"For fuck's sake... Is this part of the plan?" she groaned sarcastically at her partner.
"Mmmmm... Not exactly but I can work with it." Lightning replied with a shrug, pulling a grenade from her belt. "You want to do the honours?" she asked, handing it over to Fang. A wide grin split her face and she pulled the pinkette forward for a kiss.
"Gods, I love you." Fang breathed against her, and Noel rolled his eyes.
"You two are honestly hopeless." He sighed as he snatched the grenade from the Pulsian's hand and lobbed it over the balcony. The explosion that tore through the hall sent gangs flying and coins scattering from the slot machines. The Children of Etro who managed to retain their footing opened fire on the balcony and the trio scrambled.
"Ardyn's down there, we need him alive so that I can find out where he's keeping Yeul!" Noel yelled out as he began to take shots at the gang on the ground floor. The leader was holed up behind a blackjack table, with about five of his lackeys protecting him while the others moved towards the trio on the balcony.
"Rocket!" Fang yelled out as she spied a thug armed with a launcher. She rolled out of the way and ran from their vantage point. Lightning did the same in the opposite direction, dragging Noel with her. The balcony exploded, the impact shunting the two of them down the flight of stairs. As they tumbled to the ground Lightning and Noel found themselves surrounded with plenty of guns aimed at their head.
"Alright, that's enough. Luckily this place is over-insured or I would be a great deal more upset with the mess you three are making." Ardyn droned, sounding thoroughly bored. "With the claim I'll be making in the morning it will more than make up for the money you stole from my bank downtown."
Shots fired from behind them, with Fang taking cover and knocking out a couple of the brutes with savage precision. Lightning was hoisted to her feet along with Noel, held by the back of her neck. They were moved in front of Fang's line of sight to serve as a human shield.
"I grow weary of this drawn-out battle between our respective organisations, Oerba Yun Fang." Ardyn sighed, adjusting his coat with a flourish. He turned to Noel and gave him a disgusted once-over. "And you. You disappoint me Shadow Hunter, but I am a forgiving man. I'll give you one last opportunity to fulfil the terms of your agreement, and you can go free and so does your beautiful flower, Paddra Nsu Yeul."
"Don't you fucking dare!" Fang yelled from her spot behind a cluster of broken slot machines. "I will end your miserable life if you even think of harming her, Noel!"
The hunter looked at Ardyn with a nod and took the gun from his offered hand. He then stalked back over at Lightning, raising his pistol in her face. "Did you mean what you said before?" He asked quietly, arm still and his aim true.
"Every word. Check my phone."
He reached forward and pulled the device from her pocket, and Fang strained her neck to see what was going on. She flung herself back behind the machines when she nearly had her head taken off her shoulders from gunfire. She hadn't felt this helpless since the time she was shot in the shoulder in the shipping yard. Or the Psicom blackout facility. She was tired of feeling helpless. Especially where Lightning was concerned.
Noel opened the screen on the device to find a message from Vanille, that was simply an address. Poltea Hospital – Psychiatric Ward B, Room 7, bed 2. His eyes flicked up to Lightning, knowing exactly what it was. "Confirmed?" He whispered. The faintest of nods from Lightning, and he simply turned to Ardyn and shot him in the head.
"Fang! Now!" Lightning yelled, leaping to the floor to get out of the way. The brunette threw herself from cover and opened fire on the remainders of the Children of Etro, who were still too stunned from seeing their leader gunned down to have reacted. Noel and Fang worked in tandem until the hall was littered with bodies and only themselves remained.
Lightning got up and dusted herself off, surveying the carnage around her. "Not bad." She hummed, hand outstretched to get her phone back. Noel handed it to her with no fair amount of hesitancy.
"I… Thanks. And, I'm sorry. You don't deserve any of what I did or said before. Despite everything I've had no reason to doubt you before, I shouldn't have started now." He said, head bowed. She smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. I get it, and the things you do for the people you care about. We can arrange to have her moved so nobody will know where she is, and she'll still get the care she needs." Lightning offered, smiling gently.
Fang walked up to the two of them, and Lightning's smile faltered when she saw the dark expression aimed squarely at her. The brunette got up close and pointed a finger in her face. "Do not. Ever. Put me in a position like that. Again." She growled, before turning on her heels and storming from the room.
Lightning and Noel stood there, dumbfounded. The hunter nodded towards her, with an awkward look on his face and scratched the back of his head. "Pretty sure you might want to go after her."
She nodded and chased after her partner, to find her pacing out the front of the building. "Fang…" Lightning said quietly, to get her attention as she slowed up to the clearly agitated woman.
"You knew it was all going to go down like that, didn't you? Once again, you keep me in the dark. I thought we were past this."
Lightning remained silent, knowing any answer she gave would likely only enrage the Pulsian further. She yelped as Fang suddenly spun and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Don't… Don't do that again. I can't..." Fang said with a shaking voice, burying her head into the crook of the pinkette's neck. "Please… I don't want to feel like I'm going to lose you again.."
Lightning's heart broke at Fang's words, realising the core of the issue with her plan. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, kissing the side of her head. "I… I didn't mean to keep... I just wanted to prove that I could do this, that I'm not undercover anymore and that-"
"You don't need to prove shit, Farron," Fang snapped angrily, using her real name as emphasis before her expression softened. She leant down and kissed her, holding her partner close. "You don't. I already know what you're capable of. I've witnessed it firsthand. I know. I don't need you to prove that you're in this for the long haul, you've already gotten the scars to show for it. Stop trying to prove it to me, and stop trying to prove it to yourself." She held Lightning's face back, running her thumbs along her cheekbones.
"I'm sorry." The pinkette whispered, leaning into her touch.
"I love you, Lightning Farron. What do I need to do to prove that so you can stop these insane schemes trying to prove what a badarse you are? Enough, Claire. Enough."
They held each other in silence, while the casino burned behind them and sirens wailed in the distance.