A Late Encounter
The clock in the common room of VALORANT HQ was the only source of light.
2:20am.
To Fade, the number was practically a death sentence; a reminder of how long she still had until it was considered an 'appropriate' hour to be up and doing things. In the week since she'd joined the protocol, she'd managed to pick up on the habits of many of the agents. Skye was always up first, followed by Neon. Sage and Killjoy favored punctuality, whereas Jett and Raze preferred to sleep in. Even so, the odd hours of the night quickly became Fade's domain, as she was the only one who dared to venture out of her room when unable to sleep.
She didn't dread the solitude- in fact, she welcomed it. After so many years working in isolation, she still had yet to grow accustomed to being around so many other people. The common room was a particularly draining source of interaction, despite the fact that none of the other agents elected to speak to her. There was near-constant conversation happening in every corner of the room, and even her own quarters offered little reprieve. Some of the older agents–namely Sage and Cypher–stopped by regularly to check in on her. Even now, Fade struggled to determine the reasoning for doing so. Were they genuinely concerned for her well-being, or were they concerned that she'd snap and turn on the rest of the agents?
The latter was more probable.
She was a stranger to the others- both literally and figuratively. Ever since she was announced as the newest member of the protocol, her newfound coworkers avoided her like the plague. Conversations shifted into hushed whispers whenever she entered a room, even if she was simply passing through. She wasn't yet cleared to join the others in their training exercises, and even then, she didn't think that anyone would want her there. Her radiant abilities were the subject of much suspicion following the events of the sting operation designed to capture her. She didn't blame anyone for their less-than-pleasant attitudes towards her, either- it was all very much deserved. After all, she threatened to doxx them, then proceeded to force her captors to live through their worst fears as they attempted to track her down. It was only understandable that they were on edge around her.
Still, it was inconvenient. Not being cleared for training meant that she had little to do during the day to keep herself busy. Had she not understood the reasoning behind the apprehension, Fade almost would have thought it to be punishment. As far as she was concerned, there were very few things worse than doing nothing. Stasis only meant that she was alone with her thoughts- an activity that she rather dreaded. If she wanted an opportunity at doing anything other than sulking for hours on end, she needed to prove herself to her superiors. And while she wasn't making any effort whatsoever to make amends with the people she'd been so hostile to only a week prior, she wasn't inciting any conflict, either.
At least, not directly.
Out of all of the agents, some were quick to forgive her. Something about Sage told Fade that she wasn't really one to hold grudges, yet she still appreciated the healer's willingness to accept her into the protocol. Cypher, her interrogator, was also surprisingly accommodating- though part of Fade wondered if it was solely because he wanted to know how exactly she obtained the information she'd gotten on all of them. Brimstone was advocating for her in the most diplomatic way possible, too; in the end, it appeared as though Cypher had done a great deal to convince him of her potential. The conversation happened behind closed doors of course, but she didn't need to be privy in order to guess how it went down. At the end of the day, her abilities were something that VALORANT needed on their side- or, at the very least, needed to be on good terms with. Fade was admittedly a decently prideful person, and, at the time, she was rather smug about the fact that she'd made herself such a formidable adversary.
And to think, they all were under the impression that she'd been caught as a result of a stupid mistake.
When Fade had initially revealed her location to be that warehouse in Istanbul, she did so knowingly. Years of working for REALM had made her more than adept at covering her tracks- even Cypher, in all his glory, was only able to narrow down her whereabouts after she dropped a couple of obvious hints. When the sting operation arrived to detain her, she wandered in knowing that she was being followed. She'd taken on larger groups of operatives before; VALORANT would be no different. Even with their radiant abilities, a little bit of interference from Nightmare should have been more than enough to deter them. And, for a moment, it was.
Leaving her Prowler to distract the ground team, she'd hastily made her way out a back exit and stole away under the cover of nightfall. That in-person encounter only fueled the arsenal of information she could use against them- it was clear that Brimstone had not yet yielded to her demands, even despite the obvious threat of revealing his agents' identities, and so Fade decided that she needed something far more… personal. After all, she could only do so much from afar. It was so much easier to mess with them when they were right in front of her- only Sova was able to break free of Nightmare's hold on him, and even then, he was quickly overwhelmed by the onset of her Prowler.
If it weren't for that damned robot's radiance suppression abilities, she would still be in Istanbul.
Fade drummed her fingers against the tabletop in bored expression, stealing another glance over at the clock.
2:23am.
Lanet olsun , time passed so slowly here.
Sighing heavily, Fade decided that she may as well return to her room. Perhaps she'd reread yet another one of the books she brought, or touch up the henna that adorned her arms, or really just do anything that would keep her awake. She attempted to stand from her chair, but before she was able to do so, the light to the common area flickered on, and she froze in place.
"Gah!" Came Neon's startled cry, sparks flying as the young duelist jumped backwards in fright. "Diyos ko, Fade, you scared me!" She clutched her chest with one hand, the other bracing against the wall for support. Despite the melodramatics, Fade really had caught her off-guard. She'd turned on the light expecting an empty room, only to be met with the other agent's cold, bi-colored stare.
Fade herself smirked at the exclamation, feeling a little less tense now that she saw who it was. Despite the unpredictability of her powers, Neon posed no threat. Nor did she seem to be particularly affronted by the events of the previous week- which was rather surprising, given the nature of the attack. Regardless, Fade couldn't complain. "You're up early." She remarked, a hint of amusement in her voice. Despite the intrusion on her silent contemplation–and the bright fluorescent lights of the common room–she was rather curious as to what Neon was doing in the common room. She generally retired pretty early in the evening, from what Fade had observed.
Neon still seemed a bit wary of the other woman's presence, but still she dared to let down her guard ever-so-slightly. Brim and Sage had instructed the pre-existing agents to be courteous, and thus far, she was one of the only ones following that direction. That wasn't to say that she wasn't angry at Fade, because she totally was, but that was an issue for a different time- definitely not two-thirty in the morning, when it was just the two of them. Neon simply shrugged in response, attempting to nonchalantly run a hand through her disheveled blue hair. "Couldn't sleep." She replied, awkwardly stalling in the threshold for a moment before adding, "And… I'm hungry. And I don't have any more snacks in my room. So I came to get some food. But mostly? I just couldn't sleep." She crossed over to the pantry, beginning to open various doors in search of something that sounded appetizing. As she did so, she posed a question in return, glancing behind her to ask, "Why are you awake?"
Fade blinked at the query, evidently not expecting an attempt at conversation, especially from a half-asleep Neon. It almost felt like a trap, but she figured she may as well answer, especially if she wanted to make any progress towards becoming a somewhat-less-hated member of the team. "Couldn't sleep." She shrugged, mirroring Neon's response with a touch of her usual sly attitude.
"Oh?" Neon mused, drowsily continuing to sort through the pantry until at last she reached into a cabinet and withdrew a sufficient snack- banana chips. "Seems to me like you've been up for a while. Something wrong?"
Fade visibly stiffened, once again growing suspicious of the reason for Neon's questioning. She looked the duelist up and down with an unreadable expression, unsure of how to respond. With a bit more ice in her tone, she eventually replied with a hesitant, "Why does it matter to you?"
Neon turned from the pantry, hands raised in an attempt to show that she meant no harm. It was an almost amusing gesture, especially considering that she was still holding the bag of banana chips, but it was genuine. "Just trying to make conversation." She explained, eyeing Fade warily in return. An awkward beat passed, and then she tried again. "We have coffee, you know." She nodded her head vaguely in the direction of the coffeemaker. Watching Fade's gaze follow the gesture, she knew she'd found an in. "I mean, sleeping is definitely a better solution, but… it's there anyways. I'd probably have some too, but… caffeine and electricity radiance don't exactly mix." She gave Fade a half-smile.
"Am I… allowed to make coffee?" Came the Turkish woman's uncertain reply, and Neon grinned in response.
"Well, are you an agent?"
Fade glanced back over at her then, visibly attempting to decipher Neon's intentions. After a moment, she replied with a half-hearted "I don't know. Am I?"
It was asked somewhat to Neon, and somewhat to herself.
Neon's smile faltered. It seemed like a genuine question, and it made the dream seer appear surprisingly vulnerable, all things considered. Previously, she'd assumed that Fade was all but unsure about her place on the team. Upon her capture, the nightmare-wielding radiant had been almost infuriatingly smug about her doxxing attempt and subsequent mind invasions. It was a sharp contrast to the tone she'd just spoken in, and it made Neon admittedly rather uneasy. Still, she smiled once again. "Well, Brim's word is law, so I say 'yes'."
She retreated from the pantry, instead choosing to lean against the opposite end of the table. Fade watched her intently as she moved closer, cat-like eyes seeming to track every subtle adjustment. Neon chose not to let it bother her, instead choosing to further encroach upon Fade's personal space. Hopefully, she would react verbally if Neon got too close, instead of sending yet another Nightmare after her…
"That being said," Neon continued pointedly, "I have a question for you."
So it was a trap.
Fade raised an eyebrow, seeming more and more unsure with each passing moment. There was something so dynamic about Neon's energy that it became vaguely intimidating at times. Fade breathed in deeply, an attempt to remind herself that she was the one in control of this conversation. "I may have an answer for you." She replied dryly. Despite the tone, Neon seemed to take it as a sign to progress.
"You're a bounty hunter, aren't you? You have so much information on everyone in the protocol. Our hometowns, our families, our names…"
"That I do."
Neon smiled. "So, in the spirit of 'keeping things civil', I wanted to ask: what is your name?" Fade audibly laughed.
"Ha- iyi deneme , no. You're not getting that from me." The dream seer scoffed. Neon's smile didn't dissipate, however.
"I think I am, though. Unless you want me to ask Sage and Brim to delay your training clearance?" Her expression grew smug, even more so when she saw the tension in Fade's gaze. She'd observed how restless Fade had become following her initial acceptance into the protocol. It was a low threat to make, sure, but it was nothing that hadn't been done to her. To her surprise, Fade cracked a smile.
"I'm surprised, tavşan. I didn't expect you to be so manipulative."
Neon raised her eyebrows in an expectant manner, and Fade's smirk quickly faded. It was clear that there was no getting out of this one… should she just bite the bullet? A dodged attempt today just meant yet another delay in training clearance. Receiving clearance meant more experience. More experience meant more trust. And more trust meant more answers. For the time being, VALORANT was just a stepping stone on her path towards finding out what happened to him . She'd aid them so long as they continued to bring her closer.
Still, however, she knew how much power a name could give.
Prior to her dossiers, the protocol hid behind their callsigns. Former identities and wrongdoings were somewhat stripped away; they were no longer associated with the names that they once bore. Fade's intrusion into their privacy forced them to confront the fact that they were not, in fact, separate from their real-world counterparts. And when it came to her own name, she held the same sort of hesitance.
She'd been called many names over the years. The blackmailer. The watcher. Dream seer. And now, Fade. None of them, her real name included, felt as though they belonged to her. She existed merely as whatever she needed to be at the time; she'd never had a particularly strong sense of identity. Even so, due to her line of work, her true identity was kept insanely private- more private than she was even on just a day-to-day basis. If her time in the protocol had made anything clear, she was not, by any means, a people person.
Fade clenched and unclenched her jaw, sighing as she realized that Neon wasn't going to budge. After a long silence, she looked up to meet the radiant's expectant expression.
"My name is Hazal."
Neon leaned back with a satisfied smile, really not having expected such compliance from the standoffish woman. Fade– Hazal –glared at her, but Neon took it in stride. It was only so often that she could revel in such success. "Pretty." She remarked. "I like it. My name is Tala."
"I already know your name."
"Yes, you do." Neon started to walk backwards towards the door that led to the dormitories, clearly more than happy with how the conversation had proceeded. "But now I'm the one telling you. As a friend." Hazal snorted.
Friend? Yeah, right.
The reaction didn't seem to faze Neon, as she simply shrugged again. "Friend, teammate, coworker, target, whatever . Just let it be known that I made an effort." She reached the doorway once more, and, in her ever-smug tone, called out, "Good night, Hazal !" Before disappearing around the corner.
Hazal pursed her lips, clearly less-than-pleased with the admission of her real name. It was only after a moment, when Neon was out of earshot, that she voiced a reluctant reply.
"Good night, Tala."
Poorly translated phrases, yeehaw!
Lanet olsun - Damn. (Turkish)
Diyos ko - Oh my god! (Tagalog)
İyi deneme - Nice try. (Turkish)
Tavşan - Rabbit. (Turkish)
Welcome to my first-ever VALORANT fic!
I'm trying to make things seem as canon as possible, but I'm still relatively new to the lore, so please bear with me! Fade is just a character that I immediately connected to, and I wanted to explore the dynamic between her and a few other agents in more depth!
As mentioned in the tags, I am planning for this work to be relatively Fadeshock-centric, but I'm going to throw some other characters in there as well, so stay tuned!
Also, fair warning... I am not Turkish. Or Filipina.
As much as I'm trying to cross-reference and ensure accurate translations of things, I can't promise that phrases in other languages will be correct, lol. The perils of being unilingual!
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