VALORANT: Stories

Afterglow (Fade x Neon)

Afterglow

One mission after another, whether it was a success or not, the upside of everything was the fact that the agents always made it back to headquarters in one piece. Some would return mildly scathed with bruises and a few cuts, but rarely were they gunshot wounds or any sort of lacerations. If it were the latter though, it was always something extreme and it usually required either Skye or Sage's urgent attention.

The Legion of Omega agents didn't show an ounce of mercy when it came to their encounters out on the field, and unlike those of the Protocol of Alpha Earth, they were never spooked whenever they saw a complete and perfect replica of either themselves or their own allies' faces.

With every debriefing they had after operations, Brimstone started thinking they should work on their team synchronization more, especially when they made comparisons about how the Legion seemed to work together much better than they did. It was a bit of a kick to all their pride and egos, but they all knew it was true.

This unsurprisingly prompted Reyna to crack down more on their training, while Sage was there to make sure the former wasn't too harsh on the rest.

Recently, Reyna herself brought in a recruit. Codename Gekko, the young man easily started bonding with the others, just like how Harbor fit in well with the agents. It was likely because of his sunny and always-positive attitude, or the cute, little creatures he brought along with him, or maybe it was both. Either way, everyone warmed up to him as quickly as Reyna predicted.

Seeing not one but two new agents be welcomed with open arms would've been salt to the wound of the recruited operative before them, but then again, there was no wound in the first place. Or at least, it wasn't significant enough to tick Fade off.

Fade knew what she did to VALORANT wasn't the greatest way to get to their good side, but at the time, she wasn't aiming to make them comfortable around her. She wanted to torment them, and to show them she was not someone they could trifle with and overcome in a mere snap.

Then again, she didn't foresee that they'd eventually become her allies and that she would join them all because it would be beneficial for both parties.

It's nearly been six months since she became a part of their organization and though neither of the agents were giving her any more of those distrusting side-eye looks, Fade hadn't exactly built any foundation with any of them. Nothing solid enough for her to consider any of them friends.

Omen and Cypher were the only people that seemed to actually welcome her presence, which wasn't too surprising considering the former was somewhat of an embodiment of nightmares, while the latter was the one who fully convinced Brimstone to take her in. As for the others, Sage and Viper were polite and civil with her, never seemed to hold any ill intention towards her in the slightest, which was fairly nice to know.

The rest, though? It was just a mix of lingering wariness and reluctant, forced trust. They practically had no choice. They needed to rely on Fade, especially when they're sent out on missions with her. It wasn't too common for Brimstone to assign other operatives with Fade, especially since she insisted that she'd rather work alone as much as possible.

Of course, there were times that a matter really needed to be dealt with by a group, which left some agents grudgingly working with her. Fade could always sense their skepticism, could feel traces of their fear towards her and what she could possibly do to them. But Fade chose to ignore it all and just focus on whatever matter proved to be more important.

Spending half a year and more with a considerably tight-knit group, it wouldn't be surprising for anyone included in the circle to develop bonds with others. Yet that wasn't the case when it came to Fade.