In the Meantime - A Fade Retelling of Red Queen

Prologue

A/N: As I mentioned before, I'm writing a RQ/GS retelling about the lost and left-out Fade moments. Here it begins~

FYI, I'll include some stories I've written before with some updates since I like them and imagined them as such canon moments when I wrote them.

„I won't leave my sister there alone," Shade announced, shaken, yet gathering his determination.

"She won't be. I will make sure of it." For a moment, Farley's gaze wandered into the distance, towards the square they'd fled from, the gaping crowd, the screens. Towards the future unfolding in labyrinthine ways. It only strengthened her resolve. She found the same emotion mirrored in Shade's eyes.

"So will I," he declared. He looked like a soldier, still in his Nortan uniform. But something integral had shifted. He'd become her soldier, her responsibility and hers to protect. Now more than ever, when he was on the run from the army. All words they exchanged turned into promises, something personal, more than their mission for justice. I'll take Mare under my wing for his sake as well, Farley thought. She swallowed, well aware of Shade's lingering touch, his closeness as they crouched in the dim corner. She searched for his hand and found it. "We still have to smuggle you away," she said. "You can't – "

Suddenly, he leaned over her, his hand cupping her chin, Despite the summer heat, she shivered. "I know," he said with a wince. But then the corners of his mouth twitched, forming almost into a wry smile. Almost, since the next moment, they were kissing, giving in to the draw they'd felt from the moment they'd met, stilling the hunger that had built up for three months. Neither of them was inexperienced, that was obvious. But this union felt new and fresh, something that made her think this was more than a random kiss in an alley to distract them from a moment of panic. The longer she kissed Shade Barrow, the more she wanted him. Not only physically. She longed to open her heart to him and knew his as well.

After a few seconds, Shade took a breath and she believed he mumbled "finally", and in her chest, she felt a similar release. It might've been the reason they weren't stopping, despite the inappropriateness, despite the danger. Instead they stayed fixed in their embrace for endless minutes.

Her fingers traced patterns on his cheek. She couldn't remember the last time she'd touched someone so gently, not even a wounded comrade she'd taken care of. It was exhilarating. He found her eyes and both of them knew this moment changed nothing in the grand scheme of things. She cleared her throat, fussed over her clothes, hair, weapons. "We have to go," she said, "My contact Crance is already waiting to get us out of here."

Shade stood up and sighed, then offered to help her up, and she let him. It felt too early to stop touching.