Pairings and Characters: Fang/Lightning, Hope.
Rating: PG/T (swearing, mild sexual references, violence)
Word Count: 2,990 (COMPLETE)
Spoiler Warning: Contains spoilers for FFXIII, and in particular, Chapter 11. Ye be warned.
Summary: A staunchly uncooperative Fang sets out to ruffle Lightning's feathers.

Notes: Written for the fangxlightning LJ comm holiday prompts. (http : / community . livejournal . com / fang_lightning / 14145 . html) December 13th: Something New. Slight dubcon I guess, because Fang is tricky and Lightning doesn't know what just hit her.

Something New

Lightning had been ignoring Fang for about an hour now, and the fact that she was being given the cold shoulder was driving Fang to distraction. She watched, chewing on the inside of her lip in irritation, as Lightning sheathed her blazefire saber at her side and turned to Hope. The solider was already giving him tips and performance feedback even before the last goblin crashed to the ground! Despite the lecture, that smile that the soldier was giving the boy was bordering on proud, Fang noted as she slipped her spear back into the holster on her back and cracked her knuckles on both of her hands.

Strewn all about them was the mob of goblins that had been unlucky enough to cross paths with a group l'Cie on a mission – poor buggers. Being on the receiving end of Sunshine's temper could be a drag, and she could sympathize. As least Fang stood a chance of fending her off.

Fang glanced over at Lightning again, clicking her tongue in annoyance. The group leader still wasn't looking at her, even after she'd finished up her lecture to Hope. What, was Lightning going to ignore her all day? Fang rested her hand on her hip. Disobeying the battle plan – to go in as a saboteur, when she'd even reminded Lightning that she preferred commando – really wasn't something that Lightning should be getting snippy about.

They'd aced the battle in record time, hadn't they? Sure, that might have been because Lady Luck had decided to give Fang a helping hand, delivering an ambush into her lap, but those were just technicalities. And she was only being reckless and uncooperative because Lightning had been ordering them about like an army general that morning. Someone had to take a stand, and if it garnered Fang some more (unfortunately negative) attention from Lightning, she could hardly complain.

Lightning still hadn't said a word to Fang as she jerked her head in a signal for them to move on, that red cape whipping behind her in the headlong wind as she took point in the formation. Fang followed along in a semblance of obedience, all the while openly smirking at Lightning's retreating back.

Sure, Light. You can take point. Prefer the view from back here anyway, so it's not really obedience, eh?

The light from noon sun seemed to make the colours of Lightning's uniform more vibrant, the red cape more vivid, made her strawberry hair seem to shine a few shades lighter. Fang had to wonder if Lightning was aware of how tightly her white jacket and brown turtleneck hugged her body, or how the obvious curves of her body made women blush and men drool – or if that was just another fact of life that Light was oblivious to. Either way, Fang didn't doubt that she'd be slugged one if she pointed out. Didn't stop her from enjoying the view, though.

She jogged to catch up to Lightning and Hope. It was sort of an effort to not get left behind, but more so that she could take a closer look at the smooth, fair skin of Lightning's legs. She let her gaze travel up Light's body lazily, confident that Lightning wasn't going to look her way anytime soon. After all, she was being given the cold shoulder, might as well make use of it and be a little more open about everything.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fang noticed that Hope was frowning at how obviously she was leering at Lightning, but she ignored him. Kid was far too attached to Light for his own good. Too young for her, as well, so really, why was he bothered? She let her eyes skim Lightning again, letting it linger for a moment on the taut arse that lay under the khaki skirt. A small part of her wanted to know how it would feel under hands if she reached out and grabbed it – the much bigger part of her was far too attached to living to ever consider going through with that death-wish.

Fang tilted her head as she looked back up. Was it just her imagination, or was the back of Light's neck and ears a little red now? Huh. That was interesting. Stoic Sergeant Sunshine blushing at a bit of honest attention?

Fang's grin widened, turning predatory. Suddenly, a boring day of mark-hunting on the Steppe seemed like endless possibility. Sure, Fang might end up dead when Lightning finally cracked it and ran her tormenter through with her blade, but at least it'd be fun.

They walked a short distance across the grassy plains, Lightning still determinedly taking point, Fang watching Lightning's arse with a smirk, and Hope shooting Fang glares for her roving looks. Finally, they located their mark – some flan that apparently given lesser l'Cie some troubles – behind a small, rocky outcrop.

Lightning pressed herself against the rocks to shield herself from the flan's view, jerking her head in a sharp motion that demanded that Fang and Hope follow suit. Fang's fingers twitched, just dying to take the soldier down a notch or two for being such a commanding twat, but with this audience, she doubted it'd be appreciated. Maybe if it was Vanille or Snow along for the hunt…

"Hope, I want you to get in there and layer the buffs and defenses as fast as you can manage. You got that?" the soldier asked the boy in a low, urgent voice.

"Got it. After that I'll start going for the break with you, right?"

Lightning nodded, smiling slightly. Fang rolled her eyes – way to coddle the kid. He wasn't a baby, he didn't need positive reinforcement every time he did something right.

Of course, I'm probably just burnin' with envy. Wouldn't mind it if one of those smiles shot in my direction sometime. Might make all this flirting worthwhile.

There was a long moment of silence, and Lightning's icy blue eyes flickered towards Fang for a second, and just as quickly returned to the flan. Oh, so she wasn't even going to bother Fang with battle tactics now? Fang had to admit, the exclusion stung a little. She might not be in Lightning's good graces right now, but the cold shoulder hardly called for that. She was just starting to feel justified about her little plan to rattle the soldier, when Lightning finally looked back to her with a reluctant sigh. Fang grinned at her, giving a lazy salute to the 'drill sergeant'.

"Fang. That thing needs to be debuffed, and then we'll put your new ravager magic to the test. Just charging in as a commando isn't going to work with this one, because you're going to have to wait until we stagger it to do any damage. Understand?" Lightning's voice was still frosty, in spite of the disarming smile Fang shot in her direction. Damn, that woman must have some iron-hard self-control if she could resist that one.

"Clear as crystal, Sunshine," Fang told her carefully, deliberately avoiding saying that she'd follow orders this time. She was shouldering her spear and rising before Lightning signaled to go, and began to jog towards the beast in the distance. Behind her, she heard Lightning curse.

"Fang, just wait a moment-" Fang heard the soldier call out after her. Sunshine? Worried? That was unlike her, what with her sunny and optimistic disposition.

"Not a chance," Fang called back over her shoulder. Ravager? Boring. Saboteur? Could Lightning be any more generic in her battle tactics? Where was the showmanship, the satisfaction of a hard fight won? She could feel Lightning's icy glare burning into her back, hear the boots of her allies as they pelted through the grass after her.

Without a second thought, she charged the flan from behind – Lady Luck must really have been on her side today, because she caught the magical glob of evil and jelly off-guard. Fang let out a savage whoop, twirled her spear to give it some much-needed flair, and launched the beast fifty feet into the air. Huh, she didn't know that they could be launched that easily…

She focused for a moment before jumping up to meet the flan halfway through its fall to the earth, leaving behind a rather pissed off Lightning and a Hope that seemed to be adjusting to the changed battle conditions easily enough. She slashed at the flan in a quick flurry, deftly avoiding the high-powered firaga spell that Hope sent to fuck up the flan's day a little more.

Her lot spent for now, Fang allowed herself to obey gravity and fall back to earth. As she passed by the soldier on the way down, she gave Lightning a flirtatious wink in response to that icy mask – those cold blue eyes were livid. Oh, they would be having words after this one. Would make a nice change from the cold shoulder, Fang decided as she lightly landed on the ground.

Eager to catch the show, she craned her neck upwards, fixing her gaze on Lightning's lithe form as the soldier flipped about and slashed at the prey. Etro, but that woman could move – the blazefire saber was just a blur now, flashing in the sun, and that red cape she wore seemed to have a life of its own as it flapped and twisted around from Lightning's momentum. The soldier easily dodged the final flurry of spells that Hope cast, landing one last solid blow against the creature, before she let herself fall.

Lightning landed in a crouch next to Fang, her blazefire saber extended in her hand, with her spiky, strawberry blonde hair slightly mussed from the scuffle, and a flush in her cheeks. There was a heated look of triumph in her usually cold, blue eyes. Fang swallowed her next smart comment, her throat suddenly dry. Etro's hands, she'd never seen anything more beautiful. She knew she was staring, but right now? She didn't give a damn about social convention.

Lightning sheathed her weapon at her side with a sharp motion and looked up at Fang. Beside the two warriors, the flan finally fell to the earth with a splatter. Both of them ignored the remains of the monster – Fang wasn't sure about Lightning, but she wouldn't be able to tear her eyes from the strawberry blonde soldier even if Barthandelus himself up and landed before them. Those eyes. Had she ever seen them such a vibrant blue?

Fang gave a start as Lightning turned from her with a sharp pivot, resting her hand on her hip, the spell seeming to break. Only then did Fang notice the tenseness in Lightning's shoulders, the angry set to her jaw.

"'Clear as crystal', you told me." Lightning's voice was quiet at first, almost snatched away by the breeze and the roars of lobo wolves in the distance. It began to pick up intensity and loudness as she continued. "Clear as crystal. Then what the hell was that, Fang?" The soldier thrust a thumb over her shoulder towards the puddle of flan on the grass. She was nearly quaking with barely-contained rage.

Hope began to slink away in the background, clearly not wanting to be caught up in the backlash when Lightning finally snapped.

"Looks like a nice, dead flan to me." Fang grinned at Lightning, sheathing her spear and stretching. She wasn't going to be cowed by the soldier's towering rages, no matter how many bruises she would pick up for being so hard-headed.

The way Fang saw it, she gave just as good as she got in their scuffles. A bizarre dance of anger and violence, but was Fang the only one that considered it flirtation? Was she the only one to pick up on the quick bursts of lust, the searing sexual tension between them? She knew she wasn't just imagining the heat in Lightning's eyes, only snatching glimpses of it before the emotionless walls snapped back down.

But if Fang thought her words would soothe Lightning's ruffled feathers, she was sorely mistaken.

Lightning whirled back to her, red cape whipping around. Her icy blue eyes were still furious, and Fang had to wonder what fathomless tortures Lightning was planning behind that wall of ice and anger.

"Just a dead flan?" Lightning growled as she strode forwards, jabbing a finger into Fang's tattooed shoulder. "You disobeyed orders! If you hadn't gotten lucky-"

"Then you and Hope would have saved my arse and we would have changed tactics." Fang kept her voice level and quiet, but she was far too aware of how close Lightning was. She let her eyes skim the soldier's body again, letting it be a blatant challenge. "Relax. We won."

"Relax." Lightning's voice was flat and unimpressed at Fang's witty efforts to defend her actions, seeming completely unaware of how little attention Fang was paying to her words. "This is not about whether you succeeded in your idiocy or not, this is about teamwork and being able to count on you to stick to the plan!"

Sure, the soldier had a fair point there, Fang reflected as she watched a gust of wind muss Lightning's spikes even further. But the real question was, how did Lightning manage to have such spiky locks on one side of her head, and such delicate curls on the other? She hadn't seen Light use any styling products, so it was probably natural.

Her amused grin and silence only seemed to infuriate Lightning further.

"You will get us killed," the soldier hissed at Fang in a low voice, her gloved hands reflexively clenching into fists. Oh, she must be absolutely dying to sock Fang one. "I will not tolerate this. If you will not co-operate, then you will travel by yourself."

Fang raised an eyebrow appraisingly, not troubled in the least by the threat. It was a bluff, plain and simple. As fragile as Light and Hope were, they weren't exactly built for massive damage and tanking hits. That was why she was so damn useful, and sometimes she wondered if that was why Lightning tolerated her presence at all.

But the fact that Lightning had resorted to such low hits this early in the game was interesting. If she looked closely, was she just red in the face from her anger, or was Lightning blushing from the scrutiny? Her grin turned more feral. Wouldn't it be nice to see her redden a little bit more? And so Operation Take Light Down a Peg began.

At Fang's continued silence and steady gaze, Lightning cursed violently and turned away again, as if she couldn't stand the sight of the huntress any longer.

Let's do this shit. Fang cracked her knuckles.

Ignoring the pained look that Hope shot her way, Fang edged up behind the soldier, careful not to disturb a single blade of grass. The most tiny of sounds would give Lightning warning for what she was about to do, but as a hunter, Fang was an expert in stalking down her prey. It just so happened that her prey was the most twitchy, foul-tempered, and hard-arsed soldier in all of Gran Pulse and Cocoon.

Fang felt a shiver run down her spine. Was there anything more thrilling than the hunt, when the prey could just as easy maim you as be tamed by you?

A leg placed just so in Lightning's instep was all the preparation she needed, before she grabbed the strawberry blonde by shoulders. Lightning started to turn around in surprise, but her legs had been deliberately tangled with Fang's and she tripped. It happened with one smooth and fluid movement – Fang reached out, grasped a struggling Lightning tightly enough to trap her arms by her sides and pressed her lips against the soldier's. She felt Lightning jerk in surprise, her entire body going rigid as a board, but there was no further resistance as the seconds stretched on.

Clearly, Fang was having a fine day with Lady Luck.

She released her prey from her hold after a few moments, and Lightning stumbled away from her, her movements lacking all of the usual grace. Fang let a wicked grin cross her face as the stoic, no-nonsense Lightning stared at her. Her hair was still a little mussed, her cheeks had gone bright red, and her wide, blue eyes held none of the coldness and anger from before.

Hey, what do you know? Light can actually be cute, Fang's mind crowed in victory. Operation complete. Fang = 1, Sunshine = 0.

Time seemed to tick by so slowly, and Fang could almost see the dawning comprehension begin in Lightning's eyes as she lifted a halting hand to touch her lips. She drew them away again, looking down at her fingertips.

Fang's old scars began to ache suddenly, as they usually did before a bad storm. Odd that they'd have the same effect with Lightning's anger – useful, too.

Here it comes, Fang mused as Lightning's expression went from flustered to utterly enraged.

So, she did the only thing that was sensible for a woman in Fang's position – she turned tail and she ran. She preferred her head right where it was, thanks.

Hope stared after the two women as they went pelting across the Archlyte Steppe without him, still trying to pick his jaw from off the ground. Fang had – there was no way she'd just gone and done that. And then Light, Light hadn't even struggled. She almost looked like she'd enjoyed it.

But the kiss. He knew Fang was crazy and had a death-wish when it came to bothering Light, but that was something new.

Still blinking, Hope began to jog slowly after Fang and Lightning, listening to Lightning curse and roar at Fang to get back here and face death like a woman!

He winced as the first few gunshots rang out. This was going to be a long day.

A/N: Fang really seems to force Lightning to have a sexuality crisis often, huh? I promise, next time I'm going to leave Light's sexuality alone and it's going to be something else entirely. ;p

Having Fang troll Lightning is too much fun, though. Learn not to feed the troll, Light.

And that's this fic complete!