The holes in the rotor give the gasses a place to go and also serves to evacuate water. Sometimes you might have noticed after hitting a puddle, the brakes are not as efficient. This is because the water first has to be boiled or thrown off the braking surface. The only time pad fade really comes into play is when they get really hot, like stopping from 100-0 mph. On the track you will notice the difference because you use the brakes more heavily.
Fluid fade is the second type of brake fade.
This is caused by repeated heavy braking which heats up the brake fluid in the calipers and cause it boil and then turn into a gas. A gas can be easily compressed which causes a sinking pedal and decreased braking power. The only way to get rid of fluid fade is to use a fluid with a higher boiling point and to avoid excess heat. Then there is the brake pad which really takes the beating. The stock pads that come on our cars are semi-metallic up front and organic in the rear.