[I don't expect this to be canon compliant, since I have no idea what either one of these characters are doing right now during the update. But the idea would go away, so here it is!]
Threads That Connect
Sabbah would be lying if she said she wasn't scared.
She had never wanted any of... this. The fighting for her life against an Endbringer, joining a some what well-known villain gang to escape the city, becoming an actual hero for another city she knew nothing about...
"Mind if ya lift that end a little higher Miss?"
"Of course." She answered curtly, theatrically moving her fingers. Her spider-silk Octopus used three of it's tentacles to raise the debris a couple feet higher into the air. The PRT Officer nodded and thanked her before signalling for a few of his comrades to follow him through the gap she made.
Once they were threw Sabbah made sure to place the debris back into it's original position, rebuilding the makeshift barrier. A twinge on her ankle then another two in short order, and Sabbah reacted, having another of her creations - an elephant this time - make an opening for the incoming wounded.
With her system in place, the PRT Officers and Guild Relief Operatives were able to communicate who and what they bringing in or out using her strings layered upon layer of the exterior of the shelters. They had even developed a system for threats.
She hoped they wouldn't have to use them.
Sabbah wouldn't say she was happy with her life before this - the experience that lead to it certainly didn't help in that regard - but she had definitely been content. There had been feeling of finality with her business, her "mission" of blurring the lines between stereotypes while also become a well-known performer. She had kept herself away from the gangs, the heroes, and the independents with great care, refusing to do something as foolish as waste her gift on fighting.
The Wonderful Parian, she mused to herself as her Octopus helped carry a few heavier supplies to a nearby tent, the most successful rogue of Brockton Bay.
Much like her home and her family, that life was destroyed by cruel act of fate. A bitter feeling within her that had not yet healed. Maybe it never would.
Now here she was, a bona-fide hero fighting against more monsters to defend the innocent from undo harm. She hated it. She hated it more than she might have hated anything in her life. To be forced into something she had desperately avoided at all costs? Memories of school and a certain "nice guy" came to her mind, but unlike then, she had no one she could direct the blame to for this turn of events.
Life had given her a crappy hand and there was no other way to play. That was also a lie though.
I could leave. Throw away the costume and just blend in with everyone else.
But she wouldn't. Not for the Undersiders - a large part of her still saw them as the criminals they had been - as kind and caring as they had been for her. There was too large a distance between her and them and she thought the feeling was mutual. Certainly not because she felt a duty towards heroics, though she wasn't so cold as to not help when she was able to.
It was Amelia. Panacea. Wyld.
Hers, her one and only, the little healer that had fixed more than a few bruises and cuts on her body. She would never abandon her soon to be lover, couldn't fathom the act of leaving her behind to face the monsters that caused Sabbah to shake. Could she convince her dear to leave with her, to live somewhere else in peace?
No. Amelia was too ingrained as a hero and as the leader of the group to just up and leave, even if it wasn't an S-Class event. She had told Sabbah once in confidence, when they both comforted each other in the dark, that she would never disappoint her step-sister's memory and that she'd make it up to her family one day.
That was one of the few times Amelia had ever brought up Glory Girl or New Wave other than when she religiously followed the News Articles that Dragon gave her. Sabbah felt a pang of sadness then. Victoria had sounded like a wonderful sister and it was a shame she would never get the chance to know her. She still held out hope for meeting the other New Wave family members, wherever they might be.
That wasn't the only anchor however. Lisa was pivotal to Amelia's emotional recovery and the two were now nigh-inseparable. As grateful as Sabah was for all her help, she couldn't help the feelings of envy that would sometimes rise whenever she saw how close they were to each other. Foolish really. Lisa herself had explained her... problem.
"Unless I meet someone who's as smarmy as I am," She smirked as Sabbah chuckled, "Relationships aren't my forte. Now get in there and snuggle with her like your life depends on it!"
Still, it was another chain trapping her here, in the same city as the goddamn Slaughterhouse Nine. If she ever saw the blood-thirsty smile of the Siberian that close again, it would be too soon.
No. Not chains. Threads, metaphorical threads, like her power that kept her here with Amelia. What was the name of that Japanese myth she had heard? The Blue-Thread of Fate?
A few heroes entered her peripheral, most of whom she did not recognize. One them noticed her staring and turned to the others. They spoke for a moment before the one that saw her broke off from the group, the others continuing on their way.
This one she did recognize.
Gallant had initially been thought as a Tinker in the Brockton Bay Wards and with his trademark "Sci-Fi Camelot" Armor, very few would question it. Lisa had explained prior to their debut in Philly the powers of Wards and how Gallant was unlikely to be a real Tinker. Apparently his armor was too similar to Armsmasters for it to be mere coincidence.
Sabbah didn't understand much of the blonde's reasoning, but she did understand that the kid could apparently "shoot" emotion blasts. However that worked.
She raised the debris just as Gallant got within earshot and stopped at a respectable distance. His previous group continued through the opening she had made, not even sparing them a passing glance. She closed it and slowly spread the Octopus tentacles around her.
"Can I help you?" She was proud to say that her voice did not betray the nervousness that she felt. This would the first time she actually talked to someone else from the Bay, besides the rest of her team.
"I-" Gallant paused, looking unsure in his power armor, "Yes. I'm Gallant of the Wards... but you probably already knew that huh?"
"Yes," she nodded, "Skein. Of the Wyld Hunt."
"Heh, fitting name. Doesn't flow as well Parian though. I-"
Sabbah felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of her previous name, her hands curl into fists, and her Octopus move slightly. Gallant stepped back like he had been slapped, taking a small step back. Sabbah blinked before forcibly calming herself and relaxing her powers hold on her constructs.
"Oh, hey, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that-"
"No," she interrupted him with a soft sigh, "No, it wasn't your fault. I'm guessing the cats out of the bag for everyone?"
Gallant shrugged, the movement seeming strange in such regal armor, "Basically. It... didn't take a genius to connect you guys from... well, you know."
Sabbah slumped tiredly against her Octopus, "Yeah. I definitely know."
"Would it help if I said most of my teammates don't really care?"
"...Really?"
"It's been a long few months. Grudges don't really stick with us anyways. Though Kidwin is still pissed at Reg- I mean, uh, Master?"
"Maestro"
"Maestro, for trying to steal his hover-board." He chuckled, "Never miss with Tinkers and their toys."
Sabbah giggled as she thought back to the time when Amelia lectured Rachel for trying to eat her latest creation, "I think I understand what you mean."
Gallant scratched the back of his helmet, suddenlylooking much more uncomfortable than before. Sabbah was content to let him think over what he was going to say, occasionally reacting whenever someone pulled her strings. The Ward had been nothing but kind and apologetic, it was the least she could do.
"I'm sorry." He suddenly said, his voice seeming... rougher, "You're probably busy helping everyone out and I should be with everyone helping wounded but I just... you're here and it's screwed up I know but..."
It clicked then. Sabbah had never been a "Cape Geek" as the public called them, but she did occasionally enjoy certain media events or news that featured them. Gallant had even been the point of focus for a few of them, being the teen heart-throb he was. Such as the few pages they had on Gallant's relationships.
"Oh", she replied, "Oh, you and Glory Girl-"
Gallant flinched, badly. He looked like a puppy that had been kicked all it's life. Sabbah's heart went out to the Ward.
Neither of them said anything for some time, the sounds of construction and sirens in the air filling the null. Was this also a thread? Her meeting the boyfriend of her partner's sister? She realized she had never heard Amelia mention him before. Even when she talked about her family she never once mentioned Victoria's sweet-heart.
Why?
Sabbah didn't know and that troubled her more than she thought was possible. Looking at him now, was there something she was missing? A piece of news she had forgotten or something Lisa had said before? She didn't think so. She made sure to know as much as she could about Amelia's life in the hopes of connecting with her more. This was something new.
"Do..." she shifted uncomfortably, "Do you want to see her?"
Gallant looked at his boots, his hand clenching and then unclenching, before sighing, "I do. I really do but... I don't think I should. Not like this when everything's so fucked up." He looked up at her, his helmeted gaze meeting her own, "Is she happy at least?"
She held her hand in her own, her head leaning against her shoulder. There was a faint smile across her face, one that Sabbah wished would stay forever. Even asleep, she was beautiful in her own way. "It's going to be okay Amelia," Sabbah whispered in her ear, "I'm with you."
Sabbah nodded to him, "Yeah. I think she is."
Gallant relaxed at that, though his gaze lingered on her for a time. Eventually he spoke, "Thank you. It's what Vicky would have wanted."
The Ward said no more as he turned, already walking away. Sabbah bit her lip, "I'll tell her you asked about her! Tell her that you still care!"
He paused for a moment, a statue almost. Then it was over and he was walking away again. Sabbah watched his armored form grow smaller in the distance. A twitch of her power brought forth a string from her hidden compartment, coiling itself around her wrist, then hand, then finally her gloved finger.
She had been wrong before. It was not blue, but the Red String of Fate that connected certain people in the world. Red, like the color of the string that twirled at her control.
She concentrated and more lengths of red thread piled out, twirling and coiling into each other, weaving until a figure stood tall and proud in her hands. The red clothe seemed to be a much needed contrast to the grey and dull day that the ash had created from the bombs.
Red, like the armor of a Knight without his princess.
She held the Knight in a hug, before gently placing it in one of her pouches. Amelia and her had much to talk about.
