Frostbite

Everything I Never Wanted

I stood outside of Chase's apartment, hesitating. It had been weeks since we had last seen each other. He had reached out and wanted to try and fix things. That was fine with me, but I had mainly come to say goodbye. I planned on leaving that night. Stephen hadn't been at all surprised when I brought it up and had reiterated that I'd always have a place at the sanctum.

Building up the courage, I knocked on the door and waited. Several moments passed, and he didn't come to the door. Alarms went off in my head, but maybe I was just being paranoid. Why wouldn't he be here after asking me over? I tried the doorknob and sure enough, it opened.

"Chase?" I called as I entered the apartment. It was late afternoon outside, but all the curtains were drawn, making it eerily dark inside. I wandered farther inside and froze as I realized it was empty. There wasn't a single piece of furniture anymore. No personal belongings whatsoever. "What the hell."

I cautiously stepped into the living room and went to pull out my phone to call him. This was crazy. A quiet rustle behind me alerted me to someone's presence, but before I could even turn, a blinding pain cracked through my skull.

I fell to the floor, unable to think as my head pounded from the impact. They snatched my hair up and tossed me across the room. I rolled and quickly flipped over, but there was no one there. My eyes scanned the room as I slowly got back on my feet.

I backed up, ready to flee to the front door if necessary. There was a hard impact into my back, and I stumbled forward, cursing angrily. Another body intertwined with mine as we fell to the floor.

I lashed out, making contact with some part of them. This only seemed to piss them off because they turned me over and punched me, hard. Blood trickled from my nose, and I stilled in shock. Chase. It was Chase.

Not letting myself think about it too long, I tried to use my magic to get him the hell off of me. He held me down by my arms and I was immobilized by an odd sensation creeping into me.

"What the hell. Get off," I growled, fear grabbing ahold of me tightly.

I gasped as the feeling started traveling through my veins. It was like a darkness had invaded my body, slowly ripping pieces from me. The sensation became horrendous, and I screamed in agony. His face remained unmoved as he stared down at me with a sneer. I couldn't stop screaming, shredding my vocal cords in the process. I begged and pleaded for him to stop, but he didn't say a word, the darkness determined to shred every inch of me from the inside out.

Finally, he jerked off of me, kicking me in the abdomen roughly, forcing me to roll several feet away from him. A new horrifying feeling replaced the last one, causing me to shake violently.

"No. No, no no. What did you DO?" I screeched, glaring up at him. There was nothing anymore. My powers were gone, like they had been eradicated from my body cell by cell. It was as if he had stolen a large piece of me, of my soul. The emptiness was agony. It took everything in me to keep from writhing on the floor. My veins burned and my breathing became labored.

"Your body will adjust," he smirked, a small, icy flame bouncing in his palm. My eyes locked onto it, willing it to come back, but nothing. I couldn't feel it at all.

"How? Why?" I croaked from my position on the floor.

"You think you're the only enhanced out here? My specialty just happens to be stealing other's powers. I had fully intended on letting you keep them, but that didn't exactly go as planned."

"What are you talking about?" I spat, pulling myself to my knees. He began pacing the room, clearly enjoying himself.

"I had hoped you'd lead me the other Avengers. Wanda, in particular. That kind of power is rare and coveted by so many. I figured it would be too easy with your help, but you managed to drag this out more than I anticipated. You were so broken and vulnerable when I first found you; I could sense it from a mile away. I tried following you in the shadows so many times, but you always seemed to vanish into thin air. And then you wanted to go to them with magic. I couldn't have that. There would be no way to track where you went that way. I had to get you to tell me where they were hiding or follow you to them. Hell, I thought if I even offered to assist you that you'd take me up on it. Lead me straight to her... I'll admit I felt something for you; I thought maybe you'd feel the same and in time you'd bring me to them. Then I wouldn't have to take the thing you love the most. No, now I have to do it myself and take you out of the picture," he sighed, crouching down to my level.

My head spun as I absorbed everything he had said. Oh my god. I had been so stupid. One of Natasha's first rules came to mind. 'Trust no one and you'll never have to worry about being betrayed'. The world spun as I attempted to stand, everything throbbing. He forced me back down, clicking his tongue.

"So, everything was a lie? This entire time?"

"Not everything, like I said. But once I realized you'd never feel anything more... I had spent days after that tracking them near Glasgow."

Something clicked in my brain and my head whipped up in outrage. "You manipulated me. And my feelings about Steve this entire time. You fucking prick," I hissed, lunging for him. I fell on top of him and cracked him in the jaw as hard as I could. His head snapped to the side and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes lit up in anger and he forced me off, shoving my face into the hard floor. He had drained me; I was too weak to get out of his grasp.

"Look, I like you Melanie, which is why I don't plan on killing you. You're nothing without your magic, no threat to me. So just stop. Stay down." he ordered, letting go of me.

"You think you can take on Wanda?" I scoffed with a smirk as I lifted my head to meet his eyes.

"With your powers combined with my own and the element of surprise? It shouldn't be too difficult."

He backed away into the shadows, disappearing as if he had never been there at all. I let my body crumple to the floor as the silence became deafening. This was all my fault. I should have never trusted him from that first night. He had played me so easily, and I had never even suspected.

My breaths became shaky and shallow, and my vision became blurry again. I let the panic take hold and laid like that for what seemed like hours. Eventually, I was able to scoot myself to the wall, using it to rest my back against it.

What would I do now? I couldn't stop him, at least not alone. There was no way I could tell Stephen. I had gotten myself into this mess, and he had warned me over and over to be careful. If only I had listened, been smarter.

Realizing I still had my phone, I shakily dug it out of my pocket. I hesitated, unsure if this was the right thing to do. He had promised, though... Before I could change my mind, I dialed the number. There was no answer and I tried again, struggling to keep it together. That one went unanswered too, prompting me to leave a voicemail. My voice shook as I spoke; I hardly recognized it.

"Hey, its m-m-me. I don't know how to even explain what's going on, but I need you. Steve-" my voice breaking at his name, "I need you. Please. He- he took everything from me. I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but I don't know what to do. He stole it from me; it's gone. He's coming for all of you. Coming for Wanda. If anything, even if you don't want to help me, just make sure she stays safe. Don't let him get to her too-"

There was a shrill beep, ending the call as I ran out of time. I waited to see if he'd call back. My face was wet from the tears and blood, but I didn't bother to wipe any of it away. My eyes stayed fixated on the phone, praying for a reply. Slowly, I grew impatient, clenching my fist around the phone. I gave it a few more minutes, but still nothing. The phone shattered to pieces when I chucked it against the wall. My head fell in my hands as I realized I was on my own.

There was a moment when my heart stopped beating as I realized I was still a Master of the Mystic Arts. I couldn't pull energy from myself, but I still had access to the other magic. My mind was made up instantly, and I clambered to my feet.

The magic I was left with would have to be enough. He had no inkling of what I could still do. I wouldn't let him steal a piece of me, a piece that I had worked so hard to accept over the years. At least not without a real fight. And the idiot had let it slip where he was going.