snippet #11 - If I Can't Have You
“What a shame you have to recharge,” Villain said from the shadows. “I suppose great power always comes at a cost.”
Hero searched the darkness in the dead-end alleyway before them, trying to catch their lover’s eye. Usually, they could feel the energy in their veins, sizzling like warm embers. But they’d exhausted their power—now it lay dormant beneath their skin, hopelessly inaccessible. It would be hours before they could reach for their ability again, which left them completely defenseless against Villain’s superhuman strength and speed. Any other day, they wouldn’t have worried about that. But today, there was something different about Villain. Something that scared them, overpowering the instinct to trust them that had built up during their relationship.
“I’ve wondered before if we’d ever end up like this. I always imagined our positions would be reversed, though.” The origin of Villain’s voice kept changing, forcing Hero to continue turning around to keep up. “That you would finally realize your true potential and take your place above me. For a while, I stopped believing that you could be capable of something like that. But now…”
“I would never do that to you,” Hero said. “I love-”
“Stop.” The silence that followed Villain’s command rang in their ears like thunder. “I don’t want to hear it. You lied to me. You’ve been lying for-“ they cut themself off as the anger in their tone rose. “For almost a year.”
Dread sent a chill down their spine. “I swear on my life, Villain, I’ve never lied to you.”
“No? So it’s not true that the only reason we’re together is that you had orders to get close to me?”
Hero breathed in sharply. No. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. “That’s not the reason. It’s-it’s not that at all, I was falling for you before Sup-before anyone at the agency suggested that!”
Villain’s boots clicked against the stone as they walked in a slow circle, still invisible to Hero’s eyes. “And you just… neglected to inform me? Forgot, maybe?”
“I-I didn’t think it mattered, we were happy-”
“Happy,” their lover repeated. “Happy living your lie. You were never going to tell me, were you?”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” they said, the words coming out choked. The lump in their throat made it feel like the airway was closing up, working against them to seal off any chance of reconciliation. They swallowed, trying hard to push it down.
“I would’ve done anything.” Villain sounded disgusted with themself. “God, Hero, I would’ve done anything for you.”
“I didn’t want you to!” Hero cried. “I just-”
“What? What did you want from me? Information? Money? Why do this at all if you never intended to spy on me, to sell my secrets to Superhero?”
“No, you don’t understand-”
“I understand fine,” Villain hissed, suddenly only inches away from their ear. Hero stiffened, trying to control their racing heart. The hairs on the back of their neck stood up as if they were saluting a higher power, as if Hero was no longer in control of their own body. Their fingers itched to summon the energy that should be so easy to call. If only they had been smarter, faster, better. Burning out their power was so stupid, so avoidable. And now Hero was stuck here with no way out, faced with the consequences of their own worst mistake. They closed their eyes and breathed in slowly.
“Villain, I…I just wanted you,” they whispered.
The criminal laughed, retreating back to the darkness. “Liar.” The accusation echoed around the narrow alley, ricocheting off the grimy bricks and striking Hero from all directions. “You don’t want me. You don’t even know the real me. Superhero told you to seduce me-“
“It’s not like that!” Hero interrupted, horror condensing into a pit in their stomach, but Villain ignored them.
“So you created a version of me in your head, someone who fit your ideals, that you could stomach being around. Pretended you could make me into that person, teach me how to be moral, show me off to your agency friends. Congratulate yourself on a job well done.” They practically spat the last few words, derision dripping off every syllable.
“Or maybe you did actually try. Maybe you thought you could act so well you’d convince yourself. But you couldn’t. You were too afraid. Of what? Your own feelings? What a perfect hero like you might end up doing if you actually fell in love with someone like me?”
“Villain.” Their voice broke as tears pricked at their eyes. Hero took a few steps backward, forcing themself to stop panicking, trying to recover their composure. “Villain, I am in love with you.”
The shadows seemed to flash, and in that blink, their lover appeared before them, an inscrutable expression painted across their features. Villain took Hero’s face in their hands, like they had done dozens of times before in quiet, peaceful moments of intimacy. Their skin was cool, fingers and palms hardened with calluses from years of never-ending battles. The feeling was painfully familiar—a reminder of home, of a better life, a bright future. Villain’s thumb brushed over their lower lip, and Hero leaned into the touch, silently praying for everything to go back to the way it was.
“No,” Villain said. “You’re not.”
A tear rolled down Hero’s cheek and disappeared into their lover’s hand. “We can still fix this,” they breathed. “We can be happy.”
Villain shook their head as they wiped away the trail the tear had left. “I can’t have you anymore. Don’t you understand? You were never mine.”
“No, I-I’ll be yours, I’ll be with you, whatever you want.” Hero’s hands were trembling, their shoulders shaking from repressed sobs. “Please, Villain.”
“I wanted you,” Villain said quietly. They pressed their lips to Hero’s left cheek. “I trusted you.” Then the right. “I loved you.” Finally, their mouths met, and Hero’s eyes fluttered closed as they kissed them back, channeling their passion, everything they felt for their lover. For a moment, Hero’s fears vanished. They lost themself in the embrace, forgetting the pain they’d felt and caused. Villain felt right with them, as they had for so many months. The two fit perfectly, made for each other, impossible to tear apart. Just in those few precious seconds, Hero believed that love would be enough, that they could be together again.
Without warning, Villain broke the kiss and pushed them back, hard, so that their back hit the wall. In the same movement, the criminal pressed their body against Hero’s, forcing them into the brick. Hero’s mouth opened in shock, but Villain covered it instantly with a firm hand, holding their head in place. Terror seized their body, gripping their heart like a red-hot vise. The crimefighter’s wide, adrenaline-dilated eyes met Villain’s gaze; dark and unfeeling. The spark they once held had disappeared, leaving an empty void that drew Hero further in with each passing second. They were helpless to its call, frozen in the infinite stretch of space that now stood between them and the person they once loved more than anything.
“You’re not mine. You never will be. But if I can’t have you,” Villain said in a low voice as cold and sweet as deadly poison, “no one can.”
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