Bleeding Hearts

The Sequel to Weeping Willow

An X3 Fanfiction by Carrie

Big Damn Disclaimer: I, Carrie of hereby relinquish any sort of ownership of Marvel related subjects, plots or characters, lest they be of my own personal design. In addition, I give mad props to Chris Claremont, whom I have both quoted and, technically, plagiarized in order to accurately present the dialogue seen in the film to you, the reader.

Author's note: Alright, kiddies, gather 'round. It's been three whole years, and I'm back with a vengeance. :p After I saw the third movie, I had to start the long awaited sequel to Weeping Willow, so here you have it. It should all be pretty accurate this time around since I've been using the novelization by Chris Claremont for a script. I'm hoping for as many reviews as the last installment, so tell me what you think!

Chapter One

Thunder rolled through the still midnight air of Westchester, New York. In the distance, a lightning bolt blew a transformer to smithereens, swathing the surrounding area in a violent red light.

This was not the first night that Jackie Dunn awoke with a start, her head resting on a tear-drenched pillowcase; at least this time she had not been jarred awake by her own nightmares. She sat up and looked at the alarm clock, but couldn't see its familiar green glow. The power's out, she thought to herself. Jackie got out of bed and padded silently to the window of her single room she'd received a few months ago. Rain spattered the window, reducing Jackie's poor, black-and-white eyesight to near blindness. Another bolt of lightning tore through the sky, illuminating the darkened suburbs of New York. The power of the electricity that rained from the sky that night both amazed and frightened her; after all, her own body could generate just as much electricity. She didn't even have to try.

"I'm dangerous," Jackie whispered to herself in disgust. She had no idea how much power her small body housed, and she was afraid to find out. Ever since Stryker's men had attacked the school, causing Jackie to fight back with the only weapon she possessed, she was afraid to touch anyone. "I could kill somebody else," she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Hot tears of self loathing welled up in Jackie's eyes.

Without anyone to comfort her or tell her it was going to be alright, Jackie shuffled back to bed.

"Professor?" Jackie asked the next day as she tapped lightly on his office door.

"Yes, come in," Professor Charles Xavier's calm voice said from inside. Jackie let herself into the room and shut the door behind her. "Why, Jackie, I haven't seen you in quite some time."

"No one's seen me for quite some time," Jackie countered.

"You've been crying," he said, noticing the moist tear tracks down her face.

"For maybe the last month," she said with a shadow of a grin. "I'm not doing so hot, Professor."

"Have a seat, Jackie," Xavier offered. Jackie took one of the chairs normally used for class and drug it over in front of his desk. "Now tell me: what's haunting you?"

"Can't you just read my mind?" Jackie asked, her voice laced with a hint of sarcasm.

"I generally don't without asking. Besides, sometimes it helps to talk about things," Xavier told her with a quirk of a smile.

"Okay, well, as you know, I've killed people. And that's not okay with me. And I know that people like Logan and John can just get over stuff like that, but I can't. All I can think about are their families, if they had any, and how I robbed some little kid of their daddy, even if he was working for an evil cause," she explained. "It's made me hate myself. I can't even…function the way I used to because it all comes back to the fact that I'm a murderer."

"Well, I'm glad that you're upset," Xavier said.

"Wait…what?" Jackie asked, taking it the wrong way. This wasn't the answer she had expected to get.

"Jackie, your guilt and regret alone redeem you. If you didn't grieve this way, I would be more worried about you than I already am," he explained. "Also, you have to remind yourself that you acted in self defense. The fact of the matter is they would have killed you and Bobby had you not taken action."

"I know, but I killed two people, Professor! At this point, I wish it would have been me," she said, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so dangerous…"

"Jackie, I know first hand what it's like to grow up with powers beyond the scope of control. It takes time to master our gifts, great and small. Infants aren't born knowing how to run and jump, just as you weren't given powers with the predisposition to control them," Xavier said comfortingly.

"I know, but…," Jackie sniffled, "Why did I get cursed with something so deadly? I have so much of it, but it's not good for anything…except killing people."

"Many of us were born with abilities that could be potentially harmful to others, but the important thing is to take the responsibility to master your skills. If you'd like, I could give you the same training I have given many of my students. Without practice, Jackie, there is no hope of you ever gaining control," the Professor told her.

"I know," she sighed, wiping her tears on the backs of her hands. "I just don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Which is precisely the point of training," Xavier said with a smile. "I'm glad we could finally have this discussion, but I have a feeling you came to talk to me about something else…"

"Yeah, actually…," she said, now looking him straight in the face. "I want my memories of that night erased. You can do it, I know you can." Professor X heaved a saddened sigh.

"I can't do that for you, Jackie," he said.

"Why not? I can't stand living like this! It's been six months and I haven't been able to get any better. I know you can do it, Professor! Please…"

"Yes, I can do it," the Professor interrupted. "But I won't. There are things in life that are tragic and shocking, but we must learn to overcome them on our own. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Once you have come to terms with the past, I know that you will be a stronger individual for it." Jackie hung her head and let more tears fall. "My suggestion to you is that you try to get back to life as it was. Focus on your academics a little more. And I'm sure that your friends are all very worried about you. You might try hanging out with them again."

"If they aren't disgusted by me," Jackie said miserably.

"They won't be. I promise," Xavier said.

"You know, I haven't talked to anyone like this since before it happened," Jackie said thoughtfully.

"There, now, you see? Your recovery has already started," the Professor said. "And once you're ready to begin training, I'll be happy to drop whatever it is I'm doing to help you."

"Thank you, Professor," Jackie said with a grateful smile, though she was still disappointed that he wouldn't help her with her memories.

"Come talk to me whenever you like," he offered.

"I will," she said. "I guess I'll leave you alone." Jackie got up, restored the chair to its place and exited the room with a little wave. Things, she felt, were finally going to start getting better.


Willow Stevens was just about to rip her green hair out in frustration. She'd been trying to devise a clever Horticulture curriculum from the day Professor X gave her permission to teach, but even now, when the class was in full swing, she was scrambling to keep the learning material coming. The most frustrating thing of all was the fact that no one respected her. Many of her friends had signed up for her class to support her, which she took as a very nice gesture. However, because they were all friends, they continued to neglect the assignments Willow dished out, thinking she'd let it fly, and none of them paid any attention in lecture; if they came at all. She didn't know whether to fail them all or just pass them for doing absolutely nothing.

There was a knock at the door. The last thing Willow needed just then was visitors.

"Whaddya want?" she asked in an irritated tone.

"Can I come in?" asked a familiar voice. Jackie, Willow thought, knocking off the bitchy attitude.

"Of course," she answered. Jackie poked her head inside. She looked terrible. There were dark circles under her eyes and she'd lost quite a bit of weight. Her hair was messy and Willow wondered if she'd bothered to change her clothes in a couple days.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"It's never a bad time for my best friend," Willow said with an awkward smile. Jackie flashed a little grin and let herself the rest of the way in. "So you're talking and socializing. This is new."

"Yeah," Jackie said as she took a seat on Willow's disheveled bed. "Being miserable is a lonely process. I figured if I didn't talk to anyone, I'd eventually go crazy."

"Look, Jack, I'm really sorry that I haven't been there for you as much as…"

"Don't be. It's not like I let anyone help me. I don't blame you for wanting to stay away," Jackie said.

"I didn't want to stay away," Willow protested. "But you sorta threatened to electrocute me if I came into your room anymore, so I stopped trying."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Jackie said, looking sheepish.

"Are you alright? You seem better, now that you're speaking," Willow said.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna be okay. It's going to take a while before I quit hating myself for what I did, though."

"I know it probably won't help, but I forgive you and I love you," Willow said with a smile. "Best friends 'till the end, remember?"

"Yeah, I know," Jackie said with a little smile. "Likewise." After a little pause, Jackie spoke again. "I think I've almost gotten over John, too."

"That guy's a little prick," Willow said bitterly. She hated to think of the torment that he'd caused Jackie by joining the Brotherhood, not to mention what he had said about Kurt before he'd left.

"You're right, he is," Jackie agreed. "For a few days, I laid in bed and just stared at the ceiling, thinking about it. I wondered what would have happened if I'd gone with him. I wondered if I'm on the right side…but I know I am. I really do believe that humans and mutants can live together. Honestly. It might take a while, but it's like the whole segregation thing with the African Americans. It's taken like, fifty years, but we're headed in the right direction. And that got me thinking about civil rights, and how much violence happened during that time. I think there's gonna be a war, Willow, and it's freaking me out."

"Against who? Us and everyone else?" Willow asked, a pang of anxiety hitting her in the gut.

"No, man. Us versus them. Magneto and Mystique and everyone else in the Brotherhood. I have a feeling in my gut that they're gonna start some shit. John might be the first, but I have a feeling that we're all taking sides. You know? Like there's gonna be a fight. Maybe I'm just going crazy, I don't know," Jackie said, shaking her head. "It keeps me up at night, and I wonder if I'm gonna have to…you know…kill someone else…and it scares me, and I don't want to have to do it again…" her voice trailed off as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Willow got up from her desk chair and sat next to Jackie. She wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"I'm afraid people are gonna think that I'm some kind of monster, you know?" Jackie sobbed as she hugged Willow back.

"No, no, no! None of us think that!" Willow told her in a comforting voice. "We've all done things that we regret, but eventually you get over them. And if we get in another fight, no one's going to ask any more of you than to defend yourself and your friends." Jackie sniffled and dried her tears.

"I'm so sick of crying," she said with a sputter. "I want to leave it all behind me so bad."

"I know it, man. It'll get better as time goes on," said Willow.

"Xavier's gonna train me," Jackie said, sitting up and breaking their embrace. "So I can control it. I mean, I guess more than anything, I want to be able to control myself."

"Good plan. He and Scott helped me with my powers, so I'm sure they'll be able to do the same for you," Willow told her.

"I dunno if you've noticed, but Scott's a mess," Jackie said. "Probably more of a mess than I am."

"I know," Willow said. "But who can blame him? You know?"

"Yeah, totally," Jackie said.

"I'm glad you came out of your hole finally," Willow said with a smile. "I missed you."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I've been so weird."

"Don't even worry about it," Willow said. Jackie got up and looked at Willow's large planner that was covered in pen.

"What's all this?" she asked. "School stuff?"

"Yes," muttered Willow angrily. "I'm getting really overwhelmed and I'm tempted to just drop the whole thing."

"What? You can't do that!" Jackie said, her voice concerned.

"You don't come to class anyway, whaddyou care?"

"I've been busy being depressed and hating myself in my room, what did you expect?" she asked, some of her old sarcasm coming back. "I'll start coming," she promised. "Seriously."

"Well, good," Willow said with a sigh.

"Need some help?" Jackie offered. "I dunno anything about plants, but if there's anything I can do…"

"Thanks, dude, but I'm gonna need a miracle," Willow said, shaking her head. A loud bamf heralded Kurt Wagner's sudden presence in the room.

"Vell, if it isn't ze Incredible Nightcrawler!" Willow said in a flawless German accent. "Don't you knock, punk?"

"No, you should know that by now," Kurt said playfully. "Guten tag,"

"Buenos dias," Jackie countered in Spanish.

"Mein Gott! Jackie! Ven did you come out of your room?" Kurt asked, astonished.

"This morning," Jackie said with a wry little smirk.

"It's good to see you!" he said with a smile.

"You too, man," Jackie said, giving him a thumbs up. "Maybe you can help this jerk-face loser with her crappy lesson plans."

"Glad you're back to your old self…," Willow said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Getting there, jerk-face," Jackie said with a grin. Willow stuck her tongue out at her.

"Vat's the matter, Liebchen?" Kurt asked, looking down at Willow's planner.

"I'm a shitty teacher," she grumbled. "Nothing I do makes anyone pay attention and they're all taking advantage of the fact that they know me on a personal level. I've never felt so helpless among friends. Maybe I should just move out and see if anyone'll let me into a university. Get certified as a teacher. I dunno."

"I bet you could," Jackie said. "Cockrum's for Mutant Rights, I bet that'll change things a little."

"Just because the president has certain opinions doesn't mean everyone else will," Willow pointed out. "Plus, he just got elected earlier this month."

"Do you vant to go to college?" Kurt asked her.

"I don't know, I've had such a hard time with public school in the past, I'm sort of afraid to try and go back," Willow said uneasily.

"Because if you vant to, I think you should," he told her.

"Thanks," she said with half a smile. "I guess I'll think about it. But for now, I have to think of a way to make everyone listen to me in class."

"Flunk zem," Kurt said simply with a shrug.

"What?" asked Willow, slightly taken aback.

"If zey don't take the class seriously, threaten to flunk zem," he said.

"They won't take me seriously," Willow said helplessly.

"Zen actually do it! Make zem learn zeir lesson," he said. "Other teachers do it, vy not you?"

"Because they're my friends and they'll hate me," Willow said in a gloomy tone.

"Aha!" Kurt cried. "Zat is vy zey don't respect you. Because zey know zat your words and threats are empty. If you're going to be a teacher, Liebling, you must act like one."

"This is way more difficult than I thought it would be," Willow said, feeling as though her world was collapsing in on itself.

"Don't give up," Kurt said with an affectionate smile.

"Mmkay, so I'm gonna leave you guys alone…," Jackie said jokingly. "But I will defiantly come to class tomorrow, and I definitely will do my homework. And if anyone gives you a hard time, I will definitely end them. Violently." Willow laughed.

"Sweet, thanks," she said as Jackie gave the two of them a little wave before exiting the room.

"I actually did have something zat I vanted to talk to you about," Kurt said as he strode over to the bed and sat down. Willow didn't like his tone; something was wrong.

"Uh oh," she said. "What's the matter?"

"It's about my family. Back in ze circus," he said.

"Oh," Willow said. Not what I expected, she thought.

"Ven I vas kidnapped by Stryker, I obviously didn't get to tell zem vere I vas or zat I vas leaving in ze first place. For all zey know, I'm laying dead in a ditch somevere," he explained.

"I thought you were captured in the states," Willow said, a little confused. The details of that time were still a little cloudy.

"Nein, Leibchen, I vas captured in Canada," he said. "It vas the first time ve had traveled outside of Germany."

"Some first trip, huh?" she said with a little grin, glad that Alkali was in the past. "So you can't write them a letter or give them a call?"

"I vould, Liebchen, but it is a traveling circus. Zey never stay in van place for more zen a week," Kurt told her. "Before I vas captured, I remember hearing zat zey planned to go back to Munich. It's the only clue I have, but…"

"You want to go to Germany to find them and let them know you're alright," Willow finished for him.

"Korrekt," he answered in German. "I don't know how long it vill take to find zem. Veeks, maybe a month." Willow's face fell. Right when she needed his support the most, he was leaving. "And I need to ask you if you vill be alright visout me."

"Er…," Willow stuttered. She wanted so much to yell NO! at the top of her voice and cling to his legs like a stubborn child. They had become so close in the last year. He was always by her side, always there with a fond little smile when she was having a bad day, always making her laugh until tears sprung from her eyes. Kurt Wagner had been there since she started her life over fresh, and now he was leaving.

"I'll be fine," she managed to utter, regaining her adult senses. What else could she say? Kurt's circus family was probably devastated that he was no longer in their lives. Willow couldn't possibly hog him all to herself. She forced a smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Willow knew that he would stay if she asked him to. All she had to say was 'No, I don't want you to go.' Seven tiny words and things wouldn't have to change.

"Of course I'm sure," she said, her voice wavering with emotion. "This is important to you, and…" She hadn't even noticed that she'd begun to cry. She fiercely wiped away the tears that had started to accumulate in her eyes. Kurt wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.

"You're a terrible liar, Liebchen," he said with a little smile as she returned the embrace.

"I love you, Kurt Wagner, but I won't be selfish," she told him, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

"Ich liebe Dich auch," he told her. I love you, too. "I don't vant to leave you here miserable."

"I'm not miserable," Willow countered defensively. "I'm just so damn stressed out. Nothing seems to be going to way it should, what with class and my crappy Danger Room sessions, I worry about Jackie all the time…It's a mess."

"Life never seems to go the vay we imagined, does it?" he said.

"Amen, brother," Willow said jokingly. "But seriously, you should go. I'll be fine. I'll worry about you every day, but that's just something I'm gonna have to get over. You're a big boy, I'm sure you can take care of yourself." This comment caused Kurt to chuckle a little.

"I'm ze van who usually saves you, remember?" he said.

"Kurt Wagner, you're my hero," she said through her nose, manipulating a famous quote from the film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. "When are you leaving?"

"I have a plane ticket for Wednesday afternoon," he said.

"Am I allowed to come see you off?" she asked.

"It vill be right in ze middle of your class," he said.

"Oh," Willow muttered dejectedly.

"But I vill stop in to say goodbye," he promised.

"It's a date," she said sadly with a little smile.