Bleeding Hearts

The Sequel to Weeping Willow

An X3 Fanfiction by Carrie

Chapter Two

An explosion blew Willow clean off her feet. She collided with a crumbling cement wall before falling to the ground.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath as she picked herself up and took cover behind some rubble.

"Willow! Be mindful of your surroundings!" Storm barked at her from across the field. Willow grimaced at the fact that she'd just been scolded for about the seventeenth time that day. Her mind was not on the task at hand and, at this rate, Storm would be hesitant to ever let her on another mission.

Willow looked around and saw Iceman and Shadowcat in what looked like a big hug. Fine, protect Bobby, Kitty, I see how it is, she thought sarcastically. There'd been no one to make her invulnerable against rockets.

"Storm's signaling us," Bobby said. "We gotta regroup." Willow followed her two younger teammates towards Storms position.

"Alright, people, time's up. No more margin for error," she said, shooting a glance at Willow who responded by clenching her teeth behind her pursed green lips. Storm lead her team in a V formation out into an open space. Willow heard the shots being fired at them and threw herself forward into a James Bond somersault, catching a glimpse of ricocheting shells behind her. She crouched down as far as she could and scrambled for refuge, provided by a stack of junked cars.

"Much better, Willow," Storm commented as they sidled towards the other team comprised of Rouge, Colossus, Blackout (the code name Jackie decided to stick with) and, surprisingly, Wolverine. Willow knew shit was about to fly when Storm caught sight of him.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded angrily.

"Enjoying the scenery," Logan said casually as he lit the end of a cigar on a piece of flaming debris. In another situation, Willow would have laughed, but Storm was in no mood for jokes. Willow heard the sound of a massive amount of air being displaced and knew that something was headed right for them. From down in crouching position, Willow sprang into a series of flawless back flips that got her out of harms way just as a giant, mechanical foot crashed down on the stack of cars that they'd just been hiding behind. In a situation such as this, Willow's plants proved pretty useless. However, her strength, agility and speed were of the utmost importance.

"I got this," Storm barked at Logan as the mechanical foot lifted off of the crunched cars into the smoky atmosphere and out of sight. Willow didn't really want to find out what that foot was attached to. "Everyone stay in formation!" she told her team. "Wait to make your move." Willow watched as Logan began to move off into the rubble by himself.

"Logan!" Storm shouted. "We work as a team!" Logan's mouth curved into a grin around his stub of a cigar.

"You let me know how that works out," he said as he continued casually out into the open. Suddenly, a searchlight snapped on, the adversaries alerted to Logan's presence.

"Move out and stay together!" Storm shouted as the team split apart to find hiding spots outside the searchlight. Storm groaned as she checked the timer strapped to her wrist. They were running out of time and no one was listening to her! "Move out!" she cried as she made her way towards the bunker ahead. Her young teammates followed her at a distance, each of them spread out.

"Storm, we're almost there!" Bobby said, right as he passed a proximity mine attached to a chunk of cement near his feet. The mine exploded, sending Bobby flying off his feet. Willow was about to run to help him, but the thundering sound of bullets caused her to dive for cover. Willow found herself sharing her hiding spot with Kitty. The two of them watched the looming shadow of their adversary come closer to Bobby's fallen figure. In retaliation, Colossus wrenched a car door off its hinges.

"Jackie!" he barked.

"Got it!" she responded. Peter looked at Jackie who held her arms up in the air. Just as he released the car door like a Frisbee, Jackie let loose a barrage of electrical bolts from her fingertips, charging the metal in the car with an unimaginable amount of destructive energy. The team heard the door connect, metal on metal, and the sickening bzzzt! of electricity above them. The door thudded back to earth, sizzling and smoking. It was uncertain whether or not they'd actually done any damage. Kitty and Willow looked at each other and said simultaneously: "We're screwed."

"Good arm," Logan commented ten yards away, still acting as though the ensuing violence had absolutely no affect on him. He had an idea just then. A crazy but brilliant idea. "Throw me."

"Huh?" Peter grunted. Wolverine drew his claws and pointed with them.

"Throw me!" he growled. Peter did as he was told and chucked Logan like a javelin towards whatever lay above the haze. Willow heard the tremendous whine of metal being slashed apart before a giant hunk of metal crashed to the ground. It was the head of some kind of robot. Its body self destructed before them, sending Logan flying towards the ground. He landed on his feet with a thud. Willow and Kitty came out from their hiding places as an alarm sounded, signaling that their time was up. The battlefield around them shifted and melted away into the metallic imaging panels of the Danger Room.

Storm lead the students out of the Danger Room before turning on her heel and confronting Logan.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded.

"Danger Room session," he remarked with a shrug. The young X-men inched away from the ensuing argument and into the locker rooms.

"Jackie, Willow, don't go anywhere," Storm told them, stopping the two friends dead in their tracks. They looked at each other and shrugged. "You know what I mean," she barked at Logan. "You can't just come and go as you please. We're trying to run a school here."

"Well, I taught 'em something," he said with a shrug.

"If you'd have read the syllabus, you would have known that this was supposed to be a defensive exercise," she said angrily. "Using teamwork in evasive maneuvers."

"Hey, sometimes the best defense is a good offense…or was it the other way around?" he mused.

"I'll try to remember that for my next class," she muttered as she turned to talk to the two girls.

"Hey, I'm just the sub. If you have a problem, you can talk to Scott," he fired back. Storm ignored him until he walked away. She closed her eyes and heaved a frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry, girls," she said, trying to play off her anger. "I just wanted to say how proud I am, of both of you, for the progress that you've made."

"Thanks," Jackie said, looking thrilled. Her sessions with Storm and the Professor had worked wonders in a very short amount of time. She no longer had to rely on her chain for a conductor. Storm had taught her to project her electricity with her hands just as Ororo did with her lightning. Jackie's control over her own strength made her less fearful of it by the day. Her confidence had increased ten fold and it gave her a nice self esteem boost. "Nice teamwork with Peter." Jackie nodded vigorously.

"Willow, I know you have a lot on your mind, and I was glad to see that you were able to finally put it behind you and focus on the mission. I've fought beside you before and, believe me, you're an asset to this team. I just need you to concentrate when I ask you to," Storm told her.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm not at my best lately," Willow said, still angry with herself. "I just have so much going on."

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm always around," Storm offered.

"Thanks," Willow said. With that, they headed off to the locker rooms to change out of their uniforms and to get some rest.


Today was the day. No more Ms. Nicegirl. Willow had had it with her friends and students and she wouldn't allow them to push her around anymore. Do your assignments or I fail you. Short, sweet, to the point. Easy to understand.

She stood in front of her full length mirror examining her appearance once more before heading outside: An electric blue zip-up hoodie with a white camisole underneath, a pair of jeans with the knees blown out and a grubby pair of converse all stars. Her hair, which had grown considerably since she cut it last, was drawn up into a long pony tail. She pushed her sleeves up to her green elbows and snatched her copy of Beginner's Horticulture and her outline of lecture notes before heading outside.

The afternoon was sunny and bright, but a little chilly. She could see her class on the lawn ahead, a mere twelve students. She heaved a deep breath before putting on a smile.

"Hi, guys," she said as she approached them.

"Hey," they muttered sporadically, happy to see her but a little bored with the idea of sitting around for another hour.

"Is everyone here?" she asked aloud, checking the group of faces. She smiled when she saw Jackie; this was her second consecutive day attending class. But someone was missing. "Has anyone seen Jubilee today?"

"Yeah, she was in History this morning," Kitty ratted.

"Any chance she might show up?" Willow asked.

"Doubtful," Kitty said, sounding bored.

"Well, sucks to be her, I guess. Everyone grab a sheet of paper, we're having a quiz," Willow announced. Everyone blanched as they stared at her. This was totally out of character for their young teacher. She never gave out pop quizzes. "You heard me, we're taking a quiz!" There was a shuffling of backpacks and notebooks as her class retrieved the necessary materials.

"It's gonna be just one question, super easy because we covered it yesterday," Willow said, watching half the class squirm due to the fact that most of them weren't there yesterday. "What is the scientific name of lupine?" They all stared blankly at her.

"We can't possibly know that," one of them complained.

"Why not?" Willow asked pleasantly. "Didn't you take notes?" The young boy opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again in defeat.

"I'll repeat the question: What is the scientific name of lupine?" she said again. "Pass those up here when you're done." After a few moments of her students scribbling down half-assed answers, they passed their sheets of paper up.

"Why do you think I gave you this quiz?" she asked as she tucked their papers in her text book.

"'Cause you're menstrual?" whispered the same boy that had sassed her just moments ago. His friend sniggered in response.

"Excuse me?" Willow asked, anger flaring in her eyes. She opened her book and flipped through the stack of quizzes until she found his. She smiled at him sarcastically before crumpling his quiz in her fist. Everyone gaped as she tossed the ball of notebook paper to him. He caught it, but looked extremely angry.

"Why don't you find Jubilee and skip class together?" she offered. The boy got the hint and left the lawn.

"Goddamn, way to go, Willow," Jackie said with a grin.

"Thanks. So, Jackie, why do you think I gave out that quiz?" Willow said.

"Because you're sick of being taken advantage of," Jackie said.

"Exactly," Willow said with a smile. "You guys have done nothing but disrespect me from day one. So I'm gonna make this a little harder for you. We're gonna have quizzes, first thing, every day, so you'd better take notes so you can answer the question and you'd better be here. Each quiz will consist of one question, nothing I haven't already taught you, and each one will be worth 15 points. I've got essays planned for you. Weekly. Twenty points each. The final will be cumulative, so I hope you make time to read the pages I give you every night. This isn't going to be impossible, but you're going to have to work to get that easy A you thought you'd pick up by taking this class."

"Fair enough," Bobby said with a shrug.

"I think so," Willow said with a grin. "Now, we're gonna pick up where we left off yesterday. We've been talking about plant diseases and how to take care of them, for those of you that haven't been here." She set her book down and concentrated. Her eyes glowed a bright green as a patch of pink hollyhock sprouted quickly from the ground.

"What plant is this?" she asked.

"Hollyhock," Kyle Jones answered.

"Bingo," she said. She concentrated again and orange-ish yellow spots bloomed on the surface of some of the plants' leaves. "Now, what's wrong with this picture?"

"It's got a disease," Kitty said lazily. Kitty Pryde was not only known around the mansion for her ability to pass through walls. She was also extremely smart and had incredible computer skills. This class was a no-brainer for her.

"Of course it does. This particular disease is known as 'Rust'. You might wanna write down the definition before coming to take a look," she said. "Rust is characterized by these orange/yellow spots on its leaves. This is caused by the teliospores of a certain kind of fungus. It affects the leaf surface and causes them to die prematurely. The flowers are normally unaffected, but the disease can spread to other leaves, so it's important to keep an eye out for these marks." The class scribbled this down manically. Willow waited for them to get done writing. She looked up casually and saw a man approaching on the lawn. He was around 5'9", brown, short hair, a kind face with big brown eyes. He had a backpack over one shoulder and in the opposite hand he held a battered, dark brown trench coat. She hadn't recognized him right away, but she knew who it was when she saw the watch-like device around his right wrist.

"Hey, handsome," she greeted with a little smirk. Her class stopped writing for a moment and turned to see who it was.

"I have to leave now, Liebchen," Kurt Wagner's voice told her.

"Turn that stupid thing off," she said. The image-inducer had always made her a little uncomfortable, but it allowed Kurt to blend in with everyone else. He pressed a button on the watch, causing the hologram around him to shimmer and disappear, leaving his natural, blue self exposed.

"I'm cuter this way, I know," Kurt joked with a sigh and a shrug.

"Aint it the truth," Willow said with a grin. "Take a look at those Hollyhock leaves, you guys, I'll be right back," she told her class.

"Are zey behaving zemselves?" Kurt asked as he walked with her away from her students.

"Yeah, actually. I gave them a pop quiz and gave one kid no credit for being a snot to me," she said with a triumphant grin.

"Very good," he said with a smile. "I knew you could do it."

"How much time do we have?" she asked.

"Oh, five minutes, I think," he answered a little awkwardly. "Airport security, you know. It'll take forever to get on ze plane."

"True story," Willow sighed. After a little silence, she spoke up. "I'm gonna miss you like crazy."

"Likevise," he replied.

"Promise you won't, you know…get hurt, or kidnapped?" she asked.

"I promise," he said. "Do you promise that you won't get hurt vile I'm gone?"

"I think I'm gonna be okay," she said. "A few sessions in the Danger Room'll prepare anyone for anything."

"Maybe not everysing," he said suggestively. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve you haven't seen yet."

"Oh really, Mr. Catholic?" Willow teased.

"Really. You're in for a surprise when I get back," he replied, giving her a seductive eyebrow twitch. Willow laughed a little before he pulled her into a hug. "I'll be back before you can blink."

"I hope so," Willow said, hugging him tighter, feeling as though she was on the verge of tears. Their hug loosened up enough to get a quick kiss in before they broke apart.

"See you ven I see you," he said with a smile as he turned the image inducer back on, shrouding his face behind features that were not his own.

"Be safe," she said.

"Good bye for now, Liebchen," he said, repeating her pet name that she loved so very much.

"See ya, handsome," she returned. He gave her a quick smile before he disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke. She stood there with her hands on her hips and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to control her tears.

She walked back to the area where her class was examining the Rust spots.

"You okay?" Jackie asked her under her breath.

"Yeah, I'm good," Willow said shortly. She'd always been a bad liar. "So did everyone get a good look? Right, so I'm gonna talk a little about black leaf spots, which are similar, and a little about powdery mildew and then we'll be done for today." If one thing had gone right in the last few months, it was that she'd finally gotten her class under control.

Just as she finished up her lecture, dark clouds began to accumulate in the sky. Willow looked up at the mansion and could see the figure of Ororo Munroe standing on the balcony of the second floor. Something's wrong, Willow thought as she felt the first few drops of rain.

"Alright, you guys, good class today, I'll let you get inside before it starts raining," she said as she waved her hand over the hollyhocks, the rose bush and the dogwood tree that she'd grown. Each of them withered and died, decomposing into the ground from whence they came. Willow snatched up her book from the grass and hurried inside as the wind picked up around her.

Her hair was thoroughly tousled before she got inside. She tried her best to flatten it out, but it was of no use. She hurried to her room on the second floor to drop off her text book before heading over to the balcony. She glanced outside, but the whole area was vacant and the menacing clouds above had dissolved into the beautiful day it had been before.

"Where'd she go?" Willow wondered aloud as she exited the balcony. She was about to look for Storm downstairs when she heard voices coming from the drawing room to her right. She knocked politely before poking her head inside. Both Storm and the Professor were inside with a familiar, furry guest.

"Dr. McCoy!" Willow cried in surprise, happy to see the man who had nursed her back to health months ago. His big blue face split into a smile and a hearty laugh issued from his massive chest. They gave each other a loose, polite hug.

"Why, Willow Stevens!" he said jovially. "How are you, my dear?"

"Fine, fine," she said. "My first successful class just got out."

"But you've been teaching for months," he said, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, I know," she said, giving him a tired, stressed out look.

"Ah, well, teaching quite the undertaking for the first few years, but your finesse will blossom in time," Dr. McCoy told her in an understanding way. "And, by the way, I hereby give you permission to drop all the formalities and call me Hank."

"Can do, Hank," she said with a grin. Willow looked from Storm to the Professor. "So is something wrong? Should I leave?" Xavier looked to Hank for the answer to Willow's question.

"I don't see anything wrong with you staying. You are, after all, part of the staff and a capable adult," Hank said thoughtfully. Then his expression turned solemn. "Getting back to the reason for my visit; I have some news."

"Erik?" The Professor asked urgently. Willow was always amazed that the Professor could just sit there in anticipation for someone to give him bad news when he could simply read their thoughts and find out for himself. She didn't think she'd be able to resist.

"No," said Hank with a shake of his head. "Although, we are making some progress on that front. Mystique was apprehended last week."

"They caught her?" Storm asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Probably not for long…," Willow muttered, having witnessed first hand all the amazing and terrible things Mystique was capable of.

"Indeed," Xavier seconded. "The question is now, how will they keep her?"

"For the moment," Hank said, looking relieved, "that's Bolivar Trask's job, thank God, but I-"

"Hey, furball," Logan greeted bluntly from the now open door. Willow was in a constant mixture of amusement and exasperation around Logan. Half the things he said were extremely humorous; however his timing was sorely lacking.

Hank looked slightly perturbed at the nickname that had just been thrown at him, but he kept a straight face.

"Nice to see that you're still in one piece, Wolverine," Hank said curtly. The two had met briefly during the time that Dr. McCoy was treating Willow for her injuries that she sustained while fighting at Alkali Lake, but that didn't necessarily mean that they'd become fast friends.

"You too, Mr. Secretary of whatever it is you do," Logan said sarcastically.

"Secretary of Mutant Affairs," Hank corrected through a set of angry, gritted teeth.

"Nice suit," Logan remarked, continuing to antagonize their guest.

"Still quite the animal, I see," Hank volleyed.

"Look who's talking," Logan said with a smirk. Willow was glad that Storm decided to step up and end this little macho-match.

"Magneto isn't going to be happy about Mystique," she commented.

"Yeah, I hope your prison has plastic screws," Logan said, wanting the last word of their shit-pitching. Hank decided to take the high road and ignore this last remark.

"Magneto isn't the problem. At least, not our most pressing one," he said. Willow became a little worried at this point. What could be worse than Magneto and Mystique exacting revenge on the human race? "A major pharmaceutical company has developed a…," he searched for the word, "a mutant antibody. A way to suppress the X-gene."

"'Suppress'?" asked Logan with a raised eyebrow.

"Permanently," Hank said. The room fell quiet as the news sunk in. Willow still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "They're calling it a cure." Logan uttered a snort of disapproval, but stayed quiet. Storm, on the other hand, could not take such news as gracefully as her gruff teammate.

"This is crazy," she said, outraged, "You can't cure being a mutant."

"Well, scientifically speaking…," Hank began, but Ororo cut him off.

"Since when are we a disease?" she cried incredulously. "I've been called many things in my life, Henry, but a disease?"

"Ororo," the Professor said sternly, but she wasn't listening to him. "Storm!" he barked, finally getting her attention. "It's being announced right now." Logan snatched up a remote and turned the modest television set to a news channel. The five of them watched anxiously as a man called Warren Worthington Jr. was giving a speech about his new 'cure'.

"They've been called saints and sinners," he began, already hitting a nerve with Willow. "They've committed atrocities and been the victims of atrocities themselves. They've been labeled monsters, and not without reason." Willow could feel her blood start to boil as she and Hank exchanged angry glances. It was harder for some mutants than others to blend in with society and to avoid hurtful labels. Both Hank and Willow knew first hand how cruel the world could be.

"But these so-called monsters are people, just like us. They are our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters. Our children. Their affliction is nothing more than a disease; a corruption of healthy cellular activity. Finally, there is hope. A way to eradicate their suffering and the suffering of those who love them." Worthington produced a slide of a DNA helix and a photo of a young boy, maybe ten. He was bald and a little scared looking.

"A few years ago, we found a mutant with the most extraordinary ability – to repress, and even reverse the powers of those other mutants who came close to him. Now, after much research and experimentation, we've found a means for all mutants to get close to him. This site, which was once the world's most famous prison, will now be the source of freedom for mutants everywhere. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present the answer to mutation. Finally, we have a cure!" he said, looking triumphant.

Storm looked livid as she snatched the remote from Wolverine and turned off the TV set.

"Who would want this cure? I mean, what kind of coward would take it just to fit in?" she raged.

"Easy for you to say," Willow said with a sad little quirk of a smile.

"I understand your concerns, Ororo. For God's sake, that's why I'm here! But not all of us have an easy time fitting in. After all, you don't shed on the furniture," Hank said sardonically.

"I'm sorry," Storm said, knowing that she had gone too far. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Don't apologize," Logan growled. "For all we know, the government helped cook this mess up."

"I can assure you, the government had nothing to do with this," Hank said with certainty.

"I've heard that one before," Logan said sarcastically. Hank had had just about enough of Logan's obnoxious remarks.

"My boy," he barked, "I've been fighting for mutant rights since before you had claws."

"Did he just call me 'boy'?" Logan asked Storm angrily.

"You guys!" Willow cried. Her sudden outburst caused the whole room to stare at her. She shook her head at the lot of them. "Just stop."

"Willow's right, that's quite enough," Xavier said, more annoyed than anyone had ever seen him.

"Is it true?" Rogue's familiar voice said from the open doorway that Logan had neglected to close behind him. "Can they really cure us?"

"It's not, is it?" Jackie added from behind. Logan, Ororo, Hank and Xavier exchanged looks, none of them knowing quite how to answer.

"No," Storm said bluntly, walking over to the two of them. Jackie didn't seem nearly as distressed as Rogue did, but she got a hug nonetheless. "Girls, they can't 'cure' us. Do you want to know why? Because there's nothing to cure. You might as well try curing anyone with natural talent: Mozart, Da Vinci, Shakespeare." She reached out to take Rogue's hands in a gesture of comfort and understanding, but Rogue flinched and drew away. "Marie, nothing is wrong with you. Or with any of us, for that matter. You understand?"

Rogue gave a hollow little nod, but Storm's words had fallen on deaf ears. Rogue left the room, but Jackie didn't follow her.

"But they can still do it, cant they?" Jackie said, wanting a definitive answer.

"Scientifically speaking, yes, they can," Hank said.

"It seems wrong," Jackie responded with a shake of her head.

"It is wrong," Storm huffed.

"I wouldn't do it," Jackie added.

"Neither would I," Willow seconded.