Bleeding Hearts
The Sequel to Weeping Willow
An X3 Fanfiction by Carrie
Chapter Ten
Ever since Storm had assigned him Danger Room duties a few months ago, Logan had been anxious to get started. There were several new little punks that had signed up and a few old ones. He was sad to see that not everyone had returned. Rogue did what she thought was best for her and finally got the cure. Although Logan would have preferred that she try and work through her mutation, he had to admit that he'd never seen her happier. Gone were the gloves that constantly shielded her skin from human contact. Her and Bobby's relationship flourished, which was why Logan never passed up an opportunity to give Iceman a hard time. He had gone a little too far the other day, which was probably why Bobby had erased his name from the sign up sheet.
"Oh well," Logan mused, already zipped into his combat uniform and waiting impatiently outside the locker rooms. The X-Men were out first, naturally. Among the ranks were Colossus, Shadowcat, Willow, Nightcrawler, Blackout and Angel, each in their own specially fitted black uniform. Logan could have laughed when the new recruits came awkwardly out of the locker rooms. He had given them all the standard indigo and gold training outfits. They were ugly, they were ill fitting, and they were utterly conspicuous, making it difficult for them not to be seen.
"How come they get to wear nice uniforms?" Paige Guthrie's brother, Sam huffed in his Kentucky drawl as he stared enviously at the X-Men's badass attire.
"Because they've earned it," Logan barked.
"I don't see why I can't just wear my own damn clothes," Gambit grumbled.
"Zip it, Gumbo, or you won't be around long enough to appreciate that suit," growled Wolverine. He didn't care if this guy was one of Willow's friends. He had a cockiness about him that didn't sit right with Logan.
"De name's Gambit," the Cajun said defensively.
"You'll go by whatever I decide to call you. None of you have done anything yet to earn even a bit of respect. You see these guys?" he said, motioning to the X-Men. "They've been on real missions. Unlike you little brats, they've learned how to pull their weight in a team situation. That's the whole point of the Danger Room. It ain't a playground and this ain't screwin' off time. I'm gonna teach you how to defend yourself and your teammates with your powers. Consider these six your mentors from now on. They know the ropes; they've gone through the training. Got any questions after today, you come to me or to them."
"We're gonna do a basic training session today with these," he said, motioning to a rack of paintball guns. The X-Men received assigned colors (Jackie had white paint, Nightcrawler had dark blue and so on) and the rest got plain yellow. "Use your powers to avoid getting pegged. If you get shot, that's it, you're out for today. This should be a cake walk. If it isn't, consider private lessons outside of class or quitting. I got no time for wiseguys who don't listen and follow orders. Everyone understand?" Logan asked gruffly. The four new comers nodded, some looking rather intimidated.
"Alright then," he said, taking a half-smoked cigar out of his pocket. He bit down on one end while he relit the other with a match. He took a few drags before speaking again. "I ain't really much for speeches or theory. Mostly I believe in doing. So try to keep up."
Gambit crouched behind a crushed building edifice, his paintball gun at the ready. He could understand why Wolverine had given the little ones a hard time, but Remy had gotten himself out of plenty of close calls. He knew how to fight with his powers, and he wasn't afraid to say so, not even to a guy like Logan.
The sound of approaching footsteps brought Gambit back from his musing. He peeked out from behind the crumbling wall and saw Wolverine's burly frame saunter past, his paintball gun hanging lazily at his side.
Dis gon' be too easy, Remy thought with a smirk as he came silently out from the wall. He raised his paintball gun to get Logan in the back when the sound of imploding air met his ears. Flying sideways out of a cloud of blue smoke was Willow, held around the waist by Nightcrawler. She grinned at him for a split second. SPLATSPLATSPLAT! Before Gambit could even figure out how they'd appeared in front of him, she had disappeared into another curling cloud of blue haze. He looked down at his unsightly uniform and found three green splats of paint.
"She's good," he said to himself, resigning to the 'out' area in the middle of the holographic field.
Sam Guthrie, or Cannonball as he was sometimes known, used his thermal kinetic energy to propel him through the air, looking for anything that moved. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the youngest X-Man, Shadowcat, move into plain sight. He fired a pair of well aimed paintballs at her, but they phased right through her. In the moment that it took Cannonball to look away from where he was flying, Colossus stepped into the young mutant's path. Sam collided with him and crumpled to the ground. Sam massaged his aching head as he looked up at Peter's looming frame. Colossus' lips twitched into a brief grin before he nailed Sam with a silver paintball.
"Aw man…," Sam muttered, marching off to join Gambit in the loser's circle.
"Dese guys know what dey're doin', no?" Remy said sardonically.
"Cake walk my ass…," Cannonball grumbled.
Jubilee had never fought anyone in her life up until this so-called Danger Room session. She would never have gone, but Jackie talked her into it. After a few melted alarm clocks, Jackie pointed out that maybe it was about time Jubilee started mastering her skills. Jubilee finally gave in and signed up, but so far, she wasn't impressed. She didn't see how paintballing was going to help anyone master anything. If anyone got paint in her hair, she was gonna be pissed.
"You're not even trying, kiddo," Wolverine growled in her ear from behind. Jubilee yelped and whipped around, sticking her hands out and knocking Wolverine back a few steps with a couple explosive plasma pafs. He growled as the burnt skin on his face regenerated. He lifted his gun and hit her casually in the shoulder with a red paintball.
"Ow!" she howled dramatically, clutching her bruised shoulder.
"Nice reflexes," he commented as she walked away with a huff, her perfectly styled hair speckled with red on one side. "One more to go…"
Danielle Moonstar didn't generally like using her powers. Before she came to Xavier's, she'd been losing friends at a steady rate due to her uncontrollable ability to project images of people's worst fears or, sometimes, their greatest desires. She couldn't think of a good reason to have to use them, except for maybe a distraction.
The sound of enormous flapping wings above her caused her to look skyward, her paintball projectile poised to hit the winged mutant she had seen before. He was definitely close, but the smoke and haze blocked her view of where he might be.
SPLAT! Moonstar's attention was diverted from her flying adversary to the wall next to her. A white blot of paint dribbled down its surface.
"Shit!" she heard someone hiss. Jackie's aim was terrible, and she would be the first to admit it. Logan had tried countless times to get her to take her time, relax, and hit the target, but he'd pretty much given up on her.
In retaliation to the near miss, Moonstar sensed Jackie's greatest desire and projected it in front of her. Jackie's attention was diverted from Moonstar as an image of Warren, almost naked, walked toward her. She was hypnotized for a moment by his perfect form, but quickly snapped out of it when a yellow paintball hit her painfully in the chest. The image vanished and Jackie was left humiliated. She strode over to the loser's circle, angry that she'd lost to a newcomer.
"Dat guy your beau, mon ami?" Gambit teased, referring to the image.
"No, he's not," Jackie said, blushing furiously. "I hope he didn't see that."
"I think he did," Sam said as Angel dove down below the haze, pegging Moonstar with a light blue paintball.
"Oh God…," Jackie groaned, sitting down and drawing her knees up close to her. Danielle came awkwardly over to the out area.
"Hey, sorry," she said to Jackie. "I didn't mean to, you know, make a fool out of you."
"It's okay," Jackie said, burying her face in her knees, mortified.
Now that all the newcomers were out, it was a free for all for the X-Men. Although there wasn't supposed to be teams, Willow and Nightcrawler fought together anyway and their first target was Angel.
"It's time for some crazy acrobatics," Willow told him.
"I like ze sound of zat," he said with a grin.
"Boost me up onto this wall," Willow told him. She lifted her foot up and he caught it with his hands. Applying his unusual strength, Kurt practically threw her straight up into the air. Willow did a front flip in the air before landing nicely on top of the wall. Kurt teleported up next to her.
"Cheater," Willow sneered.
"Shh, I think I can hear him…," he said, putting a finger to his lips. Willow and Kurt listened for a moment, only interrupted for a moment by a couple blatant misses by Kitty's pink paintballs. Willow fired some of hers in retaliation, but they struck the solid concrete that Shadowcat just phased through, exploding on impact.
"He's right above us!" Kurt hissed.
"One more boost," Willow said. Nightcrawler flung Willow into the air, ready to teleport her to safety on the way down.
Willow fired a few shots at Warren, but he dove towards the ground. She could feel herself begin her quick descent to the earth below, but she trusted that Kurt would prevent any harm from coming to her. She felt something hit her in the butt right before Nightcrawler teleported in front of her. He grabbed her in midair and bamfed to the ground. Willow turned around to examine who had shot her. Silver paint dripped down her leg.
"Peter, you suck!" she cried angrily, but the burly Russian had disappeared behind some rubble.
"Vorry not, fair maiden, for I will avenge you," Kurt said valiantly.
"You better, I hate sitting on the sidelines!" Willow said as she stomped angrily away. Kurt teleported to head off Colossus. As soon as Peter caught sight of Nightcrawler, he fired a barrage of paintballs at him, but Kurt had disappeared. Colossus looked around, his gun ready for anything Nightcrawler might surprise him with. Peter heard the bamf behind him, but by the time he turned around, he was already shot. He cursed under his breath as his organic metal gave way to peach skin.
The last two left were Angel and Wolverine. The problem was that Kurt had no idea where either of them was. He crouched in the shadows, camping out for some sign of his two opponents. Suddenly, he heard the whoosh of wings directly above him. He looked skyward and saw Warren land on the wall above a split second before Angel saw him. Kurt let a dark blue paintball fly, which hit Warren on the upper thigh, dangerously close the family jewels.
"Sorry!" Kurt said with a wince. Warren sighed and flew off to join the others.
"Alright, Elf, just you and me now," Kurt heard Logan growl, his voice echoing slightly, making it difficult to pinpoint where he was. "Maybe you better just come out so I can get this over with." Instead of shouting out a comeback, Kurt crept closer to the sound of Logan's voice. Wolverine might have been able to sniff him out, but Kurt wasn't going to let Logan hear him by teleporting.
"Where are ya, Elf?" Wolverine growled in a sing-song voice. He was close, maybe just yards ahead. Kurt had to keep himself from jumping out of his skin when Logan's silhouette ambled into view just ten feet away, his back to Kurt. Wolverine sniffed the air and caught Kurt's scent – just before being shot in the arm by a paintball. He looked down at it and smirked.
"Alright, that's it," Wolverine said, admitting defeat. "End training sequence," he told the computer. The hologram around them shimmered and slowly disappeared into the empty Danger Room. "That was pretty good," he told everyone. "Specially Danielle. It's not every day a rookie takes out one of the X-Men."
"Yeah, it was great…," muttered Jackie under her breath, avoiding Warren's gaze.
"Thanks," Moonstar said, looking a little flustered.
"You four need some work, that's for damn sure," Wolverine said gruffly. "But, it was your first training session, so I won't be so hard on you. Just one word of advice, coming from very recent experience: don't get cocky or a guy like Nightcrawler'll take you out," he said, flashing a grin at the teleporter. "Got that, Cajun?"
"I'll file dat away for later," Gambit grumbled angrily.
"Alright, let's get out of these uniforms and get the paint scrubbed off of 'em," he said, dismissing the class. On the way out of the Danger Room, Logan clapped Kurt on the shoulder. "Remind me to buy you a drink, Elf."
"I von't let you forget," Kurt said, beaming.
"I'm sure you have all seen this image before," Hank McCoy said as a picture of the last supper flashed up on the screen in his Humanities class.
"Isn't that from The Da Vinci Code?" someone asked.
"It is certainly featured in the novel, yes," he said. "This is Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. Does anyone notice anything interesting about the composition?"
"It's perfectly symmetrical," Kitty noted.
"Exactly," he said. "Notice how the windows are arranged on the sides and in the back. Notice how the disciples are arranged. If you were to fold this image down the middle, it would be perfectly balanced. What else do you notice?" Hank waited for someone to answer him, but no one did. "A certain number…?" he said slowly, trying to prompt his students.
"Three," Jackie blurted, very nearly asleep.
"Correct!" Hank cried exuberantly. "Everything is in threes. The disciples are grouped in threes and there are three windows in the background. What significance does the number three have in religious art?"
"The holy trinity," Jackie answered.
"Right again," Hank said. "In addition to this numerical observation, note that Jesus, with his arms outstretched, forms a living triangle. Father, Son and Holy Ghost," he said, gesturing to each point on the invisible triangle that surrounds Christ. The bell rang throughout the hallways. "It seems we're out of time. We've got a quiz coming up, so don't forget to go over your art slides. And as for the inspirational quote of the day: 'We know what we are, but know not what we may become.' Shakespeare. Have a good day, everyone!" he said as his students filed out of the classroom.
Jackie bustled out of the classroom, only to bump into Warren's solid, yet delicate, frame. A pit formed in her stomach; she had been avoiding him for the last week, ever since her little encounter with Dani Moonstar's powers. Embarrassment was only the tip of the iceberg.
"Warren!" she yelped in surprise. "Er…what're you doing here?"
"I thought I'd try to catch you after class since I never see you anymore," he said.
"I can't really stick around, I'm gonna be late to Algebra…," she muttered, trying to get past him.
"Please," he said, stopping her with a desperate look as dozens of students pushed past them. "Please, I just…I have to talk to you."
"About what?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"About the Danger Room."
"I knew you were gonna say that…," she sighed, her cheeks burning. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know she was gonna do that, and I…I don't know."
"But was that…you know…your…," he stammered.
"What I want the most…?" she said, filling in the gap.
"Well…yeah," he said awkwardly, fluffing up his folded wings in a flustered gesture.
"You want the truth?" she asked. He nodded, looking nervous. With one little word, she kicked down all the barriers that she'd erected to block off any and all of Warren's affections. "Yes."
"Really?" he asked, his face lighting up.
"Really," she said. Then she looked a little uneasy. "I'm…well, if I've lead you on this whole time, I'm sorry, Warren, I didn't mean to at all..."
"You haven't," he said, stopping her short. "You needed time to work things out and I respect that."
"Yeah," she muttered. "Well, I think that I'm done working things out. Truth is I've been done working things out for the last month. I didn't mean to make you wait for so long, but I kinda started to think you'd given up on me because you've been acting so…I don't know, not interested."
"I've never been 'not interested' in you," he said. "And I'd never give up on you."
"Thanks," she said, looking awkwardly down at her shoes.
"I just figured that you'd come to me if and when you were ready," he said. "Even if that meant you never would."
"Well, here I am," she said with a little smile and a shrug.
"So…what now?" he asked after a moment.
"I dunno," she said, with a confused little shrug. "Wanna…walk me to class?"
"Sure," he said affectionately. Jackie gently grabbed his hand and wove her fingers through his as they took off at an easy pace down the hall. If there was one thing to be said about the pair heading for Storm's Algebra class, it was that no one had seen anyone look nearly that happy for quite some time.
"So," grunted Logan as he polished off his fourth pint of beer, sliding the empty glass off to the side to join the others. The bartender raised an eyebrow as Logan asked for another. "Are you gonna ask her?"
"Ask her vat?" Kurt wondered, still working on his first drink that Logan had bought him for his victory in the Danger Room.
"Don't waste my time, Elf, you know what I'm talkin' about," Logan growled as the man behind the counter slid him another pint.
"Ah," Kurt said, taking a moment to down the rest of the beer in his glass. "I promised my mother I'd do it soon."
"What's 'soon' to you?" Logan asked skeptically. "Your mom's been back in Germany for months, and I bet you told her that before you even got back here." Kurt sighed, running a hand through his hair which was currently brown thanks to the image inducer.
"I don't know," he admitted, sounding helpless.
"Don't you want to marry her?"
"I bought ze ring, didn't I?" Kurt said defensively.
"That don't mean nothin'," Logan barked. Kurt buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"This isn't as easy as you think it is!" he said, his voice muffled.
"What's so hard about it?" Logan asked. "All you gotta say is, 'Willow, will you marry me?'. It ain't worth gettin' cold feet over."
"She's too good for me," he said. "Zat's all zere is to it. She's smarter than I am and funnier and more kind, and I'm just not worthy of all that! I don't deserve her."
"Look at it this way, bub," Logan said. "You can't have a relationship all by yourself. She's as much a part of it as you are. And if she wanted to, she could have dumped you already. She was goin' crazy when you left for Germany. There wasn't a single time I didn't see her toting around a damn picture of your blue mug. She loves you, and you're going to have to come to grips with that and do something about it." Logan opened up his old leather wallet and slipped the bartender a couple of wrinkled bills.
"Keep the change," Logan said as he rose to his feet. Kurt followed his teammate's example and exited the bar on Logan's heels. "How 'bout this," Logan said as they walked toward home, "ask her tomorrow or I'll make you ask her."
"Vell, from ze looks of things lately, you can't make me do anything," Kurt said with a grin. "I think maybe you're losing your touch."
"Believe me, things could get ugly," Logan warned.
"No need for violence, mein freund," Kurt said, holding up a hand. "I'll do it."
"That's right, you will," Logan said with a grin. "And Elf?"
"Yeah?"
"Do us all a favor," he said, taking hold of Kurt's arm and ripping the image inducer from his wrist. The hologram went out like a light. "Be yourself."
"I don't know how to be anything else," Kurt said with a shrug as Logan chucked the device over his shoulder. Momentarily, Kurt thought of going back for it. However, he thought better of it as the two of them walked lazily back home to the mansion.
The bell that echoed off the walls of the mansion dismissed all the students from their ten o' clock classes the next day. Swarms of kids surged through the hall, making it slow going for Kurt as he made his way upstream to Willow's art classroom.
"Hey, Mr. Wagner," said Dani Moonstar as she pushed open the door to leave art class.
"Guten tag…," he said, flashing her a nervous smile. He reached to catch the door, but stopped, letting it sink back into the doorjamb. His insides writhed with nervousness Vat if she says no? he wondered frantically. He plunged a three fingered hand into his jeans pocket and clutched the jewelry box so tight that he thought for a moment that he might break it. I can't run avay from zis, he thought to himself decidedly, sweat beginning to accumulate on his brow. With a deep breath, he let go of the box and grabbed the doorknob. It was now or never.
"…I would maybe not press as hard when you're blending the graphite with your fingers," Kurt heard Willow say as he walked in. "You have to be gentle or you'll get this 'dirty' effect you were talking about."
"I guess I was just in a hurry," one of the younger female students said sheepishly as she turned in what looked like a grubby self portrait.
"That's one thing you have to remember: art takes time. If you hurry, the results won't turn out how you wanted," she said.
"Are you going to flunk me?" asked the student.
"Of course not!" Willow cried. "As long as you're trying and use your time well, you'll pass the class, no problem." The little girl seemed to cheer up.
"Thanks," she said before shuffling away. Willow smiled, he eyes following her young pupil's exit.
"Here you go, kleines," Kurt said fondly, opening the door for the girl.
"Thanks, Mr. Wagner," she said before hurrying off to her next class.
"If this is about that Danger Room session this afternoon with Gambit, I'm all over it," Willow promised as she gathered up the messy pile of portraits. She stacked them neatly and set them to the side. "He's got a long way to go and I honestly don't have a problem tutoring him…"
"Nein," Kurt said, "It's not that." Willow stopped for a moment and examined her boyfriend's face. He was upset about something, or maybe nervous.
"Kurt, what's wrong?" she asked softly as she approached him. "Last time you had this look on your face, you left me for a month."
"I'm not going anywhere," he said with a little smile. "I promise."
"Then what's up?" she asked.
"Ah, well…," he stammered, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he sighed in exasperation and got down on one knee. Willow's heart skipped a beat.
"Kurt…whatcha doin'…?" she asked slowly, a smile spreading across her face. He fished out the jewelry box from his pocket and looked at it for a moment.
"Ve have been through so much together," he said, looking up into her eyes. "And lately…I can't imagine a life vithout you in it." His tail twitched nervously and his entire body shook. "I…I guess vat I'm trying to say is…vill you marry me?" He held up the box and opened it, revealing the sparkling, princess cut diamond in a silver setting. Willow's eyes grew large as she looked from Kurt to the ring.
"Are you serious?" she whispered.
"I've never been more serious about anything in my life," he said, his voice wavering. Willow put a hand to her smiling lips.
"I will," she muttered.
"Sorry…?" Kurt asked, his heart racing as her answer was muffled by her hand.
"Of course I'll marry you!" she said loudly, her entire face beaming. "Did you think I'd say no?" Kurt was on his feet in a flash.
"You're sure about zis?" he asked her, looking hopeful.
"Positive," she said, planting a kiss on his lips. He chuckled nervously.
"And here I thought I'd scare you avay," he said staring at the floor.
"You can't scare me, Kurt Wagner," she said. "You know me better than that." Kurt smiled at her.
"Oh! I almost forgot," he said, taking the ring out of the box. He put the case back in his pocket before taking Willow's left hand in his. In one easy movement, he slipped the ring onto her finger. "I promise to love you and be by your side as long as I live," he said, so close to her face that their noses were nearly touching.
"Sounds good," Willow said softly before Kurt took her chin gently between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up a little so that he could kiss her. All Kurt's worries about his uncertain future with Willow vanished in that kiss. His mother was right: their love was lasting and now he knew that neither of them would let something so precious slip through their fingers.
Author's Note: I'm working on an epilogue that includes the wedding, so don't freak out! Also, I've got a few ideas rolling around in my brain for a sort of short, 'in-between the third and (possibly) fourth movie story' that involves Willow joining a team of mutants who need her to help them restore the plant life to clear cut rainforests and such. Also, I've had a strong urge to have Willow's father try to come back into her life (if you recall from the first story, he took off when she was very young and she hasn't heard from him at all.) I'm fleshing out the plot as we speak, but I just need to know if you guys would like to see something like this posted in the near future or if you'd like it to end with the wedding. Let me know, I don't want to beat a dead horse!
