"I was a heavy heart to carry
My beloved was weighed down
My arms around his neck
My fingers laced to crown"
Bobby Drake and Kitty Pryde watched the young woman dance around the stage. She was definitely beautiful. She was taller than Bobby probably, maybe 6'0", with long auburn colored hair and a long willowy body. She seemed to flow across the stage, from the bass player to the drummer then to the front of the stage where she knelt and stood almost in the same movement. Her voice was just as enchanting as her appearance.
"I was a heavy heart to carry
My feet dragged across ground
And he took me to the river
Where he slowly let me drown."
Bobby and Kitty glanced at each other and under the dimmed and flashing lights he could make out that the other mutant was having the same thoughts as him. This couldn't be the same person they were looking for. The woman the professor had described was a broken woman who didn't like any kind of public interaction. From what they could tell, she didn't like people, human or mutant, at all.
"My love has concrete feet I'm so heavy, heavy
My love's an iron ball
Wrapped around your ankles
Over the waterfall
Heavy in your arms
I'm so heavy, heavy
Heavy in your arms."
After the show was over; she gave a stunning, performance the two thought, Bobby and Kitty made their way backstage. Even though there was no guard, no one seemed to try and get behind the scenes. The two mutants slipped back behind the curtain and immediately noticed that they stood out. The crew that did everything not seen on stage was wearing white, and Bobby and Kitty were both clothed in dark colors. It wasn't even a minute before the two were spotted.
"And is it worth the wait
All this killing time?
Are you strong enough to stand
Protecting both your heart and mine?"
The man that approached them was obviously a mutant, with light blue skin and two sets of small horns growing out of either side of his head. He had a headset clasped over one ear, through which Bobby could hear loud talking, but was otherwise unoccupied. He looked them both over a few times, his upper lip curling in disgust.
"Okay, spill. What do you two want?" he demanded.
"We're here to see Isabella Winston," Bobby said.
"Oh, really?" the man snorted. "And what exactly do you want with Willoe?"
"Could you just go tell her we're here?" Kitty asked. "If she still says no, tell her Xavier sent us."
The man rolled his eyes, but spun on his heels to do as he was asked. He didn't return for several minutes, which worried Bobby, but Kitty told him to calm down. They waited another half hour.
"Who is the betrayer?
Who's the killer in the crowd?
The one who creeps in corridors
And doesn't make a sound."
Bobby was just about ready to give up when Kitty spotted the blue man rounding a corner and heading in their direction. He halted in front of them, sighed and said,
"She'll see you. But you better make it quick. She's got to get home to her family. Poor thing's not there enough. Well, come on. Don't just stand there looking all drab in your dark clothes."
He turned and led them the way he came.
"My love has concrete feet
My love's an iron ball
Wrapped around your ankles
Over the waterfall."
The two X-Men had expected the man to lead them to a small, cramped room where Isabella Winston quickly got ready before each of her shows, not the large, expansive and lavish room they were standing in now. The carpet was a plush red, the walls a starch white. Gold and red pillows littered the floor and the wide couches. There was not a mirror in sight, but neither was the young woman they were looking for.
"Make yourselves at home. Willoe will be with you in a moment; she probably went to drop her family a line and tell them she was going to be just a few minutes longer."
Bobby turned and asked, "What do you know about her family?"
"My love has concrete feet I'm so heavy, heavy
My love's an iron ball
Wrapped around your ankles
Over the waterfall
Heavy in your arms
I'm so heavy, heavy
So heavy in your arms."
"Her family loves her," the man said firmly. "That's all I have to know."
He closed the door behind him.
Bobby and Kitty made themselves sit on the couch and try to relax. It wasn't long before the door opened again and Isabella "Willoe" Winston walked into the room. She was just as tall as Bobby had thought and she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a white t shirt and a familiar leather jacket. Bobby jumped to his feet, a polite habit his mother had nearly beat into him, but Isabella just motioned for him to sit down again. She sat across from the two mutants.
"Can you two tell me what in the world Charles Xavier wants from me and my family?" she asked, voice soft and graceful.
"My name is Bobby - "
"Bobby Drake. I know. And you're Kitty Pryde. What does Xavier want?"
"The professor asked us to deliver a warning to you. He says he knows about your relationship with St. John Allerdyce and he wants you to know what kind of person he is," Kitty said.
"Let me get this straight," Isabella said. "Charles Xavier sent you all the way from New York to Nevada to warn me about a relationship with a man he thinks might be going on."
"That's about right," Bobby said dryly.
"And how long have I been in this supposed relationship?"
"A few months, I guess," Bobby said.
"This will be my last confession
I love you never felt like any blessing
(Ohhhh)
Whispering like it's a secret
Only to condemn the one who hears it
With a heavy heart.
Heavy heavy I'm so heavy in your arms
(I'm so) Heavy heavy I'm so heavy in your arms
(I'm so) Heavy heavy I'm so heavy in your arms
(I'm so) Heavy heavy I'm so heavy in your arms."
Isabella nearly fell over in a fit of laughter.
"It's not really a thing to laugh at," Kitty said defensively. "John's dangerous. He's not a good person. John's Brotherhood. He's killed a bunch of people!"
"Forty-two," Isabella said, sobering.
"Excuse me?" Kitty said.
"John has killed forty-two people in his time with the Brotherhood."
Both the mutant's jaws fell a bit at this new piece of information.
"Oh? You didn't know this? It looks to me like you two need to get all the facts from Xavier before going off to do his bidding. What else didn't he tell you, I wonder," Isabella frowned. "Did he tell you that John turned himself in? That he served a few months before getting out on probation for snitching out the worst members of the Brotherhood? No, he didn't tell you that either; not from the looks on your faces."
"John wouldn't turn himself in," Bobby said coldly.
Isabella drew a card out of her jacket pocket and placed it on the table between them.
"My address is on that card. John and I will be home tomorrow, you've got two choices: you can either ignore this and go back to your mansion and pretend that you never heard a word I've said, or you can stop by and let me tell you the rest of the story, the whole story, that your precious Xavier won't tell you. It's up to you."
She stood and opened the door.
"I'm going home to my family now," Isabella said. "You two have a good night."
"I was a heavy heart to carry I was a heavy heart to carry
my beloved was weighed down
My arms around his neck
My fingers laced to crown
But he never let me down
When he had me in his arms
My feet never touched the ground."
Bobby stood alone outside the small house probably longer than necessary. The place was homey, not some place he could see his ex-best friend living. The paneling was white and the roof and shutters were both dark blue. The grass could probably due with a good cutting, but other than that the house was very well kept. With a final decision, Bobby walked up the front steps of the porch and knocked on the door.
"I'm so heavy, heavy in your arms. Heavy, I'm so heavy in your arms."