Mutated Love, a wrestling fanfic

Title: Mutated Love

Author: Chimera

Rating: PG, PG-13?

Warnings: Slash, swearing, good stuff.

Category: WWE/X-Men (the movies)

Timeline: Nil in WWE 'verse…early 2003. Could probably be applicable anytime after mid-2002. X-Men…probably a little after the first movie, although there is a mention of the Drake family scenes in the second movie. I'll pick and choose, probably.

Bobby Drake had to smile. His cousin was crap at accents.

"Yur r'fr'd'jera'dor's runn' 'way!"

Iceman had to roll his eyes. "Shane, that is the worst imitation I have ever heard. And I'm not quite sure what you just said."

Shane Helms had no rebuttal. He tried talking his way out of it. "Sorry dude, but that snort is priceless," he laughed in his soft Carolina accent.

"Are we still on for the visit?" Bobby asked hopefully. "You an' your friend?"

Shane sighed, and Bobby could picture him running a hand through his medium-long hair. "'Bout that…I don't think we could stay at Xavier's. I-"

"What's the matter? Afraid of us?" Bobby asked, his voice holding a touch of anger. "We are just like you, Shane-"

"It's not that Robby," Shane cut in impatiently. Without realising it Bobby rolled his eyes at the name – Shane was the only one who ever called him that. "I have more people coming than expected, that's all."

Bobby was stumped. "Oh. Okay."

Shane's voice was soft. "You really think that matters to me?"

"Shane, no, I just…"

"Jumped to conclusions." Shane's voice was bitter. "I'll see you in a couple of days."

Bobby stared at the phone as it beeped out a dial tone.

Shannon slipped his arms around Shane's shoulders. "You get through to Bobby?"

The man sighed. "He's paranoid."

"How so?"

"He thought I was disgusted by the fact he and his friends were mutants when I said we couldn't stay at Xavier's."

The smaller blonde twisted around Shane like a human jungle gym to land in the larger man's lap with an 'oof'. "Well, he does have a right to feel that way," Shannon said, his voice muffled slightly as he hid his face in Shane's shoulder.

"But I'm family!" Shane protested, absently drawing patterns on Shannon's back.

"His mother and brother and father are family too," Shannon pointed out softly. "And they didn't exactly welcome him home with open arms."

Shane suddenly looked dismayed. "Dammit."

Shannon smiled, kissing him on the temple. "Be there for him. Give him something to trust in." He ruffled Shane's newly-green hair. "My baby."

"I'll tell him," Shane nodded decisively.

Lost in each other, the two lovebirds didn't notice a rosebush starting to grow outside the window.

"Still wondering why you're in your underwear here."

Jeff growled at his older brother. "Because Ah'm getting dressed, thank you very much. Now get out before Ah decide big bro needs a makeover."

"Oh God no." Matt fled.

Quite a few minutes later Jeff emerged from his room, clothed neck to toes in leather. His currently teal, purple and orange hair was haphazardly swaying on his shoulders, held back by a patterned blue bandanna.

"You do know you look ridiculous, right?" Matt made sure he asked.

"Yeah, Ah know." Jeff gave a cheeky grin as he pulled on the finishing touch – a choker necklace. "But don't you love it?"

Matt studied his younger brother in mock seriousness before glancing down at himself. Somehow Jeff had managed to talk him into a tight lace-up type shirt, but Matt had put his foot down at it being bright green, deciding on plain brown instead. Instead of wearing leather pants – like the ones Jeff sported – he had gone for the good old standby…black cargo pants.

"No," he said frankly.

Jeff pouted, then checked his watch. "We need to get movin'," he reported. "Shan an' Shane said to be there by ten. It's nearly ten to."

Matt waved his hand carelessly. "We'll get there."

The 'crazy' brother stared at Matt. "Matt, in case you didn't realise, they live half an hour away."

The brunette simply stared with a 'well, duh' look on his face. "We'll get there," he repeated.

Rogue stared.

As did most of the students outside.

It wasn't every day you saw three jacked-up motorcycles roaring up the drive to Xavier's School for the Gifted. Or Mutant High, as the kids called it.

All three pulled to a stop just outside the main doorway, which was coincidentally only a few feet from where Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and Bobby were standing. The first 'cycle, the only one with a passenger, had the kickstand put down first.

"That was so totally your fault!" a voice protested, as if in the middle of an argument.

"How was I supposed to know you'd be so distracted by my ass?" a second questioned. The two men who shared the cycle pulled off the helmets at the same time. The one facing the group was short, blonde, with almost feminine good looks. The second, who had been driving, was facing away, and had short brown and green hair that had been mussed up by the helmet.

"You should know that by now," another voice said. A third man took off his helmet, wildly-coloured hair falling around his face. He jumped off his back and exchanged the helmet for a visor tied to the 'cycle. "You've had what, four years to discover that?"

"I do know that but still…Shane, my apologies, but you are never…eveeeeeeeeeeer driving a-gain, junior!"

The only one who hadn't yet spoken pulled off his helmet, and tied back long brown curls with a hairtie around his wrist. "That was the crappiest imitation of Chris I have ever heard."

"That's my cuz, crappy imitations and all." Bobby pushed his way through the small crowd gathered in front of the door, grinning at the green-haired man. "Hey there, sugah," he drawled in a near-perfect impersonation of the all the men's Southern accents.

"Robby!" The man enfolded Bobby in a hug.

Jubilee nudged Rogue. "Robby?" she mouthed.

Rogue shrugged. It wasn't like Bobby had told her everything about himself while they were dating.

Bobby grinned as he released his cousin. "Man," he started, then fell back as hit was hit with a mass of blonde. He threw a startled look to Shane.
The green-hared man shrugged. "Robby, meet Shannon. Shanny, this is Bobby."
Shannon looked up at Bobby. "Hi."
"Hi."
The blonde bounced back to Shane's side. The only full brunette stepped up, and held out a hand. "I'm Matt. Sorry about intruding on your and Shane's visit."
"No problem," Bobby said softly, accepting the hand.
The guy suddenly grinned at him. "Don't worry about Shanny. He does that to everyone."

"I do not!"

"Yeah you do Shan."

The final stranger held out a hand. " 'm Jeff."

"Bobby."

Jeff's face split into a familiar grin, suddenly looking a lot like Matt. "Ah know that."

Shane bounded forward, elbowing Jeff out of the way. He picked him up in another hard hug. "How are you dude?" he questioned.

"Needing air," Bobby rasped. Shane immediately let him drop, apologising. Bobby smiled. "No prob, cuz."

Rogue coughed beside him. He turned his gaze onto his ex-girlfriend before remembering his manners. "Oh! Um, Shane, this is Rogue, or Marie…mostly Rogue. And uh, this is Jubilee and Kitty."

"Hi." Shane indicated the men behind him. "Blonde is Shannon, fruit loops is Jeff and brunette is Matt."

Bobby motioned them to the doorway. "Come! I'll introduce you to Professor Xavier."

"Cool name," Jeff commented off-handedly, punching Shane on the shoulder for the 'fruit loops' comment. As the four strangers plus Bobby and Rogue trooped into the school, Jeff sent a grin to Rogue. "I think we'll have fun here."

Rogue smiled back shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. The movement pulled at one of her gloves, and she pulled it up quickly. Jeff noticed this but kept quiet.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" he asked instead.

Bobby knocked twice on an old oak door, nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding wall.

"Come in, Bobby."

The brunette opened the door and walked in, side-by-side with Rogue. Matt and Jeff exchanged glances before following. Shannon looked a little uncertainly at Shane. The older man smiled, and pulled him in for a quick kiss unseen by the people in the room.

"Everything'll be fine, little bear," Shane reassured him. Shannon glanced up at him, and smiled slightly. The brunette tenderly stroked a strand of blonde hair into place, and they smiled at each other again.

Inside the room, Matt choked slightly. The two of them were sickening. Even their thoughts were sweeter than molasses. The two men entered and quickly took in the occupants of the room.

One of the men had weird-looking hair and had an aura of wildness about him, but it was easy to see the roughness nearly disappear at the man's frequent looks towards the only woman in the bunch – very pretty, if you went for that type. The only problem visible with that was a guy with an arm over her shoulders – with a strange red-tinted visor that went all the way around his head. The final man was bald, in a wheelchair, and with an easily-perceptible sense of worldliness about him.

"Good morning Bobby, Rogue," the bald man spoke.

"Good morning Professor." Bobby indicated the men behind him. "This is my cousin Shane, and his friends Matt, Jeff and Shannon."

Matt glanced around, fully taking in the four strangers he found himself in the room with.

"My name is Professor Xavier. These are my colleagues Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Logan."

He raised an eyebrow at the lack of a first name for Logan, but let it go. The first touch of a mind against him made him frown, then smile. Whoever it was in his head, they were *good*.

He chuckled slightly, drawing only his friend's attention. Matt rolled his eyes, and out of sight of the others, tapped a finger to his temple then pointed toward the group of strangers. Shannon's eyes widened a little, then grinned as he felt Matt's mind against his own.

Jean frowned slightly. Her light probing of Shane's mind had gone easy enough – he was happy enough, and a touch of anxiety, but neither of the other three or giving her anything.

She probed a little harder, and hit jackpot. The brunette – Matt? – was bored, and Shannon was a happy soul. Her frown deepened.

It was amazingly rare to find someone with only one emotion at a time. To find two…the odds were better for Scott and Logan to start discussing knitting.

She concentrated again on the strange looking one…Jeff…and got nothing. Nada. Zippo. Zilch.

_Professor? Try to scan Matt, Jeff and Shannon._

Xavier had no need.

He had read three of the boys as they walked in. Shannon and Shane had been fairly easy to get into.

Xavier made it a point to only let himself read the top layer of thought for anyone. Otherwise he'd probably go insane. Shane was plainly happy to see Bobby, and for some reason was expecting something with dread. The Professor decided not to pry any further, but mentally put a miniature 'cheer up' sign in Shane's mind. Shane had visibly relaxed.

Shannon was quite a bit different. The first impression of the blonde was an utter happy, but Xavier followed a gut feeling and probed a little deeper. The happiness disappeared abruptly, almost as if it had never been there in the first place. Replaced by near absolute fear, Xavier nearly preferred the façade of happiness.

Jeff he couldn't scan. Period.

Matthew was another story entirely. Charles Xavier, in all his years, had never found someone who noticed his scans, not even his prized pupil Jean. Matt was perfectly aware of the Professor inside his head, and gave him a mental smile.

_Hi._ His 'voice' turned puzzled. _Which one are you, and who was the one before you?_

Bobby was still watching his cousin's friends, but Matt in particular. Opposed to Jeff and even Shannon, Matt wasn't particularly all that noticeable, but 'Iceman' instinctively knew that the brunette was a big part of their little group.

Matt was examining the workmanship of Professor Xavier's room intently, but his eyes were distant. Jeff, Shane and Mr. Summers were involved in a light conversation – Bobby could occasionally hear the words 'motorcycle', 'engine' and 'Harley' – while Shannon was watching his friends – mostly Shane – and answering an occasional question from Jean. Wolverine was leaning on one of the Professor's many book shelves next to Marie, and the Professor himself was watching Matt.

Bobby followed his stare back to Matt. As if sensing Bobby's sudden interest, Matt glanced up and their eyes locked. Brown eyes were still distant, and Bobby had the uncomfortable feeling of both going unseen and being seen through.

Matt's eyes suddenly 'snapped', but their eyes stayed locked. Bobby smiled, but Matt hesitated before smiling back.

"I believe your new friends may have something else to tell us." Professor broke the few muttered conversations and all attention was suddenly on Xavier. Except for Shane, Jeff and Shannon – their gaze instinctively went to Matt.

When it became obvious Matt was only paying attention to the Professor, their gazes turned to the wheelchair-bound man. Shannon crossed the room to Shane's side, and the larger man swung an arm around Shannon's shoulders.

Shannon got on tip-toe to whisper something in Shane's ear. Something suddenly struck Bobby as weird, but he quickly dismissed it. His cousin had been telling him about a cute little blonde he had been seeing for years…but he had never given a name…not even 'girlfriend' status. Maybe because that was 'boyfriend' status?

"May I?" Professor questioned, looking intently again at Matt.

Flicking a finger up near his head, Matt shrugged then nodded. "Go ahead."

The Professor had never met someone like Matt…human, mutant or otherwise.

The brunette was again perfectly aware of his scan, and the Professor could feel roadblocks and barriers going up on certain memories. Matt easily directed him to the thoughts and explanations he wanted – not one piece more than he needed, although he was still curious about a few things.

Xavier disentangled himself from Matt's mind, and found a question from Jean in his head. _Mutants?_

Charles nodded imperceptibly.

That was when Wolverine got bored.

His claws came out with a _snickt_. Scott rolled his eyes behind his visor, Jean glanced at him coyly, Bobby and Marie had no reaction, and Shannon nearly had a heart attack.

"Give a dude some warning." Shannon glanced in curiosity at the metal claws, which Logan had been checking for sharpness. "Cool." Logan gave him a fake smile before growling at him. Shannon shook his head, moving to the other side of Shane, away from Logan. "Worse than Benoit," Shane heard him mutter.

"I heard that," Logan growled.

Shannon gave him back an equally fake smile.

"The problem is whether or not you take a comparison to Benoit as a compliment or insult."

Matt snorted as he 'read' Shane to find out exactly what Shannon had said. "I doubt he could take it as an insult."

Jeff waved it away, echoing his younger friend and scowling at Logan. "So says the one that got screwed by him." He sent an apologetic glance at both Jean and Rogue. "Sorry ladies."

"I've told you once, I'll tell you again, I didn't sleep with Chris."
"Sure Matty."
"What exactly are you?" Jean broke in.
"Gay ma'am," Matt replied.
"No, are you human or mutant?"
Shannon shrugged. "I'm a mutant."
"So'm I," Matt added.
Jeff shrugged. "Matt thinks I am, but 'm not sure."
Shane looked down at his scuffed shoes. "Ah am," he admitted quietly.
"You never told me," Bobby said softly, his hurt obvious.
Shane spread his hands weakly. "I found out when you were just a kid. And then you went to boarding school and I thought you would..." He drifted off, then changed direction. "The only people I told were Shannon and Jeff. By then Shannon knew he was a mutant and Jeff knew about Matt."
"What can you all do?" Scott questioned.
"I'm a telepath," Matt said, absently pulling his ponytail tighter.
Shane said nothing, but stared out the Professor's window for a moment. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but suddenly a rosebush rose above the windowsill. Most of the X-Men blinked, as the roses were not the typical red or pink - they were black. "Plants," Shane stated unnecessarily.
Shannon also said nothing, but lifted one hand to point at the window. The plant shivered for a moment, and with a sudden _snap_, one single rose came off and floated to Shannon. "Telekinesis," Shannon shrugged. He turned and handed the black rose to Shane. As the taller man smiled, the rose slowly became lighter, finally becoming a blood red with only faint lines of black crossing the delicate petals. With Shannon's grin, Shane's smile grew and he lightly touched Shannon's nose with the bud.
"How did you get so well trained?" Jean asked, her question directed towards Matt.
The brunette shrugged. "I dunno. Just could."

"Is the Inquisition over?" Jeff broke in.

Jean glanced over at him before going back to his brother. "No."

"Can I wait outside then? 'Cause I'm bored." Jeff smiled sweetly at Jean as the teacher scowled.

"You may go, mister…?" Xavier trailed off.

"Hardy."

"Mister Hardy." Xavier appealed to Rogue. "Could you show Mr. Hardy around the school grounds?"

"Sure, Professor."

As the two left the room, Jeff genuinely smiled at the girl beside him. Marie tentatively smiled back.

Matt rolled his eyes. "The Hardy charm strikes again."

"Seems to work pretty well," Bobby muttered, eyes still on Matt.

Wolverine was again the only one who heard, and sent a sharp glance to the boy he had come to regard as a son…okay, maybe not son. Maybe he was a protective uncle. That'll do.

Matt glanced curiously at the large man sending him such disdainful thoughts – like he had stepped in something bad. He quickly and discreetly checked the soles of his shoes, but coming up clean, he glanced back at Logan with mild confusion.

_It's never a good idea to get pissed at a telepath,_ he told Logan silently, nodding when the man's widened eyes landed on him. _Why *are* you pissed at me?_

_If you're so good at this, you find out,_ Logan though acidly.

_You do realise that for all intents and purposes you just invited me into your head,_ Matt asked rhetorically before jumping right in.

He jumped right back out. "Your mind is weird, dude," he said out loud, staring at Wolverine.

"What did you see?" Logan near-whispered.

Jean blinked. Somehow this felt a whole heck of a lot like déjà vu.

"You love Rogue, feel protective of her…" Matt jerked his head toward Bobby, "…and that reflects on him a bit." Brown eyes went distant for a few moments. "You seem to be in love with two women at once…you don't do things halfway, that's obvious…you know that one is doomed, because she can't understand you-"

"Can we stop hearing about his love life?" Cyclops questioned briskly.

The brunette's attention was drawn to the other man. Without even needing to scan, he could feel the emotions pouring off him – anger, jealousy, fear. Jean squeezed his arm, and a little of the anger disappeared. Feeling he had upset the man – though for the life of him he couldn't figure out why – Matt sent a quick wave of apology.

Shannon had quickly and quietly gotten bored, and was slowly 'pulling' the rest of the flowers from Shane's rosebush, amusing himself by making rosebuds dance around the two of them. Shane watched them, and with a simple thought changed their colours; making a small tornado of blue petals that slowly dispersed back into the air as they turned various shades of purple. Shane leaned down and whispered in the blonde's ear. The touch of lips against temple could have been an accident.

The smaller blonde smiled, and the petals floated over to swirl around the two people introduced as Scott and Jean. Shane concentrated, and the petals became multicoloured. Waves of red passed under their chins, and turned into light yellow petals as they floated back over their shoulders.

Scott smiled, grabbing a rosebud and presenting it to Jean. In spite of herself, Jean sniffed it and pressed a kiss to Scott's cheek.

The only still-blonde in the room squeezed his lover's hand. They had done their good deed for the day.

"And that's Professor Munroe's classroom…her nickname's Storm," Rogue explained, ending the tour.

Jeff raised a bemused eyebrow. "You guys have cool nicknames…Storm, Cyclops, Rogue…"

"Just wait until you meet Syren and Nightcrawler," Rogue smiled, glancing up at him. Oh he was so very tall. She felt like some kind of pixie.

"So why are you such a rogue?" he questioned in mock-seriousness, expecting a light-hearted answer.

She glanced at the floor, good mood suddenly disappearing into thin air. "The first boy I ever kissed was in a coma for two weeks."

That had not been an answer he was expecting. Jeff blinked. "Whoa."

Marie smiled sadly at him, the bottom of her eyes clouding with tears. One dripped over.

Brought up as a true Southern boy, Jeff Hardy hated seeing a woman cry. He raised a hand and before Rogue could stop him, he wiped the pad of his thumb against her cheek.

Rogue yanked herself away, breathing hard. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the man in front drop to the ground. Not wanting to see his skin become paper, see him trying to gasp for life. She waited for the flood of emotions and memory and feelings from Jeff…

…but none came.

She cracked her eyes open and saw Jeff staring at her, confused.

_PROFESSOR!_