Disclaimer: Kitty and Jubilee belong to Marvel. Frankie belongs to me. Affrimation belongs to Savage Garden.

A/N: I'm still stuck about the name of the story, but I think I have a code name for Frankie. Thanks to Cris-X for the suggestions. Also please review (never thought I would be saying that). Let me know if I am taking this in the right direction. If you don't want to post it here, email me at buck44105@aol.com. Just make sure you put it's about this fic in the subject line.

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Chapter 3

Next Morning around 7:00

Frankie decided even though she lost her position on the force, she was not going to do what she did when she was discharged from the Air Force and get out of shape again, so she went out to run her usual 5 miles at the local park. As she was nearing the end of her run, she thought she heard some familiar voices. Slowing down, she focused her hearing on them.

'Hehehe, J and Kitty decided to come out to do some exercising of their own, it sounds like. Hmmm wonder if I can sneak up on them.'

So Frankie took her thoughts off of trying to sneak up on the two by singing in her head.

'I believe the sun should never set upon an argument

I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands

I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you

I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do

I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem

I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned

I believe the grass is more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality

I believe that trust is more important than monogamy

I believe that your most attractive features are your heart and soul

I believe that family is worth more than money or gold

I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair

I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned

I believe the grass is more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye

I believe forgiveness is the key to your unhappiness

I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed

I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists

I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned

I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned

I believe the grass is more greener on the other side

I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye'

"So, where were ya last night? You got in pretty late. I know you were meeting that girl you met at the bar in the morning. Did you guys decide to make a day of it?" Kitty asked Jubilee.

All of a sudden, Jubilee started singing, not knowing how the song popped into her head.

"Whatcha singing Jubes?" asked Kitty.

"Don't know. This song just popped into my head. Must be something Frankie had me listening to last night."

About the time Jubilee finished saying that, she felt someone grab her from behind. Instinct took over and she flipped whoever it was over her shoulder.

"Guess that teaches me to sneak up on her," joked Frankie as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Shit Frankie, you could have whistled or something. You know how quiet you can be."

"I was trying to sneak up on ya. Wanted to see if I could do it. By the way, anyone tell ya you have a beautiful singing voice? You sound better than the voice I had going in my head anyway."

"Ah so that's how ya did it. That also explains how I didn't sense ya coming up too. All I picked up was the song. So, what ya doing up and out this early in the morning? Thought after last night, with the training and all, you would sleep in."

"Yeah well, old habits die hard. I usually get up every morning and run 5 miles. Just because I am not on SWAT anymore, doesn't mean I can't stay in shape."

"Training?" Kitty suddenly asked, not knowing what had happened to Frankie and Jubilee the morning before.

"Well, it seems I'm a mutant. Found out the hard way yesterday. Jubes was nice enough to help me try to teach me to keep it a little under control so I could would stop glowing." As Frankie said that, she held her hand, palm up and produced a small paf. "Seems I have one of the same powers as her. The other powers are stealth, enhanced hearing, and slight empathy."

"Wow, so that is what you were up to last night. And here I thought you finally found someone, Jubes."

Wrapping her arms around Jubilee's waist, "Who said she didn't? I'm somewhat of a quick learner, so we had time for a little fun too."

"She doesn't need to know everything, Frankie. Besides, thought you told me last night you don't kiss and tell."

"I don't, but you just did," Frankie said, teasing Jubes to get her to blush. Which she has been doing quite a bit of since she met Frankie.

"I swear you do that on purpose, just to see me turn all red. So, what are your plans for today?"

"Thought I would start looking for a new job. Can't pay for my apartment on what I'm going to be getting from unemployment. Luckily, my captain bought the line about me not trusting my team members as my reason for quitting the squad and didn't label me a mutant, so I at least have the chance of getting hired elsewhere. Not too many places will hire people labled that, whether it is true or not. I still don't think it is fair though. Seems I was destined to work retail. Only other thing I am good at besides the military or police work."

"Your right, it's not fair, but I thought you were going to go to New York with me to meet some friends of mine. To help you get better control of your powers. Have you changed your mind overnight or something?"

"No, just not ready to move on just yet. I'd like to get you a little better before I go traipsing across the country with ya."

With that statement, Jubilee pulled away from Frankie and gave her a hurt look.

"Ugh, guess that came out wrong. What I meant to say is I am not ready to share ya with a household of people quite yet. I just met ya and then the next morning, my world turned upside down. Give it a few days for everything to sink in. I just need a little time is all."

"Guess I can understand that. Plus we can always work together on some small things to get you used to the idea of having these powers. By the way, I see one of the things we practiced yesterday worked. You even startled Kitty when you came up, and that is even harder to do than sneaking up on me. She's a trained ninja."

"Wow. You a mutant too, Kitty? If so, what can you do?" Frankie asked Kitty so she could be included in the conversation.

"I can phase through things. Walls, ceilings, floors. When I phase through anything electrical, I short it out if I am not careful."

"Sounds pretty useful. See this is what I don't understand. Some mutant powers would be a big help to the police force, but they can't see past their ignorance of things they don't know to see it. What Kitty can do would be a great help in hostage situations. Same with your telepathy, J. Yet all they can see is that mutants are different. I swear, humans just want some reason to discriminate against people. Either it's the color of their skin, religion, or sexual preferance. Most things that people can't control. It just makes me so mad. I just wish there was a way to show them that we are people too."

"The best way we can change people is by our actions. Prove to everyone that being different isn't always a bad thing. It will take time. We may not even see the change in our lifetimes, but it will come," Kitty commented

"Ok, enough with all this serious talk. I'm getting hungry. Why don't we go find something to eat?" Jubilee said to break all the tension.

"Why don't we all just head over to my place. It's not that far from here, and I make some mean pancakes," Frankie suggested.

Kitty looked at her watch, "Sorry wish I could join you two lovebirds, but I have class soon. Maybe next time. Jubes, mind walking me to my car?"

Sensing Kitty wanted to talk to her alone, Jubilee replied, "Sure, no problem. Frankie, I'll be right back."

As soon as they were at Kitty's car, she turned to Jubilee and said, "It's good to finally see ya happy. After all you went through, you deserve it, but becareful. You don't know anything about her. For all you know, she could be one of the bad guys trying to get to the X-men through you."

"Trust me on this one, Kitty. That girl is totally innocent. She isn't hiding anything. Don't think she can from me. Don't forget, even though my telepathy may not be in the league of Jean's or the professor's, I can still tell Frankie is one of the good guys. She has no psi-shieds. She can't hide anything from me, not that I would go looking. She brodcasts louder than Wolverine when he is in one of his moods. By the way, I was meaning to ask you, how did you know I was gay? I thought I had hid that from everyone."

"I didn't till I saw the look you gave Frankie when you realized who she was. We went to that bar the other day cause I gave up on trying to fix you up. I can only take so much of guys hitting on me everytime I turn around. I needed a break. At least Logan doesn't have to worry about gutting any more guys you might bring home."

"Guess not. Just hope he doesn't try to gut Frankie the minute he meets her. She has been through so much herself. The sad part is, only recently had it anything to do with her being a mutant. Now it looks like she is out of the frying pan and into the fire. She seems to be taking it well though."

As the two are talking at the car, a small group closes in on Frankie in the park.

"Is that the mutie that took you position on the SWAT team?" asked one of the brutes in the gang.

"Yeah, and I am going to make her pay for it. She took what should have been mine," answered the guy that seemed to be the leader.

As he said that, Frankie realized she wasn't alone anymore. She tried to get away, but just then the group pounced on her.

"Well, mutie, seems you don't have the team to support ya anymore. They finally found out what I have been trying to tell them all along. You never belonged on the team in the first place, and now I will make sure you can't steal any more jobs from normal people again. You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as us. It's time you paid for what you did to me."

"And what is it you seem to think I did? Earn my place on SWAT? I didn't even know at the time I was a mutant. If I did, do you honestly think I would have even chanced joining the force, let alone SWAT?"

"Lies, that is all you know how to do. Now it's time to teach you a lesson."

With that, the mob started to attack Frankie. She did her best to fight them off, but there were too many. A few feet away, Jubilee felt something was going on back in the park and decided to do a scan to check on her.

"Oh shit. They are after Frankie. I have to go help her," Jubilee cried out to Kitty and ran back to where she left Frankie in the park.

"Who's after Frankie?"

"Some of her old coworkers from the police force. Seems she made a few waves when she was promoted to SWAT."

As soon as they got to where they had left her, the group decided they had punished Frankie enough and ran back into the park.

"Frankie, oh God please be ok. I should have never left you alone here."

As soon as Frankie heard Jubilee cry out, she tried to sit up only to be forced back down from the pain from the beating. As she laid back down, Jubilee ran her hands up and down, trying to figure out the damage.

"Looks like a couple broken ribs, broken arm, and a cucussion. Why didn't you call for help?"

"Happened too fast. One minute they were yelling, the next, they were on top of me. Didn't even have enough time to power up some pafs. Just get me home and I'll be fine. Just need some rest."

"Oh no. We have to get you to a hospital. At the very least, you need that arm set and we need to make sure you haven't punctured a lung."

"No doctors. I've been through worse than this before. I just need to get to my apartment. I have some things there to fix myself up with."

Against their better judgement, Kitty and Jubilee helped get Frankie to Kitty's car and to the apartment so they could fix her up and let her rest. Once they had her settled, they sat at the kitchen table to decide what to do next.

"We need to get her out of here. This is just the beginning for her. Things will just go downhill from here now," Kitty stated.

"I know, but I have this sudden feeling that she needs to be here. That she needs to finish whatever just started today. After she rests, I'm going to start training her with her powers. I need your help with her hand-to-hand training. Will you help?"

"Damn, you are just as stubborn as Logan. She needs to get out of here, not further into the fight. Plus, where can we train her at. If we do it in the park, everyone will know. And both her and our apartments are too small for this type of thing."

"Just leave the location to me. I know of a few places. Besides, all this is really up to her. When she wakes up, we all need to sit and have a long talk."

"Agreed. Now, I need to get going. I feel bad leaving with her hurt, but I have a test in History that I really can't miss. Will you be fine here alone?"

"Yeah. If anything happens, I'll call. Thanks for everything Kitty. I have a feeling this is just the beginning."