Cassius felt his phone vibrate and he just wanted to sleep. He tossed the phone across the room tiredly, letting it vibrate over and over on the floor.

The weekend was great and he was surprised how great he got along with Natalie. He could tell she was confused about how he was feeling, because he used to feel like that. Conflicted and unsure, but he was happy someone was understanding.

There was banging on his bedroom door and he groaned. "Lay off, gramps! I had a late night!"

"I'm coming in!" Leighton exclaimed and the door swung open. Cassius groggily sat up, rubbing his face as Leighton stood there with Jordan and Mikhail behind her.

"You brought the whole crew." He muttered and sat up further, his comforter slipped off the bed and Leighton covered her eyes. "I'm not naked." He told her and she peaked, then took her hands down. "I do sleep with boxers on, ya know? Shelly has busted into my room by the window multiple times."

"Put a shirt on then." Mikhail grumbled, trying not to stare at Cassius' chest, complete with washboard abs. His cheeks were pink and he looked embarrassed as he huddled up into his baggy black jacket.

"Not like I'm awful to look at, yeah?" Cassius laughed and got out of bed, digging through a pile of clothes on the floor. "Why are you three here anyway? Goin' clean my room?"

"I'd rather not." Jordan muttered, looking at the messy room. Clothes were tossed everywhere in the room.

"Look, if you worked like me, your room would be trashed as well." He spat at Jordan, head aching and three missed calls from Shelly. "Fuck." He cursed and pulled a shirt on and dug for his khaki shorts. "And I'm guessing, we are late for work." He glanced to Leighton as he grabbed his work bag that had his uniform in it.

"We have work today?" She tilted her head in confusion and he sighed, grabbing his shoes and clicking his tongue. Umbreon followed him at the call and he left the room.

"Yes, we do, and we're late. Prepare that first aid kit, Jordan, because I have a feeling today's mission will be joyful."

Natalie fiddled with her skirt, glaring at the wall as Tabitha continued his rant.

She was growing tired of this. He hadn't let up since she arrived and she actually was starting to wish she was with Cassius or Lily, even her mother! Anywhere but here. All the fun was gone when she put on her uniform.

The weekend had been the most fun she had had in a while, and she was happy that Cassius felt the same way as she did.

"Are you listening?" He questioned, looking at his grunt.

"Of course, sir." She looked at him, disinterest clear in her eyes.

"Then go and snatch what we need." He turned away. Her eyes followed him as he left the meeting room. A file sat on the table and she opened it, flipping through it.

"Weren't paying attention, were you?" Courtney questioned, sitting up on the table, blowing a bubble with her gum. "The Weather Institute."

"The Weather Institute…by myself?!" Natalie exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. "How could he stick that whole place on me? Courtney, you know I can't do that alone."

"I know. I'm going to talk to him about it now." She grumbled, taking the file. "What did you do to piss him off?"

"Nothing?" Natalie questioned, not exactly sure anymore. "Who knows…"

"He heard you spent the weekend in Lilycove with a boy." She swung her feet, smirking at the younger girl. "A cute boy. He got pictures of him."

Natalie froze and looked at Courtney. Tabitha had pictures of Cassius? Oh god, oh god, Cassius could be in danger. She would be in danger if Tabitha found out who he was.

"Oh, is that your boyfriend? He's attractive. I approve." Courtney laughed at Natalie's red face. "Tabitha hates him, and that's why he's not too pleased with you. I believe Tabitha might have a crush on you. That's doesn't surprise me much. Tabitha isn't too great with his feelings."

"I'm sorry, what?" Natalie's mind was officially broke. She dug in her pocket for her phone, she needed to call someone! "Uh…I gotta go." She hurried out of the room and down the hallway, brushing past people as she dialed a number. She went out a side door, getting outside.

"Natalie?" Lily questioned, a little confused. "What's wrong? Aren't you in the desert?"

"Lily, I haven't been honest with you." She needed to relieve some pressure. "I am actually in Team Magma, that evil organization that is trying to create more land for humans which is really stupid but yet here I am, at work, planning to go steal some expensive equipment tonight…and…and Cassius…and Leighton…yeah they're in Team Aqua. I dunno if they want you to know but I'm under a lot of stress and I can't handle this much right now."

"Okay." Lily replied and it was silent. Nate brushed some volcanic ash off her shoulders and looked over the mountain.

"And my mother doesn't know. At all."

"Got it…." Lily was quiet again and Natalie felt sick. "Okay, well, Natalie, you are a good person, so, I want to give you a chance to explain yourself. How about you tell me the whole story?"

"It started when I was thirteen…"

"Natalie!" Tabitha called. He saw her flinch and hang up her phone before looking back to him. He glared as she put her phone in pocket. He motioned for her and she walked over to him, her cheeks flushed. "Who were you talking to?"

"My mother." She replied all too quickly. He narrowed his eyes, not believing her one bit. He was the one who taught her how to lie. He didn't say anything, he knew it had to be that boy that she was talking to.

"Fine." He turned on his heel and returned inside. "Get ready for the mission and no more phone breaks. The boy can wait." He stalked off, ignoring her questioning face.

He was angry with her, he just didn't exactly know why.

"Tabitha. Darling, you need to get it together." Courtney muttered, popping up beside him. "Who cares if Natalie has a boyfriend? Maybe you should have made your move."

"Shut up!" He exclaimed, cheeks red.

"You know what…that boy…I know him." Courtney thought of it now, and Tabitha was glaring at her, wanting answers. She was regretting saying it, but, it was wrong of Natalie. "He's in Team Aqua. He's Shelly's right hand man."

"WHAT?!" He roared and grunts in the hallway scattered. "Does she know this!?"

"I don't think so. Why would she go be with him if she knew?" Courtney questioned, hoping Natalie could get herself out of this one.

He was pissed. Pissed as hell.

"Natalie isn't stupid. She knows."

Natalie got the cold shoulder from Tabitha all day. Her heart raced every time he came near, and not in a good way. She was ready for him to punch her, yell at her, scream at her, anything. The silence was driving her insane and she didn't know what to do.

So she followed orders to a T and did everything without questioning him.

The Weather Institute was a mess. It was raining and there were so many hostages. The place was not organized and getting what they want took forever. Natalie grabbed it out of the hands of a screaming scientist. "Do us all a favor and shut the hell up." Natalie snapped at him, glaring. "If you continue I'll have my pokemon chew your screaming face off." She stalked off, brushing past the other grunts.

"Do you have it?" Tabitha asked in the walkie talkie.

"Yes, commander, over. I'm heading out now." Natalie replied when she heard a crash. "S-Sir, is everything alright?"

"Police are here, over. Get out." Was all he said before she heard another crash. She took off, running down the stairs with other grunts behind her. It was suddenly cramped and she needed a way out. She ran to the back and kicked out the door, creeping out of it and trying to stay out of police sight.

They were surrounding the front of the building now and she was trapped. She had been like this before, but now, she felt alone. She felt out of place. She felt like Tabitha wasn't going to bail her out on this one. She crept around the back, sliding by the side to escape. The rain was coming now harder and the mud was slippery and dangerous.

"C-Commander…over?" She questioned into her mic, not seeing anyone else on her team.

"There you are." Tabitha startled her, holding onto her arm. He pulled her with him, going through the brush before freezing. "Don't you have the goods?"

"Yeah…" She mumbled, showing it to him. He took it from her and put it in his pocket to secure it and glanced around. Cops were starting to close in. He saw a flash of blue on the ledge above him.

"Shelly." He growled when he saw her orange hair. He glanced to Natalie before he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up. He ran off after the Aqua Commander. Natalie could take care of herself.

"Commander!" Natalie shouted, trying to lift herself up on the ledge, but failed horribly. She kept trying to but it was just exhausting her. "Commander!" She shouted again, trying to get help, but all it did was alert the cops where she was.

She ran. She ran past them like a child that got caught stealing candy. The cops shouted and went after her, but she kept running. She had never been on her own like this before, with a mob of cops behind her. She ran straight into the forest, hoping she could lose them.

There was no way Flygon could fly her home in this rain, and she had to get cover somewhere. She continued into the next town that was basically just treehouses. It was late now and she had lost the cops, but she couldn't stop here. The cops would be here soon looking for her, she knew it, so she blew through the town and kept going.

She was drenched and her legs had mud all over them and made them heavy. She slowed to a pathetic jog as she entered Lilycove. She was panting and crying at the same time and felt like utter shit.

Tabitha had left her high and dry to get arrested. He took the goods and went after Shelly. There was no way Courtney was right. He couldn't like Natalie.

She stopped at a house and knocked on the door, praying he was home.

"Whose knocking this late?" Cassius answered and froze, seeing Natalie there. She was drenched, her hood plastered to her back, her hair in her face, mud all over her lower half and she looked like she was crying. "Natalie, what the hell happened?!" He pulled her inside and shut the door.

"I-I'm sorry….but…I didn't have anywhere else…to go." She cried, wiping her cheeks as best as she could. "I…there was the raid at Weather Institute."

"Yeah, I saw you there. Didn't you get the goods?" Cassius questioned, guiding her to the upstairs bathroom. "Shelly was pissed about it…what happened?"

"He left me. Tabitha took the goods and went after Shelly and left me alone and outnumbered!" She shook now, angry. "He fucking betrayed me! I fucking followed him for three years and he left me!"

"Hey, shush, it's going to be fine. We'll take care of him, okay? Right now, get out of the clothes, get in the shower while I get you fresh clothes, and I'm getting you something to eat. Do I need to call someone?"

"Call Lily…you can tell her what happened. I told her. She knows about you too, sorry…" Natalie sniffed. Cassius patted her shoulder and left the room, shutting the door behind her. He grabbed his phone from his room and dialed the number. He left some of his clothes by the door and sighed.

"Hey, Lil, it's me, Cas. Yeah, I know, it's late, I'm sorry…Nate's here with me…raid went wrong but I got her so don't worry." He mumbled, heading downstairs to make her something to eat. "Yeah, yeah, I'll call you tomorrow…no problem…night." He hung up and sighed, heating up some soup.

"Uh.." Natalie appeared at the doorway in some of Cassius' boxers and one of his shirts. "Thanks…" She looked so tiny and fragile. "Shitty night."

"It was." Cassius agreed as she walked over and sat down on the bar stool near the island. "Here. Eat." He pushed the bowl of soup in front of her and handed her a spoon. She didn't argue and just took small sips. "So what now?"

"I don't know…Courtney told me Tabitha has feelings for me, but, if he did, he wouldn't have left me like that, right?" She questioned, looking at him. "And…he knows about you…Courtney does too. I don't think they know who you are, but they know I was with you last weekend. I don't know how they know."

"They're watching you?" He questioned, eyebrows raised. "What the hell? Do they have nothing better to do?"

"Apparently not, but, seriously, Cassius, you need to watch out." Nate told him, putting her spoon down. "I don't know how much they know and I don't know what they're going to do to you, or to Leighton." She said and Cassius' expression grew serious. Natalie knew bringing up Leighton would make Cassius take this seriously. "I'm worried about Lily."

"I'll take care of it." Cassius told her and rest his chin in his hand. "I'll just get Leighton out of here and then we can go sail away." He smirked and she rolled her eyes. "You can go sleep in my room tonight, okay? You look like you need sleep."

Cassius woke up the next morning, a little dazed. He yawned and rolled off of the couch and trudged into the kitchen, needing something to drink. It was only eight, but he figured Natalie might be up. Once he poured himself a glass of oran berry juice he noticed the note on the table written in a scribbly handwriting.

Cas,

Thanks a lot for last night. I guess I owe you one. Sorry for leaving early but you looked to be sleeping pretty hard and I wanted to leave before the entire city woke up, just incase.

Thanks again, Nate.

He set it back down and yawned, before looking at it again. Natalie did seem like the time to leave before you woke up, she must be awkward with thanking people. He sighed and tossed the note, drumming his fingers along the counter. He sipped his juice and looked out the window, trying to figure out what to do.

He actually had no clue what to do, so he put his glass in the sink and went to get dressed.

"Open up." Cassius banged on Leighton's door as a group of wingulls flew overhead.

"What?" Jordan questioned, opening the front door with an annoyed face. Cassius walked in, despite Jordan's glares. Jordan slammed the door shut, tired of his girlfriend's partner in crime. He glanced around, looking for the brunette.

"Yo, Leighton!" He called and she poked her head out of her room and Mikhail poked his head out of his room. "We got an issue."

"What is it?" She questioned, coming out of the room.

"You need to leave the region." He told her bluntly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Magma spotted Natalie with me, which means they spot you. I don't know how much they know, but they know, and that's not good."

"What?!" All three of them said at the same time.

"I'm looking out for you three. If they get their hands on you, Natalie can't save you and I can't save you." He shook his head, looking at them. "You guys need to bow out and leave as soon as you can."

"No way, we aren't done here." Mikhail was the first to argue back, sending Cassius a pissed off look. "You can't just go bossing us around."

"I can when I'm trying to save your life." Cassius growled, not playing nice anymore. "You know what happened last night? A drenched, freezing, mud covered Natalie showed up at my doo. Tabitha found out she had spent the weekend here with me, whether or not he knows who I am is up in the air, but he left her hanging on their mission last night. Left her surrounded with cops." He continued, trying to get through their thick skulls. "Tabitha did that to his own right hand grunt. What do you think he'll do to you?"

"He did that to her?" Leighton questioned, scared now. Natalie was fierce and a force to be reckon with. Leighton wasn't so sure what to do now. She thought this would be fun, but now everything was a mess.

"That's why you need to leave."

"We'll think about it." Jordan said, crossing his arms. "We have things to finish up here, and it's not like we can just hop on a boat and leave. Not like you."

"Look, my boat is in kanto. Lot good it will do getting me out of here. I can't leave until you three leave. I can't leave you here to get killed." Cassius was starting to lose his temper with this. "Don't be idiotic you three. Seriously! You think you're strong enough to take them, but, you aren't. I'm not strong enough, Natalie's not strong enough. We don't want to fight. We can't fight."

"So you're going to run?" Mikhail questioned, rolling his eyes.

"I know I act like it's no big deal, but I've been putting up with getting the shit beat out of me and almost getting arrested for the past three years. You think I don't know what I'm talking about?" Cassius questioned, shutting Mikhail up. "We have work at noon, be on time or be out of the region." He told Leighton before he brushed past them and left the house.

"You're alright, right?" Lily questioned when she saw Nate come in through the front door. "Cas called me, I was so worried!"

"I'm fine…it was just a shit job." She grumbled, going to take off her uniform and wash it before her mother returned home, whenever that was. "I had to crash with Cassius, too many cops to get home."

"Natalie….you're my best friend and I know you've been doing this for years…but…maybe it's time to quit?" Lily suggested, a little nervous at what her friend would say. She didn't want Natalie to get angry at her, but she was worried.

"Maybe.." Natalie sighed, taking her hood off and tossing it in the washing machine. "It's getting too much now. We're close to our goal and I think I can do this anymore. They know who Cassius is, well, maybe not that he's in Team Aqua, but, still. If they know him, they know you, and I don't want them anywhere near you."

"I can take them!" Lily exclaimed, balling her hands in fists. "But, my parents said you and I can come visit whenever we want…"

"That doesn't sound bad." Natalie mumbled, thinking it over. Going off to Kanto would be great and she'd be free from Team Magma's grip.

"Cassius can come…Leighton and Mikhail and Jordan can to." Lily offered, hoping to persuade Natalie.

"I'll see…" She mumbled, making Lily happy. "We have to plan it just right. We all have to leave at the same time, or it just won't work. They'll be onto us."

"I'll call my parents now!" Lily jumped in excitement and ran to get her phone, leaving Nate to finish with her uniform.