Chapter 14

Tuesday, November 1st

Seated at the kitchen table, Casey found herself wide awake as she observed Ash. He was even more chipper than he was the day before as he prepared their breakfast. Ash was humming and grooving as he worked around the counter, quickly putting together a plate for each of his sisters.

"Alright, who's ready to eat?" Ash asked as he picked up a plate in each hand, turning to approach the table.

"I am!" Macy declared, kicking her feet in anticipation. Ash chuckled as he approached them, setting down the plates in front of them which caused Casey to snort at the sight of her breakfast.

"I might have been wrong about yesterday being a fluke Ash, maybe you can cook." Casey noted, earning a narrow glance from Ash.

"I'll have you know that Cassidy was the one who taught me how to cook. Any stab you take at my cooking is a stab at Cassidy's." Ash pointed out as he cut up Macy's omelet before returning her fork. "Now eat up. Your bus will be here in fifteen minutes."

Casey stuck out her tongue at him before she began to eat. Ash then fixed himself a plate and took the third seat the table, joining the girls as they ate. Casey had an appetite that was almost on par with Ash's, allowing her to devour her breakfast before she said a quick goodbye. Dashing out the kitchen to collect her bag and meet the bus, Casey made it to the front door where she found someone waiting for her outside.

Ash perked up a bit at the sound of Casey speaking with someone.

"Ash! Mr. Cheeves is here!" Casey shouted, and this caused him to pause mid chew. Mr. Cheeves? Then he remember that today was the first day of the month. Mr. Cheeves was here for the rent.

Swallowing as he rose from his seat, Ash went out to the front door where the older man was waiting for him. He smiled warmly at Ash who greeted him with a small wave.

"Morning Mr. Cheeves."

"Good morning Ash, beautiful day isn't it?" He asked Ash who nodded. "I heard there was an ambulance here the other day, is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, everything is just fine." Ash said, giving the man a thumbs up.

"I see." He said before taking a deep breath. "Well I'd like to speak with Cassidy if she's available."

Ash shook his head in response.

"Not at the moment. She hasn't been feeling well the last few days but she told me you'd be dropping by this morning for the rent right?" Ash asked him and Mr. Cheeves confirmed with a nod. "She left me the money for you. I'll be right back with it."

"That's Cassidy for you, always thinking ahead." Mr. Cheeves pointed out with a smile which caused Ash to grin in return. Cassidy's forethought was to be praised.

Ash invited Mr. Cheeves to wait in the living room while he went upstairs to retrieve the rent money. His footsteps in the upstairs walkway caused Pikachu to perk up in its little bed, and it followed him into his room. It watched as Ash knelt down beside his bed, reaching underneath it to pull out the gray duffle bag that had been hidden away. The two of them remained silent as Ash unzipped the bag which revealed its contents.

Thousands of dollars were neatly bound together within it, along with well over thirty Potions. Seeing all of this reminded Pikachu of what they had gone through the night Ash had received this bag.

They had suffered a one sided beating from a gang of trainers that belonged to the White Lotus.

Ash sighed deeply as he went through a bundle of bills, counting out twenty-two hundred dollars for Mr. Cheeves.

"You know Pikachu, I was actually saving this money to get you a Pokeball, but I'm going to have to put that on hold for now." Ash commented as he glanced at Pikachu. It gave him a frown in return.

"Pika." It said with disdain.

"Well I have to get you one Pikachu." Ash replied. "I can't go around town with you in my backpack forever. Besides, I thought you hated hiding in my backpack."

"Pi-ka. Pikapi." Pikachu retorted as it stood up and crossed its arms.

"You can't be serious Pikachu. You're always complaining about my backpack." Ash pointed out, causing Pikachu to protest indignantly. "You can say what you want Pikachu, but I'm getting you a Pokeball as soon as I can. End of story."

Pikachu blew a raspberry at him before it scampered out of the room, leaving him to count the money one final time. Completing this task, Ash zipped up the duffle bag and tucked it underneath his bed again. On his way back to the living room, Ash made a brief stop at the hallway closet to get an envelope to put the money inside of.

"Here you go Mr. Cheeves." Ash said as he approached the man, placing the envelope in his hands. Mr. Cheeves accepted it kindly, and opened it up to check its contents. Ash could see the confusion in his expression as he looked at the money.

"Oh, you're paying in cash this time?" He asked, looking up at Ash.

"Is that a problem?" Ash asked him in return, keeping his tone neutral.

"No no at all. I'm just accustomed to Cassidy paying with a check." Mr. Cheeves explained.

"Well we're paying two month's worth this time, that's why it's in cash." Ash replied, earning a nod from the gentleman.

"Thank you very much Ash. Send my regards to Cassidy."

"Will do." Ash said as Mr. Cheeves slowly rose from the sofa. Walking Mr. Cheeves to the door, Ash waved as he left before shutting the door. He then returned to the kitchen where he found Pikachu on the table picking at his breakfast, and Macy giggling as she watched.

"Hey, back off you little moocher!" Ash yapped at Pikachu who darted off the table. Taking a seat beside Macy, the two of them finished their breakfast with some small talk of Macy's plans for the day. Her plan mainly involved watching TV and coloring like she had the day before, and Ash was completely fine with that. She would be busy for a while, which would afford him some time to make a call.

Finishing their breakfast, Ash collected their plates and cleaned them off in the sink. Meanwhile, Macy had gone to her room to retrieve her coloring book and crayons. Once she had collected these items, she returned to the living room to begin her own project as she waited for Ash.

Joining his sister in the living room, Ash took a moment to observe her laying on the floor with the book in front of her, scribbling away at a new page. She glanced back at him, and Ash raised his brow momentarily at him. She grinned a bit before looking at her book, leaving Ash to take a seat on the couch and take out his phone. He pulled up Brock in his contact list and gave him a call.

"Ash, what are you calling so early for?" Brock asked over all of the background noise at his job. The shouts of other men along with the repetitive beeping from a truck that was driving in reverse.

"Sorry man, I know you're at work but I just had to ask you a few things." Ash replied.

"It's not a big deal, I haven't gone on break yet so this will give me an excuse to." Brock responded with a chuckle. "Just give me a minute, I gotta let the guys know I'm stepping away. "

Ash could hear Brock begin to call out to someone that he would be taking his break. They exchanged some words for a bit before Brock brought the phone back to his ear to speak with Ash.

"So what's going on?" Brock inquired as he took some distance from his work, the background noise fading away as he did so.

"I went back to the hospital yesterday." Ash began, and Brock didn't waste a moment jumping into the subject.

"How's Cassidy doing?" He interjected, and he could quickly assumed that things weren't going well since Ash paused before answering.

"She's in a coma now." Ash stated, and he could hear Brock sigh deeply.

"So...what are you going to do?"

"Same thing I said Sunday. I can handle this myself." Ash insisted. "My biggest problem right now is the hospital bill. Cassidy doesn't have insurance."

"How much is it?"

"We're looking at forty thousand as the total at the end of this month." Ash stated, causing Brock to whistle over the phone.

"How are you going to get that?" Brock asked, analyzing the situation.

"Well I'm sitting on eighteen thousand dollars right now...actually I just paid two month's rent so it's down to sixteen." Ash went on. "I'll figure out how to get the money, but I just wanted to ask you something. I paid my landlord in cash and he seemed a little bothered by it. That got me thinking, a hospital wouldn't accept ten grand in cash, would they?"

There was silence in response as Brock mulled over the question. Money is money. There was no way the hospital would turn down the money from him...but at the same time there all sorts of questions they might have. Like, why does a seventeen year old boy have such a large sum of cash on hand?

"They would take it Ash, it's money after all." Brock said and Ash nodded to himself. "That's not to say that no one will be suspicious. It'd be pretty weird for you to show up with all of that money at the hospital."

"So what are you saying?" Ash asked him with a small frown. Things were getting complicated for no reason. They wanted money, and he had it. Why would it be weird that he wanted to pay them the debt they owed?

"Pay it in chunks." Brock stated. "Don't do it all at once. It'll look a little less suspicious if you paid out a bill like this over time."

"Oh, I understand what you mean." Ash said, stroking his chin with his free hand.

"I'll just give you a heads up Ash, I think it'd be smart to open a bank account at some point in the future." Brock added, but before he could explain why there was some chatter in the background. Ash could hear Brock begin to speak with someone else before groaning audibly. "Ash I gotta go for now."

"Real quick though Brock, can you watch Macy and Casey for me later today?" Ash asked quickly.

"Uhh, what time?"

"I'm working from three to eight today." Ash answered.

"Yeah, that's no problem my man."

"Awesome, I owe you one. It looks like I'll see you later then."

Ending his call with Brock, Ash returned his focus to Macy whose attention was still wrapped up in her coloring book. She was kicking her feet as she hummed softly, and Ash couldn't help but grow jealous of her ignorance. Macy had no idea what was taking place around her, and Ash wished that he could just ignore it all well. With a brief snort, Ash threw that thought of his head as he leaned over to see how Macy was doing.

"Macy~" Ash began in a nasally voice, receiving her attention. "You went out of the lines again."

"It looks better like this." She replied, causing Ash to laugh as he got off the couch to join her on the floor.

"So Macy, do you remember Brock?" Ash asked her as she put down her crayons.

"Ummm, no I don't think so." She replied after some thought. Ash knew that she had met Brock on a few occasions, but their exchanges had been very short. Perhaps tonight would be a chance for Brock to leave a lasting impression on her.

"Well he's going to be watching you and Casey tonight while I'm at work." Ash revealed to her. "Brock is really funny, I think you'll like him. But you have to promise me that you'll be good for him, okay?"

"O-kay." She replied with a nod.

"Good, now let me show you how this is done." Ash replied as he took a pair of crayons along with Macy's book.

Standing in one of the aisles within the craft store he worked at, Ash stared blankly at one of the shelves, his mind lost in the events that took place earlier today.

His return trip to the hospital had come with some positive results. Under Brock's direction, Ash decided to cover the initial bill to the hospital in three payments. Today he dropped off the first portion of that, three thousand dollars.

Meeting with Anita in the billing department again, Ash was happy to place this money directly in her hands. After counting what she had received from Ash, Anita openly admitted that she hadn't been expecting him to return so quickly. Ash responded by sharing that Cassidy would kill him for procrastinating, especially if money is involved.

He would return later this week with another three thousand dollars and keep chipping away at this bill. As he left the hospital earlier, Ash found it hard to believe that he had already spent roughly a third of the eighteen thousand dollars he had been holding onto in just two days. He was down to just under thirteen thousand, most of which was dedicated to covering the hospital bill depending on how long Cassidy remained there.

His day dragged from there as he went back home with Macy to prepare for work. Once again his school had called to let Cassidy know that he hadn't come in again. Ash ignored the message as it played, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid this forever. Sooner or later he would have to decide whether he would attend school or not.

For the most part, this subject had dominated his thoughts while he was at work.

School was his biggest obstacle at the moment. As much as Cassidy reinforced the importance of education, school was nothing but a thorn in his side now. As long as he was a student, there was a limit to how much he would work during the week, and he needed to work more now. How else was he going to take care of Casey and Macy?

If he dropped out of school, he could find a day-care for Macy and start working at the craft store full-time. But would this be enough money for him to take care of everything? Not to mention the hospital bill. He needed to make more money than this.

He needed a better job...

But he was only seventeen, who was going to offer him a well-paying job?

"Don't forget what I said now. The Red Skulls are always looking for good trainers. My boss would have the final say, but if I put in a good word for you I'm sure you'll get in."

Hun, a member of the Red Skulls, had told him this just two days ago.

The Red Skulls had paid him handsomely each time he helped them. If he had done a few more jobs for them and received the same rate of pay, it wouldn't be a problem to cover their expenses. In fact, things would be easier if he worked with them more often.

So was this the best decision for him?

Ash blinked a few times, hearing someone snap their fingers beside his ear.

"Ash?" Wallace repeated, finally receiving his attention.

"Oh uh, sorry." Ash said with a chuckle, realizing that he had been staring off into space.

"Is everything alright Ash?" Wallace asked him as he motioned for Ash to follow him. Together they made their way to the back of the store where Wallace's office was located.

"Mmm, yeah." Ash replied slowly, but Wallace was too perceptive to let this slide.

"Are you sure?" He pressed, and Ash pursed his lips. "You didn't stop by to pick up your paycheck last Friday, and yesterday it slipped my mind until after you had left."

"Oh shoot, I completely forgot too." Ash exclaimed. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten about his paycheck, but with the weekend he just had, he could see how he had managed to forget.

Entering Wallace's office, Ash glanced at the clock on his desk and noticed that he only had about ten minutes left in his shift. Business was slow from the afternoon into the night, so Ash had spent almost all of this time in his thoughts. In fact he could hardly remember what he had done during his shift. Shaking his head a bit, Ash focused since he was certain that Wallace wanted to speak with him.

"Here ya go." Wallace said as he extended Ash's check toward him.

"Thanks." Ash said as he accepted the envelope and tucked it into his back pocket.

"So what's going on right now?" Wallace asked him as he went to the entrance of his office and shut the door. "You've been completely distracted today. Does this have anything to do with our discussion from yesterday?"

Ash sighed audibly and he took a moment to appreciate Wallace's concern for him.

"My mom is in the hospital." Ash began. He had never gone over the finer details of his personal life with Wallace. "I'm just trying to figure out how to take care of my sisters until she gets out."

Wallace remained silent for a moment, carefully considering what he would say next. Ash's work ethic was second to none. When he came to work, he gave it one hundred and ten percent. So with how out of it Ash seemed to be, Wallace could tell that this situation weighed heavily on his mind.

"I'm really sorry to hear that Ash. I hope everything works out for your mom." Wallace began. "I don't know if you've forgotten, but you have some vacation time saved up. Feel free to use it right now if you have to. Believe me, things will be just fine here if you take some time to yourself."

"Of course it will. You're running this place after all." Ash noted with a grin.

"Thanks." Wallace said with a nod. "But don't shrug off what I told you. If you need a day off don't hesitate to ask."

"Don't worry about it." Ash insisted, waving off his comment. "And thanks for checking on me, I really appreciate it."

Wallace gave Ash a nod as the young man left his office, heading to the break room to retrieve his belongings. As he pulled his backpack out of the locker, Ash felt his phone buzz within his pants pocket. Taking out the device, he saw that he had a message from Brock. He was waiting outside of the store.

'Aren't you supposed to be with the girls?' Ash responded as he threw his backpack over his shoulder and left the break room.

'I've got someone watching them. I thought you might want a lift back home.' Brock replied causing him to shrug his shoulders. He only lived a few blocks away from the craft store so the walk wasn't long at all, but he wouldn't make a big deal out of this. Making his way to the front of the store, Ash quickly clocked out to end his shift and stopped at one of the cashiers to cash his check. It wasn't much, one hundred and twelve dollars.

'Oof, that sucks.' Ash said to himself as he signed the check and passed it to the cashier. She quickly counted out the bills for him, which he tucked into his wallet. Giving her a wave as she left, Ash stepped out of the store and found Brock's car waiting outside the main entrance, just as he said. The base was blasting, and he could see Brock swinging his head to the music in the front seat which caused Ash to laugh openly.

Arriving at the passenger door, Ash opened up the door and as soon as he entered he places his hand on the volume knob.

"Geez Brock, why do you have to have this so loud?" Ash asked now that he could hear himself speak.

"Hey man, where's the fun in listening to music quietly?" Brock asked him in return. Ash snorted in response and motioned for Brock to start driving. Taking them out of the parking lot, Brock swung out onto the main road but Ash immediately noticed that they were heading in the opposite direction of his home.

"Where are we going?" Ash asked him.

"I just thought we'd take a little detour." Brock replied casually.

"O-kay." Ash said before leaning into his seat. Then another thought occurred to him. "So who's watching Casey and Macy?"

"Trevor wanted to talk to me so he stopped by not too long ago. I asked him to watch them while I picked you up." Brock explained, and Ash nodded. Brock shot him a quick glance as they came to a stop at a red light. "So Ash..."

"Yeah?"

"What's your plan?"

"Plan for what?"

"Don't be like that Ash." Brock stated knowingly. "You know what I'm talking about. What are you going to do with the girls if Cassidy doesn't wake up soon? There's no way you can take care of them on your own."

"What makes you say that?" Ash asked him in return, almost offended. Brock sighed in response, realizing that this was a touchy subject for Ash.

"Ash, I'm not doubting you or anything. But..." Brock paused, mulling of his thoughts briefly. Then he nodded to himself as he decided to explain himself fully. "-Okay, when my parents had me they were young, way too young. They thought they could handle it, and boy did that blow up in their face. In the end they had to live with my mom's parents until they could manage on their own because kids are expensive."

"That's no secret to me Brock." Ash retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"So how do you plan to keep up with everything?" Brock asked again, causing Ash to look out of the passenger window to conceal his expression from Brock.

"I was thinking about dropping out of school."

An almost awkward silence set in, and Ash could tell that Brock was processing this idea. Ash had expected as much from his close friend. Even though Brock had his back, he knew that Brock wouldn't approve of this.

"Now before you tell me this is a bad idea, listen to this." Ash interjected before Brock could voice his concerns. "Last weekend when I worked with the Red Skulls, the guy I was with told me that they're looking for more trainers. He said he would put in a good word for me if I wanted to join, and that would get me in. If I'm working with them I'll be making a lot of money, and I'll actually be able to train consistently with Pikachu."

Seeing Brock remain silent, Ash assumed that he was seriously considering his plan.

Brock gulped audibly as he slowed down, pulling onto shoulder of the road. Hearing Ash's suggestion brought back a recent discussion with Serena.

"Brock, all of this is way too dangerous for him...you're here letting him think that it's okay to run around town with a group of thugs and their Pokemon!"

Brock sighed. Maybe...maybe he had made a mistake getting Ash involved with the Red Skulls. He had never intended for Ash to work with them full time.

"Come on Ash, you can't be serious." Brock began, causing Ash to deflate a little. "I know you're trying to do what you can, but just take a moment and step back from everything. You're what, seventeen years old? It's not your place to jeopardize your own future for your family's sake."

"Are you kidding me?" Ash exclaimed indignantly. "You're the one that's always preaching 'family over everything!' Are you seriously telling me to turn my back on them?"

"That's not what I mean Ash. I'm just saying that you're barely an adult. The family you have right now isn't your responsibility. Whether you want to admit it or not, Cassidy is the one that brought you all together. You're not in any position to pick up all of the responsibilities she had, and that's just the way it is." Brock insisted, causing Ash to exhale exasperatedly.

"So what am I supposed to do, just wait until foster care finds out that Cassidy can't take care of us so that they can come and take Casey and Macy away?" Ash asked him, his hands clenched into tight fists. "I'd sooner die than see that happen!"

"Okay, okay, let's talk hypothetically. Say you did drop out of school and joined the Red Skulls, do you know how much time you'll have to invest with them? Who is going to watch the girls for you if you have to spend some extended time with the Skulls like you do each month?" Brock listed some questions off for him, causing Ash to think of some of the finer details he hadn't considered.

How much time would he have to devote to the Red Skulls? Who would watch the girls? What if Cassidy's coma persisted and she remained in the hospital? What if he fell into debt trying to pay for this bill? How much more time would he have to give up? What would Casey and Macy say if he was hardly around all of a sudden?

"Damn it." He muttered with a defeated groan. "I-I don't know what I'm supposed to do. No matter what, it just feels like I don't have an answer for anything."

Brock spent a moment in thought, then he reached to controls of his car radio to change the song that was playing. Once it started, he began to drive again. It took a few moments for Ash to recognize the beat of song that was playing, and he couldn't deny that Brock's choice in music could be impeccable at times. He began to whisper the lyrics, but upon arriving at the chorus of the song, Ash found himself staring incredulously at Brock.

"We all need, some-body, to lean~ on!" Brock sang out in a cringe-worthy voice over the music. Ash placed a hand against his cheek and shook his head at his friend's antics. It took every ounce of his being to hide the smile on his face, but that was something Ash could always count on Brock for. Even in the worst of situations, Brock would find a way to make people smile.

As he entered his home, Ash was greeted by a familiar voice before he could even take off his shoes.

"Ashy's here!" Macy exclaimed as she came rushing out of the living room with her coloring book in hand.

"Hey Macy." Ash said to her happily as she came to a stop in front of him, and held up her book proudly.

"Look!" She declared as he reached down, accepting the book from her. Upon seeing the page she had opened to, a smile broke out on Ash's face.

"Wow Macy, you stayed in the lines this time!" Ash said as he kneeled down, beginning to ruffle her hair to heap the praise on her. Macy beamed brightly with a giggle.

"Serena helped me." She explained, and this caused Ash to raise an eyebrow.

"Serena's here?" Ash asked and Macy nodded to him. As Ash straightened up, he glanced at Brock but his friend refused to make eye contact with him.

"Let's go Ashy, she's waiting." Macy said as she tugged at the leg of his pants, motioning for him to follow her into the living room. She led him into the largest room of their home, and Ash felt his chest become tight when he saw what was waiting for him there.

All of his friends.

Serena, Shauna, Miette, Tierno, Valerie and Trevor. All of them were in his living room, seated on the floor or sofa. They had been watching a movie with Casey and Macy which they had paused now that Ash was standing into the entrance to the room, staring at them in shock.

"What's happening Ash?" Tierno asked him with a quick wave.

"A little birdie told us you needed a baby sitter tonight." Miette added, and Ash looked toward Brock once again. This time however, Brock was looking straight at him with a wide grin on his face.

Ash sucked in his lips, and then raised a hand to cover his mouth. He couldn't believe that all of his friends were here! A lump formed in his throat as he glanced around the room once more, observing each of them. He wanted to thank each and every one of them, but he didn't trust his voice. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Ash saw out of the corner of his eyes that it was Brock trying to console him.

"No need to say anything Ash, just take it easy for tonight." Brock said, motioning to the sofa. Valerie and Tierno were seated together, but they quickly made space for Ash to join them. Taking a seat, Ash leaned back into the chair with a sigh of relief, glad that this day was finally over.

Discovering Macy looking up at him expectantly, Ash scooped her up in his arms and placed her on his lap as they resumed the movie. It was a comedy, one that he was certain Tierno had picked considering how corny the first joke was. It wasn't long before Ash's eyes became heavy and then they shut for good.

"Oh my god, that's adorable." Shauna whispered, being the first to notice that Ash had fallen asleep. Macy was still seated on his lap, but she had also fallen asleep, leaning back against Ash's chest. Shauna and Miette quickly took out their phones to get a few pictures of this.

"What are you guys doing?" Serena whispered harshly at the two of them. Shauna merely stuck her tongue out, but Miette always had a response for everything.

"Hey, this could be good blackmail material down the road." Miette suggested before Ash shifted on the sofa, placing his head onto Tierno's shoulder. "Oh, it's definitely blackmail material now."

"Make sure you send me one." Tierno whispered to them, and Shauna gave him a thumbs up as a promise to do so.

Serena could only roll her eyes at the duo as they snapped several pictures of Ash. As her gaze settled onto the target of their phone cameras, Serena fought off her urge to smile at him. She was still upset with him for their last 'conversation' earlier this week.

"I know you're better than this Serena...you never let people shape your opinion, so why are you letting them tell you how you should look at me?"

No matter how much she tried to shut out that conversation, Ash's final words to her continued to invade her thoughts.

Serena had never cared what other people had thought of Pokemon. The opinion she had of Pokemon was one she had built on her own. The media had nothing to do with her thoughts. She knew firsthand how dangerous Pokemon could be, and she didn't want to see Ash become the victim of an… accident.

It didn't seem to matter what anyone said to Ash, nothing steered him away from Pokemon. In fact, it was starting to look like the opposition was only pushing him to pursue Pokemon training even more vigorously. Why was Ash so drawn to Pokemon?

Taking another look at the person in question, Serena focused on Macy and tilted her head. Even though Ash was sound asleep, he still had an arm wrapped around the small girl protectively. If there was anything Serena was certain about, it was that the women in his life meant the world to him. Serena understood that Ash wanted more money to stabilize their lives, and Pokemon training could earn him some large sums of money. Was that the reason he was throwing himself in harm's way?

Rising from her spot on the floor, Serena squeezed her way through Shauna and Miette so that she could approach Ash and Macy. Leaning over, she loosened Ash's grip on his sister, allowing her to pick up Macy. He stirred slightly, but settled back into his slumber. Now with Macy in her arms, Serena made her way to the exit of the living room before she heard the top of a marker pop off. Looking back, she saw Casey standing over Ash with a blue marker, prepared to add a few thoughtful...designs to his complexion.

"Are you guys' crazy?" Serena whispered at them, but the entire group grinned back at her. Rolling her eyes again, Serena left them, making a mental note to ask for some of those pictures later on.

Heading up to Macy's room, Serena laid her down on her bed and raised the covers over her. Macy immediately curled up beneath her covers, a few dolls accompanying her on the bed. It was just too cute for Serena to suppress a smile. Macy had no idea how lucky she was to have Ash watching over her.

Taking a glance up at the mural Ash had painted on the wall, Serena could only sigh at the masterpiece. The first time Serena had seen it was she left in awe. She was absolutely baffled by Ash's talent, and she wouldn't admit it openly but she was also envious.

"Psst, Serena."

The brunette yelped in surprise before turning to see Brock standing at the entrance to Macy's room.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Can you come down to the kitchen, I want to talk with you." Brock stated and left before she could reply. Serena raised her brow at this.

"Sleep tight Macy." Serena said to the small girl before she rose to her feet and shut off the lamp. Heading back downstairs, Serena immediately noticed that the living room was empty now save for Ash and Casey. Ash was still sound asleep with Casey now seated next to him, watching the movie that they had started. With an expression of confusion, Serena then proceeded to the kitchen where she found everyone waiting on her. "What's going on?"

Serena looked to Miette for an answer, but she only shrugged her shoulders and pointed at Brock.

"M'kay, we have everyone here." Brock began. "So first, I want thank you guys for coming tonight."

"What's with the introduction Brock? I thought we came for a movie?" Trevor pointed out, getting a few agreements from the others.

"That's what I said. But, I actually wanted to talk with you guys all at once. About Ash." Brock said and this silenced everyone.

"I thought he was acting a bit weird." Miette noted.

"That's one way to put it. Ash is in a tough spot right now. His foster mom is in the hospital and they don't know when she might come out." Brock explained, surprising them.

"Cassidy is in the hospital?" Serena repeated with an expression of shock, and Brock nodded to her.

"Yeah, she had some kind of heart attack, and it hasn't been pretty since. So Ash is trying to watch the girls right now. Basically, he can't leave them alone. If someone finds out they don't have a legal guardian here, Casey and Macy will get taken back into foster care." Brock revealed, earning a few gasps. Serena felt her chest tighten at this prospect.

If something like this happened, she had no idea how Ash would take it.

"Macy's so cute, we can't let that happen!" Shauna exclaimed.

"That's why I called you guys here tonight. I was hoping we could… work together to help Ash out. He told me he's thinking about dropping out of school to focus on making money." Brock continued. "He thinks that, joining the Red Skulls is his best option at the moment."

Joining the Red Skulls?!

Everyone present shared a glance, realizing how grim the situation was if Ash had turned to this.

"I've heard some stories about those guys. They're not the type of crowd he should be around." Miette said disapprovingly.

"He's not thinking anymore. He just looking for the fastest way to fix his problems." Brock pointed out, and some of them gave a nod of understanding. It was easy to become shortsighted when you're overwhelmed.

Ash was poised to throw away everything if they let him go through with this.

"So what can we do for him?" Valerie asked softly causing everyone to look at her. Her usually cheerful and easy going demeanor was replaced with a stern expression, her eyes filled with valor. The situation seemed to light a fire within her. All eyes then shifted to Brock for the plan they would follow.

"The first thing he needs is an intervention. He still hasn't really decided what he's going to do, so we have a really good chance to set him straight before he can do something stupid." Brock explained, pinching the bridge of his nose as he thought about the next step. "Then I think he just needs help to watch the girls. I don't want him ditching school to watch them, so if we can work out some sort of schedule to help him I'm sure that'll make him relax some more."

Serena crossed her arms in front of her chest as she listened to Brock. She was impressed with his thoughtfulness. Brock was going to great lengths for Ash, just in an effort to help Ash look at things objectively. However, it became abundantly clear to her that Ash was keeping in close contact with Brock. She could see why Ash trusted Brock so much, but it kind of hurt to know that he wasn't willing to confide in her anymore.

"You've given this some serious thought Brock." Valerie noted, shooting Brock a kind smile. "I'll be happy to help."

"Yeah, I'm on board too!" Shauna added and soon enough Brock was smiling as almost everyone voiced their desire to help. The only person left was Serena.

Shauna glanced at her friend, a look of concern on her face. She was certain that Serena was still trying to swallow her last discussion with Ash. If there was one thing Shauna knew about Serena, it was that she wasn't a spiteful person and Serena quickly proved this to be true.

"I'll help out as best I can." She stated, and Brock beamed since everyone had agreed to help.

Ash truly had a fantastic group of friends.

"So Brock, when do you intend to talk with him?" Valeria asked curiously.

"As soon as he wakes up." Brock responded.

"Awugh, when who wakes up?"

Everyone turned to see Ash standing in the kitchen entrance, startling Serena with a yawn. An awkward silence set in as everyone started at Ash's face, seeing that a large mustache and monocle had been drawn onto his skin earlier. They had all completely forgotten about what they had done to him, and all of them had to fight off their urge to burst into a fit of laughter.

"What's the matter with you guys?" Ash asked them, confused by their stares. He began to scratch at his upper lip as he did so, which caused Valerie of all people to stifle a laugh. This small moment of weakness caused Shauna to break out in a giggle, and the laughter poured forth. Ash looked around at them in search of an answer for what had caused them to laugh. Seeing Tierno pointing at him, Ash quickly checked his clothes but they were exactly how he left them. So that left his face...

Ash stomped off to the bathroom upstairs, allowing Casey to step into the kitchen as she held her sides.

"Did you guys see him?" She asked, but Brock raised a hand motioning for everyone to quiet down. They heard Ash throw open the door to the bathroom and flip on the light to look in the mirror.

"Hey, who the hell drew on my face!?"

Laughter ensued.

A/N

I believe this was my shortest chapter since chapter three. Most of them are usually pushing 10k words, so a shorter one felt nice. The next chapter and final chapter of this story arc should be out next week. It should put a nice pretty little bow on everything before move onto a new arc, one that I'm super excited to start posting.

Again I have to give credit for my inspiration. 'Lean on Me' by Bill Withers was the foundation of this chapter as well as the following one. This song is from before my time though so if you're a younger person, the cast of 'Glee' also did a fantastic rendition of this song that does it some serious justice.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, I have an amazing beta-reader in MjrGenMatt! I can't thank him enough for all of his help!

I don't have anything else to say this time but to thank you all for reading as always and give me some feedback if you feel the urge to do so. I can't wait to see you all again, so until next time everyone, have a good one!