why didn't I post this sooner it's been done for two months


Cassius cracked his back and yawned, tired from work. It was sort of late now and he was wondering if he should eat or just go straight to bed when he felt like someone was watching him. He looked around, not seeing anyone on the empty street. He shrugged it off and continued, but the feeling didn't get any better.

"What do you want?" Cassius questioned, stopping and looking around once more. It was probably a petty thief.

"For you to stay away from my grunt." Tabitha growled, stepping out of an alley way with a few grunts behind him. Cassius turned to look at him, his gut telling him to run, but he was sure they'd catch him, and if he ran, Nate might get in trouble.

"What?" Cassius opted to play dumb, wondering if he could get himself out of this. "What does Team Magma want with me?"

"Don't play dumb, you idiotic Aqua grunt. I know you don't have any water in your ears, so you heard me." Tabitha crossed his arms, furious. This was the boy Natalie had been talking to? He looked like a surfer boy who wore flip flops far too much. What did she find attractive about him? "Stay away from Natalie."

"Why should I?" Cassius questioned, dumping the act. It never worked anyway. "It's not like we're dating or anything. Does she know you're here?"

"She thinks I'm an idiot, obviously." Tabitha growled, ready to punch Cassius in the face. "She's been distant lately and I have a feeling it's your doing. I don't know what you're telling her or what you're doing to her, but it's going to stop."

"All I'm doing is being a friend. I'm not trying to control her life." Cassius argued against the male. He could tell Tabitha liked Natalie, but, Natalie no longer returned his feelings, and that was bothering him. "You're just angry she's not following you around like a lost skitty."

"Shut up, waterboy." Tabitha narrowed his eyes and glanced back to his grunts. "I'm angry because some low life like you thinks he's important to her."

"Oh, so are you here on her behalf? You weren't last night when you left her in the pouring rain, surrounded by cops." He knew he should shut up, because he was going to get Natalie in trouble, but honestly, they were both in trouble now. He had gotten a missed call from Lily early, her voicemail telling him she had important news about an awesome fun trip she had planned for all of them. He was eager to return the call, but had forgotten until now.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I got a knock on my door last night from her. She was drenched, cold, covered in mud, and completely and utterly betrayed by you." He nodded his head and glared, not backing down now. "Least I'm there for her. Maybe she likes me because I'm not a boring ass?"

"What?"

"Oh, you heard me, ya hot head." Cassius smirked at how angry Tabitha was getting. "You're angry because Natalie likes me better than she likes you. She's the only girl to ever give you attention, right? I know I'm drop dead gorgeous, but come on, man, lighten up. No need to be so jealous."

"You're about to drop dead. You and that brunette brat of yours." Tabitha shot back and Cassius froze, smirk fading off his face.

"You keep your dirty fucking hands away from her." He was ready to fight him now. No one threatened Leighton. "She's on my turf. She's mine."

"And Natalie is mine." Tabitha told him, happy that he got under Cassius' skin.

"Natalie is her own person, Leighton is not. She's a kid. She doesn't know what she's doing." Cassius knew Leighton was only a year younger than him, but she grew up wealthy. She was a spoiled brat that was trying to explore the world out from under her parents' grasp. She was trying to change and open her eyes more. Cassius wasn't going to let Tabitha near her.

"She's a kid that's in my way. I'll do anything to get to my goal."

Cassius felt his blood boil and his hand was balling up into a fist and slamming into Tabitha's mouth before he realized it. Tabitha stumbled back, holding his bleeding lip in his hand. The grunts launched themselves at Cassius, defending their commander.

It was four against one, and it wasn't a fair fight. Once Cassius was punched in the jaw, he became dazed. He knew he wasn't going to win this fight, especially when he felt the punch to his stomach, but he kicked a grunt back in the jaw, getting at least one of them off of him. This was the worst beating he had ever gotten and he wasn't going to be able to stay conscious if it continued. He grabbed one of his pokeballs and called out his crobat, ordering a smokescreen.

It confused the grunts and he slipped out and returned the pokemon. They didn't know Lilycove like him, so he ran into a nearby alley as the smoke cleared. He wanted to rest, because he could barely walk and it was a miracle he was able to get away, but Tabitha could go straight for Leighton, and he couldn't let that happen. He used the alley way as a back way to Leighton's house and banged on the door, hoping she was alright.

The door opened and Mikhail was there, face already annoyed with Cassius, until he saw how beat up the male was. "Cassius? What the hell happened?!" Mikhail helped him in and over to the couch.

Cassius' lip was bleeding, along with his nose. He was starting to get a black eye and it was clear his body had taken a beating. "Cassius, tell me what happened." Mikhail hurried to get a damp towel to help clean up the blood.

"Where's Leighton?" He asked, standing, but getting dizzy.

"Sit down." Mikhail told him, forcing him to sit down. "She's out in Slateport city with Jordan…on a date." He grumbled, but tended to Cassius' bleeding nose. "Now what happened? Let me call them."

"No, tell them…to stay there tonight." Cassius told him, holding the towel to his nose. Sitting down and knowing Leighton was safe made him feel better. "I got jumped by Team Magma…Tabitha decided I needed to be taken care of.."

"You're fucking with me, right?" Mikhail asked, not believing it. He thought Cassius was being over dramatic.

"No, they're out there somewhere." He groaned, resting his head on the back of the couch. "He threatened Leighton….so I punched him in the mouth."

"You punched him!? Wicked! What happened after that?" Mikhail asked excitedly.

"Obviously I lost the fight." Cassius grumbled, hoping the bleeding would stop. "His grunts jumped me. I had to use crobat's smokescreen to get me out of there. God…fuck…" He groaned. He was in so much pain right now. "This...this is why you three need to get out."

"We'll be f-"

"No, Mikhail, you won't be fine." Cassius sat up now, staring right at Mikhail. "You three don't fucking get it and I don't know why." He complained, frustrated. "You guys don't know these groups like I do. You think it's fun and games and it's not. It's fucking torture. I've been in this group for three years, Mikhail, three fucking years. You have got to trust me, okay? I know you fucking hate me, but you guys have to leave."

Mikhail stared at him and looked away before looking back and sighing. "I don't…I don't hate you." Mikhail admitted. "How could I? You just got the shit beat out of you for defending Leighton."

"Don't you hate her?" Cassius pulled the towel from his nose, pleased to see his nose had stopped bleeding. "She told me about you and Jordan."

"Of course she did." Mikhail's face got red and he looked at the tv, embarrassed. "She never shuts her mouth. Sometimes I really do think I hate her. She hates me."

"No she doesn't." Cassius told him, putting the towel to his lip to try to clean up his lips now. "Every day at work she's asking me what to do about you. She wants you to like her so much, you know. I know you're pissed about her dating Jordan, but, it's not like she knew. She knows you're Jordan's best friend and she just wants to be your friend. She's not trying to get rid of you or replace you. She wants you all to be best friends." He continued and Mikhail was quiet, taking it all in. "I'd rather you hate me than her. I deserve it. She doesn't." Cassius waited another minute, before he stood. "I should be getting home. I have work tomorrow."

"What?" Mikhail jumped up, blocking his way to the door. "Cassius, you can't be serious right now. You can't go to work like this!" There was no way Mikhail was going to let Cassius go get himself killed. "You need to rest, you need to quit. I'm calling Leighton." Mikhail pushed Cassius down on the couch and went to grab his phone.

"Mikhail, if I don't show up, Shelly will come looking for me." Cassius grumbled, trying to get up again, but his body was failing him. "She'll be angry and I can't let deal with that right now. I need to call Nate and tell her what happened…I need to get you three out of here."

"You need to rest." Mikhail told him as he dialed Leighton's number. Cassius reached for his phone, somewhere in his pocket, and dialed Nate's number, settling back into the couch.

"Nate…hey." He was starting to fade out a bit. "No….Tabitha knows…he knows who I am. He thinks you're betraying him…you need to leave. Don't go to work Nate. He'll corner you. No..I'm fine..I'm just a little beaten up."

"Leighton! You need to come home! Cassius just got jumped by Team Magma and he's bruised and bleeding and I think he might have a few broken ribs!" Mikhail shouted into his phone, and Natalie heard everything Mikhail said, and was thus sent into a shouting fit, angry that Tabitha had attacked Cassius.

"Leighton is on her way home." Mikhail told Cassius, who sighed.

"I'll beat the shit out of him!" She screamed.

"Natalie, no, please." Cassius begged her, trying to calm her down. "You need to take Lily and go…what? Lily's parents' place?" He questioned as Natalie explained their plan to escape to Kanto and how she wanted him to come. "I'll…..I'll talk to my grandpa and my parents. How soon can we get out?"

"I'm trying to get the kids out." He told Natalie, making Mikhail stick his tongue out. "Tabitha threatened Leighton and I need to make sure they get out."

"We're here!" Leighton slammed the door open, startling the two blondes in the room. Jordan followed her in and locked the door behind him. "Oh…oh my god, Cassius!" Leighton rushed over to him, panic all over her face.

"Nate, I'll call you later…no, don't come here. You're in enough trouble already, just pack." He hung up as Leighton sat next to him. "I'm okay." He told Leighton.

"You are a liar." She glared, angry at him. "How dare you get beaten up like this!"

"He was threatening you, Leighton. He wants to beat you up too." He told her, trying to sit up, but giving up. "You three need to go."

"No, we can't!" Leighton exclaimed.

"Leighton, he's right.." Mikhail said, shocking his two friends. "We can't stay here….look at what they did to Cassius…" He motioned to him, shaking his head. "We're not nearly as tough as him. We could end up in the hospital…or dead."

It was silent for a few minutes, until Jordan sighed. "We should go then. I'll go look at boat tickets." He left to go to his room.

"You'll come with us, right?" Leighton asked, looking at Cassius hopefully. He shook his head, and she whined. "Cassius, please, you can't stay here! You'll get yourself killed!"

"It wouldn't surprise me." He mumbled, earning a glare from her. "I'm making plans with Natalie and Lily."

"We'll have to meet up somewhere, then." Leighton told him, still hopeful. "We can't just not never see each other again."

"Life isn't fair, Leighton." He told her, patting her knee. "Fate has a way of working things out. Right now, please, focus on getting on the first boat out of here. Go pack, please." He stood now, almost falling over. "I have to go home. I have to talk to my grandpa."

"Cas, it's too dangerous to go out now. You aren't in good condition." Leighton stood with him, shaking her head. "You must have at least a couple of broken ribs, and you're skin will be black and blue tomorrow." She had to look out for Cassius like he had been looking out for her.

"I'm fine." He brushed past her, heading for the door. "I have to call Natalie and make plans. The second you three leave, I have to leave."

"Why don't we leave together?" Mikhail questioned, confused.

"I got us on the first boat out." Jordan told them as he re entered the living space. "Got us the last three tickets."

"I'll see what I can do." Cassius told them, pulling out his phone again. "I'll be there to see you off though."


"Lily, start packing." Natalie rushed into the guest room, where Lily was sprawled out on the bed. "Cas….Cas just got beat up by Tabitha and some of my coworkers….I….just pack." She hurried out of the room and into her own, pacing a bit.

"What?" Lily followed her, seeing her friend pace around her room. "Natalie…Natalie!" Lily got her friend's attention, unsure of what was happening. "Natalie, tell me."

"I told you! Tabitha found out who Cas was, went to Lilycove, and beat the shit out of him! He's at Leighton's place now and trying to get them out of the region. We need to pack. We need to leave." Natalie was panicked now. She couldn't pack to leave in a few hours! She had to plan, she needed a plan! This wasn't supposed to happen like this. She needed time!

"I'll call my parents and get us tickets out of here, okay? You pack your things. It's not like I have much to pack anyway!" Lily rushed to her room, leaving Natalie alone.

Natalie grabbed her suitcase from under her bed and just started rummaging through her dressers and closet. She couldn't stop to think, she just had to act. Everything was happening so fast and she didn't know what to do.

It didn't matter much, because her old life was gone now, it seemed. Her normal life couldn't exist anymore.

"I got us tickets on the six in the morning ship out of Slateport!" Lily shouted about half an hour later so Natalie could hear her. "And my parents are excited to meet you and Cassius!"

"Great!" Natalie replied, and she felt better after hearing that. She called Cassius, digging through her close. "Cas. Hey. Lily got us tickets. Yeah…" She mumbled, his voice calming her. He was so reassuring about everything and she needed that now. "Six in the morning out of Slateport. Can you make it? What about your grandpa?"

"Gramps knew from the start I think." Cassius muttered, pulling out his own suitcase and packing it. "Told me I was an idiot when I told him I wanted to go to Kanto. He seemed happy about it though. You know, everything is shitty and my body is aching and wants me to stop moving, but I'm feeling hopeful."

"Hopeful?" Natalie questioned, folding her clothes.

"It's a fresh start. I'll get my boat and go sail around the world." This made him smile, but he moved his torso wrong and winced. "Their ship is leaving out of Lilycove's port at five, so I can meet you two in Slateport."

"I'll come get you. Flygon is pretty fast." Natalie told him, sighing. "I haven't told my mom. I think she knows though. I'm just going to tell her I'm going with Lily to visit her parents and I don't know when I'll be home. I'm going off on my pokemon adventure….seven years late but oh well…maybe I'll tell her I'm planning to enter a few contests." She had no clue what she was going to tell her mother, who was coming home soon. She was out late at a birthday party and Nate hoped she was in a good mood when she got home.

"I'm packed!" Lily gave her a salute and hurried into Nate's room to help her. Lily was quick and neat, helping Natalie fit everything into her luggage.

"So…just…I'll meet you at the port and then we'll head to Slateport." Natalie told Cassius before she hung up. "So tell me how my life got flipped upside down in a matter of a week?"

"Fate has a funny way of working, you know." Lily smiled at her friend, reassuring her.

"Natalie?" She heard her mother call out. "Lily?" She heard the woman shut the door and walk down the hallway towards her room. "What…what's going on?" She asked, seeing the girls by the suitcase.

"We're going to visit my parents!" Lily jumped up, taking control. "I'm so sorry it's so sudden, but it's my mother's birthday in two days, so we decided to show up and surprise her!"

"Really?" Nate's mother questioned, looking at them.

"No.." Nate shook her head and stood, sighing. "Mom, I'm in trouble. I need to leave the region. If it makes you feel any better, I'm finally starting that pokemon journey I should have started years ago…." She looked at her mother, who just looked back at her. "And I'm really sorry about this and I can't really explain it all because I just don't have the time, but I just want you to know that I'm going to enter contests and I'm going to try it. I'm going to be a really popular coordinator. I'm going to make you proud."

"Oh..sweetie.." Her mother hugged her tightly, seeming to understand, which surprised Natalie, but she was thinking maybe it shouldn't. "You'll be an amazing coordinator."

"I hope so…and, here." She took her houndoom's pokeball off her belt and handed it to her mother. "You keep him. He loves you more anyway." She shrugged, smiling a bit. "Well…we need to head off to Slateport. We'll stay at the pokemon center, try to get some sleep…"

"Call me when you get on the ship, I don't care how early it is!" Her mother hugged both of them tightly, kissing their heads. "I love you two so much! Please, be careful!"

"We will." Natalie told her, grabbed her suitcase. "Let's go." She told Lily, who hurried to grab her suitcase. "I'll talk to you later, mom!" She went towards the door with Lily behind her. "Behave, don't go partying too much."

"I'm not the one you need to worry about, I should be saying that to you." Her mother called back, and Natalie swore she saw her crying. Goodbyes weren't her thing, so she helped Lily out the door before she shut the door.

"I'm going to miss her." Lily sighed as she rolled her suitcase down the empty streets of the city. "So, how are we getting there?"

"Walking." Natalie said like it was the obvious answer. Lily stopped and stared at Nate, who didn't seem to notice until she didn't hear Lily beside her. "What?" She questioned, turning to look at her best friend. "Lily, we have five hours until we have to board the ship. It'll take maybe an hour to get to Slateport. We won't be sleeping anyway and we don't have another option."

"You're right, we don't…." Lily groaned, now following after Natalie. She knew things were rough for Natalie right now, and she was scared because she was leaving everything she knew. The walk to Slateport might help Natalie clear her head and relax, so she tried to stay quiet. She didn't quite understand everything that was happening, to be honest. She had just found out her best friend was in a criminal organization for the past three years about a day ago, and now she was running away with her and their other criminal friend.

She didn't know why this wasn't freaking her out at all, but, she felt like this was normal. She just clicked with Natalie and with Cassius, and they clicked together so well. Maybe fate was telling her this was okay? Things would turn out fine. She had to stay positive. Natalie needed her right now, and Lily was going to be there for her.

"I'm…sorry I haven't been honest with you." Natalie mumbled as they walked. "I know this is crazy, walking at one in the morning to our escape, but…."

"It's okay, Nate. You're my best friend, you know." Lily reminded her, smiling at her. "You helped me when no one else would. You were nice and giving and I know you might come off harsh and mean, but, I know you aren't. I got really lucky to meet you."

"Shut up." Natalie grumbled, cheeks pink.

"Just take the compliment, geez." Lily rolled her eyes, bumping her shoulder with Nate's. "Tabitha is an idiot, you know. He had something great within his reach, and now you're gone."

"What if he comes after me?" Nate questioned, suddenly terrified. "What if he's there when we try to leave!?"

"He won't be!" Lily told her confidently. "He's probably asleep thinking he's taken care of Cassius and thinking you'll be there at work tomorrow, but, you won't. You'll be with your best friends sailing off to your new adventure. He won't be able to find you."

"But what about my mom?" Natalie questioned. "What about my dad?!"

"Your father has no clue you left, and you know your mother is a force to be reckon with just like you." Lily was going to be positive. This is what Natalie needed. Cassius wasn't here to assist her with this, so she had to give it her all. "We'll go to Kanto and Johto, than maybe Kalos and Unvoa? I guess we can go to Sinnoh, but, my brother will try to get me to stay at home."

"If you stayed at home, you wouldn't have gotten sucked into this mess."

"That's why I don't wanna stay at home." Lily told her, looking at Natalie. "This is the best, you know? I'm really learning a lot. I'm becoming a better person. I think we both are."

"You're positivity makes me sick." Natalie grumbled, pulling her suitcase harder. "How can you do it?"

"Because…self pity is sad and we can't spend our days being negative. Life is really short, and we need to live every day. I've been stuck in a boring icy town guarding a boring temple for forever, so I have time to think. I'm pretty wise…" She smirked before she tripped on a rock. Nate caught her, and looked at her friend. "I'm wise and slightly clumsy. We all make mistakes." Natalie laughed at this and Lily grew embarrassed. "Well, missy, we're sneaking off to Kanto in the middle of the night because of your mistakes."

"Fine, you got me there." Natalie gave in and Lily smiled confidently. "I see the lights of Slateport. We should go to the pokemon center and just rest. I'm going to go to Lilycove and make sure Leighton and the others get off safely, and then bring Cas here."

"Sounds like a good plan!"