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Criminals Aren't Heartless	By : teggy16 Category: +G through L > Jackie Chan's Adventures Views: 1685 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan s Adventures, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Synopsis- ((Pre-Daolon Wong, Post-Talisman)) Valmont decides to hire a woman for a change. Also, Valmont's long time business partner breaks ties with him. Will the Enforcers manage having a woman live in the same apartment? Will probably focus on each of the different characters. AU, probably various couplings, and almost-definite slash couples

Notes- I have not watched the series in a long while and I am doing some of this out of memory. I didn't watch very much after Daolon Wong entered because I was busy, and also after they got rid of the precious Julian Sands for Valmont. If I do get a chance, I will watch the rest though. Please bear with me... (Also, thanks to Rei no Ikishini for beta-reading my story and helping me! And thanks to VampireNaomi and her stories for being the muse for this story! XD)

After shuffling a stack of papers on his desk, Valmont set them down and rubbed his temples. "I can't believe Khaki broke the deal. Damn it..." He looked up to the clock in his office, running a hand through his silvery-white hair. "They should be back by n-"
He was interrupted by a brisk knock at the door, followed by a sharp voice; which was clearly Hak Foo's. "We have returned." It seemed more tense than usual.
"Come in. I want results." He clearly hoped that some good would come out of his shitty day, but somehow knew he wasn't going to hear anything good, judging by Hak Foo's air about him.
Hak Foo made his way in, with the rest of the Enforcers meandering in behind him. Before he could say anything, Finn opened his mouth. "Another group... made it there before us, dude."
"They wh-"
"Another gang," mumbled Hak Foo, looking rather pissed. "That outnumbered us."
"So, the other gang outwitted you and got there first? Get out. Now. Go home or something. I need to think."
"You g-got it, Big V!" The Enforcers hurried themselves out of the office.

"Doesn't something seem sorta fishy?" grumbled Chow as they unlocked the door to their living quarters, a couple of blocks from the Fish Cannery by the dock. "That group wasn't there before. Life's gonna be living hell if we don't do something about them before they steal every job."
Their apartment wasn't fancy, but it wasn't in bad shape either. Under Hak Foo's supervision, the house looked halfway decent. It was a two-bedroom apartment; mind you the rooms were somewhat small. It had a reasonable-sized kitchen and living room. The rooms were split in two ways. Ratso, Chow and Finn shared a room while Hak Foo had his own sleeping quarters, because if they didn't split the rooms that way, he would make their lives a living hell... literally.
Opening the fridge, Ratso grabbed out a couple of cans of beer and tossed them to Finn and Chow, as Hak Foo had returned to his quarters and did not really like to partake in alcohol much anyways. Opening his own, he sighed, "Something always seems ta go wrong when we try to do something right. Do you think we're ever gonna get something successfully done?"
"Meh, who cares right now? Let's see if anything decent is on the tube." Finn had practically spat out his reply, but in the recesses of his mind, he really did sympathize with Ratso. He knew he had a point. He stopped on the local news channel for San Francisco, which was having a recap of the robbery that took place earlier. The one they should have been conducting. “Damn it! You're right, Ratso! We should be the ones there!" He tossed an empty beer can angrily at the screen. After that, he just sat on the couch with his hand on his head. "We're never going to be able to do anything right."
A few minutes later, the phone let out an annoying ring, only for Ratso to pick it up. No one ever really called the unlisted number except for 'The Big V', so he answered into the phone, "Boss?"
The voice sighed. "Ratso, give the phone to Hak Foo."
"Yeah, Boss..."
Ratso scampered to Hak Foo's door and shouted through it. "Phone!"
A hand quickly opened the door and snatched the phone in.
"Jerk..." he mumbled.

"Eheheh... Whaddaya mean?" worried Chow.
Hak Foo harrumphed. "The Boss is hiring a new Enforcer."
"Does that mean he's firing us?" Ratso shouted.
"No, idiot," spat the man in two simple words.
"Dude, we don't have enough room. There's already three of us in one room... Unless..." Finn's eyes veered over to the silent man, "You're going to have to share your room, dude."
"I know," he growled.
The other three grinned, feeling a bit lighter than they were earlier. "I suppose you're gonna get a taste of your own medicine, eh, Hak?" laughed Ratso.
"Fish Cannery, tomorrow at 10 PM." With that, he left the room, with not so much as a second glance.
Ratso scratched his green nose with his hand, "I was just kiddin'."
"Eh, don't worry 'bout it, Ratso!" grinned Chow, patting him on the back. "He's just being a tight-ass."

Locking the door to the Fish Cannery, Valmont walked off from it to his own condominium. It was quite a few blocks away, but he thought getting some air, even though it was 'Frisco smog, would do him good, as he needed to think. For years, Khaki Jones had been somewhat of a mutual associate to him, but as of late, he had been acting sort of fishy. He totally broke of his bonds with Valmont and started looting places on his own. Was he lying about the deal all this time? All kinds of thoughts like this ran through the middle-aged man's troubled head.
'Whatever the case may be, I need more people. Khaki's organization has always outnumbered mine... Although, if I could just get a couple more decent members... At least one... Ah, bloody hell with it! I need a drink or something!' He listened to his surroundings as he headed to a pub: a screaming police car, people chattering on the other side of the street, a crackling streetlight. He looked at his gold pocket watch. Eleven-thirty...
"Fuck off!"
"Well I ne-" Valmont's head darted to the side to see a brawl ensuing in an alleyway. He hid himself so he could see what was going on.
"Fuck off, eh? Well, we'll see who's gonna fuck off..." There were three men surrounding a woman, and the main one pulled a switchblade. "I'll teach you to-" His sentence was cut short by a gunshot to the head.
The woman was shakily holding a gun, her heart beating in a race-like manner. She immediately shot at another man who dashed out of the alleyway, as another man whipped out his own pistol and got her in the upper arm.
"Gah, shit!" she screamed, hot tears about to leak from her eyes in pain. She used her remaining arm and shot the man in the leg, causing him to keel over. She ran over and pinned his gun hand down with her foot, not before getting shot in the arm again. She clenched her eyes shut and stomped her foot down on his nose, only to hear a blood-curdling shout of agony.
"N-n-nothing personal..." She took one last look at the man, looking at his face as she shot his chest. She collapsed on the ground next to the two dead bodies, hissing at the pain in her arm, only for a hand to roughly grab her up and yank her out of the alleyway.
After killing two people, everything was a blur and she could feel every heartbeat she made pounding against her chest. The streetlights were streaming flashes and she could only see a silhouette leading her on, their hand clenching hers as to not lose her grip.
When the woman came to, and they had stopped running, she looked at the person who had yanked her out of the alleyway. As her vision came back to her, she saw long silvery hair, a square chin, a hooknose, and very icy blue eyes. He was an unusual sight for San Francisco, but very handsome nonetheless. "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Let's take this inside," interrupted Valmont, with a curt smile. "You don't want to get caught, now do you?" It appeared he had taken her back to the Fish Cannery, where he unlocked the door and allowed her in. When they got to the office, she took a seat, again realizing the pain in her arm and clenching it.
"You seemed rather quick on deciding to kill those men." An odd look spread over Valmont's face.
"Are you a cop?" she queried through her teeth, still clinging her arm.
"Heavens, no." He grinned jovially, chuckling a little. "Is that the first time you've used a gun?"
"On a person, yes. Why are you asking?"
"Would you ever be willing to kill a person again?"
". . . I don't know. Not if I'm going to get shot repeatedly. I need practice."
"Where do you live?"
"You just really like being nosy, don't you, Sir? My apartment was just evicted. Trouble with some people..."
Valmont took a look at the woman he was practically interviewing. In fact, he pretty much was interviewing her. She had medium-long brown hair in a tight but low ponytail, skin that was slightly tanned and shifty hazel eyes. She wasn't extravagantly beautiful, but she was rather pretty. Her meager outfit consisted of a pair of jeans and an old comic convention tee.
"How would you like an apartment to stay in, provided you do some work for me?"
"What type of -shit!- work?" She managed to pull the bullets out of her arm with much hissing.
"Much like you did tonight. I can't really pay you much, but I could get you the basic necessities, provided you do a good job and you can deal with roommates."
"I'll think on it."
Valmont slipped a blue box out from under his desk that had a red cross on it. "Bandages?"
"Erm... Thanks."
"My name is Julius Valmont, by the way. May I ask yours?"
"Devin Smith. So, what type of work do you do that involves guns? Are you like a mercenary boss?"
"I'm in organized crime. We rob banks, deal drugs, the like, anything to get cash. We do have our limits, though."
"I still feel really shaky right now... I've never killed anyone before until today, so it's kinda taxing on me." She clearly was having a case of the tremors.
"Think of it this way: It's either you or them."
"I see... You've made your point."
"But rest assured, criminals are not as heartless as one would believe." Valmont interlaced his hands and stared at them. "We do believe in mercy, and for instance, giving people in trouble a chance, like you. If you train, you will probably become a halfway decent lackey, and despite little or no pay in the meantime, I will find ways to reward you."

"Yes, Valmont. Goodbye." Hak Foo hung up the phone. "Change of plans. Tonight as soon as possible!" he barked to the others, waking them up.
"Fuck, Hak!" snapped Finn, who fell asleep on the couch. "What did you have to do that for?"
"Urgent meeting!"

The group waited at the door as Hak Foo pulled out keys for the Fish Cannery. Upon entering, they headed for Valmont's office. When they got there, they saw Valmont relaxedly reclining in his chair and a woman sitting upright in her chair, her hand on her bandaged arm.
Valmont sat up straight and smiled a thin grin. "Miss Devin, meet your co-workers."
There was an odd silence in the room as the group of men and Devi stared back at each other. She broke the silence by nervously smiling and holding out her hand. "Erm... Nice to... meet you? I'm Devin Smith, 23."
Finn was the first to reach over and shake her hand, followed by Ratso, Chow, then... nope, Hak Foo didn't.
While the others made themselves known to Devi, Hak Foo went up to Valmont and muttered something in his ear.
"We'll be right back," stated Valmont.

"So fast?"
"Listen, Hak Foo, we're desperate! You don't know what bloody shit we're in... We've lost much-needed allies. My compatriot has broken off ties with me and we need more people. Your pay will not go down. We are just providing her housing, given that she works with the Enforcers," he finished exhaustedly.
"Fine." Hak Foo mumbled something under his breath in his native tongue. "It's just-"
"You'll live. It's not like any of you have never seen a woman before."
". . ."

"Welcome to our humble abode," joked Finn, trying to lighten up the mood.
Devi grinned a light grin, appreciating the effort, but Hak Foo abruptly stepped in before the rest of them did.
He looked towards Devi. "Your room."
"O-oh!" Devi immediately followed him, and she was led to a somewhat empty room with a bed and a couple of weapons.
"We... have to share." He looked over towards her. "You get the bed."
"What? Where are you going to sleep?"
"Couch or corner," he grunted.
"Listen, buddy." She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "You were here first. You get the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."
Hak Foo looked at the hand on his shoulder with the same gruff face, then looked over. She practically had to tiptoe to reach it.
She took her hand back. "Sorry for barging in on you guys... I just really need a place to stay. I could explain it better later... I guess..."
Hak Foo shrugged and Devi headed to the living room. It had to be at least 3 o'clock in the morning and she was over exhausted and shaky from earlier, so she flopped onto the couch and immediately fell asleep.

Next morning, she woke up to the smell of second-hand smoke and Cup O' Ramen. It was about eleven when she looked at the clock. Finn and Chow were sitting in front of the couch watching boxing and Chow had a cigarette in his mouth. Meanwhile, Ratso was in the kitchen making ramen noodles and Hak Foo was nowhere to be found as usual.
Devi made her way up to the kitchen counter and looked over at Ratso, smiling. The impression she had gotten talking with him on the way to the apartment deemed him a very likable person.
"There's more ramen up in the cupboard."
"Thanks. It'll probably be a few more days before I get used to everything here. I'm not used to sharing an apartment." She reached up into the cupboard, grabbing at nothing, then looked up to realize that the ramen cups were at the very top shelf. "I hope you wouldn't mind..." (Devi is about Finn's size.)
Ratso smiled. "Of course not." He easily reached up to the top shelf and grabbed one of the styrofoam cups, handing it to her.
"Thank you."

". . . You didn't have to."
"Eh, don't worry about it. This is the 'necessities' thing I was talking about, Miss Devin. The other men have plenty of clothing. Since you can't go back to your apartment, I figured you needed clothes. I can't have you walking around in the same clothes day after day, now can I?" Valmont grinned.
"You know, if you hadn't yanked me away, I would've gotten caught. I owe you my freedom practically. I'll try my best to do this job well."
They walked in front of a tailor shop. "Here we go."
Devin's eyes widened. "Oh, no. This place is way too expensive. I haven't even done a job for you yet..."
"I insist you get at least one outfit here. We can't have you being mismatched from the Enforcers," he whispered, so no one would hear him mentioning the group's name.
"Alright."

While taking measurements, the tailor chittered, "How long does the skirt need to be?"
"Um... Can I get slacks?"
"No problem at all." Devi lifted her arms so that the tailor could measure them.
Valmont looked over. "Don't like skirts?"
"Well, they're all right, but slacks are easier to walk around in," she chuckled.
"Good idea."

"I'm really lucky that the tailor didn't ask." It was a corner cafe called the 'Java Cat' and they were just getting a bit of coffee. Although they were at such a quaint place, it looked like they were having a business meeting because of their outfits.
"Actually, we have connections with the tailors. They provide us with clothing and keep themselves quiet about us; we give them protection."
"R-really?" Beside Devin's seat was a bag with some thrift clothing in it. She looked down at it. "Oh! I'm really thankful for the clothes. I'm going to try and get a side job so I can pay you back with the money I get."
"Oh, don't be so munificent. Anyways, you're new to the team, so I must make sure you are properly situated. I should do something every once in a while considering you're not exactly getting paid like the others."
"How thoughtful," grinned Devin with a playful smile. "Nevertheless, I'm going to get a job to pay you back. Don't worry, it'll probably just be a minimum wage job like working at a corner store. Nothing that will involve major research on their part."
"You were shaking quite a bit yesterday. Are you feeling any better?" stated Valmont, starting a new conversation.
She bit her lip slightly. "It will probably bother me a while... I... can probably get used to it, though."
"Don't worry," Valmont assured the woman. "We can't waste too many bullets," he joked. "And if I can coax Hak Foo and the others into training you for the job, you should be fine. Oh, speaking of that, there is one more thing we need to get."

"I am assuming that you two are looking for a Queen-sized mattress?"
Valmont and Devin's faces flushed a deep cherry color.
"We're not married," Valmont assured a businesswoman at the mattress store. "I'm just accompanying her on her shopping trip."
"Whatever you say," cooed the woman with a devilish grin.
"Erm... Anyways," said Devi, "I just need a Twin-sized mattress... and a bed frame."
"Of course." The saleswoman smiled.

"I'm guessing the mattress was already delivered and taken care of by the men," explained Valmont, walking Devin up to the apartment door.
"Thanks for helping me out."
"No problem at all. And I greatly appreciate the 'no pay' matter. You will be fairly rewarded for your contributions, when the time comes."
"Have a good evening, Mister Valmont," wavered Devin, not sure of what his reaction would be.
"Until tomorrow." Valmont tipped his head slightly and headed back down the stairs to the entrance of the building.
When she got in, Devin saw that the Ratso, Finn, and Chow were sitting down in the living room, playing a drinking game. Standing for a few minutes by the door to watch, she then walked in the direction of the room and knocked at the door, which creaked open slightly.
Hak Foo peeked out of the door and let her in.
Feeling very tensed around him because of his cold demeanor, she sat on her bed and cracked her neck to the left. "Not to be rude... But is there a certain reason that we are sharing rooms?"
He peered over while going to the ground to do push-ups. "Do you trust the Irish man?" he queried, giving her a cynical look.
"I-I wouldn't know..."
"I don't," he grunted, doing push-ups.
"Do you train everyday?" she asked, watching him.
"Yes."
"Do you think that you could help me train? I don't really have much experience..."
"Discipline."
"What?"
"Is required. Lots."
"Oh..."
"Don't expect me to have any mercy. If you want to be the best, then you are going to have to go through hell," he retorted in his rough English.
"The best? I just want to be able to do the job right."
"If you want to do better than those other bumbling idiots... Why do you think you were hired? Valmont's crime ring cannot survive with lackeys like them."
"They can't be that bad...?"
"We've never successfully done a full mission," he grunted, still looking towards the ground. "They always get in my way. You will do the exact same if you aren't trained. You will just be a stumbling block." His English was very forced, as he apparently did not usually speak like this.
While he was staring at the ground and doing push-ups, Devin sighed. "You're right, I barely have any experience in these sorta things, but that's why I need to learn."
"Fine. Let's start now. You're not going to sleep much for a while."
She stood up, brushing herself off.
"Attempt to strike me!" he barked.
"What?!"
"Do it!"
She clenched her eyes shut and sent a jab at his stomach, only for her fist to be caught and twisted behind her back painfully.
"Don't close your eyes!"
Meanwhile, in the living room, the rest of the men heard Hak Foo's shouting, and apparently misinterpreted it.
Finn's eyes narrowed. "What the hell? I had a feeling he'd do something... Hak!? What the fuck are you doing in there?!?" he shouted.
"None of your business!" shouted Hak Foo.
"None of my-?" snorted Finn. He looked over to the others.
A coughing, gagging noise could be heard from the room.
They ran to the door and Finn kicked it open to find Devin on her knees, holding her stomach, coughing out a few drops of blood.
"I'm okay..." she gagged.
"What did you do, Hak?" gasped Ratso.
"We're training," explained Devin.
"And not finished," retorted Hak Foo. "So leave." He shoved them out of the room. "You'll distract her!" he called through the door. He was bound and determined to have at least one decent teammate, so he was going to put her through hell and back to make her a good fighter, or at least a good defender.

The next morning, everyone got up early... at least everyone who slept. At the Fish Cannery, the Enforcers queued themselves in front of the Valmont's desk.
He explained that right now there was not a lot of work available, but that he was searching and that they needed to be prepared when the time comes, so as not to lose a chance at it.
The only one really out of sorts was Devin, who seemed rather spacey and was staring at the wall behind Valmont.
Valmont cleared his throat, hoping she would quit being rude and look over like she was supposed to.
Seeing that the boss didn't look very happy, Chow tapped Devin's shoulder to try and get her attention, only for her legs to give out under her and to fall to the ground with a large thud.
Alarmed, Valmont got up from his seat. "What happened?!"
The rest of the Enforcers glared at Hak Foo, who looked down at the motionless body, slightly surprised.
"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" clammered Valmont, running over and checking her pulse.
"She's been 'training'," snorted Finn. "At least that's what muscle-man here has been saying. I think that something else was going on in the room, but who am I to say?"
"Snake Cuts Grass!" shouted Hak Foo, tripping him.
"Not... cool..." coughed Finn from the ground.
Making sure than none of the others would rebel, Hak Foo gave the Enforcers one of those 'Don't Mess With Me Unless You Want To Be Choked With Your Own Entrails' look. Ratso was the one to cringe the most at it. "She needs training and discipline. She'll get used to it," he stated simply.

"One more cup of microwave Ramen and I swear I'll vomit..." mumbled Finn.
"Don't look at me like that," sighed Devin. "I've been working at the local deli and with my paycheck, that's what I could get. I'll look for something else, but I don't need any complaining right now. I ache like no other right now and if Hak twists my arm any farther back, it'll snap off... I think I'm better now than I was before though..." she admitted at the end. "I'm lucky that I don't have to always train as long as I did that first night..."
It had been a couple of weeks since moving in, and Devin had gotten used to a daily routine. She had also gotten used to coming home from her second job to be slave-drived by Hak Foo. Today she had just gotten back and was getting ready for nightly training.

Though half the time Hak Foo was talking to her it was barked orders, Devin really did respect him and was grateful for his generosity to train her. While he was calling out the numbers of sit-ups she did, he nudged her hard with his foot when she slowed down. By the time she had gotten to forty-one, she couldn't do anymore, and he was nearly kicking her, until deciding she wouldn't be able to pick herself up anymore. "You are finished for tonight.”
Lying down on the ground, unable to move for the moment, she looked over. “Thank you for training me, Hak Foo.”
“I have to train you. There is no reason for thanking me,” he snorted slightly. He sighed and lent out a hand.
Grabbing his hand, she pulled herself up. “But it hadn't seemed to come to your mind before mine.”
He huffed in annoyance.
“I really am thankful. I never in my entire life thought I'd be able to do as many push-ups as I have this week. You've pushed me farther than a gym teacher ever would...” She walked over to her bed, holding her stomach, and sat down. She rested her back against the wall and looked over. “I told you once that I'd tell you about myself. I guess I will now.”
Hak Foo looked over and nodded slightly.

After a few hours, talking had left her exhausted, but she had pretty much told him most of her life. More than she had told Valmont, even. Probably because she finally had the time.
“Why did you confide in me?” he questioned her.
“I... don't know... But, if you weren't interested in hearing what I had to say, why didn't you shut me up when I started?”
“I didn't say anything.”
“I guess I told you because I know I can trust you. You almost never talk to anybody...” She smiled at him. “Hey... Since you're practically a martial arts master, can I call you 'Master Foo'?”
His eyes narrowed. “No. Don't try it.”
“I was only kidding... Sorta.”
“When I was your age, I did not joke around as much as you do.”
“I'm only trying to look on the bright side of things, besides training after living off of Cup O' Ramen,” she joked. “But if you prefer I not joke around while I'm around you, I'll try not to do it. I can't say I'll be very good at it. You do know that I do it to try and keep my mind off of the fact I'm a criminal now, right? It's just my way of coping... My parents would disown me for something like this. But if it really bothers you, like I said, I'll try not to. ... Do you believe you made the right decision in deciding to become part of a crime ring?”
“I have no regrets, except for my teammates. If you keep working, I won't regret you.”
“Do you... right now?”
“We have not done any missions lately. I would not know.”
“Well... You won't regret me. You've worked me hard, and I really want it to pay off. Out of respect for all you've done, I am going to put my all into the first mission I do, no matter what job I'm assigned to.”
“You should already be putting maximum effort into this for your boss.”
“I know, but I want to prove myself to not be a person that gets in the way, so I am going to try harder than maximum...”
“That's not even possible.”
“Fine,” she huffed at him. “It just means I'm going to try really, really hard, okay?”
“You had better.”

“Hm... This is no good...” A tall, skinny figure sat up straight in his seat. The man's office was quite classy. The spinning recliner he sat in was made of leather, his desk was made of antique wood, and his walls had various framed newspaper clippings, pictures, and old paintings. In the man's hand were a couple of pictures of a young girl, some writing on the back of them. Also, was a letter of scrawled cursive. Suddenly, the man's lips curled up into a smile. “In other cases... This may be my chance!” The man picked up his phone and dialed a number, somewhat hurriedly. “Excuse me... Is this Lorin?”
The voice on the other side of the line shook slightly. “I apologize for this, but if you help us with this, we promise you can see her. She's old enough to understand.”
“I cannot say that I'm not still hurt by your earlier decisions, but I'll be glad to help, sis.”
The voice started to sob gently. “We just wanted her to be brought up well... I love you very much, but I couldn't stand the thought of what she'd do in the future if you had made an impression on her.”
“Ouch...”
“As you read, she just stopped calling. I know she's fully grown now, but she's always answered the phone until lately. I think something is wrong. I know that you would have ideas to her whereabouts with your connections...”
“Calm down, Lor... It's alright. I'll find her. But there will be a price. You have to let her make her own decisions. I've never met her, but I know anyone her age would not want their parents making their decisions for them. You can influence her decisions, but remember, you can't force someone to want something different.”
“But what if she decides-”
“You should trust her to make her own decisions. I'm very sorry, sister dear, but I have to go to a little meeting. Ciao!”

END CHAPTER ONE!

Word from the author- It's taken me at least 12 or more hours to write this chapter... And boy, it was worth it! I don't know if anybody likes this chapter yet, but I loved writing it! And for the Chan fans, the Chan Clan and Captain Black will be introduced in the next chapter! XD Also, I might need to warn you, although there will be at least one normal couple, there will be a good deal of slash. It won't be horribly heavy, but it will probably be moderate. I also do not know how many chapters the story will be yet. It all depends. Please review though! I also appreciate constructive criticism, but please, no flamers...
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Criminals Aren't Heartless