Cards Anyone?

A/N: No I am not exploiting Corey, Moon, and Tai…much. Deshi is a character I imagined in the likeness of Miroku from Inuyasha. A Buddhist monk, who also happens to be crooked as hell….but with a heart of gold.

The summer holidays had rolled around and Sin and her childhood friend Deshi had travelled down the coast to escape the city for a while. Deshi had just become an apprentice monk around the same time that Sin had arrived in the Nepalese monastery to hide from Ra's al Ghul. The two had hit if off famously. "They have a key hidden right over there by the birdhouse," Sin pointed out as Deshi slipped a lock pick from his robes.

"It's broad daylight out," the monk replied. "I don't want to give the location away to the neighbours," he added, twisting the pick and opening the door.

"Uh huh, sure," Sin muttered as he held the door for her. She paused just inside and stared out the back patio door. "You're all here and no one bothered to answer?" she stated.

"What? And deprive Deshi?" Chris smirked from the kitchen.

"You know me well," Deshi smiled and strolled past Sin to the kitchen. "Who drinks this?" he asked, holding up a bottle of Guinness from the refrigerator.

"Jai's Irish genes occasionally craves it," Chris replied, stepping back outside to join Lian and Jai.

"That stuff looks like molasses," Sin frowned as she reached around Deshi for a bottle of beer.

"Jai? Do you mind if I try this?" Deshi asked, poking his head outside and holding up the Guinness.

"Knock yourself out, Dude," Jai replied. "You have got to show me how to do that sometime," he added with a chuckle as Deshi popped the cap with a pendent hanging from his neck.

"It's the same trick as doing it with a quarter," Sin stated, interrupting a witty excuse Deshi had in mind to tell Jai. "Where are the kids?" she added, noticing that they were missing.

"They went to the beach," Lian replied, moving her legs, so Sin could get past her to an empty chair.

"Hey, I was up the coast last month and you two weren't home," Chris stated. "Where'd you take off to?"

"Tim had a job for us in Cambodia," Sin smirked.

"Lady Shiva and the Fallen Monk got to bust heads in Cambodia?" Moon asked, dashing through the back gate and hugging Sin. "Hi. Corey heard you two arrive so we came home."

"Hi to you too," Sin greeted. "And yeah. Some moron thought that hiding out with the monks in Cambodia would work."

"Deshi somehow has the Dalai Lama on speed dial…did your target even do his homework?" Tai stated as she came through the gate followed by Corey.

"If he did, he did a poor job of it," Deshi grinned.

"What did this one do that had the Gotham tribe siccing you two on him?" Corey asked, stooping down to hug Sin.

"Child trafficking," Sin replied.

"Ouch," Corey grimaced. He turned on the hose and rinsed his surfboard off before putting it away.

"He was part of that child porn ring that we busted recently?" Jai asked. "I think his name was Ng, or something like that."

"That's the one," Sin grinned. "And since he was the main supplier for the Thai brothels, Tim and Damian figured it was only fair to send us to fetch him."

"Just because you can't have any of your own, doesn't mean that you don't actually like kids," Lian snorted.

"Why can't you have kids?" Moon asked.

"I was sterilised at a very young age," Sin replied. "I guess the masters training me to become the future Shiva didn't want a repeat performance of Cass," she shrugged. "Search me as to why. Cass is cool enough."

"Well that sucks," Tai muttered.

Sin shrugged. "I get to borrow you guys, so it evens out," she told her great nephew and nieces. Deshi made a polite cough and Sin turned to Lian. "Which reminds me…"

"Oh God," Lian laughed. "Who do you want to exploit them against this time?"

"You're the one who let Roy and Ollie turn your children into poker prodigies. It's a shame to let all that talent go to waste," Sin reminded Lian. "And Chow Fat hasn't been keeping his deputies in check lately," she added. "He needs to be taught a lesson."

"When are we wiping out Chow Fat?" Tai asked as Moon reached for her mobile.

"Two weeks from this Saturday."

"Yeah we're free," Moon told her, checking the calendar on her mobile.

"Why? Does Jade have you wiping out some yakuza soon?" Deshi asked.

Corey nodded. "She's buying us into a game next Friday at Ochaya Miyako."

"Hold up," Jai said, looking to Lian.

"Jade has them wiping out yakuza too?" Chris added.

"We pay Mom the house cut," Moon stated.

Lian shrugged. "My mother found out about Sin using them to clean out the triads and decided to get in on some of that action."

"House cut?" Deshi asked.

Corey laughed as his sisters groaned. "Considering the amount of cash they clear in these games you have them in…they can afford to pay a small percentage to their parents to help provide food in their mouths and a roof over their head," Jai stated.

"And pay off their college bills before they ever graduate high school," Chris added.

"What do you charge them for a house cut?" Sin gaped.

"Five percent," Lian replied.

"Too much," the twins said at the same time.

Sin glanced off to the side as she did the math in her head. "That'll pay off college for them in no time," she murmured. "And that is very fair," she added to the twins.

"Traitor," Moon teased.

"I could start charging a house cut on top of my usual cut," Sin playfully threatened.

"Your wisdom is great and you're right as always," Tai said, smiling sweetly.

"Smart girl," Sin winked.

"Aunt Sin? Do you know if Xi Zheng is hosting one anytime soon?" Moon asked, checking her calendar.

"You aren't getting into triad games behind my back are you?" Sin asked, looking hurt.

"No, no," Tai promised. "We're totally cool with letting you pimp us out at those."

"Teejay asked, because he wants to take Xi down and he figured that having us wipe Xi out in a pai gow tourney was a good way to get in," Corey explained.

"Rumour has been quiet about whether or not Xi's got one in the works," Sin replied. "Why does Teejay want to take him down?"

"Xi's been running heroin on the side again," Moon answered.

"And since that goes against the snitch agreement he has with Teej…" Tai added.

"Xi's going down," Sin concluded. "Fair enough. I'll get on that," she added while getting out her mobile and sending off a text message.

"Yeah, they've been cutting it with ephedra to make it more addictive," Corey stated, folding his arms across his chest.

"And fatal…That explains why the Red Dragons have been working Stockton Street a lot lately," Deshi surmised. Sin nodded.

"I thought they were raising prices on their extortion gig," she said. "Maybe we need to pay the Empress Dowager Chu a visit."

"Good luck with that," Jai scoffed.

"Empress Dowager Chu? Isn't that the psycho that runs the Golden Market?" Chris asked.

"The one and the same," Lian told him. "Which begs the question," she added to Sin. "What makes you think she'll say anything to you?"

Sin smirked. "Who said I'd be doing the talking?" she replied, jerking her thumb at Deshi.

"She's a good Buddhist," Deshi teased, putting his hands together and winking.

"You successfully conned one of the shadiest shop keepers in all of San Francisco's Chinatown into thinking that you're a saint?" Jai marvelled

"Faith is blind," Deshi offered with a cheeky grin.

"Obviously," Chris snorted.

"How'd you pull that off?" Corey asked.

"He performs a lot of blessings on customers in her store," Sin smirked.

"He does that wherever you guys go shopping in Chinatown," Lian pointed out.

"It balances out the Karma," Deshi stated. "Madam Chu doesn't know that though."

"That must be a lot of Karma that needs balancing out," Tai teased.

"Yeah, whenever we go shopping with you two, he spends the whole trip offering blessings," Moon smirked.

"They don't call Deshi the Fallen Monk for nothing," Lian chuckled.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that he lives with me," Sin added.

Deshi shrugged. "I meditate better in battle."

"So not buying that," Sin retorted. "But I do appreciate the sentiment all the same."

"When was the last time a Lady Shiva had a partner?" Corey asked out of curiosity.

"A little over six hundred years ago," Sin replied.

"That one was a Chinese warlord," Deshi offered.

"They chilled out with Genghis and company," Sin added with a laugh.

"Hey, if you're in it for the money," Moon mused.

"Hanging with the biggest bad ass of the day is the way to do it," Tai added.

Sin looked at her mobile when it vibrated and frowned. "You might want to let Teejay know that he's going to have to change his plans for nabbing Xi," she informed the teenagers.

"Why?" the twins asked in unison.

"According to my insider, Xi's not hosting any games in the foreseeable future. Instead he's rounding up ringers to clean out his competition at their games," Sin read aloud.

"That's your scam," Tai defended.

"Talk about balls," Moon added.

"Maybe we can nail him at that Chow Fat game you have us lined up for?" Corey suggested.

Sin bit at her lip in thought. "Perhaps we can pay Teejay and Alia a visit when we return home and discuss it with him," Deshi told her.

"Yeah," Corey agreed. "Since Bruce set Teej up to oversee the Wayne Tech San Francisco branch, it should be easy enough?"

"True," Sin agreed. "That and I want to see what he's got on Xi. If Xi's back to drug trafficking, he might be up to some other stuff too."

"Would Chow Fat let you guys take Xi out if he showed at that game you're taking the kids to?" Jai asked.

"That's a possibility," Deshi replied. "Chow Fat's been trying to add new 'customers' to his extortion ring. He'll know he's busted when Sin shows up with your brood to clean him out."

"Maybe an offer of leniency will loosen him up," Sin mused. The twins sagged and shot her dirty looks. "Relax…your Asian's showing," she scolded them. "He'll walk away with no more than three percent if I have anything to say about it."

"You two will still take away over fifty percent, what are you bitching about?" Corey told his sisters.

"Do you know how expensive electronics are these days?" Moon retorted. "Just because you do an even fifty-fifty split with Aunt Sin."

"You're not human, you wouldn't understand," Tai added. "What? Well he's not!" she told Jai when he backhanded her on the shoulder. "Daxamite, Dad…not Human."

Chris shook his head into his palm. "Keep it up and I'll tell Grandpa about your little side business," he threatened. All three teenagers turned to gape at him. Lian, Sin, Jai, and Deshi all bit their lips to keep from laughing aloud.

"You wouldn't dare," Corey said, his eyes wide in fear.

"You'd be on the same end as us of that gut rendering look of disappointment, too," Tai reminded him.

"I'll risk it," Chris retorted.

"Would you two just shut the hell up," Corey scolded his sisters. Tai and Moon shared a look.

"You better write down the date, because this is the only time we'll actually listen to you," Moon told him after a moment.

Lian glanced at her watch. "Go wash the beach off," she told her children. "We're going to be going out to dinner later." The siblings did as they were told and headed inside.

Deshi leaned over to Chris. "Superman already knows, doesn't he?" he mouthed quietly.

Chris chuckled and nodded his head. "And Dad thinks it's hilarious…but they don't know that and we plan on keeping it that way."

"Chris' Dad is cool with it, because they do what Sin does with her cut," Lian added.

Deshi nodded. "Give most of it away to charity while keeping just enough for expenses."

"We just like holding the threat over their heads…keeps them in line," Jai smirked.

A fortnight later, Corey held the door to an unassuming restaurant for Sin and his sisters. They went through the restaurant into the back and Sin set three small stacks of bills on the desk. "Kee, Mari, and Tora Nguyen," she said, using the fake names Corey, Moon, and Tai used whenever they were bought into illegal games. The bouncer looked up at her and then the teenagers before registering the siblings. "Have fun," Sin told them as they made their way to separate tables set up in the illegal card hall.

Sin found a spot in a back corner where she could keep an eye on everything and waited. She didn't have to wait for long before her target strolled up to her. "I thought you told me that I would not be seeing Jade's grandchildren in here again," Chow Fat told her.

"I said that you wouldn't see them in here if you kept your nose clean," Sin corrected. Chow Fat saw her slip her mobile out and hit send on a drafted message. Chow Fat glanced down when his mobile went off and scrolled through the photos Sin had sent him. "Now while I'm certain that you have kept up to your end of our agreement, a few of your boys have not." A video Sin had included in the sent file showed some of his men threatening a new immigrant businesswoman with extortion. A strict violation of the agreement he had with Sin.

"I was unaware of their illegal activities," Chow Fat quietly defended as he put his mobile away.

"I believe you," Sin lied. "However since you failed in your managerial duties, I had no choice but to punish you. Perhaps you'll keep a tighter rein on your boys in the future."

Chow Fat looked over and watched the boy he knew as Kee, clean out one of his ringers in three hands, before glancing back at Sin. "As I know what you and the children are capable of, I accept your judgement with great humility, Lady Shiva."

"Wise decision," Sin smirked. "The girls were itching for a fight."

"They are their grandmother's granddaughters," Chow Fat agreed and watched as Sin shook her head to the twins and they each gave her a single nod before continuing with their games. He fought the urge to groan when Tora sat out of a hand to wave her fingers twice for one of the attendants to come over and convert the small mountain of chips she'd quickly acquired into a more manageable one of higher value chips. Tora counted out the new chips to make sure the conversion was accurate and slipped two onto the table towards the attendant before focusing on the game again.

Sin spied Xi Zheng enter the card hall with four of his men and smiled softly. Glancing back to Chow Fat she decided to see if he would rat out his fellow gangster by baiting him. "Rumour has it, that Xi's decided to use the other bosses' games instead of hosting his own, as a way to make some extra profit."

Chow Fat took the bait. "I've heard the rumours too," he muttered. "And that's very inconsiderate of him. These games are expensive to host," he added, slipping a small packet from his pocket and handing it over to Sin. He glanced at the one she already held between two fingers as she accepted the one he handed her. "Cheung confiscated it from a customer of mine," Chow Fat purred when he realised that Sin was already well aware of Xi's heroin trade.

"I'll consider a little leniency if you let the children and I take care of him tonight," Sin offered.

"Ten percent," Chow Fat replied, giving her his permission.

"You're joking?" she scoffed. "Two."

Chow Fat shrugged. "I'm a businessman, it was worth a shot. I'll take three instead of the standard five then," he offered.

"Luckily for you, I'm feeling generous," Sin lightly scolded. "Three it is. And only because your boys were nowhere near as ill-behaved as Xi's been."

"Cheshire's here?" Chow Fat swallowed when he saw the assassin stroll right past the bouncer at the door a little while later.

"News to me," Sin admitted, somewhat surprised to see Jade Nguyen heading towards them.

"Shiva," Jade purred in greeting.

"Cheshire," Sin returned the greeting.

"Relax Chow," Jade told him. "I'm only here to watch my grandchildren play." Chow Fat visibly relaxed. Jade scanned the room and spied Xi Zheng. "I see Xi's here…being his usual pompous arrogant self," she commented.

Sin grinned. "Alright, why are you really here?"

Jade let a tiny smile curl the corner of her mouth. "One of his low level thugs thought it would be a good idea to rob two grandmothers at gunpoint as they enjoyed tea in Japan Town."

"Really?" Sin asked. "Did Oba-san even lift a finger or did she let you have at it?"

"Oba-san admits that age is catching up to her," Jade replied. "I got to teach the idiot a lesson."

Sin laughed. "How many pieces did you leave him in?"

"I didn't bother counting," Jade shrugged.

Chow Fat saw an opportunity he couldn't refuse. "Forgive my intrusion ladies, but I have given Lady Shiva and the children permission to handle Xi after the game," he directed at Jade.

"You want in?" Sin asked.

"Of course," Jade stated. "What are you busting him for?" She saw the two packets of heroin that Sin slipped out of her pocket for a brief moment. "Oh really? I call dibs on Xi…on behalf of their grandfather."

"I'll give you that one," Sin conceded. "I need him alive though."

Jade rolled her eyes and huffed her disappointment. "Fine." Chow Fat bowed to the two women and made his leave. "Eighty percent of all side betting goes to us," Jade told him. "Disposal fee."

"You are most generous," Chow Fat replied before slipping away.

"He's still mentally rubbing his hands together in glee," Jade commented.

"He nearly shit himself when you walked in," Sin told her.

"I thought these fools knew the agreement we have. You use the kids to keep the triads in line and I use them to clean out the yakuza," Jade mused.

"I figured he did," Sin shrugged.

"I see that Mari's having a good time," Jade commented a little while later, watching Moon as she squared off against one of Xi's ringers.

"She's been toying with that one for a while," Sin told her. "She'll be moving in for the kill, any hand now."

They didn't have to wait long before Moon did exactly that and took her opponent out in one hand. They watched as the twins both got up from their tables and went to cash out the majority of their chips. "Hello Grandmother," they greeted Jade when they joined the two women.

"Hello Little Ones," she returned, caressing each of their cheeks.

"Present," Tai added, as she and Moon handed over large wads of cash to Sin.

"Thank you," Sin grinned, tucking the money away in a large inner pocket of her jacket. "It's a go," she added. Jade had to laugh at the evil grins the twins shared.

"Grandma knows what's a go?" Moon asked, indicating Jade with a nod.

"She's joining in," Sin told them.

"I got Chow Fat to donate a generous disposal fee," Jade told the twins. She shook her head in amusement as they fist-bumped each other. "At the back corner table there's a man with a dragon tattoo on the side of his head. Let him build up his winnings for a bit and then tag team him," Jade instructed the girls. They nodded and bowed slightly to her and Sin before returning to the tables.

"What did Tattoo Boy do to earn your wrath?" Sin asked.

"Nothing," Jade shrugged. "I wasn't lying when I told Chow that I just wanted to watch them play." Sin's face scrunched up in silent laughter.

"Grandmother," Corey greeted a little while later after cashing out some of his winnings and handing them to Sin.

"Hello Kee," Jade smiled up at him.

"Hear anything interesting?" Sin asked, after tucking the money away.

"You mean besides the fact that I'll be taking a break to watch my sisters annihilate some poor bastard for Grandma's amusement?" he grinned. "Yep." Corey glanced out of the corner of his eye towards where Xi Zheng was seated and then focused on Jade to let them know that he'd heard everything.

"It looks like you might be getting that break," Jade commented as she watched Tai go over to the table with the tattooed player. Moon joined the game about five minutes later. Jade, Sin, and Corey watched as the twins synched up after a few hands and proceeded to clean out the tattooed man of his winnings. "No matter how many times I've seen them do that, it never fails to entertain," Jade purred.

"It's like watching performance art," Sin suggested.

"That's why Grandma Dinah won't play with them anymore," Corey laughed before taking his leave to return to playing.

"Smart woman," Jade commented. "You're using them to punish Chow, right?" she asked a little while later. Sin nodded. "So why does he look happy?"

"Probably because he thinks he'll be getting Stockton Street after tonight," Sin surmised.

"You're not letting him have it?"

"Hell no," Sin stated.

"What are you going to do about Chu?" Jade asked, referring to the disreputable owner of the Golden Market.

"Deshi's working on her," Sin replied.

"Speaking of…I saw your monk down at Sutter and Bush the other day," Jade commented.

"He teaches scripture at the youth centre once a week," Sin informed her. Jade raised an elegant eyebrow at Sin. "No joke. Despite his reputation, he does take his ministry seriously enough."

"Hnn."

The women continued chatting into the night until Xi Zheng signalled his henchmen that they were leaving. Jade slipped out to lay in wait as Sin waited for Corey and the twins to join her. Outside they made short work of the mob boss and his men, leaving them for the police to pick up. Jade went back into the card hall to collect the disposal fee she'd arranged with Chow Fat and then met Sin and the teens at a restaurant down the street. "That was fun," Jade mused as she took out a small portion of bills and handed the rest over to Sin.

"I heard bones crack," Tai smirked at her grandmother.

"She broke his arm in four places," Corey chuckled.

"I wanted to break his neck," Jade admitted. "However…" she added, giving Sin a pointed look.

Sin shrugged. "His reputation is even worse in the joint than it is on the street."

"He won't enjoy prison," Moon grinned.

"I see." Jade placed an order to go and waited for it with Sin and her grandchildren. "I admit that this evening was entertaining. Let me know if you plan on doing it again?"

Sin regarded the teens. "I'll think about it."

"Fair enough. Give your mother my love," Jade told the teens and hugged them before taking her leave.

"Did you guys tell her that we might be getting into a fight?" Sin asked the teenagers.

"Nope," Corey replied. The twins shook their heads no as well.

"We just told her we had a game with you," Moon offered.

"She was planning on taking Takahashi out, so we had to," Tai added.

Sin shrugged. "Let's get this to go," she suggested. "Deshi's waiting for us and you guys should be heading back to the Tower."

At the modest flat Sin and Deshi shared, the monk had tea ready for them. "Good night?" he asked, as Sin took a seat at the kitchen table.

"It was productive," Sin replied, emptying her jacket of the money the teens had won.

Corey, Moon, and Tai came out into the kitchen in costume. "Glamour charms," Corey said, as he stashed their clothes into a duffle bag.

"Oh shit," Moon muttered as she and her sister removed the charmed jade yin and yang necklaces they had worn to disguise their brightly coloured hair earlier.

"Who made them for you?" Sin asked as they began counting out their separate stacks of money. Corey slid half of his winnings over to her and she thanked him.

"Nina," Tai replied, dividing her pile into two stacks and sliding one of the stacks over to Sin.

"Why doesn't she just change your hair back to normal?" Deshi asked.

"Glamour charms are easier," Moon piped up, sliding Sin's cut of the winnings over.

"Than changing out our hair every time we need to hide who we are," Tai finished.

"That makes sense, I guess," Sin agreed. "Okay guys, bonus time," she added, handing over their share of the money Jade had collected.

"Damn, he would have made a killing tonight," Corey commented. The twins divided the bonus into two equal halves and handed them over to Corey. He accepted them and put them into two envelopes along with his share.

"As always, a pleasure doing business with you," Moon said as she placed the remainder of her money in a bright purple change purse and tossed it into the duffle with their clothes.

"We'll stop by before heading home tomorrow," Tai added. She put her money away in a blue change purse as Corey stashed his share in his wallet.

"Have a good night," Corey told Sin and Deshi as the teens took their leave.

"Night guys," Sin said, hugging them.

"Be good," Deshi told them as he hugged them goodnight.

"Just like you," Corey teased. Sin and Deshi watched them head for the Tower before returning to the kitchen table and dividing up the night's winnings further.

"Who broke the hell out of Xi?" Teejay asked when the teens got to the Tower.

"Grandma Jade showed up," Corey said, handing an envelope over to him. Teejay passed it over to Nina, who took out the money to count it.

"Cheshire was there too?" Alia asked.

"She wanted to watch," Tai said around a yawn.

"Besides, Aunt Sin made sure she didn't kill Xi," Moon added.

"Well it's late and we have training in the morning," Teejay told them. "Go on to bed." They bid him, Alia, and Nina goodnight before heading up to their quarters.

"Ay Dios mio," Nina muttered after she counted out the money a second time.

"Good haul?" Alia asked.

"Seventy three hundred," Nina said, holding up the money.

"Damn," Teejay gaped.

"The triads will busy trying to make that back," Alia mused.

"It keeps us in a job," Nina grinned.

"Yeah it does," Teejay chuckled.

The following evening, Jai was equally impressed with the money Corey had handed over in the other envelope. "What the hell happened?"

"Grandma Jade showed up and scored us a bonus," Tai smirked.

"She told us to send you her love," Moon added for Lian.

"Did Mom have fun?" Lian asked. Corey laughed and told his parents the story he'd overheard at the illegal game.

"Jade had a ball," Chris chuckled.