A/N Agh! I swear you guys are allergic to reviewing….if you review I'll give you….cake...with plenty of whipped cream...so, please? *gives puppy dog eyes* There's gonna be a bit of one-on-one Jackie and Macey interaction in this chapter, since it's been mostly Jade and parental Macey. Has anyone else noticed that in the show Jackie has little to no background? He doesn't talk about his childhood or parents or anything….anyways...

I haven't done disclaimer in awhile so I'll do it again, just for kicks. (Pun intended.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures or any of the characters you recognize. I only own Macey and any other characters that aren't originally in the series itself. Nor do I own any of the songs quoted before each chapter, a few mentioned artists are Nickelback, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Simple Plan, Avenged Sevenfold, and a lot more to come.

Chapter Thirteen - Bullies (episode 7, part 1)

"We all know that life ain't fair, but there are more of us, we're everywhere"- Shinedown, "Bully."

The desk in Valmont's office was only growing more and more familiar to the Dark Hand.

"Valmont?" The snake-like voice of Shendu erupted through the statue. "Where is the dragon talisman?"

"My men are on it," Valmont answered boredly, accustomed to his boss's temper.

"Your men could not find their own shadows," Shendu snarled. "And your incompetence continues to stupefy me."

"Oh?" Valmont snapped his fingers. "I'll stupefy you."

The Shadowkhan appeared, the black figures circling the men.

Shendu wavered. "Temper, Valmont…"

The white-haired man growled under his breath, no longer amused by Shendu's antics.

*JCA*

MACEY'S POV

I was packing up books, shelving and organizing, when I heard a thud coming from the foyer.

I squinted, tucking a textbook underneath my arm, and ambled into the entrance of the shop.

Jade was standing by the door, her chest heaving in and out, eyes widened. Her backpack was on the floor next to her feet.

"Jade, what's wrong?" If the Dark Hand had hurt her, I knew I was gonna have to kick some villain butt.

"I got in trouble at school!" Jade jumped from one foot to the other anxiously. "Please don't tell Jackie, please…."

My gaze softened. "What happened?" If anything, she hadn't gotten herself in trouble intentionally. Jade was a handful, but she wasn't the type to start things with other students.

Jade stared at her feet, the floor suddenly becoming very interesting.

"Jade." I put my hand gently on her shoulder. "What happened?"

She finally leveled her gaze with mine. "I'm kind of getting bullied at school. And this one kid-"

"Don't tell me," I said softly. "You punched him."

"He was asking for it!" Jade protested, appearing hopeless.

"That boy may have been a jerk," I said slowly, taking her backpack and hanging it on the hook, "but you shouldn't have punched him. Maybe next time you can find a better way to stand up for yourself."

"Yes, Macey," Jade sighed, turning away from me. I smiled sadly after her.

"Are you...are you gonna tell Jackie?" The question emerged squeaked.

"I have to," I told her. "But I won't get you in trouble."

Jade breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her forehead. "He'll understand, right?"

"Of course he will." I smiled reassuringly. "Listen, Jade, I was bullied in school, too. But you know what I did?"

"What?" Her eyes widened.

"I learned to ignore them." I patted her head. "The more you ignore them, the more they leave you alone."

"Okay," Jade agreed a little less enthusiastically. "Maybe I'll try that."

"Good girl," I said, and she grinned, bounding into the living room. Her energy had returned, and I laughed softly, turning up the radio nearby. Jackie and Uncle hadn't even known they'd had a radio until I found it sitting in the back room, dusty and rotting away. After cleaning it up and finding some decent stations, it was as good as new.

"Every rose has its thorn, just like every night has its dawn, just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song-" The song was cut off by a fuzzy, annoying sound. Another station tuned in.

"What the…" I muttered, adjusting the signal.

"I get knocked down, but I get up again!" Once more, the signal was cut off.

"Forget it!" I exclaimed, slapping the radio off and shoving it aside.

Just as I began to organize again, I heard footsteps. "Macey?" It wasn't Jade.

Jackie was standing on the threshold, appearing tired.

"I got a call that Jade got in trouble at school," he sighed. "What's going on? And what happened to the radio?"

"Uh, it just quit working." I pushed it back onto the desk. "And Jade," I said slowly, looking up, "is getting bullied at school. She tried to defend herself, but not in the best way possible."

Jackie rubbed his face. "She hit the bullies, didn't she?"

I nodded tentatively.

"I was afraid this would happen." He scratched the back of his neck, a habit I was beginning to notice. "Violence is never the answer. You should only fight when you have no other choice."

"She probably felt like she had no other choice." I set the books aside and sat on the edge of the desk, my legs swinging and hitting the wall. "Maybe the boy likes her and doesn't know how else to express it." Or maybe he's just a little jerk.

"I was bullied in school as well," Jackie said softly. "But I did not react with violence."

"You? Bullied?" Yeah, right. "No way." I could hardly picture Jackie getting picked on by a group of school imbeciles. He definitely did not fit the image of a bullied kid.

"It's true." He gave me a sheepish smile. "You could say I learned to cope."

"How?" I opened a book and leafed through it aimlessly, squinting at the Chinese handwriting and symbols.

"Discipline," Jackie answered simply. "And a lot of patience."

I looked down, unsure of how to respond to this statement. Maybe he had a rougher past than I thought.

A cell phone buzzed, and I glanced up. Jackie held up a finger, then pulled out his flip phone before answering. "Hello?" His facial expression darkened. "Yes...I see….we'll be there as soon as we can. Thank you." He hung up and slipped the phone into his back pocket.

"What happened?" I closed the book and shelved it.

"Captain Black has been hospitalized." His face contorted with worry. "It doesn't look good…"

"Crap." I stiffened. "Do you want me to come with you?" Maybe he needed back-up. The Dark Hand never gave up, even if an injury was involved.

"If you like." Jackie sounded defeated.

I frowned.

Was this job taking more of a toll on him than I realized?