A/N: Gambling…I seem to like adding that to a story once or twice. No action yet, I am sorry to say, but I promise you a bit more will be done in the next chapter…but all the same, do read and review, would you kindly?

Dongxing Jiujia…

"It would appear that we are at an impasse," began Vincent, picking up his shrimp dumpling with his chopsticks and dipping it in some mustard, "I have recently been contracted by the Turks to do a bit of their sweeping and evidence destruction, and you've been hired to make sure my target goes to jail. Makes me wonder how we're going to solve this little dilemma…"

"You could just walk away from all this, and find another contract," Yuffie said finally, biting down on her shumai and downing it with tea, the pride in her voice, "I'm pretty sure that a sweeper like you can find other ways of putting food on the table…"

Vincent sighed as he reached for a cha-siu bao. "I'm doing this mainly because I don't want him to start a big gang war with all the stuff he stole. If I know my research on Corneo, he's the sort of criminal that fancies himself a lion before a kingdom of helpless animals. That's why he's able to take advantage of the fact that the jury is too afraid to say he's guilty of his crimes…that, and he has a lot of corrupt judges in his pocket and an army of lawyers so evil and unethical that they would much rather strangle babies in their cribs right in front of their mothers over a penny than to lose a single case. The way I see it, death is the only way to end his reign of terror…other than that, you have to bring irrefutable proof that he's guilty of all his crimes; proof that even those same corrupt judges cannot deny, and that will make the jury grow a spine. However judging from how efficiently that Corneo gets rid of all evidence connected to him, even his rape victims, I highly doubt that you'll be able to put him in jail at all."

"How do you know this? I thought sweepers were only paid to close the curtains on someone, not to think."

"You'd be surprised how much money talks…just play the new kid on the block, and you'll have a lot of information at your fingertips. Whether or not any of it is accurate is debatable…however, given my experience in fighting terrorism, that ability comes a little easier for me. Besides, I don't take every contract that comes my way…even I have standards, as much as you do."

"Such as?"

"Rule one for me is that every target is investigated before the contract is taken. Depending on what I see in my week of watching the target, I may decide on whether or not the target is worth hitting. And to be honest from what I've read and seen of this place the day he took over, I never needed to research Corneo for any more than to watch his movements."

"Judging from your style so far, you seem to like engaging your marks up-close and personal. How are you going to get Corneo when he never leaves that fortress of a home he lives in? Not that I'm not rooting for you to silence him of course, I'm just saying…how are you even going…to get…up…" It was then that Yuffie realized her train of thought…she knew that getting up close to Corneo would be difficult now that he was in his fortress, and she also knew that although Vincent had so far proven that he was no slouch in close-quarters battle, he served in Spec Ops as a sniper; who said anything about getting Corneo in close-quarters with so many obstacles hindering a close encounter, when he could save himself the trouble by making it look like an amateur assassin with a grudge did it from long range?

"Perhaps we can work an accord…that is, if you're willing to hear it."

"You want me to call my dad, tell him that there's no way Corneo's going to jail?"

"Correct and on the first try…although I'd like to tell him of why I have a stake in it myself, I'm pretty sure he'd want my head on a spike for accepting a contract from the Turks."

"Yeah, he never really liked them."

"Then how about we just end his reign altogether? Call your father; tell him that it's impossible to get evidence. You do that, and I'll make sure you get to see Corneo die."

"What makes you think I haven't killed anyone before?"

"Call it an instinct…I think that you plan your operations so well that you never needed to kill anyone. Now it's different…this plan would mean condemning that pig to death. Are you sure you can handle the sight of death?"

"I've been able to handle it for a while now…I'm just not comfortable doing it myself. As to Corneo however, I've been preparing myself for that day I get to watch him die. Anyway, I don't believe that there's no way he'll ever be caught and thrown in jail, but how about we make a bet?"

"I am intrigued…to think that you'd make a wager with me. You do realize that you're dealing with an assassin am I correct?"

"So? I can be just as sneaky. But anyway, my bet is that I can get evidence on Don Corneo that literally throws him in jail before you can erase him. We both have five days to do our jobs…if I can't get any solid evidence on him in that time frame, you can collect on your gil. If I win, you will owe me the amount of money you would've earned for this job."

"Very well then, it seems fair considering how long it may take for my gear to arrive; but if I win, you have to give up your materia collection and thieving. But how about we up the stakes? My contract simply said that I had to torch the evidence of Corneo's theft and or terminate him…you manage to stop me from doing either, then I will turn myself in to the authorities, no strings attached."

Yuffie looked at her opponent in disbelief…her plan was to use the money to make him back off, she never expected him to be the high-risk, high-reward sort of gambler. That, and she was wondering why he would turn himself in. "If you beat me, then my reputation goes down…as it stands, I already have a hard enough time getting work as a sweeper, and for everyone to know that I lost to you means that it's even harder to find work, so I may as well turn myself in if that's the case."

As she listened, she could tell that there was something in his voice that spoke of something else—she was wondering just what it was that she was hearing. But perhaps she'll find out when she beats him. Before long, she saw him raise one hand, and upon getting a nearby waiter's attention, he made a gesture with his other hand as if he were scribbling on a notepad…he was calling for the check. The waiter walked on over, tallied up the requests, and wrote down a price before handing it back to Vincent. As he was reading the bill, Yuffie grabbed it, and studied it for herself…her eyes widening as she saw that the meal cost 2500 gil! As she was in the middle of her thoughts, she felt something pelting her head…once she found out what it was she was being hit with, Yuffie then turned to see it was an angry little kid flinging rice at her. The poisonous look she gave made her line of thought very clear: oh, somebody gonna get a hurt REAL BAD…somebody! She's not gonna say who.

Once she turned her attention back to Vincent, she found that he was gone, the check was also gone, and the waiter had a happy grin on his face walking away from the table upon seeing the amount of money. The bastard paid for lunch, and left! Okay, if that's the case, then that kid just got lucky! She got up, and walked to the nearby table where Tifa was eating an egg tart, obviously having listened to the whole conversation. "We're seeing Reno now…"

Wallace's Electronics, 2 hours later…

Barrett had just been filled in on the bet. Suffice to say, he was not exactly happy. "And how many days do we have?"

"We agreed to five days."

"And your deadline is when?"

"Corneo is not going to do anything for a while now…but she will more than likely have enough time to get evidence as I have enough time to get my weapons."

"Major, what the fucking hell were you thinking?"

"I just wanted to make things more exciting…there's the chance of failure, and there's also the chance of success. Besides, either way this sector wins; and while I wait, I may as well do her and the world a favor…by taking care of all those corrupt lawyers affiliated with Don Corneo."

"Why'd you up the stakes like that though? What do you gain from going to jail?"

"It's the hope that the impossible can very much be possible."

"I don't understand."

"I doubt you ever will…until she wins. By the way, what's the status on my order?"

Barrett simply sighed. When the major was this engrossed in a bet, he was always the type to see it through whether he won or not—adrenaline from the possibility that he may lose? Maybe. However, he simply smiled as he pulled out a large suitcase from under the counter. "Well, on a lighter note, you have a package waiting for you. Take it upstairs, and get yourself reacquainted with your old buddy from the war. I'll let you know when the other orders have arrived."

Vincent took the suitcase in one hand before walking up the stairs. "Thanks…but I have one more question…do you think you can order 'her'?"

Wallace simply looked on at Valentine with a question mark over his head. It was not the 'her' that he was asking about, as he knew what 'she' was. The question was in the reason he would ask for 'her'. "I know some people who are willing to part with one of 'her'…why do you ask?"

"I'm sorry for the last-minute request, but would you please place an order for 'her'? I'll pay whatever you want, because I have that feeling again."

Oh he knew what that meant. Wallace always knew to trust in those 'feelings' that Valentine gets—usually whenever this happens, something unexpected occurs that changes things in any mission. The first time that happened was in the Mt. Nibel range one particularly snowy winter; the commander at the time didn't listen to Valentine's intuition, thinking it was a bunch of bull—it also didn't help that the man was a white supremacist, thinking everyone with an origin outside of the Midgar-Nibelheim area were a bunch of cavemen and hillbillies. For his intuitive guesswork and analysis, Valentine was tied up and whipped before being made to clean latrines and to peel potatoes in camp. As it turned out, the terrorists had set a trap earlier and used an avalanche with a disguised animal noise in order to cut off all means of escape for the camp—when the trap was finally sprung, the camp was fired upon and the commanding officer then was killed in the ensuing firefight. All terrorists were killed, and most of the soldiers survived when Vincent took command; after that day he was propelled from being a nobody foot-soldier with nothing but basic boot camp training behind him, to a hardcore special operations Major in charge of the Hellfire Squad.

Sure, that gun in the case would get the job done, but whenever he asked for 'her' at the last minute, Wallace knew that whatever it was that troubled Valentine was likely going to require all the firepower she can bring to bear. Ah well, he may as well let him get reacquainted with his favorite gun in the meantime…

Meanwhile…Shadow Market, Sector 5 Branch…

Reno's two pets had snuggled up to him, pleasuring his member with their tongues. He groaned in pleasure as they licked up and down from under his desk…and it was the pleasurable sort of torture he was going through at this very moment. Just as one of the pets engulfed his member with her mouth, the door slammed open, causing him to fire a shot down the woman's throat, and making her choke on it. "Seriously Reno, do you really have to bring your pets to work?"

"Hey! Being the head of a branch is hard work yo! You never know when the next day's gonna be your last. What do you want anyway?"

Yuffie simply smiled. "Oh nothing, just checking up on the status of my deliveries."

The air of irritation was clear when Reno sighed. "Your tools will be here soon yo, but I highly doubt you simply came here just to get a status update. Something's on your mind."

"I just came to tell you don't have to find the assassin, because I found him out already."

"So? What do you need me for?"

"You served in the War on Terror right?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

"What can you tell me about the 49th Hellfire Spec Ops Squad?"

Reno had a confounded look in his eyes before he simply laughed as he recalled his days back in the war. "What don't I know about them? You're looking at a former member of that squad as a matter of fact. We raised all sorts of hell by setting bases on fire so that the other soldiers could gun down the terrorists running away like a sort of duck hunt. Although I wonder; why are you asking about them in the first place, yo?"

"The assassin was your commanding officer."

If his eyes held confusion before, now it was a good deal of horror before it melded into realization. "So 'The Demon' is that assassin that's been killing those big-time crime bosses. Not a surprise considering what happened to his wife and Hojo getting away with it. I suppose the poor man has lost his faith in the law after that day…so he became a professional assassin against crime bosses. Hojo was stupid to have messed with him."

"How well do you know him?"

"Before he came to the unit, not much yo…only that he came from Nibelheim—his ma was Han Wutainese, and his dad was a half-Nippon native. But if you're looking to know about him once he joined the unit, I will say this; he is a Turk's worst enemy…unless you served under his command, then not so much. Why? Because the man can make us Turks look like freaking idiots…and he's not even a spy. I still remember that time Old Heidegger found that his beard was dyed pink—that and on the same day, he also had a non-poisonous snake wake him up in bed. The man had never looked more stupid than on that day—nobody knew who did it, but I have a feeling that Valentine was responsible for that, because Heidegger beat down on my squad-mate simply because she was a woman. From then on, all Turks new and old knew not to mess with him…and especially not to double-cross him."

Yuffie had to stifle a giggle—who knew that Valentine could be such a prankster? And the fact that he defended that squad-mate suggests that he was pro-women's rights. "What if I told you that I made a bet with him that says I have to get evidence to send Corneo to jail?"

"I'd say you're crazy, yo…Valentine's not the sort of man to give up whenever he's been challenged to a bet; which is part of the reason why we never invited him to drinking contests." Upon hearing her silence, Reno's face furrowed as he made the connection. "You didn't!"

Yuffie was walking towards the doors. Her voice was now teasing. "Get those supplies as soon as you can…if you want to stick it to Valentine."

The second he heard the door close, Reno knew that this bet was on…despite his horror at this situation, he simply grinned as things just got more exciting…

A/N: Russell Peters is a very funny man…I especially like the "somebody gonna get a hurt real bad" line. Now who do you think is going to win? Will Yuffie be able to send Corneo to jail? Or will Vincent terminate the fat monster first? Comment on the victor, would you kindly?

Songs Used:

"Spanish Waltz" by Urbanus from "Castle Crashers"—Lunch and a Bet

"Kokoro no Hadaka" from "Rurouni Kenshin"—Vincent's package has arrived

"Sexy" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Reno getting pleasured

"The Clandestine Dark Suits" by Takeharu Ishimoto from "FFVII: Crisis Core"—Reno and Yuffie discuss Vincent

Vocabulary/Culture Notes:

Shumai—a very common item for dim-sum, it's a small dumpling with a ground meat filling (usually pork) mixed with mushroom, and usually topped with such things as shrimp and flying fish roe.

Cha-siu Bao—another common item in dim-sum…it's a steamed bun filled with barbecued pork, sweet and salty at the same time because of the sauce used to marinate the pork and make the filling.

Fighting for the bill—in Chinese culture, being the one to pay the bill for a meal gives you more face than the person who doesn't…hence why once or twice, there's an argument with 'Wo qing ke!' ('it's my treat!') on both sides.