Better The Devil You Know

Valerie slowly came round, groaning as she felt her mind slowly float towards the surface of consciousness. She slowly blinked her eyes open, sensations slowly drifting back to her as she became more aware as sleep thinned from her mind. She hurt. A lot. Her skin felt like it was slowly burning, her face ached and her eye and mouth felt as if she had cotton wool padding around her face. She could feel she was laying on something soft, but her back, ribs and stomach ached, the muscles tense and crying out to her and begging her not to move. Breathing deeply was too painful as her expanding ribs protested to the movement, and she had to settle for shallow breaths as she opened one eye as the other refused. It was only then that memories began to trickle back into her mind…

Valerie gasped, heart suddenly hammering in her chest as she came to full alertness. The last thing she remembered was Hak Foo beating the life out of her and destroying her apartment… she'd tried to call for help… then… Valerie slowly looked around the room, and with a sickening sense of dread, realised that she was no longer in her apartment. She didn't recognise the office she'd been place in, and her heart raced to a new rhythm as she looked about in panic, before looking down at herself.

Her eyes widened as she saw that her top had changed from what she last remembered. Instantly, horrifying images flooded her mind at what her captor must have done to her whilst she was unconscious. With shaking hands she looked down the neck of her new, oversized top and was mildly surprised but nevertheless relieved to see that she still had her same bra on. And then looking down at her legs, she realised she was wearing the same trousers. That seemed to calm her mind somewhat, as she doubted someone would molest her and then put her back in her clothes. Only then did she notice the bandages on her arms and felt them across her stomach, confusing her further. What did all this mean?

She heard the door 'click', and her eyes shot to the office door, widening as her heart was suddenly drumming in her ears as it slowly opened. Her breath hitched in her throat as she waited with anticipation as a shadow loomed in the doorway. A figure stepped through and into the early morning light, revealing a long black and blue robe on a tall man, who just so happened to have platinum blonde hair and red eyes. Shendu.

Valerie instantly screamed, a hundred ideas of why she was here suddenly bursting into her mind with horrifying intensity as she tried to rise up and scramble away. But as she tried to sit up, pain shot through her stomach and raced up her back and along the side of her ribcage. Her scream of fear turned into a cry of pain, making her wheeze as her hands cupped her sides as if she were trying to hold herself together. The agony was enough to make tears sting her eyes, tensing her entire body as she contorted against the aching in her body. She suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder, pressing her down against the sofa, making her gasp as she quickly turned her head to see with her good eye Shendu's hand with a firm grip on her body. Instantly she imagined the worst as he loomed over her, pushing her down easily with one hand, and she tried to squirm away, though her pain and his iron grip made that impossible.

"Do not move," She heard him growl down to her as she looked up fearfully into his face. "You will only continue to hurt yourself." Still she tried to wriggle out of his hold, but he was unrelenting. "You have cracked ribs, bruising, and deep wounds. Continue to struggle and you will make it worse. So listen." He hissed out impatiently.

"W-why… am I… h-here?" her voice broke and cracked as she tried to force out the words breathlessly, a burn in her throat as she tried to speak.

"I found you injured, I treated your injuries." Shendu murmured as if this were the most simplest thing in the world as he brought a chair beside the sofa she was laying on and sat down on it. Instantly, Valier tried to inch herself away towards the back of the sofa, fear gripping her stomach until she felt sick with the dread and the pain. "Drink this." Shendu ordered as he offered towards her a bowl of steaming green liquid.

"No." Valerie croaked out as she turned her head away weakly in the only defiance she could show.

"It is not poison, if that is what you fear," he muttered as if such a thing were ludicrous. "It is a simple potion. It will help to heal your injuries,"

"I find that… h-hard to believe." She growled out, her ribs aching as she tried to gain the breath to speak.

"Enough with this stubbornness, Valerie." Shendu scolded quietly as he held out the bowl towards her once again.

"I don't w-want… anything from… you."

"You have little choice in the matter."

"Why are you… doing this?" she asked brokenly, desperately, her voice betraying a feeling of hurt she was at first confused to feel. Shendu had been telling her since he visited her in dreams that he wanted her, that he valued her, he had even twice prevented her from being harmed. And yet, Hak Foo had appeared in her apartment, and beaten her almost to death, and she knew that Shendu gave the orders. And that was why she felt so hurt, so betrayed. Had she somewhere deep down accepted Shendu's words when he'd said he wasn't a threat to her? If so, then she had been a fool. Had he sent Hak Foo to teach her a lesson, to show her what happened when she refused him? So why was he doing all of this? Why heal her, undo the damage he'd ordered done, was it just to mess with her mind?

"I will not allow you to remain in this pathetic state." Shendu told her, again as if she were a stubborn child. "Now either you do as I say, or I render you unconscious and give you the potion anyway. It is your choice."

Valerie glared up at him, or as best she could do with only one normal eye. When put like that, what choice did she really have? And besides, if she was going to take this 'potion' either way, she would rather be awake in order to know exactly what Shendu was doing at all times. She nodded to him stiffly, her face making it plainly clear that she was begrudgingly accepting his help, though she did not want it at all. Shendu ignored her glaring however, and leaned forward towards her. Valerie stiffened as one of his hands cupped the back of her neck, gently leaning her forward ever so slightly whilst his other hand brought the shallow bowl to her lips. Valerie cringed, the scent of the mixture choking her nose as she edgily sipped at the edge of the bowl as Shendu slowly poured the contents into her mouth. It had a rather rich texture, yet a lingering smoky taste as the warm broth slid over her tongue as she drank. She drank half the bowl when Shendu took it away and she regained her breath. Already she could feel a tingling as she felt the warmth slip down inside of her, wherever it touched, she felt it grow and extend its reach through her body. She felt her various cuts and bruises suddenly grow hot, a slight burning sensation running across her skin at all her aches and pains. It wasn't painful, exactly, but it felt strange, as if someone had put a warm, wet towel onto each wound.

"What is that?" Valerie asked in the silence that lingered. She already heard her voice become stronger, though she still croaked, feeling the touch of the potion on her voice creating a soothing heat for the ache.

"A broth made with various ingredients of magical properties." Shendu told her nonchalantly. "An easy potion to master. It will help to heal you faster."

"Why would you know it?" She asked with a slight frown. "When you were alive you had the talisman of healing. Why bother with a healing potion?"

"I had to for basic teachings in alchemy." He said. "And besides, it is useful to know. Had I not, I wouldn't have been able to tend to you,"

"If my injuries were so bad, then why am I not in a hospital?" she asked.

"Because I was not in the mood to deal with a hundred questions as to why a demon-sorcerer was dropping off an injured woman. Besides, human medicine is nothing compared to the magic I wield." He boasted.

"If you say so…" she murmured.

"Drink the rest," he ordered, leaning forward to once again cup the back of her neck and somewhat sit her up.

This time, Valerie took a slower drink of the rest of the broth, slowly draining the content of the bowl, as she soaked its warmth into her being. As Shendu took the bowl from her and laid her back down, Valerie felt her eyelids droop, the soothing warmth that spread through her body was oddly calming, tempting her back into sleep, though she fought to keep her eyes open. She felt a light brush against her temple, and turned her head just a fraction to see Shendu lightly tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. His touch was surprisingly gentle, almost reverent as the tips of his fingers handled her with care. And for a moment, as Valerie looked into his glowing red eyes, she felt safe, as if with him so close, hovering over her and just within reach, she was protected. She knew it was a stupid thing to think, but for one blissful moment, as his fingers lightly traced through her hair, further lulling her into a calm sleep, she didn't care.

"Who did this? What happened to you?" she heard Shendu's voice murmur, as if he were speaking his thoughts aloud and did not mean for her to hear.

But she did. And the moment she realised what he said, the spell was broken. Hurt and anger surged through her again, battling the fatigue as she glared at him and turned her head away from his touch. She didn't even look back at him, not dignifying him with her gaze as she rejected him with her turned back.

"This is what happens when you send your thugs after me." she hissed out bitterly, brokenly, the aches of her body making themselves well known, despite the warmth of the potion starting to heal them.

"What are you talking about?" Shendu's voice bit out in confusion and seeming frustration. Valerie felt her temper flare again, though she stubbornly refused to turn around to look at him.

"Are you going to play dumb? As if this wasn't bad enough?" she gestured with a hand to her body, as she spat the accusation. But when all she received was silence, she rolled her eyes, growling in frustration as she struggled to hold back angry tears. "Whatever. I'm too hurt to give a damn about your mind games anymore. All I know is your brute broke into my apartment and used me as a punching bag. If denial makes you sleep easier then go ahead, but it won't for me."

There was a very heavy silence that followed her words. Valerie thought perhaps he was either ignoring her or was sulking that his deception had failed. But then, as she lay there, she could have sworn she felt the temperature in the room slowly rising. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and something that she could only describe as a sixth sense told her to turn around, that there was danger close by. Against her better judgement, her heart beat suddenly climbing into her throat, she turned enough to see Shendu. He hadn't moved an inch, not a muscle twitched on his face as he sat so still he could have been a living statue. But his knuckles had turned white, and his eyes seemed to be almost shining beams of red light, as their glow intensified like a raging fire was blazing behind his sockets. His jaw was clenched tightly, and his posture was so straight and rigid, that he looked unnatural, and Valerie shrunk back as she realised the look on the demon's face. Pure, annihilating rage. As she watched, transfixed but still deathly afraid of such anger, Shendu stood to his seemingly threatening height, his face cast in shadow as he glared down at her.

"I can assure you, I had nothing to do with this. But rest assured, I will personally see to it that this does NOT happen again." His voice was quiet and a threatening growl that betrayed how desperately he was holding back the force of his fury by a mere thread. Valerie shivered at the sound, and almost flinched when he gently held out a hand in front of her face, making a sweeping motion over her eyes. "Now, sleep…"

She didn't know how he did it, but with those words and the wave of his hand, her eyes suddenly closed, and she succumbed to oblivion.

If there was anywhere that Jade didn't want to be, it was school. Yesterday, she had been looking forward to it, to be able to show off her gnarly tattoo, but not now. Not after what had happened last night.

They had only been home an hour, when Jackie had suddenly gotten a call from Valerie before racing out of the door. It had sounded bad, but Jade hadn't been too worried, for she'd naively thought: what could possibly happen to Val? But then, Jackie didn't come home for hours, and Jade's worry as she waited in the room at Section 13 had only increased, each passing moment seeming to string her tighter like a spring about to burst. Then, finally, Jackie and Captain Black and their agents had returned home… and told her that Valerie was missing.

Jade had listened to the details that Jackie felt was "safe" for her to know. He simply told her that it appeared that Valerie had been attacked, her apartment ransacked and she herself gone. But Jade had snuck into Black's office to look at the files, and seen the details from their forensic scientists who had looked over the scene. The blood, the evidence of a struggle, the bloody knife, the broken coffee table… it all painted a sickening picture in the young girl's mind.

Uncle and Tohru had been informed of the situation, and despite it being past midnight by that time, they had come to Section 13 and it had been a very odd scene as the Chan family shared in their grief and worry. Jackie was almost on the verge of hysterics every five seconds, Tohru had completely stressed out with concern, and Uncle was almost furious and demanded to be taken back to the scene of the crime in order to see if magic had been at work. It was a busy night, and eventually, even Jade had not been able to keep up with it, and in the small hours of the morning had collapsed and fallen into a fitful sleep.

She'd awoken, exhausted both mentally and emotionally, and pleaded with Jackie to let her stay to help search for Valerie. Jackie had refused, even when Jade got truly angry and yelled and screamed at him. But he was still persistent, and knew that the child was not really angry with him, but was simply desperate to find her missing friend. Jackie had explained that Captain Black had put all his available agents on the case, and was sparing no expense in trying to hunt down Valerie, wherever she might have gone. And Uncle and Tohru had arisen early in order to go to Valerie's apartment and see if they could detect magic and perhaps try and find an unbroken or untarnished personal belonging of hers in order to try a locator spell. Jade had had no choice, as Jackie had all but marched her into the school, saying that there was nothing she could do. Jade had sulked all the way through first period and tried to avoid everyone at recess. She didn't want to speak with anyone, her thoughts too caught up on her missing friend.

But of course, luck wasn't on her side. Drew had sauntered towards her with almost the whole class group, a smirk on his face as he cornered her on the benches. Jade knew what he had obviously come to gloat over, and she was not in the mood. Sure, she still had the tattoo, but it meant next to nothing to her now compared to Valerie's disappearance. Never before had Jade so badly wanted to punch Drew in the face then at that moment.

"Come on Jade," Drew smirked down at her in an obvious gloat. "You promised you'd get a tattoo by today. So what happened? Did your uncle Jackie let you have a pretty butterfly? Or did he say no – like I said he would!"

Drew grinned, and Jade felt her temper flare until she wanted to strangle her classmate. Without a word, she stood with a dangerous scowl on her face, stamping her leg onto the seat of the bench and lifting her pant leg to reveal the fake tattoo on her skin.

"Wow…" a blonde haired boy named Mathew murmured in awe.

"It's even gnarlier then Drew's tattoo!" a red-haired girl named Jessica marvelled. "Did it hurt?"

"Yeah…" Jade replied vaguely. "But I didn't even scream once while they were doing it…" she added with a sidelong smirk at Drew's scowling face as he stared at her tattoo.

"That looks about as real as those 'magic-ninjas' Jade's always talking about," Drew muttered sourly.

"The ninjas are real! And so's my tattoo!" Jade replied hotly, glaring at the other boy, her temper once again burning in her veins at how Drew dared to take this away from her! She had more important things to worry about, and he was still trying to belittle her?! She then noticed something out of the corner of her eye, and sneered as she snatched up Drew's T-shirt and pulled the sleeve to reveal his bare skin where his tattoo had been yesterday. "Unlike yours."

"What?" Matthew gasped.

"Hey, where's your tattoo?" Jessica frowned at Drew.

"Err… well… I-I thought you knew – they peel right off!" Drew tried to cover his tracks, and Jade wanted to come out with a sarcastic comment but settled for rolling her eyes. But suddenly, Drew leapt towards her leg, rubbing his hand along the tattoo. "Like this!"

"Hey! Watch it Drew! Cut it out!" Jade snarled as she pushed the boy off of her, everyone looking down, expecting to see the ink smudged – including Jade. But everyone gasped when they saw that it was untouched, as if it were a part of her skin.

"Whoa…" Drew murmured.

"Err… told you it was real…" Jade murmured shakily, a bad feeling settling in her stomach as she tried to carefully extract herself from the group.

It was a mercy when the bell finally rang and all the children started to file back into the school to begin their next class. Jade ran straight for the girl's bathroom, desperate to get the tattoo off of her skin. She had enough on her plate without Jackie also grounding her for getting a tattoo. Val had said that she could wash it off by now, so Jade filled a sink with hot water, and pulled a brush from one of the cleaner's buckets in order to scrub her skin.

"Come on… off! Off!" she muttered to herself as she soaked her ankle and covered it in soap before scrubbing.

She scrubbed until her skin turned bright red and threatened to bleed and the pain was almost unbearable. With each stroke of the scrub, a sense of panic as well as pain weighed her stomach, making her feel sick as she looked worriedly from her ankle to the water, hoping to see it turn black from the ink. But when she could no longer bear it, she took away the brush, to see that the tattoo still remained. Jade looked up into the mirror above the sink, seeing her reflection grow pale as her eyes grew wide and her lip trembled in panic.

"I'm in trouble."

Valerie had awoken after only what she assumed was a few hours of sleep. She could only gather that by the way the sunlight was filtering in from a different angle through the small windows. Thankfully, she had awoken to find herself alone, and even more thankfully still had the same clothes on. She'd laid there for a while, checking over her wounds on her front and up her arms. The shallower cuts were almost healed, though the deeper ones were still scabbed over. However, she could feel her muscles along her abdomen and back were still very bruised, and her ribs still hurt at even the slightest movement. She could at least open her previously swollen eye, though she didn't doubt that the bruising remained.

Satisfied that she'd checked over all she could, she simply laid there, idly twiddling her thumbs with growing boredom. She had absolutely nothing to do just lying there, with no company and nothing to occupy her mind. Her thoughts drifted to her friends: did they know she was missing? She could vaguely recall phoning Jackie before she'd passed out in her apartment. But would he know where to look for her? Could they find her? Section 13 obviously had the best equipment able to try and find her, but Shendu had managed to stay hidden from them for a while, so would they be able to rescue her?

Realising that this "rescue" may need some help from her, Valerie braced one arm along the back of the sofa, propping the other elbow beneath her, as she tried to slowly raise herself up. Instant pain flared along her back and up her side and in her abdomen, burning her until she had to clench her jaw to supress a hiss. She bared her teeth as she tried to use what little strength she had left to pull herself into a sitting position. Tears were stinging her eyes as she slowly swung her legs until her feet were on the floor. She sighed, sitting there and trying to recover from the pain and sudden exhaustion. Her back ached as it supported her, and with her panting, her ribs kept shooting flaring pain along her side until she was forced to take shallow breaths. Looking down at her feet, it took a while to gather the courage to try and stand. She sucked in a breath, pain shoot along her spin and down her legs that wobbled and threatened to buckle under her weight. Finally, slowly, she stood, though a little hunched as she tried to relieve herself of the pain.

Shuffling her feet forward, Valerie hobbled towards the small windows, leaning one arm against the wall to help support her weight. Looking out of the small windows, she was only given a slight view of the ocean. That didn't help her much, as she couldn't see any indication of which dock or part of the coast she was at, just endless blue water. She sighed, and was about to turn around in order to see if she could try sneaking her way out of this building – whatever it was. Perhaps she had been left alone and could maybe sneak outside and get a cab to the shop? That would be asking for a lot of luck, but she needed to at least try.

But then her reflection caught on the window glass, and she focused on it as she tried to see herself. Her face was a mess of mottled bruises and slight swelling. Though she knew it wasn't as bad as what it was, it still caused her slight distress to see herself be reduced to this. She gingerly reached up to touch her face, a grief in her soul as if it were a broken vase that could never again be fixed. She was so engrossed in her own reflection, that she didn't even notice the other presence in the room until she saw another reflection behind hers in the glass.

One that looked like the head of a dragon.

"Valerie."

"Ah!" Valerie shrieked as she whirled around, startled as she turned expecting to see Shendu is his dragon-body, and was confused for a moment to see the possessed body of Valmont instead. "But... you're reflection –" she tried to say as she looked back and forth between the man and the reflection with a dragon's head on top.

"Is a reflection." Was all Shendu said as he glowered down at her. "You should be resting, as you were told,"

"I did rest." Valerie replied a little defensively, though her voice lacked its usual bite as her stomach still held that quivering fear of the one who had ordered her severe beating. "But I woke up, and I needed to move. I'm fine,"

"Really…" Shendu drawled out sarcastically. He then poked her shoulder with a hard finger.

"OW!" Valerie yelped as she felt fire ignite in her flesh, the pain burning her as she clutched the offended shoulder. It hurt much more than it should of, and she had shown it.

"My point is clear." Shendu muttered smugly, before taking her by the elbow and began to steer her back towards the sofa. It took them a minuet, but eventually Valerie slowly lowered herself to sit, hissing softly as she tried to make her pain go unnoticed. As she sat trying to regain her strength, Shendu held out to her a bowl filled with the same green potion.

"Shendu, I don't need to be bedridden," Valerie muttered as she took the bowl from him. "And I thought you said the potion would help me heal faster,"

"It will," Shendu agreed, and Valerie drank half of the contents, feeling its soothing warmth once again seep through her. Shendu didn't speak again until she lowered the bowl in order to breathe. "But even then, it takes time. Some of your injuries ran deeper than others… they will take more time."

"How convenient for you…" Valerie mumbled to herself before drinking the rest. She could once again feel the soothing warmth race across all her aches and pains, as if it were burning the injuries out. Valerie handed back the bowl to Shendu as she looked up at him with a suspicious glare. "I'm guessing you won't let me leave this room?"

"I think it obvious in both our best interests if you were not to leave here unless you were under my supervision," Shendu told her.

"So this is to be my prison cell?" she couldn't help but remark.

"Think of it as a haven…" Shendu smirked. "It is your place of healing, of sanctuary, but step outside of it, and who knows what might happen."

"And how… how long will I stay here?" Valerie tried to pretend that his words didn't unsettle her, but her voice still caught on her words.

"For however long I deem necessary,"

"Necessary for… what?" she asked in a quiet voice, not sure if she wanted the answer.

"Until you heal, or until the portals are all opened, or until I regain my real body… whichever takes the longest…" He was almost purring as grinned down at her.

Valerie swallowed hard, trying to not show how this made her stomach quiver. In spite of her fear, she tried to push the conversation on. "Stuck in this room for that long… you do realise I will grow bored?" she said.

"I will be here to keep you company,"

"And when you're not? Sorry, but your thugs are not exactly the sort of people I want to sit down to tea with." Valerie crossed her arms, glad of the change of topic, though actually she knew that her previous boredom was a matter to discuss. She was not a toy that Shendu could play with whenever he could be bothered.

"I'm sure I can find ways to entertain you…" Shendu leered as he leaned closer to her, and Valerie suddenly regretted this line of the conversation. But then, they both froze as they heard a loud knocking on the door. Shendu growled as he withdrew from Valerie to stand straight glaring at the door.

"Err, Shendu – sir?" came Finn's voice as he slowly opened the door to peak his head inside. Valerie noticed how the man looked a little pale, and his voice was extremely shaky as he spoke to Shendu in a squeak. "We have more stuff for your, um, lady-friend – hello Miss Payne."

"Err… hi?" Valerie murmured, most confused.

"Good." Shendu said coldly, never taking his eyes off of the enforcer. "Now, take the other two and retrieve my book. And don't disappoint me…"

"Y-yes sir…." Finn ducked his head back out quickly, as if he were afraid Shendu might bite him. Valerie was about to ask what was wrong with the man, but something Finn had said had caught her interest.

"Stuff for me?" She asked.

"You needed new attire. Valmont's men were completely incompetent the last time, but I should hope that they now bring you some things which will fit you better." Shendu told her in a warmer, calmer voice then what he had used to address Finn with. Valerie was about to reply, when she suddenly saw Shendu's face scrunch as if in pain, and when he opened his eyes again, ice blue eyes greeted her.

"Nursemaid, entertainer, now your own personal shopper," Valerie was horrified to hear Valmont's voice as the man sneered at her, even holding his body differently to the looming demon. "The dreadful dragon is full of surprises isn't he?"

"Valmont?!" Valerie blanched in surprise.

"Who else?" he spat. "It's my body, I inhabit it."

"As do I, Valmont," Shendu hissed to himself as Valerie watched in growing shock as with a blink the red glowing eyes were back, signalling that she was now speaking to Shendu.

"Is he… aware of everything happening?" She asked quietly, as if she were afraid her fellow human would overhear her.

"Only when he wants to take an interest in things, otherwise he is dormant." Shendu muttered bitterly.

"So does he… do that often?" she asked, a repulsed look on her face.

"I can control him."

"Good. I'd rather not talk to that slimy crook, or else I might slap him." Valerie surprised herself with how true her words were. How odd: that she preferred to talk to a murderous evil demon-dragon than a fellow human.

"I'd like to see you try," Valmont said as he took back control.

"Try me, and I will." Valerie instantly growled back.

"You heard her Valmont," Shendu chuckled darkly as he seized control, seeming to talk over his shoulder as if Valmont were standing there. "Now if you do not wish to listen then back to the depths with you."

"Talking to two people sharing a body… that wasn't creepy…" Valerie murmured sarcastically.

"Never mind him. I will make sure he does not bother us again." Shendu murmured before turning towards the door to the office. "Now, stay here whilst I fetch your new belongings, you can decide which ones you would like to keep."

"All… alright…" Valerie murmured uneasily, before something about the demon caught her eye. "Shendu?" he paused at the door as the sound of his name. Valerie felt her cheeks grow red as she voiced her thoughts. "I've only just noticed but… why are you wearing a dress?"

"This is a sorcerers robe!" Shendu suddenly shouted, causing Valerie to jump back in her seat slightly. After a moment, Shendu calmed himself, seemingly exasperated by his own outburst as he spoke to her in a somewhat frustrated tone. "I retrieved it from my secret storage, I deem it to be more appropriate for my activities then that suit Valmont insisted on wearing."

"No argument here," Valerie awkwardly murmured her agreement. "That thing was awful. But, how old was this 'secret storage'?"

"The Ling Dynasty."

"Really?" Valerie asked, eyes widening as her head spun with the implications. "You're telling me this is almost two thousand years old?! That's… amazing!"

"Magic can preserve most things…"

"I know but, the historical value… it's just…" Valerie was in the middle of her tirade, like a child on Christmas morning, when she realised what she was doing, and quickly shut her mouth, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Yeah, well… anyway…"

Shendu chuckled to himself before finally exiting the room. Valerie counted ten breathes before she slowly hoisted herself up to standing once more. She hissed at the pain, though it was less than before since she had taken the second dose of potion. She shuffled towards the door, hesitantly reaching out her hand to touch the door handle. She was slightly surprised when she felt nothing, for she'd been expecting a spell of some sort to stop her leaving. Listening carefully, she deemed that Shendu was far away from the door, and so she carefully opened it and stepped out.

She came into a short hallway, and quickly followed it – or as quickly as she was able – towards what she assumed was the main room. Looking around, she still couldn't see Shendu anywhere, though she could see the bay doors as well as normal doors, and figured that she must be in some form of warehouse. She crept into the main room, and tried to find her way towards an exit that Shendu would not notice. As she shuffled past a corner, she heard a slight moan, and automatically turned – and almost puked.

Huddling in the corner was a body, broken, battered and bloody. She couldn't distinguish what part was which as all she saw was swollen and bruised skin and bones sticking through the flesh at odd and sickening angles. Valerie felt her breath shiver up her throat, her stomach doing flips as she leaned closer to get a better look at the mess. As she neared, the body moved, and an eye opened. Valerie could have screamed, but clamped a hand over her mouth, as she suddenly recognised the body: Hak Foo! She now saw the red hair, now matted with blood that was splattered over his torn clothes and disfigured limbs. She then heard his breathing, harsh and rasping as if he was struggling to get air into his lungs, a wet gargle on every other breath. His lips and eyes were swollen and black, his nose was bent at a strange angle. The skin on one arm had almost been ripped away completely, and one leg kept twitching, even when one could see that the bone was broken inside. She heard his pained moans, realising that whoever had done this to him had meant to cause the man extreme pain and keep him alive and conscious to live through every second of it. Though barely. Valerie wanted to pity the man, for surely he didn't deserve this. But she couldn't find it in herself to feel anything other than satisfaction… and that absolutely horrified her.

Suddenly, she felt something clamp around her shoulder, and Valerie spun with a frightened scream, only to see Shendu looming over her as he caught her arm in his grasp, a large sack held in the other hand.

"I told you to wait in your room." He growled out to her in a low tone.

"Oh my god…" Valerie murmured, unable to say anything else as she put two-and-two together, looking over her shoulder to the mess of a man on the floor and back to Shendu with a horrified look on her face. "Y-You did this?"

"My men seemed to need a reminder that I am in charge, and as such my valuables are not to be harmed." Shendu replied coldly as he peered over her shoulder mercilessly at the man lying on the floor. He then looked back at Valerie when she remained silent. "You seem appalled. Do you not want to see him suffer as you have?"

"You've almost killed him…" was all she could say, not wanting to voice aloud how she secretly agreed with him.

"I wanted to kill him." Shendu agreed darkly. "The only reason he still breathes is because he is only a little less useless then the others."

"Is that why Finn was so jumpy? Because of this?"

"The others needed a demonstration. And I hope that Hak Foo remembers his place from now on?" Shendu directed his voice to what was left of the thug on the floor.

The only noise that came from the beaten pulp was a pathetic and almost inaudible whimper.

"Now come." Shendu told her in a voice that brokered no argument. He still held onto her arm as he all but dragged her back into the office.

Once there, he made her once again sit on the sofa, and dumped the sack on the floor in front of her. Valerie silently rifled through the bag, pulling out clothes after clothes, inspecting each item and seeming whether she wanted it or not. Most of it she kept, apart from the appalling colours or fabrics of miniskirts and crop-tops that would be useless to her here. Most of it was just simply comfortable clothes, and most of it was on in her size. She did all of this in silence, her old defence mechanism of trying to make herself invisible whilst she worked kicking in. But obviously, the demon watched her the whole time as he stood several feet away from her, his eyes never once leaving her. It unnerved her, how he always managed to see her, even when she didn't want to be seen; she had never been noticed before, and she didn't know what to make of it now.

"These will suit you?" Shendu finally asked once she was finished sorting through the clothes.

"Yes," she mumbled.

"You are afraid of me? Because of that insolent mortal?" Shendu asked almost testily.

"No…" she replied vaguely, trying to withdraw into herself as she dared to not look at him.

"Then what is it?" he demanded.

Valerie paused for a moment, trying to work up the courage to ask the big question that had suddenly been burning in her mind since seeing what had been left of Hak Foo. Shendu had beaten him almost to death, and why? Surely not for the sake of more deception, that would be wasted effort. So that could only mean one thing. But for some reason that truth was more frightening then the lie she had thought to exist, but she needed to know either way. So, she slowly raised her eyes, not sure where this next question would take her.

"You… you really didn't order him to hurt me?" she asked.

"Of course not." Came the instant reply.

"Then… thank you." She murmured, a secret warmth igniting in her chest.

"Hey." Jade said quickly as she marched into the shop as fast as she could without looking suspicious… as if the large snow boots she wore in the middle of spring were not suspicious enough. She tried to huddle in the corner, hiding behind a book, wanting to go unnoticed, as she had seen Valerie do the same thing over and over. But of course, she heard Jackie coming towards her, and prayed that he would just leave her alone until she could figure out what to do about her predicament.

"Jade…" Jackie said slowly, and Jade peaked up from behind her book. "Why are you wearing snow boots?" her uncle asked.

"Heard it might snow," She shrugged.

"It's seventy-two degrees out," Jackie scoffed with a smile as he took off one of her boots – the one that hid the tattoo. Panicking, Jade did the first thing that popped into her head.

"AVALANCHE!" she shouted suddenly, causing Jackie to look over his shoulder in surprise at where she was pointing. Using the distraction, Jade then put her boot-less foot into her bag. Jackie looked back at her, and she shrugged. "False alarm,"

Jackie however, wasn't buying it. With his jaw set, he placed her back on her chair, and turned her bare ankle until he saw the mark.

"Ah!" Jackie gasped in shock and horror, before looking at Jade with an angry frown. "Jade! Wash this off right now!"

"Err… tried that?" she said sheepishly.

"What?!" Jackie yelped as he jumped back to his feet as if she were coated in poison. "It's a REAL tattoo?!"

"By accident!" Jade pleaded.

"How can you get a tattoo by acci– AH!" Uncle gasped as he walked into the room and saw them mark on Jade's leg, his eyes going wide and his face going pale. He looked at her ankle, and then at the book in his hands. "You got a tattoo of this mark?!" he screeched.

"It was just harmless fun!" Jade tried to plead her case to her elders.

"This is a symbol of great evil!" Uncle murmured in horror as he looked at the image on the front of the demon archive and the matching design on Jade's ankle. Uncle then turned to Jackie. "We must a spell to remove it immediately, who knows what catastrophe such a tattoo will bring?!"

BANG! Went the front door, as the three turned in time to see the three Dark Hand enforcers standing in the doorway.

"Hand over the book, Chan!" Ratso commanded fiercely.

Jackie didn't answer as he simply stood in front of Uncle and the archive, eyes dark with anger as he readied himself for battle. Jade however, shot to her feet on her chair, a flare of anger engulfing her as she glared at the three men.

"You three!" she shouted. "What have you done with Val?!"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Finn sneered, though the look in his eyes old Jade otherwise.

"Liars!" she shouted. "I know your creepy-bad-dragon has her! You spineless twerps better give her back!"

"Jade!" Jackie hissed, trying to get the girl to calm down and not draw attention to herself.

"No!" the girl cried out passionately, feeling her body coursing with the height of her emotions that refused to be sated. "Somebody needs to teach these guys a lesson! And –"

Jade's emotional tirade was suddenly cut off as they heard a scream and turned in time to see dark hands reach from the shadows of the doorway and grab the three enforcers. The three men yelled as they were yanked out of the store forcefully, and even as Jackie and Jade rushed towards the door in curiosity and surprise, they could hear the sounds of pained grunts and the thud of fists meeting flesh. Just as they reached the door, Jade and Jackie saw Ratso, Finn and Chow running for their car and speeding away, the shadowkhan disappearing back into the depths of the dark.

Jackie and Jade blinked in surprise, and looked at each other in confusion. They heard the stomping of Tohru as the big man came into the main shop from the back room, obviously drawn by the commotion. He looked around, obviously confused to find everything alright.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Something Weird…" Jade murmured.

Author's Note: So here is the next chapter! I know you were all eager to see what happened to Valerie so I hope you enjoyed it! Next time will have the final part of this episode, as I realised (again) that this chapter would be WAY too long if I wrote it all up in one go. So I hope you guys are patient enough until I can write up the next chapter ;)

Also, I'd like to say a BIG thank you to my new beta reader InsanityisReality: you are awesome!

And please review! Tell me what you thought of Valerie and Shendu's interactions and if you liked my changes to the main cannon (what few there were), I can't wait to talk with you all on what you think! Until next time! x