The elevator doors opened on the 27th floor and Valon emerged, munching on the candybar he had swiped from Mai's purse mere minutes before. Ah, sweet victory, he thought, savouring every yummy bite of crunchy peanuts and chewy caramel. It was sheer ecstasy. "Mmm", he went. He had an insatiable sweet tooth...and an underdeveloped conscience. Unfortunately, those weren't his only problems at the present moment. His biggest problem was barrelling down the hall at breakneck speed in the form of an extremely angry Alister. "VALON! YOU'RE DEAD!", Alister yelled when he spotted the Aussie up ahead. "Eh?", Valon said, turning to look at the other biker. "Valon, run!", Deirdra shrieked, coming into view behind Alister. It was all she could do to keep up with him. "Crikey!", Valon squeaked, dropping the candybar as he took flight. He ran for all he was worth but, looking over his shoulder, was dismayed to find that Alister was gaining on him. "What the bloody hell are you high on, mate? I ain't done nothin'", he shouted. Alister only growled and ran faster. He just managed to grab the hem of Valon's shirt, but the younger boy pulled out of it. Alister flung the shirt to the floor. Deirdra was running even with him now. She silently thanked her parents for pushing her to take track in highschool. She would have never been able to do this otherwise. She could tell Valon was tiring though, while Alister exhibited no signs of fatigue. So she did the only thing she could think of that would slow him down. She tackled him, jumping on his back and wrapping her arms and legs around him. "What the hell!", he exclaimed, coming to a halt. Meanwhile, Valon ran -straight into Raphael. "Raph! Help! Alister's gonna kill me!", he gasped. Raphael scoffed. Then he saw the murderous look in Alister's eyes. It was directed at Valon, even as the redhead struggled to get Deirdra off his back. Valon hid behind Raphael, clutching his friend's coat like a scared child would. "Enough", Raphael said loudly. His deep, stern voice commanded everyone's attention. For a few seconds anyway. But Alister wasn't going to back down that easily. "You're going to pay for this, Valon", he said, his voice dangerously low. "What are you gonna do? Spank me for running in the hall?", Valon asked. "More than that", Alister returned. "Why? I done told you, I ain't done nothin'!", Valon shouted. Alister gave him the finger and Valon stuck out his tongue. Raphael had a strong, sudden urge to knock their heads together, but he contained himself. "If you two think you can act your ages for 5 minutes straight, maybe we can get to the bottom of this", he growled. The two young men looked sheepish. Deep down they knew they were acting immature. Thank God for Raphael, Deirdra thought. Once again, she had underestimated him. "Alright, what's the trouble?", he asked wearily, looking from person to person. "Hell if I know! Alister's gone crazy!", Valon blurted. Alister's bottom lip twitched and his knuckles were white. Had Raphael not been there, he would have knocked Valon flat, and Valon knew it. So did Raphael. He stealthily stepped to the left a bit, shielding Valon more completely. "You'd drive anybody crazy", Alister snapped. "I don understand what he's on about. Really, I don't. I ain't even seen 'im since breakfast", Valon said to Raphael. "I think I can shed some light on the situation, If you guys will let me get a word in edgewise", Deirdra announced. "Go ahead", Raphael said. "I was supposed to meet up with Alister after I left Dartz's office. I stopped to talk to Valon and borrow something and the time got away from me", she explained. Turning to Alister, she added "I'm sorry, but it's not like he held me hostage". Some of the anger left Alister's eyes, to be replaced by a less readable emotion. "So does this mean that I have to babysit you now?", he asked coldly. She was stunned. Whenever she thought he couldn't be any more disagreeable, she was wrong. She couldn't understand why he was so put out right now though. Was there more to it? Nothing's ever simple in this place, is it?, she thought to herself. It wouldn't be until later that she found out why he had really been so upset. Raphael looked at his watch. "Listen, I have other matters to attend to, gents. So, if you don't mind, try to refrain from killing each other as soon as I turn my back", he said, and walked off. He cast one last worried glance in their direction before boarding the elevator. At the same moment, Mai stepped out of another. "Mai!", Valon cheered, brightening instantly. "I'm not in the mood, so get lost", she spat, marching past all three of them without a second look. "Geez. What's the matter with everybody? I'm going back to me room 'fore somebody else gets on my case", Valon said, shaking his head. He then departed, leaving Deirdra and Alister alone. The latter regarded the former coldly, as was becoming a habit of his. Would things ever be right between them again?, Deirdra wondered.