Here's the Next Chapter! I do not own!


Skye came down the stairs fully dressed the following morning, her face glowing with happiness; she finally had gotten Raphael back and she had every right to be happy.

She headed to the kitchen and upon entering she saw Raphael sitting at the table, holding a coffee mug in his hand; the other was scratching Misha under her chin, the cat's contented purrs audible from the other side of the room. The morning newspaper lay flat out on the table.

"I see you have your hands full," she said with a chuckle.

Raphael shot a mock-glare at her. "Not my fault," he started as Skye entered the kitchen. "It was the only way to get her off the paper."

"Sure it's not," she replied as she moved to the table.

Raphael put the mug down and gently pushed Misha off the table. As Skye came alongside him he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her onto his lap. She snuggled into his chest, his chin gently resting on top of her head.

This would have been a perfectly romantic moment, but alas, a certain Australian bolted down the stairs and passed them in a blur, ruining the moment.

""ey fellas, bye fellas! If Alister asks, you didn' see me!" he exclaimed, running into the pantry and closing the door behind him.

Skye blinked, exchanging a confused glance with Raphael. "What's that about?"

"I'm not sure, but…wait a minute. What's the date today?" he asked in a suddenly suspicious tone.

Skye took out her cell phone to look at the date and groaned. "April first. That means—"

"April Fool's Day. Great—Valon's favorite holiday," Raphael finished for her, looking distinctly unhappy by that fact.

She cocked her head and looked up at the blond biker. "Should it really be considered a holiday?"

"VALON!" Alister's voice echoed through the house, interrupting the conversation between the couple.

Moments later, the redhead stormed down the stairs, wearing nothing but a towel that was wrapped around his waist; his hair was soaking wet and his eyes were full of hatred.

"Please put some clothes on," Skye requested with a groan.

"You're right. I'm far too indecent to be seen like this. Let me go back upstairs and get dressed—oh wait, I can't. Want to know why? Because that freakin' Aussie took all of my clothes!"

"Seriously?" Raphael asked, looking amused in spite of himself. "Did he leave you anything?"

"No! He didn't even leave me a pair of underwear! Where is he?"

"In the pantry," Skye sighed, jerking a hand to the closed door behind them.

"'ey! You said ya wouldn' tell 'im!" Valon yelped as he exploded from the pantry, Alister at his heels.

"If it helps Alister get dressed faster, then anything goes!" called Skye after them.

What the two younger bikers weren't expecting was that Ember and Lola had decided to stop by that morning and were both entering through the front door. At that precise moment, Valon "accidentally" yanked off the towel from around Alister's waist.

"Oh my God!" the girls screamed, covering their eyes (not that there was anything to see—the moment the towel had vanished from around Alister's waist the red-haired man had instantly ducked behind the coat rack).

Raphael and Skye ran out of the kitchen at the sound of the girl's shriek; Raphael quickly assessed the situation and immediately covered Skye's eyes.

"Really?" she said flatly.

Alister's face was bright red as he snatched back the towel from a laughing Valon's hand and wrapped it around his waist, muttering an apology to Lola and Ember as he stalked back up the stairs.

"That was…disturbing. Valon, please give Alister his clothes back," Raphael demanded as Alister's bedroom door slammed upstairs, taking his hand off of Skye's eyes. "Where did you put them, Valon?"

"Up in Skye's closet," he announced cheerfully.

"Why are you always hiding chiz in my closet?" Skye snapped indignantly.

"Lola, Ember, it's safe to look again." Raphael said, placing a hand on her shoulder

"Thank God," they said in unison as their hands lowered from their eyes. While Ember looked completely mortified, Lola had a flustered expression that only Skye recognized.

"Lola. You. Me. My room," she announced as she grabbed her friend by the arm.

"No!" replied Lola hotly, tugging against Skye.

"Fine. We'll go out for coffee instead."

"Sweet!"

"Oy, Ember. You actually used the front door f'r a change," said Valon suddenly. "I was kinda expectin' ya t' roll outta the chimney like usual."

"Hey! I'm not that crazy!" she retorted, ignoring Valon's disbelieving look."I have some dignity, you know."

"Valon, I would beware of Alister. He's going to find some way to get you back for this morning," Raphael warned.

"Nothin' t' worry about," the brunette replied dismissively. "I'm the King o' Pranks 'round 'ere."

"Actually, Ember won that title," Lola and Skye said in unison.

Valon pouted. "Ruin my fun, why don'cha?"

"Raphael's striking a fair point," Alister said threateningly, sneakily coming down the stairs. "You better watch yourself, or there is going to be one less Aussie in this household before this day is out."

"'m not afraid of you," Valon stated resolutely, standing his ground. "I'll always find a way t' retaliate."

"We'll see about that," Alister said wickedly as he disappeared out the front door.

"Well, Lola and I are off to get coffee," Skye announced, grabbing her purse before dragging a protesting Lola out the front door.

Raphael followed her out the door and watched Skye leave with a fond expression. As the girls passed by where their motorcycles were parked, though, his gaze went to where Alister was currently taping Valon's motorcycle to the nearest light pole with duct tape and he sighed.

He took a step into the house but let out a startled cry as the doormat beneath his feet slid from under him and he fell, hitting the floor with an audible thud.

Valon promptly started laughing. "Tha' was meant f'r Alister, but looks like you tripped it instead!" he said in between laughs as he offered a hand up to the older man.

The blond growled, accepting Valon's offered hand with a grumble. In the next second he let out a yelp as something shocked his hand and he sat back down.

"Gotcha!" yelled Valon triumphantly, showing him the buzzer in his hand before taking off and vanishing from view.

Raphael got to his feet with a growl. He really hated April Fool's Day.


Later, with Raphael and Alister…

"Alister, can I come in?" Raphael asked, knocking on the redhead's door. "It's safer in there than out here."

"Sure," came the muffled reply and the blond biker entered the room, closing the door behind him. "What is it?" Alister continued.

"I want to talk to you about something."

"And this something is?"

"Lola."

Alister's face went completely blank. "What about her?" he asked carefully, though a faint blush was visible across his features.

"You like her," Raphael stated. "When the towel fell, Valon had already taken off into the other room. Ember had her face in her hands and I covered Skye's eyes, but Lola turned a really interesting shade of red."

"Gee, it couldn't be because I was naked," Alister retorted, then paused. "Wait, you weren't bothered by the fact I was basically streaking?"

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "Not really."

"Are you secretly gay?"

"Obviously not, and nice attempt to redirect the conversation."

When Alister went silent Raphael said exasperatedly, "Look, I'm not exactly the observant one when it comes to these things, but even I've noticed Lola seems to get flustered any time she's around you—and not when you're stark naked."

"So what?"

"Ask her out," Raphael replied simply. "It doesn't hurt to ask."

Alister shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess it wouldn't. I'm going to go grab some lunch," he said, getting up and opening the door to his room so he could leave.

He was not expecting to hit a cleverly placed trip wire that would cause him to stumble into a solid wall of Ceran-Wrap, but he did.

"VALON!" he roared once he had gotten disentangled from the Ceran-Wrap. The blond biker was laughing at him, not stopping even as Alister directed a murderous glare at the older man.

"He. Is. So. Dead," Alister vowed.


With Lola and Skye…

"Do you think they've destroyed the house?" asked Skye curiously as the house came into view.

"And by that you mean…?"

"Alister and Valon," Skye said, looking at her companion.

"Most likely," the other girl replied, entering the house.

As they entered they noticed that the house was still in perfect condition. Raphael was sitting on the recliner in the family room, brushing Misha's fur out. Alister, meanwhile, was lying on the couch with a book in hand.

"Wow. I'm surprised that the house is still standing," Skye declared in disbelief.

"It's too quiet," Lola said with a frown. "Where's Valon?"

"In his room getting his comic books," Alister said with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"What are you hiding?" Raphael asked, clearly not liking the tone Alister was using.

It was then that there were loud popping noises and a petrified Valon tumbled down the stairs; once he had regained his feet he literally dove behind Raphael's recliner. Misha jumped off of the man's lap in alarm and disappeared from view.

"There are bombs up there!" Valon yelped. "They're all over m' room…they're comin' for us. THE BRITISH ARE COMING!"

Lola and Alister both burst into laughter, while Raphael merely rolled his eyes. Skye wasn't paying attention and was trying to coax Misha out from behind the potted plant she had taken refuge behind.

"Wha's so funny?" Valon snapped, peering around from behind the chair.

"April Fools," Alister said, smiling victoriously.

"Wha' does tha' mean?"

"First off, I highly doubt the British have any interest in us. Second, I spread a whole bunch of cap gun shots all over your bedroom floor so that when you stepped on them they'd go off," Alister said triumphantly. "Told you I would get you back."

"Ya almos' gave me a 'eart attack!" Valon yelled indignantly. "Expect payback!"

"Go for it, Paul Revere. I dare you."

Valon glowered at him before he huffed and took off upstairs, no doubt to exact his vengeance. Alister sat back down, looking bored.

"You're going to continue with this?" Skye asked.

Alister smirked "Why not? He's not going to win this year."

"Alister—" began Raphael warningly.

"Look Raphael. I don't need to hear the 'don't destroy the house' speech. That Aussie is going down."

"I-I'll help!" Lola stuttered, much to everyone's surprise. "Let's go brainstorm!" she continued, reaching for Alister's arm and literally dragging him down into the basement (and most likely into Ember's lair).

"There is one downfall I see to all this," said Skye, shaking her head.

"What's that?" Raphael asked.

"It's not even noon yet."

"…This is going to be a really long day."


It was about four in the afternoon. Lola went home for the day, leaving the rest of the bikers to their own devices. Skye was in the shower, Alister was making dinner, Raphael was doing some work on the computer and Valon…well, no one knew where he was.

"Where is that Aussie?"

"He could be getting his own food, since you might poison his," Raphael stated flatly.

"As tempting as it is, I'm not risking our health. And besides, his bike is in the garage."

Raphael shrugged his shoulders. "Then I have just as much knowledge on the matter as you do."

From upstairs both bikers heard the water turn off, indicating that Skye had finished her shower.

"Well, maybe Skye has an idea where he is," Raphael started to say, but a high pitched scream interrupted him. The blond turned his head sharply to the stairs as the sound of someone running down them. There were several thuds, followed by screams of pain.

This was more than enough to get Raphael out of the room and to the foot of the stairs, an alarmed expression on his face; he had recognized the scream and the cries of pain. Alister was right behind him and the two of them went out to the hallway.

Skye was on the floor, wearing nothing but a towel; it was quite obvious she had just gotten out of the shower. Blood was seeping from a hidden cut under her hair and she had a dazed but frightened expression on her face.

"Skye! What happened?" Raphael asked as he got down beside her, not paying attention to the fact that she was practically naked.

Alister disappeared from view for just a moment, but when he returned he had a dish towel in hand; he gave it to the older biker, who gently placed it over the spot where the cut appeared to be. They'd have to look at it later to figure out how bad it was, but for now this would do.

"Crocodile…there was a crocodile in my room," she replied faintly.

Raphael did not even bother questioning it. He knew exactly who had been responsible for this. "VALON!" he yelled, startling everyone around him. It was rare that Raphael even raised his voice—it was quite evident that he was angry.

"Wha's wrong?" Valon asked, coming upstairs from the basement, only to stare in shock at the sight in front of him. "Wha' 'appened t' Skye?"

"You have gone too far, Valon," Raphael growled. "A crocodile? Are you trying to kill her?"

"Naw, i's jus' a baby," the teenager replied, looking shaken. "It was meant for Alister…the gator musta gotten out 'n' into 'er room. I didn' even know—"

"The prank war. Ends. Now," Raphael enunciated coldly.

Alister nearly cheered at his victory until he noticed Raphael's menacing glare directed at him as well. "The same goes for you, Alister."

His expression changed as he carefully helped his girlfriend to her feet. "Valon. I have no idea how the hell you got that gator in the house, but by the time I get done tending to Skye it better be gone."

"Did Raphael just curse?" Alister whispered to Skye while the older biker went for the first aid kit, Valon trailing after him.

"I guess so," she replied, holding the dish towel to her head.

They both heard Valon begin in protest, "But Raph, I can' get that gator out by myself—"

"You brought it in, and you're going to—"

"I got it!" Ember called as she abruptly materialized at the top of the stairs, the baby alligator in her hands. "I brought it in earlier. It's my cousin's," she explained.

"Why does your cousin—on second thought, I don't want to know," Alister said heavily.

He looked over to Skyler and asked, "You okay?"

"I think so," she said shakily. "I'm going to go change before Raphael gets back with the first aid kit," she continued, moving slowly up the stairs.


In the later Evening…

Raphael was pleased by the relative peace and quiet in the house as he sat in his recliner; Skye was sitting on his lap, quietly reading a book and looking no worse for the wear from her fall down the stairs. Alister was playing with Misha and Valon was on Skye's laptop.

"Valon. I know your laptop is dead, but mine's going to join yours unless you plug it in," commented Skye as she looked over the top of her book.

"I'm almost done," he replied distractedly. "'m just gonna check Facebook and..."

He paused, looking at his Facebook status before letting out a horrified scream (causing Skye to wince).

"What now?" asked Alister exasperatedly.

"Who changed my status? My account 'as been 'acked!" he yelled.

"What does it say?" Alister inquired curiously, walking up behind the teen to see for himself. A few seconds later, he burst out laughing. "That is brilliant. I don't know who did that, but my respect to them knows no bounds."

"Ember did this," Valon muttered, glaring at the computer as he rose to his feet. "I'll be back," he said as he bolted out the front door.

Alister looked over at the couple, still laughing. "I wonder who did that," he said, a knowing smile on his face as his eyes went to Raphael.

Skye looked up at the older man, who seemed quite calm about this latest development. "It was you, wasn't it?" she asked.

Raphael arched an eyebrow. "How else do you expect me to get back at Valon without physically hurting him? Besides, no one messes with my girl."