Cristian is over by the Break Bar storage room, up on a ladder and scrubbing soot off of the walls. Todd pokes his head in the door, looks at the fire damage, and whistles in appreciation.

Todd: Boy! Fire sure made a mess of this place, huh? (sighing) Too bad you didn't know about it sooner. Oh, but then again, you were busy, right? With Blair? Well, accidents happen. (observing Cristian's work) You missed a big spot.

Cristian doesn't dignify that with a response. He just tosses a used rag over his shoulder and nearly hits Todd in the process.

Todd: Hey!
Cristian: Oh, sorry about that. RJ told me to get rid of the filth. Guess I got a little carried away. But, hey, accidents happen, you know?
Todd: This from the guy who wrecked my beamer. Funny how things work out, huh? I mean, you used to dream about painting cathedral ceilings. Here you are scrubbing the ceiling of a saloon.
Cristian: Well, that's because I saved the toilets for you, Todd.
Todd: (laughing) That's funny. Wow, yeah, I didn't know you had such a blazing wit. I didn't know you had a brain at all. I thought you were just a big muscle head.
Cristian: I got brains enough to know you weren't too happy seeing me with Blair. Which makes me wonder how that fire got started. (smugly) Not that Blair and I weren't creating enough heat of our own....

Todd is not amused.

Todd: You should keep your hands off of Blair.
Cristian: How do I keep her hands off me, Todd?
Todd: Well, that's easy. Keep your shirt on and keep saying smart stuff.
Cristian: (turning around and addressing Todd directly) If I want to see Blair, I will. Now get out.

Todd walks closer to Cristian's ladder. The mood has turned menacing.

--end scene--

Todd continues watching Cristian scrubbing the wall.

Todd: Will you watch what you're doing, Vega?
Cristian: Oh, Manning -- still there, huh? Thought I told you to get lost.
Todd: Yeah, well, I don't care what you said.
Cristian: Okay. So, then, you won't care if I tell Blair that she oughta have something removed, huh? You.
Todd: I don't think you should tell Blair anything.
Cristian: Oh, but I will. Next time I see her.

Todd walks over to the ladder and shoves Cristian in the back. Cristian topples off the ladder and falls flat on his back on the ground. Todd goes to stand over him.

Todd: I'm afraid I really must put my foot down on this one.

Before Cristian can get up, Todd stomps his foot down on Cristian's chest and bears down on it.

--end scene--

Todd reluctantly takes his foot off of Cristian, who stumbles to his feet as Todd glares at him.

Todd: You stay away from Blair, you got that? She is the mother of someone's child. Soon, she will be someone's wife.
Cristian: You talk really big, Manning, but I know Blair wouldn't marry you if her life depended on it.
Todd: You stay away from her, you got that you little rugrat?

Todd turns to leave, but Cristian charges after him and shoves him into a wall. They begin fighting. RJ comes running in and pulls the two men apart.

RJ: Hey, hey, all right, cool it, cool it!
Cristian: What, you don't think I can take this psycho??
RJ: Listen, I am sure you can, but Manning is mine. You have an order of liquor upstairs to deal with. Go deal with it!
Todd: That's right, run away, go play "Doctor" with Jessica. Oh, that's right, she left you for Will! Smart girl, my niece!
RJ: (to Cristian) Just go.

Cristian, clearly furious, storms out of the room. RJ walks over to confront Todd.

RJ: Well, I'm sure this just must be killing you, huh? Having to see the young stud and the ex Mrs. Manning just goin' at it!
Todd: You know, I really like what you've done with this place. Really. I think you should keep it like this. Save you the trouble of making it look like this, you know, when you torch the place like you did the last one, you know, to get your hands on the insurance money.
RJ: I had nothing to do with this --
Todd: Really?
RJ: -- and no one knows that better than you.
Todd: You sure?
RJ: Well, it's awful convenient, huh? Nice coincidence. Place just happens to go up when Cristian is in the store room checking out your old lady.
Todd: Tell me, you think the police would think it was convenient? You know, see, the places that you run, they have this nasty little habit of bursting into flames just when the till runs out. So, what if -- now I'm just saying hypothetically -- what if this place were to burn down? Who do you think their prime suspect would be?
RJ: Well, not you. (chuckling) I mean, even the cops know you can't start a fire with no arms or legs.
Todd: Tell the kid to stay away from her.

Todd turns to go, but RJ's not through yet.

RJ: Let's say he does. There's a line of men behind him just waiting their turn. Starting with Max.
Todd: (turning to face RJ again) Max is out of the equation.
RJ: Oh, no, no, no. You see, for Blair, Max is the equation.
Todd: No, no. No, I took Blair away from Max, just like I took Tea away from you.

With that, Todd opens the door and leaves.

--end transcript--