BtVS: Alternate Lives

Who: Grant & Bronte, OT the Bale family and their dates
When: Backdated to Valentine's Day
Where: Holy Trinity Church

Who: Jaide and Bretton, and then Damien
Where: Avarice
When: Wednesday Evening, February 24

Jaide wandered into Avarice wearing a short black leather skirt, a black tank over which was worn a long sleeve, black mesh top, fishnet hose and a pair of black leather knee high boots. The blonde was there to meet Damien for drinks, but as the man had informed her via a phone call that he'd be running about ten minutes late, Jaide chose to perch herself on a stool at the bar to await the man's arrival. After sitting down the former hunter, now Watcher ordered a beer while she waited.

Who: The Bale clan and their SOs
Where: Bronte's Beach House
When: Thursday Afternoon(around 3) - December 24

Like was typical of most men when the holiday came around, Grant was sacked out on the couch in the living room while the women, in this instant Bronte and Bethany, were in the kitchen preparing the Christmas Eve meal. Bethany had been put in charge, or rather had claimed the honor of making mashed potatoes from scratch and batches and batches of cookies to be served as part of the dessert coarse. Bronte already had the traditional Christmas ham in the oven and was busy preparing a broccali casserole for baking. Dinner for the Bale family had been planned for four that afternoon, but the scheduled time had never prevented the invited from showing up early, and Bronte had a feeling that by the time the clock hit the stroke of four the beach house would already have been filled with the Bale family and their significant others.

Who: Neely and Bretton
When: Friday Afternoon, Dec. 4th
Where: Over the phone

( And sharing some surprising news )

Who: Bretton and Nevada
Where: Holy Trinity Church
When: Wednesday night

Who: Brett & Nevada
Where: Their home
When: Saturday evening (Nov. 21)

( Read more... )

Who: Skylar and Bretton, Open to medical personal and Damon's detective agency
Where: Saints & Sinners
When: Saturday Evening

( Read more... )

Who: Grant, open to Bretton and Bronte
Where: Avarice
When: Tuesday night

Christ, this place made Grant feel old. Now, he was only 35, but being in a blazingly busy rock club, with teens swaying and jumping all over the place? Made him feel ancient. But he had recently been hired by Benjamin Bale to be his financial advisor and part talent scout for Full Moon Records, and he needed to start hearing some of the local talent.

Oh yeah. There was also the small fact that Bretton had asked him here to meet his sister Bronte. The 'hot blonde number', as Grant put it, that he'd seen in a photo on Bretton's desk.

Standing by the bar, wearing a black leather jacket over a black shirt and tie and matching slacks, the older man looked over at Bretton and grimaced.

"You're sure she's coming, right?"

Who: Bronte and Bretton
When: Friday Night
Where: Ben's place above Avarice


Bretton led his sister politely to Ben's game room (which he knew unfortunately was likely used for far more than games), and then calmly whispered:

"You're a terrible liar, sis. I know that glare. I'm just more used to seeing it directed at Ben. Now what's going on?"

"Funny thing happened at Avarice last night," Bronte started once she followed Bretton into the game room, "I was just getting ready to leave and this blonde came in. A blonde who used to be a red head." Bronte hadn't made the connection right off, but it didn't take her all that long to recognize Jaide now sporting a blonde look. And she may have taken the woman stopping at the bar as coincidence if it weren't for her approaching the bar and asking if Bretton was there. "Know anything about that?" Giving him a look with the crossing of her arms to her brother.

"Yeah, Jaide's back in town." Bretton shrugged, unable to grasp why his sister seemed so angry about it. "It's not like I'm seeing her again, so what's the big deal?"

( Read more )

Who: Ben, open to Skylar and the entire Bale family
Where: Ben's place, directly above Avarice
When: Friday night


To the more old-fashioned, this would be considered a coming-out party. But whatever it was called, Ben had come to the realization that since being broken up with at 17 by Sofia, he'd never taken a relationship as seriously as he took this one with Skylar. And he wanted everyone in his family to know it.  He'd called everyone in his family that he knew was in the general area, and explained why he wanted them there. The Bales, for all their money and prestige, were still a very traditional family in that they'd all put any differences aside in order to welcome someone into the family, if the person bringing them in was serious enough.

Ben wore a three-piece suit, a one-of-a-kind Versace, his smile a little more nervous than his usual snarky grin, as he looked over to Skylar, clutching her hand nervously. He still couldn't help but be amazed at how natural everything with her felt. He hoped that when he had her big surprise gift ready... she'd be willing to accept it. God knew it was costing him enough money... but he knew if she did, it would be good for the baby as well.

"Well.. everyone's pretty much here.. let's go get you more familiar with them all..."

Who: Jaide and Bretton
When: Monday Night
Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack and then the streets of L.A.

Just like the past couple of nights this one left Jaide once more feeling restless and with more then just a slight urge to get out and away from the four walls of Giles' house that seemed to confine her. A little night stalking was what the hunter had in mind that evening, well that was after a pit stop at Chloe's coffee shop. The caffeine would work well in keeping her awake and her senses clear. Slipping a hand into the hip pocket of her jeans Jaide dug out a couple bills while she slowly moved forward with the line that brought her a bit closer to the order counter.


Meanwhile, Ben had sent Bretton to the same location, on an errand to talk to Chloe about a few ideas he'd had for Suicide Messiah's comeback shows. As the soft-spoken lycan walked up to the counter, preparing to ask if anyone had seen the blonde... his eyes met Jaide's. Shit.

Well, if their first meeting had been awkward, at least he had the accident to distract him. This? This was TRULY awkward.

"Hey, Jaide. How're you feeling?"

( What have you been doing with yourself all this time )

Who: Jaide and Bretton
Where: Outside Avarice, then the hospital
When: Early Evening(Monday October 5)

"Yeah, I'll be there in a couple minutes...fuck!" Jaide cursed loudly with the cell tumbling from her grasp when she moved to grab the wheel with both hands to maneuver the car around the vehicle that came barreling out of the parking lot veering into her lane before smoothing into the proper lane of traffic barely missing colliding with another vehicle before car and driver sped away into the darkness. Jaide wasn't so lucky, swerving out of the other cars path she smashed into the back of a parked car. A split second later a car from behind rammed a corner of her back end sending the car spinning before it hit a lamp post head first. The impact had the blonde jerking back, her head then slammed into the steering column. It was an action that would momentarily render her unconscious.

Bretton had been in Avarice at the time, even though he hadn't been on the schedule tonight. With Ben needing him more, as he was trying to open 'Saints & Sinners' as he was calling it, Bretton was gladly picking up more managerial responsibility around here. When he heard the loud crash, he came running out, his senses allowing him to quickly survey the situation.

Looking around, he saw the blonde girl in the front seat, and things had been going on so quickly that it hadn't hit him WHY her scent felt so familiar. But then, he saw her face. The hair was a different color, and looked a little different... but that face. He felt his head spin. Oh God. It was Jaide.

He shook his head, shaking off anything but the situation at hand. He looked into her eyes, trying to determine if she was still with it.

"Jaide? Can you hear me? Are you... are you alright?"

( Never stopped loving you )

Who: Bretton, Ben, and Nevada
Where: Bretton and Nevada's home
When: Early Wednesday morning

Who: Bretton and Nevada
Where: Their home
When: Monday night

With all of the attacks Wolfram & Hart had staged against the friends and families of their adversaries, Bretton didn't think himself paranoid to keep the birth of he and Nevada's child a secret until this was over. Now... while not over per se, a blood oath had been made, preventing any more of the attacks until after whatever monumental battle they had planned. Bretton had had precious little time to help with that, as much as he wanted to.

To find out that W&H had actually been the ones who hired The Blades, the vampire gang that had murdered he and Ben's parents... he wanted to go after them right now, rip their throats out. But Ben insisted that the time for revenge would come.

For now.. he tried to remain calm, sitting in the living room of he and Nevada's small home, hlding little Beatrice in his arms, he felt less like the animal he was... and more like the normal father he wanted to be.

Who: Bretton and Meredith
Where: Avarice
When: Monday night

Who: Ben, OT all members of the Bale family participating in helping the Slayers
Where: Avarice, before opening
When: Thursday morning


Somehow, whether through his cunning, his moral ambiguity, or possibly through sheer birthright (nobody was quite sure), Ben had recently become something of the Alpha male of the Bale family. It wasn't like you've heard in the old tales, of course. There was no animal-like 'pack', no one given leader... but the Bales always gave their respect, and in following, their loyalty, to those in the family who earned it.

Between tracking down and executing the killers who'd murdered his parents, managing to keep a peaceful-yet-respected business relationship with those considered good AND evil, and proving that no act of viciousness or brutality was out of his realm of possibility when called for, Ben had slowly proven himself more realistic and willing-to-get-his-hands-dirty than Bretton, more patient and calm than Bronte, and more cunning than even their father.

So... when Ben made the (for him) hard decision to offer his help to the Slayers against Killa Flash's vampires... it came as a surprise to his remaining family. And while some chose not to get involved, quite a few family members had pledged to follow him into battle. For some, like Brandon and Bretton, it was simply because it was the right thing to do. For others, like Baily and a few others, it was merely an excuse to kill some vampires. But whatever their reasoning, Ben had part of his family behind him, willing to follow him into hell itself if need be. And now, while Baily and Brandon had already showed up... he was expecting everyone who was coming, whether they'd previously arrived or not, to meet him here, to discuss what they were doing, and exactly what their orders were. He knew quite a few were very... gung-ho, and he had to set a few things straight first.

Who: Gwen, OT all Slayers, Watchers, friends, and family
What: The Annual Morrison Christmas Party!
Where: Gwen & Skylar's House, Los Angeles
When: Tuesday, Dec. 23rd


Well. What had been turning out to be a decent year took a severe nosedive in quality over the last few weeks. First they found out about some big-ass army of vamps coming to take over the town. Then someone from said gang murdered the wife of Gwen's best friend. Sorta would put a damper on anyone's Holiday spirit, right?

Ah, how the fates underestimate Gwen.

No, this all made Gwen more determined than EVER to put on her annual Christmas party. Now, more than ever, she thought... people need to find things to be happy about, and to celebrate. Also? If she could keep Pat entertained, maybe he wouldn't drink himself into oblivion. Or worse, into Jack-dom.

Gwen put on her special outfit she'd had made just for this party: a severely short miniskirt made to look like a Santa outfit, thigh-high green-and-white stockings, red booties, and a santa hat with "Skylar's Ho Ho Ho" written across the rim. Dressed to kill (or at least to entertain), she pranced downstairs to start the shindig!