i breathe in, i breathe out. [KALEX.]

[alexandria]

alex fletcher.

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all i do is miss you.
and the way it used to be.
and all i do is keep the beat.
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Five years. Five years of searching for the one person had finally brought Alexandria Elizabeth Fletcher to Valkyrie, California. Maybe after this long, though, it was more than just searching. Alex had found that ‘hunting’ was more of an appropriate word when it came to the Basher. One second, he’d be in a very predictable place and the next he would be completely off the grid. It was maddening. Consequently, she honestly couldn’t say that it had been an extremely enjoyable five years, but looking for Da-…Jake. Or Kale. Or whoever. Looking for him had given her a purpose. Some reason to get out of bed in the morning and continue forward. Was it the healthiest thing for her? No, probably not. Did she give a shit? Definitely not. Eventually she would catch up to that son of a bitch and tell him… Well she honestly didn’t know exactly what she’d say if she ever caught up to her ex fiancée. Then again, she also didn’t know if they were still engaged or not. Falling off the face of the map tends to lead to some confusing loose ends. And fiercely enraged ex girlfriends. But the Basher would come to learn that soon enough.

See, that was the funny thing about life; how it could give you exactly what you want and then tear it away. They had met in the Austrian countryside, as corny as that sounds. She had been hitchhiking herself from town to town when he had stopped and offered her a ride. It had been a good thing, she remembered thinking, because his had been the first car that had gone by in almost two hours. Even driving, it took almost an hour to get to the next city. By then, Alex had already connected with the guy, who called himself Jake at the time, behind the wheel, and they agreed to have a drink before they parted ways. One drink turned into four, which turned into a night at a hotel (on separate beds), which became her continuing to ride with him and his two friends. A week later, they slept together. A month after that, they considered themselves “together.” Thus began what she considered to be one of the best years of her life. She and Jake had connected on the furthest level. She really felt like he understood her and accepted her for who she was, so when he proposed, she had said yes without a single doubt.

But the fact remained that they were living like criminals. They stole for the money that put food on their tables and anything else they could possibly want. Even now, she felt a rush of adrenalin every time she stole something. It was like a high, a drug. However, it involved being a very good liar. And apparently, the Basher was a better one than she had thought. All he had said the night he left was that he was going to New York for a job she wouldn’t want to be a part of and that he would be back in a few days. Stupidly, she had believed him. Then the days turned into a week, then two, then a month, and instead of time passing in a blur as it had for the year previously, it drug by until she found that she didn’t have the energy to do anything anymore. Alex had tried every source she could think of to find out what happened, but Jake had disappeared.

Two months after he had gone, a call came in from one of their mutual friends. The friend had heard from Jake, who was doing a job in another part of the country. The only reason that this particular friend had heard from him was that he supplied very specific tools for a very specific type of bomb. The type that Jake had always used in his work. Every single time. That was when the hunt had begun, and that was what gave her a reason to move forward with her life.

Now, her first official week in this part of California was drawing to a close and Alex found herself reflecting on just how far she’d come in two and a half weeks. She had driven cross country from New York, her last location. There, she’d been working as a bartender at a strip club; not a very classy one at that, but they had given her enough of a shot to teach her the trade…Of pouring a good drink, not stripping. Also, the owners had let her live in the studio apartment above the bar. Ok, so it wasn’t exactly an apartment, it was a storage room with a toilet, but there was never a problem with commuting if they needed her to come in early. The last thing she had heard about the Basher was that he’d been staying in that part of the city, but nothing had really come out since she’d started working. Her sources were always good, when you considered that Divas was one of the favorite hangouts of cops that were getting off of their shifts and felt like a little company. If you were careful about asking, you could get them to tell you almost anything you wanted.

So that was where Alex had come across some information from Dan, a middle-aged regular that had come in for one too many Bacardi and Cokes. The NYPD had received a tip, he slurred while staring at her chest, that the Basher had skipped town. Gone somewhere west. Calvary, California, he thought? Valconry? Falconry? Alex had given up asking at that point and settled for going to the library the next day and looking up possible locations. Valkyrie was the only one that even came close to what Dan had been trying to tell her. That afternoon, she called her manager, telling him she had some family emergency in California, and was sorry, but she couldn’t wait two weeks to quit, then gone home and packed up her few personal items. She watched the sun set on the road that night, not hesitating a moment to make her way to sand and sunshine.

One thing that being on the road had taught Alex was how to spend money the proper way. She kept her worn out piggy bank on the passenger seat next to her for the whole trip – she didn’t keep her money in banks, it took too much effort when she had to change over in the smaller towns – and only broke into it when she absolutely had to. Once every couple days, she would check into a cheap hotel for the night for a shower and a real bed, but otherwise she made due with using baby wipes and the backseat of her car for a quick nap. Or with no sleep at all and an extra case of Redbull. The money in Mr. Wiggles was mostly for gas and food, and even that was just barely enough for her to make it across the country. However, like always, her faithful money holding friend had saved just enough for her to make it by, and four days ago, the sun had risen behind her while she parked on the beach, watching the waves and planning her next move.

Almost nervously, Alex had checked Mr. Wiggles for her remaining cash and had to wince. It was just enough for one night in a room if she was lucky, but she was desperate at this point for some kind of work. Although it was late, she had pounded the pavement that night, stopping everywhere she could find, help wanted sign or no. After six or seven stops, she had met Reed Turner, the owner of Bad Seeds. It was a Coyote Ugly-esque bar that was having an extremely busy night and seemed to be an extra hand short. After just a few short minutes of talking, Alex had been hired. To be honest, it was one of the most fun bars she’d ever been to, let alone worked at. The energy in the room was almost always contagious; the bartenders knew all the regulars and spent the nights joking, dancing and laughing with them as much as each other. Bartending was always an easy way to make friends and tips, but at Bad Seeds, it was no problem at all.

Now, she was living in one of the cheaper hotels on the outside of town and working as many nights a week as she could. In fact, she was working as she mulled all this over. Out back, by the dumpster, there was an area for employees to smoke if they didn’t want to stand out on the street, which is where Alex found herself that particular evening. The bar was a little crowded, but not busy enough that she couldn’t sneak away for a quick breather to let her mind catch up with her. With a short sigh, Alex put her cigarette out on the sole of her tennis shoe and made her way back behind the bar. A few shouts came up as she entered the room again from the few regulars who were beginning to recognize her face, and Alex laughed softly before raising her voice to speak to them over the music.

“What, a girl can't go for a smoke without you all missing her? Okay, okay. Who’s ready for another one?”
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status:; done!
tagged:; kalex. <3
word count:; 1,565 words
credit:; lyrics in title to cris cagle. lyrics in post to the indigo girls.
notes:; top name has clothes. aaaand i'm excited. : D

[kale kennedy barker]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #3a73a1 solid 30px; ] I scream, you scream We all scream for her OUTFIT: here. TAGGED: alex! --- GOD DAMNIT HE LOVED THE WARM WEATHER THAT VALKYRIE had to offer. It was beautiful here. Kale Barker was one excited man. He had just been hired by the Italians who paid pretty bloody well. It was going to be a pretty basic job, but of course, he was The Basher, ain't know way he was going to be boring enough to just blow the joint and run. Fuck no. Did he look like an amateur? No, the people asked for a show, and they were going to get one. Kale had already been contemplating the design in his head as he walked back to the Siren home after chatting with a few key players. That was earlier today. Tonight, he was going to party with two of his favorite people, D-Day and the ever lovely Widow. Kale was currently in the kitchen pulling a clean t-shirt of the laundry bin that sat on the table. He pulled it over his head as he walked into the dining room where his chemicals and battery acid and a million other fun things he played with were residing. He groaned as he saw Liz putting them closer to the center of the table and making sure all the stops and lids were in place. Liz laughed, "Oh right, moan and groan all you want but it's safer." Kale narrowed his eyes at her before continuing on into the main hallway where Wid (( clothes here )) was doing something with her make up in the mirror on the wall. That rule about keeping the chemicals away from the edges was put back in place when Widow and the rest of the Hughes' old friend slash siren colleague, Jasper came over with his daughter who sometimes enjoyed reaching up and grabbing at bottles marked 'dangerous.' Or sometimes, if Kale had gotten a sharpie to them they were marked, 'fun time toys.' Which he could see why a child would be confused. He didn't see anything wrong with letting the kid experiment, Curious minds and all? He worked with these chemicals and items all the time. They were his love, they were his life. Perhaps that was why he couldn't stay in love with ONLY one woman, at least in his mind. He already had his one true love and it was anything and everything that went BOOM, and maybe Alex but that was another story completely. There was nothing that excited him more than seeing one of his creations start as harmless substances, like soap, and transform before his eyes into a celebration of color, light, heat, and sound. A dance of flames and cinders. A power, a force so strong it erupts like a volcano and no one in impenetrable. That was real life magic there. People would try to psychoanalyze his obsession with the kaboom. They would pretend they knew his past, which no one did, and act like that was why. No. Sorry. Kale knew his background and a million kids grew up in a similar way and weren't nearly as care free and charming as he was, or as a more sane person would put it careless and dangerous. Kale would never use safety precautions because he didn't care if he died in the process. He really didn't care. And if he did, he wouldn't be as good at his job as he was. He wouldn't be the "Basher." If he hadn't gone the illegal way, I can assure you, Kale would have been working for the military making new weapons, or perhaps a firework maker. Something in pyro-technics. Kale ran a hand through his hair, not helping the ruffled mess it was before looking at Widow and grinning, "Sooo.... Wendy, where's Donny?" He said, calling her by her birth name, a name he had only recently learned with Jasper's visit. He seemed to only call her Wendy and she didn't seem to like it but she also never did anything to him, while as the name fell from Kale's lips, he was getting daggers shot at him from her eyes. "Call me that again ass-whipe and I'll make sure you understand my nickname to the fullest extent." She warned him before giving a smile and turning back to the mirror. She ran her fingers partially through her hair before turning around as Donny came down the stairs (( clothes here )). Widow nodded behind Kale who turned around and grabbed her cropped quarter sleeved leather jacket and tossed it over to her. The brunette through it over her shoulders as they made their way out of the house and piled into Donny's convertible. Soon the three of them were off and while Donny and Widow laughed and joked in the front seats, Kale sat with his seat belt off, kneeling so he was taller with his arms out to feel the warm southern california wind until Widow laughed and pulled him down onto his ass, the music loud. It was one of those moments where they didn't have to worry about anything and one of those nights where they were just going to enjoy being young and pretend to be carefree. I mean, Kale actually was care free for now but Widow was secretly dealing with a powerful exsenetor who wanted to "own" her and Donny just found out he was the product of rape and had a whole other family to meet and greet and Kale? Kale just got a job and was celebrating. They parked a few blocks away from Bad Seeds, definitely a favorite destination. Widow liked it because she got to go and dance up on the bar without being called a whore, Donny and Kale liked it because they were straight males and the place felt less sleazy than a strip joint. They all hopped out of the car and walked the few blocks to the bar before going inside. After a few minutes, the three were already at the actual bar, being handed three shots of whiskey from a bartender wearing an incredibly tight mini skirt and tank top. Widow threw her arm around Kales neck and held up her shot as the boys did the same, "To things that go boom?" She asked. Donny and Kale nodded and repeated in unison, "To things that go boom!" They kinked the shots and all three downed them before a few cheers broke out in the bar to which Widow, Donny and Kale decided to join in on and just look around to see what was going on when Kale heard a familiar voice, before he even saw her. “What, a girl can't go for a smoke without you all missing her? Okay, okay. Who’s ready for another one?” Kale paused and had a small look of confusion on his face before taking his second shot. He looked around for a moment before he saw her. He grinned and half laughed. It was her, it was Alex. Donny followed Kale's sight, "You know her?" Kale just nodded, "Yeah, she's my fiance`" Widow looked at him with a cocked head, "Which o- oh thank you - which one?" She asked, momentarily getting interrupted by the bartenders handing her a drink bought by some guy across the room, it happened most of the time they came with Widow mostly because of how she dressed. Kale smiled and shrugged, not taking his eyes off Alex, "The real one, I suppose." He replied, not implying or even recognizing the significance of what he just said. "So go say hi." Donny suggest, chuckling slightly at Kale's face and blatant stare towards the girl. Donny had to admit she was cute, He was more of a blonde girl man himself or ultra curvy brunettes like Liv. Kale was mostly an any girl type of guy. Kale seemed to think about it before he broke his stare and turned to face the two he came with. He shook his head, "Yeah, probably not the best idea." But then again, since when did he think of the best ideas. "Actually, great idea, not the best, this is still true BUT I bloody well think I should go to see her." He nodded as Wid and Donny smirked at eachother, Kale's logic never seemed static. Kale took a drink of his beer and winked at Wid before turning around and walking a bit closer to where Alex was behind the bar. He leaned down on the bar top and smiled, "Can we call it an act of god that you're here or was it something more personal?" He asked the woman he had not seen in five years. The woman he had loved. Don't even try 'cause You can't ignore her

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY WARRENT

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[alexandria]

alex fletcher.

[/size][/font]
that's another time,
that's another town,
that's another life.
-------------------------[/center]

Moving all over the place all the time kinda really sucked sometimes. Alex was coming to find this more and more as time went on. At almost twenty-five, she really had no friends and no family ties. Sure, there were people she kept in touch with, but when it came down to it, Alex really didn’t have anyone that would come bail her out if she wound up in jail, or that would come to her rescue if she ran out of gas or her car broke down. Sometimes it honestly scared her. Who would notice if she just didn’t end up somewhere new? If somewhere between here and there, she just…disappeared? Who would remember Alex Fletcher if there wasn’t an Alex Fletcher to remember? Her dad most likely would just think that she wanted to stop talking to him all together, instead of just when she ended up in a new town or needed money and couldn’t find a place to work.

On the other side of the coin, the thought of settling in one place made Alex cringe. Where was the spontaneity in life when you stayed rooted in one place? Where was the adventure if you already knew all the places to go? All the bars you liked in town and the ones that were shady? When everyone knew who you were? The thing about living like a criminal is that you rely on no one knowing your face or name. If you suddenly become familiar in someone’s mind after you pickpocket them, then you’re essentially fucked forever and arrested on top of it. Then, all the sudden links that you swore you covered come out of the woodworks and you’re in more trouble. Alex had watched it happen over and over to others that she spent some time with and had the same… hobbies as she did.

Who knew? Maybe some day she’d settle in one place, but for now, moving forward was all she had.

The nice thing about living all over the world was that you really got a chance to know specific likes and dislikes about living in certain areas. For Alex, it was all about the sun and here in California, there was plenty of it. It was almost comical to her to hear people on the street whining to each other about how hot or how bright the days were. Why live in California if you had such a problem with the sun? Personally, it was all Alex could do to keep from lying in the middle of the street and soaking in as much vitamin D as she could at one time. Alex had found in her travels that she literally lived and breathed for the sunshine. Her body was like a solar panel in the way that it almost needed UV rays to look like it had any kind of life underneath. When she lived in Alaska, for instance, it was almost like she could watch herself wilting in the mirror. In the sun, she looked healthy – her skin always had a rosy color and a nice glow – but if she spent too long out of it, all her color went away. Even various parts of Europe that other people thought were beautiful and amazing got too cold and dreary for her to stick around for too long.

So with all this sun, Alex was already having a pretty good time in California. She had spent that morning eating Cheerios out of the box on the beach with a book and a fresh pack of cigarettes, just wasting time for once. The thought had struck her when she rolled out of bed that she spent too much time with a single-minded goal. She needed to spend some time for herself or she’d lose that, too. After that, she had used the rest of her tip money to buy new clothes for work, so that she could stop borrowing the other bartender’s. On her first night, one of the girls who had been there a while took one look at her jeans and tee shirt and proclaimed her to look prudish. Alex was told that she’d never get as many tips as the rest of them unless she was more unafraid to show some skin. Alex, who didn’t take kindly to being told what to do, got offended at first but after a few hours came to realize that the girl was right. Bigger bills were being handed to the girls who weren’t afraid to get a little crazy, show off some skin, and dance on the bars. Having no money for clothes at the time, she had borrowed various items of clothing that the other girls had around. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the help, but Alex was more of an “I’ll take care of this myself” kind of person. She didn’t like feeling in debt to people.

Even in the dingy club jobs that she’d worked, Alex didn’t show too much skin. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable with her body, but that she knew what it was like to need her body for money and didn’t feel the need to use it unless she was that desperate. Her philosophy had always been that you didn’t need to look like a whore to make money at a regular job, but Valkyrie was sure proving her wrong. She didn’t exactly look like a slut, but the tight leather skirt she was wearing almost made her uncomfortable. The girls had chastised her enough about pulling it down for Alex to stop that annoying habit, but the staring from the boys at the bar made her want to hit someone. As a girl who made a point of staying in the shadows, the attention that Bad Seeds was bringing her made her cringe.

So when someone leaned across the bar to talk to her over the music while she was reaching up for a bottle of Captains, Alex didn’t really think anything of it. Until she actually stopped to hear the voice. To realize that she recognized it in a town where everything was unrecognizable. What surprised her most was that the man and the memories were still enough to make her heart race in her chest. But they weren’t enough to keep a sharp stab of pain from lancing her heart. It was the pain that brought her back to earth enough for her to be angry. Outraged, even. After such a peaceful day, how could he show up here? After years of searching for him, how dare he walk in without her expecting him! What gave him the right?

Bringing the bottle down off the shelf, Alex stared at it while a quick plan formed in her mind. She poured the shot and sent it off down the bar before turning to face the man that should have been her husband. A slow smile spread across her lips as she leaned on the bar across from him. “Oh, I would definitely call it an act of god.” She said, reaching out to ruffle his hair lightly. It was a familiar gesture – one she used to use when she was making fun of him. “Whether a blessing or a curse though, would be my question.” Her voice was steady, but it had a light menacing edge to it as her barely controlled temper threatened to break through. “Do you need a drink, Jake?” Alex knew that wasn’t the name he used anymore, but bringing up that part of their past was better than using his real name. She still had enough respect for him to not even bring that one up.

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status:; done!
tagged:; kalex. <3
word count:; 1,282 words
credit:; lyrics in title to cris cagle. lyrics in post to the toby keith.
notes:; i changed her clothes. the name has the new outfit. just shorten the skirt mentally.

[kale kennedy barker]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #3a73a1 solid 30px; ] I scream, you scream We all scream for her OUTFIT: here. TAGGED: alex! --- SO THE BIG QUESTION WAS PROBABLY, WHERE HAD KALE BEEN? Thing was Kale's mind did not work in the same terms as other human beings. He saw it as partially what made him so charming and you know what? He may have a point. He didn't really have to act like some one straight laced and in a suit. He didn't have lie about anything. Granted he might not tell give them the full details of his work but that was about legal issues. Sometimes he would tell a girl flat out and they would just assume he was being cute and joking with them. Which was their prerogative. All of Kale's life had been a mixture of normal and insane so it's no wonder he tends to be boarder line when it comes to sanity. Kale was one of those sorts of people. He had basically been through so much pain that he forgot how to feel it. Or at least, that's what it seemed like. No one knew about Kale's past. Except for Kale. Not even Donny and Kale knew Donny's biggest secret about being Heyward. But no, Donny still didn't even know Kale's real name. All people really, truly knew about Kale Barker, or technically, the boy who called himself Kale Barker for the moment was that he was from somewhere in the UK and liked to watch things go boom. He was an interesting guy and that's all people really needed to know right? The truth was that the guy was a son of a cop believe it or not. That's right, his father was in law enforcement. Guess Kale wasn't exactly what his father had in mind for a son right? But none of that mattered. At the end of the day, with all the bad things someone could say against Kale's character, he was a good friend to those he cared about. Donny knew Kale had his back. Alex knew the most though. The girl who was now standing in front of him knew his real name and his home town. His name didn't even suit him well, sounded too proper. Daniel George Morris? Besides, why would he ever want to share part of his name with his father, George Morris? The truth was Kale's early life was nothing that wasn't ordinary. He had sort of a classic, hard home life set up. His father was a cop. His mother a mild tempered weakling. His father was abusive. His mother did nothing for years before abandoning them. Kale tried to protect his sister and failed. Kale had never truly forgiven himself for what happened to his sister. Her name was Bridgette and according to the police department in Ardwick of the Greater Manchester county, which was Kale's hometown, Kale had murdered her. Murdered her right before he blew up the police station. He hadn't. He would never have touched Bridge. She was his best friend growing up, he just failed her over an over again. His mom wasn't much of a help at all. His father would come home at the end of the day and back hand his mother if his drink wasn't the right temperature and all that woman did was apologize, rubbing her cheek as she went into the kitchen to try to fix it. She let him hurt her children, now I am no expert but aren't mother's supposed to be like lionesses or something when someone threatens their young? So, like most kids in that situation, Kale began "acting out." Started with things like vandalism, petty theft, pick pocketing. Your basics. Spent some time in a juvenile detention center in town. Then his mom left them. Disappeared one night. It made things worse. His dad began drinking, he went after Bridgette, sexually. She was twelve. Kale had tried to stop him and failed. He was locked into a closet and couldn't do a damn thing. He went to the police but they didn't believe him because his father was one of them and Kale already had a record. Kale was furious. One night in retribution the boy decided to light his father's car up. It was the first real case of "arson" the Basher committed. He received the beating of a lifetime for it followed by a month in actual jail. When he got out, he went back to his father's, determined to get Bridge and leave. His dad saw him and just lost it. Tried to kill him. Bridge tried to pull their dad off of him, he hit her back and she fell down the stairs and cracked her head open. His own dad filed the report saying Kale killed his sister in a fit of rage due to his increasing instability and suggested Kale might have some mental problems and should be institutionalized. So naturally Kale blew up the police station. And then he disappeared. Hadn't been back to Ardwick since. But if someone googled Daniel George Morris, news articles of the highly unstable young boy, presumed dead, killed his sister and then blew up the police station as the coppers tried to find him help. And tada! Basher was born. But neglectful moms and abusive dads who seem untouchable, it's not an uncommon situation. It is a hard situation where ever it is but it was not a rare occurrence. So what made Kale be so different from other who lived through similar stories? What made him turn into the Basher as opposed to drug addict or stronger man who lived through it? Fuck like anyone knows. And maybe that was the point. Either way, it was what it was. But despite Alex knowing more about him than probably anyone, even she didn't know about Bridgette. Well maybe she did. She may have googled him birth name since he last saw her. If she did, he only hoped she either thought it must be a different boy or just knew somehow that they were lying. Kale never really cared much about what people thought of him but he needed Alex to think of him as... well, as someone who would not kill his own sister. Kale watched as she poured a shot and slid it down to someone. He smiled as she smiled although his was probably a bit more honest. “Oh, I would definitely call it an act of god.” He closed his eyes as she ruffled his hair. Smiled a bit as she pulled her hand away. He had missed that. He chuckled slightly as she mentioned a blessing or a curse. He shrugged, "I guess that depends on your point of view love." He replied, his thick accent remained undwindled. “Do you need a drink, Jake?” Kale stopped for a moment and looked at her confused. Kale always forgot his previous names, it wasn't the smartest thing to not keep track but whatever. "Jake?" He asked confused before getting it, "Oh right, It's actually Kale now, Kale Barker." He added as if he were introducing himself, "And I already have a drink." He replied nodding down to where Wid and Donny were at the bar having grabbed three more shots, his sitting next to his beer. He grinned as Wid and Donny noticed him looking over at them and raised their shot glasses to him and downed them. He grinned and looked at Alex, "You should join us if you can. Since you're here." He offered her in a happy voice. He hadn't even thought about how he left for five years. He looked her in the eye, "Speaking of, what are you doing here?" He asked, not rudely but more out of curiosity. Don't even try 'cause You can't ignore her

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY WARRENT

[/center]

[alexandria]

alex fletcher.

[/size][/font]
that's another time,
that's another town,
that's another life.
-------------------------[/center]

A lot of people think that those with a history like Alex’s, or even Kale’s, had been born that way. Just bred to be people that took from others, who lied and stole and god knows what else. There were those that had it in their heads that nothing could have been done to keep them from living the kinds of lives that they did. After all, whose fault would it be that there were bad people in the world? Who could you blame for things like someone robbing their fellow man, or finding pleasure in large scale explosions? Every once in a while you would meet someone who would admit that it might be parents. Maybe they had just had a bad enough upbringing that it had turned the nature of the criminal into who they were. But no, mostly, it was no one’s fault. It was just chemically who criminals were meant to be. While there were some for whom that was the case, Alex knew first had that many people who acted out the way she and Kale had as youths had been created. Literally forced to the brink until some kind of emotion or action had to break out of their confinements.

For Alex, it had been all emotion that rocked her world. A sudden snap of anger and suddenly that was all she felt. She could still remember a time when she might have been sweet natured – a good little girl. She had listened to her father’s rules and regulations, had met curfews, didn’t lie about where she had been, and even tried hard to exceed his expectations. Ultimately, it had been for naught. For every rule she met in her home, another had taken it’s place. For every expectation that she exceeded, the bar raised to what would seem like an unreachable height. To her, it sort of seemed like she just woke up one day and decided to be done with all of it. She was so tired of trying to be that person and not getting any gratification. So, many would say that she just gave up - gave in to smoking and drinking and staying out late. But not her. Alex always looked at it as just making a decision to finally be who she wanted to be and not what someone else told her to be. She was finally just…Being herself.

Since then, Alex wasn’t really worried about what people thought about her. Unlike most females, she didn’t really concern herself with whether or not someone disapproved of something, or someone, she was doing because what did it matter to them anyway? As long as she was happy, that’s what mattered to her and the minute she wasn’t, you’d better believe she was moving on. Alex had always wondered if that trait had come from being around men so much. Like if she smoked enough cigars and made herself seem cool and comfortable around almost any group of men, what did it matter what the women thought of her? Women were petty and mean anyway. They were more inclined to backstabbing than just flat punching you in the face if they were mad, which Alex preferred. She had never been good at mind games anyway.

So when Alex had met Kale, it had seemed perfect. They had fit together like two puzzle pieces, even when it came to arguing. Here was a man who knew more about her than anyone, including herself. It had always seemed like he knew how she would react to something before she knew herself. She didn’t have a problem calling him out when he had wronged her in some way, and visa versa. They never had stayed mad at each other long enough to really have any problems, and she was as honest with Kale as she had ever been with anyone. So when he had told her that his name wasn’t really Jake, but Daniel, it had been one of the first and only lies that he had told her. That she knew of anyway. Naturally, she had looked up the name and found out about his past in the UK. Did she believe it, though? Not a fuckin’ word. The whole story sounded so…Convenient to her. The only part she really believed was the part about the police station and the car getting blown to bits, but that was the only part that actually sounded like Kale. But murder? Actual, premeditated, non-accidental murder? Even now, Alex didn’t believe it. She couldn’t.

In some rebellious part of her mind, now that Kale stood in front of her – his real live, tangible self – Alex felt a twinge of fear. What if, after everything, she found out that their whole relationship really had been a ruse? That her suspicions had been right this whole time? She had told herself that this was the case for almost five years, and yet it was probable that Alex really didn’t believe that this was the real truth. Part of her still wanted to believe that he had loved her and really thought that they could have a life together. But Alex had a tendency to convince herself of convenient truths in order to hide from actually feeling things she didn’t want to feel - like continuing to love someone who had left her after two years together and a proposal – and the way she saw it, choosing the believe that he didn’t give a shit was definitely a lot easier.

In a fit of nervous habit, Alex absently twisted her engagement ring around on the chain where it always hung from her neck after pulling her hand away from his hair. She had anticipated having more time to prepare for their meeting. She had thought that she’d be able to take him by surprise, not the other way around. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be, and if there was one thing that drove Alex crazy, it was a situation that didn’t go according to plan. “It's actually Kale now, Kale Barker.” “Kale, then. I like it. It suits you better than Jake.” The compliment came naturally, as if she were talking about the weather or some such other trivial thing. She followed his eye down the bar to where two people saluted him with their shots before downing them. Alex gave a courteous nod before turning to look back at him in surprise. Really? He was just going to fall off the face of the earth for five years and then ask her for a drink? Then again, Kale never really had been conventional in his social graces.

“Uh…Well sure. I’m off in a half hour anyway, but I’ll see if I can leave now. It’s slowing down.” Alex replied to his invitation. The thought crossed her mind that about now, she could really use a drink, and that it would be their first legal alcohol consumption together. She genuinely laughed a little at his next question. It wasn’t mocking, just that she found humor in it. “I was looking for you, actually. Be right back.” Turning from him, Alex walked into the back room, where the head bartender was taking stock. “Hey, so it’s really slow, and I just ran into…Well, into an old friend. Mind if I split early? The girls can handle it without me for a half hour.” Alex felt a little bad for asking for a favor this early in a job, but it really was slow and the other girls needed the hours anyway. “Sure, sure. See you tomorrow.” Her manager said absent mindedly, writing down more numbers on her clip board. Alex went back into the bar and walked past Kale at first, taking her time to pour herself a Jack and Coke.

Rather than walking all the way around, Alex deftly hopped on top of and over the bar, into the space next to Kale. Snagging her drink from the counter and taking a small sip, she smiled at him slowly. “So, where were we?”


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status:; done!
tagged:; kalex. <3
word count:; 1,346 words
credit:; lyrics in title to cris cagle. lyrics in post to the toby keith.
notes:; i'm trying to work out where she dumps a drink on him, but i just haven't found the right moment yet. xD

[kale kennedy barker]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #3a73a1 solid 30px; ] I scream, you scream We all scream for her OUTFIT: here. TAGGED: alex! --- KALE WAS AN IDIOT. A GENIUS BUT A FLAT OUT MORON. When it came to chemistry it was hard to deny that the boy had a brain in his head. He could ramble off reactions and equations by the second without thinking about it. Chemistry was like breathing to him. I can guarantee that if Kale had not ended up on the wrong side of the law, he would be working for some type of government for their biochemical weaponry and working a bunch of secret government projects that would inevitably end up with some super death virus being released and the planet being wiped out in a matter of months, like what happened in the Stand. So really, with his nature being the way it was, the world should be thanking him for taking up his work as the Basher. No, the boy was an idiot because he lacked so much common sense. He did not understand that perhaps, it might be strange for a person to disappear on their fiance for five years and then see them in a bar and ask them for a drink, a casual drink with his friends. He did not understand really that he could have even really hurt her. It was had for him to grasp the reality of emotions and emotional responses. He didn't really care much about consequences for anything. It was one of the reasons people found him both frustrating and endearing. It was the reason he very rarely used protective gloves or goggles while working. Why he would sit in a room on fire, watching the flames until someone woke him up. His mind did not work the way most people's did. And when he fell in love with Alex, which he did, he was not quite conscience of the importance of that. When he was with her, he understood how much he adored her and he was happy with just her. But he left for a job and once they had been apart for a bit, Kale's mind blurred his real love for Alex with the chemical love he has for every girl he meets and it just blended, he got confused, and while it wasn't like he forgot how she was different, he didn't really understand how she was different, if that makes any sense. Kale barely saw what he did as bad. If he understood what she must have felt, he would probably feel incredibly guilty and be begging forgiveness after he gave her a long hug. “Kale, then. I like it. It suits you better than Jake.” But no, instead here he was, with a smile on his face, happy to see her, but as casual as if they were simply old friends who ran into each other. Kale had meet Alex seven years ago now. They sort of road tripped around Europe together. Him and his friends picked her up off the side of the road and of course, he was instantly in love although his dynamic with her was different from what he had with any other girl. She laughed at his jokes but with honesty and retort, instead of pure flirtation. She had a way for 'not falling for his charms" in the way most women did but instead of being like Liz and Wid who roll their eyes in contempt, put herself on an equal playing field. She hadn't acted like she was better or worse than him. It made him feel like they were... I don't know... matched for each other. “Uh…Well sure. I’m off in a half hour anyway, but I’ll see if I can leave now. It’s slowing down.” He smiled as she accepted his invitation. "Wonderful." He replied as he looked at her. He had not forgotten how pretty she was. And without being plastic. Or over the top. Like, don't get me wrong, he liked those over the top girls too, Widow would be one of them. I mean, look at what she was wearing this night? She was only going out with Donny and Kale, neither boy she expected to have sex with and yet what she was wearing, how she presented herself. She screamed sex. It was why men loved her and most women hated her... that plus she was an uber bitch. If her appearance didn't intimidate most girls, her attitude tended to. Alex wasn't like that. I mean, he found her incredibly sexy but she didn't wear her sex. It was refreshing. “I was looking for you, actually. Be right back.” Kale grinned and nodded watching her head back. He ran a hand through his hair before turning on his heel and walking back to Donny and Wid who handed him another shot as he joined them. Widow eyed him, "There seemed to be far more subtext coming out of you than usual." She said with a smirk. Kale looked at her, "I don't know what you mean." He replied plainly and honestly, looking up as Alex joined them. “So, where were we?” Kale looked at her as she smiled at him and returned it before raising his beer to point at Donny and Widow, "Alex, this is my man Donny and my good friend Widow." He said introducing them. Widow raised her eyebrow slightly and exchanged a glance at Donny. Kale once introduced widow to a date of his as his future wife, he didn't censor himself usually, something was definitely different about her, "Guys, this is Alex." He added pointing back over at Alex. Donny watched Kale with amused smile, he had never seen him look at a girl like that. He shook his head slightly and put down his drink, extending his hand to Alex, "Nice to meet you." Widow smiled at the girl and shrugged, "So... how do you know Kale?" Kale looked over at Widow, "We knew each other years ago, road-tripped through Europe." Donny laughed and shook his head, "Wow, you do have a thing about that don't you Kale." Donny replied looking back at Alex directing his speech, "Kale and I have been running around Europe for the past few years, but hey next rounds on me, everyone good for a snake bite?" He asked sort of generally to the group before ordering four snake bite shots. Don't even try 'cause You can't ignore her

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY WARRENT

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[alexandria]

alex fletcher.

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that's another time,
that's another town,
that's another life.
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Life just wasn’t fair sometimes.

Alex had spent five years of her life being mad at Kale Barker. Five years of letting that anger fuel her into action. Since the day she realized he wasn’t coming back, it had become her reason to get up in the morning - her reason to keep moving forward with her life – to be able to tell him how much he’d hurt her, and do something dramatic to show him, although if she didn’t know what. Even on days that she didn’t think about him, which didn’t come often, she couldn’t deny that he was the reason that she had ended up whatever place the latest news had brought her. Most therapists, had she bothered to ever see one, and some of her friends, would say that this was completely dysfunctional, and would only lead her down a path that would eventually end, and then where would she be? If being angry was all she had, what would happen to her when all the hurt and rage stopped?

It was something she honestly thought about a lot. These questions mostly came up when she was in some middle-of-no-where place with nothing more interesting to look at than wheat fields and rolling hills. Eventually, the tedium would get to her and her mind would start to wander to heavier subjects than usually haunted her head. What would happen to her if she just broke down here and never made it to the next place? Who would notice if Alex Fletcher was in an accident and killed out where no one would ever find the body? Morbid thoughts? Yes, completely, but eight years of traveling left the mind a lot of places to go. Especially when you were driving across flat, empty roads, didn’t have to pay attention to traffic and didn’t have anyone to talk to besides yourself.

Now, Alex found herself faced with that very problem. Every second that passed made what she affectionately referred to as her “big box of pissed” seem smaller and smaller. But that was the way that she and Kale had always been. When they fought and Alex’s temper would flare, Kale would just plow forward with whatever he was saying, without seeming to let her frustration get to him. They would both make their points, and then Kale would seem to have a large determination to get on with the rest of his day. It took her a while to realize that it wasn’t really that he was just ignoring their problems, like she originally thought. It was Kale just being…Kale. He didn’t really seem to hold on to emotions the way that normal people did – instead of holding a grudge and being upset all the time, he just let everything slide off his back. In that sense, it was really easy to be with him.

On the other side of the coin, though, Kale didn’t know when he’d done something wrong. Like now, he was just acting like everything was fine between them since they’d last seen each other. Alex conceded that he probably really didn’t understand how much pain he’d caused her – how could he possibly? But it had been like this even when they were together in the UK. She would get frustrated with something he’d said or done and it would turn out that he didn’t even know it was wrong in the first place. Then it turned into him apologizing repeatedly and her just feeling guilty. Hey, every relationship has it’s flaws somewhere, and as flaws go, Alex didn’t see this one as a very big deal.

Maybe, she thought, it might be best to just let things go. Pick up the pieces of her life and move on. Maybe, but we’ll see.

As she made her way back to Kale, Alex eyed his two friends a little. The guy with him seemed relatively harmless, but the girl… she was drop dead gorgeous and it was clear to tell that every girl in the room knew it too. Widow, as Kale introduced her to be, was one of those girls that, when she walked into a room, instantly dropped the self-esteem of every other girl in the room. Alex wondered idly as she took a sip of her drink if she and Kale had slept together. A little voice in the back of her head told her that they probably had. To her surprise, her stomach twisted a little in her gut, but she put on a slow smile when Donny said it was nice to meet her. It was obvious that they’d never even heard of her before.

“You, too.” She replied lightly, putting her drink down on the bar again. Alex listened to Kale’s reply of how they knew each other with interest. They knew each other? That was it? “We met in Austria. Poor guy picked me up off the side of the road and decided he wanted to marry me. No wonder he ended up back in the states, huh?” She said it like a joke, like it didn’t matter to her, but she glanced at Kale for a reaction. Petty? Yeah, probably, but she didn’t really give a damn at this point. Had she really been such a small part of his life that his friends didn’t know about her now? She wasn’t gonna lie, that stung more than it should.

“Love one, thanks.” Alex replied to Donny’s question, watching the bartender pour the shots out. As soon as they were done, Alex downed hers in one swing. Maybe getting drunk would take the edge off. She knew that she wasn’t exactly making a good impression on his friends, but at this point, who really gave a flying fuck anyway?


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status:; done!
tagged:; kalex. <3
word count:; an embarrassing count.
credit:; lyrics in title to cris cagle. lyrics in post to the toby keith.
notes:; worst post in a while. sorry, boo.

[kale kennedy barker]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #3a73a1 solid 30px; ] I scream, you scream We all scream for her OUTFIT: here. TAGGED: alex! --- KALE HAD MADE A LIVING OUT OF MAKING SURE HE DID NOT care about anyone. He had his mate Donny, but at the end of the day, there was a big different between Kale and Donny. Kale did not care much about anyone. He didn't care about Widow like Donny did, both Don and Wid were fiercely caring to the few people who got in. Kale did not care about Liz or Wid much, not really. And he definitely didn't give a damn about Orion. He would probably give his life to save anything of them, but that was more because he did not care much about his own life. If he was approached tomorrow and told that his chemicals spilled and the siren house blew up killing Liz, Widow, Orion and Donny, Kale really wouldn't feel much guilt at all. He would would pay some respects to the loss of Donny, say it was a shame two women like Widow and Liz were lost, and then move on with his life. He was not the type to be torn apart by a loss, not since his sister's life was taken from him. His sister's death had drained all of his guilt from him, he was out of that emotion and it would be highly unlikely for him to ever acquire it again in anything but very small nonchalant doses. He had spent too much time blaming himself for not being able to protect her when they were kids, blaming himself for what happened when he was locked up and their father was alone with her. Blaming himself that their father murdered her when she was trying to protect him and knowing it should have been the other way around, knowing it should have been him that died that night some nine years ago. Nine Years, and Kale had essentially been the walking dead, a monster that should never have survived the night. But while Donny may care about more people more honestly than Kale, Kale was not nearly as dangerous as Donny. You get on Kale's nerves at a bar, Kale's likely to ignore it and keep enjoying himself. Donny on the other hand would find a way to hurt you. When you were Kale's target he would find a way to kill you, usually in a method involving pyrotechnics since that was what he was best at. When you were Donny's target, he took your life apart piece by piece until you would rather die than keep going in the shambles that was now your life. Kale enjoyed his life and wished to stay in that state of mindless fun and fire. He would be hired, he would do the job to the best of his ability, but mostly for fun. Kale was never really in a position of power over anyone but himself which was how he preferred it. But no, Donny was ambitious, and incredibly so. Kale was all about himself and fun. Donny was the same but Donny's idea of fun was power and recognition. Not recognition in the sense that his face was known to people. But recognition in the sense that his alias, A. Heyward was a name known throughout the world. That people recognized Heyward as the best, because he was and he knew he was. Donny liked taking on his Heyward persona and feeling like he owned the people around him. Personally, Kale liked Heyward more than the Donny he had once met so many years ago. Donny from six years ago was a buzz kill. He never wanted to go have any fun with him. And he was always so down on himself it really was pathetic. Heyward was Kale's best friend more than Donny was and even then, Kale would feel some loss if Donny were to die but it would be nothing compared to his feelings if harm were to come to Alex Fletcher. Like most women, Kale figured himself in love when he saw Alex but there was something different about spending time with her. He found himself not worried about the other women he would usually want to spend time with. They bust threw grocery stores and he wouldn't eye the hot moms but walk a little faster to catch up with Alex to wrap his arm around her and make some smart ass comment about whomever was in view... such was their way. He never minded she was not the beauty queen type like Widow or some of the girls he had been with in the past. Alex could have been if she wanted to be but Alex was above all the shallow nonsense. She was beautiful just being her as opposed to making sure her ass and tits were presented just so and worrying about looking fat every time she took a bite of food. Alex was a naturally very thin girl, but Kale liked women of all body sizes. He always had a hard time understanding all of the weight loss fanaticism going around in the US. Don't get him wrong, you want to get healthy that's fine, but you can be healthy AND overweight as long as you keep your heart strong as in low blood pressure and cholesterol. But the thin fad was bogus to him. He liked all women's bodies, including seeing the beauty in that curvy, busty girl with a rounder face and a bit of jiggle, as well as seeing the beauty in that girl whose wrists looked tiny and delicate bust managed to pack a punch. It was only girls who looked like they couldn't walk they were so large, or girl's who's bones seemed to be popping out of their skin they were so tiny that Kale didn't find attractive. But Alex was neither of those extremes. She was definitely on the skinny side but the natural skinny that fit the rest of her body. She had piercing sharp features and long brown hair and to him, she was perfection. All he was betting on at the moment was that Widow kept her bitch side on the inside. He did not want Widow bringing out the claws, although, if she did, Donny was here and Kale knew Donny was probably the only one in the world who could get Wid to put the bitch away. She had been extra shitty the past few weeks. “We met in Austria. Poor guy picked me up off the side of the road and decided he wanted to marry me. No wonder he ended up back in the states, huh?” Kale took a drink of his beer and watched her quietly as Alex explained their relationship in a bit more detail and with a joking, little spiteful tone in her voice. He probably had the same sort of goofy look in his eyes when he watched her as he always had. He hadn't meant to hurt her by not telling De and Wid, he just wasn't exactly... he had been engaged to other women, and they knew that, they would never have understood how Alex was different. Widow smirked, "Oh another fiance, how sweet." She replied coyly, looking the girl over briefly. She seemed harmless, if anything Kale would ruin her. Kale sat up a bit straighter, looking at Wid, wondering briefly about the types of poisons she enjoyed. He looked over at Alex and smiled, "Picking you up off the side of that road was probably the second best thing I ever did in my life." Then, Donny returned with the shots and passed them out, "And what was the best then?" Donny asked, standing over between Widow and Kale. Kale shrugged and smirked a bit, "Well, that would be saving your sorry ass life so many years ago, Mate." Kale replied. It was true. Donny's father had left him for dead the night Kale and him met. Kale went back and got Donny out of the building before the place exploded. They were young, 17 or 18 if Kale remembered correctly. Donny nodded and held out his shot, "Cheers then!" Donny called out before downing the shot. He then put his hand on Widow's back, "Well, darling, I do believe you owe me a dance." He suggested, nodding a bit further away from the bar where there was more room for the large crowd to move around and dance. Widow rolled her eyes and looked at Kale and Alex before looking back at Donny, "You could try to be a little less obvious Donny, but why not? Soap opera's not really my style of television anyways." She added slyly before standing up and smiling at Alex, "It was nice meeting you, Alex, and for the record, me and THAT never happened. My tastes are a bit richer." She added nodding at Kale. Her tone still a bit condescending but it was about as nice as Wid got to strangers that weren't male or lesbians. She grinned as Donny tugged on her arm a bit to get her to follow him away from the two sort of ex fiances? Kale watched them leave and then looked over at Alex, "She's nice isn't she?" He said in cheerful sarcasm before taking another drink of his beer. "Donny's actually the reason I'm back in the US. We ran around everywhere for awhile before he got a call from Widow and another girl Liz, technically Wid's aunt but whatever, she's the same age. They're all close friends and family, so when Donny went back to them, I decided to tag along." He looked at Alex and smiled, "And how about you? You said you were here for me?" Don't even try 'cause You can't ignore her

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY WARRENT

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