Author's Note:  Feedback..please...I beg.....

“Well…McKinley..but that wasn’t her real last name…”

“Oh, I see.”

“How about the names Adam or Julia? Adam was a watcher, I think.”

Giles stared at her, “Oh, that Bridget!”

 For a split second, Willow thought that he was being sarcastic, but from the excited way in which he ran into his office, she knew he was serious.

“You mean you know who I’m talking about?”

“Well, yes. If you’re discussing Adam Laughlin then I do. Did your…ahh..dream mention that his sister Julia was a slayer?”

“Yes!” she nodded her head excitedly.

He flipped open a dusty green book and pointed to the signature at the top of the inside cover, “Then the person you’re looking for is Bridget Laughlin, Adam’s wife. She too was a Watcher.”

“Wait…no,” Willow shook her head, confused, “His wife? No, Giles, that’s impossible, I didn’t think that they’d ever gotten married…wasn’t he killed by a demon?”

“Ahh..no,” Giles slid his glasses further up his nose and flipped to the first page, “No, he was killed by vampires if I remember correctly. Yes, here it is. There’s a whole entry devoted to his death. No mention of any demon involved.”

Willow furrowed her brow slightly as she skimmed down the page.

“I thought that Watchers were always male,” Xander broke in, “You know, like how Slayers are always female.”

“Well, under normal circumstances, yes. However, there have been a few rare occasions when Watchers have been female. Three to be exact. Bridget was the second. She’s also considered among the top five best Watchers of all time. She took over watching duties after Adam was killed.”

“Then your nightmare wasn’t real,” Buffy mumured.

“Oh, it felt real enough,” Xander bit his lip in frustration.

“No, I mean that it didn’t really represent what happened historically.”

“I guess not,” Willow rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully, “What else do you know about her, Giles?”

The librarian frowned slightly, “Personally, she was one of the most enigmatic individuals within the Council. There is very little information about her life before she met Adam. Her life afterwards, however, during which she raised three children and trained two Slayers is very well documented.”

“She had children?” Willow sat down heavily. None of this made any sense.

“I can look into this further, although it might take some time. It’s quite an interesting case, in fact. Taken altogether, she led a very tragic life. Another odd fact is that there aren’t any documented descriptions of what she looked like physically, neither are there any pictures of her. Under normal circumstances, there’s always at least one official portrait commissioned of each Watcher which is hung at the Council headquarters once their term ends. She refused to have her portrait done. Actually, another strange piece of history is that her daughter, Kateri, wa-,”

“Okay, then we should stay and help to figure this out,” Buffy cut him off before the rambling got out of hand.

Willow and Xander darted a look at one another.

“Actually,” Xander stood up, “There might be someone else that can help us.”

“Yes, and I think it might be worth checking with him first. Giles, do you think that you can handle this alone for awhile? We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Well..I-I believe so,” he began.

“Good, then we’d better go.”

“Wait- where are you going?”

“To talk to someone who might have known her,” Willow called as she ran out the door, “Personally.”
 

“We’re sorry to wake you up, but it was pretty important.”

“That’s okay, I understand…please, come in. Have a seat.”

Nervously following Buffy’s lead, Willow and Xander entered the darkened apartment.

“Would any of you…ahh..care for something to eat or drink? I’m not sure what I have, but if you’d like a glass of water or something..” he trailed off expectantly. Unused to entertaining large amounts of people, he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“No, that’s fine, Angel. We’re all fine.”

Willow took a deep breath, “We don’t want to take up too much of your time but we had some questions we thought you might be able to answer.”

Somewhat intrigued, Angel took a seat across from the trio, “I can try my best.”

“What does the name Bridget mean to you?”

He looked thoughtful, “Well, Willow, I’ve been alive for over 240 years…I’ve known a lot of Bridgets.”

“How about Bridget Laughlin?”

This time, his face paled slightly and he dropped his gaze. Buffy could almost see the emotional wall he often held snap right into place. “Miss Bridget? Yes..yes, I knew her,”
He stood and started pacing, “Why?” he asked suspiciously.

The next several minutes were spent retelling the story of Willow and Xander’s shared nightmares and what they implied. Willow decided not to mention the part about the curse just yet, especially in front of Xander.

“So, we were wondering what you could tell us,” she finished.

There was a moment of silence and Angel looked somewhat pained. For a few seconds, Buffy was afraid that he’d choose to withhold the information he had, due to personal reasons. Luckily she was proved wrong.

Angel rose and started pacing again, “What you’ve told me already sounds fairly accurate. When I first encountered Miss Bridget, I was about thirteen years old. She was new in town and I first met her at some church function. At the time, my father was pretty sick and I was still young. Therefore, the financial burden fell, in a large part, on my mother. I would stay home and look after my father and my younger sister while she was often out long hours doing odd jobs and helping out as a midwife. It brought in some money, but our family was still fairly poor, and we obviously couldn’t afford a governess or anything remotely like that. Miss Bridget approached my mother privately, though, evidently volunteering to teach me on her own time. She always said she just saw something in me which “rang true” with her. So, over the course of a year she tutored me in various subjects…reading, writing, some math…she was the one who truly sparked my love for books and knowledge. I owe a lot to her.”

The room fell silent as Angel seemed lost in thought.

“And then she had to leave,” Willow prodded softly.

He looked up at her, “Yes, she did. And I was sincerely sorry to see her go. Aside from opening up hundreds of opportunities for me which otherwise wouldn’t have been available during that era, she was also an excellent friend. It sometimes got lonely all by myself in that house with my father and sister. I used to look forward to her weekly visits. She had the most…gentle spirit I’d ever encountered.” He sat down next to Willow and smiled at her, “I don’t remember what she looked like that well but her personality reminds me a lot of you.”

The hacker blushed shyly.

“And I remember that she had red hair like yours.”

“So then that was it. She left and you never saw her again, right?” Unable to help it, Xander was feeling slightly on edge. He’d never taken much of a liking to Angel and for some reason he wasn’t comfortable with the kindness the vampire was suddenly bestowing upon Willow.

The pained look returned to Angel's dark eyes almost instantly, “Not..quite. I saw her once again before she died. It wasn’t a…pleasant experience, either. It took place about eight years after I’d changed.”

Willow gazed at him sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.“I know this is hard for you, Angel, but whatever you can tell us is helpful.”

Xander ground his teeth.

“Well, as I said, it was about eight years after I’d changed. I was still fairly new to being a vampire Although I’d built up a ‘reputation’,” he spat the word, “I was still forced to serve a higher vampire in exchange for protection. And so, one night I was sent to the Watcher’s house to retrieve a book. Getting at it would require not only somehow entering the house, but also distracting the Slayer. Meaning, it was a job for more than one person. Darla took up that task. She sent the Slayer…what was her name…”

“Julia,” Willow supplied.

“Yes, Julia, on this huge elaborate hunt, at the end of which she was utterly ambushed
by about 8 other vampires. This took care of the Watcher who ran off to aid her as well as his wife who ran off to aid him. Now, there still remained the problem of getting invited into an empty house…”

“It’s right this way, hurry!”

“Slow down, mate, we’ll get there in time,” Spike rolled his eyes at Angelus and dropped his voice,“I think that I’m actually going to be happy to get rid of this young sap.”

Angelus merely snickered in response.

The young vampire, barely thirteen years old, ran up the path to the old cottage, “It’s right in here,” he called.

Spike jumped behind a tree near the gate leading onto the property, “Fool, doesn’t he realize that he can get us all killed?”

“Relax, Spike. There’s no one here. No one that can stop us at least.”

“Oooh, look at the pri’ee flowers. They smell so nice,” a dark haired female vampire cooed.

“C’mon Dru, we’ve got no time to smell the flowers,” gripping her firmly by the arm, Spike steered her towards the house.

The younger vampire was standing within the threshold by the time they got up there.

“Welcome fellow countrymen,” he gave them a broad smile.

“Oh get on with it,” Spike muttered under his breath.

“I bid you to enter,” with a final flourish, the eager youngster bowed and backed into the house.

“Why thank you,” Angelus replied following him in with a dark smile, “There’s just one more thing you can help us with.”

“Anything for you sir.”

“Wher-,”

His question was cut off as Drusilla bound past them both, her eyes glowing a deep yellow. She picked up the teenager like a rag doll and slammed her hand into his head, breaking his neck.

“Dru, what are you doing?” Spike shouted in dismay.

She looked up at them, all innocence, while wiping a smear of blood off her chin, “But Spike, you said I could eat him once he let us in.”

“Yes, pet, once he let us in and *told us where the book was*,” the blond vampire repeated in an agitated voice.

“Oh,” she seemed to consider this new piece of information, “Well, no one told me. Besides, I was ‘ungry,” she pouted.

The male vampires simply darted a look at eachother.

“Well, there’s got to be someone else here who knows where the bloody book is.”

“Yes, there is someone else here,” Angelus muttered darkly, “I can smell them…I can smell their fear…”

Suddenly whipping around, he yanked open one of the nearby cupboards and pulled out a trembling woman.

“Well, hello, what do we have here?” he drew her up til they were nose to nose, his eye glowing fiercely, “Tell you what, mum. You tell us where we can find the Watcher’s diary and we’ll let you go.”

“I-I..dunnah know anything about diaries, sirs. I-I’m just a poor old farm woman sent here to look after the children meanwhiles the missus is g-,” her eyes widened as she realized she’d said too much.

“Children, eh?”

“Look at her clothes, she’s not lying,” Spike commented, glancing up briefly as he ransacked the various cupboards, “She’s not of any use to us, mate.”

Angelus let out a slow smile, “I think I agree.” Before she could even scream, he had sunk his fangs into her neck and was rapidly draining her dry.

“I think we should spread out,” Spike said, popping his head up above the counter, “You know, cover more territory and all that.”

Angelus dropped the old woman’s dried husk to the ground, “Oh Spike. You had a thought. How wonderful for you.”

Choosing to ignore the comment, he simply gestured to the left, “You take that side, I take this one and…oh bloody hell. Where’d Dru go?”

Looking around, Angelus realized that there was no sign of their spacey companion. He sighed, slightly bored, “Oh, who cares? Dru’s Dru. We’ll catch up with her later. She’s probably out exploring the garden or something like that. She’ll be fine. Let’s just get the book and get out of here.”

“I just don’t want her doing any harm to herself.”

“Oh get over it, Spike. I mean, how much trouble can she possibly get herself into?”

****************

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are,” the child finished her song and softly laid her head on her arm while gazing out the window... until she heard the soft applause.

“Ooh, Will you sing it again, luv? You have such a pri’ee voice.”

Mildly startled, Kateri Laughlin addressed the intruder, “Who are you?” she asked, clutching her doll to her chest and staring up at the tall, graceful woman in wonder.

“My name is Dru,” the woman took a step into the room, “And what’s yours?”

“Mary,” the four-year-old replied smiling, “My mummy calls me Kateri but that’s not my given name. I like your dress.”

Dru bestowed the child with a warm smile, “Do you really? It’s my favorite as well.” She pirouetted a few times around the room before drawing closer.

Kateri giggled.

“My goodness,” Dru murmured softly, bending over the little girl, “You’re quite the beauty aren’t you?”

The child grinned back shyly.

“Your mummy must be very pri’ee,” she sat down next to her, sad all of a sudden, “My mummy was pri’ee.”

“Where is your mummy?”

“Oh…my mummy? She had to go away…for a long long time. She was beautiful, though. I remember that she used to sing me songs all the time. She had such a beautiful voice…”

“My mummy sings to me sometimes as well.”

“Really?” the vampire brightened again, “Would you sing for me a bit? Just for a short time. I do miss it…”

Kateri nodded happily and boldly pushed Dru’s hands out of the way, making space for the child to settle herself into the vampire's lap.

“What song would you like to hear?”

“Whichever you fancy, luv.”

“I know a song about a lamb.”

"Is it a little lamb?"

"A baby lamb with a little girl like me."

“Ooh yes, do sing that one. I love baby lambs.”