Chapter 2 -- Who Watches the Watchers?

Damn fools, he thought, staring down at the list of names in front of him. Should've listened to me. God, I hope they stay safe. Please, let me be wrong.

There was a knock at the door. He stood to get it, revealing a man he'd never seen before, a man in a brown coat and a suit with a neatly knotted tie. There was a little girl in a white nightdress sound asleep on his shoulder.

"Thomas Ronson?"

"And who are you, sir?"

"Oh, names," the man said, pushing past him. "You can barely learn anything from a person's name. Don't mean a thing, names. Speaking of names, I got yours from this little girl. She said you came to her house and told her parents something bad was going to happen to them."

"Oh, dear God," he said, and sat heavily. "Roarke. Kyra Roarke."

"Never did catch her name. Had a bit of a shock, poor thing. Her whole family was murdered." He paused, and laid the little girl gently on the mussed bed, pulling the covers up over her. "She saw it."

Tommy closed his eyes. "Oh, that poor thing," he murmured. Then his eyes snapped open. "Her whole family? What about the little ones? There were twins, God, couldn't have been more than three."

"She said they were the first. Her Dad went in to save them, but wasn't in time."

Tommy bowed his head. "Dear God. I wanted to be wrong."

"So you did know in advance," the man said. He sounded angry. "You knew what would happen to them, and you did nothing --"

"I tried to save them!" Tommy snapped back, rising to his feet. "I did everything I could! The father, he wouldn't listen to me, the police told me I was mad, my own Council wouldn't even step in! Who are you to judge me, sir? I did everything I could! No one believed me, they all said I was mad. God, I wanted to be wrong."

"Why that family?"

"The family had nothing to do with it," he said. "They were in the way -- it was all about her. That little girl."

"Why her?"

"Believe me, sir, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He sat, leaning forward and clasping his hands. "Try me, Mr. Ronson."

"She has the Potential to become a Slayer," he said tiredly, pouring himself a brandy. "A Vampire Slayer, that is. One girl in all the world, Called to protect it from vampires, demons, and the forces of Darkness. She only will possess that strength and skill. The blood of a Slayer, even a Potential Slayer, is enormously helpful in certain spells and magics. It also possesses the power to heal -- ailing vampires, that is. Of course, in order to get it in big enough amounts to do a complete healing, you have to kill the girl, or very nearly. In a Called Slayer, you only need a little, but in a Potential you have to drain them. Kill them."

The man simply gaped, then rose to his feet. "The police were right. You are mad!"

"Right," Tommy agreed, and drained his brandy. "Of course. And who are you, sir?"

"That's all a myth! You don't really believe in that, do you?"

"Quite," Tommy said calmly. "I'm a Watcher. It is our job to Watch the Slayers, to guard and train them. And their families, if necessary. Kyra was meant to be my ward. The Council sent me here to collect her. When I failed, they said that I wasn't fit to be a Watcher unless I convinced the family and returned with the girl. When I told them I had found a threat to the family, they said it was not their problem, but mine. Tell me, sir, what was I supposed to do? If I had known, I would've been there. I would have fought to save them, human though I am."

"This is mad!"

"Oh, yes," he said. "The real world usually is."

The man paused. Then, "Well, that's true enough, I suppose."

"May I at least know your name?" Tommy asked. "Kyra will want to know, when she wakes up. She's full of questions, that one, always wanting to know everything." He paused. "And she deserves to know the name of the man who saved her life."

"Hmm. Well...You can call me the Doctor," he replied.

Tommy choked on his brandy, then gaped, then grinned. "And you call Slayers a myth!"

The Doctor frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"You, my friend, are a myth," Tommy replied. "The stuff of legend, you are. The Watcher's Council has been keeping an eye on your antics for...oh, quite a while."

"How long?" the Doctor asked, tilting his head.

"Madam de Pompadour," he replied. "Queen Victoria. Torchwood. Werewolves. Daleks and Cybermen."

"The whole time, in other words," the Doctor said. "It just figures, doesn't it. Just when you think you know about all the secret agencies in the world, another one pops out of nowhere. And please believe me, even after all I've seen, up to and including what might have been the Devil himself, I am finding vampires and demons a little hard to believe in."

"Then what else were they?" a small, shaking voice asked. "That's how they killed Da -- they drank his blood. Bit him on the neck, and I could see little trails of blood runnin' down his neck, but...not enough. There's a lot of blood in the body, mister. Where else did it go? What else would drink blood?"

The Doctor looked at her, and his face softened. "Oh, love...I don't know. I wish I could tell you. I wish I could make it all go away."

She nodded. "Nobody can. But they don't hurt anymore. They're in Heaven." She looked at him, hope naked on her face. "Right? They're in Heaven."

"I'm certain of it, love," the Doctor said. He moved to her, laid her back down, tucked the covers around her. "You need to sleep. Your mum and dad wouldn't want you gettin' sick, now, would they?"

She shook her head, and then reached for her doll. He tucked it in next to her. "There you go, all safe and snug. Sleep now, and don't dream. You need your rest, you do."

She nodded. "They're in Heaven. You promise?"

"I promise," he said.

"And Maddie and Jamie have all the toys they could ever want."

"Certainly," he said. "I'm sure wee Jamie has his very own army of GI Joes."

She giggled, then closed her eyes and drifted off. Tommy dimmed the lights and led the Doctor into the hallway. "You lied to her. You haven't a clue where they've gone, or if they've gone at all."

"No," the Doctor replied. "I don't. But she believes it, and believe me, she needs all the faith she can get."

"Quite right," Tommy agreed.

"Besides," the Doctor added, "she might be right."

They stood in silence for awhile, then the Doctor said, "I'll be watchin'. And if anything happens to that little girl without you standing in the way, I shall be very cross."

"Nothing will hurt her," Tommy replied. "I swear it, on my own life. I'll die before I let it happen. I've already failed her once."

"She'll want pictures. Memories. Get them for her, but do not take her back to that house. She doesn't need to see the way they died. Not again."

"No. I'll see it done."

The Doctor nodded. "And I will be watchin'."

"Oh, I believe you, sir. I've heard too many things about you not to."

The Doctor turned and walked down the hall, then turned back. "By the way, what's the date?"

"May 15, 1993. Is that significant?"

"Nope. Just curious."

TBC