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Well, he had got fixed up, and settled into the Cooper farm. Still limping around a little, but should be back in fighting form in a few more days as needed. In the meantime, he was out sitting on the steps, and found a piece of wood to whittle. Even a branch to turn into some handy stakes since best to be prepared around here.

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"Whatcha doing with that wood, mister?" asks a blonde young girl from the doorway of the Cooper house.

Bridgette is wearing a man's frock coat. She found it in someone's room, and is certain they won't mind her taking it. It's not like she has a winter outfit of her own, after all!

Bridgette has her arms wrapped in front of her - it looks like she's carrying a heavy, invisible package.

Xander glanced over at her, and gave a friendly smile.

"Just making something," He then stowed the wooden stake to the side.

"Whatcha you got there? Looks heavy," Fondly remembering play-pretend moments with Willow growing up.

"Her name's Marie," Bridgette replies, still leaving the door open (because Xander has a knife and little girls are supposed to stay far away from people with knives). "We were looking for blankets. The stone house is kinda cold without 'em."

Xander seemed to noticed that, and the knife was folded up to be stored away in his pocket.

He then beamed, and even waved to where Marie likely would be.

"Hi Marie, I'm Xander," He glanced up at Bridgette, and asked her, "What's your name?"

"I'm Bridgette Dubois," Bridgette says politely. "Xander's a funny name."

Xander nodded, "Nice to meet you. And that's because one of my best friends gave me that name when she was a little younger than you. Never liked Alexander that much anyway."

"You have best friends? That's cool," Bridgette replies, a bit wistfully. "I had one, but he went away, but he's still in my head."

Xander tilted his head a little at that, and slightly nervous since that could mean possession. And possession leads to very bad things... sometimes involving pigs and principals being eaten, so bad.

"I do, but I haven't seen any of them around here since I got here. Who was yours?"

"Bobby Lasho," Bridgette replies. "He was nice and we played tag and hopscotch at recess. But after I met him I met Emily, and I got to go to her birthday party, even though she moved - and she has an invisible giraffe friend."

"Hey, that sounds like a lot of fun. He must have been a fun kid. And Emily sounds nice too."

"She is! ...Or was." Bridge shrugs off this tense confusion.

"Friends should be nice," she adds, "or else they're not friends, right?"

Xander solemnly nodded at that, "Of course. Even if nice means doing something you might not like, but it's to help you."

Bridgette looks confused at that. "That sounds like a Mommy and Daddy thing," she remarks.

There were conflicting expressions running across his face at that. There were a lot of Mommy and Daddy things that his own parents should have done, and didn't.

"Yeah, but sometimes friends can do that too. Especially if a Mommy and Daddy can't be bothered with it."

Bridgette is a creative girl, but not a particularly sensitive one. Living so much in her own imagination hasn't left her with much tact.

Her eyes widen a bit. "Is that why you wear that pirate patch? 'Cuz your Mommy didn't tell you not to run with scissors?"

She's still trying to struggle with the idea of parents that don't tell their kids important things like that.

Xander wasn't the most tactful around at times either.

"Not exactly, even though I don't think she ever did."

He then added, "A very bad, bad man did this. But don't worry. One of my friends made sure he can't hurt anybody ever again." Remembering when Buffy did the announcement about Caleb's death.

A very bad man....

Bridgette goes still. Then she swallows and holds her arms closer.

"."

She takes in a shaky breath, trying to be brave. ""

Xander's single eyed gaze sharpened on her curiously and with concern.

He shook his head, "No, he called himself Caleb. It's ok. He's all gone now. Who's Walker? It's ok, you can tell me, I'll believe it. My friends and I? We get rid of the scary and bad things out there that hurt people."

"," Bridgette says in a whisper, glancing nervously at her invisible sister .

Xander quietly asked, "Ok, what kind of doctor? Was he a bad man? Or maybe even something else? Like a scary monster?"

"We should go inside," Bridgette mutters, turning around and closing the door.

Should Xander want to follow, he'll find Bridgette on a couch in the Cooper living room, stroking the air in front of her. Bridgette kicks her feet every once in a while, staring at a wall with particular fascination.

Xander followed, and there was a wondering look at that. Hoping Marie wasn't like Marcie.

He then stood in front of the couch, and sat down on the floor, legs folded, and facing her.

"Ok, do you want to tell me now?"

"Not really," Bridgette mutters, eyes downcast, since he did ask.

Xander gave her a big reassuring grin, "It's ok, I'm one of the good guys. I mean it. My friends and I? We've fought against the scary monsters out there, and you know something? We beat them every time. How bad is this doc? And I've known some scary doctors over the years, trust me."

"I met him after Trips, but Ariel - that's my older sister, she's thirteen - she saw him before, and so did Mommy. He-- he talked about Mommy. Said he was happy to see us, he'd looked a long time for us, and he hoped we'd all be very good friends."

Bridgette suddenly looks up, shaking her head lightly from side to side. "But he wasn't a friend. Because we-- we--" Bridgette swallows heavily. "We were all in the trailer. And Marie was crying. And there were bad guys behind him, with...guns and stuff. And there was thick grey tape and he taped us to chairs with it."

Her gaze falls down to her feet again as she mumbles, "Walker wasn't a friend." She takes a deep, shaky breath.

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