Disclaimer: Sigh. If I had a dime for every time I had to say I steal other people's characters, than I would have a lot of money to do stuff with…

Chapter Three

Elizabeth let out a huge breath as her taxi pulled up in front of The Watcher's Council. It was a large building, she noted, so she obviously was joining a team as opposed to helping start one. They clearly had been running for at least a year.

"Lady, you getting out?" the driver asked in a slightly irritated voice.

Elizabeth sighed and nodded as she opened the door slowly. She placed her left high heel down on the concrete sidewalk, her right one only seconds behind. She handed the driver his money then pushed herself off of the soft taxi seat. She stood on the sidewalk and motioned for Ella to follow. She had been informed that this place had a day care service and that she was eligible to take advantage of it.

She quickly pulled Ella from the cab and watched as the driver sped away. She glanced down at her daughter, dressed in a casual pink dress with matching ribbons in her pigtails. Elizabeth quickly looked down at her own outfit, a light blue button down shirt with vertical darker blue stripes going down accompanied by a dark blue skirt and dark blue shoes with a two inch heel, to make sure everything was in order. This could possibly be the most important interview she would have to face and everything had to be perfect. She drew in a quick breath for confidence then grasped Ella's hand and began walking inside the building.

"Wow," Ella exclaimed in amazement as she looked around the lobby of the building. Her statement echoed Elizabeth's thoughts. The lobby alone was amazing. Two pairs of revolving glass doors marked the entrance and exit of the room. Large glass windows stretching nearly from ceiling to floor, Elizabeth noted. The floor was a gorgeous white marble. Two beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which had to be at least fifteen to twenty feet above Elizabeth's head. Large white lettering announcing "The Watcher's Council" proudly displayed above the main desk on the tan painted walls. Smaller lettering underneath is proclaimed "London, England".

"Can I help you?" the woman behind the main desk asked curiously. She rose from her leather chair and removed her glasses to get a better look at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth nodded as she walked towards the woman, her heels clicking against the hard floor as she did such. Ella's pats from her pink sneakers followed. "Hello," Elizabeth said in a formal and even tone of voice. "I'm Elizabeth Corday. I have an appointment to meet with Rupert Giles."

"Of course," the woman said as she hit a small button, unlocking the white door to the right of the main desk.

Elizabeth smiled, thanking the woman before heading over through the door. The sights behind the door amazed her. The organization was running smoothly. At least, she thought it was. Various people paraded through the halls, not stopping until they had reached their destination. The offices were clearly labeled properly. She stood there in momentary confusion as she tried to figure out where exactly she should be going.

One young and thin girl, Elizabeth placed her age at not much older than sixteen, approached, catching on to Elizabeth's confusion. She was only dressed in a green t-shirt and black sweatpants with sneakers, but she seemed friendly. "Hi," she greeted as she extended her hand out. "I'm Kaleigh. Do you need help finding someone?" she asked curiously in an American accent.

"Elizabeth," Elizabeth introduced herself as she shook Kaleigh's hand. "And this is Ella. I need to take her to the daycare part of this place and then I need to find Rupert Giles."

Kaleigh's green eyes widened with anticipation. "Oh, so you're a new Slayer?" she asked curiously. She smiled and began walking down the halls. "You seem a little old, but don't worry. There are older ones."

"A what?" Elizabeth asked in confusion as she reluctantly followed this teenager.

"Oh," Kaleigh began, nodding understandably. "You don't know why you're here. Well, don't worry. It seems scary at first, but soon you'll be able to kill vampires and demons naturally. The trainers are very good here."

"Vampires and demons?" Elizabeth asked as she raised an eyebrow at the teenager. She wondered if this was why her medical expertise was needed for this place. She was someone who could help those who were insane. At least to some extent. "Are you feeling all right?"

Kaleigh nodded. "I know it seems a bit surreal at first, but you get used to it."

"Used to hallucinations?" Elizabeth asked as she kept following the girl.

Kaleigh laughed. "I felt the same way when I first started working here. But it all makes sense, once you think about it."

"You work here?" Elizabeth asked as she scanned Kaleigh up and down. "You seem so young and not to mention American."

"Oh, I'm nothing!" Kaleigh announced as she stopped momentarily to pull her shoulder-length hair into a small ponytail. "Sorry, my Watcher gets fussy when my hair's down," she apologized as she began leading Elizabeth down another hallway. "But like I was saying. As soon as the Slayers reach thirteen, they come here to train. The other girls are just too young." She gestured down at Ella. "I mean, would you send her away to train in a job that could kill her at this age?"

"Job that could kill her?" Elizabeth asked in a horrified voice. "What are you, an army or something?"

Kaleigh shrugged. "You could say that, I suppose. But it's more special than that. No drafts, you just get chosen."

"Chosen to do what?" Elizabeth asked. She still had her doubts that this girl was completely sane. The things she was saying…

"Fight the forces of evil," Kaleigh answered plainly.

"Terrorists?" Elizabeth asked.

Kaleigh shook her head. "Not the natural evils. More like supernatural. The vampires, demons, monsters…" She gasped as she glanced up at Elizabeth. "I'm sorry this is coming as such a shock. But Giles wouldn't explain it any better. I heard he nearly scared off this one Chinese Slayer when he was over in Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale?" Elizabeth asked.

"The only Hellmouth to be successfully shut down. It happened sometime in May 2003. That was when our destinies changed. This witch did a spell that took any potential Slayers and made them Slayers. Since then, the ones who were old enough started being sent to the closer Council, either here or Rome as of now. That's why you're here," Kaleigh explained proudly.

"I thought I was here to start up a medical facility here," Elizabeth said, half to herself.

Kaleigh's mouth widened into an 'O' shape. "Oh," she began slowly. "You're not a Slayer."

"What the hell is a Slayer?" Elizabeth asked in frustration. "What is this place?"

"It's a pretty building," Ella declared proudly. "Like that other place we visited."

Elizabeth ignored her daughter's input and kept staring at Kaleigh. The teenager said nothing, only opened one of the doors. "Um, this is the daycare," she said. "You can drop your daughter off. I think it would be best if Giles explained the rest to you," she said as she rushed towards the gym.

The woman in charge of the daycare walked over towards Elizabeth. "You're new," she noted. She was dressed just as casually as Kaleigh had been and her name sticker read 'Hello my name is Miss Brenda'. "Who is this little angel?" she asked as she knelt down so she was closer to Ella's level.

Ella beamed, happy with the attention. "My name's Ella," she declared as she rushed into the room. All sorts of toys were scattered throughout and there were other children there, unlike the hotel.

Miss Brenda smiled and looked up at Elizabeth. "We'll watch her for you while you work. It's our goal," she said as if reciting. She turned around for moment as she began searching through a tote bag. Once gathering what she was searching for, she handed the papers to Elizabeth. "I'll just need you to fill these out first."

"Of course," Elizabeth noted as she took a pen out from her purse and began filling them out. It was fairly standard, just asking about Ella's health history, whether or not she had allergies, and emergency numbers. Elizabeth filled it out fairly quickly. She frowned, noticing the last question, asking about Ella's blood type. "Excuse me, why is this especially important?" she asked. She noted that it was unavoidable and it was in bolded type.

"Just in case we should be attacked by vampires," Miss Brenda commented. "Now just answer it and then you can start your busy day."

Elizabeth looked at her with the same slightly suspicious glace she had given Kaleigh. But she did as she was told and handed the forms to the woman. "Could you tell me where I could find Rupert Giles, please?" she asked as she stepped out of the room and stood on the gray carpet in the hallway.

Miss Brenda nodded. "Ok, keep going straight for a while," she directed. "Then make a left when you come to the next hallway and keep going down. You'll see a gym on the left. Directly across from that will be an elevator. Go into it and hit the highest number. When you get out, you'll be in the outer part of his office."

Elizabeth nodded, taking the information in. She decided not to question the woman on why this place had a gym in it. Instead she thanked her and began walking down the hallway. As she walked, she wondered what she was really getting herself into. The two personnel she had actually had a semi-decent conversation with had both mentioned vampires. Surely not everyone in this building was insane. Except for the weirdness of vampires, demons, Slayers, and Hellmouths, they seemed normal.

Elizabeth turned and began heading down the hallway that would take her to the elevator. On her way she saw other people. Two men were talking on her right. Although she knew it was wrong, she could not help but find herself walking a bit slower to try and catch their conversation to see if they were weird or not. She shrugged, finding nothing out of the ordinary about a conversation in which they were planning to meet up for a meeting later.

She shrugged as she saw the gym on her left. The windows to the gym were glass, therefore perfectly transparent. She peeked inside, noticing a variety of young women between the ages of thirteen and mid-thirties training. Elder men or women stood near them with clipboards, presumably taking notes on the girls' training habits. Elizabeth found it slightly odd, but decided not to worry about it as she walked over towards the elevator. She hit the 'up' arrow and within seconds the doors opened. She scanned the buttons, searching for the highest number. Once hitting it, the elevator moved up.

It was a smooth ride up, no one else needed to get on. A minute later, the doors opened again and there Elizabeth was in the outer part of Rupert Giles's office. She walked over to Giles's secretary, a young man in his late twenties Elizabeth guessed. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Corday. I have an appointment to meet with Rupert Giles," she informed him.

The man nodded. "Very well, go on in."

Elizabeth nodded as she walked over to the wooden door. She slowly turned the cold, metal doorknob and then pushed the door open. She then closed it quietly. "Mr. Giles?" she asked softly.

Giles turned around in his desk. "Elizabeth, I presume," he said before putting his glasses on. "Ah, there you are. Please, have a seat."

Elizabeth nodded as she walked over to his desk. "One question before we begin," she said as she approached the chair.

"Go ahead," Giles prompted.

"What the hell is this place? Vampires, demons, Slayers, Hellmouths?"