Disclaimer: It's all stolen characters and whatnot. Buffy is property of Joss Whedon, and ER is property of Michael Crighton.

Chapter Five

"You're sure about this?" Giles asked the woman curiously. He was aware of her skills to some extent and knew that she would be excellent for this project, but he was also aware of her hesitance to take in the more supernatural part of the world.

Elizabeth nodded seriously. "This is something I'm good at. I love it, and the money's good," she told Giles. "Weirdness aside, I feel this is where I belong."

"As do I," Giles agreed. "That's why I'm hiring you." He pushed his chair slightly away from his desk and began searching the top drawer of it for something. Upon his discovery, he pulled his chair back and straightened himself. "But first there are a few things we need to discuss."

Elizabeth nodded again. "I had a feeling there would be." She sighed heavily. "You need to know what happened back in Chicago."

"That would be a good place to start," Giles informed her. "I'm very certain you're excellent at what you do, but technically you're without a license to practice medicine, and that's something we need to talk about."

Elizabeth drew in a deep breath. "Right. It was an operation," she began.

Hours had passed before Elizabeth was finished in Giles's office. She had discussed almost everything with him- the operation, her work experience at County, Ella. She left his office with a job and several pieces of paper regarding how things at the Watchers Council went. Included in those papers was a map of the building, something Elizabeth was very grateful to have. She was also aware of when there would be some training so that she could learn to fight off any stray demon or vampire that might attack her. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, she was fully prepared to start working here.

Giles followed her out. "Um, Ms. Corday," he called after her.

Elizabeth turned around abruptly. "Did I forget something?" she asked almost worriedly. She quickly looked at herself. She thought she had all the necessary papers, and she did not bring a purse.

Giles shook his head. "Oh, nothing like that," he assured her. This was the part that made him nervous. The last person he had tried to have this conversation with was Jenny, and that went horribly for the both of them. "I just don't have any more plans today and, um, was wondering if you would like a tour of the building. I know it can be confusing."

Elizabeth smiled slightly at the notion. "Sure, that'd be nice," she said. "I'd just like to check on Ella first."

"Of course," Giles said as he walked over towards the elevator and hit the down button. "This should only take a few seconds," he added.

Elizabeth walked up next to him. "How long have you been doing this?" she asked curiously in an attempt to make small talk. As a surgeon, she never really bothered to talk with the patients. She was just handed a case from which she would solve to the best of her ability. She could not remember the last time she tried to do this with a man.

"Running the Council or being a Watcher?" Giles asked as the elevator dinged to signal its arrival.

"Either," Elizabeth responded as she entered the elevator. "Both," she corrected a moment later.

Giles smiled as he hit the ground level button. "I've been training to be a Watcher from when I was ten. I was assigned to a Slayer in 1997 when I moved to Sunnydale, California. She was a great girl. Nothing stopped her, not even death."

Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly at this. "Not even death?" she questioned.

"CPR," Giles said for clarification. "The first time, anyway."

"She died again?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"Trying to close a mystical portal," Giles said with a nod. "The portal closed, but at a price. That was in 2001. A few months after I returned to England, only to find out that her friends, one of which is an incredibly powerful witch, yes witches are real, have succeeded in bringing her back to life through magicks. I returned to Sunnydale for a month or two then headed back to England for what I presumed to be ever. This powerful witch's girlfriend, yes lesbians are real, died and she wanted revenge, so she tried to end the world. I came back to Sunnydale to help her. Once the apocalypse was averted, I took her back to England for some counseling. A major apocalypse was scheduled to occur. The Watchers Council blew up, and I returned back and fought along with the Slayer and army of Potential Slayers. That witch, fully recovered now, did a spell to make all the Potentials Slayers, and together we stopped the apocalypse. Sunnydale blew up. We hung out in Los Angeles for a little bit. That fall I came to London and rebuilt the Watcher's Council." Giles let out a huge breath as the elevator reached the ground floor. "After you," he said as he waited for Elizabeth to exit the elevator. He smiled at her as he followed. "So that's my life in three hundred words or less. What about you?"

Elizabeth chuckled slightly at how fast Giles had spoken about his life. "Impressive," she commented as the two of them began walking past the gym towards the day care center.

"That's not what I asked," Giles reminded her.

"Well, you know the basics," Elizabeth reminded him as she followed Giles. She vaguely recalled these hallways, but she was uncertain of where she was going. "I was born and raised here in London. I came to America on a fellowship, which got cancelled, so I had to work as an intern. After a year, I was promoted to Associate Chief of Surgery. I met my future husband Mark at that hospital, and we married and had Ella. Of course it was his second marriage, so I also have a stepdaughter Rachel back in the States. Mark died a few years ago, yes cancer is real, and there hasn't been anyone serious since then. A few months ago a co-worker coaxed me into performing an unjustly illegal surgery. After that, I was not fired from working at the hospital, but my license was taken and my position was much lower, so I decided to quit and come back to England. I saw that woman in the airport, and you know what happened after that," Elizabeth concluded as she approached the day care portion of the Council. Not wanting to spend a whole lot of time down there, Elizabeth simply peeked her head through the window to check on Ella. Her young daughter was in there happily playing with a few other children. Elizabeth took that as a good sign and turned back to Giles. "You mentioned something about a tour?" she asked.

Giles nodded. "That I did," he affirmed as the two of them began walking. "There's not many things on the ground level. The day care's here and the big gyms and some smaller training rooms." He guided Elizabeth over towards one of the elevators. He hit the up button and waited two seconds for the elevator to arrive. "You want to start at the top and work your way down or start at the bottom and work your way up?" he asked as the two stepped into the couple.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Since we're already on the ground floor, I guess bottom working up," she told him as she hit the second floor button.

"As you wish," Giles said as the elevator approached the second floor. The first thing they walked out into was a large lobby. It was not as large as the formal lobby on the ground floor, but it was still pretty impressive. Few couches and chairs lined the walls and parts of the room. A large screen television set to the news was along the left wall. Large ceiling to floor windows lined the wall directly in front of Elizabeth. "This is the Watcher's Lobby and Office," Giles announced. "If you have any message for any one of our 201 Watchers, you can leave it here."

"It's gorgeous," Elizabeth exclaimed in awe as she walked over towards the right wall. On the wall were numerous pictures and names. Over all the pictures hung a small golden plaque reading 'For those who died in battle, may you rest in peace'.

"I'm guessing these are the ones we lost," Elizabeth noted sadly. She studied some of the pictures. For the most part, the deceased were young. Few looked old enough to possibly be over forty. "How many of them did you know?" she asked curiously.

Giles nodded at her first statement. "Oh, um, most of them," he answered.

"Sorry," Elizabeth said comfortingly. She studied some of the pictures. Underneath the picture was the name of the person, the years they had lived, and how they were involved with the Council. Most of them were listed as 'Slayer' or 'Potential Slayer'. Those were the titles Elizabeth was most familiar with. "They're all so young," she commented softly.

Giles nodded again. "It's the one part of my job I hate," he said. "I guess you can relate," he added.

"A bit too well," Elizabeth confirmed. "That was the part about Mark's death that bothered me the most- the fact that there was nothing I could do to save him."

"I know the feeling," Giles said as he began pulling Elizabeth away from the wall. "It's how I felt when Jenny was murdered."

"Wife?" Elizabeth questioned curiously. "I'm just curious," she added. "If you don't want to talk about her, I completely understand."

Giles shook his head. "No, it's fine. It happened nearly seven years ago," he said as he led Elizabeth down one of the hallways. "She was my girlfriend. Murdered by a vampire."

"Sorry," Elizabeth said sympathetically. She looked around the hallway for a distraction. "Oh, what's this room?" she asked as she gestured at the large room at the end of the hallway.

"Heaven," Giles said with a small smile. "Heaven on Earth," he said as he walked down to the room and opened the doors. "Also known as the library," he said as he stepped inside.

"Heaven on Earth?" Elizabeth questioned before her entry. "Somehow I doubt" Her words were cut off as she entered the library. It was huge. Shelves stretching up to the thirty-foot ceiling were filled with all sorts of books, ranging from child's books to the most secret demonology books. "I stand corrected," she whispered.

"And not a computer in sight," Giles said with a small smile. "We don't need modern technology to do research."

The sound of footsteps patted against the carpeted floor. They were coming from behind Elizabeth and Giles. "Um, Mr. Giles?" the mystery person asked.

"Yes?" Giles asked as he turned around. He rolled his eyes slightly at the Watcher he was in contact with- Charles Travers. Charles was the nephew of Quentin Travers, the one Watcher Giles loathed beyond all others. He would not even considered offering this boy a position at the Council, but at the time the Council was severely understaffed, and Charles had some familiarity with the demon world. "What do you want?" Giles asked through gritted teeth.

"Faith's back with the new batch," Charles informed Giles. "Some of who are in rough shape," he added. He studied Elizabeth closely. "You the doc?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded slightly. "Yes, I suppose I am."

"Your up," Charles said as he turned around and left the library.