TItle: Fully Qualified

Author: mistymidnight

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters and canon, gidgetgirl owns the plot and some of the characters: Zane, Thayer, Lola, and Sophie. I own Erin. And Maxwell. =)

Summary: Even notice that when you think you've got control, the past has to come and bite you in the butt? Poor Willow.

Author's Notes: Sorry about the last chapter's numerous typos. I'll be using a spellcheck this time, though it's my email spellchecker, so don't expect miricles.

Also, big apology to gidgetgirl! Zane, Thayer, Lola, and Sophie are hers, as well as the plot. There was some reason I didn't include the characters in the last chapter, but I can't think of it now. It was probably a bad reason. Someone in the logic department of my brain is gonna be fired... =)

Also, I'm setting the story in Toronto. Don't ask why. It's just that when I once visited Toronto, I saw gorgeous apartments near the Sky Dome, which is, for you people who are clueless to baseball, where the Toronto Blue Jays play. But if I ever move to Toronto (which I doubt I will), I wanna live in those apartments. They're pretty and I bet that if you lived on a high enough floor, you could watch the ballgames from your balcony. How cool is that?

I'll also explain why Willow moved there, but not until a later chapter.

Anyhow, that's about it on the notes. Read on!

Chapter Two: "You're Very Killable."

Willow unlocked the door to her apartment, breathless. The elevator was broken and she'd had to walk up twenty-two flights of stairs. She had taken a rest when she had stopped to visit with some people in the fifteenth floor, but other than that, it had been straight up, no delays.

She dumped her purse on the little table near the door and flipped on the light switch, even though it wasn't exactly dark yet. The light illuminated the apartment, relecting off the huge glass windows and sliding doors that led to the balcony. Willow looked out the window. There must be game tonight, she thought, watching people fill the stadium. Cool.

She came across her to-do list and carefully read it, checking off things as she came to them.

When she was finished, the list said:

-Call Buffy

-Do laundry

-Feed Maxwell

Willow decided to tackle the easiest task first. "Maxwell!" she called, wallking to the kitchen. "Maxwell, are you hungry?" She opened the cabinet and took out a bag of cat food. "Maxwell!" She shook the bag for effect. Suddenly a little ball or grey fur came rocketing into the kitchen and sat expectantly by its bowl.

"That's my good kitty," Willow said, slipping into the cutesy voice that was reserved for animals and babies. "That's my Maxwell-baby." She poured some food into his bowl and rubbed under his chin. "Aw, you like that, huh? That's my good boy." She good up to put the food away and Maxwell crunched happily at his cat food.

Next up: Call Buffy. Willow had been looking forward to this all day. She picked up the phone and dialed the overseas number to Rome.

RIng...ring....ring...Willow waited patiently. It usually took a few rings before Dawn or Buffy picked up the phone. There was a cluck on the other end, a shuffling noise, then she heard a voice say, "Ciao?"

"Hey, Dawn, it's Willow. Is Buffy there?"

"Hold on just a sec," Dawn said. Willow heard the phone get set down on the table, nd then heard Dawn scream, "Buffy! Phone for you! Willow!"

After a few seconds, Buffy picked up. "Hey! What's up?"

"Nothing much," Willow told her. "Just calling for the routine gab session."

"So make with the gabbing," Buffy demanded. "How's work?"

Willow sighed. "Okay, I guess. I got home early today because my last patient cancelled. But before that, I was working with Zane. He's still convinced there's a vampire-slayer conspiracy."

"Still?" Buffy asked. "Aren't kids supposed to outgrow this stuff?"

"That's what his parents thought," Willow said, "which is why it took them so long to take him to me. They thought he would outgrow it."

"And he hasn't."

"Big check in the 'no' column."

"Well that's no fun."

"No, it's really not. But speaking of vampires and slayers, how are you doing? Having happy slayage?"

Buffy groaned. "I'm actually getting bored. I think I've killed maybe one vamp all week. Where are they?"

"The Hellmouth?" Willlow suggested.

"I dunno," Buffy said. "Maybe it has something to do with all the garlic in Italian food."

"It could," Willow said reassuringly.

"Maybe I'm getting old!" Buffy said suddenly.

"Huh?" Willow didn't quite get the connection between Buffy's lack of vamps and her age.

"I mean, a good amount of the vamps that come my way are all 'Slayer, I'm gonna kill you!' But I haven't seen any vamps lately. Maybe they've all decided there's no sport in killing me. It'd be like shooting fish in barrel. It's like, 'poor old Buffy, no challenge to kill her at all...let's go find someone we'll actually be proud to say we killed.'

"You're very killable," Willow said, trying to comfort her. "If I was a vamp, I'd kill you in a second."

"Thanks, Will," Buffy said dryly, "but somehow not the reassurance I was looking for."

"No, but think about it for a sec," Willow persisted. "You've died twice, but you won't stay dead, kind of like the stuffed dog I had when I was six..."

"What?"

"Oh, I had this stuffed dog that barked and moved its paws whe you hugged its tummy. But one day I was sitting in my room after I played with it and it started barking and moving all by itself. I was convinced it was possessed. That was before I knew about the Hellmouth and everything, of course. Turns out it was a battery glitch or something. But no matter what I did, the dog just wouldn't stop."

"Sounds freaky."

"And very irritating if you're trying to sleep through it. The point is, any vamp that could say, 'Hey, guess what? I killed Buffy Summers, the Slayer Who Would Not Die!' would be an instant celebrity. I mean, as vamps go, that's a pretty big un-life goal."

"You think too much."

"Hey, psychologist here. Kind of my job."

"Just don't shrink me."

"No, I'd have to charge you for that."

"How much?"

"Depends on how much help you need. And don't forget, you pay in Canadian dollars."

Buffy laughed. "Thanks, Will."

"For what?"

"You just gave me a whole 'feel better Buffy' session. I guess I owe you now."

"Nah, what are friends for?"

"Convincing you you're killable, apparently."

"Well, you're welcome."

Another done...I know there wasn't much in the way of Willow's job there.

mistymidnight

TBC...next time: Meet the Patients!