Title: Fully Qualified

Author: mistymidnight

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Do I look like Joss? (Well, technically, none of you know what I look like, since I don't post my picture on the Internet, but, to clear up any confusion, I don't. Look like Joss, that is.) And I also don't look like gidgetgirl. She owns the plot and the characters of Zane, Lola, Thayer, and Sophie, none of whom are mentioned in this chapter.

Spoilers/Timeline: Post-Chosen. Obvious spoilers.

Summary: Ever notice that when you think you've got control, the past comes back to bite you in the butt? Poor Willow...

Author's Notes: I'm bored. And what do you do when there's nothing to do? Write. (Okay. Other answers I considered were sleep, eat, watch TV, play on the computer, and check my email every three seconds in hopes of some desperate link to the outside world. But for all fanfiction purposes, writing was--and is--my final answer.)

I may be evil, cutting off that last chapter where I did, but you people are evil-er! (Not a word, but still...) Two reviews for the last chapter? That's it? ) angryteabag and gidgetgirl, thank you for your reviews. Because of your good reader-li-ness, I give you personal massages:

angryteabag: I don't really have plans to bring in any of the Scoobies, at least not at this point. Maybe when I finish this fic I'll do another Dr. Willow post-Chosen that involves the Scoobies, but it won't be W/G, sorry. I'm not particularly a fan of that pairing and I therefore don't write it. But if I did include Scoobies in another Willow post-Chosen, there'd most likely be Willow-Giles interaction, just not of the couple-y kind.

gidgetgirl: Thanks for the multitude of reviews. They're what's keeping this story going, at this point. Yeah, and looking back on the magic/vampire thing, it is a bit obvious. I hope it's not too obvious. Oh, well, we shall see. I'm still working on that Little Dawn Halloween fic, by the way. Okay, so it's actually been sitting in the 'My Documents' folder since July or so. I guess I'll try to post it before Halloween, which is--oh crap! --three weeks and a day away. Darn it.

Everybody else...no reviews? What the heck happened???

Please review this time. I'm begging you!

The Clock is Ticking

When Willow arrived at the Hill's house, via the rather sketchy directions she was given by a panicky Carly, everything seemed fine at first glance. Taylor had apparently given up barricading herself in her room and was now happily watching television, while Carly struggled to stay calm so she wouldn't scare her daughter, who, as usual, didn't remember anything.

"Hi, Dr. Rosenberg," Taylor chirped. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to check on you, actually," Willow said. "Taylor, so you remember what you did this afternoon?"

Taylor rolled her eyes upward, the way people do when they're trying hard to remember something. "I, um, came home from school, and I ate an apple and then I watched TV."

"Do you know what time you come home from school?"

"Mommy picks me up when the little hand is on the three and the big hand is on the twelve."

Willow glanced at Carly. "Three o' clock?"

Carly nodded.

"How long does it take you to come home, Taylor?" Willow asked.

Taylor shrugged. "I don't know, but when I ate my apple the big hand was on the four and the little hand was on the three. I remember that because it reminded me of the scissors I was using to cut out my paper dolls."

"You were cutting out paper dolls while you ate your apple?"

"No, I was cutting them out last night, but I, um, forgot to clean up after." Taylor glanced at her mother apologetically.

"Okay," Willow said. And after that, what did you do?"

Taylor hesitated, then answered, "I watched TV."

"How many TV shows did you watch?"

"Just this one," Taylor said, pointing to the cartoon playing on the screen.

"Taylor," Willow said, "look at the clock. Can you tell me where the hands are?"

Taylor glanced at the clock hanging above the television and said after a moment, "The big hand is almost on the five and the little hand is on the eleven." She smiled proudly.

"Good job," Willow said. "But Taylor, did you know this show only goes for half an hour?"

"It does?" Taylor asked, obviously confused about the half-hour concept.

"Taylor," Willow said, "you told me that you started watching TV just after you ate your apple at three-twenty, when the big hand was on the four and the little hand was on the three."

"Yeah."

"And now it's four fifty-five. The little hand is almost on the five. What did you do for an hour and a half?"

"I watched TV."

"You said you only watched one show."

Taylor was looking a little upset. "I did."

"But it only lasted a half-hour."

"No it didn't!" Taylor yelled, jumping off the couch and stomping her foot. "I watched TV! I didn't do anything else! Stop talking to me! Just go away! Leave me alone--" She stopped yelling suddenly and her body went stiff.

"Oh, no," Carly whispered. "She's starting again."

Taylor's eyes opened and she stared at Willow for a second. "Taylor," Willow said softly "Listen to me. Something is wrong. I'm going to help you. You just have--"

Taylor pantomimed a yawn and said something that made Willow's heart jump into her throat:

"Bored now."

Another cliffhanger! Eeee!

I'm thinking that, instead of heavily incorporating the other kiddos (Zane, Lola, Thayer, and Sophie) into this fic, I'll do a sequel-type thing where Willow has more adventures in the supernatural, and of course, in psychology. Let me know what you think--

mistymidnight