Part Two

Part Two

~**~

"Definitely not the work of vamps," Buffy declared, kneeling beside the body. "Although I'm surprised the smell of all this blood didn't draw any of them."

"Must be a big meeting at the Hellmouth or something," Willow said, trying hard to keep her eyes away from the parts of the dead girl that normally wouldn't be visible in public – like her stomach lining. "They're all busy. Does she look familiar to you?"

Xander bent down and picked something up. "I think she's like, a sophomore or something. She hangs with the druggie crowd." He glanced briefly at the corpse. "Uh, used to hang with. I'm sure I've seen her around school." Straightening, he held out his discovery. "Take a look at this."

A strange medallion on a heavy chain hung from his fingers. The two girls moved in to study it more closely. "You think it has anything to do with who or what carved her up?"

Willow frowned, her research and study look. "Those look like runes of some kind around the outside. Wasn't there a break-in of some sort over at the museum last week? Pieces of a Feudal Japanese collection missing? Some of this writing could be Japanese, I think."

"We could check the police records, but remember, this is Sunny-Hell. Even if there *was* a report filed, if this thing has any magical properties at all, the report has now mysteriously disappeared." Buffy shrugged. Their town seemed to give the phrase "Turn a blind eye" a new intensity of meaning. Between the mystical powers that battled over the Hellmouth, and the citizenry's ability to ignore almost anything out of the ordinary, if it weren't for Giles and his monitoring of unusual happenings, even the Scooby gang themselves would be clueless about many of the major supernatural events in their hometown. "Xander, hang onto it. We can show it to Giles when we get back." Obediently, the young man stuffed the medallion in his pants pocket.

~**~

Unfortunately, there were other things of more importance to occupy the trio before they could return to Giles', and once they got back there, it took a while to stop the bleeding. The Watcher applied ice to Willow's bruises, and bandaged Xander's arm, and they were all exhausted. Really, an apparent *regular* murder of a girl with questionable associates and a funny looking necklace were the least of their worries, and it was no big surprise they'd completely forgotten about it. Xander only remembered the thing when he emptied his pockets before shedding his pants and collapsing on his bed. He tossed it onto his dresser to be dealt with in the morning.

~**~

Somehow, even with the stitches and bruised ribs, Xander always felt better in the morning. He stretched like an overgrown cat, only wincing slightly at the pain that reminded him what parts he had injured *this* time. *Sort of a self-renewing self*, he thought sleepily. *Stupid optimism, new every morning*.

The medallion on his dresser arrested his gaze. It didn't look really broken, but the catch seemed stuck open. He dug around in his top dresser drawer, pulling out at last a paperclip and a small screwdriver. After a few minutes of futile fiddling with an unbent paperclip, he took the screwdriver to the catch, and then – *voila*! – fixed medallion.

After showering, he pulled on his favorite baggy cargos, a tee shirt and a loose button down, and ran a comb through his wavy hair, making little real difference. He looked again at the medallion – if he stuck it in his pocket, he'd probably forget it again, and they really did need Giles to look at it. The most logical place to carry a necklace, Xander reasoned, is around the neck. Fastening the catch, he tucked the medallion into his tee shirt. Something odd sort of vibrated through his body, and as he looked down at himself, he heard his own voice asking, in a strange cadence, "Don't you ever iron your clothes?" He sat down hard on his bed.

~**~

"So, let me get this right," Willow said slowly, looking askance at her childhood friend. "You've been possessed by the spirit of an old lady, who seems to be channeling Cordelia Chase?"

"Excuse me, but I was only 48 when I died. I really resent that. Just because I'm not a teenager, like you are…" It was Xander's voice, but not really. It was slightly higher pitched, and just a hair short of singsong. "And 'possessed' has such a nasty ring to it. I'm just borrowing Alexander's body for a little while, to get a last message to my daughter. I was on my way to talk to her when the accident occurred, and I waited a long time to get through the portal so I could finish that trip." She almost seemed to turn and look at herself. "I'm sorry, dear, but they don't seem to be getting it, and I'd really like to be on our way." For a moment, the expression looked more like Xander's, and he nodded.

"And you came through this 'portal' and into Xander exactly how?" Buffy's patience was never kept on a very long leash, and had just about reached the end of its tether.

The woman inside Xander's body sniffed and looked down his nose at her. "The portal opened; I was waiting; I came through. I have no idea what opened it, not do I care. I want to go see my daughter."

"Excuse me, um, madam," Giles interrupted, "But I've never know a possessed person to be conversant with the spirit within them, nor to have *any* control when possessed. How do we know you're not a, um," the watcher cleared his throat and had the grace to look uncomfortable, "uh, mental aberration?"

"Thanks a lot, G-Man," the younger man protested. "Next time I get possessed by a nice old, uh, a neat lady, see if I tell *you*." The other three stared as Xander patted himself on the knee. "Thank you, dear." The spirit within looked at the Watcher with disdain, an expression he'd really never thought Xander himself capable of, then settled into a patient smile. "I'm afraid I'm not a very strong personality, unlike most of the others waiting for the portal to open. The one time I stood up for myself in life, I ended the day dead, so I haven't had much practice. It's one of the reasons I need to talk to my Kelli, but that's for her ears only. I simply happened to be the only one of the waiting to be present when the portal opened this time, so I got through. I couldn't fight my way ahead of the others. I really can't wrest control of his body away from Mr. Harris, either, but he's been nice enough to share with me." She patted him again, and the expression went from her benignly tolerant smile to a purely Xander sheepish blush and grin, and back again, in seconds.

Willow heard unknown information hinted at, and immediately wanted more. "Excuse me, Mrs." She stopped – the spirit within Xander had yet to identify herself.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Xander fretted in that other voice. He stood up prissily. "Sarah Jamison, pleased to meet you all." She began to extend her hand, but reconsidered and curtseyed, the already awkward gesture made all the more so when performed by Xander's body. Then she sat back down.

After a moment of stunned speechlessness, Willow recovered. "Mrs. Jamison, you said there are others waiting to return. How many?"

She frowned. "Bunches. Lots of people die with unfinished business, you know. Although, after ten or twenty years, some of them give up and go on. That's what I've been told, anyway. The portal doesn't open very often – it's been several years since the last time - until that Ancient Chinaman – wait, no, he was Japanese – left a few days ago."

Giles appeared to also be intrigued. "And you don't know what causes this portal to open?"

She shrugged eloquently. "The Jap seemed to know, but he wasn't sharing anything, outside of the fact that he'd soon be leaving. Then he did. There are rumors, of course. They say there are several controls that can switch the portal open, but most of them are only activated by accident. That's why there's no waiting list or order – if it opens and you're there, you go. I was there; I came." She turned sort of inward again, and her voice grew plaintive. "Could we go see Kelli now?"

Xander nodded, and his body language changed again. "I promised her we'd find her daughter, and it turns out her son-in-law's listed in the local phone book." Sarah's demeanor reemerged. "Once I complete my mission, I go back, and Alexander can have his body to himself again." Xander's expression again. "Not that I don't like you, but I would appreciate that."

Buffy shook her head – it was like watching a game of ping pong all played in a single spot. Her mind was having trouble bouncing between the two personalities. "Can we come along?" Not that Xander seemed to be in any trouble with the spirit, but this WAS Sunnydale, and you just never knew.

The slayer could have sworn she saw them *both* nod at the same time.

~**~