Part Seven

Part Seven

~**~

Buffy stood up and backed away. "Don't get a happy, bud. We're just here to see you get what you wanted and then go away."

Willow sat down hard on the ground. "Still no Xander," she observed mournfully.

"Now that I've seen you, I think I've found what I wanted," Sammy replied smoothly.

*Keep your paws off of her, pal*, someone shouted in Sammy's mind, *Or I'll find a way to make you walk into a wall or something.* Sammy shook his head, wondering why he was hearing things. He turned and looked at the redhead sitting cross-legged on the ground. *She's off limits, too. No touchie.*

"Who are you?" he asked aloud.

Giles began to speak, but Sammy held up Xander's hand, listening to the voice inside first. *The name's Xander Harris, hotshot, and you're wearing my body. Those are my friends, and I don't know who you are or why you're here, but you mess with any of them, and I'll find a way to make the rest of your visit here a living hell, trust me.*

*Defensive*, Sammy answered him mentally. *How do you know I'm only here for a visit?*

*Been there, already done that*, Xander replied. *Except the first time, I could talk. Last time, I could only watch. This time, I guess I can only talk to you. You'd better tell them I'm in here.*

After he was shushed, Giles began watching the being wearing Xander's body closely. He seemed to be having some type of internal struggle, if the play of emotions across the boy's face was any indication. After a few moments of expressive silence, he looked up, and announced, "Xander's here."

Willow jumped her feet eagerly. "Where?"

Sammy pointed to his head. "Here. I can hear him, inside."

The redhead stood on her tiptoes and looked into Xander's ear. "You okay in there?" she yelled from only a few inches away.

Sammy flinched and pulled back. "Ouch! We're sharing the ears," a moment passed, "Willow; it's just the mouth he can't use right now. He can hear you fine." The girl blushed. "And," Sammy turned to the blonde after another brief introspection, "he says to tell you that if he still has bruises from that fight on the pier when he gets his body back, you owe him big time." Sammy turned internal again for a moment. "No, I'm not tellin' her she owes you *that*. I hardly know the girl."

"Yup, that's Xander," the Slayer confirmed.

"Does he have any idea why he seems to be operating as a sort of spiritual Days Inn right now?" Giles asked. "And by the way, who are *you*, and what is your quest?"

A short pause. "Xander says he's as clueless as the rest of you. My name's Sammy Williamson, and I need to see my woman."

Oh, Gawd," Buffy moaned dramatically. "A Neanderthal sexist pig. This is the scariest persona so far." She rolled her eyes. " 'My woman.' Let's be a little more degrading to the female of the species."

"I meant that as a loving kind of thang, girl. Back off. Who you think you are, anyway? Gloria Steinem or somthin'?"

"Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Sammy, sir, how long have you been waiting to return?" Giles felt the need to change the subject quickly before fisticuffs ensued, as seemed always imminent when Buffy was riled.

He got a distant look on his face. "I've been gone seventeen long years. They say you don't notice time passing in the afterlife, but you do when you have something you're trying to get back for. I had Gloria."

"This one is a romance. Oh, tell us," Willow begged eagerly, bouncing to one of the chairs. Buffy rolled her eyes. But Sammy needed little encouragement.

"I grew up poor, and didn't do so good in school, but I was good with a pool cue and the ladies liked me. I dropped out of high school and drifted from place to place, makin' money playin' pool. I'd stay in a particular bar for as long as it seemed ripe, then I'd move on. But one night, in a new bar in a small town, I met the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid my eyes on. I was a goner from the first."

"Gloria?" the redhead had to ask.

"Gloria," Sammy confirmed. "She was something else – eyes as dark as night, and," he started to motion with his hands, "round in all the right places. She had the most beautiful…" He stopped himself, catching Buffy's glare. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, she was perfect. And she was always nice to everybody. There was only one problem – she was married. He was a jackass, though. He beat her, some. She was in a miserable life, but she refused to let it get to her."

Sammy paused to gather his thoughts. *Hey,* Xander interrupted mentally, *I want to hear more about the round parts, personally.*

Willow was murmuring to Buffy. "Look, you can tell Xander must be talking to him. He's probably comforting him – he doesn't have such a great home life either, you know."

*Can it, pervert,* Sammy responded to his body-mate. *Besides, women don't want to hear about other women's sexiness. You'll never score that way.*

*I think I'm going to enjoy having you here,* Xander responded in awe. *I can use the tips.*

*If you still haven't gotten anywhere with either of those two, I'd say that's a given,* Sammy chided. Looking up, he noticed the others watching him expectantly, and realized how long he'd been silent. "So," he went on, as if the long pause hadn't occurred, "We'd talk. She'd tell me about her dreams, and how things were gonna get better, she knew it. I couldn't help but fall for her. Soon we were meeting secretly, whenever we could. I promised her we'd go someplace and start over – we'd be happy. I was just savin' up to get us far enough away that Hank, her husband, wouldn't be able to find us." Sammy's eyes grew misty. "Then one night, she told me she was pregnant. She hadn't let Hank touch her in weeks, and he was starting to get antsy about it, but she'd been able to hold him off so far. Still, we knew it was time to make our move. There was our baby to think about, now, too."

Even Giles was caught up in the tale, in spite of himself. "And what happened then?" he asked, then looked away slightly at the crooked grin Buffy shot his way. "Well, we can't help the man if we don't know the whole story," the librarian responded defensively.

"Hank walked in. He'd been askin' around, even had one of his friends follow us. He hit Gloria, hard, when she stood up to him. I tried to defend her, but he was lot bigger than me. I got away from him – a couple of times, actually. But I wasn't leaving without her, and she was having trouble getting' up. I think he busted her leg when he kicked her. Anyway, we ended up in the kitchen, and he grabbed a knife off the counter, and," the face that was so familiar, yet alien, forced a pained smile, "here I am, seventeen years later."

"I hate to be pragmatic here," Giles said, "but how can you be sure Hank didn't go back and kill Gloria, also?"

"He wouldn't have unfinished business then, right?" Willow surmised. "Gloria woulda been there with him, right?"

Sammy shrugged. "That's what I kinda figured, anyway."

"So, what exactly was the name of this small town you met Gloria in, anyhow?" Buffy asked, wondering what her mom would say if it was somewhere across the country. *Hey, Mom, Xander, Giles, Willow and I are going to Florida – catch ya later!* Yeah, sure.

"Sunnydale, California."

~**~

It was odd, Willow mused. She was used to Xander leaning over her shoulder while she searched the net – but he even seemed to be *breathing* differently with Sammy in his body. She really hoped they could figure out what was opening his body to these rotating spirits, and that they would do it before someone dangerous or insane ended up inside him.

They had returned to Sunnydale, after calling Detective Collier for an update, and learning that the case against Kyle Martinson was already proceeding, and that Martinson's wife was cooperating with the investigation. Now they were in the library, and Willow was tracking details on both Sammy's death and the whereabouts of his lost love.

The papers weren't terribly helpful – a jealous husband's murder of his wife's lover wasn't exactly front-page news, unless they were famous people. Seventeen year old police reports or coroner's reports weren't on the 'Net, either. There was no listing in Sunnydale for a Gloria Cardwell, which had been her married name, nor for Gloria Stevens, her maiden name.

"It seems I'm gone and forgotten," Sammy said mournfully. "Gloria probably left town, too."

"But Hank couldn't, if he was arrested," Willow said, thoughtfully. "Chances are, he couldn't afford a fancy lawyer to get him off, and he's still in the Sunnydale Prison." She did a quick search, hacked through a few security protocols, and pulled up the records. "Hank Cardwell, Second Degree Murder – twenty years. Up twice for parole, both times denied due to a poor prison record." Willow looked up from the screen. "Seems Hank has fallen in with a bad crowd in prison – not like they have a group of Boy Scouts there anyway. But he's currently the prime suspect in the murder of another inmate, and the trial is scheduled for next month, so chances are, he's not gonna be walking around Sunnydale for a considerable length of time, even after his original sentence is served."

*Whew,* Xander said to Sammy. *I don't know how long you're gonna be here, but I really was counting on getting my deposit back on the bod when I was through with it, and if you or your honey's ex break it, I can't.* Sammy was still considering his response when Willow picked up again.

"Here we go – emergency contact: ex-wife, Gloria," she grinned from ear to ear, "Williamson!"

"She took my name? Freaky! So where do we find her?"

~**~

They didn't call first. What would they say? "Hey, we're here with your dead lover in our friend's body, and he wanted to see you and find out how you and his illegitimate child were doing?" Somehow, it didn't seem like the right way to approach the situation. They just went.

"Xander wants to know if this feels familiar to any of you. What the hell is he talking about?" Sammy asked, as they waited at the door of the condominium on the edge of town. Willow shrugged, but Buffy grinned.

"Sarah," the Slayer murmured, but the answer at the door cut off further discussion.

"Gloria," Sammy breathed, awed.

The woman at the door was around forty, but still very attractive. The color of coffee with cream, her skin was flawless, and her eyes were, as Sammy had said, dark as night. Her figure was a bit soft around the edges, and there were wrinkles around the dark eyes, but her hair was stylishly cut, and her clothes fit her well.

Xander wolf-whistled in Sammy's head, much the to spirit's annoyance. *You're too much like I was at your age, boy, don't end up like I did.*

*Was she worth dying for?* Xander asked, genuinely curious. Then he caught a glimpse of Buffy through their shared eyes, and said, *Then again, never mind. I think I understand.* Sammy didn't answer, back to being enthralled by his first look at his lost love after so many years.

"Gloria," he said again.

"Do I know you?" the woman asked, confused. "Because if you're here to see my daughter, she's at some meeting or another, and won't be home for a while."

*She doesn't know who you are, Sams. You look like me, 'member?*

Buffy stared at the woman, who struck her as vaguely familiar. "Williamson?" she whispered to herself.

Giles stepped up. "Ms. Williamson," he began, "we have some interesting and slightly unbelievable things to share with you. Would you mind if we came in?"

"Do I know you?" the woman asked again, this time directed at Giles.

"I'm the librarian at Sunnydale High, ma'am. But this has nothing to do with the school."

"Come on in," the confusion still on her face, Gloria stepped aside as the man and the teenagers entered her home. The blonde girl was the last through the door, and once inside, she turned anxiously to the older woman.

"Don't ever do that again," she said forcefully. "Don't ever invite total strangers in your home. It's dangerous."

"Uh, Buffy?" the redhead interjected softly. "Not helping our case here. Back off."

The blonde girl shrugged. "Occupational hazard."

Gloria Williamson was more than confused. A group of kids her daughter's age and the high school librarian had just come to her home, then one had lectured her about letting them in. The boy knew her name. They were too well dressed to live in this area, and she was pretty sure she'd never seen them before. She sat down hard on the couch.

"Gloria," the boy said again, "You're still the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

His voice had a tone to it she hadn't heard in years. He looked at her the same way only one man in her life had ever looked at her. But he was just a kid – a white kid from the better part of town. He wasn't her Sammy.

The kid went on. "We were gonna go to Atlantic City, weren't we, baby? I knew I could get a good job there, make lots of money. We almost made it, too. Another hour or two, we'da been outta here, and Hank would've never found us." He was kneeling before her.

"Sammy? You can't be my Sammy." The tears were running down her face. "I don't know who you are, but you came here to torture me, didn't you? Why, after all these years?"

"It's me, baby." And she could see him. Instead of a white teenaged boy, she could see her dead lover kneeling before her – his sparkling brown eyes in his even browner face; his tight dark curls against his scalp. She almost reached out to touch them, but she drew back.

"No. He's gone. Stop it." She was crying in earnest, now.

"Ms. Williamson," the librarian said gently, "Sammy's spirit is occupying the body of this young man. We're here because his spirit couldn't rest until he saw you again. It seems incredible, but I promise you, it's true."

Sammy took her hands, and she could even feel the calloused palm he'd had on the left hand from years of sliding a cue across it. "And our baby, too. You did have the baby, right? I've spent years wondering if it was a boy or a girl."

Gloria couldn't fight it anymore. Her heart knew, even if her eyes told her otherwise, this was her Sammy. "She's beautiful, Sammy. She looks like both of us, and she has your smile. And she's so *smart* - you'd be really proud of her. You know she's gonna go to college? They're even calling *her*!" He moved to sit beside her, sliding his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, you're the smartest girl I ever knew, baby. You're the only one who ever caught me, weren't you?" She giggled like the young girl she'd once been, and he couldn't help himself – Sammy pulled Gloria to him, and kissed her.

The front door slammed open, and closed again, and a beautiful black girl strode into the room, then stopped, frozen by shock. "Mom? Why are you kissing," the couple broke apart, and the girl's already shocked face went pale with recognition, "XANDER HARRIS?"

Sharlayne. Sharlayne Williamson. The co-captain of the cheerleading squad, and one of the most popular girls in Sunnydale High. The group sat in a frozen tableau, the young boy with his arms around the older woman, the girl too stunned to move. *Sammy?* Xander finally choked out. *When you're done with my body, just kill it, okay? I'll never live this one down.*

~**~