Real Estate
(or, "A Unique Fixer Upper")
by Cynamin and NutMeg

Angel Investigations
Always looking for a few good demon hunters.
Hopeless and Helpless need not apply, we've met our quota.

Wesley stood back in the doorway of Angel's bedroom, watching the vampire pack a small, black duffle. "Are you sure this is the best idea?" he asked for the ump-teenth time.

Angel didn't even look at him. He just regarded an odd looking axe for a moment in silence before putting it aside as too big to fit in the duffle. Besides, he wasn't planning on fighting. This...was a truth-seeking trip.

"I mean, I'm sure Mr. Giles has everything well in hand," Wesley tried.

Angel nodded. "I'm sure he does. But if someone suspicious *doesn't* want me to go, then I think I should be there."

"You are a contrary vampire aren't you?" the Brit sighed.

Angel smiled. "It's my nature," he said as he stuffed another shirt in the bag. "Call me paranoid and suspicious if you like."

Wesley ignored the comment and looked a bit flustered. "Yes, well...if you're certain this is the correct course of action..." he said. "That is, I trust your judgment, Angel. I'm just worried it may be clouded where...Sunnydale is concerned."

"I'm not going because of Buffy," Angel said smoothly.

"Now, I didn't say that," Wesley replied defensively.

Angel looked slightly amused. "No, but it's what you meant," he pointed out. "Look, I'm going to Sunnydale because there's something going on that I need to figure out, alright? You didn't see this...goddess...that made both Cordelia and I uncomfortable."

"Sorry I missed her," Wesley muttered.

He didn't mean for Angel to hear, but his supernatural hearing picked it up anyway. "You can come along if you want," Angel said after a moment.

Wesley tried not to look *too* eager at the opportunity. In truth, he had been dying to see how things were in the Hellmouth, as well as get his hands on some of Giles' books. "I think that's a good idea," he said as calmly as possible. "Give me an hour to pack and we can be on our way."

Angel tried not to chuckle as Wesley rushed out of the basement apartment without even waiting for his response. He knew the "rogue demon hunter" would be back in half an hour, tops. He didn't mind the company. Wesley was an asset, had a tremendous amount of knowledge, and could drive in the daytime. Angel would wait for him.

He continued to pack, not in any great hurry. Things didn't seem too dire at the moment, and he had to wait for Wesley. Of course, things could change to dire very quickly both in L.A. and in Sunnydale. He only hoped he'd get there before that happened.

Someone cleared their throat in Angel's doorway, and he glanced up. Cordelia was looking at him and his half packed belongings. "Wesley's coming?" she asked briefly.

"Yes."

"You're not leaving without me, then," Cordelia stated firmly, before leaving the room as well.

*Probably to start packing,* Angel thought with a bit of a sigh, knowing just how long it could take Cordelia to pack. It would probably be midday, then, before they were all ready to leave. Longer than Angel would have liked.

He just hoped that for *once* things on the Hellmouth wouldn't get out of control before he arrived.

The Bronze
Good music, good drinks, good times
The most normal place in town

NutMeg grinned as Willow, Buffy, and Anya escorted her and Cynamin into what turned out to be an exciting looking dance club. The sign outside had read "The Bronze." NutMeg's first thought was of scantily clad Greek and Roman warriors.

Not that she expected to find them inside this place. Still, it looked like a lively party. It certainly brought smiles to the faces of the girls they were staying with simply to walk in the door. NutMeg was quickly grinning from ear to ear as well.

Cynamin, on the other hand, looked positively...well, NutMeg didn't know what her sister was thinking, but she had a scowl plastered on her face. Her hands were in her pockets and she wasn't saying a word. Actually, she hadn't said much since her outburst that morning.

NutMeg elbowed her suddenly and Cynamin let out an undignified squeak. The three girls turned around in surprise, and NutMeg began to chuckle.

"What was that for?" Cynamin demanded.

"You're reverting to your too serious ways," NutMeg mock scolded. "You need to loosen up. And *this* is the perfect place for that!"

Cynamin didn't look completely convinced, but she managed a weakly amused smile. "Whatever you say," she replied with only mild sarcasm.

NutMeg gave up on her stick-in-the-mud sibling and stepped up to walk next to Willow and Buffy. "This place is great. We don't have anything like this at home."

"Goddesses don't party?" Willow looked a little startled at the concept. Obviously she'd never really thought about the after-work habits of deities.

The blonde goddess laughed. "Well of course we do. Most of us anyway. But usually we don't have...well...*this,*" she motioned around her. "A lot of the Elders think physical forms of entertainment are too infantile."

"Infantile?" Buffy queried.

"Speaking in terms of the age of the universe anyway," NutMeg replied. "Like millennia. The younger species and worlds as opposed to the older ones."

"You mentioned...Elders," Buffy said slowly. "What...that is, how old are you...in comparison?"

"Old enough," NutMeg said, very sure of herself.

That only made Buffy look more suspicious.

"It's a sensitive subject," Cynamin explained finally. "We're considered to be essentially teenagers in our own way, but after a couple of millennia being treated like you're twelve wears thin."

"I could imagine!" Willow replied, wide eyed.

Cynamin smiled slightly. "Plus, poor NutMeg here is the baby of the family."

"Hey!"

"Which only makes it worse."

"I am *not* the youngest!" NutMeg glared at her sibling. "There are thousands of goddesses younger than I am! It's not *my* fault that I have two nincompoop sisters who act twelve! It's because of you two that everyone *assumes* I'm just as immature! Like you...DROOLING over every cute media star in the known universe! And Kirshana, always causing trouble. It's not fair!"

"I do not DROOL!!" Cynamin yelled back, annoyed. "And I do not act twelve! And Kirshana is Dad's favorite, so you can't blame it on her either!"

"Oh, you do so!" NutMeg spat. "There was Chris O'Donnell for a while, then Stan Kirsch, Antonio Banderez, and don't me STARTED on David Boreanaz!"

"Who?" Buffy looked confused at the last one. The sisters ignored her.

"Don't even go there!" Cynamin yelled back. "Or need I remind you that you once upon a time liked Jonathan Taylor Thomas!" This was obviously an old argument. "And you were right there with me for Chris O'Donnel and Stan Kirsch. And *you're* the one who drools over Antonio Banderez doing bare-chested pushups!"

NutMeg was grinning at her. She loved getting her sister riled up like this. "And...David...?"

Cynamin gaped like a fish for a moment, trying to come up with a good come back. Finally she sighed in defeat. "Can I help it if he looks good in leather pants?"

NutMeg seriously failed to hold back the snort of laughter that followed. "No, I think I'll have to forgive you there."

That was when the two sisters realized they were surrounded by confused, and amused, mortals. This sent them into another fit of giggles.

"Umm...not to interrupt the very odd sibling bonding you've got going here," Buffy said once they had stopped laughing to catch their breath, "but...what are you talking about?"

"Drool-worthy men," NutMeg piped up, causing her sister to fight back more laughter.

"Oooh, like Xander," Anya said dreamily. "Especially when he gets all sweaty and..." She trailed off when she noticed the whole group staring at her. "What?"

A loud ringing caused the entire group to jump instead of replying to Anya's questioning look. Willow reached into her brightly colored motley cloth purse and pulled out a cellular phone.

"Where did *that* come from?" Buffy asked.

Willow smiled. "Giles got tired of never being able to find any of us, so he bought it."

"Why did he give it to *you*?" the Slayer continued.

"Because I'm *the most responsible, and least violent,*" she chuckled at her own imitation of Giles' voice. She picked up the phone. "Hello, Giles? Mmmhmmm. Okay. Yep. Bye." She hung up with a beep and put the phone away. "Giles wants us back at his place."

Buffy rolled her eyes dramatically. "But we just got here!" she said, even as she led the group of them back out of the club they had just barely entered.

Everyone else followed her calmly, knowing there wasn't much else they could do. Giles wouldn't have called if it wasn't important. Probably just the end of the world again. Cynamin and NutMeg stayed at the back of the group, wondering just what they were getting into this time.

They were just out the door when Buffy stopped abruptly. The rest of the group bnarely avoided running into her. There was no one in sight except...

"Hey!" an unfortunately familiar male voice called.

"Riley," Buffy replied, sounding none too happy.

The two sisters cringed.

"Buffy," he nodded a greeting. "I was on my way to get you."

"Well, we're on our way to Giles'," the Slayer began to move past him. "He needs us right away. What do you want?"

"I...I just..."

Buffy sighed. "Riley, it's really important that we go now," she said, trying to move on.

"Well, you said I should come..." he began, then stopped when he saw Cynamin and NutMeg. "You!" he said angrily.

Both goddesses looked bewildered. "Uhh...us!" NutMeg replied.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Riley turned to confront them, actually rather imposing up close with his angriest face on.

NutMeg smiled innocently. "We're here to save the world of course. Just like every other girl here." She stepped up closer to him, allowing Riley a moment to take note of what she had implied. Just like she had hoped, he lost it.

"Like I'm supposed to believe that," he snarled. "I don't know what you've done to the others, but you can't fool *me.* I know you're here on some evil whim, planning to throw the world into chaos again or whatever. So why don't you go away and leave us alone!"

"Riley Finn!"

NutMeg grinned broadly into the irate TA's face as he turned to face his now even more irate girlfriend's face. His face went from bright red to bleached white. Quite a trick.

"How *dare* you attempt to speak for me or anyone else here!" the Slayer slammed her fist into Riley's chest, knocking him back a good two feet. "Not to mention assume that we're so adle-brained that we've been brainwashed instead of making an informed decision! Obviously you haven't a clue as to what you're talking about, and I think you need to reconsider your sources of information. I can't believe you're so ignorant. Now get the *hell* out of my sight!" She stopped, panting, only then realizing that she had been moving forward the whole time, and Riley was now backed up into the wall of the building.

Willow's and Anya's eyes were as big around as walnuts. Cynamin looked confounded and a little annoyed with her sibling. NutMeg was grinning broadly.

Riley edged around the corner of the building and ran. He had to get away from them! Not only were they brainwashed, they were demon possessed!

When Riley was gone, Buffy exhaled, breathing deeply to calm herself down. "I can't believe him! The nerve!"

Willow stepped up and put her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "We need to go."

The Slayer nodded and led them once again off across town.

Cynamin moved to the back and immediately accosted her sister. "What did you think you were doing?!" she whispered angrily. "He was ready to physically attack you!"

NutMeg grinned. "Exactly what I wanted him to do. He lost his temper. He sounded like a completely self-righteous idiot. In front of Buffy, who now doesn't walk to even *see* him."

Cynamin stopped her scolding and a look of realization came over her face. "Oh," she whispered. Then, brighter and grinning, "Oh!" She smiled in delight. "You...I...yes!"

The group turned around and looked at her in surprise. "Sorry," Cynamin muttered sheepishly before turning to her sister once again. "Thank you," she whispered earnestly. "He was *so* getting on my nerves."

"I noticed," NutMeg whispered back, looking amused.

Cynamin grinned. "Congratulations, you solved problem number one. How to get rid of fish boy." Her smile faded then. "Only, like, 2 million problems left to go."

"2 million?"

"Starting with How to get our couple of choice in the same town as one another," Cynamin muttered. "They're being extremely uncooperative about that."

I-10 East
The fastest way to nowhere
California Traffic at it's finest

"Pass another chip," Wesley sighed from the driver's seat of Angel's car.

"I don't see why we have to live in the city with the worst traffic in the country!" Cordelia wailed from the seat next to him.

"Just lucky I guess," Angel replied with a straight face as he handed Wesley a Pringle. He was in the back and the top was up. The sun was almost down, but the smog on the highway was bad enough that the top was needed to keep out the carbon monoxide. The air conditioner was on full force and recirculating the internal air.

Angel was laying down in the back, a blanket over him to keep out the last of the days sunlight. It was a good thing he didn't really feel the temperature, or even with the air conditioner on he would have been miserable. He was starting to wonder if this little expedition was doomed...if the traffic was trying to tell him something...

"Angel."

"Hmmm?" Angel blinked, then again. Then, he woke up completely. It was dark. Completely. And the car wasn't moving. Out the window he could see only the tops of trees. "Are we there?" he asked, eager to be out of the back, where his long frame was now feeling very cramped.

"No," Cordelia sighed dramatically from where she stood, looking in the back window. "We're not fortunate enough to be back in Sunnyhell."

"Then where are we?" the vampire asked. "And where's Wesley?"

"Here," the Brit replied, coming into view. There was a black smudge across his face that smelled like it might be gasoline.

"Okay, *what* is going on?" Angel asked his two friends and employees once again.

Wesley sighed. "We appear to be out of gas."

Part Six

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