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

Buffy, NutMeg, and Willow were just coming down the street toward Giles' when they saw Riley running at top speed in the other direction. Worried, they sped up to a jog, hoping to get there before whatever had happened got any worse. They were relieved, though surprised, to find Angel, Spike, and the other trio in Giles' home, with Giles nowhere in sight.

The room went dead silent at Buffy's arrival. Everyone was holding their breath (Except for Spike, who doesn't breathe anyway) to see what her reaction would be. For a moment she and Angel just stared at each other.

"Hi," Angel said finally.

Buffy swallowed. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I...we, Cordelia and Wesley came too....came to see if you could use some help figuring all this out."

"Oh."

Angel looked down a bit uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I know I should have called first..."

"You should have," Buffy agreed a bit too shrply. Angel looked at her in surprise at her tone, but she waved it off. "I'm sorry... It's been...a really tense couple of days. And tonight has been worse." She stopped, then looked at Angel firmly again. "Are you the reason Riley was running out of here like he had hellhounds after him?"

Angel looked slightly embarrassed, but his flashed at the mention of Riley's name. "He was rather...unfond of Spike and I."

"That's putting it mildly," the blonde vampire snorted derisively. "He had a bloody gun pulled on us until they showed up." He pointed at Xander, Anya, and Cynamin.

Buffy looked angry for a second, then just tired. "It figures," she said. "He's been *exceedingly* stupid the last couple of days." She looked at Angel, concerned no matter how hard she tried to fight it. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Angel gave her a half smile. "I'm fine."

Spike couldn't help but laugh. "Soldier boy almost wasn't! It was like he was asking you to attack him!"

"Spike," Angel said in warning.

"Hey, if it wasn't for this chip of his, I'd have done it for you!"

"Spike!"

"I'm just saying-"

"Spike!" Angel and Buffy yelled in unison. They stared at each other for a moment, then started laughing while the others stood around them in states varying from stunned to amused. Spike didn't speak again.

Cynamin and NutMeg exchanged quick glancing smiles. The reunion had gone off without any staking. Things were looking up.

"What's going on here?" Giles stood in his doorway, looking completely lost. Cordelia and Wesley walked up behind him at that moment.

"Well, look at this!" Spike said brightly. "It's a bloody reunion!"

"That's it," Buffy muttered, stepping towards Spike threateningly. "You tie him up, I'll gag him," she said to Angel.

Angel smiled. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"No need to get violent," Spike said quickly. "Not when I might have valuable information for you, you know?"

"What possible information could you have on goddesses?" Buffy glared at the vampire. "Or even on Adam and the Initiative?" She took another step toward him. "Tell me or I may have to get...violent."

Spike looked at her with a grin, enjoying the attention. Once the silence had dragged out uncomfortably, he began. "What if it was information on all of the above?"

"Start talking," Angel demanded sharply.

"Hey! It's just that half of this chaos tonight wasn't caused by Adam or the Initiative. I wasn't sure you knew what you were up against. But if I'm not welcome I could always leave..."

"Spike!" NutMeg stepped out of the crowd. "Tell these wonderful people what you know about my sibling or I'll have you permanently castrated." Magically a dagger appeared in her hand. She handed it to Buffy. "Would you care to do the honors?"

Buffy took the dagger. "Yes, tell us Spike." She glanced around the room to make sure no one else was *really* planning on staking him. She paused at the look on Cynamin's face. The goddess was staring...at Angel.

She couldn't do anything about that right now, because Spike chose that moment to finally answer. "Alright!" he yelled. "I saw this lady...if you want to call her that...dressed all in black. She had a whole group of demons with her. Vampires, mostly. They weren't doing much, but they did manage to get in everyone else's way." He paused for a second. "I don't suppose you noticed that there's nothing actually wrong with the electrical system on campus?"

"Then what..." someone in the group started to say, quickly falling silent.

"Magic, people! Are you daft?"

"Of course!" Willow shook her head. "Is there some reason none of us thought of that?"

"I don't know wicca-woman," Xander replied.

"Kirshana," Cynamin nodded. "She's stirring up trouble again. Probably got demons bowing like courtiers at her feet."

Everyone glanced at Cynamin for her choice of words. NutMeg shrugged. "She's right. Kirshana always did have a way with...bad guys. Somehow, she always seems to get all sorts of evil things that would never work together all working for her."

"So this would be bad," Xander observed.

"Yes, it would be," Cynamin acknowledged.

"So what can we do?" Buffy looked at the two goddesses.

"We need to find her when she's not paying attention," NutMeg said.

"And when would that be?" Wesley asked.

The room fell silent. "She's...well, she's not one to let her guard down easily," Cynamin explained. "But she never expects us to go on the offensive. Especially if she thinks she's already beaten us."

"So we need to make her think she's beaten us," Buffy frowned in thought. "And just how would we do that?"

Cynamin thought for a long moment. "I don't know... I can only assume she knows exactly what NutMeg and I are doing here," she said slowly. "If we could somehow make it look like we failed..."

"How do we do that," Buffy asked, "if you won't tell us what you're doing here yourself?"

"It's...you and Angel are going to have to stay apart. That's the only way she'll think she's won."

"I don't see what Angel and I have to do with this," Buffy crossed her arms under her chest. "I think it's about time you two came clean."

NutMeg and Cynamin exchanged a mental *glance* of worry.

"I don't know exactly how to explain this..." Cynamin began. The entire rest of the room was silent, waiting for an explanation, and she flinched under their combined gazes.

"You'd better start explaining," Buffy said *too* softly.

Cynamin shifted in her seat. "I've told you before that we're...from another dimension, for want of a better word. In our dimension we have the capability to watch other worlds...much like you would watch a television show."

"So you see everything we do?" Xander asked suddenly. "That's...creepy."

NutMeg spoke up easily. "Not everything. Just highlights. Exactly like a television show."

"Still not seeing what this has to do with Angel," Buffy said, tapping the knife NutMeg had given her in her palm.

Cynamin was silent for a long moment. "I...I can't explain everything," she faltered.

Buffy was *not* convinced. Some of the others looked worried. Anya looked interested, and Angel just seemed to be waiting for a full explanation. Buffy glared at them. "You show up, saying your here to help us, but you won't say *how* and everything that's going wrong seems to be caused by your sister who's out to stop you. What exactly *are* you trying to do?" The dagger was still in her hand.

Cynamin looked at the ground uncomfortably. "Create a happily-ever-after," she muttered.

"What was that?" Buffy asked dangerously.

Cynamin made a couple more unintelligible noises and NutMeg started laughing. "Don't mind her - she's just obsessed. That's what sent us here in the first place."

Cynamin made another 'eep' of sound and glared at her sister.

"Obsessed?" the Slayer was confused.

NutMeg smiled at her sister, then turned to the Slayer. "As you may remember, Cynamin and I had an argument at the Bronze about how she's always gushing over cute guys in different worlds. Which she does *constantly.* She's a true romantic, and she was watching your world one evening -that's our job as goddesses, to watch worlds and protect them if necessary- and I came in to find her *sobbing* over something. She wanted to fix it. We're allowed to enter worlds and try to fix things, but the condition is that we have to use the resources available in *that* world to do so. Think Star Trek "prime directive." Anyway, we're here, and we're trying to fix what's broken. Unfortunately, our sister loves chaos, and she's been stirring it up constantly since we got here. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, just annoy *us* and keep us from accomplishing our goal."

"Oh!" Willow said suddenly. "That's what I heard you upset about - you wanted to get Buffy and Angel back together!"

Both Buffy and Angel looked completely shocked. "What?" they asked in similar strangled voices.

Cynamin sunk lower in her chair, blushing royally.

Buffy glared at Cynamin. Then she glared at NutMeg. Then she glared at Willow. "You *knew* about this?!" she squeaked at her best friend.

Willow blushed. "Ummm, well, there was a prophesy in this book...."

"I don't believe this!" The Slayer began stalking back and forth. "My best friend and roommate set against me, in league with goddesses, and all to..." she paused and looked up at Angel. She began to shake, and suddenly, she was laughing.

Everyone was baffled at that. "I think I missed something..." Xander said faintly. Anya hushed him quickly, enjoying the show.

Buffy crossed the room and hugged Willow, then Cynamin, NutMeg, and finally Angel. She hugged him for a much longer period of time. "I have a better idea," she said as her laughter subsided. "How about we make her think she's already lost."

"Slayer's a bit slow on the uptake," Spike said with a chuckle. "That's not the suggestion that started this little revelation. Sure you didn't get hit on the head a few too many times?"

"I'm serious," the Slayer glared at the blond vampire again. "If she thinks she's already won, would she come out to gloat?" she asked the goddesses.

"Absolutely," NutMeg laughed. "That's her favorite part of these little games. When she gets to rub our inadequacy in our faces."

Buffy grinned wickedly. "Then I think I have a plan. Angel, you're going to *have* to go along with this whether you like it or not."

The vampire sighed. "I have no choice but to trust you, do I?" He smiled a little.

"Nope," the petite blonde replied. "Not a bit."

"I almost hate to ask this...well, actually, no I don't," Xander said loudly. Everyone turned to look at him. "What's the plan?"

Buffy sat down on the couch. "It's simple. Your whole goal was to get Angel and I back together. Your sister's goal is to stop you. If she thinks we're ALREADY back together, then she'll be extremely pissed off that she's lost. That should bring her out into the open. All we have to do is set up an elaborate ruse."

"An elaborate...ruse," Angel said uncertainly.

"I've been studying my vocabulary," she shot back with a grin.

Angel couldn't help but smile back. "What exactly does this ruse entail? I mean, if we're going to pretend to be...together..."

"Thinks could get....intimate." The Slayer seemed to forget anyone else was in the room for a moment. Then she remembered. "We have to be convincing. Of course, if you're not up to the challenge..."

"Oh, I don't think that's a problem," Angel replied grinning. The only problem he could see was remembering that they were only pretending...

Xander got an odd look on his face. "Umm, odd thought, but what about your boyfriend? You know, Riley?"

The room fell silent for a second, and then all the women in the room, including the two goddesses, started laughing.

"What?" Xander asked.

"I'll explain it to you later, after sex," Anya said quietly into his year.

The confused boy just shrugged.

"Somehow I don't think Riley will be an issue," Buffy said finally. "In fact, at the rate he was running from here when we saw him, I doubt he'll even be nearby to find out."

Angel tried not to show his pleasure at hearing Buffy's lack of concern over her 'boyfriend.' Ex-boyfriend, from the sound of it. And it must have been going downhill since before his and Riley's little showdown if everyone else knew about it. "So, when does this 'ruse' start?" he asked.

Buffy yawned suddenly. "How about tomorrow." She looked at her watch. "Never mind, today...at a normal hour after I've gotten some sleep."

"Sounds good," NutMeg grinned. It was the kind of grin her sister called the *mischief grin.* The playful goddess was plotting again. "Now, the rest of us have to remember to act like it's real, and that we're all completely thrilled with the idea. The more obnoxiously sweet and sappy the whole thing looks, the more it'll drive Kirshana nuts."

"I'll just be leaving then before you make me all sick," Spike muttered and quickly left Giles' apartment. That seemed to be everyone's cue to leave, and Buffy's friends began to trickle out of the house. Finally all that were left was Cordelia, Wesley, and Angel - who didn't have anywhere to go, Buffy - thinking, Cynamin and NutMeg - plotting, and Giles - who, after all, lived there.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Giles said with a yawn. "This has been a...busy evening."

"'Night Giles," Buffy waved. She and Angel were on the couch, talking quietly. Supposedly planning for the next day's big scheme, though NutMeg and Cynamin could tell that wasn't completely the truth. They both looked too happy and cozy on the couch. Cordelia pulled a cot out of Giles' closet, and Wesley took a pillow and blanket and curled up on the floor. The two Goddesses, forgotten for the moment, just watched the two on the couch interact.

*Our work here may be done for us,* NutMeg said to her sister.

Cynamin was smiling. *And by Buffy and Angel, and it was Buffy's idea! I told you they were really still in love!*

*I didn't doubt you,* the blonde goddess chuckled. *Or them.*

Suddenly both Buffy and Angel were aware that they were the center of the two goddesses attention. They pulled slightly away from each other, and Buffy met Cynamin and NutMeg's gaze. "I have to ask," she said after a moment, "but what exactly did you see that made you come here and... I mean, there must be far more important things in the dimensions or whatever than..."

Cynamin and NutMeg looked at each other briefly. "It's not exactly my place to tell you," Cynamin said after a moment.

Buffy looked like she was about to get angry again, but Angel put a hand on her shoulder. "I think I know." He looked up at them for confirmation.

Both goddesses nodded. He knew.

"Then tell me," Buffy turned to look at him.

Angel swallowed hard before starting, and pulled away from her as if afraid of her reaction. "It was Thanksgiving..." he began, then stopped abruptly.

Cynamin nodded in reassurance that this was indeed what they were thinking of. She stood, pulling up her sister with her. As much as she wanted to see what he was going to say, she knew they needed to be alone. "We'll see both of you tomorrow," she said gently, and the two goddesses disappeared.

"Well that was weird," Buffy muttered. She looked at Angel again. "Thanksgiving?" she prompted. "When you were here or I was in L.A?"

The vampire shifted uncomfortably. "When you were in LA. We...you were there longer than you thought."

Buffy was extremely confused. "More than five minutes? Angel, what happened? If it caused *Goddesses* to fight over us getting back together, than I think I have a right to know why."

Angel sighed. "There's a whole other day that happened...but didn't happen... You don't remember. You're not supposed to," he began. "You do remember the demon that attacked us, but in that other day it got away. So we tracked it together."

Buffy did not speak, but listened attentively. If the situation had been slightly different, she would have thought he was crazy. This whole week had been crazy, though, and the actions of the goddesses was enough to convince her he was telling the truth, She said nothing.

"We split up you went above ground and I went in the sewers," he said slowly. He was staring at his hands. "I found the demon, fought it... It slashed my hand and when I went to kill it some of its blood got into the cut...mixed with my own." He razed his gaze and looked at Buffy again. "It made me human," he whispered.

The Slayer gasped slightly, looking into Angel's eyes like she didn't want to believe him, but did. Clearly he wasn't human now. "What did we do?" she asked.

Angel smiled sadly. "We went back to my place, to talk. But...that didn't last long."

Buffy let out a nervous giggle. "I'll bet it didn't," she said. "So...we were happy?"

"Yeah," Angel agreed with a nod. "We spent the rest of the day together...until we finally fell asleep. That was until Doyle woke me later to tell me that the demon wasn't dead."

"And you went to fight it by yourself," Buffy said knowingly.

"How..."

"Please. I know you," Buffy said simply. "That was a really stupid move, you know. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I know," Angel replied. "I almost did."

"But you didn't obviously," the blonde smiled. "Unless you were changed into a vampire *again,* or something twisted like that."

"No, nothing like that," Angel shook his head.

"Then what?" Buffy asked.

Angel sighed. "You rescued me and killed the demon. As it died, it screamed about the 'end of days,' so I went to see the Oracles."

"The who?" Buffy asked quickly.

"Spokesmen for the Powers That Be," Angel explained. "I asked them about the end of days. They told me you would die. I couldn't let that happen, and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. So I asked them to make me a vampire again."

"You what?!" Buffy stared at him uncomprehending. "How could you?" she whispered furiously, trying not to wake up the sleeping people in the house.

"That's what you said then too," Angel sighed. "And I explained. And then, I told you that they were going to take back the last twenty-four hours. I would be the only one to remember it. None of it would ever have happened."

"Oh god," Buffy whispered.

"So time reversed...and I killed the demon when it broke in just like you remember."

Silence greeted the end of Angel's explanation. The only sound in the room was Buffy's breathing.

"Buffy?" he asked gently, waiting for her reaction.

"I don't know whether to be furious with you or start crying," she said at last.

"You'd be within your rights to do both...or worse," Angel replied, taking her in his arms. "I don't think anyone would blame you for staking me for this."

Buffy relaxed in his embrace. "I wouldn't stake you," she whispered. "I could never stake you. I can be mad at you, I can be upset...but it's the sort of thing you would do. You're too...noble. You need to be selfish on occasion. I love you anyway."

"You do?" Angel asked in surprise.

"Of course I do," Buffy replied. "Did you ever doubt it?"

"I...it's just..." Angel floundered. "I love you, too," he whispered back finally.

Buffy sighed and leaned into his chest. Suddenly she tensed and Angel looked at her in concern.

"What is it?"

"It's just..." Buffy began in a strangled voice. "How much of...that day...did they *see*?"

Part Nine

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