Circle of the Black Thorn

Episode 5

Unknown Location:

Six figures sat around a large rectangular table. All of them wore hooded cloaks that covered their faces. It seemed that they were at some sort of meeting, no doubt at secret one.

"The Goddess failed at destroying the two ensouled vampires and the slayer," one said.

"Yes, the Senior Partners were not too happy about that," a second replied, "They wanted all of them dead."

"Well we got most of them, at least," a third added.

"That's not good enough for them!" the first shouted, "They want all or nothing."

"They are pleased with the men that we sent to free the Goddess, however," a fourth said.

"No praise for them though," the second said, "Since she killed them."

"Enough talk of the Goddess!" the sixth shouted, "We have other matters to deal with, such as the former Watcher who now works in the offices."

"Yes," the fifth said, "Rupert Giles is a potential hazard. We assume that he already knows a lot about Wolfram and Hart and the Senior Partners."

"He isn't a major problem," the first said, "He'll be the easiest one to take out. The two vampires will be the most difficult."

"Yes," the fourth said, "They are not ones to give up easily."

"We'll figure something out," the sixth said.

Wolfram and Hart, a few days later:

Angel was bored. He had just finished looking through some important papers and was tired of sitting in his office. He wanted to go talk to Giles, but the two hadn't been on friendly terms since the incident involving the Immortal. Nina was off so he couldn't stop by and visit her either. So he decided to take a walk around the offices.

Upon exiting the elevator on the fourth floor, Angel heard a familiar voice. He walked by the room where he heard the voice. The door was cracked up just a little, so Angel peeked inside. Hamilton was sitting at a desk, talking on the phone. Angel was just about to continue on his walk when he caught an interesting piece of information.

"The meeting is tonight at 11:00 sharp," Hamilton said, "I expect that you'll be there?"

That immediately caught Angel's attention. He wondered who Hamilton was talking to and what meeting he was talking about.

"I must call the other Black Thorn members and find out if they'll show up tonight," he continued.

Angel was really interested now. He wanted to know what the Black Thorn was.

"No, Angel hasn't any idea about anything," Hamilton replied, "He has no idea who we are or what we do. That stupid vampire is completely oblivious to everything that is going on around him."

Hamilton stopped talking for a moment. He was listening to whoever was on the other line.

"Yes. Last week the Immortal tried to ruin everything," Hamilton answered, "Angel was going to let him work here. Fortunately for us, that blonde vampire got rid of him for us. The Watcher knows nothing either. He's as oblivious as Angel is."

This got Angel's attention now. Whoever the other person was, they knew everything that had been going on as of late. It was really strange. Angel started to wonder is this group was spying on him and the others.

"All right, Izzy," Hamilton said, "I must be off. It's time to check on Angel. I'll see you tonight."

That was Angel's cue to leave. He turned and walked off down the hallway. Just as he turned the corner, the office door opened and Hamilton strolled off in the opposite direction.

Angel's Office:

Angel sat at his desk, wondering what the hell he had just heard. This Black Thorn group had to be spying on them. There was no other way they could know all that had gone on in the past few weeks.

Another thing he wondered was who Izzy was. There was no one around the office that went by the name of Izzy. Or was there? He began to sift through the faces of employees and clients. After a few moments, he remembered someone with the name Izzy. He was a demon client that looked very similar to devil. He had seen the demon on a few occasions around the office.

So that made two members of this group. There was definitely more though. Angel had no clue as to who else they could be. He guessed that only time would tell. For now, he'd have to look up information on this group called the Black Thorn.

Just as he reached for a book, the door to his office swung open. Angel looked up to see Hamilton come strolling in.

"Angel, how are you doing?" Hamilton asked.

Angel didn't know how to react. He wanted to pounce on the man and squeeze information out of him. However, he knew that it would never work. He had seen the man beat Spike badly. Besides, he didn't feel like getting into a fight then.

"I'm doing fine," Angel replied, unsure of what to say.

"I'm happy to report that all of our clients seemed to be quite satisfied at the moment. Everything is calm at the moment," Hamilton informed.

"Thanks for the info," Angel said.

"Well have a nice day, Angel," Hamilton said as he walked out of the office. He closed the door behind him.

Angel rolled his eyes. This guy was a fake and Angel knew it. He was just toying with Angel's mind. Hamilton would get what was coming to him.

He reached over and picked up the book that he was going after before. He pulled it off the shelf and opened it on the desk in front of him. The pages were completely blank. Good thing Angel knew how to use it.

"Black Thorn," he said.

Just then the pages filled with text. At the top of the page were the words: Circle of the Black Thorn in bold. Underneath the title was a picture of a crown of thorns. This was exactly what Angel was looking for. He glanced down and slowly read the text.

Spike's Apartment, That Night:

Angel, Spike, Giles, and Nina were all situated in Spike's apartment. Angel had called all of them there after reading about the Circle of the Black Thorn. He had thought it best to share all this information with them.

"Why did you call us here in the middle of the night, Angel?" Giles questioned, slightly disturbed.

"I've discovered some shocking information today," he replied.

"Really, what is it?" Spike asked, "Did you finally realize what a ponce you are?"

"Real funny, Spike," Angel said, glaring at the other vampire, "This is serious though."

Giles didn't say anything. He was still angry over Angel's stubbornness to hire the Immortal. He didn't feel like being here, listening to Angel's talk. He'd rather be in bed, sleeping.

"I overheard Hamilton talking to some demon this afternoon," Angel began.

"So what's your point?" Spike asked, "Probably one of your clients."

"Spike, just shut up and let him finish," Nina said.

Spike rolled his eyes. He didn't like the young girl too much. She always seemed to be in the way. Plus she was just a civilian. Having her around was dangerous.

"He was talking to a demon about a group called the Circle of the Black Thorn," he went on, "This group seems to know everything that has been going on lately. They know about all four of us and everything that's been going on here."

Giles looked intrigued now. Angel had obviously gotten his attention. The name, the Circle of the Black Thorn, sounded somewhat familiar. However he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"After listening to Hamilton's conversation, I looked up any information that I could find about it. And check this out, the Circle of the Black Thorn is a secret demon organization."

"I've never head of them," Spike said.

"Didn't you just hear?" Nina asked, "He said it was a secret organization."

"Oh…right," Spike said, "I'll be quiet now."

"They're a secret organization set up by the Senior Partners to carry out their plans in this dimension. Their main goal is to create all the apocalypses that happen here on earth."

"You mean they are responsible for releasing the First Evil, and the Goddess?" Giles asked.

"I think so," Angel replied.

"That's insane!" Spike shouted, "They are insane."

"Not insane," Angel said, "All powerful."

"Who are the members of this secret organization?" Giles questioned.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure of all of them, but I did come across quite a few names," Angel replied, "There were a bunch listed, but I've only heard of a few. There's a devil demon called Izzy, a group of demons known as the Fell Brethren, Senator Brucker, Cyrus Vail, Archduke Sebassis, and our good friend Hamilton."

"Wait, the Senator of California is a demon?" Nina asked.

"'Fraid so," Angel replied.

"That bastard," Spike mumbled.

"What?" Angel questioned.

"That bastard Hamilton!" he exclaimed, "I should have known something was up that first time he came here. There was something about him that gave off a sense of power."

"I've heard of this group before," Giles said, "They are indeed a very powerful group if they create the apocalypses."

"And they must be stopped," Angel said, "We have to put an end to this organization."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Nina asked.

"Simple," he replied, "We take them out one by one. We need to separate one from the others and kill them."

"Why should we trust you?" Giles asked.

"Because you have to if you want to get through this alive," Angel told him.

"He's right," Spike said, "Why should we trust you? You could be leading us into a trap. You might be setting us up, trying to kill us, like you did the last time."

"Last time?" Angel questioned.

"With the whole Immortal thing," Spike said.

"You were too stubborn to realize the amount of danger you could have put us in by hiring that creature," Giles added, "We would all be dead now."

Angel didn't know what to say. He knew that the two of them were angry with him over his choices, but he didn't think that they'd hold a grudge against him.

"Look, I know I almost made a stupid mistake," Angel said, "I just wasn't thinking right. I was too concerned with gaining a powerful ally that I didn't care who it was. I should have listened to both of you."

"So you were wrong?" Spike questioned.

"I was wrong. I made a poor decision," he told them, "But I want to have your trust again. I need all three of you. I can't do this alone. I need your help. Will you help me defeat the Circle of the Black Thorn?"

Spike, Giles, and Nina looked at him. Nina had no clue what had happened, so she volunteered immediately. Spike and Giles were a little hesitant. Angel hoped that he could earn their trust again.

"I trust you, Angel," Giles said, finally speaking up, "Just think more next time."

"Yes, Giles."

"I'm in too," Spike said, "But on one condition."

"What's that, Spike?"

"You have to give me a job. I want one of those offices," he told Angel, "And I want my name on the door."

"All right, deal," Angel said.

"And I want my own car," he continued, "And not a crappy one that you buy off the street. I want one of the ones in the garage downstairs; one of those nice ones."

"Fine."

"Oh and I want you to forgive all my debts, meaning all damage that I did to your cars," he continued.

"Now that's pushing it," Angel said.

"Then I'm not in," he said.

Giles glared at the blonde haired vampire. Spike looked back at him confused.

"Fine!" he exclaimed, "I'm in."

"All right, good," Angel said, "So everyone's okay with the plan?"

"Yeah," said Nina.

"Yes," Giles replied.

"Sure, whatever," Spike said, "I just want to kill something."

Eventually everyone left Spike's apartment. Giles went first, followed by Nina, who waited outside for Angel to walk her home. Angel turned to walk out the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Spike.

"I still want that office," Spike said, "First thing tomorrow morning. Make sure they're the good letters too. I don't want them falling off."

"Goodnight, Spike," Angel said, closing the door in his face.

Wolfram and Hart, the Next Night:

Spike was pleased. Angel had kept his word and given him his office. Spike was actually surprised. He didn't think that Angel would have actually given him one. Spike enjoyed having an office so much that he had been in it all day and most of the night.

It was getting late and he decided that it was time to head back to his apartment. This way, he wouldn't run the risk of getting caught outside before dawn. He rose from his new desk and exited his office. As he walked out into the hallway, he heard talking.

Curious, he headed toward the direction of the voices. He walked down the hallway, listening attentively.

"Bringing Drusilla back would totally destroy Spike," someone said.

"It's been done already," the other said.

"Yes, but with Angel," the first voice said, "This time it will be with the other. Think about it, bringing Dru back would confuse Spike."

"He's right," said a third voice, "It would split the group. The four of them would be screwed."

Spike crept ever closer to the voices. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Drusilla come back? She had been staked a long time ago. It wasn't even possible.

Spike got close enough to see the things that we talking. It was a bunch of people in robes. He peered from behind the corner to see if he could figure out who they were.

"Looking for something?" someone said from behind him.

Spike spun around and came to face to face with a fist. He flew backwards into the wall. He looked in the direction of the hooded figures, but they had taken off. When he looked back at his attacker, he was given a sharp kick to the face. His head jerked backwards, hitting the wall again.

"What do you think you're doing here, Spike?" he asked.

Spike slowly rose to his feet, facing his attacker. He wiped the blood from his nose and looked into the eyes of Hamilton.

"Who were they?" Spike questioned.

"Who were who?" Hamilton asked.

"You know damn well who I'm talking about!" Spike shouted, "And you will tell me who they were."

"Or what?" Hamilton asked.

"I'll kill you," Spike said.

Hamilton just burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, mate?"

"You," he replied, "A vampire cannot defeat me."

"We'll see about that now won't we, mate?"

He gave Hamilton a quick jab to the face. The fist connected, but didn't seem to faze the man. Spike continued to punch away. However, nothing seemed to hurting Hamilton.

"I'm bored," he mumbled, "My turn."

Hamilton lifted an arm and gave Spike a right hook to the jaw. The blow sent the vampire soaring through the air. Spike landed on the ground on his back.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted, rising to his feet, "You've got one hell of a punch."

He ran towards Hamilton at full speed. Unfortunately, Hamilton was ready for the vampire. Spike leapt into the air and attempted to kick him. His foot was snatched out of the air. Spike gasped in surprise as he was thrown right through a wall.

"Are you finished yet?" Hamilton asked as Spike sat up on the other side of the wall.

Spike didn't reply. He was too exhausted. Hamilton, however, was no where near tired. He walked over and pulled Spike out of the hole in the wall. He grabbed the vampire by the neck and held him up in the air, tightening his grip.

"Are you gonna forget everything you saw here tonight?" he asked.

Spike didn't respond. He couldn't because the grip on his neck was preventing him from speaking.

"Answer me!" Hamilton shouted angrily.

Spike nodded his head slowly.

"Good," he said, "Now get out of here."

He tossed Spike over his shoulder and back in to the wall. Spike made another hole, directly above the first one. This time, however, he didn't move. The vampire just laid there in the rubble, staring up at the ceiling.

"We are so screwed," he mumbled.