Authors note: This story stems from my dissatisfaction at the ending of "Angel." I was a bit annoyed that unlike the series finale for "Buffy" "Not fade away" didn't tell us how the battle played out or if anyone managed to survive. So I decided to write this. It will basically continue on from the end of the last episode, "Not Fade Away."
In case anyone is curious- which I don't think anyone is- I want to explain the title for this story: "Oh boy", by Buddy Holly, was released as the B-side to the single "Not Fade Away."
I hope you all enjoy.
"NOT FADE AWAY, OH BOY."
PROLOGUE:
Part 1: "Death becomes her."
A week before the battle:
"You can read that as many times as you want, it's not going to change what it says." A female voice said from a dark corner of the office where the late afternoon light through the special windows didn't quite penetrate.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce jumped slightly; he'd believed himself alone in his office and had been lost deep in his resources. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, across his tired forehead and over his stubbly cheek. His eyes were red rimmed from spending so long peering at small and often barely decipherable text and translating texts from various ancient languages. Books, papers, scrolls and scrawled notes were piled haphazardly over his desk and for once it was not its usual neat stack of files and books. He'd spent the better part of the last 48 hours sitting right there at his desk, reading and re-reading, checking and cross-checking, referencing everything he possibly could, all to disprove what the prophecy said. Unfortunately he was beginning to see that there was nothing he could do to change the outcome- the prophecy was going to come true in seven days from now.
"Don't you have anywhere else to be? Like maybe hell?" Wesley snapped, irritable from lack of sleep and the futility of his research, as well as slightly embarrassed he'd been startled enough to physically jump. He'd begun to get used to that slightly better security that the offices of Wolfram and Hart provided him; although of course people had been known to sneak into the complex on occasions.
"Time off for good behavior." Lilah Morgan stood up and adjusted her skirt, the sunlight dancing on her face. "I was going to go with something a bit more ironic, like a white dress and halo, but unfortunately it wasn't to be and I had to come dressed in this stupid business suit. You'd think being dead would have its advantages- like no dress code."
"And not being here. How long does the standard perpetuity clause last for anyway?" Wesley asked wearily. The rumbling of his stomach reminded him he hadn't had anything to eat in….how long now? Over 24 hours at least. But right now food was the last thing on his mind.
"Eternity, give or take." Lilah said as she crossed the room to Wesley's desk. Pushing a few books aside she perched on the edge of the desk, swinging her ankle idly. "You know it as well as I know it lover- that prophecy couldn't be clearer."
"And prophecies have never lied Lilah? Remember a little thing called the Nyazian scrolls which claimed, very clearly in fact, that the father will kill the son?" Wesley demanded. He knew he was clutching at straws and he was pretty sure Lilah also knew it. There was something about this prophecy which rang undeniably true.
Lilah smiled thinly. "I expected you'd say that. You're far too predictable Wesley Wyndam-Price."
"And you're far too annoying Lilah Morgan." Wesley said without hesitation. Then he shook his head mentally at himself: why was he resorting to school playground name calling matches with his dead ex-lover? He'd gotten a hell of a shock when Lilah had appeared in his office two days ago:
Wesley was standing at the window, hands deep in the pockets of his trousers, staring out at everything, yet looking at nothing. He was still grieving for the loss of Fred, and wishing he could have inflicted more pain on Knox, when her parents had turned up yesterday out of the blue to take their daughter to Hawaii. Perhaps luckily Illyria had been able to fool the Burkle's into thinking she was Fred and there was nothing wrong but when she'd first come into the office, looking like the woman he loved, Wesley had almost believed it was real- just for a minute. And then reality came crashing back and knowing that it wasn't Fred at all, knowing that Fred was dead, had felt like a punch in the stomach. It felt just like he'd lost her all over again. One of the things that bothered him the most was the fact that he'd almost been tempted- almost- to let Illyria pretend to be Fred for him. After all she had Fred's memories, the ability to look just like Fred, why couldn't he pretend she was Fred? But that wasn't Wesley's style.
A sleepless night had ensued before he finally gave up on sleep at about five in the morning. He'd gotten up and gone for a run and had a workout- taking his frustrations out on a hapless punching bag- before coming in to the office. He hadn't realized but he had been standing in that exact spot for almost three and a half hours, lost in his own thoughts. And it was that time that Lilah chose to appear.
"Hey there lover, long time no see. Miss me?"
Wesley's body whipped around and he stared at his dead lover in shock. "Lilah?" He managed.
"That's me." Lilah crossed the room towards him, a decent sized folder in her hands. "What, no kiss, not even a hug?"
"What are you doing here?" Wesley was still shell-shocked.
"Okay so I'm guessing we're going to skip that pesky manners thing." Lilah said sarcastically. She tossed the folder on Wesley's death. "Prophecy. Read it. And then we'll talk."
She had started out of the office but Wesley was quickly across the room and grabbing her arm, not ungently. "Wait a minute. Why are you here? Who sent you?"
Lilah glanced down at where his hand was holding on to her forearm. "I'm a messenger from the senior partners. And like I said read the prophecy and then we'll talk."
"About what?" Wesley asked, aware that he wasn't exactly at his most articulate nor on form- which he knew was necessary when dealing with Lilah Morgan, but unable to either care or do anything about it. Illyria had really shaken him up with her spot-on comments about his feelings for Fred and he was furious at the demon for playing games with him and his love for the body she'd taken over. The thought of Illyria pretending to be Fred, of having Fred's memories, made him almost physically sick. And the thought of Illyria trying to get him to pretend she really was Fred and do what, make love to her?, was beyond belief. If she wasn't the only remaining link to the scientist he'd loved and he hadn't yet given up on the possibility of somehow returning the real Fred to her body, he'd have killed her himself. Yes she was strong, but love was a good motivation.
"The weather down in hell- 100 degrees Fahrenheit with chances of a shower. About the prophecy of course." Lilah had said, rolling her eyes. "I thought you were smart Wesley Wyndam-Price."
Wesley let go of her arm, his own hand dropping to his side. On top of the pain he was feeling over Fred now he was reminded of the relationship- if you could call it that- he had shared with the lawyer. And her horrible death at the hands of a possessed Cordellia followed by him having to cut her head off to prevent her from rising had Angelus turned her- as at the time they believed it was the unsouled vampire responsible for her death.
"I told you I forgave you Wesley, for everything you tried to do for me. You're a good man. And a smart man." Lilah nodded in the direction of his death and the folder. "You know that doing what's right isn't always easy."
"Lilah-"
"Shhh lover." Lilah interrupted him, placing a finger on his lips. "We'll talk soon."
Wesley said nothing. He could feel Lilah's fingertips exerting soft pressure on his lips; almost as though she were real too. He almost laughed out loud- what had he done to deserve the pain of the last two days? Seeing two dead lovers unexpectedly wasn't exactly easy.
Lilah removed her finger. "I'll be seeing you…"
"I was so sure that Angel was going to kill Connor that I took his son away from him and let him get sucked into a hell dimension with Holtz. And I lost the trust and respect of my friends for it." Wesley continued angrily.
"Still he turned out all right for someone growing up in Quor-toth. That place is overrated anyway- it's not as evil as you all seem to think it is." Lilah replied with a little shrug.
Wesley said nothing, just looked at her in confusion.
"Wolfram and Hart have got an office there; I've done business with them once or twice. When I was, you know, alive." Lilah said, fingering the silk scarf she wore around her neck to hide the line from where Wesley had been forced to decapitate her in case Angelus had turned her. Her little gesture wasn't lost on Wesley but he chose to pretend it hadn't affected him.
Wesley laughed humorlessly. "Why shouldn't it surprise me that Wolfram and Hart, evilest law firm in the world, has an office in one of the darkest hell dimensions around?"
"Getting off track lover…" Lilah reminded him, uncrossing her legs and recrossing them with the right leg now on top. She ran a hand down her unstockinged leg sensuously and Wesley had a hard time peeling his gaze away.
In an effort to keep on track he remembered that Wolfram and Hart had been spiking Angel's blood with Connor's blood so that the vampire would get a taste for his son and that he'd been tricked so easily into stealing Connor away in the misguided belief it would save the baby's life. His frustration with himself, and Wolfram and Hart and even the Powers that Be, was evident even now, a couple of years later as he said, "I did everything I could to try and disprove that the father would kill the son; I checked the translations, the commentaries, I read all of the Grammaticus Third Century Greek Commentaries- which for the record is rather dull-, I even went to speak to a mystical bloody hamburger!"
"Fascinating." Lilah said, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned widely. Wesley saw that her fingernails were perfectly manicured and painted a deep blood red- he thought wryly that being in hell was no excuse for a girl to let herself go.
"The point is, Lilah, that the prophecy was wrong-"
"No, not wrong, re-written. Not the same thing." Lilah interrupted him, a little pettily.
"Sahjahn had re-written it so we'd think Angel would kill Connor. Instead the prophecy originally said that the one sired by the vampire with a soul shall grow to manhood and kill Sahjahn. So when I don't believe this prophecy you come waltzing in here from hell for…well can you blame me?" Wesley persisted. He rose from his chair and stood slightly over Lilah. He was getting a bit sick of bantering with his dead lover. It had been the same the first time she'd come back as a messenger, about a year ago, to offer Angel, Fred, Gunn, Lorne and himself the L.A office of Wolfram and Hart after conceding the ground to Angel Investigations who had, inadvertently of course, stopped world peace in killing Jasmine. Seeing her then, and now, reminded him of a bad time in his life, the darker side of him even. When he and Lilah had been together Wesley had been alone and vulnerable and she'd taken advantage of that fact.
"Surely you wouldn't kill me? Besides which- already dead remember?" Lilah said, with a small smile.
"Lilah!" Wesley said warningly.
"Oh relax. I'm a lawyer for heaven's sake- pedantic is my middle name…Tell you what though; I've got a present for you." Lilah said.
Wesley sank slowly back into his chair, realizing Lilah was not about to be bullied. She always was into playing games- and by her rules only. That was one thing about Lilah Morgan; she didn't bow to anyone, she didn't change for anyone.
"You look as though I never gave you a present lover." Lilah complained, looking a little put out.
"Does a signed dollar bill count?" Wesley asked wearily. Besides the fact that Lilah was going to take her time to say whatever it was she'd been released from hell by the senior partners to say he was too tired to play games either.
"That wasn't the only thing I gave you. But let's not live in the past…. holy books, trionic, Covenant of Tromboli, ring any bells?"
Wesley felt deflated. "Lilah those books were lost somewhere in Pylea."
"They were returned to the Covenant not long after you left; someone who had no idea of their true worth found them and returned them. Then, not too long ago, the senior partners had them sent here. And now I'm giving them to you." Lilah explained. She clicked her fingers and suddenly the three books appeared, spread out in order, on the top of Wesley's desk.
Wesley stared at the familiar books; the wolf, the ram and the hart on the front covers. He couldn't help but reach out and trace the cover of the middle one, the ram, just to make sure that they weren't a magical illusion. Then he transferred his gaze to the woman waiting. "Why Lilah?"
She sighed. "Despite your research telling you to the contrary you do not believe the prophecy right? Maybe this will help you believe. The books tell you that this prophecy you've spent so much time trying to prove wrong is the real deal. It is going to happen Wesley and your souled buddy Angel is going to try and take down Wolfram and Hart from the inside. But that's the thing- Wolfram and Hart have been here forever and they'll go on being here forever, no matter what Angel might think. We're simply offering you the chance to keep on fighting. Remind me again though Wes- what does the prophecy say about the battle, the apocalypse to end all apocalypses?"
"That the Trio of Poseidon welcomes the destruction of the secret group and end the Apocalypse saving the one with visions, and- although this wasn't clear despite your implications- another champion, one of pure soul, human." Wesley replied straight away. He knew the prophecy back to front having spent the last two days going through it. Not wanting to believe it and knowing what it said backwards were not necessarily the same thing.
"You're the champion lover." Lilah said, reaching out and stroking his cheek gently. He pulled back automatically and she frowned slightly.
"Angel's the champion. And if the Sanshu prophecy is right-"
"Oh you can forget about the Sanshu- Angel is going to sign away his right to ever become a human." Lilah put in quickly.
Wesley looked at her incredulously. There was no way Angel would do something like that. The thought of becoming human one day was something that he'd been living with for so long, one of the things that drove him to continue his good work. "I beg your pardon?"
"Don't look at me like that- it's got nothing to do with the senior partners. The secret group referred to in the prophecy? Angel will sign away his right to Sanshu to trick the Circle of the Black Thorn. They're kind of like the bigwigs. And then the apocalypse and that's where I come in." Lilah said as she stood up.
"I've never heard of this Circle of the Black Thorn before you brought this prophecy in here a couple of days ago. If there really is such a powerful secret group Angel would have told us about them." Wesley said now.
"The fact that Angel is going to take out the Circle of the Black Thorn is set in stone. Literally actually since the prophecy was written on a stone in ancient Burmese times. However it turns out that in the last, oh five hundred years, well after the prophecy was written, there has been a bit of a stoush going on between the circle, who are on this plane, and the senior partners who are on another. So they're not exactly upset about what Angel is going to do. Don't get me wrong, fire and brimstone will still be rained down and the apocalypse is certain. But the senior partners will step in and stop it….if you will agree to the deal that is."
"What's the deal?" Wesley asked again.
"You, the human champion and the one with the pure sight, the visions, will live and come back here to Wolfram and Hart to keep fighting the forces of evil-"
"Wait a minute Lilah. You're telling me that the senior partners of Evil Inc want me to keep fighting against them?" Wesley interrupted.
"Yes; I never did understand them myself for the record. Anyway it's all still the same deal- they did concede L.A to you guys remember? So you two come back here- and anyone else who survives this battle- and keep on helping the helpless. That's what you guys do right?" Lilah couldn't hide the laughter in her voice and the corners of her mouth lifted in a little smirk.
"It's not a claim, we do do it." Wesley protested, but without the fire of conviction he'd always had before. He couldn't help but remember that some people- including Buffy and her friends- thought that they'd sold out and were evil. The fact that running Wolfram and Hart gave them access to the sort of thing he could only ever dream of before when working in Angel Investigations and the chance to do more good with the resources than in their entire time in AI hadn't occurred to them. In his heart of hearts though Wesley often wondered whether it was true, whether they'd sold out to evil.
"And the icing on the cake Wes?" Lilah put her palms on the desk and leant across towards Wes, who got a whiff of her favourite perfume which put him on the back foot a bit. "Wolfram and Hart haven't exactly been one hundred percent forthcoming with you."
"Why does this not surprise me?" Wesley muttered sarcastically.
"There is a secret archive under the building, below the carpark and dungeons. Extremely high security- it was only open to a very select few before you all took this place over, not even I knew about it. Members of the Trio have even more access if that's possible. Personally I don't see the excitement but I know you and I know you'd be like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory with all that information Wesley; I can't even begin to describe the sorts of things you'd find in there. Actually no, I could. Your dead friend Fred- did you notice that rhymes, Fred and dead?- I bet you'd love her back. In a no longer blue and skanky Illyria way."
Wesley's head snapped up and he stared at Lilah with a hunger in his face which surprised her. "Wow, I knew you had a crush on the schoolgirl but I didn't know it was that bad…." Lilah said casually.
"This better not be a trick Lilah or else I swear to God I'll-" Wesley began.
"You'll what? I'm dead and in hell remember? There's nothing you could do to make my life worse." Lilah interrupted.
"Don't count on it. If this is some kind of sick, perverted joke then I will make your life worse. I don't know how but I won't rest until I do." Wesley said.
Lilah gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "Whatever. Anyway I don't know the specifics of the spell that could help you get Fred back but back in the late 1400's an incredibly powerful, incredibly evil, alchemist was recruited by Wolfram and Hart, and he gave them the senior partners in the Trio the "how to" guide to bringing back the dead."
Wesley felt sick. And horribly deflated. "Besides the fact that reincarnation spells come with huge unintended consequences the Watcher's Council are completely opposed to their use, to anything that upsets the cosmic order of things. To put it simply they think those that are dead need to stay dead. And, most importantly, Fred's not dead."
Lilah frowned slightly. "I guess she's not. I mean her body seems to still be pretty healthy and definitely alive. Okay so no bringing back the dead spells. You need a dispossession spell, something to expel the demon from Fred's body and leave Fred as Fred. Plus once the demon has no host body you should be able to kill her pretty quickly."
"Do you think I haven't looked at all that? Do you think I haven't tried every single conceivable thing to bring Fred back?" Wesley demanded angrily. He rubbed his face in agitation.
"You haven't seen the secret archives. There are spells in there for everything and I know for a fact that a lawyer here in the 1930's was possessed by a very powerful demon, Koklan, from a long race of strong possessor demons, and it took the senior partners awhile but they got rid of the demon and the lawyer went on to live a long and healthy life. You'd probably need a powerful witch though and I don't think you have that now Buffy and her little friends think you've all sold out and are working for the devil...That's too bad. I actually kind of liked Fred. Kind of. Although she was a little too innocent for my liking and I would have thought you preferred a mature, sophisticated kind of woman than a Lolita want-to-be." Lilah said.
"Lilah!" Wesley said warningly.
"Geez, take a chill pill. Like I said the secret archives will tell you how to get Fred back- if Illyria survives the apocalypse that is. And she'd be more likely to survive it if you agreed to the deal so that the senior partners would stop raining down terror quickly." Lilah said, casually brushing non-existent dust from her clothing and deliberately avoiding Wesley's eye. Seeing the hunger and passion in his eyes for Fred had hurt her if truth be known but she hoped she'd hid it well enough. It was easier being tortured down in hell. "All up to you Wes…."
"I need to read these books, do some more research; I need to be sure before I sign anything."
"I guess that's fair. But Wes, like the deal for this place, it's a limited time only offer. And when you sign you sign in blood and if you don't keep the deal there is a pretty heavy termination clause."
"Only to be expected from Wolfram and Hart." Wesley said absently. He was already pulling the books towards him. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to look at them whilst in Pylea and he was anxious to read them, not just for this supposed prophecy, but because they contained a wealth of knowledge that Wesley was desperate to know. While he hadn't said it out loud to Lilah the heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach suggested that he knew the prophecy she'd provided him with was real and that the only way to save the city, hell probably the country, was to make the deal. But could he betray Angel again? Because that was what he'd be doing right? Betraying someone he counted as a friend, someone who had done so much good to make up for so much bad? Was there a way to prevent Angel from doing what he was- secretly obviously- planning and signing away his right to Shansu, to taking down the Circle of the Black Thorn? Because that would prevent the problem of betrayal and stop the battle to come… He had so much to think about, so much to read and research, in so little time.
"I'll be seeing you. Three days Wesley." Lilah said.
Wesley didn't acknowledge her.