A/N. Just a quick comment: I don't know whether they have the "Angel" comics in Australia or where they'd have them to buy if they did but for those of you who have read them can you let me know whether they did anything like I'm doing in my story here because I'd hate to have it the same as the comics.

Also I know there are bits in here that have come straight from the "Power Play" episode but I needed them in for some background as to what was happening.

And for the reader who mentioned liking Lindsey I agree- I think he should have survived the apocalypse to continue trying to find redemption. I liked that he wasn't necessarily good or evil but somewhere in the middle. He might be making an appearance in this story but I'm not going to say anything more yet…

PROLOGUE:

Part III: "Dealing with the Devil."

3- 2 days before the battle.

In the Museum of Fine Arts's "Art of the Ancient World" collection Wesley cut a solitary figure. Considering the museum housed some of the finest collections of mummies, ceramics and sculptures from ancient Egypt and Greece and the Roman Empire he'd wanted to stop and peruse the collection but he was aware of the ticking clock hanging over his head. This was the last stop before he had to make a decision about the Trio and what to do.

And so he'd spent the last two hours- with closing time a mere twenty minutes away- sitting in front of the Urn of Zamwar. It was as magnificent as he'd remembered from his training at the Watcher's Council and, not for the first time, he wished that "The First" hadn't had his agents decimate the Council because their resources would no doubt come in handy now. He knew that some things had survived, some books, as well as some knowledge from a couple of Watchers who had luckily survived the fate that befell most of their colleagues. In a terse conversation with Rupert Giles he'd found that he was working on getting the Council started again but had no information on any group called the Circle of the Black Thorn nor the Trio of Poseidon. Wesley knew that it wasn't just the fact that he was talking to someone across the ocean that counted for the silences and brisk tones. Clearly it wasn't just Andrew and Buffy who thought that they'd made a deal with the devil. Wesley obviously didn't say so to Giles but his reaching out to him now wasn't just about the two secret groups. He was working at beginning to repair the shredded relationship because, if Lilah was being honest, he was going to need a very powerful witch to help bring Fred back. And the only witch he could think of who was anywhere near that powerful was Willow Rosenberg.

'Back to the Urn Wesley!' He inwardly scolded himself.

The Urn was made out of white clay and, even after the time that had passed, still sported bright colours and hieroglyphics. The only blemish was a small crack down one side. Around the top of the urn were the words Wesley needed to see. He knew some of them such as "secret", "champion" and "destiny." But others were unclear and he'd copied them down in his notebook to take back to L.A to completely translate.

Wesley felt even more conflicted as he'd had time to think on the standby seat he'd taken on a flight that lunchtime. His thoughts had been centered around Cordelia- could he truly trust her? He was beginning to see that this was going to have to be a decision he made based on instincts, without being influenced by the ghost of Lilah, or the vision of Cordelia, nor of the carrot dangling in front of him of the possible return of the woman he loved. When Wesley had his books that told him what was what, what to do, he was fine. But this was an entirely different circumstance altogether.

Checking the notes on his page against the writing on the Urn one last time he stood up and felt his back and neck ache with tension and from sitting in the one spot concentrating so hard for so long. He put the notebook inside the bag he'd slung over his shoulder and, with one last look at the Urn, as if hoping for an answer to suddenly pop out clearly, he turned and walked away.

Arriving on the Red Eye back to L.A Wesley didn't bother going to his apartment. Instead he went to his office and opened up a Source Book. He'd not thought of getting a history in there for the Urn of Zamwar and he thought some background history before he began his translation could be helpful.

"Urn of Zamwar, made in Ancient Egypt, estimated somewhere between the 4th and 8th dynasties, or 2575 to 2150 B.C. This was about the same time that the Great Pyramids were built at Dahshur and Giza and where pyramids and tombs included the first extensive inscriptions." He read out loud to himself. "The Urn has two main pictures, one on each side, both of whom were revered as Gods in Ancient Egyptian times. Firstly there is Isis, who was revered for her magical powers and her devotion to her husband Osiris and their son Horus. Isis acts as a divine mourner of the dead. The other picture is of Ptah, depicted as a mummified man standing inside a shrine holding a measuring rod, who was seen as the patron-god of craftsmen. Around the top of the Urn is an inscription prophesizing the formation and ultimate destruction of a secret group known only as the Trio. The prophecy claims that a human champion will be the only one who will be able to stop the destruction of society."

Wesley closed the book and sat down in his seat. So the source book knew of the Urn as well as the Trio but, clearly, not of everything because if there was any suggestion that the Circle of the Black Thorn, the senior partners instruments on earth, could be destroyed it wouldn't be put into the source book. He reached under a couple of books and took out a text that would give him the tools to completely identify the hieroglyphics from the Urn.

Half an hour later Wesley looked down at his notepad and read it in his mind:

'When the souled vampire gives up his right to become human he will take down the secret group. An apocalypse will be rained down upon the city that could end human civilization as it is known. Only one person can stop them: a true champion, of human lineage, who will, with the Trio, stop the bloodbath. The Trio has existed forever and will exist forever, as long as demons and humans roam the earth.'

He exhaled loudly. Now did he have everything he needed to know?

"Dollar for your thoughts?" Harmony Kendall asked, coming into the room behind Wesley who was absently adding sugar to his tea.

"Huh?" Wesley looked up.

"You looked like you were about a million miles away. And you've just added the fourth teaspoon of sugar to your tea since I've been standing here." Harmony responded. She opened the fridge and pulled out a container marked "Harmony's Blood Only" and put it in the microwave.

"Not quite a million miles- how far away is it to Boston?" Wesley said, taking the teaspoon out of his mug and rinsing it in the sink.

Harmony looked perplexed. "I don't know…Why Boston though? Oh. Because of the tea party. Because you're British and all." She nodded knowingly as the microwave beep signaled the blood was warmer. She removed the container and poured it into a cup.

"Yeah that'd be it." Spike's voice cut in. "Did you get the Senator's Aide his blood?"

"I did. They're in Angel's office now talking shop. I better get back to the front." Harmony said, giving the two men a small wave and sashaying off.

Spike watched her go thoughtfully. "Good looking but not a brain cell in her head. Pity." He mused. "Now about this Boretz demon-"

"Forget it. Angel's the boss around here and he doesn't seem to care about Stacey or any other statistic." Wesley snapped. He was annoyed at himself for getting emotional but Angel's attitude puzzled him. Since when did the vampire "not sweat the small stuff" anyway? He might be occupied with something but then so was Wesley- he'd spent days trying to disprove a prophecy and he still cared about the Boretz demon's latest victim. He snatched up his tea cup and went back to his office to look up the Boretz demon in the Source books.

Placing his cup of tea on the side of his desk Wesley opened the book and asked about the Boretz demon only to be told he was looking in the wrong place. And then there was a symbol, a symbol that was strangely familiar. He stared at it for a good minute, trying to place it and then he frowned slightly and turned the book a little. It looked like a circle of thorns. The Circle of Black Thorns. He felt his stomach drop- the prophecy was coming true…

Wesley took a deep breath. He had so many important questions. Like what was Angel not telling them about the Circle of the Black Thorn and what would he tell them? How did he know who they were and how long had he known? And, most importantly of all, how long ago did he make the arbitrary decision to take them down, knowing it could lead to the deaths of his friends as well as many other helpless, innocent people. Maybe Lilah and Cordelia were right: this was something he had to do.

Gunn walked into the office. "We've got a serious problem. It's Angel. He's-"

Wesley looked up at Gunn. "Hold on."

Lindsey McDonald was sitting at the table, looking down at his hands. "I told you, I don't know why Angel gave up that kid. Or anything else. Me and him, not too close. I gotta' get back to my game of Solitaire."

Wesley reached over the table and showed him the picture he'd drawn earlier, the one he'd seen in the Source book while looking for information on the Boritz demon.

Lindsey's face changed subtly but then he managed to regain his nonchalant expression. "Where'd you get that?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter. What does it mean?" Wesley demanded.

Lindsey laughed. "Is this what all this is about? All these questions about Angel." He glanced at the drawing and then shook his head slightly. "No. No way. No way they'd take Angel."

"Who they?" Spike asked.

"The Circle of the Black Thorn." Lindsey responded.

"Sounds like a little sewing club for pirates." Lorne commented.

"It's a secret society." Lindsey said.

"Never heard of them." Gunn said dismissively.

"That's 'cause they're secret." Lindsey said.

Gunn smirked.

Wesley leant forward again. It was time Lindsey told them about this mythical circle of the Black Thorn and then they'd have no choice for it but to confront Angel.

Angel pulled a crystal out of his pocket and held it out in front of him. "Involvere." He said. The crystal glowed. "All right. We have six minutes."

"Til what?" Spike asked.

"The glamour collapses. As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, we're still at each other's throats." Angel explained.

"Aren't we?" Wesley asked coldly.

"Look, we don't have a lot of time here, so I'm gonna' have to make this short. Everything you think you know, everything you've heard is a lie." Angel said earnestly.

Wesley's mind automatically went back to the conversations he'd had with the ghosts of Lilah and Cordelia- was everything a lie? Could there be anything to make this more difficult for him, to make him more conflicted about what he should do?

"Why should we believe you?" Gunn asked, the hostility and disbelief evident in his voice.

"Because I'm the one who told it. Read any good books lately?" Angel asked.

Wesley looked at him sharply. The picture of the Circle of the Black Thorn that had shown up in the Source book earlier. "You sent us the message?"

Angel told them everything then; about how Cordelia had given him the vision, about the demons in the Circle, about how to finally get one up on the powers of evil. And then, finally answering Wesley's questions, he said "10-1 we're gone when the smoke clears. They will do everything in their power to destroy us. So…I need you to be sure. Power endures. We can't bring down the senior partners, but for one bright, shining moment, we can show them that they don't own us. You need to decide for yourselves if that is worth dying for. I can't order you to this. I can't do it without you. So we'll vote. As a team. Think about what I'm asking you to do, think about what I'm asking you to give."

Wesley felt sick. Was he really about to do this? Make a deal with Lilah? With the devil? He understood what Angel was thinking, what he wanted to do, and worse, he actually believed in it if the Circle were as bad as they were supposed to be. Yet he was still about to betray his friend. Again. And no matter how he justified it it didn't sit well with him. To make matters worse he was thinking about preventing the apocalypse from Cordelia's vision but he was also thinking about Lilah's hint that there was a way to get Fred back. Maybe that was selfish of him but he couldn't help it- seeing Illyria every day cut him to the bone.

Pacing up and down his office he paused to look out the window at the night time L.A cityscape. He took a deep breath. "Angel's not really thinking clearly, he thinks we'll be the ones to die only, he's not thinking about all those innocents that Cordelia showed me in her vision…" He said out loud to himself.

"I hear talking to yourself is the first sign of madness." Lilah said.

Wesley didn't turn around. "If it is then I went mad a long time ago."

"So Angel finally shared his plan with you. And you said you were in but here we are, about to make a deal. How does it feel to be a Judas?" Lilah enquired.

Wesley spun around to glare at her. "Don't. Just don't okay." He snapped, going back over to his desk and sitting down.

Lilah held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Geez don't shoot the messenger." She muttered.

"I want to know some things. Before I sign this thing. I need to be sure." Wesley said, looking at his desk rather than his ex, and also dead, lover.

"Like?" Lilah asked, coming across and sitting opposite him.

Wesley looked at her thoughtfully. Interesting that she wasn't in a witty bantering mood, not her usual feisty self. Maybe hell was all it cracked up to be after all. Wesley'd never been an overly religious man but as a child, raised in the Church of England faith, he'd attended Sunday School and later on Church for Sunday Mass. It had stopped after he'd finished school and ended up getting involved with the Watcher's Council. He'd asked his father once how he continued to go to Church, to believe in God when he saw such horrible things day in and day out. His father's response had been that those were the times he most needed his faith. "Angel's vision from Cordelia- was it also what I saw?"

Lilah gave a small shrug. "I can't answer that because I don't know what kind of vision Angel got from Cordelia. But I suppose it's possible. It had to be something big for him to make such a reckless decision." She suggested.

"And Angel is under the impression that none of us are likely to survive. True or false?" Wesley asked.

"That depends on you Wes. Don't get me wrong, the senior partners are going to be pissed. Seriously pissed. But most of them don't know about the Trio or about the power they have. I know the Black Thorns have major power but the Trio; they've got absolute power Wesley. And it is only you who can make a deal with them to save the lives of yourself and your friends. The prophecy tells us that you and someone else, the one with the visions, are fated to survive this thing. The Trio also tell me that they'll save as many people- and as a bit of a drawback for your line of work- demons as possible." Lilah answered.

Wesley sighed. "One last question- why do the Trio want the Circle of the Black Thorns gone so badly?" He asked.

Lilah took her time to answer. "I'm not confidante to everything about the Trio you understand. But they want to take the power that the Circle currently holds and, I'm guessing, the power the senior partners hold from their lofty plain. Unfortunately unlike the Circle they don't have the instruments on earth to destroy the Circle so, they turned to the prophecy, and from there to you." She responded.

Wesley didn't say anything. He had all his answers, he knew what he should do- had in fact known it for awhile now when all the texts, all his sources, everything showed the truth in the prophecy- but actually signing the paper was harder than he'd imagined.

Lilah gave an impatient sigh and looked at her watch- a Cartier watch she'd been given upon her promotion. "I don't mean to rush you lover but I've kind of got places to be…"

"Right. Back to hell." Wesley said, nodding.

"So. Are we going to do this thing?" Lilah pushed.

"We're going to do it." Wesley answered.

Lilah looked pleased. "You've made the right decision Wes."

"Why does that, coming from you, not inspire great confidence in me?" Wesley muttered.

"But it didn't come just from me. It came from books, texts you respect more than anything, it came from Cordelia and the Powers that Be…" Lilah hastily reminded him. She clicked her fingers and a thick piece of paper appeared in her hands. She placed it on the desk between her and Wesley.

Wesley looked down. The contract was written in thick black lettering, reminiscent of Medieval English in both the calligraphy and the spelling. It was short and to the point:

"I, the undersigned, agree to become a member of the Trio of Poseidon. I understand that as a member I will have certain rights and privileges not afforded to non-members. Furthermore I promise to faithfully observe the Trio's "Secrecy Clause" the penalty for disclosing which is immediate death. In addition my signing of this document paves the way for the destruction of the Circle of the Black Thorn and stops the prophesized apocalypse before it consumes society."

Wesley nodded and picked up a pen but Lilah stopped him with her hand covering his. "Not a ball point pen Wesley. It's kind of like a standard Wolfram and Hart contract and requires signing in your blood. To clinch the deal so to speak." She reminded him.

"Where do I get-" Wesley began.

"Hold out your hand." Lilah instructed him.

He did as he was told and she clicked what looked like a normal pen down and then placed the tip on his palm. He felt the sharp sting and exhaled. "Sorry, I'll be quick." Lilah told him. She pushed further down with the pen on his palm and, instead of black or blue ink, it filled slightly with red blood. Wesley's blood. Then she handed him the pen.

Wesley took a deep breath and then scrawled his signature on the bottom line. "Done." He said.

"Done." Lilah echoed. She sighed dramatically. "Well I better get going. There's no rest for the wicked."

Wesley didn't say anything in response. He was running the gamut of emotions- fear that he'd just made the worst mistake of his life- bigger even than being instrumental in taking Connor away from Angel-, fear that he'd betrayed Angel, slight pride in the fact that he could be the one who was trusted to make the hard decisions, the ones people like Lorne, Gunn, Fred- if she were still Fred-, even Spike perhaps, couldn't make, and uncertainty about what the near future would hold and how this thing was going to play out.

Lilah stood up and clicked her fingers again. The contract disappeared into thin air and she put the pen in her trouser pocket.

"One last thing though Lilah. What do you get out of this?" Wesley asked.

Lilah laughed, but it was a humourless one. "A day trip or two out of hell I guess."

Wesley was silent for a moment. He couldn't, of course, pretend to understand, to comprehend, what hell would be like. And considering some of the things Lilah'd done she'd no doubt have more than her fair share of demons- inner and physical manifestations of monsters she'd sent to hell herself- haunting her down there. He didn't quite understand why he felt sorry for her. "I guess that this is it then. We're probably not going to see each other again." Wesley said, a little awkwardly.

"Never say never…" Lilah muttered but there wasn't complete conviction in her voice. Not like her usual air of confidence anyway.

"Right. Of course." Wesley said.

Lilah avoided meeting his eyes by looking intently at her Jimmy Choo's. Her maudlin tone affected Wesley. Not only was Lilah a lawyer- which was bad enough- but she was the sort of person who would go after what she wanted completely and utterly bloody-mindedly, uncaring about people who might get in her way, ruthless in getting what she wanted. But she was also a human being. Or had been. And she and Wesley had had something going, even if it had resulted purely from his isolation within Angel Investigations and had just been something to ease the pain and loneliness. Plus there was the fact that Wesley had wondered, in the year or so since her death, whether he could have done something to prevent it.

"I told you the other day Wes, I forgave you. You shouldn't torture yourself over me. Think about Fred, the woman you love, and getting her back. Not me." Lilah said. Her tone was overly-casual and it did not fool Wesley.

"Fred's a good person Lilah. If she wasn't I wouldn't care so much about getting her back. And yes, she might be the opposite of you- bookish, sometimes a little shy, not at all mature and sophisticated- but I love her." Wesley told Lilah.

She gave a small laugh. "I know you do. I know she loved you too. If anyone can get her back, using the Trio's secret resources down in the sub-level I told you about, it is you. Love can make a person do extraordinary things." She said. "Like the tales about mother's who lift cars to get to their dying or badly injured children."

"I did love you too Lilah. In my own way. It was different to the love I had for Fred but it was some kind of love even though I'm still completely unsure of how to catagorise it." Wesley said. Was it true though he wondered internally? He thought it probably was. But even if it wasn't Lilah needed to believe it was.

Now Lilah met his eyes. Wesley could place the look on her face, the look in her eyes and smile and he knew that she felt pain over his love for Fred and that she really had cared about him, it hadn't just been a strategic or business move in sleeping with him. Although of course it had added to the appeal no doubt. "Thank you Wesley. You truly are a good person, a champion even, Wesley Wyndham-Price and you're doing the right thing here." She told him.

"God I hope so." Wesley replied.

"So I better be going…" Lilah said, but she hesitated.

"I wish there was something I could do for you. You brought me this prophecy, you made me stand up for something I believe in, and what do you get for that? You get to go back to hell. It doesn't seem right." Wesley said.

"Maybe there is something you can do for me. Who knows what kind of things you'll find in the secret resource centre." Lila responded. There was a slight twinkle in her eye. "So instead of saying goodbye I'm just going to say 'see you later' lover."

And then, before Wesley could speak, Lilah Morgan was gone. And there was no turning back for Wesley now. The only thing he could do was move forward and pray he'd made the right decision.