AN: AGAIN, SHOULD PROBABLY NOT BE STARTING ANOTHER STORY, BUT HEY, IT'S MY LIFE.

RATING: PG-13

Another Surprise

Prologue

Giles and the others arrived at the library fairly quickly. They had decided that it would be best if they waited for Buffy there. Willow knew that Buffy would be heartbroken when Angel left, so they had decided to at least give the couple some last few moments of privacy before the souled vampire departed for parts unknown with the arm of the Judge in a box.

Nobody really knew how long the vampire would be gone on this mission. What this would do to Buffy would be truly unimaginable and Willow had not so secretly hoped that someone else would volunteer to take the mission, but she understood that Angel was the obvious choice for the task.

When they entered the empty, as usual, library, there was a message light blinking on the answering machine that Jenny had bullied Giles into purchasing, insisting that he had to stop living in the stone ages. The entire group gathered around the machine, making, Willow subconsciously realised, a rather silly picture, as Giles pressed the message button and an impersonal electronic voice declared,

"You have one new message, Message one."

There was the crackle of static and heavy background interference, but the voice recorded on the small machine was clearly that of the vampire Slayer. There was an element of slight sorrow of Buffy's voice, but not that of the magnitude that Willow would have expected after Angel's departure, and the joy and love was far more prominent as the Slayer spoke.

"I'm going to risk sounding terribly cliché by saying that by the time you hear this, I'll be long gone. I'll be on a ship to Australia with Angel, as well as our surprise guest arm in a box. Don't try and stop me, or blame Angel, as this is really not his idea, and he has just learnt how determined Summers women can be when they want to get their own way. His arm should be better soon. Anyway, this is what I want to do. I love Angel and I can't and won't be separate from him. We're going to get married somewhere in Europe, so we won't be back for a few months at least, so you'll need to get Kendra on Hellmouth duty, which she'll love. Anyway, with the Judge, Angel says that he knows this place in Tibet where the arm will be safe, failing that, we're just going to blow it up into lots of tiny little pieces. I'll write when I can and hopefully see you all in the fall."

There was a pause before Buffy continued talking,

"Could someone explain to my mum about the whole Slaying thing. She deserves to know why I'm gone. Okay, this is the hard bit. Wills, you're my best friend, the best friend I've ever had. Xander, I like you more than as just a friend and if things were different, I'd probably have gone out with you, but I love Angel, please, find someone else."

There was another pause and an audible sniff, then Buffy collected herself and continued,

"Oz, frankly, I don't know you that well, but if you hurt Willow, there is no power on earth that will stop me from killing you, after I've tortured you for a few months of course. Cordy, what can I say? You don't always have to work so hard to be the person they want you to be. Miss Calender, what I said to Oz, times ten, and I probably wouldn't kill you, that would mean I'd have to stop torturing you for hurting him."

The next pause was so long that it seemed for a moment that Buffy was finished with her goodbyes, then she spoke again, softer this time,

"Christ, Giles, I don't know what to say. You've been like a dad, Giles. I promise I'll be back. Be happy, all of you and I'll see you in the fall. Bye."

There was a crackle of static and then a loud electronic beep as the phone clicked onto the receiver. Stunned silence echoed in the library after the sounds of the answer-phone had faded into nothingness.

TBC