Remember Me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Joss owns it all damn him!

This chap is liberally sprinkled with plenty of crying and exclamations
of "Oh my God!" Hope you like it anyway...

***

Chapter 14 - Lost and Found

Harmony woke up in bed alone. It seemed like this had been
happening a lot lately. The disappointment she felt was sharper
because she'd actually thought things were getting better. Angel had
taken her out to dinner and they'd madee une until they'd both fallen
asleep. She thought that meant he was finally relaxing again, finally
willing to give a little bit more to their relationship. Her eyes watered,
but she refused to cry.

She lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling and willed herself not to cry.
Maybe it was time to face facts. Her relationship with Angel, if there
had ever truly been one, was over. He obviously didn't love her, and
she found herself wondering at times if he even *liked* her.
Resignedly she threw the covers off and swung her legs over the
edge of the bed.

She dressed quickly wanting to hurry downstairs for a quick bite to
eat. Before leaving the room she did a quick sweep with her eyes
scanning for any note Angel might have left letting her know where
he'd gone and why. But the room was empty and the last little bit of
hope Harmony had was quickly fleeing.

She made her way downstairs and sat down at the bar. Though her
stomach rumbled she had no real appetite. Barely glancing at the
menu she ordered a half a club sandwich and some fries. When her
food arrived she picked at it halfheartedly. Their week on Kauai was
almost half over and Harmony knew what she had to do once they
got back to the real world. She took a deep breath trying to hold back
the tears that threatened. She'd been with Angel so long now she
wasn't sure what she was supposed to do once it was over. She
didn't even have a place to live since she'd moved in with him six
months ago.

Harmony knew that Angel would never marry her, but she'd held on to
the false hope anyway. She thought that his asking her to move in
with him was a step in the right direction. But now she realized she
had only refused to see it for what it really was...convenience. Angel
didn't want to have to get in his car and drive the twenty minutes it
would take to get to her apartment whenever he wanted to get some.
So he'd done the practical thing and asked his personal sex toy to
move in with him. The laugh that barked out of her was entirely
devoid of humor.

Harmony was just leaving a few dollars on the table to cover her
lunch and tip when she spotted him. Angel was walking purposefully
across the grass toward the ocean. Before she could stop herself
she called out to him, but it did not good. Angel either hadn't heard or
had chosen to ignore her. Quickly she grabbed her purse and leapt
down from her stool. She ran toward him just as hs sls slipping
around a corner.

Curious she followed silently, wondering where he was going in such
a hurry. He was walking away from the main lobby and further on to
the resort, but as far as she knew there was nothing much out this
way. And she'd explored a lot, given that all her days so far, barring
the one she'd had lunch with Buffy, had all been spent alone.
Harmony frowned when she saw Angel enter a small bungalow. She
recognized it as one of the honeymoon bungalows. The frown
deepened and the tears she'd been trying to hold back finally fell.

God, she really was a pathetic loser! He'd been cheating on her this
whole time. She sniffed back the tears and hardened her heart. He
must have been laughing at her the entire time they'd been here on
the island, maybe even for their entire relationship! Well, screw that!
She wasn't going to sit around here waiting until he got too tired of her
and finally sent her packing. She'd leave him before he ever got the
chance to shove her out the door! She spun on her heel and
stomped her way across the resort and back toward their room.

***

"Well, hello little girl." Angel smirked at Buffy. "Does your head
hurt?"
ffy ffy didn't answer, choosing instead to glare angrily. Angel just
laughed.

"I'm meeting your precious *Will* tonight." Angel said his name as if it
were a curse then sat down at the edge of the bed, making sure to
stay far enough away that what little movement Buffy was granted
couldn't harm him.

"And what are you going to do with me once you get your money?"
Buffy had no doubts that Will would pay whatever Angel had asked.

"What do you think I'm going to do with you, honey?" Angel leered,
moving in closer. He pressed down hard on her arms, making sure
that she couldn't fight back. Then he jammed his lips down on to
hers. He was smarter this time and made sure to keep his tongue in
his own mouth, but he couldn't resist letting one of his hands wander
to cup her breast. He squeezed roughly causing Buffy to cry out in
pain. Angel took the opportunity to sweep his tongue through her
mouth too quickly for her to react. When he pulled back his pupils
were dilated with lust and Buffy cringed at the obvious sight of his
erection. "Until tonight, *luv*."

***

Harmony was not crying. She refused to cry. Instead she shoved her
clothes into her suitcase with a vengeance. "Stupid, bastard." She
muttered under her breath. She grabbed the bag of dirty clothes they
had put in the bathroom and began to sort through them. She
dropped Angel's clothes onto the floor and stuffed hers back into the
bag. As she reached down for the last article of clothing she realized
it was the nightie she had worn the other night. Probably the last
night they would ever make love. Or have sex. Which was exactly
what it had been to Angel. She had been making love and he had
just been fucking.

Damn it! She was not going to cry!

He'd probably even gone out to that stupid bungalow after she had
fallen asleep. Gone out to sleep with that bitch. Wait, maybe that
wasn't fair. Maybe she didn't know that Angel was sleeping around
on Harmony. Maybe the other woman was just as stupid as she was.

Harmony checked her watch. It was way past dinnertime. Angel had
never come back and she wondered if he were still in that bungalow.
Maybe he had taken *her* out to dinner tonight. Or maybe he was in
some bar somewhere getting drunk and picking up a third girl.
Harmony didn't know. She'd spent a good portion of thternternoon
calling the airlines and trying to find a flight out. When she realized
that she couldn't get on a plane until at least the next day she ran
down to the lobby and gotten another room. Now the only thing left to
do was pick up her suitcase and get out.

***

Spike literally ran into Harmony in the hallway. His hand shot out to
catch her before she fell, and he gave a slight nod in apology. "Sorry,
luv."

Spike glanced distractedly over his shoulder, waiting for the guys to
catch up. They were still saying goodbye to the girls, but Spike
couldn't help glancing at his watch nervously. They'd been in his
suite discussing plans and setting up the homing device on Spike for
the past three hours. Now they only had about half an hour before
the appointed time.

"It's okay, William."

The sound of Harmony's voice drew Spike's attention back to the
blonde in front of him. He studied her for a moment, noting ted ed
rimmed eyes and the frown lines. "I wanted to thank you," Spike
began. "For helping search for Buffy last night. Angel said you both
skipped dinner to help. I wanted you to know I appreciated it."
Spike's voice cracked and he swallowed back the lump in his throat.
"God, I wish she had just wandered off and gotten lost. Is it sick that I
would rather she be unconscious in a hospital somewhere?"

Harmony wanted to reach out to him. Will looked panicked and wary
and afraid. Buffy was missing? Angel had told Will that they had
searched for her last night? Harmony was confused and wanted to
ask Will for more detail but she couldn't bring herself to force him to
talk anymore. Just then Will's suite door opened and three hane
e
young men walked out with somber expressions on their faces. Two
more followed, looking just as serious but not quite as young.

"Ready?" The dark haired, chocolate eyed one asked. Will nodded
then turned back to Harmony.

"Thanks again, luv." He moved past her quickly, the others following.
They all entered the stairwell, apparently unwilling to wait for the
elevator.

What the heck had that been about?

***

Harmony was sweating now. She'd gone over and over what Will had
said to her in the hall and it just didn't make sense. At least not the
kind of sense she wanted it to. Buffy was missing. Angel had lied.
Angel had booked an of tof the way bungalow in secret. What or
*who* was he hiding there?

Harmony paced back and forth in her new room. Could it be possible
that Buffy and Angel had run away together? That Will had the whole
thing wrong? But she'd *seen* Buffy and Will together. They were in
love. There's no way that Buffy could have been faking that.

And who was to say that Buffy was the one in the bungalow anyway?
It was entirely possible that Angel was just a chronic liar, and that he
had a woman, yes, but not Buffy, hidden away. How could she even
think that about Angel? It would take a special kind of monster to pull
something like that off. And she'd been with this man for over a year.
Wouldn't she have known? Wouldn't she have seen that he was that
kind of man? Of course she would. This was ridiculous.

But what if she were wrong?

***

Buffy was crying. It was hourter ter Angel had left and she'd spent
the entire time dreading his reappearance. Oh God, where was Will?
How could this be happening? Buffy felt like throwing up. She'd
prayed and prayed that she'd wake up to find out this had all been
one hellish nightmare, but she knew that wasn't true. No matter how
much she wished for it.

The sob caught in her throat when she heard the jiggle of the front
door handle. Angel was back! She held herself very still, hoping that
maybe if she feigned sleep he would let her be, at least for tonight. It
was a ridiculously silly hope, but it was all she had left. Buffy had
been trying unsuccessfully to get out of the ropes that tied her to the
bed, but after her first escape attempt Angel wasn't taking any
chances. She wouldn't be getting out of here unless someone helped
her out. And she had very little hope of that happening.

"Oh my God!"

Buffy's eyes whipped open at the loud exclamation. Harmony!
Buffy's heart began to beat triple time, as she looked wildly about the
room for Angel. When she realized that Harmony had come alone
she began to beg.

"Harmony, please. God, get me out of here, please!" Buffy struggled
against the ropes, letting them chafe her already raw skin. "He'll be
back any minute. God, please!"

The blonde had been standing in a semi-shocked state, but at Buffy's
vehement pleas she went into action. She moved quickly, untying
each rope with efficiency. n Bun Buffy was finally free, she helped
her sit up and then stand. Buffy was weak from hunger and lack of
sleep, so Harmony wrapped an arm around her waist for support.
Together they walked out of the bungalow, Buffy frantic for escape.

It was nearly one in the morning, and the hotel was quietly deserted.
Instead of using the main lobby they went straight to the closest sidentrantrance, and up the stairs. When they reached the third floor, Buffy
was sobbing once more. She couldn't believe it! She was free. She
wasn't going to die. Angel wasn't going to touch her. And in just a
few more minutes she would be with Will again.

Harmony pounded on the door to Will and Buffy's suite, hoping that
he had returned. She was literally holding Buffy up now, the girl was
shaking too much to support herself even a little. The door was
wrenched o but but instead of Will's familiar face there were three
womeandianding in the doorway.

"Buffy! Oh my God!"

Both women were hustled into the room and directed toward the large
couch. The three women Harmony didn't know were all talking at
once, which confused her, but at least they had taken possession of
Buffy who was now wrapped in a warm blanket and sobbing onto the
red head's shoulder.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes,
the room qui and and all eyes turned to Harmony. She looked away,
wondering how she was supposed to explain her boyfriend's actions.

"Thank you." The words were whispered but they echoed soundly
through the still room. Harmony glanced up in surprise, wondering
how anyone could be thankful to her. She *should* have known what
kind of man Angel was. What kind of horrible things he was capable
of. Instead she'd blithely gone about fantasizing that he might one
day love her enough to marry her! How could anyone, let alone
Buffy, thank her for being so blind and stupid? But when she looked
up and met Buffy's eyes all she saw was gratitude and relief, which
only confused her more.

"How did you know?" Buffy asked.

"I didn't! Don't you see! You should be mad, angry that I didn't know
what kind of man he was!" Harmony shouted, unable to except the
fact that Buffy was grateful rather than upset.

"Nobody could know that." The red head answered quietly, keeping
one arm securely around Buffy. "What matters is what you did once
you found out."

Harmony was quiet, taking in Willow's words and the solemn stares of
Buffy's friends. "I didn't know." Harmony began quietly. "I thought he
was cheating on me. I saw him go into that bungalow today, and I
thought he had another woman in there." She smiled apologetically
at Buffy. "But then I ran into Will and he said some things. Things
tAngeAngel had told him, but I knew weren't true. It made me think.
Made me wonder..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away, out
through the sliding glass doors at the black as night ocean waves.
"How could I not have known?" The words were barely audible but
the other girls heard them nonetheless.

Tara stood and walked over toward Harmony, stopping to kneel in
front of her. She placed her hands on Harmony's knees and
squeezed gently. "How did you get into the bungalow?" Tara asked
quietly, knowing that Harmony would only reject another attempt to
absolve her culpability.

"I...well...I sort of flirted with the desk clerk. You know, then I asked
him for the key. Told him I locked myself out. He didn't even bother
to look up the name on the register." Harmony answered, flushing
with embarrassment.

Tara squeezed her knees again. When Harmony met her gaze she
gave her a warm smile. "That was very smarYou You saved Buffy's
life."

Harmony nodded once and then burst into tears. Tara stood quickly
and wrapped her arms around the crying woman. They sat
comforting each other for a minute, until Buffy's voice once more
echoed through the room. "Where's Will?"

"Shit, the boys! We've got to let them know you're okay and that we
know who it was." Cordelia was rapidly dialing her phone to connect
with Xander. "Xan! We've got Buffy, she's okay!" The girls all gave a
weak smile when they heard Xander's whoop through the phone.
"Yes, and we know who it was, some guy named Angel. Spike
should know who that is." Cordy listened for a minute, making
sounds of agreement every now and then. "Okay, honey. Just make
sure you're all careful. We love you. Bye."

"What's going on?" Buffy asked, worried.

"They're going after him. Spike's already been running around the
island for over an hour following Angel's stupidtructructions. Once
they get to the final destination the boys are going to bring that
bastard down." Cordelia explained.

Buffy bit her lower lip, chewing until it was red and raw. God, she
hoped Will wasn't going to do anything crazy. She still wanted to tell
him that she loved him, and to let him know that she remembered
everything now. Remembered him.

"Don't worry Buffy, Spike'll be fine." Willow tried to reassure her.
"Besides he's got all of our honeys there as backup."

They were quiet another moment until Harmony finally had to ask,
"Who's Spike?"