This takes place in part 2 of season 2 episode one 'The Return'. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Hopefully the site doesn't glitch up and not show this chapter :p

There's trouble in the heartland
You're drifting your own way
There is trouble
It's a wasteland
There's something you don't say
-The River Has Run Wild by Mads Langer

SHE was dressed in a dark green colored dress that brushed against the ground, with sleeves that went to her elbows and billowed out, from her arms. Her dark reddish-brown hair was tied with a thin piece of brown leather, keeping the waves of her hair from her face. In her right hand she held a basket as she walked along the edge of the woods, staring at the ground for the plant that her mother sent her to collect, stocking up on spell supplies.

"Looking for something in particular?"

She spun around, bringing her left hand to her chest, as a small smile graced her lips. "Elijah, you frightened me."

"Forgive me, Noreen." Elijah said. "I did not mean to."

"I wasn't aware I was being followed." Noreen gave him a shy yet sly smile.

Elijah shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back. "Not following, observing, and I think I can be of some assistance with finding the particular plant you are searching for."

"Oh?" Noreen watched Elijah, her light green eyes gleaming.

He nodded and walked backward past her, giving her a small teasing smile, daring her to follow after him. She watched him for a moment before she sighed and picked up the front of her dress to catch up to the original vampire.

Maggie's light green eyes fluttered opened as she left her dream world and entered reality. She blinked a few times as she rolled over in her bed and looked at the clock, realizing that was nine in the morning, before she fell back against her pillow. Maggie stared up at her ceiling as she thought back to the dream that she had just been having more confused than ever. It was so detailed, as if it were a clip of a scene from a movie or something, with her starring Noreen. Minus the hair color, she looked exactly like Noreen did. The weird thing is that Maggie felt like she had been there, like she was Noreen and was experiencing the dream, and that she had known the vampire. It's almost as if she was familiar with this Elijah and Maggie didn't know what to think or why she was beginning to have these dreams all of sudden.

She was so frustrated. She didn't know why she was having these dreams and she didn't tell anyone about them. Maggie figured that everyone had enough problems to tackle and that her dreams weren't that troubling enough to tackle. At least not at the moment.

"Still in bed? Lazy."

Maggie rolled her eyes as she sat up on her elbows and gave Damon an annoyed look. Did he ever hear of knocking before he entered someone's room?

He didn't seem phased and gave her a smirk. "Come on Mags, you have no time to lay in bed. Up, up, up."

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. What had gotten into him? Since when did he care on long she laid in bed for. As if knowing her question he sighed and crossed his arms.

"We're visiting the Lockwoods today." Damon said.

Maggie silently groaned as she fell back against her bed and brought one of her pillows, that had been laying beside her, up to her face and covering it from his view. She was not a fan of the Lockwoods. Tyler hadn't exactly been the nicest person to him but he did just loose his dad so she figured she would go.

"I know, I know." Damon stood in the doorway still. "Not your biggest fans but suck it up and lets go, Miss Fitzpatrick."

Maggie inwardly sighed knowing that she was defeated and shouldn't bother to argue with him. There was no way that Damon was going to leave Maggie behind by herself, not with Katherine running around town somewhere. Rising from the bed, she pushed the thoughts of her recurring dreams of some vampire named Elijah to the back of her mind as she chose out her outfit for the day.

She had decided on a pair of black jeans and a dark green colored long sleeved shirt, not wanting to wear a black shirt although she knew it would be most appropriate, matched with a pair of black ballet flats. She left her wavy light brown hair with natural red highlights, loose and free only running a brush through it. As usual, no matter what she was wearing, she wore her silver ring with a green emerald on her left forefinger, one of the last gifts she received from her mother before her death. It had been passed down through the family and Maggie had come to treasure it dearly. The only other piece of jewelery she wore and treasured was the charm bracelet that she received from Bonnie on her 16th birthday. Each year on her birthday Bonnie, Elena, Caroline, Matt even and along with the Salvatore brothers always added a charm to it. It meant so much to Maggie, more then they could possibly understand, and she always wore it on her right wrist.

"I want to know who's exactly responsible for killing my husband." Carol Lockwood spoke to Liz Forbes and Damon quietly.

Maggie followed behind the trio group but kept her distance as she stood off to the side waiting for Damon to be finished. That was a plus, she figured, to being a mute. People would talk around her as if she wasn't even there, she guessed they probably thought, who was she going to tell?

"Is there any reason as to why Richard was affected by the vampire device?" Liz asked Carol.

Carol was offended. "What are you implying? He was one of them?"

"No, no." He looked between the two women, speaking softly. "No one's implying that."

Maggie smiled a little at Damon's attempt to stop the two women from fighting. She had to admit though the mayor being affected by the device was interesting. There was obviously something going on there. A human doesn't get affected from the device so what other reason, besides him having been a vampire, could there be? As she began to think about the device, she ignored Damon and the two older women talking, when she heard a faint voice. She listened more closely, focusing on the faint voice.

"Maggie." It called to her.

She turned her eyes back to Damon, wondering if he heard it to, but he didn't. Maggie listened and heard the faint voice call out to her again.

"Maggie."

She frowned as she moved her eyes around the crowd, trying to see if she could see anyone that could be calling for her, but she couldn't. She moved away from the group as she focused on the voice. Who was calling her and from where? They sounded distant from how faint the voice was.

"Hey." Damon joined her side, making her jump slightly, and he looked at her. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Crowd." Maggie mouthed.

Maggie hated large crowds ever since she was a little kid and Damon knew how much she hated crowds which is why he often stuck to her side at events like this. It made dealing with the large crowd a lot easier with him by her side.

"What else is going on, Mags?" Damon asked.

She shook her head. But Damon wasn't going to accept that and he nudged her gently. "Come on Mags. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"I was thinking about my mom." Maggie mouthed as she looked at Damon. "Her wake and funeral."

Her mother, Colleen, had passed away before either Damon or Stefan had returned to Mystic Falls, Virginia. Her mom had not been as popular as Richard Lockwood was but then again she hadn't been the mayor of the town. She was the supposed witch, who was crazy and had a mute daughter. Not many people came but Maggie didn't mind it and she knew that her mom would have preferred a small ceremony anyways. Maggie, with the help from Bonnie's grandmother, had made the arrangements. Bonnie was there for her whenever she needed it and Maggie couldn't have been more grateful. Even Elena, Caroline and Matt had been there for her and she was thankful because she knew that they didn't have to be there but they were.

Damon said nothing as he put an arm around her and pulled her into him, in a one armed hug, as he ran his hand up and down her left arm gently. "I'm sorry Mags."

Maggie nodded, thankful for Damon. She couldn't believe that it had been 2 years since her mom has passed away. Being here at the wake, Maggie could help but to feel like it was the other day, when she laid her mother to rest at the local cemetery beside her dad.

Another thought plagued Maggie's mind. She wondered what her dad's wake and funeral was like. She was too young too remember but everyone had always liked her dad. He had been that one guy who just seemed to fit into every group at high school and just got along with everybody.

"I wonder if my dad had this many people, at his wake." Maggie pulled away as she mouthed it to Damon.

He shook his head, his steely blue eyes meeting her light green eyes. "You shouldn't be so serious at a wake, Mags."

She smiled at Damon's lame attempt at a joke. She couldn't help it. He always tried to cheer her up whenever she was down not liking it when she was upset about anything, no matter how small it was.

"That's my girl." Damon smirked as he pulled her into another one sided hug.

It was then Maggie noticed the new relaxed guy that had entered the Lockwood Mansion. He had been talking to Tyler and they seemed close with one another. She wasn't going to lie, he wasn't too bad looking, totally not her type. But not hard on the eyes. Damon had noticed the new arrival as well but for different reasons. He was nosy.

"Who's the guy with Carol?" Damon asked Liz who had joined them.

"Mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood." Liz replied.

Maggie looked back over at him. The Lockwoods didn't do too bad in the looks department. Just because Tyler was a jackass didn't mean he wasn't a good looking one. But again, neither of them were her type of guys. Damon would probably slap her if he knew she thought they were good looking.

"For one he's not an ass." Liz said.

Maggie nodded agreeing with the statement. Unlike John Gilbert who looked like a snob, Mason had the look of a calm zen guy or something along those lines.

"He wants nothing to do with the council." She added. "He's too preoccupied finding the perfect wave."

And another point to Maggie for being able to read a person. She knew she was right about the zen vibe. Damn she was good. As Liz left, Maggie noticed the look on Damon's face.

Snapping her fingers in his face he turned his attention to her. Maggie shook her head and crossed her arms.

"What?"

"Damon." She mouthed a warning. "Don't do anything dangerously stupid. Please."

He just smirked and she knew that it was a useless warning. He wasn't going to listen to a word that she said. "Don't worry about me, Mags."

"Impossible." She mouthed back with a snap.

"Time for your afternoon feeding." Damon smirked as he gently pushed Maggie over to the table, where they held refreshments.

Maggie rolled her eyes and began to look over the food, Damon following behind her. She wasn't really interested in eating at the moment. The distant voice that she had heard earlier came back to her mind as she wondered who and where it came from.

"Maggie."

She looked up and smiled warmly at Bonnie as she pulled her into a warm hug. When she pulled away she looked back at Damon, giving him a small warning glance, no funny business.

"Did you know the Gilbert device effected Tyler Lockwood?" Bonnie asked, coming to stand behind Damon.

What? Maggie hadn't known that.

"Well," Damon popped a grape into his mouth, "I know it took the mayor in."

"Don't you want to know why?" Bonnie pressed on.

Maggie watched the exchange between her two best friends carefully, watching to make sure everyone played nice.

"Yes Bonnie," Maggie closed her eyes as Damon turned to look at Bonnie, sarcasm dripping from his lips. "I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by a vampire device that you allowed John Gilbert to use." He gave her a fake frown face and went back to the grapes.

Oh yeah, Maggie saw this was going to go nowhere, and she hit Damon lightly on his shoulder. He just ignored her and continued on with searching for grapes to eat. She gave Bonnie a small apologetic shrug of her shoulders, hoping that she would just look past Damon's attitude.

"Speaking of her guilt, how's Caroline?" Damon asked.

"She's much better." Bonnie answered.

Damon continued walking down the side of the table with Maggie beside him praying that Bonnie didn't kill him. "You're welcome."

"No, you're welcome." Bonnie snapped quickly.

"Why am I welcome?" Damon turned to look at her.

Maggie could tell Damon was annoyed with the young witch.

"Because you got to live to see another day." Bonnie said.

"No good deed goes unpunished with you does it?"

"I know what you are Damon." Bonnie said. "You might have Elena and everyone else fooled." She glanced at Maggie. "And even Maggie here willing to trust you and fooled by you but not me."

Before she knew what was happening, Damon was clutching his head in pain, and Maggie turned to Bonnie, placing a hand on her arm begging her to stop. That she had proven her point.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What was that you were saying?" Bonnie asked and then gave him a smug look before walking past him.

Maggie looked at Damon, making sure he was okay, before looking after Bonnie. She was seriously starting to get annoyed with these two and being the babysitter for them. Could they not have one decent conversation with each other, for her sake? These two will be the death of her. Honestly.

"Can you not make her want to kill you more?" She mouthed to Damon, giving him a look. "We already have enough problems."

"It's not all me." Damon snapped. "She's being a b-witch!"

Maggie shook her head as she walked past Damon and heading for the front porch needing some fresh air. She didn't have to turn around to know that he had followed after her.

As she stood on the front porch and looked out enjoying the view, she was having an inner battler with herself. She knew that Damon would be upset if he knew that she had been keeping the dreams hidden from him. Deciding that now was as good as any time to tell him, she brushed a piece of her hair from her face, as she turned to him.

But before she could get his attention she saw that Elena was approaching with Jeremy and her Aunt Jenna. Maggie frowned, knowing that his attention, was now on her alone.

She moved past Damon and smiled at Elena who gave her one in return. Maggie hadn't left the porch, knowing that Damon wouldn't be pleased to have her out of his eye sight, but had moved away enough to give them privacy. She watched as they spoke quietly with one another and she could see Damon swallowing his hurt. She bit her lip and shook her head. Why did he do this to himself?

"You know, why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?" Damon asked.

Maggie looked back over to Elena and Damon, with Damon standing just close enough for her to touch his back with her hand. She noticed that he had a drink in his hand, did he have that when they came out here?

"That's not a surprise Damon." Elena answered. "What's surprising is that you thought I would kiss you back."

Maggie held her breath. She knew that comment hit Damon hard but he would never truly admit that. She was the only one who knew how hard that really hit him.

"Now I'm hurt." Damon turned away from her to face Maggie who gave him a sad smile.

Bonnie came running out the mansion and turned to Elena and told them that Katherine was here and that she was with Stefan somewhere. Maggie's worry for Damon had just spiked rapidly.

As Damon and the other two went in search of Katherine and Stefan, Maggie was left alone, to wander in the crowd of strangers within the mansion. She stood out like a sore thumb and she tugged at the end of her sleeves of her shirt as she hoped to see Damon or at least someone that she knew.

It was then Maggie remembered that Damon had promised to never leave her in a crowded room. She smiled and shook her head, thinking of how he had already begun to break his promises, while dealing with Katherine and Elena. Albeit it was a small promise and not a big deal to her, it just proved her point that he wouldn't be able to keep every promise he made her. No matter how big or small it was. As much as Damon would like to believe, he wasn't always going to be there watching her. She knew that he would like to think other wise but it was the truth.

"Hey."

Maggie spun around and a smile graced her lips as she gave Matt a small wave. Finally someone that she knew.

"Where's Damon? Every time I saw you he was right by your side." Matt joked.

"He's around." She mouthed slowly to him so that he was able to understand her.

"Not a big fan of these type of things are you?" Matt asked.

Maggie shook her head. Matt nodded in understanding.

"How's Caroline?" She asked.

"Good." Matt nodded, looking down at her with a smile. "She's doing really good."

She smiled happy for some good news for once. Matt was really easy to talk to she had noticed and she was grateful for that. She needed easy at the moment.

"Tell her I said hey." Maggie mouthed to him slowly.

Matt nodded. "I will."

Maggie nodded too and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked around, trying to spot Damon, getting a little worried when she didn't spot him. This couldn't be good for her stress levels. She looked around for Bonnie or Elena but hadn't spotted them either.

"Calm Maggie." The faint voice called to her again.

Maggie looked around quickly, trying to spot anyone out of the ordinary, figuring out where the voice had come from.

"Maggie, are you alright?" Matt asked from beside her.

She shook her head and looked up at Matt, giving him a reassuring smile. "Yep."

"Look, I know that we're not close, not like you and Bonnie." Matt said. "Or you and Damon for that matter. But if you ever need a friend or just someone to talk to, I'm here. You can text me anytime you need to."

Maggie could see the care and truth behind his words and in his blue eyes. She gave him a gentle smile, appreciating that a lot. It was nice to know that she had another person to turn to other than Damon and Bonnie for things. Who, lets face it, were dealing with other bigger problems. It was refreshing to have someone who was human and normal in her life.

Soon Matt had left her to go find Tyler and she had decided to find an unoccupied room within the Lockwood mansion, needing to get away from it all, from the people. Finally finding one she quickly closed the door behind her, and leaned with her back against it, as she took in slow, calming breaths.

Her eyes slipped closed and she just focused on taking a breather and letting all the stress go. When her eyes opened she looked around the room but remained against the door, not daring to go further into the room.

She had been so caught up in everyone else's problems that she had finally begun to think about her own. Maggie thought about the dreams she had been having and what they could possibly mean and then she thought about she was hearing a faint voice call to her. Since she was the only one to hear the voice, Maggie wondered if it was just in her mind, and that it wasn't really there at all. What if she was just going crazy? What if she ended up like her mother in her final days?

She wished that she had Damon or even Bonnie to talk to about this but she didn't. Right now her dreams and other things had to remain in the back of her mind as she focused on more important things. Like Damon not going over the edge with Katherine's return.

Deciding that she had enough composure time, Maggie returned to the main part of the mansion, where everyone else was. She had expected Damon to just appear at her side and not Elena, who shockingly, was the one to find her.

"Hey." Elena said. "Damon and Stefan are being idiots at the moment."

Seriously? She goes off for 5 minutes to have alone time and there's already more drama. This time between the brothers. Maggie shook her head annoyed, Katherine had already gotten to them. Was she Satan reincarnated or something?

"Great." Maggie mouthed.

"Uhm, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you." Elena said. "Back at my house?"

Maggie raised an eyebrow but nodded anyways. She sent Damon a quick text before she followed Elena to go find Jenna and Jeremy.

When they arrived to the Gilbert house, Elena led Maggie upstairs to her bedroom, providing privacy for the two girls. Maggie already had some idea of where the conversation was heading but listened to Elena talk anyway because she knew that Elena cared for Damon too.

"I know that we're not close but I consider you a good friend of mine." Elena said.

Maggie nodded signaling to the girl to continue.

"Besides Stefan, you're the only one who really knows Damon." Elena said. "I mean you probably know him better than Stefan does. Damon really cares about you. And I know you're really worried about him." Elena looked at her. "If anyone can save Damon from Katherine, it's you, Maggie. He'll listen to you. You're the only one to keep him from going over the edge."

Maggie nodded. She had already known that but she wasn't so sure. Damon had really loved Katherine and she still had a strong hold over the vampire. She wasn't so sure that she could keep him from going over but she was going to try like hell to do so. Especially with Elena giving her a vote of confidence. Maggie didn't know why she cared about getting Elena's assurance but she did.

It was late by the time Maggie had returned to the boarding house. When she had walked through the front door she noticed how silent the house was and the books scattered on the floor. She glanced down at them before coming to stand still and listening for any signs of Stefan or Damon being home. But all she heard was silence.

No one but her was home.

Maggie began to make her way throughout the entire house anyways, searching every room for any sign of Damon anywhere. She just had a bad feeling when it came to him especially when he hadn't answered any of her text messages. He always answered her text messages.

She was upstairs when she heard the front door open but not close. Maggie quickly rushed down the stairs and saw a broken Damon walk past her, not even casting a glance her way. Maggie closed the front door before she rushed over to Damon.

He threw his black jacket angrily at the chair. Something had happened and she had no idea what exactly. Maggie jumped when the glass cup that Damon had been holding, hit above the fireplace, which had a nice fire going and shattered across the rug.

She rushed to Damon's side, looking at his face, and seeing how hurt and destroyed he looked.

"I lost Elena tonight." Damon said softly, not looking at her.

Maggie shook her head not understanding. What had he done to make him loose Elena? She was just there not an hour ago and Elena was still concerned about Damon. What happened within the past hour to have changed all that?

"She loves Stefan." Damon said. His blue eyes stared at her. "Katherine's always loved Stefan. She told me tonight. She never loved me. I lost her and Elena."

Maggie threw her arms around Damon and pulled him to her as tears sprung to her eyes. Poor Damon. She couldn't even begin to think on what he was feeling right now knowing that the woman that he's loved for the past 145 years hadn't even loved him at all. Had chosen his brother over him.

She pulled away from him, cupping his face gently in her hands, giving him a comforting smile matched with a worried look.

"Don't leave me." Damon stared at her.

She could tell that he had been drinking and she cringed, knowing that was never a good mix when he was close to an emotional melt down. This was what she had been afraid of the moment he became involved with Elena and with Katherine's return.

She shook her head at him, staring at him with concern.

"Don't leave me Maggie." Damon cupped her face gently between his two hands. "I can't loose you too. I can't."

"You won't." She mouthed to Damon and then she pulled him back into a hug.

Once again she pushed aside her own personal worries and problems to be there for a loved one. Damon needed her. She would just have to find another time to tell him about her strange dreams and problems.

Did you like or hate? Review and let me know. (: