"Megan," Elena said quietly. "Where are you?"

"Listen!" Damon held up his hand and signalled for quiet. "There she is."

Elena turned and saw Megan watching her from the shadows. Megan looked frightened.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" she whispered.

"If you want to help her, this is the only way." He reached out and grabbed Elena's hand. "Make sure you stay with me."

She nodded. Although she thought she was braced for the physical connection, it was all she could do not to gasp when the electrifying shock zapped across her senses.

They walked slowly toward Megan.

"Megan, tell me what do you see?" Damon asked gently.

Megan's eyes widened. Her small face was contorted and bathed with sweat. She was weeping copiously, her lips blubbering. "I don't want to stay here!"

"We are here to help you, Megan," Elena said. "Tell us what do you see."

"Mommy! Mommy!" Megan screamed the name repeatedly. "I don't want to stay here!"

"I can help you, Megan," Damon said. "Let me help you."

"Mommy! I'm scared! Help me!" Megan cried out. Her tears were flowing freely down her cheeks.

Instinctively, Elena reached for her. Damon placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. "You can't. We need to find out what's going on."

"Oh, no, Damon, please."

He shook his head stubbornly. "We have to."

So Elena just stood there and watched Megan. She squeezed his hands tightly while she lived through the hell the child's subconscious mind was being put through.

"No, no!" Megan gasped for breath. "He is going to kill you. Run! Run!"

"Who is here? Megan, tell me who is here?" Damon asked.

"He is going to kill you. He has a knife! Run!" Megan yelled out. "Run!"

A chill shivered through Elena. "Who is he?"

"He is dangerous. He wants to hurt you. He killed you once, and he is going to kill you again!" Megan stepped back. "He killed you once. He will kill you again."

"Who did he kill?" Damon asked as he moved closer to Megan.

"I don't want to see this anymore!" Megan screamed. "He is going to kill you!"

"Can you see his face, Megan?" Damon asked. "We will catch him and nobody will get hurt."

"Yes, tell us about him, Megan," Elena said. "We will stop him. We will catch him."

Megan turned to look at her. "He is going to kill you! He is going to kill you again!"

With that, the little girl turned around and ran.

"Megan, wait!" Elena reached out to grab Megan's arm and the little girl screamed. Megan fought hard to get away from her grip but Elena didn't loosen her grip on the girl's arm. "Megan, calm down!"

"He is going to kill you again! Run! Run!" Megan cried out.

"Damn!" Damon cursed. "This is getting out of control."

Elena went still. "What's going on?"

"This dreamscape is too powerful. We need to return to the surface now."

"What's going to happen to Megan?" Elena asked as she tried to pull Megan into her arms. "I can't leave her here."

"I'm not leaving anybody here," Damon said as he held out his hand. "Take my hand, Elena. Don't let go of Megan."

Elena hugged Megan closed to her despite the child was fighting to get away. She reached for his hand and he grabbed her wrist.

It came as a physical jolt when she felt his powerful fingers lock fiercely around her wrist in the waking world. The shock brought her instantly out of the dreamscape. Megan came with her.

Then Megan's eyelids began to flutter and, though her respiration was still choppy, it no longer sounded as though she had been running for miles and each breath might be her last.

Once her eyes had focused, she divided her bewildered gaze between Damon and Elena. It was into Elena's arms that she hurled her solid little body. "I'm so scared, Dr Gilbert."

Elena enfolded Elena in her arms and hugged her tight. She squeezed her eyes shut and thanked God for bringing back this child safely to this world. When she opened her eyes, they melded with Damon's. He extended his hand and stroked her cheek with his knuckle, then laid his hand on the girl's head.

"I think we should let Megan have a rest," Damon said.

Elena asked the nurse to give Megan a low dose of sedation so that her sleep would be uninterrupted. She had decided to stay back in the hospital to monitor Megan's condition in case something happened.

It was almost two a.m. when she returned to her office. Damon was sitting on the sofa. There was a bottle of water on the coffee table. The bio-cocktail of adrenaline and psi that always followed a heavy drain on psychic senses was still washing through him. He was edgy and restless. What he really needed was some fast, overheated sex with Elena, but it wouldn't be chivalrous to suggest it, given what she had been through just now. Instead he was using water to cool down. He had to rest. But he knew he would dream.

"Is Megan okay?" he asked.

"I have given her a low dose of sedation. She will sleep the whole night. Megan's mum is with here." She sat down on the sofa next to him.

"Good." He rested his head against the back of the chair.

There was a brief silence before Damon spoke again.

"I didn't expect Megan's dreamscape to be so powerful," he said. "I shouldn't have brought you along. You could be trapped there if something went wrong."

Elena turned her head to look at him. "What did Megan mean? She kept on saying 'he is going to kill you again'. Again? Who did he kill again?"

"I'm not entirely sure but I have got a hunch that Megan might have seen this man killed before."

Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," he said, keeping his voice very neutral. "He tried to kill before and he is trying to kill again."

"Are we talking about a serial killer here?"

"Maybe."

"What are we going to do?"

"What?" It was getting hard to concentrate. The deep weariness was getting heavier.

"If there is a serial killer, shouldn't we inform the police?" Elena reminded him. "What if he continues to kill?"

"What are you going to tell the police?" he asked. "It's a dream. There is no proof."

She bit her lower lip. "You are right. We have no proof."

"I will try to do a dream analysis on Megan again but right now I need to get some rest."

"You look exhausted," Elena said. "Are you okay?"

"I just need sleep."

"I thought you use your talent for your dream counselling. Do you always get so tired after using your talent?" she asked curiously.

"Not normally," he said. "I have to put you in the same trance as me to see Megan's dream. And I didn't expect her dream to be so powerful. That used a hell lot of my energy."

"Are you sure you are okay?" She sounded concern. "Is there anything I can help you to make you feel better?"

I need you, Elena Gilbert, he thought. "Stop worrying," he said. "I have been here before. I will be fine after a little sleep. I will go home now."

"You can't drive like this."

"I need my bed."

"You are not fit to drive like this. You stay here to rest." She made it a command.

He looked amused. "Are you always that bossy?"

"You can sleep here. On this sofa," she said adamantly. "I have some paperwork to do."

Before she could stand up Damon reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her down with him to the leather sofa, her body beneath his. He might be tired, but as he looked down at her, he couldn't mistake the desire in her eyes. Did she want him as badly too? He certainly hoped so.

Elena sucked in her breath. "I don't think…"

"You think too much."

He bent his head and covered her mouth with his own.

Elena froze beneath the impact of Damon's kiss. Damon was kissing her. After all these weeks of her wondering and fantasizing, he was actually kissing her.

Hot excitement flashed through her, erasing the momentary paralysis. She sank her fingers into Damon's shoulders. He responded with a low, husky growl that conveyed male hunger and need in the most elemental language of all. He deepened the kiss. She opened her mouth for him.

"Damon." She twisted beneath him, threaded her fingers in his hair. "Oh my goodness, Damon."

She kissed him with a ferocity that he took as a challenge, returning the embrace with the same passionate intensity. It was as if both of them had been waiting for this to happen for a very long time, and now that the moment was upon them, they were each determined to seize the opportunity.

He wrenched his mouth away from hers and stared down at her. He was breathing hard now.

"Damn," he whispered. "This is incredible. You are incredible."

Elena was dazed by the waves of passion that were coursing through her. She felt deliciously crushed beneath Damon's not inconsiderable weight. The heat of his body triggered a series of lightning strikes within her. She could feel the fires they ignited. The flames burned most intensely in her lower body, liquefying all that they touched.

She snaked her hand behind his head, pulling his head down roughly to meet her hungry mouth. He devoured her, his silken tongue dancing with hers, demanding and rough. Her hands fisted into his hair, needing him, wanting him inside her so desperately that she moaned into his mouth. She was lost, she knew it…and she didn't care. Breathing in the scent of him, tasting him, feeling his body on top of her turned her wild, insane to have him inside her.

"Elena, you have no idea what you are doing to me." He kissed her throat.

Realization burst through Elena's dazzled senses. "Oh, my God, you are right. This is all my fault."

"Huh?"

"It is the case." She squirmed out from under him, getting to her feet and leaving him laid out on the couch on his stomach "Don't you see? It is the situation we are in that is causing you to act like this."

"What the hell?"

"I thought this was all very sudden." Elena exhaled deeply. Her whole body was shaking.

"Sudden?" He narrowed his eyes as he sat up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it's not as though you have shown any great interest in me until tonight."

"Elena, for God's sake, listen to me. You have got this all wrong."

"I don't think so." She glowered at him. "We have known each other for several weeks and you have never once indicated that you felt anything other than sort of friendly toward me."

"Sort of friendly?" Damon was beginning to look mildly dangerous.

Elena was mortified. "It is worse than I thought. You weren't even feeling particularly friendly, were you? That was just my imagination."

"Elena, I think we have a small problem here," he began in an ominous tone.

"Please, it is all right. I understand exactly what is happening."

"I'm glad one of us does."

"Well, they do say that women are more inclined to analyse situations."

"Hell."

"I have read about this sort of thing," she said defensively. "This is unprofessional."

"Unprofessional?"

She was suddenly outraged by his obstinacy. "Don't look at me as if you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm sure that as a dream therapist, you have faced this sort of situation hundreds of times."

Damon reached out to clamp a hand around her wrist. "For the benefit of this nonanalytical, slow-witted dream therapist, would you kindly explain what the hell you're talking about?"

Elena flushed. "You know what I mean. A situation like this, where two people are thrown together in close confines. A situation in which they face a threat of danger. Why, it's bound to generate a heightened sense of intimacy. Intimacy often breeds passion. Especially when the two-people involved are single and of the opposite sex."

"Hold it." Damon put his fingers against her lips to silence her. "Stop right there. Let's take this from the top. First, I have been a dream therapist for more than ten years, and I can assure you that I have never, ever made love to a client. Until now, that is."

Elena stared at him. "I see. But I thought you said I'm not your client."

"Yes, you are right. You are not my client. So there is nothing wrong for the two of us to be intimate."

"No, it's wrong."

He looked annoyed now. "Care to explain?"

"It's the adrenaline and hormones and things like that at work. Not genuine emotion."

"Yeah, right."

"You are exhausted. You should rest."

"Uh-huh."

Elena edged back to the door. "I will get some coffee and have a look at Megan. You should sleep."

Damon stood up. "I think if we want to continue to work together we need to be clear about something. Otherwise I won't be able to work with you."

She paused in the doorway. "Oh."

"We have to be completely honest with each other if we want to continue working together."

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

He spread his hands. "I will get right to the bottom line. Did you really kiss me a few minutes ago because you were driven into a paroxysm of violent passion by the close confines and threat of incredible danger that we face together?"

"Well, no. At least, I don't think so."

"So why did you kiss me?"

She gripped the edge of the door and lifted her chin proudly. "If you must know, I kissed you because I have been wanting to kiss you ever since I met you during that dinner when you first arrived to Mystic Falls. There. Are you satisfied?"

He stared at her as if he had just walked into a brick wall. "Elena."

"Have a rest, Damon."

Elena opened the door, walked out of her office and slammed the door behind her. She took a deep breath. After a few seconds, she opened the door again. Damon was still standing, staring at the door. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked.

His mouth quirked and a sexy gleam appeared in his eyes. "Same reason. Been wanting to do it since I met you that night."

Elena felt her insides turn to jelly. "Oh."

"See you soon."

"Right." Elena closed the door again, this time very quietly before walking towards Megan's room.

x x x

Joseph lifted her easily and perched her on the table in the upstairs hallway, and she laughed. Not because he had said or done something funny, but because she was so happy. She could not remember ever being so happy, not in her entire life.

"Your house is beautiful," she whispered.

"We will have this house by ourselves this weekend." He smiled at her. "My brother and sister-in-law are away for a business trip. They won't be back until Monday morning."

She laughed again. "I'm all yours this weekend."

"You have to stop seeing him," he said as he unbuttoned her blouse.

"I can't. He is my producer," she said as Joseph pushed her blouse aside and kissed her shoulder. A thrill of pure sexual sensation fluttered through her body. "I only love you. I love you with all my heart."

"Then leave him."

"Then take me out of Mystic Falls," she whispered. "We will go to Hollywood."

She had planned to leave John Gilbert so many times, but she always chickened out when the time came. She loved Joseph, he made her happy, he made her laugh, in bed he made her scream in pleasure. But he had nothing to give her but love. That should be enough, and at times like this when he was minutes, maybe seconds, from being inside her, she believed it was enough. But when she was faced with the reality of walking away with nothing…she wasn't sure she could. Ever.

John Gilbert could make her somebody. She didn't want to be poor. She had never loved her agent but she still felt bound to him in a way she could not explain.

Joseph was a music talent. He could be someone famous in Hollywood. She could never understand why he would be contented to stay in a small town like Mystic Falls. But that didn't mean she didn't love this man. It was extraordinary; she had never known it was possible to love anyone as much as she loved her Joseph.

Joseph reached beneath her skirt, and his fingers teased the top of her stockings, flickering over bare flesh. She was perched precariously on the table. If he did not hold her she would surely fall, but she knew Joseph would never let her fall. She spread her thighs as he lifted her skirt, and reached out to stroke his erection.

"You are never going to leave him." Joseph caressed her intimately as he shared this awful truth. At times like this it was nice to pretend that they had a future, but she was afraid of the unknown, and he knew it.

"I don't want to talk about this now," she whispered. She wanted him so badly, she ached. Her body, her heart…he made her ache in ways she had not known possible.

"You never want to talk about this," Joseph said.

"Make love to me," she said as she began to unfastened Joseph's belt. She knew how to end this discussion that would never have a satisfactory ending. Sexual heat had brought them together and it would keep them together. Some days it seemed that they had more, but if this was all they had was it enough? Could she make it be enough?

He growled at her and unfastened his trousers, and with anxious hands he pushed her skirt out of the way and pulled her underwear down and off. She couldn't wait to have him inside her. Her body trembled, and she grew damp.

He pushed into her, and as they became one she knew everything was going to be all right, somehow. She did love him. Maybe he didn't believe that she knew how to love, but she did.

"I do love you," she said as he pushed deep and completion teased her with a pulsing and a tingle and a shudder. "Oh, Joseph." She threw her head back, opened her eyes, and looked up into his face.

It was Damon Salvatore's face.

Damon came awake with a start, sitting up and gasping for air. It only took a moment for his breath to come more easily and his heartbeat to begin to slow. He shoved his trembling hand through his hair.

The dream was as disturbing as any of the dreams he had been having since he was twelve. But at least in those dreams he knew who he was.

But in this dream, he didn't know who he was. Who was he?

The truth washed over him in a shock wave that made him dizzy. He had loved Katherine; he had made her laugh and scream and cry.

And he had killed her.

He was Joseph.

What was going on?

He could not remember ever being so sexually aroused in his dreams. He felt Katherine's skin, and he had experienced a response that seemed real…not at all a fantasy.

Was he Joseph Salvatore reincarnated?

Did Joseph really kill Katherine?

There were thousands of questions going through his mind.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Memories of the night slammed through him. Elena. He had kissed Elena. And she had kissed him back.

She had wanted to kiss him since that night when they first met. So, she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Yes, he was right. The chemistry and hunger between them were so strong that first night when they met. And they had never faded.

The door opened and Elena walked into the office.

"You are awake," she said as she waved the cup of coffee in her hand. "I brought you an expresso."

"Thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"Good." He smiled at her as he took the cup of coffee. He breathed in the delicious aroma coming from the steaming cup and his mouth watered. "Nothing better than an expresso first thing in the morning."

"I'm glad you feel better this morning," she said. "I saw Megan just now. She is still sleeping. The sedation works. She didn't wake up at all."

He stopped smiling. "She can't rely on sedation for the rest of her life."

"I know."

"She will have interrupted sleep if we don't fix her dreams."

She nodded. "That's why we need your help."

He frowned. "I'm not God. I can't fix every problem." He paused. "I sometimes have a few bad dreams of my own."

Elena's brows rose. "You can't fix your own bad dreams?"

"I haven't been able to fix these," he said as he sipped his coffee. "As a strong lucid dreamer, I can usually structure a dream to some extent. The trick to handling a bad dreamscape is to find a way out. But I haven't been able to find an escape route through my dream. So it keeps repeating."

She sat down next to him. "What's your dream about?"

He hesitated. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"I have been troubled by this dream since I was twelve," he said finally after a brief moment.

"That's when you started seeing the auras?"

"Yes." He paused and looked at her. "It was very vague initially. It was a dream of a man and a woman. They were lovers."

"Hmm."

"It was only a year ago when I had managed to find out more about the dream."

"What did you find out?"

"It was about my uncle, Joseph Salvatore and his girlfriend, Katherine Pierce."

Her eyes widened. "I have heard the names."

He drank more coffee. "Yes, Joseph killed Katherine and then committed suicide thirty-five years ago."

"Why are you having dreams about Joseph and Katherine?"

He leaned back against the sofa. "I don't know." He sighed. "That's why I need to find out."

"Is that why you came back to Mystic Falls?"

"Yes."

"Have you found anything since you came here?"

"No." He shook his head. "Believe me, I have thought about the dream a million times."

"You aren't sleeping well, are you?" she asked gently. "The dream is interrupting your sleep."

He looked at her and said nothing.

"You should get help, Damon."

"I'm not interested in therapy. I can handle my own damn dreams."

He thought she would be annoyed but to his surprise, she didn't. Her soft, warm hand closed over his.

"Listen to me, Damon. Someone can help you…"

He pulled his hand away. "No."

"Don't be so stubborn."

"I'm not," he retorted. "Mine your own business, Elena. I'm not one of your patients," he said very deliberately.

"Fine. Be like that. Your dreams, your problem."

"You are angry."

She glared at him. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You know what? Yes, you are right. I'm angry. I'm pissed. You are the most stubborn, irritating, annoying and arrogant jerk. Why should I be worried about you? You can deal with your own business. I don't give a damn what your dreams will do to you..."

Elena never got a chance to finish. Damon's hot, hard mouth smothered her bitter words, never asking, simply demanding her response. He kissed her hungrily, fiercely, cupping the back of her head in his left hand while with his right he kneaded and stroked her breasts. After an initial squeak of surprise, Elena let herself sink against him. Needing more, she opened her mouth for him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She tasted of sweet coffee and raw temptation, and it nearly drove him mad. He covered her mouth over and over, trying to brand her as his. He snaked his forearms under her back, trying to pull her closer, her breasts tighter against his chest. He needed more. More of her, more of her heat. She moaned into his mouth as he plundered again, sweeping his tongue into the wet, warm cavity, greedy for her sweetness, wallowing in her essence.

Pulling his mouth from hers, he rasped, "You are the best medication ever."

"Damon, someone is at the door. I heard someone knocking," Elena panted softly.

Damn!

He looked at the door and then back at Elena, so damn tempted to ignore the knocking on the door again.

Damon raked his hand through his hair in frustration. "Talk about timing." He gave her a heated stare. "We finish this later."

Elena pushed him away from her gently. "Not happening. I have plenty of work to do today."

"We can finish this after you finish your work," he said gruffly.

She jumped up from the couched and gathered her hair in a ponytail. "You have plenty of work to do as well. You need to fix Megan's dream, remember?" She headed for the door.

"You will pay for this one, Elena Gilbert," he whispered to himself with a small smile as he watched Elena pulled open the door.

"Hey Elena." It was Alaric. "I heard Damon and you tried to see Megan's dream last night…" Then he saw Damon. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Damon smiled broadly as he greeted Alaric. "Elena and I have some important matters to deal with." Elena glared at him but he ignored her. "Hate to leave now but I have work to do. We have no time to waste." He winked at her. "We will finish this later."