Maeve Mikaelson

Chapter Thirteen

*Maeve Miller*

It took Maeve five minutes to give Jenna a hug, explain the situation and give her cat a hug before she was on her way to the Salvatore house.

Her clock was running out, and she needed to see Damon before she likely disappears forever.

He was laying in bed, her elixir bottles spread around him like they were beer cans and an extremely pitiful look on his face. She sat on the bed next to him and grabbed his hand.

"Damon?" His eyes opened but she felt like he was looking past her. "It's your little witch." She dabbed his forehead, and he leaned into the cool water. Someone was there before her, and she just didn't see them. Even better, she thought bitterly, less ammo for her kidnappers. 

"Maeve?" He sounded weak.

"Yeah. I'm still here." She watched him sadly. "You are too. You just have to hold on a little longer. Stefan and I are fixing this."

"You can't let him." Damon tried to sit, but she pushed him back down.

"I can't stop him. We both want to save you. Let us do that."  She watched his face contort as another round of pain hit him.

Maeve grabbed another tonic and helped him drink it. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, and she had a feeling it wasn't her he was speaking to. "It's my fault."

"It was not your fault Damon. You weren't to blame, you got bit saving people. Do not apologize for doing the right thing." He leaned into her touch, and she cleared her throat. "I'm going to have to leave for a while. I don't know how long. I just need you to know that this isn't your fault, and I'm going to miss you a lot. I just couldn't leave without telling you goodbye."

"Maeve..." He grabbed her hand and she took it.

"I'm right here." She mumbled a sleeping spell and his face contorted into an expression of bliss. "I'll miss you." She put a bracelet on his hand. She needed a way to check up on him when she was gone.

She walked out of the room with tears in her eyes. Out of everyone, Damon was someone she was closest too. Their relationship had zero expectations, yet somehow they always managed to be there for each other. She would probably miss him the most.

Caroline was waiting for her. They needed no words. It seemed that Caroline was okay with letting Maeve be silent just this once.

Her house was a somber affair. She had given Caroline access to the place when she was gone in case there was some emergency and managed to pack a bag in under an hour. Correction: Caroline had managed to pack the bag, and on many levels Maeve was scared to look at what she had gotten her.

With the bracelets off, she stored them in her magic room and sealed it off. She was not risking anyone getting their hands on those. Finally, her spiral notebook of her favorite spells were also packed. She didn't know if they would search her bags and apparently most people don't store spells in a spiral notebook.

"I'm almost ready, Care. What time is it?" She looked at the blonde.

"11:30." Caroline continued looking through Maeve's room. "You have some cute clothes."

"Feel free to use them when I'm gone." Maeve didn't even turn. "Can you toss me the leather jacket? I'm not leaving her behind."

"So you're really going to leave? Just like that?" Caroline was very good at hiding her feelings, but Maeve knew better.

"He said he would kill you." Maeve grabbed her bag. "I'm not playing with your life Care." She started walking towards the door. "Besides, I've been here three weeks. You won't even notice a difference."