phone a friend

AN INCESSANT TAPPING ON HER CHEEK WAKES HER. In the brief second that passes before she opens her eyes, all of her memories flood in and she knows who will be standing before her. Knowing doesn't make it any more pleasurable though, and she can't decide if it's the faint throbbing in her neck or the fact that he'd even managed to catch her off guard enough to take her down.

"I know that you're awake, I can hear your heartbeat change."

"Wow," She mused, voice hoarse from disuse and the knife that had been in her throat however long ago. It must've been at least an hour by now if she was already waking up and mostly healed, or at least not actively bleeding out anymore. "Do you want a gold star?"

"No," Mikael bites out, already irritated at her sarcasm. "I want to know what you are. You obviously aren't a vampire, and even one of those mutts wouldn't have survived that. Are you a witch?"

"Maybe," Athena pursed her lips, seemingly contemplating his question before shrugging. "Maybe not."

He narrows his eyes at her as she rolls her head back, sitting stiffly in the chair she had been bound to. "Well, which is it?"

"I think that depends on your definition of a witch," Athena glanced at him, nonchalance obvious in her relaxed tone. "It could be different than mine, so who's to say what I am or am not? If anything, I'm happy to sit here and play a fun guessing game with you. I'll even put money down if you're brave enough,"

Mikael clenches his jaw, stalking towards her with quickly rising anger. "Your sarcasm is not as charming as you think it is, girl. Now tell me what you are,"

He yanked her head back, making her grunt at the stinging in her scalp and she watched his pupils dilate in an attempt to compel her. Silence befell them for a split second, and then she huffed a laugh, her lips parting in a grin that enraged the man. "Now, Mikael– you are Mikael, right? I mean, you've got the accent, the rage, and the attitude of a man who uses fear to get what he wants, all key components in the Mikaelson name, so I'm just making an educated guess here–"

She's cut off by a stiff backhand to her jaw and she inhales sharply at the impact that slowly ebbs into nothing. When she raises her gaze to his again, her brown eyes are sharp and less humorous, but she lets out a long sigh, and her anger is pushed aside. "You really shouldn't interrupt people, Mikael. It's rude."

"I don't play the games of children," He looks at her with unreserved disgust, and she smiles victoriously to herself. "If you want all of your precious friends to live, you'll give me what I want."

She narrows her eyes at him, tilting her head curiously. "So that's where Klaus gets it from. Things are making a lot of sense now,"

That comment seems to spark the rage she'd been trying to uncover, and she yelps in surprise when his hand suddenly clamps around her jaw, pressing her cheeks together so she's forced to quiet. "That bastard is not my son. He and I are nothing alike."

Her eyes widen and she nods beneath his grip, apparent realization dawning on her as he steps back and lets her go. "No, you're right. Klaus is actually better than you, which is something I never thought I would say. I like him plenty, but he can be a bit prickly sometimes."

He scoffs, eyes running over her. "You're wasting my time. Whatever you may be clearly isn't important enough for any one of your friends to come and rescue you, so I might as well stop trying."

"Did you ever consider," Athena starts. "That it's not that they don't care about me, it's that they know I'm more than capable of getting out of trouble on my own. Speaking of– why did you take me, anyway? Why not go for your kids?"

Mikael appraises her, reluctant to indulge her though he sees no reason not to when he intends to kill her in the end. "My children are weak in this century and with Elijah daggered again, there will be no speaking sense into Rebekah. She's always clinging to whoever shows her the slightest affection, and right now, that seems to be all of you. She's always been such a pitiful thing like that."

Annoyance flooded her at the thought of Elijah being daggered, and Klaus's avoidance of telling her his whereabouts suddenly made sense. It earns an involuntary eye roll from the goddess, but she doesn't dwell on it, not wanting to show even the slightest bit of knowledge to the man searching for the first sign of weakness.

"Right, of course," She nods, seemingly agreeing with his words. "And Klaus isn't your son, whatever, whatever. So, the plan was to take me out of the equation so they'd all be distraught and weak, and then you'd just swoop in and get the rest of them when they least expected it?"

Mikael nods, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Cool. Good to know," Athena huffs a short breath and shakes her hair back out of her face. "I'm going to kick your ass now."

With a low grunt, she pulled at the restraints around her wrists and they snapped, falling into a useless heap on the floor. She twisted her stiff joints out and stood, taking a step toward Mikael who watched her with wide, yet defensive eyes.

She lunged for him and her clenched fist landed firmly on the side of his face, earning a grunt from the man. A wooden stake appeared in her hand and she swung her arm up, aiming for his heart, but was blocked by a strong arm.

He shoved her back and she stumbled, clenching her jaw as she regained her footing and stalked towards him angrily, twirling the stake in her hand and readjusting her grip on it. She kicks a leg out towards his knees and he bends at the waist, flinching back to avoid it. While he's slightly hunched over, Athena slams her knee up into his nose and shoves him backward, pinning him against the wall.

She fakes another punch with her left hand and plunges the stake into his heart with her right, gritting her teeth as she forces it into his chest. He lets out a pained noise and she steps back, watching him slide down the wall as veins slowly crawl up his skin.

Standing over his still form, she put her hands on her hips and looked around the old house, wondering how far out of town he could've gotten while she was unconscious. Her eyes landed on her shoes a few feet away, tossed haphazardly on the dirty floor, and she made a noise of scandal as she hurried over to slide them back on.

"Asshole," She muttered, looking at him heatedly.

With her shoes back on her feet safely, she reached for the pile of things he appeared to have, and she pilfered through them, disregarding the few pairs of clothes he had before her attention fell to the cell phone lying on the table.

Her eyes lit up with the screen and she quickly went to the phone, dialing Stefan's number.

The call was barely past the first ring when she heard the other end pick up, and her boyfriend's rushed, panicked voice echoed through the speaker. "Hello?"

"Hi, honey,"

"Athena?! Is that you?"

She smiled, eyeing Mikael's stiff body with a sense of smug satisfaction. "Yeah, so, I have no idea where I am, but I have a dead vampire-hunting vampire here, and no intentions of dragging his desiccating corpse anywhere through the woods."

"Okay, just– don't move. Bonnie will try to do another locator spell. We'll be there as soon as possible, okay?"

She huffed a sigh but nodded despite him being unable to see. "I'll be here. Wherever here is,"

──────

"Athena," Stefan's voice cuts through the mostly incoherent ramblings she'd been mumbling to herself for the past twenty minutes and she rolls her eyes in relief, knowing if she had to spend another moment in silence with the decaying corpse next to her, she was going to lose it.

"In here," She stood from the creaky, wooden chair she'd taken rest on and eyed the front door as it swung open. She lifted her fingers in a wave, smiling as if there weren't a multitude of reasons for her to be upset.

Before she could say anything, Stefan was crushing her in his arms, making a grunt leave her lips in surprise.

He pressed a kiss to her temple, pulling back to look at her in sheer relief. "I'm so glad you're okay. What happened?"

Sudden irritation flooded her and she huffed, poking him firmly in the chest. "You gave me a hickey, Stefan! I know you died when you were a hormone-filled teenager, but you're not one! Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Stefan's frown deepened with every word that came from her, but it did nothing to conceal the flush rising on his cheeks as he realized everyone else heard her complaints as well. Heaving a sigh, he shook his head exasperatedly. "I..." He stopped again, narrowing his eyes at her as he tried to facilitate a response through his speechlessness. "I love you."

Huffing petulantly as Stefan stepped to the side of her, she lifted her gaze to look at the two Originals standing before her, staring down at their father with lost expressions. She took a slight step towards them, quickly earning both sets of eyes on her. "You guys aren't mad, are you? I mean, I know we wanted him dead, but he is your dad at the end of the day, and I am well versed in shitty dads–"

Athena is cut off yet again by a pair of arms wrapping around her, and her eyes widen in surprise when she registers the blonde wrapped around her frame. She looks past Rebekah at Klaus, who smirks silently in amusement at her panic, and Athena slowly raises her arms, patting awkwardly at Rebekah's back.

The blonde pulls away, resting her hands on Athena's shoulder as her blue eyes glimmer with relief. "Thank you, Athena,"

"You're... welcome. I guess,"

Klaus clears his throat, apparently satisfied with the heartwarming moment between the two women. "Well, the job isn't fully done yet. He won't burn unless it's a white oak stake, and we've burned every bit of it out of existence."

Stefan furrowed his brows, looking at his girlfriend. "You made that one, right?"

Athena nodded silently.

"Can you make a white oak stake?"

"No," Athena shook her head, an apologetic tone to her voice as she glanced at the siblings before her. "I can't make something I've never seen, or you know, touched."

Stefan sighs, but the sound isn't because of her limited ability, she knows. The stress of the night seemed to have caught up to him, and Athena momentarily felt bad for not being more comforting. "We'll have to keep him like this, then,"

Klaus nods, reaching down to grab his arms. "We can keep him with the rest of them. I have no interest in waking any of them up, so he'll be nice and comfortable in his constant state of paralyzed consciousness."

Athena quirked a brow in curiosity. "Is that what it's like for them? Because they're not really dead, they're just daggered, it's like," She frowns, looking for the right words. "It's like being in a coma."

Something in Athena's tone makes Rebekah's bright eyes dim and the brunette quickly clears the room, silently nudging Stefan forward as she grabs Mikael's phone and allows the two men to carry his body from the dilapidated house.

She stands back with Rebekah and turns towards the blonde only when she's sure they've made it a decent distance. "Rebekah? Are you sure you're alright with all of this? I mean, I would understand if you're upset with me, he's still your dad at the end of the day."

Rebekah blinked, warmth building in her eyes as she stared at the floor despondently. "I love my brother, Athena. But being daggered– it's– it's a good punishment for my father."

"In what way?"

Rebekah lifts her gaze, stiffening her jaw as she meets Athena's concerned one. "I would rather be killed than daggered ever again,"

Athena let out a stiff breath as the blonde turned on her heel, walking out of the house after her brother and Stefan. Staring at her now empty spot in the room, Athena forcibly shook her head, trying to forget about Rebekah's haunting words. She wasn't sure what exactly happened to them when they were daggered, but she was relieved she would never have to find out herself.

──────

The old witch house that Klaus was keeping his coffins in was gross and Athena had quickly decided upon their arrival that she wouldn't be stepping inside it because she'd had her fill of creepy old houses for at least a week.

Instead, she leaned against the car while Stefan, Rebekah, and Klaus all entered the house. She tiredly tapped her shoe on the ground, shifting around in the fabric of Stefan's suit jacket he'd put on her when they left wherever Mikael had been holding her. The heavy weight of the man's phone hit her thigh during her movements, and she quickly pulled the cell out, skimming through its minimal contents.

Huffing audibly, she opened his contacts, raising a brow at the singular number in his recent call logs.

Her finger hovered over the unnamed number, but before she could press it, Stefan's voice echoed from the house, calling out Klaus's name.

Athena's eyes widened and she stood up straight, spine stiffening as he ran out of the house after a furious-looking Klaus and a terrified-looking Rebekah.

"What? What's wrong?" She looked between the three of them worriedly.

"Klaus's family," Stefan shook his head, letting out a short breath. "They're gone?"

"What, like the coffins are gone? Someone grave-robbed the Original family?"

Rebekah pressed her lips together, fearful of whatever this could mean."The coffins are still there. They're empty, spare for every dagger," She met Athena's shocked stare, dread pooling nauseatingly in her stomach. "Someone has woken them up."

Athena clamped her jaw shut before it could fall completely open, and she glanced at Stefan, who had every emotion he felt on display at the moment.

Her dark eyes drifted to Klaus, and she let out a long breath, lifting her chin as he met her gaze with stormy blue eyes. "Klaus?"

He raised a brow, urging her on, as he could see the gleam in her eyes become one of realization.

"I think your father was working with someone, and I think this was their plan all along."

Stefan furrowed his brows, looking at her confusedly. "Who would be working against us with Mikael, though? I mean, they had to have known that we'd kill Mikael the first chance we got, whatever they needed him for he's useless now."

She smiled tightly, pursing her lips. "Who do you think would know exactly what we'd do, Stefan? To the point where they could use it to double-cross Mikael?"

Realization dawned in his eyes and he faced the two Originals with a hesitant look. "Look, we should find somewhere else to put Mikael for the time being. We can't afford any more mistakes."

Rebekah slowly nodded, looking at her brother. When Klaus simply turned back towards the house, Athena gestured for them to follow, waving them off.

"You gonna be alright out here for another minute?"

Athena nodded, smiling softly at Stefan. "Yeah, I'm just gonna make a phone call really quick,"

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her cheek before taking off after Rebekah and Klaus, once again leaving Athena on her own.

She didn't waste another minute before pulling the cell phone out of her pocket again, this time navigating her way to the call log with ease. Her manicured nail hovered over the number for only a minute before she tapped it and brought the device up to her ear.

The ring echoed three times, and when Athena heard the telltale click of the pickup, she straightened instinctively.

"Did you get it done?"

The familiar voice made her smirk, a flood of smug rage filling her. The double-edged sword she often found herself faced with after being right about something. "Hi, Elena. Long time no see, yeah?"

There's a brief pause on the phone and she assumes the girl is gathering her composure at the thought of being caught once more. "Athena. I guess this means he didn't get the job done, otherwise, you'd be six feet under by now."

"It's funny you say that because that's where you're supposed to be. I didn't deal with you being a conniving bitch our whole lives just to have you become an immortal conniving bitch."

Elena laughs and the cocky sound grates at Athena's nerves. "Oh, please. You would be nothing without me, Athena. Just think, if you hadn't gotten in that car with me that night, you wouldn't be who you are today. You should be thanking me–"

"The only thing I'll thank you for is when you'll finally do us all a favor and die, you evil bitch. And if you think that this isn't going to end with you buried right next to your parents, you're in for a very rude awakening."

Athena turned, her eyes narrowing determinedly as she set for the house, her heels crunching in the grass. "I'm onto you, Elena. Every time you make a new plan, every time you sleep, eat, drink, anything, I want you to always think of me, and where I could be next. I don't want you to close your eyes at night without thinking about me, and what I'm doing at that moment. Do you understand me? You better sleep with one eye open, Elena, because I'm coming for you. And I won't stop until you're gone for good," She stopped before the old wooden porch, shaking her head at nothing. "I always win, Elena. Remember that."

Without letting the doppelgänger finish, Athena dropped the phone, letting it clatter to the ground. She clenched her jaw and lifted her foot, slamming the sharp stiletto of her heel into the screen with a satisfied grunt.

The screen cracked and split around her force, and she watched the display go black, a threatening thrum to heart that meant nothing good. And as the trio stepped out of the house once more, they stopped before Athena, looking at her stiff form inquisitively.

She jerked her head in the direction of the car, ignoring their curiosity for the moment. "Come on. Let's go home,"

────── 

author's note; in another universe, elena and athena would be the perfect enemies to lovers story

originally published; 11.4.21.

edited: 12.9.23.

- liz