in your blood

"DAMON, I'M GOING TO THE COMET CELEBRATION WITH MY DAD, I CAN'T BE A PART OF YOUR VAMPIRE SCHEMES."

Athena shoved kettlecorn in her mouth as she and Damon walked alongside one another through the bustling park, squinting up at the tall man through the sun as it went down behind the buildings.

"But my schemes aren't any fun unless you're there bitching about it," He draped an arm around her shoulder, shaking her roughly, making her roll her eyes.

"My dad has to go to New York soon for some stupid conference, and I plan on spending as much time with him as possible before that. As much as I want Elena and Stefan to sink like the Titanic, I'm putting this on hold for tonight."

Damon sighed, throwing his head back petulantly. He looked down at the teenage girl with the kettlecorn she had demanded. "Family is such a fickle thing, isn't it? It always gets in the way of my diabolical plans."

She shoved him towards the Grill and he laughed, making her shake her head exasperatedly. "How about, just this once, you buy me food instead of compelling me away. I'm bored these days."

Damon placed a hand on her back as they crossed the street and went towards the door of the Mystic Grill, opening it up for her with a wide grin that she huffed at. "Do you not have a hobby? Most teenage girls do... well I don't know what most teenage girls do. Sit and talk about which football player they like?"

Athena scoffed and led them towards a booth. "Football players are douchebags," She sat down across from him and set her snack aside. "I used to do lots of stuff, but lately I suppose I lost my passion for it. Or my motivation. Whichever one fits."

"Well, what did you use to do?" Damon asked as he pulled a menu out and examined it, listening to Athena over the crowd gathered inside the bar.

She shrugged, already knowing what she wanted to order. "Well, I did ballet when I was little. I was the captain of the cheerleading team, and I briefly tried volleyball but was banned from the team after I broke this girl's nose by spiking the ball directly at her face. She totally deserved it, though."

Damon smirked at that, but the tone of the conversation wasn't lost on him. He wanted to question her, but a waitress came over and took their order, halting his train of thought. They both ordered food, but Damon did so with the mindset that Athena would likely take things off of his plate because she was supposedly used to sharing food with people.

He smiled flirtatiously at the waitress as she walked off and then looked back to Athena, sobering immediately. "Why don't you do those things anymore? Some sort of rebellious teenage phase I should be worried about? Are you going to get a face piercing? Or a tattoo?"

She rolled her eyes, though the amusement dimmed at his original question. "Jesus, you're worse than my Dad. It's not a phase, Damon. It's just– after the accident in May, it feels weird to go back to my life before, like everything is still the way it was."

Damon's face twisted with curiosity. "What accident?"

"You don't know? I figured you would've gotten all the dirt on me so you could keep me as your inside man."

"Despite popular belief, I'm not completely diabolical."

"Mhmm," She hummed sarcastically, but let out a sigh. Despite the initial motivations for their friendship, Athena and Damon were actually friends. Even though she'd never admit it, she enjoyed his company, and she liked that she could let loose around him. He didn't care what she did or said, and after spending almost half the year alone, she was relishing the fact that she actually had someone to talk to again. It made it easier for her to open up to him.

"Well, once upon a time, I was friends with Elena," Damon's eyes widened like he didn't believe it at all and she nodded knowingly. "Yeah, she was on the cheerleading team with me, Bonnie, and Caroline. The four of us were sort of close, but Caroline and I were different. We were together."

"You were dating Caroline?"

She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. "No one knew anything about it. The only person who actually knew was Tyler Lockwood. He found out 'cause he walked in on us one time at Caroline's fifteenth birthday party, but we begged him not to tell anyone. He was shockingly cool with it, all things considered."

Damon's eyes flickered over to said teenage boy playing pool with his douchebag-looking friends. He couldn't deny the fact that he looked like someone who absolutely wouldn't do that, but he figured Athena had to be telling the truth.

"So, me and Caroline were together for a long time. We really loved each other, and even though our friends probably would have supported us, we weren't really public with it. We liked that it was our little thing, it made it more special."

She quieted, gaze going distant at the memories. "It was the annual bonfire after the last day of school in May. Caroline and I were a little drunk, and we were fighting that day. Something stupid, I'm sure, considering we had no real problems." Athena laughed, the sound cold as she picked at the skin on her thumb. "I got frustrated, and we got into a fight and practically broke up, and she went to Elena and Bonnie, of course. She told them everything about us, and at first, I was angry, but I understood she needed someone to confide in. So then Elena and Bonnie knew, and I thought we were closer, but I'm sure they just thought I was this horrible girlfriend to Caroline, based on one stupid fight we had. That night, the party ended up getting busted and I didn't have anyone to come get me, so I rode home with Elena. I was just gonna sleep it off and go home in the morning, but, well,"

Damon's eyes widened in realization. "You were in the accident that killed her parents."

Athena nodded, smiling sadly at him. "They couldn't put my name in the news because I was a minor, but everyone found out because that's just how Mystic Falls works. When we went over the bridge, my seatbelt didn't lock and I went through the windshield. I, uh, I got stuck."

"You died," Damon said, his wide blue eyes scanning her scarred face closely. "You died, didn't you?"

She nodded silently, teeth ripping at the skin inside her cheek. "I remember waking up in the ambulance for a minute, and– and they said they had been resuscitating me for twenty minutes. My face was cut open and I was in surgery for six hours but Elena came out without a single scratch."

Athena wiped at the tears welling underneath her eyes, tilting her head back so they wouldn't fall. "No one remembers that I died because Elena lost her parents. It's such bullshit– I might as well have just died."

"Don't say that, Athena. Trust me, you don't want to be dead."

"Why shouldn't I? Elena ruined my life, Damon. When I was in the ICU after surgery, Caroline and Tyler showed up at the hospital and Elena confronted them. She told Caroline that she wouldn't support our relationship anymore because I was this horrible person, and she told Tyler that she'd tell his parents about his failed drug test he hid our freshman year if he supported us, too. She made them choose, and they chose her. They chose Elena."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't fucking know," She huffs a wet laugh. "Because she blames me for something I didn't do. She blames me for breaking Caroline's heart, and she blames me for her parents dying. She had to blame someone, and I guess I was the easiest target, even though she left me to fucking drown in that river."

The vampire's anger on Athena's behalf felt displaced, but also entirely justified. It was a shock, yet not, all in the same breath. He supposed someone of Katherine Pierce's bloodline couldn't be all that different from the woman herself. No matter how much he loved Katherine, he never claimed she was a good person, and her descendant seemed to prove that point.

Damon stood up abruptly and grabbed Athena from the booth, pulling her towards the door of the Grill, ignoring her shocked yelp. As soon as they were outside, he straightened her out and placed his hands on her shoulders. With a grimace, he wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "Okay, I need you to stop crying because it's freaking me out, this is usually when I would just kill you."

Athena laughed, shaking her head exasperatedly at him as she forced her eyes to dry.

Damon's eyes scanned the town as it dimmed with dusk, his eyes landing on a blonde girl standing across the street watching him hold Athena as if he was committing a crime. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned, but before he could question anything, Athena was grabbing his hands and yanking at his fingers roughly to grab his attention.

"So, what now? Are you going to compel me to forget I just told you all of this and send me home?" She asked him defeatedly, a frown twisting onto her face.

Damon sighed, clasping her head in his hands and making her look at him. "No. No more compulsion. Spend tonight with your dad and have fun. Don't worry about spying on Elena and Stefan, I'll handle it."

She hesitated but nodded, a small smile pulling tightly at her face as that distant, barely-there string he'd planted in her head dissipated into nothing. "Thanks, Damon," She backed away from him, dreading the walk to her car. "You know, you're not that bad, for an asshole vampire."

Damon rolled his eyes at her words and she shrugged, gesturing towards the Grill. "I guess I owe you a meal?"

"I'm not a cheap date."

He gives her a wink that she rolls her eyes at. "Neither am I."

──────

Athena swung a picnic basket in one hand as she and her dad walked through the park, darkness having fully taken over their small town as the population gathered for the comet. She felt better after her conversation with Damon, and the fact that Damon's compulsion was gone for good had her feeling more in control than usual.

It was easy to accept the fact that Damon was a vampire, even without the compulsion. It made sense that Stefan was, too. It didn't frighten her like she imagined it would. She wasn't scared of them, but instead oddly comforted. It felt like that unnamed thing inside of her was less hostile to the idea of other people out there who called themselves monsters, just like she did.

"How's school going so far, sweetheart?" Raphael looked down at his daughter, seeing a serene smile on the teenager's face for the first time in months.

Athena shrugged at her father as they came to a stop, handing him the picnic basket as he settled their checkered blanket on the grassy ground. "It's okay. I'm still doing good in classes, and keeping my grades up. The counselor talked to me earlier this week about looking into colleges already, but I don't know what I wanna do,"

Athena sat down on the blanket beside her father as he set out their small food spread. They had shipped in a cheese platter from Italy a few weeks ago and figured that the comet celebration was the perfect thing to break it out for. "What about sports?"

At that, Athena faltered. She didn't want to look at her father, but Raphael laid a hand on his daughter's knee and silently demanded an answer with the action. Sighing, she raised her gaze. "I haven't joined anything this year. I, um, I'm sitting in on cheer practice tomorrow. But I haven't– I don't know if I'll join the team again."

Raphael frowned at the answer. He patted her knee reassuringly, a small smile on his face as he pushed his salt-and-pepper curls off of his forehead only to have them fall back down with a small bounce. "It's okay, honey. You'll do it when you're ready. No matter what, you know I'll support you."

Athena smiled at her father's words, her eyes scanning the crowd. Her face faltered when she saw Elena push past Stefan, who had a resigned look of shock on his face. Clearing her throat, she glanced back at her dad. "I, um, I see a friend. Is it cool if I go talk to him?"

Raphael's eyebrows raised and he paused mid-bite into a cheese square as he looked to his daughter. "Him?" The word came out muffled because of the food in his mouth, and she grimaced at him.

Athena rolled her eyes and grabbed a few pieces of cheese and crackers in a cloth napkin. "Don't start, Dad, oh, my god. He's a friend."

She hurried off before her father could say anything else and rushed to Stefan, who had spotted her coming. Nervously, he scratched the back of his neck at her approach, but she just smiled that same, tight, half-grimace she always mustered up.

"Italian cheese?" She offered to him, watching his eyes flood with confusion before he took the cloth from her and opened it up amusedly. "My dad had it imported."

"That's... special." He said, still reeling from Elena's upset outburst.

She shrugged, glancing over her shoulder and seeing Caroline, Tyler, Matt, and Bonnie standing a few feet away and staring at her. She looked back at Stefan. "Walk?"

He nodded quietly and she hooked her arm with his, turning them in the opposite direction.

"So, how's your comet viewing going?"

"Well, I think Elena just broke up with me."

Athena stopped at his words and her jaw dropped. She stepped in front of Stefan and slapped his chest, watching his eyes follow the action. "What? Why? I thought you guys were totally, sickeningly in love and gagging for one another's beating hearts and shit."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at her description, wondering how her brain came up with such odd little anecdotes. "Yeah, uh, some things happened with my brother and she didn't handle the family tension well."

"Ironic, considering she's a lying bitch. All you did was lie about having Damon for a brother– which, no one would blame you for. He's a bit of a dick."

Stefan tilted his head sideways, recalling her presence at his house. "By the way, how do you know him? He's not really a friendly guy, especially to–"

"Humans?"

"What?"

"Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention the part where I know you're both blood-sucking vampires?" She slugged his shoulder, frowning when he barely moved. "I knew you were a Twilight fan, Stefan, but I didn't realize you inspired the whole damn franchise."

"How do you know? How long have you known?"

Athena held up her hands as Stefan pushed her away from the crowd. "Woah, slow down there, Edward. Honestly, are you even an Edward? He was a bit weirder than you, with all his–"

"Athena, answer me."

"Oh, so he gets more assertive when he's in vampire mode. Nice to know you aren't such a pushover all the time."

"I could kill you, you know," Stefan's nerves jumped at her careless behavior, his panic overtaking his usual amusement for her behavior.

"I doubt you will, honestly. But, to answer your questions, Damon told me and compelled me to keep my mouth shut. I've known for a few weeks, I guess. Finally get to talk about it, though, because he removed all of the compulsion today anyway. You know, that shit doesn't work half as good as he thinks–"

Stefan furrowed his brows. "Why? Why did he go after you?"

"Okay, first of all, he wasn't going after me, so jot that down. Second, I was giving him dirt on Elena."

Stefan's glare was back and Athena grimaced at her lack of brain-to-mouth filter. He started to question her again, but she slapped a hand over his mouth when she saw Matt approaching them.

"Hey, have you guys seen my sister?"

"Uh, no, we haven't," Athena said, schooling her face into a look of disinterest despite her knowing Damon had probably done something to Vicki again. She was painfully indifferent to Vicki's well-being at the moment, and even more indifferent to Matt's entire existence.

"She's missing, we can't find her," Matt eyed Athena and Stefan oddly, Athena's hand still slapped firmly against Stefan's mouth.

"Well. I'll... keep an eye out for her, then,"

Matt nodded and began to walk off, but he stopped and looked back at Stefan. "Hey, I saw you at the hospital yesterday."

Athena dropped her hand, turning to glare at Matt's sudden hostility.

"Did you?" Stefan asked, taking a step in front of Athena protectively. She frowned to herself at the action and stepped up to his side again.

Matt nodded. "What were you doing there?"

Athena grabbed Stefan's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Visiting."

She resisted an eye roll. She would've thought living so long would make you better at lying, but Stefan apparently liked to prove her wrong.

"Visiting?" Matt echoed in slight disbelief, his eyes going to the contact between Athena and Stefan suspiciously. "You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."

Stefan nodded at his words but tilted his head down somewhat as if he was listening to something else. Athena eyed him oddly but remembered that Damon told her vampires had enhanced hearing and she wondered if he had heard something nearby.

She stepped forward, dropping her hold on Stefan's arm, making the vampire look back at her. She glared at Matt, whose attention had fallen to her just as quickly. "Fragile masculinity is a disease, Matty, there's no need to interrogate Stefan. I was there for a check-up and I needed someone to drive me home after."

She gestured to her face and saw Matt's eyes fill with regret. She almost wished she felt bad for lying. "Or did you forget I was in the accident, too just 'cause your poor little Elena was there, too?" Athena snarled her hateful words, watching Matt's face flush with shock, but she didn't dwell long, instead grabbing Stefan's arm and pulling him past Matt in a rush.

"Why did you do that?" Stefan asked under his breath as he pulled her towards the street, his eyes darting upward every few seconds.

"What? Save your ass?" She bit out, finally seeing Damon standing on the ledge of a building with Vicki swaying back and forth dangerously. She grits her teeth at his actions, wondering how he could go back and forth so easily between borderline kindness and whatever his weird rivalry with his brother consisted of.

"He's going to tell Elena,"

"Who cares?"

Stefan eyed her oddly, but he didn't— and wouldn't— dwell on the feelings her confidence brought up. He leaped onto the roof and let go of Athena, watching her tumble out of his arms onto the roof with a gasp of surprise.

Athena fell onto her knees, holding her chest as she caught her breath. She glared at Stefan. "Warn a girl next time, you ass."

"Let her go,"

"Okay," Damon shrugged, pulling Vicki towards the ledge again. She cried out and he rolled his eyes, shoving her forward onto the roof.

She sobbed to herself. "What's happening?"

Damon smirked at Stefan, his eyes darting to Athena briefly, though he kept whatever feelings he might've had at her presence to himself. "I don't need her to be dead, but you might,"

Stefan looked at his brother with growing confusion.

"What attacked you the other night?" Damon probed Vicki, nudging her toward an answer.

"I don't know. An animal."

"Are you sure about that?"

Athena glared at his cockiness. Gone was his almost caring behavior from earlier that day, though she couldn't say she was surprised. "What the hell are you doing, Damon?"

He ignored her, bending down to look at Vicki. "Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?"

Vicki looked in between the three people on the roof with her with a panicked look in her crazed eyes. "A vampire," She breathed out, fear clear in her tone.

"Who did this to you?" Damon questioned, his voice growing louder.

"You did!"

"Wrong," Damon yanked her up off the ground by her arm, and Athena pushed herself up quickly, staring at Damon with wide eyes. "Stefan did."

"Don't," Stefan pleaded, watching his brother hold Vicki still. "Damon,"

Athena stood behind Stefan, her eyes darting in between the two vampires so quickly she had begun to give herself a headache.

Her heart was pounding against her chest, a sense of adrenaline rushing through her that made her skin itch. She ignored the thrill that was rushing through her, making her feel more alive than she had since the accident.

"Stefan Salvatore did this to you,"

Vicki repeated the words, Damon's compulsion washing over her.

"He's a vampire, a vicious, murderous monster,"

"Please, Damon, please don't do this," Stefan stepped forward, knowing that he would be unable to do anything with the lack of strength he held right now. Knowing that Damon knew it just as well.

Damon shrugged, uncaring of his brother's panic. "If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." Damon ripped the bandage off of Vicki's bleeding wound and Athena watched as Stefan looked away, seeming pained at the sight of it. She looked at him confusedly, and Damon smirked and shoved Vicki at Stefan.

"Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power you could have, that you now need."

Athena took a step back as she watched the veins creep up beneath Stefan's eyes, and the man took in a deep breath, struggling with his control. His eyes darted to Athena, and he saw her step away, assuming that she was frightened by the sight. He tore his gaze away painfully.

"But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."

Stefan panted and shoved Vicki away, and Athena lunged forward to catch her before she fell again. She cradled the sobbing girl in her arms, watching as Stefan tried to resist the urge of the human blood.

"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget," Damon gestured at Vicki like it was the obvious choice, though he glanced at Athena, who simply glared at him. "Or you can let her run, screaming 'vampire' through the town square."

Stefan groaned, feeling his fangs pierce his gums. "That's what this is about? You want to expose me?"

Damon shook his head at Stefan's words, looking at him incredulously. "No! I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why?" Stefan bit out, painfully aware that Athena was watching the whole interaction silently. He couldn't help but silently dread, wondering what she thought of him now. "So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill?"

He stood up, facing his brother with an outraged glare. "So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again?" Stefan scoffed, and Damon glared at him. "You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart because at least I'll be free of you."

Damon blinked, and Athena saw him quickly disguise the hurt in his eyes for carelessness. He scoffed and walked over to where she was still holding Vicki. He yanked her up by her arm and Athena glared at him, pulling Vicki back towards herself.

"Come on, sweetheart," He looked pointedly at Athena, who glared defiantly. He pulled her away from Athena though, using barely an ounce of his strength to do so. Damon whispered something in Vicki's ear that neither she nor Stefan could hear and Athena looked at the light-haired man worriedly.

Vicki's sobs stopped abruptly and Athena stood, stepping away from her towards Stefan. "What did you do, Damon?"

Vicki looked in between them all confusedly. "What happened? Where am I?" She groaned, feeling her neck. "Ugh, I ripped my stitches open."

"Are you okay?" Athena bent down, looking at her oddly.

Her classmate nodded, smiling dazedly. "Totally, babe. I took some pills, I'm good."

Damon smirked as she got up, shrugging at Stefan and Athena. "It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?"

"What are you up to, Damon?"

"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot. Give Elena my best– you picked a real winner," Damon's gaze went to Athena, who was already looking at him, and he pointed at her. "You, with me."

She looked at Stefan, who seemed like he wanted to say something, but didn't speak up. With a sigh, she took Damon's outstretched hand and allowed him to carry her off the roof safely.

She shoved him as soon as they got down to the ground and he frowned confusedly at her. "What was that for?"

"You are such an asshole!"

He smirked. "Yeah, but you love it,"

Athena rolled her eyes and led them in the direction of her father, realizing she hadn't even gotten to watch the comet pass after all.

────── 

author's note; kinda forgot how chaotic athena was right off the bat like she has never once gaf

originally published; 10.28.20.

edited: 11.20.23.

- liz