good news and bad news

"GOOD NEWS IS, I FOUND PEARL,"

"Oh, thank god–"

"Bad news is, she's dead. She's been staked, along with a few others I assume are tomb vampires."

"Goddammit," Athena mutters, earning an alarmed look from Stefan. Turning her head to translate, she huffs. "Pearl is dead."

Stefan sighs, running a hand through his hair stressfully as Athena turns her attention back to her conversation with Damon. "Do you think it was John?"

"I'm sure it was, once he found out she gave the device to me. But I'm not going to play any games with him until I know what it does. God knows what lengths Jonathan Gilbert went to expose vampires back then– hey, are we sure that we're not okay with letting Isobel and the tomb vampires go on a killing spree?"

"You know, it doesn't seem that bad," Athena contemplates the thought again, shrugging her shoulders as Stefan gives her a flat glare that makes her bite her tongue.

"No killing spree," The vampire gives her a slightly scolding look and she sighs, rolling her eyes petulantly.

Athena groans, stuffing her free hand in her pocket as Stefan walks up the steps to the dilapidated house. "No killing spree, Damon. What's Elena doing?"

Damon hums disappointedly, shuffling on the other line as he steps over the pile of dead vampires. "Meeting Isobel at the Grill, Alaric's supervising like the responsible step-father he is."

Athena shivers exaggeratedly at Damon's taunting, her face scrunching up in disgust. "That has somehow made me hate him even more." She lifts her gaze as Stefan comes back out of the third foreclosed house they'd ransacked looking for the tomb vampires. "Hey, babe, wanna make a detour for lunch?"

Stefan furrows his brows, eyeing her questioningly. "Are you hungry?"

"Hungry to torture Elena Gilbert? Always," Athena smirks, earning a fond eye roll from her boyfriend that makes her eyes shine. "And I'm curious to meet Isobel, too."

Damon calls out his dislike for her train of thought on the other side of the phone. "Why do you want to meet Isobel?"

"I want to know why Isobel wants the device, and maybe figure out if she's got Katherine hidden somewhere in this god-forsaken town and you can figure out where the hell Isobel is staying and tell her to get her grubby hands away from the damn device."

"Fine," Damon relents, pinching the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. "But take Stefan with you, and try not to cause a scene in public. I can only keep the Sheriff at bay for so long,"

"When have I ever caused a scene in public?"

──────

"Sit down,"

"Don't mind if I do," Athena sits in between the mother and daughter, her brown eyes wide with delight at the tight grip that Isobel has on Elena's wrist. "Oh, that's a little grabby, isn't it? And here I thought that the wretched daughter would be bonding with her wretched mother."

Isobel's sharp eyes flicker between Athena and Stefan, who sits across from her on the other side of the table with his arms crossed over his chest.

Elena pulls her arm from Isobel's grasp, looking at Athena with wide eyes. "Stefan, Athena, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here because I have a question for Mommy dearest," Athena rolls her gaze to Isobel, who grits her teeth in irritation at the interruption. "Why do you want the device?"

Isobel scoffs incredulously. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'll rip out your heart if you don't," Stefan clears his throat, his low drawl drawing the three sets of eyes his way.

Elena stares in abject horror at the cold look in his eyes that confirms his words, while Athena's eyes widen with a burst of adoration that makes his mouth twist into a smirk.

Isobel looks at him, slowly raising a brow. "Katherine said those days were behind you. A retired ripper."

He takes the hit with ease, but Athena can see the flinch he hides written all over his face. She resists the urge to reach for his hand across the table. "Katherine doesn't know me anymore. Why don't you answer the question, Isobel?"

The dark-haired woman narrows her eyes, looking at the three of them. "I know that Damon has the invention, and I want it. If you don't get it for me, the blood is on your hands." Though her eyes remain on Elena, her statement is broadcast to Athena and Stefan as well.

Athena chuckles as the woman gets up, taking Elena's untouched water glass and sipping out of it. "You'll have to do better than that, Isobel. But it was nice meeting you, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other soon,"

Isobel grabs her coat and her purse off the back of the chair, and leaves without a word, leaving the three of them at the table in the middle of the Grill.

Elena leans back in her chair, letting out a large sigh that releases the tension in her shoulders she hasn't been able to get rid of since Alaric told her that Isobel wanted to meet her. She looks at Athena and Stefan who seem to be having a silent conversation she's been left out of. "Why did you do that?"

Green and brown eyes snap towards her as if only just remembering she was still there. Elena intertwines her fingers together on the table, awaiting an answer.

"Your Uncle John is a dick," Athena sighs, crossing her legs beneath the table. "But he can never get the job done, so I figured Isobel would step up to the plate and handle things her way. The question is, is it Isobel's way or Katherine's way?"

Elena rubs the back of her neck, her skin crawling as she recalls the empty look Isobel's eyes held. "She said Katherine found her after she was turned and helped her be able to walk in the daylight. They, uh, seem close."

Stefan furrows his brows, digging his phone out of his pocket as he stands. "I need to call Damon,"

Athena mirrors him, standing and straightening her checkered dress out as she begins to trail after Stefan.

"Wait, where are you guys going?"

Athena looks over her shoulder at Elena with a sarcastic smile. "To save your life, again!"

──────

"Why did no one ever tell me how cute the witch was?"

Josh's voice floods Athena's ears and she frowns at her phone screen despite him being unable to see her confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The witch, Bonnie. She's cute,"

"Why are you with Bonnie?"

"She came and found me, something urgent, I guess. Oh, get this," Josh chuckles, the sound making Athena's brows furrow on her forehead. "Bonnie found out that the device Damon has is harmful to vampires when activated."

Athena stops, swinging her arm out to stop Stefan and Damon's quick strides into the boarding house. "Seriously?"

She can't help the frustration that rises in her at Josh's nonchalance, and she takes her phone from her ear and puts it on speaker for the boys to hear. "Repeat what you just told me, Josh,"

"What? You wanna hear about how I think Bonnie's cute?"

"No!" Athena exclaims before he starts in, having heard his ability to wax poetic about women and men and everyone in between during her shifts at the coffee shop. Josh practically fell in love with every stranger that came into the store. "Tell me what Bonnie told you about the device, please."

Josh sighs, and she can picture him running a hand through his blond hair that sits, quaffed atop his head. "Here, just talk to Bonnie,"

She hears shuffling over the speaker and closes her eyes in exasperation, resisting the childish urge to stomp her foot on the ground as Damon and Stefan crowd her impatiently.

"Athena?"

"Bonnie, what's going on?"

The young witch sighs, shifting Emily's grimoire in her lap to flip to the page that describes the Gilbert device. "Emily spelled the watch to be harmful to vampires. When activated, it emits a high-pitched noise that incapacitates vampires and makes it easier to capture them."

The trio's eyes widen, and Damon furrows his brows. "Why would Katherine want that so badly?"

"To get rid of it?" Athena attempts, despite her confusion on the matter.

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous and if it gets into the wrong hands, Stefan and Damon could be in danger."

Stefan runs a hand over his face, sighing stressfully. "And countless others. Damon, where did you put it?"

Damon flutters his dark lashes, recalling his movements. "Well, I had it in the house first, and then I brought it to the school to show all of you what it was and see if we could figure out how to work it, and then I went to find Isobel,"

The vampire trails off, his eyes widening.

Athena's eyes widen, her face falling as she sees the panic slowly flooding his face. "Damon? Promise me you still have the device."

"I promise that I still have the watch," He nods to himself, stuffing his hands in his pockets briefly before patting himself down hurriedly. "Except that I don't."

"What the fuck, Damon?" Athena's jaw drops slightly and Damon grimaces, stepping away from her.

"Look, she– she probably got it off me when I tackled her. Or when she pinned me against the wall,"

"What– what were you doing with her, Damon? Interrogating her or having rough sex?"

His face scrunches up in slight hesitation. "I don't actually know,"

Stefan takes the phone from Athena's hand, giving Damon a hard stare that he rolls his eyes lightly at. "Bonnie, is there any way to track the device? Any trace of magic you can follow?"

"No, I can't channel it to find it, it's not like finding a person."

Damon holds up a finger, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call Alaric and see if he's talked to Isobel in the past few hours."

The couple waits patiently, Bonnie and Josh having fallen silent on the phone besides Josh's persistent flirting that Athena could tell was making Bonnie flustered no matter if she thought he was cute.

"Alaric? Listen, something happened and Isobel got the device. You haven't seen her lately, have you?"

Damon's eyes widen as Alaric responds and he lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god,"

Quickly, the raven-haired vampire hangs up his phone and looks at the couple, relief flooding his eyes. "Alaric talked to Isobel thirty minutes ago, and she said she was meeting someone in the town square in an hour. We can intercept her, and get the device back."

"Did you hear that, Bonnie?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay," Athena sighs, looking at the brothers. "Meet us in the town square, we need all the help we can get. Who knows how many tomb vampires Isobel's recruited for Katherine."

Damon claps his hands together, a smirk growing on his face as Athena hangs up the phone. "Let's go kill Elena's mom,"

Stefan sighs. "We're not killing anyone in the middle of town,"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever,"

──────

The sun has set by the time they get to the town square, and Damon gestures to where Isobel is sitting on a park bench with her hands folded in her lap.

"I got this," Athena slaps Stefan's chest, adjusting her dress over her legs as she walks across the grassy knoll with a threatening glare on her face and determination in her gait. She sits down on the bench without a greeting, feeling Isobel turn her head to look at her profile.

"Athena Hunt."

The teen raises a brow.

"Your father is a mostly absent lawyer, and you're a model student, but your behavior took a nosedive after an incident earlier this year. How was it– dying in that accident?"

Athena chuckles at her attempt to intimidate her, her brown eyes shifting across the star-filled sky. "Nice to know I've got a new fan out there. You and your daughter have that in common,"

Isobel hums, a twisted smile growing on her lips. "Katherine wouldn't like you,"

"That seems to be a recurring theme in your bloodline," Athena raises a brow, but her curiosity is far higher than the words intended to hurt her feelings. "What's she like? In general, or you know, as a bitchy overlord."

"She's possessive," Isobel informs her, entertaining the girl's questions as she shifts almost nervously where she's seated. "Especially over the Salvatores. And you've gone and got them both wrapped around your little finger without compulsion. She'll either want to kill you or know how you did it."

Athena smiles wryly up at the woman, flicking her dark hair from her face. "It's part of my charm,"

The vampire smiles mockingly, her ponytail flicking over her shoulder. "Why don't you ask me about what you're really here for,"

"And what is that?"

"The Gilbert device."

"Do you have it?"

Isobel shakes her head, scoffing. "Of course not, I'm not stupid, and neither is Damon Salvatore. It hasn't missed me that he and my husband are buddy-buddy."

"Ex."

Isobel raises a brow, prompting Athena to elaborate. "Ex-husband. Alaric is your ex-husband because you left him thinking you'd been murdered. This then led him to become obsessed with finding your killer, which only led him to find out not only were you not murdered, you simply left him to be immortal, which is like a punch to the dick in my opinion."

Isobel's eyes widen slightly, anger flooding them. "You don't–"

Athena grits her teeth, her manicured nails digging into her palms. "I'm getting so sick of being interrupted by people."

Before the vampire can react, Athena grips the woman's arm in her hand, pins it to her thigh, and uses her other hand to yank Isobel's hand back with an audible snap of her bone that makes Isobel cry out in pain.

Athena plasters a smile on her face as a young couple strolls by, resting her head on Isobel's shoulder and appearing as a mother with her daughter for a brief moment before she lets it fall into a glare.

She clenches her jaw and releases her tight grip on Isobel's broken wrist, sitting up straight on the bench. "You have twenty-four hours to return the device to Damon, or I'll do a lot worse than break your wrist, you got me?"

Isobel says nothing, and Athena grabs her ponytail, yanking her head back as she stands and towers over the woman. "Next time, it'll be your neck."

Athena leaves Isobel to heal on the bench and stalks back over to where Stefan and Damon are waiting by the car, pushing onto her toes to kiss Stefan's cheek.

"Well?"

"She's on a clock," Athena opens the car door, looking at the brothers over the top of it. "Now, take me home. I have a dress to pick up in the morning, and I'm dealing with Caroline Forbes before ten a.m.,"

Damon grimaces. "Ah, Founders Day. Good memories. What look are you going for?"

Athena smiles wryly. "That's a secret, and I don't actually believe that your good memories are things other people would consider a good memory. Now get in the damn car before I leave you both."

──────

author's note; Athena's love language is bullying people (Alaric, bonnie, etc) to their face and then turning around and breaking someone's wrist because they talked shit (fuck u Isobel)

also so excited to write the next chapter skssnsns !!!!!! soft athena + stefan moments = my kryptonite

originally published; 12.13.20.

edited: 11.30.23.

- liz