my favorite part

ATHENA LAUGHED AS STEFAN ROLLED ON TOP OF HER, PRESSING KISSES ALL OVER HER FACE. "Stefan," Her laughter echoed through the bedroom and she wrapped her arms around the grinning vampire's shoulders and raised her knee to slot him between her legs. Using her momentum, she flipped them around and straddled his chest, making him rest his hands on her hips.

"We have things to do today. You have to decorate for the Lockwood charity thing," Athena grits her teeth at the thought of any of the Lockwood men. She can't even remember the last time she talked to Tyler, but it didn't change the fact that he'd made his stance clear when it came to Elena or her. "If Mason even breathes wrong today, I'm snapping his neck."

"I appreciate the sentiment, sweetheart," He drawls, sighing as he thinks of the empty blood bags in his nightstand drawer. He already felt stronger than he had in years, and there wasn't any doubt in him that he would be able to defend Athena if Mason tried something. "I think it'll be fine. He won't try anything in public, at least not in front of Mayor Lockwood."

The doorbell rings before Athena can respond, and she groans, shifting to get off of Stefan's lap. "I have to get the door,"

"Let Damon get it,"

"I'm not getting it!"

Athena rolls her eyes at Damon's echoing voice, knowing full well he could get it if he wanted to. "I'll be right back, it's probably just Bonnie or something,"

She slides off of Stefan, ignoring his protests as she grabs a pair of silk pajama shorts off of the ground and hurries down the stairs from his bedroom to the front door. She swings the door open, eyes narrowing immediately at the unexpected face standing on the other side of the door.

"Jeremy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Athena," He startles, dragging his eyes up her frame. "I, uh, I didn't know you'd be here."

"My car is in the driveway, and my boyfriend lives here," She hums, ignoring his obvious ogling. "What are you doing here?"

Jeremy clears his throat, looking over the top of her head. "I need to talk to Damon,"

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon's voice comes from behind her and she steps back, opening the door more as the vampire approaches. He reaches for the door, pushing it closed, but Jeremy stops him from shutting it in his face.

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf, yet,"

Athena's eyes widen and she looks at Damon, who narrows his eyes in feigned irritation.

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough," He tries to shut the door on Jeremy again, but the boy stops him.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here."

"A moonstone?" Athena narrows her eyes, sharing a brief look with Damon.

Jeremy nods at the two of them. "And I know where it is,"

Athena cocks her hip out, looking at him suspiciously. "Why are you telling us this?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help,"

"What's your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon raises a brow, and Jeremy shifts uncomfortably, making Damon's face burst into a look of mischief. "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

Jeremy sighs, shaking his head. "Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this," He tries to step through the threshold of the house, but Damon steps in front of Athena and pushes him back with a saccharine smile.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow." He mocks the teenager, ignoring his glare. "Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic."

Jeremy rolls his eyes at the vampire. "Are you gonna let me in or not?"

Athena sighs, pulling the door open from behind Damon. "God, you Gilberts are like a disease. A plague." Her face scrunches up in disgust and she turns on her heel, stomping back towards the stairs while muttering something hateful about the particular founding family.

Damon smirks, and turns to look at Jeremy, who is watching the girl stalk back up the stairs with a familiar glint in his eye. Barking a laugh, Damon slaps the kid's shoulder, snapping him from his daze. "Never gonna happen, buddy. She'd eat you alive."

──────

Caroline sighs, rubbing her hands on the tops of her thighs as she stands. "I'm gonna go check on my mom,"

"Caroline,"

"I'll be right back," The blonde doesn't listen to Athena's attempts to talk her out of it, and the girl watches her go with a short sigh as she props her head up with her hand and glances over at Damon and Jeremy.

She sits up when she hears footsteps and Damon mirrors her, his eyes widening slightly. "Ric!"

The history teacher gives Damon and Athena a nod in greeting, but his brows furrow when he sees Jeremy. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping Damon and Athena," He gestures to the two of them. "I'm the one who found out about the moonstone."

Alaric's eyes narrow and he looks at Damon who shrugs carelessly before looking back to Jeremy. "Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly,"

Damon clears his throat, reaching for the box of things Alaric had brought. "Whatcha got?" He rifles through it, pulling a book from it questioningly.

"This is Isobel's research from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me."

Damon's eyes light up as he recalls the brown-haired assistant. "Oh, Vanessa. The hottie."

Alaric rolls his eyes at Damon, taking the book out of his hands. "Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"

"Who is Vanessa, and what Aztec curse are you talking about?" Athena furrows her brows, looking between the two men confusedly.

Damon waves her off blandly. "The sun and the moon, blah, blah, blah,"

"An Aztec curse sounds cool,"

Alaric sighs slightly at Jeremy's immaturity. "Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun."

Damon smirks smugly, wiggling his fingers to flaunt his daylight ring. "Most of them, anyway,"

"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone," Alaric shows them a map, and Jeremy and Athena reach for it at the same time.

Athena glares at Jeremy, making him surrender an easy defeat as she takes the map from Alaric's hand and looks at the pictures depicting the supposed curse.

Clearing his throat slightly, Jeremy looks at Alaric. "What do you mean sealed?"

"It's a witch thing. Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse,"

Athena looks up from the map to Damon, raising a silent eyebrow that he shrugs defensively at. "What? I listen to Bonnie sometimes."

Sighing, Athena hands the map back to Alaric. "Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse,"

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots. Who has the stone now?"

Jeremy furrows his brows. "Tyler,"

"Can you get it?"

"Yeah,"

Athena smiles sarcastically. "Finally, your presence is useful,"

"So, do you believe it?" He looks between Athena and Damon questioningly.

"No, absolutely not. I just want to one-up Mason Lockwood."

Damon shoves her shoulder from where he stands above her and she rolls her eyes. "It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot."

"Like that's hard to do," Athena stands, gesturing to the three men. "Let's go get this stupid moonstone for this stupid curse."

She walks past the three of them, and Alaric and Jeremy struggle to find words for her pessimistic demeanor.

Damon just smiles knowingly and finishes his drink. "She's really motivational,"

──────

"So, are they talking at all?"

Athena shakes her head as she walks beside Bonnie back towards the volunteers surrounding the Lockwood mansion. "I don't know. Caroline was down there with her when we left, but who knows if that means anything. You know, she can hate Stefan and Damon all day long, and even me for defending them, but Caroline's her daughter. Shouldn't there be some sort of loyalty there, no matter what she is?"

"You'd think, but honestly– oh!" Bonnie exclaims in shock as she runs into someone, looking over her shoulder in surprise.

Athena's eyes narrow when she sees the familiar face retreating and she grits her teeth. "Hey, watch it, dick! God, I can't stand him– Bonnie?"

The witch looks at Athena with furrowed brows, her eyes shifting back to Mason's retreating figure. "Huh,"

"Bonnie?" Stefan's voice floods them both and Athena looks up at him as he approaches the witch with concern in his gaze. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"When I touched him, I saw something,"

"What do you mean, like a vision?"

Bonnie nods slightly, her eyes colored with confusion and shock. "I saw Elena. He was kissing her,"

Athena scoffs, her eyes shifting around the crowd for the particular brunette. "You know, I knew she was skanky, but I didn't think she'd go for Tyler's uncle."

"No," Stefan shakes his head, confusion riddled in his green eyes. "That can't be right."

The vampire trails off and Athena looks at him imploringly, Bonnie mirroring the look.

"You didn't see Elena, you saw Katherine,"

Athena's eyes widen and she lets out a sigh from between clenched teeth. "I swear to god, if I don't put this man six feet under in the next 48 hours, I'm going to have a meltdown."

She storms off in the direction Jeremy and Damon had disappeared in, her glare clearing a path when people catch sight of it.

"–Whatever is going on, Jeremy, I want you to stay out of it,"

The younger Gilbert rolls his eyes. "I don't really care what you want, Elena. It's because of you that I'm in this mess in the first place, so I'm sorry, but you don't get to tell me what I'm gonna do."

Athena fakes a wince as she approaches the two, mocking sympathy when she looks at Elena. "You know, Elena, just because you don't have a mom anymore doesn't mean you can be Jeremy's,"

She slaps her hands on Jeremy's shoulders and steers him away from his sister, uncaring of the shock and hurt marring her face. "Let's go— you wanna be a part of this shit, here's your first lesson; never trust a girl with Elena Gilbert's face."

"But she's–"

"I said what I said," She lets go of him as they approach Stefan and Damon again. "So do either of you have any clue as to why Katherine wants the moonstone? Because she's obviously not with Mason for his personality."

"No, no idea. That's the beauty of Katherine, she's always up to something."

"So, how are we gonna find this moonstone?"

"Jeremy here is gonna get it from Tyler,"

Stefan sighs, seeming to finally notice Jeremy's presence. "Why would you involve Jeremy?"

"He's playing Indiana Jones, he involved himself,"

Jeremy fronts at the bluntness, but his eyes quickly fall into a lame glare.

Athena turns away from the two, looking at Jeremy. "Go find Tyler and get the moonstone from him, or I'll feed you to the vampires!"

"Wait, what–"

"Go, now!" She pushes him away, watching him stumble into a steady stride and shoot a glare at her over his shoulder.

She grins, placing her hands on her hips as she turns to face the brothers behind her. "Now, you two, listen up so you can make my life easier,"

It's only a moment before Damon curses under his breath and walks away, making Athena look at Stefan helplessly. "What? What is it?"

"Tyler gave the moonstone to Mason,"

"Shit," Athena grabs Stefan's arm, pulling him along with her as she goes after Damon. "I'm gonna kill them both, I swear to god. Bonnie!"

She drops Stefan's arm, pushes past Damon, and drags the witch away from the girl she is talking to, ignoring Bonnie's exclaimed apologies.

"Bonnie, we need a favor,"

The witch narrows her eyes at Athena's angry face which seems to mirror Damon's, while Stefan just looks apologetic on behalf of the two of them. "What sort of favor?"

"You're the one that linked Mason and Katherine, so we have the upper hand right now," Stefan starts, his approach softer than his girlfriend's.

"All you have to do is touch him again and see if he gave Katherine the moonstone,"

"My visions don't work like that," Bonnie shakes her head at Damon's interruption. "I don't get to ask questions."

"How inconvenient," Damon rolls his eyes, scanning the people milling about mindlessly. "Hey, what's that little witchy-juju thing you do to me? You know the fun one where it feels like my whole brain is on fire?"

Bonnie smirks smugly. "That's me giving you an aneurysm. Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal so quickly so I do it over and over again,"

"Is it vampire-specific?"

She narrows her eyes. "More so just you-specific,"

"Great, good. Good," He grabs Bonnie's shoulders, turning her in the direction he'd last seen Mason go.

"Damon,"

The man waves his brother's warning off. "She'll be fine, he won't try anything here,"

Athena sighs and grabs Bonnie's arm, giving Damon a slight glare. "Listen, Mason Lockwood is a werewolf— a werewolf working with Katherine, at that. Even if he's only a pawn to her, he's still complicit in her crimes. He almost got Stefan and Damon killed, and he's the reason that Liz found out about Caroline. Isn't that reason enough for a little bit of witch-induced karma?"

Bonnie heaves a sigh but concedes with a nod and Athena lets out a sigh of relief. "I could kiss you right now,"

"There's time for that later, she needs to go talk to him now," Damon nudges her off in the direction of some abandoned decorations and she glares back at him before walking the rest of the way.

The three of them watch as Mason approaches Bonnie, polite as ever. They glance around at the dwindling groups of people and hurry toward Bonnie, right as Mason falls to his knees with a pained yell.

Damon strides past the witch and knees Mason in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Athena slides behind the wheel, opens the passenger door of the car, and yells for Bonnie to get in, watching as Stefan and Damon haul Mason into the back of his jeep.

Stefan approaches the car, leaning through the open window to give Athena a chaste kiss. "I'm gonna stay here, cover for you guys,"

Athena hums, rolling her eyes. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do,"

"What is that exactly?"

Athena huffs as Bonnie and Stefan laugh, and she pushes him away from the window with a loving farewell.

Giving the witch a devious smile, she swerves out of the parking lot after Damon. "I love this part,"

──────

Athena grabs a blanket off the couch as Bonnie and Damon sit Mason in a chair.

"What's that for?"

Athena and Damon look at the witch in unison. "I don't want to stain the rug,"

Bonnie nearly flinches at their synchronized sentence, instead settling for an unnerved chill that travels down her spine. "I knew you were gonna say something like that,"

"Judgy," Damon notes, gesturing for Athena to help him put Mason atop the makeshift tarp.

"I'm allowed to judge, you're most likely going to kill this guy,"

"She's not wrong," Athena hums, grabbing Mason's bag from the chair Bonnie had dropped it in. "Oh, I just remembered Caroline and Liz are here."

Damon sighs, stopping mid-pull on the chains that were in the werewolf's bag. "This probably isn't the worst thing she's ever seen happen here,"

"How is a captive werewolf not the weirdest thing she's ever seen?"

"Well–"

"Don't answer that, I changed my mind," Bonnie holds up a hand, cutting the two off as she walks over to Mason.

Damon holds a hand out before she can touch the werewolf, frowning at her. "What are you doing?"

"You're looking for a moonstone," She looks up at him, speaking matter-of-factly. "I'm trying to help you find it."

"Oh, good, yeah," Damon nods like he'd just remembered there was an actual mission in torturing the man. "Find out if he gave it to Katherine, and find out where she is. And find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it."

"Hey," Athena slaps his arm warningly. "She's not your do-it-all witch. Don't be greedy."

Damon sighs, looking back to the witch. "Pretty please,"

Bonnie smiles slightly and closes her eyes as she places her hands on either side of the unconscious man's head.

Her brows furrow as she searches his mind. "Somewhere small, dark. There's water."

"Like a sewer?"

"No, like a well," She grimaced. "That can't be right. I mean, yeah. It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?"

Bonnie opens her eyes and drops her hands from Mason's temples as she looks at Athena. "It looked familiar. Do you have a piece of paper or something I can draw on?"

Athena nods, walking over to a desk to grab a pencil and a piece of paper.

Mason grunts, gaining consciousness slowly, and his hand shoots up, grabbing Bonnie's wrist. The witch yelps in surprise and Damon glares at the man, wrenching his wrist off of the witch.

Damon draws his fist back as Bonnie jumps back from the werewolf, putting distance between herself and him as Damon slams his fist into his jaw.

"Come on, wolf boy. Wake up."

Footsteps echo through the house as Athena hands the paper and pencil to Bonnie, gesturing for the table nearby for her to use.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Athena looks up at Caroline, her eyes shifting to where Damon is standing behind Mason. "We're gonna kill Mason Lockwood,"

Caroline's jaw drops and she looks at Bonnie, who slowly shakes her head. "Okay," Her blue eyes shift, looking down at the scribbles Bonnie's been furiously working on. "Hey, isn't that the well we used to play near when we were kids?"

Bonnie exclaims her agreement, shooting up from the table with a grateful look at Caroline. "That's it! I knew it looked familiar. Do you remember where it's at?"

"On the edge of the old Lockwood property."

Bonnie looks at Athena with furrowed brows and the brunette shrugs. "That's where Caroline and I had our first kiss,"

Bonnie grabs Caroline as she stands from the table, pulling out her phone to text Stefan. "I think that's where he hid the moonstone. I'll let you guys know, okay?"

The two walk out of the house and Athena and Damon turn to face Mason as his eyes snap open and he regains his bearings ever so slightly.

Athena smiles wickedly as she grabs two pokers from the fireplace and hands one off to Damon.

"I usually kill first and ask questions later, so you'll have to excuse my sloppiness,"

She stabs the hot poker through his boot, piercing the top of his foot, and he screams out in pain in a way that makes the two smirk.

Damon approaches him with a cold gaze in his eye that would instill fear into anyone smart. "This is my favorite part,"

──────

author's note; damon and athena = the terror twins.
stefan = concerned authority figure who's balding prematurely from stress
caroline = just happy to be involved tbh
bonnie = also concerned authority figure, who's trying to know as little as possible so she can't be held accountable for their actions

originally published; 12.22.20.

edited: 11.30.23.

- liz