anything you can do

PAIN EBBS THROUGH HER BODY AS SHE WAKES. Her soft groan of pain echoes more than it should and it has her eyes opening quickly, all hints of exhaustion gone from her.

"Athena,"

Her father's voice echoes around her and she's unable to pinpoint where it's coming from, or if it even has a true source.

"Athena, you need to wake up. You are stronger than this."

"What– what happened?"

"You were killed by someone trying to get to Elena," Her father's voice booms, faint irritation seeping into his tone. "But you can wake up. You're a goddess, you cannot be killed so easily."

"But," She pants, standing on the heels she's been wearing all night at the masquerade ball. "But I've died before. If I was killed this time, wouldn't it be permanent?"

"You've come into your powers, you're nearly immortal now. It will take much more than a few broken bones to kill you."

Athena rubs at her sore neck, groaning under her breath. "So, what? I can come back to life? What happens after that?"

"You'll be stronger, for one. Your body has already gone on defense from the accident, it won't take to this attack kindly. You can protect yourself, Athena."

Her eyes widen as she stumbles around the large temple she always appeared in when she dreamt of Olympus. "Stefan and Damon– are they okay? Do they know that we're gone?"

"I'm sure they're aware by now. You've been out for some time, even Elena's starting to get concerned,"

"How do I even wake up?"

"It's like a lucid dream, darling. Just tell yourself it's time to wake up."

She nods, beginning to gain more and more traction on her feet as her soreness disappears into nothingness.

"Before you go, Athena,"

She looks up instinctively, though her father's disembodied voice has no true source. "What?"

"Remember, you were made to fight. You know how to protect yourself,"

Athena furrows her brows, but her mind screams at her to wake up, and she sits up on the dusty couch with a short gasp that startles Elena into yelping.

"Oh, god," Elena's hands come up to her mouth as she looks at the suddenly conscious girl in shock. "Athena– I– I thought you were dead. They kept saying you'd wake up– I think they think you're a vampire,"

"Yeah," She rubs at her neck subconsciously. "Me too. Where are we?"

She looks around the crumbling house, and Elena pushes herself upright at the other end of the couch, looking uncomfortable at the reminder of their predicament. "I, uh, I don't know. I woke up maybe an hour ago. There's a, uh, man. Trevor. And a woman, I didn't get her name."

"How's the girl?"

An accented voice echoes through the large, crumbling house and Athena straightens her spine, her eyes narrowing as she attempts to fine-tune her hearing.

"Still passed out" The man's voice, Trevor, answers in response.

"You didn't touch her, did you?"

At the question, Athena looks at Elena with a raised brow, earning a slight shake of her head in response.

"Give me some credit," Trevor huffs. "So, you called him?"

"No," The woman's voice comes almost immediately. "I called one of his contacts. You know how this works."

"Did you, or did you not get the message to Elijah?"

Athena stands, sliding her high heels off so she can walk silently up the once-grand staircase just in time to see a silhouette pass in the shadows of the house. She looks over her shoulder, seeing Elena close behind with a wary look on her face.

"They say he got it,"

"Wonderful," Trevor says, almost sarcastically. "And what?"

"So, that's it, Trevor. He either got it, or he didn't. We just have to wait."

"Look, it's not too late, we can leave her here," A fearful tone laces Trevor's voice and Athena furrows her brows as she creeps along the wall, careful to avoid picking her feet up enough to put pressure anywhere. "We don't have to go through with this."

"I'm sick of running," The woman enunciates each word, her frustration obvious.

Trevor scoffs. "Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying,"

"Elijah is old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free,"

As soon as the woman quiets, Elena's foot hits a creaky floorboard, immediately alerting the two to their shallow attempts to escape.

"You!" The woman stops them in their tracks, her eyes widening as she sees Athena's conscious state. "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong, understand?"

Elena nods fearfully, but Athena grits her teeth. "Who is Elijah? Why are you so scared of him?"

The woman clenches her jaw at her apparent eavesdropping. "He's your worst nightmare,"

She leaves on those words, a not-so-subtle threat if Athena's ever heard one, and the goddess depletes with a frustrated sigh. Athena pokes her head in the doorway the woman had exited through and rolls her eyes.

"This is bullshit," Athena mutters, wiping her dusty hands off on her black dress from the ball.

"Hey, um," Elena mutters, looking around nervously as Athena begins to walk down the hallway the vampire had. "How did you... you know. Come back to life?"

Athena rolls her eyes slightly, not giving a backward glance to Elena. "Magic,"

"Really?"

"No, I'm immortal. Or becoming immortal, I guess," She sighs, nonchalant and annoyingly used to her father's crypticness at this point. At least she would have Artemis to help explain things better.

Elena gapes for a moment before she clamps her jaw shut and nods quietly, trying to process the fact that Athena is immortal– or, becoming immortal.

Before Elena can ask any other questions, they come to a stop in the doorway, watching as the woman frantically begins to tidy up what appears to have once been a study.

Elena steps in front of Athena, watching the woman. "Why am I here? Why did you take Athena, too?"

"You keep asking me these questions like I'm gonna answer them,"

Athena scoffs. "Why won't you?"

"That's another one," The woman lifts a plank of wood, putting it over a half-open window that's spilling sunlight into the room.

Stepping into the room with a sigh, Athena looks around while Elena tries to plead uselessly with the vampire. "You got me, okay? It's not like I can go anywhere. The least you could do is tell me what you want with me and Athena,"

"I personally want nothing, I'm just a delivery service," Her eyes flicker to Athena. "As for your friend, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Tell me about it," Athena smiles wryly at the vampire. "What's this Elijah guy want with Elena? She's not that great, trust me."

Elena gives Athena a look that she shrugs off with ease, while the vampire turns and looks at her over her shoulder. "Two points to the eavesdropper,"

"Is he a vampire?" Elena raises her brows, trying to prod more information from the woman.

"He's one of the vampires, the Originals,"

Athena and Elena share a brief look of confusion. "What are the Originals?"

"Again with the questions," The woman sighs in irritation. "Haven't the Salvatores been teaching you your vampire history?"

"You know Stefan and Damon?"

"I know of them," The vampire corrects, her back still facing them. "A hundred years back a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan, she said he was one of the good ones."

Athena tenses, face twisting with jealousy.

"I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys, though, but I digress,"

Athena shakes her head, stepping towards her, forgoing any sort of safety precaution against the vampire. "Who are the Originals?"

The woman turns around, annoyance obvious in her gaze but a passive smile on her face. Athena would think she was rather pretty, but she was holding her hostage and she wasn't much of a Stockholm syndrome girl. "Trevor and I have been running for five hundred years. We're tired, we want it over with. We're using Elena to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

"But why me?" Elena shakes her head, confusion lacing her voice.

"Because you're a Petrova doppelgänger. You're the key to breaking the curse,"

Elena's face scrunches up before realization sets in. "The Sun and the Moon curse?"

The woman rolls her eyes almost gratefully. "Oh, you do know your history,"

"What do you mean I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse,"

"No. The moonstone is what binds the curse. Sacrifice is what breaks it."

Athena huffs a laugh, the sound almost hysterical. She withholds her thoughts about just how real the supposed curse is and ignores the irritated look that the vampire gives her. "Sacrifice, of course. This was Katherine's plan all along. Keep you here until one of these Original guys showed up and killed you for some weirdo witch curse that's most likely not even real."

"It's–"

"I wasn't really talking to you," Athena gives the vampire a too-sweet smile, turning back to face Elena. "We should've just let Katherine do what she wanted, but no. My boyfriend has an infuriating moral compass, and I've got a soft spot for his idiocy so here we are. I'm collateral damage, and you're the key to breaking a curse."

She points an accusing finger at Elena, ignoring her shock. "You know, when we get out of here, you'll be lucky if I don't sacrifice you myself."

Elena shakes her head at Athena, sighing shakily as she looks at the vampire. "Tell me more,"

"Captivity has made her pushy, eh?" Trevor appears in the room suddenly, and Athena's pulse jumps slightly at his sudden presence. He picks up a piece of wood like the one Rose had, covering another window. "What do you want to know, doppelicious?"

"Who are you running from?" Elena uses Trevor's apparent likeness to her and Athena's advantage, and for once Athena applauds the girl.

"The Originals,"

Athena rolls her eyes. "Yeah, Queen Elizabeth already told us that. What does it mean?"

"The first family," Trevor kicked a stack of books at Athena, making her glare at him. "The old world. Rose and I pissed them off."

Rose makes a short noise with her mouth and Trevor points at her. "Correction, I pissed them off, Rose had my back. And for over half a millennium, they've wanted us dead."

"What did you do?"

"He made the same mistake countless others did," Rose's voice answers, a scolding tone to it. "He trusted Katerina Petrova."

"Katherine," Elena thinks of her vampiric counterpart and wonders just how closely related they were, matching faces aside.

Rose hums, confirming Elena's words. "The one and only, the first Petrova doppelgänger."

"I helped her escape her fate," Trevor flips aimlessly through an old book. "Now I've– sorry, we've been marked ever since."

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again,"

Trevor smiles sarcastically as he follows Rose out of the room and Athena rolls her eyes, her fingers tracing the dusty book covers mindlessly. Sighing, she walks back over to the couch and plops down on it, frowning at the cloud of dust that follows.

Elena mirrors her movements, bringing her sneaker-clad feet up onto the old upholstery. Something crumples beneath her foot, and Athena frowns at the sound.

"Move your foot,"

"What?"

Athena grits her teeth and wrenches Elena's leg out of her way, ignoring the stunned look on her face. "Look," She pulls a folded piece of paper out from beneath the girl's sneaker, quickly gaining her full attention. In black marker, it reads Stefan and Damon are coming for you. -B'.

Athena's eyes widen with hope and she shares a look with Elena, who looks as relieved as Athena feels. At least with Stefan and Damon coming, Athena could figure out just how desperate these vampires truly were to be free.

──────

"He's here, this was a mistake," Trevor comes down the stairs in a flurry, and Athena sits up on the couch she'd nearly fallen asleep on.

Rose shakes her head, setting her packed bag in an old chair. "No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me."

"No!" Trevor exclaims, unaware of Athena's sharp eye on him. "He wants me dead, Rose."

"He wants her more," Rose gestures to Elena, who tenses at the reminder that her life is up for bargain, and neither Salvatore is bursting through the door to stop it from happening yet. She'd perhaps feel a little more at ease if she truly thought Athena would stop any harm from coming to her.

"I can't do this," Trevor shakes his head. "You give her to him, he'll have mercy on you, but I need to get out of here."

"Hey," Rose grabs Trevor's wrists, stopping his frantic movements. "What are we?"

The vampire pants fear obvious in his wide eyes. Athena wonders just who this Elijah guy is– and who the Original family is to instill such fear in a 500-year-old vampire. Trevor takes a deep breath, visibly calming. "We're family, forever,"

Athena's fingers clutch at nothing on the couch, seeing the obvious bond between the two vampires. Not many would run for five hundred years and stay loyal, risking their lives at every turn to keep one another safe.

Is this what she had to look forward to with immortality? Sure, she and Stefan loved one another now, but would they still be in five hundred years? He's a vampire, he's seen the world a dozen times over that it practically bores him now, yet Athena's barely left Virginia. Would he grow bored of her too?

Her sudden inner turmoil distracts her until she sees Rose hurrying up the stairs while Trevor stays behind, most likely keeping an eye on the both of them so they don't get any last-minute ideas.

Elena stands, beginning to pace anxiously while Athena sits back on the couch, shoving her dreadful thoughts aside as she awaits Elijah's infamous appearance.

As if reading her mind, Rose appears at the top of the staircase, with a suited man in tow. When he steps out of the shadows of the old house, her eyes widen for a brief moment before she schools her reaction into one of nonchalance.

His eyes barely land on her before they lock onto Elena, and he's down the stairs and standing before the doppelgänger in a blur. He dips his head slightly, leaning back when he takes in her apparent humanity.

"Human. It's impossible," His slightly accented voice echoes into the large room, and Athena stands from the couch, pulling her black dress down with a frown. Flicking her gaze back up, she sees that Elijah's eyes are on her and there's a slight smirk on his face as he looks at her. "Hello, there. Who are you?"

Athena's hard gaze flickers toward Elena carelessly. "Collateral."

Elijah hums knowingly. "A common position to find one's self in,"

"Any chance I can get out of here alive?"

"Of course, you'll be coming with us," He looks at her like she'd been stupid to think otherwise, but a frown overtakes her face, and nerves begin to finally hit her. "Well, we have a long journey ahead of us, we should be going."

Elena leans past Elijah's frame, looking pleadingly at Rose. "Please don't let him take me,"

The vampire seems to take pity on the innocent girl and tears her guilty gaze from Elena silently.

"One last piece of business, then we're done," Elijah turns away from the two girls, walking towards Trevor.

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly very sorry,"

Elijah barely lets him finish, looking at the man with a smirk that makes Athena take a wary step backward. "Oh, no, your apology is not necessary,"

"Yes, yes it is," Trevor's voice takes on a pleading tone that makes Athena frown. "You trusted me with Katerina, and I failed you."

Elijah nods in agreement, circling the man like a shark with its prey. "Oh, yes, you are the guilty one. And Rose aided you because she was loyal to you, that I honor. Where was your loyalty?" He stops before Trevor, the man only meeting his eyes briefly before looking away in cowardice.

"I beg your forgiveness,"

"So granted," Elijah smiles, watching a relieved smile grow on Trevor's face as he raises his hand and swipes the man's head clean off.

Rose lets out a staggering sob and Athena startles backward when blood spatters on her face, making her groan in disgust under her breath.

"You–"

"Don't, Rose," Elijah stops the hysterical woman. "Now that you are free. Come,"

He gestures to the two girls, offering Athena a handkerchief from his suit that she takes with a slight nod in gratitude.

Elena panics as he approaches her, keeping her eyes pointedly away from Trevor's headless body. "What about the moonstone?!"

"Elena," Athena turns towards the girl with a deadly glare, watching as Elijah stops short with a suddenly serious look on his face. "Seriously?"

Elijah's eyes flicker to her briefly before they go back to Elena. "What do you know about the moonstone?"

"I know that you need it, and I know where it is," Elena breathes out, her words hesitant.

"Yes," Elijah nods, urging her to tell him more.

"I can help you find it,"

"Elena, shut up before I rip your tongue out," Athena steps towards the girl, but Elijah holds up a hand, stopping her short. "Dude, I will–"

"Tell me where it is,"

"It doesn't work that way," Elena shakes her head, making the Original look at her in surprise.

"Are you negotiating with me?"

Athena grits her teeth, her fists clenching at her side. "She's full of vervain, it won't work."

Elijah turns, stepping before her in swift, almost elegant moves. He wrenches her head back with a fistful of brown hair and she groans, her jaw clenching at the throbbing pain in her scalp. "Tell me where the moonstone is,"

For a moment, she feels herself being compelled, but a voice in her head that echoes so much like her father's had in her unconscious state pushes against it and reminds her that she can block it out even without the help of the vervain necklace around her throat.

She builds a wall in her mind, envisioning something sturdy like a brick wall, cemented there for life, and she feels the slow ebb of compulsion drift away into nothing. Elijah pulls away, looking at her in shock.

Glass shatters from above, and Athena uses Elijah's shock to her advantage, rearing her fist back and slamming it into his jaw, sending him stumbling backward. She grabs Elena's arm and yanks the girl towards the stairs, running up them as fast as she can.

Elijah appears before them in a blur, a trail of blood running down from his nose that makes her mentally grin. He narrows his eyes at her as she stops, Elena stumbling into her from behind at the abruptness of it. "What are you?"

"You'll have to buy me dinner first," She huffs in annoyance, grunting when he wraps a hand around her neck, cutting off her air supply.

"I thought to give you mercy, but you're proving to be a problem," Elijah grits his teeth, tightening his hold on her throat as she gasps for air. "You've seen what happens to problems,"

Her mind panics at the lack of air throughout her body, but she recalls her father's words telling her she can protect herself. That her body knows how to do it, even if she doesn't realize it.

It's strikingly similar to what he'd said weeks ago in the kitchen, if you ever find yourself in trouble, just think of something that will protect you.

She didn't know quite what it meant, but she'd at least die trying.

She racks her brain for anything against vampires, and the first thing that comes to mind is vervain. She thinks of the purple flower, similar to a wildflower in its looks and her eyes widen when she feels the sudden pressure in her palm.

She swings her arm up, clapping her handful of vervain onto the man's face, making him drop her as his skin burns and heals repeatedly while she shoves him down the hallway.

"Elena, go!" The doppelgänger runs and Rose follows after her with wide eyes as she takes Elena's arm in her hand and runs into the foyer of the old house. A dark blur whizzes by as Athena shoves Elijah to the ground at the base of the main staircase, and she lets out a silent sigh of relief.

"Up here," Stefan's voice comes from above, and Elijah quickly disappears up the staircase.

"Down here," Damon's taunting tone echoes through the house from the room they'd just run from, and Athena's chest heaves with relieved breaths.

A sound of compressed air shoots through the house and Athena watches with wide eyes as Elijah barely moves at the sudden stake through his palm. She nearly yells in surprise when hands wrap around her arms and run off, but she stops herself as Stefan's face comes into focus as he presses her against a wall.

He quiets her, a finger on her lips that she nods against as she tries to catch her breath.

"Excuse me. To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't,"

Elijah's smug voice echoes through the house, and Athena believes him despite all of the faith she has in the two brothers. He had healed devastatingly fast from the vervain she'd used on him, and he barely even blinked when he was shot with a stake.

"You hear that? I repeat," A sound of crackling wood echoes his words. "You cannot beat me. So I want the girls– both of them, on the count of three, or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

Stefan looks down at her confusedly, and she hears his silent question of why does he want you, too?

Shaking her head, she grabs his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly in an attempt to silently convey every little thing she felt at the moment.

Stefan lifts his hand, showing the vervain grenade that Alaric had given him, and Athena's eyes widen. She gestures to the stairs, earning a wary nod in agreement that she would give their position away.

She slides her heels off, holding them in her hand and doing her best to appear disheveled and frightened as she stands at the landing of the steps. "I'll go with you, just don't hurt them. I'll do anything, I'll take you to the moonstone,"

Elijah turns, the makeshift stake in his hand looking dangerous as he appears before her. She gasps in surprise, fighting back her usual slew of curses for the vampiric ability to sneak up on people.

"What game are you playing with me?"

Athena takes a deep breath and drops her heels, revealing the vervain grenade in her hand that she quickly rips the pin from, chucking it at Elijah's face. The Original cowers, yelling in pain as Athena bends down, sliding her heels back on as Stefan comes down the stairs with the stake gun.

Rapidly, he shoots wooden stakes into Elijah's chest but the man barely flinches as he stalks up the steps with a glare on his face.

Abandoning the weapon, Stefan tackles him back down the stairs, tumbling down after him with a slight groan.

Elijah stands before Stefan can get to his feet, but before Athena can get down the stairs to help him, Damon comes from the shadows with Elijah's makeshift stake and stabs it through his heart. The raven-haired vampire presses him backward, not stopping until he hits the wall with a pained groan. His skin grays rapidly, and veins crawl up to his face, only taking a moment to desiccate completely.

Rose appears suddenly and Athena and Damon both lunge for her, but Elena's voice stops them both.

"Just let her go, there's no use in going after her. She's been running for five hundred years, we'll never catch up to her."

Athena grits her teeth as she stomps down the stairs, reaching for Stefan with a tired sigh. Her brown eyes flicker between her boyfriend and his brother, and she shakes her head exasperatedly as she extends her arms and wraps them both in a hug.

"Idiots," She mutters, hiding her smile in Stefan's hair. "My idiots."

Damon groans, feigning irritation as he pats her head, pulling away from her hug with a slight, fond smile that Elena has never seen on his face. "What a gracious title.,"

"Can we go home now?" Athena leans into Stefan's side, exhaustion seeping into her as her adrenaline dies out.

The three of them nod and Damon swings the door open, gesturing for Elena and Stefan to exit first. He frowns when he sees Athena standing above Elijah's body, and he clears his throat slightly, drawing her gaze to him. "You ready?"

She nods quietly. "Yeah, you go ahead. I'm pretty sure that they brought my purse here, and I don't want to leave it."

Damon hesitates for a moment, but he eventually nods and walks out of the house into the overgrown fields. Athena waits for a moment until he's nearly made it to the car before she kneels beside Elijah and wraps her hands around the stake in his chest.

With a low grunt, she rips it out of his chest and throws it across the room. Brows furrowed on her forehead, she can't quite get rid of the discomfort in the back of her mind. "Elijah, if you can hear me, my name is Athena Hunt. I'm sure you'll be able to find me when you wake up."

Quickly she stands and runs out of the house, avoiding suspicion as she runs back to the car and slides into the backseat beside Stefan. Damon pulls out of the once-driveway, with Elena resting in the passenger seat.

He never notices that Athena doesn't have her purse.

──────

author's note; this is when the au starts au-ing

originally published; 1.6.21. (it's my dad's birthday!)

edited: 12.1.23. 

- liz