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The Decade Dance

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THE SUN GREETED Athena the next morning as she sat up, stretching her arms. With her super speed, she flashed to the window, opening it up wide. The light poured in and she smiled, satisfied. Grabbing her outfit for the day, she went into the bathroom and got ready for the day.

And then using her super speed once more, she went downstairs and grab a blood bag. She sipped it and threw it away before walking into the living room where Elena and Bonnie were with the lawyer.

Neither saw her so she didn't bring any attention to herself. She grabbed a book Caroline got her and flipped to where her bookmark awaited her. Caroline had got her lots of things: clothes, more books, lotions, and other feminine products. However, she told Athena that she wasn't going to give her any makeup because she wanted Athena to think she was beautiful just the way she was. After all, it wouldn't have made much of a difference considering that Athena was immortal and when you turned, beauty was amplified. Makeup no longer held a purpose.

"Please sign here and here," the lawyer told Elena.

Elena took the pen without question. "Okay."

Bonnie looked around, leaning closer to speak to her. "So this place is all yours? They just gave it to you?" Though they were trying to hide and keep Elena safe from Klaus, giving her the deeds to the Boarding House seemed like a long stretch. They couldn't be that stupid as to think a simple switching ownership of the house would keep Klaus away. He didn't seem that dense.

The doppelganger nodded. "For now. As sole owner, I'm the only one who can invite a certain type of person in here, if you know what I mean."

"Your own personal safe house."

Elena nodded again, drawing a sigh. "That's the idea." She was worried about her friends and family. If Klaus were to get too close, if he were to get angry at them fighting back, he could retaliate and destroy everything she loved and held dear.  The brunette once made a deal with Elijah, so maybe making a clean cut deal with Klaus was a good option.

"Wouldn't want to clean it," Athena spoke up, making Elena and Bonnie jump in surprise.

"Jeez, Athena you scared me," Elena laughed, holding a hand to her racing heart.

Athena glanced over with a smile and laughed. "Sorry."

They both laughed along. Elena turned back around and was about to sign the last paper when Bonnie stopped her. The witch looked back at Athena. "Athena why don't you go and stand outside with Stefan and Damon."

Athena understood what she meant, put her bookmark back in the book, and walked outside. Damon had his back against the stone pillar while stefan stood by the stone wall. The Boarding House was an extremely nice place. Nice was putting it lightly. The land was much more beautiful. You couldn't hear the cars from where they stood which Athena thanked. She didn't want to hear that every day of her life.

"Morning Ena," Damon greeted, sending the girl a quick wink and a smile.

She smiled at them. "Morning." Jumping up on the stone wall, she kicked her legs back and forth much like a child would on a swing. Not long after Athena had exited the house, the lawyer stepped out and Elena appeared, thanking him. He left and the Salvatore brothers went to enter. They soon realized they couldn't.

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot," Elena apologized. Athena jumped back down, crossing over to the threshold. Elena looked at Athena and Stefan. "Stefan, Athena. Would you like to come inside my house?"

Both of them grinned. "We would love to. Thank you," Stefan thanked. The two entered and turned back to look at Damon who was scowling. Athena stuck her tongue out. He rolled his eyes.

"What are we, twelve?" he asked Elena.

Elena's teasing smile faded into a glare. "One of us is." She crossed her arms over her chest. "If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?"

"No."

She put her arms on her hips and made a gesture with her hands. "Seriously, Damon. My way. You promised. I call the shots. No lies, no secret agendas. Remember?"

He made a face then pushed out a, "Yes, Elena. Sure" with a grimace. Stefan and Athena were holding back a laugh, trying to conceal their smiles.

Elena nodded and smiled in approval. "Then please, come in."

Damon and Athena and Stefan looked at him amused. "Shut up," he snapped. Athena stuck her tongue out again, exiting to grab a blood bag. She traveled through the hallway and down the staircase to the basement. Luck for the Mystic Falls inhabitants, Athena didn't bother to listen to their conversation about Klaus. The two girls had left for school with Stefan and when the hybrid teenager reemerged, Damon was the only one left, pouring himself a drink.

He turned around at the sign of her presence. "So.. what do you wanna do?" she asked, shifting her feet to the side.

Damon shrugged. "Movie?" he suggested.

Athena smiled and clapped. "I have no idea what that is but sure. Let's do movie."

Despite his cold dementor, Damon smiled genuinely and chuckled.

———

Everyone sat down in their seats before class started and Elena took the poster for the 60's decade dance out of her bag and showed it to Stefan with a smile. He shook his head in disapproval. With a frown, Elena then turned to show Bonnie who nodded. Victorious at last, Elena looked back at Stefan smirking. He sighed and looked away.

Alaric walked into the room hastily, tugging her sleeve down, his bag hanging from his shoulder. He set it down, looking out at them all. "Hello, class." The teacher tapped his foot on the floor, lost in thought. "What are we learning today?"

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week," Dana reminded, smiling.

"Right. The sixties." The moment he turned, he saw Elena with her hand on her neck, watching. A few seconds passed before he gained his senses. Alaric cleared his throat. "The, uh, ahem..." He took a marker and wrote on the board. "The Sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but..." He capped the marker, turning to the class. "Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the...we walked on the moon. There was Watergate-"

Realizing his mistake, Elena corrected him with a smile. "Watergate was the seventies, Ric," Everyone stared at her with a mixture of confusion and shock. The doppelganger squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. " I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman."

He nodded. "Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena."

———

The rest of the school day was unnerving. Elena had immediately left after a compelled Dana approached her, requesting that she save a dance for Klaus. Stefan practically dragged her back to the Boarding House where Damon and Athena were watching Inside Out. They had all dismissed the odd sight of Damon being so care-free and decided to focus on the problem at hand.

Athena was left to watch the movie while Damon and the others held a meeting in the parlor. "So we go to the dance, we find him," Damon said after they had caught him up with the day's events.

"Really? How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like," Stefan pointed out.

Scoffing, Damon replied with, "Something tells me he's not going to be sixteen and pimply."

His brother ignored the snappy comment and moved on. "He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school." He looked at Elena and Bonnie. "I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?"

Elena gave him a look as if to say that she knew though it didn't make a difference. Was she really just going to let Klaus keep her from living her life? Was she now meant to spend her days hiding from that man? Someone knocked on the door and Alaric walked in.

"There you are," Damon said with relief.

"Sorry, I'm late," Alaric apologized, entering the parlor.

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move."

No one noticed the intrigued look on his face. Surprisingly enough, the Mystic Falls gang was quick to act when the situation involved Elena. He doubted that if it was anyone else they would be swift like they were now. In a way, it kinda pissed him off to know that the doppelganger had so many people fighting for her.

Elena was lost off in thought and then responded with, "Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?"

"Me," Bonnie spoke up. Everyone looked at her. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

Now that insulted Klaus. His eyebrows rose, rage filling his chest. Were they seriously underestimating him? He nearly scoffed aloud but knew it would draw their suspicion. Surely if he did act suspicious they would be quick to find out that he wasn't actually Alaric. "That's not going to be that easy. I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around." Of course, he couldn't help himself and stuck up for himself.

Damon made a face. "Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he..." Damon trailed off before rushing to Bonnie. She saw it coming and threw him on the other side of the room with her powers, without touching him.

They all nodded. "Well, I was impressed," Stefan complimented. His brother got up, sending a glare and resisting the urge to give him the finger.

Bonnie looked at her best friend. "It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena. I know I can," Bonnie promised. Elena nodded in appreciation. She didn't necessarily like her friends doing all of these things for her, putting their lives and danger. But they did anyway.

Just then, Athena bounded down the stairs, a smile on her face. "Hey, Damon the movie-" The moment she saw Alaric, Mikael's face flashed across her vision. She crouched down slightly, hissing as her eyes glowed violet, her face vamping out. Alaric was frozen in his spot, staring directly at her like he'd just seen a ghost.

Stefan put his hands up in surrender. "Athena it's ok. This is Alaric. Damon's friend."

Her stance slowly began to creep back up to a standing position. Athena's eyes changed back to normal and she looked at Alaric who was still frozen in place. Hesitation was still clear in her posture. "Damon has a friend?" she replied, shock covering her face.

Bonnie and Stefan couldn't help but laugh, while Damon rolled his eyes. "Yes, Athena I do."

A smile graced her lips, her body now becoming relaxed. "You just didn't seem like the friend type." With a few strides, she reached Alaric and smiled welcoming at him. "It's nice to meet you."

The possessed teacher was at loss for words. "It's nice to meet you too," he managed. He couldn't believe his eyes. She was here. Athena was here, right in front of him. His sister, his little baby sister was back and was alive. Partially.

Seeing that she made some progress, Athena smiled more and went back into the room she appeared from. Stefan decided to provide an explantion to the confused hunter. "Bonnie had a witch dream about her. She led us to the woods and we ended up digging a coffin that had her in it. She's been with us ever since."

"What about her family?" Alaric asked curiously. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know every last detail that led up to Athena being found after a thousand years. How come these idiots found her in one day while Klaus and his siblings searched for a thousand years. That wasn't fair. Trying to find Athena tore their family to shreds - more than they already were.

"Caroline had brought it up once but she broke in tears. Took a while to calm her down," Bonnie said quietly.

Stefan confirmed it by adding, "But as far as we are concerned she is a vampire, maybe a hybrid of some sort. She's been in that coffin for so long, that every time she meets someone she feels threatened. Athena's been through a lot."

Klaus couldn't withhold the smile on his face any longer. All the years of searching finally paid off. Because now he found the one person he and his siblings struggled to find. The one person who could make them a family once more. The one person who made them feel human in a world full of blood and gore.

He had finally found his sister.

———

Athena had brought it onto herself to get ready for the decade dance with Caroline. The blonde stood in the middle of her room with a white vintage dress with a brown belt around the waist. There was a giddy grin across her face. The younger girl laughed and ran over. She marveled, running her hand over the fabric gently. "It's so pretty Care."

Caroline smiled and laughed too. "I know which is why I picked it. Hurry, go try it on."

The brunette took the dress and ran into the bathroom. She came out a few minutes later and twirled around in front of Caroline, blushing a bit when she gushed, "Oh, Athena you look so pretty!" Then she stopped. "Oh here." She put a white headband on Athena's head and then handed her white flats.

Athena put them on and twirled again. She bit her lip unsurely, tugging on the bottom of the dress which was nearly out of her reach. "How do I look?"

"Perfect," Caroline sighed.

———

The party was in full swing by the time Caroline arrived, tugging Athena with her to the gym. Athena was gaping in shock. "Wow Caroline, this looks amazing!" Athena complimented. This would be her first ever twenty-first century party. In complete honesty, she wasn't even supposed to be there. She was a thirteen (sort of) year old girl who was a vampire and lived over a thousand years ago. Teenage parties weren't really here "thing".

Caroline smiled. "Thanks, Ena."

When they entered, the rest of the gang was there as they watched Dana walk up on stage and over to the microphone.  "Thanks for being here, everybody. We have a special shout-out tonight. This is for Elena and Athena. From Klaus."

As soon as the name was uttered by the girl, Athena froze, the breath leaving her lungs. Elena - on the other side of the room - was gaping in shock. Alaric watched from afar, frowning because he thought that his sister was not happy with his "sudden" arrival. Damon saw Athena with Caroline and walked over to her.

"What were you thinking? You're putting her in danger," Damon snapped.

Caroline struggled to find words. "I'm sorry I wasn't thinking."

Athena didn't move from her spot as she looked around hastily. If her brother was here... where was he? She wanted to see him. She needed to see him. It was a long time alone in that coffin though she couldn't remember a single moment. Athena couldn't imagine what her siblings had gone through. She herself knew how much she meant to them.

"I got this." Damon grabbed Athena's arm and walked over to Alaric who was standing by the punch bowl. The history teacher saw them and smiled at Athena. The young girl pulled her arm from Damon's gasped and smiled back.

"Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted," Alaric commented.

Damon looked around. "I'm not impressed."

Klaus was yet again offended. "No?"

"Watch Athena while I go a look for anything out of whack."

He left and so the two were left alone. Klaus debated whether to tell Athena that it was him or not. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion not to. He needed to be sure that everything would be okay first, that Athena would be safe with him. But he had to kill Bonnie first. Athena looked out at the sea of people for her brother. She came up short.

"Who are you looking for?" Alaric asked.

Athena sighed, going back down on her feet, and pursed her lips. "No one."

———

Later during the dance, Elena ran through the dance floor, looking all around her. Caroline and Athena were the first to notice and approached her. "Elena, you ok?" Athena asked.

The doppelganger dodged the question. "Um...Yeah. I'm just...I'm looking for Stefan."

Her answer, however, provided no reassurance. "Seriously, what's wrong?" Caroline asked.

"Uh, just, um, just stay with Athena, okay?"

Elena caught sigh of Stefan and went over to him. Athena watched her leave curiously. A bad feeling erupted in her stomach, making her veins creep up on her skin for a second before vanishing.

So, evidently, when Athena was positive that Caroline was occupied by Matt Donovan, she snuck away and entered one of the halls, following the sound of Elena's heartbeat. At the same time, her eyes searched for any sign of her brother. Because she knew that the moment any of the Mystic Falls inhabitants found Klaus, they'd kill him.

And she couldn't let that happen

———

"Bonnie, no!" Elena screamed, just as Athena arrived. She rushed down the hallway and saw Elena and Stefan trying to open the doors which led into the cafeteria from the looks of it.

Athena tried opening it too but to no avail. She looked through the window and saw Bonnie fighting Alaric. Realization passed her features once she realized that Alaric was not Alaric. It was Klaus. She had talked to her brother and she didn't even know it. Alaric crawled on the floor and Bonnie used a spell on him, making the lights burst, sending a shower of sparks raining down.

Elena screamed again, frantically pulling on the door. Stefan and Athena tried to open the doors again but wound up with the same results. Bonnie looked at them with a smile. It was almost like she didn't fear death.

Klaus got up and Bonnie faced him. Suddenly with a jerk of her body, she bent back and fell on the floor. With the magically bind gone, the doors opened with ease and Elena and Stefan rushed over to Bonnie in the darkly lit room.

Athena stood there in shock, not being able to move from the shock. Klaus appeared in front of her to block her view. "Don't look Ena."

Her eyes filled with tears, her breathing becoming labored. "Nik?" He nodded, tears filling his own eyes and he hugged her. She didn't hug back. Klaus pulled back confused but then he saw the horrified look on her face. "You killed her."

"I had to Athena, she was going to hurt me. And I need to break this curse."

Athena blinked at him through her watery eyes. "That doesn't mean you have to kill her Nik."

"No! Oh! Bonnie! Bonnie, Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, hey," Elena yelled from behind them, shaking her friend repeatedly. She took Bonnie in her arms as she sobbed.

Stefan looked around them and saw Alaric standing in front of Athena. "Athena!" he yelled. She looked over at him but said nothing. "Get away from her Klaus!"

Klaus shook his head. "I'm sorry, mate. I'm not leaving my sister here." And with that, he flashed him and Athena away, leaving a stunned Stefan.

———

Athena's eyes started to droop shut, as she fought off sleep. She laid down on the couch while Elena's doppelgänger, Katherine, sat at the bar. Klaus had compelled her not to talk to Athena but Katherine was itching to ask the girl something. Anything really.

"Athena, go to bed and get some rest," Klaus told her softly from the kitchen.

Katherine turned around and watched curiously as Athena yawned and stood up, walking to the guest bedroom. Once she was gone Katherine turned to Klaus who was texting Maddox. "Who's she?"

He looked up at Katherine and held up the same knife she stabbed her thigh with. "Do we have to go with this technique again? Or are you going to stop with the questions?"

She nodded, forcing away her curiosity. "I think I'm just going to rest on the couch..."

"Yes, you go do that." He walked into the guest bedroom and saw Athena lying there, already asleep. She hadn't even got the covers all the way up. He smiled and pulled her covers up kissing her forehead. "Goodnight little one."

———

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