Almost Is Never Enough

I woke up, unsure of when I fell asleep in the first place. I was in a nicely decorated room, a thick duvet covering the lower half of my body. My tank top was still covering my upper body, but my jeans were missing. I didn't remember taking them off, meaning it only could have been Elijah.

"Good morning, Athena." I pushed myself into a sitting position, rubbing at my eyes.

"Morning," I mumbled, searching the room for my pants. They were neatly folded over the back of a chair in the corner of the room. I twisted my hair into a bun, letting out a frustrated huff when my baby hairs didn't want to cooperate.

"How did you sleep?"

"I don't exactly remember falling asleep, but as far as rest goes I feel okay." I really wanted to put my pants back on, but with Elijah standing in my doorway, I didn't exactly feel comfortable.

"Good. I'll leave you to get dressed. We have to go." He was gone before I could ask where exactly we were going. I made quick work of putting my jeans on, slipping my feet into my boots. I didn't know which room I was in, but I followed the bannister until I was by the front door.

"Elijah?" I called out, staring around the entry hall.

"I'm here. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be. I wasn't prepared to stay. I only came to Mystic Falls to kill Damon." I felt as if I had no purpose now. Who knew when Stefan would finally come to his senses. If I killed Damon, I'd be no better than him, and Stefan would never forgive me.

"We'll get you whatever you need. I'm going to take you back to the Salvatore house. You'll be safe there." I followed him back into the trees, my brows furrowed in confusion.

"I wasn't under the impression that I was in danger?"

"Immediate danger, no, but I do not want to take any chances. Niklaus is not happy right now, and I won't have you in the line of fire." I nodded and didn't say anything else on the way back. I was clearly in over my head, and there weren't enough hours in the day for me to truly understand what was going on, but then something dawned on me.

"I thought you said Niklaus was the only person that can return my memories?"

"He is, but I need to speak with him before he sees you." With every second that passed, I was regretting setting foot in Mystic Falls. Stefan wasn't lying when he said I shouldn't be here. The boarding house came into view quicker than I expected. It looked deserted, but I knew better. Damon was probably inside drinking away his sorrows that he pretended he didn't have.

"So am I supposed to stay here all day? I can't promise Damon will come out of that alive."

"I can't control whether you stay or go, but I strongly encourage you not to leave. I will come back for you once I know it's safe. Niklaus needs to see reason before he knows you're here." And suddenly I felt like I was some secret that needed to be kept hidden. Things were getting worse the more time passed.

"Can you explain at least a little bit of what's going on? First you tell me I'm better off with you and now I'm better off here? What exactly is going on?" I didn't like not being in the loop, especially when it was obvious that I was somewhat important to Elijah.

"Stefan stole something of my brother's. Niklaus is not happy. He won't be in control of his temper, and I do not want you getting hurt." He placed his hand on the side of my face, tucking some fallen strands of hair behind my ear. The look on his face was one of pure worry, and I really didn't want to be the cause of it.

"Okay, Elijah. I won't leave." It's not like I had anywhere to go. Being stuck in a house with Damon all day wasn't appealing, but if it made Elijah feet better I would do it.

"Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can." He placed a kiss on my forehead, leaving me standing there in confusion.

"Well wasn't that a pleasant surprise." Damon was leaning against the doorframe, a wide smirk on his face. I didn't have time for his smug attitude. I pushed past him, collapsing on the couch. I threw my arm over my eyes, sighing loudly, "What did I miss in the 17 hours that you were gone?"

"I wish I could tell you." I knew as much as he did, but even if I knew everything, I had no reason to tell him. Damon liked to use things to his advantage, and if Stefan stole something from Niklaus, I really didn't want to be used as leverage.

"He seems to have taken a liking to you."

"On the contrary. It was Kol that was in love with me. I assume Elijah was something of a big brother." I was curious, but as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. I didn't want to wait for Niklaus though, especially if Stefan pissed him off, "Speaking of brothers, what did Stefan steal from Niklaus?"

"Mr. Original has been running his mouth, I see."

"That didn't answer my question, Damon. What did he take? Because whatever it is put me in danger with the rest of you assholes."

"Is that why you're back? I was hoping he would keep you." I rolled my eyes, taking the ponytail holder out of my hair. I ran my fingers through the strands in frustration. Why did everyone like pissing me off?

"What did he take?"

"Some beloved coffins that hold the rest of the Mikaelson family." I sat up, my eyebrows raised in confusion.

"The rest of the family?"

"Okay, so you don't know them that well. Our buddy Klaus has a bad habit of daggering his family when they...misbehave. Rebekah is here, obviously. I undaggered Elijah for my own personal reasons. The rest are hidden." Which meant Kol was somewhere in a box half dead. Without my memories, I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be angry or relieved.

"Does Stefan plan on letting them out?"

"No. One of the coffins is locked. We're trying to figure out how to unlock it. Whatever is in that coffin will get Klaus out of Mystic Falls for good." I was completely and utterly lost. I didn't know how to feel. From what Elijah said, Niklaus and everyone else clearly treated me like I was family, but Stefan taking something from them and trying to get Niklaus out of Mystic Falls meant there was more to the story.

"What aren't you guys telling me?"

"There's a lot you don't know, Athena. You need to decide whose side you're on."

"I can't choose a side if I don't know what's going on, Damon. So why don't you enlighten me?" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Klaus is a hybrid. He wants to make an army, and in order to do that, he needs the blood of the doppleganger." That was where Stefan's girlfriend came in.

"So he wants to turn Elena into a human blood bag." That unfortunate and inhumane, but I couldn't make a judgement call. Regardless of what I was currently feeling, there was an amount of time we spent together that I didn't remember. I had to take that into account, "Maybe I can talk to him." It wasn't the best idea considering he didn't know I was in Mystic Falls nor was he aware of the fact that I was still alive. And I promise Elijah that I wouldn't leave the house. I was starting to regret that promise.

"There's no talking to Klaus, Athena. I don't know what you know or what you knew, but he isn't the person you think he is."

"I don't have an opinion about the man one way or another, but I'm not leaving anytime soon. I'm in the middle of this just like all of you, so I need to know what's going on. I can't help if I don't know." Helping Damon was the last thing on my mind, and I'd yet to meet Elena, but Stefan was the closest thing to family I had left. I had to at least try to help him.

"I've told you what I know. We don't know what's in that fourth coffin, but it's locked for a reason. Bonnie is trying to figure out a way to unlock it." I'd gotten myself into deep shit coming here, and I didn't know how I was going to get out of it.

"So what can I do to help?"

"You can stay out of trouble. I don't need Elijah trying to rip my head off because you don't know how to follow directions." Damon's phone began to ring, and I watched his eyebrows perk up, "Did you figure out how to open the coffin?" I assumed he was talking to Bonnie, whoever that was.

"He knows where the coffins are, Damon. You need to move them, and you need to move them now." He hung up after that, standing up from the couch.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not. You're going to stay here like you promised Elijah you would. I can handle this." He disappeared before I could protest. I had no desire to sit in this house when I knew something was going on, but where was I supposed to go? I didn't know where Elijah was. Stefan wasn't home, and I didn't know anyone else. Surely none of them expected me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I huffed and stood up, walking back outside. I tried my best to find my way back to Elijah's house, following the same path we took. I didn't know what to expect once I got there. There was a car out front, but I didn't know who it belonged to. I walked through the front door, looking around the seemingly empty house, but I could hear two people talking. I walked down the steps, heading for one of the rooms, but I stopped in my tracks when both men turned to look at me.

"Who are you?" I opened my mouth to respond, but my back found the wall before I got a word out. I gripped the hand that wrapped itself around my neck and squeezed until I heard the bones crack.

"Let her go." There were three coffins sitting in the room, so I could only assume that it was Niklaus staring at me with unreadable expression on his face. I kicked the other vampire away from me, watching as he went crashing to the floor, "Athena, what are you doing here?" I didn't have time to respond because I watched Elijah rip the heart from the other vampires chest and drop it to the floor. The look on Niklaus' face was one of pure astonishment, and suddenly I felt like I should have stayed at the Salvatore house.

"You looked surprised to see me. Guess it wasn't you that removed the dagger from my chest." I watched Elijah's eyes flicker to me for a brief moment, and I knew he was upset.

"You look like you could do with a drink, and we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?" I could tell that Niklaus was scared. I watched Elijah punch him in the face and throw him through the glass doors to my right. I moved out of the way, my eyes wide. Elijah seemed so calm. Whatever Niklaus did to him must have been horrible, "Easy. I just finished renovating." Niklaus slammed Elijah into a table, and I gasped as the wood crumbled underneath his body. My first instinct was to run to his side, but they weren't done, "You know, you have every right to be mad at me but I kept my word. I reunited you with our family," I watched them fight, unsure of what I was supposed to do. Everything happened so fast. I blinked, and Niklaus was holding a dagger to Elijah's chest, "Don't make me do this to you again, Elijah."

"Go on. Use it, I dare you. You'll have Kol to deal with." My eyes snapped to the open coffin, staring down at the desiccated body. Someone that was once my best friend lied there, almost like he was sleeping. I took two steps toward them, hoping the fighting was over.

"Mikael is dead." I didn't know who Mikael was, but it was obvious that Niklaus was relieved about this person being gone.

"What did you say?" I walked to Elijah's side, staring up at him. I couldn't only hope he wouldn't be too mad at me.

"I killed him, with his own weapon. He's gone, Elijah. Forever." It was almost like they forgot I was in the room.

"Why do our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over 900 years, Kol for over a century." I walked to Kol's coffin, staring down at his face. He was a stranger, but then he wasn't. I could see the life coming back into his skin, but Niklaus was quick to sink the dagger back into his chest.

"Because of Stefan Salvatore. He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them." I figured it was my time to join the conversation.

"That's why I'm here." They both looked at me, different expressions on their faces.

"You told me you weren't going to leave." I felt like a child being scolded, but I didn't know what else I was supposed to do.

"I know, but when I tell you what's going on you're going to appreciate the fact that I left." I could only hope that Elijah wouldn't be upset with me for too long. I was trying to help them.

"Well out with it then." Niklaus' impatience was going to get on my nerves, but I didn't want to fight with him.

"What's in that last coffin?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I rolled my eyes, looking over to Elijah. I wouldn't get anywhere with Niklaus. How we were once so close, I didn't understand, and I probably never would. My memories were gone, but I couldn't even find a reason that we would have had such a good relationship. Though he hadn't done anything to me, he seemed vile. To dagger his own family because he did not approve of the things they did was over the top. He was a control freak, and I hated being told what to do. There was no way that we got along.

"I'm asking because Stefan and Damon are trying to open it. So if you don't want that to happen, I suggest you figure out a way to get it back," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. I was surprised when Niklaus smiled at me.

"You haven't changed a bit." He walked out of the room, leaving me to stand there in confusion with an upset Elijah.

"You shouldn't have come back on your own. I told you I would come get you when I knew it was safe."

"Yes, but I didn't know when that was going to be, and I'm trying to help. I don't know what's going on between everyone, but I didn't come here to get tossed in the middle of a war. You have to understand how awkward this is for me. Stefan is like family. I can do without Damon, but I'm expected to choose a side, and I don't even know what's going on. From now on, you don't leave me out of the loop, okay?" He wanted to tell me no. I could see it in his expression, but I wasn't going to back down. I had to convince Niklaus to give me back my memories.

"Okay, Athena. Does Damon know you're here?"

"No. He got a phone call about the coffins and left. No one was home. I came here." My eyes moved back over to Kol's now closed coffin. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what he was like and what he'd done to make Niklaus shove a dagger in his chest

"Did he say where the coffin was?"

"No. He wouldn't even let me go with him. I doubt he'd tell me anyway." Damon didn't trust me, and I didn't trust him either. Stefan was off the rails, and who knew how long that was going to last.

"We need to figure something out. Niklaus isn't going to hold off for much longer. Someone is going to die if he doesn't get his way." So he was a brat too? That just made things better.

"Elijah, what's in the last coffin?"

"I wish I knew." If Elijah didn't know, that meant it was something bad. Stefan and Damon didn't need to open the coffin. They needed to leave well enough alone.

"So what do you suggest we do?" I asked, walking into the sitting room. I could feel a headache forming, and I really wanted to sleep.

"Invite them to dinner." Elijah took a seat next to me, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to come up with a plan. I brought my knees up to my chest, resting my head on them as I watched him. The longer I stared, the more I wondered if he was the one that I was in love with, which made my thoughts flicker back to Kol.

"Do you think Niklaus will wake them up?" I asked, looking back toward the room with the coffins.

"Not unless he has to. He likes things his way or no way at all. Finn has always been a bit...self-depricating. Kol has a horrible temper. It's in his best interest if he doesn't right now." I could feel my eyes starting to droop. Elijah's chuckle was what made them open again.

"You're tired. I got some things for you while I was out. They're in your room. You should go to bed." I nodded once, pushing myself from the couch.

"Goodnight, Elijah."

"Goodnight, Athena."