Maddy couldn't entertain herself.

She couldn't talk to herself, and she didn't have her phone, because her brothers were currently looking through it. They wouldn't find many messages, though. She made a habit of deleting them as soon as the conversation was over.

"So," said Stefan, looking in at her through the gap in the door. "Damon decided we can't give you blood."

She looked at him sadly, knowing that this was probably a good idea. If she remained strong, she could break out. But if she was weak, then they could make sure she didn't do anything else on Elijah's orders. She nodded, just to let Stefan know she heard him.

"Caroline got kidnapped by the wolves today," he told her. "Elijah's witch rescued us when we went to get her. John is being a dick and causing problems between Jenna and Ric, but there's not much we can do about that. He was helpful today, though. He showed us these mystical daggers that can apparently kill an Original. We're gonna talk to Katherine tomorrow about that, see if she knows anything. We're not sure how killing an Original will affect the compulsion. It... it might make it stay forever, or it might take it away. Katherine will tell us. If it stays stuck after we kill him, then we'll have Bonnie see if she can find a way to undo it magically. Compulsion is magic, so... maybe there's a way to remove it."

Maddy held up her hand, making a sign language 'D' to ask where Damon was.

Stefan's face fell. "He doesn't... he's... he's trying not to be bitter. I'm trying to help him understand that you didn't have a choice. You didn't betray us because you wanted to. Elijah forced you to. This isn't your fault, Mads."

She stifled a sob, bringing her sleeve up to wipe her eyes.

"I swear, we'll find a way to free you," said Stefan. "But for the time being, you're safer here. All of us are. I don't know what else Elijah compelled you to do, and you can't tell me, so..."

She sighed, leaning back on the small cot. She curled up, closing her eyes to signal to Stefan that she was done talking for the day.

She couldn't sleep that night. She tried to tire herself out, thinking of all the ways she'd torture Elijah for having done this to her. She hated him. She wanted to rip all his organs out and dismember him and toss him in the vervain well where Mason had put the moonstone.

The next day had been a bit worse. The entire twenty-four hours, she was trapped in the cell. Stefan came to update her in the evening, to tell her that Bonnie had learned more about Elijah's witches, and how they'd narrowly survived a wolf attack. The situation with Jenna and Alaric was getting worse as John continued to plant seeds of doubt.

She'd heard, at one point, that people had been in the house. She wrote her question about it on a paper for Stefan, who explained that the wolves had chained Damon up, much like he did to Mason Lockwood. They were going to kill him, but Elijah rescued him.

"Yes, Elijah was here," said Stefan when Maddy's face lit up. Though, he noticed how quickly her expression dropped when she realized Elijah had been there and hadn't even bothered to check on her. "Damon talked to him, asked him if he could please remove the compulsion. Elijah didn't want to. Um... aside from that, there's nothing else to tell, really. Tyler's gone, Caroline is pretty worked up about it. He didn't say goodbye."

She nodded glumly. Taking pity on her, Stefan opened the door, coming inside and sitting with her. He handed her phone to her. "We've deleted Elijah's contact and any recent call buttons you might click. And, of course, blocked his number. He can't contact you. Maybe you can play a few games and keep yourself entertained tomorrow."

She raised a brow, as if to ask, 'What's happening tomorrow?'

"Um, well I'm gonna go back to the lake house with Elena. She's alone there and it worries me. But uh, Damon's gonna try and take down Elijah. Katherine says that daggering him will leave her stuck in the tomb forever. Which means... we're going to have to find a different way to undo your compulsion. But it's okay, we're gonna work it out, Mads, I promise. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

They sensed a presence, and looked up as Damon appeared in the doorway. Maddy frowned, shuffling so that she wasn't facing him.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" asked Stefan sharply. "If you're not gonna be nice to her, then you need to leave."

"I just want to know how this happened," he said. "When did the compulsion start?"

Maddy obviously couldn't answer.

"It must have been that day you went to see if Elijah's body was still at the house," he muttered. "Please don't tell me you hooked up with him."

Maddy quickly shook her head. That part wasn't true at all.

"Oh, thank god," said Damon, rubbing his forehead. "Wait, but that makes no sense. Earlier he was telling me how important it is to keep you and Elena safe. You sure you didn't bone this guy? He seems whipped."

Maddy's hand shook as she started trying to write on the paper, thinking that maybe she could tell them about her theory that maybe she and Elijah had met before. She didn't imagine he could have actually gone into her mind when she was trying to choke him with her thighs.

All that came out were scribbles. Awful, ugly scribbles. Nothing useful.

"You tried, Mads, it's okay," said Stefan soothingly when she tugged her shirt up and started to cry. "Damon, I think you should go."

"I still want to know more!"

"Look at her, Damon," Stefan snapped, getting to his feet. "You keep making her feel guilty for something that isn't even her fault! First she feels bad because she thinks she didn't do enough to keep us out of that mess with Katherine, and now, you're making her believe that she betrayed us willingly! She didn't! We're dealing with a man who's maybe ten times our age. Someone who literally came back to life after you staked him. She didn't have a damn choice! Let's just be thankful that there was nothing major she could have told him. It's gonna be fine. Elena's safe, Damon, that's what our goal is. Just leave her the hell alone."

Damon had to force himself to take a step back. "Fine. Mads, I'm sorry."

She didn't believe him. She refused to look up at him. Stefan sat back down with her, rubbing her back.

"Maybe we should have Bonnie come and see her first thing tomorrow," said Stefan. "She might be able to do something."

"Alright," mumbled Damon. "You tell her, though. She doesn't like me."

"You're gonna have to let her in tomorrow. I'm gonna be at the lake house."

"Fine. If she can at least help Mads be able to talk..."

Maddy slept that night, but barely. She'd had a singular dream, one which brought her enough comfort to sustain her the following day.

"Hey there Mads!" said Lexi, who had apparently come to see her while she was in the apartment she'd been living in before going to Mystic Falls. "Ready to go?"

"I am," said Maddy, grabbing her bag. "You said we're going to a concert?"

"Yep! You're gonna like it. It's this artist that no one really knows about, but I think he's good. He's cute, too, I think you'll want a private meet-and-greet after the concert."

"Ooh," said Maddy, nudging her with her hip. "I take it that's why Stefan isn't coming?"

"Exactly. It's girl time right now. Just you and me, sister. Let's go."

She woke up in tears. God, she missed Lexi. She would have given anything for Lexi to be here right now. She would have figured it out sooner, before Damon had a chance to get mad at her. Lexi would have knocked some sense into Damon, kept him from being so rude to his sister after the initial realization.

Better yet, Lexi would have kept her out of this mess entirely. Maddy never wanted to come back to Mystic Falls. She did it solely because she was scared that her brothers were going to wind up hurt without her help.

She tried to play a few games on her phone, but it wasn't as entertaining as she hoped it would be. She was starving, dirty, and so annoyed with having to spend another day down here. Upstairs, she could hear a lot of movement, as if the house was being prepared to host some gathering.

But no one came to tell her about it. Damon was obviously busy and did not want to talk to her. Stefan was at the lake house with Elena, likely informing her about the plan to dagger Elijah.

Bonnie came just before afternoon. Damon brought her, and left quickly. Bonnie noticed how sad Maddy was, curled up in a ball and staring at the wall, and she found herself pitying her.

"I've never done this before," Bonnie admitted once she explained to her what she was going to do to try and remove the compulsion. "I don't know if it'll work, but I can at least try to help you talk again."

Maddy nodded eagerly. Bonnie bit her lip. "This is gonna hurt. Are you okay with that?" Maddy assented once more. She just wanted to be able to move her mouth again.

Bonnie let her hands hover on either side of her head. Maddy dug her nails into her thighs, immediately feeling a burning pain all over her scalp. She whimpered, but her mouth refused to open. Bonnie continued to chant, pushing harder with her magic. Maddy was screaming internally, begging for Bonnie to stop. It wasn't working and she knew it.

She started to wave her hands like a madwoman when she saw that Bonnie's nose was bleeding. That wasn't a good sign, clearly she was pushing herself. But Bonnie wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were closed and she was completely focused.

Maddy started to press against her arms, pleading for her to take notice. Bonnie was still chanting. Maddy whined and whimpered, feeling herself growing weaker. She was so hungry, and all she could smell was Bonnie's blood as it leaked from her nose—

"STOP!" Maddy burst out. "BONNIE, STOP!"

The Bennett witch immediately leapt back, shocked when she saw dark veins rising in Maddy's face. She instantly sprinted out, slamming the cell door behind her as Maddy lunged at her, reaching her hand out through the bars and clawing at the air, trying to get Bonnie.

"I'm sorry!" she said, once she could no longer smell blood. "Bonnie, I'm sorry!"

"I-It's okay," said Bonnie nervously, stepping back. "You can talk, that's what matters. I— I've got to go."

Maddy knew she'd scared her a bit too much when Bonnie ran off without another word. She couldn't even claim that wasn't her fault. She should have controlled herself better. For so many years, she'd tried to work on that. She had to, because how else would she have kept Stefan from lashing out in those moments where he went full Ripper?

Her phone rang just before evening, when she was laying on the floor with her legs against the wall, trying to make out the muffled voices upstairs.

"Mads," said Stefan on the other line. "Bonnie says you can talk again?"

"Yeah," she said dejectedly. "She helped me, and then I tried to rip her throat out."

"It was an accident, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay. I just— I don't know what to do, Stefan. I wish I could turn back time and fix this. I'm gonna go crazy in here. If Elijah gets taken down tonight and I'm stuck like this..."

"I'll find another witch to help if Bonnie can't do it. But this proves it's possible, okay? It proves that compulsion can be undone by a witch. Listen... we're gonna figure it out. Just like we've always figured everything out before this. Think you're up for talking to Elena while I call Damon about his plan for tonight?"

"Yeah, okay," Maddy mumbled.

A shuffling, then a gentle voice asking if she was okay.

"I'm not okay," Maddy admitted. "I can't tell them all the things I know. Things that could get you hurt. They care about you so much and I don't want to see them heartbroken if something happens to you."

"I can take care of myself," said Elena softly. "I know they don't believe that, but... listen, I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"You're... sorry?"

"Yes. I know that you didn't want them to stick around with me. I must sound so selfish for being grateful that they did. They both mean something to me, Maddy. Stefan... I love him. And I think I'm always going to love him. Damon's my friend and he's helped me so many times. They've become my family. And no matter how many times I tell them that I don't want them to get killed because of me..."

"You're their family too, now," murmured Maddy. "We're always willing to die for family."

"I have a feeling we need to trust Elijah. He promised me everyone would be safe if I just did what he asked. It doesn't make sense for everyone to be breaking their backs trying to save my life when we have an obvious solution. He told me that he used the exact same words with me that he used with you. He wants to kill Klaus. He wants our cooperation. And I think we should comply. It's not fair for everyone to die just to save my life. If I die... then I die. I'm okay with that. But I could never forgive myself if one of you got hurt because you place more value on my life than your own."

At that moment, Maddy saw Elena as a completely separate person from Katherine. When would Katherine Pierce ever say such a thing? When would she have ever been alright with dying just to keep the majority safe? Elena understood how much danger everyone was in because of their love for her. And she would rather die than continue to put them in a position where they would suffer trying to protect her.

"In all honesty," whispered Elena, "I'm not sure what's so special about... me. Supernaturally, obviously, there's something there. But I was a completely normal and... boring person before I met Stefan. I appreciate his love for me and I do feel safe whenever he's with me. But like I told him before... if being together is hurting everyone, then maybe we should be apart."

"Have you told him that?"

"I've tried. He doesn't want to listen. I feel so awful knowing that I'll hurt him either way. If I stay with him, I'm leaving the door wide open for more enemies that will use me against him. If I leave him... it's gonna break his heart. I don't know what to do."

"Well," said Maddy, "I think that talking to him might help you figure that out. He's going to be stubborn, and he'll want to stay together, but if you tell him what you've told me... he'll eventually see reason. After all, it doesn't necessarily have to mean that you're over forever. You could go back to being just friends and then, in the far future, if things settle down enough, I see no reason why you can't get back together. But what about Damon?"

"I... I don't know what to even say about him. I know he feels something for me. But I just don't... it's hard to explain. It's different with him than it is with Stefan."

"All I ask is that you please don't lead them on. You need to be clear with both of them about how you feel. They need to learn to respect your boundaries and each other's too. If you say nothing, and allow them to think they each have a chance, then it just leads to further conflict. Damon especially needs to hear things right in his face to understand them, and even then sometimes he refuses to see the truth. I know they both care a lot about you and it hurts me knowing that one of them is inevitably going to get their heart broken. But like I've told them before... actually something Lexi once told me... I think we all have more than one soulmate. They come at different times in our life, for different reasons, and each one makes you feel... something new. Everyone talks about meeting 'the one,' but Lexi always believed there were 'multiple ones.' It won't be the end of the world if this doesn't work out for you guys. Maybe your epic loves are just... not in Mystic Falls right now."

She could tell Elena was smiling slightly. "Did you ever have that?" Elena asked. "An epic love?"

"I... I don't think I have yet. I've had puppy love, I think. First love. But I haven't let myself get too involved with anyone in recent years."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Maddy, but... it seems like you spend a lot more time worrying about your brothers than you do worrying about yourself."

"Ha... Lexi used to think that, too. I dreamt about her, and she was telling me how we had to have some girl time. Aside from usual flings I don't tend to let people get close to me. It takes a lot of effort to really get to know someone and I feel like I can't afford to spend that much time... that's precious time I could be using to help keep my family together. To keep Stefan and Damon safe."

"They're adults too, at this point. I think you deserve to focus on yourself, if you want to. If you find the right person that you're willing to get to know. They'll be okay. Something tells me they lean on each other more nowadays than they have in a long time. They have each other and it's not like you're going to disappear forever if you let yourself fall in love."

Maddy laughed lightly. "Yeah, it's been a really long time since we got along like this. We still bicker and tease and Damon still loves making me mad while Stefan chastises him for it. It's been nice. And maybe... if the right person does come along... we'll see."

"I could go ahead and list all the people in town that you might find interest in."

"Alright, sure."

"One more question first. Do you want me to list just eligible bachelors or bachelorettes too?"

"Anyone and everyone. I'm relatively young for a vampire but let me tell you that I've been everywhere at this point."

"Have your brothers—?"

"I'll let them tell you about that."

"Alright. Let's see... Carol Lockwood is single. Damon finds her very elegant. I've known her forever. She's sweet. Set in her ways but I'm guessing that soon enough, if she learns about what Tyler is, she's gonna be more accepting."

Maddy giggled. "Are you telling me you want me to become Tyler Lockwood's stepmother?"

"Well that's really only going to happen if you get married. Let's see... I have so many teachers at my school that are single but I'm trying to determine which of them you'll find most interesting."

Maddy suddenly shushed her. "I think people are arriving upstairs for... whatever they're planning. Can't talk now."

"Okay. Stay safe, Maddy. If something happens, call us immediately. I can't really do anything but Stefan can."

"Thanks, Elena," said Maddy, finding herself smiling a bit. "I appreciate it."

She couldn't hear all too well, since the lack of blood was diminishing so much of her strength. But she could tell who was there: Jenna, Alaric, John Gilbert, Damon, Elijah, and some woman whose voice sounded really familiar, but she couldn't quite place.

There was a lot of scuffling, some laughter, and idle chit-chat. Maddy was pressed up against the cell door, sticking her ear to the open space between the bars to try and find out what was going on. She heard nothing.

And then, a loud yell, and suddenly, there was a strange sensation in her tongue. She remembered every single conversation with Elijah, and she knew, just knew, that the compulsion was gone.

"DAMON!" she yelled. "DAMON!"

He was already on his way down, carrying Elijah's desiccated body with Alaric's help. "What is it, Mads?" he asked, when he saw her reaching her hand out through the bars. "Hey—"

"I remember!" she said. "I remember everything! What did you do?"

"Ric daggered him," said Damon as he opened the door. The two men dropped Elijah's body on the ground. "Wait, are you telling me that daggering him removed the compulsion?"

"Yes," said Maddy, pushing past them and rushing toward the nearby fridge, popping open the door and slurping down the first blood bag she got her hands on. She sighed in relief, ignoring the way Damon and Alaric stared at her.

Alaric was clearly unhappy. "You said there wasn't going to be any violence," he muttered to Damon as they left Elijah on the floor.

"Says the guy that did all the killing," replied the vampire.

"Hey," snapped Alaric before Damon could just walk away. "I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house. Now, you can't lie to me like that." When Damon tried to leave again, he pulled him back harder. "Hey, I'm your friend, damn it. And you don't have any friends, so no more lying."

Damon just nodded, not about to acknowledge that he did something wrong. He patted his sister on the shoulder. "You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I was starving but now I'm not. What's the deal with the daggers?"

"You dip them in this white oak ash and stab an Original to kill them," said Alaric as they walked back upstairs. "John gave them to Damon to try and kill him, too. If a vampire uses them, it's lethal. So... I took the shot because I'm human and it wouldn't hurt me."

Maddy gritted her teeth. "Would it be wrong of me to rip out John Gilbert's throat?" She rubbed her forehead as they made it to the kitchen. "So, Elijah didn't tell me much about his plan other than he wants to kill Klaus and needed me as a spy because I'm close to the action. He doesn't want to hurt Elena. But he wanted me to keep you in line. He wanted the materials to break the curse. And he apparently knows everything about us because according to him he went into my mind when I tried to choke him."

Damon sneered. "Good thing he's dead. He basically just violated you with that."

"Speaking of violation," said Maddy sharply, "have you apologized to Caroline yet?"

"Why are you bringing this up?" asked Damon. "Shouldn't we be talking about how Elijah is trying to find a witch burial ground to channel its power to kill Klaus?"

"Don't avoid it, Damon. Have you apologized to her or not?"

"I think I should go," said Alaric awkwardly.

"No, stay," said Maddy. "Hold him accountable. Tell me, in the days that I was stuck in the cellar and you were being a dick to me, did you do anything productive?"

"So now you're scolding me because I was mean to you?" said Damon. "Look, I'm sorry Mads, but we didn't know what you did or didn't tell Elijah—"

Maddy punched him, causing his head to whip to the side. Alaric whistled, but quickly turned away as if he saw nothing.

Damon massaged his jaw. "Did that make you feel better?"

"I think I'll feel better with another fifteen punches but that's a start."

Damon's phone started to ring. "Stefan," he said. "Saved me from a beating."

"Where is the dagger?" said Stefan urgently.

Damon's eyes flickered to the dining table. "Right next to me, why?"

"Elena read in the journal that you have to keep the dagger in him! If you remove it, he—"

Damon sped downstairs immediately. Seconds later, Maddy and Alaric heard him swear loudly before coming back up.

"He's gone," he said, grabbing the dagger and rushing to get the small container of white oak ash. "Stay here. Elijah's probably going after Elena."

He sped off without another word.

"I should get going," said Alaric. "I need to talk to Jenna."

"Good luck with that," said Maddy. "I'm gonna go clean up. Thanks for your help today. I know you didn't want to, but it's because of you that the compulsion is gone."

He offered her a smile. "Yeah, you're welcome. Your brother can be a dick sometimes, and I hate doing what he wants when he doesn't have manners... but I'm glad to help when it comes to people like you and Stefan who actually ask nicely."

"Oh, don't be mistaken," she said. "I'm a brat. I just know that politeness can get me what I want sometimes. I..." she faltered. "Oh... oh no..."

"What is it?" asked Alaric. "What's wrong?"

"Katherine," she squeaked. "Katherine! The compulsion on Katherine! She's not gonna be in the tomb anymore!"

A/N: Happy 100 pages! Comment for more :)