"I have a request for you," Charlotte said to Lucy. "Do you still paint?"

"Of course," Lucy nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I know I'm dead so I won't be able to pay you for your efforts, but would you mind making a portrait of Thomas for me?" Charlotte wanted to know. "I think it would be nice for him to have something like that at his apartment."

"Of course," Lucy nodded. "I would love to do something like that. Usually the only person I paint is your son, so it'll be a nice challenge for me."

"Well good!" Charlotte smiled. "Thank you so much, dear."

"In fact," Lucy said, and pulled out her first painting of him. "This is what I thought he looked like when you first brought him up. Not exactly accurate, I know. But it'll give you something to look at while you wait for me to finish the more accurate portrait."

"Well, how beautiful!" Charlotte commented. "May I have this one too?"

"Sure," Lucy nodded. "Go ahead. I'm sure Damon would be more than pleased to get it out of here. He wasn't too happy when I first showed it to him."

"Well, I'll just have to speak to him about that," Charlotte replied. "He shouldn't be telling you how to do your art."

"Oh, he doesn't," Lucy assured her. "I do what I please. It's just that I haven't had many other people to paint besides him, and I think he enjoys being my muse."

"Well, what man doesn't enjoy being immortalized forever?" Charlotte sighed. "A sign of ego-stroking at its most blatant. Not that I'm blaming you for anything, Lucy dear. But now I think it's time we challenged my son, don't you? You've made a good start, but I think we could do better."

"How?" Lucy asked. "It wouldn't involve doing anything immoral, would it? Cause I try not to."

"Oh, no!" Charlotte assured her, shaking her curly dark head. "It's just a little exercise in appreciation for my son, that's all. No one will die, I promise."

"Well, all right," Lucy nodded. "Just what do I do?"

"Would you let me possess you?" Charlotte asked. "That way, I could get closer to Thomas, and you'd have a built-in excuse to keep my son at a distance, which hopefully will make him appreciate you more."

"That's an interesting idea," Lucy replied thoughtfully. "How long would this go on for?"

"I don't know," Charlotte replied. "I guess we'd see. I promise not to be so overtaken by the privileges that having a body will grant me that I forget that your body actually belongs to you. You can be sure of that."

"All right," Lucy said and shook her hand. "Let's do it. And I would be more than happy to do that picture of Thomas for you. It would be my pleasure."

"You really are a dear," Charlotte told her and gave her a hug. "Don't worry. I won't possess you until you finish it. Cause I really don't know how to paint at all, so you'd get nowhere, and I really do want that picture."

"All right," Lucy said as she sat Thomas down in her studio for his first sitting. "This really isn't a complicated thing. Charlotte wants a portrait of you to hang up at your apartment, so all you need to do is sit there and try to be as still as possible. Easier said than done, I know. But I think you'll be more than happy with the results."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Thomas replied as he looked around her studio. "I'm surprised you agreed to do a portrait of me, though, when everything else you do is so…dark."

"Well, variety is the spice of life," Lucy replied, setting up her easel. "Turn to face me, please, and try not to move."

Things were going well enough until, of course, Damon stomped in uninvited and nearly naked.

"All right," he said without paying any attention to Thomas. "I'm ready for you to do another portrait of me, Lucy."

"I'm busy at the moment painting Thomas here," Lucy said irritably. "Your mother requested a picture of him, and I told her I would be more than happy to do it, so you have to wait your turn."

"Fine," Damon sighed and stomped out of the room. He then drove to Andrew and Amelia's where he confronted his mother.

"Why are you letting Lucy paint a picture of your new boyfriend?" He demanded.

"Because I want to have a portrait of him!" Charlotte said. "Just like I have ones of you and your father and every other person in my life who's important to me. What's the trouble with that?"

"See, Lucy only paints me," Damon told her firmly.

"Well, obviously not, otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to do this for me," Charlotte told him. "You'll just have to get used to the fact that you are no longer the center of Lucy's universe anymore." She scoffed. "I swear, you were just like this when your brother was born. Thank heavens little Selina was around to fawn over you and distract your attention, otherwise I'd have gone mad." She then began to choke her son, pulling him upward so his feet dangled just above the floor. "Now, you leave Thomas alone," she told him. "I'm just starting to enjoy my life again and there is no chance in hell I'm letting you ruin it. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Damon managed to get out. "Yes, I swear. Let me go, Mother. Please!"

Charlotte scoffed then and dropped him on the floor. "I bet you're going to be just as troublesome in a few days as you are now, but I'm not worried about that."

"You're not?" Damon asked.

"No," Charlotte told him. "Damon, you are my son, and I love you dearly. But when you act like a fool, there will be consequences. Now why don't you go home and apologize to Lucy and Thomas, hmmm?"

"All right," Damon said ruefully, rubbing his neck. "Sure, whatever."

He went home and did as his mother asked.

"Thank you," Lucy said in surprise. "That was very mature of you. I appreciate it. And the fact that your mother probably put you up to it doesn't make it any less sincere, does it?"

"No," Damon told her. "It doesn't, I promise."

"Good," Lucy told him and turned back to continue painting Thomas who was looking at Damon with concern. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Is he going to be all right?" Thomas asked. "He looks like he's been to hell and back!"

"He probably has," Lucy said. "But I wouldn't feel too bad for him. He brings this on himself all the time."

"All right," Thomas said. "If you say so."

"I do," Lucy told him. "Don't worry about it. And remember to stay still."

"Right," Thomas nodded and got back in his original position. "Sorry."

With Charlotte keeping Damon in line, Lucy finished Thomas' portrait in just a few days. And when it was drying, the two women came together to put their plan into action.

"Now, are you sure you still want to do this?" Charlotte asked. "I know it's going to take a lot out of you."

"Oh, yes, I still want to," Lucy assured her. "These last few days have just made me more determined than ever."

"All right," Charlotte nodded. Without any further hesitation, she merged with Lucy and then went over to the mirror, thinking about what to do with herself. She looked like Lucy now, but she knew she had the power to take on her own appearance as well. She would do that later, when it would have the best effect.

She spent the rest of the day wandering around the house, and when Damon finally returned from an outing with Stefan, taking her in his arms and trying to kiss her, she turned her head so all he got was a bit of her cheek.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked. "I told you I was sorry about the Thomas thing. What more can I do?"

"I'm sorry," Charlotte told him. "I'm just not feeling up to it at the moment. Give me a few hours. I should be better tonight."

"All right," Damon nodded. "Whatever you say."

And when she came to bed that night, he was ready for her. She opened the door and was immediately met with the sight of him spread out naked on the bed.

"You said you'd be ready for a little fun before bed, right?" He asked with a smirk. "Why don't you come and join me?"

"All right, let's have a look," Charlotte said as she came closer to the bed, looking him over, a smile curving her lips. "You know, you're not as impressive as I thought," she said a few seconds later. "Of course, the last time I saw you like this was when you would escape your bath and go running through the house naked much to your nanny's chagrin. You're cute, but…not my type, of course. If we were to be together, it would be wrong!"

"Excuse me?" Damon asked.

"Never mind," Charlotte said. She turned off the light and climbed in bed next to him. "Good night."

"'Good night'?" Damon repeated, his jaw dropping a little. "That's it?"

"Oh, all right fine," Charlotte replied, heaving an exaggerated sigh. They began kissing and when Damon pulled away from her to remove his boxers, that's when he saw it: Lucy's face turning into his mother's. As he lapsed into screams, his mother got out of bed and ran out of the room, leaving Damon to have a very fitful, sleepless night while she went to visit Thomas.

"So you actually have a body now?" Thomas asked when he came to let her in the front door.

"Yes," Charlotte told him. "Granted I'm only borrowing it, so it won't be forever, but…it's a start, right?"

"Yes," Thomas nodded and took her in his arms, giving her a kiss as his hands ran over her body. "I suppose it is."

The next morning, Charlotte woke up to the smell of food cooking. She came downstairs and gasped at the sight of shirtless Thomas standing in front of the warm stove flipping bacon in a pan. His naked torso was covered with sweat and his hair was tousled.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she told him. "You look…you look so…oh, my goodness." She was so overtaken that she swooned and Thomas grabbed her.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yes," she said as he helped her stand up. "It's the heat, I suppose. A bit warm in here." She put a hand on his bare chest to steady herself and then let it slide down, stopping at his boxers. "I think…I think I should sit down," she said.

"Yes," Thomas nodded. "I'll get you some water. Things should cool down in here soon, I promise."

"Lucy's possessed!" Damon cried dramatically as he burst into Selina and Elijah's living room without invitation. "Lucy's possessed and we have to do something about it!"

"Who possessed her?" Elijah asked. "Someone dangerous?"

"My mother," Damon told him. "My mother possessed Lucy!"

"How did you find this out?" Selina asked.

"Well, we went to bed last night, and we were kissing and then when I pulled away, I saw…I saw…" Damon collapsed into a chair. "Oh, god, I don't want to think about it anymore!"

Selina ran to get him a drink. "Here," she said. "You sound like you need this."

"Thank you," Damon replied and chugged it quickly before holding the empty bottle out for another one. "Keep 'em coming."

Later, when he was sleeping it all off, Selina and Damon were finally able to have a serious discussion about what he'd told them.

"What do you think about this?" Elijah asked. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"I don't know why he'd lie," Selina said. "And possessing someone would be the only way that Charlotte could make a real connection with another living being for now."

"I just hope that Lucy gave her consent before it happened," Elijah said. "The thought of her being possessed against her will just worries me. And what if it kills her?"

"Oh, I don't think it will," Selina replied. "She's invulnerable. It'll probably just make her a bit shaken up. But I suppose we could at least check on it and see just what's going on. You want to?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "Let's go."