Noah took off his gloves and threw them in the trash can. Epiphany nodded obediently as he silently conveyed their next move. Pulling the blanket up over her body, Noah took one last look at Robin. Across from him, the nurse rested her hands on the railing of the bed and then led the surgical team out of the O.R. "I'll go tell him," Noah said before he headed off in the opposite direction.

Patrick was sitting in the doctors' lounge, his body folded in half. His head rested against his knees, his hands covering his dark hair. He heard the distant sound of footsteps approaching him, but he was too exhausted to even lookup. "Son?"

"Dad," he mumbled, standing up slowly. He knew that he should be rushing forward, but he was almost afraid to find out what he had to say. The next five minutes would determine the entire course of his life, and it was hard to know that a moment had that much power to change your life. Taking a deep breath, he searched his father's eyes for a hint of what was to come. When he came up empty handed, he decided to just bite the proverbial bullet and ask the dreaded question. "How is she?"

Noah reached up and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "She's finally stable," he revealed. Patrick's face lit up briefly before faltering again. "I was able to secure the wound, but she has lost a lot of blood. I don't have to tell you what that means."

"Has she woke up? Where is she? Can I see her?"

"Why don't you have a seat?" he gently prodded Patrick, helping him into his chair. "Robin still hasn't regained consciousness, and she isn't breathing on her own. The truth is I can't tell you when she is going to wake up. I can't let you go in."

"I know all this," Patrick muttered angrily, raking his fingers through his hair frantically. "But I need to see her. I know the rules, I know protocol like the back of my hand. But we're not just talking about any situation or any patient. We're talking about Robin."

"I can't break the rules, not even for Robin."

"Then break them for me," he pleaded, his eyes wet as he gaped at his father. "Break them for your son."

All air escaped Noah's lungs as he looked at his son. There was such sadness about him. It reminded Noah of himself. He had the same look in his eyes when his wife was dying. "I can't," he whispered sadly.

Patrick hit the chair next to him with his fist, the hollow thud reverberating throughout the room. "I love her," he stated plainly, loudly. "I love her, Dad. I am in love with Robin. And now, I may lose her, just like you lost Mom. You wanted to spend every moment with her, even when the hospital wouldn't let you. I remember watching you sneak into her room. If you had her back, I know you'd do the same thing all over again. I don't waste a single second of the little time we could have left. Don't take her away from me."

"I can't," Noah repeated, drawling his voice out. "But I will."

"Thank you!" Patrick cried, hugging his father quickly before rushing out of the room. He jogged past the nurse's station before taking off in a full out sprint. By the time he reached Robin's room, he was winded but exhilarated. Standing outside the door of her room, he leaned against the cool glass of the observation window. She was sleeping peaceful like the slice of heaven she had always been.

Pulling her chart out of the slot on the door, Patrick went into the room and easily dismissed the attending nurse. Once he was alone with Robin, he pulled the armchair next to her bed and scanned the numbers. Everything his father had told him was reflected on the clipboard, and he was sure that Noah had done everything he could to bring Robin back. Tossing it on the counter beside him, he reached over and took her hand gently in his. Leaning his head against the gentle curve of her hip, he started to just talk.

"Leave it to you to bring me to my knees," he taunted lightly. "You have always been a challenge, pushing me to do the things I think I want least but secretly need most. I had to trust my father to take care of you, and it looks like he has. You're still here, and that has to be enough for right now."

"When you wake up, I'm going to make everything right," he promised. "You have to come back to me; we're not done here yet. There are still a thousand fights to be had, a million makeups to be made, a billion kisses to be shared. I need you, and I've never needed anyone in my entire life. Come back to me, Earth Angel, please come back."

Dillon made his way through the ventilation system until he could hear the same British accent Jason had heard moments before. Staying just off to the side, he could see people scattered around the plush lobby. Sonny was sitting on the floor, his arm tightly wrapped around Carly. Nikolas was with Elizabeth just across the way, her head lying gently on his shoulder. Beside him, Lulu was leaning against the wall, her knees drawn to her chin. She was slowly rocking herself back and forth, trying to calm her nerves.

A memory flashed through his mind, reminding him of the last time he had seen her like that. She had been in the boathouse, curled up in the fetal position on the bench. They'd just had another fight, the hundredth in a string of many surrounding her abortion. He'd been so angry at her, tossing around words like they meant nothing.

When Dillon Quartermaine looked back at the truly horrible moments of his life, that one struck out above all the rest. It was hands down the worst thing he had ever done, far surpassing such trivial acts as stealing his brother's car or neglecting Georgie. In that moment, he had called Lulu a selfish bitch, shattering her into a million pieces. Closing his eyes, he knew that if he could ever take one split second back, it would be that.

"I'm going to make this right," he said to himself as he shimmied on his stomach to get a better view. Lulu looked like she was still holding her own, and that was all he could hope for given the situation. Moving forward, he noticed a break up ahead and decided to see if he could pop out a tile and drop into one of the private rooms. As Luke rounded a corner to his far left, it appeared that he wasn't the only one that had had such an idea.

"Alright, Young Spielberg, what did you see?" Luke asked as they both dropped from the ceiling. Dillon quickly filled him in on the situation still going down in the lobby. Luke wracked his brain, trying to come up with the scheme of all schemes, the one that would save his daughter's life. "I think I might have an idea."

"Well?"

"I need Lulu to act up, to have him throw her in a different room. Once she's in there, you're going to drop into that room and get her back out via the ventilation system."

"What about the others?"

Luke looked at him sharply. "You worry about getting her out of here, and I'll worry about the others. The only thing you need to know is that she is your goal."

"She's the reason I'm here, Luke," Dillon spat angrily. "She's the reason I was even in the hotel at all. My only priority this entire night has been Lulu. I'm not just talking about the hostage situation, either. I was here to help her clear Laura's name. I've devoted my entire life the last three months to helping her do it, too."

It was Luke's turn to ask questions as he was clearly puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"We both put our lives on hold to clear her name. Laura told Lulu that she wasn't guilty before she slipped back into her catatonic state," Dillon explained. "We were here to question Alan, to take his damn PDA."

"We don't have time to talk about this," Luke realized. "We have to get Lulu out of here."

"And how do you propose that we convince her to make a scene?"

"That's the only part of this plan I haven't figured out."

Then, Dillon remembered what had come after he had seen her rocking herself. She had blown her top, screaming at him until she had been nearly breathless. "We don't have to convince her at all," Dillon stated. "She's going to do it herself. I'm going to go back over the lobby and wait for it. I know her, she's going to do it soon."

Luke nodded and helped lift Dillon back into the vent system. Both of them were tired of navigating the cold metal corridor, but it was for Lulu. Dillon quickly found his place again and watched her closely. As the Brit made another round around the room, waving his gun stupidly, Lulu was starting to lose her poise. By the time he had threatened Sam McCall, her resolve had shattered completely.

"Would you just do something?" Lulu screamed. "We're tired of your stupid, empty threats. If you're going to kill us, just do it."

"Lulu!" Nikolas chided her loudly, trying to grab her.

"Let go of me," she demanded, pulling her hand back. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Dillon watched as the lead gunman strutted to where she was standing. He reached out and caressed her face. Dillon felt anger pulsate through him. "Because it's more fun to watch you squirm, Screw You Lulu. I've always found that torture has quite an effect on the human psyche."

It was clear that he was sick, but he wasn't demented enough to break Lulu yet. "I'm so over this," she mumbled, walking straight into the barrel of his gun. "Just do it, Mr. One, pull the trigger. Kill me."

"Lulu, please!" Elizabeth screamed, trying to scramble to her feet. Nikolas gently pressed her back down. "Please, stop."

One turned, snapping the gun back. He waved his hand at another of the masked gunman, indicting that he should grab Lulu. "Lock her in one of the rooms alone. I can't stand to listen to her ranting anymore."

Dillon leaned forward and squinted through the grate as Lulu was led by the arm down the hallway. He counted the doorways until she was thrown into a room, the heavy door slamming shut behind her. Then, as quickly as his knees would allow, he made his way toward the room and toward her. As he positioned himself over the room, he could hear her softly sobbing to herself. That was all he needed to hear. It had to end, this had to end.

"Please don't cry."

"Dillon?" she sobbed, rubbing her eyes to make sure she was seeing things clearly. Before she knew it, Lulu was on her feet again, rushing toward him. Throwing herself into his arms, she buried her face in his soft shirt and inhaled deeply. Letting herself sink into him, she knew that she was finally safe.

"How long do you think we've been in here?" Lucky asked as Emily continued to stroke his dark hair rhythmically. "It seems like minutes one second and then days the next."

Emily sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, eventually, the vault will open and they'll get the briefcase. I don't think they really plan on letting us go."

Lucky hated to tell her, but Emily was probably right. They would likely allow the hotel to explode once they had what they had come for. With the two of them locked inside as well as Elizabeth and Nikolas, he was beginning to worry about the children. Bobbie and Alexis would be left to make sure that Spencer and Cameron were raised and safe. He could only hope that they would both live long enough and that Helena would stay as far away as possible.

"I'm so tired," she mumbled after a few minutes, yawning softly as she reached her long arms over her head. Her green dress rustled as she adjusted her legs, which were becoming numb from sleep.

"Do you want to switch places? I could sit up for awhile," he offered. They were both well aware that Lucky's body wouldn't be able to handle it, just like they both knew that Emily would refuse.

"I have a better idea. Why don't I just lie down beside you so that we can both rest?"

"We can pretend we're in a cave, camping out underneath the stars. We can act like the only people that exist are you and me and that there isn't anything out there than can hurt us except a stupid rattlesnake."

"I can hear the bats in the distance," she pretending, sliding down until she was lying in front of him, laying like spoons. Lucky leaned against her, laying his chin on her shoulder. "You know how much I hate bats."

Lucky put his arm around her waist, trying to give himself connection to the only soul who could understand where his head was at. "I hear coyotes in the distance, I hope they don't come looking for prey. You know, my father always said that they can smell fear."

"Great," she joked childishly, "they'll be able to smell me from a mile away. Are you going to protect me when they come, Lucky?"

"I think I'm going to need you to protect me," he teased. "You've always been the strong one, Em. You've always held us all together, even when all we wanted to do was run away. You helped me get through my coma, fought with me when I was strung out. You would never accept me as I was. You always knew that I could do better."

Emily turned over in his arms, pressing her forehead against his. She could feel his steady breath on her cheek. "You're the one thing I've always been able to count on. We've been in each other's lives a long time, and I can honestly say that there is no one in this world who knows me better. I love Nikolas and Elizabeth, but they never quite know when to stop. But you, you know the exact moment when I've had enough."

Lucky nodded, having found the same thing in the waspy brunette in his arms on more than one occasion. A pang of something familiar infiltrated his heart. "There's a shift in your eyes," he explained. "When you get really angry, even before the rest of your body has had the chance to react, your eyes start to shake in your head. It's like you're trying to look in both my eyes at once."

"Oh, yeah?"

"But it's not the only time you get that look," he whispered, amazed that they were still so close. "You have it whenever anything is really intense. When you're really happy and about to jump out of your skin from giddiness, that's how you look. And when you're sad, that's the look that crosses your face just before you cry."

"How do you know me so well?"

"You let me in here," he emphasized, tapping his finger against her temple to indicate her brain. "And here," he repeated, pressing his hand to her heart. "You let me in your life."

"Lucky," she whimpered inaudibly, the moment – the intimacy – too much. Here they were in a hostage situation, their significant others in the other room, and Emily was fairly certain that she was beginning to see all of Lucky Spencer for the very first time. She was realizing what she had long known but had been afraid to admit, the one thing she had tried to suppress above all others. She might just be in love with her best friend.

Lucky looked away, knowing that this situation was bringing out something neither of them were fully ready for. In all the moments in their entire lives, why had they chosen a hostage situation to figure out how they finally felt? Maybe it was that they were pushed to their limits, isolated together. Maybe it was the only way they would ever be able to hear all the unspoken words.

"Em, I need to tell you something," he confessed. "I…"

She laid her index finger across his lips and shook her head. "I know, Spencer, I know."

Jason and Luke maneuvered their way to an open room where they could speak, hanging out near the hotel lobby where someone else had been kept a short time before. Luke quickly explained the situation with Lulu before they started to concoct the next phase of their plan. The focus was now on getting Elizabeth out of the hotel and to safety. The older of the two men had added that Nikolas was also important with Jason adding that that Sam, Carly and Sonny were to also be watched. Either way, the pregnant nurse was the first one they had to get out.

As Jason was about to explain the next step, a masked man pushed his way through the door. Jason and Luke worked quickly to knock the man out, gagging him and tying him to a chair before putting him into a closet. "Well, I guess that takes care of that," Luke laughed humorlessly. Jason picked up the mask and pulled it over his face. Luke tossed him the gun and nodded, his blue eyes twinkling. "A man on the inside, who knew we'd get so luck?"

"I'm going to figure out a way to get Elizabeth back here," Jason said. "I'll try to send Nikolas with her."

"I'll get them out, and then come back to meet up with you again," he said. "We still have Emily and Lucky to find. And Sam, Carly and Sonny. Thanks for your help."

"You're doing the same thing for my family," the mobster shrugged, a mutual understanding between them. Without another word, Jason disappeared out of the room and Luke prayed that he would be successful in his endeavors.