"Luke!" Elizabeth squealed, rushing across the room to wrap her arms around him. She never thought she would see the day when he would show up and save her. He was usually too far removed from any situation to actually be there when he was needed. However, with both his children inside, it made sense that he would be there.

"Hello, Princess," he grinned, hugging her briefly before looking over her shoulder to the Cassadine prince. "Nikolas, we gotta get her out of here now."

Nikolas nodded with understanding; his first priority was to make sure that Elizabeth was safe. "I'll get her out of here and then come back to help you with the others."

"No, you'll stay with her," Luke argued. "I'll take care of the rest."

"My brother and sister are both in here, Luke," Nikolas shot back. "You can't push me out right now. They're not in the same place, so you're not going to be able to do it on your own."

"Lulu is already on her way out. I sent Dillon out with her. She might even be safe for now. As for Lucky, I will be able to take care of that. Jason is in the hotel, too. Between the two of us, we'll figure this thing out. I just need to know that Elizabeth and my grandchild are safe."

"What about Emily?" Elizabeth asked, taken aback that no one had mentioned her to that point. The truth was that she had managed to not think about her ex-husband or best friend for quite some time. Her mind had been focused on staying with Nikolas and keeping the baby safe.

"I'm sure she's with Lucky," Luke assured her. "If not, Jason or I will make sure she gets out. She's like family to Lucky. I would never leave her behind." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Nikolas along with a handheld radio. "This is a map of the ventilation system. I know that it's not the most preferred place to take a pregnant woman, but it may be the only way out. You need to follow the path I've highlighted back to the ballroom. From there, you should be able to get out through the stairwell."

"What about the elevator?" Elizabeth asked, afraid that her body was too tired to take too many stairs.

Luke shook his head. "They closed it down. I know it'll be hard on you, honey, but you're going to have to take the stairs. My guess is that Lulu won't be too far from the hotel, so try to find her when you get out. Dillon will probably try to convince her to go to the hospital to get checked out, but she will refuse to leave if you guys and Lucky are still in here."

"She's like Lucky and me. There's no way either of us would ever leave the other two behind," Nikolas agreed.

"We'll find her as soon as we get out," Liz promised.

"You're going to the hospital," Luke told her, earning a nod from Nikolas. "You need to take care of that baby. The paramedics out there already know that you have had problems. I'm sure they'll be waiting out there for you."

"I'll take care of her," Nikolas declared. "I'll take care of both of them, Luke. But we should probably get out of here soon. We may not have that much time before they come back for us."

Elizabeth leaned forward and hugged Luke tightly. "Thank you for coming for me."

"You're still a Spencer in my book," Luke murmured as he embraced her, "and you have a Spencer in you. Take care of yourself." She nodded obediently before Luke turned to Nikolas. "I trust you to get her out of here. Don't mess it up."

"You know that I'll protect her with my life," Nikolas avowed, shaking the man's hand with a mutual understanding.

"If something happens, you will need to help Lulu get through it. Whatever happens, just make it okay for her," Luke implored. "And take care of Elizabeth and the kids. Make sure that she has everything that she needs if Lucky and I don't get out of this okay."

"You will," Nikolas said, "but I will. You know that I will."

"I do," Luke agreed as he helped Nikolas push a stool beneath the vent. Nikolas popped himself into the vent before Elizabeth crawled onto the tall chair. Luke helped her balance while Nikolas reached his hand out. Within a few moments, she was right behind him, quickly making her way toward safety. Luke closed the hole in the ceiling and said a silent prayer that they would see each other soon on the other side.

Dillon pushed the big door open, his hands immediately flying into the air. Lulu was a few steps behind him as they approached the policeman. "Don't shoot, don't shoot!" he screamed, reaching back to make sure that he had a hold of Lulu.

"Dillon!" Mac yelled, rushing up to meet the two blondes. "How did you get in there?"

"I had some help from Luke and Jason," he explained. "They're still on the inside undetected. I spoke to the person guiding them through the vents right before we came out."

"I need to ask you questions, Lulu," Mac demanded, eyeing her.

Dillon shook his head vehemently. "She needs to get checked out."

"She can't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until my family is out!" she yelled, the events of the past 12 hours hitting her all at once.

"Of course not, Lu," Dillon murmured, laying his hand gently on the small of her back. "We're going to take you over to the paramedics over there, and they're going to check on you. We'll get you some hot chocolate and a blanket, and we'll sit down and wait until your family is out. When you are ready, Mac is going to come ask you some questions. He won't bother you until you're ready."

"Dillon, we have to know what's going on in there."

"You want to know what is going on in there?" Lulu shouted. "They are intimidating us with everything they have, threatening to kill one or all of us. The leader, Craig, he shoots at whim or at least presses a gun against your head if you dare argue. We've been terrorized, jeopardized, endangered. It's hell on earth in there."

Dillon pulled her into his arms as she started to sob, falling heavily to the ground. He shielded her from the noise, the sirens, the questions. Pressing her face into his chest, he stroked her hair until her quivers had subsided. "Where can I take her?" Dillon asked finally, looking over her mass of blonde hair at the police chief. "I have to get her out of here."

"You can use the back of an ambulance," Cruz offered, pointing to where a line of vehicles was parked. "No one will bother you until you're ready to talk, Lulu."

"Cruz, you don't have the right…"

The detective looked at Mac. "That is my partner's little sister. She has been put through hell tonight, and she needs some time. We are going to give it to her. If you don't like it, you can fire me. But I will not let her be subjected to badgering."

"Thanks, Cruz," Dillon said as he scooped Lulu into his arms. She hid her face from the public as he stalked toward the car. Depositing her onto the floorboard carefully, he slammed the door shut behind him, quieting the air so that he could only hear her breaths. "It's okay, Lu. It's just you and me now."

"Dillon, I can't talk about it to him. I don't want to remember."

"You don't have to, baby," he promised. He knew her well enough to know that she had reached the end of her rope. There was no way in the world anyone was going to break her.

"Will you kiss me?" she whispered, finally pulling away. She tried to smile at him through her tears, but her face quickly fell. Dillon reached up and brushed away her tears, nodding silently. Running his hand tenderly down the side of her face, he stared intently into her eyes. Leaning in, he kissed her softly, sweetly. She cried against his lips, salty tears traveling down to their interlocked lips. "Dillon, I need to tell you something."

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"When we were out there, I began to feel like I was receding into myself," she confessed. "You have to make sure I don't. You have to promise me that you won't let me end up like my mother. I don't want to miss my life."

"You were the one telling me that we were going to start a life together after this," he reminded her. "You promised me that, Lu, so you can't let me down."

"I'll make you a deal, then," she whispered. "You make sure that I keep up my end of the bargain, and I'll see that you do the same. Help me stay here, help me stay with you."

"I promise I won't let you fade, Lu," Dillon retorted warmly. "We'll save each other."

"How many stories up are we?" Emily asked.

Lucky shrugged. "I'm not sure, a couple."

"So, I guess jumping is out of the question."

"The glass is impenetrable, bulletproof even. We already talked about it when I was out there, thinking that could be a way in. Carly and Jax used the highest security devices, including the windows. They probably never thought that it could be used against them."

"I'm starting to get desperate, Lucky. We have to find a way out of here."

Lucky reached over and took her hand. "I know you're anxious to check on Nikolas, Em. We just need to stick together, and we'll find a way out of here."

Emily laughed humorlessly. "Nikolas," she sputtered. "That's horrible. I hadn't even thought of him for the last couple of hours. How could I not be worried about him? I'm supposed to be in love with him. I've just been focused on you and me that the thought of him never even crossed my mind really. I'm sure you've been thinking about Liz."

He shrugged almost apathetically. "Worrying about her isn't going to do me any good. Beside, we're not together anymore. Past the fact that she is the mother of my child, I don't know that I have the right to worry about her. Not like that, at least."

"Lucky, c'mon, this is me you're talking to."

"I'm quite aware of who I'm with," he murmured, looking into her eyes. "You have to know that I've only been thinking about you since I heard your voice on the phone, Em. As soon as I heard the fear during the first phone call, I've wanted to protect you. You've been my first focus. That's probably not right and maybe I'll be ashamed of it later, but for now, I just know that it's the truth."

"Something has changed since we've been in here," she said. "I don't know what it is."

"My mom always told me that crises always have a way of pushing people together. She'd say that it makes you realize what is really important, what the true priorities in life are. When you're pressed against the wall, you figure out what you've wanted to ignore or what you've been incapable of seeing."

"And what have you figured out?"

"I've figured out how much you mean to me, Em."

"You mean a lot to me, too, Spencer," she remarked, running her fingers through her long hair. "I certainly couldn't have gotten through this without you."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to. I would have come in even if they didn't offer the trade for Robin," he revealed. "I would have done anything to be in here with you to make sure that you were okay."

"Lucky, if we die in here…"

"We're not going to die, Em. We're going to get out."

"You don't know that, and if we don't, I need to say this."

"Okay," he permitted. "Go ahead."

"If I'm going to die, I'm glad you're with me," she said. "You were there in the beginning of this life, my arrival in Port Charles. It seems fitting that you be here with me if it ends."

"Oh, Em," he whispered, leaning his forehead against his. "I'm glad that neither of us alone. I'm glad we have each other."

"We've always had each other. I mean, you were my first crush."

"You were my first kiss," he added.

Emily smiled. "We were so young, so innocent."

"You were innocent until I corrupted you with my wanton, juvenile ways."

"Dream on, Spencer," she taunted before an idea came into her head. Looking at him intently, she posed a question he wasn't expecting. "Since you were my first kiss, do you want to be my last kiss?"

"I don't know if we should. I mean, if you get out, you're going to go back to Nik. It would be wrong."

"For once in my life, I don't care about right and wrong, Lucky. I only care about what is and what I want. And what I want," she breathed, "is you."

"Em, we can't."

"Kiss me."

"Em."

"Fine, I'll kiss you," she murmured, reaching out and pulling his face to hers. Pressing her lips against his firmly, she felt his resolve melt away beneath her fingertips. Before long, he was kissing her back, his fingers stroking the back of her neck gingerly as his tongue crept past her teeth to invade her mouth.

"Patrick?" a weak voice said, rustling the doctor from his sleep. He looked around the dark room, his eyes still blurry from the short doze he'd managed to fall into over the past hour. He looked toward the doorway, expecting to find someone waiting for him. As he heard his name again, he was ecstatic when he realized that it was Robin.

"Baby," he murmured, flipping the light on over her bed. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. "You came back to me."

"What happened? Am I okay?"

"You're okay for now," he said, pressing the button to call in a nurse. She needed to be checked immediately. "You more than okay, you're alive."

"Why am I here? The last thing I remember was when they took us hostage. Is it over?"

"Robin, sweetheart, you were shot," Patrick told her slowly. "You lost a lot of blood inside the hotel. I had to help Emily perform surgery on you over the phone. Elizabeth and Carly assisted. Carly even sewed you up."

"And she didn't kill me?"

"Ah, good, your humor is still in tact," he mused, brushing hair away from her angelic face. "She actually did quite a good job. No one even thought about you being HIV positive. They just dove in to take care of you."

"What about Liz and the baby? Did they get out?" she rattled off. "And Emily and Nikolas? Where is Maxie? She was inside too? How's Lulu?"

"They're all still inside," Patrick said. "He agreed to release you in exchange for another hostage."

"No," she whimpered. "Who went inside?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Please tell me, I need to know."

"Lucky Spencer," he answered. "Emily had to decide between Dillon, Lucky and me. She chose Lucky."

"My life isn't worth anymore than his," she started to cry. Lucky had always been kind to her, and he was Nikolas' brother. She wouldn't have agreed to the exchange had she known. "He's a father."

"And he's a cop," Patrick pointed out. "His entire family other than Luke was in there. He probably thought that he would be more helpful from the inside. There was no doubt in his mind that it was the right choice. He wanted to go in, Robin."

"If he doesn't get out, I will have killed him. He gave his life for me."

"Don't say that," he murmured, taking her hand in his. "He gave his life for all the hostages, not just you. You cannot blame yourself for this."

Robin watched as he went to retrieve his phone from a nearby table. "I don't know what to do."

"You're not supposed to know yet, Robin. This just happened. You need to focus on your health right now. The doctors are on their way to check on you. In the mean time, I have someone who wants to talk to you."

She took the tiny phone from his outstretched hand and pressed it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Robin, you're alive. You're awake, you're okay!"

"I'm okay, Uncle Mac," she promised. "Now you just do the same for everyone else."