Gwen awoke in her bed at the hotel. The events of the previous night still swam in her head, as though they were happening that very moment. She looked at the clock; it was 2:30 in the afternoon. She did not remember returning to the hotel, but guessed they must have sometime early in the morning.

Sliding out of bed, she glanced at Trent, who was still asleep, wondering for a second what it was like for him not to have her there. She did not dwell on the thought, as she had more pressing issues to worry about, namely finding a way to get Bridgette, Geoff, Harold, and LeShawna out of Dorian's compound. She knew it would not be easy, but it had to be done, they could not be left there to die. The question was, how? How to get them out without getting caught herself? And then there was the issue of Heather. Gwen felt certain Heather was still alive, but she had no idea where to even begin looking for her. She sat, musing over these dilemmas, trying to figure out a plan.

Gwen was drawn from her reverie by the sound of Trent stirring. "What time is it?" he asked, sleepily.

"Almost three in the afternoon." Gwen replied. "We must have come back to the hotel sometime early this morning."

"Yeah." said Trent. Yawning, he climbed out of bed and walked over to her. He placed his arms around her waist and pulled her close. The warmness of his skin felt good, almost soothing. For a moment, she forgot about the seriousness of the situation they were in, but it passed, her determination to save the others overriding her desire for sex.

"We have to save them, Trent." she said. "We have an obligation to do it, they'd do the same for us."

"We will Gwen, we will." Trent replied. "Nothing bad will happen to them, I promise." He noticed she was shaking slightly, and looking down, saw that she was crying. He held her close, comforting her, knowing full well that he may not be able to keep his promise.

An hour later, they met Chris, Chef, D.J., Lindsey, Beth, Tyler, Cody, Justin, Katie, Sadie, Owen, Eva, and Ezekiel in the lobby. They were heading back to the hospital, this time to formulate a plan to save Geoff, Bridgette, Harold, and LeShawna. Thomas would be at the meeting as well. They arrived at the hospital, to find Thomas already there, waiting with Duncan, Courtney, and Izzy.

"So, I think it's fair to say last night was a disaster." said Cody.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." said Sadie. "We were all there, remember?"

"Okay, would you two shut up." snapped Gwen. "We don't have time to sit around and jabber like idiots. Four of our friends are being held captive by a psycho who is doing God knows what to them."

"Gee sorry." said Cody. "I suspect you have a plan?"

"Well no, not really." Gwen admitted, "I was hoping to generate some ideas from this discussion, you know, maybe come up with a plan together."

"Sorry Gwen." said Izzy. "But I just don't see how we can pull this off. I mean, let's face it, Dorian's place is a lot more fortified than we thought it would be, so we can't just walk in the front door. We could try the back, but that still probably wouldn't work."

"So what, we're just supposed to let them die?" asked Gwen. "Cause that seems like a shitty idea to me."

"I'm not saying that." said Izzy. "But they knew the risks, just like we all did, and sometimes sacrifices must be made."

"Well that's just great Izzy." said Gwen, shaking with rage. "You make this sound like it's a goddamn war or something, and then act all nonchalant about it."

"It seems to me you could use someone with brains in this operation." said a voice from outside the room. "And incidentally, Gwen, this is a war. I would think that dying would have opened your eyes to that reality."

"Uh, excuse me, this is a private conversation." said Gwen. "Only former TDI contestants are allowed to be here. And just who are you, anyway?"

"Who am I?" asked the voice. "It's funny you should ask that, as well as bringing up the TDI thing, cause you see, I was on TDI." And with that, Noah stepped into the room, a sly smirk crossing his face.

The others gasped, Cody stumbling backwards, at the sight of their favorite cynic. Eva rushed forward, tears in her eyes. "Noah, is it really you?" she asked.

"Yes, it's really me." he replied. "Like Gwen, I've somehow come back, and it seems to me I've come back at the right time."

"I won't even begin to ask how, I'm just glad that you are." said Justin. And they told him the story of everything that had happened since his death. Noah listened silently, observing them all, and formulating a plan in his head.