Emily convinced Zander to put down his gun and leave before the cops arrived. She collapsed in Jason's arms when Zander left. Emily assured Jason that she was fine and told them all that Zander hadn't hurt her. When the cops showed up, she covered for Zander and the others followed along. Lucky took Emily aside and apologized to her for everything that had happened. Monica and Alan ran into AJ's room when the DT's hit him. AJ threatened to skip town once he was released if they didn't let him go immediately. As the Quartermaine's argued about AJ's condition, Monica stepped away and looked up to see Emily. Emily shared a joyous reunion with her family. With Jason in tow, Emily visited AJ to let him know she was safe and the three of them had a happy moment together.

Felicia admitted on the stand that she had been with Luke the night of Stefan's murder, but she didn't say that they had slept together. Dara crucified Felicia on the stand and tried to discredit her testimony. After hearing Felicia's admission, Laura left the courtroom in tears. Luke thanked Felicia for saving him at the expense of her marriage. Mac later asked her to help him understand why she did what she did. Sonny revealed to Carly that Alexis had already told him the charges against him had been dropped and Carly freaked out. She lied to him again and told him that she only made love to him to have one last fling before their marriage ended. Back at the Penthouse, Carly prepared to leave and Sonny told her that it was her choice, but he didn't want her to go. Carly asked him if he could look at her and tell her that he wanted her for herself alone. Sonny eventually admitted that he wanted Carly to stay married to him because he needed her. Just as they were going upstairs, Benny burst in and told Sonny that things in Puerto Rico had become volatile. Sonny prepared to leave and Carly begged him not to.

Terrified that Sonny wouldn't return, from Puerto Rico alive, Carly pleaded with Jason to stop him. She wasn't pleased when Jason offered to go in his stead. Sonny and Carly bid Jason a painful goodbye as he left town to take care of Sonny's business. Nikolas worked his charm on Florence when he ran into her and Gia at the hospital. Later, Nikolas and GIa witnessed Juan's reunion with Emily. AJ was pleased when Hannah came to visit and didn't want to hear it when she told him that the night she saved his life, she was coming to tell him goodbye. A devastated Felicia tried to explain things to Mac, but he told her that he didn't want to punish her or fight with her, he just wanted their marriage over with. While Laura drowned her sorrows with scotch, Scott came to her rescue when she was harrangued by an overzealous reporter. She and Scott reminisced about their old life together and she thanked him for always being there for her. Liz brought Lucky to the hospital so he could see Kevin about his memory lapses and Lucky filled Nikolas in on what had happened to him.

AJ was quite pleased today, the day of his release from General Hospital. He was anxious to leave and be free of his family and all their concerns. AJ continued to ask his family members for a drink and they continued to refuse. Monica, Alan, and Edward pleaded with AJ to go to rehab, but he was having no parts of that discussion. AJ signed Tony's release papers and then was off and running. Hannah showed up out of the blue and asked if AJ needed a ride to the rehab center. AJ replied only if there is a bar there. Hannah tried her best to persuade AJ but he really was not reasonable.

Gia was also at General Hospital checking on her mom and Taggert. Gia over heard all the commotion regarding AJ as well as seeing Hannah pleading with AJ to let her take him to rehab. When Gia returned to the waiting room with her brother, she asked him about his girlfriend. Taggert answered honestly. He told Gia that Hannah was a lot like her. She was strong, driven, and opinionated. Gia questioned him further asking if Hannah was faithful to him. Taggert, being the detective he is, responded in the most appropriate way. He did not confirm her faithfulness, but did reassure Gia that Hannah was totally honest with him.

Stefan setup up Chloe by having a fashion magazine, with a photo of Brenda, at the table when she returned from her latest escape attempt. When Chloe returned to the villa to tell Stefan how far she had made it over the mountain, she stumbled upon the magazines and was pleased to see something from the outside world. She became excited as she talked about the fashions and how bad they were. Until she came upon Brenda's picture. She was so upset that she ran out of the villa. When she returned, Stefan questioned why she had left so abruptly; Chloe confessed to Stefan that she was heart-broken to see the picture of Brenda, because she knew that Jax would not be coming to get her. Chloe tried to remain strong and be positive about the situation, but she could no longer hold her pain inside, she broke down and began to sob. Of course, Stefan took this opportunity to comfort her and become friendlier. And when Chloe began to cry, he put his arms around her and hugged her.

Ned found Emily downstairs At the Quartermaines' alone. He asked her where the family was and she told him that they were trying to get AJ to go to rehab. He was shocked that she was left all alone, but Emily reassured him that she was fine and AJ really needed the family's attention more than she did at this moment. Ned revealed to Emily that he was going to pop the question to Alexis. He had big plans to whisk Alexis away and proposed on his knees. She congratulated him. As Ned was about to leave, Mac and Taggert arrived and asked to talk to Emily. Ned stayed while they questioned her. Emily still continued to cover for Zander. Ned commented that Emily must have liked Zander. She was taken aback by his comments and covered quickly by saying that Zander treated her well only. But Emily pondered for a while about Zander. Shortly thereafter, Alan, Edward, and Monica returned home without AJ. They informed Emily that AJ was released, but in his own custody. Monica went on to change the subject back to Emily and advised that she would be on restriction until Christmas and she had to be in every evening by dinnertime. Emily agreed to accept whatever disciplinary actions. Edward, on the other hand, was not pleased and felt this was a sentence too lenient.

Felicia was at the courthouse when she ran into Bobbie and Roy. They both were surprised that she was present after what happened yesterday. Felicia said she had to be there to hear the verdict. She had scarified so much, that Luke had to be freed. Felicia confided in Bobbie that she had talked to Mac yesterday and he did listen to her side. Unfortunately it was too little too late. Mac took off his wedding ring and stated that their marriage was over. Bobbie tried to comfort her by saying Mac will come around. Felicia told her that there was something in the way that Mac took off the ring and how he looked at her, the marriage was over.

Nikolas and Lucky met at the courthouse. Nikolas immediately showed Lucky the headlines in the newspaper, but Lucky told him he had seen it yesterday. Nikolas, being the kind brother that he is, tried to convince Lucky to see his dad. Nikolas confessed that he knew that Stefan had many faults and did wrong things, but he would give anything to have him alive and walk through the door because he loved him. Lucky agreed and shared with Nikolas his understanding. Lucky thanked him for his words of wisdom and went to see Luke. Needless to say, Luke was stunned by his son's arrival, although he was extremely happy to see him. Lucky was himself again. He asked his father how he was doing. Lucky actually admitted that he did not want his father to be imprisoned. Luke asked Lucky was everything okay because the last he remembered they were worst enemies. Lucky asked his father to be calm and just let him talk. Luke agreed. Lucky began to tell his father the truth about Faison/Helena's mind control over him. He also said that he was going to get help; this made Luke feel relieved. He also told his dad that his dislike for his actions was not all Faison and it was hard to have him as a father. Lucky stated outright that he loved his father (Luke said ditto) and that he would be in the courtroom to support him. The bailiff entered the visitation room and announced that the jury had reached their verdict. After Luke was led back into the courtroom, the judge asked for the jury's verdict. The jury found Luke not guilty of Stefan's murder. After the verdict Luke and Felicia's eyes met, they smiled briefly at one another. She went over to him and then Luke said thank you. Felicia responded with you're welcome and just walked out of the courtroom; leaving Luke there to ponder the road that lies ahead.

Bobbie was pleased when Roy and Lucas bonded in the park. Roy answered Lucas's questions about his criminal past and Roy answered him honestly. Lucas responded to Roy's honesty by teaching him to play soccer. Tony came to the park to pick Lucas up and didn't like seeing Roy and Lucas getting along. He was concerned that Roy wasn't a proper role model for his son. Hannah told Taggert about helping AJ, but told him that nothing had changed in her feelings for him. At the hospital, Taggert introduced Hannah to his mother. Gia confronted Hannah and asked when she was going to tell Taggert that she was cheating on him with AJ Nikolas and Lucky saw Helena at the hospital and avoided her. Lucky told Nikolas that he believed that Helena was behind his brainwashing. Nikolas was appalled by his grandmother's actions. He wanted to put an end to her manipulations once and for all. Nikolas threatened Helena that he would strip her of her power as soon as he could. Lucky had his first session with Kevin and gave him a piece of paper with Helena's trigger phrase on it. Kevin suggested that Lucky was already on the road to recovery simply by recognizing that something was wrong. Stefan told Chloe that she needed to face her feelings about Jax and not try to bury things behind a pleasant facade. Chloe was angry that she couldn't get off the island and fight for Jax. Trying to find a parallel situation, she asked him if he ever loved anyone as much as Laura. She wasn't comforted when he said no, but he offered to take her on a picnic to watch the sunset and she agreed. Edward intercepted a phone call from Juan and refused to let him talk to Emily. Juan went to see Emily and Lila intervened with Edward to let him stay. He told Emily that he really loved her, but she couldn't return the sentiment. Ned took Alexis to the same island that Jax brought Chloe to so they could have peace away from the "Eddie's Angel" scandal. He asked her for his ring back and Alexis believed that he wanted to break things off with her. She was shocked when he got down on his knees and proposed to her. Though afraid, she accepted his proposal. Ned wanted to get married right away because he believed it was the perfect way to end public interest in her.

Edward allowed Emily to see Juan at Kelly's and Juan declared how happy he was that they were back together. Alone in her room, Emily confided in her journal that she was too distracted by thoughts of Zander to give Juan her full attention. She was surprised when Juan climbed the tree to see her. He poured out his heart to her and she made him hide in the closet when she heard a noise. The noise turned out to be Zander. Mac offered Laura his support and Laura told him he didn't need to make up for his wife's actions. Felicia saw Mac later and apologized again for all the pain she had caused him. Mac declared that they needed to move forward and wanted to keep things normal for the girls. Upon his release, Luke went to the club where he and Roy toasted to his freedom. Luke flipped when learned that Claude had booked a band, suspecting that it was a teenybopper nightmare or country. He was surprised when Claude himself took to the stage with his reggae band. Bobbie counseled Luke that he needed to talk to Laura who was considering leaving Port Charles for good. Unfortunately, Laura saw him first--dancing with Felicia at the club.

Carly drove Sonny crazy as she asked for his opinion about redecorating the Penthouse, but he was happily surprised by her spontaneous affection. Tammy stopped by to see if he knew where Mike was. Sonny filled her in on their last argument and she didn't understand why Sonny couldn't see the decency in his father. Though it wasn't something he was used to, Sonny told Carly how he felt about Mike's disappearance. Alexis and Ned enjoyed their island idyll and planned their upcoming nuptials. Ned was shocked when AJ appeared in his hotel room and listed all the reasons why Ned was a failure and why his marriage would fail--as all the others did. Ned was gratified that AJ's sudden appearance wasn't real and was only a vision, but he couldn't help but be affected by what the pseudo-AJ had said. Alexis suffered from a similar vision, but hers was of Helena telling her that she would be reduced to being a shadow of Ned once she married him. Prepared to marry in spite of their visions, Ned and Alexis were horrified when they opened the door to a gaggle of reporters.