Serena and Christina are thrilled to see Lucy home and happily plan a pajama party. Serena reminds Lucy that they STILL need to plan Christina's birthday party but Lucy ducks her question when Serena assumes that Lucy will be all patched up in plenty of time to enjoy Christina's party. When Lucy suggests that Serena invite some of her friends over for the slumber party, Serena sadly reports that all of her friends would be at camp or on vacations ~ but there will be plenty of time for a slumber party when they all return to school. Lucy is saddened when Serena reports that she has been invited to her first "grown-up" dance and excitedly begins making plans for Lucy to help her shop for a special dress. After Christina and Serena leave to get more snacks from the kitchen, Lucy sadly confides to Ian that she realizes she probably will NOT be with her girls when it comes time to shop for Serena's dress or plan Christina's party. Ian suggests to a stunned Lucy that they DO have ONE option left ~ Ian could bite Lucy and Lucy could join Ian eternally in the Land of the Undead!

At Karen's Place, Kevin begins to feel the worst of his withdrawal pains, but Karen holds Kevin's hand and assures Kevin that she will stay with him until he has kicked his dependence on Joshua's drugs and is on the road to recovery. Kevin and Karen begin to compare notes about the way their "perfect love" for "soul mates" Lucy and Frank went astray. As Kevin told Karen that he appreciates the way that she has been standing by him during his crisis, Karen reaffirms her conviction that Kevin will soon return to being the same kind, generous, amazing, wonderful man he once was. Kevin begs Karen to stay with him and Karen realizes that Kevin is burning up with fever. As Karen keeps cold compresses on Kevin's forehead, Kevin falls asleep in Karen's lap.

Alison is surprised when Rafe takes her to their favorite old barn for safekeeping, explaining that Joshua would probably not know about the barn. Alison shocks Rafe when she accuses Rafe of not coming for her sooner because he has stopped loving her! Although Rafe protests that he was late because Ian knocked him out, Rafe is surprised when Alison defends Joshua by assuring Rafe that Joshua took VERY good care of Alison while she was his 'guest' at the Mansion! Rafe wonders WHY Alison keeps glancing at her watch and is mystified when Alison suddenly appears not to remember the barn or the many things that happened in the barn, including carving their initials on the beam in the center. Rafe becomes alarmed when Alison looks around at her surroundings with suspicion in her eyes. Then a fog suddenly appears to lift and Alison seems to remember everything, and throws herself joyfully into Rafe's arms. As Alison begins to remember things, Rafe happily begins making plans for getting comfortable in the barn. When Rafe innocently suggests that it is getting late and is probably time to hit the hay, Alison suddenly remembers Joshua's incessant programming, when Joshua repeatedly asked Alison what time it was. Unaware of the triggered response in Alison, Rafe leaves for a few minutes to bring in some blankets and food from the car. As Rafe leaves, Alison examines her watch as if she is seeing it for the very first time. When Rafe returns, he is shocked to discover that Alison is no longer in the barn!

At Joshua's Mansion, Joshua accuses Caleb of making Alison disappear, but Caleb reports that Alison was already gone when Caleb arrived. However, Joshua does NOT believe Caleb! Caleb gloats that Joshua could NOT keep the girl of his dreams and is only a cheap imitation of Caleb. When Joshua lunges toward Caleb, Caleb disappears. Joshua reminds Caleb that Caleb can never really defeat Joshua, so long as Joshua has the Morley Family Ring of Power! When Caleb asserts that the ring rightfully belongs to Caleb, Joshua corrects Caleb by reminding Caleb that the ring belonged to Caleb's father ~ and that Caleb proved himself unworthy of the ring when Caleb allowed the ring to slip out of his possession. Caleb reminds Joshua that, in order to hang on to Joshua's kingdom, Joshua will have to win the the love of a woman ~ a deed Joshua appears unlikely to ever be able to accomplish . When Joshua expresses his confidence that Alison WILL return, Caleb scoffs at Joshua's certainty. As Caleb realizes that Joshua actually appears to be contemplating giving up his quest for power if Joshua can NEVER possess Alison, Caleb encourages Joshua to return the ring to Caleb. But, as Caleb declares that Alison will NEVER want Joshua, Caleb is stunned when Alison suddenly walks in and declares that THAT question is for ALISON to decide! When Caleb asks Alison what she is doing back at the Mansion, Alison replies: "It was time. Time for me to come home!" And Joshua smiles smugly.

At Lucy's Place, Lucy is shocked when Ian suggests that he give Lucy eternal life by biting her to keep her alive until a cure can be found for Lucy's particular ailment ~ perhaps through discovery of another healing spring or an ancient ritual. But Lucy contemplates the prospect of NEVER finding a cure and having to live forever, while watching her loved ones die before her. Lucy told Ian that she could NEVER endure the trauma of knowing that she would live in a cursed world of shadows forever and be separated for eternity from her loved ones! Lucy tearfully told Ian that she just can NOT go along with Ian's plan. Lucy makes Ian promise that, after Lucy is gone, Ian will NOT let the forces of evil win ~ and Ian agrees. Later, Lucy told Ian that falling in love with Ian was like a whole new beginning for her and Lucy pledges to make every minute that she has left on earth count.

At the barn, a fearful Rafe frantically searches for his missing Alison. Meanwhile, at Joshua's Mansion, Caleb is dumbfounded when Alison returns and announces that it was time for her to return home to be with Joshua. Caleb accuses Joshua of using drugs to control Alison, but Joshua smugly denies Caleb's charges. Clutching the Power Ring, Joshua gloats that Caleb has under-estimated Joshua once again. Caleb agrees that he has, indeed, under-estimated Joshua, but Caleb vows that Joshua's regime will eventually topple ~ then Caleb disappears! After Caleb leaves, Alison asks Joshua what he wants her to do and Joshua proclaims that he has ANOTHER test for his bride to accomplish. At the same time, Caleb arrives at the barn and tries to inform Rafe that Alison is at the Mansion with Joshua. Rafe is incredulous that Alison would be back with Joshua and even more disbelieving when Caleb announces that Alison appeared to be CHOOSING to be with Joshua! Caleb finally informs Rafe that Caleb believes that Joshua has drugged or hypnotized Alison to keep Alison under Joshua's control. Meanwhile, Joshua explains to Alison that he wants his new bride to go back to Rafe and convince her boyfriend that Alison is with Joshua voluntarily and is perfectly safe. At the same time, back at the barn, Rafe refuses to believe Caleb's story. Caleb explains that Caleb had almost succeeded in convincing Joshua to give up the ring, but Joshua abruptly changed his mind as soon as Alison reappeared at the Mansion. Rafe accuses Caleb of having grabbed Alison himself, because Alison had possession of the ring. But Caleb points out that IF Caleb had Alison and Alison had the ring, Caleb would NOT be wasting his time with Rafe! Caleb tries to convince Rafe to join Caleb in another attempt to outsmart Joshua and take back both Alison AND the ring! At the same time, Joshua orders Alison to use whatever means it takes to convince Rafe that she is fine. Joshua told Alison that he will set her watch and, each time the alarm rings, Alison is supposed to tell Rafe that she loves him. Except for the last alarm ~ Joshua whispers to Alison what he wants her to do when the alarm went off for the last time. Joshua also instructs Alison NOT to tell Rafe about any of her 'instructions' from Joshua. Alison thanks Joshua for allowing Alison to have some 'time' with Rafe! Later, Joshua daydreams about Alison coming to Joshua and declaring her love for Joshua freely. At the same time, Caleb finally convinces Rafe to go with Caleb to confront Joshua at Joshua's Mansion. However, Rafe declares that he STILL believes that Caleb is trying to trick him ~ but Caleb insists that Rafe will see soon enough that Alison has returned to be with Joshua. When Rafe and Caleb prepare to leave the barn, however, Alison suddenly appears, with bouquets of flowers in her arms! Alison declares that she just wanted to brighten the barn up a little bit if they are going to be there for a while! When Rafe asks if Alison has been with Joshua, Alison insists that she has been nowhere near Joshua. Rafe just glares at Caleb!

At Karen's Place, Kevin complains about the rough night he went through as he fought his addiction. But Karen assures Kevin that the worst is over. Karen tries to engage Kevin in a little game of catch with a baseball, to keep Kevin's mind off Joshua's drugs. As Kevin reminds Karen that she is a textbook case of someone constantly looking for approval, Kevin misses the ball and the ball breaks a window! As Karen and Kevin clean up the broken glass, Kevin again thanks Karen for being a good friend, and the two of them end up sharing a kiss. As Kevin and Karen kiss, Elizabeth walks up to the front door and spots the broken glass. As Elizabeth checks on the broken glass, Elizabeth glances up, through the broken window, and sees Karen and Kevin kissing. A stunned Elizabeth hurries away!

At Ricky's Place, Ricky plies Casey with cinnamon buns and reminds Casey again of the plans they used to make to see the sights of New York. Casey protests that she can't get away from Port Charles just now because she has people she needs to watch over in town. When Ricky becomes angry about Casey's decision, Casey wonders briefly if Ricky is in some kind of trouble. However, Ricky claims that he just wants some time alone with Casey. Casey warns Ricky that, IF they spend too much time alone, they COULD end up doing what comes naturally, and Casey COULD end up being yanked back upstairs ~ permanently! But Ricky argues that they are BOTH strong enough to resist the temptation to let nature take its course. Casey suddenly agrees to accompany Ricky on a trip to New York but Ricky just as suddenly warns Casey NOT to trust him! When Ricky admits to Casey that Ricky wanted to take Casey to New York and get her into bed because Joshua had promised to jump-start Ricky's stalled music career in exchange for getting the angel to fall from grace, Casey blasts Ricky for failing to realize that Casey has MANY deserving people she WANTS to help and has, instead, devoted most of her earthly time to safe-guarding a self-centered, ungrateful, egotistical jerk like Ricky! Ricky angrily protests that he did NOT go through with Joshua's plan, because Ricky loves Casey. Ricky confesses that, because he loves Casey, things like a successful music career mean nothing, because Ricky would NEVER be able to share any of that with Casey! As they argue, Casey suddenly kisses Ricky passionately, then, declaring that she loves Ricky, Casey runs away!

Livvie wakes up alone in Caleb's apartment and begins to worry when she finds Caleb gone! Meanwhile, at the barn, Caleb tries in vain to persuade Rafe that Alison WAS at Joshua's Mansion, while, at the same time, Alison protests that she has merely been out in the woods, gathering flowers! Caleb told both Alison AND Rafe that he believes that Joshua has hypnotized or drugged Alison as a part of Joshua's revenge scheme. But neither Rafe nor Alison will believe Caleb. Rafe orders Caleb to leave and, as he leaves, Caleb proclaims that Rafe and Alison will deserve what they will get if they are too blind to listen to Caleb's warning! Later, when Caleb returns home, he brought Livvie up to speed about the occurrences at Joshua's Mansion and later, at Rafe's barn with Alison. Livvie reminds Caleb that Alison has Rafe wrapped around her little finger, so, naturally, Rafe would NOT listen to anyone warning Rafe to beware of Rafe's sweet, precious little Alison! Caleb confides that he believes that Alison is playing some part in a sinister plot by Joshua that is likely to blow up in all of their faces, but the unknown element is WHO Joshua has targeted as the victim. Livvie worries that Caleb might be Alison's target and suggests that the simplest approach would be to just bump Alison off and eliminate Livvie's blond nemesis BEFORE Alison has a chance to carry out whatever crazy plot Joshua has cooked up. However, Caleb forbids Livvie to take any kind of action that would harm Alison! Livvie angrily accuses Caleb of being just as blinded by Alison as Rafe is. But Caleb protests that they NEED Alison if they are going to defeat Joshua! Meanwhile, at the barn, Alison realizes that Rafe is still concerned about Caleb's report that Caleb saw Alison at Joshua's Mansion. As Alison assures rafe of her love and Rafe and Alison kiss, Rafe suggests that they dance, and heads back to the car to get the radio. But, while Rafe is gone, the alarm on Alison's watch went off! And, as soon as Rafe returns to the barn, Alison declares that: "It is time to make love ~ right now!" As Alison passionately demands that they make love right away, Rafe and Alison hit the hay!