A few buildings have regained electricity, but most of the city is still dark as a result of the recent power outage. As the power comes back on in the record store, a track on the store's CD player skips briefly before the song's opening chords are heard.

As quiet as it is tonight
You'd almost think you were safe
Your eyes, are full of surprises
They cannot predict my fate

Phillip giggles as Vince moves the ice cream cone away from and toward his face. Jessica, holding her son in her arms, jokingly frowns at Vince. "He does not need ice cream."

"I think you're wrong," Vince says. "Phil told me while we were in line. I was going to get rocky road, but he was all for vanilla. French vanilla to be exact."

Jessica laughs. "Oh, I see. You two have been plotting."

"Busted!"

Jessica licks the end of her own cone, mint chocolate chip. "Thanks for getting me out of the house."

"Well, you know, you've been pulling an Anne Frank staying hidden all month."

With both of her hands occupied, Jessica opts to kick Vince in the leg. "You did not make an Anne Frank joke!"

Vince shrugs. "I think that was kinda tame, actually." He glances up and notices his roommate, Blake Thomas, buying a magazine at a newsstand. "Jess, I'll be right back."

Vince stands and walks up behind Blake.

"Want some ice cream?"

Blake, startled, turns around and smiles weakly. "Hey Vince."

"Hey," Vince says. "Stranger."

"Yeah, I know I haven't been around the dorm lately," Blake says. "Finals, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Vince agrees. "I figured it was just...um, you and Darren."

"Darren and I aren't getting back together," Blake says. "There's too much...it doesn't really matter. I think I need to move on in my life, you know. Try something new."

Vince nods uncomfortably. Blake bites his lip. He wasn't going to bring it up, but not bringing it up doesn't make things any less awkward.

"You did kiss me," Blake continues. "And I've been sort of thinking...or wondering actually...are you attracted to me, Vince?"


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Aaron Maddock snaps his fingers to bring Alec Bale out of his hypnotic state. Alec is disoriented momentarily, but he is awake. "Alec, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," Alec intones softly. He stares ahead, forgetting Aaron momentarily.

"Do you..."

"Yes," Alec says. He stands on wobbly legs and grips the edge of the couch to maintain his balance. He remembers what he said while under hypnosis. He remembers everything.

"Alec, I think you need to sit back down," Aaron says. "So we can talk about what just happened. I didn't set a specific time limit on this session, it all being rather impromptu, so we can —"

"No."

"I insist. I think it's in your best interest to talk about this with someone."

"I don't need to talk with anyone."

Alec barely even registers Aaron's continued presence. He goes toward the door. Aaron tries to stop him, but Alec effortlessly hauls off and punches him square in the jaw. The blow knocks Aaron to the floor.

"Thanks Doc," Alec says, pulling open the door. "But I have to go and get my son now."

Aaron watches as Alec disappears out the door. Without a moment's hesitation, despite the pain he's in, Aaron scrambles to his feet.

I bet he couldn't
I bet he couldn't recognize
But I played right into it
Who am I to criticize?




"I can't believe this," Melissa Bale says, holding a DNA test in her hands. She turns to Dr. Anderson and then to Joel, reading their faces. They're as confused as she is. All of this sounds unreal. "She's my daughter? The child I've been looking for? The one that was stolen from me?"

"According to this test, yes," Dr. Anderson responds. " Alexis Lopez is your daughter."

"But this is impossible," Joel insists.

"Is it?" Melissa asks. "Victor Lopez, her father, he used to work for Hugh. Back when I was...back when I used to work for him. And I had a brief relationship with him. Valerie even used that to her advantage when she hired that man to impersonate Victor and stalk me two years ago."

"This is all so fantastic sounding," Dr. Anderson says. "Who lead you to this locker?"

"I...I don't know," Melissa answers. "But I need to see her. I need to see my daughter."

"I'm afraid that's going to be impossible right now."

"What? I need to see my daughter!"

"Right now, we don't even know if she's your daughter, Melissa. And given the hour, it will be impossible to get into the psychiatric ward. I don't have unlimited clearance there, not for special cases like Alexis."

"No!" Melissa shouts. "That's my daughter! And she's been kept from me for nearly twenty years!"

"Melissa, it will be okay," Joel says, embracing her. "We can sort all of this out in the morning."

Melissa shakes her head in defiance, unable to form a coherent sentence. She wants to say something else, but she doesn't know what she can say. She is interrupted, however, before she gets a chance to even form a thought.

"Melissa!"

She turns to see Aaron approach her, rubbing his jaw. He looks more than slightly frazzled.

"Aaron, what's going on?"

"Alec ran off," Aaron says. "I put him under hypnosis, and..."

"Hynposis?"

"He's been unable to recover memories from his childhood," Aaron says. "Melissa, I'm so sorry...but tonight Alec remembered that Robert sexually abused him when he was a child."

"Oh my God," Melissa gasps.

Joel and Dr. Anderson are equally shocked. Melissa can't believe this. Not now. Not when there's so much going on, she can't have this to deal with too.

"Where is he?" Melissa asks. "Did he say where he was..."

"He said he needed to find his son," Aaron answers. "We need to find him, Mel. Right away."

Melissa nods. "Of course. This is...this is more important." She turns to Dr. Anderson. "We'll talk about this first thing in the morning. First thing."

She breaks away from Joel and begins to follow Aaron to the elevator, but she stops short and turns back around.

"Joel...maybe you need to come with us," Melissa says. "I'm worried about what Alec might do if he..."

Joel gets what she means. Everyone does. He hurries behind Melissa and Aaron as they race out of the hospital.

It's like over and over
You're pushing me right down to the floor
I should just walk away


HANLEY HOME

Leslie Hanley steps into the mansion, still entrenched in darkness. She lowers her umbrella and shakes it out before tossing it into the corner. The tail end of pregnancy test sticks out of her purse. Upon hearing talking in the living room, she shoves the box further into her purse.

"Michael, is that you?"

Leslie enters the living room and finds Victor Collins on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee. Eric sits next to him, on the arm of the couch. The room is illuminated by candles lined up on the coffee table.

"Dr. Collins?" Leslie is incredibly surprised to find him in her living room. "What are you doing here?"

"Michael asked me to come by," Victor says quickly. "He wasn't feeling well. And then, of course, his son decided to badger me about —"

"I just hooked up with this guy," Eric explains. "He was kinda a hot tranny mess, if you know what I'm saying. I think I might have caught an STD."

Leslie rolls her eyes. "That's fantastic, Eric. But I think I'll pass up the exciting talk about Eric's sex life."

"Speaking of, have you heard from Vince recently?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leslie demands.

"Just asking about my favorite brother-in-law, is all."

"Maybe you shouldn't ask about Vince," Leslie says. "How about that?"

Eric grins widely. "And the claws finally come out."

"Now you listen here you spoiled little brat," Leslie snaps, approaching Eric with a fire in her eyes.

"What's going on in here?"

The three in the living room turn around as Michael walks in, glass of bourbon in hand. He trades glances with Eric, Leslie, and Victor.

"Your new wife's letting her inner bitch out," Eric laughs.

Leslie instinctively slaps him across the face. He stares at her in sheer disbelief. But he is even more surprised when his father laughs it off and takes another drink.

"Dad!" Eric cries.

"You very much deserved it," Michael says, shrugging his shoulders. "Are you alright, honey?"

"I'm fine," Leslie insists. "But I need to go upstairs and speak with Akilah. Is she here?"

Michael nods. "I think so. She came in a while ago."

"Great," Leslie says. She kisses Michael on the cheek as she goes out.

Michael narrows his eyes at Eric. "You can leave too."

"Fine," Eric mutters. He stands and hustles out of the living room.

Michael, now alone with Victor, takes another sip from his drink. "Forget the plan to let Sean recuperate overnight. We're getting rid of him now. He goes back to New York immediately."

Now that it's over
You can lie to me right through your smile
I see behind your eyes
Now I'm sober, no more intoxicating my mind
Even the devil wouldn't recognize you...

"James. Over here," she whispers, in a deep affected voice that hinges on Southern mixed with a Brooklyn accent.

A man, who was at the moment reading an issue of the Hollywood Reporter, spins around dramatically. He stares at the woman addressing him. She is beautiful, but not beautiful enough to draw his sexual attention. Still...he can tell that she is a tiger in the bedroom.

"Renee," James says, whispering back. "Why exactly are we whispering?"

"Because I have to tell you something about your former mother-in-law," Renee says. "She's up to no good."

"I will not hear you badmouthing Roz to me."

Renee slaps James across the face. As he nurses the sting, she finishes by picking up a nearby martini and throwing it in his face. "You had better listen up, or so help me God I'll put on some Vaseline and take off my earrings! Roz keeps pushing for you to get back together with Brooke. She is a life ruiner! She ruins people's lives!"

A knock at her bedroom door draws Akilah Moore out of the current episode of The Blackthornes. She pauses the DVD on her laptop and sits on the edge of her bed. "Come in."

Leslie opens the door and smiles upon seeing her daughter. "Watching a DVD? Boy, back in my day, the power going out meant we didn't get to watch Dark Shadows."

"What's that? Some black sitcom?" Akilah asks, confused.

"No, honey, it's...never mind," Leslie says. "I just wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine," Akilah says. "It's Vince you should be worried about. Do you know he's been hanging around with that hot mess Jessica?"

Leslie laughs. "Everyone's a hot mess tonight!"

Confused once again, Akilah says, "what?"

"I'm not worried about anyone, honestly," Leslie insists.

"Oh," Akilah says. "Well, okay. It's just that whenever you come into one of our rooms for a heart-to-heart, you're worried about something. Or about to tell us that we're heirs to one of the richest families in like, the Midwest."

"But that's what we all are now, right? A family."

"Yeah. I guess. Michael's okay. I like Ariel, she's never really around. Eric's kind of a freak of the week."

"And no matter what happens, you know I will always love you and Vincent."

Akilah frowns. "Okay Mom, what's wrong? Because you're freaking me out. Either you have cancer, or...oh God, are you adopting a baby from Africa?"

"Never mind, Akilah. Go back to watching your show, okay honey?"

Akilah shrugs. "Okay." She quickly turns her attention back to her laptop and presses play on her DVD.

A twinkly synthesizer takes her into the show's opening credits. Still in the doorway, Leslie catches a glimpse of the cast members on the show. And she is chilled to the bone when she sees the name of the actress portraying Renee. It's her sister...Yolanda Holland. Without doing anything to alert Akilah, Leslie finally exits the room.

Akilah pauses the DVD once more when her cell phone vibrates next to her. She picks it up and sees she has a text message from her best friend, Julia.

Meet me outside in 5.

"Outside?" Akilah wonders aloud.

Figuring Julia stopped out of boredom during the power outage, she climbs out of her bed and tosses on a track jacket hanging on the back of her door. Akilah goes out of her room and down the stairs to the foyer.

She can hear faint chatter in the living room. She recognizes Michael's voice, so she ignores the conversation and opens the front door. It is still slightly raining outside, so she stands in the doorway to avoid getting wet.

"Julia, where the hell are you?" Akilah takes a look at her cell phone once more.

Before she has a chance to open it, a gloved hand clasps over Akilah's mouth and silences her. Her eyes go wide. Then a black bag covers her face and throws her into darkness.


BALE HOME

Alec shoves open the front door and hurries inside. He can barely see anything, save for the corners of the house illuminated by the moonlight shining through the windows. He doesn't need to see anything else, though.

Before taking him to the hospital, Melissa told Alec that his son was with Jessica's mother, but would be home soon. So now the only thing on his mind is getting his son away this house. Away from Alec's father.

Alec is sick to his stomach, remembering the nights Robert came into his bedroom and alternated between physically abusing him and sexually abusing him. The sickness is all he can cling to for his own sanity. Otherwise, his mind will wander to anger. Anger toward Robert. Anger toward Felicia for being oblivious and not stopping it.

"Phillip!" Alec calls out. He races up the stairs and into the bedroom where Jessica has been staying, but there's still nowhere there. "Where the hell is she?"

Alec pulls out his cell phone and tries to call Jessica. The phone goes to voicemail. Alec angrily puts away his phone and goes into Melissa's bedroom. He remembers where she pulled her gun out earlier that night and grabs it. He slides the gun into the waistband of his jeans as he hears a car pull up to the house.

He creeps toward the stairs and peers down the stairwell to see if he can make out the arrival's face.

"Alec!" Melissa cries out, shining a flashlight in his face. "It's Melissa!"

"Where's my son, Melissa?" Alec demands, descending the stairs. "And please believe me, this time I'm not going to let you haul me off to some bullshit therapy."

"Alec, try to calm down," Melissa says. "We're here to help you."

"We're?"

Joel follows Melissa into the house. "Alec. Are you okay?"

"What is this?" Alec glares at Melissa. "Is he here to arrest me?"

"No, he's not here —"

"Good," Alec snaps. "Because the only person that should be getting arrested is your husband."

"Alec, let's talk about what happened during your session with Aaron," Melissa begins. "Are you sure that —"

"Are you defending him?!" Alec cries. "Are you honestly defending him! You can call me out as a wife beater but you're fucking husband can't be a child molester?"

"You were under hypnosis," Melissa insists. "Your mind can play games on you when you —"

"My mind is fine! I remember everything! Every single night that he came into my room and made me do things. For years."

"If that's true, then we can call the police and have them take Robert in for questioning," Joel says. "But I have to warn you, it will be hard to prosecute him for anything. Whatever happened to you as a child would be far beyond the statute of limitations. You may not be able to bring charges against your father at all."


EMERALD SQUARE

"I'm not gay," Vince says, darting his eyes away from direct contact with Blake's. "We already went over why we kissed. You were in a coma, and I didn't know if you'd wake up or not, and so..."

"All of these emotions came out," Blake finishes. "I know that. And look, I don't want to pressure you into making a statement about your sexuality or anything else. I was just wondering. Because we've been friends for years now, and if..."

"No," Vince says. "I'm sorry, but it was just that moment. I haven't even really thought about it since then."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Besides, things are starting to work out with me and Jessica again, so..."

"Jessica?" Blake demands. "She's married!"

"Huh? Oh, I meant to say Julia. Julia."

"You're interested in Julia?"

Vince shrugs. "I think so. We'll see. But I'm just not...I'm not attracted to you. You're my best friend, Blake. And I was worried about you. That's it."

"Okay," Blake says. "That's all I need to hear."

"Good," Vince says. "Look, Jess and I need to get going. We're taking Phillip back home so he can get some rest. But I'll see you around, okay?"

"Well I'd hope so, we kinda of sleep together. I mean, sleep in the same room. Dorm room."

Vince grimaces. "Right. I'm gonna go."

Blake takes a deep breath as Vince heads back toward Jessica. He hits himself in the head and mutters an expletive to remind himself of how stupid he just acted.

"I can't believe I did that," Blake mutters.

As he turns to exit Emerald Square, he is shocked to see Darren exit the Emerald Café. As if this day couldn't get any worse. Blake quickly turns back around and tries to run off, but he accidentally bumps into a man and knocks his coffee over.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Blake apologizes. "I can pay for that."

"Don't worry about it, I don't really need the caffeine anyway," the man says. He looks at Blake and smiles. "Besides...if you weren't so clumsy, I'd never have been able to find out how cute you are."

Blake is taken aback by the man's directness. "Oh. Thanks."

"No problem. My name's Eric," he says, extending a hand. "Eric Hanley. What's yours?"


BALE HOME

Melissa starts, "If this is true, then I'm sure there are rules we can..."

"If?"

"Alec, I love you like you're my own family, you know that," Melissa says. "But this is just a lot to comprehend right now. I never thought Robert would be capable of something so —"

"Of course not, because you're an idiot," Alec cuts in. "I mean, how else could you not tell that Robert's been cheating on you since before your wedding day? He doesn't love you. He only loves himself. He fucked you while he was married to my mother, and now he's fucking someone else. The third Mrs. Bale. But there's not going to be one. Because he's going to spend the rest of his miserable fucking life in jail, or so help me God I'll kill him."

"Alec, calm down," Joel says. He reaches for Alec, but he swats his hand away.

"Don't touch me," Alec snarls.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"What's going on in here?"

Robert Bale's voice is unmistakable as he walks through the open front door. He is immediately confused about Joel's presence.

"Detective? Former?"

"Robert," Joel says. "Can I have word with you outside? In private?"

"No," Robert says, going to Melissa. "Not until someone tells me what's going on."

"I know everything," Alec says softly. "About what you did to me. I remember."

Robert narrows his eyes. "Remember? Have you been drinking again?"

"Tell them what you did."

"What are you —"

"Tell them what you did!" Alec bellows, removing the gun from his jeans and aiming it square at his father's chest. "Tell them what you did, Dad!"


HANLEY HOME

Leslie grips the pregnancy test in her hand and stares at the sign on the end of it. She has the results now. It's not what she expected, but now that she knows, she's fine with it.

"It's for the best," Leslie says softly.

She drops the pregnancy test into the wastepaper basket and goes into the hallway. She walks toward Akilah's bedroom and knocks on the door. When there's no response, she pushes the door open and finds Akilah's laptop on the bed still open. But no Akilah.

Leslie shrugs and goes toward the stairs. "I guess I'll talk to her later."

As she walks down the stairs, the lights in the mansion flicker. By the time she reaches the foot of the steps, the lights are back on. Finally.

"Akilah? Michael?" Leslie calls out, entering the living room. "Is there a —"

Leslie stops dead in her tracks when she sees two men emerge from Michael's study. One of them she recognizes as Victor, but the other...she can't possibly be seeing who she thinks she is.

"No," Leslie gasps. "No...no."

"The lights are on..." Victor mumbles softly. A horrifying realization on his part.

"Leslie, did you call me?" Michael asks.

He enters the living room behind Leslie and gently rubs her shoulders. It takes him a few seconds to realize who else is in the room with them.

"Oh my God," Leslie gasps. "Sean."

Sean Price stands in the living room next to Victor. He squints as he looks to Leslie and then Michael. All of this confuses him...he doesn't know how to react. Neither does anyone else in the room.

"Sean!" Leslie gasps.

"That's Victor," Michael whispers quickly. "Are you imagining things again?"

Leslie doesn't hear Michael's voice. The only thing she can concentrate on is the fact that her husband is standing in the living room. Her dead husband.

Leslie says her husband's name several more times in a rushed, frantic state. She reaches out and touches his chest. She needs to make sure that he's real. That's she not crazy. And...she isn't. He's really there.

"Sean, it's you," Leslie says. "You're..."

Sean flinches as Leslie touches him. He pushes her away and directs his gaze to Michael. There is a fierce determination in his face. He grabs Michael's arms and grips him tightly.

And then, in an action as equally surprising to Leslie as finding her dead husband very much alive in her living room, Sean pulls Michael into a kiss.




You almost fooled yourself this time
Let all the saints be praised
You hide your sadness behind your smile
And you keep your lost heartbreaks

"Thanks for the cup of coffee...I'm going to ask you out, and I want you to say yes," Eric says, seated across from Blake at a table in Emerald Square.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Blake says.

"Why? Heard stories about me?"

Blake shakes his head. "Not really. Vince has never mentioned you."

"Well then, what kind of a sign from God do you need?" Eric asks.

At that moment, the lights come back on in the stores that populate Emerald Square. Blake sheepishly grins at Eric.

"Well, there you go," Eric says. "Now the hot college boy has to say yes to the mysterious, smoldering stranger."

"Okay," Blake says. "Yes. I'll go out with you."

Eric winks at him. "Excellent."



The steps that edge along the ledge
Is much higher than it seems
But I've been on that ledge before
You can't hide yourself from me

Vince closes the car door behind Jessica and playfully sticks his tongue out at Phillip. "We're at home, buddy."

Jessica glances toward the front door. She notices that it's wide open. "I think we're the only house on the block that still doesn't have power."

"Boo, that sucks," Vince says. "Good thing we've got all those romantic candles in my trunk."

Jessica rolls her eyes. "You're ridiculous."

She and Vince head toward the house.



It's like over and over
You're pushing me right down to the floor
I should just walk away
Over and over I keep on coming back for more
I play into your fantasy

"Sean!" Leslie cries. "What are you doing?"

Michael pushes Sean away from him. He's more than startled by Sean's sudden kiss. The surprise is almost enough to make him forget that his entire life is going to hell right before his eyes. Almost.

"Sean..." Michael begins.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Sean demands, taking Michael's hand. "And why did you push me away, honey?"

"Honey?" Michael and Leslie repeat in unison.

"Yes, honey. It's me! It's your wife, Elizabeth!"



Now that it's over
You can lie to me right through your smile
I've seen behind your eyes
Now I'm sober, no more intoxicating my mind

"Alec, put down the gun!" Joel cries, holding out a hand to calm the situation.

Panicked, Robert backs away from his son and looks back at the front door. As he does, he sees Vince and Jessica enter with Phillip in tow. "Jessica! Vince! Get Phillip out of here!"

"Huh?" Vince asks. He then notices Alec and the gun. He instinctively stands in front of Jessica and Phillip and stares at Alec in dead shock. "Alec! What the hell are you doing with a gun?"

Alec wildly waves the gun. "Give me my son! Give me Phillip right now!"

When Alec ignores cries of protest from everyone else standing in the foyer, Robert advances on his son and tries to wrestle the gun from him. Alec instinctively pulls the trigger.

Even the devil wouldn't recognize you...

The shock of the gun firing causes Alec to stumble backward. As a bullet flies from the gun, it immediately connects with a target. The bullet draws blood.

Drops of blood splash from the wound and hit Alec in the face.

He stands, horrified, at what he has just done. At whom he has surely just killed.

Even the devil wouldn't recognize you...
...But I do.