The clock chimed midnight, and Courtney and Jax began to heatedly kiss. They rushed into the bedroom, undressing each other, when Courtney suddenly stopped and realized that the three-month time period was over, and she was officially the winner. Jax wrote her a check as she gloated, but his unhappiness at the situation quickly caused her to think he was a sore loser. He told her that it had nothing to do with that, but rather, he thought they'd had a chance at a good thing, and she'd let her desire to win get in the way. She told him he was being ridiculous and asked why his competitiveness was okay but hers was not.
Jax refused to give in and left. Courtney sat and pondered the situation alone in her apartment. Realizing that Jax was really what she wanted above all else, she went to his penthouse and tried to apologize. He opened the door after she finally admitted that he was what she really wanted, and the two picked up where they'd left off with their kissing. Suddenly, a woman's voice called to Jax from the back of the penthouse, and both stopped kissing and looked shocked.
Helena unleashed a curse on Nikolas and Emily's relationship, vowing that their union would cause bad things to happen to those they loved. She managed to disappear from the engagement party and caused additional unrest that worried Emily. Nikolas tried to assure her, but the curse played at the back of her mind. Meanwhile, Lucky got word that Nurse Harris was in the hospital due to an overdose. Ric warned them that without her testimony, her admission that Helena and Tracy had paid her off would only be hearsay. The party rushed to the hospital, where Bobbie filled them in on Donna Harris' condition.
While everyone anxiously waited in the lobby, Lucky and Ric tried to get Donna to admit again that she had been paid off. She got as far as admitting that she'd lied but then died just as Nikolas entered the room. He went to tell Emily the news, and she began to worry again about the curse. Back at Wyndemere, Helena reappeared to fill Tracy in on the many Cassadine curses and their successful history. Emily and Nikolas rushed back to confront the women for murdering Donna, but Helena simply replied that while they were correct that Donna had been murdered, they were incorrect about the guilty party -- it was the curse that they'd forced her to place on them that had actually killed the poor nurse.
Carly introduced John to Michael, and explained that he was Michael's grandfather. After helping with the boy's confusion, John sat with him in the chapel and said a prayer for Morgan. Back in the emergency unit, Sonny refused to allow Steven to give Morgan the medicine. Steven warned Sonny that Morgan would die without it, and Jason told Sonny to let Steven do his job. Carly, Michael, and John returned, and Sonny was not only stunned at John's presence but also at hearing Michael refer to him as "grandpa."
Carly took Michael in to be with Morgan, and Sonny warned John that he wouldn't allow John to use his family. Carly had Michael get Sonny and take him into Morgan's room, and they were all relieved to see the medicine begin to work. John was equally relieved, but Jason wasn't convinced that the man was innocent. He saw John thanking Steven for his good work, and he warned the two that he would not let them take Sonny down.
Back in Morgan's room, Carly's relief at seeing her son live and be around to see his own father convinced her that she had to allow herself to get to know her own. She shared her wishes with Sonny; he understood her need but had no desire to let John use his wife and children to put him in prison.
Courtney and Jax's heated kiss turned cold when a woman called out to him from the bedroom. Both were stunned, but Courtney's shock quickly turned to anger, and she cracked Jax in the face. His nose bleeding, Jax chased after her, swearing that he had no idea who the woman in the back of the apartment was. Courtney refused to buy his story and yelled that she'd had it with him and planned to cash his check as soon as the banks opened. She declared them officially over and left.
Jax walked back into his penthouse and ordered the woman to show herself. A sheepish-looking Skye emerged. Jax was stunned to see her, and she told him that she'd escaped to find Luke and clear her name. While Jax promised to do all he could to help her, he informed Skye that he would not do anything that would jeopardize his relationship with Courtney.
Meanwhile, a devastated Courtney took a run in order to try to clear her mind. She ran into Lois on the docks and informed her of the night's events. Lois stuck up for Jax, telling Courtney he was not cruel and likely had a good explanation. Courtney only listened somewhat but returned to her apartment to hear Jax leaving a message for her on the machine. She listened to him ask for a chance to explain but didn't pick up until he was already gone.
Emily and Nikolas confronted Helena and Tracy over Nurse Harris' murder. Helena told them that the curse they'd forced her to place upon them was the reason Donna had died. Nikolas refused to buy into Helena's act and told her that she was the curse and the one who killed people. He and Emily returned to Wyndemere, and although Nikolas did his best to help Emily feel better, she couldn't shake her fear that Helena's curse would have real effects.
Lois took over Lila's wedding dress to replace the sketch of Emily's that had burned up, and Emily was soon able to assuage her fears and get on with wedding planning. Nikolas was happy to see Emily's choice of a dress, but their mood was again dashed when he accidentally spilled red wine on the dress. Suddenly, Nikolas himself was questioning if the curse was true, but Emily was the one to reassure him. She pretended to be fine for Nikolas' sake but later had nightmares of Helena and Tracy building curses together.
Jason warned John to stay away from Carly, but John refused to buy in to his intimidations. John told him that while Sonny was his son-in-law, Jason meant nothing to him, and John vowed to take him down if he got in the way of John's relationship with Carly. Carly overheard the men's exchange and warned John herself. She told her father that Jason protected her from everything, including herself, and she had far more trust and faith in him than she ever would in her father.
Jason excused himself to take Michael home, but Carly continued to tell John she had doubts about a future for the two of them. John tried to explain the situation, but Carly couldn't be sure she could trust him. She turned to Steven for advice, telling him a father she could count on was a dream she'd had since she had been a child. She asked Steven to be honest with her and tell her the truth about what John was after. Before he could, however, Jason returned and ordered Steven away from Carly. Carly told Jason he was out of line, but Jason continued to warn her to keep as far away from Steven and John as she could.
Later, John reminded Steven to be sure to try to use his friendship with Carly to pump her full of good thoughts about John. Steven was clearly annoyed at the request to use Carly and told John that he'd do his best. John then ran into Michael, who had spent the evening at home, getting pumped full of information on John, courtesy of Jason. Michael used the opportunity with his grandfather to tell John that he was evil and to stay away from him and his family.
John was shocked at Michael's change of attitude, and Carly was stunned when she stumbled upon her son yelling at John. She ordered Michael to behave and watch his manners, but Michael told her that John was bad and that he wasn't a family member any more than A.J. was. Carly demanded to know who had told Michael such information, and Jason happily informed her that he had done it.
In Jax's apartment, Jax assured Skye that he planned to help her clear her name but did not want to lose Courtney in the process. At the same time, in Courtney's apartment, Courtney received a visit from Lois, who urged Courtney to give Jax the benefit of the doubt about Jax being surprised at the presence of another woman at Jax's apartment the previous evening. As Courtney admitted to Lois that Courtney wasn't quite ready to talk to Jax, a messenger arrived with an armload of flowers from Jax for Courtney. Although Courtney tried to send the messenger away, Lois took charge and insisted that the messenger convey Courtney's heartfelt thanks to Jax.
Before Courtney could register much of a protest, another messenger arrived with a box of gingersnaps -- Courtney's favorite cookies. Although Lois urged Courtney to enjoy her relationship with Jax, Courtney continued to protest that she was not interested in a fun-and-games-only relationship. At the same time, Skye warned Jax that he did not dare tell Courtney that Jax had been helping Skye hide out until Skye found out who'd killed Officer Ross Duncan.
Later, Skye and Jax tried to figure out where Luke might be, and Skye remembered visiting Laura at St. Gabriel's in Montreal. However, they were interrupted when Ric knocked persistently at the door. After Skye scrambled into hiding, Jax let Ric in and pretended to be shocked when Ric announced that Skye had escaped from prison and that Ric had good reason to suspect that Skye might be hiding out with Jax. Jax first reminded Ric that the district attorney needed a warrant to search Jax's apartment then Jax suddenly changed his mind and invited Ric to go ahead and look around.
Jax reminded Ric that Skye had three or four other ex-husbands, but Ric reminded Jax that Jax was the only ex-husband who had seemed visibly upset when Skye had been convicted. As Ric quizzed Jax, Jax admitted that, while he might consider hiding Skye, he would be even more worried that aiding and abetting Skye would endanger Jax's relationship with Courtney. After Ric made a hasty inspection, Jax tried to convince Ric that Skye would have skipped the country already, and Ric confided Ric's belief that there would be no hope of Skye clearing herself by returning to Port Charles. After Ric left, Jax reminded Skye that their first job was to find Luke.
At the Hospital, Lucky was stunned when Ric introduced Steven Webber to Lucky and encouraged Steven to do whatever Steven could do to help Lucky in Lucky's campaign to clear Nikolas and Emily of Mary Bishop's death. After Ric left, Steven suggested to Lucky that the killer might have left some DNA evidence on the medication remaining in the medicine cup present in Mary's room when she'd died, and Steven rushed off to check Mary's remaining medication.
At Wyndemere, as Nikolas and Emily discussed their future, they were surprised by a visit from Lorenzo Alcazar. Nikolas was surprised when Lorenzo suggested a joint business venture to help get the financially troubled Cassadine empire back on its feet. Nikolas put Lorenzo off. However, after Lorenzo left, Emily warned Nikolas that Alcazar was more dangerous than even Helena's supposed curse, and she begged Nikolas to avoid doing business with Alcazar.
Later, Lois spotted Lorenzo stepping off the launch from Wyndemere and quizzed him about his sudden interest in Nikolas Cassadine. Lois warned Lorenzo about trying to involve Nikolas in something illegal, but Lorenzo retorted that it was obvious that Lois did not feel called upon to warn Emily that Emily's brother Jason was engaged in illegal activities. Lois was surprised when Lorenzo suddenly asked what Lois actually wanted from Lorenzo. At the same time, at Wyndemere, Emily was appalled when Nikolas admitted that he wanted to consider Lorenzo's business proposal.
As Nikolas and Emily discussed their future, the minister suddenly arrived and sadly reported that the church where Nikolas and Emily had planned to be married had burned to the ground. When Nikolas asked if arson was suspected, the pastor replied that it seemed more likely that the fire had been the result of an "act of God," such as a lightning strike.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo and Lois called a truce long enough to enjoy some coffee together on the docks. Lorenzo admitted that he wanted to keep seeing Lois but had no intention of changing his life anytime soon, since Sage was gone. After Lorenzo explained that, while Sage had been alive, Lorenzo had wanted to try to set a good example for his niece, Lois suggested that Lorenzo should still consider turning his life around then walked away.
Later, at the Quartermaine mansion, Tracy was shocked when Helena gloated about burning down the church where Nikolas and Emily had planned to be married. Helena pointed out that it was imperative that Nikolas believe in the Cassadine curse because Helena hoped that Nikolas would give Emily up if Nikolas believed that separation was the only way to protect Emily from the curse.
Later, at Wyndemere, Nikolas tried to reassure Emily that there was nothing to Helena's curse. However, Tracy and Helena continued to plot ways to make sure that Nikolas and Emily believed in the curse, just as Edward returned home to the Quartermaine mansion. Tracy and Helena were shocked when Edward declared that he was ready to help Helena and Tracy with their plans to derail Emily's plans to marry Nikolas.
At the hospital, as John and Michael looked on, Carly ordered Jason to tell Michael that Jason's problem was with Durant's job -- and not with John himself. However, Jason refused. Sonny arrived in the middle of the argument, and Michael immediately tattled that John wanted to put Sonny in prison -- and Jason agreed with Michael's report about Durant's intentions. Sonny refused to tell Michael that Michael's new grandfather was okay, but Sonny did reassure Michael that Sonny would not be going anywhere then sent Michael off to be with Leticia in Morgan's room.
After Michael left, John reminded Sonny that Durant's job was to prosecute criminals, and John asked if Sonny was making an admission of guilt when Sonny presumed that Durant intended to send Sonny to prison. Later, in Morgan's room, Michael asked Jason to continue warning Carly about Durant, and Jason promised that he would continue attempting to persuade Carly. After Jason left, Michael told Morgan that their new grandfather was a bad man and confided that Michael had a plan that would keep Carly away from Durant for good.
After Jason left Michael and Morgan, Jason ran into Bobbie, and Bobbie confirmed that she had always been pretty sure that Durant was Carly's father and confided that Durant had paid Bobbie a visit. Meanwhile, John told Sonny that he had no plans to actively go after Sonny because Carly's presence would be a conflict of interest for John. After Sonny remained suspicious, John insisted that he would not lose touch with his only daughter over one criminal, even when that criminal was Sonny Corinthos. After Durant left, Carly admitted that she wanted to believe that her father was telling the truth.
Later, Courtney was surprised when Leticia and Michael arrived at her apartment and informed Courtney about Morgan's condition. However, Courtney and Leticia were shocked when Michael announced that he was moving in with Courtney and refused to go home until his mother got Durant out of their lives. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Bobbie filled Jason in on the details of Bobbie's meeting with Durant, and Jason pointed out that the timing of Durant's visit to Bobbie changed everything.
As Sonny and Carly argued about Carly's need to know her father, Carly suddenly asked Sonny what Sonny would do if Sonny suddenly discovered that he had a child he'd never known about. Sonny admitted that he would hate everyone who had kept him from learning the truth -- but would still love the child. Courtney interrupted Sonny and Carly's argument when she called to report that Michael had announced his plan to move in permanently with Courtney.
At the same time, Durant met with Steven to make plans to slip in to see Morgan and learned that Steven was puzzled by the DNA traces he'd tested on the medication in Mary Bishop's medicine cup -- because the closest match that Steven could make was with Sage Alcazar -- who had been dead long before Mary Bishop had been given the medication that had killed her.
Meanwhile, Sonny and Carly tracked Jason down to send Jason to collect Michael at Courtney's apartment, but Jason refused, admitting that he believed that Michael was right about refusing to return home until Durant was out of their lives for good. Jason pointed out that Durant had gone to Bobbie after Carly had already told Durant that Carly had wanted nothing to do with Durant. Carly retorted that Jason's suspicions had been worsened because Jason did not love his own father. Carly immediately apologized, but Jason coldly declared that he would go fetch Michael.
After Jason left, Carly admitted to Sonny that she did not know what she was saying half the time. Sonny pointed out that it was exactly the reason why Carly should not be talking to Durant. Later, as Michael munched on Jax's cookies at Courtney's place, Courtney was surprised when it was Jason who arrived to pick Michael up.
Later, Steven Webber reported to Lucky that the DNA tests he had run had been inconclusive. At the same time, Durant met with Lorenzo on the docks and informed Alcazar that Durant had DNA evidence that would tie Lorenzo to the actual murder of Mary Bishop. When Alcazar smugly insisted that Durant would never be able to prove that Lorenzo had been anywhere else except in Venezuela, burying his beloved niece, Durant reminded Lorenzo that, even though Lorenzo's DNA was not actually on file, it would only be a matter of issuing a subpoena to correct that deficiency. Durant then offered to make the evidence disappear in exchange for Lorenzo's help in busting Sonny Corinthos and putting Sonny in prison for life.
At the same time, in Morgan's hospital room, Carly suggested that they let John visit Morgan, but Sonny refused to even consider the possibility. Sonny told Carly that Carly could see John any time she wanted, but Sonny wanted the federal prosecutor nowhere near Sonny's children. At the same time, at Courtney's apartment, Jason tried to convince Michael that trying to blackmail his own mother into staying away from Durant was not the right approach. When Michael went to clean up, Courtney tried to apologize to Jason for her recent erratic behavior, but they were interrupted when Jax arrived.
Jax wasn't pleased when Jason answered the door to Courtney's apartment when he went to see her. Michael lied and told him that he should leave them alone, since Jason and Courtney had been kissing. Courtney tried to explain that it wasn't what it looked like, but Jax accused her of calling Jason and trying to get back with him without giving Jax a chance to explain what had happened at his place earlier that day. Jax stormed off. Jason and Courtney explained to Michael that he couldn't tell adults who they could like and who they couldn't like. Jason took Michael home. Courtney sat and thought about Jax.
Meanwhile, Alan and Justus weren't pleased when Edward invited Heather to move in and stay with him in his room and play the role of his nurse. Alan did not trust Heather anywhere near his sick father. Justus acted as Edward's advisor and protector and wanted the family to leave Edward alone and let him recuperate at home. Late that night, Alan found Heather on her laptop computer and asked her why she was on the computer so late at night when she should be helping to take care of his father.
Heather was actually pretending to be Luke and intercepted Skye's chat messages on the Internet. She tried to get Skye to reveal where she was hiding so Heather could set her up some more. Skye actually believed Luke was using their very own code words to reach her in one of the chat rooms. Jax was very skeptical and warned Skye that it could be a setup, and she shouldn't reveal where she was over the chat room. Skye got a message just before she was going to reveal where she was, telling her that the other chat messenger had logged off suddenly.
Jax went to General Hospital to talk to Bobbie to find out if she had heard from Luke recently or not. Georgie and Dillon were also at GH to retrieve Georgie's bag she'd left there earlier. Lucas and Brook showed up. Brook had twisted her ankle wearing her new high heeled shoes. Georgie was dismayed when Dillon got protective over Brook and insisted on staying there until Brook was okay to go home.
Courtney stopped by Jax's place when he wasn't home and left a message, apologizing for what had happened earlier, and left without finding Skye, who was hiding in the hallway. Jax returned home and read the note but was reluctant to call and set up a time to talk. Courtney got a call from child services, telling her she had been chosen from a list to be a foster parent to a child within 24 hours.
Jax went to the hospital to talk to Bobbie about whether she'd heard from Luke or not. He ran into Sam, who'd just talked to Steven about how Morgan was doing. He told her that Morgan had been released from the hospital and that he hadn't seen Jason in a couple of hours. Jax told her he'd just seen Jason at Courtney's, and it had looked like they might get back together again. Sam acted like it didn't bother her, but she got home and sat in the dark, waiting for Jason to get home.
Jason took Michael home and told him it was time for bed. Sonny and Carly took Morgan home after Sonny made it clear to Steven that even though he was grateful to Steven for taking care of his son and saving his life, he didn't want Steven anywhere near his wife or children. Carly apologized to Jason for what she'd said to him earlier at the hospital about his own estranged relationship with his father but wanted him to stop trash-talking her father to Michael. Jason agreed not to talk about John to Michael anymore.
Sonny told Carly he didn't want her father to have any contact with their children but told her she could see her father anytime she wanted. Carly received a photo album that John sent to her home. She realized it was a family album of his. She found a picture of her grandmother that looked just like her. Sonny worried that Carly was already attached to the idea of being in her father's life. Jason reassured Sam that he and Courtney weren't back together and that she could live there as long as she wanted.
John Durant asked Steven to use his friendship with Carly to find out more about her and her marriage to Sonny. Steven surprised John by refusing to spy on Carly for him and insisting he would stick to forensic work only. John met with Alcazar and blackmailed him into helping take Sonny down by using possible DNA evidence that linked Alcazar to Mary's murder against him. Alcazar was surprised when John informed him that he was Carly's father and wanted her out of Sonny's life eventually.
Courtney and Sam ran into each other on the docks, were friendly with each other, and decided they should remain that way. Later, an older woman approached Sam and chastised her for being single and pregnant. Jason overheard the conversation and appeared in time to pretend to be Sam's husband and keep her from being embarrassed.
Courtney returned to her apartment and found Jax waiting for her. The two made up, and Courtney informed him that she was going to be fostering a five-year-old boy for a short while. As Courtney and Jax kissed, the social worker arrived early, and Courtney's foster child ended up being a hot Latino teenage boy.
Ric admitted to Alexis that he really didn't think Emily had killed Mary. Alexis was more worried about Kristina, though, even though the doctor had said she was fine. Ric suggested that Alexis take Kristina for a second opinion. The three went to the hospital, and Steven examined Kristina. His results were not alarming, either, but once Ric was alone with the doctor, Ric wanted to know what he was holding back.
Alcazar warned Sonny and Jason about Durant's plans. Sonny was not interested in working with Alcazar against Durant, though. Carly visited with Durant to thank him for the family album. She learned that his mother had been a judge who had been murdered by a crime family after sentencing a member of the crime family to prison. Sonny interrupted and asked to speak to Durant alone. Sonny said he knew about the plan with Alcazar, but Durant denied the whole thing. Later, Durant found Alcazar and taunted him with the DNA evidence.
Emily worked on getting the stain out of the wedding dress. Nikolas arrived, marriage license in hand, and announced that a justice of the peace was on the way to marry them in private. Emily spilled some salt, and Nikolas told her to throw salt over her shoulder to ward away bad luck then they discussed Helena' curse again. The judge arrived, but Edward and Tracy interrupted the ceremony. After the group argued, the ceremony finally resumed -- until the judge collapsed during the vows.
Nikolas went straight to the secret panel and found Helena, whom he accused of paying the judge. Finally, Helena told the judge to get up, but she still warned them that there would never be happiness for them if they were to get married. Later, Emily prepared a bubble bath, with candles lit throughout the room. A cold breeze blew through, blowing out some of the candles. Nikolas went to get some champagne, and Emily started soaking in the tub. Suddenly, Emily started to be pulled underwater.