12:00 P.M. – Mason wants the still unconscious Paula woken up as soon as possible. Tony leaves to follow up on a Middle Eastern businessman who has connections to the terrorist Syed Ali. Jack calls Mason with news that Nina Myers is the one who commissioned Joseph Wald to blow up CTU. She did it before she was arrested. Jack has her transferred to CTU for questioning, but Mason tells him to not come back to the office. He will handle Nina on his own.
At the O.C., military advisors speculate on the possible targets in Los Angeles. Lynne informs Palmer that the Ambassador has landed at the site. Also just arriving is Roger Stanton, the head of NSA and Rayburn’s boss.
12:04 P.M. – Marko pulls the van up to a gas station, and his accomplice Basheer gets out to fill their tank. Another customer yells at Basheer because the van is blocking both pumps. Although the guy makes a derogatory Arab reference, Basheer calmly apologizes and orders Marko to move the van.
While waiting for Carla at St. Virgil’s Hospital, Kim becomes alarmed when she sees the police. As she hurries down the corridor, she runs into Gary. He tells her to leave without saying anything or else she will be arrested for kidnapping Megan. Gary threatens to tell the authorities that she was the one who hurt his daughter. He says that Carla will even back his story. When the police approach, Kim leaves the ER.
12:07 P.M. – Stanton apologizes to the President for Rayburn’s actions regarding CTU. Yet he is more concerned with the meeting Palmer will be having with the Ambassador. Stanton believes that the diplomat is only attempting to access U.S. intelligence. The President, who is not as certain about this theory as Stanton, plans to take the meeting anyway.
12:09 P.M. – Jack returns to CTU and is stunned at the ruins. Mason is annoyed that Jack came back, because he doesn’t want him anywhere Nina Myers — the person who killed his wife, Teri. Yet Jack insists that it is better that he be debriefed at CTU. Mason tells him to leave when his debrief is complete.
12:10 P.M. – Paula wakes up, and Mason and Michelle ask her for her source decryption key to complete the file transmission to NSA. With her last breaths, Paula gives them the volume in the database where she had made a copy of the key. Michelle retrieves the key, and Mason praises Paula for helping to save lives. As the EMTs go to take her to the hospital, Paula dies.
12:17 P.M. – Reza and Kate return home, and Bob greets them. He knew about the new house Reza had purchased, and he chides Kate for her suspicions. Tony and another agent arrive to question Reza. Bob tries to explain that it is a mistake, but Tony is insistent. Kate finds Reza and tells him about the visitors. Reza doesn’t want Marie to find out about this situation.
12:21 P.M. – The Ambassador and his security officer, Salim, tell the President’s team that they have taken four suspected members of Second Wave into custody for interrogation. Stanton, however, presents satellite photos taken an hour ago that show there is no clampdown. Yet the Ambassador assures the President that they want to help prevent the bomb as well as any retaliation from the U.S. He asks to be provided with all the American intelligence on their native country’s terrorism. Palmer tells the Ambassador that he must consider this request, and sends them to a waiting room. Stanton, who doesn’t trust the Ambassador, strongly believes that they do support Second Wave. Lynne agrees with Stanton. Palmer is torn as to his decision.
12:25 P.M. – While Jack works on his debrief at CTU, Kim calls his cell phone. She explains about Megan being hurt, but he tells her to get to her Aunt Carol’s house immediately because there might be a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Jack instructs her to not tell anyone, and that he will meet here there when he is finished. When he hangs up, he watches silently as guards bring a shackled Nina into CTU.
12:32 P.M. – Mason enters the interrogation room and asks Nina what she knows about the nuclear bomb. She demands a full presidential pardon in return for her assistance. As Mason calls Chappelle at Division, Jack inquires as to Nina’s participation. Mason, knowing that Jack is trying to worm his way onto the case, dismisses him. Jack notices Mason’s strange hacking cough.
12:34 P.M. – Reza denies knowing Syed Ali to Tony, even though the man’s name is in all of Reza’s personal computer files.
12:36 P.M. – Bob and Kate wait outside impatiently as Tony interrogates Reza. Bob does not want to cancel the wedding, and encourages Kate to keep her sister preoccupied.
As the American military advisors hand off their intel to Salim and the Ambassador, Stanton admits his unease at the President’s decision.
Kim calls her boyfriend Miguel at his recording studio, and asks for his urgent help. He reluctantly agrees to pick her up at the hospital.
12:39 P.M. – Jack gives Michelle his completed debrief, and she tells him that she is supposed to get him out of there. Jack is transfixed on the interrogation room where Nina is being held. This is the first time he has seen her since the day she killed Teri. President Palmer phones Jack to personally inform him that he is forced to grant Nina a shadow pardon. “I wish there was another way,” Palmer says. “Let’s just get through this day. Eventually we’ll make it right.”
12:44 P.M. – Jack follows Mason to the men’s room and sees him swallow a pill. He asks to be allowed to interrogate Nina, but Mason won’t listen to his plea. Jack sees Mason’s prescription medication wrapper. He snatches it and goes back into the office.
12:47 P.M. – Suspecting something is wrong with Mason, Jack demands from Michelle that he be told where Mason has been in the last twelve hours. He questions whether Mason is fit to lead CTU.
12:49 P.M. – Marie is upset to find that agents from CTU are in her house talking to Reza. Kate explains that she was the one who hired a private investigator to check up on Reza, and doing so uncovered his association with a terrorist. Marie is furious that Kate would go behind her back, and she orders Kate to leave.
12:54 P.M. – Miguel shows up at St. Virgil’s Hospital in a cab because he loaned his car to someone. Kim is forced to tell him her father’s warning about the nuclear bomb. Yet she does not want to leave Megan behind, and Miguel agrees to help her.
Jack confronts Mason about his health condition, knowing that he was exposed to radiation and is dying. Jack threatens to call District to relieve Mason of his duties unless he agrees to let Jack handle Nina. Although it is against Mason’s better judgement, he relents.
Lynne informs the advisors that the Ambassador’s helicopter just took off en route to his plane. Stanton rushes in and shows the group a live news feed. The Ambassador’s chopper crashed just after takeoff. There were no apparent survivors.
12:59 P.M. – At the Warner house, Reza continues to claim innocence against Tony’s accusations.
When the surveillance monitors are set up in the CTU interrogation room, Jack watches Nina. She is waiting to hear about her freedom, and he ponders his next move.