On Gaines' orders, Jack replaces the key card Milo was working on with a fake one and takes Nina out to a cliffside to shoot her, but not before giving her a flak jacket. Teri escapes from the counterfeit Alan York (actually Kevin Carroll) long enough to be captured by more of Gaines' men. Nina wakes up and runs off.
When Jack hits a dead end with his lead, he realizes he must persuade Sherry to help him get evidence against Peter Kingsley. Things go awry at CTU when Division becomes suspicious of Chappelle's absence. Michelle goes off-site to work with Jack. Mike Novick and James Prescott ask David Palmer to aid them as the bombers get closer to their targets.
CTU races to capture Stephen Saunders before 7:00, the deadline for his latest ultimatum: the death of Ryan Chappelle. Michelle initiates a frantic search when she discovers that a potentially infected hotel guest may have slipped through her fingers.
Jack finds Marwan and stops the missile, which was heading to Los Angeles. Charles Logan decides to hand Jack over to the Chinese, but Walt Cummings decides to take matters into his own hands. Jack's life changes forever as Tony, Michelle and Chloe help him evade a trap set for him by Secret Service to prevent him from being handed over to the Chinese.
Mike Novick, Aaron, Martha, and Jack conspire to kidnap President Logan as part of a plan to secure a confession about the original conspiracy behind the day's events. When Jack's gambit fails, Martha and Chloe initiate a back-up plan to incriminate the President. Meanwhile, Jack's plan to disappear again is put at risk when someone from his past re-enters the picture.
Twenty months after Jack Bauer's capture by the Chinese, terrorist attacks rock America. Jack returns in a deal made by President Wayne Palmer. Jack is handed over to Abu Fayed, who will in turn give the location of the man responsible for the attacks; Hamri Al-Assad. Meanwhile, Karen Hayes and Tom Lennox argue over proposed security measures that could suspend the rights of Muslim Americans.
Jack helps Tony escape from custody, only to find Tony plans to use his organs to reconstitute the virus. Aaron Pierce and Ethan Kanin work together and discover Olivia's role in Hodges' murder. Kim Bauer takes down her captors, and works with Renee Walker to find her father.
Jack learns that his intelligence may have been faulty, but gets a new lead from LAPD agent and friend Frank Castalano. Meanwhile, Tony Almeida and Fay Hubley prepare for their mission.
Jack finds Mercy Bennett after destroying the plane. Knowing that Kim was also infected, he races home and administers the antidote, and enjoys a happy reunion with his wife.
Nina Myers visits the house of someone unhappy to see a second CTU agent in one day. Meanwhile, Jack recovers from a car crash with Peter Jiminez. Jack manages to get the upper hand.
Jack makes it into Vikki Valence's apartment but finds her gone. Pete Malo stayed to deal with the police presence at her apartment while Jack set off to find her and Colonel Paz.
Jack manages to take out all the bikers before they kill him, and he progresses to turn off the detonators before they explode. Meanwhile, Father Walesa tried to convince the Pope to cancel the Unity Conference while despite Michael Shalhoub's pleas, Abdul Rahman Yasin refuses to call off the strike on the Conference.
Jack and his team encounter a hitch when a man claiming to be David Petrovic shows up, which conflicts with Jack's understanding that Petrovic died. Meanwhile, Drazen's men pressed closer in on the team.