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Fayed and his henchman search an underground tunnel for Jack. Fayed wants to keep looking, but his henchman tells him that they must leave now or risk jeopardizing their mission. Fayed reluctantly agrees and they call off the search. Jack stands just around a corner and makes his way outside once they are gone.

At CTU, Morris pulls up the target location where Assad is hiding. The area is shielded from satellite and Milo wonders if Fayed lied to them. He comments that Jack may have died for nothing, which irks Chloe. Morris tells Milo to modulate his thoughtless comments. One wonders why Morris suggested such a thing, since in a contest of thoughtless comments, Chloe could smash anyone into Hamburger Helper.

Jack breaks into a car that contains a cell phone. He calls Bill and tells him to call off the air strike against Assad. Bill says he doesn't have the power to do so and puts Jack through to the White House. Jack begs Wayne not to hit Assad as he may be the wrong man. Karen and Lennox both think jack is being played because he's been in a Chinese prison camp for 20 months. Wayne agrees with his advisors and tells Bill to continue the strike. Wayne's brother growls at him from the grave, along with the viewing audience. Bill tells Jack to give his location so they can send someone to pick him up, but Jack hangs up, then uses the cell phone GPS system to locate Assad's coordinates. He finds the car keys under the visor and speeds away.

Ray is frustrated when he can't find out where Ahmed's father is being held. Fayed calls Ahmed and asks if he's got the package. Ahmed tells him he's still at the neighbor's. Fayed orders him to get out of there and get the package. Ahmed hangs up and tells them he has to go meet his uncle. As he leaves, Scott follows him and tries to give him a good luck charm. Ahmed tells him to keep it as he might need it someday.

As the choppers fly toward the strike zone, Karen calls Bill for an update. Bill tells her the bombers are five minutes away and that Curtis will search the remains for Assad's body once it's finished.

Jack sneaks into Assad's compound and cold-cocks a guard with a piece of firewood, then takes his gun. Jack stealthily enters the house and finds Assad, but Assad gets the drop on Jack with their weapons drawn. Jack warns Assad about the impending air strike and tells them they have to leave. Assad doesn't believe him, so Jack tells him about the transponder signal. Assad says they searched the entire house for transponders and found nothing, so Jack deduces one of Assad's men must have it on him. One of Assad's henchmen, Omar, tries to sneak out, but Jack spots him and calls to Assad, who turns his weapon on Omar. They take the transponder off him and Assad grabs him as he and Jack leave, while the rest of his men stay to secure the computer files. Jack gives up his gun to prove he is in earnest. They barely make it out of the house when the military choppers arrive and fire a missile at the house, blasting it all to hell.

At the offices of the Islamic American Alliance, the FBI is demanding that the head of the organization, Walid Al-Rezani, turn over his database of members to them for investigation. IAA's attorney, Sandra Palmer, asks the agent if he has a warrant. The agent says he doesn't, but that they should cooperate anyway. Sandra refuses to turn over the personnel records until the feds get a proper warrant. As the FBI leaves in a huff, Walid wonders if they shouldn't cooperate, but Sandra refuses to back down on her principles. She angrily calls the White House and demands to speak to her brother.

Curtis informs Wayne that they are still sweeping the kill zone for Assad's body. Wayne is interrupted by a call from Sandra, who is indignant that the FBI came in without a warrant. Wayne tells her that compromises have to be made in the face of the attacks, but she believes that ethnic profiling will lead to a dangerous slippery slope. Wayne is interrupted by another call from Bill and ends the call with Sandra amicably. Walid thanks Sandra for reminding him of what they're fighting for as they share a kiss.

Bill tells Wayne that they finished searching the rubble and found no trace of Assad. Wayne is furious, but Karen realizes someone must've warned him. Lennox is sure that Assad will respond with more vehemence than ever.

Fayed arrives at another warehouse, where one of his men is putting on an explosive vest. Fayed tells him his service will always be remembered, then arms the explosives and leaves.

Jack and Assad break into an abandoned house after a moving van pulls away, carrying Omar's unconscious body with them. Jack asks Assad if he really plans to disarm and make peace with the West. Assad says he has convinced most of his followers and the governments who support them to embrace peace, but that Fayed must be killed first before they fall into line. Jack finds some clothes and goes to change.

Chloe shows Bill an aerial photo of Assad's building just before the missiles hit. Bill sees Jack sneaking out with Assad and realizes that Jack must be using Assad to locate Fayed. He tells Chloe to keep it to herself and asks her to filter the chatter in case anything comes up on Fayed's whereabouts.

Assad finds a keychain remote and unlocks a car by the curb. Jack tries to convince Assad to allow him to involve CTU in the search for Fayed, but Assad doesn't trust them after they bombed his house. He will find Fayed on his own terms. Jack jabs a pen into Omar's open shoulder wound and demands to know where Fayed is hiding. Omar sobs and says he doesn't know. Jack suddenly stops and says he believes Omar. Assad takes his knife and plunges it into Omar's leg. Omar screams, startling Jack, and gives up Fayed's location. Assad tells Omar that he took the wrong path and guts him as Jack watches in disturbed silence. Assad begins to walk out, but Jack remains frozen. "I don't know how to do this anymore," he says in anguish. "You will remember," Assad reassures him as they leave.

Walid calls Sandra on the intercom and tells her that the FBI is back. She confronts the head agent and demands to know the name of the applicant. The agent tells her the records are on file with the courts. Sandra says the warrant isn't valid, but the FBI guy doesn't care and demands the files anyway. Walid takes the agent into the file room, while Sandra goes into another office and commandeers a computer, then deletes all of the personnel files. She boldly tells the head agent what she did and he arrests both her and Walid, impounding all computers in the office.

Scott looks out his window and sees Stan, the bigoted neighbor, sneaking into Ahmed's house. Ahmed breaks through a section of drywall in his basement and pulls a package from the hole, then stuffs it in his backpack. Stan ambushes Ahmed and the two wrestle around, but Stan gains the upper hand and starts beating the crap out of Ahmed. Stan kicks Ahmed and he slams right through a glass coffee table. Stan throws Ahmed across the basement bar, but Ahmed lands near his bag and pulls a gun from it, then shoots Stan in the leg. Stan crumples and begs for his life. Ahmed screams in Arabic, then puts a round in Stan's head. Ahmed stands and yelps in pain as he pulls a large piece of glass from his leg. Scott walks in and asked what happened. He sees Ahmed's bloody leg and wants to call 911, but Ahmed can't have that and points his gun at Scott, ordering him to do exactly as he says.

Jack and Assad arrive at the location Omar gave them. Assad spots two men in suits, one carrying a briefcase, heading into a subway station. They see one of the men wearing an explosive vest with the detonator in his right hand, but Assad knows the other man is the handler who can lead them to Fayed. Assad follows the handler while Jack pursues the vested man on to the train.

The handler calls Fayed and tells him the bomber is aboard the train. Fayed tells the handler to go to Union Station to confirm when the job is done. The handler goes to a parked car in the alley, finds the keys and drives off. Assad follows him as he leaves.

The ticket-taker collects tickets, including one from the bomber. Jack doesn't have a ticket, so he tells the conductor he's a federal agent who is pursuing a terrorist on the train who has a bomb. The conductor freaks and moves away and Jack makes his way toward the bomber, who has his back turned. As Jack moves closer, the conductor keeps glancing back toward him in a nervous way, which makes the bomber suspicious. He is about to push the plunger on the vest when Jack goes for the bomber and the two grapple fiercely as passengers squeal in fear. Jack holds on to the bomber's hand so he can't push the button, then rips open his shirt to reveal the explosives, which terrifies the passengers even more. The fight continues and Jack is actually doing pretty good, but the bomber hits him in his wounded shoulder and Jack loses some of his mojo. The bomber sets off the vest and screams in Arabic, but Jack kicks him out the back window of the train just before the vest goes off. Smoke fills the tunnel as the guy dies, then Jack pulls the emergency brakes and jumps off the train.

The handler calls Fayed and tells him something went wrong, because there was no explosion. Fayed says it doesn't matter, because their other attacks were successful.

Milo tells Bill that attacks are mounting around the country, including two in Chicago and Baltimore. Nadia tells him that Jack may have averted a bombing in the L.A. subway. Chloe pulls up the call she flagged between Fayed and the handler that proves that Fayed, not Assad, is behind the attacks.

Karen tells Wayne that Fayed is really behind the attacks. "So Jack was right," Wayne mutters. David Palmer's ghost gives him a brotherly punch in the gut.

Assad calls Jack and tells him they're heading in his direction. Jack says he'll find Assad, but that he must stay with the handler as he is the only lead to Fayed. Tick, tick, tick...