Stan quickly leaves Carson to find out if he is telling the truth. Stan finds the cave behind the shed, and the door. Stan does a quick check of the door for traps, and yes, Carson had rigged a sleep gas trap. But Stan disarms it quickly. With no other traps to deal with, Stan enters the well-lit cavern. He immediately sees Clover, Alex, and Sam hanging from the metal wall. They didn't hear him enter.

"Clover? Sam? Alex?"

"Who?" says Sam weakly.

"It's Stan!" says Stan.

"The WOOHP finance agent?" says Clover weakly.

"Yes!"

"Please help us!" says Alex weakly.

"Don't worry! I will!"

Stan goes outside and gets in touch with Jerry. "Jerry, bring the medical copter, some IV's and some glucose. I found the girls, and Carson. He's in the control room. The girls are in a tight spot, and are weak from dehydration and lack of food! Carson has had them prisoner for 36 hours, and has provided them with neither food or water in that time!"

"Oh my! Stan, I've locked in on your position. We'll be there in five minutes with the medical copter and personnel!"

"Ok, Jerry! I'm going to get the girls." And with that Stan closes his wallet communicator.

Back in the cavern, Stan let's the somewhat alert girls know what's happening. "WOOHP is on the way. Carson has been captured. I'm going to use two of your jet pack backpacks to get me up to you, and I'm going to use my laser pen to cut your chains."

"Wait, Stan," says Sam, "if you cut one of our chains, all will let loose! We'll fall to our deaths!"

"I know, Sam. What I am going to do is wrap your bungee belts around my shoulders. I'm going to ask all three of you to grab onto me with what strength you have left, and then I'll cut your chains, bring you down to the floor of the cavern, and help you out."

Stan starts. He jetpacks to the gals. "I know I'm going to wrap your bungee belts tightly around my shoulders, but I don't want you to fall! I don't really know if you have enough strength to hold on, so please bear with me!" he says apologetically. All three spies are bungeed very close to Stan and are trying to hang on, when he cuts the chain. All three gals' grip falters, but their bungee belts prevent them from falling! Stan slowly brings them to the cavern floor. The gals retract their bungee belts, as they weakly try to sit up.

Alex is the first to try to stand, but she quickly stumbles. Stan catches her and says, "Got you! I'll get you out of here, Alex!" and he quickly lifts her off her feet. Alex trustingly rests her head on Stan's shoulder, as he carries her through the narrow door, just as Jerry is arriving, with the rest of WOOHP.

"Jerry! Get me three stretchers, STAT!"

"On the way, Stan!" and soon the first stretcher arrives.

Stan gently puts Alex on the stretcher and says comfortingly, "You're going to be all right, Alex!" as the medical personnel start an IV and take her to the waiting copter. "Thanks, Stan!" says Alex almost inaudibly. Stan goes in to get the other gals.

Back in the cavern, Clover is lying flat. She is very pale. Stan says, "Clover, I'm going to get you out next!" And he picks her up just like he did Alex. Clover also trustingly rests her head on Stan's shoulder. He quickly gets her through the narrow door to a waiting stretcher. "Hang in there, Clover!" Stan says encouragingly, as the medical personnel surround her. She gives him a weak appreciative smile. Stan now goes back for Sam.

Sam has tried to stand. She is leaning against the metal wall. "I'm going to try to walk out, Stan," says Sam determinedly. But she only takes two steps before she falls into the arms of Stan. "Don't worry, Sam! I've got you!" and he picks her up. As Sam rests her head on Stan's shoulder she says in a whisper, "Thanks, Stan!" weakly, and smiles.

Stan replies, "What are friends for, if you can't rely on them?" as he brings her through the narrow door. He gently puts her on a stretcher and says quietly, "Don't give up, Sam! You'll be OK."

The WOOHP medical staff does wonders, after getting the gals back to WOOHP headquarters. They are immediately taken to the Medical Section. Within three hours the gals are rehydrated and resting in hospital beds. Stan and Jerry come to visit, with a late breakfast for them.

"How are you doing, ladies?" asks Jerry. "We brought you your favorite breakfast! Belgian waffles, with cream and fresh fruit!"

"And don't forget the chocolate milk!" adds Stan.

The gals gawk at the waffles. They are huge! Much larger than usual. "Are you trying to get us fat?" teases Sam.

"Yeah! Look at the size of those waffles!" says Clover.

"These must be the large, economy size!" says Alex.

"Well, seeing you haven't eaten anything in a day and a half, we thought you'd be hungry!" replies Jerry.

Stan continues, "As for getting you fat, yeah, AS IF! Even if the three of you were to eat THREE waffles of that size you'd never even remotely approach fat! You'd be fat like Jerry! If he stands sideways and sticks out his tongue, he'd look like a zipper!" the gals start giggling.

"Oh, and what would YOU look like if you stood sideways and stuck out your tongue, Stan?" asks Jerry playfully.

"Like a fat, bald finance guy with his tongue out! Or like a normal distribution curve, with my tongue being the y-axis!" replies Stan. Sam starts giggling uncontrollably as she pictures a normal distribution curve on Stan. Clover and Alex also start laughing as they see the same picture in their mind. Stan isn't fat, but seeing him with a potbelly like a normal curve, has hit their funny bone! They really needed something to laugh about! It feels good!!

Jerry and Stan smile at one another. The gals are going to be all right, and this incident hasn't broken their spirit!

Stan and Jerry are soon summarily shooed out of the hospital room by the WOOHP medical officer. "All right, you two! Give the gals a chance to rest!!"

"OK, doctor. Rest well, ladies!" says Jerry.

"Take it easy, gals! Get better!" says Stan.

Within hours, the gals have recovered enough strength to walk out of the WOOHP hospital ward. They are in the hospital section of WOOHP, trying to figure out how to get home. Stan happens to see them.

"Well, the wounded are walking! Thank God! How are you three feeling?" he asks concernedly.

"We're still a bit weak, but we're going to be OK, Stan," replies Sam.

"Stan," Alex asks, "can we borrow a WOOHP vehicle to get home?"

"No need!" says Stan "I'll be happy to take you!"

Sam says, "You've done so much for us already, we really don't want to impose!"

"Impose? Hardly! You'll be stoking my ego!" the gals look quizzically at him.

"What guy, in his right mind, wouldn't want three lovely ladies in his car with him?" Stan says jocularly. "I'll meet you by that door in five minutes."

"OK, Stan. Thanks!" says Sam with a smile.

"Yes, thanks a lot Stan!" says Clover also beaming a big smile.

"For being such a good friend!" says Alex. She too has a smile on her face.

"That's what friends are for!" says Stan, as he saunters off.

While quietly waiting for Stan, Clover says, "A penny for your thoughts, Sam."

Sam replies, "Oh, I was just thinking about Stan."

"Me too," says Alex.

Clover confides, "You know girlfriends, why is such a nice guy like Stan still available?"

"I'd grab him in a New York second!" says Alex.

"Not if I got there first!" says Sam.

"Why can't we find guys like him around our age?" asks Clover.

"Maybe we're looking in the wrong places," says Alex.

"Or maybe we expect too much from the boys we know. Stan has been shaped by his life experiences. He may well have been just like some of the guys we know now," says Sam.

As Stan pulls the car to the front door, Clover says, "At least we have him as a friend!"

"Got that right!" says Alex.

"Thank goodness!" says Sam, as all three exit through the front door. Stan opens the door for them to his car, and the three get ready for the long awaited ride home.

On the drive home, it gets quiet in the car.

"Not much of a weekend for you gals, was it?" Stan asks sadly.

Alex says, "It started good; went bad in a hurry; but ended good!"

Clover adds, "It's nice to know people really care about you!"

Sam says, "Especially you and Jerry, Stan!"

"As long as Jerry, Quincy and I are at WOOHP, you'll always have at least three friends you can count on there!" says Stan, as he proceeds to drop them off at their respective homes, making sure that they enter the happy embrace of their families, before he leaves.