The time the couple made it outside, the party was in full bloom. Once they exited Casey's apartment, they were met by Ellie and Devon, who were greeting every guest in the courtyard.

"Happy birthday," John said to Devon, shaking hands.

"Hey John, thanks man. Glad you can make it. And in good company I see,"

"Devon, this is Alice," Casey said as he gestured toward his girl, putting a protective hand on her lower back.

"Hi," she replied.

"And you remember Ellie, from the hospital?" Casey said as Ellie smiled wide.

"I am glad you came. Come with me, I'll get you a drink," Ellie said as she grabbed Alice under her arm and walked away from the boys.

Casey's gaze lingered on Alice's backside as she entered the apartment. Chuck and Sarah met up the boys and also gave their wishes to the birthday boy. Soon, Devon left them to talk to his old fraternity boys from university. The music was loud, the beer was flowing.

"Did you find any other signs of Smith?" Sarah asked Casey, who was not listening; his eyes surveyed the courtyard, trying to find Alice. "Casey?"

"Mhh?" his eyes focussed on one man, withdrew from the rest of the guests. "Bartowski. 11 o'clock. Black leather jacket. Brown hair. How is it?"

Chuck looked at the man identified by Casey and focussed. Sarah tried to make the trio look normal as she continued speaking to the boys. After a few seconds, Chuck tried to put the images he saw back together.

"Name code: Snake. Kick out of the army for treason. He was on a mission to stop a huge gun sale but kept the guns to himself and formed a rogue grouping with an agent who was kicked out from Fulcrum, Sam Smith."

"What's the gossip here?" Alice said as she joined the trio, looking in the same direction of Snake, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Nothing. Alice, meet Chuck and her girlfriend Sarah. Chuck is Ellie's sister," Casey introduced.

"Hi, please to meet you," Alice said before her eyes focussed on someone familiar in the crowd.

Casey notices her body language and tried to see what she was looking at before saying "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she quickly replied.

The evening went effortless, Alice getting along pretty well with everyone. On his side, Casey had enough of socialization for the next weeks to come. He was looking at his watch when Morgan turned up.

"Hello there," he said as he caressed Alice's arm, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "My name is Morgan and I am all yours tonight."

After the few drinks she had so far, she could only laugh at his approach.

"Hey Morgan, this is Casey's girlfriend," Chuck replied, as Casey growled. His face almost turned red, from jealousy. She was really making him experiencing feelings.

Morgan grabbed Casey's hand for a handshake. "Sorry man. I could not help myself with a lady as beautiful as… What's your name again?" he said as he turned around toward Alice.

Casey crushed his hand he was still holding. He winced before letting it go and rubbed his painful hand. Alice replied politely and Chuck dragged Morgan away. Alice seemed distracted for a moment and Casey noticed her body language, the way she looked over Sarah's shoulder. He felt her hand grabbed his arm, unsure why he was getting comfort from her touch. He looked around but could not see anything, or anyone.

Her grip on his arm tightened and she dropped the red cup she was holding. She felt dizzy; her eyes could not focus on anything in particular. Casey held her strongly by the waist.

"Alice?! What is wrong?" he said as he looked straight at Sarah, worried.

"I'm not… I'm not feeling good," she replied as she held on strongly onto his forearms.

He walked her to his apartment; her feet almost did not touch the ground as he was holding her very tightly. Once inside, he laid her on the couch and noticed her eyes were turning around. She tried to talk, but no word came out. Casey felt her heartbeat, slapped gently her cheeks to wake her up as her eyes were closing slowly.

"Get Ellie. This looks like poisoning," Casey said to Sarah as he held onto her hand. "Alice, stay with me. Everything is going to be okay. I am here with you."

Ellie rushed inside and dropped to her knees next to the couch, pushing Casey aside. She grabbed the flashlight on her phone to look into her eyes; they were not responding much. Casey resumed the symptoms she was experimenting before she lost consciousness. Ellie concluded she must have been drugged and she must rest; there were not a lot of other things to do.

Casey took her in his arms and tucked her in his bed, closing the door as he rested his back on the wall. He ran his hands over his face, down casted. Sarah was nowhere to be found, but clearly did not want to leave Alice's side. He grabbed his phone and called Sarah.

"How's Alice?" Sarah asked.

"Ellie says she's been drugged. I think Snake did it, since he worked with Smith. We need to find them and stop them. I cannot keep living in fear for her," he replied.

"So you really like her?" Sarah had her answer when she heard him growl at the other end of the line. "We'll fix it, don't worry."