Mark looked around him, trying to scope out any watchers from the stone streets. “Do you have it?” He asked. The night was cool and crisp, but he had a feeling that there was something brewing in the wind.

“Of course I’ve got it.” his contact replied with a sickening smile. He moved his cloak to reveal a jar of Carnivorous Snaplark bile. Mark’s eyes watched the other man’s movements quietly, trying to make sure he wasn’t going to run on him. Mark withdrew the small cloth bag of the money, and tossed it to the criminal. He then rolled  the jar over the street to Mark, who picked it up without taking his eye off the dealmaker.

”So, this is it then? No more deals?” He asked.

Mark shook his head no. “I need to settle down with my life. It’s time for me to put away this life of crime and start over.” He said. keeping one hand on his wand. He had run into trouble with this dealer before, and he wasn’t fond of running into anymore. “I’ve got to go.” He said, starting out of the alley.

It was then that Mark noticed the red cloak, and got nervous. This part of town was supposed to be quiet from aurors. He tucked the jar into his coat, trying to walk away as inconspicuously as possible, and when he was a few more feet away, he broke into a run. He just had to make it to the drop point. Then he’d be safe.

Sma had been on a routine patrol of Knockturn, keeping to the shadows. Aurors were far from welcome in Knockturn, unlike Diagon Alley. he watched, curious as a bottle of some unidentified substance was exchanged across the street for a small cloth bag. probably money he thought, deciding to tail the recipient of the substance. Then the guy broke out into a run. Unfortunately for him, Sam was fast, easily keeping pace with him.

"Crack!"

Auror Roh Apparated to appear just a few paces behind Senior Auror Harcroft.  She was his patrol partner for the night and had been stationed up on a rooftop.  Working with the veteran Auror was a lesson in experience even for the much-seasoned Roh herself.  Harcroft just tended to be more... methodical whereas Roh had a reputation for ... improvisation.  But there was no doubt they made an effective team.

But she hadn't seen what had sent Harcroft into a run after an unidentified wizard.  The alleyways that pocked and wound through Knockturn were narrow.  Some passages were only just narrow enough for a slim set of shoulders to pass through, others had low archways ready to give a nasty clock to those too distracted to duck, and still yet there were uneven steps and missing paving stones to plague the feet of visitors. 

"Who is it?" she asked to Harcrofts back as she followed him through the maze of Knockturn.

Mark glanced behind him. Oh, great. Now there were two aurors trailing him, and they were definitely keeping up with him. He wanted to glance back and try to distinquish who exactly they were, but he couldn't tell, and couldn't risk stumbling to look back again. He had his wand out, and the jar under his arm. He would just aparate, but he'd never be able to make it. He wasn't calm enough to focus on his location, and he totally could splinch which would not be good. They'd be able to test it for DNA, and there'd be a wanted ad out for him by the morning.

He saw a stack of boxes by a door, and had his decision. He needed to delay these redcoats, Mark knew that. So, he cast an explosion charm at the boxes, as some dust or powder like substance exploded outwards, successfully creating what Mark thought was a smoke screen. He quickly weaved into an alleyway, still running.

He didn't know Knockturn all that well. He generally tried to avoid it. And it was even worse in the dark. He tried to push down the fears, as he kept running. He tried not to think about Julie, or Little It, or Victoria, or Alice, or Jane. He tried to push it all down. He just had to get away.

Before anything could be done, the fleeing wizard whipped his wand and a barrage of debris exploded in their path, bits of wooden crates flying at them with lethal velocity.  Instinctively, Zora erected a shield spell and it was just enough to keep a shard of pine from impaling her gut. 

Roh and Harcroft were slowed up for far too long, even though it was only seconds.  A strongly cast Reductus Curse cleared their path, but the tight alleyway had forked and there was no sign of him.

"Harcroft, who is it?" she hissed at her companion.  "What have we got?"

If they were going to find him, she needed information from the Senior Auror and she needed it now.  They might need to split up and it'd be seriously risky if she didn't know who she was after. 

Mark continued running, until he was met with a wall. A dead end, great. "Bloody hell," He said, turning around, and running back out of the alley, knowing he'd be in plain view for a few moments. Hopefully, maybe the aurors wouldn't be watching, or something. That's pretty much all he had to hope for a this point, as he bolted out of the alley, and into the other one, crossing his fingers that that one didn't end with another wall.

He kept his grip on the jar tightly, he wasn't going to lose it. There was too much invested. Too much at stake. He turned around again, getting a head count. Two aurors. He could deal with two aurors. That was a lie, he could barely deal with one a few months ago. What made him think he could deal with two when he was actually doing something wrong this time?

He turned back around, weaving, trying to conjure a spell from his currently frazzled mind. Something to hold them up, but that wouldn't hurt them. He might be a criminal, but he didn't hurt people. His foot tripped over a missing cobblestone, slowing him down, as he started to run again, ignoring the sharp pain in his ankle. He could fix anything later. He just had to get away from the redcoats.

"Hunter, Mark.  Wanted for smuggling.  Level Two Watch," came Auror Harcroft's reply. [1]

Level Two Watch, Roh knew, meant that Hunter here was up to his neck in it, but not likely to be much of a handful. [2]  His time was clearly up - all Roh could hope for was a nice clean arrest and get one more black market baby off the streets.

Then Harcroft gave the order to split up.  He went right and Roh went left.  Zora trotted down the narrow allyway.  It was as fast as she could go, ducking under awnings, nearly tripping down uneven staircases.  Bits of old metal sign posts threatened to decapitate her if she didn't watch where she was going.

And then she found him.  Left had been a perfect choice for her and an unfortunate choice for him.  Dead end.

Wand leveled.  "Mark Hunter, you're under arrest.  Drop your wand. Hands in the air."

1.	Sorry to godmod you, Josh! We've got to keep on.
2.	From the wiki, Known strong ties to the criminal element, crimes heavily suspected.

Great. Cornered, in a dead end, with a redcoat's wand pointed at him. Yup, this was really winding up to be the best day ever. His head was spinning, trying to figure out a way out of here. This was Zora Roh, he had read about her in the Prophet. Mark kept a tab on the aurors, trying to see if there was anyone he needed to be prepared to deal with. He wanted to understand his hunters, and he knew about Roh.

For one thing, the lady was as scary as his mother.

She had a track record of getting the people she was supposed to, and completely kicking ass. She scared the living crap out of him. He could deal with anyone else, he'd rather deal with anyone else, but nope. He was dealing with Roh. Awesome. "Look, I, I swear, this is my last time," He tried to justify, keeping his wand up, and the jar wrapped in his hand.

"I'm not a bad guy, please, just let me off with a warning. I'm begging you," He said, hoping his boyish charm could help him out. It was less of a boyish charm, and more of an innocent pity. He still looked like he was twelve sometimes. He still got carded in muggle bars. He still seemed to be in Hogwarts. He was just hoping he could rustle up some of that good ol' sympathy, and get out of it.

Whinging little...! He was trying to negotiate! Now that wasn't something Roh saw every day.  People cried, people tried to run, people fought and swore.  But Hunter was trying to talk his way out of it! Well, she honestly didn't care because he still hadn't dropped his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" She acted immediately with a bread-and-butter spell.  Mark's wand flew from his grip and Roh was ready with her left hand to catch it.  And catch it she did, just before stowing it into her belt.

Then she smiled.  "We all get caught sometime, Hunter, and today's your day.  Hands up!."

Her voice hardened at the last command.  Hard as a coffin nail, the voice of a witch who was not pissing about.  She played things by the book, but she also had more than a couple of Overt Abuse of Force on her record.  Hunter could come quietly, or he could come in pieces.

Mark ducked a little when she cast her spell, and his wand soared away. Damn, wand-less, cornered, and being shouted at. This was a really good day! Really really good day. The way she shouted took him back to the days when he'd get yelled at for pushing his sister off the swing. That high voice of his mother that always reminded him he did something wrong.

He clutched the jar closer to his chest, protectively, as he looked at her, trying to swallow the fear that seemed to bubble up. "I'm, I'm not looking for trouble, please, just let me go." He asked, even walking a little closer, hoping she'd find an ounce of sympathy. "Please, just, I've got a wife at home, a pregnant wife, I can't go. Please."

He was begging, this was just getting embarrassing! It worked last time he was confronted by an auror, but that was Callen, Callen was different. Roh was stone cold, scary as hell, auror. Maybe he'd get lucky. "What if, I promised after I got home, that I'd just drop some stuff off, and then I'd turn myself in? What about that?" 

"You really need to stop it up..." Zora growled through gritted teeth.  She didn't know what he had in the jar - no idea if it was cursed or otherwise dangerous.  There was trade of some very nasty things down this way and no matter how sweetly he sang, there was no way she could trust that baby face. 

He wand remained trained on him as she slowly slid one boot in front of the other.  Slowly, slowly, she began to close in, but stayed out of reach.

"Put the jar down carefully, and put your hands up.  You want to do as I say, sir.  You don't wanna piss about, hear me?"

As the Auror spoke she was counting the seconds until Harcroft caught up, but if he didn't she needed a plan.  She could body bind him, sure.  Levitate him.  Put him to sleep.  But that jar remained an unknown spice in the cauldron, didn't it.  She didn't want to get blown to bits or turned to dust, now did she. 

Mark was starting to realize how tough this situation was becoming. He couldn't talk his way out of this. He just needed to get out of here. He watched her eyes calculating at the jar in his hand. This? She was worried about this? This was harmless.Carnivorous Snaplark bile was a bit illegal, sure, but it wasn't dangerous. The worst thing it could of was sharpen wit if it was ingested. But if she thought it was cursed, or worse, maybe he could play it to his advatage.

"Oh, oh yeah! I'll uh, I'm going to break this jar, and, yeah!" He threatened, holding th jar above his head. So he couldn't act. A for effort? "cant bring me in if this explodes, can you?" he started to edge towards the side of the alley. "I'll just go, and I'll even leave this here." he said, keeping his eyes trained, and licking his dry lips.

"Please, just let me to home." he asked, honestly.

Zora flinched when suddenly Hunter shifted his focus to the jar and threatened her with it.  That, as it turned out, was the last straw.  There was no sign of Auror Harcroft so it was time to put a stop to this nonsense and take Hunter in. 

She barely cared that he was still treating this like a conversation where Zora had any choice at all what to do with him.  There was a warrant for his arrest and she would fulfill it with our without his permission.  As he began inching to try and casually leave, holding the jar up over his head, Zora moved into action.

With a shout, she trained her wand on the jar and cast a Levitating Charm.  The jar rose at the movement of her arm out of his reach.  With a steely resolve, she rushed at him, faked a left jab to his face and then kneed him in the gut.  Whatever happened, she wanted to keep the jar out of play, and so she had to keep her wand focused on it or it would drop.

"Hey!" Mark shouted, as the jar levitated out of his hands. It was then that he saw her fist coming towards his face, and he flinched, not realizing it was a fake out, only to allow her to sink her knee into his gut. Immediately the air was forced out of his lungs as he grabbed it, coughing, and trying to breathe. This lady meant business. "Okay!" He said, still bent over, raising his hands over his head in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I surrender." He said, disappointment settling uncomfortably in his stomach. The words were heavy on his tongue, and he was so angry at himself for being so sloppy. He had gotten caught. He was going away for a while, he could tell. "Can I at least just tell my fiance? Please, or my friend, James Lotusorder." Someone had to look over Julie and little It. Without him to protect them, got knew what Victoria would do.

He needed James now. James, or Julie, or even his troublesome sister. He'd go for any help at this time. He just wanted one more restart, one more chance. He kept his hands up, as he straightened up, feeling foolish. This was stupid. He was stupid. This was all stupid choices. He just prayed that Julie would be safe.

See? A knee to the breadbasket was better than any diplomacy or negotiation.  Zora rolled her eyes at all the past reprimands she'd received for this kind of thing, but at least she now had a compliant Mark Hunter.  With Hunter finally standing down, she lowered the jar to the ground ten meters away.

Then she roughly turned Hunter around and pressed him against the wall.  Zora was not bigger nor stronger than Hunter.  She was rarely was, but a wand and a bit of grit was a good equalizer.  Small dogs bite harder.  You can't flinch.  And this time, she was glad she didn't have cause to. 

"That's better, see?  Turn around.  Hands."  She moved his hands done, one by one, to the center of his lower back and bound them together with an standard Auror's Shackles spell.  He'd be bound in cold metal until an Auror let him loose.  She pulled him off the wall and turned them both so they were staring at the jar on the ground a few feet away.

"You can owl whoever you need to back at headquarters.  Now. What's that, then?"