Jasper had been walking for two hours and had yet to be pickpocketed. Normally, this would have made him happy, but Slade seemed to think this was the only way to find his associate.

"Don't you have his address?" Jasper had asked.

"He's a very private person. I don't know where he lives," Slade replied.

"Some friend..."

"Look - he's exactly the type of person who can help you. I haven't found a place yet that he can't weasel his way into."

Jasper was in no position to argue, and so here he was - wandering the slums at mid-morning with a fat sack of copper pieces jingling at his hip. It wasn't the most exciting start to his day. If he didn't get robbed soon, he would scream.

He was glad Artie wasn't with him. He would've just been a nervous wreck. No thief in their right mind would try and steal from someone as alert and paranoid as Artie. Jasper would hear it from him later. He hadn't told him he was leaving and they had a test today. It wasn't like he wanted to leave Artie out of everything, but he knew he would object, and what Jasper was going to do would be more dangerous than pillaging their ordinary haunts.

Jasper's ears twitched when he heard the scraping of a wooden crate he had just passed on the cobble street. This was the third time he had patrolled this very alley, and the crate had mysteriously appeared just this time. His throat went dry and he forced himself to keep looking forward.

Slade better not let him down.

Jasper expected to feel a tug at his belt while his purse strings were cut, but instead he felt the point of the blade gently press into the small of his back. He stopped cold in his tracks and raised his hands.

"Just take the purse. I won't resist," Jasper said.

"You sure are eager to get robbed," a girl's voice said. She sounded like she was close in age to him, but he didn't dare look.

"Why would I be? It's not exactly a pleasant experience." Slade had told him to keep the thief talking, but hoped it wouldn't take long.

"Everyone in the city knows better than to come to these streets with an exposed purse, and you've got the damn thing on display." The dagger poked a might harder.

"Well, I'm not from around here," he said through gritted teeth.

"Must not be. You've been wandering around for nearly two hours trying not to look suspicious."

"I'm not suspicious."

The dagger dug in a little more. He'd be bleeding soon. Not much, but Slade had put Jasper under the impression it wouldn't go this far. Where was the old bastard?

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"Save it," the girl said. "What do you want?"

"Okay. All right - I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"I... I don't actually know." Jasper prepared himself to be stuck in the back, but surprisingly the pressure of the blade was removed.

Jasper spun to find that Slade had disarmed the girl and was holding his arm across her throat. He had judged correctly - she was near to his age. She had blonde hair and was surprisingly clean-looking and well-dressed for a street thief. Slade held the knife away from her, flicking his wrist and sending the weapon sticking into the wooden crate the girl had been hiding under. She thrashed about and tried to scratch out his eye, but had chosen the one with the eyepatch.

"Easy. We're not going to hurt you." Slade's voice was calm and soothing. "We're not even here for you. We just require your assistance. Should only take a minute or two. Can you do me a favor and scream? Maybe kick your legs a bit more?"

Jasper winced as the girl obliged. He was beginning to regret his part in all this. Slade hadn't told him this was how it was gonna go down.

"Slade, just let her go. There's gotta be a better way to find your friend."

"He'll be here soon, Jasper," Slade said, as calm as ever. "Whatever happens, don't panic."

Before he could reply, there was a loud crack! and an explosion of smoke. Jasper began coughing instantly and tried to cover his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his robe, but it did no good. He felt someone kick him roughly in the back of one knee, and then the other. He felt a cold sting against his neck - a blade. Jasper couldn't fight back with the coughing fit wracking his body. Was this part of Slade's plan? Surely not. What was the old man gonna do to get them out of this? He didn't hear anyone else coughing. Were Slade and the girl already dead?

As the smoke began to dissipate, a fist gripped a tuft of Jasper's blonde hair and pulled back, exposing more of his throat for the knife to roam. Jasper coughed more. His eyes stung as he tried to find Slade and the girl in the haze. They hadn't moved. Slade still had one arm wrapped around her throat, but his other hand covered her mouth and nose to protect her from the smoke. He seemed unbothered by it.

The person holding Jasper finally spoke, saying, "If you want this to remotely go in your favor, you'll do exactly as I tell you."

Slade chuckled, which wasn't what Jasper wanted to hear while his captor held a knife to his throat. Jasper dared not struggle. At this point, he just wanted to walk away in one piece, whether he had the help of Slade's friend of not.

"Quit yer laughin'! I mean what I say!" The blade pressed into Jasper's flesh a little more.

"Have you been drinking?" Slade asked. "Stupid questions. Of course you have. Do you not recognize me?"

There was silence as Jasper assumed the man was looking Slade over. The girl remained quiet. She must not feel threatened by Slade.

Slade sighed and said, "C'mon, John, how many blokes with eyepatches do you know?"

"Thirty-three."

"Really?" Slade shook the thought from his head. "Doesn't matter. You don't recognize me?"

"Well... I think it's coming back to me... Slade?"

Slade grinned. "It's me, old friend."

"What the hell is all this for? Show?"

"You never gave me your address. Mind letting my friend go?" As a sign of good faith, he released the girl, and she took off down the alley, disappearing around a corner.

"And you thought that meant I wanted to be found?" John removed the blade and Jasper rubbed his throat. Peering over his shoulder, he found a cloaked halfling sporting mutton chops on his cheeks. "If you went to all this trouble to find me, it must be important."

"I hope you'll think so. My friend here will explain. Jasper, meet Rogue John."

The halfling held out his hand and Jasper shook it. "Sorry about the knife business, boy."

"It's all right... Wait, your name is Rogue?" Jasper asked.

"Rogue John, yes."

"Your parents pegged you early on, eh?"

"I don't follow."

"Never mind. I'd like to buy you a drink and tell you about a problem I have. Slade thinks you might can help me."

"Well, a drink's a good place to start. Just don't take me to Slade's. He overcharges."

Slade scowled as Jasper and John shared a laugh.