The bar off Fulton street was a little small and a little shabby. It was the kind of place the might have looked really grand ten years ago. Now it stayed covered in a light layer of grease and sweat, no matter how often it was cleaned. The sign out front had once proclaimed the place 'Cuspidors' in thick gold letters. Like the rest of the bar, the years had worn away the better parts of the sign and now it just read 'Cusp'.

Groups of dark, wooden tables and chairs stood grouped around a center stage with heavy, deep red, velvet curtains. There was no one on it at the moment. It was still early afternoon and Vin supposed they saved the entertainment until evening. Only a few patrons sat here or there, mostly alone, some already slumped across their tables with their heads down.

A long bar spanned the left wall of the room. It was old and, well-worn with cigarette burns standing out dark against the wood every few feet. An old and well-worn man stood behind it, looking every bit as though he belonged there; as if he were merely a part of the furniture in the bar as opposed to the bartender. He looked up as they entered and nodded at them.

"Heya, Johnny. Where's Sam?" Soap called to him as they approached.

The bartender wordlessly shrugged and began setting glasses in a line on the bar, pulling them from underneath it like a magician promising a good magic trick; one that would make their low spirits disappear.

Johnny grunted as they sat down at the bar. His eyes had fallen on Mitts.

"Ya face looks like a piece a meat." He said gruffly, pouring a generous measure of a dark brown liquid into the first glass and sliding it across the bar at Mitts.

Mitts rolled his eyes, but simply raised his glass and drank the whole thing down. Johnny grunted again and re-filled his glass, then moved down the bar to fill the rest of them.

"Hiya Nate."

Vin turned his head to see a blond girl kiss Soap on the cheek. She was plainly dressed, with her hair swept softly off her shoulders. She was cute, but not stunning. The rest of the boys smiled at her, each with a look in their eyes that told him plainly that they all nursed a tiny sweet spot for her. Soap swiveled in his bar stool to pull her into a one-armed hug. Her eyes fell on Mitts as she smiled at them.

"Jesus, Mitts."

"I know, I know. I look like a piece a meat." He sighed and tapped the bottom of his glass on the bar at Johnny who refilled it at once.

"You get in a fight?"

"It was a tickling match, apparently." Vito supplied at once. "Weapons of choice were feather dusters according ta Mitts."

The boys, except Mitts, all snorted into their drinks. She stared at all of them in turn, her eyes asking for answers that none of them gave.

"No one's gonna tell me what happened?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"Aw, sweetheart, we jus' don't wanna see youse frown." Spot said leaning away from the bar to look at her.

"Yea, Sam if youse weren't hea smilin' everyday, I don't know how I'd keep livin'." Vito added, toasting her with his glass.

"I just worry about you boys, is all." She sighed, brushing some of Mitts' hair out of his face to stare closely at his blackened eye and swollen nose.

"Hey, I'm fine." Mitts said, a soft smile spreading across his face.

"Yea, thanks to Spot and Vin." Vito put in.

Her eyes traveled back across them again and lit on Vin. She furrowed her brow slightly and then smiled, holding out a hand.

"Vin is it? I'm Sam."

He nodded to her and took her hand. It was small, warm and soft, like her smile. He could easily tell why the rest of the boys liked her. There was something in her wide blue eyes as she looked at him; something about her shy smile. He flipped his straight brown hair out of his eyes with a toss of his head to get a better look at her and she giggled lightly.

"How 'bout a song, Sam?" Vito asked.

"Mmm." Spot added, swigging from his glass.

"Oh, no way. You boys will have to wait." She said, hands on her hips.

"We'll be hea." Vito grinned.

"Yea, we ain't leavin' 'til youse sing." Soap said out of the corner of his mouth as he lit a cigar.

"We'll stay hea all night if we gotta." Mitts added.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Like you guys were gonna to leave anyways."