It was a blustery August night in New York, around four in the morning, and Inamorta sat in a favorite diner of his, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Inamorta had always been a bit of a night owl. He worked 3rd shift in a telephone factory for a few years before he fell in with his current crowd. It was mostly habit that kept him out on the streets this late every night. It wasn't a problem though, Dementor had needs for Inamorta that fit this time frame perfectly.

On this night however, Inamorta had no assignments, and had decided to spend the waning hours of darkness in Sadie's Diner up on the west side of Manhattan. He liked it here, They never asked questions, and were always friendly. He was rarely charged for his coffee that he drank by the gallon. Whether this was because he was in here so often or because they had heard about what he did for a living now, Inamorta did not know, nor did he care.

The waitress made her way over to him with a pot of coffee in her hand, and Inamorta nodded to her as if to say, "Keep 'em coming." He surveyed her in the dim light cast from the dusty lamp above his head. She was young, blond, and had the look of a girl who had had a rough life to this point. There were bags under her eyes, and although he thought she could be no older than 20, she had lines on her face of a much older woman.

She finished pouring her coffee and looked up, catching inamorta staring into her dark green eyes. She flashed an embarassed smile at him, a smile that lit up her eyes and seemed to make her look younger. Inamorta grinned back and watched her return to the back of the diner.

He took a drink of his coffee and pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his jacket, striking a match and dragging from it as if he hadn't breathed in ages. He had picked up smoking in the factory, and now he smoked relentlessly, he was rarely seen without a cigarette in his mouth. He began to drift off into a daydream - or would it be a daydream? He wasn't sure what you would call a daydream you had at 4 am - about his teenage years in Sicily. He missed his grandfather and his stories of grandeur in Italy. Inamorta really wanted to visit Italy, but had been sent to work in America instead. He was bitter toward his father for this, but all in all, he was very happy in America, so he had nothing to complain about.

Just as he began to think about a woman he had once had a romance with back in the old country, a scream rang out from the other side of the diner and Inamorta jumped. He heard the door bang open and then slammed shut. Leaping from his booth, he pulled his colt from inside his jacket and looked to where the commotion had came from.

The young waitress lay on the ground sobbing, clutching her stomach. Inamorta rushed over and knelt beside her, seeing that blood was dripping from her onto the floor...she had been stabbed. Inamorta stood and rushed out the door, looking left and right for the assassin.

He couldn't see a thing through the steam coming from a vent in the road, so he stepped out into the street to get a better view. As he looked to his left there was a flash of headlights and everything suddenly went black.

Jonny saw a man rush out into the streets, but before he could hit his brakes, he hit the figure. His brakes screeched to a halt and Jonny hopped out of his car then ran to the now unconscious figure.

Sir! Sir! Are you all right!?!

Jonny squatted next to the still figure and slapped him briskly to try and jolt him awake, and while doing that he looked into the diner to see a woman bleeding.

Someone call a fuckin' ambulance here!

He pointed at a man near the counter who was not doing anything except drinking his coffee.

You, sir! People are dying, please, call for help!

Then Jonny put his attention back to Inamorta, looking for any signs of consciousness.

Inamorta lay sprawled on the pavement, with no immediate recollection of what had just happened. For a second he thought it must be around mid afternoon, his usual waking time, and was thinking of making himself a pot of coffee. Then he realized 3 things that brought him back to reality. One; He was lying on pavement, two; his left leg was searing with pain, and three, the taste of blood on his bottom lip jolted Inamorta back to reality.

Hearing Jonny's urgent voice off in the distance, Inamorta raised himself up onto his elbow, peering at the man. Jonny came sprinting back over to him and Inamorta did not hesitate. Although the man was unfamiliar, Inamorta's intuition told him that he was dealing with a fellow mafioso.

"The waitress.." He panted in gasping breaths, "She was stabbed. Likely robbed too. I ran out here to kill the bastard and then...I saw lights and here I am." He looked up at jonny and tried to focus on him, but Inamorta was dizzy and disoriented. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

Jonny glances at Inamorta's left leg, then back to his face.

I'm the guy that broke your leg.

Jonny untied his tie and gave  it to Morta.

Can you tourniquet your leg while I look after the waitress?

Before Morta could answer, Jonny rushed into the diner and was at the waitresses side... He took a rag out of his jacket and pushed on the stab wound.

Miss, can  you hold that rag on the wound while I call for help?

The woman nods, then Jonny got up to see the man at the phone calling the ambulance. Jonny walked to the back room to use the other phone, and dialed a number...

ring

ring

ring

Hey, there's a situation at the diner. Over on Market street. Can you get here quick? A woman was stabbed, and I hit a guy with a car.

.....

No, he doesn't need to be killed, just get down here. Please.

Taking the tie from Jonny, Inamorta closed his eyes and forced his left leg straight, tying the tie tightly around the place where his bone had been peeking out seconds before. He held the pain inside, saving his anger for the man who had stabbed the waitress.

Inamorta leaned back onto his elbows again, and the exhaust from Jonny's car filled his lungs, causing him to sputter a bit.

"I hope he's helping her out.."

He reached into his jacket to grab a cigarette, only to find that they had been snapped. He put one of the halves in his mouth anyway, knowing that any nicotine would help calm him down. He killed the cigarette in two hits, then grabbed another half of one out of the pack.

He lay in the street smoking, waiting for Jonny's return with news on the waitress.

Jonny checks on the waitress on his way out of the diner and into the street to Morta.

I called my friend, he shou;d be on his way, hopefully.

Jonny grabbed morta's arm and helped him drag himself to the curb and out of traffic.