Chapter One

They called his number up at the counter and Denny hopped up and went to pick up his three slices of Sicilian extra cheese and three meats, side of extra sauce. Damn, that was fucking hard juggling, especially with the little girl who ran right in front of him as her momma came in the front door to order, almost sending him on his ass.

The only things keeping him upright were the paid for food, and the fact that he was big enough that if he went down it was freaking hard to get back up. And it wasn't the little rug rat's fault she was excited about pizza. D'nofrio's had the best damned slices.

He teetered, the gears in his fancy fake leg squeaking and whizzing, and Denny did the dance of the clumsy one-legged bear, waltzing back out in the dining room at a hard stagger, and landing himself in a chair at a table that was so not his. Was, in fact, populated by someone else.

Brown eyes blinked at him through a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, the kid looking up from his book, pizza slice halfway to his mouth. "Uh... hello?"

"Hey." Denny grinned. What else could he do? He'd hit hard on that chair and was a little out of breath and not inclined to move. "Hope you don't mind. My pizza liked the look of yours and wanted to get acquainted."

He got another blink and then a small smile teased at the corner of the kid's lips, growing into a grin. Oh, now that lit up that face very nicely. The kid pushed his plate with a slice left on it toward his. "Bacon hamburger double cheese, pleased to meet you."

"Noah's Ark with extra cheese, sauce on the side. Sorry, man, but I was about to fall over." Denny motioned to his stretched out prosthesis. "Thanks for letting me sit a minute."

"Noah's Ark?" A soft giggle followed that and the kid leaned over to look at his leg. "Well I suppose now that you're down you could stay put. I wasn't using the other chair." A hand was held out to him. "Robin Dawes."

"Yeah? Rock on." Grabbing the kid's hand, he shook firmly, nodding at the table opposite them. "Can I ask one more favor? Could you get my drink? Oh, and I'm Denny."

"Sure. Denny like the restaurant, eh?" Robin got up and grabbed his drink, bringing it over for him.

"Oh, thanks man. I can only dance so much without sustenance." He looked the kid over. Nice. There was something to be said for a good view with a meal.

"Do you mind my asking what happened?"

"Huh? That little girl ran right out in front of me which knocked me winding. Of course, she was getting calzone, so who can blame her." Damn, he was babbling, but he'd been caught staring.

Robin chuckled. "I actually meant to your leg." Robin nodded at his prosthetic and blushed slightly. "It was kind of rude of me, actually."

"Oh! Nah, I'd rather people asked than stared and wondered." He would for sure. He didn't mind talking about it. "I used to race. Muscle car stuff. I crashed and burned in a big way, and it's funny, but I was hardly beat up except that leg. It was... well, you're eating." He grinned. It had been pretty gross.

Continued in First Section