CHAPTER 4
Suspicious Scars
Fred and Amy had never actually been good parents. They knew it, and that was why they had left Kyle, why they had abandoned him. They had tried, more than a few times in fact, to stop losing their temper. Fred had even tried, in vein, to stop using meth. But at the end of the day, neither of them could change who they were, they were abusive, they were mean, and Kyle deserved better. That was what they had told themselves, but now they weren't so sure. Their home felt empty without Kyle around, they felt empty nested, lonely.
Yet they knew deep down that it would be hard to find him now. They had left the child nearly seven months ago, he was probably with a Foster Family by now, somewhere far away. But they would try, that's what Fred told himself, anyway. They would try to find their boy, and most of all, try to get him back. They had made a mistake that needed to be mended. One way or the other, they told themselves. Alcoholic and Drug Addict, or not, their boy would be back with them somehow.
...
Rain spit against his window as Kyle quietly stared outside of it. Kyle had never liked the rain, but in the winter, he had gotten used to it. It was days like these, back when his parents had been clean, that they'd gather around a fireplace and tell stories. That had been a long time ago though, so long ago that Kyle didn't even remember how old he was at the time. "Kyle." Kyle turned his head as Ratchet entered his room "Everything alright, you haven't left your room." He noted.
"Sorry, yeah, I'm fine." Kyle shook his head a bit "I'm just a little tired is all, I didn't sleep much last night." He admitted.
"You don't like the rain either?" Ratchet questioned, Kyle shook his head in confirmation "I've always disliked it since I came to Earth. It's too depressing for my taste, I suppose." Kyle nodded slightly, looking up at him "What's that?" Ratchet questioned, noting the small scar on the side of Kyle's face "Never noticed it before." He added.
"Oh, this?" Kyle asked, feeling the thin line "Nothing, really. I fell down the stairs when I was four, like a klutz." He chuckled.
Ratchet wondered if Kyle honestly thought he believed it. But wrote it off slightly, the scar was old and likely nothing to worry about at least. "I was thinking of heading into the city today." Ratchet informed Kyle politely "Would you like to join me?" He questioned.
Kyle looked thoughtful for a moment, and shook his head. "Nah, I'm really tired actually." Kyle lied, again.
"You're homesick."
Kyle looked over at Ratchet, but slowly nodded his head a bit. Getting something past a medic was near impossible, so he decided he might as well not even try. "Don't get me wrong, I love it here, you guys are great." Kyle explained, he looked over at the mech "But I just... It's hard being in a new house around this time." He turned his head to look out the window "It's... Almost Christmas." He explained.
"I can see where you're coming from. I suppose it would be hard for me too." Ratchet admitted quietly "But I hope we're doing a good enough job of being your family, at least. I'd feel bad if we weren't." Kyle nodded his head a little bit "I think we're going to have a nice, if not small, Christmas ourselves, are we not?" He looked at Kyle "You're not going to celebrate it alone." He added.
Kyle smiled, he knew that Ratchet was right, and at least there was that. He wasn't alone, and he was thankful for that, unquestionably. Kyle looked down slightly, he wasn't sure how to respond to Ratchet's comment. "I know that I'm going to spend Christmas with you guys, and you don't even KNOW how grateful I am that I'm living here." Kyle stood a bit "But it doesn't help the fact that it's going to be weird not being with my parents." He explained.
"Understandable." Ratchet nodded his head a bit "Try not to think too hard on it, kid. The less you do, the easier it becomes. Or so Cliffjumper tells me." Kyle nodded his head quietly, leaning against the wall "Tell me, Kyle. You honestly have no idea why your parents did what they did?" Another headshake "You know, I don't bite, you can talk to me." He added.
"My parents have been in a bad place for a while now." Kyle turned to Ratchet "I don't want to talk about why or how, but let's just say... It wasn't pretty at home. Made worse by the fact that they both cheated on each other." He shook his head "Everything else is way too personal to talk about. I trust you Ratchet, I really do, but trust me when I say that I'm not ready to tell you guys." He explained.
"I understand. But trust me when I say this... I know what it's like to be from a broken home." Ratchet explained, he looked at the boy quietly "The three of us have more in common than you might think, Kyle." He then turned his head slowly, making sure Cliffjumper wasn't about to walk in, and turned back to Kyle "It's why I know an abuse victim when I see one." He added.
"I wasn't-"
"Don't lie to me, you were." Ratchet replied, he crouched slowly "You've either been in denial, or been told it wasn't. But I know you were." He looked Kyle over "You don't get a scar like that." He pointed to the before mentioned scar "By falling, you get it by being hit, hard, or sliced with something." He then added "So don't lie to me youngling. You may have Cliff fooled, but not me." He added.
Kyle looked Ratchet in the optics, and took a deep breath. "My Dad hit me, once. But I swear it was only once." Kyle finally relented, though it wasn't entirely the truth, he still tried "I swear Ratchet, it was only once." He added, the mech looked skeptical "There's no reason to freak out on me, okay? My Dad has a problem, but he cleaned up his act." He insisted.
Ratchet knew he had to accept it, whether it was a lie or not. Kyle was still under the belief that his parents would be back for him. And if that was the case, then getting him to open up about abuse was never going to happen. "Very well, I trust you will tell me the truth when the time comes that you trust us." Kyle frowned at that comment "Now, would you like to accompany me, or not?" He grunted.
"I guess so." Kyle shrugged "Have nothing better to do." He added.
Ratchet nodded a bit, that was a start, at least Kyle was not avoiding him anymore. As it was, the older mech was sure that Kyle trusted Cliffjumper much more than he trusted him. "Well then, come on, maybe we'll swing by an electronics store and get a movie or something." He noted.
Ratchet quietly hoped that he was doing the right thing by at least attempting to befriend the boy. And not just pushing him away further by trying too hard.
...
Cliffjumper was exhausted by the time he got home that evening. He only barely acknowledged Ratchet before he moved to take a peek in on Kyle. The boy was already fast asleep in his bed, his light snoring filling the room. Making his way over, he gently, belittling his strength, stroked his back with a forefinger, and smiled. "Pleasant dreams squirt." He whispered.
Leaving Kyle to sleep, he entered the den calmly. Ratchet turned his head to him calmly, wondering whether to tell Cliffjumper now, or later. He chose that now would be better, the sooner the better as they said. "We need to dig deeper into that boy's past." Cliffjumper raised an optic ridge in surprise at that "I found out the boy's Father has hit him in the past." The mech stared over "I don't like it, Cliffjumper." He noted.
"What does it matter? They abandoned him." Cliffjumper told him plainly "I have custody of him. And I doubt they'll-" He began.
"And if they do come back for him?" Ratchet questioned, Cliffjumper was silent at that question "Cliffjumper, trust me here. We don't have Kyle's full story, and if he needs to be protected from his parents? We need to know now." Cliffjumper was silent for a moment, but nodded a bit, understanding "I don't know why, but something... However small, tells me that this boy's parents are dangerous." He added.
"You think they hurt him more than once?" Cliffjumper questioned.
"Much more than once." Ratchet nodded affirmatively "That boy may want to be back with his parents. But I believe he also secretly fears what will happen if he doesn't go back to them." He shook his head "I see a certain level of fear in his stress levels each time he brings them up. Though I had not adressed it, not until now." He admitted.
Cliffjumper looked thoughtful for a moment, but silently knew Ratchet would know better than anyone. As what was essentially a Transformer "Cop", he knew some of what to look for. But as a medic, Ratchet knew exactly what to look for, something he didn't. "I'll dig through his files and find what I can." Cliffjumper finally replied "Hopefully there's something on them and we can put this to rest." He added.
"And if there isn't?" Ratchet questioned.
"Then we just have to hope that your theory is wrong." Cliffjumper replied.
Inside, both mechs had the feeling they weren't.
