CHAPTER 36

The worst part of Drew's nightmares were that they weren't dreams, they were memories. Some of them about the Decepticons, but most of them about the time before, them in the Foster Homes, and those were by far the worst. That night, he was back in his last Foster Home, and though he had had many bad ones, that one had been the worst. He called it Alcoholic's Anonymous as both parents were drunk half the time, if not more. How they got past the system, he didn't know, all he knew was that they had. He'd stayed with them the longest, before he'd finally run away, three years, he'd been five when he'd run away, just before the Decepticon occupation.

It'd been one of those days where his Foster Father, Amos, had been really drunk. Ironic, as in reality there wasn't a day that at least one of them wasn't drunk, and didn't hit him or otherwise hurt him. He'd tried to sneak up the stairs to his room, or rather, closet, that morning, having gotten back from a friends house, knowing he wasn't allowed out of the house, or most other things, without permission. He wasn't even allowed to go to the bathroom without permission, which had resulted in unexpected accidents that more often then not, got him the worst of the beatings.

"Get your sorry ass in here boy."

Drew stopped dead in his tracks, a lump forming in his throat. The man was going to get the belt out, and he knew it, if he ever disobeyed him, he got the belt. If he run, the overweight man used his fists. He still hadn't decided yet which was worse. He did the one thing he could do, he ran, right up the stairs. He heard the feet bound after him, he made it to the top step before he felt his leg grabbed and he hit the wood stairs hard. Amos began to drag him down the stairs, didn't even let him stand to the point where by the time he was at the bottom, his chin and lip were bleeding a great deal. "What did you tell them!" He barked

"NOTHING! I just went to go-!"

He felt the back of his shirt rolled up the hand go over his mouth, his whimpering silenced. And then the smacking, the loud, hard smacking. He screamed, screamed for his Mom and Dad, his real ones, screamed for help, but they went unheard, they always did. Amos made good and sure of that. By the time he was done, Drew's back wad bleeding profusely, cuts all up and down his back. Amos spat on him and then added "Off to bed, no food, no potty break. If I catch you anywhere near either I'll give you worse." The old drunk told him as he exited the room.

...

He felt his body shaken and Drew shot up in bed, finding Ironhide's holoform. He looked extremely concerned, and Drew already knew that he had been screaming. Drew quickly covered his bare chest and back as best he could, but Ironhide gave a knowing glance. "Let's start with what those scars are, then I'll ask what that was." Ironhide said, his voice soft, gentle, not a hint of anger in his voice.

"Belt marks." Drew muttered "You weren't supposed to see them, you were never supposed to see them." He muttered.

"Where in Primus's good name did YOU get belt marks!"

Drew winced back at the rage in Ironhide's voice, Ironhide rarely got angry. But when he did it was a frightening sight to behold. Drew felt the old scars, they were around his stomach in some places, but mostly his back. Ironhide looked over his body, turned his head, and purged in the nearby waste bucket near his and Chromia's berth. It made Alex look like he'd been hit once. There wasn't an inch of Drew's back that wasn't scarred, some were more visible then others, but they were still everywhere. "Drew..." Ironhide brought him into his arms as the boy began to break down "Shhhhh... It's alright, I'm not mad." He whispered.

"But I never told you. How are you NOT mad?" Drew whispered back.

"Because you were abused, and you couldn't help it." Ironhide told him quietly, holding him out so that they could see eye-to-eye "Did your Foster Parents do that to you?" Drew nodded his head glumly "I hope they're alive, because I want to be the one to PERSONALLY do 'em in." He snarled quietly, Drew pushed the tears from his eyes slightly "Why have you never talked about this, Drew, we could have gotten you help." He noted.

"Because it scares me Dad, there's a reason I ran away." Drew looked Ironhide in the eyes with an honest stare "For a long time, I was freaked out that you and Mom would be the same way. It was hard just to trust you guys. And I thought if you found out why you'd..." The tears kept coming, Ironhide trying his best to comfort him as he spoke "You don't know what they did to me Dad. I couldn't even go to the bathroom without permission. I slept in a CLOSET." He admitted, his body shaking with fear "You don't know how hard it is to talk about three years of your life you spent worrying every day you'd be dead the next." He told him.

It all hit Ironhide like a brick, this was why Drew had been so shy. Why he'd been so nervous to get close, why he was afraid of being hurt. It wasn't just fear of being abandoned, it was fear of being physically and emotionally hurt again. He was thankful he'd never do such a thing, as he'd hate himself for doing it to such a good kid. Carefully pulling him to his chest, he let the boy cry into his hologram. "We would never hurt you son, you're safe with us. Yer mother and I love you very much." He told him, gently kissing the top of his head "I am so sorry you went through that. I wish I could say more. But I never... Actually went through it." He noted.

When Drew had finally calmed himself, Ironhide pulled him against his chest. He was not letting this boy go, he didn't care how much recharge he lost. Optimus would understand if he was late the next day, especially when he found out. He was, after all, one of Drew's Godfather's. "Lay down son, I'm here." He gently settled him onto the bed again, still having his arms gently around him "Yer in the safest arms in the universe." He whispered.

"You never would hit me like that... Would you?" Drew questioned.

"Never, yer my little boy, Drewbie." Ironhide rarely ever called Drew that unless to make a point "I love you, more then anything. I would much rather kill myself then ever so much as lay a finger on you in a violent way." He then added "In fact, if I ever meet those fraggers, if they are alive. I promise you, I will see to it they pay. Both of them." He added coldly.

"It was the Dad more. The Mom... She was more verbal. H-He... He..."

"Shhhhh." Ironhide whispered to Drew "No more little one, sleep now. You're safe, pay them no mind." He kissed his head gently "Pleasant dreams." He noted.

Drew slowly let his body relax, feeling much safer with Ironhide near him, he knew things would change now that he knew but he hoped for the better.

...

Ratchet had never felt sick with a patient before, but when Ironhide brought Drew in to check the wounds, he did. Ironhide had asked him to be one of his Godparents, as well as his bonded, Moonracer, Optimus, and Elita very early on. And Ratchet, being a very protective mech when he wanted to be was disturbed by the story his Godson repeated to him. He knew that there were scars on top of scars, and the like. Which could have only possibly come from years, and daily abuse. "Primus almighty, how often would this occur?" Ratchet questioned, Drew was silent "No silent treatment, I want to know." He said flatly.

"Every day. I don't think there was a day I didn't get hit for some reason." Drew replied, trying to be quiet.

Ratchet was fuming, but for once in his long life, tried to keep his cool. He didn't want to scare Drew, but had he not been in the room, he would have likely gone on a rampage. No one deserved this kind of abuse, no one. Not even if it had been a Decepticon would they have deserved it. "Well then, I am very thankful you got out of that home. If you had been there any longer, at age five. With THESE scars." He shook his head "You would have died, you realize that, don't you?" Drew nodded his head.

"Died?" Ironhide questioned, horrified.

"Yes, Ironhide. He was FIVE, this was daily abuse. A child can only take so much physical trauma before..." Ratchet cut his sentence short, hating the though himself "Either way, I'm just thankful you got out of there." He stroked Drew's back gently "If you tell anyone I was this nice to a patient though." He teased, with a wink to Ironhide who rolled his optics "Tell me Drew, does anything hurt?" He questioned, feeling down his back, Drew winced.

"No, just reflexes, I-." He bit his lip.

"Easy Drew, I won't hurt you, I just want to be sure these are properly healed." Ratchet told him calmly, nodding a bit "You're good, thankfully. They healed semi-normally, but I want to keep an eye on those that haven't healed as well as others." He then added, seriously "I also want you in therapy. The on-base therapist is amazing. And I think you need it if you're having violent nightmares on the subject." He then noted "And lastly, if you need me to check anything that feels weird, my doors are always open." He noted.

"Thanks Ratchet." Drew smiled, thankful he would be as kind as he was.

"Anytime Drew." He handed him back to Ironhide who settled him in his palms "You'd better treat him well now Ironhide." He noted warningly.

"Of course I will." Ironhide replied firmly.

And as he finally left the med bay he made sure to keep that promise to himself. Now that he knew what hell he'd gone through, he swore he'd protect Drew. And he also swore, inwardly, if he ever saw these humans that did what he did to him. He'd make the Father that had done the physical abuse pay for what he did, with any luck, with the man's life. Because if he ever met the man, he'd make him pay, i nothing else.