Disclaimer: I own nothing. Have you not grasped this yet?
Warnings: deep description of Koji's injuries
AN: it might seem that Koji is getting along with Ultra Magnus more than Optimus but hey Optimus is the new father figure and I don't know about you all but I get along with and confide more in my aunts and uncles more than my dad.
Chapter 6
"Koji what do you mean there not the ones who killed your father?" Optimus asked. Who else could have been responsible for the man's death? How would Koji no any way?
"Hao and Misa- the Sakas- made some sort of deal with Scourge. He killed Dad for them so they could get married and they'd do something for them. I found out the day before Dad died. I tried to get here to tell you guys but Hao caught me and I couldn't come for a few days" Koji's eyes shifted to the ground. At this Optimus had no doubt why the boy couldn't come. Magnus' description of Koji's injuries was still fresh in his mind.
"Why didn't you tell us when you did come back?" Optimus asked not understanding.
"The first day I could come back Dad was already dead so I didn't see any reason to tell you when I'd have to go back to them anyway." Now Optimus understood. Koji hadn't known Optimus' plan back then and knew his country's legal system would put him right back in danger. If Koji had told and been sent back to the Sakas by the court he would have been buried with his father.
"Koji you should probably tell them everything" Magnus said gently. Koji nodded.
"The day before the funeral I heard Hao talking to Scourge on his cell phone. They were saying something about leverage to keep Optimus from interfering in some plan." Koji stopped and looked at the displaced Predicons. "I guess we know what plan it was but I never figured out what the leverage was." From the look on his face Optimus could tell Koji had a good idea what or more likely who the leverage was. Optimus also had a good idea who Scourge had planned on using against him.
"He caught me listening and…" Koji didn't or couldn't finish.
"He ended having Scourge give Koji a beating and said that if Koji told anyone he'd get it ten times worse" Magnus finished for the boy. He didn't mention that apparently there had been a few death threats made about certain Autobots to Koji as another precaution.
Everyone was silent for a few moments trying to process what they'd just been told about the little human boy- even the Predicons. But the silence didn't last long.
"Open up! Police" (AN: cliché but I'm running on very little sleep and little encouragement here)
Inspector Samuels watched as several uniformed cops banged on the main gates of the Autobot base. He shook his head. Miyamoto was too blinded by his prejudices to see what was staring him in the face and was more than likely was going to put the kid they were looking for in to a dangerous situation. Miyamoto thought that since he was older he was smarter and Samuels' youth was a sign of idiocy. Samuels knew that it was his youth that let him see this situation more clearly than someone older who thought they knew everything. Hopefully if he found what he was fairly certain he was going to find everyone would go home happy tonight.
Optimus recovered first. "Magnus take Koji into one of the secure rooms. You" Optimus pointed at the Predicons "go with T-Ai. We'll finish our discussion later".
"Optimus" Koji started.
" Go with Magus Koji. Damned if I'm letting these idiots take you."
Koji was silent at this. He knew Optimus cared about him but he hadn't known it was to the extent that he'd blatantly break the law, even if it wasn't his law.
Before Magnus could get Koji out of the room the gate opened.
Samuels walked through the gate leisurely behind the uniformed cops. One look at the group told him they had been going to try to hide the kid again. A large, unfamiliar, blue and white robot was leaning down to pick the kid up, two of the 'Bots were trying and failing to hide the boy from view, and the look on the head Autobot's face, or what he could see of it, was priceless.
The blue and white 'Bot scooped the kid up quickly and put him on it's shoulder. Optimus stepped forward about to say something but a raised hand from Samuels stopped him. "I just want to speak with the boy for a moment."
The 'Bot holding the boy looked like he wanted to stomp Samuels into the ground but he held back and turned his head toward the human on his shoulder. The questioning look, actually it looked more like a glare, made Samuels want to flinch and it wasn't even directed at him. The boy didn't even bat an eye.
"It's okay" Koji said. The 'Bot didn't seem happy about this but gently took the boy off his shoulder and placed him on the ground.
Samuels walk slowly but determinedly to the boy, very aware of the glares of the five robots who he was certain would think nothing of killing him if for one second it looked like he was going to take the boy against his will. As he got closer he noticed several cuts and what looked like a very faded bruise on the boy's upper arms. Koji's face, lower arms, and legs showed no signs of injury. There was also a wariness in the child's eyes that shouldn't be acquired at least until he was well into adulthood and at most never. The same signs he'd seen a hundred times before in victims he'd met or helped before. The same signs he'd shown when he was a child that everyone had ignored because of his father's standing in the community.
"Can I see your back please?" he asked softly, as he always did when dealing with abuse victims. The boy stared at him for a minute and then turned around and pulled up the back of his t-shirt. There were several gasps from the cops behind him and from four of the Autobots present. Samuels himself had to hide the look of shock on his face. Even though he'd seen it so many times before and had had it happen to him it still shocked him somebody could do this to a child. The child's back was full of scars, new and old, a few fairly deep, infected cuts. There were also raw areas that could only have been caused by either a whip or a leather belt. Small dot like scars spotted the kid's back like freckles reminded Samuels that the Sakas both smoked. Two identical sets of four straight lines went from the boy's lower back to his sides.
Samuels put his hand on Koji's shoulder and gently turned him around to see his stomach and chest. It was pretty much the same as his back with a few exceptions. A scar that reminded Samuels of when his father had forgotten to take off his ring and two marks that Samuels hadn't expected to find. As he let the boy's shirt fall back into place he made a mental note to find the kid a good child psychiatrist who specialized in this kind of abuse.
R&R