CHAPTER 9
Suspicions

Will wrapped a blanket around his shivering son carefully. They hadn't run Tony a hot bath, as it had been too much for him when they tried. As such, he'd done what he could to keep him warm by other methods. Will was careful to hug the boy against him and settle near the fire. Tim was being yelled at by Jedd in another room, since it had clearly been his fault. Will hadn't yelled at Tony, yet, and he didn't really plan to. Frankly, he was only happy that Tony was alive and safe. He wanted to yell at him for being stupid enough to go out there, especially when he couldn't swim. But he was never good at that with his kids, he loved them too much to get that mad at them.

"Easy, bud, easy." Will whispered, soothingly, rubbing Tony's arms "I gotcha, you're okay." Tony leaned his head against the man's chest "Getting any warmer, bud?" Tony nodded his head slowly "Good, just relax, lean into the heat." He nodded at the burning fireplace beside them "You'll warm up in no time." He added.

"Why aren't you mad?" Tony asked.

Will stared at Tony, he shook his head slightly, and sighed. He was far from mad, he was glad that he was okay, but he wasn't mad. Sometimes, Will wondered how mean a Father Tony must have had. He seemed to always believe he would be mad at the smallest things. "Because your cousin is a jerk. I know it wasn't your idea or fault." He sighed, and kissed the top of the boy's head "I'm just glad you're safe. If I had lost you, I'd never live with the guilt. You and Belle are two of the most important things in my life." He then added "Your Mom takes the top spot." He added.

Tony smiled at Will's mention of Sarah as his Mom. He supposed he should get used to hearing that, she'd be that soon enough. "Thanks, Will. Means a lot that you say that." He replied, the man smiled down at him "I know I shouldn't have been out there. But he was so convincing." He frowned "If Ironhide hadn't been there, I'd probably not be here right now." He muttered.

"Let's NOT talk about that, alright?" Will cringed.

Will had never been good with death ever since his parents had died. But that was especially true now, with his own children. The very thought, the very idea, of loosing either one of them was enough to sink him into depression. Sure Tony wasn't his blood relation like Annabelle was, and she was the only blood relative he really had left. But Tony was still close enough at this point that it would sting just as much. "Will?" Will looked down at Tony "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about... Well..." Will sighed "Thinking of loosing you or Belle made me think about loosing my parents all over again." Tony frowned slowly, feeling bad now "Hey don't feel bad, I never got over that, bud. Not your fault, at all." He noted, noticing that his shivering was slowly starting to go down "You know, I haven't gotten the chance to hold anyone like this is in years." He chuckled.

"I've never been held like this, it feels good though." Tony replied, he stared up at Will "Where are Annabelle and Sarah?" He asked.

"Out with Pearl." Will stared up at Ironhide as he entered with his holoform "Hey big guy."

Ironhide stared at Tony, noting that he had calmed down, and slowly warmed up. Ironhide had needed time to cool down himself, he wasn't sure if he was more mad at Tony or Tim. But he figured he was equally frustrated at both. Yet it was really only because either Tony or Tim could have been hurt, and though Tim could be an idiot, he did enjoy Tim's nephew quite a bit. "I'm relieved to see that Anthony is alright." Ironhide noted, seating himself on a couch "So I can strangle him later for scaring the slag out of me." He noted.

"Sorry, Ironhide, but that part is MY job." Will noted as Tony laid against him "I already gave him a long lecture, and he knows never to do it again." He added, he looked down upon the boy "Right, Tony?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Tony replied.

"What have I told you about calling me sir, no need to be so formal." Will chuckled, Tony rolled his eyes and chuckled as well "We need to work on getting you to start calling Sarah and I Mom and Dad is more like it." Tony stiffened at that, clearly nervous about that "At your own pace, kiddo. There's no need for us to rush that, I know how hard it can be." He admitted.

"Sorry, it's just..." Tony sighed, he stood up a bit, surprising Will, who pulled him back down "Will-" He began.

"Are you okay?" Will asked, knowingly.

"Fine." Tony replied.

Will tilted his head a bit, then nodded, allowing Tony to get up this time. He knew it was a lie, but he really didn't want to force Tony to talk to him about his parents. Tony had warmed up now, he was fine, dotting over him wouldn't do any good. Tony made his way past Ironhide, and the mech's holoform passively stared after him. "He'll open up, in time." Ironhide told Will, who stared at him "I know the way he acts about it. I have my suspicions." He nodded at Will "You cannot force him to speak about it if I'm correct." He noted.

"I just wish I knew so I could help. I know Sarah does too." Will replied as he stood up.

"Trust me William, you do NOT want to know what that boy has been through if I'm correct." Ironhide replied, his voice becoming quiet and distant "It would only serve to make you furious, excruciatingly so." He explained, Will stared at him "You are very lucky your parents died in some ways, Will. I wish that everyone could be that lucky." He added.

"Ironhide-"

"Im not telling you my suspicions, William. It is in no way my place, especially if I am correct." Ironhide replied.

Will sighed, his best friend was not normally this way. Yet, the former colonel figured he must have had a very good reason if that was the case. He sighed a bit, stood up and put his hands in his pockets for a moment. "I just wish I could do something. I mean I've been doing everything I can for the kid. But I still feel like I'm useless in figuring out what is going on." He shook his head slowly "Tony just walks away at the very thought of calling us that." He admitted.

Ironhide stared at Will slowly, he took a deep breath. "I'll talk to him if you'd like. I won't tell you what he says. But perhaps I can convince him to talk to you himself." Will stared at Ironhide slowly "If he is going through what I did, I think he's more likely to open up to me before anyone else." He explained "But after that, I'm sure he'd come to the two of you as well." He explained.

"I'd appreciate it, 'Hide." Will replied.

"Give me an hour."

Ironhide exited the room with a sigh, this wouldn't be easy, but he had to at least try, even a little bit. After all, he might not have been the best with kids, but he was good with them, and good at getting them to talk. This would be much harder, of course, as it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to talk about. But he could try, at most, Tony would tell him he didn't want to talk to him. He'd never opened up about his creators abuse for a long time, and he and Tony had not gotten off on the best of foots.

Chances were, Tony wouldn't say anything. But he'd at least know by his body language as he told his story whether he was on the right track. He thought for a moment, this was a big risk, he didn't actually know this was the case. Frankly, Ironhide didn't want to step on Tony's toes, nor make him uncomfortable. He stopped on the foot of the stairs and sighed, he wanted to do it, but he couldn't. He didn't know enough about this kid to feel comfortable in talking to him about this, or asking him about it.

Much like Will and Sarah, he would have to wait. And unfortunately, a part of him, however small, could not help but be worried that was going to end up being a big mistake.

...

A/N: Short-ish chapter. But I didn't want the secrets to be out too soon in the story. :P Next chapter we'll finally meet Will's adopted Dad. :)