CHAPTER 33
Ironhide and the Dog

It had been a while since Tony and Ironhide had had a night to themselves. Between Annie, school, and the party, Tony had found it hard to spent a night with his Father. That night however, it had been pizza and a night alone, something he was more than happy for. Of course, after that it was mostly just the two of them hanging out, which varied from night to night. Tony had left for about a half an hour to visit the Lennox's and what he returned with, nearly made Ironhide cringe, and scream.

A dog, of all things, he had to bring in a little puppy. He knew the culprit almost right away: Epps. The man and his wife had not been able to make Tony's party, being on vacation, but they had asked if Tony liked dogs. Sure enough the man stepped into the home right after Tony. "Holy crap, Dad! Can you believe it?" Tony smiled, looking happier than Ironhide had ever seen him "A dog, a real dog. I've always wanted one but... Wow." He grinned a bit.

The little German Shepherd Puppy leaned up and licked Tony affectionately. Epps carefully closed the barn door so that Tony could set him down. "Thank you SO much Uncle Bobby. I mean seriously, how did you know?" Tony asked.

"You brought a DOG into my home?" Ironhide asked Epps, who stared up at him.

Immediately, Tony noted the tension between Epps and Ironhide. Of course, he wasn't dumb, he knew about the Mojo incident but obviously, Ironhdie wouldn't hold that again the puppy. "Ironhide, relax. My sister's dog had a whole litter. I know the l'il man had talked about dogs before." Epps quickly began to talk about it "He's been fixed, has had all his shots, and JUST for you. We did his potty training." Ironhide stared at him, silently "Come on man, he knows to go outside, he'll grow up to be BIG, meaning you can't step on him." He noted.

"Come on Dad, look at him." Tony pointed to the cute puppy rather excitedly "You can't say no to those eyes, it's just like IMPOSSIBLE." He stated.

Ironhide frowned a bit, but had to admit, the puppy was cute. Not to mention he'd honestly never seen Tony thishappy before. Epps's reassurances certainly helped matters as well. Taking a deep breath, his holoform slowly crouched down beside Tony. "Well, does he have a name yet, or are we going to have to think of one?" Ironhide asked, in an almost grunt "Oh and you'd better believe you're taking him for walks. I'll do it while you're in school, I'll hate it but I will. But any other time, this is YOUR dog." He told him bluntly.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Tony practically tackled Ironhide into a hug, to which he returned "I swear, I'll feed him, take him for walks, EVERYTHING." Tony smiled happily "And ummm, I really haven't named him yet." Tony turned to Epps "You and Aunt Theressa didn't name him yet, did you?" He asked.

"Nope, we were going to let you do that. As long as Ironhide let you keep him." Epps winked at Ironhide, who still looked at him with frustration "Come on, Ironhide, your kid is happy." He noted.

Ironhide smiled a bit, there was that, he supposed. Epps had brought Tony a great deal of happiness with this dog, and frankly, if it made Tony happy, he supposed he could be happy about him too. "Yeah, yeah, he can stay. I know I'm going to fragging regret it, but the fleabag can stay." Ironhide groaned quietly, he turned towards Epps, who smirked triumphantly "Oh whipe that smug smirk off your face, Robert. If anything goes wrong, I'm blaming YOU." He noted.

"He'll make a good guard dog you know, German Shepherds do." Epps nudged Ironhide slightly "They use them as police dogs, and if he attaches to Tony enough. I bet he'd be protective." Ironhide tilted his head a bit "I ain't saying he could scare off Jason, but I am saying he could be a good warning bell." He added "Plus, every kid needs a little puppy of their own. Most of us have one growing up." He added.

"I suppose the mutt will be good as a companion." Ironhide noted "You should get home now, it's getting late."

"Of course." Epps nodded, he accepted a hug from Tony "Enjoy him little man." He added.

Epps left slowly, leaving Tony to relax on the couch with the new puppy laying across his lap. Ironhide smiled a little, Tony really did look happy as he stroked the small animal. Ironhide had a feeling Tony had not been exaggerating and had wanted a dog for a long time. "You really do need to name the cute little pit spawn." Ironhide chuckled, Tony looked up and smiled "As well as train him not to use me as a waist disposal area." Tony snorted a bit.

"Oh come on Dad. Uncle Bobby was really nice to do this for me." Tony replied, shaking his head a little "He's right you know, dog's REALLY know when trouble comes around. He's probably going to do us more good than harm." He explained, he stroked the dog and scratched behind his ears gently "Rex. I think I really like the name, Rex." He noted, he got a "yip" in response "I'd say he likes it too." He added.

Ironhide smiled, and with his holoform, slowly, tenderly stroked the puppy as well. Ironhide told himself he was going to make the best of this. He didn't think he could handle Tony either, but if he could handle him, one little dog wasn't going to do him any harm. "Welcome to our little family, Rex." Ironhide noted, he looked him in the eyes "You be good to m'boy." He added.

Almost as if he understood Ironhide, the dog gave a small bark.

...

Tony climbed into bed earlier that night, worn out from the week at school, and playing with his new pet. Not that Ironhide minded, they'd had their family time for a good few hours, and it was getting to be around his bedtime. Tony was nearly dead the minute that he was on his bed. Ironhide smiled a bit, the boy was cute when that happened, he still had a child's innocence to him that made him that way. He was careful to tuck him in tightly, stroke his cheek, and kiss him gently on the head as he did every night. "Goodnight my precious one." He whispered, as he had with him, Bumblebee before him, and his Daughter before him "Sweetest of dreams." He noted.

He watched as Rex clamors on next to Tony, nuzzling up close to his new young master. Ironhide noted they'd already made quite the connection, and needless to say it was, in a way, very cute. Ironhide simply nodded to Rex, still unsure what to think of him. He was mid way into looking through the internet looking for something he was actually close to considering: A HUMAN job. When he felt a furry intruder on his lap. Ironhide blinked a bit, he looked down to find Rex laying across his lap.

Ironhide grimaced slightly, what in Primus's good name was the puppy doing? "Hey, hey, back with Tony boy. I'm busy, this holoform is here simply to keep watch." Ironhide stated, attempting to coax him back, the puppy wouldn't do it, simply snuggling into him gently "Hey, hey, who said you could stay here? I said go back with Tony." He noted.

That's when it happened. Rex looked up at him with the widest, most adorable eyes Ironhide thought he'd ever seen. Then it did something even more unspeakable, it licked him, right on the face, a friendly, loving gesture. Ironhide's holoform could feel, and he felt every bit of it. But rather than get irritated, he found himself chuckling, liking it. "You're a friendly little guy, arentcha?" He asked, holding the puppy away a bit "Nothing like Mojo." He observed.

The dog just sat there, on his lap, he tilted his head slightly to the side, a quiet and soft whine escaping him. Ironhide sighed a bit, taking a deep breath. "You're hungry... Great." Ironhide seated him on the couch, making his way towards the small fridge within the barn area, he opened it, and went through it "You'll have to make due with pizza until we can get you some dog food." He muttered.

He smartly crushed it up slowly into small bits, and grabbing a bowl, simply put it into the bowl. Slowly setting it down on the floor, the puppy seemed happier than Ironhide had expected him to be. Ironhide sighed a bit, maybe this would be easier than he believed he would. He sighed a bit, nodded his head, and smiled a little. "Keep this up, you little pit spawn, and it won't be long before you've got my spark just as quickly as Tony did." He sighed a bit, and crouched low, stroking him gently, politely.

He had to admit, he was starting to enjoy his life more. Even the idea of getting a job didn't sound half bad anymore. It meant he could actually provide for Tony, really make money. He sighed a bit, his small immediate family was growing bigger, and so was his life. But he wouldn't trade it for anything, not even the small dog that now occupied their home.

Life was good, almost too good.

...

He didn't even notice the man staring through the single window of Tony's bedroom. The man was tall, bearded, a madness to his dilated eyes that almost screamed that he was high. Jason Pearson took one long drag of his cigarette silently before he set it down and stomped it out. He looked unamused, throughly unamused. The quainter this family became, the closer they got, the more that Tony got away from him. He gently rested a hand against the window, and for a moment, thought he was feeling things.

The door had opened ever so slightly, forgotten to be closed. The man saw his chance right in front of him. Carefully, lifting Tony by his shoulders, Jason slid him out of bed as Ironhide remained distracted by the dog. And most of all, Prowl had fallen into recharge. He seized his chance, carefully pulling him through the window, and ever so slowly closing it. Tony was wide awake within mere moments, but Jason already had a hand on the struggling and whimpering boys mouth, keeping them silenced.

"You really should remember to lock your window." Jason sneered "Now come on, brat, we're going for a little ride."

And just like that, he dragged the struggling and silenced boy from the home without interference, and before Ironhide would even notice his disappearance.

...

A/N: We are getting closer and closer to the end of this fic. I have to say this is the most fun I've ever had writing a fic. And I hope that cliffhanger gets you excited for the slowly drawing closer CONCLUSION. :)