CHAPTER 34
Desperation and Fear

The cold barrel of Jason's gun against his head was enough to keep Tony quiet as they made their escape that night. He only ever removed it after they left. At that point, he'd proceeded to bind both his wrists firmly together and his ankles. He kept his mouth ungagged for two reasons, if they were stopped, and he knew he had a gun to shut him up forever if he screamed. Tony eyed the gun slightly, Jason stared at him a bit. "Don't worry, I don't plan to use it." He noted.

"What do you want with me? I'm not your son anymore. The Government-" Tony began.

"FUCK THE GOVERNMENT!" Jason slammed his fist onto the dashboard, pure fury in his eyes "The Government thinks a stupid MACHINE would do a better job raising MY son? They must be idiots, all of them." He snarled.

Tony tensed up a bit, his heart pounding in fear, he knew his Father was high, and angry. And when those two things happened, he was a very dangerous man. Even moreso than he was otherwise. "He'll find me, you know? There are tons of Autobots on Earth. And not one of them isn't good friends with him." Jason stared coldly at him "They're going to find me and you're going to be dead if it's my Dad." He added.

"DO NOT call him your DAD. I'm your Father, understand?" Jason grabbed firm hold of Tony's hair, and yanked him to face him "I made you, I'm the one who slept with your Mother, NOT him." He then added, flatly "That THING is nothing more than a freak who thinks he's better than me. But he's wrong, they all are." He thena added "Isn't that right?" Out of fear, Tony forced himself to nod "That's my boy, smart, real smart." He added.

"Dad, please, just let me go. I know you love me, but this isn't right." Tony lied about the "love" part, but Jason let go of his hair "Ironhide may be a machine. But he really loves and cares about me. And so do the Lennox's and Autobots." Jason peered at the road "Maybe if you let me go and talked to them, they'd try to-" He began.

"Try to WHAT?" Jason pressed the gun to Tony's head again "They locked me up Tony. Psycho ward first... Then rehab." Tony's eyes widened "They said I was mentally unstable, but getting better." He tilted his head "Yet, they wanted to put me in there again, the psycho ward, that is. They just wanted me AWAY from you." Jason began crying "I'm not a bad man, Tony, I made mistakes, but-" He shook his head.

"Dad, you tried to kill me, TWICE." Tony stated quietly.

"Because you REJECTED me, just like everyone else." Jason shook his head, clearly unhinged "I'm not crazy, Tony. I'm just a desperate Father who wants his son back. And guess what? I have you back now. And we're going to be a family again Tony." Tony felt tears in his eyes "Sure, Mexico sounds cliche and not the best, but at least we'll have each other." He noted.

When Jason kissed his head, Tony tried to cringe back, yet he still succeeded. Jason was clearly insane, and Tony saw it now better than ever. Tony wanted Ironhide, desperately, he could have contacted him through the bond. But he knew if Jason started to be followed he'd go crazy, and that could end badly for him. "Dad, I love you." He lied "But I want to go home." He added.

"We ARE going home." Jason violently hit him with the gun "Your home is with ME. Not with that machine, do you UNDERSTAND?" Tony slowly nodded "Now shut the fuck up or I'll gag you until we get to the border." He stated.

All Tony could do was crouch over and sob silently to himself. That and pray, not for the first time since he'd been abducted, that the Autobots, and whomever else they could gather were looking for him. He felt a gentle soothing within his heart, and knew that Ironhide felt his fear. He knew that he knew why he was afraid, even if it was only a hunch. And he knew, deep down, that Ironhide was trying to silently tell him that it was going to be okay. And most of all, that he was coming for him.

And then, it came verbally, it was so soft, he'd almost wondered if it really was wondering. "Don't be afraid, baby boy." Ironhide's voice came through the bond "I'm coming for ye." It helped relax Tony into a forced, and very much needed escape through sleep.

...

Ironhide felt helpless, perhaps even moreso than Tony did, he hadn't said a word since he'd found Tony missing. Unless you counted the frantic comm message he'd sent to Optimus as speaking, and the way he had done it, he didn't much count it. Optimus, Ratchet, Bumbleebee, Drift, Kup, Hound, Gears, and Epps had all been there faster than Ironhide had expected them to be. "Took him right out of the window." Prowl observed "By the looks of the scuff marks, Tony struggled but Jason had him LONG before the struggle started." He pointed towards the car tracks "Going by the track marks, he took off in a hurry, they could be ANYWHERE by now." He added.

"You have to have some idea as to where." Will spoke up, quickly, he stared at the mech "Tony might not have a lot of time. Or have you forgotten his Dad is completely insane?" He asked.

"William, I am working as best as I can. You don't think I'm fearing for Tony's safety just as much as you or Ironhide?" Prowl snapped, frustration evident in his optics "I've grown attached to him as well. But I need time to do my work, even with my technology, this isn't easy." He took a deep, ventilated breath "They were headed south, fast. My only deduction is they are likely headed for the border." He noted.

"I've got an Amber Alert out." Michael stated as he made his way toward the small group "Tony's picture is going out to the surrounding states, and so is Jason's. If they haven't left the immediate state lines. It's likely that we'll find them." He noted, he turned to Ironhide who still stared off quietly "We're going to find him, big guy. Don't worry. Between the police and you guys-" He began.

"I'm simply thinking of how I'm going to PROPERLY tear Jason Pearson apart limb-from-limb." Ironhide snarled, he stood up slowly, shaking his head "I was an idiot, while Tony was taken from his bed I was busy with a dog and job hunting." He turned to Prowl "And you, YOU decided to take a NAP on the job? What the frag were you thinking!" He stated, slowly, his anger rising.

Optimus was quick to transform, and pull Ironhide back slowly. "Ironhide, calm yourself, old friend. I know your worry for Tony is great. As is ours." Optimus told him gently, Ironhide turned to him "But you have a connection to Tony through your bond. We know for now he is safe. There is no reason to place BLAME on others." Ironhide was silent for a moment, he vented quietly "We're going to find him, Ironhide." He stated.

"What's the plan captain?" Bumblebee moved forward, his hands tightly balling into fists as the sound clip ended.

Optimus fidgeted a bit, he'd never had a situation like this on his hands. He'd given the OK for the death of Jason should it be necessary, but at the end of the day, he didn't want to harm humans, not on that level. Not if they didn't have to. "Our first and formost concern is with Anthony's safety. Knowing how desperate the man is, he is likely armed." Optimus was quiet for a moment "If at all necessary, if we have no choice, we may need to terminate him. But you are not to shoot if Anthony is in the line of fire." He noted.

"If possible, leave him to the police, and simply subdue him." Michael stated quietly, looking around at them "This guy is very dangerous, and there's no telling what he's going to do if you guys just go in with guns ablazing." He added, taking a deep breath "That includes YOU Ironhide. You need to be careful, very careful. He knows who you are, and he might totally LOOSE it if he sees you with a gun." He added.

"He'll be, how do you say it? Shitting bricks when he sees my cannons." Ironhide stated flatly "But I will refrain from it if it puts my boy in harm's way." He took a deep breath "What are we doing standing here! Isn't it about time we rolled out!" He stated moving past the others.

Michael watched as Ironhide transformed down, he didn't even wait for Will. Ironhide was gunning it for the south without even a second thought. Michael watched for a moment, even though he didn't know Ironhide that well, he knew that was NOT normal behavior. "I always thought "ROLL OUT!" was your saying." He noted to Optimus who turned to him.

"It is... But, Ironhide is correct." Optimus turned his head slowly "Autobots, grab a human ally and ROLL OUT!"

And with that, and no more words spoken, the gathered Autobots tore off after Ironhide. The chase was on, now they just had to pray that they would get to Tony and Jason in time, before Jason became far too desperate for his own good. Heaven only knew what he might do to Tony if that came to pass.