A/N: One of the many reasons I love Hawaii, I've come up with some of my best plot twists here. And this, this is no exception I think.

...

CHAPTER 35
To Further Complicate Things

Ironhide knew something was up when Ratchet had caught up with him before anyone else. The silence already spoke unnerving volumes to him. "Ironhide, my inner systems has just returned that blood analysis of Tony I made two months ago." Ironhide nearly screamed at Ratchet that now was not the time "I'm going to ask you a question that might seem weird... You do know that our holoforms are capable of... Intercorse, correct?" He asked.

"Ratchet, if you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a fragging RESCUE MISSION." Ironhide growled "Why the frag would you ask me this, NOW?" He added with a frustrated grunt.

"Ironhide, I discovered Energon in Anthony's bloodstream. A LOT of it."

Ironhide stopped in his tracks, transforming right in the middle of the abandoned road. Ratchet transformed as well, turning and staring at Ironhide, who looked somewhere between shock and horror. "No... No... It was one time, one fragging time!" Ironhide stared at Ratchet "Tony couldn't be... I never even SAW the human again." He felt his spark beat a thousand miles per hour "Your analysis must be wrong, Anthony cannot be-" He began.

"I went over the analysis four times, each time came back positive for Energon." Ratchet replied "I thought I was wrong as well, but the computer would have caught the mistake if there was one by now." Ironhide felt his processor overloading already "And then it hit me. Tony is fifteen, and was born... Nine months after Chromia died." Ironhide looked away "... Ironhide." He began.

"I was drunk, I had a lot of high grade, I was in a very fragile place." Ironhide was silent for a moment "I didn't even... Know the human's name. So I can't tell you for certain that... That it was Tony's Mother." He looked at Ratchet, optics wide and stunned "Run it against my CNA, Ratchet. I have to know." He muttered, he knew he had samples of all the Autobots.

There was utter silence for a moment, it lasted for two minutes, and that was all the answer Ironhide needed. The normally calm and collected mech nearly fell to his knees, his whole body shaking. "They say, when a spark never comes into contact with that of their sparkling... It can take a great deal of time for their sparks to recognize one-another. Sometimes... Vorns." Ironhide looked at Ratchet, who stared at him slowly "Ironhide, your CNA is a DIRECT match for the Energon in his bloodstream." He stated quietly.

Ironhide didn't know how not to feel the extreme guilt that now overwhelmed him. For the last fifteen years, he'd had a son he'd never even known about. He'd been suffering through Foster Care, he'd been abused by a man who didn't even Father him. He'd been forced to watch his Mother take her own life. And it was his fault, he'd been stupid and lonely, and drunk. And he had just left her, he'd left her before she'd even woken up. "Primus almighty." Ironhide felt as though he could have easily purged there and then "No, no... Tony cannot be mine. He's..." The timeline was right and he knew it "Oh Primus, Ratchet... I could have-" He felt his whole body nearly ready to collapse.

Ratchet caught Ironhide as he nearly fell, lifting him slightly. "There was nothing you could have done, Ironhide." Ratchet stated quietly "Even if you'd known that you'd had a child with the woman. Even if you knew Tony existed, you couldn't have dragged him into the war." Ironhide shook his head and shrugged him off "Ironhide?" He began.

"He's lived in fear of a freak under the dilusion he's his FATHER for FIFTEEN YEARS." Ironhide choked, he was seething with rage "All because I left his Mother the moment I was SOBER." He stepped forward, his body trembling "I can't loose him Ratchet. I can't loose him because of my MISTAKES." He stated slowly.

Ironhide felt the same surge of emotions he had watching Chromia be blown up. He'd felt all the fear he'd felt when watching the Seeker take off with his Daughter. Now, the son that had somehow, by some miracle found his way home to Ironhide had found himself in danger. "Ironhide..." Ratchet stated quietly "We're going to find him." He noted.

"We aren't... I am." Ironhide's optics flashed with anger "I'm going to find him. And I'm going to find Jason. And the moment I find him, he's going to regret the very moment he was EVER born." He noted in a low, harsh growl.

He refused to lose another member of his family, he really did.

...

Tony was jostled away as his binds were removed, his eyes slowly opened. Jason stood at the passengers side door, staring at him. Tony was quiet for a moment, but quickly noticed that they were at a motel. It probably could have easily doubled for the Bates Motel if it wanted to, being secluded, out of the way, and looking as though it was in desperate need of repairs. Jason stood at the door, Tony was silent, unmoving. "Well come on, you want to sleep in the car, or do you want a bed?" Tony looked at Jason, who wasn't high anymore, but definitely still insane "You should be thankful I even stopped for the morning." He grunted.

Tony noticed it was already around four in the morning, he noticed that Jason still had his gun too. Gulping quietly, Tony climbed out, noting that Jason was quick to take firm hold of his arm, and put the gun to his side. He opened the door calmly, and moved Tony into the room with as little resistance as possible. It was straight out of a horror movie, cobwebs, dust, a hole in the mattress. "We're sharing the bed, you never leave my side, if I even feel you move, I'm getting the belt." Jason noted.

He carefully removed something from a bag he'd only now noticed he'd had. He recognized the hair dye instantly, Tony gulped slightly. "What? You think I'm dumb, you probably have an AMBER ALERT out. So we're going to dye your hair... Brown." He paused a bit "You're an ugly blond anyway. Might as well." He stated flatly "But we'll do that after you sleep. Because we have a long, long journey ahead of us." He chuckled.

"Why are you doing this?" Tony shook his head slowly.

"For us, Tony. You don't want to live with that machine. What good does a robot do you?" Jason asked, peering out the window slowly "He's just using you, Tony. They always do, you're a charity project, if anything." Tony shook his head a bit "The Autobots? They have better things to do than adopt some kid they just met. That one probably looks at you the same way you looked at that puppy." He stated.

"Will you get this through your thick scull, Dad?" Tony stared at him "You're not my Dad, and you never WILL be." Tony stated, his voice loud with anger, Jason reeled back slightly "Mom told me, it was one of her last words to me. And I remember it. You aren't my Father, you have no right to me, and this, this is kidnapping." He was staring at Tony with such anger he couldn't stand it "Get a frickin'-!"

WHAM!

Tony collapsed to the ground, the fist had connected with his face, hard. The belt came next, WHAM! Tony could feel every lash he got, Jason had just about flipped when Tony had said it. They came one after the other, after the other, each harder, and quicker than the last. "You little SHIT! I raised you as my own for two damn years. Your Father? He WALKED OUT the NIGHT YOU WERE CONCEIVED." WHAM! Right against the back of the head, Tony screamed "I stayed with your slut of a Mother, even though she CHEATED."

Jason dropped the belt, yanking Tony to his feet. Tony's face was bruised, and he felt his back bleeding. Shoving Tony onto the bed, Jason stared at him with his eyes as dark and psychotic as he'd ever seen them. "Please, I'm begging you, just LET ME GO." Tony wheezed, his whole body pained by now "I just want to go home." He added.

"I AM taking you home." Jason got low, right up to Tony's face "Don't like it? Then I have a bullet with your damn name on it."

Tony finally became silent, tears streaming down his face. He curled his body into a little ball, and he heard as Jason moved to the window nearby. He gently pushed the curtains away, staring out a bit. Jason turned his head towards Tony, he shook his head. "As far as you're concerned, your Father doesn't exist. Your Mother didn't even know his name. He was simply some guy she hooked up with at her bachelorette party." Jason turned to him "You think he CARES about you? That he even KNOWS you exist?" He asked.

"M-Maybe..." Tony muttered.

"You live in a FANTASY world, Tony. The guy didn't want anything but a one-night stand." Jason looked at him, his eyes never leaving the boy "He's never coming for you, and he never would care even if he knew you existed." He snorted a bit, shaking his head "Now, GO TO SLEEP. I'm tired of this argument. And I feel bad enough having to beat the shit out of you." Tony closed his eyes slowly "I don't hear SNORING." He added.

Tony began to fake it, slowly, but the tears didn't stop coming. There was no way he couldn't be scared at this point, every second he was there, his life was in danger. He wanted Ironhide, or any other Autobot who cared about him, he'd even settle for Gears at this point. But he just wanted out of there, he wanted out of there, and as close to safety as possible.

...

A/N: To be honest, I had considered this off-and-on for a while. But I kept saying "No" to myself. But then a good way for this to happen entered my mind, and I chose to just take a chance and do it. Hopefully, it was at well-handled. :)