CHAPTER 38
Burying the Past

Mathius stopped near the edge of a large woodland area, Tony didn't understand why they'd stop there, at all. Mathius didn't even make any moves either, he looked as though he was contemplating his next move himself. Mathius sighed a bit, and turned to Tony. "Well, this isn't too easy a decision, now is it?" He mused, Tony turned to him slowly "I could kill you, slowly, painfully, or we could have some FUN." He noted.

"Why do I have a feeling I don't have a say in this?" Tony muttered.

Mathius rolled his eyes, the passengers side door flew open. "Get out, if you make a run for it, I'll shoot you down, understood?" Tony slowly climbed out of the car, Mathius was out next "Tell me Tony, if I tortured you, how long do you think it would take your Father to come for you?" He asked, taking hold of Tony's jaw roughly "Do you think your cries of pain and for mercy would make him come running?" He asked, coldly.

"You're SICK." Tony muttered.

"No, I'm insane, there's a difference." Mahtius noted as he let Tony's jaw go "But no, torturing you isn't enough. Not if he's not here to watch." Tony turned to him, noticing the thoughtful look on his face "There are so many things I could do to you Tony. So very many things." He stated, playing with his hair a bit "I couldn't before, because I knew Ironhide would recognize my handiwork." He then added "But now, the possibilities are endless." He added.

"Not a hand on me, remember?" Tony growled.

He felt a fist connect with his jaw, sending him reeling, Mathius chuckled. "Well, I suppose that isn't happening." He noted, grabbing hold of Tony's neck, he held him up against one of the many trees "Tony, Tony, Tony... Do you not get it? Ironhide is AFRAID of me. He always has been, and always will BE." He tilted his head slightly "He doesn't care what happens to you, because he knows I'm stronger, I'm faster, and I WILL kill him." He noted "I mean, Primus almighty, I am his FATHER." He added.

"That's where you're wrong, Father."

Tony's eyes shot up as Mathias turned his head. Ironhide slowly moved through the trees, his optics illuminated the area slowly. Tony watched quietly as Mathias began to transform himself, his robot mode was much bigger than that of Ironhide. Completely black, just like him, with hints of a dull green and dark grey color scheme, his optics red as blood. He looked like an animal almost, a rather ugly one at that. "You REALLY shouldn't have come, Ironhide." Mathias tilted his head slightly "You know it's suicide." He added.

"I won't let you hurt him any longer, Father. Stop picking on children, and face me." Ironhide stated, pointing towards Tony "You think hurting a fifteen year old will prove ANYTHING? It proves nothing, if you kill him, all you'll do is prove you can kick a SPARKLING down." Mathius's optics squinted into a glare "Me, I'm the one you want, I'm the Autobot second-in-command. Bragging rights for the rest of your life." He then added, very bravely "So pick on me you piece of SCRAP METAL." He snarled.

The grip around Tony's neck slowly loosened until Mathius had completely let go. Tony choked, gasping for air as Mathius's holoform disappeared from view. "Very well, Ironhide. If you care so much for the abomination you spawned. Then, I will oblige your wish for death." He brought out his large claw-like talons that acted as melee weapons "Consider it mercy, you'll be spared from watching me tear him to PIECES!" He snarled.

And with a violent, animal-like roar, Mathius charged Ironhdie, tackling him to the ground violently. Tony nearly jumped as a pair of hands rested on his shoulders, but turned to find the kind and wise face of Optimus Prime's holoform. "Optimus!" Tony noted, he hugged him tightly, he didn't know the mech well, but none-the-less was happy to see a friendly face.

"It's alright Tony, I gotcha, I gotcha." The mech gently lifted the boy into his arms "Stay quiet, I'm going to get you out of here. But I need you to conserve your energy, you're badly damaged." He noted.

Tony stole a glance back a the ensuing battle, yet let Optimus carry him away. He knew this was Ironhide's fight, and in some odd way, it had always been that way from day one. Meanwhile, Ironhide had found himself in the fight of his life from moment one. Every attack his Father gave was more violent and outright powerful than the last. One swipe nearly connected with Ironhide's shoulderplate, which he barely managed to get out of the way of danger. "You're so PATHETIC!" His Father chided, swiping him across the chest, Ironhide groaned in pain "Thirty-two vorns, and this is the best you have?" He asked, coldly.

Ironhide growled, bringing a cannon up and blasting him through the chest. Mathius flew backward, pulling himself up. "And your aim? Still SUCKS." Mathius chuckled "How did you ever think you'd killed me, eh, Ironhide? Did they ACTUALLY convince you you'd shot me in the head?" He chuckled quietly "You always WERE gullible." He mocked.

"I don't care where I shot you then, all I care about is ripping your spark out NOW."

Ironhide violently lunged forward, tackling Mathius and catching him by surprise. He felt the claws connect a moment too late, a cry of pain sounding out as he fell back. He was bleeding profusely from his chest, and in severe pain. "Pathetic." Mathius spat, he shook his head "That was too easy, Ironhide. I almost hoped for a challenge. Should have known you'd never provide me with one." He noted "You were alway the lover, the weakling. Just like your son." He then grinned "I think after I'm done here, I'm going to torture him just like I did you that night. And watch the life slowly drain from his eyes." He noted.

His psychotic rant was all Ironhide needed. Taking the largest cannon in his arsenal, he aimed upwards, and fired. Mathius had no time to react as the blast hit him DIRECTLY in the head, blowing it up from the inside out. Moving his cannon down, Ironhide fired a second shot, blasting him right in the spark, obliterating it. "Rot in the fragging PIT." He snarled.

As the lifeless corpse collapsed to the ground, Ironhide let out a low sigh of relief. He collapsed to the ground his body pained, the blow to his chest clearly having hit in JUST the right spot to do a good amount of damage. "IRONHIDE!" He heard Prowl's voice shout through the haze that clouded his vision, he lifted his head slowly "Stay with me, stay with me, Ratchet's on his way." He heard him shout.

"T-Tony." Ironhide breathed out.

"He's fine Ironhide, Optimus got him." Ironhide could feel his optics offlining "Primus Ironhide, STAY ONLINE. Don't go into stasis lock-"

The rest of Prowl's shouting was silenced as Ironhide's entire world went black.

...

Tony came to in the living room of a home, he recognized it instantly as the living room of the Lennox Home. Tony groaned quietly, his body sore, he turned his head to see Will there, holding his hand, tightly. "Oh thank God. SARAH! PROWL! He's awake!" He smiled down at Tony "Hey bud, how you feeling?" He asked.

Tony's first thought was the fact that Will had not called out Ironhide's name. Immediately he began to inwardly panic. "Uncle Will, where's Dad?" Tony muttered, his body sore and voice hoarse "Is Mathius-?" He began.

"He's gone Tony, Mathius that is. Ironhide'll be fine. Ratchet's fixing him up right now." Will noted, Tony relaxed slowly "I'd take you to see him, but he had to have surgery, he's really weak right now, you don't want to see him in that condition." Tony nodded his head slowly, and smiled a bit "You gave us all a scare there, bud. You took some heavy damage yourself." He added.

"What can I say, I'm strong like my Dad." Tony muttered, his mind strayed as he thought of that recent revelation "Did he...?"

Will nodded his head, having already been told about Tony's unusual connection to Ironhide. Will took a deep breath, even knowing that he'd obviously been terrified when Tony had been brought on with so much damage. Luckily, Ratchet had called his charge, or he knew they might have lost him from all the then-untreated damage he'd taken. "Just relax, Tony, you're weak, and you need to rest." Tony nodded his head at Will's words "I still don't get what happened.. How was he ALIVE?" He asked quietly.

"I think that's a story that's best explained by Prowl and Ironhide, when you and Ironhide feel better." Will replied, Tony nodded his head slowly "After all, I think you deserve an explanation for the last fifteen years of hell you went through." He added.

"Tell me about it." Tony muttered.

Will slowly pulled the blanket tighter over his Godson gently. He knew that the boy needed to recover, but was none-the-less glad to see that he was okay. Tony was equally glad that the entire thing was over, Mathius was dead, and they would be okay, all of them. For the first time in a long time, he found himself falling into a deep slumber. And for the first time, it was the most peaceful slumber he'd ever experienced since the day he was born. He simply let his body relax, and his mind stray, life would be easier now he told himself.

Or harder, but whichever way he looked at it, he felt every ounce of stress he'd felt until that day lift off of him. The only thing left now was to find out the truth, and that was something he more than wanted to hear.

...

A/N: Next chapter, we'll get a full explanation from Prowl on what happened with Ironhide's Father that night. As well as the full story of Ironhide and Ben's Mother. Hopefully, that will help to clear up any confusion that may be left over. :)