TITLE: Code 5
Iron Man (movie)/Transformers (movie)
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are...
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okamimyrrhibis
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When Tony had started his second career as Iron Man, Pepper had worked through the shock, the fear and the annoyance – she saw it as another one of his weird ideas – and had ended up giving Jarvis the explicit request to contact her in case Tony needed her. She had reworded that request into something more specific when she had found out that Tony tended to cover up his injuries. Cuts, scrapes and bruises usually fell under Tony's 'nothing serious, really, don't look at me like that, I said I'm fine' excuse. Bullet wounds and broken bones were simply not mentioned. The man kept going despite exhaustion, nightmares, pain and agony. Pepper had known Stark to have a poker face, to hide who he was from the camera lenses and the microphones and the countless dates. She had never known just how much he was able to hide and how little he thought of his own health. Alcohol abuse aside, Tony Stark had never been the martyr type who would hide a broken bone and play it like there wasn't a single thing wrong with him.
Pepper had learned to adjust to the new Tony, the man who hid a lot. A whole lot. But whatever he hid, Jarvis would know. The AI was programmed to take care of his master. Jarvis would scan Tony's body, record his vital signs, and he would alert Pepper should something drastically change. She had come up with a few codes that would enable her to judge the situation when Jarvis sent her a text message on her Blueberry.
This time it was Code 5. It meant 'serious, but not immediately life-threatening'. A small addition by Jarvis informed her that while Tony was bleeding and had a broken bone, he was at least conscious.
She dialed.
"Hot Rod?" she spoke into the cell. "How is he?"
"Argumentative," came the answer. "But he's no longer trying to move."
The addition of the Autobot to the group of Tony's caretakers had been a blessing. Hot Rod provided the same calm sense Jarvis did, but unlike Jarvis he could argue and squabble with Tony as Pepper did. Hot Rod hadn't been programmed by Tony, he was not even of this planet, and he knew how to handle a man like Stark.
"Jarvis said it's a Code 5."
"He broke his wrist, he has a concussion, is probably bruised all over, and he's still fighting us. All in all I'd say it could be worse."
Hot Rod's voice was reassuring, warm and caring. She had heard him argue with Tony, raise his voice, snark and snap at her boss, and she had listened to him calmly explain something or other Tony was looking at, a schematic of something Cybertronian, never losing his cool. Pepper had actually asked to know more about their new ally and she had gotten a very brief and rather cut down version of Hot Rod's file. He was younger than the rest of the bunch she had already gotten to know, he had been rather impulsive as a younger mech, he was temperamental, he loved speed racing – which was something he shared with Tony – but he had grown. Like Tony. Now he was always there, a little bit like Jarvis was, and he was keeping an eye on Stark.
He did it well, too.
Pepper sighed. "Yes, probably," she now said. "I'll be there ASAP."
"Tony won't go anywhere, don't worry."
She grabbed her things and immediately left the office. She walked briskly to her car and was on her way not five minutes later.
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Pepper had always been a bit squeamish around blood, but that had changed – out of necessity – when Tony had taken up being a superhero. She had cleaned several cuts in the past, mopped up more than one puddle on the floor, and she had helped her boss into bed three times in the past six months.
This time Tony sat propped up against the Audi, of all cars. Hot Rod had moved from his usual parking spot, probably to assist his friend, and the golden-metal armor contrasted sharply with the silver finish. The helmet lay next to him. His hair was sweat-slicked, standing up in every direction, and his eyes reflected the pain he was in.
"Hey there, Pepper," he whispered roughly as she walked over to him.
"I don't want to know," she told him firmly and knelt down. "Can you get out of the suit?"
He smiled weakly. "Always wanted to see me naked, huh?"
"Yes. I lose sleep at night thinking of you naked," she replied, working on a few latches. "Jarvis? Can you get Mr. Stark out of this contraption?"
"Of course," the AI replied calmly.
"Armor," Tony protest. "It's armor. And I knew it!" he added, grinning a bit lop-sidedly. "You got something going for me."
Pepper snorted. "The only thing I've got going for you, Mr. Stark, are nerves of steel and the patience of a saint."
"And you want to see me naked."
"I already have. Multiple times."
He grinned more.
Arms descended from the ceiling and started to almost gently remove clasps and screws. Tony winced more than once and he groaned as the left gauntlet was pulled off. Pepper saw why as she got an unencumbered look at the wrist: it was already swollen.
"Jarvis? Vitals, please."
A screen lit up with the image of a human body and several 'hot spots' flared up. One was the wrist. Broken. Great.
"Call Colonel Rhodes, please. We need a doctor."
"Cancel that, Jarvis. We don't!" Tony protested firmly.
"Mr. Stark is in no condition to issue orders, Jarvis. Please proceed."
Tony pushed himself up further, visibly fighting the pain. "Jarvis! Ms. Potts has no authority to cancel my orders! I don't need a doctor!"
"My scans indicate that your wrist is broken and you are suffering from a concussion, sir. According to my medical data it warrants a doctor."
"I'm fine!"
"And if you cripple yourself because you're stubborn, you idiot? What then?" Pepper snapped, feeling her anger rise. "You can quit being the hero!"
"I'm a superhero!"
"And an idiot."
"Hey!"
"You're also hurt," Pepper added flatly, staring at him hard.
"Anger becomes you, Pepper." Tony smiled.
"It won't become you. Let someone check you, okay? Jarvis can get you out of the armor, I'll drive you to a doctor, you get a nice cast…"
"I said I'm fine."
Pepper was oh so close to just leaving him there until he either keeled over in a dead faint, accepted help, or just crawled off by himself. In the end she knew she wouldn't be able to do it.
Tony finally sighed. "I'm not going to get rid of you, right?"
"No."
"Not even with a raise?"
"You can't pay me enough to compensate for all that has happened in the past two years, Mr. Stark," she said formally.
"I could try."
"You'd fail. And stop trying to distract me. It's not working."
Even bruised and battered Tony managed to pout handsomely. Pepper shook her head in exasperation.
"Hot Rod?" she asked.
"Yes, Pepper?" the Autobot spoke up for the first time.
"Contact Colonel Rhodes, please? Tell him what happened and that we need the usual."
"Shall I advise him to come with back-up?" Jarvis asked, his British tone full of sarcasm.
Pepper looked at the mess her boss was. "No, I think we can handle it. We still have Hot Rod, just in case."
"Hey, no fair!" Tony interrupted.
"All's fair," she replied calmly. "You can order Jarvis around, but not Hot Rod."
Tony frowned, but he was leaning back against the R8 again and all fight seemed to have left him. He appeared decidedly exhausted. Pepper didn't know if he had caught any sleep at all before his latest brush with whatever it was and had been. Probably not.
"Colonel Rhodes' cell jumped to voice mail," Hot Rod said. "I informed Captain Bowman of our needs and he's dispatching someone connected to Project."
"Good."
Tony was still frowning, but he didn't argue any more. Pepper sighed and pushed the armor parts out of the way to make room for her help.
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It didn't take long and wherever help had come from, he hadn't been based at Nellis. Or he had had a fast flight here.
"Dr. Mark Keyron," the man introduced himself. "I was in LA at a conference," he added, smiling.
"That explains the speed."
Pepper led him down into the workshop where Jarvis had by now removed all pieces of the armor. It was in a rather orderly pile not far from the servicing station. What shocked Pepper for a second was the fact that Hot Rod was now in his robot form, half kneeling over Tony, arguing quietly with the man.
He was… big. Of course he was big. They all were. But seeing him in the confined space of the workshop – which was rather spacious – Hot Rod appeared really huge to her. Unlike the images of the Decepticons she had seen, Hot Rod didn't look outright threatening; just alien.
"No," she could hear the mech say, and it sounded like the umpteenth repetition, slight annoyance mixing into the even timbre. "You're not fine."
"I've had worse!" Tony snapped.
Like shrapnel in his chest that had led to Yinsen implanting some crude device into his chest. Or his heart stopping twice before, once because of Obadiah. Nearly getting blown apart in his armor the very first time he had gone out on his revenge trip.
The list went on.
Yes, Tony Stark had had worse, but it had never been up to Pepper to patch him back together right from the start.
"Maybe," she only said.
"I survived."
"Barely."
"Roddy, if you don't let me up right now…"
"You'll sic Jarvis on me?" came the amused question. Hot Rod suddenly turned his head, blue optics scanning over Pepper and the doctor. "Hello, Dr. Keyron."
"We haven't met, have we?" Keyron asked, slightly confused.
Hot Rod smiled. "No, but Ratchet forwarded me all important files. I'm Hot Rod."
"Nice to meet you. So, this is my patient?"
Tony was keeping himself upright by leaning very heavily against one of the work benches. He was slightly more pale than when Pepper had last seen him and his eyes appeared glassy.
"He is," she confirmed.
Keyron smiled, nodded, then set to work by first pushing Tony to sit down again. And watching him handle Tony, Pepper had the impression he had had his experience with renitent patients. By the way Hot Rod kept hovering it was clear the Autobot expected more fighting to come. Pepper's eyes strayed to the tall form.
Hot Rod's optics met her gaze and she almost blushed. He smiled knowingly, then his attention was back on Tony, who was bitching and groaning and arguing to no avail.
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By the end of the day Tony featured a new cast on his left wrist, bandaged ribs, and the stern advice to take it easy. Pepper knew that the latter was close to impossible to achieve and shy of tying the man down – which he would enjoy way too much – there wasn't the remotest chance of having Tony take it easy.
The choice of tying him down was taken from Pepper since Tony started to doze off the moment she and Keyron had man-handled their patient upstairs. Keyron had handed her a bottle of pain medication, his phone number, and told her that things would be fine. She now studied the pale features, noting every little line of pain. Keyron had mentioned that Tony would be in pain for the next few days due to his ribs and the wrist, but she also knew that he would try to ignore it, work through it. He rarely showed his pain to the public, which sometimes included her.
She sighed softly.
The press wouldn't know about what had happened. They had stopped haunting him after a while because nothing was as boring as yesterday's news. Iron Man had disappeared out of the headlines, but not out of the minds of people. Stunts like the one Tony had once again pulled would only bring back the spotlight. It was in Pepper's interest to keep that from happening.
She silently closed the door and walked to the kitchen to get herself coffee. She would need it.
fin