When the alert came in, Hot Rod was in the middle of recharge. His systems went online without hesitation, interrupting the recharge process, and he immediately downloaded all available data.

"Oh hell," he whispered as the implications of it all settled in his processor.

Tony wasn't at his home. He was somewhere in New York on a business matter that he had told Hot Rod was boring and would probably kill his brain enough to affect his genius. The New York branch of Stark Industries was in the middle of negotiating a contract for advanced computer systems and they had already scored a victory over one competitor, but now it was down to a one on one fight, and Tony had to make a personal appearance.

Hot Rod went through his options, but there weren't many. His job was to guard Tony Stark and with a possible Decepticon threat looming over them, Tony's safety had to be assured. He was a valuable ally and the Extremis made him an asset that the Decepticons would go after.

::Jarvis?::

::Yes?:: the artificial intelligence replied immediately.

::Lock down the house. Full safety protocols:: Hot Rod ordered as he drove out of the underground workshop/garage.

::Is there a threat?:: Jarvis asked as he complied, making the Malibu house more of a fortress than a simple billionaire's fancy.

::Yes.:: He downloaded what he had into the AI and Jarvis seemed to rock back slightly. ::I'll hitch a ride to New York:: the Autobot went on, simultaneously contacting Captain Michael Bowman of Nellis Airforce base.

::You think Mr. Stark is in danger?::

::I'm not sure, but better safe than sorry::

Jarvis radiated worry without voicing it. Hot Rod had come to know the AI and he knew that the computer had developed a lot further and more quickly than anyone could ever have thought. Jarvis had emotions not unlike a human being, though he was new to the emotional responses and sometimes confused himself with what his reactions were to certain events. He loved his creator, was protective, served him without question, and he was loyal to his last blip.

::I'll keep you updated:: the Autobot promised.

::Thank you:: was the sincere reply.

With that Hot Rod accelerated and headed for the Nevada base.

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The Search and Rescue helicopter with its patient was expected at Nellis. A team of medical personnel received the injured man and hurried him off to the emergency facilities.

Now they were getting ready to treat their patient. Five people swarmed over the lieutenant, getting him stabilized, by inserting tubes, checking vitals and attaching electrical leads. Dr. Mark Keyron was impatiently waiting for the x-rays while Captain James Hiro, orthopedic specialist, had a look at the other scans and results. He would handle the leg surgery while Keyron took care of the inner bleeding. The anesthetist was currently watching DeMarco and finally nodded at Hiro that everything was stable. As if on that cue, the x-rays were brought in. Both medics looked at them and Hiro nodded.

"Compound fracture," he said. "And that's the easy part."

Keyron stepped closer and regarded the x-ray critically. The leg had been broken in four places, five ribs had equally broken, two more were cracked. There was internal bleeding and one of the ribs had punctured a lung. A broken bone could be fixed, but there was always the muscle and nerve damage.

Hiro turned to their patient. "Innervation and arterial supply look good. What we're going to do is to stabilize the bone, remove the fragments and deal with the soft tissue as need be. I think we'll find a lot of crush damage to muscle bellies, but the vessels and nerves look intact."

Keyron agreed and then stepped to the table. His own work was just as extensive and he hoped they wouldn't have any bad surprises waiting for them.

It was time to begin.

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Sam arrived at Nellis several hours after the helicopter with Trent aboard had landed. Bumblebee and him had been in Tranquility, visiting Sam's parents, when Bumblebee had received the news about the attack, about Arcee being missing, and Trent badly injured. They had been off within ten minutes after the call had come in, breaking all speed limits and a few more traffic laws, to get to Nellis.

Ratchet was there, as well as some guys from the unit. They were milling around, looking fierce and angry and a little scared. Whatever had attacked Trent and Arcee, it had to be a Decepticon. And a Con on Earth meant a new-arrival.

"Anything?" Sam asked when he had found Captain Michael Bowman.

Their liaison officer shook his head. "No. He's in surgery and they had to stabilize him for an hour to get even started. Looks serious."

WiFi, perched on Bowman's shoulder, chirped softly. The tiny red optics glowed dully and he looked a little scared himself. Sam gave the Nokia a weak smile. He could feel the worry and fear and he tried to ignore it.

They were all scared, as well as shocked. If a Decepticon had landed on Earth and had attacked Arcee, where was she? She was a troubleshooter, not a maintenance bot. She knew how to handle herself; she was very good, she was deadly, but she had been forced to leave a badly injured Trent in the desert.

Sam got himself a coffee and joined the waiting men. He knew it might take a while. A call to his parents passed half an hour. He informed them of what had happened, calmed them, promised he would call again as soon as there was anything on Trent, and hung up. Throwing away the empty Styrofoam cup he walked over to where Bumblebee was standing.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"As okay as we all are. There is nothing on the attacker and Barricade is following the trail he found. He's a shock trooper. He'll find even the smallest trace."

"Jazz there, too?"

"Yes."

Sam was quiet, gazing out over the base where dawn was approaching. Ratchet had left to return to the Autobot base where Optimus Prime was preparing for their own search. They had informed Hot Rod of a possible Decepticon landing. He would keep an extra optic on Tony.

"Will felt two extra sparks," Sam finally said, reminding them of the strange dream-like vision of their friend.

"We now know that one is a Decepticon," Bumblebee agreed.

"Just what we needed."

Silence ensconced them. Sam leaned against the wall, watching the sun rise, thoughts drifting. He had known that it was possible, that more Decepticons might come. He had hoped they wouldn't. He had prayed that with the death of Megatron, things would be quiet. If the Decepticons came, the presence of the Autobots among them would no longer be a secret. They would have to openly confront the enemy and show themselves to the humans.

::We'll be fine:: Bumblebee told him.

::Yeah:: he murmured.

Fingers crossed.

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Hot Rod's arrival at the airbase was undercover as always. Bowman was at the side entrance where only the Autobots and their allies came and left, and he nodded at the Audi as the mech transformed.

"Your flight's almost ready. I'd fly you myself, but I'm needed here."

"No problem. I talked to Tony and he knows what happened."

Worried blue optics glanced at the busy movement of men and machinery around them. No one was gawking at him. Everyone here knew of the Autobots.

"Anything on the attacker?"

"No news so far. Trent's still in surgery."

Hot Rod nodded grimly and walked toward where the transport plane was still in the middle of flight preparations.

"Fifteen more minutes," Bowman told him.

Hot Rod was prepared to wait. The flight would be a lot fast than driving, which might take days.

Twenty-five minutes later a silver R8 was loaded into the cargo hold of the transporter which then took off. Destination: New York.

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Tony Stark had been in the middle of a boring PowerPoint presentation that threatened to send him into a coma when a brief message on his cell phone informed him that Hot Rod was on his way to New York. Pulled out of his stupor from too much data and not enough common sense to compress the presentation facts to the really important stuff, he wondered what was going on. Using Extremis he found a secure frequency.

::Hey, Roddy. Bored of the surf and in for the filth that is New York?:: he joked while pretending to be the interested party that he wasn't, in a meeting that was as superfluous as the common cold.

::I wish. Lieutenant DeMarco was attacked and seriously injured by an unknown third party, possibly Decepticon. Arcee has vanished without a trace.::

Tony felt himself tense immediately, though in the outside he didn't show a single reaction.

::When?::

Hot Rod relayed time and place to him, adding that no one knew if Trent would make it. And if he did, no one could foretell his chances of healing completely.

::So you're doing your babysitter thing?::

::Guardian, Tony. And yes, that's it. We don't know what happened and you're..::

::Important? An asset?::

Hot Rod sent a tight smile. ::Yes. And my friend. I'll be at the airport in twenty more minutes. According to your schedule you'll be in this meeting for two more hours::

::Don't remind me. I'm already comatose::

::Pepper and Happy have been informed, too:: Hot Rod went on. ::You'll be at your mansion for the rest of your stay, not the hotel::

::But I like that hotel! It has the best steaks and home fries in the whole of the country::

Hot Rod chuckled. ::Tough luck::

::Yeah, right. Okay, the mansion it is. Any idea just who we're dealing with?::

::No. And you're not dealing with anyone:: the Autobot told him firmly.

::Aside from mind-numbing presentations and suck-up assistants:: Tony replied. ::I think I'm going to have a brain aneurysm::

Hot Rod sent amusement. ::I'll be waiting for you when you're done.::

With that he signed off and Tony was left with the option to die a premature brain death in this meeting or entertain himself with wading through the data streams running through his head. In the end he logged himself into the military channels, kept a close eye on the rescue operation, the search for the unknown attacker, and he had a direct line into the Nellis mainframe to have an immediate update should something go wrong with DeMarco. All the while he maintained an interest, superficial as it was, in the meeting, smiled, shook hands, and wondered if they really needed this contract so badly. If the presentations were that bad already, how exciting would working together become?

The minute they were, Tony gave all a bland, neutral smile, nodded, shook hands, warded off attempts for a dinner invitation, and quickly left the building.

Hot Rod was already there, waiting.

tbc...