It was like looking through a million windows, seeing a million places, and within that split-second between terror and awe he realized that they had found the trigger.

The world slammed back into place as he was hurled through one of the cracks and he was no longer at Point Dume. He wasn't even on Earth any more.

Rodimus looked around, his mind trying to fit what he saw with what he last remembered of a world that might be lost forever. Everywhere blast marks ruined the smooth metal surface and half-destroyed buildings and blackened skeletal fingers rose up into the night. In the distance he thought he heard an explosion.

Cybertron.

He was… on Cybertron?

But… but…

He reached out and touched the building nearest to him. The sensation he got was weird. Like it was covered in something silky and alien to his sensors.

As if it wasn't real.

Looking around, Rodimus saw the very familiar red-and-gold figure of Iron Man.

Just standing there.

Eye slits glowing so brightly, it was disconcerting.

"Tony?"

No reaction.

::Tony?::

A tremor ran through the figure and now Rodimus discovered that the arc reactor was flickering.

Not good. So not good!

Light exploded out of the arc reactor, encompassing the armored figure. Lightning crackled over the gleaming read and golden exterior. Energy that was off the chart accumulated around Iron Man, forming a bubble.

The lightning hissed and sparked, then erupted off the armor, stabbing into the sky.

Around them, the world blurred.

"Tony!" Rodimus yelled and reached for his friend.

Something stabbed sharply into his own spark and he faltered.

Tony collapsed.

Rodimus caught him quickly, just before his spark stuttered and he groaned softly.

The world cracked again and this time he saw the cracks, running all around them.

::Cool, huh?:: came Tony's weak voice.

"This is you?" the mech managed.

::Kinda. With you. What a fucked up world::

Roddy felt a distant tug. From one second to another he was overwhelmed with the power drain that started without a warning. His awareness faded quickly and he fought against the blackness threatening to swallow him.

And then Cybertron was gone and the world coalesced into something more organic, still familiar, still known.

Wind howled around them and Rodimus held the limp figure of Tony stark close, his own systems trembling badly. Whatever Stark had done, it had drained them both and his spark felt raw. Systems were threatening to shut down and Rodimus hunched over, trying to protect his unconscious friend from the elements around them. The winds were strong, blasting sand and debris at them. The mech was unable to transform, mostly because he couldn't get Tony into the cab of his car form with the armor still on. But also because couldn't risk losing more precious energy on needless things.

So he waited, slowly shutting down non-essential systems, hoping that the weather would clear up soon.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

When Tony came to it was to the sound of howling and irregular bangs against metal. Faint, muffled bangs. The howling wasn't faint, though. It was loud.

He took stock.

He was inside the armor. Check.

The systems were down. Check.

The arc reactor was functional, but low on power. Check.

Extremis was strained and recovering, but not down. Curious.

Using the hybrid addition to his body he powered up the Iron Man suit and the HUD was like the best thing he had ever seen. With some difficulty Extremis linked him into the next best satellite and he determined that he was in Australia, of all places. Actually quite close to the Autobot base.

Huh.

How had that happened?

Memories were sketchy, despite recall from Extremis, and most of it made not much sense. It was actually uncomfortable to use the nanites right now. Whatever had them so depleted and limp, it had been a lot!

Cracks.

He blinked.

Cracks?

Extremis replayed the moment again and again. Safety measures had dropped and suddenly there had been fine lines around him. Not many, but some. One had been the strongest and without really thinking about it, Tony had reached out and stepped through.

Hot damn! Cracks! He had finally seen the cracks in the fabric of the universe, the portals, and he had used them!

Sitting up abruptly, Tony banged his head against something unyielding and metallic, groaning as his head took the collision unkindly.

::Stay down:: Rodimus whispered in his head.

Okay, that sounded… bad. Weak. Depleted. Bad shape.

::Roddy?::

::Tony:: was all the mech said.

Worried, Stark ran a scan of the immediate vicinity and he cursed softly. They weren't just in the middle of nowhere, in a sand storm. Rodimus sat hunched over Iron Man, almost all systems down, his spark in a fully protected state. Defenseless.

::Hardly:: came the whispered reply.

Liar, Tony thought. Extremis had linked them again and he knew how badly depleted his friend was. He wasn't in such a good state either. The armor's systems had taken quite a hit overload wise. The HUD, while functional, was below par, and Extremis was getting very uncomfortable to use. He had to switch it off in the near future, give himself time to recover as well.

::Power down:: Rodimus murmured. ::Storm's bad::

Yeah. It was. The sky was red from sand and dust. The satellite Tony had logged into showed him a brown smudge where they currently were. Nothing and no one but them were here. All fauna had hunkered down and the human population had been warned about this. The Autobot base was locked down.

They were on their own.

In Australia.

When he had been in California a mere minute ago?

::Portal:: Rodimus could be heard.

::Shush::

It got him a wave of tired amusement.

Tony settled into the secure cocoon made up of metal fingers and tried to make sense of the events. He had triggered… his abilities? Right? He had gated or ported or whatever. He had bridged space. He had taken a huge step, been on Cybertron for a few seconds, and then… pain. He had felt like something had torn him apart and only the familiar pulse of Rodimus Prime's spark had given him an anchor to hold on to.

He had triggered. Hot damn, he had triggered!

::Idea how?:: Rodimus asked.

::None::

Well, maybe. Just before everything had turned upside down he had reached for the most powerful source of energy next to his arc reactor. A source of power Extremis had provided a direct conduit to.

::Your spark::

::Noticed::

Tony muttered a curse. ::Didn't want that. I have no idea why… or how…::

::Extremis::

Rodimus sounded really exhausted and Tony wished he would just go into recharge, but he understood his guardian's tenaciousness. They had no idea what was out there in the storm with them. Tony wasn't defenseless, but he wouldn't be able to protect Rodimus if the mech was a lump of metal.

::Maybe. Well, yeah, most likely. Extremis and whatever weirdness there is that's called an ability.::

Tony couldn't see through the fingers closed around him, but he could hear the wind. The storm. It was a whopper, all right.

::If my ability means I have to drain you each time, the ancient Primes can go and take a hike:: he grumbled.

::Accident::

::Accident my ass!::

Soft amusement touched him. Tony calmed down and felt around the link to his fellow Prime, trying to assess the damage he had done. It didn't look or feel bad. He had simply taken a lot and Rodimus needed to replenish it. That would take time.

::Distance:: the mech told him.

::You mean because I ended up on Cybertron? Well, we both did. Looks like the first step I take is always a big one.:: He smiled darkly. Part of him was terrified by it. Another part, the scientist, wanted to know how exactly he had managed that. ::And now we're in Australia. How could I even end up on your planet if I've never been there?::

There was no answer. Rodimus didn't have the energy for it.

::Yeah, okay, I'll accept that maybe, because I've seen your world before, we ported there.::

He would have to puzzle about this when he was back home. Sure, he had had enough time to browse the libraries, see images of the alien world, but to imagine himself there through a portal? Just like that? And it wasn't like they had really been there either. A step further than the last time when he and Will had merely gazed through a window. This time there had been physical contact for a few seconds.

Something banged against Rodimus' armor and Tony did a quick remote check.

::Fine:. Rodimus reassured him, still struggling with words. ::Had worse::

Tony had to take his word for it. He felt the other mind slip deeper, away from awareness, and he gave his friend a nudge into that direction.

::Rest:: he told him. ::No danger::

Rodimus murmured something in Cybertronian, then he was suddenly off-line. Tony smiled and let himself drift off as well, but he wasn't sleeping. His mind raced through the Extremis-enhanced memories.

He had triggered.

He had used Rodimus' own energy for it.

He needed to find out how he had done it, how to prevent it from happening again. And he had to try again – without Roddy this time.

tbc...