::Tony?:: he asked, scanning.
::I'm fine. Better than you. You need energon, my friend::
::I'll be okay. We're not far from base:: Rodimus did sound a lot more alert, but he was far from okay.
Tony knocked against one silver finger. ::Let me up? And out?::
The finger cocoon opened and he slipped out, catching himself as his legs buckled a little. A steadying hand bigger than himself helped him.
Sand was all around him. Everything was colored in orange and brown and light red. The sky, the horizon, the ground. The air was still moving restlessly and small dust clouds were raised across the desert.
"Whoa," Tony muttered.
Rodimus got to his feet, shedding sand, scanning over the desert. His normally bright and deep silver coloring was nothing but smudged browns and streaks of red. Tony didn't want to know how much sand had to be inside the armor plating.
::A lot:: Rodimus commented.
He glared at him through the mask. But he didn't cut the uplink. Right now it was important to monitor his friend. Tony was responsible for Roddy's condition; it had been his fault.
Blue optics, strangely bright in the worn looking, sand and dust covered features, regarded him steadily.
"Anything?" Tony asked, looking around himself to get them off this topic.
"No."
They were alone. Tony caught the impression of sand clogging systems and itching along nodes that needed to be cleaned. It was nothing major and could be accomplished quickly, but it was bothersome.
"You're doing this on purpose," he grumbled, feeling a sympathetic itch himself.
"Doing what?" Rodimus asked innocently.
Stark muttered something very censored and uncomplimentary that had the other Prime chuckle. The mech transformed and opened a door.
"Let's drive to the base. We'll handle the next step there."
Tony sent the armor into subspace and climbed into the sports car. They drove off slower than usual, heading for the only place of civilization within several hundred miles of desert. Rodimus was already contacting the base commander, Cary Monash.
Stark used Extremis to call home, getting an earful from Pepper about disappearing just like that. His apologies and explanation about a portal opening were met with some rather unprintable exclamations from his personal assistant.
"I guess flowers won't appease her this time," he sighed when she was done and had hung up on him. "A trip to the Manolo online store might do the trick. At least she won't lop my head off at first sight."
"I believe she mentioned London or Milan once," Rodimus told him as they bounced over the hard desert floor, kicking up sand in a big cloud.
Tony's eyes narrowed. "Milan fashion week?"
"She would deserve it."
He rolled his eyes.
"You know she would."
Of course Pepper deserved everything because she put up with a boss like him, despite her own life happening around her. And Tony would take her. As a surprise. Maybe to London.
"Milan," Rodimus insisted.
"Aren't you pushy," he grumbled. "And where do you want me to take you? The Geneva car show?"
"Now that you mention it…"
"In your dreams, Roddy."
"I would deserve it."
"You would be bored out of your mind. How about you'll get the all expenses car wash of your dreams?"
"You're cheap sometimes."
"Cheap? I'm cheap? I paid for your sorry carcass back when you first limped into my garage!" Tony exploded. "You lived in car luxury! You got a wash and wax every week, your body works were first rate. And do I have to remind you that you still leech off my energy bill."
"Suck it up, Stark."
A particular deep pot hole had Tony yelp. "If I end up shorter than before, it's your fault."
"Like I said, suck it up. This is your fault anyway."
"How is it my fault that you insist on sticking around while I experiment with porting? You could leave any time you want, mister." Tony glared at the dash.
"And have you end up who knows where without support?"
"I can very well take care of my own!"
Another bounce had Tony's head collide with the roof.
"You're doing this on purpose!" he accused, rubbing his head.
"It's a desert, Tony, not a highway."
Whatever Stark was about to retort, the arrival of a Scout helicopter had him stop and crane his neck to peer out the windscreen.
"Oh, company. Looks like we've been found."
Rodimus chuckled. "Hard not to find us. I've been pinging the base nonstop. They're asking if we're okay and how we got here."
"Yes, we are. And no idea," Tony answered, waving at the Scout. "I want coffee. And a sandwich. Not picky. Food of any kind would be nice."
And a bed. Coffee, a bed, food. More coffee.
Staying in contact with the Scout helicopter they headed for the base.
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The news about Tony and Roddy's Cybertron Adventure quickly made rounds and Tony found himself answering a million questions from Optimus, demanding to know how, when, where and why. He had had a flight from Australia base to Nevada base to catch some rest, but after that it was a non-stop interview session. Coupled with Pepper's worried demands to know how he was, if he was all right, where the heck he had been and when he was coming home.
Right now he had to deal with Prime business first. SI had to wait. He had a board of directors for that. And Pepper.
Tony tried to recall all details, even the tiniest, and Rodimus helped out with his own recollections. It wasn't much and Extremis had informed him that they had spent 3.2 seconds in the other place, not a nano-second longer. It had felt like ages, though.
Cybertron was still trapped in the reality bubble as far as anyone knew, and it was lost in space. Search parties had been unable to pick up a single trace of the metal planet.
Now Tony had been there.
At least for a few seconds before he had been violently thrown back to Earth. Because that was what had happened. He had run into the reality bubble and it hadn't allowed the breach. He had bounced back after a short delay.
"I can't even be sure I was really there," Tony told the senior Prime. "We know Cybertron is inside this reality bubble. Maybe it was a shadow, an afterimage."
They were in private, just him and Optimus and Roddy. Three Primes, no outsiders. Tony felt still tired from whatever he had done and wherever he had been. From the looks he received from both mechs, he looked even worse than he felt. He had had enough coffee for a week. The mountain of sandwiches he had eaten hadn't been too bad, but he was still hungry.
::If you're good, you can have chocolate::
Tony shot his guardian a narrow-eyed glare. ::You have chocolate?::
Roddy chuckled. ::With Sam around, we all learn to keep some on us.::
"Or maybe you were there," Optimus said, interrupting their silent conversation.
"For all the good it did any of us."
The ancient optics regarded him solemnly. "If you really made it there is hope, Tony."
"If, Optimus."
The tall mech nodded slowly, accepting the cautious remark. "I'd advise not to try jumping to Cybertron again, though."
"Not happening. Trust me. The experience was enough for now. And I've a babysitter to think about, too." He winked.
Optimus chuckled softly. "There's that."
But Tony could feel the hope coming off the ancient mech. Hope to see his home again one day, hope that Cybertron had survived. He couldn't give anyone true certainty because not even Extremis could tell him if he had really been there or not. It might have been an afterimage. Or he had bounced off the reality bubble.
Whatever.
After Optimus was done questioning him he was back in Ratchet's clutches, who had already scanned the human Prime upside down and inside out. Rodimus hadn't fared any better. His systems had been checked and rechecked, but aside from the power drain there was nothing wrong with him. Ratchet also couldn't detect any foreign particles on his exo-shell.
Had they been on Cybertron? If yes, why no foreign particles? Why no energy signatures left behind on Roddy's systems?
Hook had joined in and they went over the data once more, asked Tony to run them through the first steps of his successful porting again and again, and in the end Ratchet had him attach sensors to various armor parts to keep an optic on readings.
Tony was close to running after two hours of nonstop experiments on his person.
After five hours he had struck out and given the mechs a piece of his mind.
He became involved after that, no longer a lab rat or guinea pig.
After twelve hours the main lab looked like a bomb had struck and Tony Stark was in the middle of the research onto space bridge portals. He had only gone along because he had to - he needed to - know what had happened. Now he had taken over. There were holographic displays of complicated mathematical equations everywhere. Some were of Cybertronian origin. Others looked hybrid. Hook's own research was running parallel to what Tony had already filed away, and there were more schematics on every available screen or flat surface.
The need for sleep interrupted his work, but Tony cut that down to a minimum, and Hook knew better than to point out that the human brain could only function efficiently for so long. This was Tony Stark and he was a very special human; not unlike Sam Witwicky. You couldn't stop them. You couldn't stop their minds, Tony's genius, his brilliance.
tbc...