::It's not forever, Tony:: Roddy said, voice strong and calm in his mind.

::Shouldn't you be somewhere in Nevada?:: he asked, not even turning around as the silver sports car almost noiselessly rolled into the garage.

::Optimus and I finished up what we had to do. I believe my presence here is more important and needed::

Now Tony did look over. ::You sound like the hero of a bad romance novel. I don't need a hero, Roddy. I don't need a baby-sitter.::

::Just a friend::

Tony sighed. Right now, yes, he did.

"We'll find a solution," Roddy said out loud.

"There is no solution!" Tony spat. "This is permanent!"

The R8 rolled closer. "Tony?"

He blew out a breath. Right. Rodimus hadn't been there; the Primes had revealed this interesting little tidbit to him and him alone.

"We weren't alone while we…" he grimaced, "…shared this new bond."

Rodimus was silent.

"When you off-lined I was suddenly somewhere else. I had the dubious pleasure of talking to one of those dead, meddling sparks of your ancient Primes."

Roddy transformed abruptly, optics flaring. "What?" he blurted, startled.

Tony grimaced again. "Yeah. One of them deigned me worthy of his time and attention. Looks like Lennox might have pissed them off and they now turn to others to nag."

"Tony, what did you hear?" Roddy demanded, leaning forward.

He blew out a breath. "You're not going to like it. I didn't."

"Tony…"

"Apparently we are… connected."

It got him a questioning whir. "We knew that."

"Not the connection you were talking about. You're more than my anchor." He held up a hand. "And before you go on about sharing, that's not it. All completely non-sexual, okay?"

The mech smiled briefly. "I'm very much aware of that."

"Good." Tony ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "Good. The thing is…" He hesitated. "The thing is, they told me it's an infinite loop. Not just a connection that goes back and forth. It's circular." He made a vague gesture. "You pull energy from me, I from you."

"I never pulled any form of energy from you!" Roddy protested.

"No. And it's more like a rubber band effect. You can strain my arc reactor to the max and I can do the same with your spark, and as long as there's one of us, the other will always… recharge."

Silence descended and Tony almost heard the other Prime's mind running with the explanation.

"Tony…"

"Our lives are connected," Stark said, looking up into the concerned and rather startled face of his friend and guardian. "Our lives, Roddy! You're anchoring more than my jumps!"

"And you anchor me?"

He nodded, feeling that hard lump in his stomach again. Tony touched his arc reactor.

"That's why Extremis left me with the reactor. It needed more than my body as a power source because of the space bridge abilities, and… it needed a direct heir of the old Dynasty to make it happen. That's where you came in."

Roddy was silent, air vents hissing sharply.

"So it won't get better," Tony went on, rubbing over the casing under his shirt. "It went one step further ahead and made it worse. I made it worse."

"Tony, stop." A large finger touched the reactor. "You didn't do this. This was going to happen, sooner or later. It happened now."

"I've never had this much responsibility, this kind of over another life," Stark murmured.

"Neither did I," Rodimus added.

They looked at one another and Tony shivered. This changed so much. Actually… it changed everything."

"Well, you're stuck with me now," he tried for light-hearted. "For a long, long time."

"I can think of worse."

"Is that a come on?"

Rodimus grinned. "Only in your head, Tony."

"There's a lot in my head. Not all of it rated as a kid-friendly movie."

"I know that."

"You little perv, you." Tony chuckled, but the usual humor was missing. This was weighing on him. "Now what?" he finally asked, voice heavier.

"Now you'll get a handle on your jumps."

"Might take a while."

"You know how long it took Sam to master his technopathy as far as he has by now. We also don't know how the ancient mechs worked with space bridges. Maybe a second spark was needed."

"Doubt it." Tony walked over to his work station. "All of them were mechs. You guys should be able to do it without an additional donor."

This was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was life. He would work with it; he had worked with worse in the past. A second life depended on his own survival throughout a jump.

His mind started to fire up.

And… since Roddy was a direct descendant of the Dynasty, and the ancient ones had been able to use portals…

"Tony…" came the warning voice.

If he couldn't follow his original research, looking into that possibility was something new.

"Tony…!"

A grin formed on his lips, chasing away the dark thought for now. "You might have bridge circuits, my friend. You're a direct heir. Your systems are different, so somewhere in that body might be the key. It's a theory worth following."

"No, it isn't."

"You guys were able to jump way back when the ancients walked your planet, Roddy! You're a descendant of the Dynasty of Primes. A direct on!"

"Tony, no."

"And as such you have abilities that you haven't even begun to tap into. Come to think of it, so has Optimus."

Rodimus rolled his optics in a very human way. "I'm not going to jump."

"Because you have no idea how. But since I do and you are bonded to me…"

Tony's smirk was wide and knowing, his eyes sparkled, and it was clear he had deliberately used the word 'bonded'.

"We can work with that."

"No."

"Don't be a spoilsport, Roddy."

"Don't you have a company to run?"

"Not a problem. It's easy. I'll deep-scan your circuits, Hook and Ratchet can work out the rest…"

Roddy sighed.

Tony raised his hand as if swearing an oath. "In theory only. Everything. I swear. And I'll be a good little CEO and put my company first."

"Really," came the level reply.

"Cross my heart."

The mech regarded him long and hard, then shrugged. "If it makes you happy."

Tony's smile grew wider. It did. It gave him something else to think about. It gave him a purpose.

"That makes it official: we're married."

Rodimus leaned forward. "Don't you mean bonded?" he teased.

"That's your fantasy, dear." With a wink, Tony turned around and called, "Jarvis, fire up the scanners. Roddy agreed to strip for us."

"How exciting, sir."

The mech in question shook his head, smiling. He felt Tony's excitement through the connection with Extremis and he knew that this was the best possible way to keep working on this without having his friend obliterate himself.

Scientists were a single-minded bunch, he knew. They needed bodyguards and baby-sitters.

Tony more than most.

::I heard that!::

::It was meant for you::

And maybe, just maybe, it would answer a few questions about the ancient Primes as well.

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

Optimus Prime stood outside the Nevada base, watching the night sky. A faint hue of purple was all that was left of the sunset and the first stars were already clearly visible in the cloudless sky. It promised to be a cold night.

Not that it mattered to him.

Rodimus Prime had sent him the condensed version of what Tony had told him and what the two of them had discussed for the last few days on and off throughout Rodimus' stay in LA. Tony was currently on his way to New York for a shareholder meeting, diligently upholding his promise to take care of his company first, while Rodimus was making his way to Nevada. He was taking the long way. He needed some time to think.

So did Optimus.

The other two human Primes were aware of the new changes and Sam had looked rather worried, as had Lennox, though he had hidden it better. Military training, Optimus supposed.

The Autobot leader had no idea how he felt about this inseparable life connection between Tony and Rodimus. It had its good sides, he mused. It was also a weakness. Then again, abilities always came with a weakness. None of them were invincible. None were without faults. Not even a Prime.

He felt a smile tug at him at the thought.

No, he had never been infallible. He had made too many mistakes and too many lives had been lost.

'We'll be fine,' Sam had insisted.

The words echoed through his processor.

Yes, somehow they would be fine. They had come this far and had survived.

The slight echo of what he recognized as Rodimus Prime approaching had him glance into the darkness. The R8 rolled closer, headlights off, sand and gravel crunching under his tires. He transformed and the two Primes looked at each other, a silent understanding between them. Optimus felt the connection, but he couldn't detect any changes. He didn't feel the bond to Tony. For a brief moment he had, had helped Rodimus pull the human Prime back from the brink. After that he had been as unaware of him as he was of the other human Primes.

"Welcome back," the Autobot leader greeted his friend.

Rodimus stood beside him, systems humming gently. "We'll be fine," he finally said, unconsciously echoing Sam's words.

Optimus hoped so. He really hoped so.

tbc...