A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews and favs guys!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or Iron Man.
Summary: NEST contact Tony Stark, who comes to help them take down the Decepticons. He brings Pepper and Rhodey along with him. Set after Revenge of The Fallen, and after the first Iron Man film.
Warnings: There may be bad language and hints of slash in later chapters, though nothing explicit.
Co-operation
Chapter 2:
"Pepper?" Lennox asked, kneeling beside her on the floor as she came round. "Pepper, are you okay? Does anything hurt? Did you hit your head when you fell?"
"My head hurts... I think I did hit it when I fell." She mumbled, lifting her head and rubbing the back of it. "What happened? Why did I pass out?"
"You were... just a little shocked." Lennox said and a faint smile touched his lips. Sarah had reacted in a similar way when she had been introduced to Optimus Prime... except it had taken longer for Sarah to wake up again. "Do you want to sit up?"
"Yeah." Pepper said, clutching the back of her head.
"Okay, take it easy." Lennox cautioned, helping Pepper into a sitting position. Tony crouched down next to her and smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"What's so funny?" She scowled.
"You fainted when a truck transformed into a man in front of you." Tony said, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze. "You've seen worse than that, Pepper."
"Yes. I have." She rolled her eyes.
"I don't think I wanna know about this." Lennox grinned.
"No, you really don't." Tony chuckled.
"I didn't want to know either." Pepper grumbled. She looked up at Optimus Prime, who was standing a couple of metres away. She directed her gaze to Lennox. "Do you ever get used to seeing them?"
"No, not completely." Lennox said. "And I've been living and working with them for just over two years now."
"Christ..." Pepper said softly as Lennox and Tony helped her back up onto her feet. Tony walked over to Optimus, who crouched down in front of him, so that he could inspect the human Morshower thought would be able to make a difference to the war.
"So. You're a giant alien robot from outer space who can transform into a truck." Tony said, folding his arms. "What the hell are you doing here, and why do you all need my help?"
"Tony, we need your help because you built a suit in a cave that is almost the most technologically advanced thing on the planet." Optimus said. "We need you to help us find ways to defeat the Decepticons, whether it's with more technologically advanced weaponry or just by having you and your suit on our side – I've seen the files that S.H.I.E.L.D sent us, and I know what you can do."
"I see." Tony said, rubbing his chin. "But I'm insulted that you said 'almost' when talking about my suit. I'd say it is the most technologically advanced thing on the planet."
"We'll see in the combat demo." A voice from behind Optimus Prime said. There was another Autobot standing behind him. This one was armed to the teeth with advanced looking weapons systems.
"Tony, meet Ironhide." Lennox said, walking towards the Autobot. "He's their weapon's specialist and he's who you'll be up against in the combat demo."
"Ironhide, huh?" Tony asked and then grinned. "Looking at the weapon systems you have, I'd say that this combat demo is going to be more fun than I first thought."
"I just hope you can get the dents and scratches out of your armour." Ironhide said.
"I was about to say the same thing to you."
"Ironhide, settle down." Lennox said. "You don't need to get yourself all fired up yet. Save it for the demo."
"I've got plenty to go around." Ironhide said.
"I have no doubt about that." Lennox grinned. "But come on, just lay off for a bit, please?"
"Fine." Ironhide grumbled, walking away from the humans, towards a darkened corner of the hangar. "I'll go and recharge myself before the demo."
"Damn..." Rhodey said. He turned to look at Tony. "Still feeling lucky?"
"Of course." Tony said. "Why wouldn't I be feeling lucky?"
"Tony... I..." Pepper was still standing beside him, wide eyed with shock.
"It's okay, Pepper. You don't have to express your concern for my welfare this time." Tony said. "You've done it enough recently." Tony turned to Morshower and pointed up at Optimus. "Will he let me have a quick look at his systems? I want to get an idea of how these things work. I have no doubt that they have an idea of how my suit works. I don't want them to have an advantage over me."
"He'll let you have a look." Morshower nodded. He checked his watch and sighed. "I have a meeting to get to. Lennox, when he's done, take him to the testing ground and get him prepared for the demo. I had it scheduled for later this afternoon, if that's okay."
"Of course it's okay. I should be able to repair any damage – it's not that bad." Tony said. "I'm ready to kick some giant robot ass."
"I think you got your words mixed up." Morshower chuckled, heading towards the hangar door. "You should be ready for a giant robot to kick your ass."
xXx
"This is incredible." Tony said, kneeling on an observation platform with Lennox and Rhodey, beside one of Optimus's shoulder joints. Tony was typing away on some sort of personal data pad, storing specific information on the schematics of the Autobot leader. "Maybe my suit isn't the most technologically advance thing on Earth, but it's the most technologically advanced thing on Earth built by humans. I would love to meet whoever built these Autobots."
"Sadly, we don't know." Lennox smiled.
"And we do not know who built our race either." Optimus said. "It was long ago, before my time. All we know is that they abandoned the planet for some reason."
"Maybe it's because of the war you guys have got going on." Rhodey shrugged.
"I still can't believe Pepper didn't want to stay to see this." Tony muttered, entering some more information into his data pad.
"I think she's had enough excitement for one day." Rhodey grinned. "And she has to watch you in that combat demo later. You know how she gets sometimes. She'll be watching you through a gap in her fingers, because she can't bear to watch and she can't bear to look away completely."
"Rhodey, how do you cope with watching me in these bad situations?" Tony asked.
"I don't."
"You don't cope, or you don't watch?" Tony cocked his head to one side and frowned.
"Tony, I think it's time you started preparing for your demo, seeing as it's meant to start in about an hour." Lennox said, checking his watch. "Rhodey, can you come with me? We're going to see Epps and we want to talk to you about something." Rhodey was slightly thankful that he wasn't given a chance to answer Tony's question, because he wasn't sure what he would say.
"Okay, that sounds good." Tony said, still concentrating on his data pad. "Just give me a few more minutes. I'm in the middle of downloading something." They sat in silence for a few minutes, whilst Lennox waited for Tony to finish. Tony shut down his data pad and climbed down the ladder, off the observation platform. "I'll meet you at the testing ground in an hour." He said to Rhodey.
"Yeah, I'll see you there." Rhodey said, watching Tony leave the hangar.
"What do you think of him?" Lennox asked, looking up at Optimus.
"He's... different... extraordinary." Optimus said thoughtfully. "I have never met a human like him."
"Neither have most people." Lennox said. "Anyway, we need to go and see Epps. I'll see you at the demo, Optimus. Tell Ironhide to go easy on Tony. I don't need to fill in another incident report involving Ironhide."
"I'll tell Ironhide to go easy on Tony, though I don't think he'll listen. You know how carried away he gets when he's in a battle."Optimus said.
"Well... tell him to try." Lennox said, climbing down the ladder, followed by Rhodey. They walked out of the hangar together, heading across the tarmac towards the shooting range.
"What did you and Epps want to talk about?" Rhodey asked.
"We wanted to talk to you about Tony." Lennox replied, opening the door to the shooting range and holding it open for Rhodey. Rhodey walked through the open door, over to Epps, who was lowering a gun and taking off his ear defenders. "How many did you get?"
"Not many. The sight wasn't calibrated properly, and I couldn't get it right." Epps said.
"Are you sure the sight wasn't calibrated properly?" Lennox asked and then shrugged with a grin plastered on his face. "Maybe it was just your appalling aim. You might be losing your skill, Epps." Epps balled his hand into a fist and held it up at the other soldier. Lennox began to laugh.
"So why do you guys want to talk to me about Tony?" Rhodey asked, interrupting.
"Well, Rhodey... we think he might be a bit of a loose cannon." Lennox replied.
"From what we've seen in the files we have on him, and what you've said about him before." Epps said. "Is he a bit of a loose cannon, or have we got it wrong?"
"A bit?" Rhodey asked. "I can tell you from experience he's not 'a bit' of a loose cannon. He is a loose cannon. In fact, I think he could be the definition of the phrase."
"..." Lennox and Epps looked at each other.
"Well that's not good." Lennox said.
"Well he's your problem, Major." Epps grinned, emphasising Lennox's rank. "I'm just a Technical Sergeant, not an officer. Have fun babysitting him."
"I think the phrase you're looking for is 'good luck'." Rhodey interjected.
xXx
"Are you going to be okay?" Pepper asked, concern rife in her voice as she watched Tony put his armour on manually. He hadn't been able to bring Jarvis with him, so he had to kit himself out by hand... which was proving to be extremely difficult.
"I'll be fine, Pepper. You worry too much." Tony said, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration.
"I worry because you never do." Pepper smiled.
"Look, I'll be fine. If I get in over my head I'll back out. I promise."
"But Tony, one of those things could easily rip you in half!" Pepper protested. "Can't you just do the normal demo, and not the combat one?"
"Pepper, the reason we're here is because they want me to use my tech to fight some evil versions of those huge robots they have in that hangar." Tony said, flexing his hand in the glove. "They need to see how I am in a combat situation, and how my suit works against one of them. Rhodey won't be worried, so you shouldn't be either."
"Tony, Rhodey is always worried about you." Pepper rolled her eyes. "He just doesn't show it as much."
"Because he knows I won't listen?"
"Exactly."
"So take a page out of his book."
"Sometimes, I really want to knock some sense into you."
"You sound like Rhodey now." Tony smirked. "Look, don't worry. I'm always fine, aren't I?"
"Most of the time." Pepper shrugged and looked away. "You weren't fine when you came home from Afghanistan with an arc reactor powering your heart."
"Pepper, this time I will be fine." Tony reassured her. "Now, do you feel like helping me get this suit on? It's a pain without Jarvis."
xXx
Tony stepped into the centre of the testing ground, with his helmet open. He looked around, at the various people sat in the stand, wondering who was going to win out of him and Ironhide when they got to that part of the demo. He had even heard a rumour that Epps and Rhodey had set up a sweepstake, and Rhodey was betting against him. That made him even more determined to win.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Tony addressed. "What you're going to see today is something that has never been seen before. I'm going to give you a demonstration of this suit, which I built in a cave with a box of scraps –" Tony loved a chance to show off. "–And then I'm going to test it in combat against one of your very own Autobots, showing you all the suit's advanced capabilities. Ladies and gentlemen. I am Iron Man." Tony's helmet snapped shut.
A/N: and that's chapter two. I planned to have it up sooner, but I'm currently on a biology field trip and I've been quite ill. I hope it won't be too long until my next update, but keep the reviews coming and I'll try and make it as quick as I can!
I Caught Myself.