A/N: Sorry it's taken me longer than usual to update, but I'm now on my summer break and it's been my older sister's birthday and my birthday. I'll try to make updates as frequent as I can!

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 5:

Graham was sitting in the corner of the bar, holding an ice-pack to the back of his head. Tony, Rhodey, Lennox and Epps were stood around the pool table. Epps was setting up whilst Tony was chalking a cue. Rhodey and Lennox were standing next to Graham, checking he was okay and sorting out change so that they could pay for the pool game and drinks, after Epps had paid for the first round and Tony had paid for the rest.

"Do you and Epps wanna break?" Rhodey asked, shoving his change back into his pocket. "Or do you want me and Tony to break?"

"You and Tony can break. That way we can get the advantage." Lennox grinned.

"Lennox, Tony is a physics genius. We're gonna have the advantage whatever you do." Rhodey smirked. "So do you still want us to break?"

"Yeah. We might have a slight advantage if you do." Lennox said, taking the cue from Tony.

"Believe what you want." Tony shrugged. "You're just denying your impending failure."

"We don't like to lose." Epps said, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. "I'm pretty sure that was in the file you were given to read."

"Was it?" Tony turned to Rhodey.

"Yeah, I think it was."

"Wait... didn't you read it?" Lennox asked, lining up the pool cue with the triangle.

"He gave it to Pepper to read for him." Rhodey explained.

"I didn't have the time to read them myself." Tony insisted. "I was busy working on some upgrades and repairs for the armour, and the security system. Now that people know I'm Iron Man, I don't want them snooping around my house looking for my tech."

"You still should've taken some time out to read these files." Lennox sighed and took his shot. He handed the cue to Rhodey, who bent down to take his shot. "I don't know what it's like to live a life always in the spotlight, but there was important information in those about NEST and the Transformers and how it all works."

"Don't worry, I think I have a pretty good idea of how things work around here." Tony said. "And if I have any problems, I'll just ask Rhodey. He knows everything that goes on in the military. Or I'll ask Pepper if she's with me. She's probably memorised everything in those files." Tony held up a finger to Lennox and Epps as he walked around behind Rhodey. Just as Rhodey took his shot, Tony smacked him on the ass. Rhodey turned around fuming, to face a laughing Tony.

"You do this to me all the time man!" Rhodey scowled. "Why do you feel the need to? One day, I just want to play a game of pool where you don't smack my ass." He turned to face Lennox, Epps and Graham, who were all staring at him and Tony in a puzzled manner. "What?"

"Are you two... y'know..." Epps said and raised his eyebrows.

"No!" Rhodey exclaimed.

"He wishes." Tony rolled his eyes at exactly the same time as Rhodey's exclamation. He looked back to the pool table. "Are you sure you want me to stop slapping your ass, Rhodey? We just potted. We're red."

"Let's just get this over with." Rhodey said, handing the pool cue to Epps.

xXx

There was just the black number eight ball left on the table now. Lennox and Epps were standing next to one of the corners of the pool table, whispering to each other about tactics, and watching Rhodey prepare to take a shot. Tony was leaning on the table next to Rhodey, whispering about bouncing the white ball off the cushion to hit the black and pot it. Just as Rhodey was about to take his shot, Tony raised his hand behind him, with a smirk plastered on his face.

An alarm began to sound in the bar.

"Guys, we've got to get out of here." Lennox said, barging through people exiting the bar, over to Tony and Rhodey. "That's a Decepticon alert. We have to head to the briefing room. Morshower will tell us what's going on."

"We'll finish the game another time." Rhodey said, placing a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Looks like you might get to give NEST another combat demo. This time though, it'll be against a hostile force." Epps grinned.

"And you're telling me that Ironhide wasn't a hostile force?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Well it depends how you look at it." Epps shrugged.

xXx

Lennox and Epps headed down to the front for the briefing, whilst Tony and Rhodey headed for the back of the briefing room with Graham. Morshower was standing in the centre, in front of a projected map, whilst Optimus Prime was stood on the other side of a large window that enabled him to see and hear the briefing, and add anything he needed to.

"Alright boys, settle down." Morshower called out. The briefing room fell silent. "I'm sorry that this is such short notice, but we had no warning until now, due to storms in the Arctic."

"The Arctic?" Lennox whispered to Epps. "What the hell are they doing there?"

"That's a good question, Major Lennox." Morshower said, overhearing the conversation. "We do not know why the Decepticons are there. Perhaps Megatron left something behind when he crashed in the ice, and now he wants it back. Maybe they want a skiing holiday." A couple of soldiers chuckled. "Because we don't know, it makes the situation more dangerous. You all have two and a half hours to get your kit together and board the C-17's you'll be parachuting out of. Good luck. Mr Stark, Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes – I'd like a word."

"Yes sir!" Rhodey called down. He grabbed Tony's arm and dragged him down to Morshower.

"Tony, do you think you can make a difference?" Morshower asked.

"I damn well hope so." Tony replied. "I didn't come here just because Rhodey convinced me to show off my flashy tech to the United States army. I came here because I want to make a difference in the world. When I was captured in Afghanistan the man who helped me survive all of that – Yinsen – told me not to waste my life. He said it as though it was his dying wish. I made a promise to myself – and to him – that I was going to help people. If getting rid of these Decepticons is going to save lives, you can count me in."

"Welcome to NEST, Tony Stark." Morshower shook hands with Tony, and glanced at Rhodey. "Rhodes, make sure you keep an eye on him in the Arctic."

"Thank you, General Morshower." Tony smiled. Morshower headed towards the exit, and Tony cursed.

"What is it?" Rhodey asked.

"If we're going to the Arctic, I have to make sure that icing problem is solved." Tony scowled.

A/N: Another shorter chapter, but there will be longer ones coming up. Like I said, my updates might not be too frequent throughout the break, but I'll try to update when I can!

Thank you for all of the reviews. Your comments mean a lot to me because I love to know what you guys think.

Stay tuned for the next update!

I Caught Myself.