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 9:
They eventually returned to Diego Garcia, after being picked up by helicopters at the Research Station and then taken to the nearest airbase, where they boarded a C-17 to take them back to the NEST base. Pepper was waiting at the bottom of the C-17 ramp for Tony, standing with an Autobot that neither he nor Rhodey had ever seen before and Morshower.
Rhodey was being wheeled off the C-17 on a stretcher. Tony was walking down beside the stretcher, clasping Rhodey's hand. Graham was on the other side of the stretcher, accompanying the medics. Pepper stepped forwards and Morshower placed a hand on her shoulder. The stretcher stopped in front of Pepper and Morshower and she walked over, gripping onto the railing to stop Rhodey rolling off.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice rife with concern.
"Rhodey fell in the ice." Tony answered, sounding tense. "I tried to rescue him but the suit starting sinking. Ironhide pulled him out in the end. After that Jarvis managed to get the boot jets activated again."
"But you were the one who saved my life. Next time I try to go swimming with a Decepticon stop me, please." Rhodey reminded him. He looked up at Pepper and laughed. "He gave me the kiss of life. Scariest. Thing. Ever."
"Well you seem to be making a good recovery." She smiled.
"Yeah. They're taking me to the medical suite to make sure I'm okay and there aren't any underlying complications." Rhodey said. "Look after Tony for me!" He called as the medics pushed the stretcher away. Pepper walked over to Tony and threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay!" Pepper exclaimed. "When we got the message that someone was injured I couldn't help thinking that it was you! I thought you might've done something stupid to show off and gotten yourself half killed by one of those things!"
"Pepper, calm down." Tony held her at arm's length and looked into her eyes. "I know that he could've died. You can't imagine how scared I was that I was going to lose him."
"Tony, Rhodey will be fine." Pepper reassured him. "The doctors will check him over. When he was wheeled over here he didn't look too sick. He just looked like he needed a rest and relaxation. We can go and visit him every day to make sure. We can visit him twice a day if you really want to make sure he's okay."
"I know." Tony sighed. "I have to get to a debrief. I'll see you later."
xXx
"Well done boys, you did the best you could." Morshower said, addressing the briefing room. "I know that we didn't manage to take any of those monsters out, but by the looks of things they didn't get anything they were after." Morshower looked up at Tony, and then back to his larger audience. "I expect that you all know Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes was injured in the combat. He will be in the medical suite until they say that he's fit for action."
"He should've followed my orders..." Lennox grumbled. Epps nudged him with his elbow and shook his head.
"Anyway, we're having a party in the hangar tonight, organised by Miss Potts." Morshower announced. Tony sat upright in his seat next to Graham. "I asked her to organise something because, let's face it, we don't do anything fun around here and I thought you might need the morale boost."
"You mean killing Decepticons isn't fun?" A soldier called from the back. The whole briefing room burst out laughing, except for Tony.
"Well I guess it depends what Decepticon you kill and how you do it if it's fun." Morshower chuckled. "Tonight is strictly casual – no-one is to look overly smart. If you turn up looking smart the rest of the boys have permission to parade you down to the beach and throw you in the sea. I'm not looking at anyone in particular... Graham." The room was filled with laughter again. "Make sure you spread the word. We've put notices out, but I want the whole base there."
xXx
"So when did you organise this?" Tony asked, linking arms with Pepper as they walked into the hangar. Both of them had dressed down for the evening. Tony was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a grey t-shirt. Pepper was dressed in jeans, a pair of heels and a white, open necked blouse. She had curled her hair and Tony was watching the evening light dance along single strands.
"While you were playing in the snow." Pepper smiled. "Morshower asked me to. I couldn't refuse, knowing how much you love a party."
"This is the first time I have ever seen you in jeans." Tony said. "And how long have we known each other?"
"A long time." She sighed. "I do dress down occasionally."
"Yes, I can tell it's occasionally." Tony said. "You should do it more often. You look more relaxed. And not so bossy. I might not listen to you anymore."
"Don't make me put a suit on."
"If you did, we'd have to throw you in the sea."
"You would have to find me first." She laughed and linked arms with him, dragging him through the crowds of soldiers. "Come on, I want you to meet who I'm working with." Pepper dragged him to the bar, where Maggie and Glen were standing with Epps and Graham. "Tony, this is Maggie Madsen and Glen Whitmann. They're both analysts."
"Hey there." Tony said, shaking hands with Maggie and Glen.
"Oh my God! You're Tony Stark!" Glen exclaimed. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I've followed your work for ages!"
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too... uh... Glen." Tony said.
"Tony..." Lennox said, making his way through the crowded hangar. Tony turned to face Lennox and folded his arms across his broad chest, coming across as intimidating as possible. "I need to talk to you about tomorrow. We can get you on a flight out of here first thing in the morning. It's been cleared with Morshower and the rest of NEST high command."
"Tony, what's he talking about?" Pepper asked.
"Major Lennox wants me sent home because I disobeyed his orders." Tony explained to her. "Even though I did nearly have a Decepticon trapped under the ice. Me and Ironhide could have had that bastard if Rhodey hadn't been dragged in."
"Because you didn't follow my orders you endangered a fellow soldier's life."
"That's why I'm not going anywhere until Rhodey comes with me." Tony protested. "It's my fault he got injured and I'm not one to run away from the mistakes I've made."
"Mr Stark?" A young woman asked, running over to him. She was dressed in a nurses uniform, and Tony automatically assumed the worst. "You need to come with me right now. It's urgent."
"Just me?"
"Just you, sir."
"Let's go." Tony turned to Pepper. "I'll come back soon. Don't worry. I won't leave you alone too long."
"Go, I'll be fine." She insisted.
xXx
"Rhodey..." Tony whispered, pressing his hand against the pane of glass that separated him and his best friend. So much for his good recovery... He turned to look at the doctor. "What happened? Did his vitals just drop suddenly?"
"Yes." The doctor flicked through the charts on his clipboard. "We think it's due to the extended period of time he was in the water. We were just about to discharge him when it all went haywire. He's in a coma now. Hopefully, if there is any damage, this will help him to heal."
"So you don't actually know what's wrong?" Tony asked.
"Not really..." the doctor replied. "It happened so suddenly... I'm sorry Mr Stark."
"Can I see him?"
"Of course... but don't be too long. The doctors will want to get in soon and run some tests." The doctor said.
Tony walked over to the door into the hospital room and stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before he pushed the door open and walked in. Tony sat down on the chair beside Rhodey's bed and studied his best friend's face. Rhodey's eyes were closed and he looked calm, peaceful – like he wasn't going to wake up. Tony clasped one of Rhodey's hands in his and sighed, closing his eyes.
xXx
Pepper walked into one of the labs on Diego Garcia. A doctor in the medical centre had told her that Tony had headed in that direction, looking extremely angry. She was dripping wet from where Epps and Graham had decided she was too smartly dressed, and had thrown her into the sea. She was carrying her heels in one of her hands as she walked over to Tony, flicking her wet hair out of her eyes. He was kneeling beside his Iron Man suit, repairing the damaged sustained in the Arctic.
"I saw Rhodey." She said quietly, stopping a metre away from him. "He's going to be okay. The doctors will find out what's wrong and they'll make him better."
"And what if they can't?" Tony asked, without looking up from his suit. "Why are you soaking wet?"
"Apparently, I was dressed too smart for their party." Pepper smiled, folding her arms over her see-through blouse. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making some changes to the suit so that it can operate in freezing temperatures – like under the ice. That way, if it ever happens again I'll be able to rescue whoever fell through." He pulled one of his gloves on and began to tinker with that.
"At least he was pulled out by Ironhide when you couldn't get to him." Pepper said. "If Ironhide hadn't been there, he might not have been rescued at all."
"And that's why I have to upgrade my suit." Tony said. "I'm going after these things, Pepper, whether NEST want me to or not. I'll even do it on my own."
"Tony..."
"Nothing you can say is going to discourage me, Pepper." Tony said. "I'll be able to do it if I upgrade my suit enough."
"Tony, you have to be careful about your suit. When you were away Galloway came to talk to me again. He seems to be really desperate to buy them for the army." Pepper said. "He wanted to make a deal with me about the Iron Man suit."
"What?" Tony dropped the screw driver he was using.
"I told him again that you had already decided..."
"This man... can't he take no for an answer?" Tony asked, standing up and heading towards the door.
"Tony? Where are you going?" Pepper called after him.
"I'm going to talk to Galloway. I'll see you later."
xXx
Tony stormed over to the admin building, and found Galloway taking some files out of his car. He grabbed the Director by his shirt and pushed him against it, snarling.
"Unhand me, right now!" Galloway snapped.
"Leave me and Pepper alone." Tony growled. "I swear to God, if you ever bother her or me again I will –"
"Tony! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lennox yelled, running out of the hangar, over to Galloway's car. He grabbed Tony and pulled him away. "That's out. You are out of here tomorrow morning, no questions asked." Lennox turned to Galloway. "Director Galloway, I am so sorry about this."
"You better be, Major!" Galloway snapped and locked his car before storming into the admin building.
"God damn it, Tony!" Lennox exploded. "Can't you keep your anger in check? I know the past couple of days haven't been great for you but you don't have to take it out on Galloway, no matter how much of a prick he is!" Lennox took a deep breath. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" Lennox started heading back towards the hangar.
Tony turned to head back towards the lab and walked a few paces away. He realised he was still wearing one of his Iron Man gloves, and turned around. He aimed the glove at Galloway's car, and fired the repulsor.
Galloway's car exploded.
And there's another chapter!
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I Caught Myself