Arc Eleven. Chapter Three-Hundred Sixteen. Road Trip

At the first fuel stop, Optimus let Peter into his cab, and the radio flashed as he spoke.

"Peter, I am receiving a distress signal from a location north of here. I believe I have located our transport here."

Peter frowned, "You have a spaceship?"

Optimus hmmed in agreement. "The transponder beacon is reporting that an unknown entity, registering as Cybertronian has entered and is accessing systems. As the leader of the Autobots, I was alerted."

Peter thought for a moment, "how far?"

"It is north, approximately one thousand three hundred miles away from our current location."

Peter took out his phone, and plotted the nearest city in that direction, "Hmm, Portland." He knew that there weren't any military bases up there and as far as he knew no giant spaceships were in that area. The only thing that was up there was the volcano, but it had been inert for millions of years, and his shoulders slumped,

"How long have you been on Earth?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"We arrive here four million years ago. I was scouting for the All-Spark to revive my crew when I was frozen in the ice. I did not realise at the time my Energon chamber was damaged and I was losing fuel much faster than my gauges were registering. If I had not initiated hibernation mode, I would have perished."

"Right, we should change direction. I think I know where your ship is, and who's accessing it." If his suspicions were correct, then Nimrod was built from one of the wrecks at the dam and had regained some of his former intelligence.

"Affirmative. Autobots, we are heading to these coordinates. Transform and roll out."

Liv, Optimus thinks Nimrod is accessing his ship's systems, if Trask used Cybertronian parts to create the Sentinels then Nimrod is probably there trying to escape, or if we're really unlucky, activate the weapons systems.

It's fine, Let Natasha know. It's not a long flight back to New York, she could be back well before we're even halfway.

Uh, It's in Portland. It's a bit further, and another long drive.

It's fine dear, give me a few minutes. I'll call instead.

Peter stretched out his senses. Natasha was still within range, as without the Mind Stone he could sense at most a few miles, barely registering the minds of those nearby but Natasha was different. Even Shuri could be contacted with the bond they shared, it was a normal human mind he needed to be close to, and even in New York, after a mile or so it faded into knowing someone was there, and nothing more.

Nat, we're heading to Portland, do you want to come with us?

Road trip?

Yes, it's a nineteen-hour drive, and then a cross country drive to get back to New York.

And it would be a drive. With the incidents in New York using the flight capabilities of the armoured suits was limited to actual missions. Using them for getting around the world was now a no-no, to avoid the attention. Tony still used his, and an Iron Man tracking website was up and running, documenting each and every sighting, something Peter wanted to avoid for the new teams.

Sure, give me a minute.

An hour later Peter was contacted not by Natasha as he suspected but by Wanda.

Peter, I hear we are having a vacation. So we rented a much bigger van. Go to this rental place and we'll meet you there. Maria is bringing us.

Us? Wait, who's us?

But Wanda cut off the communications after giving him the address.

It was an RV place, and the Cybertronians took the opportunity to procure new forms for themselves. Peter watched in amazement as a blue light scanned through the parking lot and the futuristic and very out of place cars and vans transformed, not into their humanoid robot forms but exact copies of the vehicles they had picked.

Optimus, once a huge boxy vehicle was now a big rig. With a huge red cabin and massive trailer.

Arcee was a Harley Davidson, and a leather-wearing copy of Liv appeared on her back at first in wireframe and then filled in. She winked and put on shades before Arccee drove off to join the convoy.

Jazz was a Porche, an old model that was mainly for show but he changed his colour from the black to a white model and kept blue racing stripes down his side.

Ironhide scanned an old van, even down to the rust details on the wheel arches and drove his new bright red form away

Bumblebee found an old Volkswagen beetle, a car Peter instantly recognised and with his shiny new yellow colour he looked like a giant gold bug before he too drove off and the Autobots continued their journey.

Peter had promised they would catch up, and Optimus understood they needed supplies and food for the trip.

It wasn't until Peter saw the massive rig they had hired that he realised, and as he boarded the bus-sized motorhome, everyone was there.

Wanda sat with MJ, playing cards while Laura and Gwen arm-wrestled. Felicia was spread out on a couch, eating chips. Liv was in the driver's seat, making sure the tank was full of gas and checking everything was working.

"Uh, everyone?" and Liv nodded.

"Well, no Emma or Shuri. Natasha is still to arrive, and Carol has the deposition to give. You really need to make it up to her. She wasn't happy she's missing out."

Peter signed, "I will, I will. But, if everyone's here what about work?" and Liv laughed,

"Everywhere is closed right now, dear. The mess we made is still being dealt with. Parker Inc and AIM are getting a well-earned vacation." As Liv pointed to the back, where through the doors Peter could see a giant double bed, "Well, maybe." Peter laughed, leaned over and kissed her.

"Right then. Are we ready?" Liv reached over and turned on the radio to a chorus of cheers. Peter sat down next to Gwen and as Laura easily overpowered her with Talon's help, Peter laughed and pushed her arm back, until it was almost at the table's surface.

"Then let's get this show on the road." Sounding the really annoying and very loud horn, Liv laughed and started the motor home, driving after the convoy of Autobots.

The trip to Portland was amazing. Optimus had found that by taking the newer forms that the crude gasoline was now more compatible with their systems, and while it was a log drive to Portland, they now didn't need to worry about their energy reserves. It wasn't perfect, and they still needed Energon, but now they could at least maintain their forms without issue.

If he knew what was happening in the RV he either never understood its significance or cared enough o mention it.

At first, everyone teased Peter as he was the only one without a licence. With no money and no need for a car he never bothered, but now as the girls all took turns taking the wheel he knew he should, and sooner rather than later.

Instead, he found himself the centre of attention. Each person had their own demands. Livs was the easiest and most vigorous, Wanda wanted him to help her test out her magic.

"That's amazing Wanda. But you realise that we didn't need to drive?" he said as she demonstrated her ability to sling ring anywhere, even onto the moving RV as long as she used a pre-prepared runic anchor.

"I uh, wanted to go on a trip with you. I have never done this. Well, once, but that was not the same," she admitted.

Peter didn't remember the supposed road trip in Sokovia. For him it was hours spent in bed, nursing an open stomach wound, adding to the many jokes that Peter could only defeat an enemy if they gutted him first, but for her, it was the first time they spent time alone.

Gwen was the same, her spell work was abysmal, and she pouted as Peter slipped into his armour and carefully spun his webbing into a long thin wand for her. She still used it though, and Wanda started to tease her every time she failed to create a runic formation properly, "it's Levi Oh Sah, not Leviosa."

But they still helped her, and her runic work, with wards and other shielding magic, was soon top notch.

Laura kept him in bed, and her only wish was to stay cuddled up to him as she slept. He stayed lying next to her, holding her as she twitched. The nightmares still came, and he would gently stroke her hair as she whimpered.

Natasha took him to the top of the RV and unseen by anyone they sparred. There were only two rules. One, they had to be feather-light, any damage to the RV was an automatic loss, and two, they showered together after. His win streak was getting higher against her.

He was taking lessons from Logan and after they had fixed his stance, breathing and pulled out proper testing equipment he had developed his own style, a mix of hard and soft, allowing him to use speed and light but quick hits against nimbler opponents like Natasha and heavier, slower brutally devastating attacks against someone like Cain. Logan also had allowed Selene to help train him, and he could now thicken his symbskin in specific areas, protecting him against energy draining Augments.

MJ flitted into everyone else's time, she showered with them after, spooned Laura while she slept, laughed as Gwen made a coke can dance around the table with a simple motion spell, and grabbed groceries with Wanda as they travelled to different locations. MJ loved them all and happily shared her time and bed with everyone.

Travelling home, Carol had finally joined them, looking haggard from the forty-hour session she had with the joint chiefs. This wasn't the congressional hearings that Peter had gone through, she had been dragged in front of the chiefs of staff and the president himself. All to explain why a highly decorated and now Enhanced officer had disobeyed direct orders and fought her own people.

Pepper and Matt had both been there, and while the court was in close session, he knew what had been said.

Carol was being dragged out of retirement, a much different outcome from the dishonourable discharge they had expected, but it was their way of getting back at not just her, but Peter. She was now back under Military control, with her time at AIM over, and a long list of charges being held over her head in order to make her comply with tests and bring her under the ARCA properly.

Ross had been right, and they kissed his ass, mainly as the man was the leader of the gamma troopers and they needed him. Stark had been acquitted, he was under orders.

In the end, the Government walked away patting itself on the back. They had the original test subject of Project Pegasus back, a Symbiote of their own, and it only cost them a few million. They didn't care about the money, they wanted their weapon.

Peter was watching Wanda and Gwen practice their sling ring exercise. It seemed stupid at first, why could they conjure a portal on a moving vehicle until Wanda said

"The world moves Peter. It's just the scale that is different."

He realise just how difficult it actually was to summon a portal. It wasn't just manipulating space, but calculating distance, time difference and a whole lot of spacial mechanics. With Gwen's passion being chemistry and not mechanics, he understood why it was so difficult for her.

"So, can you make one of these that doesn't need a sorcerer?" he asked but Wanda shook her head.

"You need to be able to activate the runes around the ring. A true practitioner can make a portal without one, but for us students, they dont like the idea of us losing a limb if we fail."

Peter nodded, "I was just thinking if Avalon is on the moon, and Erik made a magnetic shield. What's to stop me say, colonising Mars. I mean, the rovers up there have feeds right? So couldn't you make a portal to Mars using the picture?"

Wanda frowned, paused for a moment and tilted her head in thought.

"I," and she paused, "You know. I will ask Stephen the next time I see him, but I really dont see why not."