Disclaimer: Transformers is owned by Hasbro. No infringement is intended or implied. No financial gain has been received. Original characters are Ellie and Livewire and are my intellectual property.
A/N: Rough draft of passage floating around in my head. Sequel to 'Guardian Megatron.' Review/questions welcome.
The Truce Ultimatum
Optimus Prime squealed his tires rounding the hangar and transformed on the run. He didn't even bother to address Megatron kneeling on the tarmac in his rush to get to his daughter's side.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"She was being kidnapped when Megatron intervened," Bumblebee answered.
"How did this happen? Who are these beings that would do such a thing?"
"She had me drop her off in a parking lot two buildings over from a place she was thinking of buying for Autotronix," he tried to explain as quickly as possible. "They are in the custody of the military police. They believe they may be members of an anti-Cybertronian paramilitary group. The president has declared them to be terrorists."
"You left her alone?" Optimus turned his angry optics on his scout. "How could you do that? You know what she means to me, to all of us! And how many enemies she still has. What is with you?"
Bumblebee visibly slumped under the weight of his leader's anger. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't sound like an excuse.
"If it matters," Ratchet interrupted, "she'll be fine. Have a sore throat for a few days from the intubation, but warm tea with honey should help her get over it soon enough."
"Of course it matters!" Optimus was enraged. How dare he question his concern for his daughter?
"Then why have you been more interested in dressing down Bumblebee than asking me about her condition?"
He paused at that. Yes, he hadn't asked how she was, he went straight into asking what and how it had happened.
"I'm sorry Bumblebee," he offered to his scout. "I know you would never have knowingly allowed her to walk into a dangerous situation. Please, forgive me for my temper."
"There's nothing to forgive Optimus!" Bumblebee quickly returned. "I've been blaming myself for her being hurt since the beginning. If it wasn't for Megatron stopping the car from taking off, I would have never gotten to her in time."
"Megatron? He stopped the car?"
"He did more than that Optimus," Ratchet supplied. "He saved her life. He provided her an airway when hers was impassable from swelling. In fact, if he hadn't brought her to us so fast, you would be planning your daughter's funeral right now."
Optimus tenderly laid a finger against her cheek as she lie helplessly on the bed. She was still alive, and going to be fine. In that moment, he vowed he would never allow her to go into a dangerous situation alone again. He knew of one sure way to protect her.
"Bumblebee, the humans consider the age of assent here to be eighteen. I was going to allow you to unify with her at the age of twenty-one. I will preside over your unification ceremony personally when she turns nineteen. In return, I need you to make certain she never goes into a situation like this again. Can you do this?"
"You know?" Bumblebee was astonished. He thought he had been able to hide her mark on him. He should have known better with his prime.
"Yes. She confessed to me she had spark shared with you when she was fifteen when she was saved by Soundwave. She also spark shared with him at that time."
"Soundwave? He's been marked by her too? Well, that would explain a few things," he mumbled.
"I accept the terms of your proposal," he agreed. "Do I have your permission to utilize any resources necessary?"
"Of course."
"Now, maybe you should go talk to Megatron. He hasn't moved from that spot since we brought Ellie in here," Ratchet advised.
Optimus approached his old friend and nemesis with a mixture of emotions. Megatron had saved Ellie, and yet was bent on destroying him and every tenant he held true. Still, he reasoned, Megatron was just as much Ellie's father as he was.
"She will be fine Megatron," he greeted.
"You are certain?" Megatron asked with cautious hope.
"Yes. Ratchet and Bumblebee have both confirmed that you saved her. If you hadn't brought her here as fast as you did, she would be dead now."
"Saved her for what Optimus?" Megatron asked thoughtfully. He didn't even realize he had slipped into a more familiar address with his sworn enemy.
"She is tied to us both, and every time our forces face one another, I can feel a piece of her grieving," he continued. "This war is killing her as surely as if she had taken an ion blast to the chest, and I am responsible.
"Don't try to placate me," he stated when Prime moved as if to object. "I know the truth; it was my decision to go to war with you instead of working with you to address the grievances my side had. It was my decision to follow you into space in search of the Allspark when you left instead of staying and claiming total victory over Cybertron. It was my petty pride that placed my desire for revenge over the welfare of Cybertron, ultimately leading to its destruction. No, the war was my doing entirely. Now, maybe I can end it, with your cooperation."
"What did you have in mind?" Optimus asked cautiously.
"Name Urielle as your heir. I will swear my allegiance to her and agree to a truce with you. Once all members of both sides are advised, perhaps we can begin to work on repairing our society. Do you think these humans will grant us our own place somewhere on this planet?"
"You do know that many Cybertronians on both sides will object to the naming of a human as my heir. As much as I hate to think about it, her lifespan is much shorter than ours; she will age and die before I can pass on the Primehood.
"To be completely honest with you, which I believe you are being with me, if I knew that she would be safe and this war would be over in one instant, I would gladly step down as Prime right now. Can you swear to me on the life of Urielle that if I make this announcement, you will make certain she will never be in danger from any of your followers?"
"I cannot promise that she will never be in danger, but I can swear to install a guard unit that will gladly die to protect her. There were many Deceptacons under her care that have developed a fondness for her. Most of them will be more than willing to protect her.
"Do you agree to my terms?" Megatron asked with finality.
"I will agree to name her as my heir, as long as you do not demand I pass over the Primehood as well."
"Of course not, she is merely a child. Even I cannot convince my mechs to follow a child."
"Would you like to see her?"
With hope in his optics, Megatron rose slowly. "May I?"
"Come with me," Optimus said as he turned back to the hangar.
Eagerly, Megatron followed. If he could just see for himself that his little one was fine, it would ease his spark.
The entire hangar became eerily silent as the Deceptacon leader entered. Although he didn't hear the sounds of weapons being manifested, he did hear the tell-tale signs of them beginning to cycle into standby.
Then, the sounds fell away and the world was silent to his audials as he laid his optics on his little girl. She seemed so small to him, lying in the center of the human sized berth set up on a Cybertronian sized one. Instantly, he was on his knees again by her bedside. Cautiously, so as not to startle her, he raised his clawed hand toward her face. Gently, he used the sides of his claws to brush the hair from her eyes.
The flicker of emotion across her face made him pause in his ministrations. She was having another nightmare.
"Little one," he addressed her as she slept. "You are safe. There is no danger to you now. I am with you, as is your dad and Livewire and many more of your friends. I promise, you are safe here."
Ellie shifted in her sleep and moaned.
"I know that it is frightening to you right now. Follow my voice little one and see that you are safe. Open your optics and see that this place is surrounded by those who love you. You will be fine."
With a start, she opened her eyes and began to frantically look around. Eventually, she was able to see her surroundings and her sight landed on Megatron.
"Papatron?" she asked through a ravaged throat.
"Yes, Ellie. I am here. You are safe."
"My throat hurts," she whispered.
"That's to be expected child. You had a tube down your throat," Ratchet said as he lifted Livewire onto the bed with a glass of water.
"Here Ellie, this is honey water with cinnamon. It will help to soothe your throat," Livewire said as he gently helped her sit up to drink.
"Dad?" she asked as she gained some awareness. The water helped her throat a little and she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to make sure he didn't get mad at Bumble for her mistake.
"Here sparkette," Optimus leaned over Megatron's shoulder.
"You're with Megatron in the same room? And not beating each other senseless? Am I still sleeping?" she wanted to make sure.
"No, you aren't sleeping, although I'm sure you should be."
"You can't get mad at Bumble. He didn't do anything wrong," she informed him. She felt herself getting sleepy and wanted to make sure she said this before she succumbed. "They hid their numbers by generating an electromagnetic shield on the second story. If I had known they were in there, I would have never been so stubborn about looking at it myself. Please don't blame him."
"You are certain? They used a shielding mechanism?" Optimus wanted to know.
"Yeah, saw the car batteries in the corners before everything went dark. Used it myself a time or two," she affirmed as her lashes began to droop.
"Papatron? Will you stay with me for a while?" she begged.
"They will have to blast me to slag and haul me away from you little one," he stated as she clutched one of his claws to her chest and rolled on her side. She fell asleep even before he had finished speaking.
The two mighty leaders kept vigil by the child's bed throughout the night. Neither spoke in a mutual understanding that she was their entire universe.