Disclaimer: Transformers are the trademarked property of Hasbro and their licensed agents. Ellie, Livewire and Alpha Quatrus are original characters and the intellectual property of the author, so unauthorized use of the original characters is prohibited (i.e. If you want to use them, ask first.) No infringement is implied or intended. No financial gain has been received.
A/N: This is a section of an, as of yet, unwritten story in the EllieWorld(Children of Megatron) plot line. It takes place about 15 years after Children of Megatron. Rated M for safety. Sequel to "The Winner's Prize." Tracy
The Queen's Mark
Gingerly, Alpha Quatrus stood and stretched in a human manner. Not that he needed it, but rather it was a familiar, comfortable gesture he remembered from his pre-tech days.
"What's that?" the quick optic'd Bumblebee asked him.
"What's what?"
"That mark on your chest plate. It looks like a new brand of some kind."
"Where?" Alpha Quatrus wanted to know. If it was what he thought it was, then things were about to get very interesting very quickly.
Standing up and retracting his seeder, the small scout walked over and gingerly touched a spot just above the ancient's left window.
Alpha Quatrus hissed in surprise. It was still tender. Looking down, he easily recognized the upside down birthmark of his human lover.
Quickly, he scanned the young mech and easily located a matching mark above his mating interface.
"You have one too," Quatrus said as he gently touched the young mech's chest.
Bumblebee recoiled as if he'd been struck. "Ow!"
"I would wager that Soundwave and Thundercracker each have matching marks too."
Both Autobots turned and looked at the spymaster in expectation. In response, he looked down at his chest plates and the area near his spark chamber.
"Negative," he answered.
"Not on your chest plates. She knows that you are a spymaster, so she would be a little more careful about placement with you," Quatrus advised. "Where does it hurt?"
Immediately, he covered a spot at the base of his seeder that would be covered by his groin plate.
"May I see?" the prime asked.
Reluctantly, he removed his hand. Barely visible on the dark skin of his protoform, he had a matching mark.
Alpha Quatrus nodded at the spymaster's silent question.
"You mean Ellie?" Bumblebee wanted to clarify. "Why?"
"Because Ellie is a queen. Those marks are known as queen's marks. This whole experience; the chase, the lightning storm, the marks, all of it are the first mating challenges of a Cybertronian queen."
"Impossible. Ellie is human," Soundwave declared.
"Wasn't it you that pointed out she was a human with a spark during her seeding cycle?"
"So, what does this mean for Ellie?" Bumblebee wanted to know as he angrily grabbed up her jeans.
"I'm afraid that her human days are numbered. Soon, we will have a choice to make; either allow her to die as a human, or perform a metalous procedure to turn her into a tech like us."
"What?" the other two mechs asked in unison.
"Don't worry; she still has about another fifteen to twenty years as a human left. It will give her the time necessary to raise her daughters and prepare for the transition, or her funeral."
"How can you be so blasé about this?" Bumblebee wanted to know.
"I already lived through it. I was a biologic much like Ellie. Then, when a pandemic sickened and killed the majority of our planet's population, we had the choice of allowing ourselves to die, or using our technology to try and save a majority of our lives. I was the fourth subject to decide to go through with the procedure, hence the 'A' designation."
"We have to tell Optimus and Megatron," Bumblebee declared.
"We have to return to the house first to make sure she doesn't need us. If she is done for the turn, we will tell first Thundercracker, and then Optimus, Megatron, Ratchet and Livewire. Perhaps we should wait to tell Ellie until her symptoms start to present themselves. I don't believe it would be productive to put her in her deathbed until there's a need for it."
"She's so full of life! I don't want her to start dying before she has to," Soundwave, surprisingly, was emphatic.
"So, we're agreed?"
Both mechs nodded.