Author's Note: Because I have some free time on my hands right now I decided to work on the next chapter. And yes, Gromia, you're right. He is. grins

Disclaimer: He's mine and they're somebody else's. 'Nuff said.

Metal and Neon

Chapter 18: Branded

Around mid-morning the next day, Lindsey contacted Magnus to tell him that she'd found a tattoo artist who could reproduce the pattern she'd decided on. After making sure Ultra Rodimus wasn't eavesdropping on his thoughts and learning that Ultra Rodimus was sunbathing on a convenient rock outside, completely oblivious to anything going on around him, Magnus went to meet her.

Lindsey met him just outside CSI headquarters. She held her crop circle book in her hands, watching him pull into the parking lot. He transformed.

"What pattern did you choose?" he asked.

"This one." She turned the book toward him and pointed to one of the pictures. He leaned over to get a closer look and whistled softly.

The pattern she had chosen was a spiral design, one central circle with six curved arms radiating outward. The circles making up the arms were smallest on the ends, gradually increasing and decreasing in size. Each separate circle had one to three tiny ones next to it, curving up on the outside of the arm, and curving down on the inside. It was a very delicate and exotically beautiful design. Magnus liked it immediately.

"I like it," he told her. "But there's gotta be over a hundred separate circles in that design."

"Actually, there are four hundred and nine," she replied. "I counted."

"Can the tattoo artist do this?"

"He tried it a few times on paper and on canvas, so yes, he can. It will take a little while, though."

Magnus snorted, the blast of air blowing her hair out behind her. "Time is no problem. I can keep Ultra Roddy asleep for hours if I have to. That's how I get him to rest three-quarters of the time. I can go get him now, if you'd like."

"Sure."

The big Autobot nodded and transformed back to car carrier. As he drove back toward Metroplex he reached out to touch his lover's mind.

Fortunately for him, Ultra Rodimus was already in his human form, already drowsing in the hot sun. Magnus idly wondered if Ultra Rodimus could get a sunburn, then dismissed the thought and concentrated on slowly guiding his commander into sleep. Ultra Rodimus complied without the slightest of struggles. When Magnus arrived to get him, the young Prime was completely out like a light.

Smiling to himself, Magnus very gently scooped his mate into his palm. Ultra Rodimus curled up in his hand without even stirring. Other Autobots looked at Magnus curiously as he carried the slumbering human away from the city and transformed again, depositing Ultra Rodimus in his cab, curled up on the driver's seat. Careful to block out most of his engine noise, Magnus drove back to Vegas to pick up Lindsey, Spike, and Catherine. Lindsey rode in Magnus's cab, sitting in the passenger seat. Spike and Catherine followed in Sideswipe as Lindsey guided Magnus to the tattoo parlor.

It took an antigrav field to move the unconscious Prime from Magnus's cab into the building. Once he was settled into the chair, the field was lowered. Spike lifted Ultra Rodimus's long braid out of the way, glad the Autobot leader had chosen to go shirtless that day.

"You want it on his shoulder?" the tattoo artist asked.

"The back of his right shoulder, please."

The artist nodded and picked up the device. "I'm going to do it in gold, a different shade than his skin, outlined in red."

"Sounds good to us."

The design took several hours to complete. Everyone watched as the artist carefully inked the pattern into the golden skin over Ultra Rodimus's right shoulder blade. To Magnus's surprise, not once did Ultra Rodimus make even the weakest attempt to wake up. To him it indicated exactly how little sleep his beloved leader and mate had gotten in the last few months. Leadership was a full-time job, and if it wasn't for Magnus and Sandstorm then Ultra Rodimus would never get any sleep at all.

"There." The tattoo artist leaned back.

The spiral pattern had been reproduced perfectly. The tattoo was about the size of Spike's palm and spread fingers. The artist was about to give Magnus the list of instructions on how to take care of the tattoo until the skin healed when blue-green light began to seep through Ultra Rodimus's skin. It hid the design from view for a moment. When it faded, the tattoo looked as if it was several years old, and it had somehow gained a metallic shine, like a line drawn on the skin with metallic gel ink.

Magnus chuckled. "I guess we're not the only ones who like that pattern, Linds."

"What was that light?" Catherine asked.

"The Matrix," Spike answered.

"What's the Matrix?"

"It looks like a spherical blue diamond cut with millions of tiny facets," Magnus told her. "But it is so much more than any jewel. We don't know where it came from, but we know for a fact that it contains the wisdom of our entire race. When a Cybertronian dies their soul becomes one with the Matrix, making it stronger and adding to the knowledge stored inside. It contains great power, power only those it chooses as its bearers can harness. The essence of our god, Primus, resides inside as well."

"Personally, I think the crystal is a physical shell surrounding a sphere of pure energy," Spike added. "But no one, not even Ultra Rodimus, knows for sure. The Matrix is always carried by the Autobot leader, and is passed from predecessor to successor only at death. Ultra Rodimus carries it in a compartment in his chest, where his armor is thickest. It seems to take a very active interest in his welfare, something it's never done before."

"Where did he get it?"

"In our dimension, in the year 2005, our leader, Optimus Prime, was fatally wounded in battle. Before he died he passed it to me," Magnus explained. "Not two days later I was shot down by Galvatron and the Matrix stolen. It was recovered by a young bot named Hot Rod, who was then transformed into Rodimus Prime. Rodimus used the power of the Matrix to destroy a dark god named Unicron, the god of chaos and destruction. So Rodimus became our leader."

"Where does Ultra Rodimus fit into this?" Catherine wanted to know.

"A few months after Rodimus had become leader, the Decepticons attacked Iacon. Rodimus was targeted by Galvatron, Cyclonus, and the Sweeps. All of them shot him at the same time. He was blown almost in half." Pain filled the second-in-command's voice. "I was next to him when he died. But just before he became one with the Matrix, it and the souls within it rebuilt him and gave him a new name. Ultra Rodimus was born out of Rodimus Prime's remains."

"Oh." Catherine looked at the young Autobot. "How old is he?"

"Ultra Rodimus specifically is only about four years old. If you count all of his previous forms, he's around four and a half million Earth years old. In our terms, he's only about sixteen years old, give or take."

Spike paid for the tattoo, using some of the money Magnus had gotten from Ultra Rodimus's personal account. For some unknown reason a portion of the profits the Autobots made from selling bits of technology went directly to their leader for his own use. Ultra Rodimus, not having much use for it, had let it collect and was fairly wealthy by human standards. Then the antigravity field was used to move the still-asleep young Prime back into Magnus's cab. While Sideswipe took Lindsey, Catherine, and Spike back to CSI HO, Magnus drove back to Metroplex, carried Ultra Rodimus to their quarters, placed him on a convenient cushion, and waited for him to wake up.

Ultra Rodimus woke up wondering what had happened to the sun's warmth. Blinking, he took in his surroundings and realized that he'd been moved. Then he noticed that he wasn't alone.

Magnus sat in a chair nearby, watching him with a grin on his face and a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. That expression immediately made Ultra Rodimus suspicious. Sitting up on the cushion, he fixed his mate with a penetrating stare, which didn't seem to work. Of all the Autobots under his command, Magnus and Sandstorm seemed to have developed an immunity to his glares. That could be attributed to their close association with him.

"Okay, spill it," he demanded when his glare failed to accomplish anything. "What did you do this time?"

The older bot's smile widened. "Wouldn't you like to know."

The younger bot's glare increased in intensity and Magnus's armor began to smoke. Through their lifebond, Ultra Rodimus repeated the question. The answer didn't come in words, but in pictures, including a device with many fast-moving needles, a picture in a book, red and gold on skin...

The answer hit Ultra Rodimus like a laser blast. Glare turned to stare.

"You didn't."

Magnus's grin widened again.

Ultra Rodimus looked down at himself. "Where?" he demanded, hoping the design was a small one.

"Back of your right shoulder."

The young Prime tried to get a look at it, but he couldn't bend his neck that far. Magnus picked him up and carried him over to the mirror, holding up a smaller one to that his mate could see the reflection. Emerald eyes fixed on the pattern on the back of his shoulder.

Predictably, he exploded, but he was more angry at not being told or allowed to choose his own design if he had to get one than he was at actually getting the tattoo. Magnus let the eruption wash over him, knowing that it didn't mean much. His commander glared at him, then returned his attention to what the mirror showed, tilting his head thoughtfully.

"Actually, it doesn't look too bad," he commented.

Magnus chuckled. "I like it, and I'm not the only one. Apparently everyone in the Matrix likes it too. And speaking of the Matrix, I think Catherine would like to see it."

Ultra Rodimus shot him the evil eye. "Don't think you're getting off the hook for this."

"I won't. I know you too well. Time to find a new hiding place."

"As if you could hide from me!"

"I can try."

"You're hopeless."

"So I've been told."

To be continued...

I know the title of this chapter is kinda stupid, but it's all I could think up on short notice. This fic is winding down; there are only a couple of chapter left. Please update and tell me what you think.

If you want to see the pattern I chose for Ultra Rodimus's tattoo, give me your e-mail address and I'll send you a picture. The idea to give him a tattoo came from a late night, a show about tattoos, and a show about crop circles. Isn't it amazing what your brain can come up with at 4:00 in the morning?