A/N: Now this is a bit of a twist I have played with for a while. I hope it comes out good.

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CHAPTER 38
Extraordinary Discovery

"I don't know what it is Ratchet." Prowl muttered "All of a sudden the past week or two he's just been complaining of his back aching."

The CMO leaned over Jeff silently as the boy rubbed the back side of his shoulder blades slowly. Ratchet couldn't help but feel concerned as he slowly rolled over his scans of Jeff. It was the fifth scan he'd made since Jeff had entered the med bay, but he still wasn't sure what to make of it. "Jeff, how long is it until your eighteenth year of birth?" Jeff raised an eyebrow "Son, I need you to give me your honest answer."

"My birthday's in May, so... I don't know, I guess four months." Jeff muttered.

Prowl stared at Ratchet, and the near shock in his optics. "Prowl, at what year does a Praxian begin to develop their door wings?"

"Around the same equivalent of time." Prowl replied "Ratchet, what are you implying?"

Ratchet projected his scan towards a wall, at which point, Prowl found himself stunned to silence. No longer was there a regular endoskeleton within Jeff, but rather metal, a metal coding that looked nearly like a Cybertronian frame though much smaller. And from near his shoulder blades, two arched appendages, though folded into each other stood. "This is Jeff's current skeletal structure." Ratchet informed him "It looks to me to be the same type of structure a Praxian youngling would have. Though the door wings appear to be adjusting to the skin so they do not break through it."

"In English?" Jeff asked.

"You're going through the second stage of what might be the equivalent of "puberty" to Praxians." Ratchet explained.

Jeff turned to Prowl, who seemed to have the same confused look on his face. And the same question on his mind. How in God's name was this possible? "Ratchet, Jeff is human, this is impossible." He shook his head slowly "Now is not the time to be playing games, old friend. Let's be serious here." He paused a moment "He's not Praxian, he's human." He explained.

"By my calculations, he's both." Ratchet shook his head "I always deemed it a possibility with our advanced holographic technology... Our holoforms." Ratchet paused a moment "In theory if they were attached to the right cells... Procreation may have been possible. Through the nanobots that are used to solidify them." He paused a moment "Jeff's existence proves my theory." He explained.

Prowl took what that meant in for a moment. As far as he had known Praxian's outside of his family had been extinct, wiped off the face of Cybertron with Praxus itself. If Jeff was indeed the son of a Praxian that meant that some had survived that attack. It changed everything he thought he knew about the fate of his people. "So... I'm half-Autobot?" Jeff questioned, Ratchet nodded his head "Does that mean that...?"

"You match the CNA of no one in your family." Ratchet shook his head "And as Martin Devlin is buried, he could not have been your father, either." He shook his head a bit "As for who your sire truly is, I cannot be certain. That would take much research, and up until now... We believed that they were all dead." He looked at Prowl "Could they truly have fled to the stars Prowl? Do you believe it possible...?" He questioned.

"He's proof that's the case." Prowl muttered "Or at least, that someone did."

"This is nuts. I can't be one of you." Jeff turned to Prowl, then to Ratchet, he could feel the room spinning as he struggled to take this all in "I know mom lied to me about a lot of things. But... She would have at least told me in that note, right?" Jeff questioned, no one seemed to answer him "Maybe she was just ashamed, like it made me some kind of freak." He muttered.

"You're not a freak Jeff, you're a MIRACLE." Ratchet reassured him "Your birth, your heritage..." Ratchet seemed to be attempting to let it sink in himself "If anyone doubts how miraculous it all is then they are blind." He paused a moment "If you are possible... It is also possible that other Autobots who have human mates may procreate as well..." He paused a moment.

"Entire Energon-lines can be saved." Prowl added.

Jeff looked down a bit, him, a miracle? And suddenly, he remembered nearly a year ago when he'd been visited in his sleep by his deceased father. He remembered how bluntly he had practically stated that the Autobots needed him more than they knew. And now he knew why. He was the answer. To the relations between human and Autobot, to the destruction of Praxis, and perhaps other things he wasn't yet aware of. "So I'm not a freak?" Jeff asked quietly.

"You're just special." Prowl told him gently as he shook his head "The first of your race to exist, perhaps. But no doubt the first of many now that we know you can exist." He moved his finger along Jeff's back, rubbing where his door wings would be found tenderly "He's going to need some painkillers. I've grown my door wings with a metal body. With a half-organic body doing it, I can't even imagine..." He paused.

"There's more pain coming?" Jeff asked.

"A lot more." Prowl nodded "But don't worry, once they're fully grown that will be over." He carefully rubbed the tender spots, and Jeff felt himself soothed "Feels good, doesn't it?" Jeff nodded "We should report this to Optimus, he'll want to know our findings. And begin a search for any Praxians who may be out there and in hiding." He added calmly.

Ratchet nodded, and turned to get Optimus on the comm. For a moment, Jeff only felt fear, fear of people not understanding, fear of what he would go through. But he also knew that he had a base of mech's who would help him through the changes, and the struggles alike that were ahead of him. "It'll be okay, Jeff." Prowl told him gently.

Jeff was surprised by the fact that he believed his words.

...

"So Jeff is..." Mearing paused a moment, looking up at Optimus in disbelief "I don't understand, how is it possible. You're all so huge, there's no possible way that Jeff could be from the union of..." She rubbed her temples, her superiors seemed as confused as she was "How did none of you know about this? You claim to have abilities beyond that, but you haven't said anything." She explained.

Ratchet cleared his vocal processors slowly, stepping forward. "His spark has been safeguarded by his human side until this stage began." Ratchet explained "Until now, when his door wings were ready to form, his skeleton was fully that of a human." He explained "But with that time in his life coming, his skeleton has adapted into an Autobot form. Which means it created a spark chamber, and thus..." He shook his head "His spark has become visible through our technology for the first time." He explained.

There was silence amongst the gathered government officials. This was no doubt a shock to all of them as much it was to the Autobots themselves. Up until now, they had all been under the impression they were far different species in all but lifestyles. Now they understood reproduction was possible, and they had proof of such. "So there's probably others like him who just haven't... Discovered this side of themselves yet?" An official questioned.

"And perhaps those that are fully aware." Optimus replied "Jeff is the first discovered. But I have no doubt he is not the only human on this planetoid that has been sired by an Autobot." He then spoke "Whomever his sire may be, he cannot be the only Autobot, and perhaps, Decepticon to discover this ability." He paused a moment "Jeff may be an example of one that simply did not know about it until recently." He explained.

"We should put him through studies." Another official suggested "We need to perform-"

"Your human government will do no such thing to a youngling." Ratchet growled warningly "After the way you treated Bumblebee, any testing done will be done by myself. And transferred to your governments to look over as well." He then added, firmly "Before you even begin to question me, remember. This is my godson we are speaking of." He explained "Just because he is of a new species does not change that."

"It does, however, change a great deal of what we thought we knew." The two mech's regarded the young President of the United States, Paul Freeling, quietly as he spoke "We've looked for ways to further strengthen the Autobot-Human alliance for years now. The trust is still hard after what took place in Chicago." He then explained "But these children, if more do exist... Could very well open the populace to being more open to trusting you." He explained.

"President Freeling, I concur." Optimus nodded his head "But for now, until we understand the situation better, this must be kept quiet." He then added "Jeff is still coming to terms with this revelation, we all are." He then added "Before long, he will be experiencing his first transformation, if Ratchet's data is correct." He then added "This time in his life is going to be very confusing, he will need time to adjust." He then added "Please, give us time to work with him before we bring any more of the human populace into this."

"And the other children or even adults who may be out there?" An official asked "And just as scared and confused?"

Optimus was silent, it was a fair question, one they were all asking. "In time, they too will reveal themselves." Optimus nodded his head slowly "Until then, I believe our business here is done. As promised, we will report our findings to you." He explained "Please, give us at least a month before this information is made public." He then added "For Jeff's privacy, it is imperative this request is met."

The officials stared at each other, until their leader simply nodded. "Very well, as he is in your custody, we will respect your wishes." They spoke finally "We will be in contact." He explained.

Optimus and Ratchet watched as they, Mearing, and the President left without another word. Ratchet crossed his arms, and turned to Optimus silently. "You know, if we are aware, it is only a matter of time before Lockdown is." Optimus peered at Ratchet silently "Being of Praxian heritage, as well as being of a newly found species..." He stated worried.

"I know." Optimus rumbled "That is what I'm afraid of."

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A/N: Woo, hope that I handled this well enough. As always, reviews make my day!