CHAPTER 2
Tests

"So can I just be the first to ask: what the pit was that!?"

Bumblebee gave a small optic roll at Sideswipe's outburst. Even if it was honestly what they all were thinking. Of course, Strongarm was the first to answer the question. "It looked like a... Youngling," she noted, crossing her arms as she leaned back. "But that doesn't make any sense. Humans can't transform, can they?"

Not a normal human, Bumblebee noted in his head. But something told him as they stood where they'd lost the human's spark signature, still searching for it, that this wasn't a normal human. "Not a normal human, anyway," Bumblebee replied honestly. "But clearly that's not a normal human... Did you both scan his bio signs when he turned back into one?"

"Yeah! The signature's were all over the place," Sideswipe pointed out. "He read biologically like a human. But I could see a spark and Energon in his veins... And blood too. I'm so confused!"

"With the way he reacted, so was he."

Strongarm nodded her head, pointing out something they hadn't thought of. "Well, if this kid somehow is... Half-and-half or whatever, he's fourteen, right?" she questioned, getting a nod from Bumblebee as confirmation. "Well fourteen to fifteen vorns is the typical time we undergo our first transformation."

"Wouldn't he know it was going to happen though?" Sideswipe suggested. "I mean, if this kid is somehow a hybrid of a Cybertronian and a human, or whatever? Wouldn't he know? That doesn't happen naturally, I mean... How would that even work?"

With that, Bumblebee definitely agreed. He couldn't imagine that this supposed hybrid was "born" the natural way, and that was what disturbed him. Who had created him? Decepticons? If it was a fringe group of them that raised the question as to why. But his working theory was the humans, given the age brackett. He certainly couldn't ignore the fact that him being fourteen years old clearly set his birth during, or after their first departure from Earth.

But if that was true, why hide it from them? And why didn't this kid grow up knowing he was some form of test tube baby, or most likely such?

The whole thing was giving the young leader a serious processor ache. "He's definitely some sort of experiment. But that raises the question of who made him and why," Bumblebee pointed out. "I also question why he was in "foster care" when someone like him should be with someone who was prepared for this situation."

Strongarm of course gave him a quizzical look. "What are you thinking lieutenant?"

"I'm thinking we need to find this kid soon. Because we need answers," Bumblebee explained. "Then I'm thinking we're going to need to have a talk with Agent Fowler."

"Ugh! Do we have to? That guy is so annoying!" Sideswipe groaned.

Bumblebee had started to reply when the signal appeared again. Signaling that somewhere in the large patch of desert they'd found themselves - the boy had transformed again. "There he is," Bumblebee replied. "I think his spark signature is only visible when he transforms. Something about his human form guards it."

That was when Strongarm gave the suggestion Bumblebee hadn't thought about. "Maybe he's an outlier. You know, like Mirage?" Bumblebee turned to her in surprise. "Think about it. Outliers can't really control their innate special abilities without training. He's probably always had it without knowing, that's why no one's ever detected him."

"And the shock of his first transformation is probably making it go haywire," Bumblebee nodded in agreement. "Good call, Strongarm."

"An outlier human hybrid," Sideswipe shook his head as they began to follow the signal. "This day can't get any stranger..."

The search hadn't taken much longer, as they found Cole a good thirty minutes later. And given he was in human form, it was clear that Strongarm had been right in her outlier theory. That was one mystery solved - but now came the hard part, getting him to come to them so they could solve other mysteries. Made especially hard by the fact he was sitting high up on a rock formation.

"So, who wants to go up there?" Sideswipe asked as they arrived. "I mean, I could try. But I'm not that good with kids."

Bumblebee however, had already held up a hand and started his way up to the rock formation. Not climbing up however, given he knew that would only startle the boy away. "Cole!" the boy's head shot up as he started to back away. "Wait! Cole it's OK. We're not here to hurt you, we just want to talk."

"Yeah right, you were gonna attack me before!"

"I know, I know. You probably felt cornered like that. But that wasn't what we meant to do," the boy made a small face in response to Bumblebee's answer. "Listen, will you be more open to talk if just I come up there? One-on-one, you and me. I'll even put down any weapons I have if it makes you feel better..."

There was a long silence, but he relaxed at the fact that Cole hadn't moved. "Only you," Cole replied. "Not the cop one. I don't want to go to jail."

Bumblebee gave the two a look to walk away before starting a careful climb up the formation. In total, it took a few minutes, but to his relief the boy hadn't run. "Well first of all, you're not going to jail. We already explained to the cops what probably happened," he explained, approaching the child carefully. "And secondly, you don't have to worry. We're the good guys. My name's Bumblebee."

The boy stood to his feet, looking him up and down. "Now that I look I can see the confusion. Did I... Did I turn into one of you?"

Bumblebee nodded his head slowly. "So you definitely didn't know this was going to happen?" Cole shook his head. "Yeah, it looked that way to me. I'm not really sure how that works... I've never seen a human do that before and I've been on Earth for a very long time."

Cole looked down nervously, his voice shaky as he spoke. "I don't know. It just happened. And I was so scared... I didn't mean to smash the school or anything," he promised the mech. "It just happened."

"I know, the first transformation can be scary," Bumblebee nodded. "And the fact it happened without you having any idea it would makes it worse. Cole, did you know... That..."

"I'm half-robot or something? No!" Cole shook his head. "I didn't even know my parents. Who would be around to tell me?"

Yep, this was definitely a test tube baby, Bumblebee figured. Holding up his hands, he carefully inched closer to the boy. "Listen, I know this is all very scary and confusing. But if you come with us, I think we can all find answers," by the look on his face, Cole didn't look too sure about that. "Hey, I promise. No one's going to hurt you."

"If I'm something you've never seen before, wouldn't you like... Try to dissect me?"

Bumblebee chuckled a little at that, amused by the fact he'd ever think about that. "Nah, maybe take a few blood samples. Run a few tests, but nothing like that," again, the boy still looked apprehensive. "Come on, you can't just stay out here forever. Running away doesn't solve anything."

Cole shook his head. "I don't even know you."

"No, but we share a species in common apparently," Cole pursed his lips at that. "And I'd never hurt a kid. So you don't have anything to be afraid of."

The boy looked at him silently - and as they stood there, he could only wait for a final answer.

"Did anyone get Fowler on the line?"

That was the first thing Cole heard upon arriving in Bumblebee's car mode to what he called their "base". It was a little surprising to find it was a junkyard (especially after a ride through the ground bridge), but all the same, Bumblebee was immediately greeted by a smaller, brown bot. "Hey! Welcome back! Did you find the source of the signal?"

As if on cue, the passengers side door popped open to let Cole out. Taking this as more than an invitation, he climbed out as Bumblebee transformed behind him. "That we did. Fix-It, this is Cole," Bumblebee motioned to him, while the only thing the boy could muster was a small wave. "He's going to be staying here until I get some answers about what the pit is going on. In the meantime, I want you to take some samples from him."

"Whoa!" Fix-It stared Cole up and down. "These aren't... Human readings I'm getting. Or at least not fully human."

"Yeah, welcome to us. Two hours ago." the red mech, Sideswipe, deadpanned from behind.

As if to reiterate the urgency, Bumblebee asked his question again. "And Fowler?"

"On his way," Fix-It replied, with a nod. "So uhhh... Hi, I'm Fix-It! Cole, was it? Come on, step into my lab."

"L-Lab?" Cole questioned nervously.

Of course, Bumblebee caught on immediately. No doubt knowing how that would sound to a kid who just found out he's half-alien. "Don't worry Cole, he's a friend. He's only going to take blood samples," he explained. "Isn't that right, Fix-It?"

Fix-It, still fixated on Cole at the moment, nodded his head. "Yeah, just blood samples. Though I'd also like to run a few scans if you're comfortable with that?" Cole looked nervously, not sure how he felt about that. "Don't worry, it's all paint-prain-painless. I can even do it here if you'd like."

Doing it out there? With a bunch of Autobots watching probably? Cole wasn't sure that helped much either. And so, he decided that either way, they were going to study his blood, so it was best to get it over with. "Alright, alright, where's the lab?" Cole questioned, as Fix-It carefully began to lead him. "You do this often, right?"

"What blood and Energon samples? Of course!" Fix-It replied. "But I'm not sure what to expect from this one."

Cole felt about the same way, though he relaxed significantly when the "lab" ended up looking not much like one. It was an open area of the junkyard, with some medical "berths", one of which the mech signaled for him to get on. "Alright, I'm gonna warn you, this is going to stu-str-sting!" Fix-It replied. "Only for a second though."

The teen didn't have time to ask for clarification before Fix-It had steadied his arm and stuck a small appendage from his arm into his own. Cole had to admit, he was amazed by the way that Fix-It didn't even seem to use a needle. "Primus! You are an anomaly, aren't you?" Fix-It began as he began to take the "blood" sample. "Your life source is almost a perfect fusion of both ours and a humans. In retrospect, the Energon inside it should be killing you. But it seems to be fueling you."

Cole tilted his head, not quite understanding what the small robot was getting at. "Maybe it has something to do with me turning into one of you guys?" Cole asked, causing more surprise to enter the robot's optics. "So, that guy, Bumblebee was right? I'm what... Half one of you guys?"

"I'll need to run tests on this... But that's also my best guess," Fix-It confirmed, his optic ridges raising in surprise. "I know you were pretty sr-so-scared about the scans. But if I'm going to figure out what this means. Those would help."

Cole looked thoughtfully down at the minibot as he removed the object from his arm. Just how far would these tests go, he wondered? But at the same time, he this one, Fix-It seemed friendly enough. "You won't do anything that makes me... Uncomfortable, right?" he asked. "I just don't want to be some sort of science experiment, or whatever."

It was ironic, because Cole, like Bumblebee, was starting to think that was exactly what he was. None-the-less, however, Fix-It carefully placed a hand on his knee and shook his head. "Absolutely not! I'll only do what I have to. And if you're in any pain... Just let me know," Cole nodded his head slowly. "Alright. Let me go get our on-base medic, First Aid to take a second look at your blood. Then we'll start on the scans."

As Fix-It rolled off to go and find this other robot, First Aid, Cole could only sit there quietly. What were they going to find out, he wondered? And would this finally answer the question that had bothered him for years: where he came from? A mountain of questions had already formed in his head, and something inside told him he wasn't going to like the answers.

A/N: I know, not much "excitement" this chapter. But next chapter - things start heating up, so stay tuned!