*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*

It was raining this morning and I love it, but for some odd reason I loved it entirely too much. At the moment I really wanted to just go outside and play in it like I used to when I was a little girl, but I thought against it. I had two very important Autobots I needed to see today.

Smiling, I jumped out of bed and headed over to my dresser so I could get ready for the rainy day ahead of me. After changing into a pair of black shorts and a tan v-neck shirt, I headed over to my closet to retrieve my army green cargo jacket and my other of black combat boots that I had. Like I had predicted, my others were ruined when Ironhide threw me into the pool back in the Bahamas. He promised to replace those too, but I didn't really care much. I had two other pairs just like them.

Soon enough, I was situated properly. I left my blonde locks down and threw on a little makeup before I was finally ready to go. I quickly trudged down the stairs and grabbed my purse and my keys before heading down to my car. Looking at the time on the dashboard, I noticed that it was 10:15. I was more than pleased with this. I had a craving for a chicken biscuit and some tea, and since Hardee's was still serving breakfast, I was set to go.

I pulled out of the parking garage and headed down the street towards Hardee's. Given the immense amount of traffic flowing through the streets of Washington, it took me about fifteen minutes to reach my destination. I rushed to get my chicken biscuit and tea. All I really wanted was to see two of my favorite bots and my favorite bot. I ordered quickly and paid, and soon enough I was back on the road just sipping my tea while heading towards the base.

After another ten minutes, I was pulling across the bridge and up to the gates. Steve stepped up to my car and I let out a little snicker while he playfully glared at me. I could still see the dark blue color peeping out of the collar of his uniform.

"Hey, Steve," I greeted.

"What are you doing here, child?" he chuckled.

I laughed. "I'm not here to pull another prank if that's what you're wondering. Open the gates. I'm here to see Optimus and Ratchet," I instructed him.

He just laughed and instructed the other guard to open up the gates for me. Once opened, I thanked Steve before heading in and pulling into my normal parking spot beside the hangar's entrance door. I left everything in the car aside from my tea and my biscuit and got out of the car, making my way into the building. I had been exceptionally hungry and considering that, I wound up finishing my biscuit the second I opened up the hangar door. It was rather delicious too.

I strolled further into the hangar, the familiar sound of machinery flooding my ear canal. My dad was standing over by one of the posts speaking with Mearing whom I hadn't seen in over a month either. I strolled over to the pair and engulfed my dad in a side hug before greeting him.

"Hey, daddy."

He squeezed me back gently. "Hey, kiddo."

I turned my attention towards Mearing and as odd as it sounded, I smiled at her. "Good morning, Director Mearing."

She seemed puzzled, but she smiled back. "Good morning, Miss Lennox."

I smiled at her once more before parting from the two. I headed further into the hangar to see if I could find Ratchet or even Optimus. The only one I wound up finding was Optimus who stood talking to Ironhide, the two of them in their holoforms. I rushed over before they could detect my presence and wrapped my arms around Optimus's side; I just hoped I hadn't splashed any of my tea on him. He was slightly startled, of course, but the moment he realized it was me, he chuckled and hugged me back.

"What a pleasant surprise. It's wonderful to see you, Azalea."

I smiled and pulled away from him. "Likewise. How was cleaning up Chicago?" I asked him as I took a sip of my drink.

He frowned. "Atrocious."

I immediately felt guilty for asking, but I quickly brushed off the feeling and turned to Ironhide, a smile coming onto my face. Before he got the chance to speak to me, I hugged him, just enjoying the feel of him against my body.

"You're quite the clingy little thing today," he mused as he hugged me back.

I ignored his comment and took another sip of my tea before shifting my focus back to Optimus. "Where's Ratchet at?"

He nodded his head in the direction behind us and I turned to see Ratchet's holoform walking towards our small group of three. I smiled at him and he smiled back, but it dropped after his eyes quickly scanned my body. His tone was nothing but serious as he approached us. I frowned when he looked at me, disregarding the other two Autobot holoforms.

"I need you to come with me," he said as he grabbed my hand. He pulled me away from Ironhide's side very abruptly, causing me to drop my drink to the floor. I squealed but followed him. It wasn't really like I had a choice.

"What's wrong, Ratchet?" I asked as he pulled me into the MedBay. He instructed me to sit on the small cot they had for the humans, so I did so and he stood in front of me, his eyes scanning over my body as if there was something wrong.

"Your hormonal signature is off; more so then when you are on your menstrual cycle," he explained to me. I raised a brow. I had no earthly idea what he was talking about. "Have you and Ironhide's lesser form engaged in sexual intercourse?"

My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Why on Earth was he asking me this?

"Yes," I answered him.

"Hm. Explains quite a lot," he mumbled. I had only assumed he was speaking absently. He was actually starting to freak me out.

"What's wrong, Ratchet? You're kind of scaring me."

"Have you been having mood swings, random sickness, and cravings?" he asked me, completely disregarding my question.

I thought for a moment before nodding slowly. I still didn't understand what any of this had to do with why I was here at the moment.

"Why do you ask?"

He smirked and crossed his arms, his holoform's blue eyes glinting beneath the light of the room. "You are pregnant, Azalea."

I'M WHAT?!

I gaped at the medic in front of me, trying to process his words. There was no possible way I could have heard him right. I knew from reading that file back in Simmons's meat locker that it was possible, but I never thought it was possible with me considering that Ironhide's holoform was simply a synthetic variant of his true form. It couldn't possibly procreate, could it?

"I'm sorry. Did you just say I was pregnant?" I inquired frantically. Just the sound of it sent a billion thoughts running through my mind.

"Yes, I did."

"But, that can't be possible. I know that your Cybertronian forms can procreate, but how can your holoforms procreate if it's just a synthetic version of yourselves?" I asked, hoping that his readings were wrong.

"Why do you believe I spent so much time working on them, Azalea?"

I face-palmed as realization hit me. I should have fucking known Ratchet would do some sort of experimentation with this. It still didn't explain how he did it though.

"But, I don't understand how. ." I trailed off. My mind couldn't exactly find the words to properly ask what the fuck was going on here. He seemed to catch on to what I was trying to say though.

"You needn't worry about that, young one. Just know that you're completely safe," he assured me.

I sighed. "Did he know that he could reproduce with this form?"

Ratchet frowned and shook his head. "This was done the day after I returned from the Ark with Sentinel. I never got to inform him of the matter. I never got to inform any of them for that matter. I truly do apologize. I can sense that this was not what you were hoping for," he answered sincerely.

I just sighed and clutched my abdomen tightly. This was still a lot to take in. I'm a twenty-one year old girl without a job. At the moment I had enough money to to last me a year or so, but a year from now I would most likely be cradling a little techno-organic girl or boy in my arms. I also didn't know how to do this whole pregnancy thing; the only person I knew that did was no longer here and my heart was just breaking at the thought. I quickly wiped away the single tear that had managed to escape before looking at Ratchet.

"How far along am I?" I asked quietly.

"Almost eight weeks. You're beginning to grow. I'm surprised Ironhide hasn't quite noticed it yet," he answered.

I gulped and felt just below my stomach and sure enough there was a small, hardened bump beginning to protrude. Never in my life had I expected something like this to happen to me considering that my fragging boyfriend was a completely different species from me. I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about this whole thing. It wasn't sickness of disgust, but sickness of confusion and overwhelmingness.

"Could we maybe keep this little detail from Hide? I have some things to think about," I squeaked as I hopped off of the cot.

Ratchet nodded before giving me a small smile and before I knew it, he was wrapping me in a comforting hug. "I know you're frightened, but try not to keep it from him for too long. It won't be long before he's able to specifically sense that something's off balance within your body."

I just nodded and pulled away from him. "Thank you, Ratchet."

He gave me one last smile before gesturing me out of the MedBay. I pulled my jacket tightly over my body and walked back out into the hangar, staring at the floor as I went.

This whole entire situation scared me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do about it or how I was supposed to deal with it either. My mom knew what to do about it and she also knew how to deal with it, but she wasn't here to help me through this, so I was stuck. I was alone. Right now, all I really wanted was to speak to her about this and knowing that I couldn't literally broke me in half. It was pretty sad how when I needed her the most, she wasn't even here.

Before I could take another step, I was stopped by a pair of arms. Startled, I looked up to see my dad standing in front of me, a worried expression on his face. His thumbs quickly moved up to my face and he swiped at it. I hadn't even realized I had started crying.

"Why are you crying?" he asked me.

I sniffed. "Would you believe me if I said I missed momma?"

He frowned. "Yes, but I would only half believe you. Tell me what else is bothering you. You came in here as happy as could be and I saw Ratchet whisk you into the medical bay."

I knew that I was going to have to tell him what Ratchet had told me only minutes ago. There was a possible chance that he could help me seeing as he's been with my mom through not only one, but two pregnancies. It would be indirect help instead of exclusive help, but at the moment I really needed all I could get.

Quickly, I scanned the hangar for any sign of Ironhide or any other Autobot for that matter. Once I was sure that the coast was clear, I sighed and turned back to my ever-so-curious father.

"I'm pregnant, dad," I whispered.

His eyes widened and I hugged myself tighter. "You're sure?"

I nodded. "When has Ratchet's diagnosis ever been wrong?"

He let out an exasperated sigh and put a hand up to his face. I could already tell that he was just as confused by this as I was, but whatever he was thinking, he wouldn't say it out loud.

"I'm going to get off in a little bit and then Adalyn and I will be on our way over, okay? Have you told Hide yet?"

I shook my head. In reality, I was actually scared to tell him and I didn't know why. It may have been the fact that he has no clue he can reproduce in that form and if I told him, I feared that he would think I had done something unfaithful.

"I'll get around to it," I squeaked.

He hugged me tightly, but given the fact that my arms were tightly bound around my abdomen, I didn't hug him back. "Give me three hours, okay baby girl? We're going to talk about this."

I sniffed and pulled away from him. "Thank you, dad."

He only nodded and hurried off up the stairs. I sighed and looked down at the floor yet again. I just couldn't wait to go home and possibly sleep for the next three hours or so.

I wasn't aware of how many steps I had taken since leaving my dad's side. All I knew is that there was now a warm hand on mine. My walking had come to a halt and I looked up into the very concerned eyes of Ironhide's holoform. He placed a hand on my cheek and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"What's the matter, Azalea?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes and forced a smile. "Nothing. I'm fine."

The sigh that left his form was enough for me to know that he didn't believe a word I said. I wouldn't either. I was practically a walking sulk-board.

"Lea," he started. I cut him off and reached up to grab his hand.

"I'll see you when you get home," I said softly. He frowned and I leaned up to plant a soft kiss onto his cheek. "I love you."

He didn't even get the chance to respond before I let go of his hand and quickly stalked out of the hangar and into the rainy Washington atmosphere.

*Please vote and comment. It'd mean so much to me. I wanna know what you guys think.*