EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Shadow, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.

Never Mess With A Mother Hen

It had been a few months now since the mechs on base had proven that Shadow could trust them and to their relief, the femme wasn't as nervous around them and they did their best to not bring up any bad memories for her, especially being careful not to purposely startle her. She seemed to appreciate that and seemed calmer around them.

But they had slowly begun noticing that Shadow's behavior around them was changing. It wasn't a bad change, but it seemed...almost unusual.

Bumblebee had returned from patrol one day and had had a close call with a rogue, but sent him packing. He however got a bit scratched up from the rocks where he had been forced to fall back against the canyon wall. He wasn't hurt, but the scratches were annoying. When he arrived back at base and Shadow saw his minor injuries, she hovered over him as Ratchet carefully patched up the scratches. She even brought him over some Energon, to which he was grateful, but silently noticed how she was...mothering him, something no femme had done except for his mother before he became an orphan.

Smokescreen, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker had also noticed that Shadow had been acting a little differently, fussing if they had any scrapes, making sure they refueled properly, and gently reminding them to clean up after themselves.

"Anybody else thinking that Miss Shadow is acting maybe a bit like a school teacher or perhaps...a mother?" Sideswipe asked his brother and friends one day.

"Well, Sides, she is a mother," Starscream pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but I mean with us," the red Twin clarified. "Mind you, I'm not complaining, but it just seems...unusual. The only femme that ever fussed over me and Sunny like that was...our own Carrier."

The pause wasn't missed by the others, who guessed that the Twins had lost their Carrier long ago during the war. "Maybe we should ask Ratchet," Smokescreen suggested. "He might know why Shadow is acting like this. He's known her longer than we have."

"True," Bumblebee said.

But when they asked the medic, he just smirked, not really answering their questions, which left them confused and not really sure what to make of Shadow's behavior.

A week later, early afternoon...

Shadow knocked on the door of the conference room where Ultra Magnus and Prowl were in a meeting. They glanced up, smiling at her. "Greetings, Miss Shadow," Prowl said politely. "How can we help you?"

"You two need to rest," she said calmly, her voice carrying a mothering tone. "You two have been working a few more hours than you should be."

"We're alright, Shadow," Ultra Magnus said, keeping his tone polite. "I'm afraid this paperwork has to be done. As soon as it's done, we'll rest."

She shook her head. "That paperwork can wait," she said. "You both should rest."

"We will later," Prowl said, also keeping his tone polite.

But all their polite refusals were doing was making her more tense and she again tried to calmly reason with them to no avail until finally, having had enough, she marched over to the two mechs, grabbing Ultra Magnus by his left audio receptor and Prowl by his right doorwing, pulling them after her and forcing them to follow her. Both mechs just barely managed to keep from grunting in pain as they were forced to follow after the determined femme, their faces turning red with embarrassment as Shadow dragged them into the control room in full view of everyone to head to where their sleeping quarters were located.

Megatron, while finding this a bit amusing, decided to try and stop Shadow. "Shadow, I'm not sure whatever Ultra Magnus and Prowl did is called for this," he said.

She turned to look at him and he was taken aback by the look on her faceplates before she stepped forward, effectively herding him into a corner and looking him dead in the eye. "You stay here in the corner until I get back, Megatron," she said firmly.

He stood a bit straighter, not to intimidate her, but to protest. "I'm a grown mech, Miss Shadow," he said.

She drilled him with another 'don't-argue-with-me' look. "One more word and I'll wash your mouth out with soap," she threatened.

That threat got him to be quiet and did the same for everyone else, who were shocked mostly, but mildly amused too that a femme who's head came up to Prowl's shoulder and up to Ultra Magnus' and Megatron's shoulders was not only 'dragging' two grown mechs away as if they had been disobedient adolescents, but had also made a grown mech not dare to say another word for fear she would make good on her threat.

As they quietly watched her drag the other two away, they looked at Ratchet, who was trying and failing to supress a chuckle. He nodded. "Now that Shadow trusts all of you, she wants to make sure you are all healthy and taken care of," he explained. "I suggest you all get used to it."

"She's not going to let it go otherwise, is she?" Megatron asked, not moving from the corner.

"Nope," Ratchet said. "And just a friendly suggestion, Megatron, you might want to stay there until she returns."

"Believe me, Ratchet. Even I know better than to invoke a femme's wrath," the former warlord said.

None of the other mechs dared to tease him about it as they also knew invoking a femme's wrath meant they'd come out worse for wear.

Ultra Magnus and Prowl had given up on trying to get away from Shadow as her grip was firm, though not painful. They first got to Ultra Magnus' quarters first and the femme leveled Prowl with a stern look. "Stay," she said firmly.

He nodded, not daring to move as she entered Magnus' room with him behind her. The large mech sighed, seeing the femme wasn't going to let the subject drop. "You're not going to let this drop, are you?" He asked.

"No," she said. "You've been working overtime, Magnus, and you need to rest."

He wouldn't admit it, but a nap did sound good and he let her move him towards his berth, laying down on it and was surprised when she tucked him in and even more surprised when she began rubbing his back and humming a lullaby. Only his mother had done that when he was a sparkling, but that was years before the war had struck Cybertron. He sighed and let her, relaxing more.

Shadow smiled as she continued humming softly, seeing Ultra Magnus was about to fall asleep. She took a step away when he gently caught her hand, making her turn to him. "Shadow, um...please don't say a word about this?" He pleaded.

Knowing he meant how a femme had tucked him in and lulled him to sleep like a sparkling, she smiled. "I won't, if you go straight to sleep," she bargained, nuzzling her forehead against his forehead in a sisterly manner.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, returning the nuzzle before falling asleep.

Smiling, Shadow quietly headed out, pleased to see that Prowl had stayed put, but he didn't look eager to have her grab his doorwing again. Seeing this, she placed a hand on his shoulder and gently forced him to start walking towards his quarters. He silently obeyed and was glad when they arrived, but was surprised when Shadow came in and she tucked him in, rubbing his doorwings very carefully so that it was like a soothing massage, and humming a soft lullaby.

He normally was cautious about anyone touching his doorwings, but Shadow's gentle touch helped him relax and he gave her a pleading look, to which she smile, nuzzling her forehead against his. "Don't worry, it will stay between us, but only if you go to sleep," she said softly.

He gave her a grateful look before he fell asleep, making her smile as she quietly shut the door and headed for the main room, seeing Megatron still standing in the corner where she had left him. She walked up to him, making him stand straighter. "Are you going to give me any more sass, Megatron?" She asked calmly.

"No ma'am," he replied.

"Good. You may come out of the corner then," she said before hearing the Groundbridge open up and Predaking flew in with Soundwave, both having scratches and the former's right wing was torn a little while the latter's left arm was sparking a little.

"What happened?" Knockout said, coming up to them.

"Oh, just a bit of a skirmish," Soundwave said, wincing a little.

Shadow came up to him. "You and Predaking get into the medbay now," she said. "Or I'll drag you both there myself."

"I think I'd be a bit too heavy for you to drag around, Miss Shadow," Predaking said, but he headed into the medbay all the same as he knew he needed treatment for his wing.

"Something tells me you'd find a way to," Soundwave said, also heading for the medbay.

Shadow smiled as she went in also to help Ratchet and Knockout, who let her as they knew never to mess with her, especially when she was in mother hen mode.

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GoldGuardian2418