Rating: T for some violence and Cybertronian swearing

Warnings for this chapter: Angst. Lots of it.

Summary: A medic's code encompasses a lot…

Pairing(s): None

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Echo.

A/N: "Coding" is a concept I came up with for this chapter. Basically, when an Autobot chooses to be a medic and completes basic training, they receive a 'coding chip' that is implanted into their CPU. From that point on, that chip provides their 'prime directive', so to speak: it gives them the basic code that they live by, and in extreme situations, they will act according to the priorities the chip dictates unless they override it. The coding chips work similarly to the Matrix, in that they hold all of the knowledge the medic accumulates throughout his or her lifespan, and if the chip is removed, they will lose all of the knowledge they have gained since the chip's implantation. However, they would not lose their memories, and the coding chips are never used by more than one medic. Like I said, I came up with the concept; it's not canon. But if anyone likes the idea and wants to use it, go ahead.

Long, complicated author's notes aside, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 10: Medic's Code

Focus. Focus. Echo forced herself to step away from the Vehicon's lifeless shell and toward the door. "Right…wait, Miko!"

The human girl was already running out the door, but Echo could hear the sound of engines. "Miko! Stop!"

"It's okay, friendly!" Bulkhead held up a hand to stop Echo from coming after him – not that he needs to worry, she thought grimly – as Bumblebee stopped to pick up the humans.

"Come on, Echo, let's get out of here! We've got Fowler."

Echo blinked, taking a moment to register Arcee's order before transforming. "Right…get out of here." Her CPU wouldn't stop repeating, over and over. I killed him. I overrode my coding to heal and I killed him. I killed him. She barely registered the change in temperature and light as they left the ship and sped across the dirt toward the last known bridge location.

"Echo. Echo!"

She jolted as Bulkhead's voice finally registered. "Uh, what?"

Arcee's engine hummed impatiently. "The groundbridge! You've got the mini-activator, so get us out of here before the 'Cons catch up!"

"Oh, right…sorry…" Echo fiddled with the panel on her right arm for a moment before opening it. A slight shudder ran through her as she touched the drying energon. Not mine. His. He's dead. And I killed him.

Thankfully, groundbridge activation was one of the easiest tasks to do, even from a distance, and the familiar green glow appeared in front of them. Numbly, Echo followed Arcee into the bridge.

The moment her pedes touched the floor of the base, she took off, half-running toward the washracks, before being stopped by a curious whistle from Bumblebee.

"I don't know, I'm not a human medic!" I'm an Autobot medic. Who used her knowledge to kill. "Just…put Fowler on one of the human-sized stretchers in the back storage room. Scan says he's stable. We'll ask Dad if there's anything else we can do."

With that, she bolted into the washrack and locked the door behind her. Slumping against the tiled wall, she stared at the energon stains. It wasn't the first time she'd had it on her, of course; treating injuries could get pretty messy, especially if you were working in a recent combat zone.

But this is different. I wasn't healing. I didn't fix him. I killed him.

Shivering, she turned on the water, running it on the highest setting, desperately scrubbing at her arms even after the last traces of energon disappeared. She didn't stop until she heard Arcee pounding on the door.

"ECHO! Get your aft out here! Optimus and Ratchet are on their way back, and they're injured."

What? Dad's hurt? No! Echo shut the water off and quickly towel-dried herself, running out into the main room just as Optimus Prime and Ratchet stepped out of the groundbridge. Even from across the room, the younger medic could see that both of them were covered in dents and scrapes, Optimus was bleeding from a gash in his upper chestplates, and Ratchet's right arm was hanging limply at an awkward angle.

"What happened?" Almost welcoming the distraction, Echo ran forward, offering her father a shoulder to lean on. "This is battle damage…what happened?"

Ratchet accepted his daughter's help, letting her guide him to a chair. "We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."

Miko squealed. "Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?"

As Optimus responded, Ratchet gestured for Echo to tend to their leader first. "Go on, I'll work on my injuries myself for a moment. Make sure Optimus is alright."

"Yes, Dad." Echo made her way to Optimus's side with a light metal-patch and a welder. "Prime, if you wouldn't mind sitting down…"

"No, I wouldn't." Optimus settled down on the ledge next to the control console, allowing her to reach his wound. "Thank you, but shouldn't you tend to Ratchet first?"

"He said to handle your injuries first. And since you're the one bleeding, I have to agree." Echo started cleaning the cut, but froze when a trickle of energon ran down her arm. I killed…and now I'm trying to heal?

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh…no, sir." Echo finished the patch job as quickly as she could. "There, that should integrate in a few hours. Just be careful with it." Without waiting for a response, the femme practically sprinted across the room to her father.

Ratchet already had the supplies out. "Here. I know I don't have to tell you what to do." Normally, such an expression of trust from the senior medic would have thrilled Echo, but right now she couldn't manage much more than a slight smile.

Ratchet noticed, of course. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Echo muttered, focusing very hard on the brace she was wrapping around her father's arm.

"Echo." Ratchet placed his good servo over hers, holding her still. "Don't try to lie to a medic. Your servos are shaking, you froze while you were working on Optimus, and now you can't even look at me."

She bit her bottom lip component. "It's nothing, really."

"Mm-hmm." Ratchet stood up. "Let's go back in the medbay for a minute, okay?"

Reluctantly, Echo followed him into the other room. Ratchet shut the door behind her before settling down on the one bunk. "Okay, come sit down and tell me what the problem is."

"I…I can't."

"Yes you can." Ratchet looked her straight in the optics. "Tell me."

She stared down at her servos. Yes, they were definitely trembling…and she couldn't take her eyes off the trickle of energon on her wrist.

"Echo?"

"I….there was a Vehicon that showed up while I was watching the humans, and…" Echo struggled to get the words out. "He was going to attack them…I just…I couldn't…I had to do something, and I just acted, I didn't think…"

"You killed him." Ratchet stated the fact quietly.

"Yes." She blinked rapidly, feeling a tiny amount of fluid gathering in the corners of her optics.

Ratchet stood up and moved to her side, gently wrapping his good arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Echo…it's alright."

"No, it's not!" Echo gasped, almost desperately. "I killed him…I killed him! And I didn't even have to think, I overrode my coding without even trying…and I didn't use my combat training, it was medical training! I knew where the weak point in his armor was, and I used it…I killed him!" Her voice rose to the point of near hysteria.

"Shh, shh." Ratchet rubbed her shoulder. "I understand. Killing – even when you had to – is never, or should never, be enjoyable. I've been where you are, and I know how difficult it is. But let me set your mind at rest about one thing; you didn't override your coding."

"What?" Echo looked up, startled. "But I had to! I wasn't doing anything that involved it…"

"Yes, you were." Ratchet sat down again, pulling her with him. "Tell me what your base coding is."

"Um…" This didn't make sense, but if Ratchet asked… "To heal those who are sick and injured, to care for those who need my care, and to protect those who need my protection…"

"There." Ratchet nodded. "Right there. You were protecting the ones who needed your protection: the humans. That's why you could use your medical training and that's why you didn't have to think; you were doing your job. You did exactly what needed to be done. Your task as a medic is to heal and protect. Sometimes one has to override the other."

"But…killing? How is that…it just…"

"I know." Ratchet cut off her protest. "It's hard. And if I could I would have made it so that you would never have to deal with this. But as long as the Decepticons threaten, there will be times where we need to kill. It's not easy; it's never easy. But right now, the other Autobots need us to be strong. The humans need us. Sometimes we have to do things that hurt us, in order to make sure they don't get hurt. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah…I think so." Echo reached for the brace again. "Let me finish this before it gets worse."

"Alright." Ratchet turned to give her better access to the injured arm. "This does remind me, though. At some point, I do need to teach you how to override your coding."

"What?"

"Careful with that, don't want you to lose a finger." Ratchet motioned to the welder. "And here's why. You said that it didn't take any actual thinking to use your training. That's because your coding was directing what you did. It would have done the same thing regardless of who you were up against, and that's why you might need to override it. Otherwise, you could end up in a fight you can't win. If that had been Starscream or even Megatron, you still would have attacked him before thinking it through, and I don't need to tell you why that would be a bad thing. So once things have settled down a bit, we'll take some time and work on that. Okay?"

"Okay." Echo finished applying the brace. "All done. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot! Just before the Vehicon…attacked, the kids and I were looking at what I think was a plan for something."

"In the Decepticon base?" Ratchet tested the strength of the brace. "Good job."

"Thanks. Yes, it looked kind of like our groundbridge specs, except multiplied by a lot. If that's a groundbridge, it's the biggest one ever." Echo led the way back into the other room. "Miko? Can I – where's Jack?"

"He left," Arcee said flatly. "Apparently he doesn't want to end up in danger like that again."

"…Oh." Echo sighed; Fowler was going to be really ticked, if he ever woke up. "Miko, can I see that picture you took of the plans in the Decepticon base?"

"Oh sure!" Miko held up her phone, and Echo motioned for Ratchet to take a look. He glanced at it, then back at her.

"I don't understand."

"Oh, sorry." Miko switched pictures. "That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf away."

"You took a picture of him?"

"Don't ask."

"Hmm." Ratchet studied the correct picture.

Echo leaned over his arm. "What is it?"

Ratchet shook his head. "I'll have to run this into the computer…but I can tell you one thing. It's important, and it's not a groundbridge."