A/N: Guess who's back. Back again. Neuvo's back. Tell a friend.

A new shift in things towards a different outcome because fuck the Zero Requiem and all the fucking feels that come with it. I...don't have anything else to say about that...huh. I'm rather disappointed in myself.

Code Geass is not mine. Saying it is would be like saying Lelouch and Light Yagami are the same person: A horrific lie and insult to His Majesty.

Much hype for R3 btw.

コードギアス : 再編成 - Code Geass: The Reorganisation
第1章/Phase I

The Die is Cast

September 4th, 2018 a.t.b.
Airspace over Tokyo Settlement
Black Knights flagship Ikaruga, Zero's Quarters

Nunnally is dead.

It was the one thought that filled his head, even as he screamed at the abomination that had dared to impose on her place. The stupid little wretch had had one job and he hadn't even tried! And now she was…

Nunnally is dead…

Lelouch collapsed in on himself, dropping onto the couch of his elaborate quarters on the Ikaruga. How could he have miscalculated so drastically? He'd known about Suzaku's command to live, how dangerous it could make him. Why hadn't he listened?! That idiot didn't know how to lie to save his own life, if he said he was carrying a dangerous weapon he meant it.

That's right. He can't lie.

And another reason to blame himself landed on his head. The Kururugi shrine. Of course Suzaku hadn't told Schneizel to follow him! He was too honourable for that, which meant that the entire ambush had been the work of his scheming older brother and no one else. Why had he jumped to conclusions? Had there been a part of him that subconsciously wanted Suzaku to betray him? Either way it had resulted in their possible collaboration falling apart and now Lelouch was left with the ugly results.

I wonder how he's taking it. Not that Lelouch didn't have his suspicions, Nunnally had been like a surrogate sister to the Japanese boy and now at his hands she was little more than dust in the wind. First Euphie, and now Nunnally. We certainly have a habit of getting our most beloved ones killed, don't we?

"Master?" The timid voice that was familiar yet still so foreign to his ears barely brushed his attention. The next bit though… "Please take off your clothes."

Any other day he would have stared at her with the highest level of incredulity, it was about the only thing about this strange girl kneeling beside him that was anything like C.C. As he was though, Lelouch barely had the energy to look up at the big wide eyes that were attentively fixed on him.

"Are you hurting somewhere?" She asked him, head cocked "If it's somewhere you can't reach then I can help." She followed this up by holding up a box of plasters, an uncertain little smile hidden behind it.

Such innocence on that face. If it was anyone else, even Todoh's fangirl Chiba, Lelouch might have let out a little laugh. But seeing it on C.C. just made him want to weep. It wasn't right, she wasn't right. The woman whose contract he'd sworn to uphold was gone, replaced by this little ghost from the past.

How easy it would be to place all the blame on her, how simple it would be to lash out. He'd seen her memories in that corridor, seen where she'd come from, so Lelouch knew for a fact that she was used to such treatment. Every frustration, all the bloodshed – innocent and otherwise – it all stemmed from that day in the Shinjuku ghetto when he just had to be better than the rest of the herd. The damned Geass that let him control everyone with a glance had come from that day when their paths crossed.

The same Geass he'd used so clumsily on Suzaku on Shikinejima, that cursed order that had compelled him to use that new weapon. It had come from her. So why not blame her?

Because it's not her fault. The tired thought reached him and he acknowledged it for the truth it was. She merely offered him the power, it was he who had accepted and used it the way he had. Never mind the implications of adding himself to the list of people who had abused this poor girl, something that sickened him even further. Besides, it was because of him she was even like this, he had no right to accuse her of any fault.

So conceding, he dipped his head again in acknowledgement. "Yes…it's somewhere I can't reach."

Maybe his voice got through to her because, just for a moment, her gaze left him and a small sad expression flitted across her pale alabaster features. A moment later however C.C.'s attention was back on him, one of her hands tugging at his. "Then I should help you, Master."

Help me? Lelouch let out a small sardonic laugh. Yes, that's all you've ever done for me isn't it? And look where it got you.

He was about to voice those exact thoughts when a voice beyond his quarters. "Zero? Are you there? Can I come in?"

Kallen Kozuki. His most useful soldier. And right now the last person Lelouch wanted to deal with. Her being here meant the Black Knights wanted something from him when right now he just wanted everyone to fuck off. His ire was raised further when C.C. immediately let go of his hand and darted away to hide behind the foremost stacks of his library. So far, she was the only one who wasn't pushing him to do something more strenuous than breathing even if that was a result of memory loss, for now he'd take that – he'd take anything to make this gaping chasm in his chest feel a little bit smaller.

Before he could call her back, the doors slid open to admit Kallen into his quarters. She was still in her red pilot suit doing her best to look all business, as if a giant pink orb of light hadn't just disintegrated half the Tokyo Settlement. Unfortunately for her Lelouch knew her too well to be fooled by the act, what they'd seen had rattled her to the bone and she was doing whatever she could to not think about it.

"Ohgi asked me to bring you to warehouse four." Kallen told him, trying her best to keep herself professional despite the horror she'd just witnessed and the way she could still see Lelouch was dealing with.

Ohgi asked? That was almost funny, as if that man could ever string a thought together for himself. But it was odd that he'd want a word with him in a warehouse of all places, the bridge would be more fitting wouldn't it?

"Why there?" He asked more to himself really, his damned analytical mind chugging back on regardless of his broken heart.

She just shrugged in reply, "Dunno, I didn't really get the details."

If she was honest, Kallen hadn't wanted to bring anything like this to their leader's attention. Never mind that decimation outside, on a personal level she knew exactly what Lelouch was going through and sure as hell didn't want to make his day any more trying. If she could she'd have let him take some time to himself, but his duties as Zero couldn't be ignored.

That took a back bencher though when C.C., innocent as she now was, stuck her head round the corner to take in the strange new woman. Who was she? Why was she speaking to Master so informally?

Wait, could she be…?

But if she was then what would happen to her? If Master didn't need her anymore then there was only one way this would end. Fear took over and she pulled herself out even further to call out to him. "Master? Please take off your clothes. I'll do the best I can, I promise."

She could still be useful, she could still help him, he didn't need to throw her out right away. He was the kindest master she'd ever had.

Her request though, meek as it was, was worded in just the right way to draw the absolute wrong conclusion from Lelouch's favourite subordinate.

Master?! That was one word Kallen had never thought she'd hear out of that damned verdette's mouth. C.C. had been more than a bit promiscuous during their ten months on the run after the First Black Rebellion but this… hang on, have they just been…?!

Bemusement turned to anger, and she focused a furious glare on the two of them. "What the hell have you two been doing in here?! While I've been rotting in a cell-!"

That was as far as she got before Lelouch burst out into uncontrollable laughter. It had started as a broken little snicker, hearing things out of his Witch that were so wrong it was funny, then it turned into a little chuckle at the idea of her of all people propositioning him in such a way. And finally, when Kallen was getting into her tirade he found himself unable to hold back and let out a loud wide-eyed mournful cackle, his head falling forwards to be caught in his hands.

This only had the knock-on effect of making the redhead in question even angrier and she was all set to give him a good thrashing, superior be damned, when she noticed that his laughing fit was something she'd seen – or rather heard – once before. After the mission to rescue Todoh from the firing squad when they'd discovered Suzaku of all people was the pilot of the Lancelot, Zero had let out much the same laugh from within the confines of his Burai. It was a terrible sound, one that didn't convey any level of triumph or heartiness. It was a laugh designed to mock the self and curse the world, designed to cover up the fury he felt towards fate for the position they'd been put in… a laugh that was made to hide the miserable stream of tears at his lot in life.

Not so well this time though. The muffled laughter only lasted a few seconds longer before they gave way to great heaves that then burst into loud sobs as Japan's Man of Miracles broke down completely.

For a while the two women just stared at him, one in shock and the other in confusion mixed with fear. Kallen had thought she knew just how bad Lelouch could get when she saw him seconds away from dosing himself with Refrain but this… this was a hundred times worse. A mute squeak ahead caught her attention and she looked up again to see C.C. slightly ducking away again, what the hell was going on with her? Since when did Pizza Girl hide from anyone?

Just how much have I missed?

The only one who could tell her that though was imploding right now so all she could do was sit by him and watch worriedly as he rode it out, one loud wail at a time. After what felt like hours, the sobs turned to moans, and finally to a bout of pitiful sniffling until at last Lelouch took a deep breath and finally raised his red, tear streaked head to face his concerned Q-1.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, his voice not carrying even an ounce of strength. "That was…"

Pathetic is what it was and they both damn well knew it. Kallen however considered everything that had happened, including C.C.'s odd behaviour on top of what had happened to Nunnally and decided, just this once, to let him off. But that didn't mean she didn't want answers.

"What happened to her?" She asked as gently as she could.

"She lost her memory." He answered bluntly, turning away from her and returning to his silent vigil on the floor, "We were on a mission and… it was my fault… screwed it all up again and she had to get me out of it."

What followed was a short recounting of the raid on the Geass Directorate along with what happened in the Thought Elevator, somehow still remembering to edit out the bit where the Emperor was now immortal and that C.C. had been around for at least seven hundred years. For Kallen it was a hell of a tale and one that reason was telling her couldn't possibly be real. The idea that C.C., the bane of obedience, had once been an abused little girl was just alien. But one glance at the quivering wide-eyed girl still hiding behind the stacks and staring fearfully at her was all the evidence she needed.

"And there's no way to bring her back?" She asked once he was finished.

He just shook his head. "I don't think it's amnesia in the sense we're familiar with. She's aware of who she is, it's everything else that's not clicking. As far as I can tell the behaviour she's expressing is exactly as she was before she got her Geass."

"If it's Geass related, can't you just command her to remember?"

That suggestion got her a very angry glare that had her almost jumping out of her seat at the sight of it. Of all times for him to grow a conscience about it though. On the other hand, at least there were some people he wasn't willing to use it on. Still what other option did they have?

Then another, hopefully less vitriol-inspiring idea hit her. "Well, what if we just took her to another of those Thought Elevator things? If you found one then there could be another, maybe we could find a way to fix her there."

That idea actually got some consideration and, for the first time since she'd walked in, a glimmer of hope out of Lelouch's eyes. The idea wasn't a bad one, in fact unless he missed his guess he knew exactly where to go looking for one. But there was a problem.

"Zero can't exactly go gallivanting off on his own." He reminded her glumly, "Wouldn't do for the Black Knights to lose their boss even for one measly little day, now would it?"

Her reaction… was not what Lelouch expected. "Oh please," Kallen snorted, offering him a small dry smirk, "after today I doubt anyone's going to want to do any serious fighting, so I think even Zero can afford to take some shore leave. If you're that worried about it stick Xingke in charge for a bit, Kami knows it'll make the Chinese happy."

That… could work actually. Xingke was a competent leader, both on the strategy board and on the field of battle in a Knightmare. He could easily keep an eye on things for at least a couple of days. As he thought about it, the idea became more and more solid and before he knew it Lelouch was on his feet plotting it out in his head. It could work, it could really, really work!

"Kallen," he said, turning to face her. "I could bloody kiss you right now."

I love Chaos Theory.

So...whaddaya make of it? They won't all be this short, readers who follow my other stuff know I tend to do long chapters much to my own chagrin...and then crash and burn as I hit that dreaded writer's block. This time, I fear, will be no different.

And with that happy truth out of the way, I'll see you next chapter.