Chapter 1: The Capture

Zero lay before Shirley. His head and upper body sticking out of the ejection pod. Shirley shook; she felt her foot touch something on the ground. She glanced down, it was a gun. Zero's gun, It must have fallen out, she thought.

"With this I will I will avenge my father" she said softly picking up the pistol, "I'll repay you for my father!" loader this time.

Almost as if stirred by the noise Zero began to move. His head tilted as to allow his mask to loosen and reveal a portion of his face. Shirley gasped, No it can't be. She recognized the face. The face of the boy she had loved for years. Lu… Lulu is Zero!

Villetta Nu appeared from one of the alleyways. "Is that Zero?" she asked in an authoritative tone. Villetta didn't wait for an answer from the hesitant and shaking girl, instead walking straight towards Zero's unconscious body. Then she lifted his face to view it.

"Well, well what a shocker. The student is Zero himself, a Britanian" She said amused. She began to laugh cruelly.

"When I bring to him to Viceroy Cornelia she'll make me a noble, and not just a knight of honor, no real nobility" Villetta said, "And he's still alive too, what sort of grand execution will they have in store for him"

"Of course you'll be rewarded too" Villetta said to Shirley, turning around to face the girl. She saw Shirley had collapsed to her knees crying.

"Lulu murdered my father?!" Shirley sobbed.

Villetta's face softened. "So stupid of me, he's your boyfriend isn't he?" she said sympathetically.

Shirley didn't respond, she only continued to cry. "You've done a great service to your country and your father's murderer and the murderer of countless others will be brought to justice because of us." Villetta said trying to comfort the girl.

"I... gu-guess" Shirley sniffed.

Villetta pulled Zero out of the pod and put his mask back on. It'll be so much more dramatic if he's unmasked in front Viceroy Cornelia she thought gleefully. The joyful Villetta and the deeply conflicted Shirley carried the still unconscious Zero away from the dock to the street. Villetta handcuffed Zero and put in the back seat of her car.

"Alright kid get in the car, I'm driving to Government Bureau" Villetta said.

"Aren't we going to take him to the nearest police station?" Shirley asked, getting into the car.

"Like hell we are; I'm not going to let some cops try and take credit."

Villetta started up the car and began driving. She flipped open a phone, "This is Villetta Nu and I have Zero in custody" she stated, "Yes, I'm on my way now E.T.A. 35 minutes".

Shirley couldn't tell what the person was saying on the other line but they sounded excited.

In the meantime:

"Where the hell is Zero?!" Diethard Reid yells.

"I don't know, I radioed Kallen, she said his Knightmare had been damaged by the Lancelot and he had to eject but she was able to draw it away" Ohgi said nervously.

"We need to find that pod right away. That takes top priority." Diethard replied.

"Right, I'll contact Kall…"

"This is C2 I found Zero's ejection pod, but no Zero" C2 interjected over the radio.

"This is bad, he could have been captured. Deputy commander Ohgi, its your call but I highly recommend you order a retreat, we can't afford a battle of attrition with Britannia especially if we can't locate Zero", Dietard said.

"Uh… Yeah all right I'll order the retreat. We'll try to find Zero later." Ohgi replied.

Lelouch's head throbbed and he felt what he assumed to be blood trickling down his temple. He was being dragged up steps by two guards. BRITTAINIAN GUARDS, he thought frantically. Then he realized where he was. He was at the Government Bureau entrance. He immediately became lucid and started to struggle until Villetta put a gun to his back, "Don't even think about it terrorist scum" she stated coolly.

Lelouch's mind raced, Dammit, she's the pilot from Shinjuku. Maybe I can use geass on the guards, no that won't work she'll just shoot me and I can't use geass on her again.

Then he noticed Shirley meekly following Villetta. What?! How is Shirley involved in all this? I see, that pilot must have been investigating me. She got Shirley involved, the poor girl probably just wanting to bring her father's killer to justice. But I can't concern myself with that now, I need to figure a way out of this, I need a plan. Lelouch took a deep breath and calmly began to walk with the guards contemplating his way out of his predicament.

Approximately 15 minutes later:

Cornelia made her way into the throne room accompanied by General Dalton and Lord Guilford. Only Shirley, Villetta and the two guards holding Lelouch were in the room.

"Release him" Cornelia said, the two guards released their hold on him but remained close. "Well done Ms. Nu, you will be richly rewarded for bringing the enemy of the empire to justice, you too Ms. Fenette."

Cornelia pointed her gun at Zero "Terrorist, you will remove your helmet and tell me your name."

Lelouch took a defiant breath. He reached for his helmet and removed it, "My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, 11th Prince of the Empire, Former 17th Heir to the Imperial Throne, son to a murdered mother, brother to a maimed sister and a will have my vengeance in this life or the next."

A/N: So what did you guys think about my overall writing?

What did you think of the premise of this fanfic?

Was Shirley's alternative choice realistic?

Thanks for catching me on that Todoh point. I changed Todoh to Diethard.

The last dialogue between Cornelia and Lelouch was inspired by a certain movie line, kudos to those who can guess which movie and which line was the inspiration.