A/N: Okay, so it's been awhile since I wrote a story, but I figured I'd get back into it and try a Code Geass story. It's AU and got an OC and Rolo is really Nunally's twin so if you're turned off by that then either leave or build a bridge and get over it. ANYWAY! I do not own Code Geass, nor do I own Lelouch, Rolo, Nunally, Suzaku (even though I think he's adorkable) or anyone. Only person I own is Usagi. Pretty sad, I know, but still.

*Clomp clomp clomp*

The sound of the guards in heavy boots echoed through the cell walls, even if someone was asleep, they'd either never sleep again or go mad trying to figure out when the guards would come for them. It was maddening, every day the same sound-the clomping of boots up and down the halls of the jail-like holding place in the Black Knight's base. There were men begging for release to get back to their wives and children, there were some who just screamed profanities and told of a great evil that would descend on the guards' souls if they were not let out.

The footsteps stopped in front of a more isolated cell in the third cell block, the guards positioning themselves on either side of the door as a man in a black cloak approached, his face covered by his trademark helmet. Zero was making a personal call to one of the prisoners.

"When I go in, neither of you are to repeat anything you may have heard, understood?" Zero commented as the guards stood at attention and nodded.

"Yes sir!"

"Good, that is all" Zero answered, the larger of the two guards plugging in the combo in the keypad and the door slid open. Zero slid into the room and closed the door behind him and smirked beneath his helmet at the male crumpled on the floor. Arms bound behind his back, brown hair sticking out every which way, and when Zero entered, emerald green eyes glared right back up at him. "Hello, Suzaku Kururugi."

"So, the king himself decided to grant me a visit this time," Suzaku croaked, forcing a smirk up at the other male as Zero got a good look at his face. Bruises and small cuts decorated the White Knight's tan skin, going down his face and all over his body. So Suzaku was less cooperative than he'd expected, excellent.

"Oh you flatter me Mr. Knight, and here I thought you hated me," Zero could easily banter with the boy. He'd done it for years when they were kids, and yet Suzaku hadn't figured out it was Lelouch behind the mask. Idiot. At his words, Suzaku glared up at Zero again, but was smart enough not to say anything, so Zero continued. "So anyway, back to the main reason why I'm here. It seems Euphemia has been planning something with Cornelia to get back at me for stealing you away. Would you happen to know anything about that, sir knight?"

Suzaku's face fell, but he quickly covered it up with another smirk "So the great Zero can't even figure out what a princess is planning. You know she's going to save me, so what makes you think I'd tell you what she's thinking?"

Zero couldn't help but laugh at Suzaku's words. He set himself up for it. Once he'd gotten ahold of himself, Zero smirked, pulling a photograph out of his pocket and tossing it at the boy. Suzaku looked down at the picture and his eyes widened in horror at the shot of Lelouch and his family out in the schoolyard and a dark-haired girl that shared many of Lelouch's features tackled his best friend in the photo. "I happen to know that your Rabbit is back in Japan, with her brother. If you don't cooperate then I'll be forced to eliminate the only people left that you care for."

"Don't you dare bring them into this!" Suzaku roared, trying to stand to his feet, but falling to his knees in exhaustion from his beating earlier this morning. Zero laughed at the boy and walked over, grabbing Suzaku by the neck and slamming him against the wall behind him, the brunette whimpering in pain.

"You're not in a position to be making demands, Kururugi. And besides, since when do you care about Usagi? You accepted Euphemia's offer to be her knight, did you not? How does Usagi feel about all this anyway?" Zero answered, his own anger towards the boy showing. Lelouch had sat idly by as his sister's heart broke when she heard on the news-not from Suzaku-that he was to be Euphemia's knight. Usagi and Suzaku have had feelings for each other since childhood and he goes off and pledges himself to another. It infuriated Lelouch that his best friend would do that, and now he wanted answers. If he got to destroy Euphemia for his twin as a result, then he'd be fine with that. At his questioning, Suzaku's eyes widened in shock, Zero raising an eyebrow as he noticed the pain in Suzaku's eyes. What the hell was with this guy? "You didn't tell her, did you? How low. Claiming to care for someone, then pledging yourself to her sister-"

"Shut up!" Suzaku cried, earning another slam against the wall from Zero. The boy bit his lip to prevent another cry of pain, feeling some liquid start to seep from the back of his head. Zero noted he'd actually drawn blood from the boy and he growled, giving Suzaku's neck a slight squeeze.

"Talk, or I'll make the call and your friends will be gone," Zero hissed, listening to Suzaku gasp for air and attempt to secure his feet to the wall to get some leverage and air into his lungs. When tears started to fall from those large green eyes, and Suzaku finished struggling, Zero let go, the boy falling to the ground again. Suzaku curled up on the ground, still bound, but crying all the same as he looked up at his captor-the fury leaving his eyes and being replaced with the same anguish Lelouch had seen years ago.

"Please, I don't know… Please don't hurt them… Please Zero…."

Zero was so glad he was wearing a mask right now; otherwise Suzaku would have to see the pained expression on his face as he kneeled down by the boy, moving a strand of brown hair out of his face as he cried. Even though he'd never admit it, it hurt to see his best friend like this, and it also hurt to know about the boy's inner anguish and have to keep treating him like some kind of animal. Before he made his final call on Suzaku's fate later on, he needed to know the truth behind everything. He needed to know what Suzaku was thinking. "If you had to choose between Euphemia and the friends who have known and loved you for all those years, which would you choose?"

Suzaku tensed up at the question, at first not hearing it since he was ready for Zero to hit him again, but he stopped, looking up at his captor with a raised eyebrow as he processed the question. Lelouch, Usagi and the others, or Euphemia? How could he decide…? The boy closed his eyes, trying to think of why he was so torn, and flashes of memories went through his mind.

"I'm… Euphie!"

"Well new kid, want to work on this thing together?"

"Same old Suzaku, always thinking of everyone but himself."

"You didn't even tell me that being her knight was an option!"

Suzaku felt his heart throb, opening his eyes and feeling a few more tears fall, curling back up in a ball on the ground and ignoring Zero's question. The other boy sighed, standing and walking towards the door, but catching Suzaku whispering to himself as he cried. "I'm so sorry… Usagi… Please forgive me…"

Zero smirked, knowing that answered his question well enough and leaving the room, leaving a broken and injured knight behind. Now was the time for action. Whether Euphemia liked it or not, she was going to have a war on her hands, and it wasn't going to be pretty. It didn't matter how much Lelouch loved Euphemia, his full-blood siblings came first, above anyone else-especially his twin. Zero walked down the hall, pulling out his phone and sighing, pressing a number on speed dial and putting the phone to his ear "C2, I need you to come down here and take Suzaku somewhere. He's of no use to me anymore."

"And where, pray tell, do you want me to take him?"

"Back to my house, it's been long enough. I can't put him and my sister through this anymore."

"And people say you have no heart" C2 chuckled

"Just shut up and do it" he sighed, turning off the phone and leaving back down the hall where he came, the guards going back to their routines and the men in the cells going back to their ramblings. Lelouch turned, looking back at his best friend as the guards walked into his cell and untied his wrists, giving Suzaku back the pictures he'd had in his Lancelot and telling him he'd be removed within the week, locking him back in the cell. Suzaku seemed confused, but he smiled as he started to stick his photos up on the wall, coming to a picture of himself and Euphemia, frowning and ripping it in half-right between himself and the pink-haired princess. Euphemia had no plan to save him, he knew that now, but in the meantime he didn't want to see her face again. Zero smiled, knowing Suzaku had finally seen the light and left the room, going home to tell Usagi the news.