Motivation

My first Code Geass fanfiction. Flames will be attacked with water canons. Constructive criticism is welcome. Please review, and point out any inconsistencies or things I didn't do right. just for extra information, this story is a little after Euphemia dies. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I would like to own, not create Code Geass. I wouldn't enjoy it as much if the genius who made it didn't make it.

As Lolouch brought the Knightmare around to face the Lancelot, he contemplated what to do. A simple Knightmare wouldn't stand a chance to the highly advanced Lancelot model. His guns wouldn't be able to even damage the Lancelot's armor, so it really wasn't a matter of fighting him. Only if he could get out of this hell hole. Only if he wasn't pushed back during battle into a deep crevice that was only large enough to allow his Knightmare and Suzaku's Lancelot to stand, dangerously close to the walls. Only enough space for the Lancelot to point a gun point blank at his Knightmare, and maybe some space below. This was checkmate, and it was his king that was in danger.

"Zero! Get out of your Knightmare! Show yourself!" Suzaku commanded from inside the Lancelot.

A drop of sweat rolled down from Lelouch's forehead. 'What to do.. What to do..' he thought, going through all the possible ways to get out of this predicament.

"I won't ask again. Longer you hesitate the more inclined I will be to shoot." Suzaku ordered, moving the gun to the top of the Knightmare, like as if he was holding a gun to someones head.

Lelouch put on his mask, making himself Zero once again. He opened the back of the Knightmare, but it would only open halfway. A loud clank as the hatch hit the side of the dirt wall. He climbed out and stood on the Knightmare. Zero stood, not showing uncertainty even though that was all he was feeling at this point.

"Take the mask off! Show your traitorous face." Suzaku ordered.

"No thank you." Zero said, not moving. Then he realized something. If he got off the Knightmare, he would be less vulnerable to any attacks from the Lancelot. But he would wait until a real threat was made, not the empty ones that where currently being thrown.

"I order you to reveal yourself!" Suzaku commanded, his voice shaking in anticipation and worry. He wouldn't dare try to kill a single man with Lancelot in such a confined space; it would mean the death of him and the possible escape of Zero. He would have to exit the Lancelot to kill Zero, and Zero was probably a master of combat, and had a gun. But he would have to take his chances. Suzaku opened the back and stood up, the back hatch also hitting the earth wall.

Zero held his pistol to his side, not ready to point it yet. He had thought that Suzaku would stay inside his Lancelot, and not risk coming out. But he had guessed wrong, and now he was at a major disadvantage.

"Reveal yourself Zero!" Suzaku yelled once again. "Don't make me repeat myself!" he said, holding up the gun.

Zero was racking his brain trying to figure out what was so different about Suzaku. Of course after he shot Euphemia, Suzaku would have some anger. But was it really enough to make him so quickly become the kind of person the knight had said before that he loathed? A person who was ready to kill?

Suzaku ran at Zero in blind rage. No he wouldn't shoot him from a distance, he would discover the identity of this murderer and then aim the gun right up to Euphemia's murderers skull and pull the trigger. He ran up and twisted the gun out of Zero's hands, not before a bullet whizzed past Suzaku's ear. But now, Zero was without a weapon. Even his Geass wouldn't work since he had used it before on Suzaku.

Zero was out of options. Running anywhere he could away from the knight bent on revenge. Running in and around between the highly advanced weapons systems that filled most of the space. He had even thought of attempting to get into the Lancelot itself, but even in blind rage Suzaku wasn't that stupid and he wouldn't let Zero get near it. The running became soon a game of cat and mouse, but the mouse had no endurance whatsoever and was now reduced to panting on the ground, head towards the dirt.

'The great Zero is weak? Heck he's even as bad as Lelouch.' Suzaku thought, standing over the panting kneeled form of Zero.

'Think! How do I get out of this situation! I have to save Nanally! Geass.. It isn't supposed to work twice.. But..' Zero thought, trying to force himself to his feet. He tried one last thing, which he hoped would work. He flipped the visor on his one permanent Geass eye and turned up to look at Suzaku. "I co-command you-" Zero tried to say fatigue not helping the words come out. But he knew how much this would do, hoping for miracles was never his usual way of doing things, and it sure wouldn't work now.

Suzaku's foot landed in the middle of Zero's chest, not allowing the words to come out. "You command me to do what you traitorous scum? I know all about your Geass, and that you've already used it on me. When we appeared on that island before, you did it! You did it all!" he shouted, putting more weight on his foot, crushing Zero's chest even more. At this, Zero covered the visor once again on his permanent Geass eye.

"Be like that. But I will get that mask off of you, and I will find out who you really are." Suzaku said, preventing Zero from rolling away like he was attempting to do with a sharp kick to his side.

'Must.. Get away.. Must...' Zero chanted inside his head over and over, trying to keep himself determined, and trying to keep the little hope he had left intact. Another kick to the side left him gasping for breath in pain.

"The great incredible leader of the black knights is just a weakling hiding behind his subordinates. The only reason you have subordinates anyways is probably because of that weird power you have! Who would actually follow your ideals? Change through bloodshed? Why do you get to determine who lives!" He screamed, sending another kick to Zero's side in his blatant rage.

"Why do you get to decide?" Zero said in a coarse voice.

"BECAUSE! Because.. Because.." He started, tripping over his own words just trying to come up with a reason to justify his own actions. He may have his own personal justification, but was it really right? Did he have the right to decide if this Zero lived or died? Or anyone for that matter? He tried his best to push these thoughts aside, but they had been planted. The doubt to his actions, hesitation.

Zero saw the doubt and worry spread over his opponent like a wildfire, engulfing the certainty of his actions in a threatening fire. Just like a fire, it had the possibility to destroy intentions if not quenched by a more dominant thought.

"What makes you think you can make the decision on my life? Or my Black Knights for that matter? Some of them die in the hands of your Britannian allies. Even your own Lancelot has killed many a good pilot." Zero continued, picking up speed and momentum. 'War isn't always won by the best soldiers.' he thought, before getting up on his knees, staring up at Suzaku who was reeling in his own thoughts. The young soldier clutched his head in a feverish way and leaned against the wall behind him.

'Am I really the monster that I vowed to protect people from?' he questioned himself. He wasn't so sure anymore. 'Is it when people see me,' he wondered, 'do they see the lives I've ended?' Before he might of been able to answer this question, but not now. All his worst fears have been brought to the surface, just like when he killed his father. For the better it may of been, he still had murdered his own father. It did seem oddly familiar to him though, bloodshed for a common goal. Was he basically just like those terrorists? Ending lives to get things done? He took his foot off Zero's chest, and stood back, not even caring when Zero crawled away. Zero soon found himself a few feet from Suzaku, and he was able to catch his breath and stand up.

Zero wasn't stupid though. He took this time to find the gun. He tried his best to remember where the gun was, where it had been twisted out of his hands.

'I killed him. My own father. But saved countless others. I have killed terrorists, and saved innocent lives. But I've killed..'

He spotted the gun behind the Lancelot under the half down hatch. 'Now it's really time to check how insane he's gone. If he doesn't notice me over here...'

'I was Euphemia's private knight and I protecte-... No! I didn't protect her! I let Zero take her life and ruin her reputation. Euphemia! I will avenge you!'

Suzaku turned towards Zero, and noticed that he was going for the gun that had been knocked away earlier. In one motion, Suzaku aimed and pulled the trigger. Now Zero was doubled over again clutching his left shoulder. Suzaku ran over and stood over his enemy. He didn't care about proving to others his actions were right. The personal justification was more than enough.

"That was for Euphemia you bastard." he said, kicking Zero on the shoulder where the gunshot wound was bleeding profusely. Zero fell into the dirt, pain winning over sheer willpower.

"I would kill you. But it would be much better for me, and worse for you if I brought you to the emperor." Suzaku said, a grin crossing his features. Yes, personal justification was much more than enough for him. Zero was out of options. The emperor, his father, was the one person he was planning to see when he was on top, not held prisoner.

But then, an idea came to him. "Fine. Take me. Do you think I care whether I die here or I die there?" Zero said, trying to bring himself out of the dirt, but not being successful in any way shape or form. Suzaku held Zero up by his neck, and grabbed the mask. The mask that had been concealing the secret identity and alter ego of Lelouch Lamperouge for some time now, and pulled it away.

Lelouch shook his head to get his bangs out of his eyes, to face the shocked expression on Suzaku Kururugi.

To be continued...