Author's Notes: Code Geass One-shot, and that's all there is to it. This one came straight from my head to the computer, unlike the others, where I put them on paper then on computer then here, this one went straight to computer. Enjoy CGFF Good News!
Good News
He was not happy, not happy at all. Lelouch sat alone in the conference room of the Black Knights, rubbing his temples both in trying to think of a plan of action for their current situation and in attempt to relieve his
monstrous hangover. C.C. stole a bottle of sake from the supply cabinet (courtesy of Tabaki for it being there in the first place) for their dinner that night. Sake and pizza never mixed, then again, neither did Lelouch and
alcohol. He felt as if his head had split in two and caught on fire while someone screamed profanities in his ears while beating him with a spiked club. He wondered if C.C. felt the same, or if alcohol just settled better with her,
regardless he wished she were there to help him rub it out as she usually did. The hostage situation going on wasn't helping Lelouch's migraine anymore than a jack-hammer to cement, the situation being a headache
despite the hangover only seemed to make his head kill that much more. Three representatives of the Black Knights from the Chinese Federation were kidnapped and held for ransom by rebels from Korea, and they
demanded an audience with Zero in exchange for the hostages' lives, an obvious trap and no-can-do exchange. It was an hour before the established meeting time, and Lelouch had yet to come up with a single well thought
out plan that would ensure the safety of the hostages as well as himself, courtesy of his hangover. And to make matters worse, Kallen had entered the room to discuss the nonexistent plan with him at that exact moment;
something he knew was not going to go over well with her. He also feared the state of his headache would increase from the pressure of her loud and lively attitude and the need to come up with some half-assed plan that
would take a miracle to accomplish in the next hour. Lelouch awaited her already annoying presence to start yelling at him. "Lelouch, I have bad news," Kallen spoke up as she entered the room, her tone sounding loud to
Lelouch despite it being at a medium volume. He slammed his head on the table, causing one of the six coffee cups to spill pitch-black coffee onto the aspirin bottle that was possibly empty. "It's always bad news with you,"
Lelouch muttered low enough so Kallen didn't quite hear what he said, but still interpreted it as a negative comment judging by his overall appearance, that of absolute road kill. "Lelouch, are you hung-over again? You and
C.C. had alcohol with your dinner last night, didn't you? I can't believe, as smart as you are, that your stupid enough to keep drinking when you know It turns you into this," Kallen raised her tone angrily, which in turn
caused Lelouch's head to throb in annoyance for this overly loud nuisance. "Are you going to give me the bad news or not," he grumbled from behind his arms rested on the table. "Fine, never took you for the one who
actually 'wants' to hear bad news. The bad news is that, despite our efforts, an audience is necessary, the other bad news, they'll shoot the hostages if you don't show up at least fashionably late." 'Just my luck', "Is it
possible for you to have good news for once?" Kallen scowled at his rudeness, she always hated hung-over people, especially Lelouch. "Well, I don't know if you'll take this as good news, but C.C. will be accompanying you to
the meeting." 'THANK YOU', "I suppose that is good news, maybe she can help with this headache." "I can't believe you're more worried about your headache than the lives of those representatives." "I'd like to hear you say
that in my shoes." "Well that's your own damn fault!" Lelouch winced at practically every word she said, or yelled in this case, wishing she would shut up sooner than later. Kallen sighed and looked at her broken leader with
an expression of care. "Lelouch," she lowered her voice just for him, "wouldn't it be better news if 'I' accompanied you?" Lelouch's forehead twitched at the statement, producing only silence in his annoyed state at how naïve
she was. He couldn't believe how stupid 'she' was to think he would prefer her, the one steadily killing him with her tone, over his partner C.C., the miracle remedy to his migraines. He wondered just what it would take to
get that fact through her thick skull. Lelouch rose from his seat and stumbled over to the door, regaining his balance just before he opened it. "Lelouch? Are you going to be okay, are you sure you don't want me to
accompany you-" "Don't delude yourself, woman," Lelouch grumbled as he exited the room. "What the hell does that mean?" Kallen went to follow after him to demand an explanation, but the door slammed shut before her
face. She gave an enraged growl at Lelouch's rudeness for slamming the door in front of a lady. She pressed the button on the side panel to open the door, but the button glowed red and the door did not budge. "Lelouch,
you jerk! Let me out! If you come back alive, I'll kill you myself! Damn-it, Lelouch, open this door!" He had password locked the door, ensuring Kallen would stay put while he 'attempted' to handle the situation while trying
to ignore his hangover that, as long as she was no longer close to him, would hopefully increase no more. He walked down to the transport, rubbing his temples again to try and think of a plan of action that could possibly
work. The migraine made the ten-minute ride feel like an hour, a factor that drove him crazy. He just wanted his headache, both the hostage situation and the hangover, to just disappear. Sadly he wasn't so lucky. He
arrived at the entrance to the Chinese Federation Banking Building the Korean rebels were held up in; the front parking lot populated by knightmares, trucks, and Black Knight operatives (the flashing lights and noises
weren't helping his migraine any more than Kallen was). As he walked into the surrounding barricade of his troops, a soldier ran by his side, relaying the situation to him. Lelouch ignored him, his ears toned him out and his
eyes searched the premises for personal objective number one. He picked her out immediately, C.C. standing out like a flower amongst weeds, her lime green hair shining in the midnight atmosphere and setting her apart
from the troops behind her. He approached her group. "Hey, guys, could you get lost for five minutes," he sternly spoke to C.C.'s guards. They looked at him in surprise/worry, for he never spoke to them like that. "Scratch
that, whoever has the keys to the trucks, hand them to me now, you two, get us some coffee, strong, and bring some lawn chairs." They still stared at their leader in confusion, a thing that annoyed Lelouch just as much as
the lights and sounds: their slowness on the uptake. "Did I stutter?" "No sir!" they all said in unison, the four guards taking off running in different directions, one stopping to hand him the keys before running in his
direction. Lelouch pressed a button, causing all the truck's lights and sounds to cease, leaving the spotlights and radios the only light and sound currently on. "About time you showed up," C.C. finally spoke to him, her tone
slightly annoyed too. "I knew you'd be hung over too, that was a huge bottle of sake and I found it empty this morning." "It was a bad idea, I know, having never had sake before and yet so much, even I couldn't handle it,
makes me feel bad to think of what you might be going through," C.C. rubbed her temples too. They had a half hour left to their meeting, so the couple decided to make the best of it. They sat in the lawn chairs, sipping
coffee, and trying to relieve their hangovers together. Lelouch even risked exposing his identity by removing his helmet so C.C. could massage his head. Both Lelouch's and C.C.'s head, neck, and shoulder's had been
pampered by each other, the results relieving them of their immediate tension and pressure. The Black Knight troops positioned around the perimeter whispered and stared in awe at the sight of their mask-less leader (from
the back of course) being massaged by their vice-leader, just what it was they were thinking and wondering when they were going to do something was the primary thought of all of them. Ten minutes remained, and
Lelouch was busy with C.C.'s shiatsu massage when she brought up a valid point. "Lelouch, since you're practically in the same state as me, I'm guessing you don't have a plan." Lelouch sighed at this apparent truth. "Yeah.
I couldn't think straight all day with this migraine." "Well, I've got good news for you." "FINALLY," he raised his voice, causing the soldiers to whip their heads to their direction in curiosity for the source of the loud
exclamation. Lelouch mentally smacked himself in the head for his uncontrollable outburst. He raised his hand in a gesture that meant 'as you were' so as to not blow their cover or cause any more annoyances. The soldiers
obeyed and nervously returned to their work, fearing his wrath were one of them to do something stupid. "What was that about?" "You have no idea what it's like to hear actual 'good news' after the day I've been having."
"Who's been giving you 'bad' news? Kallen?" "How did you know?" "It's always bad news with her." "Glad to know you agree." "I thought you were the one agreeing with me." "I hate her just as much, didn't I tell you that a
few thousand times?" "Perhaps, I just don't feel like remembering right now. My head still kills." "So does mine. Do me a favor, two favors, go a little lower on my neck and tell me this good news." C.C.'s turn came up in
their conversation, and as such complied with his favors, lowering her hands to his lower neck and relaying the good news to him. "I planned ahead. Rolo already retrieved the hostages and replaced them with their own
men, and while he was doing that, my strike team planted enough explosives to level the building in flames but leave us unscathed from our current position." "This couldn't possibly get any better." "Oh, but it can my dear
demon. I saved the ignition switch just for you." She pulled a grey box, a red button situated in the middle, out of her shirt and handed it to him. They smiled at each other, both knowing that this was the break they
needed, a good explosion to engulf their headache inducing enemies to relieve them from their tormenting migraines. "I love you, witch." "I love you too, demon." Both sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around each
other's shoulders, Lelouch held up the button and pressed it. The building glowed in the darkness of the night, flames bursting from practically every window visible, and the explosion resounding about the air and filling their
ears with the pleasure-full sound that made Lelouch and C.C. chuckle, a reaction that would mistaken them for psychos, despite being true (they considered themselves refined psychos). The troops panicked, yelling like crazy
and radioing every frequency at their disposal trying to get an explanation. Lelouch and C.C. stood out once again amongst the populous, the two calmly sitting, admiring the flames of the demolished building, completely
ignoring their freaked out troops. They stood up, C.C. fixing her outfit and Lelouch donning his helmet. "I feel better already," Lelouch stated. "I know what you mean, that was a big one for the amount of explosives we
used," C.C. replied. "Making it all the more enjoyable. Our business is concluded here, shall we return to our quarters for dinner?" "After that migraine, that is one offer I can't refuse." "All the more reason to leave now, I
don't want to ruin the moment by explaining to these idiots about what just happened." "Lead the way, demon." They signaled their transport and left the disaster site, making their return to their quarters uninterrupted.
They decorated their plates with pizza for the second night in a row, only difference being the bottle on the table. Lelouch poured a red liquid into C.C.'s glass, following up with filling his own. "I figured we'd stick to wine
tonight after that little disaster," Lelouch smiled at her with humor in his tone. "I was thinking the same thing," C.C. returned his smile as she drank from her glass. Lelouch sat next to her and followed her example. About
five minutes into their meal, Lelouch paused, which caught C.C.'s attention. "Something wrong, Lelouch?" "I have the strongest feeling that I forgot something." "I think you forgot to lock the door." "Of course," Lelouch got
up and locked the door to their quarters, returning to the meal with his partner thinking he accomplished his forgotten task. How wrong he was. Kallen remained in the empty conference room, kicking the door with all her
might in trying to get it open. Attempting to do so for the past two hours made her foot numb, leaving but a small dent in the door. She was furious with the door and Lelouch for locking her behind it, and were she to ever
get out, she would give him a major headache, one worse than the one he had today. "Lelouch, you suck, you can't just lock me in here then forget doing so! That's just…ugh, I'm going to kill him," Kallen screamed to
herself as she continued to kick the door. C.C. perked up, as if sensing Kallen's predicament. "Oh, I think you forgot to let Kallen out of the conference room." "I did?" "Yeah." They looked at each other in seriousness, and
then smiled. "Sounds like good news to me," Lelouch joked, closing his eyes as he lay on the pillow with C.C., who chuckled before snuggling up to him on the couch. A hangover-less Lelouch and C.C. lay in peace, and Kallen
remained in agony locked in a conference room, probably till the next morning. Good news it was indeed.