Disclaimer:Dude, I seriously wish I owned Code Geass. Then I'd be rich.

Author's Note: This story contains spoilers for all episodes up to and including R2 21, so if you haven't gotten that far, please don't ruin the story for yourself. Once again, it has implied KallenxLelouch, but no real interaction between the two.

Q-1

Because every king needs his queen.

The throne felt much too clean and stiff as Lelouch shifted in it in a poor attempt to gain some kind of comfortable position. The over-sized throne room was quiet and empty, and the only sound that reached the emperor's ears was that of the cold rain pounding against the windows. With his contact lenses once again over his eyes to conceal his now fully awakened Geass, Lelouch's violet orbs of sight scanned through the empty hall that now belonged to him.

He was completely alone, having ordered everyone, even Suzaku, out of the throne room. But, this is how he liked it. He had time to reflect, to think, to plan his next set of moves. Now that he was the ninety-ninth emperor of Britannia, he would have to find a way to come to an agreement with the UFN and create a truce.

For everyone's sake, he would bring peace to the world and atone for his sins.

Lelouch lifted his arm, resting his chin upon his loosely curled fist as he gazed out of the window. Yes, now that he was emperor, he would have to fulfill certain requirements, such as leading the nation, managing the economy, but first of all, he had to find a queen.

Because every king needs his queen, and he had just the right candidate in mind.

It wouldn't be easy, seeing as how the Black Knights were after his head at the moment, but he was a miracle worker; he would pull it off. He had the entire Britannian army minus the forces under Schneizel' command at his disposal, so infiltrating Area 11 and retrieving one person wasn't going to be too much trouble.

Especially with his new ace in the hole: Suzaku and the Lancelot.

"You're a very boring person to spy on."

Lelouch's gaze shifted to the right, but he remained motionless, knowing that that soft, sarcastic voice could belong to only one person. Emerald-green haired flowed across her flawless face as C.C. walked out of the back corner of the room to stand at his side, Cheese-kun lightly tucked underneath her left arm.

"Perhaps you should spy on someone else then."

The witch's emotionless facade didn't break as she shot Lelouch her infamous, blank stare with those amazingly golden eyes. "There's nothing else to do, not until you start mobilizing at least. I picked you because I couldn't find anyone else."

"You sure know how to flatter a person," the king replied with the same bored tone he had been using. He lifted his chin from his fist, straightening out his slouched form. "But since you're here, maybe you can give me some advice."

"Only if it doesn't cause me too much trouble," C.C. replied, walking across the Geass-user's field of view and taking a seat in the throne next to him; the seat reserved for the queen of Britannia.

"I need to extract someone from the Black Knights." Lelouch had chosen his words carefully and made them cryptic. He wanted to test C.C.

The green-haired girl sighed, leaning back in the uncomfortable throne. "You don't need Kallen, you have the whole Britannian army at your feet. There's no need for her now."

Lelouch allowed himself to smirk slightly, shifting his gaze to look at the woman beside him. She didn't even hesitate; she knew that he meant Kallen. But perhaps it was too obvious, who else would he want to risk the safety of his empire to retrieve?

"Is that you speaking, or jealousy?"

"I've lived far too long to express something as trivial as jealousy," came her immediate reply, as emotionless as ever.

The dark-haired man leaned back in his chair as well, folding his arms across his chest lightly. No matter how hard he tried, he could never crack the emotional barrier C.C. had constructed around her heart over the years, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"Then why did you sit in the queen's throne?" Lelouch asked, an amused smile creeping its way onto his lips.

"I was tired of standing. If this chair is reserved for Kallen, you should have said something."

"I never implied that I wanted her to sit in that chair, you came to that conclusion on your own." Lelouch closed his eyes, feeling victory closing in. "Which tells me that you are simply jealous over the fact that I picked her to be queen and not you."

"I could care less who you share your bed with, as long as you fulfill the contract and let me pass on."

There was really no way to trick or fool this girl, so Lelouch decided to quit while he was behind. "I can't allow any of my troops to head into Area 11 just yet, so I'll need you to do it."

C.C. blinked, slightly surprised by the command that he had given her. "And why me?"

"The Black Knights still trust you, and they don't know you're with me. Go to Area 11, retrieve Kallen, and bring her to me," Lelouch replied, his voice curt and strict, leaving no room for arguments.

"You'd do all this just for a political symbol?"

Lelouch smiled, raising his body off the throne and standing to his full height. "It's true that a queen symbolizes a special something to the country, but that's not the only reason I want her."

"What's the other reason?"

Taps began to echo through the hallways, coupled hand-in-hand with the sound of the storm outside as Lelouch walked away from the witch of Geass, heading towards the large doors that led into the rest of the palace.

When he was at the door, he stopped with his hand on the handle, turning his head slightly just enough for C.C. to catch his possessive and lust-filled eyes.

"I thought you didn't care who I share my bed with?"

Kallen sighed as she fell face-first onto her bed, feeling the soft blankets and pillows strewn wildly around her forming a fluffy cocoon of comfort around her. Her sea-blue eyes were lightly closed as she attempted to grasp a hold of sleep, but her spinning mind and thoughts wouldn't let her.

She had just seen Zero - Lelouch - on the televison announcing to the world that he had killed his father and crowned himself the new emperor of Britannia. Everything after that was just a blur. She had been in shock at first with the rest of the Black Knights, but a part of her rejoiced to see him alive and well. After that, she had retired to her quarters, not speaking to anyone on the way.

She was a Black Knight, but with the man she devoted her loyalty to now a Britannian emperor, what should she do? Who should she follow? Her heart and mind were torn. Her mind told her to stay reasonable and remain with the Black Knights, but her heart screamed at her to seek out Lelouch.

"What should I do?" she asked out loud.

"You should come with me."

Practically falling off her bed, the red-head released a small shriek as she hit the hard, metallic floor, taking her blankets and pillows with her, one of them landing directly on her face. When she asked that question, she didn't expect anyone to answer, especially not...

Kallen tore the pillow from her face, coming nose-to-nose with an emotionless pair of yellow, cat-like eyes.

"C.C.?"

"I see you haven't forgotten me."

Kallen sat upright, staring at the green-haired girl on her bed with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Zero sent me."

The Guren pilot practically jumped to her feet at the sound of her leader's name. Wasting no time, she grabbed C.C. by the collar of her overly long and ridiculous looking white shirt and yanked her up so the two were face-to-face.

"Zero? Lelouch? Where is he, how is he?"

The witch simply blinked, her blank eyes boring into Kallen's blue ones. "If you let me go, I'll tell you."

Forgetting that she had C.C. in a death grip, Kallen blushed slightly and released her hold. The green-haired woman flattened out the wrinkles in her shirt before replying to the pilot's bombardment of questions with a simple answer.

"He sent me to get you."

Kallen felt her eyes grow wide. "To...get...me...?"

"Apparently, he wants you to become the queen of Britannia."

If Lelouch had won a weight-lifting contest and a marathon, if C.C. started to dance around and sing; it all wouldn't have come close to the amount of shock that swam through her body the moment those words had left C.C.'s lips.

The Q-1's mouth simply opened and closed again like a fish out of water, her blue eyes blank and wide, her body completely still.

A lace of annoyance danced across the witch's eyes. She had expected Kallen to be shocked, but not to go into a coma. Snapping her fingers in front of Kallen's face and getting no results at all, C.C. drew her arm back and slapped the Guren pilot across the face.

A red mark was scratched into Kallen's cheek before she blinked very slowly, seeming to snap out of her daze. "He wants me to what?"

Rolling her eyes in a very uncharacteristic fashion and deciding that she had wasted enough time, C.C. rose from the bed and walked over to the door to the bedroom.

"If you accep the offer, meet me at hanger five in twenty minutes. I'll be leaving with or without you."

Then she was gone.

Lelouch raised his head at the sound of the large throne room door clicking open and shut a few moments after. He rose to his feet and couldn't suppress a victorious grin when he saw who it was that had walked into his line of sight.

"Welcome, my queen."

Author's Note: And that's a wrap! I know some of you would've liked some interaction between Kallen and Lelouch, but I don't want to strive too far from the canon storyline. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to drop a review!