Five Fics in Three Days Challenge #04

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Title: Nothing More
Fandom: Code Geass
Characters/Pairings: Gino Weinberg/Kōzuki Kallen, Lelouch vi Britannia
Word Count: 1432
Prompt: 61-2 – Waking From Tormented Sleep
Rating: T
Summary: SPOILERS FOR R2! Nightmares of the past plague her mind, but there will always be one person who could make her feel better.

Written for the Five Fics in Three Days challenge on the 5_Prompts community on LiveJournal.

Disclaimer: Code Geass is property of Bandai Entertainment and CLAMP.

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She slammed the handgrip forward, thrusting the Guren SEITEN's Radiant Wave Surger outwards and putting its shield effect into place. A blast from the Lancelot's VERIS met with her shield, effectively blocking the shot and she lowered the guard, dashing forward and raising her gauntlet for an attack.

Suddenly, the Lancelot vanished from her sights like the Vincent in Babil Tower. When she moved to turn around, she was no longer inside the Guren, but standing on her feet in the Ikaruga. She was standing in Zero's room, facing his closet. Confused, she turned slowly to find Zero standing there, his helmet hiding his face and his arms crossed under his cape. She smiled, feeling joy at seeing Zero alive and well.

She took a slow step forward, reaching a hand out towards him openly. "Zero, what's our next move?"

He said nothing, didn't even move. She blinked once looked around when he was no longer there. Turning on her heel, she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding when she spotted him seated inside his chair at his station. He swiveled slowly and reached up to remove his helmet. She gasped in surprise when he removed it, revealing the bloodied face of Naoto, her brother. He reached out slowly, gasping for breath, and managed, "Help me… Kallen…"

"Sad sight, isn't it?"

She turned again, this time face-to-face with Lelouch, dressed in his Ashford uniform and smiling lightly. He took a single step closer to her and shook his head, that same, wistfully amused smile on his lips. "Do you see, Kallen? See what happens when you try to change the world?"

She took an involuntary step backwards, then turned back to see Naoto vanished from the chair. "Zer- No. Lelouch. What are you talking about?"

He swept his left hand out dramatically, closing his eyes as if in thought. They snapped open, revealing both to be glowing a pink color with the geass sigil settled in the center. She had seen his eyes like that once before, and it had terrified her. "People die, Kallen. You lose the ones you love. Your brother… Naoto, was it? He died because you were weak."

She shook her head, now completely terrified, and kept walking back until she bumped into a table, turning, she found herself looking at the work table in the Ashford student council room. Turning back to face Lelouch, she realized they were suddenly in that room, every wall covered in logbooks and trophies, things she had never really looked at, but had always seemed to know were there. How had they gotten there? She couldn't remember. Glancing down, she realized she was dressed in the white confiscation outfit C.C. used to wear, all the buckles in place, holding her arms back in a type of straight jacket and her mouth gagged. What was happening? Why couldn't she remember how she got there?

Lelouch laughed across from her, a maniacal, insane laugh, and held out his hand, which now held his favorite Britannia pistol. "Such a sad end, Kōzuki Kallen. You're too weak to serve a purpose now. Don't you all see? She's a pathetic little weakling!"

She turned as laughter sounded to see familiar faces on all sides. Students from the school including Milly, Rivalz, Nina, Shirley, Suzaku, and Nunally. They stood around her, laughing as Lelouch pointed the gun towards her. Was this how she would die? Killed by the man she once loved?

His finger squeezed in on the trigger, aiming right for her forehead. This was it. This was the end. The trigger pulled back all the way and, suddenly, a loud 'bang' sounded through her ears.

She jumped up to a sitting position, clutching the bedspread to her chest. She gasped, drawing in breath after breath but unable to breathe. Her heart pounded in her ears, unwilling to slow as she recalled her dream.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She turned slowly, eyes wide, and managed to relax slightly as she took in the face of Gino. He sat beside her, brushing a hand over his eyes to wipe the sleep out of them. Without saying a word, she pounced from her sitting position and clambered to his lap, one hand gripped firmly in his shirt and the other clutching at her stomach.

It wasn't the first nightmare she'd had of Lelouch. It probably wouldn't be the last, either. She was tormented by his betrayal and scarred further by his assassination at the hands of the new Zero. It had shaken her to see how twisted a person could truly become. The bored look he wore when he'd paraded down the street of the new Britannian capital with Schneizel crucified to the front of his float and Nunally chained to the floor in front of him only fueled her anger and almost made her pity him.

Gino's arms wrapped around her, and though she knew he was equally plagued by nightmares of the war and rebellion, she needed his comfort tonight. She wasn't ashamed to cry in front of him and leaned against him, letting her tears unfurl against his shoulder. "Lelouch," she croaked. She only needed to say his name for him to understand. The man was only eighteen when he'd essentially taken over the world and bent the population to his will. It was only natural for people to be terrified of him, even if he was dead.

It was different for Kallen, though. She had played a substantial role in helping his climb to power. He had often told her she was his trump card, his most valuable pilot. She had worked for him and listened to his orders, giving her all to help him. It was because of her that he had gotten so far and had been able to live to fight so many battles.

She would never be able to get past the guilt for all she'd done. She was still with the Black Knights, serving as the new Knight of Five. Though the general outranking her had changed from Lelouch to Suzaku and now to the Knight of One, she still served the Black Knights faithfully. With Britannia now an official part of the UFN, four generals of the Black Knights were elected to have complete command of the world's military force. Li Xingke, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Zero, and the Knight of One. Since Bismark Waldstein had been killed, Gino had been promoted to Knight of One and worked as one of the generals.

In the time since, Kallen had graduated high school alongside Gino and now lived with him as his fiancée. She trusted him more than anybody, after taking her time to open up to a Britannian. In the end, she decided his place of birth didn't matter. He had shown multiple times that he truly treasured her and she wanted to return that feeling.

Her nightmare had shaken her to her core and she wanted nothing more than the comfort of his hands around her. It was terrifying, the image in her mind's eye of Lelouch shooting her. She had felt as if that had happened when he had taken over as Emperor of Britannia, but seeing it, even in a dream, had frightened her more than she'd like to think.

Gino's arms pulled tightly around her, holding her as close to his chest as he could, his voice whispering soothing words to her. The words themselves were lost to her, but his tone was soft and calming. It helped her heart beat at a normal pace again and her breathing settle to a normal rate. Her tears had calmed and she slowly pulled back, reaching up to wipe her eyes but paused as he beat her to it.

His eyes were full of concern as her rubbed his thumb across her cheek to brush away her tears. "What was it?"

She managed a forced smile, grateful to him for being there with her. "He shot me when I was defenseless."

He pulled her to him again, setting his chin on her head and mumbling, "I know how much you hate to be pinned down."

She was at least thankful he'd avoided wording it as 'helpless.' Snuggling against him, she whispered, "Yeah. Everyone was watching, too. It probably doesn't sound that bad, but-"

Shifting slightly, he adjusted their position and pressed his lips to hers to cut her off. Pulling back, he said, "If it woke you up and scared you like that, then it's bad. Nothing more to it than that."

She nodded and snuggled closer. "That's why I love you, Gino."

Please review!

-Valk