Disclaimer: I do not own in any part Code Geass or any of it's Characters.
It is the year 2028 it has been ten years since Britannia's tyrant 99th emperor Lelouch died at Zero's hands. The progress of the world has gone from one of grudging hate between peoples of different nationalities, races, and religions to one that has new found respect between people with great differences and works around them. This great age is led by Britannia's Empress Nunnally "The Innocent", Zero, the leader of the Black Knights, Prince Schneizle of Britannia, and Empress Tianzi of the Chinese Federation among others.
Lelouch and C.C. pulled up to an old diner they frequented every time they drove through the area. Lelouch liked it because it was far removed, C.C. found their pizza to be very good. After sitting in the car for a few minutes they grudgingly got out of the car and entered the door. Their eyes adjusting to the dark interior but Lelouch automatically cringed when he heard his name but after a moment realized that it was the television.
"Well good afternoon, is that Lincoln and Calli, well haven't seen you two in a few months how have you been?" A lady asked from the counter a rag in her hand as she wiped the counter.
"Fine, how have you been Candace?" Lelouch said relaxing as they made it to the counter and sat.
"Lou a C Pizza and a Burger meal for Lincoln, our best traveling guests are back," she called in through the window at the chef in back who poked his head out.
"Hey how you been?" the chef called.
"Great! I have been really missing your pizza," C.C. replied as she reached for the drink Candace placed before her sucking down the contents without a breath.
"Still can't find anything better?" Lou said.
"Not this side of Britannia," she said and Lelouch smiled hiding a laugh.
"So what is the program about?" Lelouch asked Candace.
"Oh, some Japanese reporter released a new article about the origins of Zero and the whole world has been in a frenzy about it. That the original Zero may have been Lelouch vi Britannia, if it was it would create a huge scandal, the Black Knights have yet to reply to the accusation but it is only a matter of time before they do. Hmmm, you ever been told you look like him?" Candace said looking Lelouch over.
"Like who?" he asked warily.
"The tyrant emperor Lelouch," she said and he choked on his drink causing her to throw her rag at him so he could wipe up the mess.
"Sorry, but I couldn't possibly be anything like him, after all I was ten when he died," Lelouch said and with the logic presented persuaded her differently.
"Ok, well I guess you haven't seen it then, here is the magazine the article was printed in," Candace said as she pulled a magazine from beneath the register and handed it to him and Lelouch had to hide his shock at the front cover before opening it to the article and began to read.
"So, what does it say?" C.C. asked when Candace went out of earshot.
"It is an abridged version of twelve years ago sans Geass. Though it feels like someone took the notes and cobbled this together and not an actual researcher who understands the implications written. Though it does hit on some of the critical points; hey there you are," Lelouch said with a laugh pointing out a picture of green haired C.C. standing off to the side while Zero was talking to Li Xin-ke, Tianzi, and Kaguya.
"Hmm, oh when was this?" she asked looking at the picture.
"right after the wedding, one of the recruits was forever taking pictures, I managed to get my hands on them and most of them I used in my book about the Black Knights," he said taking back the magazine and reading the rest of the article.
"Here Lincoln, your dinner, Calli, your pizza will be out in a minute," Candace said delivering the plate to them.
"We bring you this late breaking story. The Britannian government is currently in pursuit of two fugitives who are suspected in acts terrorism against Brittania. They are considered highly dangerous and to proceed with caution. The government has released their pictures, and their code names are C.C. and L.L. though they may have other aliases. Again approach them with caution and call the authorities about their whereabouts for they are very dangerous," Lelouch looked up his first bite of burger half chewed as he watched the TV. incredulity on his face as he caught the images of him and C.C. on the TV. before the news reporter pulled back warning the public about them.
He saw Candace quickly walk away and gulping he nudged C.C. gesturing that they should leave. She glared daggers at him but he shook it off grabbed her arm pulling her off the stool and dragging her to the door. Just as the bell rang he heard Candace whispering loudly into a phone, "Yes, the fugitives on the news, they are here. Lou's diner at Broken Bend in the Imperial district; we are fifty kilometers from Pendragon Memorial. Yes, we will try to keep them here, yes, Lincoln and Calli, they are driving a 2000 blue convertible Mustang. I don't know the registration, HEY WAIT YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR MEAL!" she cried as she finally realized that they were running to the car Lelouch jumped the side into the driver's seat and C.C. jumped in the back and clutched Cheese-kun as the car spun out of the parking lot and onto the road.
After a moment C.C. jumped into the passenger seat and buckled up. "So who put that bulletin out?" she asked as she turned on the radio fiddling with the dial landing on the news.
"I do not think it was the Geass user, he should not have the means to manipulate the government bureaus like that. If he wanted our codes he would have trouble getting out after he took them for whatever reason," Lelouch said his brain running on overtime as he sped down the road trying to think of how to ditch the car and hide their faces.
"We cannot go back to the Gottwold's," C.C. said looking bummed.
"Yes, who else can we get a car off of," Lelouch said thinking as he shifted gears, "hang on," he said as he spun the wheel taking them on a dirt and gravel path heading into the undergrowth.
"Cecil's garage is a few hours away," C.C. said and Lelouch groaned, "but that is the closest person who could help us," she continued and he groaned louder.
"What? She can get us a new vehicle and hide us for a time," C.C. said trying to think why Lelouch would not want to go to their only hope.
"Remember her cooking!" was all he said and after a moment C.C.'s face reflected Lelouch's grimness.
"Oh right," she said and they drove in silence with Lelouch breaking it with a curse.
"Damn, we have to go. There is no one else… thank god we are immortal or we could perish," Lelouch said softly that C.C. could barely understand him, it took a moment but she smiled at the attempt of humor.
They drove taking it slow and avoiding the main throughways. Several times they had to drive off the road and hide in the brush but just after dusk they made it to the town where Cecile's workshop was. It was a large junkyard with dozens of old Knightmare frames littering the compound and a huge warehouse with a side house attached. There were lights coming from the windows and as they pulled up a light went off and everything went quite.
Lelouch went slowly up to the door and rang the bell relaxing when he heard footsteps, someone looked through the door as a light came on momentarily blinding him and the door opened. The next thing he knew there was a loud crack of a gun and then blackness.
C.C. came up carrying the bags and kicked Lelouch laying on the pavement with a pool of blood beneath his head and a hole between his eyes as he looked up sightlessly into the sky. "Nice shot Nina," C.C. complemented as the green haired genius lowered a smoking antique gun to Lelouch, cocking back the hammer she unloaded it into Lelouch's unmoving body.
"That always feels good," she said as she put the gun on a table just inside the door and came out to hug C.C. and grab a bag.
"You should tell him that you are no longer mad at him and this is just your way to mess with him," C.C. said more as a suggestion which made Nina look at C.C. with a weird look before both woman began laughing that both knew that C.C. was not serious and Nina would never tell Lelouch.
Lelouch groaned as he foot twitched and his eyes fluttered. "Damn, why do you do that every time we see each other now?" he asked as he brought a hand up to his head wiping the blood from his brow. "Damn I really liked this outfit," he said as he sat up and took stock of what Nina did to him.
"You deserve every damn bullet; especially since your little secret has been released to everyone who did not know, in the attempt to flush you into the open by whoever you have pissed off this time," Nina said as she shut the door in Lelouch's face who sighed and opened the door for himself after hacking the door code. By then C.C. and Nina were heading in back to the workshop where they heard some heavy machinery in operation.
Lelouch sighed as he entered and ducked as some machinery flew above his head. At the controls of the crane that had nearly taken his immortal head off was a child of about eight with light blue hair, she sat in Cecile's lap as she manipulated the controls with expert precision. Lelouch sighed as he passed the equipment lettered around catching up with Nina who had sat at a computer console tucked away in safety from the hazardous equipment.
"So this theory of cold fusion uses iridium in a cold environment of negative 307 degrees under intense pressure. When you introduce high speed molecules of hydrogen it should fuse creating a nuclear energy source to power a Knightmare for five years or a city of five billion for one. I am still in the theoretical stages but hopefully I will be ready begin creating a containment field, oh Lelouch, I will need your brain for calculations when it is time for the practical applications, and hopefully if everything works out it will be a replacement for Sakuradite in the next ten years," Nina explained to C.C. as Lelouch glanced over her shoulder at the computer model.
"Umm, Nina you forgot to include the impact of Neutrino's on such an environment," Lelouch said with a smile and Nina cursed vividly forgetting a child was in the vicinity and began to reread her notes before stopping and turning glaring at Lelouch, "Neutrino's do not react with anything, Lelouch I should have hit you with Cecile's shotgun," and Nina turned fixing her calculations fuming as Lelouch laughed. The heard a crash and then the crane powered down, the only thing anyone heard was Nina furiously typing away on her keyboard.
"Oh, hey you two. If I had known you were coming I would have made something to welcome you, maybe some seaweed cookies," everyone shivered.
"Mommy, what about the trout cookies you made me last night?" the little girl asked and Cecile thought a moment. C.C. and Lelouch held their breathes scared and Nina trembled.
"Yes, come on into the kitchen while I get the left over cookies and some milk. You want anything Nina?" Cecile asked.
"Really Cecile you do not have too," Lelouch tried to stop the woman.
"But Uncle Lelouch, mommy's trout cookies are the best. Even daddy eats them," the little girl said in a way that made Lelouch said and his shoulders fell in defeat.
"I will try your mom's trout cookies Lila," he said making the little girl grin bearing her missing teeth and she took off ahead of her mother who was washing the grease from her hands.
"How bad are the trout cookies?" C.C. asked Nina and Nina whispered something Lelouch did not hear.
Together both code bearers walked as if to the gallows that was the kitchen and surely poisonous food that might even kill them.
Suzaku sat at the conference table with Schneizle across from him and between them on either end of the table were two Somalian dignitaries, the president and the head of the rebel faction.
"I will not have my clan's honor degraded to that of a common grave digger by the government's policies," the clan head screamed across the table, standing and planting his fist into the table making Suzaku very glad that it was very secure.
"In a democracy all people are equal, I am not saying give up all your lands and titles but leave off the royalty aspect and agree with the other clan on land claims. We are trying to make a better country and trying to make it prosperous, your clan is the only one that has not signed the peace accords," the president shouted back but he remained seated not that Suzaku could see how he could stand like the clan head being five hundred pounds and all. They had to bring in a special seat just for this meeting.
Suzaku was getting weary from this heated debate between the factions and was wondering when Schneizle would end it and propose the cease fire both sides would like. He knew Schneizle liked to play both sides but this was getting ridiculous and he could not see why his presence would lend to anything that either side would enjoy besides a military presence as a threat to keep hands to themselves.
"We will not give up our ancestral lands just so our enemies can come in and piss on my ancestors graves whenever they want. Besides all lands we own were paid for in the sweet and blood of our clansmen for generations. Why would we give up what we have fought so hard to gain," the clan head screamed his fist coming down onto the table again and Suzaku swore that there was a fist shaped dent there.
"It is only fair if you rescind your claims on certain lands. Return some lands back to their original owners or let it be controlled by the state as public lands. We are trying to make our country great, a place all our people could be proud of being a part of not a collection of bickering clans like you are trying to enforce," the president countered his voice rising and sweat beading on his brow. Suzaku wished he could rub his headache away but could not unless he took off the Zero mask and as he was playing Zero he could not compromise his position.
"No. That land is ours, there is no way," the clan head began.
"What of the people, who live on the land, are they beholden to you or to the government? Do they become your private army which does not allow us," the president interrupted and then he himself was interrupted.
"They are scum who just moved in you can take them off our lands," the clan head screamed.
"No, those people have more claim than you. They are; the ones who work that land, if they leave who will prosper, no one so you need to return that land," the president began screaming his dark skin going darker and Suzaku swore that he was red.
"Ok Schneizle anytime now, the president of Somalia looks like he is about to have a heart attack," Suzaku thought keeping his hands from tapping from impatience on the countertop.
"You do not understand the needs of my clan," the clan head bellowed.
"But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," the president countered.
"Gentlemen, please calm down. After hearing both sides I think I have come up with a solution that both sides will agree upon," Schneizle entered the conversation that caused the president to look at the ex-prince to look at him in wonder and the clan head was perplexed but he slowly sat waiting for the blonde regal man to continue.
Kanon stepped up and handed each man a folder, both slowly opened them and began slowly reading the contents. Suzaku smiled as he felt the chips fall into Schneizle's lap and that the proceedings would end soon. After ten years of peacekeeping with Schneizle, Suzaku knew the man's ways as well as Kanon who was the only one to be with Schneizle the longest.
Suzaku smiled when both looked up with sighs of compromise and soon they both signed and Kanon was escorting them out to their respective transports. Suzaku sighed and leaned back in his chair after everyone but Schneizle left and Schneizle was looking at some other files.
"So after the transports are away we have been ordered by request of the UFN to track down the Geass user and if we find Lelouch and C.C. that would be all the better," Schneizle said and Suzaku sat up straighter and Schneizle knew that the younger man was excited about the hunt.
"So do we have any leads as to their whereabouts?" Suzaku asked excited that they were leaving the boring politics behind.
"We are beginning our search in California where the transport was last known to be. We had a report just south of Pendragon Memorial park of a sighting of Lelouch and C.C. As such I have authorized a small team to investigate but under the guise of taking your Knightmare for upgrades. You will have Lloyd and Kallen has been called in as your body guard. She will join you there and be reunited with the Guren. Cecile will finish computer checks on both machines and then you will continue your hunt of Lelouch and C.C. Do you understand?" Schneizle said and Suzaku nodded bubbling with anticipation as both men stood and Suzaku left heading for his chambers to pack. He needed to make sure that everything was in order and had to call Lloyd to have him let Cecile know that they were on their way, but then decided to let it be a surprise as Lloyd had not seen Cecile in a few months and the excitement might just move the man to do something he would regret doing, making Cecile mad at him. At the end of the day Suzaku fell into his bed dreaming of happier days and delivering a punch to Lelouch that would make up for the ten years of grief he had spent.
Author: Yay C.C. and Lelouch are back in an official capacity, I actually almost made the entire chapter about them and then realized, "no I had to include other character reactions."
Lelouch: where did the trout cookies come from?
Author: My proverbial but. But its funny right?
(crickets)
Author: your no fun…..
C.C.: I liked the fact that Nina shot the hell out of him.
Lelouch: say that to my face witch!
C.C.: I thought Nina made a great point shooting your brains out.
Author: um guys?
Lelouch: Yeah all over the street and I guess I will be the one sent out to clean it up.
C.C.: good you need to pick up after your messes.
Author: guys? *watches as the two code bearers star a long fight* sorry, please let me know what you think and to be honest I am kinda stuck at this juncture. Sooo review and help!