Gambit 3rd revision
Chapter 21: End of Trip
Everyone thanks for the kind responses! I tried and get this out as fast as possible; so did my Beta's; theFinalArbiter and Toyoko. Special thanks to them!
This is mostly fun; ill try and keep the action going in the next chapters.
0000~L~0000
Only when the pounding in his head became too painful to ignore did the prince admit to being awake. Lelouch winced away from the sledgehammer in his skull to turn to his other side in some misguided hope that the action would dull the relentless pressure in temples.
But the pounding returned twofold within a few beats of his heart – how he wished he could turn that organ off right now. No, it was like his brain was flooded by some thick, heavy liquid and the force of it were trying to break his skull. It wasn't until he tried to sit up and the constant chattering in the background vanished, that he realized he was not alone.
C.C. was the first to approach him as he tried shakily to take stock of his situation. He hurt all over, but his head and his foot were definitely the worst. The immortal offered him a coffee and aspirins in apology, and Lelouch gratefully took the proffered cup and raised it to his mouth before the smell changed his mind.
To avert retching all over them both, he pushed the cup back to his witch and demanded water instead. The aspirins were welcome, though.
"What the hell did you do to me, C.C.?"
For once, she looked somewhat apologetic: green eyebrows raised in a frown and shoulders high in a shrug. One shoulder slipped from her too short military-style dress that he suspected was actually a big man's T-shirt.
"It might have been a bit much." The witch admitted, and then brightened quickly. "But at least it made you able to dodge that sniper, right?"
If Lelouch hadn't been feeling ill before, he would be now. "What sniper?"
Rationally, he knew they must have finished their play aboard the boat and jumped into the water to be picked up by the diver unit. But all his memory supplied him with were images of beautiful fish.
Lelouch could see they were on board the sub, most likely in what had once been the crew's sleeping quarters. There were beds built into the dark metal walls, and he was occupying one of those. He thought he'd heard Kallen and another girl's voice before. They were quiet now.
"How did I get here?" he asked, half pushing back the covers before noticing another problem. "Why am I naked?"
"Oh!" C.C. perked up, sitting down next to him as he tried to cover up. She patted his leg through the blanket, a small smile on her face. "That is actually a very funny story."
Looking around, he finally found Kallen over at the table, for once not looking angry but awkward instead. He could not find the source of the third girl's voice from before though, all he could see was the table from which Kallen was getting up - her attire now a standard military outfit. On the other side of the table, most of his view was blocked by a big, dome-shape object with arms and legs and… the dome started to turn around.
"What the hell is that?" he almost screamed.
Actually, on closer inspection, Lelouch knew quite well what it was. This was the SX- minisub grappler; a humanoid ground-walking submarine. The prince realized a better question would be what it was doing inside the dorms instead of the hangar.
The dome that was the unit's cockpit turned his way slowly to reveal its open front. Inside two pink pigtails framed a wide-eyed face. The girl-pilot seemed familiar somehow; the kind of familiar that twisted his gut with anxiety.
C.C. had completely abandoned her usual bland tone for something akin to glee. "That, is actually starring in the funny story I was about to tell. Want to hear?"
He was pretty sure he didn't, and Kallen seemed to agree. She seemed to be a bit out of sorts, even addressing him first with "I'm so glad you're okay, Lelouch!" before grabbing C.C. by the hair.
C.C. allowed the ace to draw her up, stoic as ever. But one corner of her mouth shot up at Kallen's insistent whispering in her ear.
"Kallen is a bit embarrassed as Anya's precision skills at the SX minisub completely outclass her own, although the controls are akin to a Knightmare's." C.C. explained with an uncanny amount of honesty. "For instance, did you know Anya can peel off a man's…?" Mercifully, Kallen's hand clamped over the witch's mouth as she started bodily dragging the immortal from the room.
Anya: the girl that had played host to his mother's spirit. And she had used an industrialized machine to– no. Lelouch had to agree with Kallen here. He didn't want to know. Dully, he watched the two girls struggle towards the exit until the door slid closed to hide them from view.
Anya.
So this was the girl who Jeremiah had trusted enough to send to his Liege's aid? Personally, Lelouch had to doubt the knight's judgment. Not that he was in a position to turn her out right now, even if there was anyone aboard that knew how to pilot a submarine. Also, she knew too much for them just to let her go... why did everything always have to get so complicated?
The pigtailed girl seemed confused as he glared at her. "Is there a problem?" she asked, her large, pink eyes oblivious. "I'm not the one that accidentally set off the lasers and almost caused a medical emergency you know."
0000~Ch~0000
"No, you stupid trollop!" Charles called to the girl-scientist, Nina Einstein, once again. "Can't you tell that the modulator's traverse is skewed?"
Nina, oblivious to both the modulator's defect and the ghost's insults continued to try and hammer the modulator into its spot. The banging rang through the cave's walls loud enough to drown out the soft sounds of a TV, forgotten in a corner.
The girl had used the small budget she had acquired for this project to turn the ancient cave that housed the broken portal to C's world both into her personal study and make-shift sleeping quarters; Charles supposed it made sense. The location was remote from civilization, and besides, Nina wasn't the type to spend her waking hours on anything but work, and this arrangement saved her from having to commute.
C's world – where the spirits of the dead gathered, where the living and the dead could meet; and where he would temporarily regain his physical form. And, indeed, it was a physical form he suspected that was needed to pass on the Geass curse.
Charles had done a lot of study into the subjects of Geass and C's world, and in hindsight it was little surprise to him that his spirit was not allowed to pass on with the Geass curse still attached to it. Then again, he had hardly meant to die that day - die in C's world. Honestly, Charles had not ever even bothered considering the chance of failure. Still, now that it had come to that, he felt the only mature thing to do was to cut his losses and make the best of things.
Nina sighed, pulling out the manual again to compare it to the mural. The broken, cracked Geass symbol covering the cave's wall lacked the pulsing light it would have once activated, but Charles understood that such a feature could hardly be shown in the picture's representation.
Despite this, and despite the fact that the girl could not hear a word the ghost uttered, Charles continued his litany. Even if no one could hear, he needed to talk. Even a man as calm and composed as the 98th emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire could go mad if he was left in this isolation long enough.
Talking and pretending the girl could hear him relieved his tension.
The girl, exasperated with her endeavor once again, walked to the near-by desk. Then she pulled out the photocopy of the scripture detailing the gate, placed a translation manual next to it, and attempted to figure out where she had gone wrong.
"For the love of god, you dumb broad, it's not going to say what you did wrong. Look at the bloody picture will you. The modulator's supposed to have an S- bend, yours is more like a Z."
Nina, almost as if she heard the specter, shook her head. "I suck at ancient languages." She confided to the empty air, lifting her spectacles to rub at her eyes. "Why can't they ever explain using math?"
"I can't bear to watch this any longer." The monarch's ghost stated. "I'm going out to look for my son again."
Which was, all in all, a fruitless endeavor as Charles was well aware of. But he hardly could stand to watch this work. It was so agonizingly slow! At this rate, it would be years before the portal would be ready for his use. Well, Charles mused, he didn't really have much else to do. He could either wait for this girl to finish the portal or he could look for the proverbial needle in the haystack that was his son.
Even knowing that, the prospect of spending years in this undead state was… less than thrilling.
Charles was half way out the cave before Nina's startled gasp called him back. For a moment there, he had hoped she had by some miracle figured out her error and fixed the modulator.
Instead, he found her staring at the TV screen, a delicate hand in front of her mouth that was, uncharacteristically, slack jawed.
When Charles turned to watch what kind of program could have pulled the girl-scientist's interests so, the old monarch was filled with a feeling of content. "So that's where you've been hiding, my boy!"
Charles grinned pleasantly as his protégé and the Ashford girl made light banter and innuendo.
The footage was obviously a rerun, and so the king doubted he could simply track the boy down. Even if he discovered the location of the set, Lelouch would be long gone.
"What do you think, girl?" He inquired lightly. "Do you like the boy I've decided to name successor to my line?"
Charles sent an appraising glance at the girl. The hand on her face was digging into her cheek by now, and the other was balled to a fist, all but shaking at her side.
"Oh? You don't like him?" the ghost inquired lightly. He had taken little interest in the woman's history beyond the fact that she knew his son from school. "Just as well, I've got better matches lined up. All he has to do is accept what I've already practically thrown into his lap."
"And then, you'll help me dump the rest of this blasted curse on him."
0000~N~0000
"He's just trying to help, Suzaku." Nunnally sighed, exasperated. The argument had been going around like this for a while now. Though it confused Nunnally to no end, the knight had waited with voicing his opinions until after her press release.
"Maybe," the knight replied evasively, obviously disagreeing on this as well, but probably refraining from saying so to spare her feelings. "But I still don't think he should have forced you to lie like that."
Nunnally stifled another sigh. She was sorely tempted to end this misconception the knight held that she was some kind of innocent angel. - Had she not been the one to fire the Damocles' ray that had ended many lives? Although she would never voice it, the young ambassador considered her soul as tarnished as any around her.
But pointing out such facts would just be cruelty. Suzaku had focused what little hope and faith he had left in humanity on her person. He needed to believe that she was a better, innocent person. As misguided as the conviction was, she could not rob him of it.
Nunnally was well aware people like Suzaku needed to focus their efforts on someone they considered more worthy then themselves. So she would, at least in part, continue playing the sheltered princess.
It was the least she could do.
Instead, she mulled over a good enough justification. "He is my brother, Suzaku. If I can make him happy by telling a little white lie, what is the problem?"
Suzaku seemed to have a whole list of answers to that one, but before he could get a word out, the phone rang. The knight answered it, placing the mask with the voice modifier between his lips and the mouthpiece.
After a moment, he turned, expression worried. "It's Tamaki… - the president. He wants to know if it's ok now to tell everyone it was Lelouch disguised as Zero that shot him."
Nunnally stifled a sigh. She had only heard of this mishap herself a few hours before. "Who did he tell?"
Suzaku blinked, but relayed the question. After a moment, the knight reacted with an angry bark; Nunnally could guess the answer: just about everyone.
0000~L~0000
Kallen closed the hospital ward's door behind her as Lelouch tried another testing step on the cast – helped by the two crutches his ace had acquired for him from the ward's inventory. They were both decked out in the musty basic military clothing that had been left aboard.
As much as Lelouch hated the way it made him blend into the grey-green walls –not to mention the smell off the things – it was much more practical than going around in just a blanket.
The cast didn't look like much, but it held a lot better than the taping had, despite the poor job C.C. and later Kallen had done on it. To Lelouch, it was almost baffling to realize he was the only one of the three with any medical skill to his name.
How had those two women lived this long without bothering to learn anything beyond the most basic first aid? Kallen had been a member of the resistance; C.C. had been going around for several hundred years– yet the one who had to explain to them how to make and apply a cast had been Lelouch.
First, C.C. had tried to follow his directions, but admittedly his patience with her had already been tried and his instruction might have turned into slights at some point. The witch had turned on Lelouch and kindly suggested he could bind his own foot if he thought he would be any less clumsy about it. Then she had stormed out of the room like some wronged queen.
Though honestly, the prince thought the witch had deserved every word and then some.
Kallen had taken over then, not that she had done a much better job. But Lelouch had redoubled his efforts to keep his opinions to himself -or maybe the ace's own guilty conscience kept her from taking the high road as well. And in the end they had ended up with something…barely passable.
Oh, Lelouch was thankful for her attempts, and yes, he could see this was Kallen trying to make amends for what she had done. But as the red ace tried half-heartedly to take an arm to support his weight, it became too much to bear.
He sighed as Kallen stepped back again, sheepishly, as she realized the idea was beyond impractical as he had a crutch in each hand to support the weight. It was ridiculous. The prince had to bite his own tongue to stop a particularly snide remark on how it might be better for Kallen to just trudge on and ignore the carnage she wrecked and leave the nursing to the real nurses.
Lelouch sighed again, trying to find a way to say 'please just leave me alone' without hurting her feelings. It seemed next to impossible; especially with how irritable he was feeling. Especially with that smile she was giving him, surprisingly soft and vulnerable. Nothing like the bane of the Britannian Empire he knew she had been.
"Kallen…"He started, unsure of how to continue. He should say something nice. Why was that so hard today? "Thank you…"For what? For shooting him? For joining their little scheme with a ridiculous list of demands and making everything so much more complicated?
For nearly castrating him with a pair of industrial lasers?
Dear god, when had he become such an ungrateful bastard? There was plenty to be thanking Kallen for. His mind was just too locked up at all the bad things right now.
"Le-louch!" a man's high sing-song voice froze him on the spot, words dead in his mouth as this could not be!
"…sama? Your grace? Excellency? …Whatever shall I call you now?"
But it was.
"Lloyd Asplund." Lelouch spat through gritted teeth as he turned around on his crutches. "What are you doing here?"
The prince didn't understand. He had been quite explicit. The scientist was to keep his distance from Lelouch at all times. That was why the prince had bothered with hiding his identity from the man in the first place. And now the Knightmare technician was here, on the submarine he was supposed to convert.
If anyone found out about their link, Lloyd would find himself incarcerated and the Demon Emperor would find himself without transportation. Why would the man take such a risk?
Kallen threw Lelouch a confused look, and turned around to stare down the professor.
The ditzy man seemed oblivious to both their stares though.
"I know: mister customer. My dear, dear customer; what a show you just gave us! I imagine the whole world is after your head just about now…"
The idea seemed to elate the extravagant scientist. "Yes, yes!" the man sang, doing half a little dance to his lyrics, his white lab-coat bulging around him. "You'll need all the help you can get just to keep that head on your shoulders! All the help you can get! And I have just the thing."
And then, it clicked. Lelouch understood what Lloyd hoped to gain through taking such risk. There was one thing, only one thing this man cared about enough to take such a chance. Because, common sense aside, Lloyd was well aware that he would not be allowed to pursue his love of science to the fullest if he was locked up in a jail cell.
It would have to be a war machine.
Lloyd was beckoning them, like some bespectacled white-haired imp. "Come along, come and look. You too, young lady!" The scientist threw Kallen what was likely his most winning smile. "You're the Stadtfeld girl, right? The one that gave my Suzi so much trouble? Come along, come along. You'll love this, I know it!"
Oh, but Lloyd was devious when he wanted to be. Nevertheless, Lelouch saw through this little scheme. Deliberately moving the crutches wide, he moved in between the two. "Sorry, Lloyd, she's busy. You'll show it to me alone."
"…busy?" the two questioned in unison.
Quickly, he pulled Kallen by the elbow. "Listen, Kallen. He says that, but Lloyd might just be a bit of a male chauvinist and he used to be an Earl besides. He says he'll show you something but what he probably means is you can serve us tea and take notes."
That did the job. Lloyd curiously tried to listen in on their conversation, but the red ace threw him an angry glare for his trouble.
"See you soon then, Lelouch," she called, stormed away with an angry swagger.
The prince wasn't exactly sure what women had against making tea, but the idea that they were more apt for the job due to their gender never failed to tick them off.
What? It wasn't a total lie. Lloyd could have meant that. And all men were chauvinists from Kallen's point of view…probably. –Tabun*.
Of course, it was more likely Kallen really would have liked to see whatever the engineer had built.
And then, she would have really liked to take it for a spin.
And then she would have really liked to keep it with all the modifications on it that Lloyd had likely done to the original design. And then Lelouch probably would not have had the heart to say no, despite Lloyd's additions likely breaking every Knightmare-embargo agreements out there.
Lelouch sighed, gesturing the excited scientist to lead the way.
"Just show me all the modifications you've made, Lloyd."
And he would have them undone; the point of this speed machine was exactly that it was not a Knightmare frame. He was not going to let this thing escalate into an arms race.
0000~C~0000
Later that day, C.C. lounged on the captain's bed, crossing her legs as she took a bite out of her molten cheese sandwich. "This is the lousiest 'pizza' I've ever had. Make me something better."
Lelouch's reaction was gratifying, although it was smoothed out almost before she caught it, or maybe all the more because of it. She knew she was grating down the last of the man's nerves, and even the wise C.C. didn't know what way he would jump when she got to the end of his patience. It was a most exhilarating prospect.
Besides, who but the great gray witch was going to keep her warlock's mind occupied? He had just returned from the dead, and in her experience, the first time doing that could bring some rather existential questions to mind. Existential questions she herself had not ever found any satisfying answers too. Yes, nobody like the ancient C.C. knew this was not a good time to be spending too much time on introspection. He had likely had too much time for that already.
So there, she was being a bitch to be helpful.
And because she was sick and tired of having to be patient all the time. She had been patient for decades, trying to find a suitable candidate to take her curse. Just when she had put eyes on the young boy Lelouch, and almost decided he would be the one, the Geass order had taken her captive.
So then she had been patient for years waiting for a chance to escape. And when she had found Lelouch as a teenager once again, she had been patient for months for his Geass to grow powerful enough so he could take her curse.
Then, when he had died, she had resigned herself to more patients for centuries, to live this life without end to her best abilities.
But then she had got a call, and she realized…she did notwantto have to be patient ever again.
Her ex-accomplice managed to smooth out the twitch in his eyebrow and continued to flip the channels on the little TV nonchalantly. "We don't have pizza. The galley is all the way on the other side of the sub. And you might not have noticed, but my foot is in a cast. You should be happy I brought you something at all."
On a certain level, C.C. was pleased. The sandwich was supposed to be an appeasing gesture, she knew, for calling her names when she was trying to fix his cast, but the witch was bored again. Her warlock had been looking over his new toy with that scary scientist all day, and Kallen and Anya had been little fun. The both of them had been completely engrossed in their walking mini-submarine.
C.C. didn't have interest in piloting equipment like those two girls did. She was good enough at it, but that was all the appeal they had to her. But Kallen and Anya just couldn't get enough of the stuff! C.C. had tried to join in at first, but after an hour or two going through specs and maneuvers she had been bored witless. So she had broken into the Captain's quarters, which Lelouch had claimed for himself, and had spent the rest of the afternoon sulking on the bed.
The fact that the prince had not even been annoyed at finding her there, but had obviously expected her only soured C.C's mood further. His condition made it clear he wasn't even a true code-bearer, so if the boy couldn't keep her entertained, he should at least suffer for it.
The immortal turned on her back in the narrow captain's bunk and put a naked foot against the low ceiling, making sure ample crumbs from her sandwich made it onto the linen when she took another bite.
"Well, I'm not happy. So maybe you should try harder?"
Adding insult to injury, the boy failed to take notice, both of her long, slender leg and of the crumbs. His eyes were glued to the television instead. C.C.'s eyes flashed dangerously, but Lelouch was oblivious to even that.
"Will you look at her?" he chuckled, to the witch's chagrin.
Sighing, C.C. pushed herself up from the bunk bed, and walked over to the TV, making sure to block the boy's line of sight with her ass. "Of course." C.C. noted sourly. "It would be your little sister hogging all the attention again."
"Hmmm?" Lelouch noted, twisting around smoothly so that he could see the images displayed. "You're not getting jealous of my dear Nunnally, now are you, C.C.?"
"Of course not." C.C. pouted at the screen, watching the young girl's performance with badly disguised envy. "It's just that I finally understand why you're so sweet on your own sister."
Regaining some of her lost objectivity, the witch deduced. "You'd never notice as she is such a fair, innocent looking thing, but you pair are actually two of a kind. It's just an especially perverted form of narcissism."
C.C. rounded on the boy, not willing to miss any of the reaction to her accusation. "That girl is actually a lying, manipulative bitch, just like you."
C.C. reveled in both the scowl her warlock tried to keep level at the T.V. and the way his jaw worked in a rather failed attempt at a grin. Here it comes!
"…Why, thank you." he managed after a long time.
To hide her scowl, C.C. took another bite from her sad not-pizza. What did she have to do to make him bite back?