"FOUND IT!"

Kallen waves from the doorway to a giant arena looking area. C2 and Nunnally look in and find that it does indeed fit the requirements for L2's plan.

"Deep underground, spacious, octagonal, yeah, this is what he was looking for." C2 confirms. "Now we just need to get the device down here. Look for an elevator."

Nunnally huffs. "If there was an elevator, I would've used it."

"We didn't search that well." Kallen says. "Once we do a more thorough search, we might find something."

C2 turns back to the room and enters it. "Strange though. I wonder how L2 knew that this was in here."

Kallen blinks. "You don't know?"

C2 shakes her head. "He never told me. When he made it, he said that our enemy would have a chamber like this and left it at that. I still don't understand."

"That's because I didn't feel you needed to know." L2 says. In his hands, there are two limp forms.

Nunnally's eyes widen as she recognizes both of them. "Suzaku?"

C2's eyes narrow. "And the traitor. Why are you carrying them?"

"Suzaku got knocked out. As for Rakshata, she may be useful." He dumps both bodies unceremoniously.

Nunnally rushes to Suzaku's side and checks his pulse. Her shoulders visibly relax as she confirms Suzaku's wellbeing. "I'm glad he's okay. What happened?"

"We found the leader, Tamaki, and Rakshata planning things in the control center. We took care of the other two, but…" He gestures towards Suzaku's limp form.

C2 steps forward. "Well, this room is what we needed, so I'm going to go back to the surface to get the device."

"No need." L2 shakes his head. "I will get it, since it isn't yet finished. While I'm gone, tie up Rakshata and Suzaku."

"Suzaku as well? Why?" Kallen asks.

"He was injected with something that made him start attacking me. I'd rather not have to knock him out again."

C2 bows her head slightly. "I see. Have fun lugging that thing through the halls."

L2 starts. "Why would I do that? I'll just use the elevator."

Nunnally blinks. "So there is an elevator?"

L2 points behind him. Facing them through the door frame is the doors to an elevator, clearly marked.

"How did we miss that?" Asks Kallen with a beat expression.

"It only goes to five floors, one is the floor with the command center, one is the Knightmare hanger, one is this room, clearly labeled as 'unused' and the two others are storage facilities with heavy cargo, like weapons. I checked those first, but they were both too deep to access easily."

"Oh."

L2 turns and walks back out. "I'll be back as soon as I can locate the device. I doubt it is still on the sub."

Kallen starts. "We sent out some of the sub's crew to retrieve it. They're doing a much more thorough search than we are. You should check with them first."

L2 nods and presses the "up" button on the elevator. "See you." He waves lazily as the doors clos4e behind him.

"Jeez, what's up with him?" Kallen mumbles. "This is weird, even for him."

C2 hums an agreement.

"We should tie these two up, I guess." Nunnally says, looking down at Suzaku's prone form. "We wouldn't want him waking up and beating us all up."

The other two agree. Since none of the three had brought rope, they pulled two firehoses out of there boxes and used them to tie their two captives. As soon as C2 is done tying Suzaku in place, his eyelids flutter open.

"Where am I?"

"It doesn't matter." C2 says. "Are you back to normal yet?"

"Yet? I haven't stopped being normal." He tries to move his arms, but encounter resistance. "Why am I tied up?"

"L2 said that you were attacking him. Some sort of drug or something." Nunnally says.

Suzaku looks at them in amazement. "What? That's not what happened!"

Kallen walks right up to him. "Really?"

"Of course!" Suzaku growls. "The son of a bitch is going to pay for this!"

All three girls are taken aback by his sudden outburst. "What?"

"He set us all up."

C2 starts to get a bad feeling. After all, she knew the intended purpose of the device. "Why would you say such a thing?"

Suzaku give them all a look. "Well…"

o-o-o-o

Suzaku watches as Gregor's lifeless corpse slide to the ground. L2 has turned around before the body hits the ground. "It's time to finish this."

"Wait a minute! Was what he was saying true?"

L2 looks back over his shoulder. "Of course. There was no reason for him to lie in this situation, was there?"

"Then… You really mean to kill everyone?"

"It cant be helped. They are a necessary sacrifice for the greater good."

"You are willing to throw away Nunnally?"

L2 stops. "I will throw away whoever gets in my way. It's not my fault she ended up with the powers she did."

Suzakus eyes widen as he comes to a realization. "Wait a moment. Then you gave Lady Kaguya and Kallen Geass knowing that they'd die if your plan worked?"

L2 nods. "I couldn't reveal my hand at that point in time. They insisted. I wouldn't have done it if it could have been avoided."

"I can't believe you would do that."

L2 turns around. "I would do a lot of things, Suzaku."

"Why…" Suzaku's hands clentch. "Why would you kill the woman who loves you?"

"Kallen? She doesn't love me, she just has a crush-"

"No." Suzaku's voice lowers to a growl. "She does. It's been obvious since she found out who you were way back during your time as Zero."

"She loved Zero, not I. I am not the one she cares about. You of all people should know, since she was the one at your side for the past twelve years."

"She loved you, Lelouch."

"L2."

"No, Lelouch. She loved you. She told me she still wished that you were the one under the mask, despite considering it impossible. She wanted you back so badly, it still crushed her when she wasn't guarding herself."

"Still, I can't help her feelings. I still have something to do." L2 turns around and Starts walking out the door. "I cannot allow anything to get in my way after I have gotten this far."

Suzaku snatches his gun from where it had fallen and points it at Lelouch. "I can't let you."

L2 stops again. "I won't give you the option."

Suzaku squeezes the trigger… only for a familiar feeling to creep up his arm.

"I took the liberty of Geassing you against your inevitable betrayal. If I had still been immortal, the point would have been moot anyway, but since that was taken away, I needed to take countermeasures."

"LELOUCH!"

"Knock yourself out."

The last thing Suzaku noticed was his fist swinging up to bash his own face in.

o-o-o-o

"…and that is the last thing I remember." Suzaku concludes. "He isn't thinking clearly, or else he is seriously messed up from the last twelve years."

Kallen and Nunnally both have hollow stares. Kallen starts to stutter out something after a few seconds. "He… He doesn't love me? He's willing to kill me? But…"

Nunnally falls to her knees.

C2 is the only one to keep some semblance of composure. "I'm going to kill him."

"I have a better idea."

The four look for the new voice, finding it belongs to a clearly agitated Rakshata. "What? He Geassed me once. I have just as much to lose."

"You say there is another way?"

She nods. "The technology Gregor was developing is an anti Geass weapon like Jeremiah's, but instead of being limited to the effects of Geass, it affects the root. It can take away the power itself. There is possibly a way to engineer it so that it is permanent."

"Does L2 know this?" C2 says.

Rakshata nods. "I told him it, trying to not get my brains blown out, but he already knew beforehand." She winces as she tries to shrug. "I guess it worked to an extent, since I got off with nothing more than a dislocated shoulder."

Nunnally winces. "We should let her go."

Suzaku opens his mouth as if to say something, but stops. Kallen walks over and lets both of the captives free.

"So, what are we going to do when he comes back?" Asks C2.

"We… We have to stop him." Kallen says, choking on the words a bit. "He needs to be stopped."

Nunnally puts a comforting hand on Kallen's shoulder.

"We'll deal with him. Don't worry." Suzaku says with conviction. "If there is a better way, we need to take it."

"It isn't a better way."

The five turn to find L2 standing in the elevator door, the new weapon pointed at them. "I thought I told you to tie those two up."

"Lelouch, we won't let you get away with this." Suzaku says. "We can't let you kill everyone."

"I can. I will. I can't afford not to." L2 raises his hands to his face. Suzaku's eyes widen. "Watch out, he's going to use Geass-"

But it's too late.

"Obey me!" L2's voice rings out. Suzaku watches as the four behind him slowly lose their will to fight and relax. Suzaku turns back to L2 to find the darkest smirk he had ever seen before on his face.

"I'm still here. I can take you down." Suzaku growls.

"No, you can't. Sit on the ground and don't move until I say so."

Suzaku's body betrays him and sits down on the ground. "Lelouch! I will get you for this!"

"I highly doubt there will ever be time for that." L2 sets the briefcase down in front of him. Suzaku is frankly a little surprised at how small it was, but that was neither here nor there.

"Lelouch!"

Suzaku and L2 look up to find that one of his captives had gotten up. Kallen leaps forward, pouncing at her former leader.

L2's eyes go wide. One hand goes for his weapon and the other for his contact.

Kallen lands on him, and Suzaku is amazed to see that she wasn't strangling him. No, she was kissing him.

A shot rings out. A spray of blood comes from Kallen's shoulder.

"Kallen!" Suzaku shouts.

L2's eyes are wide as well, and his whole body is shaking. "What… What was that!" He says angrily, but more than a little confusion had crept into his voice.

"Lelouch." Kallen says, her voice too weak to carry far enough to be heard by Suzaku. "I Love you. I don't want you to do this. I can't stop you. I just hope you don't regret this."

L2's hand goes up to his hands. "No! I'm not going to lose you the same way I lost Shirley!" His hand goes up to pull his contact out, but a sharp voice stops him in his tracks.

"She was going to die anyway."

"YOU!" L2 finally loses his composure. "I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO THINK ABOUT IT IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU!"

"Exactly! You weren't thinking!" Suzaku yells right back. "Who do you think wants this? Nobody! Nobody wants to die to fulfill your selfish whims. Nobody would sit back and watch as you tore apart all these lives that have been touched by your accursed power!"

"It isn't their choice to make! I am the one who make those choices for the good of all!"

"No you aren't! No one person alone is qualified to make those decisions!"

"SUZAKU!"

"You are not fit to make these descisions! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING!"

L2 screams. He screams loudly and long, his frustration boiling out into his primal rage. Suzaku watches as his former leader rolls around. He stops after a good minute, and his throat is raw as he speaks again, a single tear trickling down his face.

"I lost."