A/N: As always I own nothing

A/N 2: Thanks for all the positive feedback. I hope that I'm able to keep everyone's interest and meet your expectations.

A/N 3: I got a PM about requests, and I think I'll take some time here to talk about it quickly. I'm open to suggestions for this story, but don't expect them to be put in place. I already have a pretty good idea on how this one will play out. As for story requests, I may get to them eventually, but my efforts are concentrated on this one, so it may be some time (if ever) before I get to them. As of now, I only have two rules: 1) Nothing Sexual. 2) Nothing abusive. I may add more later, but for now, that's all I got.

Alright, enough of the boring author notes, let's get to why you're here. On with the story!

Chapter 2: Re-baptism by Fire

There is no present or future – only the past happening over and over again – Eugene O' Neill

For Lelouch, the act of opening his eyes was a bit of surprise. By all accounts, he should be dead. Instead he was sitting in a truck wearing his Ashford uniform. He checked his pockets and found his cell-phone. Flipping it open, he saw two things. The first was that there was no cell reception, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him was the second thing he saw: the date. More specifically, the year, which read as 2017. Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw the date, and read it several times. I've been sent back in time, he thought. I've been sent back to the day when I got my Geass. As he gathered his surroundings, he saw something very familiar: C. C's capsule. Just as he was thinking about how he would deal his situation, the door open and he instinctively hid. Soon he heard a familiar voice yelling to the driver. "Can you enter the subway via the Azubu route?"

"Kallen!" yelled the driver "Let's use it here! Why not?"

"Because that would mean a bloodbath!"

And with that, the girl that Lelouch loved climbed up the ladder and out of sight. Lelouch was, for the first time in a long time, lost. I've been sent back in time, thought Lelouch. I've actually been sent back in time. What am I going to do? Little did he know, that he was not the only one thinking those thoughts.

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Kallen walked up to the Knightmare, confused as to how she got there. Last thing she remembered was that she had been bawling her eyes out on her bed. Now she was sitting next to a man who had died two years ago, and about to enter a battle that she hadn't been thought about for some time. She was on autopilot, going through the same motions as she had that day. All the while, her thoughts swirled around in a daze as she tried to figure out what was going on. How did I get here? Why am I here? Is this a dream? That last question was answered as she banged her head getting into the Glasgow. Okay, this isn't a dream. I'm in the past. The question is, what to do now that I'm back? Kallen then looked down at the outdated controls in front of her. I never knew how used to the Guren I was until now, she thought as she fired up the machine and prepared to fight.

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Lelouch watched as Kallen took out a helicopter with a Slash Harken before jumping out of the moving truck. Even back then, she was a good pilot, he thought as the door closed behind him. He then corrected himself. I need to stop thinking of these events as happening in the past. They're is happening now. And was happening now was that the driver was veering off into a construction site. Soon afterwards, the truck crashed into the unfinished structure, throwing Lelouch off his feet. As he got up, he saw that the door of the truck had opened. Slowly, he got up looking for his best friend and worst enemy. He heard the footsteps running towards him, and braced for the impact that he knew was coming.

It still hurt like hell.

As he was pinned down, he heard a familiar voice bark at him "That's enough mindless murder."

"I'm not one of the…." Lelouch growled, as his face was pushed against the floor.

"Planning on using poison gas? Don't play dumb with me!"

"Gerr'off me!" Lelouch shouted as he pushed the solider off him. Launching into his old diatribe that he had used before, he continued "I'm not here by choice. If that's poison gas, then it's Britannian made, isn't it?"

"My God" said the solider, backing away from the familiar face.

"Mindless murder? Then why don't you just destroy Britannia?"

"Lelouch?" asked the solider, removing his helmet. "It's me, Suzaku."

Lelouch paused himself and caught his breath. I have to be more careful, he thought, one wrong word, and I reveal that I was sent back in time. And there can't be any good consequences from that happening. Still, I have to let this play out as it happened so that I can my Geass. Now what did I say next? The words came to him, and he asked "You became a Britannian solider?"

"Yeah. What about you, you're -"

Suddenly the capsule opened and revealed a green-haired girl in a straitjacket. Suzaku then stated what Lelouch had known all along:

"That's not poison gas"

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Kallen was stuck in the middle of battle, and about to die.

This wasn't her fault. In fact, she was doing better than last time. She had taken out more troops than she had last time, even two Knightmares. But she was still outnumbered and outgunned. She knew that if she would die soon if –

"The west entrance. Use the tracks to move to the west entrance"

Kallen paused. It was a bit of shock to hear Lelouch's voice, and for it to be giving orders after so long. She was shook back into action by the voice. "Did you hear me? If you want to win, take the west entrance."

"Right!" Kallen said into the radio, eager to follow the familiar voice. She knew that she would have to keep that eagerness in check. Otherwise, Lelouch would grow suspicious and push her away. And she could not bear to have that happen a second time.

The scenario played out as it had before. As she took the route given to her by Lelouch, the two Knightmares followed, and were subsequently taken out by Lelouch's Sutherland. That must be the one that he stole from Villeta, Kallen thought, remembering how much Villeta had complained about having her Knightmare stolen during the Shinjuku battle. Soon, the rest of the cell had Sutherlands and proceeded to decimate Clovis' troops. But Kallen remained on guard. She knew that any minute, their fortunes were going to change. Soon her rival was going to make his debut. Kallen wouldn't have been worried, as this Suzaku was just starting out with the Lancelot, and she had taken him on in his prime. However, she was in a battered Glasgow, so Kallen knew it was going to take everything she had to make sure that she got out alive.

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Lelouch knew what the voices over the radio were talking about, even though they were never able to complete their sentences. "It took out four units. It looks like a new model- Ah!" Thus, the radio went dead. Well, it was only a matter of time, Lelouch thought. His first, last, and best friend had returned on the battlefield. Soon enough, the white Knightmare appeared, and came straight at him. He did his best to fend off the assault, but it was uneven fight. For starters, his Sutherland was already wearing thin, which was a distinct disadvantage against the brand new Lancelot. Compounding the handicap was Lelouch himself. He was extremely skilled in many areas, but Knightmare piloting was not one of them. Even when he had an advanced model, like the Gawain or the Shinkiro, he was still beaten in single combat. As such, it was a surprise that the Lancelot made short work of him. As it raised its weapon to deliver the kill shot, Lelouch cursed. Damnit, I can't have come all the way back simply to be killed before I've accomplished anything! Suddenly, a blur of red slammed into Lancelot. "Go!" shouted Kallen over the coms "I'm returning the favor!". "Thank you!" said Lelouch, as he found the exit he was looking for and went for it. Thank God for Kallen, thought Lelouch as he exited out the building and headed towards the command center. He didn't know what he would be able to do without his Q-1, and prayed that he wouldn't have to in this timeline.

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Kallen knew she could have won this fight. After all, she had honed her skills in numerous battles, and could hold her own against the Emperor's elite knights. And Suzaku she was fighting was not the one that she had lost to at Damocles; his Lancelot was in its first iteration and without many of the later add-ons that would make it a true difficulty, and Suzaku himself was new at piloting and without the anger and hurt that would fuel his later fights. However, the thing that prevented her from winning was the Knightmare she was currently in. Had she been piloting any of the Gurens, or even a Sutherland, Kallen would have won the fight. Instead, she was in a second-hand Glasgow with only one arm, so all she could really do was stave off the Lancelot's flurry of attacks for as long as she could. She managed to do better than last time; she lasted a minute or two longer than last time, and even managed to tag him twice. But in the end, Suzaku won again. Using the Lancelot's sword, he managed to cut off the Glasgow's other arm, effectively ending the fight. As the white Knightmare raised its rifle to fire, Kallen hit the eject button and avoided the kill shot, landing somewhere outside the building. She then grabbed her gun and got of the cockpit, adjusting her radio to listen for her comrades. "Kallen?" garbled a voice from the radio. "I'm here Ohgi" Kallen replied. "Where am I going?"

"Head south. We're in a warehouse with some civilians."

"Right". Kallen headed in that direction, thinking Hopefully Lelouch will be able to pull off the same miracle twice.

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Suzaku looked at the now-empty Glasgow. The pilot had been good, but they had now left. No point in wasting energy destroying what remained of the Glasgow, he reasoned as he moved to exit the building. The leader of these terrorists was still out there and he had to catch up to him. He soon found him, heading in the direction of the command center. That bastard's trying to attack HQ, Suzaku realized. With that he began to attack, using the new Knightmare's capability to give himself the advantage. The stolen Sutherland started firing its gun at random, destroying the buildings around him. This didn't phase Suzaku at all, and he continued his pursuit. What did give him pause was an ping on his screen that alerted him of some falling debris. He turned to examine and saw a young mother and her child falling with the debris; he caught the two and set them down gently. Suzaku was slightly crestfallen when the mother gasped in fear, and proceeded to run as quickly as possible away with her child. Someday, I'll be able to show them that we are not the enemy Suzaku thought as he turned to resume the chase. As it transpired, there was no longer a chase to resume. The Sutherland he had been pursuing sat abandoned in the middle of the street, and was missing a cockpit. He activated his radio and said "This is the Lancelot. Enemy combatant has abandoned Sutherland."

"Never mind that now" said the responding voice. "Make your way to the checkpoint that's on your screen. Seems a group of terrorists have holed up in a warehouse."

"Right!" responded Suzaku, as he redirected the Lancelot and headed to the warehouse in question. When he arrived, the entire building was surrounded by a bevy of tanks and Knightmares. Being the heaviest hitter in the group, Suzaku was instructed to open up the walls of the warehouse, which he did.

What he saw shocked him.

Sure, there were terrorists in the warehouse. But there were also a large number of civilians in as well, huddled together in terror. Even the terrorists did not seem like they were preparing to attack; instead it seemed as they were preparing to defend the civilians. Suzaku hesitated, even as he heard the order to prepare fire. Could he really attack this many non-combatants?

"Attention all forces, cease fire at once! I, Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia and Royal Viceroy of Area 11 herby command; all forces are at once! I will allow no further fighting!"

Suzaku breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was able to avoid unnecessary bloodshed today. But how long was that going to last?

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Kallen breathed a sigh of relief as she entered her house. At least Lelouch is consistent, she thought as she walked through Stadtfelt manor towards her room. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her. "Welcome back, Mistress".

Kallen turned around and saw a brown-haired woman of similar height and stature in an apron and tears welled up in her eyes. "Hi Mom" Kallen said as she proceeded to give her a hug.

Ms. Kozuki was in shock. "Miss-ss-tress, what-"

"Please drop the character, it's just the two of us."

Ms. Kozuki returned hug, grateful to embrace one of children after so many years. "Kallen, why?" she managed to choke out as tears streamed down her face.

"I've…I've had a rough couple of days. Everything I've been through has taught me to appreciate the people I care about. And that includes you Mom." Kallen, having realized the opportunity to take care of a problem that would cause a lot of grief in the near future, said "Mom, I need you to something for me"

"What honey?"

"I need you to stop using Refrain." Kallen saw her mother's eyes widen, and continued before she could respond. "I know that it helps you relive a happier past. But we can no longer live there. I promise you Mom, you and I are going to make some new memories, and I promise you that better days are ahead. So please Mom, please give up the Refrain. I promise you won't lose me again."

Ms. Kozuki reembraced her daughter and said "With your help, I know that I can kick it." The two separated, and she took on the tone of a more traditional mother. "Now go to bed, young lady. It's late and you have to get to school in the morning."

Kallen smiled at her mother's attempt to act as a parent, and headed to her room. As she entered and got into her pajamas, she smiled at the thought of seeing Lelouch and all of her friends. She then realized the full ramifications of tomorrow. Crap, I have to go back to school, she thought. What was my class schedule for the week, and what was I studying?

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Crap, I have school tomorrow. What was my schedule this time of the year? These were the thoughts as Lelouch entered the clubhouse at Ashford academy where he lived. Now that he in a safer environment, the fatigue of the past day began to sink in. He had been in a parade, killed, sent back in time, granted mystical powers, and had killed his half-brother for the second time.

Needless to say, it had been a very weird 24 hours.

As he entered his rooms, Lelouch saw his sister Nunnally in the main room facing the window. Lelouch couldn't help but feel happiness when he saw his little sister. They hadn't parted on the best of terms. Lelouch had thwarted his sisters plans for the Damocles and turned her into an enemy. He had used Geass on her, and paraded her through the streets. He had never gotten a real chance to apologize to her for all that he had done. But now, Lelouch realized that he had a chance to make things right with his sister. Now, he could create the perfect world for her without hurting her. And that starts now, Lelouch thought. "Hi Nunnally, I'm home" he said with a honest cheerfulness.

Nunnally turned the wheelchair to face her brother and gave him a smile.

And blinked.

a/n: Well that chapter took longer than I expected. Sorry if it seems like I was rushing through the whole battle of Shinjuku. There's two reasons for this. The first is that I'm not as comfortable with actions scenes yet, and I've yet to figure out how to present a compelling fight between giant fighting robots via prose. The second reason is that I'm keeping a lot of the early R1 material the same, so I'm trying to move through it quickly and move to the big changes that are to come.

a/n 2: Next chapter, We'll get into what's going on with Nunnallly, see some of the fall out from the Shinjuku battle, and see the debut of Zero!

With all of that being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope to see you for the next one! Feel free to leave all comments and questions in the review box below.