The Black Emperor

by Primordial Vortex

Being forced to carry his innocent sister through a sea of bodies would have broken much older men. For Lelouch, it merely strengthened his resolve. But he was only human, and let his mission slip to one other. Confronted with the possibility of failure and staunch allies in his corner, he swallows his pride and actually prepares himself for his rebellion. AU, harem

2. Turn 02 – Witch! Witch Damn it!

Hey everyone! Glad to see so many people liking/being-optimistic about the fic. Few things to go over.

I still don't have a good lock for Shirley's Geass, should she get one. It's just so difficult to think of one for her. She's a normal fucking teenager whose biggest overarching desire is to be with Lelouch. The fuck do I do with that? That's not good Geass material. As for Rivalz… some good ideas dealing with mechanical stuff, but I think the implementation might end up being pretty weird if I go with some of them. Geass are always mental in some way in CG canon. I still have another few chapters to go before they're slated to get their Geass so still plenty of time for ideas to filter through, thankfully.

Now, some of you asked about whether I would be sticking to strictly canon R1 and R2 or if I would be dipping into the expanded material. My answer to that is that I will likely be using material from SOME of the expanded verse, but not all. I'm currently watching Akito and afterwards I'm planning on reading Oz. It might come down to me using concepts but not characters. I'm going to be doing a bit of light mixing – particularly about C.C. at this point. I like the idea of her around for the Hundred Years' War.

This is somewhat important, and I feel it's kind of silly that I have to say this. This is a harem fic, alright? I've said that going in and it won't change. I already know who is going to be in it and who the 'maybe' candidates are, and it is NOT a gigantic harem. I've been pretty outspoken about my dislike for massive over-bloated harems. So it just kinda boggles the mind to receive a list of suggestions that seems like it encompasses literally the entire named female cast – important or otherwise – give or take a couple. I think the only name on there I can think of off the top of my head that I don't see is Nina. This is NOT a "Lelouch tries to out-harem his father" fic. So if you're going to be giving suggestions for members of the harem, you can probably save yourself some time and not bother. Unless I get an extremely good argument for including/excluding someone, my list isn't likely to change. And especially don't send me a list, lol.

Now, while I am going to be skipping a wee bit of strictly-canon content – as you could probably tell from some missing Suzaku scenes last chapter – I can't skip out on all of it. It's as annoying to go through on my end as I'm sure it is to read, but if I didn't it would mean characters like Nunnally would get no screen time whatsoever. While some of you may be fine with it, I can't rightly just do that when she's so important to the main character.

-]|[-

Turn 02 – Witch! Witch Damn it!

-]|[-

Milly blinked slowly from underneath Lelouch, "Something you want to tell me, Lulu?"

Lelouch groaned and sat up, "This my dear, is C.C. And she was supposed to give me a few minutes alone with you."

C.C.'s coy look hadn't changed, though it became slightly more playful and amused. "What fun would that be?"

Milly casually got up from under Lelouch and strode over to C.C, "Hmm." She mused, and grabbed C.C.'s chin and tilted her head to the side. C.C. momentarily had looked like a deer in headlights under the touch. Milly dropped her chin and gave her chest a squeeze, "I approve!" She turned a thumbs-up to Lelouch, who slapped his palm to his face.

"I knew that was going to happen. Why did I let you get up?" He mumbled.

C.C. still looked a little shell-shocked at just how bold the girl was, but was recovering.

Milly giggled, before a serious look came over her, "Alright Lelouch." Said boy winced. She rarely used his first name in private unless he asked her to, "I think I've been patient enough." Her tone turned to a hiss, "What. The hell. Happened?"

Lelouch told her to sit, and she straddled his chair in a very unladylike manner. C.C. was to her left and Lelouch had the bed claimed. "Alright, I guess I'll start from the beginning. Rivalz and I had gone gambling as you know. Another tepid noble opponent. I do so love them."

"How much?" Milly's eyes lit up.

"Twelve Million." Lelouch smirked. C.C. choked lightly. How the hell did he manage to get it that high? Even Milly was slightly wide-eyed. He grinned, "Every person there thought it was an unwinnable game for our side. So, I got the noble to raise the stakes. He decided he wanted even more when I used what he saw as a poor opening move, and so we raised the stakes again." He sighed, "That was where things went wrong." He grinned playfully at C.C., "Or right, depending on the point of view. We were riding home when a huge transport truck almost ran us over. They were speeding by about thirty miles per hour, and had to divert off a ramp that they shouldn't have. The truck crashed and – seeing our lovely country-men doing absolutely nothing of value – I ran down to see if I could help them at all. The only entrance I could see that was still feasible to go through was from the top, so I climbed the ladder. As I got to the top, the truck backed out and I fell in. Only it wasn't a legal truck. The drivers were part of a resistance cell who had stolen a large container of something they had been told was poison gas."

Milly was frowning lightly, and it deepened at that, "What exactly were they planning on doing with something like that? What possible use could they have had other than mass-murder?"

C.C. cut in, "Ransom, perhaps. A weapon for the JLF in return for more funding is also likely. Or they could have been sadistic bastards and used it." She shrugged, "Any are equally possible without knowing them personally."

"Correct." Lelouch nodded at C.C., "I believe I caught some chatter alluding to some of their members not following the plan and alerting Britannia. It all could have gone without a hitch too, had it not been for that mistake." He leaned back on his elbows, "Except of course, for the fact that there was never any poison gas at all. Which begs the question…"

Milly cut him off with a worried look, "What the hell could have been in that container that something completely illegal like poison gas would have been a better cover story?"

"That's right." C.C. winced, "And the answer was me."

Milly's head snapped towards her in disbelief, "…Huh? I… think I've lost the plot here."

Lelouch continued with a severe look on his face, "Clovis had found her some years back and had captured her. They had been conducting inhuman experiments on her."

Milly looked sick, "What…? But…but why?" She looked stricken, "Clovis did that? CLOVIS?"

"Yeah, Clovis. And he showed no remorse either." Lelouch sighed and juggled how to broach the subject. In the end, he decided there wasn't really anyway to edge into it, "At some point, we were cornered by Clovis's Royal Guard. I could have taken them out, but C.C. didn't know that. She jumped in front of me and took a bullet square in the forehead."

Milly stared at him, completely unimpressed. She got up and put her hand on his forehead, "Maybe there was some poison gas. You're delusional."

He swatted her hand lightly, "Cut it out. I'm serious here."

"So…what?" Milly asked dubiously, "She can regenerate?"

"Perhaps you should hook up one of those drives, boya. I think there may be a few pictures there to show her. You'll be looking for Code R." C.C. said, still swinging her legs. She was completely past Milly's groping.

Lelouch did so, and spent a few minutes trudging through the unorganized mess until he found Code R. His eyes widened before he enlarged one photo, "Look here, Milly."

Milly walked over and leaned down. Her eyes widened, "What? Is that…" It was a grainy picture of C.C., but it could only have been taken during the First World War. There was even a model of that very first tank with huge threads about to roll over a hill behind her.

"Me." C.C. said simply, "I do not regenerate." She stopped and smirked, "Well, I do but that was not why they were after me. I am immortal. As you can see from those images…I've been around for a very…very long time." Both of the teens in the room gasped as they saw another image – a well-done portrait of her in Portuguese Jesuit Armor. She was on an armored horse with her hair done up. Her shining armor had that strange red symbol on the breastplate. She perked up slightly, "Oh, now that one is old. It's been a long time since I thought of those days."

"But you look so young!" Milly gasped. Lelouch wasn't looking much better.

C.C. shrugged, "I am also eternal. I am not really bound to the living realm. Even if you vaporized every single atom in me, I would reform." She sighed, "It is really a curse. I get to watch everyone I come to care for wither away. But to those looking in, it seems like a gift. I imagine Clovis thought he could harness it for himself. Make him and his men immortal and take the throne for himself." She snorted, "As if I would ever allow him to gain it." She mumbled to herself.

Milly looked between her and Lelouch, "Okay…let's just…move on. I don't think I'm going to believe it without seeing it. Pictures can be doctored."

"True enough." Lelouch said lazily, "I'm not exactly about to shoot her to prove a point."

"I wasn't asking you to!" She snapped, more than a little frazzled. She shook her head, "So what happened after she was shot."

Lelouch grinned lightly, "I kneeled down next to her to see if she was really dead. I was getting ready to turn those bastards into kabobs when she up and grabbed my neck and kissed me."

Milly deadpanned, before turning to her. She was still smirking unapologetically, "And was there a reason for this kiss?" She glared at C.C. lightly. She and Lelouch had played with some of the other girls before in private, but it had always been someone they both agreed on. She wasn't quite sure she liked a random girl she had never met laying one on her man, and vowed to get some payback.

"Well…" Lelouch drawled, "Either her lips are full of LSD and I've been hallucinating the entire day, or she granted me some sort of mystical power."

"It is called Geass." C.C. said helpfully, "As you well know, boya."

A tic mark appeared on Milly's head, "Lelouch." She barely opened her mouth, "I have spent this entire. Damn. Day. Being worried sick over you. I want you to stop fucking around."

Lelouch looked over to C.C., "Will I be able to show her without using it?"

C.C. shrugged, "So long as you don't issue a command, she should be able to see it just fine."

"Show me what?!" Milly cried, and then froze when her boyfriend's left eye changed. That same sigil she had seen on C.C.'s breastplate and on her forehead appeared, and flapped its wings. There was a shower of red sparks behind it as well. She stopped, shook her head and then reached over with a finger.

"Oi!" He started leaning back as her finger came closer.

"Shut up and don't move." She ordered, before holding his eyelid open. She touched his eye with a feather-light touch and saw that there wasn't some sort of contact or electronic film on it. She shook her head again, "I… this is… What?!"

He rubbed his eye in irritation. "Satisfied?" She nodded dumbly and rubbed her finger on his comforter, "Anyway, this power she gave me allows me to issue orders to other people, and no matter what they are, they'll follow them. I ordered the Royal Guards to kill themselves, and they did so with smiles on their faces." Milly looked like she was about to start having smoke come out of her ears, "That was why I was able to move our schedule up." He smirked, "I took all the information that the Captain had and then killed him. A knight showed up right after and I took her Sutherland. I used the information on it to arm the rebels and then used the Britannian IFFs against them to lead the battle."

Milly was swaying lightly, and Lelouch pulled her into his lap. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and feathered some kisses on her neck and cheek as she calmed down. "I…" She shook herself, "This is all so unbelievable."

"Tell me about it." Lelouch snorted, "I'm the one doing it and I'm not entirely convinced I'm not going to wake up at some point."

"You won't." C.C. said while she examined her nails.

"That's exactly what dream C.C. would say." Lelouch threw back at her, though he was smiling as he did so.

"Ohoho, already thinking of having dreams about me, are we?"

Milly latched on to some normalcy immediately, "Hmm, I think I might have some dreams of my own. I wonder if the carpet matches the drapes." She smirked coquettishly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" C.C. smirked back at her. After watching the blonde do nothing but be dumbfounded for the past few minutes, she had wondered if she would be having any fun at all.

"Moving on." Lelouch discretely sniffed back the small drop of blood that had leaked from his nose.

"This Geass…" Milly said hesitantly, "Will anyone else have it? Especially enemies." Lelouch's eyes widened. He couldn't believe such a crucial question had escaped him.

"Yes." C.C. said simply, "I have one other active contract, though I…" She looked away, "It is one I regret… Hopefully he'll never show up. I'm not sure what I'd do."

Lelouch saw the genuine look of regret in her eyes, so he pushed her to answer more, "Enemies?"

She sighed heavily. This would be it. If she answered this question, she would be completely committed to fighting against them. She licked her lips, and made her decision. She owed them nothing but her hatred now, "Yes. Many of your enemies from now on will have them… including your father."

Lelouch froze and Milly felt him stiffen. Rage started to bubble inside of him, "Did you give it to him? What does it do?"

"I did not. I am not the only immortal in the world. I personally know of one other. He was the one who gave your father his Geass; The Seal of Absolute Consciousness. His Geass allows him to freely manipulate the memories of other people, to the point where he can replace one person with another in an individual's mind and they would be none the wiser."

Milly and Lelouch both resembled goldfish. Suddenly, he snapped himself out of it, "Has he used it on me?" He hissed furiously.

C.C. stood and walked over to him, holding his head in her hands, "No." She said after a moment, "I do not feel it in your mind, and if he had I could have broken it." She walked back over and hopped back on the desk. "Of course, he is the least of your worries. He will be the 'final boss' as it were, in this little rebellion of yours. V.V. is not nearly as sparing with granting Geass as I am. He'll grant people Geass and turn them into experiments for his own twisted amusement. He is much younger and more impetuous than I am. I don't know exact numbers, but I know that he'll have at least one assassin with a Geass. The current Knight of One also has a Geass, though I don't truly know what it is."

Lelouch swallowed heavily. This…this wasn't good. Then Milly surprised him, "Will you make a contract with me?" She had pure determination on her face.

Even C.C. looked surprised, "Give you a Geass?" She blinked, before settling down, "Geass is not something I have ever spread widely myself."

"I swore to help Lelouch in this revolution." Milly declared, "I'm not much of a pilot even if I'm an okay fighter. I want to help him. I will take this contract if you offer it."

"Geass isn't all fun and games." She chided, "You know nothing of it. This is a power that will isolate you. You will live a different life if you gain it."

Lelouch's voice cracked like a whip, "Explain that." C.C. jumped slightly, "You've said that before. Why would it isolate us?"

C.C. pursed her lips, tempted to not tell him. It would just make it harder for him to fulfil her wish. But she could see that if she didn't answer, she would lose what little trust she had earned and that she might not be able to gain it back. She sighed despondently, half-wishing she had just accepted the request and given the girl her Geass, "Geass will strengthen through use. I'm not certain that yours will get any stronger because it is already absolute, but it may increase in range, amongst other things. However, overuse of Geass will eventually lead to Runaway Geass. It will become permanently active in your left eye. After that, it may develop even further and evolve to your other eye as well. With your line-of-sight type Geass, it isn't as much of a problem because you can block it with something as simple as a pair of sunglasses." She dipped her head, "But there are other types of Geass. Can you imagine being able to listen to everyone's thoughts around you, all the time, forever?"

Both teens paled drastically. "I see… this whole thing…" Lelouch said, "You consider your gift a curse. Our gifts can become curses…"

She nodded, "It can drive a person to madness." They didn't know, but she spoke from experience. That poor boy, "Only one person that I know of has ever overcome runaway Geass and I'm sure you can guess who it was."

Lelouch clenched his fists, "Charles zi Britannia."

"That's right." C.C. confirmed lightly.

Lelouch clenched his fist harder, before relaxing. He thought for a moment, before he smirked, "So, that bastard overcame it then? That means it's possible. If that son of a bitch can do it then so will I." He vowed. C.C. smiled lightly. He would come to understand what a monumental task that would be.

Milly took a deep breath and stood, "I won't back out either. We don't even know what my Geass would be. If it isn't something useful then I won't have to use it too often. That will keep it from running away, right? If our enemies will have possibly dozens of assassins with Geass then we should have a few on our side too."

C.C. considered her for a few moments, still kicking her legs back and forth. Lelouch would be her main contractor, and he would definitely be using his gift. It wouldn't truly matter if the girl never used it. And since they were already extremely close, there wouldn't be a huge risk of them killing each other. "Very well." She smiled finally, "If you are truly committed, then I can hardly refuse you."

Milly smiled, "Thank you, C.C. You won't regret it." Milly curtsied lightly and smiled at the verdette, "So, how do we do it?"

Here, C.C. gained that catlike smirk of glee. She sprang forward and claimed Milly's lips. It obviously wasn't necessary, but she had to get her back for her grope. She reached underneath Milly's skirt and grabbed her bum too. Behind them, Lelouch groaned and hunched over, blood pouring from his nose. Finally, she leaned back, "Pwuah!" She exclaimed, "Thank you for the meal."

"You're a succubus and I love it." Lelouch moaned, sticking some tissues up his nostrils.

"I prefer Witch." C.C. replied airily.

Milly twitched a few times, before she grinned, "I think I'm going to like her." She threw a lidded gaze towards C.C., "Was that actually necessary?"

"Nope." C.C. replied cheerfully. "Don't keep us in suspense Miss Ashford. Let's see your Geass." Milly activated it and looked at C.C., "It's not going to work on me." She rolled her eyes, "I am immune to Geass. I wouldn't be handing out weapons that could be used on me." She chided.

Milly blushed and turned around, before looking at Lelouch. She activated her Geass. Lelouch watched as her deep blue eyes deepened further and that red crane symbol appeared, but he didn't feel any different, "Huh…" She said, "I can see colors inside you." Each of them looked like a little flame, with the purple and the pink ones being the strongest currently.

"Colors?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. That was it? It couldn't be that useless right?

C.C. stood again and put a hand on Milly's back. With it activated, she piggy-backed on Milly and was able to see for herself, "Ohohoho!" The hairs on Lelouch's arms started to rise. That was a Queen Bitch laugh if he ever heard one. What the hell was Milly's power? "Why don't you try manipulating one of them? How about that purple one."

Milly bit her lip lightly, and then Lelouch hunched over and grabbed his crotch. He groaned and almost rolled off his bed, "The hell did you do to me, woman?" Milly's eyes went wide and a grin split her face as she fanned the flames higher. Lelouch rolled onto his side, "Cut it out Milly or you're not going to be able to walk for a month!" He yelled, and both ladies could quite clearly see an erection almost ripping through his pants.

"Promises, promises." Milly said silkily, but she did so. "So, purple must be Lust then?" She smiled, "Would that make pink Love?" The pink flame inside him pulsed without her doing it. Lelouch had broken out into a deep sweat as she leaned over and claimed his lips, "Love you too." She said softly. Behind them, C.C. had smiled lightly. It was more than a little refreshing to see actual love. "Would you mind, lulu? I need to see what each color is for sure. I don't want to guess and be wrong in a dangerous situation."

"Are you sure you can fix it?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah, in the back of my mind I feel like I can do something that would just reset any of my involvement. Either way, I can lower them too, not just fan them." Milly replied.

"How about that dark blue?" C.C. asked curiously.

Milly shrugged, and pulsed it very high. Lelouch's expression immediately changed. He had the most depressed look Milly had ever heard. Milly quickly just reset her power, and then further dimmed it. No way in hell was she having her Lulu be that depressed. "Perhaps." He chuckled lightly, "You might want to go a little lighter." Milly had the grace to look bashful.

About twenty minutes later they were finished and Lelouch was looking pretty exhausted from having to go through the extremes he did. "Well, I think that's a good enough handle for now, right?"

"Yeah…" Milly said, wincing slightly, "I have a tiny headache from all of that now."

"With how much you used it I expected a migraine." C.C. said from her spot at the desk, "That you have only a small headache proves there's an effect on you as well. Perhaps it'll be more pronounced if you try using it on multiple people. Or perhaps if you were trying to do multiple emotions at once."

"Fair to assume." Lelouch said as he pulled Milly into his lap, before his stomach started to growl. He blushed lightly, "Heh, I didn't even think of it. I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."

"Pizza!" C.C. exclaimed, looking very excited.

Eyebrows raised, "At this time of night?" He asked. C.C.'s excited expression fell to the point Milly had to check herself. For a second she thought she had used her Geass on the girl somehow. He smirked, "We'll get pizza tomorrow C.C."

"Promise?" She gave him the doe eyes.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I promise." They were in the kitchen eating when he had a thought, "Milly, make sure nothing is planned for tonight from seven PM to two AM. After I spanked Clovis they launched an experimental Seventh Gen Knightmare." Milly gasped, "It gets worse. It utterly outclassed even our best prototype. It took out over fifty Sutherlands by itself without taking a hit. It took my all of my effort and excellent planning, but I managed to take out an arm and a leg, and even then it still managed to beat the last two Sutherlands."

Milly rubbed her forehead, "That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. That's far beyond any of our prototypes."

Lelouch grinned evilly, "I didn't come home empty handed. I had the person I stole my Sutherland from get another Knightmare, and she's supposed to be hiding the pieces of it that I blew off with my sniper rifle. If she was successful then I'll be getting an untraceable call from her with the location. Once we get it there we'll be able to start reverse engineering it."

Milly's grin was just as shit-eating as his.

-]|[-

"Oh yay, sleep deprivation. My favorite." Lelouch was blindly groping for his nightstand to turn off the accursed alarm that was blaring in his ear.

He heard a groan from his left. C.C. glared balefully at him, "If you don't shut that thing off I'll make you pay." None of them could be bothered to figure out alternate arrangements last night after the yawning had started so they had all just bunked in his bed. It was rather large anyway.

And finally Milly just casually leaned her slender leg over the both of them and kicked out. Her foot connected with the alarm and ripped it right out of the wall and smashed it across the room. "Someone turn off the sun." She was now sprawled on top of him, leg over both of the other occupants.

"Perhaps next time we should save the interrogation for after we sleep." Lelouch suggested tiredly as he rubbed his face.

"Shut. Up." C.C. rolled over and…promptly fell off his bed with a cute, "Eep!" Her voice was muffled as she spoke again, with her face smashed on the floor, "I will have my vengeance."

Milly smirked, "Hey, we offered a guest room."

"Don't you have school to get to?" C.C. snapped back and she crawled back into the bed.

"Fuck school." Lelouch groaned and he rolled into Milly's breasts and began snuggling. "One day won't kill us."

"We have to balance the budget." Milly winced as Lelouch turned his own glare at her.

"I thought that was done." He said accusingly. She winced again before turning on the crocodile tears. He sighed, "I don't care right now. We don't have to go to class to balance the budget. Wake me up at eleven." He went back to snuggling her breasts.

"Works for me." Milly shrugged and hugged him closer.

-]|[-

"Where were you two?" Rivalz asked accusingly as Milly and Lelouch walked into the Student Council Room, "Lelouch ditched me yesterday and I didn't see him again, and now both of you missed the first two periods!"

"It was already two AM when I finally managed to get back." Lelouch deadpanned. "I wasn't exactly having fun without you." Well, much fun. And not the type Rivalz would enjoy either.

"I was worried about our dear little Lulu." Milly said, a hand on her cheek, "So I stayed up late waiting for him to come home."

"Soo…" Shirley stared at Lelouch, "Where were you Lulu? I know you went gambling again!" She glared at him, "You're going to get in trouble!"

With their attention firmly on Lelouch, she was able to activate her Geass without drawing their attention to watch their reactions. She wasn't going to mess with them right now – they had both agreed that their friends were off limits unless there was no other choice – but observing them was merely passive. As expected, the green beast of jealousy was burning a little more brightly than the other emotions in Shirley. Their friendship had become slightly strained once they all found out that she and Lelouch had been together for more than half a decade. She felt a little bad for the orange-haired girl. She knew that Shirley was infatuated with Lelouch but she wasn't the fooling-around or sharing type of girl. Milly would have been okay with it, as she loved her friend dearly, but Shirley was having none of it. They had remained friends though some of the closeness was gone.

Rivalz had been sad, but had respected their friendship more than his own infatuation. He and Lelouch had remained fast friends after a bit of a fist fight. She half-wished Shirley had been that easy. Nina just made her sigh. All she could feel from the girl was curiosity, nervousness, and that unhealthy amount of fear she had been afraid to see. Even with no Japanese in the room the poor girl still had it in the back of her mind.

Rivalz surged with excitement, "Yeah, we went gambling, and holy hell did we get an amazing haul! I still have no idea how you managed to goad that guy into raising the stakes so high!"

Lelouch chuckled, "He was confident that there was no way I could win. As far as he knew he was just cheating a dumb schoolboy out of his money. I do so love playing nobles. Their pride means they'll always pay."

"How much did you make?" Nina asked quietly from her separated table.

Lelouch's grin widened, "Twelve Million."

Shirley had been taking a sip of her drink and she immediately spat it out of the room, "Bwuh?"

"Speaking of which!" He tossed a wad of cash to Rivalz, "There's your cut buddy. Two hundred grand." Rivalz was staring at the wad as if it were the Holy Grail. He started rubbing it on his cheek lovingly.

"Twelve Million?!" Nina even raised her voice in her shock. She had even turned her chair around and stopped writing on her papers.

"Yep!" Milly exclaimed happily, "But enough about that! We have… a budget to balance!" Groans all around, "If we don't come up with a fix for the club activities budget, there won't be money left for anything at all."

"That'll be bad." Nina mumbled to herself, remembering the last time that happened.

"The equestrian club will be pissed. We don't want 'em comin' in here on horseback." Rivalz had a grin on his face as he shrugged lightly.

"I'd tell you to be a more serious council member…" Milly started, "But they did that last time." She finished in a classic deadpan.

"You should have reminded us about this yesterday!" Shirley chided the president.

"I would have suggested tomorrow, so it would be too late." Rivalz grinned again.

"No way." Lelouch declared, "I didn't get out of bed just to put it off. If that was the case I wouldn't have bothered."

"GUTS!" Milly yelled and slammed her hands down. Her friends and Lelouch cringed.

"You're trying that guts spell again?" Rivalz asked while cleaning his ear.

"Of course." She smiled brightly, "I want you putting your all into this after all."

"I don't think your magic is going to work prez."

"Actually, it got me going!" Shirley said with a smile, playing along with Milly. Just because things were strained between them didn't mean that their friendship had gone cold.

Milly turned her grin at her, "Supple and willing, that's what I like."

Shirley made a fist in front of her cheerfully, "Well, I do train hard at…"

"That's not what I meant." Milly's grin widened, "You're a ten." She turned a lidded gaze on Shirley and visibly looked downward. Shirley's heckles raised, "From what I've seen in the girls' bathroom anyway, you've been filling out in all the right places."

Shirley crossed her arms in front of her chest with furiously red cheeks, "P-pervert!"

-]|[-

It was times like these that Lelouch wished he could just break character and let the people around him know the facts of life. They had finally finished balancing the budget in time for their next classes and Shirley had immediately started whining about Milly's antics once they left the Council Room. They had just entered their next classroom when they saw a group of students. The news had come on and they were crowded around one computer.

"They used poison gas?!" Lelouch was faintly amused to realize he didn't actually know most of their names.

"That's freaky! Shinjuku is only 30 minutes away!"

"I saw it!" A purple-haired girl he was fairly certain he and Milly had played around with before commented, "I saw smoke coming from Shinjuku! That must have been the poison gas!"

Lelouch sighed, and realized he didn't want to contain himself. Perhaps he could even plant the seed of doubt in some of them, "No it wasn't." He said out loud, "If it had been poison gas they would have evacuated the Settlement. There would be too much risk of the gas blowing in our direction. It doesn't really look like smoke either. That looks more like the dust cloud I saw once when I was younger after watching a building be demolished."

One of them gasped, "Look at those dead Elevens!"

Lelouch faked a look of shock, "Those are bullet wounds!" he exclaimed, "Why is the military shooting civilians?" The noise level in room started to thrum as his words got them thinking. He hid a satisfied grin. 'So I see they're not mentioning Clovis. They must be trying to keep it hushed up until they find some poor bastard to scapegoat.'

His thoughts were interrupted by the squealing of some of the class's ladies, "KALLEN!" He winced lightly at the shrill sound, but then the word penetrated his head, "It's been so long!"

'Kallen?' That name was certainly familiar. He turned in his chair to look. There she was, being crowded by a bunch of girls. Her hair didn't look as vibrant and it was patted down, looking almost lifeless as it hung limply around her head, down to her neck. She had a tired look to her, but he still grinned lightly. The eyes were truly a window into the soul, and he could see the fire she was trying to hide. 'Kallen Stadtfeld…always missing class because of a sickness, yet remains at the top of the class in terms of marks.' He kept a light vigil on her for the rest of the day, keeping a quiet, private conversation with Milly through text. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with her yet. He knew she was the best damn pilot he had ever come across, except perhaps the pilot of that white nightmare. He couldn't really compare the two when there was such an insane gap between them in terms of technology. He spent the rest of the day contemplating what to do with her when an opportunity arose.

"Ahh! A bee!" His attention was drawn as one of the girls squeaked in fear and the whole lot of them started running away,

"Run Kallen!" Kallen stood, pretending to stare warily at the insect.

She ran behind a set of bushes and put her hands on her knees. Once away from prying eyes, her gaze sharpened. "What's a bee doing here? Why is it after me? Is there a hive nearby?" She then realized that it was actually a wasp and not a bee. She swiped her hand and damn near cut it in half. She growled and stood, "This just pisses me off. I wish I didn't have to act like a damn invalid." She stuck her sandwich in her mouth. She then noticed someone beside her, 'Shit! Did he see me?' She swallowed her food and put on her dopey tone, "C-can I help you?"

"Yes." Lelouch smiled, "Please answer my questions." His Geass activated and her eyes became ringed in red, "Just to be sure I'm not wasting my time like an idiot, you are the pilot of the red Glasgow yes?"

"That's right."

"Why is the Stadtfeld heiress in a resistance group?" He asked next.

"I may be the Stadtfeld heiress, but my true mother was Japanese. That makes me only half Britannian, and I hate what those bastards have done to my people." Kallen answered dutifully.

"I see." Lelouch said, and then he hardened his tone. He knew her motive. Now he needed her character, "What were you and your group planning on doing with that poison gas?"

"There were mixed opinions." She said, "Some of us wanted to use it, but none of the leaders agreed with that. It would have meant a massacre. Others wanted it destroyed. My only concern was to get it out of Britannian hands. I know they wouldn't have hesitated."

Lelouch smiled, glad to see she wasn't a blood knight. He would be perfectly okay with working with her in the future, "How do you feel about all that happened?"

"Sad." Kallen looked down, even though she didn't break eye-contact, "So much death. So much senseless waste…"

"Indeed." Lelouch cancelled his Geass.

Kallen blinked and then looked at him again, "Did you need something?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you weren't stung." Lelouch said, "With how sick rumors say you are, that could have been bad if you were allergic." She smiled lightly as he turned. Suddenly he stopped and activated his Geass again, "Oh, just to be sure… don't say anything about Shinjuku for now."

"What do you mean, about Shinjuku? Why would you say that?" Kallen's look immediately transformed into full alertness.

Lelouch's mouth dropped slightly. "Go back to class!" He commanded.

Kallen glared at him, "Not until you tell me what you mean by that!"

Lelouch deactivated it, 'What the hell? Don't tell me this has a fucking once-per-customer limit! Damn it! I should have started testing this thing earlier!'

Thankfully, the tension was dispelled by Shirley, "Lulu! Kallen! We've got to head to chem lab next! Get a move on!"

Lelouch clapped a hand to his head in fake panic, "Crap! I have to set up the lab equipment today!" He took off running, surprising Kallen with how fast he was, 'This is bad. She'll be heavily suspicious now.' He flew through the doors into the lab and started setting up, 'I'll need time to think about this. I have two real options with my Geass no longer effective on her…each with their own consequences and benefits. If I trick her somehow and ease her suspicion, I'll retain my anonymity. However, I'll have to remain on guard with her at all times and I'll have to worry about whether or not I can trust her.' He set a crucible at each desk. Today's lab would involve a whole lot of heat, 'Alternatively, I can bring her in fully. That would give me a left arm and we could cover for each other. We could even gift her with a Geass, bringing our side up to three. With her skills with a Knightmare, that might even be the better option. The downsides… things could turn explosive. I have no idea how she'll react to the knowledge. Things could get ugly.' He sighed, glad there was no one in the room yet. "I need more time. I'll need to consult Milly and C.C. too…"

-]|[-

"Well, what shall we do? He may be late again this evening." Sayoko was a pretty Japanese woman with warm brown hair. She was wearing a maid outfit.

The young girl who replied had light brown, very curly hair. Her eyes were closed and she sat in a wheelchair. The two of them were sitting at a table making origami shapes. "We'll wait! He said he'd eat dinner with us tonight!" She was Lelouch's sister, Nunnally.

"Here. This one is done!"

Nunnally took the origami figure in her hand, "A bird?"

"That's right." Sayoko smiled, "It's a crane."

"Amazing!" Nunnally said happily. "The Japanese are so skillful!" Sayoko closed her eyes and smiled at her charge, not that she could see it unfortunately. Nunnally suddenly turned her head around and smiled, "Lelouch! Welcome home!" She said a little more loudly than her normal tone.

Lelouch opened the door with a smile of his own, "Sorry I'm late." Sayoko shook her head. She was still pretty amazed at how good Nunnally's hearing was. He walked over and laid a kiss on Nunnally's forehead, "Sorry for missing you last night, Nunna." He turned to Sayoko, "I would like a word with you later on, Sayoko."

Sayoko bowed, "Of course, Lelouch-sama."

He waved her off, "None of that now. How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Lelouch?"

"That would be improper, Lelouch-sama." Lelouch rolled his eyes, but gave it up for now.

A few minutes later, they were all having a bit of soup while Lelouch cut a nice piece of beef, "Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about the art of the origami. Fold a piece of paper the correct way and you can make birds, boats, almost anything!" She even dribbled some soup over her lips in her excitement.

Lelouch smiled fondly as he wiped her chin with a napkin. "Easy there. You don't have to tell me everything all at once, you know? It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Thanks, big brother." Nunnally told him with a loving smile. She raised her hands and there was a folded origami crane in it, "Miss Sayoko told me that if you fold a thousand of these, your wish will come true!"

Lelouch took one of her hands, "And what does this little Princess wish for?"

Nunnally paused for a few moments, before telling him, "I wish the world were a gentle place."

He sighed, "I'm sure by the time you can see again, it will be." He was rather thankful that she couldn't see his face at the moment, 'I'll make that special world for you, Nunna. I'm just glad you won't have to see me get my hands dirty to do it.' He started speaking again, "There's so much senseless waste now. We could do so much if we could just learn to understand each other and stop fighting."

"Yeah…" She looked down.

She was about to say something again when his phone rang. His eyes widened and snapped to the clock, "Sorry Nunna. I have something to do tonight. Sorry I won't be able to tuck you in." He planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.

"Where are you going big brother?" Nunnally asked in concern. Just what could he be doing so late?

"Milly needs me for something." He said with a straight face.

Nunnally looked at him, her concerned expression not changing. She knew that he had told her a lie just then, "I'm not going to be an auntie soon am I?"

Lelouch choked and then snorted, "Nothing of the sort." He laughed, "Have a good night Princess." He pecked her again and then left her and Sayoko in the room. He picked up the phone after attaching the scrambler and said, "Are you secure?"

"Yes, my lord." Villetta's voice came through.

"Good. Hold for a few minutes." He ran to his room and shut the door behind him. C.C. was the only one there this time, wearing one of his shirts and only that. There were at least a dozen pizza boxes strewn about the place, making his eyes go wide, "Damn woman, how do you fit that all in?" He was then belatedly glad Milly wasn't currently present, as that would have had her cackling.

"And just what are you trying to fit into poor C.C. mister?" Milly said from behind him, a Cheshire grin on her face. He groaned. Sayoko would kill him for that lack of situational awareness.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" C.C. smirked up at him.

He shook his head, "Quiet now." He took out the phone again, "Alright, did you manage to get the parts?" He put the phone on speaker, confident in the room's soundproofing.

"Yes, my lord. I was able to haul both the arm and the leg to safety. The arm was rather dented – likely from the height it fell from – but the leg was mostly intact." Villetta answered.

"Excellent." He hissed triumphantly. "And you are certain not a soul followed you?"

"Unless someone developed a way to evade my Factsphere, I am sure."

"Good work Miss Nu. Send me the location." Lelouch told her.

"Yes my lord. I took a very winding path through the tunnels and hid them inside a large room under a tarp. I wrote down precise instructions as I was going there. I am transferring that file as well as coordinates to you now." Lelouch's private email pinged and he turned it on. He smiled as he saw how meticulous the woman had been. She not only took pictures of every relevant area, but she also had text-based directions as well. It was a shame that his Geass would no longer affect her. She would have made an excellent sleeper agent.

"Now leave the area and make sure your tracks are covered. Destroy all possible evidence. Leave the Sutherland there. Once you are safely away, you may follow the rest of your orders." He commanded and hung up the phone. He turned to Milly and C.C. with a smirk, "So we'll have a Sutherland to play with as well. Will you girls be coming with me?"

"A night in the tunnels. You bring me to the nicest places dear." Milly said sarcastically.

"I have nothing better to do for the moment." C.C. shrugged and went to put her prisoner's outfit on.

"Girl, what are you doing?" Milly asked incredulously.

C.C. blinked owlishly at her, "Getting dressed?" She asked in confusion.

"Not in that you're not." She eyed the outfit in distaste. "Come on. I'll raid Shirley's closet if my stuff doesn't fit you."

"This is fine." C.C. rolled her eyes as she finished zipping up the suit, and then 'eeped' when Milly grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away, "Unhand me!"

"You're taking us shopping tonight! The city will look beautiful around now."

"We have work to do!" Lelouch yelled at their retreating forms indignantly. He palmed his face, and then looked at the corner.

Sayoko appeared out of the shadows, "My lord." She said neutrally.

"Our schedule has moved up, Sayoko." Her eyes widened, and she bowed, "Take care of Nunnally please."

"Yes, my lord!" She said and went to leave the room, "Don't think I didn't notice either." He groaned as she shut the door and fell back on his bed.

"These girls are going to be the death of me." A perverted grin crossed his face, "What a way to go though."

-]|[-

Kallen fell face-first into her opulent mattress with a tired groan. She had stripped off her uniform and was merely in a green pair of panties. Dealing with her stuck-up Britannian classmates was such a chore. She groaned again as her phone rang and she rolled over to grab it, "Hello?"

"How's school life treating you?" Oghi's voice came through the line.

"Don't remind me." She growled, "Stifling. I was stuck in history class yesterday, listening to those bastards ignore and belittle our culture." She sighed, "I want to head back."

"Not a chance." Oghi replied immediately, "The army's on a high alert right now. Stay there, and let things cool off. Besides, you know Naoto wanted you to finish school."

"Don't you try to trip me, asshole!" She snarled, before calming herself, "What about the voice? Have you heard anything?"

He laughed on his end, " Can't go looking for a voice. Forget about Shinjuku for now. I'll be in touch." He hung up.

She almost threw her phone across the room, but instead just settled for squeezing it tight in her fist, "I hate when he does that." She sighed and dropped it on her table, sprawling on her bed and staring at the ceiling, "Shinjuku…" Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. She remembered back to earlier in the day, "That couldn't have been him!" She stopped and chewed lightly on her lip, "Could it?"

-]|[-

Gordon was a very minor Britannian noble trying to make a fortune. He had moved from the homeland and had started a company here in Area Eleven many years back. He'd had the money to buy the equipment necessary for a heavy moving operation, and was regularly contracted by the military to move their Knightmares en masse. He and his men had even moved some more secretive projects for the crown. Currently though, he was working up a long sweat as the truck he'd sent out the previous day to pick up something for His Highness had never shown up. Worse was, he hadn't even heard anything from his men either. This would be a disaster for his company! A knock at his door had him growling, "I told you that I did not wish to be disturbed unless it was an emergency Jessica!"

"My apologies." Lelouch said as he came in through the door, "If you don't wish my business, I can always go elsewhere."

Gordon eyed the boy in front of him with a raised eyebrow, "And what business would that be, kid? No offense, but you don't look the type to need something heavy picked up."

"As a matter of fact…" Lelouch's face lit up with a smirk as his eye began glowing that demonic red, "I have need of your equipment and it needs to be kept off the books. Right now, I would like you to obey me."

Gordon's world went dark, "Yes, my lord."

-]|[-

"How in the world did you manage to have all of this set up?" C.C. asked incredulously. She was marveling at the clean, state-of-the-art facility she had been brought to. It was built directly into the mountain for one. The facility was massive and went underground. There were at least half a dozen basement floors just from what she had been able to tell from the buttons on the elevator, and possibly more. There was no guarantee that was the only elevator after all. The tour they had given her had taken her through the facility, and she had seen everything from advanced robotics and experimental cybernetics to weaponry such as the arm-mounted extendable blade Lelouch carried. Lower had been the experimental Knightmares she had heard so much about, and lower still had been a giant arena. While these machines certainly had not been on par with the white Knightmare they had faced, they had been impressive.

Lelouch was the one who answered, "This facility was commissioned long before I came to Japan. Ruben Ashford started building it around the time when Nunnally was born in secret. He feared that the time would come when the Court would turn on my mother, and she supported and funded his efforts. No one else knew but the two of them and the building companies, who were payed handsomely to keep it secret. He had it built here in the Nagano prefecture since Japan is the largest producer of Sakuradite in the world. After months of clandestine surveying, he discovered an untouched vein buried here in the Hida Mountains. A whole hell of a lot of my mother's cash traded hands to acquire the land and then a whole lot of bureaucrats silenced to keep it secret. We intended it to be an entirely self-contained unit. Nearby we have vertical farms supplying food. We trade for meat of course. There are living quarters for everyone here."

Milly picked up from where he had left off, "It was nearing completion when…Lady Marianne was assassinated. After my family had our noble titles stolen away, we fled to Japan. We no longer had the funds, but the facility was close to finished. It went dark and we just kept up basic maintenance here for a couple of years, and then we reactivated it when Lelouch started getting the funds we needed."

"The personnel?" She asked, rather awed at what they had accomplished.

"Men loyal beyond a doubt to Milly's grandfather to start." Lelouch said as they watched the stolen Lancelot pieces get brought into the labs. The people he had put under Geass brought the two containers in on forklifts and then left. Their orders were to get as drunk as possible so that in the morning they'd have an excuse for losing a day of work. The head of the company was definitely included in this, as it had amused Lelouch to know that they were the company responsible for originally moving the 'poison gas' container. "But that was only enough for a skeleton crew." He smirked maliciously, "So we had to turn local. We started pulling up school records. Obituaries. Looking up the brightest scientific minds we could find in Japan. People who would have been down on their luck if they survived and struggling to make a living under their Britannian masters. People with chips on their shoulders. Then we felt them out. Learned about them. Only when we were certain we could be sure of their loyalty were they approached. And if they agreed to work for us… then they and their surviving families…disappeared. To the world outside, most of these men and women are dead. Only the city nearby knows of them and they aren't talking." He smirked at her, "It's a wonder the kind of loyalty you can acquire when you treat people like human beings and pay them well."

Milly chimed in, "After that, we even started recruiting abroad. This place is multinational. In the Settlement, we also have a front company. We called it Nova." C.C.'s eyes bugged out. Even she had heard of that company prior to her capture. It had just been a fledgling back then, but their first creations had improved life for a lot of people. The vertical farms came from them. "Through them, we sell the inventions that are safe to release into the outer world. They fund the research here, with some help from Lulu. The front company also produces its own products. We recruit directly out of Ashford. We've had to work hard to keep the company out of the hard limelight for so long. We've never contracted with the military for example, and have held back some of our more revolutionary tech."

C.C. sighed, "I've been more than patient. I think I would like a few questions of my own answered."

"Save it for now." He sighed, "First we need to discuss. What are we going to do about Kallen? If we're going to be bringing her in I don't want to tell the story twice."

"What a way to find out your Geass has limits." Milly rubbed her face, "I assume you've already considered the consequences?"

"Of course." He said blandly, "Option one is to be the enigmatic leader. I'm certain that I can trick her with a prerecorded message if I can get her alone in private. We'd be difficult to approach and would need to keep them at arm's length. The advantages are retaining our anonymity, of course. In addition, it could mean avoiding a fight. We have no idea how she would react. Things could turn nasty. Of course, the downsides are just as important. Even if I got her and her cohorts to trust me, I would always have to worry about betrayal should they learn who I am. In addition, it would mean missing out on a chance to bring another Geass user to our side." He looked askance at C.C., who nodded languidly.

"You better not be planning on letting them all know, as I'm not about to just start handing Geass about like candy." C.C. said blandly.

"No, of course not." Lelouch denied, "Only my commanders. The ones I can trust. The last thing I want is to have to worry about some sort of betrayal made possible through Geass."

"You don't know you can trust her." She pointed out.

"No, I'm don't. And as I wasted my Geass on her, it would be a leap of faith." He said heavily.

Milly cut in, "Letting her in is the other option." She brushed her hair back, "If we give her full disclosure from the beginning, we will be sure she is with us. We could cover for her, and she for us. She's already an excellent pilot and possibly an excellent fighter as well. With her by our side, developing our Knightmares would go much more smoothly. You're a good pilot hun, but from what you've told me she's magic. She would also give us an in with her cell, and possibly others as well."

"She was. I was beyond impressed." Lelouch admitted, "If she hadn't been in that bucket of scrap I would have pit her against the white Knightmare without a worry. Once she has more experience I'd even be comfortable pitting her against the Rounds."

"Plus…" Milly trailed off before smiling suggestively, "She's sexy as hell."

C.C. rolled her eyes, "We are not basing possibly our entire operation's success on attractiveness." She sat on the railing, entirely unconcerned with the possibility of death-by-falling, "The downsides have already been stated. We have no idea how this girl will react. Things could get ugly if she reacts badly."

Lelouch sighed. They weren't getting anywhere like this. "Opinions?"

"I'm for bringing her in." Milly said, "You're an excellent pilot but we need a true ace. She could help speed development along tremendously."

"I don't care either way." C.C. shrugged, "I'll support you in whatever decision you choose."

Lelouch grinned, "So be it." He grabbed C.C. and pulled her off the railing, "Now, let's go and get you fitted with one of our hidden blades before you go and get yourself captured again." He teased. Her indignant squawk was music to his ears.

-]|[-

Kallen watched Lelouch closely during classes the next day, 'I can't tell.' She admitted to herself in annoyance.

"-cracy was highly educated. By concentrating on the ruling class with intensive education and training, they produced a superior breed of ruler. And secondly, they possessed heightened efficiency, since only a small number of the very best were carefully chosen from their ranks..." Lelouch had to fight very hard not to let his discontent show in his voice. 'Very best my ass. A noble can't even give me a good match.'

…

"Hey Lulu, I'm about to head to-" Shirley started to say as Lelouch was packing his bags. The last class of the day had finished and now it was time to bite the bullet.

"Sorry Shirley. Maybe later." He said as he slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to Kallen and the gaggle of giggly girls surrounding her. They immediately quieted as the Ashford Prince neared, and one even came close to swooning, "I'd like you to come with me, Miss Stadtfeld. I have some things to discuss with you." Behind them, Shirley's jaw dropped.

'Now even Kallen?!' She screeched in her head. Sadness started hitting her. She knew he and Milly had been together for years but in the back of her head, she still had hope. Now he was even talking to Kallen and ignoring her! What did she have to do to get her love's attention?

"I was wondering when you'd ask." Kallen stood and followed him out. Her reaction set the girls who had surrounded her to squealing and gossiping.

-]|[-

"I didn't know anything like this existed here in Ashford." Kallen could admit that to herself. She rather hated the reminder of what her people suffered, but she could appreciate its beauty while hating the waste of resources.

"It's the club house for the Student Council. It was build large enough to hold a ball if needed." Lelouch replied as she took the place in. Even he admitted it was opulent to the point it was almost bordering on gaudy.

"Then we won't be disturbed here." Kallen asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"That's righ-"

"Here it is! I found it! Look! This is it, right?" Shirley's voice cut him off and they both stared in shock at the top of the stairs. They could make out Shirley's orange hair as she waved something in her hand above her.

"Ah! The experimental data! What a relief!" Nina said, taking it from her with a happy smile.

Rivalz got up and held his back in seeming pain, "Great. Wish that didn't take so long. My back is killing me."

"Not going to be disturbed huh?" Kallen muttered to him.

"God damn it Milly." He sighed back as Milly came through pushing a food cart.

"Were you able to find it? I finished up on my end, shall we dig in?" Milly called as she started setting the tables. The rest of the council started closing in and helping with the setup.

"Wow!" Rivalz drooled as he stared at the food.

"Way to go Prez!" Shirley said.

"You adore me!" Milly soaked in the love, "Please compliment me more."

"What's this Milly?" Lelouch asked in exasperation.

"Why, it's Kallen's induction dinner of course. I thought you knew." Milly replied with a wink.

"Induction dinner?" Kallen asked in bewilderment.

"I assumed that would come after." Lelouch groused. To all of them but Milly, that was a statement of 'after she agreed to join.' To Milly, the message rang slightly more clear.

Milly smiled at Kallen who still looked confused, "It's simple Kallen. The rule here at the academy is that all students must be a part of at least one club. With your health issues, we thought that you would do well here on the Student Council. Grandfather thought it would be your best bet, and I agreed. I'm Milly Ashford by the way, the Student Council President. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kallen couldn't be sure, but she almost felt as if Milly was undressing her with her eyes. She bowed slightly, "Ah, the pleasure is all mine."

Rivalz waved at her, "I'm Rivalz Cardemonde, the secretary. If there's anything you need help with, I'm your man!" He pointed his thumb at himself.

'A free Japan would be nice.' Kallen groused inside her head.

"I'm Shirley Fenette! I'm a member of the swim team." Shirley waved cheerfully at her.

Nina had her arms crossed in front of her and she wiggled side-to-side slightly, "Ahh…I'm Nina Einstein."

Kallen smiled, "It's nice to meet you all."

A new voice caught their attention, "Um, excuse me Shirley! Do you think you could set these on the table for me?" Kallen laid eyes on a girl in a wheelchair and it seemed to shock her. The girl was as cute as a button but she had her eyes closed.

"Sure Nunna!" Shirley chirped and went to go held the poor girl.

"That's Nunnally." Milly told Shirley, "She's Lelouch's little sister."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kallen." Nunnally bowed slightly in her chair, "I'm still a junior so I'm not on the council yet."

"You're an honorary member." Rivalz waved her off with a grin, not that she could see. But she could hear it in his tone, and that was enough.

Kallen smiled genuinely this time, "It's nice to meet you too, Nunnally."

"Well now!" Rivalz yelled boisterously, "Shall we start this party off with a toast?" Kallen's eyes dipped and landed on an unopened bottle of champagne. Rivalz started trying to work the cork.

"Oh no." She heard Lelouch mumble as he passed her.

"Champagne!" Shirley yelled in shock.

"We're on the council." Nina said timidly, "We really shouldn't."

"Lighten up guys!" He lifted the bottle up and continued trying to pop the cork.

Shirley latched on to his arm and tried to wrestle the bottle away, "No way! We're underage! Let me see that bottle!"

"What's going on?" Nunnally asked curiously as Milly put a glass of orange juice in her hand.

"Lelouch! Catch!"

Rivalz threw the bottle at Lelouch who caught it. "Damn it Rivalz! Don't get me caught up too!"

Shirley pushed Rivalz down and vaulted over him, "Not you too Lulu! You're not getting away with this either." She dove and the two of them crumpled to the floor. The bottle finally couldn't take it anymore and the cork popped. It flew straight at Kallen who batted it away with a quickness. Her gaze sharpened and her hand was a blur.

Unfortunately, she didn't quite think to get away from the liquid. "Eep!" The champagne rained on her head and soaked into her clothes. The stream was spewing in a perfect arc onto her hair, before it petered off and started shrinking.

"What just happened?" Nunnally asked, wishing for a moment that she could see.

Lelouch and Milly both facepalmed.

-]|[-

"This is why I hate Britannians." Kallen grumbled from within the shower. She pulled the curtain as she heard a knock, "Come in! The curtain is drawn."

"Sorry about them." Lelouch grumbled, "This day isn't going the way I planned."

"It's fine." Kallen sighed, her annoyance mostly gone. At least they had a shower nearby, "Everyone needs to cut loose every once in a while."

"I brought you a change of clothes." Lelouch told her as he set them next to her bag, "They're mine, since Milly is a bit more stacked up top than you are." He grinned as he saw her outline. Milly certainly hadn't been wrong.

Kallen blushed lightly, "Wh-what are you saying so suddenly?" She shook her head, "Anyway, you ran all the way back to the dorms so quickly?"

He snorted, "Nah, I live in here. My sister would have a pretty rough time in the dorms, so the school's principle let us stay here."

Kallen deadpanned. This kid had this gigantic place practically to himself? "I see…" What else could she really say to that?

"Anyway, I'll…" Lelouch started to leave, but her voice rang out again.

"Can you grab me that pouch please?" She pointed towards the sink where her pink wallet sat.

"Sure thing." He grabbed it and walked over to the shower, not making any attempt to turn. So he had turned as perverted as Milly. Sue him. He stuck his right hand into the shower, "Here you are." Only instead of grabbing it, the redhead clenched his wrist in a vice-grip, "Feisty, aren't we?"

"Were you in Shinjuku that day?" Kallen kneeled just enough to pick up her pouch. With it in her hand, she squeezed, revealing a shining blade.

Lelouch smirked, 'That's a nice grip.' He decided to play with her for a bit, "Oh, is there something wrong with Shinjuku?"

"Don't answer my question with another question!" She snapped at him, "You brought up Shinjuku the other day, so don't play dumb."

"And your plan was to interrogate me in a school bathroom while wet and naked?" Lelouch chuckled.

Kallen blushed, "Well, we haven't exactly been able to have any privacy any way else, have we?"

"Oh, I can think of a few ways…" Lelouch waggled his eyebrows.

She took a second, and then her blush deepened, "Pervert!"

"Hey, you're the one who's naked and holding my wrist." Lelouch laughed in amusement. Before his face sharpened and became serious, "Of course, you've miscalculated."

Kallen's eyes widened, "And how have I done that?" Lelouch raised his left arm – which she hadn't been paying attention to – and jerked it forward an inch. His red and white blade – he had one on each arm – extended forward, piercing the curtain. It extended past her, with the flat just barely ghosting on her skin. Kallen jumped back, though she didn't need to. She shivered as she stared at the blade which could easily have ended her life just then. She snapped her head back to him, idly realizing that she must have jerked their hands because the curtain had drawn itself back slightly and she could see his face. She swallowed heavily, "Alright, so maybe I did." She said more than a little sheepishly, and very much shaken. She hadn't seen that coming in the slightest. "Never seen one of these before." She commented conversationally.

"That's because I'm the one who funded its creation, Q1." Lelouch smirked as her eyes widened, "And I didn't go through all that effort leading you to victory just to kill you later myself soooo…" Kallen bit her lip, before flicking her hand and holstering her knife. She dropped the pouch. Lelouch smiled warmly again and retracted his blade, "Now, unless you plan on pulling me in there and making that a more steamy shower," Her eyes bulged as his face went perverted and his eyes dipped lower, "Perhaps I might have my arm back?"

She looked down, realizing she was utterly bare before his roving eyes. Her face boiled in embarrassment as she let go and swung, "PERVERT!"

-]|[-

She glared heatedly at him as she exited the bathroom. His face was still red and throbbing but he smirked at her nonetheless. He pulled out a phone and speed-dialed someone, "Hey Sayoko. Would you mind exchanging the shower curtain on the fifth bathroom on the second floor please?"

"Of course, Lelouch-sama." A Japanese woman's voice came through the phone, making Kallen's eyes go wide.

He hung up, "Who was that?" She asked him curiously.

"My maid, bodyguard and sensei." He replied with a light grin. "Having an actual ninja on your retinue is so useful, wouldn't you say?"

"A ninja?" She asked incredulously.

"Indeed." He smirked and offered her an arm, "Now shall we, Miss Stadtfeld? Or do you prefer Kōzuki?" She glared at him heatedly again, "Fine then. Let's go."

A few minutes later, they came upon a door. Lelouch unlocked it and walked in, "Where did you brin-" She bit back a groan, "I thought I was supposed to get some answers." She hissed at his back through gritted teeth.

"You are. Now hurry up and close the door." Lelouch commanded as he sat on his bed. This bloody Britannian had brought her to his bedroom, and they had company.

"Sorry about earlier!" Milly said cheerfully, "The plans of mice and men and all that rot. I tried to kill two birds with one stone and instead ended up being one of the birds. Or perhaps with egg on my face." She was sitting in one of the chairs, while another girl – with green hair of all things – sat swinging her legs on one of the desks.

Kallen's eyes widened, 'Two birds with one…' She turned to Lelouch, "Is she part of this?" She asked incredulously.

"I am." Kallen was dumbfounded as she went from playful to serious in the blink of an eye. She then scrunched her eyebrows and turned to Lelouch, "What happened to your face?"

"Worth it." Kallen's eyebrow twitched as he grinned unapologetically.

Milly frowned, "You saw her in the shower? You lucky little shit." She complained, and Kallen's eyes bulged as Milly started looking her up and down.

"What kind of den of debauchery have you dragged me into?" She cried and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The three laughed, before Lelouch cut it short, "As you know, I am Lelouch Lamperouge. This is Milly Ashford. The green-haired girl hasn't deigned to name herself yet, and is going by C.C." He shot a glare at the verdette. The green-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him.

Kallen sighed. Finally some normalcy, "Kallen Kōzuki. I go by Stadtfeld in public. Now… I want some answers! What the hell is going on? How did you arrange that ceasefire? How did you get us all of that equipment? What the bloody hell are two Britannian teenagers doing leading a ramshackle resistance cell to victory against the fucking military?" She hissed finally.

"Well, to be fair, it was only Lelouch doing any leading. I'm the owner of two of our companies and my family has sheltered his." Milly said, "I have been his partner and accomplice since Japan was conquered by Britannia."

Kallen's eyes widened, "For that long? Neither of you were even teens yet!"

"What does age matter?" Lelouch asked her, and she floundered for a moment, "Tell me Kallen…" Lelouch said, "When Japan fell, what happened to your family? "

Kallen turned to him, biting her lip lightly. "Why should I tell you?"

"Why would we share our reasons when you aren't willing to do the same?" Milly asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kallen hesitated, but eventually sighed, "My parents were forced to separate. My father was forced by his family to remarry to some Britannian highborn bitch, who turned out to be sterile. My real mother had my father make sure I was his heir, but then he just left. I haven't seen him since then. My dumb mother keeps pining for her lord husband, and sticks around suffering abuse as a maid." She pursed her lips, "We lived in relative comfort – my brother and I – but we couldn't take our people being oppressed anymore. My brother formed a resistance cell and we have been trying to resist Britannia since."

Lelouch nodded in a vaguely-mocking manner, "Well, I'm afraid I didn't have it anywhere as easy as that." She glared heatedly at him, "I had already been living in Japan with my crippled and blinded sister for a year when the bombs started to fall. Nunnally had been recovering far better here in Japan than she ever would have over in the homeland. We came to be very close friends with some of the Japanese. We were happy. Our home was perfectly out of the way, in an area that would have been ignored by any tactician."

He started to laugh, "So imagine my surprise when we were out having a picnic and our house and everyone inside of it exploded." His laughter stopped abruptly, "Imagine my further surprise when a Knightmare airdropped in. It was only the fact that we had a few bodyguards that saved us that day, since OSI showed up to finish the job." Kallen's jaw had lowered in shock, "They managed to destroy the Knightmare with an RPG. Glasgows – especially those earlier models – were much flimsier than Sutherlands. There's a reason Tōdō was able to win against them. Anyway, we escaped with our lives, but only after two of our three bodyguards had been gunned down. The last one died killing the OSI agent after he left his Knightmare." He shrugged, "So there we were, two ten year olds with a crippled seven year old. Alone, in the wilderness." Kallen had turned more and more pale as he had gone on, "Oh, I had been an arrogant little shit back then. So sure of my intelligence. So sure that I could think myself out of any situation. That manual labor was for plebeians." He sighed, "After we were separated from our friend, I had to carry Nunnally on my back. Up hills…through the forests… We couldn't trust anyone after all. And then through the sea of dead Japanese. Do you know what it's like to have to lie to your innocent little sister about what the smell of dead bodies is?"

"Oh god…" Kallen had her hand over her mouth, looking genuinely sad for what he had to go through. He hadn't been kidding.

Milly spoke up next, "After six weeks, this starving little kid exits an abandoned grocery store with the few packets of food he could find in his little arms, and my grandfather just happened to be there to recognize him." Well, not exactly. Her grandfather had been hoping against hope that they still lived, and had some loyal men scouring the countryside hoping to find them, "He picked them up immediately and brought them home." She said simply, "It was a miracle that they survived. Lelouch had given Nunnally the lion's share of the food he had managed to scrounge up, so she wouldn't go hungry. He was skin and bones. We took him in." She smiled sadly, "And then came that infamous moment that changed everything."

Lelouch had been sobbing into his pillow for the better part of an hour. They weren't tears of sadness, but of joy. Finally, they were safe. Nunnally was safe. He knew he could trust old man Ashford. They had been regulars back at the Aires Villa, and Lelouch knew genuine affection when he saw it. He had convinced them not to let anyone know they were alive, so there was no risk of them being assassinated at this point. He never even heard his door open as a little blonde bundle of joy walk in.

Milly's heart nearly broke as she saw what had become of the boy she knew she loved. She put a knee on his bed and as soon as it depressed, he gasped and shot up. Milly's arms went out and pulled him to her, hugging him for all she was worth, "Oh Lulu…" She whispered, "I'm so sorry…for everything! But I'm just…happy… I'm so happy you're alive!" Tears started pouring out of her eyes as well, "I've missed you so much…" She whispered to him, as he resumed crying into her neck. His tiny arms clenched at her with little strength, and she knew part of that was just the emaciation. She ran her fingers through his hair, which had thankfully gone through a thorough cleaning, "Do you…want to talk about it?"

Lelouch sniffled, "I…" He trailed off. Even his voice was weak, "Not really."

"Talking about it will help." She bit her lip, "Please Lulu? I don't want it to just eat away at you."

He stayed quiet for so long she thought he had fallen asleep on her. She just kept scratching lightly at his head and running her hands through his hair, "I…we were attacked." He said hoarsely, "We were so far from anything of strategic value, but even still…they dropped bombs on the shrine! There was no reason for it! And then a Knightmare showed up! It was a miracle we were able to escape!" Milly went wide eyed. Had the ones who assassinated his mother tried to finish the job?

"I…" he started to shake again, "I had to carry Nunnally on my back. She had been doing so well here. The people were so kind to her. No one ever looked at her poorly or spoke to her as if her injuries defined her. I had to carry her over so many dead Japanese…" Milly couldn't help but start crying again over what her two closest friends had been though.

"Lulu…" What could she say to that?

Lelouch was exhausted, and hate was currently one of the emotions dominating him. In his weakness he had shouted his goal to Suzaku. And now in the darkness, he did so again, "Milly…" His voice had changed and he pulled back. Milly had been surprised at how dark his voice had gotten and now she was shocked at the sheer amount of rage and hate on his face, "I'm going to destroy Britannia!"

Milly blinked in shock. She giggled helplessly. That kind of nervous giggle you have when there really is just no other way to react. She couldn't possibly have heard right could she?, "Haha Lulu. Your jokes have improved." She cringed when he glared at her, "Come on Lulu. You're just kidding right? That's crazy talk! You're safe here! You and Nunnally can be happy here!"

He growled at her, "OSI sent agents after us! They bombed our shrine and sent a Knightmare after us! What guarantee is there that they won't try again?! They could be coming here now, to kill all of us!"

"Lelouch!" She hissed, starting to get angry, "The Britannian Empire spans a third of the world! They have all the money! They have the best technology in the world! It takes both China and the EU at once to even worry Britannia! This is madness!"

"So we're supposed to live in fear our whole lives?" He hissed back, "We're supposed to let them get away with murder? Of conquering peaceful people! They're rotten!"

Milly's lip quivered, "There's no talking you out of this is there?" She whispered sadly.

"No." He sighed and looked at her expressionlessly, "I shouldn't have said anything at all. You'll keep quiet, right?" There was a resigned, but dangerous edge to the word that Milly couldn't ignore.

"Of course." She snorted, "I'd be just as screwed as you would be if I said anything, partner." His eyes bulged and his mouth opened soundlessly, "What, you think I'm going to let you set out on this stupidity by yourself?"

"Now who's talking stupid?" Lelouch finally regained himself and shot back.

"You're talking about defeating the strongest empire in the history of the entire world! There's no possible way you could get me to let you go at it alone." She glared at him, "So if we're going to do this, you're going to listen to me." She crossed her arms and a resolute expression crossed her face, "We Ashfords have always supported your family, but if you try to me blow off right now I'm knocking you out and going straight to grandpa!"

His face twisted in anger at what he perceived to be a betrayal, "How dare you! I told you this in confidence! You trai-"

He couldn't go any further because she shoved him back. He squeaked in shock as she straddled him and pinned his arms, "Now you're going to listen to me, understood?!" He swallowed heavily and nodded, "Lelouch, it's been SIX WEEKS since you and Nunna were pronounced dead. Every. Single. Day since then has been a nightmare for me!" She started to cry again, her expression breaking, "I haven't slept. I've barely eaten. I lost five pounds! All because I was so depressed over the thought that you were dead! I've heard some of the others say I looked like I had already died and my body just hadn't realized it! I am NOT losing you and Nunna again! Is that understood!" Lelouch swallowed heavily, "So if you really intend to follow through on this madness, I'll follow you in to the depths of hell. But we're damn well going to win and that means you need to swallow your fucking pride!" Hearing the young woman swear shocked Lelouch. He was reduced to staring up at her with wide eyes, "So if I'm going to support you through this, you're going to have to do three things or this is over right now! It isn't just going to be your ass in the fire if we do this."

He swallowed again and licked his lips, "Alright Milly… what are they?"

"First of all, I'm a full partner!" She said, letting his hands go, "You're so used to being the smartest person in the room that I have no doubt you'll try to ignore me or my opinions. Every good leader has advisors and you're not going to be any different! Remember that you've never beaten him."

Lelouch scowled at the reminder, "Alright." He conceded. She was right. He never had beaten his brother.

Milly smiled, happy that she was getting through to him, "Second of all, through our time here in Japan we have acquired a retainer. She daylights as our simple maid, but she is actually a ninja. Even long before the invasion, she's had to take care of a couple of idiots who came thinking the disgraced Ashfords were easy targets." Lelouch was staring wide-eyed at the blonde on top of him, "You Mister I-Will-Destroy-Britannia are going to be training with her!"

"Absolutely no-"

"This is non-negotiable!" She stuck her finger in front of his face, "You had to carry Nunnally on your back for six weeks! I am not letting our entire operation fail because you couldn't handle a two-bit soldier with a knife! I'm a girl and I can pin you so easily it's embarrassing! You need to swallow your damn pride and realize that you're going to have to get dirty! Again Lelouch, you're used to being the smartest in the room but this is an empire spanning a full THIRD of the world! If you try to ignore yourself and just coast as we prepare I'll damn well drag you to Sayoko myself. Daily!"

Lelouch looked like a surly brat who had been denied a treat, "Fine." He hissed, "You damn witch! But you're going to be right here with me!"

"I was planning on it, lazy bones." She rolled her eyes, "Third!" She held up three fingers imperiously, "We're playing to win." She said, her smile turning somber, "It won't be just me and you who will die if we fail. It'll be grandpa. Nunnally. Any friends we make and allies who help us. We're all traitors from this moment on. It won't just be our bums in the fire. We have to take this seriously starting now, which means gathering resources. Allies. Knowledge. Anything we can think of to prepare for this revolution. If I falter, you push me. If you falter, I'll push you even harder! We need to win!"

It was Lelouch's turn to swallow heavily, "Yeah." He sat up on his elbows, "Thanks Milly… I think I needed this."

She smiled, ecstatic that she had gotten through to him. She smirked mischievously, "Forth!"

Lelouch's eyebrow raised, "I thought you said you had three demands?"

She grinned, "That was for our revolution." She suddenly grabbed his pajamas in her fists and forced him flat on the bed. She leaned in, "This is for me." She claimed his lips.

Kallen and C.C. were both considering all that they had learned. Kallen turned expressionless eyes to Lelouch, "Your mother." She said conversationally, "Was her first name Marianne?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Lelouch had to force down a rather sheepish grin.

She snorted, "If you truly were attacked by OSI for no discernable reason, then you had to have been important to someone. I may hate Britannia but I know its history. Your names could have been coincidences until now."

Lelouch smiled humorlessly and stood. He kneeled with his left leg and brought his left arm in front of his body again, in the Knight's Kneel, "Lelouch vi Britannia, at your service. Son to a murdered mother. Brother to a crippled sister. And in this life or the next, I will have my vengeance!"

Kallen let out an explosive sigh as Lelouch sat back on his bed, "This better not be just an attempt to take the throne for yourself!" She hissed angrily at him.

"That!" All hints of amusement left his face and he jabbed his finger in her direction, "It isn't. It has never been about gaining the throne." Kallen was quite shocked to see the genuine fury in his eyes.

"Though to be honest it'll likely end up that way anyway." She was quite surprised to see Lelouch's head snap to Milly in shock. Milly shrugged, "What? Are we supposed to destroy an empire and then just leave the territories in ashes?" The blonde bombshell snorted, "As if we would ever do that. Even if we ignored all the innocent people we'd leave suffering – which neither of us would be willing to do – the world's economy would be in shambles."

"What's this we business?" Kallen asked sharply as Lelouch floundered momentarily, "I haven't joined you yet and I have no inclination of joining a Prince of the country I hate. We don't exactly need you to free Japan! That's my only concern here!"

Lelouch shot her such a disgusted look that it made her flinch, "Right, because you lot have been doing a bang up job so far. How many victories has Japan won against Britannia since Tōdō's Miracle again?"

Kallen pursed her lips, "One." She growled, "Thanks to you." She looked down and clenched her fists.

He snorted, "Don't misunderstand. It's good that you're not blindly following us. My ultimate goal is Britannia's destruction but that doesn't mean I'm just going to be using the Japanese. This country has been more my home than Pendragon ever was. I don't like to see your people suffering any more than you do. What Britannia has done to your people and the people of the other areas they've conquered is abominable! Milly and I have helped many Japanese citizens out. You'll see that later when you take a tour of our hidden facility."

Milly chimed in again, "It doesn't help that Britannia has done some good, and don't you dare deny that." She said sharply as Kallen went to protest, "As much as we hate to admit it, Britannia is a first world country. The standard of living its citizens enjoy is so much higher than most other places that it's laughable to even compare them. Some of the technology we've given the world has been incredible. The problem is the 'Holier than Thou' attitude so many of us have. The nobility is a cancer and their attitudes trickle down towards the common people." She sighed, "What we need is unity. We need to bring the Areas up to Britannian standards without taking away their pride, their homes and their lives."

"It is not its people or even Britannia itself that we must fight." Lelouch sighed, "It is the System of Arrogance the country runs on. It is the parasitic nobility who have done nothing to earn what they have. And most of all, it is that man. The one fueling all the hate, by shouting out that, 'All men are not created equal.' Even discounting the fact that I want revenge, our true enemy is the head of the snake. I intend to cut that head off."

Kallen was working her lip furiously, "What of my other questions? You've only answered one of them." She was honestly stalling for time at this point. She needed to formulate an opinion. "And who the hell is she and why is she here?" She jerked her head towards C.C., who had yet to say a word.

"How did I lead you to victory you mean?" He asked her, and she nodded. "Honestly, that was boring. Clovis was worse than a rank amateur. Your group could easily have taken them out if you had the equipment to match. Heh, I'm pretty sure if you had a Gloucester the rest of us could have just sat around and served you lemonade occasionally when you needed a new energy filler." He chuckled as she went beet red, "As for how I ordered the ceasefire and acquired the Sutherlands…" He smirked, "Both of those tie together, as well as with C.C. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you specifics until I have your answer, Kallen."

She suddenly had another question, "Will you be revealing yourself to my comrades as well?"

"Oh heavens no." Lelouch shook his head, "We were already taking a huge gamble with bringing you in fully. You can at least see the other side of things. You know not every Britannian is a heartless monster. All of their interactions with Britannians have been negative until now. I haven't proven myself to them yet nor have I been able to foster relationships between them and some good Britannians. None of them would follow me willingly. Imagine the idiot learning that their new leader is a Prince. He'd probably die."

"The idiot…?" Kallen stopped and thought about it, before her cheeks bulged slightly, "Pfffff…."

Lelouch chuckled and finished up, "No, I'll have to create an identity for myself."

"No, you're right. For right now, revealing yourself would be a poor idea. Even if I thought they would accept you, you're in hiding. It would be bad to have you caught on camera for now." Finally, Kallen made her decision, "If I join you, it's the same deal she gave. I'm a full partner! Someone needs to make sure you're keeping your promise and not just trying to exploit us."

Lelouch and Milly smiled happily, "Excellent." He said and stood. He offered her his hand, which she grasped firmly, "Then welcome aboard, Kallen."

She smiled back, though a mite more hesitantly, "I just hope I'm not making a deal with the devil here…" She mumbled.

Milly giggled heartily, "No… that comes later."

Kallen did not noticed C.C. rolling her eyes, "I prefer Witch, thank you very much."

Kallen blanched as the verdette spoke up for the first time, "…What?"

Lelouch turned to Milly, "I can't, so you'll have to show her."

"Show me what?" Kallen asked, snapping her head to the both of them repeatedly in confusion. She immediately wished she hadn't asked as Milly's mischievous look became even more so and her smile turned positively raunchy. She gasped as she watched Milly's left eye change. Some sort of weird crane sigil appeared in it, and then Kallen felt such an overpowering wave of lust flow through her that her knees started to buckle as she struggled to stay standing. She was squeezing and rubbing her thighs together. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and her breath almost steamed in front of her as her whole body felt like it was on fire, "Sto-… what are you doing to me?!" And just like, that, it was gone. She was back to normal, but for her heaving chest, "What the fuck was that?!" She gasped as she wobbled.

"Damn it Milly!" Lelouch cursed as he caught her and sat her on the bed, "I wanted you to show her not break her!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Milly was wincing, "I haven't learned to control it fully yet. It got away from me and I overpowered it." She looked honestly contrite as she came to kneel in front of Kallen and took one of her hands, "I'm really sorry Kallen. I didn't mean to do that. Forgive me?"

Kallen's breaths had slowed and she took a deep one to calm herself, "Wh-what was that?"

"That my dear, was Geass." Lelouch said as he stood. He looked her in the eye and she gasped as his eye also took on that strange sigil. "It is also known as the Power of the Kings, and it was with it that I accomplished some of the things I did in Shinjuku."

"I…I see." She didn't.

He snorted, "No you don't." He teased, "Milly's Geass allows her to manipulate emotions."

"This is…"

"Crazy?" Milly asked with a giggle, "Tell me about it. I'm still half convinced this whole thing has just been some bad trip."

Kallen blushed, not able to look the girl in the eye, "Why…why that one?"

Milly stood and sat back on her chair, sensing the redhead was now uncomfortable, "Sorry. I'm too playful for my own good." She shot her another apologetic look, "It was also the easiest emotion to manipulate in a way that you would fully understand was artificial. I just haven't had this power for more than a day and I messed up. I really am sorry! I just wanted to tease you a bit."

"Don't do it again!" She commanded, cheeks still very red.

"I won't. I promise! We both already promised to not use them on our friends unless there was no other option. I haven't been using it on you during the meeting either!" Milly told her seriously.

Kallen nodded and resolved to put the incident behind her, "…Alright." She turned to Lelouch, "Why couldn't you show me yours instead?"

"Every Geass is different." Lelouch said, "Geass is born from our inner desires and our personalities, so it is very rare for more than one person to have the same kind. My Geass is…terrifying." He was not afraid of admitting it to himself.

Kallen bit her lip again, "What is it?"

He looked straight at her, "I command and you obey." He said, "No matter what order I give, you will follow it to the best of your ability." Kallen's eyes had bugged out, "In Shinjuku, Clovis's Royal Guard had me cornered. I ordered them to die, and they shot themselves with smiles on their faces."

"That's!" Kallen stood and looked like a cornered animal. Her face changed and she glared at him furiously, "How do I know you're not using it on me now!"

He shot her a disappointed look, "Come now Kallen. You're smarter than that."

She blinked, and some pink took her cheeks again. She thought for a minute, and then blushed harder, "Oh…yeah, you…probably wouldn't have bothered with this whole thing if I was."

He smirked, "Correct. Additionally, everyone under my Geass experiences complete memory loss of the entire time period they were under its effects." She sat in relief as he made that bit of information known. His smirk turned into a sheepish grin, "And finally… I… kinda can only use it once per person. I questioned you under it yesterday, to find out what your group intended to do with the poison gas. I turned it off and then thought to order you not to mention anything about Shinjuku and discovered that delightful little detail."

Kallen looked outraged, "Bastard! What other orders did you give me?!"

"I confirmed that you were the Glasgow pilot and asked why you were fighting Britannia. I then asked what you were planning on doing with the gas and how you felt about all that had happened. I hope you can understand that I didn't want a bloodthirsty psychopath as a partner, and neither would Milly. That's all Kallen. I swear that on my mother's grave."

Kallen stared hard at him, before she sighed, "Fine. I can understand that." Lelouch's shoulders relaxed, but that was a mistake. Kallen sprang forward and delivered another blistering slap. The redness that had died down was back into sharp relief, "We're good now."

"I'll take it…" Lelouch groaned, holding a hand to his cheek. He wasn't sure if it was because of the previous slap, but he was fairly certain that one hurt more than the wet bathroom slap.

Milly chuckled and walked over to Lelouch, planting a loving his on his cheek. She grinned at Kallen and smirked widely, "So…now's the deal with the devil."

"Witch!" C.C. looked incensed, "I prefer witch!"

"Huh? Now what?" Kallen looked bewildered.

C.C. stood, "Did you forget about me, girlie? Neither of these two have had their Geass for more than a week."

She gasped in realization, "Then you're…?"

"That right." C.C. confirmed, swaying her hips as she sashayed over, "So Miss Kōzuki…would you like to form a contract?"

"Before that…" Lelouch said, "She needs to have more information. Kallen, you should know that it is possible for you to lose control of Geass. C.C. told us of one other who had the ability to read minds with his power. Once he lost control of it, he became unable to stop listening to other's thoughts and went mad. Kallen, this is your choice. Remember that. We won't think any less of you should you refuse."

Kallen sucked her lips between her teeth and worked them slightly. "Give me a few minutes."

"Take all the time you need. I know we've kinda smacked you with a fair bit of information here." Lelouch replied as Milly slid underneath his right arm. He started running his fingers through her silky hair.

The room was silent for a few minutes, before Kallen straightened and regarded C.C. "How is it that you're able to give out these powers?" She asked curiously.

"C.C. is immortal." Lelouch said. Kallen deadpanned at him, "Yes, I'm serious. No, I'm not crazy. We've already shown you our crazy powers so what's so shocking about that?" He pulled up the images he had shown Milly and went through them with Kallen. "You'll probably be even more shocked to know that she was what was really inside that capsule you and your friends stole. Yes, what they were doing to her to try to find out what made her tick was so heinous that poison gas seemed like a reasonable cover story."

"You know what. Fuck it. I'm just not going to think anything is impossible anymore. Maybe then you will stop shocking me." She facepalmed, and then ran her hand down her face, "You're all mad." Kallen groaned, "And now I'm one of you. I'm not going to catch the crazy am I?"

"Yes." All three of the said flatly, "Besides. You decided to try to steal something vital to the military with only a Glasgow held together with duct tape and hatred to defend yourself with. You're already crazy." Lelouch smirked at her.

"Fuck you!" She said succinctly. She walked up to the green-haired girl and let out a wan smirk, "Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess." She didn't notice the anticipatory looks on Lelouch and Milly.

C.C. smirked, "Then all that's left is to seal the deal." And before Kallen had a chance to protest that Milly-esque look, C.C. had claimed her lips too.

The verdette backed away after a moment and went back to the desk, resuming her leg swinging. Kallen looked catatonic, "My…my…" Her gaze sharpened and she sprang forward, "My first kiss! You bitch!" Lelouch had to catch her and hold her back from throttling C.C. "Let me at her!"

"You can't kill her anyway." Lelouch couldn't help but be amused at the whole thing.

"But it'll make me feel better!" Kallen snarled.

"Come on. Cut it out so we can find out what your Geass does. We can plan more then." Milly used her Prez voice.

Kallen finally stopped struggling, "Fine." She glared at C.C., "I will have my revenge!"

"Promises!" C.C. said silkily.

Kallen took a deep breath as Lelouch let her go. Her left eye deepened in blue and strangely, the sigil in her eye was a lighter blue. C.C.'s eyes widened. She had only seen that once before. They waited a moment, only for her Geass to deactivate, "Uhh… did I do anything?"

Lelouch pursed his lips, "C.C., will you be able to negate the effects on one of us if it's something like a command type like my own?"

"As you are my contractors, yes." C.C. said simply, "Be warned that this is only because we are linked. If your Geass were to go awry on anyone else, then I would be unable to do anything about it."

"Alright…Kallen?" The girl turned to him, "Go ahead." Kallen sighed and before determination filled her face. Her eye flashed again. He blinked after a few seconds and raised his arm to scratch his head, "Still noth-?" Only she cut him off with a gasp, "What is it?"

A wide grin lit up Kallen's face, "Attack me!" Lelouch blinked, "What are you waiting for Lelouch?! Come at me!" Lelouch sprang forward, fist flying towards her pretty face. Kallen inclined her head just enough that she felt a breeze on her face as Lelouch's fist passed her. She ducked underneath him and was already moving as he went for a back kick. She dodged around it again and Lelouch paused. Her grin hadn't dimmed in the slightest, "You're moving in slow motion, and I can see every movement you're about to make before you make it."

Lelouch smirked lightly, and flung an unseen kunai at her. He was trained under Sayoko Shinozaki of the Shinozaki School, so that was a kunai thrown at speeds most people wouldn't be able to even follow much less dodge. She caught it by sticking her finger into the ring, making it look like she was flipping him off, "Now that's handy…" He grinned maniacally, "Oh yes, once we get you an actual machine you're going to be a Goddess." Kallen's face flamed red as her Geass winked out of existence.

-]|[-

Let's just get this out of the way; Kallen's Geass is not the same as Bismarck's. He outright saw into the future, which makes Suzaku's defeat of him kinda bullshit. Kallen's is more like the Sharingan. She can predict movements and trajectories while – to her – everything appears to be moving in slow motion. As she improves with it she'll also be able to control the rate of the slowdown. Kinda boring – I've seen some form of it before – but it fits her so damn well. She was the "Always Someone Better," to basically everyone else in the series. As some of you will know, I have far more unique ideas for some of the other Geass.