AN: Wow… I'm real sorry I left you guys hanging so long. I had a really busy Easter break, with much travelling and seeing friends. And Project work. Lots and lots of project work. But that's dealt with now. And then I took another two weeks for revision and exams. And then I had an essay to write, handed in today. Next week I have my finals and the week after that I need to do a presentation for my project. It's my last term at uni, and it's hectic. Thanks for being patient with me, but I feel guilty about writing this when I should be working. This is also the reason why no-one got review replies, for which I feel very guilty. I'm sorry, I love you all really!
Thanks go out to all 84 people it's owed to since the last update: Neko Raiga, kalista jia, kuroi78, Nusku, Citrus Sunscreen, heidi-mayer87, KrisMahai, YaoiOkami, hpets, DarkKitsune18, eMi to mAo 374, xxxCodeTsubasa, Turtle Kid, Eternal Solace, Serena the Hikari of Love, Candelabra, Spunglass, nequam-tenshi, kitten-dreamer, bubbleheadz, xYukii, -w- easy enough, Crissinmon, L Lexuran, Khaneis, KarimaTinCan, SaCyner, xxlostdreamerxz, PrincessAyla1994, papereye, Destiny Gamer, Lavilicious, Catlady172, megumi natsuyama, xxBlackWolf, Meitle, , Aria DC al Fine, kira-chan9, Xellacard, Ice Silverwind, Blitzkrieg8180, Diana Prince, Ekala, Chibis Unleashed, redscarlet02, La Luna Negra, queenstrudel, sun-sun kat, Neriel Vielefield, Chibi Tsuki Hikari, Wolfram003, Caim soul eater, Lady-Amaltea, SenshiCrystal, Sear, xxSirexx, deksab, Star Jinin, Spirel, T.D. Sugoi, Xhadow Kiss, Yamiro, zeppelin13, Miyao-chan, FoenFyre, ARandomWeirdo, Battaglia, Awesomenesslyangelic, Alexandria Jaganshi, 7PhoenixAshes, Mog2, Yukirimi, demonturtle, Regal-Toothpick., duuude, Chakuro-chan, Wynster McG, Moonlit Aura, Ed Chandor, LoveOfMyLifeIs, LeaNicolaie, and Dragonrider4000 (thanks for understanding my need to work rather than write).
… I think that's everyone.
Also I apologise for any errors in this chapter. I wrote it almost entirely with the new toy I got for my birthday, and the text conversion software was not the greatest at reading my handwriting. I think I fixed it all as I went along though.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Code Geass. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint after all that wait, but I fear it will… the more exciting stuff is in the next one. Sorry for the long AN.
"So, where are we going?" asked Suzaku, the morning after their visit to the monument. Lelouch had neglected to inform him of their plans the evening before, despite apparently having returned from the meeting with Kallen inspired. He claimed to 'know' where to find the mystery individuals they were looking for.
When they'd returned Lelouch had settled down to read through the files he'd received from Kallen, and amidst mutterings of the names of the nieces and nephews he'd never met, he'd casually informed Suzaku that tomorrow's mission 'might be dangerous' and that 'it would be a good idea if they were armed'.
Suzaku had stared at him for a good two minutes due to the carefree manner of the suggestion, before opening his suitcase, digging his way past the Zero cloak he'd put away earlier and, opening a hidden compartment at the bottom of the case, he'd pulled out two small, standard issue Britannian issue guns.
Lelouch made no query as to how he'd managed to travel with the weapons; he merely assumed the case's design followed his own original version, which made the contents undetectable, unless opened. Instead he'd merely commended him on his forethought, and suggested he continue his streak of good planning, by arranging them a vehicle to travel in the next day.
Suzaku had sighed, and then wandered off to ask the reception for the numbers of some local car hire companies.
Lelouch hadn't told him where they were going the night before, and he'd ignored Suzaku's query in favour of going through his own suitcase searching for anything useful.
Lelouch had toned down the female attire today, the skirts and dresses being deemed 'impractical'. Instead he was wearing jeans and a dark jacket and boots with some more practical heels, for which he was grateful for. With wig, make-up, and fake breasts still in place he looked no less feminine, though Suzaku wisely kept his mouth shut about that fact, even if he had laughed when Lelouch had taken the gun Suzaku had given him and stored it in a handbag. Even with the excuse that 'this outfit has no pockets', he thought Lelouch was still overdoing the female act a little.
His amusement may or may not have had something to do with the fact that Lelouch was still withholding information about their destination an hour after his question. Suzaku still had no clue where they were going, probably not a good thing, since Lelouch had nominated him driver, and was forcing Suzaku to follow his directions, one step at a time. As a result several near accidents had only just been avoided thanks to Suzaku's excellent reflexes. Not that Suzaku hadn't picked up a few clues as to where they were headed. Initially the route they were following lead them in more or less the same direction as the day before, towards the memorial, but eventually Lelouch directed him away from there and further around the crater, in the direction of Mt, Fuji.
Suzaku's confusion was not lessened when Lelouch instructed him to stop at the end of a dirt road which led nowhere. He turned to look at Lelouch in order to express his confusion, but hesitated at the expression of concentration on his friend's face.
"We're close," said Lelouch, "I can feel it."
As much as Suzaku wanted to trust Lelouch's judgment, he couldn't 'feel it', and thus felt the need to question.
"You can 'feel' it? Lelouch, we're in the middle of nowhere, there's nothing around here except a few fields and some trees..."
"No… there's definitely somebody with a code somewhere around here… we can sense each other… though this is the first time I've experienced it, But CC was able to detect VV in the past. I think they're underground."
Suzaku wanted to question how exactly Lelouch expected them to get underground, but was unable to. Lelouch had already got out of the car and was heading for a gap in a hedge. He sighed, conceding to Lelouch's whim, and followed him, making sure their hire car was secured.
The field Lelouch was currently crossing contained, of all things, sunflowers, bringing back yet more childhood remembrances for Suzaku. A narrow public footpath set out from the gap in the hedge, in the direction of a cluster of trees, which stood in the middle of the field without apparent reason. Suzaku jogged along the path, catching up with Lelouch.
"So, how are you planning on getting us underground?" he asked.
"Pretty easily. That cluster of trees marks the entrance to a service access to the network of underground tunnels that are the remains of the original Japanese transport network, as well as the later Britannian constructions. Access points this far out… although this isn't actually that far away from the original city, were often in large fields. They had to leave an area around the access point free of crops, and make sure there were no problems getting to it. So they generally allowed trees to grow around them. So, in those trees we'll find a way to get underground."
"How do you know that?" asked Suzaku, confused at the obscure information Lelouch was providing him with.
Lelouch mumbled something about making a dramatic entrance and breaking into the headquarters of the Kyoto group early on in his time as Zero.
Suzaku nodded, deciding he didn't actually want to know further details of that occasion. Lelouch would probably bring out the theatrical hand gestures. He knew from personal experience what Lelouch 'dramatic entrances' were like.
As it happened, when they did reach the trees, they found, somewhat concealed by plant life, a small metal hatch on the ground. As punishment for his apparent 'doubt' in Lelouch, Lelouch made Suzaku clear the overgrowth from the hatch before he deigned to kneel down and pick the highly unsecure and pretty old padlock that prevented passerby's from entering, with the small kit he'd thought to bring with him. He didn't really see quite why he'd had to do that, since Lelouch was wearing gloves anyway, but decided that it was perhaps best not to argue with him, it hadn't done him any good so far after all.
In fact, he pre-empted what Lelouch's next request would likely have been, by entering the hatch first of his own accord. After all, if there was someone or something down there planning on leaping out and attacking them, Suzaku knew he had a much better chance of dealing with it than Lelouch.
As it happened, there was nothing waiting to pounce at the bottom, but Suzaku had been able to give warning of a couple of rungs that had rusted through and were unusable. The bottom of the shaft was considerably better maintained, and gave Suzaku his first reliable reason as to why the person they were looking for might be here. In addition to the unexpected lighting which lined the ceiling, the underground corridor was clean, and modern, rather than dark and dank, and it smelled faintly of antiseptic, reminding Suzaku somewhat of hospital corridors.
Apparently this area was in use, and not for its original purpose.
Lelouch didn't seem fazed by the occupied nature of the area at the bottom of the shaft. But then, he was the one that was having the unusual dreams, and the strange 'feeling' at this being the right place, so he probably wasn't surprised that he was right. He did however smirk at Suzaku before grabbing his arm and dragging him down the corridor. Suzaku didn't bother asking how Lelouch knew which way they needed to go.
He did however wonder why Lelouch seemed so confident in wandering around what presumably counted as enemy territory. This was a 'rescue' mission after all. He questioned this when they arrived at an intersection and Lelouch momentarily hesitated, debating the direction.
Lelouch had shushed him and then quickly explained that given the times he'd had dreams he'd worked out when this place was actually in use by the staff, He'd calculated that there probably wouldn't be very many people here for at least another hour. Even so, when they passed by a cloakroom he'd slipped in and taken a couple of white coats; though disguises probably wouldn't be very effective, this apparently being a small operation, with very few people involved. It might mean that any security they came across wouldn't think much of them from a distance, and would give them cause to hesitate up close. Lelouch had transferred the contents of his handbag to pockets, given that the coat was concealing enough, and they would be easier to get at that way.
Suzaku tried to maintain a lack of paranoia as he followed Lelouch down another corridor and then a stairwell to the next level down. They'd seen no people so far, and the silence was eerie. It wasn't as if people knew they were coming. What was a cause of worry was the fact that Lelouch had had to hack into a system to get them thorough a password secured door. Lelouch had managed to get them through in less than five minutes, without apparent fuss, but Suzaku couldn't help suspecting that somewhere a silent alarm was going off.
Once they were through the door, Lelouch informed him that they were very close, and at pointed at one of the doorways that lined this hallway. The atmosphere down here was less like a hospital and more like a prison, it was not as clean, the lighting was dimmer; and the corridor was narrower than on the upper level. Suzaku couldn't help but notice the security camera watching them as they approached the door.
The door was made of thick steel and a red light glowed above it ominously. Lelouch fiddled around with the keypad. Suddenly the door whooshed open, catching Suzaku by surprise as he'd been staring down the way they'd entered, expecting security guards to come rushing after them at any moment.
As Lelouch stepped calmly into the room beyond, Suzaku lingered in the doorway, fingertips grazing his weapon, remaining alert.
The room's occupant didn't bother looking up as Lelouch entered; instead remained on the bed of the cell, seemingly asleep. Lelouch approached cautiously, raising his hand to shake the man awake. The man appeared to be in his late 30s, with dark brown hair and a short straggly beard which suggested it hadn't been cut in a few months.
As Lelouch touched his shoulder, the man jerked upright, standing quickly and pinning Lelouch by the shoulders to the wall behind him, the chain that bound his wrists together jingling as he did so.
Suzaku immediately raised his weapon, pointing it at the man in alarm, but lowered it somewhat when Lelouch made a dismissive gesture. Lelouch met the man's eyes calmly, waiting for recognition to set in. This man was a code bearer; he could sense it, as well as see the bird like sigil glowing faintly from where it nested, draped across the man's collarbone. Lelouch's own code mark prickled faintly on his palm as if in greeting. After a few moments had passed, the man relaxed, nodding in recognition as he stepped away from Lelouch.
"You are the new one. LL," said the man, taking in Lelouch's appearance. "You're a lot more… well… female than I was expecting."
Lelouch paused, not letting his expression slide into one of annoyance, before replying with an air of distaste. "This? This is just a disguise. And don't call me that. It's Lelouch. … or Lulu will suffice in this outfit."
The man smiled softly. "I'm EE, but if we're not using those names, you can call me Bill."
"Look… we don't really have time for introductions now," said Lelouch as he noticed Suzaku twitching anxiously in the doorway. "You're not the main reason I'm here; can you tell me where to find…" he faltered as he realized that he didn't really know who he was looking for or how to begin describing them.
"I know… you're here for him. He told me someone was coming; perhaps you'll be able to help him more than I have."
Lelouch hoped so too… if only to improve the quality of his sleep.
"His cell's down the hall on the left" said 'Bill'. "It's the only other room with a light. There aren't as many of us here they intended."
Lelouch didn't wait to find out who 'they' were. There would be time for that later when everyone was safe. Or failing that, he was sure somebody would let something slip should they be caught.
"Do something about his handcuffs," he said, tossing the small pouch which contained the lock picking equipment to Suzaku as he left the room. He made his way further down the corridor and located the right room, easily able to convince the door to open now that he knew what he was doing.
The door slid open, and the gloomy interior of the room beyond was exactly as he remembered from his dreams. He shifted to let more of the light from the corridor seep in, and let his eyes adjust as the scoped the room.
With a sudden pang of recognition, his eyes met those of the person sitting on the bed.
How? He's supposed to be dead?
AN: I'm not evil... though I did consider putting in the next line and letting you all know who it was… but since I've kept you waiting for two months (sorry again), I figured a week or two more won't make much difference.
Next chapter might be next week, or it might be the week after, it depends on how much work I need to do for my presentation, and how badly my finals go.
A final request: there's a poll on my profile. And also a very vague description for a new code geass story I'm planning to start after all my exam stuff is dealt with, for which I need title suggestions. Any response on either of those fronts is welcome.