Disclaimer:I don't own Lelouch or anyone else from Code Geass.

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When Lelouch finally woke up again he felt a slight twinge of pain in his stomach letting him know that the medicine was wearing off. He looked around to see that the room was dark now that the sun had finished setting and the only light was the faint glow of a nightlight beside his bed and the clock on the nightstand which read '10:05 P.M.'

Then there was a soft rustle beside him and Lelouch turned his head and jumped a bit when he saw a pair of eyes peeking over the edge of the bed at him.

"Hello there." he said kindly, realizing it was a small boy.

The child said nothing, instead he placed something on the bed beside him and pushed it towards him before he jumped up and scampered out of the room.

Lelouch starred after him for a moment before reaching over and picking up what the boy had left. After a moment, he realized it was a gelatin cup and a plastic spoon with a piece of paper taped to it. He held the paper up to the nightlight and saw, in a child's scrawl in blue crayon, "In case you get hungry."

He felt himself chuckle a little. "Well that was really nice of him." he said to himself with a smile. "While I never really cared for this stuff, I guess I can't be picky."

So he pulled himself up with a grimace as the pain in his stomach increased. But when he rested against the pillows he felt the pain begin to dissipate. Then he peeled off the foil lid and gratefully ate the apple flavored gelatin feeling much better as he set the empty cup and the spoon on the nightstand.

"I still don't get where here is." he muttered turning a little to try and see out the window.

But it was no use, all he could see outside was the darkness of the night.

So he just sighed and slowly laid back down and starred at the ceiling trying to make sense of what little he did know. But each time he tried to come up with options he just ended up lost with a dead end thought.

But he was so busy trying to think he never noticed that Leon had walked into the room.

"Confused are you?" he asked kindly, bringing Lelouch back to the real world.

Lelouch looked at him. "Where am I?" he asked curiously. "Mr. Ashtor only said that I'm in a place where Britannia doesn't exist."

"So he told you about the United States right?"

"Right."

"Well this is the state of California. La Jolla California to be exact which is by the southern tip on the coast. Actually, when it's light out, the ocean's quite literally right outside the window." he said walking around to a little desk and pulling the chair over by the bed where he sat down.

"Why am I here?"

"Dad figured you'd have an easier time recovering here than in a hospital or at his place with thirty kids running around everywhere. Here there's just the one and I noticed he came to pay you a visit." he said with a smile, picking up the empty gelatin cup.

"Yeah, I woke up and saw him peeking over the edge and when I said hello he just put the cup next to me then ran out of the room."

"That's Kit for you. He's very shy." said Leon with a laugh.

"Is he your brother?" Lelouch asked, noticing that Leon wasn't very old.

"No, he's my son."

"How old are you?"

"I just turned twenty. He's one of my father's rescued misfit children. Like I was. But when he realized Kit was having trouble getting along with the other children, he asked if I would take care of him since I'm pretty much settled."

"At twenty you're already settled?" said Lelouch in amazement.

"I graduated with my PhD a week before my birthday. I'm the youngest fighter pilot in world history and the youngest commanding officer. My father thought I was insane, but I already finished with my bachelors degree when I was thirteen, I got bored so I forged my paperwork and joined the Navy."

"And they didn't question your age?" Lelouch said curiously.

"I was already six foot two when I was thirteen and I never looked that young considering my hair was already going grey. They didn't find out until I turned eighteen. Then I admitted everything and by then it was too late for them to do anything because I was actually at a legal age. I've been flying for seven years now. Longer than my father has."

"Then your father's right, you are insane." Lelouch sighed, suddenly feeling stupid next to the true academic genius.

"I'd have to be to do the job I have." he shrugged.

"And I'm going to assume that your job is what cause your hair to go white."

"I don't think so. I don't know what made it go white." Leon admitted with a shrug. "As far as I know it never ran in the family I came from."

"Where are you from?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I'm from the UK. Whales to be exact. I was on the street for a few years, then a really nice lady who owned a pub took me in and dad met me when I tried to steal his wallet because she was in the hospital and I went without food for a week."

"You tried to steal his wallet and he adopted you?'

"Dad's a strange character. He rescued you didn't he? After all, you were considered the 'Mad Emperor' weren't you?"

"I'm guessing he told you?" Lelouch sighed.

"Yes. Anyway, how are you feeling? Ashtor told me that the medicine should be wearing off a bit by now."

"It is." Lelouch admitted.

"Well then I better get you some more." said Leon standing up. "Would you like another Jell-O cup?"

Lelouch thought for a moment. "Actually, I kinda would." he admitted honestly.

Leon just chuckled. "Alright, then I'll be back in a few minutes."

Lelouch waited patiently until Leon returned with another gelatin cup.

"Here you go Lelouch." he said, handing it to him before sitting back down in the chair.

"How tall are you now?" Lelouch asked curiously as he opened the snack.

"Six feet ten inches tall."

"Damn that's tall. How big is Mr. Ashtor? He made you look small."

"Ashtor is a foot taller than me."

Lelouch starred. "The man's almost eight feet tall?" he said in awe the spoon still in his mouth.

"Kinda funny to think he's the baby brother of the three Ashtor brothers. Cameron and Travis are ten and eleven years older but they're each about a foot and a half shorter."

"I'm guessing they're dead too?"

"Redemption works in funny ways." said Leon. "You now serve a living redemption. This means you can make up for your past wrongs before you truly die. They have redemption after death which then gives them the option to return to the living. How that works I have yet to find out."

"Now I'm really confused."

"You're going to be confused for a while Lelouch. There's so much that you don't know about here."

"So I'm just here?"

"You've been adopted in a way." Leon shrugged. Then he smiled. "You're now my newest little brother."

"Newest? How many others are there?"

"About fifteen other brothers. The rest are sisters. Out of over thirty kids in the family though only three were born into it, Trowa, Jack, and Sebastian."

"That's somewhat sad when so many kids end up adopted." Lelouch admitted.

"That's why we call my father's home, Midnightstar Sanctuary. It's our sanctuary, our safe haven where no one can hurt us anymore."

"So then, I'm here because he thought I'd recover better?"

"Only Kit's here with me. Well…… there is Mitch, but he doesn't always come around others."

"Mitch? A family pet or something?"

"No, he's the ghost of a glider pilot that died about sixty years ago. He likes to play with Kit in the playroom and he's very overprotective of him."

"A….. ghost? A ghost huh? What's Mr. Ashtor then?"

"A half living soul."

Lelouch just starred before shaking his head. "You're confusing me." he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"This family does that to people." said Leon standing up. Then he handed Lelouch a couple of pills and a bottle of water. "Here, take your medicine and go back to sleep. We'll talk more when I get home from work tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." said Lelouch taking the pain killers as he watched Leon put the chair back by the desk.

"Goodnight Lelouch."

"Goodnight." Lelouch said, then he watched as Leon closed the door behind him before laying back down and drifting off to sleep.