AN: Greetings faithful, I trust this installment finds you all well and good. We have reached the half way point of this particular story, I hope you've enjoyed it thus far. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, I know I say it a lot but it really does mean a lot to get feedback. I want to know if I'm doing things right or wrong. So again, thank you.

Hit the Wall

Kallen lay flat on her back, her arms and torso screaming out in pain. All that she could see above her was the crystal blue sky. Before long she could make out the clouds that peppered the scenery as well as buildings in the corners of her eyes. Her chest felt wet and sticky, she looked down to see the cause, only to find it stained crimson with her blood. She gasped for air realizing what had just happened, she tried to sit up but her body wouldn't respond. It would be another few minutes before she regained total control of her body.

"Kallen!" Gino screamed, rushing towards his friend on the ground. "Kallen, can you hear me? Say something!"

She recognized that voice. "Gi-no." Kallen coughed out, tilting her head back and closing her eyes from the building pain.

"You're going to be okay Kallen, just hang in there." He reached his arms under her and picked her up fireman style. As he started to walk Kallen was able to get a good view of the area where she had collapsed. There were three bodies near where she had woken up, she recognized them as the men she killed, the drug lords with the intent of forcing themselves on her. There was one other person though, a single man who was across the street his face down in the pavement.

"Wha- what happened?" Kallen asked, trying to find a comfortable way to rest her arms.

"I'm not sure, I was gonna ask you the same thing. All I heard were gunshots in the area, when I arrived I saw the man that was shooting you. I got to him as he was reloading." Gino didn't look down at her, she couldn't tell if it was because of fear or disappointment.

"Did you kill him?" Kallen asked curiously. The man was likely another drug lord that found out that she had killed three of his buddies. Secretly she hoped that Gino had killed the man, not for revenge, but if he did murder him that would mean she wasn't the only one... Guilt, like misery, loves company.

He didn't respond, he simply continued to look forward as he kept a steady pace towards the hospital. An ambulance would have been much easier but it wasn't too far away, there were plenty of clinics in the area due to the overwhelming need for them in the area. Her blood was running down his hands and beginning to soak into his uniform. He'd seen war plenty of times before, killed people unfortunately, but it still didn't prepare him for this. He never wanted to see a friend of his get caught up in a serious fight. It was fine for him to place his life on the line, as long as it didn't involve the ones he cared for. He was just selfish like that...

They arrived at the hospital shortly and checked her into the clinic. Nurses quickly whisked her away leaving Gino with a mountain of paperwork to fill out. He sat in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room and stared down at the handful of documents he'd been given. He wanted to just rip up all the legalities right there, time spent in the interest of paperwork was time that could have been spent with Kallen. Still he knew the procedures and followed them like a good soldier. Some parts of you never die. Nearly an hour later he was finished with the paperwork, he had to guess on a lot of answers because frankly, Kallen lived a rather sheltered life. She didn't share much of it with anyone, including him. He'd spent a long time trying to wear down the walls she placed around her. Perhaps his efforts today would give him some favor. He returned to the nurses' station and placed the paperwork on the counter, the woman behind the counter flipped through the pages quickly.

"Are you friend or family sir?" The nurse asked coldly.

"Friend." Gino lowered his head.

"Do you know of a way to contact her family?"

"I don't have her number, so no, I don't. Is she going to be okay?" Gino asked lightly, looking back up at the woman.

"She's conscious, all the bullets missed her vital organs, she's very lucky."

"So then I can see-"

"However," the nurse interrupted. "She has lost a considerable amount of blood, we'll monitor how she's doing after a transfusion. For now, you can wait, but I'd suggest you just go home."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kallen looked around in her empty room, it was so sterile and blank. Hospitals never really agreed with her, not since Naoto.. She had tubes going in and out her, her heartbeat could be heard through the steady beeps of the machine next to her. It always seemed so foreign to her, the idea that her heart could be represented by digital lines and monotone beeps. No one was allowed to see that part of her, she kept it locked away. And yet, there it was on a screen for everyone to see. Of course it wasn't that they could peer into her thoughts or feelings but it still didn't help shake the feeling of unease. The only person that she allowed that close was- "Lelouch!" Her memories came rushing back to her, the Black Knights had betrayed him, in her attempt to save him she had actually ensured his capture..

Why did she do everything wrong? She had the ability to go back in time and fix everything, even with all of the information given to her she still managed to make it worse. Going back through time wasn't everything people had always dreamed about, who's to say that you would do better with your second chance? That didn't change what she had to do now though. She had to go back and save Lelouch, whatever the cost. She knew she didn't have much time, with every passing minute Zero was likely to be getting in deeper and deeper trouble.

Kallen looked to her side and found her jacket that she had been wearing, did they seriously just leave it there? Did they know what she had in her pockets? She pulled herself to a sitting position, her body responded by shooting little twinges of pain up her spine. The medication she was on was effective but not absolute. She pulled the bed with her as she walked to her jacket, making sure not to disconnect any of the tubes and alert the staff. Carefully she picked up her jacket and searched the inner pockets, just as she had left there were still nine bottles inside. "Good." She couldn't imagine the trouble she would have to go through to get more in her current condition. She pulled out one of the vials and held it between her index finger and thumb. It was so small, just that little bottle had the ability to take her back to the man she cared for. What a beautiful thing it was. Without delay she searched her jacket for the needle, she searched every pocket but couldn't find it. It wasn't likely that the nurses would have taken it without taking the drugs.. Perhaps she dropped it in the ghetto. However this was the right place to be when looking for a needle, she'd just have to search the cabinets until she found a syringe. As she started to scrounge through the compartments, the door began to open. She gasped for breath and turned to find a familiar face standing in the doorway.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kallen's mother checked the mail and noticed that she had a letter addressed to Kallen Kozuki. She walked up to her room and placed it on her desk. It didn't have a return address on it, only two letters written in perfect cursive. "L.L."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The blonde haired boy looked down at Kallen. He hadn't gotten a good look at her until now, and she didn't look good. Her skin was pale except for the hollows of her eyes, which were darkened slightly. Even her eyes themselves seemed dull, they lacked the life that her azure eyes used to radiate. Perhaps it was the loss of blood or maybe a lack of sleep. He noticed that she had a syringe in her hands a small bottle in the other. "What is that?"

"Don't worry about it Gino." Kallen said in a protective manner.

"Is that what you went to the ghetto for?" He looked back to the door and locked it quickly. "You're doing drugs?" He asked quietly.

"I said leave it be. This isn't about you, I couldn't expect you to understand." Her voice was raspy but determined.

Gino knew that look in her eyes. "Kallen," he walked up towards her, reaching for the bottle. "I'm not going to let you do that. Just hand it to me and we can talk."

She jerked her hands away to pull the items from his reach. "I don't have time for that Gino, we can talk later."

"No we can talk now." He said sternly. "I'm not going to watch you do this to yourself." Again he reached for the bottle, this time a bit more forcefully.

Kallen jerked her hand away from him and quickly struck him with an elbow to the nose. The impact sent a wave of pain through her arm but she didn't care. He was standing between her and the only thing she wanted, the only thing she needed. With their distance closed Gino was able to swat at her hand knocking the bottle to the floor and smashing it. His vision was becoming blurry with tears, he couldn't see her movements clearly so it was difficult to counter them. "I didn't want to do this Gino." Kallen growled as she grabbed him roughly by the back of the head with her now free hand and brought it to connect with her right knee. He hit the ground and with a thud, Kallen raced over to her jacket and grabbed another bottle from the inner pockets. Gino was struggling to stand as she filled the syringe with the tinted liquid. "I have to save Lelouch."

"Kallen what are you talking about? He's gone, and good riddance-"

"How dare you talk about him like that." She said with a scowl on her face. "You have no idea what he did." She looked down at her arms which were still wrapped in bandages, blocking her from seeing a strong vein.

Gino finally made it to his feet although still unsteady. "Kallen that's not real, that's the drug talking. Can't you see what it's doing to you?" He turned his head quickly in reaction to a pounding on the door.

"I told you that you wouldn't understand..." Kallen raised the syringe and Gino lunged for her, before he could reach her she plunged the liquid into her neck, she hardly even felt it. He grabbed her a moment and grasped the empty syringe, throwing it to the side.

"Kallen!" He shook her lightly as the door was unlocked from the outside.

She looked up with a smile on her face, a group of people looking down at her. They didn't have facial features, just blank skin, their mouths moved but no words came out. The drug was claiming her quickly this time, whether it was from the injection spot or her lack of blood, she didn't care. She closed her eyes and let bliss take her away.

AN: There we have it, another chapter down. Thanks for tuning in, I'll see you in about a week, or if you're reading 'Wings' I'll see you in a couple of days, that chapter is gonna be a doozy ; )