Author's Note:

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay again! Enjoy Chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Sympathy For The Devil

"How is she?" The voice was so meek, so feeble, that the whir of the door had nearly masked the question.

Ogi swallowed a hard knot at the back of his throat, his mouth going dry as he moved over the threshold, "I don't know."

He stood there for a moment, in the silence, looking at their prisoner, his brilliant white jacket scuffed and dirtied, his body hunched forward, head bowed, hands cuffed to his seat. Ogi felt his stomach churn, but he forced himself to move, willing himself to take the seat opposite the boy.

"Zero sent me here…" Ogi refused to look at him, staring at the table between them instead, "If her condition improves, I'll bring you to her."

Suzaku remained silent and Ogi fidgeted in his seat, taking pains to take only momentary glances at the prisoner. Suzaku Kururugi… honorary Britannian, personal knight of Princess Euphemia, pilot of Lancelot… sat before him, broken. Ogi could feel his stomach knotting up. It didn't feel right. He had heard Diethard crowing, had seen Kallen's concern for him… he wasn't sure what Tohdoh had wanted, but he had been waiting to speak with him… Why had Zero chosen him?

"I failed her."

"What?" Ogi snapped back to the boy, staring at his mottled hair.

"I failed her." Suzaku head shook slowly, tears dripping onto his pant legs, "I was supposed to protect her, but I didn't."

Ogi's mouth fell open… what was he going to say? Was there anything to say? "I…" He stopped himself, looking away again, "The doctors are going to take care of her."

"Why did I let her go with him? I never should have let her be alone with him." He bowed his head deeper, "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

Ogi sat silently, watching Suzaku punish himself. His fingers dug into his knees, pulling the fabric taut, and he looked to the floor. "Stop."

Suzaku was silent for a moment, then slowly rose, his shoulders slumped as he looked at the terrorist before him, "What?"

Ogi's eyes flicked from the floor to the boy, "I said stop." He gnawed on his lip, "You can't change the past." He looked back to the floor, "You can only learn from it. That's all it's good for." Suzaku stared at the man, watching his grip loosen and his eyes slowly drawing back to him. "If you really you want to protect her then you won't do this to yourself. You'll make sure you don't fail the next time."

Suzaku blinked, watching the man for a moment longer before bowing his head. "Thank you." He whispered, and they waited in silence.

444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

The door opened and Zero looked up, watching as one of the doctors exited the room, "How is she?"

"She's stable." The doctor looked back to the door, "but we haven't been able to determine a cause."

"Is she going to be ok?"

"We're still not sure what happened." The doctor shook his head, "I can't guarantee it won't happen again."

"Very well." Zero stood silent for a moment, "Is she awake?"

"No." The doctor shook his head, "And I would recommend against waking her unless it's necessary. She needs to rest."

"I understand." Lelouch looked away beneath the mask, "Would it be all right if I stayed with her?"

"We would like to continue monitoring her, but we can do that from another room."

Zero nodded, and the doctor headed back into the room.

CC reclined on the couch behind him, "Are you going to wait until she wakes up?"

"Yes." Lelouch watched as the doctors and nurses filed out of the room, leaving them alone.

"What are you going to tell her when she wakes up?"

"The truth."

"Whose truth?" CC smiled, knowing Lelouch wouldn't answer.

444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

"Euphie."

Euphemia's eyes squeezed shut and then opened, the light nearly blinding her. "Suzaku?"

"Euphie." His voice called her again, and she pushed herself up from the ground.

She stopped, looking about in awe at the thousands of flowers in bloom, "The royal gardens?" She shook her head, rising to her feet and approaching one of the rosebushes, "How did I get here?"

"Euphie."

Euphie snapped back to her senses, ignoring the flowers, "Suzaku, where are you?" She took a step forward, placing her hand on an ivy-lined trellis, "I can't see you."

"Euphie…" His gloved hands reached out and clasped hers, "I'm right here."

"Suzaku." She sighed, smiling in relief as she turned to look at him. The smile died instantly as she saw him, his kind smile and sparkling eyes doing nothing to hide the hole in his forehead. Euphemia's mouth fell open, the color draining from her face, "N-no…" She pulled her hand back, but he held her firmly.

"I'm right here beside you Euphie." He tipped his head, fire spreading behind him, and the blaze spreading around them, illuminating the royal garden as it was engulfed in flames "I'll love you just like you asked me to."

"No!" She struggled to pull herself free from his grasp, "Suzaku, let go of me!" She grabbed his arm, trying to break his grasp, "Let go!"

He released her and she spilled backward, the ground seeming to give way beneath her as she fell. She screamed, reaching out, only to have her hands guided back to her chest. "Shh…" Cornelia loomed over her, "Euphie, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Cornelia." Euphie's eyes widened, "Suzaku…" She shook her head, mouth agape, "I don't understand what's going on."

"It's ok Euphie, really." The fire lapped over Cornelia, rising through her hair and licking her face, "It's all going to be fine."

"No!" Euphie screamed as her sister burned, her face blistering from the heat, the flames spreading toward her. She struggled against Cornelia's grasp. "Please! Someone help me!"

"Euphie…" Suzaku knelt down in front of her, hovering over her, shaking his head gently, "Don't worry, we'll be here with you."

"No… please… I don't want this…" She shook her head, watching as Suzaku lowered himself toward her…

444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

"No…" Euphemia twisted and turned beneath the covers of the bed, shaking her head, a look of fear on her face, "Suzaku no… please…" The words were soft, mere murmurs in her sleep, but Lelouch felt their weight. He did not turn away; it was part of his punishment to watch her struggle with what he had done to her. She whimpered and he felt ill, slowly reaching out to touch her, to try to comfort her.

His gloved hand brushed against her cheek and she screamed, a rush of motion throwing herself back away from him, nearly rolling off the bed. She stared at him with wide eyes, her entire body trembling as she drew in quick breaths. His hand hung there, in air, and he stared at her from behind his mask. "I-I'm sorry…"

Euphemia's body tensed, and she threw herself at him, her arms wrapped around him, "Lelouch… I… I…" She could feel tears begin to stream from her eyes, "It was horrible..."

Lelouch felt numb as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, "It's ok… it's ok. It was a nightmare." He stopped himself. For all he knew, it wasn't. Geass had made people forget… but he had never been with someone after it had lasted so long. Did it linger in their minds, in their dreams?

She pushed herself back, kneeling in the bed, "What happened?" She looked at herself; at the gown the doctor's had put her in, "Where are we? Why am I in this?"

Lelouch looked away from her, "Euphie, what do you remember?"

She stared at him, "I…" She looked away, trying to think, trying to remember, "I… remember I was talking to you, and then… it's just lights and flashes." She shook her head, "Lelouch, what happened? Did something happen? Please, Lelouch, tell me what's going on."

"Euphie…" He trailed off, closing his eyes and reaching to the back of his, removing his mask. He still could not look at her, "Euphie, I need you to forgive me."

"Forgive you?" She stared at him, "I-I don't understand. What did you do?"

"I did something terrible." Lelouch swallowed the hard knot in his throat, "I hurt someone I care about… in ways they can't imagine."

"Lelouch—"

"Please. Euphie, I need you to forgive me." He looked at her, opening his eyes, revealing his curse to her, "I need you to forgive me for what I've done."

"Y-your eye…" She drew back, "what happened to you?"

"I made a contract with someone. I was given the ability to make anyone follow a single command, and they will follow it, no matter what it is."

Euphie stared at the eye, her heart beating quicker, "Lelouch, you're scaring me."

"Euphie," He reached out and grabbed her hands, "please. I need you to forgive me."

She was still trembling, "Lelouch, what did you do?"

"I hurt you. I lost control of my ability, and I hurt you."

"How?" Her voice trembled, "What was your command?"

Lelouch closed his eyes, his hands slipping away from hers, "I ordered you to destroy Britannia."

There was a moment of silence, and Lelouch felt Euphie's hand brush the hair from his forehead before she gently kissed his brow. "Of course I forgive you Lelouch." He opened his eyes, watching Euphemia smile at him, her eyes glazed red, "Now, are you going to help me?"

Author's Notes: I must have revised that opening scene a dozen and a half times. It took me three weeks to get the first page done… shakes head Otakon was a blast, which was great, since I had been looking forward to it all year. I got a lot of great pictures taken (apparently, I was the only person who went as Buggy the Clown) and took a lot myself, as well as grabbed a bunch of stuff from the dealer's room, and a few pictures from the artist galley.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading and commenting.