"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

A Surprising Reveal

Kallen

Standing at the entrance to a warehouse at Port Yokosuka, Kallen couldn't help but feel some relief, though the guilt still ate at her. Zero, who was sitting a distance away from her leaning on a cargo container, his face cover, had made sense when he said sacrifices would be unavoidable and that the Black Knights walked the path of blood. 'I wonder if Zero knew that there were civilians there, or that the mudslide would be so large. Also I'm surprised at how skinny Zero is under his clothes'

The spiky-haired redhead let out a sigh, knowing that asking that question was pointless. She and the rest of the Black Knights could either advance, knowing they have blood on their hands, or stop, and leave Japan defenseless against the exploitation and oppression of the Britannians. Only the JLF before could oppose them, but it seems they were positioned to retreat from Japan, seeing that their ship was in the harbor. Resolve grew in her, though she wished it didn't have to come at the cost of her friend's father.

'I can feel guilty later. Right now, we have a mission to do.' Kallen looked at the shadowy figure of Zero, wondering what was going on in his head. Suddenly, a thought came into her head, one that she had put in the back of her mind a long while ago. Zero was only a short distance away, his mask off, only a towel covering his identity. She had been tentatively curious who he was before during the hotel hostage situation, but she had chickened out.

She had thought it was her classmate, Lelouch, for a bit but he turned out to be a lazy genius. 'There was no way someone like him could have been Zero. But I do wonder how Zero got the number of the phone at the school.' But Zero was right here in front of her and they were alone. The other black knights were prepping for the operation, so none of them would show up.

Clearing her throat and steeling herself, she spoke with as much confidence as she could, "Zero?"

Her commander replied with curiosity, "Kallen?"

"A while ago you offered to let me see who you are, but I was too nervous to say yes. Is that offer still on the table?"

She could hear the smirk on his face as he responded to her, "I never expected that to come up again. Are you sure you want to know? It might disappoint you."

Kallen scowled slightly, "I know you aren't Japanese, but I want to see the face of the man leading us."

Zero stood up, chuckling, "Well, if you insist. Just please don't yell." She looked with anticipation as the man, who clearly had black hair, began to walk towards her, looking down so she couldn't see his eyes. He clearly had very little muscle definition. 'You would think he would be in shape if he was a terrorist.'

But she was shocked as the familiar purple eyes of her classmate met her, a smirk on his face, "Well, I can't imagine you would expect me."

Kallen couldn't come up with the words to speak. Zero was Lelouch. 'ZERO WAS LELOUCH!' Her lazy classmate, who had said people submitting to their conquerors was ok if you needed to survive. Who seemed annoyed at all the tasks that Milly gave him to do. Who was so cold at times, yet she could see the love in his eyes when he spent time with his sister.

"You…you were…for how long…why-?" She rambled on, the connection between the figure that led them to victory over and over again, and the classmate that she got annoyed at and saw no ambition having a hard time connecting. How could he be Zero? How could he pretend to be so lazy?

Lelouch just looked at her curiously, that infuriating smirk on his face, "I see I have left you speechless. I guess there's a first for everything."

Anger rose up in Kallen, who glared at Lelouch, trying her best to not yell, "Why the hell are you Zero? How did you manage to fake Zero calling me?"

Lelouch shrugged, "I have my ways. But let's take this away from the door. I don't want someone to stumble in on our little conversation."

Kallen grumbled, knowing he was right, but her mind was still a jumble of thoughts, trying to connect her memories of Lelouch and Zero. But they were just so different. Lelouch avoided theatrics while Zero used it to inspire the Black Knights. Lelouch seemed so…mundane while Zero could draw anyone's attention in a room.

Almost like he was reading her mind, Lelouch spoke, "I can see you have a hard time putting together my two personas." He chuckled, "It would be very easy for you to identify me if I act like Zero at school. Just like you with your fake sick persona. So I think you know exactly why I act the way I do."

Those words helped calm the storm in her mind, it all making sense. Of course no one would suspect the lazy genius would be an active terrorist, like no one would suspect a sick girl to be the ace of the Black Knights.

Still glaring slightly, she spoke quietly, "So what do we do now?"

"The same as we are doing now. We have an operation to do and I need you at your best. After we finish up here, we can have a longer talk. I'm certain you have questions for me."

She nodded, his logic correct. She had a million questions in her mind, but now was not the time. It was annoying to admit, but Zer-Lelouch was correct. 'God I don't know how to deal with this right now. I guess I'll have to pretend.' For now, she could push the fact Zero was her classmate to the back of her mind. She would make a list when she could ask him, but right now she needed to be Q-1 of the Black Knights. 'Why do I feel my life is about to get way more complicated?'

Lelouch

'Ah my Q-1.' Lelouch watched the beautiful redhead walk out of the hanger, chuckling under his breath. He certainly did not expect her to ask him to reveal his identity, but he did offer to do it a long time ago, so it was only fair that he do it. It did help that he knew she kept a second identity, so he could trust that she knew how to keep a secret. 'I'm in a good mood. There are worse people that could find out his identity.'

He knew he had to be secretive, to protect his sister from the consequences of him being Zero or the former eleventh prince of Britannia, but with Kallen, at least he had something she could be threatened with, so it wasn't like he didn't have blackmail against her if the worst happened. Though he trusted she would keep her mouth shut, if be a little distracted this evening.

She was an intelligent girl, and had even suspected that he might be Zero, which was partially his fault. 'It's not like I could have known the limits of my powers back then.' His demand to keep the info and questions he asked about Shinjuku secret were a bit forceful, but thankfully his geass had given him a convenient cover story. 'Unfortunately, it's one less person I can use my geass on, but it was one less person to worry about hunting me down.' There was a small bonus in seeing her naked when she threatened him with a knife, but her bashfulness was kind of cute.

Either way, that secret was now known by one more person. This was a calculated risk. She was his best ace and losing her could threaten the Black Knights overall, but he could use this to create a more organic sense of loyalty. She was an energetic, skilled and smart young woman who believed in the cause of freeing Japan from Britannia. And he could make a plausible cover story to have the two get closer on campus as well as any other reason for being away from the school. 'It's not like either of us have the best attendance record.'

He didn't want to use her as a tool, not optimally. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about plans or just Britannia without having to deal with the constant snark and annoyance from CC. 'If I get kicked out of my bed one more time…' And having a second person to run…select plans by could help a bit, though his geass would be his little secret.

He just quietly laughed and shook his head. But all this could wait for later. Right now, he had two thorns to remove from his side. 'With the JLF gone, the resistance groups will be forced to join the Black Knights and with Cornelia gone, Euphemia will take over as leader of Area 11.' He could only hope Kallen could hold off the white helmeted knightmare while the rest of his forces captured or killed Cornelia.

Author's Note

Welcome to the intro to a potential Code Geass story I might write in the future. I currently have plans for a big Gundam 0 story, but I wanted to get this out and see what interest this draws. I vaguely remember years ago someone used this concept but for the life of me I couldn't find it. But otherwise this will not be a harem, strictly Lelouch/Kallen and will focus on more interpersonal stuff over action overall. There will be fighting occasionally, but I like exploring characters and dynamics. I hope you enjoy!