The first thing C.C. was aware of was that she was sitting up against something cold and metallic. Odd, considering she distinctly remembered falling on her back after getting shot. The second was the kind of static that came from messing with radio signals coming from somewhere next to her..

The immortal opened her eyes and saw herself in an abandoned building. About what she expected, all things considered. Except for that fact that there were not any bodies in sight and that this looked like a fast food kitchen. Again, odd.

She looked around and saw what looked to be a Britannian schoolboy with a ruined uniform that looked stained with what she hoped was fruit juice, but was confident was liquid one would find in a garbage can. This in of itself intrigued her, as she couldn't remember the last time a Britannian would willing defile themselves by coming to a place like this, much less in actual trash. She couldn't make out many other features thanks to the bike helmet he was wearing, but she could tell that there was radio transceiver in his hands; probably from a now deceased Britannian officer.

"Come on! What frequency would the resistance be using? Think, Think!" he said to himself in a quiet yet frantic voice. "Lelouch had to figure it out to talk to them, so you can too!"

'He knows Lelouch?' she thought to herself with curiosity, 'does that mean that this boy came with him and perhaps got separated?' As she looked at him, she realized that the uniform looked remarkably similar to Lelouch's, which meant that yes, this boy probably does know Lelouch.

She was still a bit disoriented, but this time, from the bullet to her brain – she could never get used to how those felt on the way in – but she could feel something; that same weird feeling that she felt before. She couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from yet, but she could that it was very close.

Before could she try to pinpoint the feeling, she was cut off by mechanical rasp of voices through a radio, "–1, do you have an area map?" one voice said. She could tell thanks to her contract with him that this was in fact Lelouch. She admittedly wanted to listen to more, but the dirtied schoolboy cut off anything else that was said.

"YES!" he exclaimed before realizing that he been a bit loud and looked toward the entrance, making sure that no one heard him. He turned down the volume of the radio as well, she noticed. "Alright, let's not do that again," he said in a much more reserved tone.

"–there are no current landmarks," a female voice came from the transceiver this time, with what C.C. thought was anxiety; she couldn't particularly tell from the static interference .

"It'll do," Lelouch's voice came through once more. C.C. looked to the boy and could tell that he was nervous; trying to find the right time to say what he wanted. To say that he was tense was an understatement. Lelouch's voice continued on talking about specific tactics for the group he was leading, before eventually saying, "Is everything prepared?" followed by a murmur of general assent.

After another minute or two, finally, the boy took a deep breath, pushed and held a button on the transceiver, and spoke in a deeper voice than before, saying, "Be on guard. They a have secret weapon. It's a prototype seventh generation Knightmare Frame. You can't beat it, so make sure there minimal casualties," and immediately stopped holding the button.

As expected, there was a lot of voices suddenly shouting in confusion, anger, and/or fear. Generally, it was just the usual 'who are you?' 'how did you find this channel?' and 'what do you mean secret weapon!?'

Her eyes narrowed at that. 'How does he know that? And even ignoring the 'how,' the 'why' is just as big a question... Who are you?' She thought to herself.

Surprisingly, the boy put down the device and just let out a sigh a relief. She had expected him to continue to act as a puppet master, pulling the strings from the shadows. But no; he just said what he wanted and left the rest to whoever was on the other side, trusting that they would be able to handle it on their own.

Then she was able to fully shake off the disorientation that plagued her. She was able to pinpoint exactly where that weird feeling was.

It was this boy.

This random student had more of her attention and curiosity than almost anyone. However, he also had her suspicion. Could he have a geass, one that let him know these types of things? Was he like Mao? Was he related to V.V.? These questions plagued her mind, almost compelling her to find out more about her supposed 'savior,' not that she needed one.

So, she decided that she should use oldest trick in the book to get answers.

Trip him up and make him admit something he wasn't wanting to.

"How'd you guess the radio signal?" She asked casually.

His head shot up toward her and she finally was able to see his face. She mentally smirked. 'Well,' she thought, 'at least I've gotten something out of this.'


Lelouch was currently experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. First, terror at almost dying, shock at whatever that girl did to him, satisfaction with a hint of concern at his new power, hysteria at managing to completely outmatch his older brother, and now confusion at whoever just gave them a warning.

'Who is he?' was the first thought that came to Lelouch's mind. It sounded familiar, but whoever it was deepen his own voice so he wouldn't be recognized. Some part of Lelouch was disappointed he didn't think of doing that. Regardless, someone who knew him was part of this resistance cell.

The second thought was along the lines of 'How does he know that?' Lelouch honestly wrote it off as someone trying to cause fear among the troops, make them sloppy.

The voice succeeded if that was the case. There was discord among most of the terrorists. The leader of their troupe was attempting to calm them down, with varying degrees of success. Lelouch had to do his part too.

"Everyone, calm down. Whoever that voice was doesn't matter. He was either trying to cause infighting or was telling the truth. As it stands, it's probably the former. As such, we are to change radio frequencies as soon as possible. You are to hold your positions until further notice."

After everyone gave affirmation, sometimes reluctantly, Lelouch briefly thought about the voice again. If he was a spy, then the last maneuvers shouldn't have worked, at least to that extent. And if he had just figured out the frequency, then any competent opponent would stay silent and just listen.

So why didn't he?

Lelouch was interrupted from his musings by a resistance member leading the front lines.

"This is B group, reporting enemy presence."

Lelouch, being a bit more tense then he otherwise would be immediately responded: "Status report." In another time, he might have been more lax at his apparent victory, but the mysterious voice gave him pause. He might have gone gambling with Rivalz, but he was no risk taker.

Rivalz.

Lelouch briefly entertained the idea of Rivalz being the voice, they sounded similar enough, but how and why would he know and say these things? He put these thoughts to the side for now. He had a battle to win, after all.

The leader of B group replied with a shaky voice saying, "Everyone ejected, but they took out four units in nothing flat."

"Enemy numbers?" Lelouch was beginning to have a bad feeling.

"Just one. I think it's a new model, like how that voice said! I've never seen anything like it!" The last thing Lelouch heard from B group was a horrible scream.

Lelouch was in shock. He thought the voice was just trying to sow chaos, but after Lelouch saw that the Knightmare was able to deflect bullets somehow, he realized that the voice was genuinely just trying to warn them. That was a can of worms in and of itself, but he can worry about that later. He's got much bigger problems at the moment.

"We are to organize a retreat immediately! The voice was telling the truth! Whatever this thing is, we're outmatched!" Lelouch nearly barked out orders. He had no idea why anyone who knew about this prototype frame would tell terrorists about it, but at the moment, he was more concerned with getting as many of his troops out of there as possible.

He didn't even realize he considered them his troops.

Continuing, Lelouch said, "I'll run decoy, you all are to make your way to a safe base of operations!"

Lelouch wasn't exactly sure why he decided to put the lives of random terrorists over his own; perhaps it was because the command to keep deaths minimal that came with the voice's warning; perhaps he was wanting to keep this terrorist group as they proved more competent than most, and gain their trust; or perhaps it was just that he wanted to see what this seventh generation frame could do personally. Whatever the reason, he took the leap, now he has to hope that the fall doesn't kill him.

"Let me help! I have the least valuable Knightmare!" he heard Q-1 say, but he shook his head.

"No, you are the most valuable pilot we have. Your safety is more important than an easier situation."

With that, Lelouch moved out into the open, hoping to draw the new frame's fire. After a moment it appeared, and Lelouch did his best to out maneuver the white knight, but was constantly outmatched. He was almost forced to eject when he shot nearby buildings to provide cover. The Knightmare wasn't even slowed by the debris. If it wasn't for the act of heroism the pilot provided toward a falling mother, Lelouch would be in danger of death.

Whatever. The encirclement around Clovis should be thin enough for him to make his way through.

Time to pay a visit to family.


'I feel I should have been more prepared for this,' I thought while staring down C.C. How did this happen? Well, let me recount the last thirty minutes.

After Lelouch first used his geass, I heard what sounded like a motor. Realizing that this was a knightmare, specifically Villeta, I hid a bit further past the wall. I then heard Lelouch and Villeta's exchange where he learned his geass required eye contact.

However, they only show part of what happens in the show.

After Villeta gave Lelouch her Knightmare, Lelouch gave her another order while the geass was active: "Move to a warehouse similar to this one, at least 5 minutes away." I imagine the Lelouch did this to keep her occupied, and I'm glad for it. After that, Lelouch left.

While Villeta was moving to carry out those orders, I ran past her, knowing that she wouldn't care I was here if she was under geass. I grabbed a radio transceiver from the captain, placing it in my pocket, as well as C.C. and carried her on my back. It wasn't actually as difficult as I expected, but that's probably thanks to Rivalz's physique.

The reason I grabbed a radio was because I realized that if I could warn the resistance about the Lancelot, than there could be less harm done to them. There could be death if people are unprepared for the seventh gen Knightmare, so I should at least try to help. And who knows if the smallest differences I made could result in a big impact. I just want to make sure that, at least for now, things happen mostly according to canon by helping the story along; barring my alliance with C.C.

I ran as fast as I could toward the direction Villeta came from, thinking that Britannia wouldn't worry about sweeping through a building they've already swept. I found a small, easy to hide in building, specifically as restaurant, where I placed C.C. in a back room. I didn't want her to just lie on the floor, so I propped her up against the wall.

I began fiddling with the radio signal in an attempt to gain contact with the resistance. I spent about 5 minutes just doing that, every second I was getting more frustrated until I finally figured it out. I may have gotten a bit too excited at find the signal. I blame the Rivalz part of me.

To say I was intrigued by Lelouch explaining his strategies would be a massive understatement. I was completely captivated, almost bewitched. No wonder he got this resistance cell to work for him; he has a golden tongue and an utterly brilliant mind! Knowing this and experiencing it are two completely different things!

I quickly left my message warning them of the Lancelot. After, I just put the radio transceiver down, and tried to relax. The past couple hours were unbelievably stressful. I was almost calm again, too.

Then C.C. decided to start a conversation.

"How'd you guess the radio signal?" A smooth, slightly seductive voice asked from beside me.

I was so focused on the transceiver that I had forgotten about her for a brief moment. This resulted in me jumping at her sudden voice, even causing me to turn toward her to see where it came from.

Which leads us to now; us staring each other down, taking in the details of the other's face. Well, there goes my chance at remaining anonymous. Might as well take the plunge, then.

"W-well, uh," was I stuttering? Again, I blame the Rivalz part of me. Ignore the fact that Rivalz already has experience with talking to beautiful girls already.

Back on topic, what should I tell her? I want her to be an ally, that's the whole reason I came here in the first place. How do I go about gaining her trust? Do I just start out honest about the whole situation immediately out the gate, or do I work up to the truth?

Talk now, think later. I've got only so long before she simply loses interest. "I just thought about what a resistance group would want their signal to be if they wanted to hide from Britannia. So, in my mind, there were two options for doing that: making the signal be as far from Britannia's as possible, or, the correct option, make it so close that they wouldn't think to look at that signal out of arrogance."

C.C. looked at me as if I were an exotic animal at the zoo. I can't exactly blame her; there are very few Britannians that acknowledge the arrogance of the nation, fewer still being the age I am. Or rather, Rivalz is.

"And you just thought of this?" she asked with a slight curiosity to her voice, as if I just casually proclaim aliens were real.

"Well, yeah," I replied as if it were obvious. "I had to find the right signal to warn everyone about the Lancelot, it was just necessary."

Great. Now she was looking genuinely confused. I don't know if this a good thing or not. This might be more difficult than convincing Lelouch that I'm an ally. Actually, no it's not. At this point, Lelouch is very geass trigger happy –and will be for a while in the story– and if I so much as make him slightly suspicious, he'll geass me to give answers.

"That's very brave," she finally said in mostly monotone voice, pulling me from my thoughts. "Also very stupid."

"That's a bit harsh," I said defensively, "How do you mean?"

"You revealed that you have knowledge of government secrets. That will a target on our back no matter whose side your on. If you're with Britannia, then you've either betrayed them or you're a spy for a terrorist cell. Either way, you'll have the entire Britannia military looking for you if word gets out, which you don't want. And the terrorists will try to get you to join them so that your knowledge can help them.

"If you're with the terrorists, then you've revealed that you have an in with Britannia government, and to the surprise of the cell you've just contacted. They wouldn't react like that if they were aware of your involvement. Therefore, you've made an enemy of a terrorist cell that can very well kill everyone close to you."

She figured all of that just by watching me for a couple minutes?! I understand she has literal centuries of experience, but still! I didn't even think of any of that; although I guess I didn't need to worry about it thanks to how I know these things.

"W-well," I started feeling a touch intimidated as I realize just how outmatched I am by this woman, "that's why I hid my voice from everyone: so no one would recognize me."

"Then you knew that someone that could recognize you was using the same radio frequency that you were. Considering that you are wearing the same school uniform, I'm guessing it's Lelouch you were hiding from."

Busted. I know that she's very aloof, but if she so much as mentions that I look familiar, Lelouch will use geass to learn everything that I know, and that could cause so many problems once we get to Mao it's not even –

Mao! That's it! That's my out here.

"I'm hiding from him so that I can keep valuable information from Mao," I said slightly too casually. To say she looked horrified at that statement would be an understatement. Is it weird I'm feeling pride for this?

"How on earth do you know about Mao?" she asked, voice still pretty level, but I could feel the edge in her voice pressing against my neck like a knife. I could tell that if she wasn't satisfied with my answer, I would be a dead man. I have had only a little martial arts experience from my previous life; she has had literal centuries of time to learn.

"I promise to answer every question you have as long as you promise to not harm me in any way. I only want to help Lelouch and you as well, C.C."

Her eyes narrowed at me calling her C.C., confused at how I knew that when I've only just met her. Eventually, she relaxed and gave nod while saying, "I accept on the condition that if it's ever revealed that you are related to Code R, I will not hesitate to bring you a swift death."

Ah. That's right. Clovis was effectively torturing her not long ago. "Considering I have no relation to it, I accept."

This seemed to give her pause. Was she trying to tell if I was lying? I wouldn't be surprised if that's a skill she picked up over the centuries.

"First question: what school do you and Lelouch go to?" she suddenly asked.

Oh, come on! That's cheating! Now you can just report to Lelouch that I know something once you find him, leaving me as soon you find everything! But, I suppose a deal's a deal...

"Now I get why he calls you 'witch'," I mumble under my breath before continuing, louder this time, "Ashford Private Academy. It's over in the northern part of Ja – Area – Hold on, I don't know what to call this country right now." I genuinely didn't. The Rivalz part of me wanted to say Area 11, while the past life version of me wanted to say Japan. It was very frustrating.

As I stopped for a moment to think whether I should call it Area 11 or Japan, C.C. changed her look of suspicion to one pure befuddlement. I could almost hear the gears in her head turning, wondering if I was an idiot or not. Giving up, I just decided to continue.

"Whatever its called! The northern part of it! I'm sure you can find it on a map somewhere in the Tokyo Settlement!" I spat out while crossing my hands, feeling flustered. "Next question; I don't want to think too long on that encounter!"

C.C. seemed to find this amusing as I saw a smirk on her face. "Alright, I'll oblige." The smirk quickly disappeared, "How do you know about Mao, is it related to your geass, or are have you been following either of us?"

I had a feeling this question was coming. Sorry C.C., but this question probably won't be answered for a while. "I do not have a geass, and I haven't been stalking either of you in any capacity," I said with a perfectly straight face.

She immediately looked insulted that I would lie, but as time passed, and she studied my face more, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly, as it became clear to her that I was telling the truth.

She talked in the most vulnerable voice I think I've only heard from her when her memories were lost, "H-how can you possibly –?"

"Attention all forces!" Clovis's voice boomed on some speakers, interrupting her, "Cease fire at once!"

As Clovis continued to talk about how all deaths are to be treated equal, I looked at C.C. and, somewhat regretfully said, "I've to go now, but you know where to find me if you have more questions! I live in the boy's dormitory, room number 317!" I'm not sure exactly why I said all that unprompted, but I didn't time to worry about it. I have to find a way out of the ghetto.

"What's your name?" I heard C.C. ask as I was leaving.

"Rivalz," I respond simply and instantly. It doesn't matter if she knows my name or not, she can easily find out. But that doesn't change the fact that I responded without thinking it through. Seems like I'm getting more and more used to being one person with two personalities.

Now, let's find a way back to Ashford.


AN:

Hi everyone! I want to thank everyone who has enjoyed this story so far, and I hope you all will continue to do so!

Don't have much else to say, so I hope you all have a good day!