Another long overdue chapter, but at least it's a little more consistent than it was! To be honest the delay for this chapter is purely because I was simply putting it off, so apologise for that.

Without further ado, here's the next chapter of Kallen the Loyal!

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass

"Jeremiah, summon C.C. to the throne room for me." Lelouch spoke into his communicator as he walked, Kallen following diligently behind him as they approached. "Make sure you're there as well."

"Yes, your highness." The cyborg responded, prompting Lelouch to place the device back into his pocket. Ideally, having Lloyd and Cecile there for this conference would be beneficial as well, if only to provide some light-hearted humour to the situation due to the Earl's lack of situational awareness. However, the production of the knightmares came first, and Lelouch couldn't pull them away for such a simple reason. As a result, he'd decided he would only need Jeremiah, Kallen and C.C. for this event.

As the thoughts of the redhead crossed his mind, Lelouch glanced back at the Knight of Zero as she was following behind him, thoughts of the tender moment they'd shared just seconds before now dancing across his psyche, causing his cheeks to flush slightly at the memory. It hadn't been his first kiss, that honour had gone to C.C. during the Black Rebellion, but that one seemed to be a simple sign of their bond as opposed to what he and Kallen had just done.

Pushing impure thoughts to the back of his mind, Lelouch steeled himself as he willed his blush to vanish from his face. He couldn't very well show weakness during an important meeting such as this.

Entering the throne room, the Emperor of Britannia was pleased to see that both Jeremiah and C.C. were already present, with the Knight of Orange standing to attention next to C.C.'s throne as she sat there lazily. "At ease, Jeremiah." Lelouch called out, raising a hand slightly. "Whilst it's important to show my trust in you all, I don't need to have you standing so still like your life depends on it."

Breathing out gently, the former Pureblood smiled softly. "Thank you, your highness."

Sitting down onto his own throne, he continued. "Having said that, you could stand to sit a little straighter, Witch." He remarked snidely, glaring slightly at the green haired woman next to her as Kallen stood at ease on Lelouch's left.

"You can have all the power in the world and you still won't be able to boss me around, boy." She replied sharply, but despite her protests, she complied with his request somewhat, choosing to sit up slightly so she wasn't quite lounging in her throne. As she moved, she reached behind her throne to grab the Cheese-kun plush that was seemingly stored behind it, holding it close to herself as she cuddled it, prompting a chuckle from Lelouch and small smiles from the others in the room.

"Jeremiah, shall we begin the conference?" Lelouch cued as the man in question pulled a remote seemingly out of thin air, pressing a couple of buttons as a grand television screen lowered from the ceiling, switching on and immediately showing the face of the liaison who would be discussing diplomatic circumstances of peace in the near future.

"Kaguya Sumeragi, am I correct?" Lelouch spoke eloquently, bowing his head slightly. "It is an honour to meet the spokesperson of the United Federation of Nations."

"Lelouch…" Kaguya muttered, her eyes determined and focused on the man before her. "What are your goals? Why make that declaration?"

"Why, Chairman Sumeragi, you speak like we've known each other for years!" He laughed lightly, prompting a few eyebrows to be raised as to his actions and word choice. "As I stated in my broadcast, I desire peace for everyone, and that can only be achieved once Schneizel el Britannia is behind bars."

Kaguya continued to look at him, confused. He'd been acting like he didn't know her… was it possible that Lelouch had amnesia or something which made him forget about everyone else? But what wouldn't explain why Kallen, C.C. and Jeremiah were still loyal to him.

Putting her musings aside for the moment, Kaguya continued. "You say that Schneizel being put in jail is the crux of your plan for world peace, what if we chose to stand against you?"

Before Lelouch could answer, Jeremiah stepped forward. "Your majesty, communications are now secure." He explained before falling back into place.

Sighing slightly, Lelouch let his façade fall. "Apologies, Kaguya, I didn't want to act too familiar whilst communications were not secure." He explained as he paused briefly. "Now then, who else is listening in on this conversation? In the Black Knights alone, I'm sure Ohgi, Xingke and Todoh are watching, trying to decipher the meaning behind any of my actions."

Grimacing slightly, Kaguya pressed a few buttons before images of the three that Lelouch listed off appeared in the corners of the screen, having now officially joined the conference rather than simply lurking and eavesdropping.

"It's good to see you all again." Lelouch continued, raising his arms in a welcoming fashion. "It feels like it's been too long since we last spoke."

"Lelouch." Kaguya spoke up, "Why bother with the façade? You knew it would most likely be a member of the Black Knights that you'd be speaking with, so what was the point of acting like…"

"Acting like I didn't know you?" He answered, dropping his hands into his lap as he explained. "Put simply, the last thing I need right now, and I imagine that it's also the last thing you need as well, would be for the public to discover that Lelouch vi Britannia and Zero are one and the same. If I had shown to be familiar with you before the communications were secured, there's a chance some noble or someone with a relative amount of influence or power would have been able to hack into this conference and discover my identity."

"If that's the case, then why haven't you moved to take us into custody?" Todoh was the next to speak, his voice as stern as ever. "You know full well that we have your identity and could reveal it at any time we pleased. So why haven't you chosen to do anything about it?"

"Aside from the fact that you can be reasoned with?" Lelouch joked, prompting a small smile from Kallen. "Because the symbol of the Black Knights, Zero, is believed to be dead to the world."

Confusion donned the faces of the members of the Black Knights, all of them seeming to have no idea what the man in front of them meant by that statement.

"Explain what you mean by that, Lelouch." Xingke requested calmly, part of him eager to see where the man he had loyally followed for the past few months was going with this.

"Well, since Zero, the man who leads the Black Knights, is dead, suddenly declaring that the Emperor of Britannia is the same person as this mysterious and enigmatic man will likely lead to a single outcome." He said sombrely, pausing for a moment. "Massive revolts will happen the world over, with Britannia and the Black Knights being the centre of the hatred spewing forth from these people."

"What?!" Ohgi shouted, completely stunned by Lelouch's words, whilst Todoh and Xingke merely grimaced. "But why would people turn on us? Or on you, for that matter?"

Ignoring the irony in Ohgi's words, Lelouch continued. "Because the public may come to the realisation that this entire thing with Zero was a publicity stunt of sorts organised by Britannia in some wild attempt to 'bring Lelouch vi Britannia back into the spotlight.'"

"That's absurd!" Kaguya protested. "Look at how much you accomplished as Zero! There's no way they would think that!"

"No, he's right…" Todoh said solemnly. "Regardless of how much he accomplished in the name of defeating Britannia, the fact is that he is now Emperor of the same country he was working to destroy."

"And even if every step you've taken to dismantle the old Britannia and to replace it with a new Britannia falls in line with your goals as Zero, the public won't see it that way, am I right?" Xingke finished.

"Indeed." Lelouch clarified. "Hence, I have faith that you won't do any acts that will cause problems for the both of us."

Taking in the sight of his former allies grimacing at this realisation, Lelouch mentally patted himself on the back. By explaining this to them, he effectively ensured that no one would be stupid enough to leak his identity as Zero to the public.

"But what about Schneizel?" Ohgi asked hesitantly. "What if he decides to tell the world who you are?"

"Ah, I suspect Schneizel has come to the same conclusion I have, and if he's as good a tactician as I think he is, he might have gone a step further. He will likely have realised that if he informs the public of this, and the riots occur as they are anticipated to, he will either become a target himself as a result of being affiliated with Britannia, despite my exiling of him, or because of this scandal, the public will never trust the Britannian royal family again, effectively making him emperor of an empty shell." Lelouch finished, sitting back in his throne as he allowed the others to process this information.

"I see…" Xingke was the first to speak. "Seems you've thought this through rather thoroughly, Emperor."

"The key to strategy is to always be at least 3 steps ahead of your enemy." He explained smugly.

"Well, then, where does that leave the Black Knights in the eyes of Emperor Lelouch?" Kaguya asked.

"You mean whether I can afford to allow you to continue operating as a private army employed by the UFN?" Lelouch questioned, seeming to see straight through the last surviving member of Kyoto's thought process. "Well, if I decide to declare war on you, not only would it be fairly brief as the entire might of the Britannian military would descend on you, including both the Knight of Zero and the Knight of Orange." He explained, gesturing to the two people in question as he did so before allowing his arms to flop back into place on the armrests of his throne. "However, I see little benefit in doing so. If I declared war on you, then I would effectively be declaring war on peace, a direct contradiction to what I said in my declaration, on top of which the UFN would be rallied against me, resulting in more rebellious groups standing up to defend themselves from Britannia." He paused for a moment, a scowl growing across his face. "Besides, I refuse to simply declare war like my bastard of a father." He spat, contempt coming through very clearly in his voice.

Taking in Lelouch's words, the core members of the Black Knights nodded, understanding the meaning behind his words.

"Well, all that's left to discuss, for now, is how the Black Knights will be treated in the upcoming war against Schneizel." Kaguya said.

"Yes, well…" Lelouch began. "Provided you don't decide to ally yourselves with Schneizel, then you shall be welcomed graciously by the Britannian forces and will act as an additional support group for the rest of the forces."

"Support?" Todoh piped up, surprised. "Not on the front lines?"

"If Schneizel is planning what I expect him to be planning, then definitely not."

"…and what is he planning?" Ohgi asked.

Sighing, Lelouch stood up as he explained. "He's planning, and may well be in the middle of developing, a massive superweapon called Sky Fortress Damocles. Being manufactured by the Toromo Agency, a former ally in weapons development for Britannia, it's likely to be three kilometres in size as it flies above the skies firing F.L.E.I.J.A.s at all those who oppose it."

Gasping in shock, Todoh slammed his fist into the table in front of him. "Those destructive monsters?!"

"How did he get his hands on them?" Ohgi demanded.

Sitting back down on his throne, the Emperor of Britannia continued. "There's a lot of things which even my network of information cannot fully understand. All I know is that materials are being moved to the Toromo Agency and the supply of F.L.E.I.J.A. have gone missing. From there, I'm able to make an educated guess."

"I see…" Xingke replied. "But that still doesn't tell us how you know so much about this accursed machine!"

"Fortunately, I happen to have Rakshata's rival engineer on my side, Earl Lloyd Asplund, who had a helping hand in designing it." He elaborated. "Granted, at the time he was working on it, things like the F.L.E.I.J.A.s were barely even a concept, but his knowledge on the subject is, frankly, disturbing."

"I see…" Todoh replied, deep in thought.

"Thank you for your time, Emperor Lelouch." Kaguya bowed her head. "We will be back in touch once we decide whether to join you, but we will likely have to hold a vote with all key members of the United Federation of Nations."

"I understand." Lelouch replied, bowing his head in response. "I hope for a favourable answer."

"A-ah, before we end this…" Ohgi piped up, looking towards Kallen. "Kallen, are you sure you don't want to come back to us?"

A moment of pain crossed Kallen's face, indicating her conflicted feelings in regards to her former allies. She glanced downwards, struggling to make eye contact with her brother's best friend.

"I'm sorry Ohgi… this is my place now…" Kallen muttered.

"…I see." The Japanese man replied, his voice low.

"Well, if that'll be all, you've all got an important decision to be discussing, so we'll call an end to this meeting." Lelouch spoke somewhat playfully. Jeremiah pulled out his remote once again, switching off the television and ending the conference. As it retracted into the ceiling, Lelouch let loose a hearty sigh.

"Whilst all of this stuff is important, it never gets any less tiring…" He moaned, much to C.C.'s amusement.

Kallen softly turned towards the stage exit of the throne room, her eyes still downcast. "I'm sorry, I'm going to… I'm going to need a moment…" She said quietly, walking off solemnly, an act what was not unnoticed to the Emperor of Britannia.

"Well, your highness, I have duties to return to." Jeremiah announced, bowing. "If you'll excuse me." He said before exiting out of the main entrance of the throne room, leaving C.C. and Lelouch alone in their respective thrones.

"She's feeling at odds with herself, huh?" Lelouch muttered to himself, starting to get lost in thought. "Perhaps I should discuss this with her later today…"

"Never mind that, lover boy." C.C. teased, snapping her Warlock out of his stupor. "Don't you think you have something important to talk to me about?"

Lelouch merely blinked at her in confusion. As far as he could remember, there wasn't anything of absolute importance to be discussed with his confidant so what could she be talking about…?

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" She asked, her smirk never leaving her face as she stood up from her throne and sauntered seductively over to his throne. As she continued to approach, she shifted her legs so that she straddled his, sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck, leaving the boy in absolute confusion. Leaning forward, she placed her mouth next to the violet eyed boy's ear, whispering gently "I'm talking about what you did in your study today."

His face immediately broke out into a blush that would rival that of a tomato's, leaving the boy confused and stuttering. "B-b-but how d-did you know? T-that room is s-s-soundproofed!"

"A lady never tells." C.C. winked, pulling herself closer to the man before her. "I'm just so hurt that you'd make a move on Kallen before me though." She teased.

"Witch." Lelouch replied, looking deep into her amber eyes as he did so.

Chuckling slightly, C.C. didn't move from her spot, their lips just mere inches away from each other. Her teasing expression soon faded away as she inched closer, their lips grazing against one another lightly as the distance closed.

In a sudden surge of passion, Lelouch lunged forwards, entrapping her lips with his own, catching her by surprised for a moment before she melted into the kiss, her hands sliding from their position around his neck in different directions. One found itself lost in Lelouch's locks, grabbing them tightly as she held him closely, whilst the other made its way to the small of Lelouch's back, pulling herself closer to him as their bodies pressed together.

Lelouch's hands began to move upwards from their initial position on the armrests of his throne, one finding a home between her shoulder blades, allowing him to feel both her supple form and her silky soft hair as he held her close. His other hand grabbed hold of her plump bottom, massaging it gently as he got carried away in the moment.

Parting to gasp for air, a strand of saliva formed between the lips of the two figures, both of them lost in each-others eyes as violet met amber. They remained there for several moments, C.C. straddling Lelouch's hips as their forms pressed against each other, gasping for breath before their lips crashed together once again, this time C.C. being the one to lead, her dominant side showing.

Her soft lips massaged themselves against Lelouch's rough ones, both of them getting lost in the ecstasy associated with a passionate kiss such as this. However, they had to part soon after it started, as both of them were still out of breath. Looking at the handsome form of Lelouch in front of her, C.C. decided she'd better stop before things escalate too much in such a public place.

Sliding backwards off his throne, she composed herself as she sorted her hair, which had become slightly frayed in the heat of the moment. Looking down at the man sitting before her, a slightly confused expression on his face, she gently leaned down and kissed him on the cheek before promptly leaving the hall through the stage exit.

Lelouch, having witnessed this action, merely sat there on his throne, thoughts swirling around in his mind as confusion remained present upon his face.

And it's done!

Don't forget to review! Until next time!