I do not own Code Geass. Any parts that resemble the Anime or Manga are most likely from it.

I'll be ignoring the line of succession in this as it hasn't been properly explained. There will still be numbered Princes and Princesses, but in the strong rule, weak perish society of Britannia, it doesn't matter if you're the firstborn or the hundredth born, the strongest will be Emperor.

- E.P - E.P -

Lelouch stared at the Royal Guard who had cornered him in the warehouse. He could see C.C.'s body on the floor between them, their guns still being pointed towards him. Bodies of local Japanese lay scattered around, dead where they fell, and the smell of blood hung in the air.

It was an annoyingly familiar situation.

"Well boy?" the captain growled out, looking obscenely pleased with himself as he gestured at Lelouch with his pistol, "Got any last words?"

"Just one... Obey," Lelouch muttered as he made eye contact with them. He almost forget how easy his Geass was to control at this stage as he felt the power flare up in his left eye and force itself upon the Guards.

"Yes your Highness!" they all shouted, eyes rimmed red as they saluted him.

Lelouch put them out of his mind for a moment instead trying to work out what the hell was going on. This would be his third time living through this set of events and he wasn't sure why. The first time he had found himself here again he had been ecstatic, he had just completed the Requiem but there he was given the possibility of a second chance, a chance to put everything right.

And he had. Things that went wrong the first time went right the second time, as he knew what was already going to happen. Occasionally new events popped up but he was Zero, one of the greatest strategists to ever live, and whilst the moves of the pieces may have been different he had won the game all the same.

But that had been more than fifty years ago, fifty years since some reporter proclaimed him the 'Hero who United the World', which was an accurate name even if it was a bit of a mouthful. He had liberated Japan and the other Areas, taken control of Britannia, reformed it and created the United Federation of Nations and offered membership to every nation.

He had effectively ruled the world from his seat as president for five years, stepping down at age 24, the youngest president to have sat. He had lived a long happy live with his wife and family and had kept the world at peace, so why was he back again?

He sighed and put it out of his mind, thoughts like these were best kept until he wasn't in a warzone and in danger of getting shot.

"Guardsman I want you to disrobe and then shoot yourself, don't get any blood on the clothes," Lelouch started as plans began forming once again, "The rest of you line up against the far wall then kill yourselves."

"Gladly your Highness!" they all replied manically, their blood soon filling the air as Lelouch pulled the Guards clothing towards himself and shoved it under his shirt. No one would question if one of the Royal Guard was wandering around, they were free to go wherever they pleased but he had to deal with Villetta Nu first.

At that moment the wall of the warehouse exploded inwards, the silhouette of a Sutherland making its way through the hole and pointing its oversized rifle towards him. He took a moment to look it over as nostalgia overtook him. Yesterday he had been watching the 27th generation frames, their smooth flowing lines characteristic of the models that were sold to the public rather than for military use.

In comparison the Sutherland was ungainly and bulky with harsh square lines and armour. It would take some time to get used to again, as he rattled off the familiar lie about Alan Spacer, son of the Duke of New Plymouth, and watched as Villetta's ambition overtook her and she came out of her Sutherland to check personally.

This was where things got tricky. The first time he had merely ordered her to give him her Knightmare and the gap in her memory had caused her to hunt him down and try to work out what had happened. The second time he had ordered her to give him her Knightmare and not to investigate the incident, but when she had been ordered to by her superiors the strain had started to cause her mind to fracture, her superiors orders and her own wishes against the power of his Geass. Then the Geass Order had gotten a hold of her and she'd come after him like a woman possessed and caused all sorts of problems.

This time however he could be more careful.

"Give me your Knightmare," he ordered, he Geass shining bright in his left eye, "You will not investigate this incident of your own initiative and if questioned about it you will say that you could not find any useful information."

Hopefully that would cover it, he thought as he started dragging C.C's body towards the Knightmare, cursing his twig like body as he did so. He was young and weak again, although on the plus side his wrinkles, cataracts and heart condition were gone.

- E.P - E.P -

The cockpit of the Sutherland wasn't particularly comfortable with both him and C.C. in it but Lelouch ignored the slight discomfort in favour of paying attention to his surroundings. The controls of the Sutherland may have felt archaic and outdated but he still remembered how to pilot it.

He had a few minutes until he needed to contact Kallen but he doubted there would be any change in the news, he hadn't been back long enough for that, so there was no point in calling Shirley. But what about Nunnally...

Pulling his phone out he selected her number and dialled it. She always kept her phone in the same place on her wheelchair so it was easy to find and because of that she always picked up fairly quickly.

"Hello," she asked after picking up, "Who is this?"

"It's me Nunnally," he responded, knowing she wouldn't be able to see the display, "Do you remember the last thing we talked about?"

It was a gamble and he desperately hoped it would pay off, he couldn't go through this alone.

"I believe we were discussing C.C.," she replied, "And what you were going to do about her Code."

"Good," Lelouch said, relief evident in his voice, glad that both of them were still in the resets, "Any idea why were back again?"

"No, but do hurry home, I'm not enjoying getting used to being blind again."

"I'll be there in a bit," he replied before hanging up and moving away on his Landspinners, he had a battle to win after all.

He wasn't sure why but the second time he'd fought this battle and had stumbled home trying to work out how he was a year back in time, he had walked into his and Nunnally's rooms to find her distraught that he had died in Zero Requiem. Whilst he was glad he wasn't alone in this, he wasn't sure why Nunnally had been brought back with him but he had only regretted it for a moment, the one moment where she was honestly angry with him, the only time he had ever seen her angry in all 84 years he had known his sister.

Moments later he found himself in the ruined building overlooking the railway tracks. Provided Kallen listened to his instructions, and he could think of no reason why she wouldn't, she would be coming along that way followed my Jeremiah Gottwald and his partner whilst the freight train came from the opposite direction.

"The west entrance," he said into the radio that had been tuned into the rebel frequency, while his eyes stayed firmly on the map showing the location of allied forces.

Or they would be allied forces had he actually been Britannian.

"Use the train tracks to move to the west."

"What's going on!" she screamed back at him, "Where are you!"

"It doesn't matter where I am," Lelouch replied, idly checking his ammunition supplies as he did so, "If you want to win then follow my orders."

"Orders..." he heard her muttering to herself, apparently thinking it over, "Yes, right, orders!"

He watched as she jumped onto the rails, her Glasgow in much worse condition than last time, had he called at the wrong moment? She seemed to be fairly sure of herself though, moving along the rails at a fair clip.

"What now," she asked, her tone surprisingly professional.

"Jump onto the train," he said, taking aim at the two Sutherlands now stopping the train and ignoring Jeremiahs cries of 'Pathetic Eleven!'

He waited until the train had stopped and the second Sutherland jumped up to land on the roof. With such an open target he didn't need to worry about missing so he sent a single Slash Harken through its head, destroying its Factsphere and knocking it into the distance.

"What?" Jeremiah cried, his Sutherland still set to broadcast, "Friendly fire? What's your unit!"

Lelouch ignored the rest of his words instead sending a short concentrated burst of fire into Jeremiah's Sutherland's left arm, Landspinner and Factsphere, destroying all three, before sending another burst into his right arm and chest as he turned to try and return fire.

He was going to put a third burst in when he heard Kallen charge towards Jeremiah, her speakers broadcasting her screams and forcing him to eject, sending him flying off into the distance.

Lelouch used that as cover to sneak off, moving to a position that should be fairly safe from the ensuing battle but still allow him to get to Clovis's G-1 Mobile Base unopposed. He doubted it would have mattered either way as Kallen's attention was drawn to the rest of the resistance running over to her, Ohgi at their head.

"Hey Kallen!" Ohgi called, Tamaki, Inoue and Minami close behind him, "Do you know what's going on?"

"No," she replied, though she sounded quite happy, "Not a clue."

"Oh, well, Yoshida's group should be here soon."

There was a moment of silence after that, as if Ohgi was waiting for Kallen to reply and Kallen was waiting for something to happen. Lelouch took it as his cue to speak up.

"You're in charge of this group," Lelouch stated, although he phrased it like a question, after all he already knew the answer.

"Well, yeah," Ohgi replied sounding more than a little confused.

"The cargo of the train is my gift to you," Lelouch said, "They will help us win this battle, if you follow my orders."

He smiled as he listened to each of them cry out about their new Sutherlands, although Kallen seemed somewhat subdued.

"Woman in the Glasgow," he said, taking note of the state of disrepair of her Knightmare, "You may want to abandon it, preferably for one with arms."

"Why you..." he heard he growl, though she heeded his advice and abandoned the armless Glasgow for a new Sutherland, "But it's not red!"

Lelouch almost raised an eyebrow at that but choose to ignore it continuing, "You'll be running as bait, I'll contact you again in ten minutes."

- E.P - E.P -

Clovis used the same tactics in this battle as he had in the last two battles, even with Kallen's Sutherland running round taking units out with her IFF on. She was doing much better than last time, although he supposed that that was due to her using a Sutherland rather than her old Glasgow.

Clovis's Generals ordered a few changes of transponder frequency but Lelouch just played along with them. He couldn't quite see what that could possibly accomplish, not without removing the leak the believed they had first.

Ohgi and the rest of the rebels followed his orders precisely after the first proved to be a good one, taking out a few enemy Knightmares through a wall, although Kallen did most of the work, showing just why she would become the Ace of the Black Knights. Using a single Slash Harken to destroy two Knightmares in a single shot, clothes lining another at full speed, even taking out one with the backwards spinning kick that he thought was Suzaku's trademark.

He got the feeling she wanted to show off for some reason.

"Q-1, your map is accurate, right?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation, "But it's only for the old town and doesn't have any current landmarks."

"That's fine," Lelouch stated, "Move into the subway, the entrance should be... huh, right behind you..."

He waited until Clovis took the bait, then gave Kallen the order and watched as the floor collapsed out from underneath the enemy forces, removing nearly all his Knightmare units. He wondered why none of the Britannian Generals seemed to remember they had forces other than Knightmares, admittedly Knightmares were incredibly dangerous to tanks, aircraft and infantry, but in the hands of a careful and cautious commander the other forces they had were far from useless. Perhaps they just found it easier, after all, all you had to do was order the Knightmares to advance and they could take care of most forces without careful use of tactics. Still it was a weak point.

Now, the next part of this battle was Suzaku appearing in his new Lancelot, and that would be roughly at point B-11, again, coincidently right where Kallen was.

That was convenient.

"Ah!" she called out, "I'm engaging some strange Knightmare, it looks like a new model, definitely no Sutherland or Glasgow!"

"Do you need support?" Lelouch asked for appearances sake.

"Please!"

"Right then, P group, move to point E-19 and take cover in those ruins and provide fire support on my mark. B group move to D-20 to support Q-1 if she needs it. N group, are you still in the sewers?"

"Hai, we're under F-31"

"Good," Lelouch replied, "Move under point D-19 and prepare to fire through the ceiling on my mark. Q-1, how are you holding up?"

"Okay," she replied breathlessly, "The pilot's pretty good, I've managed to destroy one of his Slash Harkens but my own and my Factsphere have both been badly damaged."

"Right, are all groups in position?"

"P group is," Ohgi responded.

"Same with N group."

"B group's ready too."

"Good, Q-1 fall back towards point D-20, all units fire on my mark."

He watched as Kallen disengaged from fighting Suzaku, pushing him pack and giving herself a single coordinates worth of breathing space. He waited until Suzaku moved over point D-19, then sprung his trap.

"Mark."

The Lancelot was suddenly pinned down by assault rifle fire from P group and B group, although his Blaze Luminous managed to shield him from almost all of the damage. N group was another matter however. Their fire ripped through the road and into the Lancelot's feet and Landspinners, destroying both and causing the Lancelot to collapse.

"What now?" Kallen asked, as she put a few more rounds into the Lancelot's now unshielded arms, "That seems to be all of them."

"Q-1, B group and P group, go and find the rest of the Britannian forces, they'll have infantry clearing the buildings," he replied, "N group, do you have somewhere to store the Sutherlands?"

"We've got a safehouse, but it won't be able to fit all these Knightmares"

"Take them into the sewers then, along with the other frames still left on the freight train. That's all for now."

"Wait!" Ohgi shouted into his radio, "How can we contact you again?"

"Don't worry," Lelouch responded, "I'll contact you soon enough."

With that he turned and ran from his hiding spot, taking out the few Britannian forces he came across. Clovis's G-1 wasn't in a strategically clever location, but it was politically clever, his obvious placement showing that he feared nothing.

He stopped the Sutherland in one of the ruined buildings fairly close by, before opening the back and climbing out. Last time he had done this it had been in a standard infantry uniform, but this time he was pulling on the uniform of one of Clovis's personally guard, and that should allow him to move around the mobile base unopposed.

He walking out of the ruins, rifle in his hands, and made his way towards the single soldier who was acting as the last checkpoint between him and his brother.

"I've got an important message I need to deliver to his Highness personally," Lelouch stated authoritatively when he was within a few meters of the soldier.

"I'll need to see some I.D. first Sir," The soldier responded, slightly ill at ease at having to ask such a thing of one of the Royal Guard.

"You've already seen my I.D, it was acceptable," Lelouch replied, not slowing his approach.

"Your I.D.'s acceptable Sir, go on in,"

The G-1 was fairly empty, most of the personnel having been killed in the fighting. Only the Generals and a few soldiers were left. Had Clovis always been that sure of his own safety or did he just not notice?

Moments later he was at the door to the war room, helmet on his head and visor down. He waited for the door to open then stepped inside and cleared his throat.

"Your Highness," he began, "I have a private message for you."

"Yes," he replied before taking a look around at his Generals, "You are dismissed gentlemen, I shall call for you if you are needed."

Lelouch watched them file out and the door close behind them before he moved to kneel in front of Clovis's throne, the Prince lounging on it, and put his rifle on the floor beside him before continuing "Your Highness is the room secure? We won't be overheard?"

"No," he replied, "I, Clovis La Britannia, assure you that we shall not be overheard. I take it this is about Code-R?"

"Not quite, your Highness," Lelouch said, standing up, picking up his rifle again as he did so and pointing it at Clovis, firing a single round into the throne above Clovis's head, "Order a ceasefire."

"Y-yes," Clovis gulped, pulling up the city wide broadcasting system, "At once!"

Lelouch watched him, his skin pale and sweaty, as he tried to stop shaking and deliver his broadcast. Internally he was trying to work out what to do with him. Whilst he had ordered the murdered of hundred of innocent civilians, Clovis wasn't actually a bad person, and wasn't that a dichotomy. His death hadn't really gained him anything but he did need to repay the people for what he had done.

Last time he had killed him, but that was because he didn't want to change the timeline too much. However would Clovis's death really change things for the worse? Suzaku wouldn't be falsely accused, Cornelia and Euphemia wouldn't become the Vicereine and Sub-Vicereine...

Still he didn't have to die for the events to stay fairly similar, and if Schneizel got to live then so did Clovis.

"Attention all forces!" Clovis began, his force echoing out over Shinjuku Ghetto, "Cease fire at once! In the name of Clovis La Britannia, Third Prince and Royal Viceroy of Area 11, you are so ordered! All forces, cease fire at once! You shall also cease all destruction of buildings and all casualties, either Britannia or Eleven shall be treated without prejudice! In the name of Clovis La Britannia, you are so ordered! Cease fire at once! I shall allow no further fighting!"

"Well done," Lelouch said when the broadcast had ended.

"What now?" Clovis asked, "A round of songs, a game of chess?"

"Of course not," Lelouch said, taking off his helmet and through it to the side, his face still obscured by shadows. He almost laughed when Clovis paled as he took a few steps closer, the gun still pointing at Clovis head, "You suck at chess."

"Lelouch?" Clovis gasped, his eyes going wide.

"Indeed."

"But... you're supposed to be deed! The Elevens killed you!"

"The only person who has tried to kill me brother," Lelouch replied, his expression darkening, "Was the Emperor."

"But he told us you were dead... he showed us your bodies!"

Lelouch blinked.

"What! I'm still using it!"

"Well, yes, but you must come back to the Homeland, brother! And Nunnally, is she alright? Show the world you both still alive!"

"I can't brother," Lelouch replied wearily, lowering the rifle, hooking the strap on it over his shoulder and slinging it over his back, "Whoever ordered mother killed and crippled Nunnally was either a Royal or a noble. She wouldn't be safe, you can't tell anyone!"

Lelouch refrained from telling him it was their uncle who had ordered it. He had no proof, other than his memories, and as far as the rest of the Royal family knew, Charles Zi Britannia had no siblings.

"Then, what will you do?"

"Stay here and keep our heads down. Nunnally's safe here and she seems to be enjoying her life. But what about you? Why did you order the extermination of the Ghetto? None of those people deserved to die!"

"Since we thought you were dead," Clovis began, looking more than a little ashamed of himself, "We've been taking our anger out on the numbers. Perhaps they didn't deserve to die, but the Elevens took away my little brother, so I wanted a little payback. I didn't know them, and it didn't hurt, not like hearing you and Nunnally had been killed by them hurt."

"Brother..." Lelouch's expression softened, he hadn't known how much Clovis had been hurt by his and Nunnally's apparent deaths, "Wait, we?"

"Cornelia's been taking out here anger on any of the numbers in which ever warzone she gets sent to. She keeps asking to be made Viceroy of Area Eleven but Schneizel keeps rebuffing her, says there wouldn't be an Eleven alive when she left. And haven't you noticed the anti-numbers legislation coming out in the last few years? Or that might just be an excuse, I never can tell with Schneizel."

They shared a grin at that and Lelouch was suddenly struck by just how at ease he was. Clovis had always been one of his closest family members, one of the two male role models he had had when he was growing up.

"So, what will you do Clovis?"

"Go back to the homeland," he said with a smile, "Don't worry I won't tell anyone you and Nunnally survived, but I only really became Viceroy to get some revenge, so now... back to my paintings maybe."

"If you need me brother..." Lelouch started, holding out his number on a scrap of paper only to have Clovis grab his arm and pull him into a hug.

"I've missed you Lelouch," Clovis said, trying not to laugh, "I can't keep trying to give Schneizel morals and ethics lessons on my own..."

- E.P - E.P -

Half an hour later Lelouch strolled in his apartment to see Nunnally sat at the table, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Is that you brother?" she asked, turning her head towards him.

"Yes," he replied, "How is your eyesight?"

"Gone again," she sighed, "I guess I'll be blind until we can find a Geass canceller, or make one."

"I'd have no idea where to start, although I could ask Clovis if he can find anything like that in the Code-R files."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, oh Clovis, I let him live this time, and having heard his story I think I probably should have last time as well. I never really thought about how the others were affected by our apparent deaths, Schneizel, Cornelia and Clovis all started hating non-Britannians and even Euphie used to refer to them as numbers. She never did that before mother died."

"No I never really thought about. The first time it all went downhill so fast and the second time we just stuck to the same timeline. Are you planning to do things differently?"

"Yeah," he replied, deep in thought, "I mean, the UFN was fair and peaceful but nobody could really do anything because everyone was sitting on their hands. Britannia may be corrupt and arrogant but stuff does get done. Besides we've actually got quite a power block in the Royal Family if you think about it. The Second, Third and Fourth Princesses and the Second, Third and Eleventh Princes. That's some of the oldest and most competent members in one group."

"You don't really seem to fit though do you, Eleventh Prince," she giggled as she heard him growl.

"You know that's only because Castor and Pollux sleep with any woman they can, if it wasn't for the law that recognises sons from unmarried parents as heirs but not daughters, you and Euphie would be, what, Ninth and Twelfth? Or I'd be the Sixth Prince"

"If you say so, although if they've had any more children you might be pushed back further," she giggled again before turning serious, "Is that the plan then, conquer the world with the Empire but make it fair for everyone?"

"Well between the six of us we do have everything covered. Cornelia in the military, you, Euphie and Clovis in the diplomatic corps or Home Affairs and either myself or Schneizel as Emperor, with the other as Prime Minister to keep them in check."

"You've really put some thought into this haven't you brother, so what are our plans to get there?"

"Well Clovis is stepping down as Viceroy and will be our eyes and ears in the capital, you remember how he always seemed to know what was going on, every piece of gossip? That will cause Cornelia and Euphie to come here, apparently they've been waiting for the chance. I'll still set myself up as Zero but I'll use it to root out those like Kusakabe who just want to kill Britannians. Perhaps set up some rebellions in other areas, the ones that got taken over completely peacefully are still peaceful and the ones that were totally destroyed are too scared to start up any organisations, but the ones in the middle? The ones that suffered but were not beaten? That's where we'll set up and root out the terrorists."

"Sometimes your mind scares me Lelouch, but what about the Black Knights? The people."

"I don't know," he whispered, before straightening up again, "But I'm going to kill Mao. He was a huge pain last time when he read our minds and found out we were time travellers."

"How, he is a mind reader after all."

"I'm tempted to contact the Chinese Triads and order a hit on him. We've got the money, all we need is a way to get in touch with them."

"Perhaps," Nunnally said, looking a little downcast at the tough before she brightened up again, "But speaking of time travel, do you have any idea why we're back again?"

"No," Lelouch replied with a grimace, "But we can start gathering some information and pull together a theory. We came back the first time at the moment of my death, and you were holding onto me at the time."

"But I wasn't anywhere near you last night, in fact I was in an entirely different country waiting for one of the maids to bring me breakfast, then everything went black and I found myself back in our rooms at the Academy."

"Perhaps, because you had already been back once, you would keep coming back. Besides I'm fairly sure I was asleep."

"Do you think C.C. might know? And where is she anyway?"

"...I may have left her in the Sutherland," Lelouch said, looking away as his cheeks reddened.

"Why?"

"She was too heavy to move."