Code Geass R3 - Chapter Six

Chapter Six
Lelouch looked up as Neko walked into the room, her frost-hued helmet tucked lightly beneath her arm. In one glance, he understood the exhausted triumph in her eyes.
"I'm in." She told him, turning and falling backwards on the hotel bed. Lelouch smirked lightly.
"I had no doubt you would be." He told her.
"I know." Neko twisted around on the bed, until she could see him, "Suzaku looked like he was going to die right there, when I told him you were coming back."
Lelouch chuckled softly, "He did kill me, after all."
"You should have warned him this might happen. He's strong, but he's still human. He doesn't have a Code to restart his heart."
Lelouch shrugged, "He's under a Geass to survive." He pointed out.
Neko turned back to look at the ceiling, "Right…"
"So she succeeded." C.C.'s voice ran a chill of irritation up Neko's spine, but she stayed quiet.
"Yes," Lelouch murmured, and Neko's eyes flew back to his. His tone was contemplative, distant; and more than a little smug, "She succeeded brilliantly."
Neko felt a tingle of pleasure at Lelouch's praise, but kept her face straight.
"What do I do next?" She asked, forcing her keen interest not to show. She didn't fool him; he gave a soft chuckle and rolled easily out of his seat, laying his book across the arm of the chair to hold his page.
"Gain their trust." He replied, crossing the room. He seemed to move without thought, drifting unconsciously towards C.C. The woman's yellow gaze; which had been resting coldly on Neko; flickered up to him as he drew nearer, and Neko saw those knowing eyes melt. A soft smile crossed her face, unchecked. Neko blinked in surprise as Lelouch returned that smile, reaching out with one long-fingered hand to brush her cheek fondly. There was something there… not love, exactly. Love had more passion. Less sadness to it.
What these two shared, Neko thought she understood more than she could understand love. They shared a bond that went deeper than that. It was not that they desired one another's company; simply that they knew and accepted that it was the only company they would always have. With a jolt, Neko realized that this was; perhaps; why C.C. hated her so much. Why C.C. was jealous. Until Neko had come along, Lelouch and C.C. would have been the only people in the world who would live together. Yes, it was a bond different from love. And it was a bond even harder to break.
"Perform a few miracles." Lelouch continued, letting his hand fall from C.C.'s face and walking onwards. The ice formed back over C.C.'s eyes, and she turned back to continue glaring at Neko. But Neko could not bring herself to glare back at C.C.; a fact that seemed to surprise the green-haired woman. For Neko had begun to understand what she had intruded upon, "Make them believe that you can do what you say they do. Get them comfortable with your presence. Maybe save a few of their lives; make sure they are all indebted to you." The movement was sudden; Neko's new violet eyes barely managed to move to him before he was facing her, his face alight with the exhilaration of the game, "Prepare them for my return."
Neko nodded. This was something else she understood; this eagerness in his voice. She, too, was excited for the day that Zero returned to power. The day that she could become just another Black Knight; nothing more than Zero's guardian. The day that she could stop plotting to get him in once more, and start plotting to change the world in her own way.
"And if she fails?" C.C. asked, her voice bitter.
Lelouch's lips twisted up at the corner; a smirk that mirrored Neko's exactly.
"Stain can't fail." They whispered in unison.