Neon Genesis Evangelion
Pilot's Table
By D.A.
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Title: Down the Rabbit Hole
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 33 (Investigate)
Word Count: 4100+
Rating: T
Summary: The Children connect mentally, and prepare themselves after Gendo reveals something they all wished was lost.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion
Notes: Hikari and Rei join the "mind-meld", Asuka lets her surrogate mother know she may be pregnant, and the men begin planning for the future after Gendo reveals more.
Oh! And Kensuke finally shows, along with an interesting friend one of the Children is glad to see. Yes, oh eager and faithful reviewer, Ken is here just for you. ;)
Part One of the "All Is Right" Arc of my Pilot's Table drabble series. Sequel to the "I Knew You Then" arc.
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"I don't want to get up, honey..." Asuka murmured against Shinji's shoulder as a hand gently shook her and she began to grudgingly wake, "Misato, go back to bed. Crazy mom."
"No dice kiddo." Misato grinned, inwardly warmed at the redhead's words, "Breakfast in a half hour. Don't we have guests?"
"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, half under Asuka's curled form as she slept half on him and half on the couch, "We both need to get ready, and you know Touji will get here early because we're offering food."
Laughing lightly at the truth in the young man's words, Asuka sat up and allowed him to scoot off the couch as she stretched. Mission accomplished, Misato moved back into the kitchen to get her morning cup of coffee with her fiancé Ryoji Kaji.
While she wasn't certain about letting the two sleep like that, the complex situation between their physical and mental ages as well as their memories meant she could justify letting them share a room, but not a bed. The scene that greeted her this morning was not routine, but normal. They abided by the rules the adults had set for them, so she never did more than tease them. Honestly, she recognized the other adults and she were horrible role-models in this regard, but they had earned the hard way the right to set boundaries. After all, Gendo had said, who better to lay out rules than the ones who knew better from experience. Not something any of them were proud of, not by any means. And the Children had accepted the limits without more than token complaints.
Hearing Shinji moving about upstairs and the shower turning on, Misato set about getting breakfast ready with Ryoji's help. Miso, fried eggs, and kiwi sounded good.
Her fiancé's confused comment on her hating kiwi did little to dim her good mood.
0o0o0o0
Despite being startled awake by Ritsuko's excited mental shout and talking to Asuka the same way, Touji had slept amazingly well. Hikari, he found out rather suddenly via angry glare, had not.
"Nightmares?"
"Nothing I remember," the brunette grumbled over her cup of tea, a traditional breakfast already laid out, telling him that she had been up longer than he had, "Eat."
"Shinji wanted us over for breakfast." open mouth, insert foot.
"When did he say that?" she gaped, disappointment at what seemed like him turning down her food warring with annoyance that she hadn't been told until after she'd put in the effort to make breakfast.
"Last night, after you'd gone to bed." Touji explained, not really lying, then blushed and sat when his stomach announced its impatience, "Don't think he'll expect us for an hour or so."
"I'll go get ready," Hikari sighed, placing her cup in the apartment's sink before heading back to her room, "Put the dishes in the sink."
"Yes dear." he grinned, and spotted the hint of a blush on her cheeks as she turned to enter her room.
0o0o0o0
Kaworu found mornings to be his favorite part of a day, often waking before the sun had come up and watching it rise, then preparing a small breakfast for himself and Rei.
Being an Angel in the body of a human, he required very little sleep or food, but enjoyed the experience none the less. Truly, while he sometimes wished he knew what his species was really called, he was quite content with being as much human as he was.
Sensing Rei awaken, he quickly set the table the same as he had seen Shinji do, and calmly smiled as the bluenette stepped into the joint kitchen/dining area.
"Good morning, Rei," seating Rei, he then moved to his own chair, then switched to thoughts, Did you sleep well?
"Yes," she acknowledged his gentlemanly gesture with her small smile, then continued in thought, Have you considered any plans for the day?
Shinji-kun wishes us to visit, Kaworu tilted his head, a thoughtful expression now on his face, I believe he wished us to share breakfast with them, but I'm sure that won't be for an hour or two.
Rei inclined her head in agreement, and they finished their small meal in comfortable silence. They had begun using telepathy shortly after the barbeque, Kaworu having caught the edge of one of Asuka's outbursts from across town and seeing Rei's puzzled expression. They discussed what it was, and decided it was perhaps natural. At least what little they could recall from Lilith suggested such. So, in the privacy of their apartment, they connected. Gently mingling the edges of their minds to reassure one another, to help share the burdens that Instrumentality had left behind.
The only change to Kaworu's normal routine, unnoticed by Rei, was when he paused for a moment in washing the dishes and looked off to the south in slight confusion.
0o0o0o0
Adjusting his glasses a sandy-haired teenager smirked and looked back at his companion, a fair-skinned girl around his age wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, as they walked in a leisurely fashion for a small bay that had been their goal for the last week. They had avoided most people, instead content to use what he knew of foraging and camping to get them to where they wanted. This didn't mean they avoided contact completely, as he had insisted and she had easily agreed that they stop twice at small roadside hotels to clean up and get better rest.
Having left the last hotel barely an hour ago, they found themselves on a small knoll perhaps another hour away from their goal.
"It'll be good to relax after the last week," he said enthusiastically, turning forward and leading the way down, "I always love camping, but nothing beats home."
"Is that what this place will be?" she asked, unsure, her voice soft with a hint of an accent, then her thoughts echoed quietly at the edge of his mind, You're sure we will be welcome?
He frowned, and stopped to look her in the eyes. Gently grasping her shoulders, he gave her a reassuring smile and brush with his thoughts.
"I'm sure." his thoughts echoed slightly inside the bubble surrounding her mind, something he hoped would protect this unusual person traveling with him, And if anyone wants to make trouble, I'll just take a page from my friend and punch'em.
She smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling, for she felt she knew him well enough to know he really would stand up for her. Even if it ended up getting him hurt.
0o0o0o0
Right on time, the three other couples arrived at Shinji and Asuka's two-story home. It really was an amazing find for them. Built to look like a traditional Japanese house, the interior had been refurbished for a relatively modern feel, and suited Asuka's Western tastes as much as Shinji's preference for traditional Japanese living. The month they spent repairing and renovating had really just been spent replacing anything damaged or broken between the home's loss of its previous owners and the group's arrival.
They had just sat down to breakfast, which Touji had admitted was his second of the morning much to everyone's amusement, when a knock sounded at the door.
"NERV getting a bit anxious to have you back, Commander?" Ryoji joked as he answered the door, Misato's service pistol kept out of sight. While Asuka had scoffed at his paranoia, she had made no arguments against it either, "Hello?"
"Is this Shinji's Ikari's residence?" the voice, muffled through the western-style, solid wood front door, drew a gasp or jerk of recognition from five of the six Children.
"Kensuke?!" they gasped, and soon all had crowded at the door as Asuka threw it open.
And there, staring at the group in surprise, was Kensuke Aida.
In short order the teen found himself wrapped in a hug by Touji, who was soon replaced by Shinji, Hikari, and even Asuka for a short moment.
"We thought- we thought you weren't coming back..." Shinji admitted, uncaring of the few tears that escaped his eyes at the sight of one of his best and only friends, "You didn't show up on the beach with the rest of us..."
"What took ya, Ken?" Touji added when Shinji trailed off, hand gripping Hikari's tightly while she returned the pressure.
"Well, it wasn't hard to know where you were." he chuckled, taking in the sight of everyone right there together and the unblocked ripples of emotion coming from them, then gestured behind and to his side, "Though I don't know why. Of course, she helped me be sure."
"Hello," the grouped turned in surprise at the hesitant greeting, having missed the girl in their joy at seeing him, and all but one jerked in shock at what they saw.
Next to Kensuke was a girl who could have easily been a relative of Kaworu. Her white hair, previously hidden under her cap, was just passed shoulder-length, and her no longer hidden vivid red eyes warily eyed the group from behind a short fringe of bangs. Her clothes were similar to his pants and t-shirt combination, but where his were more professional her's were obviously from the teens section.
"Greetings, Arael," Kaworu spoke first, the others realizing what he already knew, "I had hoped I wasn't the only Angel to accept Shinji's offer of escape from Instrumentality."
"An Angel?!" Misato gasped from behind the group, and Ryoji pulled back into the house to calm her down while the Children sorted things out. Or that's what he said as he closed the door, leaving the group of teens standing outside. Shinji and Asuka both knew it was to give the friends a little time to sort things out, especially considering Arael and Asuka's encounter before Third Impact.
"How did you find each other?" Asuka asked, and her calm voice instantly had Arael take a half step behind Kensuke, a move no one missed.
"I found her on the beach not far from me," Kensuke answered, slightly confused at his friend's reaction and pouring more attention into the improvised mental shield around her, "Got her some clothes and then lead her to a camp nearby, we spent a week or so there before I decided to come here. She wanted to come too."
"A lucky occurrence." Rei spoke, taking Kaworu's hand and giving the other Angel a small smile, "Welcome."
"How about we go inside and eat," Shinji added, watching both Asuka and Arael, "I'm sure you're both hungry, and we have plenty cooked."
The two nod, and as everyone files inside Kensuke taps Asuka on the shoulder, being sure to stand back out of reach. Asuka turns, her expression inquisitive as she looks at him.
"What?" he smirked, adjusting his glasses to hide his nerves, "No 'perverted stooge' comment?"
"No," she snorted, grinning and going inside behind Hikari and Arael while Kensuke followed, "You've a lot to learn, but we've got the time to tell you what's happened. After breakfast, I'm hungry and Misato needs to eat."
0o0o0o0
"Well, who's gonna do the talking?" Asuka began, "I nominate Touji, Shinji and I did enough talking last night, and I'll fill-in anything the Stooge misses."
The group had taken over the living room, joyfully kicking the adults out onto the back porch for the duration much to their chagrin, having kept the talks during breakfast about school before 3-I.
"Whatever ya say Red," Touji grinned, the banter and friendly expressions on their faces confusing Ken while Arael sat beside him and watched the interactions, "For revenge, I'll teach Kyo tuh say mom and dad before you and Shin-man can teach Mana tuh say'em."
"I believe 'mama' was both their first words?" Asuka taunted, a hint of sadness behind the teasing and slightly smug attitude, and was suddenly interrupted.
"You've got kids?!" Kensuke blurted out, and both Asuka and Touji snapped their mouths shut and turned to him as he continued ignorant of the flash of sorrow across their faces, "But we're all barely sixteen! How long have you been out of that soup?"
"Ken, we'll explain," Touji began, calm and a touch tired, gesturing for him to be silent, "Jus let us get the whole story out."
So Touji talked. He spoke of what Instrumentality was, what Shinji did, how they woke up and the time up to when he and the fifteenth Angel showed up at their door. Occasionally, he had help from Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and even Hikari and Kaworu. Finally, he paused, and in the silence Hikari gathered everyone a drink from the kitchen before Kensuke spoke.
"What did you mean," he ventured, hesitant as he watched his friend and the girl they had both used to call the 'red devil', "when you were talking about Mana and Kyo?"
"Instrumentality gave you a chance to live out multiple lives, right?" Asuka began. Ken and Arael nod, remembering their various, if mostly mundane, lives inside, "In one of ours... Touji and I ended up married and had two children."
"But now Touji is with Hikari, and you're with Shinji?" Arael asked, finally speaking up, curious to know these friends of her friend, "And still that dream leaves a mark on you."
"Like you left a mark on me." Asuka said, and though Arael flinched there was no malice in the redhead's tone, no accusation. Only a simple statement.
"Arael." Kaworu's soft call drew her gaze, and she began to relax. If he could be calm and content here, so could she, "You need not fear her."
"Sunshine here is right ya know." Asuka inclined her head to Nagisa, her tone still calm, "I won't bite. I put what happened behind me."
"After Instrumentality, I came to understand what occurred and how it affected you," Arael hesitated, her gaze on Asuka's face and her eyes pleading, "In one of my experiences, our positions were reversed. I truly wish I had understood what I was doing to you when I tried to touch your mind."
"It's in the past now." Asuka told her, and everyone felt it was the end of that discussion.
"So," Touji turned and grinned at Asuka, "reason for that wake up call?"
"Still horribly impatient, Stooge," she grumbled, drawing a chuckle from him and a giggle from Hikari, "Shinji, explain to Ken; Kaworu, Arael; Hikari, close your eyes and listen."
Touji joined Shinji and Kensuke over in a corner of the room while Rei sat beside Kaworu as he began to speak in a low, calm voice to Arael. Asuka, however, merely closed her eyes and told Hikari to do the same.
Hello. the soft brush of red tapped at the edge of her mind, and the brunette jumped slightly as she recognized Asuka's voice in the thought, I've some explaining to do, but you need to let me in so I can share it with you.
"Okay." she murmured, and like Ritsuko the previous night she broadcast in the open, her soothing brown Self brushing over and interrupting the soft, private conversations in the room and outside, How can I hear you in my head?
What was that about filters, young lady? Hikari was surprised at the teasing tone to the energetic yellow that brushed them, before she recognized it as Ritsuko.
I thought she'd be more restrained, Asuka's red Self buzzed, annoyed and happy at once, Hikari, when you communicate like this you have to focus on who you want to hear.
Oh, brown Self coiled and ducked, embarrassment obvious before sliding to contentment, This is... so nice...
Isn't it? red wrapped gently around brown, and Asuka gave Hikari some of her memories.
0o0o0o0
"You think they're right?" Misato asked, nerves showing passed her suspicion, having just left a thought conducted discussion between the "three stooges" as Asuka often called them, "That we can trust Arael?"
"I believe so." Ritsuko said from her place next to Gendo as she leaned back against the railing that ran around the back porch, "Shinji and Asuka both know what they're doing, and we have Kaworu on our side."
"I agree, either she is being completely honest with Nagisa," Gendo said, hands tented in front of his face as he looked at the house, "Or a master at hiding thoughts. Not unlikely given what she did against Asuka."
"That's exactly why I don't want to trust her!" the raven haired woman snapped, "She-"
"Is very vulnerable," Shinji interrupted her, stepping outside alone and closing the sliding door, "Angels aren't shielded the way we are, Misato. It's far too easy to kill one with our telepathy, even if they put up a fight."
"That's why she came with Kensuke." Ryoji mused, "By coming here with a friend of yours, she has time to explain herself."
"And a bodyguard," the son smirked, "You noticed it too, father?"
"Indeed, Aida already is aware of telepathy," Gendo inclined his head to Shinji, returning the smirk with a soft one of his own, "And has been more focused on broadcasting a shield around Arael than on finding you, I suspect."
"A natural?" Ritsuko thought aloud, eyes distant as she considered the situation, "Have you or Asuka tried anything similar?"
"We didn't have a reason to, Kaworu and Rei are enough human they have good enough shields by themselves." the younger man admitted with a shake of his head, "Ken's always been a more out-there thinker, so maybe he just assumed it would work like that and tried."
Shinji? the caramel tendril of Self tapped at the mental doors of their minds, curious and nervous, oh, there you are. What's this about NERV reactivating?
Shinji shrugged at the group of adults, and gestured for them to follow him as he made his way back inside as he told Kensuke to wait a moment. As they stepped inside, everyone could tell Asuka was excited about something, and that the focus was Misato. A simple broadcast of -Sit down and you'll find out- was the only answer to their mix of voiced and thought questioning.
"I'll show you and Kaji, then you guys can figure it out from there." the redhead grinned, then closed her eyes. Mentally grabbing Misato's purple Self and Ryoji's maroon, she opened a 'family channel' with them, excitement and teasing pouring through, Look what you shagging rabbits have started.
And Asuka showed them the same, fragile shading of light purple that was hidden and shielded behind Misato's own Self that she had noticed last night.
Ritsuko became extremely nervous at how still her two college friends had become. She could tell they'd switched to a Family channel, and right after the two had frozen, their eyes wide as Asuka's grin got wider. She felt a moment of shock when tears begin to gently flow from Misato's eyes before that shock was doubled at what her old friend said next.
"A baby...?" the hushed awe in her voice was echoed by a soft pulse of joy and instant silence from the rest of the room, the men aside from Ryoji having been in a soft conversation up to that point, "I- I'm having a baby?"
Ryoji let out an excited whoop of joy, then scooped up his raven-haired fiancé and spun her around twice before kissing her soundly while the Children cheered. Ritsuko hurried over to her friends and wrapped them in a hug, feeling the edge of the happiness coming from Shinji and Asuka that poured into the two soon-to-be parents.
"Guess we need to hurry that wedding, don't we?" Ritsuko teased as everyone went back to their seats, "At least you quit your old morning routine."
"I haven't been able to go near beer since we returned anyways," Misato admitted, unable to wipe the grin from her face, "so no loss."
"I suppose I should accelerate my reintroduction to NERV then," Gendo smiled as everyone turned to him, "If Agent Kaji is going to be an honest man, he should also have a job. Perhaps internal security, Colonel Kat- pardon, Colonel Kaji?"
At the deer-in-the-headlights look the two gave him, he chuckled, and Ritsuko and Asuka laughed aloud. Perhaps the scenario forming in his mind, one that would lead to a bright future for his son and the others, would be more fun than he expected.
Commander Gendo Ikari and fun, Ritsuko teased him in Family channel, there's an unexpected combination.
0o0o0o0
The next few months seemed to fly by. Gendo took command of a rebuilt NERV inside the Geofront, which was still open to the sky. The city was being rebuilt around the rim and down inside around the central NERV complex, and slowly people were returning to the one time Fotress-City of Japan. Ritsuko took a posting as head of the R&D department, and Misato and Kaji took over Operations and Internal security respectively.
The Children, however, were a puzzle that mostly solved itself.
As she already had a degree in Robotics, Asuka applied to work for NERV in the R&D department under Ritsuko Akagi. Touji chose to study to become a PE teacher with a secondary in small vehicle repair. Hikari also decided to go to college, focusing on the culinary arts. Both of them gained entry with only a minor push from Gendo and NERV. Rei, Kaworu and Arael took distance learning before committing to a specific degree.
Shinji, however, decided to wait before moving ahead. Gendo, though, decided Shinji needed to do more than stay in the house or work a small job. So he put him to work as his unofficial Second-in-Command. As most of the bridge staff were old NERV members, no one said anything, and as NERV was an independent entity from the UN they had no say in the matter either.
0o0o0o0
"Commander."
"Yes, Sub-Commander."
"...Six months, it's still weird to hear you call me that." Shinji said, pausing for a moment before setting down the reports he had, "I keep expecting Fuyutsuki-san to be standing behind me. These are the department updates."
"Kozo-Sensei...will be missed." Gendo skimmed the reports after passing a folder to Shinji, explaining its contents as the younger Ikari opened it, "With the revelation and discrediting of SEELE, the U.N. is beginning to collapse. As a result, several of the countries which backed us through the U.N. are now contacting me to support us directly."
"They're anticipating a U.N. collapse and pushing for NERV to fill the vacuum." Shinji guessed, eyeing the documents warily, "What do they expect us to do? We don't have Evangelions, and our security is barely good enough for us, let alone for peacekeeper duty."
"The three countries making the request will provide the initial forces needed to train our own recruits."
"Japan, America, and Germany?" Shinji asked, incredulous as he looked up from the documents and at his father, "Japan makes sense, we're based here. But the other two?"
"I suspect Germany is backing us to make themselves look better after it was discovered that the Chairman for SEELE was German and controlled a large part of the country from the shadows." the elder Ikari chuckled, "America, however, is doing it at least partly because it means we and not they will be the peacekeeping force."
"It could take us ten or twenty years to be in a position to actually act as peacekeepers..."
"Except we have an advantage." Gendo spoke, tone just noticeably hesitant, "You, Asuka, and the others can detect when someone is lying, even scan their thoughts if they let you in. You could-"
"No."
"Shinji," Gendo's face hardened, matching his son's blank expression, "if we want to keep the world from falling into chaos when the U.N. goes, we must be ready and in a position to enforce. That requires having forces loyal to us."
"We aren't going to be living lie detectors, sticking our telepathic noses in peoples' heads." Shinji snapped.
"Talk it over with your wife." Gendo partially concedes, turning back to the reports as Shinji jerks back blushing, "You know my reasoning, I leave the decision up to you."
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A/N: Again, where am I going with this? Well, I just might be building a continuation fic. Keep your Core spun up, and your Field close my friends!