A/N: Yeah, I've got nothing for you up here. I'll catch you at the bottom.

Disclaimer Theater:

Fourth Impact sat on the couch with a book in his hands. Chapter nine had been a grueling, marathon shoot, so it was nice to sit down and relax for a couple days. He let out a content sigh as he turned the page.

"Wark." The noise came from somewhere behind him without any warning.

The writer dropped his book and spun around in surprise. He peered over the back of the couch. "What are you doing in here Pen Pen?"

"Wark?" The penguin's flipper pointed toward the DVDs stacked by the wall.

Fourth Impact glanced at the DVDs before looking back at the bird. He shook his head sadly. "No, sadly I don't own Evangelion."

"Wark." The disappointment in the penguin's voice was evident.

The two of them turned to look pointedly at the camera on the far side of the room.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mitigation

Chapter 10: Elucidation

"I accept full responsibility for the failure, Commander."

Gendo Ikari regarded the hologram in front of him with a stony gaze. The leader of Task Group Seven stood ramrod straight as he relayed the details of the group's complete and utter humiliation at the hands of Agent Kaji and the Third Child. Finally, Ikari said something. "How many men did you lose in the operation?"

Phantom returned the commander's gaze, "A dozen, sir. Two more are in critical condition and another three suffered minor injuries."

Ikari nodded, a move carefully calculated to send the room's light reflecting dangerously off of his glasses. "We will discuss the ramifications of this failure after the targets are secured." He paused for a moment to allow the implication to seep in. "Do you have any leads on their whereabouts?"

"Potentially, sir." Phantom reached for something out of Ikari's view. A moment later, a two dimensional video recording replaced the three dimensional representation of the agent.

The commander watched silently as the attack on the Section Two cars unfolded. After Kaji and the Third climbed into a van and sped off screen, Phantom reappeared again. Ikari showed no hint of emotion. "Did you track the van?"

Phantom hesitated for the briefest instant, "We tried to, sir, but they got away. We didn't have enough men in place to stay on them without arousing suspicion."

"So you have no idea where they are at the moment." Ikari's voice took on a harsh edge.

"No, Commander," the agent said. "But we're still following up a few leads. We will reacquire them before they get away."

Ikari raised an eyebrow. "I assume you have no idea who the attackers were."

"Based on their tactics, we suspect Special Forces of some kind," he said. "Beyond that we aren't certain yet. I have one of my men going through Agent Kaji's past to see if there's any connection to be found."

"Be sure that you find them," Ikari said. The dismissal in his tone was clear as day.

"We will, sir," Phantom replied, snapping off a crisp salute.

The commander didn't bother returning it, opting instead to reach for the cutoff switch, ending the communication. He turned toward the other man in the room, "Thoughts?"

Sergei Olev stepped out of the shadows. "I agree with the analysis of the attackers. They are definitely Special Forces." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, "If I had to guess, I would say Alpha Group. I used to deal with them fairly regularly back in the KGB."

Ikari leaned back in his chair. It wasn't unreasonable that Kaji would have made contact with an Alpha Group team at some point, and he was very good at worming his way into people's confidences. It did, however, raise the question of what Kaji planned to do with the help of a Russian Special Forces group. "How much of a threat do you think this poses?"

Olev furrowed his brow. "Not much," he said after a few seconds. "I imagine he's using them as nothing more than glorified bodyguards while they lay low or try to get where they're going."

"Possibly," Ikari muttered.

"You disagree, Commander?"

"I suspect Agent Kaji has something much more aggressive in mind," he said.

The Section Two director frowned. "You think he's raising an army or something, sir?"

"I do," Ikari said simply.

"But, sir," Olev said. "Even if that is true, how dangerous could it be? We have thousands of JSSDF troops in the city, not to mention Section Two and the Evangelions. The few Special Forces teams Agent Kaji may be able to bring together with his connections can't possibly be a real danger."

"Not if the proper steps are taken as a precaution." If Ikari was frustrated at being questioned by a subordinate, his voice didn't show it. "Hubris is a deadly flaw. Our work is too important to allow simple carelessness to undo it."

Olev nodded his understanding. "Very well, Commander. What do you suggest?"

Ikari stood up and strode toward the window behind his desk, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed out at the Geofront. "We need to make sure that any forces Kaji and the Third send here are isolated if they manage to get into the city."

"You want to bring down the curtain?" Surprise was evident in Olev's usually controlled voice. "How can we do that without raising the ire of the entire city? The last thing we need is a full blown resistance movement."

Ikari walked back to his desk and lowered himself into the chair. "Skyfall."

Olev smirked at the commander's single word. "That would keep the populace in line for a long while."

The commander folded his hands in front of his face. "In addition to erasing virtually all of the support the Third Child has in this city." He grinned cruelly behind his hands.

Olev saluted smartly, "I will set it in motion. The next city council meeting is tomorrow. Everything should be ready by then."

#

#

A feeling of homesickness settled on Shinji as he looked out at the Saint Petersburg skyline. It was nothing new, but the battle at the airport and their brief capture had pushed the feeling aside for a short while. It returned in full force as he took in the buildings of an unfamiliar city. There was nothing wrong with Saint Petersburg, he decided after a few minutes. It just wasn't Tokyo-3. It wasn't home.

Tearing his gaze from the cityscape before him, Shinji looked at his more immediate surroundings. After Vas and his team recued them, they drove around for a while. Vas told him that they were making sure nobody followed them. Eventually, once their driver was satisfied that they weren't being tailed, they ended up at a military base a few miles outside Saint Petersburg.

As it turned out, Vas's team was allocated a small building on the edge of the base for themselves. Living quarters, a gun range, even a sizeable kitchen made sure the Alpha Group team had everything they needed. He and Kaji were given rooms, though Shinji didn't even have a chance to sit down before Kaji, his arm freshly bandaged and in a sling, pulled him and Vas into a briefing room.

They listened intently as the spy explained the role Shinji's father and his coconspirators had played in Second Impact, and their plans bring about Third Impact. Shinji, too shell-shocked to say anything, listened quietly while Vas occasionally interrupted to ask a question. Kaji answered what he could; frequently drawing papers out of the envelope he'd been carrying since Tokyo-3.

When Kaji finished, Shinji quietly excused himself so he could go lie down. This day was just too much for him. On some level, Shinji had always known that his father was a bastard. That wasn't an easy fact to accept, but he'd grown accustomed to it. He was still struggling with the fact that his father wanted to kill him for some reason. The news that the man was also an omnicidal maniac was impossible. The worst part was that Shinji had no problem believing it, though that didn't make it any easier to live with.

After god-only-knows how many hours of trying in vain to get to sleep, Shinji climbed out of bed and redressed. He made his way outside and sat with his back against the building, where he still was an hour later. He looked at his right hand, where a few of his knuckles were beginning to scab over after he beat down that agent at the airport. His stomach gave an unpleasant lurch at the memory.

A slight creak disrupted the boy's train of thought. Shinji looked up at the door as it opened to let someone out into the cool night. He watched quietly as Vas took a swig from a flask, placed a cigarette between his lips, lit it, and took a deep drag.

The Russian looked over at him. "I'm surprised to see you out of your room," he said. "I did not think you would be out for a while."

Shinji shrugged. "I just needed some fresh air."

Vas nodded his understanding, "It was a lot to take in."

"I always knew that my father was messed up, but…" he trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

"You never imagined that he could be so twisted," Vas supplied. He drew the flask from his coat pocket and offered it to Shinji.

Shinji nodded at the words and furrowed his brow at the proffered flask. He took it tentatively, "What's in it?"

"Vodka," he said. "Good vodka too, not some cheap shit."

Shinji shoved the flask back toward Vas. "I'm only fourteen."

The soldier chuckled, "I know. And you just found out that your father is working to wipe out all of humanity and that he is trying to kill you because you pose some kind of threat to that plan."

Shinji stared at Vas for a moment and looked down at the flask again. He unscrewed the top and took a massive swig. As soon as the alcohol went down he began coughing and gagging at the taste and burning sensation.

Vas laughed uproariously. "First drink?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded, trying not to throw up.

"You get used to it," Vas said, taking back his flask. He waited for Shinji to stop coughing. "Come with me, Shinji."

Curious, he followed Vas inside and downstairs. The burly Russian man opened a heavy door and ushered Shinji inside. The boy looked around the gun range. The entire back wall was covered with a wide assortment of firearms, from handguns all the way up to a minigun. About ten feet from the gun wall, a series of counters of various heights stretched across most of the width of the room. Beyond the counters, a dozen or so tracks in the ceiling made it possible to move targets back and forth at different distances.

"What are we doing here?" Shinji asked.

Vasily walked over to the guns and crossed his arms as he studied the selection. "Have you ever fired a gun before?"

"Um, just in the Eva," he answered. He furrowed his brow, "Why?"

Vas chose a handgun off the wall and set it down on a counter with a dull thunk. "Let's see what you can do."

Shinji took a couple uncertain steps toward the gun. "R-really?" He hefted the firearm in his hand and studied it.

"The way things are going, you'll need to be able to defend yourself." Vas handed him a pair of earplugs then slapped a button on the counter. A bell rang and a motorized hum filled the room. Paper targets of human silhouettes rolled out, hanging from the tracks in the ceiling.

"Uh, sure." Pointing the weapon downrange, Shinji took aim at one of the targets and opened fire. Nothing happened.

"The safety is on," Vas chuckled.

Shinji felt his cheeks heat up from embarrassment, "Oh." Examining the gun, he found the switch and turned it off. "The Eva sized ones don't have safeties," he said sheepishly. Aiming at the target again, he pulled the trigger and was nearly knocked flat on his ass by the recoil. The bullet tore through the shoulder of the target. He looked over at Vas.

The Russian nodded. "The rest too," he said. "Try to get them all."

Shinji adjusted his stance and started shooting at the remaining twelve targets, taking one shot at each. After he emptied the clip, he set the gun on the counter. His wrists were aching from absorbing the weapon's recoil and his ears were ringing faintly in spite of the earplugs.

Vasily vaulted over the counter and gathered up the targets, bringing them back to the counter. He laid them out for Shinji to see. Five were completely undamaged. "Eight hits," he said. "Not terrible." He pointed to three of the hit targets, each with a hole in either the head or center of the chest. "These would have been kill shots."

Shinji wasn't sure what to say. "Is that good?"

"There have been worse first efforts," a voice said from by the doorway. Kaji stood leaning against the wall by the door, his arms folded over his chest. He glanced at Vas, "I didn't figure you'd get started so soon."

"I ran into him outside," he replied. "It seemed as good a time as any to start."

"I couldn't sleep," Shinji said. "I just wanted to air." He paused for a moment, "A good time to start what?"

"Vas and his guys are going to show you a few things while we're here," Kaji said. "We've got a little time while we lie low and work out a plan."

"You won't have trouble sleeping for much longer," the Russian laughed.

"Oh," the boy said, not quite sure what else to say. "I…guess that's good."

In lieu of an answer, Vas pressed the button on the counter again, prompting the bell to ring and more targets to roll out in a slightly different configuration from last time. In one smooth motion, he scooped up the pistol, reloaded it, and turned it downrange. A handful of rapid gunshots later, he placed the empty gun on the counter.

Shinji gaped. Every target had a bullet hole square in the center of the forehead. "You're going to teach me to do that?"

Vas laughed again. "No, Shinji. We don't have that kind of time." He tilted his head toward the targets, "That takes years of practice. What we can do is make you a pretty good shot in a couple days."

"Right," Kaji said. "I think that's enough for tonight. You should probably try to get some sleep, Shinji."

Shinji nodded and left the room, muttering a good night as he did so.

Kaji studied his friend for a moment. When he was sure Shinji was out of earshot, he finally spoke. "What do you think?"

"We can definitely work with him," Vas said as he reloaded the gun and summoned more targets.

#

#

A knock at the door distracted Kozo Fuyutsuki from his paperwork. He glanced at his office door. "Come in."

The door opened and Sergei Olev stepped into the office. "Good morning, Vice Commander."

"Director," the older man said. "What can I do for you?" He set his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

The director sat in a chair. He regarded Fuyutsuki carefully. "The commander asked me to brief you on several new developments." He paused, but continued at Fuyutsuki's expectant gaze. "Task Group Seven captured Agent Kaji and the Third Child, but they were rescued by what we suspect is a Russian Alpha Group team."

"I see," Fuyutsuki said. His face betrayed nothing of his thoughts.

"A dozen operatives are dead with five more injured, two of them critically," Olev explained. "All the relevant files have been placed on your MAGI drive, including the team's after action reports."

Fuyutsuki nodded. "Thank you," he said levelly. "Is there anything else?" He lifted his coffee mug and took a sip.

"The commander has ordered me to lower the curtain."

The older man nearly choked on his coffee. "That's insane. NERV can't possibly stand provoking that kind of hostility from the civilian population. What is Ikari-"

"Skyfall," Olev cut him off.

"Jesus," Fuyutsuki breathed, sinking back in his chair. "When?"

"Tomorrow," the director said simply. "Commander Ikari feels it is best if the situation is brought under control as soon as possible. Kaji and the Third may be trying to raise an army."

Fuyutsuki fought to keep his composure. "Thank you, Director."

Olev nodded and exited the office without another word.

NERV's Vice Commander frowned, deep in thought. "Raising an army," he whispered. "It better be a damn big one."

Fuyutsuki spent a few minutes staring blankly at his computer. It wasn't long ago that Ikari would have had him in the room for a decision like that. The fact that he had to learn about if after the fact, from Olev of all people, didn't bode well. It was almost like Ikari was marginalizing him. Fuyutsuki was well familiar with the cold calculus that was Gendo Ikari's decision making process. Being marginalized like this was the first step toward dismissal.

Someone as involved in Instrumentality as Fuyutsuki didn't just walk away after being dismissed.

Pushing himself to his feet, Fuyutsuki strode out of the room and into the corridor. To his right, a Section Two agent leaned against the wall a couple feet away from the door. Hiroji Sato was a member of the vice commander's security detail and one of the few people the former professor still trusted at NERV. The instant he noticed Fuyutsuki stepping out of his office, he straightened up and prepared to follow his charge.

Fuyutsuki nodded at his bodyguard. Sato was the one who had warned him that the commander was watching him after Shinji escaped the city. "I need some air," he said. "Feel like taking a walk?"

Sato grinned. "Sure thing, sir."

Neither of the men said anything while they navigated their way through the labyrinthine corridors of NERV headquarters. The handful of employees roaming the halls saluted Fuyutsuki as they went about their business.

Out in Tokyo-3's morning sunlight, the entirety of Fuyutsuki's security detail kept a respectful distance. Sato moved to join the rest of the team, but Fuyutsuki stopped him. "Something on your mind, sir?"

"Walk with me for a minute," Fuyutsuki said.

"Yes, sir," Sato said, falling into step with the vice commander.

"I assume the commander still has you reporting on my movements?" he asked.

"He does, sir."

Fuyutsuki chuckled, "I imagine this will look pretty suspicious on the next report."

Sato grinned slightly. "You don't have to worry about that, Vice Commander," he assured. He tilted his head to indicate the rest of the team, "They all have the utmost respect for you. None of them are happy about this."

Fuyutsuki accepted this with a nod. "I know how much you put on the line by telling me about this. I want you to know how much I appreciate it."

The Section Two agent regarded him quietly as they walked.

Fuyutsuki looked down thoughtfully. "What do you think of Commander Ikari?"

Sato frowned. "I haven't dealt with him much, but something about him always seemed off to me. Although he does kind of carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, so it's understandable."

"That doesn't sound like the whole truth," Fuyutsuki said with an arched eyebrow.

"I suppose it's not," he admitted. "In all honesty, sir, he makes me uneasy. There's something I don't trust about him."

Fuyutsuki nodded, but stayed quiet.

"I feel like something's coming," Sato continued. "Something big. I don't know what, but I can feel it."

"I think you're right," Fuyutsuki said. "I hope we're ready to face it when that day comes."

The vice commander could feel Sato's gaze on him. "You think there's something off about the commander too, don't you, sir?" Sato asked.

"More than you know," Fuyutsuki muttered. "I'll tell you this. Something definitely is coming." He looked at Sato, "What side do you think you'll be on when it does?"

Confusion flashed across the agent's face for an instant. "That depends on what side you're on, sir."

A single laugh escaped Fuyutsuki's lips. He looked up at the cloudless sky. "The right one, I hope."

#

#

"Do I really have to do this?" The hint of pleading in Asuka's tone was unusual for her, especially when she was talking to Toji.

"It's like you said," Toji explained patiently as they walked down the street. "We're all in this together. We can't leave Ken in the dark about something like this."

"Yeah, I know," she snapped. "He's just going to want to know all the details though. I'm not exactly excited about the idea of reliving it all."

Toji shrugged as they approached Kensuke's door. "Well, I want to know the details too, don't forget. So you're going to be telling them anyway." He knocked on the door.

"I'll do it," she said. "Just don't expect me to be happy about it."

Toji threw an almost-sympathetic glance her way as the door opened. Kensuke's eyes widened at the sight of the two of them on his doorstep. He stepped aside and ushered them inside. "What are you guys doing?" he hissed. "What if you were followed? Or someone saw the two of you together? It's not exactly normal to see the two of you together and not screaming at each other. What if someone figures out that something's-"

"Ken," Toji called, cutting off his friend, who quickly fell silent. "Everything's fine. Nobody knows what we're up to. Chill."

Kensuke nodded as his breathing returned to normal. "Right," he said. "Sorry. This kind of thing is still new to me." He looked at the serious expressions on his classmates' faces. "What's up?"

"Devil's got something to tell you," Toji said.

"My dad's home," Kensuke said. "Let's go to my room." He led them upstairs and into his bedroom. As soon as the door was shut, he turned to face Toji and Asuka, "Okay. Now what's going on? Did you learn something?"

Asuka leaned against the windowsill and folded her arms. The light streaming through the window cast her in silhouette as she collected her thoughts. "I'm from the future," she finally said.

The sandy-haired otaku rolled his eyes. "Ha ha," he deadpanned. "Seriously, what's going on?" When Asuka remained didn't respond, Kensuke looked over at Toji, whose face was deadly serious. "Oh, come on. You guys got me all worked up over a joke? It's not even a good one."

"It's not a joke," Asuka said.

Desperate, Ken looked over at Toji for support. The taller boy just shook his head.

Kensuke dropped into his desk chair. "Holy crap," he whispered. "How is that possible?"

"She's going to explain it to us," Toji said. He cast a pointed glance at Asuka, "Right?"

Asuka nodded, but before she could say anything, something occurred to Kensuke. "If you're from the future, doesn't that mean you know where Shinji is?"

She shook her head, "Things are different this time. Nothing like this happened before. Just going back must have changed more than we expected."

"We?" Toji interjected. "You didn't mention that someone else came back with you."

Asuka's contemplative expression fell into a somber one, "Nobody did." Before either of the boys could ask a question, she continued. "I need to start at the beginning if I'm going to do this. You need to understand how different things were. How bad they got."

She took some time explaining things as they occurred in her original timeline. Toji went pale when he learned about Unit-03's activation. He stayed that way for the rest of the story. Kensuke's color faded shortly after Toji's as events in Asuka's story continued to deteriorate.

#

#

Darkness enveloped Asuka as she danced on the edge of consciousness. She had only a vague awareness of her own body, but she hurt. That was the only way to describe it. Her eye felt as though someone had poured acid into its socket. Her arm kept giving of sharp throbs, from her hand all the way down to her elbow. It felt as though every muscle in her body had been replaced with lead. She was exhausted on the deepest level a human is capable of experiencing.

To top that off, there was a tight burning sensation building in her throat. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal him. He was on top of her with his hands wrapped around her throat. Dimly, she knew that she should be fighting back. He was trying to kill her. He already basically killed everyone else. She couldn't bring herself to do it though. She was in such pain, and was so tired, that death would be a relief.

She reached up with her wounded arm and gently caressed his face. The intent was to let him know that it was okay, that she had accepted death. Instead, it seemed to break him out of the trance he had been in. His hands released her neck and Asuka gasped, bringing air back into her lungs. He collapsed onto her, sobbing uncontrollably.

For a moment, she let him, feeling to too tired and in too much pain to do anything. Slowly, the reality of her situation began to sink in. The Angels, NERV, Eva, Third Impact, all of it hit her. They were quite possibly the only ones not part of Instrumentality. A ball of molten metal settled in her stomach. "I feel sick."

The sobbing boy above her didn't seem to hear. The nausea intensified. "I feel sick," she repeated, more urgently this time. When he still didn't respond, she shoved him off of her and rolled onto her hands and knees, ignoring the intense stab of pain that radiated up her arm. With a mighty heave, a wave of bile splattered on the sand before her. Two more similar heaves and she pushed herself into a sitting position, breathing heavily.

For the first time, Asuka took a minute to take in her surroundings. They were on a beach, as the sand had already suggested. The water lapped at the shore, stained by the LCL of billions of AT Field-deprived humans. Out in the distance, the petrified forms of the Mass Production Evas stood as though crucified around the partially submerged giant stone head of Rei Ayanami. Up in the sky, a bright red streak passed in front of the moon and arced past the horizon.

A few feet away, Shinji knelt in the sand, staring blankly ahead. Asuka felt a sneer build across her face. Oh, sure, she understood him now. Their time together in the mass of human souls had afforded them a fairly deep level of understanding. Instrumentality had a way of doing that, apparently. What it couldn't do was erase a lifetime of experiences and hellish memories.

So Asuka Langley Sohryu did what she knew best. She hauled herself to her feet and glared at the motionless boy. "Well, you finally did it, Third. You screwed everything."

Shinji seemed to collapse in on himself at the venom in her voice. He opened his mouth, but seemed unable to come up with any words.

Asuka laughed coldly, "What? No apology? You're actually finally responsible for something, and it's the one time you don't apologize?"

He shook his head as tears started streaming down his face again. "I didn't…I tried to stop it, to set it back to the way it was."

"Why did you let it start in the first place?" she shouted, kicking at the sand in frustration. "You wouldn't have had to stop it if you hadn't decided everyone would be better off as a puddle."

Shinji flinched and pulled his knees to his chest. For a long moment, he didn't answer. Just as Asuka was about to start shouting again, he whispered something. "You were dead."

The redhead's jaw dropped. "Great fucking reason to end the world," she muttered. She turned on her heel and stormed away.

Behind her, Shinji clambered to his feet. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here," she snapped. "I've had enough of this place to last a lifetime." She kept walking for a few minutes before she realized that Shinji was following a couple yards behind her. "Why the hell are you following me?" She whirled around to face him.

His step faltered, "I…I don't know what else to do."

"Pathetic," she whispered. Rolling her eyes, she turned and started walking again. She heard Shinji start following her again after a moment of hesitation.

It took nearly three hours of walking, punctuated by several stops when Asuka needed a rest, but the two teenagers eventually encountered a house. It was small, smaller than Misato's apartment, Asuka figured, but it was shelter and it was out of sight of the red ocean and its nightmare statues. Those were the only two things she cared about at the moment.

With a weary sigh of relief, she approached the house and peered through a window. The inside was definitely as small as it looked from the outside, but it seemed comfortably furnished. She moved over to the door and turned the handle, which opened noiselessly. A triumphant grin spread across her face, but quickly fell when she realized Shinji was still standing by the side of the road. "What the hell are you doing, dummkopf?"

Shinji looked around nervously, "That's someone's house. We can't just walk in."

Asuka was in his face in an instant. "No," she growled dangerously. "It was someone's house before you decided that everyone would be better off as a bunch of free floating souls. Now it's our house. And you know what, when we leave here and find another house, that one will be ours too."

The expected emotions vied for control of the boy's face, namely misery and remorse over the entire situation and fear from Asuka's rage. She saw something else briefly flicker across his expression too though, something unexpected. Was that…relief? It was. He was momentarily relieved when she said "our house." She rolled her eyes and walked back to the house. Shinji scrambled after her.

The front door opened directly to the living room, which was indeed comfortably furnished. A comfortable-looking couch sat facing a moderately sized television on an entertainment center. At one end of the room was a small fireplace with a stack of firewood next to it. Down a small hallway were a bathroom and a bedroom. The bedroom held a queen sized bed flanked by nightstands, a walk-in closet, and a pair of dressers topped with pictures of an elderly couple and people who were presumably their children.

The last room in the house was the kitchen, which turned out to be fairly well equipped. A large refrigerator, a dishwasher, a gas stove all stood around the wall. In one corner stood what Asuka found to be a fairly old looking wood burning stove. She laughed darkly to herself. At least Baka Shinji will be able to cook once the power inevitably goes out and the gas lines fail.

That was when she noticed the small table situated in front of the picture window. A half-eaten meal sat on the table. Apparently the owners had been in the middle of dinner Third Impact hit. The abandoned meal wasn't what caught her eye, though. Two sets of clothes lay abandoned on the table's two chairs. The orange stains of dried LCL served as a grim reminder of the residents' fate.

Asuka staggered over to the kitchen sink as her stomach started to churn. As she threw up, she was dimly aware of Shinji doing something behind her. When she straightened up again, she wiped her mouth on the back on her hand and turned around. She caught a glimpse of Shinji, looking more than a little green himself, leaving the kitchen with the bundle of clothes in his arms.

He came back into the living room a couple minutes later with a different bundle of clothes. For one awkward moment, they just stood and looked at each other. Eventually, Asuka offered a small nod of thanks. Shinji looked away and held out the clothes. "I thought you might want to get out of the plugsuit," he mumbled. "I think they should fit you okay."

Asuka furrowed her brow. The plugsuit was sticky with dried LCL and beat to all hell. She snatched the clothes out of his hands and marched into the bedroom, where she kicked the door closed with a slam.

#

#

Asuka's story trailed off as she started to get choked up. Toji and Kensuke stared, utterly transfixed by what they were hearing. When she started crying, Kensuke handed a tissue box to her. She wiped away the tears and cleared her throat. "Sorry," she whispered. "It's not easy to talk about this all."

"We can finish another time if you want," Toji offered. Kensuke nodded his agreement.

Asuka took a deep breath to steady herself. "No, no, I'm okay." She sat down on Kensuke's bed. "I just haven't really had to face any of it since I came back."

Kensuke rubbed the back of his head, "Do you, uh, want some water or something?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine." She took another deep breath. "For a couple weeks we just…survived. There was enough in that house for us to survive for that long."

A knock at the door made her fall silent as her head whipped around to face the door. Toji and Kensuke practically jumped out of their skin. "Ken?" a voice called from the other side of the door.

The boys slumped back in their seats, visibly relieved. "Yeah, Dad?" Kensuke answered.

The door opened and Kensuke's dad stepped into the room. He blinked in surprise at the sight of Toji and Asuka. "Oh, I didn't realize you had company. Hey, Toji." He stretched out a hand toward Asuka, "I don't think we've met. I'm Ken's dad."

Asuka cleared her throat and shook the man's hand. "It's nice to meet you Mister Aida. I'm Asuka."

The elder Aida smiled then looked at his son. "Isn't Asuka the name of that girl you always complain..."

"So what's up, Dad?" Kensuke cut off his father, his eyes darting to nervously watch for any kind of negative reaction from the girl.

"Right," his dad said. "Sorry." He turned on Kensuke's television and flipped through the channels. He stopped on a news report.

"-anding in front of City Hall, where a massive explosion has ripped through a city council meeting," the reporter said. Behind him, the burning edifice of City Hall stood. A huge hole had been blown in the front of the building. The lights of emergency vehicles were clearly visible from off camera. "Emergency crews are still working to contain the resulting blaze, but so far twenty-nine are confirmed dead with many more injured."

"Scheisse," Asuka whispered.

The reporter continued, "A source inside the Tokyo-3 Police Department is telling us that they have no information on the cause of the explosion yet." He reached up to cup his earpiece. "Hold on, I'm being told that Commander Gendo Ikari of NERV is holding a press conference about this explosion. We're now going live to NERV Headquarters."

The three teenagers exchanged confused glances as the reporter's image was replaced by that of a press room. Commander Ikari stood behind a podium, flanked by Vice Commander Fuyutsuki and Section Two Director Olev.

Ikari's glasses reflected harshly in the glare of the lights. He apparently felt no need for introductions. "Minutes after the explosion at City Hall, we received a message claiming the blast as a terrorist attack." His cold, clinical tone left Asuka feeling sick. "Our analysts have confirmed the veracity of the message, which prominently features Ryoji Kaji and Shinji Ikari."

"What?" The shout came in unison from Asuka, Toji, and Kensuke.

"It has become apparent," Ikari continued, "that Pilot Ikari was not kidnapped, as we originally believed. NERV extends its deepest apologies for this intelligence failure. We regret, however, that the lockdown of the city cannot be lifted. The message promises more attacks in the future."

Toji stood up. "This is insane," he said.

On the screen, the commander adjusted his glasses. "In order to keep the citizens of this city as safe as possible while we continue to combat the Angel threat, I have asked the JSSDF for additional troops to expand the lockdown. As soon as this request is granted, this city will be under martial law, as authorized under United Nations Proclamation 814-B."

At this, the assembled reporters began shouting questions. Ikari kept talking in his cold monotone. Gradually, the room quieted down to listen. "Furthermore, now that we know that Kaji and Ikari are no longer in the city, steps must be taken to isolate their operatives still in this city. As such, I have ordered the activation of a system that has cut off all communications between Tokyo-3 and the rest of the world."

The press room again erupted with questions. Kensuke turned from the TV to his computer. He opened his web browser. After a few seconds he looked toward the others in the room. "There's no internet," he said. "It's already cut off."

Asuka swore under her breath. This was beyond bad. A glance at Toji and Kensuke showed that they were thinking the same thing. She frowned as she tried to think of what kind of scheme the commander could have in mind. "I should go talk to Misato," she said. "I'll see what she knows."

"Good idea," Kensuke said.

Toji nodded, "We can talk later."

A/N: Hey, I'm back. I was a bit lazy in getting this chapter started. Honestly, I never actually gave much thought to Post-3I Earth, so it took a while to figure out how I wanted that to go. I know there wasn't a ton of it in this chapter, but there will be more coming for the next couple chapters most likely.

I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. Not thrilled, but pretty happy. There's a lot of setup for future events, but I think it still came out pretty fun.

Anyway, Rebuild 3.0 came out in the time between the last chapter and this one. Anybody seen it yet? Waiting for it has me wishing I lived in Japan. No points for guessing what movie I did see in the interim though.

I'm hoping to get a decent string of chapters out pretty quickly. As always, you can check out my profile for status updates. You can also follow Fourth_Impact on Twitter.

Review Acknowledgements:

Jack: Sorry to keep teasing Future!Earth. I know how much you're looking forward to it. I'm trying to find a good balance for pacing's sake. Hopefully this at least managed to whet your appetite.

Ctelenku: I'll be doing my best to keep up the good work. Let me know how I'm doing.

Lachesis: The way I thought about Shinji taking down that agent was that his time in the Eva has taught him more about combat than he's realized. And no, I had not seen Evangelion Abridged. It never even occurred to me that someone would try to abridge NGE. I checked it out though and loved it.

Specterman: It was my pleasure. I hope you enjoy the rest moving forward.

Watchdog: You managed to exactly predict at least one thing I was going to do in this chapter, with Vas teaching Shinji to shoot. Things won't be quite as intense as Tom Clancy, but yeah, we're moving in that direction. Oh, past Asuka. That's a messy situation. The answer to that question should come up eventually.

Ben: In a way, the time loop theory about Rebuild did help shape this story. I saw Rebuild before the series, and a friend mentioned the theory. He didn't explain at all, and I kind of brushed it off at the time, but it did plant the seed in my head. I'm going to do my best not to rush toward a conclusion. I want to try to finish strong.

Battosai: I'll do my best.