I don't own anything.

Company of Wolves

-Chapter Eleven

Misato frowned as she looked around the corridors of NERV. She was pretty sure that this was where she had been told she could find Mana. Then again, she was getting surer and surer that she was lost again. "Mana!" Misato sighed in relief as she spotted the redhead and quickly moved to walk beside her.

"Oh, hey Misato," Mana returned. "Me and Shinji got our pistols back. Asuka gave Section-2 a call and we didn't even have to threaten anyone."

"You did anyway, didn't you?" Misato asked.

"Of course," Mana replied. "Did you get done what you needed to get done?"

"Yeah," Misato answered. "Where did Shinji get to?"

"He said he had some work to do," Mana replied. She was silent for a moment. "Work," she repeated. "Guess I should be on the lookout for any mysterious deaths." Misato frowned at that.

"Mind if I ask you a couple questions?" she asked as they stopped in front of a few vending machines.

"Go ahead," Mana answered as she dug into her pockets and pulled out a few crumbled bills. "You know, when they told me I was going to be investigating a UN base, I thought I'd actually be able to eat right on a job for once."

"I've had to survive off these things a few times myself," Misato stated as she patted the vending machine affectionately.

"Doesn't mean it's healthy," Mana countered. She managed to amass enough junk food to equate to a meal and sat down on one of the nearby benches. "So, what are those questions?"

"I want to ask you about Shinji's company," Misato stated as she sat down. Mana hesitated, her bottle of juice halfway to her lips.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Mana sipped her juice and opened a bag of chips.

"Lupo Cattivo Limited," she began, "a UN recognized PMC. They specialize mostly in training, but there is a small sub-group that carries out black operations when requested."

"Cut the shit," Misato ordered. Mana chuckled humorlessly.

"Lupo Cattivo," she said again, "the Bad Wolves. Individual contractors sometimes refer to their parent company as the pack and almost everyone just calls them wolves or dogs. The names suit them, the animals. Officially, they're working for the good guys. Unofficially, they have their own game that they're playing. The UN has investigated them several times following leads provided by other PMCs. They never found anything and Lupo Cattivo managed to come out of it with an even securer reputation and minus a few enemies. For all their sins, they are good. Make no mistake about it, going up against them is going up against some of the best and brightest soldiers in the world."

"Who are they?" Misato asked.

"The contractors themselves?" Mana asked. Misato nodded. "Most of them seem like the usual bunch; a mix of military operators, grunts, specialists and others. A second look would reveal an unusually high number of disillusioned and disgraced soldiers. A lot of them have either general discharges under other than honorable conditions or flat out dishonorable discharges. Lupo Cattivo's PR department has simply stated that they feel these men were simply lacking proper motivation in their respective national armies."

"What do you think?" Misato asked.

"They want the bad eggs," Mana stated. "Every single contractor in that company is hand picked. Lupo Cattivo doesn't accept application. All new employees are brought in by an existing employee and those existing employees don't easily impress."

"Is that why the other PMCs don't trust them?" Misato asked.

"Of course not," Mana stated. "We know anybody can have a burn out and get kicked out of the military. Just having a bad record doesn't make you a bad person. We don't trust them because we know the truth. We've seen them in the field and they weren't working with us. Besides the general distrust, Lupo Cattivo employees are known for going native. They pick up local customs, dress and dialect faster than anyone else. They're also infamous for knives and their own integrated style of CQB armed and unarmed combat. All Lupo Cattivo contractors carry two or three knives, some carry more. No one knows why exactly. It almost seems funny at first, like they think they're Rambo or ninja commandos or something. It's a lot less funny after you see them use those knives and that combat system. They're good with them. Really good. Their PR department has praised the system for giving them a non-lethal option, but anyone who's actually seen it in action agrees that it's not for crowd control. It's for taking down armed and trained individuals silently and fatally, individuals such as opposing contractors and soldiers."

"Why knives?" Misato asked.

"A knife has a vibe completely different from a gun," Mana explained. "A man casually holding a knife is scarier than a man casually holding a gun. If you'll remember, the world used to be a lot more dangerous. We're all decedents of people who either were good with knives or knew to fear knives. They've been with us for a long time. Probably, the first monkey who killed another monkey using something other than his hands or something he picked up, used a knife." Mana stared off in the distance slightly. "I've seen them use those knives. It's something you won't forget. I'll also never forget the first time I saw a Lupo Cattivo contractor in the field."

"What happened?" Misato asked. Mana sighed and finished her chips.

"It was my second operation in the field for my company and my first in that theatre," she stated after a moment. "I'm technically not a combat operative, but I do have some trigger time. That landed me an assignment working on a UN peacekeeper base in the Middle East. The base was in some pretty hostile territory." Mana finished her juice and tossed it into the trash with her empty bag of chips. "I was with my mentor and a few of the base's logistics folks. It was late, or rather, it was early. I think it was a little after three in the morning. We were in a temporary structure, nothing but a big reinforced plywood box with sandbags stacked everywhere. We never saw it coming.

"I never knew my mentor was a real vet, ex-spec ops. I always thought of him as a big, lazy type of guy who stuttered. When the door burst in, he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and flung me under a desk. I'd never seen him move so fast. He hit the ground right next to me, two holes in his chest.

"They were good. They cleared the entire room in a flash. I saw a pair of feet walk up to my mentor and prod him in the ribs. He gurgled and threw up some blood so the man shot him point blank in the skull with a suppressed Kalashnikov. Blood went everywhere. I was. . .covered in it. I'd never been so scared in my life. I'd been shot at before, but nothing like this. Before, they had always been kind of indiscriminately spraying rounds before ducking into cover. This was a perfectly executed sweep and clear. The rest of the base didn't even know until someone noticed that the door had been kicked in. By then they had already up and gone.

"I can still remember hearing them talk as they looked for what they had come to get. They were speaking the local dialect, some better than others. One guy even corrected another in English with such a perfect Australian accent that you'd think he was faking. He told the other that he was forgetting to conjugate a verb. He told the man that if he wanted to get far in the pack, he'd better step it up on the languages."

"How do you know they were Lupo Cattivo?" Misato asked quietly.

"Well, they certainly weren't locals," Mana stated. "The man who killed my mentor, he was wearing good desert combat boots. I forget the exact make, but they were expensive ones made by a sneaker company. Everybody who doesn't have strict uniform regulations wears them or their type. They're really popular with contractors. He was also wearing expensive shooting gloves with molded knuckle protectors. The trigger fingers had been cut away and his skin was white. I went into shock so the rest is blurry until they found me the next morning.

"The base commander decided that I was beyond his staff's help, so he decided to medivac me. I was sitting outside near the landing pad when a convoy of three black trucks pulled up. They all had that snarling wolf emblem on the hood and front doors. The men climbed out and walked over to me because the CO was trying to coax answers out of me. I remember them exactly, all wearing the same uniform with the same emblems and carrying the same weapon, tan-painted Kalashnikov's with all the tactical add ons. Their leader stopped in front of us and greeted the CO all polite and formal in German, the CO's native language. He said that they had been doing something secret for the UN and had heard about our misfortune and offered to help if the CO wanted extra protection until the UN mobilized more peacekeepers.

"The CO thanked them and the leader turned to his men and ordered them in English with such a perfect Australian accent that you'd think he was faking to head out on the perimeter. He was wearing expensive shooting gloves with molded knuckle protectors and the trigger fingers cut off. His skin was white. All the contractors nodded and padded away on expensive desert combat boots, Lupo Cattivo standard issue. Of course, I was too jammed full of drugs to comment on it at the time."

"What did the UN say about it?" Misato asked.

"Silly little girl was in shock. She doesn't know what she saw or what she heard," Mana growled. "It was damn nice of those Lupo Cattivo boys to help out. They didn't even ask for any money. They said it was just common courtesy. What professionals they are!" Mana cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath before looking Misato in the eye. "I know what I saw and what I heard. I don't know what Lupo Cattivo wants to do or even if they have an ultimate plan. All I know is, they're working against the UN." Misato found that she completely believed the young redhead without a single doubt in her mind.

"So then, what is Shinji?" Mana scowled and opened a candy bar.

"Damned if I know," she growled. "Stupid bastard can't seem to figure out if he's a nice guy in the wrong crowd or one of the worst of the wrong crowd." She sighed and bit her candy bar. "If I knew he was going to put me through all this when we met, I'd had shot him before I fell for him."

(:ii:)

"Ah, good evening Mister Ikari." Shinji smiled and closed the door to Kozo's office behind him.

"Good evening Commander," he returned. "Have a good day?"

"Rather boring, I must admit," Kozo stated. "I heard that your day was a tad bit more exciting." Shinji had to laugh. That was one way of putting it.

"I guess you could say that," he stated. Kozo chuckled and pushed himself back from his desk.

"Now, what seems to be troubling you?" the older man asked. "My secretary told me that you had said it was urgent."

"Oh, it is," Shinji stated. "Push yourself away from your desk and stand very slowly." Kozo chuckled and did as he was told.

"Here to kill me?" he asked. Shinji growled in annoyance.

"Why does everybody think I'm always looking to start violence?" he demanded. Kozo shrugged and walked around his desk so that he could sit on it. "I'd just like some serious questions answered and I'd like to be able to make sure you aren't hitting a silent alarm while sitting there all friendly and cooperative like."

"Bad experience with that?" Kozo ventured, still looking more amused than anything.

"A couple times," Shinji admitted.

"I see." Kozo held up his arm and Shinji stared at the plain metal bracelet on his wrist. "I'm afraid your job has just gotten a good deal harder. They're using these little toys now instead of an actual button." Shinji glared at the bracelet. He didn't like where this was going.

"Biometrics?" he guessed.

"Yes," Kozo answered. "It measures pulse, respiration, even sweat; anything that would indicate that I'm under duress."

"And the best part, I bet it sounds all the alarms if I destroy it." Kozo nodded apologetically. "Shit."

"So, do you want to check my pulse throughout this little interview, or are you going to trust me?"

"I'll go on a little trust," Shinji stated as he slipped his coat off, "and a little surprise and a lot of firepower if necessary. I'll tell you now though, I react poorly to surprises."

"So did your mother," Kozo commented. "She gave me a black eye once when we tried to spring a surprise birthday party on her."

"No kidding?" Shinji dragged a chair around to face to door and unholstered his Glock. He let the pistol rest in his lap and watched Kozo with his peripheral vision.

"None," Kozo replied. "I don't suppose your father ever actually told you anything about her."

"No, he didn't," Shinji answered. "Hell, I never even saw a picture."

"You could always have asked me," Kozo commented. He reached behind him and picked up a picture frame. He fiddled with it for a moment before extracting the picture inside. "Your mother and I were good friends for a long time and before that I was her college professor." Shinji took the picture with some trepidation. Why was he bothering with this now? He was Shinji Ikari in name only anymore. What did he care about a woman he never really knew? Despite his misgivings, he turned the picture over and stared at it. It showed a young, smiling woman with brown hair in a graduation robe beside an older gray-haired man.

"Did you ever have hair color?"

"Smart ass," Kozo stated. Shinji held the picture out, but Kozo raised his hand. "I have plenty of pictures. Keep it." Shinji stared down at the picture for a while before tucking it into his coat.

"She looks a lot like someone," he commented.

"I would think so," Kozo replied, "after all, Miss Ayanami was a clone of your mother." They sat in silence for a while.

"Great," Shinji replied finally. "I guess we can add Oedipus Complex to my list of neurosis."

"Yes, I found your little crush a tad bit disturbing myself," Kozo commented. "Though, if it makes you feel better, you had about as much in common with her as you would a second or third cousin. That's legal in some countries." Shinji massaged his temples.

"Not helping old man," he stated. He thought about the conversation. "So, if she wasn't a perfect clone, what else was she?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know this," Kozo stated. "She's a clone of Lilith. Your mother's DNA was used mostly to give her a human form."

"I knew about a clone, I just didn't know it was Rei and I didn't know my mother was involved," Shinji stated. Ritsuko had told him that much, though he hadn't bothered to ask who the clone was really. "Where is she, anyway?"

"SEELE took her not long after your father's demise," Kozo stated. "You don't work for them, do you?"

"Well, this job was given to my company by the UN, so technically, I'm their unwitting pawn," Shinji stated. "Why would SEELE want you dead?"

"Because I'm doing everything I can to covertly interfere with their plan to initiate the Third Impact," Kozo stated. "I assume that's actually what you're doing as well, correct?"

"I wouldn't say interfere so much as utterly annihilate," Shinji stated. "My company has dedicated itself to destroying SEELE."

"Good to see that someone else has taken up the cause as well," Kozo stated. "I assume Mister Ryoji is involved somehow, correct?"

"My adoptive father," Shinji replied. "He brought me into the company. Now, how many people here are privy to your plans?"

"Mister Ryoji is alive?" Kozo asked in surprise. "SEELE is usually much more thorough than that."

"They're also more used to eliminating amateurs," Shinji stated. "My company is full of professional survivors. We're much harder to eliminate."

"Oh good," Kozo replied. "I do believe SEELE will test that belief quite thoroughly."

"Wouldn't be the first time they've come for me," Shinji replied with a smirk.

"You're arrogant," Kozo stated, "just like your mother. . .and your father."

"You're starting to test me now," Shinji growled. "I want answers, not stories."

(:ii:)

Shinji cautiously pushed the Commander's door open and peeked out into the hallway, Glock at the ready. "Satisfied?" Kozo asked.

"I suppose," Shinji replied as he holstered his weapon. "Thanks for the insight, Commander."

"Not a problem, Mister Ikari," Kozo stated with his perennial grandfatherly smile. "Just, don't be too harsh on her, for my sake."

"Anger is for amateurs," Shinji stated. "I'm a professional. What I do, I do without impulse."

"Thank you," Kozo stated. Shinji nodded and closed the door behind him. Their conversation had been insightful. It had also updated Shinji's hit list. Now there was one last step to prepare.

"Here's hoping those fuckers in the van crashed and burned to death," Shinji muttered to himself. It was definitely time to rearm. His thoughts turned towards his room. Now what could he pull out of his bag of tricks to help him take on a bunch of well-trained hit men? His pondering rewarded him and even he had to wince at the plan that was forming. It was a tad bit dramatic for him and had a good chance to blowing up in his face. . .literally, but he liked it.

"Hey Shinji."

"Hey Mana," Shinji returned.

"Finished talking with the Commander?" Mana asked. Shinji nodded. "Misato asked me about you." Shinji hesitated.

"What did you tell her?" he asked.

"Everything I knew," Mana replied. "After all, you aren't hiding anything, are you?"

"Of course not," Shinji answered with a smile. Mana studied him carefully before glancing around the hallway.

"You and me are going to find somewhere quiet. . ."

"You want to go again already?" Shinji interrupted, earning a smack for his efforts.

". . .and have a long talk about what's happening in the world," Mana finished without acknowledging his words. . .except for the smack. That was certainly some kind of acknowledgement.

"Say we do," Shinji began. "You know that you are going to despise what you find out. Even if you somehow come around to my perspective, you aren't going to like it. Where does that leave us when this job is over?" Mana stared at him.

"You mean it?" she asked quietly. "When this job is done, you'll leave your pack?"

"For you," Shinji stated and was shocked by the truth of it. He would leave the pack for her. Once this damn job was out of the way, he would tell Kaji that it was the last one. Janet wouldn't make a fuss; she didn't really like him anyway. He had enough money squirreled away, what with his lack of free time to spend it between jobs. Even if she had no money, they'd be pretty damn well off.

"You. . .you. . ." With a squeal she almost leapt at him and seized him around the neck. Shinji laughed and held her tight. "Really?"

"Really," Shinji replied, "just try not to jump on my hit list before then, okay?" Mana laughed and kissed him.

"How about we find that somewhere quiet now?" she asked.

"To talk about what's happened in the world?" Shinji asked teasingly.

"No, the other thing," Mana answered, just as teasingly.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, with the ending coming, I just needed to get one last major 'explanation' chapter out. From here on in, it's plotting and killing folks.

So, Mana and Shinji. Bets on this ending happily? What's that, no takers? Smart.

Let's see, what to rant about this week? Okay, how about this? I've given up smoking again. Gasp! What's this? Could Mister C. actually care for his health? Does he want to live until he's a senile old man in a nursing home shitting his pants and praying for his children to call? No. My buddy and I made a bet again. He figures he'll get me to crack by upping my no smoking period. Heh. Little does he know. Iron willed baby.

Anway, I haven't smoked in a month. That's right, a month of "clean" Delaware air. I've been hacking up yellow lumps for almost two weeks. Coincidence? I don't think so.