"Man, what are we doing here, Ken?" Touji fidgeted in his chair. The back of the van was small, the seats hard and funny-smelling, and the windows were too dark to see out of – he couldn't even tell if anyone was up front anymore. At least the air-con kept the air kind of fresh. From the apparent length of their journey, they could be anywhere right now.

Kensuke kept flipping through his photo album, seemingly calm. Touji felt a twinge of annoyance at that. He didn't like looking ruffled by comparison. But this wasn't exactly a comforting situation.

"Because they called us, man."

"Yeah, but why? Nerv ain't the police and we ain't done nothin' anyway. Nerv ain't short of hired muscle, and last I checked you were too scrawny to hold a gun and too much of a wimp not to shit yourself if you needed to use one either. And I'm not even six months into my apprenticeship, and I doubt this here fancy multi-bajillion dollar facility is urgently in need of amateur re-wiring."

"Well, they could-"

"-And you said they didn't have any more robots. They've got their pilots. Full up, no vacancies, all done."

"Well, yeah. But maybe they want reserves?"

"Piloting isn't like being on a baseball team, Ken. Not that you'd know what that's like."

"Hey, I watch it occasionally," he said with his fingers crossed.

They probably could use substitute pilots, though. I mean, what if Shinji had a cold or something? Wouldn't that be tragic, if he was too busy wiping his nose and coughing to defend the city.

Actually, that would be pretty bad.

Anyway. He stopped flexing his fingers and bit his nails while he kept on thinking it over.

The sliding door opened to reveal Miss Katsuragi. She was wearing a whole load of gear Touji had never seen before. "Hi ma'am. What's goin' on?"

Ken managed to squeak out a "Hi" of his own. Touji gave him a glance. He'd expected delight, but what he saw on his friend's face was more like apprehension. He bore that in mind as Miss Katsuragi replied.

"Hi. You're here to keep Shinji sane. Come." She stepped back to give them space to exit. "This way."

"Uh..." Touji didn't want to speak to her back, so he kept his questions to himself. With a couple of apprehensive glances between them they followed her out of what was apparently a garage into a maze of corridors. "What's with that look?" he whispered to Ken.

"Dude, she's wearing armour."

When he thought of 'armour' he imagined something more metallic and shiny, or metallic but totally covered in laquered wood to keep it from rusting but also shiny. Also, he imagined it covering more of her body. And having a helmet. What she was wearing was just a super-bulky, block-y sort of jacket thing. Unfortunately, it totally covered her boobs, as he couldn't help but noticing earlier.

It also covered her waist. The shape of her whole torso, from shoulders to hips, was just a great big rectangle now thanks to it. That kinda tragedy was almost enough to make a man weep. He remembered to speak. "And?"

"Just look how heavy it is, man. Twenty kilos at least. You don't wear that in your spare time."

Touji frowned. "Are you sayin' she expects to get shot?"

Ken shrugged. "Maybe." He was serious.

When they finally got in a lift with her, Ken spoke up.

"Um, how are we going to do that, Captain?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He asked for you, though."

He and Ken shared another glance. Touji spoke up. "Uh… what for?"

"Again, I don't know. I haven't spoken to him yet."

'Since the accident' went unsaid.

"Well, it's good to hear he's recovering," he said, surprising himself to find that he kind of meant it. The moment his fist had made contact with the freak's – no, Shinji's - jaw he knew it hadn't been right. Though he'd be damned if he ever admitted that aloud.

But still, as Ken had put it sometime, just because the kid was a nutjob didn't mean he deserved what happened to him. And so, yeah, he was glad he was getting better from that.

It still didn't make sense though. Why them? "He doesn't even know us."

She shrugged again. "He knew your names, at least."

Touji frowned. How?

Well, maybe someone had been watching when he'd decked the kid. Or maybe he'd just asked about them later.

What 'later'? He'd had his lights punched out, then he'd gone home and fallen down the stairs or out the window or whatever it was that same day, hadn't he? Sure, there was a little window of opportunity there to ask after them…

So maybe it was from before? But then, why remember them? He looked at Kensuke.

Kensuke…

They got off the lift and took another. This sure was a tall building. Or a deep basement. No, wait...

He felt kind of stupid. Of course it was underground. There were loads of NERV tunnels under the city. Everyone knew that. Plus, the elevator was going down. How had he not noticed that?

Anyway. Kensuke had asked him if he was a pilot…. then Shinji had crashed his laptop. So there. That was how: hacking, or whatever. If he knew how to do that, he probably coulda ninja'd his way into finding out who Ken was.

Of course, that still didn't explain how he knew who Touji was.

"Did he ask after both of us by name?"

Misato stopped staring at the wall for a moment to look at him. "Yup. Why?"

He wondered how much to say. But why should he not tell her? She seemed nice enough. "I was just wondering how he knew my name, is all. I don't remember tellin' him."

She shrugged. "He knew lots of things. Coulda been a hobby of his."

Coulda been, huh? Not the words of someone who knew him well, then. "Ya know him well?"

"A couple of days."

He didn't know what to make of that, but he was curious. And that just reminded him of something he'd forgotten to ask. "Are you, like, his boss or something?"

"More like his shift manager, or his foreman."

She didn't ask if they knew him. On the other hand he'd just told her that they weren't really on speaking terms, so she coulda figured that out for herself pretty easy.

When they got out the air had that sorta clean smell you got in doctors' surgeries and hospitals. It was nice, in its own way. Ken might've told him that was because he had 'positive associations' with it, at some point. He supposed that would've been true if he had, even if it hadn't been the most pleasant thing to see her in that kind of shape. It had brought them closer together, though.

With any luck, it'd be just another couple of months and she might be out and about again.

He'd half-expected some kind of pep-talk at the door or something, but suddenly they just barged into a room and Shinji Ikari was right there, sitting up in bed.

"How're you feeling, champ?"

"Hey Misato," he said. "Pretty good. Hi Kensuke, Touji."

"Miss Katsuragi told us what happened," Touji said without quite meaning too. He figured that he couldn't just leave it there, though. "Sorry to hear it. Bet that sucked."

"You know, the funny thing is I can't remember it. But I guess that spares me from having yet another recurring nightmare from which I wake up crying and finding that I've shit myself."

"That was a joke," he added, with a small smile that Touji couldn't help but match with a tiny one of his own.

"You're still awkward as all hell, I see," said Misato.

Shinji actually laughed. "My pleasure, Misato." He sobered. "May I have some time alone with my peers, please?"

"Sure. I'll be back shortly."

"Thanks, Misato."

She left at full stride. She'd been walking them awful fast this whole time, actually. Her pace was relentless.

"So…" Shinji broke the silence.

"Look, Ikari…" Touji began, but Shinji cut him off. "My wonderfully pleasant dad is Ikari. If you're gonna call me by my name, please call me Shinji. And yes, I also regret that you punched me in the face."

Ken actually seemed to be enjoying this, the little twerp. He seemed to take a kind of perverse and irritating pleasure in seeing Touji squirm. Touji spoke up again. "Ya kinda beat me to the gun there, uh, Shinji."

"It's cool. We're teenagers, we're allowed to be moody and act on impulse. If it's any consolation, when my mum died in an industrial accident I was heartbroken. Mostly 'cos my dad fell back into jerkassery without her around, but that's another story."

He looked at Ken. He knew the geek had lost his mum like that or something. Of course, maybe he himself had as well. Dad never talked about her, so for all he knew maybe the old bird had gone and kicked the bucket a long time ago.

"Sounds rough, man."

"It's cool. He un-dumped me a couple of… woah, how long have I been out?"

Touji shrugged, looked to Ken. "Couple of months?" offered the geek.

"Woah. Man, the shit I must've missed. Point is, now everybody at work thinks I've benefited from nepotism."

"Have you?" said Ken, who had something of a social deathwish. Or maybe he was just makin' conversation. Shinji rolled with it, though.

"Nah, it's minimum-wage. I could earn more at a wok, or stacking shelves. Plus there's the stress, odd hours, and risk of personal injury. So it's not exactly a dream job."

"Well, you are starting from the bottom of the ladder," offered Ken. "Maybe you could break into management someday."

Shinji snorted, and so did Touji. Shinji said "I don't thi-"

Touji spoke over him, though he did spare him an apologetic glance. "Bitch, have you worked a day in your sorry little life? He's at minimum-wage, man. If there ain't no law to say otherwise, they'll keep him there 'til the sun burns out."

"Word," offered Shinji.

Ken looked suitably chastised.

"Sorry, you were sayin'," Touji offered.

"Thanks," said Shinji. "I was just saying that daddy dearest isn't the kind to hand down the family business, though I think he inherited some of it from mummy. I don't think he sees me as family anyway."

"Man, do you spend all your time thinkin' up conversation-stoppin' zingers like that one, or…?"

Shinji grinned. "I'm an endless font of good-will and joy. So... you guys are pilots now?"

"We are?"

Ken really should've known better than to be that excited. He was like a puppy playing with a broken-legged rat – oddly endearing in a slightly gross way.

"Yes. Well, not you Mister Aida. But we were hoping you would join us, Mister Suzuhara."

Miss Katsuragi was standing in the doorway. "What, me?" he said like – he realised – an idiot.

"Yes, you, Suzuhara. We're a man short at the moment. Some half-British kid is also in the works and while I prefer her over you, the higher-ups want a fully Japanese pilot. Japanese lives, Japanese soil, you know how it is."

She added "Sounds good to the press too. We'd never hear the end of it from the Right-Wingers if they knew they owed their lives to Johnny Foreigner, wot."

Touji's brain refused to work. "Oh," was all he could say. He looked to Ken, whose eyes were alive with disappointment and hope and YES.

"You don't have to decide now," she said, "but even if the wages are awful the health-insurance plan is pretty decent. It should cover you and your family for pretty much anything short of mental illness. They'll also get advanced attack warnings and shelter-access. So please consider it."

She made a show of checking her watch. "Okay, kids, back to school. Think you can escape on your own? …actually, no, stupid question." She walked over to Shinji's bedside and hit the call button. "This place is a goddamned maze at the best of times. You'd almost think they made it that way on purpose." When the nurse came, she asked him to walk them to the exit and he bowed.

Shinji and Miss Katsuragi waved them goodbye.

"So?" Hissed Ken the moment they were out of earshot.

"I don't know man. Risk of death or maiming for minimum wage? You gotta be kiddin' me."

"Yeah, but no pilot's actually been injured yet…"

"Excuse me? Then what was that back there?"

"Phrasing, man. I mean no pilot's been hurt in an Eva."

"Yeah, well. I don't see how it'd be any safer than a good shelter."

"Maybe."

They got into the lift.

"But you heard what she said about the better shelters. And the health plan."

"Yeah."

Ken knew what he was thinking. Of course he did. He of all people knew how his sister wasn't getting the care she needed. And if she'd been better-protected, she wouldn't have been hurt in the first place.

But at least he didn't say it aloud. He wasn't as dumb as he looked.

Ken seemed to settle on something different. "I'm just saying it's not as risky as Shinji implied it might be. That's all."

Touji grunted. "But I could probably kiss getting a Trade goodbye. And just think of the co-workers. Freakazoid Central, and Ayanami. Who I do not need to remind people other than yourself is not well known for her openness and sunny demeanour."

"Yeah, but just think of Miss Katsuragi. She's a real babe."

"When she's not wearing that jacket."

"Armour, Touji."

"Whatever, man."

"...I gotta say though, it really forces you to focus on her face, doesn't it? Well, that and her a-"

"-Touji," Ken hissed, nodding at the nurse guy who was right there, not even a metre away.

An awkward silence fell over the lift and stayed there 'til they got out.

They seemed to be heading back the way they'd come, to the garage. Ken spoke before Touji could pick up where he'd left off.

"Plus, Shinji isn't that bad. I mean, he's… eccentric, sure, but he's not hostile or anything. He seems kinda friendly, in his own way."

"Whatever, man."


The door closed behind the trio.

"So, Shinji. How're you feeling?" She sat by his bedside.

"Fine. I miss the sunlight."

"Me too." A slight lie. Or maybe more like a half-truth. But he didn't need to know, and now wasn't the time anyway.

"Your father nearly died. He's recovering, but he lost a hand."

"Was it his right hand?"

She frowned. "Yes? I mean, yes."

"Send him my condolences for his loss." He looked right at her, expression solemn and eyes filled with sympathy. "He was very attached to his girlfriend."

For a moment she didn't know what to make of his expectant look. Then she tried not to be amused. Then she remembered someone making the same joke a few years back, and she laughed.

It'd only been a few fingers back then, but the guy in question had had to switch firing-hand after that. She couldn't remember his name.

For his part Shinji looked very pleased with himself.

"I'm not sure he'd appreciate that. Anyhow, that's not even the biggest news. A faction within Nerv went rogue and had to be liquidated. Now it's gone there's a power-vacuum, so we're in very uncertain times right now as far as security is concerned. We're going to be taking a lot of extra precautions with you and Ayanami."

"Oh. Okay, then, I guess... is she alright?"

To her credit, she only hesitated for a moment. For some reason she recalled the smells of the girl's pulped guts. She'd had a lot of guts. Literally. Or maybe figuratively, she had no idea about that kind of thing. She grimaced with the knowledge that she was going to hell for her sense of humour.

"Yes."

"You hesitated."

"She got a bit banged-up," she grimaced again at the unintended pun, "but she's fine now."

She wasn't lying, she reminded herself. It wasn't her fault if he confused her statements for the full truth.

"Oh. Angel attack?"

"No, infighting. They came for you, you know," she added to steer the subject away from the girl.

"Oh?"

"Yes. I killed people." Though Ayanami had saved her a lot of legwork in that regard. In fact, without her the three of them wouldn't still be alive.

Well, no. Ayanami and Shinji would've been fine, for a given value of the word. But she herself would've been quite dead. The pilots were indispensible, but Misato Katsuragi was merely useful. And ultimately, expendable. Trustworthiness aside, people like her were cheap. She didn't know the price tag on Shinji's shiny new vat-grown body, but she'd bet her meagre pay-cheque that it was big. In fact, it was probably bigger than a whole bunch of her pay-cheques put together, if not all of them and then some.

"That's… nice?" He seemed genuinely disconcerted for the first time that she could recall. "Um, thanks. That's just what I always wanted. Dead assassins. From the lack of busty and promiscuous women in here, apart from yourself, no offense meant, I'm guessing they ran out of Bond Chicks at the store."

"Bond Chicks? And you're welcome."

"Or they ran out of money half-way? Or something. Sorry, bad joke. There were a lot of re-runs on when I was a kid."

"Runs of what?"

"Er, James Bond."

"...people keep mentioning him."

He raised an eyebrow. "How have you not heard of him?"

She shrugged. "Generational gap, maybe. But I wasn't the most media-savvy kid at your age."

She stood up. "So, yeah... lots of people may be out to get you, lots of dead people were out to get you, and your dad's down one hand. And we could use Touji as a pilot. That's about it. Any questions?"

"Nope. Ah, wait. One, actually. What happened to me? I remember coming home, then nothing."

"Accident or possible assassination attempt, we don't know which. It sparked off the infighting."

"Oh." He seemed to think it over. "You don't know which?"

"No. But at this point it doesn't matter anymore."

"It's a bit late to stop the fighting, I guess."

"Exactly. And nobody's taken enough of a beating for them to start negotiating, either."

She cleared her throat. "So, yes. They want to stick needles and stuff in you for a bit, then you're free to come with me. But not back to the apartment, that's too vulnerable. We've got a new place down in the Geofront."

"'kay…"

"Right." She ruffled his hair. "See ya, big guy."

"Bye."


Well, that was nice. Simple, straightforward, drama-free. Really takes me back to the first chapter.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your feedback with that last chapter! Reviews are nice.

Oh and, uh, I have zero schedule worked out for this thing. So if you have the patience for it, we may all have to resign ourselves to the long-haul on this one. I'd say it's worth it, but then again, someone has to. And I just did. So there. Hmmph.

Good on ya, and good luck!

And again, thanks to E.J. for his sterling work in generally fawning over my work and also editing it a bit.