06
Signs of trauma
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"Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods."
― Peter A. Levine"
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Tuesday, October 13th, 2015
Tokyo three
The Ikari estate
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Crack! The wineglass Shinji had been holding shattered with crushing force, Hikari let out a startled cry of alarm as blood dripped in a torrent onto the floor. If Shinji had felt the glass shards slicing his flesh, he showed no sign, the iris of his eyes glowing like hot coals. Misato was on her feet and heading to the kitchen, she located the first aid box and a pair of tweezers. Saul had managed to get the boy sat down yet his eyes remained unchanged, as was his expression when the glass had been broken. Rage, hatred, and some other emotion that defied description. The Somalian used the tweezers to pull out the smaller shards of glass, Shinji did not react at all to what had to be a painful process. Paralyzed, trapped behind whatever memory had triggered this state, at least he was not tearing the house apart. "Yar Aabe." The man repeated softly but insistently until the glow slowly began to fade, Shinji took a shuddering breath confusion written on his face. "Where?" He asked blinking as he looked around, then his eyes found Misato and his face lit up with almost childlike delight. He rested his hands on her arms before slow memory crept back in, guilt now flashed across his face as he retreated looking frail. "I… I'm so sorry." He whimpered, and Misato felt a deepening concern for the boy.
"look at me Aabe, do you know where you are?" Slowly Shinji recovered his wits, his gaze sweeping the assembled group as if confirming he was safe. "Yes, Yes thank you." His voice shook, the calm and controlled Shinji replaced by someone much more vulnerable. Davante was peering at the boy with great interest, and Misato shot the French interrogation specialist a questioning stare. "I apologize sub commander, but I recognize signs of his condition." It was Mari who shot the man a warning look, and Davante held up his hands in submission. Shinji had a condition? However, neither time traveler seemed willing to address it, indeed Saul was shooting Davante a deadly look. One that told the other man to keep his diagnosis to himself, whatever it was, this had happened before. "I think we should take a break, resume tomorrow afternoon." Mari's voice was surprisingly calm, this all but confirmed the boy had suffered these episodes before. Saul walked with Shinji heading upstairs to bed, the boy almost seeming to lean on the Somalian for support. Elias was sat silent, expression distant as if lost in some memory of his own.
Looking up Misato spotted the wall clock and groaned at the time, it was one in the morning. "Alright, c'mon kids it's past some folk's bedtimes. We can pick this up tomorrow." For once there was no grumbling or complaining, Asuka leading the way upstairs with Rei at her side. "I will see Shiro to his quarters on base sub-commander." Graves spoke, Misato nodded absently as people slowly filtered out of the doors. Misato waited patiently, Mari had as yet not left to go upstairs which meant she had things she wanted to say. Finally, there was only herself Mari, Kaji, and Mitchel remaining downstairs. Misato sank onto the couch rubbing her eyes, "I knew it was going to be difficult for him, I think I might have to take over." Mari was stood at the large window behind where they had been retelling their tale, she turned a sad expression on her face. "Capaldi, just his name alone causes my blood to boil. For Shinji, it's worse." "He has these episodes now and then, it's PTSD, but when he comes out of it, for just a moment he's the Shinji Ikari I first met." Misato bowed her head; Shinji's brain was hitting a sort of emergency circuit breaker. "Who was this Capaldi wanker?" Mari's uncle asked voice low and dangerous.
The girl blew out a breath as she took a seat, "Alfredo Capaldi was a consigliere in the Bonanno family, but he was ambitious, dangerous, and deeply vindictive." "When Sam's evidence put him behind bars, I imagine he was pissed off. When his kid brother Joseph was killed by a rival crime family?" Misato winced; she knew that every action had consequences. "Worse still, he was a member of SEELE, for whatever reason his compatriots let him stew in prison for twelve years." "when he finally got out, he had only one thing on his mind, revenge." Misato sat silent as she digested this information, damned SEELE, for some reason everything came back to them in the end. "The irony is it was Graves's father who they sent to set him free, I don't even know if Alexander knows that." There was little the elder man did not know, Misato had spent some time getting to know their new supreme commander. He was poised and controlled yes, but also warm and approachable, unlike his predecessor. His people were utterly loyal to him, and it seemed that Shinji and Mari had contacted the man under their alias of Shaw. "You knew you could trust Graves, that's why you recruited him to the cause," Kaji spoke finally, her on-again boyfriend sounding impressed.
Mari nodded, "that's the thing with time travel, it inevitably causes a paradox." The girl let out a soft laugh as she contemplated it, "The plasma accelerator, the attempt on Shinji that caused the mutation, all of it because we knew it would happen." She made a gesture with her hands, a butterfly flapping its wings. "Bloody hell, then you know?" Mitchel exclaimed, Mari, smiled that sad smile Misato was seeing far too much of. "That you hit Gendo Ikari's limo, yeah we know about that, and we don't blame you at all." Misato turned to stare at the British man then stopped herself, he could not have known who was in the car that day. Additionally, he and his people had more than made up for that, young Enzo giving his life most recently. Misato stood up deciding sleep was needed, she flicked Kaji a look and he rose following her to the stairs. "I think it may be best if I take over the telling, I don't want another episode like that," Mari spoke softly, Misato glanced back then gave a small nod of her head. Once in her room, she took a shower in the en suite with Kaji, letting him help her ease her stress. "There's nothing we can do about what was Katsuragi." He whispered into her ear as they lay together in bed, "all we can do is try to help them now." Misato let out a sigh, "you're right I know, I just… wish I'd been there." This thought stayed in her mind even when she managed to drift off to sleep.
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It was her alarm that woke her up from her dreams, in it she had been there watching as Shinji took his revenge on the truck-owning kid. Misato reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and showered, it was as she was passing their door, that she decided to check on Rei and Asuka. The German was it seemed already up and about unlike Rei; in the dark of the room, she could see the girl curled up on her bed a cushion clutched in her arms. Misato bit back the chuckle at how innocent and adorable she looked, doubly so when the sleeping girl let out a "Moo." Before giggling in her sleep, Misato shook her head deciding to let her have a lie in for a change, the downstairs was quiet with only Shinji sitting nursing a cup of coffee. "Ah, morning." The boy greeted her with a smile, Misato walked over and gave him a gentle hug. "Mari is off gathering more gifts, I'm afraid Pen-Pen is about to become a bit of a liability for people's feet." The boy who was not truly a boy anymore informed her, Misato raised an eyebrow questioningly and he made a car driving gesture. "Oh, sweet mercy." Misato groaned, turning and entering the large kitchen she veered from the fridge. The coffee machine bubbling away merrily as she poured herself a cup, "I imagine Asuka is outside fawning over her horse?" She finished preparing her drink, "Shinji?"
She frowned when she did not get a reply and headed quickly back to the living room, Shinji was staring off into the distance again though mercifully without any glow. She sat down next to him resting a hand on his shoulder and the boy gave a start, "Sorry, did you say something?" He asked with a forced smile tapping the side of his head, it was an emotional mask he was wearing she realized. The friendly outgoing character was a mask, Misato knew a thing or two about putting on a front. She took his hand in her own gently squeezing as she drank her coffee, "There are times I wish more than anything I could forget." He spoke again voice barely a whisper, he had dropped his defenses and she saw him. He seemed to have aged suddenly, "But… then I realize that to forget the bad I would also have to forget the good things." He raised her hand to his lips giving it a gentle kiss, "It was a beautiful world before the impact, I still remember the trees, hills, and rivers." He had a sad smile on his face, the sort of smile an old veteran would have. "We visited you when you were hospitalized, you didn't know about it." Misato felt her eyes widen turning to look at the boy, the stuffed penguin toy she had received while under care.
"That was a gift from you two?" She breathed and he nodded, "I thought you decided to stay out of history's way?" He straightened up the illusion of age sliding off him, "we eventually realized that we were in one giant paradox, history was just going to keep going around us." He explained, "Like two stones cast into a river, we couldn't have stopped the second impact even if we had tried." Misato nodded thinking she understood, "whatever events you were involved with, you were always involved with?" Shinji let out a soft sigh nodding, this time she pulled his hand to her lips. "You can't blame yourselves, history has so much cruelty in it," Misato told him earnestly, yet within herself, she felt a small spark of joy that she had been watched over. The pair had in a way been watching over all of them, even if at times they had been moving people around like pieces on a game board. They had been there biding their time until they could return, waiting for their past selves to depart. Yet as much as Misato wished otherwise, their journey had not been a kind one. Whatever horror had befallen the two, deep down inside himself, Shinji was struggling in the darkness of his wounded soul. "just tell me he's dead."
Shinji looked up at her a slight sparkle of mischief returning to his eyes, "Spoilers." Misato chuckled and stood up, "Fine, come on gramps I have to go to work." Shinji was grinning playfully now and for once she could tell it was not forced, "Gramps eh?" Misato flashed him a smile. Shinji hopped up before doubling over and pretending to have a walking stick, "Don't put me in an old folk home!" He hammed it up causing a giggle from Rei who they had not realized was stood on the landing, the girl's hand shot to her mouth expression startled. Shinji's eyes rested on her and he smiled such a gentle smile, "my suggestion Rei, just go with it." He said beaming with affection, Misato was stunned when the girl descended the stairs swiftly and wrapped her arms around him. Rei had slowly been showing more and more emotional growth, which given her origins was even more remarkable. With Gendo Ikari gone, the only other people she had to draw from were all too happy to show their emotions. Rei Ayanami, the construct was slowly gaining the emotions of a real girl. Yet physically she would always be a clone, always need medicine to keep her body together. Sighing Misato headed back upstairs she grabbed her jacket off the bed, Kaji was up and dressed so she gave him a parting kiss.
Shinji was in hushed conversation with Rei, the girl had what Misato swore was a hopeful expression on her face. "You think it is possible?" The girl asked in an almost awestruck tone, Shinji nodded before replying. "I believe so because it gives me hope." Hope Misato mused; they had collectively been short of that lately. From SEELE going out of their way to try to Kill Shinji, to Gendo Ikari being corrupted by a psychotic angel that then possessed a Shinji clone. They had Shinji and Mari back yet even that seemed tainted somehow, with the years taking their toll on both teens. She wondered just what hope the boy kept, especially when so much darkness seemed to dwell on the past? "Come on, I'll drive you both to headquarters, need to talk to Ritsuko." Shinji declared causing her to raise an eyebrow, Shinji's lips quirked as he walked toward the door. "What? I'll have you know I'm an incredibly good driver." Misato relented, more because she was genuinely curious as to how he would do. Her car was parked in the drive and she handed him the keys, he grinned wickedly as he clambered in the driver's side. Next to her Rei looked apprehensive, "Don't worry Rei, He can't be worse than me." The girl looked unconvinced, and as it turned out Rei had a just cause to be concerned.
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Misato was as white as a sheet as they walked out of the parking garage and into the corridors of Nerv, behind her Rei was looking green a small paper bag clutched in one hand. "Who the hell taught you to drive?" She hissed at the boy who glanced back with an amused smirk, "Oh that? That was payback." Misato blinked stupidly, "Payback for what exactly?!" Shinji paused turning to look at her that damned amused look on his face, "You don't remember? When you first picked me up?" Misato frowned, slowly a memory resurfaced of her driving the car. 'And you're not as mature as I thought you'd be.' Then herself veering the car violently left to right across the road, Misato blinked once more, then she stared at him in disbelief. "That? For you, that was over forty years ago!" Shinji's head tilted with that amused smile as he resumed walking, when had he decided to pay her back for that? "You…You… You're a horrible vindictive little man!" He held up his left hand before responding, "Guilty as charged." The sound of Rei vomiting into her paper bag caused Misato to groan in dismay, behind her Rei had an angry look in her eyes. One that said she would have her revenge in this life or the next, Shinji was of course oblivious to any of this.
Ahead of them, a door opened and Ritsuko stepped out clipboard in hand. Misato took in her friend's appearance and noticed her roots were starting to grow back in, it seemed she had stopped dying her hair. "Why is Rei being ill?" The scientist demanded; Shinji meekly raised his hand again. "I'm a terrible person who can't drive straight." The boy said sounding perfectly contrite, Misato glowered daggers into the boy's back. Her friend gestured to Rei who followed her inside her office, Shinji turned to Misato and at least now he was being serious. "I have to go over a few things with doctor Akagi, Stanton should be in the Eva cages." Misato nodded before swatting him on the shoulder, "You are a terrible person though." She grouched playfully, as she headed off, she thought she heard him whisper. "More than you can ever know." Misato turned back but he had stepped into Akagi's office, for a moment she stood there uncertain what to do. Finally, with a shake of her head, she realized there was not much she could do. Nerv was not going to run itself that was for certain, so she made her way down to the cages.
Sure enough, Elias was exactly where Shinji had said he would be, and what is more, he was not alone. Kaworu stood watching as Eva unit four was lowered down into its cage, "Just arrived this morning, our people managed to smuggle it in." Stanton told her without looking up, "It was a hell of an operation, but we managed." Misato watched as the Eva settled into position, Kaworu stepping forward to inspect his unit. She observed as the boy cocked his head from one side to the next, almost as if he were listening to his Eva. "Graves has ordered the Jet-alone systems to be positioned in the Geofront, all four of them." Misato gave a nod as their defense plans began to take shape, "Are they remote-only?" She asked the Maori soldier; he shook his head a slight hint of worry written on his face. "No, they can be piloted directly if needed, which presents the risk of theft." Misato grimaced, not ideal but it was what they had to work with. "Make sure they're camouflaged as much as possible, I still think the good ship Nerv might have a leak." Stanton nodded his understanding, there was no telling how many people SEELE still had within Nerv's ranks. "How was he this morning?" Stanton asked casually, Misato took her time trying to word her answer carefully. "Haunted, he's putting up a front." He nodded his understanding.
While this was going on Nagisa was clambering up and onto unit four, the boy running one hand across the armor of the silver goliath. Seeming to sense he was being observed the boy turned, flashing a disarming smile her way. "Wonder where he found him?" Misato mused, if Rei was a construct then so was this kid. The traits he shared with the girl were too close to be a coincidence, "Mari is out shopping, took Gaius and Mitchel with her." Stanton responded changing the subject, Misato sighed, after last night Mari likely needed to blow off steam. "Saul is still at the estate, keeping one eye on Soryu as a precaution." Misato turned from observing Nagisa as a tech ran up to her with a datapad for her, "We're getting spread a little thin." She sighed reading the latest updates, it might have been better if Asuka had gone with Mari. "We have other soldiers coming in, Graves entire PMC plus whatever Shinji has in reserve." "If SEELE tried to grab one of the pilots it would be shut down pretty quickly." Misato accepted his words, her gaze returning to her newest pilot who now had a puzzled look on his face. The boy began to scramble down the arm of unit four, this just as alarms began to blare through headquarters causing Misato to jump.
As she turned to head to the command center the thought stuck with her, 'that kid knew something was about to go down.' Misato stored this information for later, if anyone knew what the deal was with Nagisa it would be Shinji. Graves was already in central command directing traffic when she arrived, unlike his predecessor he was not up on the command bridge. "Subcommander." The man greeted her curtly, Misato snapped off a quick salute before turning to Maya. "Status?" She demanded reaching the elder man's side, Ibuki looked up from her terminal expression anxious as ever. "We've detected a Blue pattern in the Pribnow box, we don't know how the angel got this far into the base!" Misato leaned forward eyes narrowed, "I want doctor Akagi up here, now!" A call was sent out and Misato leaned over the display, somehow an angel had breached all their external defenses.
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Ritsuko's lab
Ten minutes earlier
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Rei followed Ritsuko into the lab trying to get her queasiness under control, she had heard of motion sickness but never experienced it herself, until today. Akagi took her bag from her and gave her a bucket, "take slow deep breaths, close your eyes if you need to." Rei did as she was instructed, consciously avoiding nodding her head as she heard the door close. After a moment, her stomach finally stopped roiling and she opened her eyes. Shinji was stood on the opposite side of the room, the boy pretending to be fascinated with Akagi's remaining hamsters. "All right, I've run your idea through the Magi." Akagi addressed Shinji, "They are giving me an eighty-five percent chance of success, assuming we were to begin immediately." Shinji turned hands folded behind his back, "and how do we get that to one-hundred?" he asked politely. Ritsuko sighed running a hand through her hair, "we would need to do a test run, compensating for all the variables." Shinji made a noise, not quite disappointed but not overjoyed either. "The dummy plug then." He mused seemingly more to himself, Ritsuko nodded confirmation. Rei set her bucket down and contemplated how best to approach the subject, how would pilot Soryu handle this?
"I am in the room." She said flatly, the emotion was easily identified as one of irritation on her part. Shinji blinked having quite clearly been mentally somewhere else, "yes of course, sorry Rei. So caught up in the details I almost forgot the most important one." He approached leaning back on the bench next to her, "I've had a long time to think about you, about your… condition." He began cautiously, "what if there was a way to set you free? No more pills, you would be a real girl." Rei turned to regard Ikari her eyes widening. The boy had spoken of a possible way for her to not have to be used for instrumentality, but to become a real person in and of herself, this was so much more than she might have hoped for. He held up a hand, "I won't do what my father did, I won't lie to people." "This is not entirely unselfish on my part." However she had already put the pieces together, the question on her lips though was why? Shinji and Mari healed fast, they were strong and agile, why would they give that up? Shinji answered her question, "over in America one of my associates worked out who I was, and decided to launch a take over bid." Ritsuko growled at this, a sentiment Rei could appreciate and one which explained the boy's fixation on loyalty. "He put a bullet right in the middle of my head." Rei frowned in confusion but Ritsuko suddenly swore, "Mari and I are functionally immortal." Rei pondered this as Akagi ferrated out a cigarette from one of her drawers.
Rei found she was struggling to understand the problem, was being unable to die not a very handy trait to have? Then she looked into his eyes and gained understanding, it was his eyes that gave away his true age, and already she could see he had suffered greatly. "All things have their time Rei," Shinji spoke to her with utter conviction, he did not want to live forever. "The one thing Mari wanted more than anything was kids of her own, then grandkids after that." And of course, they were both sterile due to their augmentation. Yet that was another puzzle to Rei, why on earth would they be sterile, why immortality but without the ability to reproduce? "My mother had a theory." Shinji began as if reading her thoughts, "that Adam and Lilith were bioengineered by another highly advanced species, she referred to them as the first ancestral race." "Quasi-immortal beings possessed of both the fruit of life and the fruit of knowledge." Rei listened as the boy explained the theory doctor Ikari had posited, that the race had split their traits in two creating Adam and Lilith. The moons had been scattered throughout the galaxy, seeding life. Then of course an Adam had landed on what would become earth, shortly followed by the arrival of a Lilith, first impact. "She also believes that the dead sea scrolls were written by the FAR."
"We were not this planet's original occupants." Shinji sighed shaking his head, "but concerning mine and Mari's little problem, I could only guess that it's some form of fail-safe." Ritsuko snorted as she shook her head, "Wouldn't want their children to ascend to godhood now, would they?" One question nagged in the back of Rei's mind, "why have we seen nothing of this race? If they are so powerful surely they should have investigated when you awoke?" Especially after both traveled back in time, effectively boosting the signal length. Rei had been able to sense the boy after his awakening, then in turn she had been able to sense Makinami as well. Shinji shook his head before replying, "I can't even begin to speculate." Rei pondered this before turning to doctor Akagi, "I want this, this humanity, this purpose." Ritsuko gave a genuine smile, "I'll get started on the prep work." "Though I should warn you Rei, there will likely be side effects, the process is akin to chemotherapy after a fashion." Then there was the matter of the test subject from the dummy plug, if that was successful what of that clone? She was about to raise this issue when the alarm began to sound, an angel was attacking. Ritsuko's phone was soon ringing as they marched to central command.
/
"That was closer than I'd like to admit." Misato heard Ritsuko grumble from the back seat, and this time it was not a comment on Shinji's driving. The boy was this time being much more careful as he drove, in fact, he seemed quite subdued. The angel had come closest of all to destroying Tokyo three and the Geofront, a highly adaptive collection of microscopic organisms, it had infected the Magi Supercomputers. It had poured through Nerv's most secret files, whatever it had found in there had apparently upset the angel. It was only Ritsuko's quick thinking that had prevented Nerv headquarters from self-destructing, the angel had evolved into a computer circuit, therefore the scientist had sent a computer program to the angel. The program caused the angel to kill itself, still, Ritsuko was right; that had been far too close. Sat next to the faux blond on the back seat was a quiet Rei, all the pilots had been kept out of the way during the emergency. "Barely a day apart," Shinji spoke finally from behind the wheel. "We're analyzing the Pribnow box, we don't know how long it was dormant there." Ritsuko tried to alleviate whatever concern the boy had. Shinji didn't reply as they pulled up at the estate, evening was beginning to settle in now.
It had been a long and fraught day, to say the least, and Misato was looking forward to a shower and some beer. She kept one eye on Rei, while the pale girl could often be subdued, she seemed engrossed with some puzzle. Back home Mari had returned from her shopping trip, it had been cut short regrettably as a result of the angel attack. Misato found herself admiring the hat she was wearing, an old-looking fedora that had quite clearly seen many a day. "So what tried to kill us this time?" The girl inquired sounding irritated, Shinji kissed her on the lips in greeting before launching into an explanation. Mari's brow furrowed, like her husband she expressed disquiet at the gap between attacks. "You think they're accelerating their plans?" Shinji hummed as Misato headed upstairs, "I hope not, or that could throw a wrench in ours." Misato sighed as she reached her room, it was good the boy had a plan, but up until now, he was doing a passable Gendo Ikari, and not sharing information. By the time she had showered and changed more people had begun to gather, she grabbed a beer for herself and sank onto the couch. There was an electronic beep-beep that sounded like a car horn and she sat up a feeling of dread certainty stealing over her, it was followed by an electronic whining sound that slowly grew louder as it approached.
"Wark!" Pen-Pen cried out as he drove the little electric car around the house, "Hey watch people's feet!" Mari playfully scolded the penguin, Pen-Pen, however, was it seemed having way too much fun as he disappeared into the kitchen. "He's almost as bad a driver as you Puppy." Mari mused out loud, Shinji raised one eyebrow before firing back. "I'll have you know…." "You're an incredibly good driver!" Mari and Misato finished for him in unison, the pair laughing at the boy as he scowled. Still scowling Shinji turned and headed into the kitchen to begin preparing the evening meal, "Ow my shin!" The boy's voice reached them followed by an equally loud and unapologetic "Wark!" Pen-Pen zooming back out of the kitchen, Misato turned to look at Mari with one eyebrow raised. "That moment when you realize a gift was maybe a bad idea?" the girl confessed with a guilty expression on her face. From the main door came an alarmed cry from a certain German, "Hey watch it, Evel Knievel!" The girl barked barely avoiding a collision. "Pen-Pen! Slow it down or I'll take it off you!" Misato yelled, and mercifully the bird lowered to a more controlled pace. Asuka, now satisfied that she would no longer be at risk of death by penguin GTA, spotted Rei and headed over to the pale girl.
As she waited to be fed Misato observed the pair's interactions, Asuka had always been very protective of Rei. She had suspected for the longest time that Asuka might be more interested in other girls, but if Asuka herself understood this it was unclear. The two were sat on a futon talking quietly when Rei shuffled herself slightly closer to the redhead. Asuka looked up an expression of mild surprise on her face, one that quickly shifted into a small smile. Mari stood up and finding a blanket slid it over both teens who pulled it around them, the brunette sinking back onto the couch next to Misato. She flicked a glance to Mari who was smiling secretively, and understanding struck that Mari was pleased with Rei's reaching out. The pair were engaged in a hushed conversation, Asuka detailing her day riding on Mistjumper along with the later angel incursion. Mari seemed to sense something more was going on with them, could it be that Asuka was attracted to Rei? That was a minefield Misato did not wish to step in, sooner or later the girl's origin would be outed to the German girl. When that happened there would be one mother of an explosion, and both girls would end up getting their feelings hurt. "I hope you know what you're doing Mari," Misato said pointedly.
Dinner was finally served up to those who had not eaten, and Misato wasted no time enjoying the fare. Shinji's cooking skills had gone continental and broadened their choice, with servings of pizza and lasagne. Rei had at first nibbled tentatively on her vegetarian pizza, the girl having never sampled food from other countries. It was Asuka also choosing the vegetarian option that caused Misato to smirk, even Rei took note of this small detail, a grateful smile gracing her lips. Tokita sat amongst them once again, Graves had already eaten but accepted a glass of whiskey. The sound of general conversation filled the large house as people got caught up, Shinji's school friends having rejoined them. Misato understood those three would never willingly miss a storytime, even if Misato suspected a dark turn was inevitable. Finally, Mari stood up and walked to the front of the room, she handed Shinji a pair of headphones the boy nodding in acceptance as he plugged them into an SDAT player. He parked himself in a recliner and lay back eyes closed, Misato sighed but understood the need for him to block it out.
She watched as Mari slowly paced before her audience, gathering her thoughts and her nerve as she did. Mitchel and Natalya closed the doors as the last of their group arrived, Maya apologizing for being late and even Pen-Pen had ceased driving his toy car, now sitting between Misato's feet. Mari turned to them taking a deep breath, "So, you know we found a home." "Now let me tell you how we discovered a vulnerability we share."
AN: That moment when you think you caught all the spelling mistakes, and Grammarly then changes its language default just to mess with you. Just to update I have written a certain chapter ahead of time, a very important chapter that I will need to work the story towards. Again at some point, I will go back to part one just to tidy things up and link the two stories in a more cohesive fashion. If this goes as far as part three it will be a bit easier to organise events, because at that point to misquote the good doctor. "We'll be in the end game then."