Saga of the 7th Children

by KnighteWolfe

I am sorry for the delay in getting the next chapter out, but I'm working on it. Keep the faith. It should be out within two or three weeks.

3. Ken's First Battle

Alright you Evangelion fans, here is part three of my NGE fanfic. As always, these characters are the property of Hideaki Anno, Gainax LTD, ADVision Films. Once again Teri-chan is the property of the great Axel Terizaki. The author of the stories: The Child of Love, Bodyheat, and others. I do hope you like the third part of my pitiful addition to the plethora of Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfic stories. Now, as they say: On With the Show!!!!




Neon Genesis Evangelion

The Saga of the 7th Children

Chapter 3: Kens' First Battle





Setting: This chapter takes place about a month or so after chapter two. Ken has adjusted well to his classmates. He has also gotten used to sharing an apartment with Mika and her guardian Tasha. The day after the dinner meeting, the pilots had participated in a joint simulation exercise. Gendo Ikari was
still hiding his newly found freedom from SEELE. He still refuses to come out of his hidden office. After his small dinner meeting with Dr. Akagi and Commander Fuyutski, everybody has gotten used to his appearing on their monitors every so often.



Rei was sitting on a bench watching the other pilots set up for the picnic that someone had came up with. As she watched, Shinji, Touji, Kenneth, and Kensuke had pulled two picnic tables together to form one long table. Asuka, Hikari, and Mika were covering the tables with tablecloths. Rei stood up, picking up the picnic basket next to her. Heading over to the group of tables, Rei looked over to where the adults sat together. All of the control room crew was there.

Hyuga and Maya were sitting together watching Shigeru play his guitar. Dr. Akagi was just sitting down in a folding chair. Ryoji and Toma were carrying a giant-sized pair of coolers one on top of the other. Tasha and Misato were walking behind them chatting gaily away. Both of them were wearing shorts and t-shirts (usual Misato after work wear). In their arms they each carried a large basket.


"Well Misato, it seems to me like it was a good day for a picnic. The children are ecstatic. I am happy that they are all getting along. For awhile I thought that it was going to be a full war between them all.", chirped Tasha.


"Yeah, Touji and Mika were both a bit upset when they found out that Kensuke and Hikari had been selected as pilots. Asuka and Shinji didn't seem to mind. Especially Shinji, now he doesn't have to hear Kensuke continuously asking about being a pilot. So how are things between you and Toma?", returned Misato.

"Oh everything is fine. I am just worried about Ken. Ever since the dinner he has been more subdued than his usual self. I think that dance with Rei got to him."


"That might be true. For as long as I have known her, Rei has always been alone. For awhile I thought that her and Shinji would get together, alas it wasn't to be. Once Asuka came to Tokyo-3, Shinji's attention turned to her instead of Rei. Now look at Shinji and Asuka, a baby girl together and an impending marriage. If only I could have a life like that."


With that the two women turned towards the picnic table where all of the teenagers were sitting. Asuka and Shinji were feeding each other while Kensuke and Mika were helping themselves to a plate. Hikari and Touji were sitting at the table and staring into each others' eyes. The only two who were not looking at each other were Ken and Rei. Ken was looking out towards a small pond while Rei had sat down and was looking inland. The other adults were scattered around eating. The three techs had unfurled a blanket and were sitting down on it. Shigeru had put away his guitar and was digging into his plate with gusto. Maya looked to be having a conversation with Dr. Akagi while Hyuga watched as Toma and Ryoji put up a net for volleyball.


At this time the brothers Kaji were putting the finishing touches on the net. Toma reached down and grabbed a beer out of the cooler (Yebisu of course). Opening it, he reached down and grabbed another one and tossed it over to his brother. Catching the tumbling can, Ryoji opened it and took a long drink.

"You know something Ryu, it has been a long time since we have done something like this. Where has the time gone?", inquired the elder of the two.

"Yeah, the time has gone by too swiftly. Last time we saw each other, I was pissed off that you had broken into my dorm room. By the way, what were you doing there that morning?", answered Ryoji

Instead of answering that question right away, Toma took a sip of his beer and pondered his thoughts for a moment. To Ryoji it seemed as if he was not going to answer the question. Just as he was about to ask again, Toma spoke.

"What I was doing there that night was directly involved with the work I have done up till now. If you still have all of your stuff from that dorm room, you can go through it at your leisure to find out. Right now I don't want to talk about it.", Toma said in a voice that brooked no argument. It was in a tone of voice signified that the subject was closed.

Back at the picnic table, all of the teenagers had finished their plates. Shinji and Asuka had decided to take Teri for a walk around the park. On a whim, the other two couples decided to join them. As they got up, Asuka and Mika looked over at Rei and asked if she wanted to go with them.

"No, Pilot Sohryu. I am fine right here.", replied Rei. Then she pulled a book out of her bag and started to read.

"How come you don't want to walk with us Rei.", asked Asuka.

"I have no need to join you."

Seeing that they wouldn't get anything else out of the quiet girl, Asuka turned away with Mika right behind her. Mika glanced over towards Ken. Ken had decided to lie down on one of the blankets that had been spread out. Shrugging her shoulders, Mika joined the group of teenagers. Between Asuka and Shinji, Teri was giggling up a storm and trying to talk.

As the three couples disappeared, Rei looked up from her book. Glancing around, she noticed that of the adults, Tasha, Toma, Misato, and Kaji were all sitting around a blanket and drinking (like that is unusual); Hyuga and Shigeru sleeping on two other blankets, and Ritsuko and Maya were still conversing in low tones. Continuing to look around, Rei noticed that Ken was lying on another blanket just past the picnic table.


Ken was staring at the sky, wondering why the elder Ikari had given him a solo mission.

*********Flashback**************************************************************


"Pilot Osako, take a seat.", said Gendo.

Kenneth took a seat in the chair indicated. Across from him in his usual position, sat Gendo Ikari. As Ken sat down, he noticed a small vial of a clear liquid sitting on the giant desk.

"Do you know why I called you here?", asked Gendo quietly.

Unable to speak, Ken just nodded.

"It was not just because you are the pilot of Unit Alpha. The reason I had sent for you and the colonel was to first break me out of my cell and second to continue a plan that I had been working on. The first part of that you did well, now the time comes for the second part of this plan to be enacted. You notice that you are here alone. No one must know of this plan. If it was to come to light, it could possibly destroy everything I have been working for. I know that part of my plan can never be completed. However, while I was in my cell, I came up with another plan. Or actually re worked a plan I already had."

Saying nothing, Ken just looked at the floor. He was beginning to feel a bit nervous. Ken looked up, acceptance on his face. Seeing this Gendo continued:

"I need this to be introduced into a certain persons bloodstream. Once introduced, this wil cause physical and some mental changes in said person. At this time that is all you need to know."

"Sir, whose bloodstream do you need me to introduce this to?", asked Ken.

"Rei Ayanami's bloodstream.", replied Gendo before he left the office.

*******************End Flashback************************************************


Blinking his eyes, Ken realized that he had fallen asleep for a short time. Standing up and stretching, Ken looked around. As he looked around, he noticed that all of the adults were either asleep on a blanket or out walking the many different paths. Ken noticed that Asuka, Shinji, and their had came back from their walk and were now lying on another blanket. Shinji had his arms around Asuka and his daughter. Heading over to one of the coolers to grab a soda, Ken noticed that Rei had brought her own blanket. Looking closer he saw that Rei was engrossed in a book she had brought with her.


Rei had seen Asuka and Shinji return. Right now she was still reading a book but she was about finished with it. When she looked up, she saw that Ken had woken up, stretched and headed for the cooler. Still watching, Rei saw Ken get a soda and open it. As Ken looked around, Rei watched him as he stared in her direction for a short time. Going back to her book, Rei returned to reading. She had been reading about 10 minutes when she realized that someone had came over and joined her and was now sitting on the far edge of her blanket. Looking up, Rei came face to face with a pair of violet eyes.


"May I help you?", asked Rei quietly.

"No that is alright, I am fine.", answered Ken.

Rei looked at him for a moment. Shaking her head Rei resumed reading. Figuring that anything else that he said would be ignored, Ken sat down next to the blue-haired pilot of Eva Unit 00.

Rei had noticed that her fellow pilot had sat down next to her. Still reading the book, many thoughts ran through her head.


"Why is Pilot Osako still here? Is there something he requires me to do? This is confusing. I do not understand his reason for sitting next to me. He seems content.", thought Rei.


"Why hasn't she asked me to leave? She seems to be really into that book. It looks like a textbook. Now why is she reading a textbook on a day where class is not in session? Am I bothering her? Do I even want to follow the orders given to me?", thought Ken.


The musings of both teens were cut short when Hikari and Touji walked back to the clearing. The not so well hidden smile on Hikari's face spoke volumes. Rei and Ken looked over at the couple. Together the two teens walked over to the picnic table and sat down. Ken watched as the Touji leaned back against the table and sighed. Hikari laid her head down on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around Touji's waist.

"Hi Touji, Hikari, how was the walk?", asked Ken.

"It was okay, how are things going on here?", answered Touji.

"Well I just woke up about 20 minutes ago and saw things as you see them now. Asuka, Shinji, and Teri are asleep on their blanket. Misato and Ryoji must have taken off for their own walk. Dr. Akagi and Maya were asleep as were Shigeru and Hyuga. I don't know where Toma and Tasha are. Rei has been here reading her book ever since before y'all left. Weren't you with Shinji and the rest?"


Hikari answered, "Yeah we were, but Teri got tired after while so Shinji and Asuka headed back here. After the happy family left; us, Kensuke, and Mika found a playground and sat there for awhile talking and swinging. Then Mika and nerd-boy left. We stared there for a short bit and decided to come back here."


As the class rep had been speaking, Ken had walked back over to the table and was leaning against the end of it. After a few more minutes of conversation, Ken decided to explore the paths and told Hikari and Touji his plan. They said that if anything came up that they would call him. Smiling Ken nodded to the couple and left. Heading over to his blanket, he looked into a small duffle bag he had brought. Pulling out a pair of what looked like deerskin boots. Switching them with the tennis shoes already on his feet, Ken laced them up and picked up a small canteen full of water. It may have been late in the day, but he still wanted to make sure he had water. Grabbing a pair of binoculars with engraved initials on the side, Ken looked back at the site for a moment then he picked a path and followed it, soon disappearing from sight.


Rei had watched the conversation between her three co-pilots. Placing her book on the ground and standing up, Rei watched as Ken prepared himself. Deciding to make sure that he stayed out of trouble, Rei followed the golden haired teenager from a discreet distance. Unknown to her, Shinji had just started to wake up and saw her follow the path Ken had taken. He wondered for a minute about her reasons for that. Coming up with no answer, Shinji checked his fiancé and daughter and went back to sleep.



As Rei followed an unsuspecting Ken, she marveled about how quietly the boy walked the paths. To Rei, Ken walked as quiet if not quieter than herself. Filing this away in her mind, she proceeded on. Up ahead she could see that the teen had stopped and raised the binoculars up to his eyes and was looking out at the trees on the far side of the pond. (yes I know this is after 2nd impact but I believe that there would still be trees around. Dontcha agree?).
Taking a observation spot just behind a conveniently located small boulder, Rei watched as the teen looked out and examined the area.

Ken was enjoying himself, despite the fact that he had a lot going through his mind. Watching a family of birds in one of the trees, he smiled to himself. Unconsciously, Ken started humming a tune. It took him a moment to realize that he was humming the tune to the music that he and Rei had danced to so long ago.
As he watched, Ken even started to mimic the steps from that night.

Rei was confused.

She had been watching the boy for a time now. As she watched, Rei noticed that Ken had started smiling. Taking a closer look, she saw that he had started to move. Not discerning the reason for his moving, it took Rei a minute to realize that he was dancing. Rei strained her ears to hear music and not hearing it, she wondered what was he dancing to. It was then that his faint humming carried to her on a light breeze. Knowing now what he was dancing too, Rei wondered about the reason. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the clearing a silently walked over to the dancing boy.


Ken had let his humming carry him away. The binoculars hung from his neck, forgotten, as he continued reliving that night. Now he was getting into the beat. Doing dips and swirls as if he had a dancing partner with him. When Rei walked up, she noticed that his eyes were closed. Seeing that he didn't know that she had approached, Rei stayed just out of the reach of Ken's arms. Hearing the change in pitch, she realized that the music was coming to an end and that he was humming the coda (ending for you non-musically inclined persons) in preparation for the ending.

Gradually the humming faded away and Ken started to open his eyes. Seeing Rei surprised him for a bit. Noticing the subtle look of uncertainty in her red eyes, Ken waited for the questions that he knew were coming.

"Pilot Osako, why were you dancing when there was no music?", asked Rei

"I felt like it. Besides, there was music. Even though it was only my humming, I felt that there was a brass band playing.", answered Ken.

"Was there a reason for you to dance like that?"

"No there wasn't, I just got caught up in the moment. I had started humming to myself. Once I realized what I was doing, I figured that it wouldn't hurt to just go with the mood. Now my question is why did you follow me?"

"I don't know.", answered Rei.

Nodding sagely, Ken decided not to press the issue further. Taking one last look at the birds on the other side of the pond, he asked Rei if she knew the song that he was humming. When Rei answered in the negative, Ken gave her an odd look.

"Rei, I was humming the song that we danced to the night we all went to dinner."


The girl digested this for a minute. But before she could comment on it their cell phones went off within seconds of each other. Each answered their respective phones. Rei showed no emotion when she heard what was said. As she watched, Ken blanched and began to frown. Hanging up, Ken looked over at Rei and saw her nod. Taking one last look at the nesting family, Ken took Rei's hand and began to lead her back to the picnic site at a slow jog. Arriving back at the tables, the two teens noticed a somewhat chaotic vision. Ritsuko and Maya were retrieving blankets that were scattered around the area. Hyuga and Shigeru were policing up the trash. Just as they arrived Toma and Tasha came hauling ass into the area from another path. Going over to his bag, Ken put the binoculars and canteen inside. Folding up his blanket, he also put it inside his bag. At this time Rei had gone over and started to pack up her own things. Looking around, Rei watched as Shinji and Asuka cleaned up their area. Their daughter was still asleep but now she was sitting in a carseat. After finishing his own area, Ken corralled Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke (who had just appeared with Mika) and the four boys got together and gathered up the coolers.

"DAMN THIS THING IS HEAVY!!! I wonder what is still in here?", asked Touji.

"I don't know. The only thing I know is that we need to hurry up and get things put away. Touji, you and Kensuke take that and put it in the trunk of Misato's car. Ken and I will take this one and put it in Toma's car.", answered Shinji.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Come on Suzehara, lets get it taken care of.", said the bespectacled teen.

Ken didn't say anything he just nodded. Then he grabbed one handle of the cooler while Shinji took a hold of the other end. Together the two boys were able to get the cooler off the ground. They then proceeded to half carry half drag the cooler to the black Volvo.

Back at the picnic tables Misato and Ryoji had just arrived. As vice-commander, Misato started giving orders and taking calls from Commander Fuyutski. Organizing the last of the clean up, Misato had told Ritsuko and the three control room techs to head on back to the Central Dogma. Once those four had left, the rest of the picnickers finished everything and proceeded to crowd into all of the cars. Misato put all of the girls and Teri in her car while all of the guys piled into the Volvo of Toma. Gunning his engine, Toma tore out of the parking lot leaving tire marks all over the asphalt. Once on the open road, he proceeded to run every red light in town. With Misato hot on his bumper (albeit slightly slower due to the fact she had a baby in the car with her), Toma called the gate sentinels and had them open the gates to the car train. Pulling onto an open car, Toma slid to a halt. As the train moved down, Misato pulled up onto the next car. After the gate closed, the train started to move, slowly gathering up speed. When it reached their assigned stop, the boys all piled out of Toma's car and headed for the elevator taking them to their locker room.


Upon reaching the correct level, Shinji, Kensuke, Touji, and Kenneth all scrabbled into the locker room. Closing the door, they heard the elevator arrive and disgorge the girls who headed to the dressing room on the other side.

"Why now, why today of all days must the angels attack? SHIT, I WAS ENJOYING THAT PICNIC.!!", fumed Asuka.

"Asuka- shut the hell up. We don't have time to listen to your rants and raves.", snapped Mika as she stepped out of the shorts she had been wearing.

Over on the male side of the locker room, the guys were just finishing up. As they had dressed they had heard the mutterings from the other side of the sheet. Ken was the first one completely dressed. As he stepped out of the dressing room he ran into his guardian. As he passed, Toma glanced at his charge and continued on. Turning to the left, Ken continued on to where his Eva Unit waited. Shinji was right behind him.

Rei was the first of the girls to leave the dressing room. She followed Kensuke and Touji to the launch bay. By the time she got there, Shinji and Ken had already been inserted into their Eva units and were in the final stages of activation. Rei climbed in Unit 00 and commenced to activate its systems. Once powered up she opened up a communications channel with the command center. By now, all of the units were manned and the majority of them were activated. Hikari and Kensuke were the last to activate their units.

With all of the units plugged into external power, Misato began to tell them about their target. As they were listening to her briefing, Ken and Mika had opened up and alternate, secured communications channel to Gendo Ikari.


"Pilot Hanrahn, Pilot Osako. You are designated as backup to Eva Units 00, 01, and 02 as they face off with the angel. However, unknown to the others, we are sensing a second blood type. It seems that this target is using the angel attack as a cover.", intoned Ikari in his usual monotone.

Ken had nodded as he took in what the elder Ikari was saying. Noting the position of his target on a map, Ken noticed that it was a bit away from the other pilots. Not to far to invoke suspicion but close enough to be able to help Asuka, Rei and Shinji if they needed it.

In her Eva unit, Rei waited to be moved to one of the launch platforms. Misato had given the pilots their assignments. Rei, Asuka, and Shinji were the main defense. Together the three were supposed to stop and destroy the angel. She noted that Units Alpha and Bravo were their back ups. If Ken and Mika couldn't defeat it, then Kensuke, Hikari, and Touji were the last line of defense.

By now, Evangelion Units 00, 01, 02, Alpha, and Bravo had been moved to their respective launch platforms. Rei, Shinji, and Asuka were the first ones launched; following on their heels was the launch of Mika and Ken.

Once on the surface, Rei directed her Eva unit to a nearby armament building. She reached inside and grasped the Eva battle rifle stored inside. After loading and charging the weapon, she directed Unit 00 to look around. Seeing that Asuka had picked up her units' battleaxe. Shinji's Eva 01 was armed with a pair of giant sized handguns. Placing herself at her assigned location, Rei settled down to wait.

After a few minutes, Rei made contact with the angel (pick one, I don't actually feel like describing any. It is 3:30 in the morning as I write this part). Putting the rifle up to her Evas' shoulder, Rei sighted down the barrel. Acquiring her target, Rei had Unit 00 start to ease back on the trigger. All of a sudden she noticed a black and gold streak flashing through her peripheral vision as Unit Alpha moved to attack an unseen opponent. Halting her trigger pull, Rei looked over as the black and gold unit unsheathed its progressive claymore sword. As Rei watched, the unit raised the sword to an en garde position.


In the control center, Misato was cussing a blue streak. She was not happy.

"GODDAMMIT WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL IS THAT STUPID SONUVABITCH DOING? I ordered him to wait. Shit, he just screwed up Unit Zero's targeting solution. I'll have his ass when this is over.", screamed a red-faced vice-commander.

"Calm down Katsuragi, Mr. Osako must have a reason for his actions. Let him explain them. Remember that he and Ms. Hanrahn are not under our direct control. Ken and Mika might sense something is wrong.", replied commander Fuyutski.

In Eva Unit Two, Asuka had been trying to reach the two somewhat rogue Eva pilots. She had watched as Mika had unlimbered her crossbow, reached behind her unit's back and retrieve a bolt, load the crossbow, and then raise the weapon to her shoulder. Asuka had also seen Ken fall into a defensive fencers' position.


Shinji had been watching the approaching angel. Now that it had gotten to close for Rei to use her Units' rifle, he stepped up and opened fire on the advancing enemy. As his rounds started to hit the target, Shinji noticed that the maroon and grey unit was letting loose a bolt. With his eyes following the projectile, his Eva unit was rocked by multiple hits. Focusing his attention back to the target at hand, he dropped the pistols and pulled one of his progressive knives from its shoulder mount scabbard.

"Askua, shut the hell up and attack the angel.", Shinji snapped to a still fuming Asuka.

Rei had been watching the developing battle between Shinj, Asuka, and the angel. Realizing that she had shifted to a backup role, Rei turned her back on Ken. At that moment, Mika's crossbow bolt, hit its target. To Rei it seemed as if the thing had stopped in mid-air. However, as she watched, an object began to appear.

"FINALLY YOU DECIDE TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE YOU COWARD!! Thinking you could sneak in here under the cover of an attack by one of your weaker brethren. Now I am going to destroy you.", snarled Ken as the alternative angel appeared.

In the control center, Hyuga turned to the next level up and addressed Misato.

"Colonel, our sensors are picking up an unidentified object. At this time the Magi cannot decide what it is. Unit Alpha has commenced an attack."

Misato's mouth dropped open when the battlefield cameras focused on the new target. Fuyutski took one look at the image on the screen and sat straight up in his chair. He had a good reason too. Towering over Eva Unit Alpha, the unknown intruder exuded a sense of destruction.

"So, the first of the alternative angels has arrived. Now lets see what Ken and Mika can do.", muttered Fuyutski to himself.

At the same time, he issued a set of orders to Misato and instructed her to pass them along to Rei, Asuka, and Shinji.

"Have Rei back up pilots Osako and Hanrahn. Launch Pilot Suzehara to fill in as backup for Asuka and Shinji. But keep him on the fringes of that battle. Keep Pilots Aida and Horaki prepped for an immediate launch. If Shinji and Asuka defeat their target, direct them to backup Ken and Mika. If Asuka squeals about it cut her off. I really don't want to hear her complaints at this time. Is that understood colonel?", stated Commander Fuyutski.

"Yes sir."

Misato leaned over the railing and passed along the orders issued to her. Of course the fiery red-haired Eva pilot complained. Acting per orders, Hyuga cut her communications channel.

Meantime, Rei was observing as Ken clashed with the alternate angel. Sparks flew as the progressive sword contacted the angels' A.T. Field.

Ken formed his own A.T. Field and returned to his attack. As he waded in, Ken kept the blue Eva unit in his peripheral vision. Thus he was distracted when the alternate angel sent a blast of energy his wave. Catching the telltale flash, he dived his unit to the right. Unfortunately, his timing was off and the bolt caught his unit in the side.

Rei watched as the black and gold unit collapsed to the ground. Running up to the fallen unit, she stood over it with her rifle. Turning to her left, she saw a Maroon and Grey Unit charge into the fray. Rei watched as it bounced off of the A.T. Field of its enemy then proceed to batter at it with a progressive knife. Rei chanced a look back and saw that Shinji and Asuka had handily defeated their target. She also noticed that unit 03 had been launched and was standing ready with another pair of Eva-sized submachine guns.

"HAH, I knew that sorry excuse for a pilot couldn't meet my outstanding levels of combat proficiency.", crowed Asuka triumphantly.

"Asuka, shaddap. It's about time you finished dancing with that toy. Now you can see what a real enemy is like.", replied a sluggishly rising Ken. "Rei, can you please move the barrel of that cannon you're carrying. I really would like to get up although the view from here is quite interesting. It took you a good 15 minutes to do a job I could have done it 3 minutes.", continued the teen.

As usual, Asuka started to rant and rave. Her actions were predictable. Rei watched as Unit 02 charged head long into the fight only to get batted aside like she was nothing. When unit 02 hit the ground, it looked as if it could not possibly rise. Rei watched as the battered unit leaked a fluid on the ground. Shinji reacted with rage and attempted to stab the target with his progressive knife. He too was knocked down to the ground.

Misato watched as her two roommates hit the ground.

"CUT ALL LINKS TO THE COCKPITS AND EJECT THOSE ENTRY PLUGS!! ONCE the pilots are out, get them both down to the medical center.", she said with a barely contained quiver in her voice.

"Ah Colonel Katsuragi, once Shinji and Asuka have been treated and situated in a room, could you project the image of this battle to them. I really want those two to learn exactly how good Mika and I are.", said Ken innocently.

"Yes, this should be an interesting learning lesson for them. Especially Asuka, the Teutonic Amazon.", chimed in Mika as she proceeded to attack the alternative angel from another angle.

"I HEARD THAT!!!!!", cut in a pissed off sounding Asuka.

Tuning out the raving of the slightly miffed pilot of Unit 02, Rei aimed at the target and fired. The only effect that it had on the target was to have the angel concentrate its fire on her. Rei rocked in the LCL as each blast hit her unit. Gritting her teeth and concentrating, she continued to shoot.

All of a sudden, Rei's world turned upside down as she felt her unit (and by extension, herself) flipped upside down and landed on its stomach. Woozily, Rei looked out and saw that Unit Alpha had gotten up and was now standing over her.
Next thing she knew, Rei saw a Maroon and Grey blur flying across her line of vision.

"Rei, Touji stay here and back us up. Mika and I will take this target out. Colonel Katsuragi, get a recovery crew standing by. That way once this angel is ... canceled, Dr. Akagi can study it. Mika, shall we dance?", stated Ken

"But of course, as long as I get to lead this time.", replied Mika jokingly.

Rei watched as Unit Alpha nodded its head and settled into position. Once the black and gold Eva unit was set. Turning her attention to Unit Bravo, Rei watched as Mika launched a flurry of crossbow bolts, then starting running towards the angel. The angel had started to move in their direction again. Increasing its speed, it came within 300 yards of Unit Bravo. Mika stopped and had her unit leap into the air, avoiding an energy blast. As Rei watched Mika, she caught sight of Ken. Wondering why he wasn't doing anything, Rei was about to open a communication channel when she saw Ken's attack. What she saw left her stunned (if you could ever call Rei stunned).

Ken had charged the Angel, meeting it as it came to a stop while watching Mika. Swinging his sword low, Ken struck the leg of the target. Withdrawing his sword, Ken blocked a hand swipe from the enemy. For the next 30 minutes, the two protagonists traded blows. Mika chipped in with either a knife swipe inflicting a deep gash or shooting a crossbow bolt. The control center techs watched in awe as the two combatants kept it up. Finally after piercing the epidermal layer with a deep slice, a pulsating orange-reddish orb was seen in the creatures' chest.


"Rei take that rifle you got and shoot at that orb. That is the target.", snapped Ken.

"Better hurry, it won't be that vulnerable for long.", added Mika

Indeed, as Mika had been speaking, the angel was starting to cover up the orb. Slowly covering the orb was a piece of the target's skin. Seeing this Rei, threw the weapon to her units' shoulder and fired. Her shot missed the target by a small margin, however it caused the angel to turn slightly in her direction. Thus giving Ken a clean angle which to connect with his sword. When he shattered the orb, the resulting explosion dumped everybody onto their asses. It took a few minutes for the trio to come around, but by the time they did Touji had arrived and ejected all of their entry plugs. Lying the pilots on the ground he proceeded to clear the way for the recovery teams to get to the Ken, Mika, and Rei.

Ken, being the closest, had taken the brunt of the blast. The explosion had knocked him out for awhile. When groggily came to, he saw that the recovery crews were loading him into an ambulance. Leaning his head up, he saw that Rei and Mika were being led to another waiting vehicle. To him they seemed all right. One of med techs saw that Ken had woken up and was quick to jab him with a needle, thus putting him back to sleep.


Later Ken woke up to see that he was in a hospital room. Remembering the battle, Ken tried to get out of bed. A hand pressed down on his forehead with a gentle touch.

"Take it easy kiddo, you took a mighty nasty bump. You are going to be okay. However, you gotta stay in the hospital overnight. Next time, make sure you are nowhere near ground zero when that thing cooks off."

"Yeah, okay Toma. Why do I got to remain in here tonight?"

"You have to stay inside for a bit because Dr. Akagi isn't letting you go. You came in with a small concussion and Ritsu, being the way she is, bullied the on call medical doctor in to agreeing with her. The other pilots are okay. Rei had a slightly sprained arm and Mika has one hell of a bruise on her cheek from when she bounced herself off her console. Shinji and Asuka are fine. Sohryu wants your head on a silver platter for the comments you made though. If you are feeling a bit better, I'll let you walk around for a bit, but no trying to escape. Dr. Akagi would have my ass if you walked out of her before you were officially released.", stated Ken's roommate.

"While Tasha and Mika would rub salt where it used to be, right?", replied the boy wryly.

"Yup and you know it. Well I gotta pull that ghost thing and report to Ikari the elder.", looking around, Toma added in a lower voice, "There is a bag with some of your stuff by the bedside. In there is a small get well token. However, don't let anyone know about it."


Ken nodded then watched as Toma walked over to the door and opened it. Glancing back once he winked then he was gone. Catching a glimpse through the closing door, Ken saw that Mika was about to enter his room. Sitting up in the narrow bed, he waited for her to make her entrance. As she walked in followed by Rei, Ken noticed the downcast look in her eyes and the big gauze bandage covering what looked to be a nasty bruise on her cheekbone.


"Hey Hanrahn, next time don't let your face meet the console.", joked Ken.

Mika brought her head up sharply to meet his gaze. Seeing the smile that was there, her look of dejection turned into a grimace of anger. Ultimately Mika ended up smiling. Reaching the bedside she leaned over and grabbed Ken in a fierce hug.

"I thought that your unit had been destroyed. When I heard that you were alive but in a serious condition, I was worried. However, now that I see you smiling and sitting up in bed, I guess you are back to normal or some semblance thereof."

Watching the two friends, Rei moved over to the lone chair in the room.

"Thank you Pilot Osako."

"Rei, dammit, will you call me Ken. Pilot Osako gets annoying after a short time."

A little surprised by the statement, Rei only nodded. Reaching into one of the pockets of her jumper, Mika pulled out a small camera. Turning to Ken she explained.

"Kensuke gave me this. He says that he had been working on an addition to his camera and somehow came up with this. This takes regular pictures. It is handy because Kensuke doesn't always want to lug around his big camera. Rei go stand next to Ken and I will take your picture. Then we will switch places and you can take ours."

Rei nodded.

"Can I put a pair of shorts on so that I look a little presentable? This hospital gown isn't an epitome of fashion.", Ken reaching for the bag next to the bed.

"No! Maybe next time."

"I'll get you for this tenfold Mika. And you know that I will."

Rei looked on as the playfull banter passed between the two teens. It ended only when Ken threatened to take a picture of Mika when she first wakes up and giving it to Kensuke. Mika grumbled for a few minutes. Ken gave in after that and Rei moved over to stand next to the bed. Looking over at the other girl, she waited until Mika was finished before exchanging places.

For the next 20 minutes Ken and Mika held a conversation about some of the things they had witnessed during the battle and some of the other things that had happened. Finally Rei saw that Ken was starting to fall asleep and took the other girl out of the room. Reaching the door, Rei looked back and watched as Ken drifted off. Switching off the light, Rei left the room and let the door close.


Somewhere in a dark office, a set of eyes watched a small monitor placed into the desk. Seeing the door close, the mouth beneath the eyes quirked into a smile that some would say was the personification of wickedness.

"Soon, everything will be set into motion. And SEELE won't be able to hamper the efforts of NERV anymore.", thought Gendo Ikari as he reached out with his gloved right hand and turned off the monitor to the room holding Kenneth Osako. Standing up, the elder Ikari walked over to a one-way windowpane and watched as the Black and Gold and Maroon and Grey giants were repaired.






A few days later, Ken came home from school in a somewhat ebullient mood. After changing his clothes, Ken grabbed a towel and started out the door again. As he walked past the kitchen his guardian hailed him.

"Yo, Ken where ya headed?"

"I am going swimming at headquarters. Asuka and Shinji told me about the Olympic size pool they have there. (I am guessing the size of the pool. Just watched episode 10 again). I figured that t wouldn't be a problem. By the way, I thought you would still be at HQ?", replied Ken.

"I had to go in early this morning. Gendo had me take care of something, once it was taken care, he told me to head home and take the rest of the day off. Commander Fuyutski wasn't happy. The vice-commander was so furious, she ordered me to work the night shift tonight. I am just now waking up and getting ready. If you give me a few, I will drive you in.", said Toma.

"Nah, I wanted to walk and get the exercise. If you're coming in tonight, I will probably see ya there."

"Yeah, probably. See you later. Enjoy the pool."

Ken said that he would and walked out of the apartment. After exciting the elevator, he ran into one of his other roommates. Mika was coming home from volleyball practice. Ken told her where he was headed and she declined his offer to accompany him. She had some homework to do and decided that after she finished she was going over to Misato's to hang out with Asuka and Hikari.

As Mika headed inside, Ken continued on his journey. Arriving at his destination, Ken ran his ID through one of the readers. Signaling that he was cleared into the area. Catching one of the lifts, he headed to the locker room to change. Finishing up he followed the directions that had been written down for him by one of his fellow pilots.



"Damn Shinji and Asuka didn't do justice to this place when they described it. It is huge, reminds me of the pool at NERV Sealab.", muttered Ken once he arrived and saw the pool.


Walking over to the pools edge, Ken looked down and estimated the pool depth at or about 18 feet. Give or take a foot or so. Nodding in approval, Ken sauntered over to one of the chairs by the side of the pool and dropped his towel. Heading back to the pool, Ken jumped in. Coming back up for air he shook his head scattering water droplets in every direction.

"OH YEAH!!! I think I am gonna like this.", thought Ken as he smiled to himself.

Enjoying the silence, Ken stroked to the opposite side of the pool. For the next 20 minutes or so Ken worked his way from one end of the pool to the other. Crossing from near side to far side. Taking a break Ken flipped over onto his back and floated. Deciding to get out of the pool for a moment, Ken backstroked towards the nearest ladder and excited the pool. Drying himself off, Ken dropped into the chair and picked up the book that had fallen when he had opened up his towel. Turning to a previously marked page, Ken started reading. Soon he was totally immersed into the many plots and subplots of one of his favorite books.

Ken was so absorbed in his reading that at first he didn't notice the small splashes that signified someone swimming. Raising his eyes just above the top of the book he looked around trying to see who it was that was in the pool. On his second pass he saw a figure in a white swimsuit at the far end.


Earlier in that day, Rei had decided to go swimming. After school, she headed to the pool in the geo-front. Entering the complex from another gate, it had taken her slightly longer to make it to the women's locker room. Changing into her swimsuit, Rei headed for the pool. On her arrival, she looked around. Seeing nobody at first she dived into the pool and started to swim.


By now Ken had put his book down and was looking at the slight figure now drying their hair. As he looked closer, the figure just happened to change position and he was able to see a flash of blue-hair. Realizing whom it was Ken got up and started to move to the side of the pool.


"Hmm, I wonder if Ayanami comes here a lot. Nobody told me she was a swimmer. Well of course I didn't ask.", thought Ken.

Sliding quietly into the pool, Ken watched as Rei finished drying her hair and proceeded to head in the direction of the diving board. Taking a deep breath, Ken submerged himself and headed in the same general direction. Only coming to the surface of the pool to breathe and see where his target was, Ken saw that Rei was about to mount the diving board again. Moving to the side of the pool Ken surfaced and propped his arms on the edge of the pool. Watching as the blue-haired pilot reached the top and prepared to dive in. As he watched, a small part of him abstractedly judged her technique. When she cleaved the water with barely a splash, Ken mentally gave her a 10. As he watched, Rei continued down the length of the pool.

For her part, Rei was enjoying herself greatly. Feeling the water flow against her skin and exulting in the isolation, Rei felt rejuvenated. After a short while of just swimming around, Rei felt the pressure wave of another form. At first she was surprised. Her mind told her she would have seen some one when she first came in, or heard them if they came in after her. And yet, Rei had not seen or heard anybody since she came in. Looking around, Rei saw a flash of golden hair. Beneath the hair was a pair of violet eyes.

Ken had submerged himself and was seeing how long it would take before Rei would either see him or sense his presence. He had surfaced a few times to catch a quick breath of air and then noiselessly slid back under and continued trailing the teen. So far he hadn't been discovered. Ken had dove to a few feet off the bottom of the pool to get a better look. He had risen off the bottom for a few moments and in the process had unknowingly created a small pressure wave. This is what had tipped Rei off to the presence of another form in the pool. Ken watched her reaction and almost missed it. He had notice a small break in her form when she felt the pressure. Continuing with her swimming, Rei hadn't made any abrupt moves. When she had turned in his direction, Ken had at first been startled. Then he had watched Rei as she watched him.


Rei saw the floating form and wondered how the person had slid into the pool with nary a ripple and then had approached within a few feet of her without her noticing till he had made a mistake. Rei altered her direction and headed towards the nearest side. When she reached the side of the pool, Rei realized that the unknown swimmer had surfaced and followed her to the wall. It was then that she realized who the swimmer was. Floating next to her was one of her fellow pilots. Staring her into the face was the violet eyes of Kenneth Osako.


"Ah, hi Rei, I didn't know that you liked to swim.", said Ken.

"You did not ask. Yes I do like to swim. I did not notice that you were here. You must have come in after I did."

"No, I have been here for the past 35 minutes. I didn't see you enter."


Rei took this at face value and didn't reply. Rei started to get out of the pool, but Ken grabbed her arm to halt her progress.

"Rei I am sorry about grabbing you like this but I was wondering if you would care to a race. If you don't want to I will understand."


The blue-haired girl thought for a minute, then continued on her way.

"I have no time. I have to be somewhere soon.", said Rei in her usual monotone.

"I understand. If you cannot, would you do me the honor of getting you a cup of tea in the cafeteria."

Rei thought for a moment then nodded. Ken got out of the pool and told her that he would meet her outside the locker room.


At the Katsuragi apartment Mika, Asuka, and Hikari were taking care of a slightly feverish Teri. Asuka had given her some baby couch syrup and at this time was holding the eleven-month old baby in her arms. Teri was drowsily watching the older children as she sat in her mother's arms. Shinji had been called away to NERV with Touji to help Kensuke get used to the LCL that an EVA pilot sat in. At first he didn't want to leave his daughter, but Asuka had to order him out. Then she had leaned in close and gave him a kiss while telling him that her and Teri were going to be all right. Reluctantly Shinji agreed and Touji dragged his friend out the door. As the two boys were going out, Mika was arriving. Albeit she was a bit miffed. That had been about an hour of so ago. Right now the three girls were discussing the last battle.



"Did you see how me and my Shin-kun took care of that angel? That was the way to destroy and enemy!! Hikari how was your first time in an actual Evangelion?", asked the red-haired pilot.

"It was a new experience. This time all I got to do was wait. I didn't even see the target.", answered the class rep quietly.

"Don't worry about that, Hikari. You will be in the thick of it soon enough.", Mika knowingly interjected.


"So Mika, what did you think about how I handled that angel, could you have done better?", asked Asuka.

"Asuka, not to take any credit away from you. I think you did pretty well. Yes I could have done better and before you start to argue the point. I had other problems to deal with.", said Mika carefully.

Knowing that she had been neatly and efficiently disarmed, Asuka changed the subject.

"How is Ken? After the battle I heard that he had been hurt. Is he okay? So that was an alternative angle."


"Yes that is one of them. Ken is doing fine, he was headed to the pool when I saw him earlier today."


Upon hearing where Ken had gone, the other two girls got smiles on their faces. Not knowing what the smiles were for, Mika asked about them. Hikari pondered for a minute then answered.


"Today is the day that Rei usually goes to the pool to swim. She does this almost every week if she doesn't have anything else to deal with."


At first Mika didn't get it, then once it filtered through her head she smiled as big as the other two. Misato chose this moment to make her presence known by clearing her throat. She had staggered into the kitchen from her room. Once in the kitchen she had grabbed another can of beer. Hearing the three teenagers in the front room talking about the battle, Misato had decided to stick around for a bit. Once the subject changed, she had started back towards her room but stopped when she heard them talk about Rei and Ken. When she cleared her throat, the girls looked up in surprise then guilt.


"Don't worry girls. I'm not mad. I remember when Ritsuko and I used to sit up in our dorm room and talk for hours. Right now, you said that Ken had gone swimming."

The trio nodded. Misato turned to Asuka and asked her a question.

"And you said that Rei usually swims today?"

Asuka nodded again.

"Well Asuka, call Shinji on his cell phone and have him bring both of them here. I have an idea.", said the purple-haired beauty with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.


Asuka, getting the idea, picked up the cordless phone next to her after passing a sleeping Teri over to Hikari. Doing as she was asked, Asuka called Shinji and passed along the directions given to her by Misato. After some hemming and hawing, Shinji agreed to it.


Back at NERV, the couple in question was having a relaxing cup of tea in the cafeteria. Although not much had been said, it seemed to Ken that some sort of understanding was reached. When they had arrived in the cafeteria, Ken had been the gentleman and escorted Rei to a chair at a lone table. Going to the counter, he ordered two cups of tea. When his ordered came back, Ken looked at Rei and noticed that she wasn't paying any attention to him.


When Ken went off to get the tea, Rei pulled a book out of her bag and started to read. Both of the teenagers had dried off and put their street clothes on. Carrying their bags, Rei and Ken made their way to the cafeteria (think of episode 9 after Misato's scene in the elevator with Kaji.). The two had picked a lone table with a view of the geo-front.

Heading back to the table, Ken had slipped the contents of a glass vile into the teacup unnoticed. Confident that he had fulfilled out the directives issued by Gendo Ikari, Ken allowed himself a small smile. Reaching the table, he placed the cup in front of Rei and headed back to his seat. Ken sat down and asked Rei a few questions as he sipped his tea. Receiving only one-word answers, he decided to look out the window and watch the trams move along the tracks in the geo-front.


Rei had watched Ken as he looked out the window. Although seemingly not paying any attention to him, Rei was actually watching Ken's profile as he watched the trains. Studying him, Rei wondered what possessed him to ask her to tea. Other than Shinji and Asuka nobody had asked Rei anywhere. Sipping back, she thought about it for a minute and wondered what to do about it.


Shinji, Kensuke, and Touji had entered the cafeteria and where looking around. Kensuke saw them first and pointed them out to the other two. When Shinji looked in the direction indicated, he saw Ken staring out the window and Rei reading a book. To Shinji's practiced eye, he saw that Rei was looking at Ken while making it look like she wasn't paying attention. After a minute, Shinji walked over to the table and got their attention. As expected, Rei reacted first. Looking up from her book. It took a few more tries to get Ken's attention but they succeeded.


"Hello Shinji.", asked Rei

"Ahh umm, hi Rei, Ken. How are you today? Misato called and asked me if you would like to stop at the apartment."


"Thanks for the invitation Shinji but I have something else to take care of. If I didn't it would be no problem. Maybe some other time.", answered Ken.


"Oh come on Ken, the others will be there. It should be fun.", said Touji.

"Yeah, Ken, I even brought my camera,", added Kensuke.

Everyone groaned except Rei. The tow-headed teen smacked Kensuke on his head with a towel. Ken thought about it for a few minutes then agreed to go. He figured that his homework could wait till he got home. Ken planned to escape from the gathering early. Shinji called Asuka and told her that he was bringing both Rei and Ken by the house. Asking about his daughter, Shinji found out that Hikari, Mika, and Asuka had just put Teri to bed. She seemed to be doing better than she was when he had left the house. At this time, Toma walked in while taking a break from his night duties. He had just taken care of some paperwork in his office. Toma also had finished a meeting with Gendo Ikari. Seeing the small group of teenagers, he walked over and said hi. Ken told him that he was going to be a little late getting home. Toma said it was ok. Shortly after that, he left after shooting the breeze for a moment and grabbing a sandwich.

Soon the 5 teens left and headed over to the Katsuragi apartment. Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke walked together while Rei and Ken walked behind them. Arriving at the apartment, they were met by the three girls. Each girl latched onto her beau and pulled them into the dwelling. Rei and Ken looked at each other and followed the three couples inside the apartment.


"Hello everyone, look who I found at headquarters. The two of them were in the cafeteria drinking tea.", said Shinji.

When they heard this Misato and the girls' started to tease Ken and Rei. Rei didn't react to the teasing. She was just confused about it. Ken, on the other hand, turned scarlet at the way some of the teasing was insinuating.


"It wasn't like that at all. I just ran into her in the pool and asked if she wanted to join me for a cup of tea.", protested the violet-eyed teen.


Hikari snapped an elbow into her boyfriends' stomach to squelch the lewd comment she knew was coming. It died on Touji's lips as he gasped for air. When he got his breath back, Touji turned to Hikari and asked why did she do that. When she wouldn't explain, he just settled down to grumbling. Mika had her arms wrapped around Kensuke and was letting the interplay of voices slip past.

As the jokes and teasing went on, Ken was slowly beginning to get angry. He was wondering why they were teasing him. For the first few minutes it hadn't mattered to him, but as it went on some of the taunts had started to get to him.

Rei had noticed that Ken's answers had gotten shorter and that his voice was imperceptibly changing. Looking around at the other teens and Misato, she saw that nobody else had caught on to the fact that the pilot next to her was beginning to loose his temper. Having seen all of the other pilots in the room except Mika lose their temper, Rei wondered what Ken would be like if he lost it. This intrigued Rei to a point.


Mika had not been paying that much attention to the by play of words going on between Ken and the rest. She had just initiated a conversation about another subject with her four-eyed boyfriend, when she caught a change in Ken's tone of voice. Having known Ken for most of her life, Mika knew that the inquisition had started to irritate him and he was about to deliver a verbal broadside that the others weren't expecting. Having been on the bad side of one of those broadsides before, Mika was curious about how the others and Misato would react. Not tuning out Kensuke but turning to face Ken, Mika saw the little tell tale that gave away the fact Ken was close to exploding.

As what Ken considered an interrogation went on, Ken had gotten angrier. Having been adept at controlling his facial features during times of anger, Ken knew that nobody had noticed anything. However, Ken also knew that he couldn't control the one thing that gave away the fact that he was about to lose his temper. Looking around the room, he noticed that Mika had seen it and was about to intercede. Other than the curtness of his answers and the tone of his voice, the only thing that gave away the fact that he was about to loose it was an involuntary eyebrow quirk.

Many a time Mika had seen that quirk just seconds before a verbal barrage would spew forth out of Ken's mouth like bullets out of a Gatling gun. The first time she had seen it was shortly after Mika had met Ken for the first time. She had been nosing around about his social life with a few of the other girls in their class and somehow, Ken had found out.
-----------------------------Flashback------------------------------------------


Ken had walked into the classroom and saw that the girl he had just met was talking to some of his classmates. Ambling past, he heard that they were talking about him. Standing just within hearing range, Ken listened as the other girls talked.


Mika was a bit curious about the boy she had met and had made a promise to herself to find out more about him. She had seen Ken walk into the room during the female conclave. When one of the other girls asked her a question, Mika had turned her attention back to the questioner and forgotten that Ken was there.


After class that day, Ken had headed home to study when he heard Mika talking to one of her friends.


"I don't know what is wrong with Ken, he seems a bit slow to me. What do you know about him?", Mika had asked the other student.

"All I know about that boy is that many of the girls think he is cute. I do know that he isn't slow. Ken is one of those boys who are dedicated. Only problem is that him and those like him are too dense to realize things.", replied the other girl.

Mika laughed when she heard this and agreed to it. However she didn't notice that Ken had stepped around the corner and was looking at them both. When she finally finished laughing, Mika saw that the other girl was staring in shock just past her shoulder. Mika turned around and saw Ken standing there. The first thing she noticed was the quirking eyebrow.

Ken had turned the corner, royally angry and getting angrier. When he stopped in front to of the two teens, he waited till they stopped laughing. When Mika had stopped tittering, Ken looked at them for a moment then proceeded to deliver a tonguing lashing that neither of the girls would forget. For her part, Mika could only stand there and take it. When it was over, it took Mika a minute or so to realize that it was over.

------------------------------End Flashback-------------------------------------

Mika and Rei were not the only ones to notice that Ken was getting pissed. Shinji realized it too. Shinji turned to his fiancée and whispered in her ear to cut it out. Asuka was too focused with tormenting the boy to even acknowledge the impending explosion. Shinji looked across the room to Mika and saw that she knew what was about to happen. Mika saw Shinji glance in her direction and shake his head before getting up and heading to the kitchen.

Asuka was having fun. She had been teasing Ken about his relationship with wondergirl. When Shinji had asked her to cut it out, Asuka hadn't even paid him any attention.

"So Ken, when are you and Rei going to get engaged? I know that you have a crush on her. Do you think that Rei has a crush on you? Hell you can't even tell if Rei is either a human or a robot. I bet Rei wouldn't even know what to do if she found herself naked in bed with any boy.", taunted Asuka.


Ken had had enough. The last statement was hardly out of Asuka's mouth when his temper exploded like a supernova.

"Dammit Asuka, why in the fuck do you continue to insinuate that there is something between Rei and I? I told you, Hikari, and the colonel that there is nothing between Ayanami and myself. I am here to do one thing and that is to destroy our enemies. I wonder how in the hell you could pilot the way you do. No wonder you lost when you went up against an alternative angel. I don't know how Shinji puts up with you, yet I admire him for doing so. Now if you will excuse me, I have some studying to do. Goodnight, thank you very much for the invitation Shinji, although I wish things could have gone better.", snapped a quite pissed off Ken.

Asuka was at first stunned, then angry. She stood up and reared back to throw a punch at the back of Kens' head. It was one she had often thrown at Shinji and the rest of the three stooges. Usually it connected, this time however, the punch landed well short of its intended target. Ken had turned and caught her fist. Now he was standing with Asuka's right fist in his hand. The room went quiet.


"Don't ever in your life throw another punch at me, Asuka. I don't hit women. However, next time you try to hit me you will find yourself on your back.", muttered Ken in a low voice.

And with that, Ken dropped Asuka's hand, turned and walked out the door. Leaving a silent room behind him. Turning once as he reached the door, he nodded and disappeared into the darkness. The last thing the group heard was a muffled thump and a string of curses. Nobody said anything for a few moments.


Rei saw that there was no conversation going on and was the next to leave. As she walked out the door Rei looked back over her shoulder and said goodbye. That left the other two couples along with Asuka and Misato.

"Well I have got to go and catch up with him to calm him down. Otherwise Ken will be grumpy all day tomorrow. And that is not fun.", said Mika while pulling her boyfriend to his feet.


Outside, Ken had gotten stuck waiting for the elevator. He heard soft steps behind him and tensed up getting ready to turn on whoever it was.

"Ken."

"Oh sorry Rei, I thought that you were Asuka.", replied Ken as he turned and saw whom it was.

"Pilot Sohryu doesn't walk around quietly. If it was anyone else it would have been Ikari."

Ken looked over at the blue-haired girl standing beside him. Making a decision, he asked if he could walk her to her apartment. Being that it was late as it was. Rei nodded, and when the elevator dinged its arrival together the two silent teens stepped aboard the elevator. Rei and Ken were so absorbed in their own thoughts that they didn't hear Mika running down the hall telling them to hold the elevator.

"Damn, missed it by half a second.", stated Mika a little out of breath.

"Yeah. I thought we could catch up and walk with them.", added Kensuke.

On the ground floor, the couple in question had steep out of the elevator and were walking out the door. Ken was contemplating the fact that he would have to deal with a highly irate Asuka the next day at school. Knowing that she would be in a foul mood didn't lighten his spirits at all.

Rei noticed that they were passing the park that she often sat in and watched the children play. Changing direction, Rei decided to show Ken the view from the overlook. She knew that Shinji, Asuka, and their daughter Teri often came and silently looked out at the city.

Ken had, for his part, continued thinking about his minor dilemma. His sub-consciousness noted that Rei had changed direction and altered Kens' path to follow the teenage girl in front of him. Rei reached the outlook and leaned against the protective railing that was at the cliffs' edge. As she looked at the well-lit city spread out below and before her, Rei felt a sense of calmness and a small part of her hoped that Ken felt it too.

Ken realized that he was leaning against a railing when he heard himself sneeze.
Looking around, Ken saw that he was in the park and that Rei was standing there next to him looking out at the city. Ken followed her gaze and was speechless. Spread out in front of him, lit up in all its glory was Tokyo-3.

Rei heard a sudden intake of air. From the appreciative whistle she heard, Rei guessed that her companion was awestruck by the sight.

"This is beautiful! I have never seen Tokyo-3 this way before. Usually, I am too tired to look out the window when Toma takes me to the apartment after a late night sync session. Do you come here at night, often Rei?", said an astonished Ken.

"Yes I do. This feels me with a sense of calm.", replied Rei in her usual monotone, albeit with a small hint of pride.

As Rei had spoken, Ken had felt relaxed. He was no longer angry, he felt calm. Standing at the railing, neither of them spoke. Together, enjoying each other's silent company, Ken and Rei watched the city lights of Tokyo-3. After about 25-30 minutes, Rei turned away from the railing and started in the direction of her apartment.

When the two teens arrived at Rei's apartment building, Ken was appalled by its dingy appearance. Asking Rei if she had any problems, Ken was surprised to get a negative shake of the head. Together the two teens went up the stairs to the 4th floor. Ken looked around as they walked down a dingy hallway. The duo stopped at the door marked 402. Ken looked at the inconspicuous door and saw the mail overflowing from the mail slot.

"This is where you live? I thought that it was a bit better than this.", stated Ken

"Yes, I was given this apartment by Commander Ikari."


Rei waited to see if her companion was going to say anything more. When he didn't, she turned the knob and went into her small studio apartment. Ken started to follow her but stopped himself short of stepping inside.

"Umm Rei, well ahh I guess I will leave. You made it to your aparment safely and I think I'll head on home now.", stammered Ken.

"Thank you."


Bowing, Ken waited for the door to close. Once it close, he straightened up and went back to the stairs. Going down the stairs, Ken soon found himself back out on the street in front of the building. Glancing back at the dilapidated structure, he shook his head.

Rei had gone to the window after Ken had left. She looked out the window and had caught him looking back at her building and shaking his head. Standing just inside the window, Rei resisted the building urge to open the window and call down to the street. She watched as Ken started walking towards his apartment. Watching Ken till he vanished into the darkening city, Rei felt a feeling of disappointment snatch at her insides. This was new to her and she wondered if she was ill.


"Why do I feel as if I have lost something or someone important now that he is gone. I do not understand this feeling. What would the commander tell me to do?", thought Rei


Unknown to Rei there was a chemical process going on with in her body. In her mind, Rei's pituitary gland started to produce a chemical long forgotten to her DNA. Her DNA started to recognize this chemical and restructured itself accordingly. However a part of her DNA had never been exposed to this chemical. The first reaction to this was to protect itself from this unknown substance. This duel had been going on since the somewhat unknown substance had been introduced into her body. The battle between the two parts of DNA was coming to a close. For a while it had been a stalemate; one part of her DNA said that this chemical was an absolute necessary for the hosts' survival, while the other part of the same DNA said that the new chemical was unneeded.

Rei had no knowledge of the battle of her separate DNA strands were having inside of her. The only basic physical manifestation of this battle was that earlier Rei had had a sore stomach.

Now that it was later, the battle for dominance within her DNA had all but finished. The dominant part had of her DNA had accepted the new substance and had sent a message to her brain to let it know. Upon receipt of this message from her DNA, Rei's brain started to produce this new substance in small amounts. This was to see if the host recognized what exactly this substance was.

As Rei walked away from the window and started to prepare herself for bed, her body started to change. Systems lying dormant in Rei started to receive minuscule amounts of this substance and the machinery started to interact. By the time Rei had fallen asleep, these systems were fully awake and active. As more and more of these systems came online through the night all of them sent the same message to the brain, "more".





In a dark meeting room, twelve tall monoliths convened a meeting.


"Ikari had escaped the trap we had managed to set for him. Once again he is roaming around NERV.", said the monolith marked '01, Sound only'.

"My sources say that he activated another branch of NERV heretofore unknown to us. The members of this branch broke him out of his cell deep inside the Geofront. This source also reported that no one has seen Ikari since his escape except for a select few.", stated monolith number four.

"Is it true that Ikari had units Alpha through Delta brought here?", asked numer one.

"Yes my sources confirm this. Furthermore my main source added that those units were involved in the defense of an angel attack a few days ago.", continued number monolith four.

The room went quiet as the pondered the reasons why these units were activated. First among their mind was the fact that the events had taken a major detour from the Dead Sea Scrolls that they held in so much reverence. Monolith 12 was the first to voice their major concern.

"With the activation of Evangelion Units Alpha and Bravo, it means that the alternate angels have realized that their brethren the angels have not been successful. So they decided to give them a hand. This is not good."

"First things first, we need to find Gendo Ikari and eliminate him. Right now Fuyutski and Misato are following our scenario. We cannot allow them to be dissuaded by Gendo Ikari. Although he has no power base at this time, how soon will it be before he decides to convolute our plans again?", stated SEELE monolith one.

This brought another round of discussion on how to get rid of their problem. Nobody agreed on anything and the discussion was beginning to get out of hand until the voice of SEELE 6 cut through the din.


"Maybe Ikari isn't angling to oppose us. Maybe he is working on something else entirely.", stated SEELE 6

"Hmmm, that could be. For right now let us concentrate on the main problem. The Ikari situation will somehow resolve itself. If not then we can deal with it.", stated SEELE 1 firmly.

This effectively ended the meeting. One by one, each SEELE monolith winked out except for SEELE 1.

"Gendo Ikari, we do not take kindly to these surprises. I hope your house is in order.", SEELE 1 said to himself, then he too winked out leaving the room in darkness.



In another room sat the protagonist of that meeting. He was sitting at the desk wearing the hooded smile that seemed to stay on his face.

"SEELE is going to realize that although I am not the commander of NERV anymore, my plan is still going to work. Chairman Keel, I still play a better game of chess than any of the old men on the committee. They will find out soon enough about my plan.", murmured Gendo.

When he smiled, had anyone been around to see it, they would have said that it looked positively feral.




Ken arrived home a few minutes after Kensuke had dropped Mika off and left to go home on his own. After he took of his shoes and walked in, Ken stepped into the living room and saw the trio of Toma, Tasha, and Mika seated around a low table. It was obviously that no one had yet heard him enter the room. Tasha was sitting next to Toma idly playing with a strand of her hair that had gone astray. Both adults were wearing t-shirts and sweats. Where Toma's were grey Tasha's were black and green. Mika was still dressed in her school uniform.

"Well look who finally decided to make an appearance. Ken don't you realize how late it is.", said Toma sternly.

Ken caught the underlying hint of smugness in Toma's voice, but decided not to comment on it.


"Yeah, Mika told us about what happened at Misato's place. Toma also told me about the cafeteria. Is there something you want to enlighten us to, Ken?", added Tasha coyly.

"Umm, no.", answered Ken

During this byplay, Mika had remained quiet, now she burst forth with the question that was on her mind. Her voice, unlike the adults, had no levity in it.


"After you left Misato's place where did you go? Kensuke and I tried to follow you and couldn't. Now you arrive home minutes after I do, I was worried about you dammit.", snarled a highly pissed off Mika.

"I walked Rei home, halfway there she went into the park. I followed her to make sure that nobody would disturb her. We spent a few minutes looking at the city from the overlook. After we continued on to her apartment. And no we didn't do anything. Now before you all start to besieging, me with questions the subject is closed and I am going to bed since Colonel Kadji so succinctly reminded me that it is pretty late. Goodnight.", countered Ken.

The others watched as Ken walked down the hallway and disappeared into his room.
In his room, Ken unslung his duffle bag and dropped on the floor near the window. Stripping out of his clothes, he dropped them into the laundry basket and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in. Getting into his futon, Ken thought for a moment, and then he closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




A few days later Rei woke up and wasn't feeling well. The night before Rei had been over to Colonel Katsuragi's apartment. All the pilots had gotten together and had celebrated Mika and Ken's anniversary of their arrivals in Tokyo-3. Shinji and the other male pilots had grabbed Ken when he walked into the apartment and dunked his head into a bucket full of ice cold water. Ken had been surprised and struggled a bit until they let him raise his head. It was then that he realized that he had been had. Mika hadn't gotten off as easy as she thought. Asuka had planned it so that the minute Mika began to relax was the minute that she gotten her surprise.

Before the night was over Misato was so drunk that she almost fell over the balcony railing. Only a last minute save by Ryoji kept her doing a header into the concrete below. For a while Teri had been awake and was enjoying the party herself. However when Teri fell asleep Shinji and Asuka went and put their daughter to bed. By the time the party had ended everyone was tired. Shinji and Asuka thanked everybody for coming and had been thanked by Ken and Mika for throwing the party.

When Rei had gotten home to her apartment she changed into her nightgown and promptly went to sleep.

Rei wondered what her problem was. She wasn't feeling well but her body wasn't damaged in the usual sense.

"Hmm, maybe the pain will go away by the time I make it to school.", thought the blue haired pilot.

Putting this thought behind her, Rei proceeded to take a shower and get ready for school. Leaving her small abode she started walking to school. Rei's mind was so full of other thoughts that she didn't feel any pain.

"Hello Rei, I see that you are okay after last night.", came a voice from off to her right.

Breaking her concentration, Rei saw that Ken had joined up with her.

"Pilot Osako.", she returned.

Ken grinned and continued on his way to school by her said. Ken was suffering from a slight headache that morning. Somebody had spiked his drink last night at the party and when he got home Tasha and Toma had started to sing (badly).

Ken had finally resorted to sleeping with a pillow over his head and he suspected that Mika had done the same. Waking up first and cooking a small breakfast, Ken had left the apartment early. As he walked towards the school he had seen his fellow pilot and decided to catch up with her.


When they got to school both teens found their seats and sat down. Since they were the first ones in the classroom, they had it to themselves. Rei stared out the window while Ken read a book, occasionally stopping to look at Rei. Shortly after they arrived, Hikari came into the classroom looking a bit flustered. She saw her two classmates in their seats waiting for the class to begin.

In her seat Rei was starting to feel a bit nauseous. When she had sat down, her stomach reminded her that something wasn't right inside.

"My stomach is starting to get a bit worse than this morning. I feel as if I am going to burst. I shall go to Headquarters and see Dr. Akagi after school today. Maybe that will help.", ran the thoughts in Rei's mind.

Soon the entire class had arrived and was in their seats. Kensuke and Touji had been messaging each other. Asuka and Shinji were having a small conversation as Mika looked on. Ken was still reading his book.

On one of his frequent glances at Rei, Ken had noticed that she looked paler than usual. He also noticed that Rei had unconsciously rubbed her stomach. Ken was about to message Rei about what was wrong when Mika messaged him.

"-Oh I caught you looking at Rei. Why?"

"-Rei looks like she isn't feeling well today."

"-Are you sure or are you just staring because you like her."

"-Will you quit teasing me about that? I already told you I am not that interested in her."

"-Well to us it looks like you are interested. We noticed that every five minutes you were staring at Rei", interrupted another message.

Grumbling to himself, Ken looked at the address on the new message that he had received. Seeing the name at the end, he looked over in Asuka's direction and saw her smirk as she looked forward.

"-Now don't you start in on me about it either. And tell Hikari that if she sends me a message about Rei, she won't like my answer.", typed Ken furiously.


Rei heard the frenzied clicking of Ken's keyboard and wondered whom he was messaging and what the message was about. However, before she could turn and find out, the professor walked in to the classroom and took the roll.


Shinji had been paying attention to Ken's furious typing. As he began to put it in the back of his mind, Shinji's computer signaled that he had an incoming message. Glancing at his monitor he was surprised to see whom it was from.

"-Shinji, when you get the chance, glance over at Ayanami and see how she looks. From where I am sitting she doesn't look too good.", sent Ken.

This caught Shinji's attention and he looked over at the blue-haired pilot. He was shocked at what he saw. Rei was way too pale for his liking and she was constantly rubbing her stomach. Firing a quick reply back to Ken, Shinji told himself that he would keep an eye on Rei as the day went on.


"-I am a bit worried about her, she doesn't look her usual self. Do you think we should call NERV and let them know.", returned Ken.

"-No, not right now. Lets wait to see if she gets worse.", was Shinji's reply to Ken's question.

As class went on, each boy kept a close eye on Rei. She either didn't see their glances at her or saw them and didn't acknowledge them.

Rei now knew that something was wrong with her. She was starting to sweat a little bit and her stomach was really letting her know its state. She had seen the glances given to her by Shinji and Ken. Rei stoically didn't acknowledge the looks or the pain.

As the bell rang signifying lunch, Ken had made up his mind that he was going to confront Rei about her condition. He had let Shinji know and had told Shinji to get the rest of the pilots out of the classroom fairly quickly. When the bell rang Ken watched as Shinji hustled out of the classroom with Touji and Kensuke with the girls right behind them. When all the other students had disappeared, he got up and made his way over to the girl sitting a few seats in front of him.

"Rei, what is wrong? You look as if you don't feel well.", stated Ken.

"I am fine. There is nothing wrong with me that you need to concern yourself with. I will take care of it later.", replied Rei.

Ken caught the gasp of pain that she tried to hide as she spoke.

"No you are not fine. Something is wrong with you. Shinji noticed it as well as I did. Tell me what it is so we can get you treated."

"Pilot Osako, I am fine.", snapped Rei in an unusual show of emotion.

Ken stepped back. As he watched, Rei stood up shakily and turned to face him. Looking into her Red eyes, Ken saw the pain that she was trying to hide.

Rei looked at her fellow pilot. Ken looked back at her with the same expression. Not willing to concede the fact that he was correct, Rei started to walk past him. However, she didn't make it far. She felt a hand on her arm guiding her around the desk in front of hers.

"What is this? What is wrong with me? I know something is wrong yet I have never felt pain like this before. This is all very confusing. I am feeling very hot and my skin feels clammy. Could Pilot Osako be right? Could there be something very wrong with me? I never noticed but he is kinda cute.", thought Rei.

Rei was stunned at that thought. She had never thought that way before today. As she dwelt on that fact, Rei saw that Ken had sat her down in a chair. With her mind in chaos, Rei realized finally something dreadfully wrong with her thought process. Her last thought before everything went black was, "Gee, Pilot Osako has some cute eyes."

Ken leapt forward as he watched Rei's eyes roll into her head as she passed out. Catching her before she could hit the floor, Ken gently laid her down and scrambled for his cell phone.

"NERV HQ, Technician Young speaking.", said a youthful voice over the phone.

"Can someone dispatch an ambulance to the school, the first child just passed out.", shouted Ken into the handset.

"I am sorry, but this line is used for emergencies only. Please identify yourself.", came the voice back over the line.

"YOU DUMB SONUVABITCH!!! THIS IS THE 7th CHILD KEN OSAKO, PILOT OF EVA UNIT ALPHA. DAMMIT SEND AN AMBULANCE DOWN HERE NOW. IF YOU CANNOT GET THE VICE-COMMANDER ON THE PHONE.", ranted Ken as he got the runaround.

"Shit, where did they hire that idiot from.", thought Ken as he waited for the next voice.



At NERV, Colonel Toma Kadji was walking past the door to the communications center. He had just come from a meeting with Gendo Ikari and was now heading back to his office to take care of some paperwork. In the middle of an interesting daydream about Tasha, a bottle of champagne, and silk sheets; Toma heard the clash of voices. Wondering what was going on, he stepped in and asked one of the duty techs what was going on.

"Hey, what is the commotion, I heard it all the way out in the hallway.", questioned Toma.

The tech looked around, taking a look at the colonels' insignia on the stranger's uniform shirt, Tech Smith jumped to attention.

"Ah colonel sir, we just got a call from someone claiming to be the pilot of Unit Alpha. He is saying that something is wrong with the first child. When we traced the phone number we didn't see it on the clearance board. Tech Young is still talking to the person.", stammered the tech.

Gimme the damn phone and I will find out what is going on behind this."

Taking the phone from a relived Tech Young, Toma put his ear to the handset and started to speak.


Back in the classroom, the other pilots had come back and were trying to make since of what was going on. Seeing the arrival of Shinji and the others, Ken immediately sent Mika and Hikari out to see if they could get the attention of the second section security personel who were keeping tabs on the children. Before he could do anything else, Ken heard a familiar voice on the phone:

"Who are you and what is the meaning of this call?", came Toma's voice from the cell phone.


"TOMA, finally someone in charge. Toma you have to send an ambulance to the school Rei just collapsed.", shot out Ken


Recognizing the voice of his charge and roommate, Toma shot a glare back at the two techs. Snapping a finger, he asked for a pen and a notepad. Writing something down, he told one of the techs to call Dr. Akagi and get an ambulance out to the school.

"And you, Technician Smith, interrupt the Vice-Commander and let her know what the deal is. If you do this well, you might find yourself still with a job. If not... well lets not think about that.", snarled Toma at the quivering comm. Tech.

Technician Smith was too scared to say anything; he just got on the phone and called the office for Colonel Katsuragi.

Three floors down in another wing of HQ, Ritsuko was busy checking a new LCL batch. When her phone rang she answered gruffly. After hearing what was said, the doctor stopped what she was doing and made two calls. After she finished with those calls she hurried off.

Misato was in a small informal meeting with the commander. Fuyutski had asked her for a report and she was giving it. In the middle of the report, her cell phone rang. Ignoring it for the time being, Misato finished her report and waited for the commanders' comments.

"Go ahead and answer the phone Colonel. This can wait.", said Fuyutski.

"Yessir. Colonel Katsuragi speaking.", replied Misato.

As Fuyutski watched his vice-commander, he was reminding herself that he had made the right decision about giving her the position. She was uniquely qualified for it. Misato was doing a good job in his old position.

Misato answered the phone. What she heard over the line changed her expression to a scowl. Next thing she had hung up and was making a series of phone calls and issuing orders. This brought the commander's attention back to the presents. Fuyutski caught the last of these.

"Thank you Colonel Kadji at least you were down there to sort things out. When this crisis is over, have technicians Young and Smith report to my office. No I won't fire them, but by the time I am finished with them, they will wish that I had.", stated Misato with a thread of anger in her voice.

"What happened Colonel Katusragi.", asked commander Fuyutski.

"Sir, we have a problem. The first child just passed out at school. A NERV ambulance is on its way to pick her up and take her to medical. Dr. Akagi will meet it when it arrives."

"WHAT! I don't believe this.", exclaims the commander.

At that moment a monitor embedded in the desk came alive. When the screen cleared up, the two people in the office were stunned to see Gendo Ikari's face on the screen.

"Greetings commander, vice-commander. From you expressions I see that something has happened to one of the pilots.", stated the deposed commander of NERV.

Gendo was sitting at a small desk in an unknown office. From what Misato and Fuyutski could see, there seemed to be some paperwork on the desk. They could also see a few minor decorations behind the man in the sunglasses staring at them.

Misato was the first to recover:

"YOU YOU BASTARD!!! YOU KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN? I OUGHTTA HAVE SOME SECURITY PERSONEL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW", yelled Misato.

"Yes I knew this would happen. In fact, you could say that I set the whole thing in motion. Calm down Colonel, Rei will be all right. Besides I might be making an appearance soon. And colonel if you send security after me, I will return them to you... with one minor difference.", returned a smug Gendo.

Misato had no answer for that so she settled for swearing under her breath.

"Now I must go. See you soon Professor.", said Gendo before his image winked off the screen.

"DAMMIT, the balls of that man. We need to get rid of him."


In another part of the Geofront, Gendo Ikari sat back and relaxed his shoulders. Looking into a mirror, Gendo stared at his attire. Instead of the brown uniform that his visual program showed when he was talking to the others, Gendo was wearing a plug suit. Looking at a picture on his desk but out of the camera's pick-up range, Gendo smiled.

It was a picture of himself standing in front of and facing Eva Unit 1. If one looked closely enough, one could see that at his feet was a puddle of some sort of liquid. Only one other person knew what the liquid was that he was standing in and that person was no longer alive.

"After all these years, I still have the same reaction to LCL. When the time comes I hope I am able to stand it. If I don't my plan will never see fruition.", muttered Gendo to himself.

"And failure is not an option, this time."







Ken looked through the window at the figure in the bed. The person had just fallen back asleep. Ken looked as Rei's chest rose and fell with every breath. Taking a sip from the cup in his hand, he didn't notice the person come beside him. After a moment, it finally registered in his mind that he had company. Looking to the side, Ken saw Dr. Akagi standing next to him.

"She is going to be okay Ken.", stated Ritsuko calmly.

"I know she is going to be fine, I just want to know what happened to her to put her in this condition.", asked Ken.

"Oh nothing important. Her body was just remembering something and she didn't know how to handle it. Rei will be discharged after she gets some rest and someone to talk to her. For the next few days she is going to seem a bit different. Don't get worried; this is a phase she will be going through. Why don't you head on home.", said Ritsuko.

Ken nodded and walked down the hallway. Dr. Akagi watched him until he disappeared then she turned her attention back to the figure on the bed.

"Well Rei, your life is about to change. Big time.", thought Ritsuko.

"What kind of changes will she be facing, Ritsuko?", asked a voice behind her.

The doctor jumped and whirled around to see who it was. When she saw that it was only Misato, Ritsuko calmed down.

"Well colonel, I don't know the psychological ones. But the physical ones are what I am worried about."

Misato didn't look convinced.

"Explain, in terms I can understand."

"Okay. Rei's body will be going through something you and I learned to deal with many years ago.", stated Ritsuko.

Misato stared at the doctor completely baffled. Before Ritsuko could elaborate a new voice cut in.

"What she is trying to say, colonel is that Rei either now has or will soon be having the ability to bear children. In other words, Rei is having her first menstrual period.", interjected Gendo Ikari in a frozen tone.


The two women turned around in surprise and confusion. Dr. Akagi was surprised that he was there and doubly surprised that he knew what had happened. Misato was surprised at the implications of what he ex-commander had said.

Before either woman could stop him, Gendo entered the room and strode over to the bed. Looking at Rei for a moment, Gendo placed a bouquet of flowers on the stand next to the bed. Taking one last look at the sleeping Eva pilot, Gendo walked out of the room and into a possible standoff.

Misato had suitably recovered from her shock to place a call to section 2 and have them send a squad of personnel to that location. She had also pulled out her own weapon and was now pointing it at Gendo's head.

Gendo took one look at the pistol and continued on his way. He didn't stop until the barrel touched the back of his head and he heard the click of a safety being removed.

"Colonel, if you want to keep that hand and weapon, I suggest you remove it from the back of my head.", stated a calm Gendo.

"What makes you think I won't blow your head off here and now? I don't think you could move that fast.", snarled Misato in a graveyard voice.

With a gun behind his head and a entire squad of assault rifles pointed at him, Gendo weighed the odds. After weighing them and coming to a decision he smiled. Those who were able to see it suddenly felt a chill in the air.

"If you are going to shoot me, then do it.", stated Gendo.

The audacity and boldness of the statement surprised even Misato. She relaxed her arm and let the weapon fall.

"Before you go I am letting you know that I will kill you Gendo. That is a promise."

"I really don't think you will be able to colonel, but we will have to see."

Gendo continued on his way only to be brought to a stop when Dr. Akagi ran in front of him.

"Is this another one of your plans. Did you have anything to do with this?", questioned the doctor.

"Yes I did. It will all be explained soon enough. And when it is you will thank me for it.", answered the man with a dark agenda.

Pushing past the doctor, Gendo continued on his way. Soon he had disappeared. Ritsuko put her hands the pockets of the white jacket and pondered. Before she could do anything, she felt a folded piece of paper that hadn't been there before. Promising herself that she would read it later, Ritsuko walked back to Misato. The security squad had vanished and it was just the two friends in the hallway again.

Misato looked at Ritsuko. Ristuko returned the look. Adjusting her glasses, Dr. Akagi directed her gaze back into the room where Rei lay. The girl was awake now and looking at the flowers. She reached over and picked out a card that neither of the two women had seen until now. The two old friends watched as Rei read the card and began to smile. Ritsuko turned to Misato and spoke.


"Now you, Tasha, Asuka, Maya, Mika, and Hikari get to explain what she is dealing with and what she soon will be dealing with. Just do me two favors: leave me out of it and toss the guys out before you tell her. Can you do that Misato?", asked the tired doctor.

Unable to say anything Misato just nodded. Seeing that, Ritsuko turned and went back to her office. After she had left Misato muttered something under her breath.

"This is going to require a lot of help and will be very interesting."


Misato just watched as Rei smiled and read the card again.




I am finally finished with this third Chapter of NGE Saga of the Seventh Children. It took me quite a while to get this done. I do hope you enjoy this story. Please read it and review it. It ain't great but it is coming along.
All mistakes are mine and I apologize for those.

Okay, for those of you who have read the first two parts, I apologize for the errors and such. I know that I did get a little carried away in chapt. 2 but I am hoping that this chapter is slowly bringing things back together.

The next part should be coming out soon. I just finished work on the next part of my Sailor Moon Fanfic. Those of you who are following it, don't worry, I am trying to bring everything together. For those of you who have read the first part of my Robotech story, don't get glum, It is coming off the back burner and as soon as I get the next part done I will have it up.

For now I am going to take a short break from working on my NGE and Sailor Moon Fanfics to concentrate on my Robotech and Captain Tylor stories. The first part of my Captain Tylor story should be out soon. I do hope I can find some pre-readers for it to give me a hand and to correct my mistakes.

Thanxz again for your support.

Knightewolfe