Many would wonder why Nerv would have a veterinarian on staff, let alone a team of some of the world's top vets and technicians. Some people say that it's because Nerv is secretly powered hundreds of millions of hamsters in hamster wheels. Some suspect that it's to care for the massive herd of cattle being cared for in the depths of Geofront. Obviously the Eva have to eat something, right? And some believe that the Commander is in fact three ducks in a Gendo suit.
Whatever the reason, Misato had never been more happy for the gross over-funding the paramilitary organization enjoyed. She could be confident that her oldest roommate was in good hands, which meant she could focus all her attention on showing her charges her… displeasure with their actions.
"Where the hell were you!" Misato shouted the moment she stepped into the room she'd had the pilots sent to.
Unfortunately for her dramatic entrance, the conference room had two entrances, and Asuka and Shinji had been facing the other door. The pause as she walked around the conference table to get in front of them was a bit of a mood dampener, but Misato would not let the dim her rage.
"Now then," Misato breathed in deep, "Where the hell were you!?"
"We heard you the first time!" Asuka rolled her eyes, "we were trying to get to Geofront when we got the message, but the door wouldn't work! It's not our fault if the people in charge of keeping this place running can't keep a simple elevator running."
Ignoring the oversimplification of the technical marvel that was the Geofront and its entrances, Misato snarled, "You wouldn't have had to worry about that if you'd been in the apartment. Why did you escape from your security and what the hell were you thinking leaving your phones-"
"We didn't leave our phones! Didn't you hear me?" Asuka cut her off.
"We couldn't find the GPS signal from your phone. Those work even when your phones are off."
Asuka shrugged, "Maybe Nerv shouldn't cheap out on the phones it uses to call its pilots? You know, the only ones who can pilot the Eva? I can't even get Snake on this thing!"
"Well apparently you're not the only ones anymore," Misato snapped.
A rainbow of expressions flashed across Asuka's face, from shock to disbelief to fear before settling on anger. "That's not possible," she shouted, slamming both hands on the table, "Only the Children designated by the Marduke Report can pilot the Eva!"
"And yet someone else piloted Unit-01 to stop the Angel while you were on your date!" Misato said, her tone carrying a hint of smugness amidst the anger.
"Who piloted it?" Shinji asked as Asuka was still grasping for words.
"Pen Pen," Misato snapped again, anger back in full force.
"Pen Pen?" Both pilots repeated in sync.
"Is he okay?" asked Shinji.
"Why did you use the bird?" asked Asuka simultaneously.
Misato slapped her hand down on the table this time, silencing the oncoming surge questions before it could start in earnest. "Pen Pen is in the hospital. And we used him because our designated pilots decided to go off the grid for a date!"
Shinji and Asuka both looked down with identical blushes, marred by looks of guilt.
"Ca-can we see him?" Shinji asked softly.
Misato let out a hum but was cut off once more before she could give a verbal answer.
"You have to let us see him!" Asuka blurted out, "We need to see if he's okay."
The urgency in her voice took Misato off guard. She was about to deny them before a nasty thought crossed her mind. What better way to emphasize the seriousness of their actions than to show them the consequences?
Misato nodded, "Fine, you can see him. But only if the doctor gives the okay. Come on."
She turned and walked out the door, not bothering to glance back at the pilots. There was a pause before she heard the sounds of chairs being shoved back and footsteps scrambling towards the door.
No one said a word in the halls, nor on the elevator down to the medical floors. After checking with the nurse for the room number, they arrived at the hospital room only to find the door partially open.
Pen Pen's first thought upon awakening was that it was a dumb decision and he wanted to go back to sleep. So he did.
His first thought upon his second awakening was that it was dark, before realizing his eyes were still closed. It took an enormous amount of effort to lift his eyelids, before he immediately wished he hadn't. Blinking in an effort to bring the blurried world back into focus, he was greeted with the faces of two men in white coats that he'd never seen before. Probably doctors or something, he wasn't sure. Taking a second to get his bearings, he took note of several things. First, whatever he was laying on was far comfier than the examination table he normally sat on at the vet, albeit still harder than his bed at home. Second, the pain in his chest had calmed to a dull throb. Third, his throat was drier than all hell. And lastly, the lab coat guys had finally taken notice of him.
"Hey there little guy," the closest one said, "how you feeling?"
"Wark," Pen Pen managed to croak out, before eagerly grasping the glass of water the second one held out to him, sucking through the straw a bit too fast and causing himself to have a small coughing fit.
"Easy, easy," the second white coat said, "take it slow."
Pen Pen let out a soft honk before going back to the water, drinking at a much more sedate pace.
After taking away the empty glass, the first lab coat man spoke again, "That's better, right? Now, can you tell us how you're feeling?"
Pen Pen let out a garbled "Wark" before flapping his wings weakly.
The two doctors looked at each other.
"Did you understand that?" Asked the closer one.
"No, why would you expect me to? You're the vet," said the other.
"Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bird whisperer," the first one snapped back.
Pen Pen let out an annoyed honk at being talked about as if he wasn't right there. He crossed his wings and gave them an annoyed glare, letting them know that he understood them perfectly fine.
The doctors looked back at each other once more before both looking back to him.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of us. I'm Doctor McCoy and this is Doctor Kirk. Unfortunately, we don't quite understand what you're saying so we're going to ask yes or no questions, is that okay?"
Pen Pen nodded, very familiar with this game. He'd have to play it every time the nearby sushi place hired new workers until they finally learned to understand Penguin like civilized people.
"Okay then, first, are you feeling any pain?"
Pen Pen nodded again, pointing his claw at his chest above his heart.
Dr. McCoy made a note on his clipboard before continuing, "Okay, would you say the pain is severe?"
Pen Pen shook his head, holding up 3 of his claws.
"So a 3 out of 10?"
Pen Pen nodded, waiting as the doctor made another scribble on the clipboard. The questions continued for several minutes before there was a knock at the door.
Misato's head poked out from behind the door. "Hello?" she asked softly, "Is Pen Pen available for visitors?"
Dr. McCoy looked at his clipboard before nodding, "Yeah, I think that's all we need. But be careful not to excite him too much."
Misato smiled before the door opened fully, revealing the pilots behind her.
"Pen Pen!" the children rushed to the side of the bed.
"How is he doing, what's wrong with him?" Asuka asked.
"The piloting seems to have put some strain on his heart," the doctor said, "so we need to make sure not to get him too worked up. That means not causing a ruckus, please."
"Right, right," Asuka waved off the warning, "is he going to be okay?"
"Yes, he'll be fine. He just needs rest. Though I'm going to recommend he not pilot again. I don't know how he managed to get it to work, but it's not designed for his physiology and causes serious strain on his heart. Repeated stresses like this will eventually result in complete heart failure."
"He won't have to," Shinji said, voice uncharacteristically firm, while Asuka nodded in agreement.
Pen Pen wark'd at the pilots, appreciative of the concern they were showing.
"He certainly won't," Misato growled. "You-" but before she could really get going she was cut off by a very disgruntled penguin.
"Wark wark wark! Warkwarkwark!" Pen Pen wark'd, feathers ruffling.
"Wait, wha- No, I wasn't-" Misato stammered, caught of guard by the avain rage, "But they-"
"Warkwark! Wark wark!" Pen Pen was flapping now, the heart rate monitor he'd been ignoring before beeping much faster.
The doctors both moved between the two roommates. "Major, we're going to have to ask you to leave. You're disturbing the patient," his tone left no room for argument. Misato looked between the doctors, the children, and the penguin, before sighing, "Fine. Pilots, report straight to my office when you leave. You have 30 minutes, and you're only getting that because Pen Pen asked." She stomped off, grumbling to herself about uppity birds.
The doctors watched her go before turning to the room's remaining occupants.
"I trust that you won't disturb our patient too?" Dr. McCoy asked, eyebrow raised. Shinji shivered, before nodding along with Asuka. Something about mildly upset doctors always got to him. It was somehow worse than seeing them straight up mad.
The doctors each raised a brow at Pen Pen nodding too, before shrugging and leaving the room without another word.
There was a brief silence as the trio looked at the closed door, before Pen Pen turned to the two children.
"Wark?" he asked, raising an eyebrow crest.
The pilots both blushed and looked at the floor, before taking the other's hand and look back up with small smiles. Pen Pen was still not used to the synchronization, but decided it was cute instead of creepy this time.
"Thank you helping us set up the date," Shinji said, "it was a really good idea."
"Yeah," Asuka said a bit more enthusiastically, "it was nice, up until the Angel attack. I don't know how you managed to distract them or disable the phone's gps, and I'm a little scared to ask. But we appreciate it."
Pen Pen nodded, giving the best attempt at a smile one could pull off with a beak.
"Sorry you had to pilot though," Shinji said, smile falling from his face. Asuka's face fell too, face flashing through another range of emotions.
Pen Pen waved it off, there was no point blaming the kids for doing what kids should be doing. But…
"Wark," he said accusingly.
"Uh, well, I don't know," Shinji stuttered, "I guess I just figured Misato would have told you or-"
"You never asked where we went when we disappeared," Asuka deflected, "it's not our fault! Why would we think to tell the bird?"
Pen Pen puffed up, honking and squawking at the redhead.
"Oh don't you start with that again," Asuka countered, "just because you take care of the finances-"
"Wark wark wark!"
Asuka stomped her foot, "I absolutely could!"
Shinji smiled as he watched the usual argument play out, hand still intertwined with his girlfriend's. Pen Pen was with his family, all was right with the world.
