Note: My real name is NOT Hideaki Anno. I do not own Gainax or any of its creations let alone Neon Genesis: Evangelion. Characters, locations, themes, and ideas used in this fic are used without permission from Gainax or Hideaki Anno.

Last time on The Last Gift She Expected... The party was in full swing, and soon the alcohol got to everyone. Maya started up the karaoke machine, while Shinji and Misato waged a war over a certain picture... Once again, the conniving Ritsuko tries to take advantage of a girl half her age, when she sedates Hikari and takes her away! And when Shinji and Asuka sneak off to The Cage, Toji follows, only to find himself cowering and whimpering at the sight of Eva Unit One...

And now, without further ado...

The Last Gift She Expected, Chapter 7: Regretful Actions : But He Can't Be...

-----------

Kensuke had gone through a whole roll of film with his trick camera, finding drunken pictures of almost all of his colleagues at school, some whoring themselves to the NERV staff. All that he was missing were some 'tasteful' snaps of Hikari and Toji, an some not so tasteful shots of Shinji and Asuka. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any of them.

[Where the hell are they!?] Kensuke glanced around the room. Two of the NERV guys, Aoba and Hyuga, were hovering around Melchior, sipping at a couple of Vic Bitters, on import from Australia. Misato was leaning against a rail, looking peeved about something, a can of Yebisu in her hand. Gendo was in his usual seat above everything, as he would be in any other situation, except for the addition of a conical party hat. It looked so...wrong...that it was funny. Apart from that, the only other people still on the Bridge were six of the eight schoolgirls, and...Rei...

Kensuke looked across at Rei. She was conversing with one of Asuka's friends, seated on a spare place on Caspar. Kensuke had known Rei long enough to know that this was very different from normal Rei behaviour. Over the last day or two Rei had changed a lot. She'd become a little more talkative, she smiled a lot more (hell, she was smiling, period), she was dressing differently... [I mean, look at her, normally going to a party calls for her school uniform, and now she's wearing a cocktail dress. Not that I'm complaining, it really brings out her mammaries...her silky thighs...her calves...]

Kensuke mentally slapped himself. [What the hell am I saying!? Am I falling...for...] He grabbed one of the bottles of whisky, taking long, repeated gulps...

-----------

The Cage was silent. The coolant fluid was still, not so much as a rat on the catwalk, due to the brilliant security that NERV had installed in that particular room. But still, there was life in the room. In the upper levels of the room, where access points to the Evangelions' heads were, someone had withdrawn the entry plug from Eva Unit Two. Upon closer inspection, someone had affixed a coat hanger on the service hatch...

Inside, Shinji lay peacefully, Asuka already asleep on top of him. His arms were around her waist, her head nestled against his chest. He lay there, thinking of the events of the past few days. He hadn't known that Kaji was dead when he tried to call his place on the outskirts of Tokyo 3. Only yesterday did he find out that the person who answered the phone two days ago was just having him on. [It was a shame. Misato might not act like it, but she still loves Kaji...It must have been hard for her...]

Looking down at the beauty in his arms, he began to wonder what was happening to his life recently. A matter of days ago, just looking at Asuka the wrong way was a crime punishable by castration, Rei had about as much personality as a talking brick, and Misato was a disorganised, lazy slob. Now, Shinji had seen an entirely different side to each of them. Asuka had a heart, Rei had a soul, and Misato had the basic remnants of organisational skills. What's more, it was Asuka's birthday, yet both her and Shinji received the last present they had expected: each other. Shinji lay back, and closed his eyes, hoping for a little more rest before the morning.

Asuka stirred in his arms. "Hey there," Asuka said, her free arm moving to her neck.

"Hey," Shinji said softly.

Asuka stifled a laugh while rubbing her sore neck. "Maybe an entry plug isn't the best place for sleeping..."

Shinji quietly laughed. "Never really figured you for a romantic, anyway..."

"Hah." Asuka shifted her arm back in front of her, and checked the time.

"Huh...?" she muttered as she double-checked her watch.

"What's the matter, Asuka?"

"It's...2:00...we should be...zzz..." Asuka had fallen asleep.

Shinji sat, waiting for Asuka to finish that sentence, before realising what happened to her, and fell asleep himself.

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

Kensuke was starting to get worried now. It had been two hours since he had seen anyone he knew at the Bridge. [What if something had happened to them?] Kensuke walked toward Misato.

She turned to the bespectacled boy. "Can I help you?" she asked, slurring slightly.

"Misato? Have you seen Shinji lately?"

Misato thought for a short while. "Anou...I think the last time I saw him he went out that door," she said, pointing to the door leading out to the corridor. "Why don't you try and find Toji? He went to follow him."

"That's the thing, I can't find him either..."

"Oh...well I wonder where the hell they are...why don't I come with you?"

"Sure." Kensuke led the way, Misato following her. Kensuke walked down the long corridor, and finally rounded a corner, finding himself in front of the elevators. Kensuke was about to walk past, until Misato, bringing up the rear, noticed the elevator lights.

"Hold up there, Kensuke," Misato said. Kensuke stopped.

"Look," Misato pointed to a set of lights above the elevator, "the elevator lights say that the elevator is stranded at Floor B-20. That's the Cage floor..."

"The Cage? What kind of name's that for a floor?"

"Well...I suppose technically you aren't allowed to see...especially with that camera..."

"Awww, come on, Misato..." Kensuke pleaded, "...you know I've always looked up to you..."

Misato laughed, and pressed the "Down" button. "Oh, all right..." She smiled. "You're gonna get a kick out of this."

The unlikely pair waited for the elevator. The doors opened, to reveal a disheveled human shape in the corner. Misato drew her gun, leveling it at the shape with lightning speed.

"No! Stop!" Kensuke held Misato back, "It's Toji!"

Indeed it was Toji, crumpled in the corner. Kensuke rushed to his friend's aid.

"Toji! Are you all right? Say something, buddy!"

Toji looked up. Vicious scars were evident across his belly and neck. "No.It hurts..."

Kensuke gasped at the sight of Toji's injuries. "Who...who did this to you...?"

"Shin...ji..."

Kensuke feared the worst, until Misato's intense military training kicked in. Observing the scars, and Toji's hands, she deducted, "The scars are self-induced..."

Kensuke looked at Toji. "Toji...what did you do to yourself?"

---------

"No! Shinji! Don't, please!"

Toji looked in horror from the cockpit of Eva Unit Three. In front of him stood Eva Unit One, piloted by Shinji. Toji had failed to notice a few minutes ago that Unit One's entry plug had been ejected a while ago, and therefore assumed Shinji was still in the cockpit.

Eva Unit One threw Unit Three to the ground, under the control of the dummy plug. Toji grimaced in pain as his Evangelion hit the deck. Before he could get up, Unit One was on him, pulling at his armor plates, tearing them out of his flesh, peeling back the skin underneath....

"Aaaaagggh!" Toji was experiencing a kind of pain previously thought impossible to him. His insides were being ripped out, one by one. Toji screamed in pain as the Evangelion reached behind Unit Three's neck, ripping out a large chuck of flesh, thankfully for Toji containing his entry plug. The nerve connections broke, releasing Toji from the incredible pain he was forced to endure. Toji breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was all over, at least until the entry plug's walls caved in on him. Toji screamed in horror as the walls crushed against him, breaking a good majority of the bones in his body...

-----------

"Toji had thought he'd forgotten this episode," Misato explained the situation, "Indeed, most of us thought so as well. Ritsuko gave him nerve pulse paralysis therapy to ensure that the memory was wiped from his brain. I mean, it's not exactly a memory you want to keep..."

Kensuke sat in amazement. [Just to think, anytime they wanted they could've sent men in black after me, given me a nerve paralysis thingy...] Looking at Toji, now sitting outside the elevator, Kensuke made the connection.

"You said the elevator was on the Cage floor...what exactly is on that floor that warrants it being called the Cage?"

Misato looked at Kensuke. "Um...I can't really tell you..." Noticing the disappointment in Kensuke's face, she let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like "Eva!"

Kensuke's face immediately twisted into one of unbelievable joy. "Wow! I'm gonna see where they're kept!?"

"Yeah, just shut up about it, huh? And I'm afraid that I'll have to confiscate this, too," making a grab for Kensuke's camera, and placing it in a pocket.

Kensuke frowned a bit, but it didn't seem to affect him a terrible lot. Kensuke knelt down beside Toji.

"We're just going for a little while," Kensuke told Toji, "You'll be alright here." Kensuke stood back up, and followed Misato into the lift.

Misato continued. "Toji must've came down here," she said as she pushed the "B-20" button. The elevator jolted, then descended. "He saw Eva Unit One, and that triggered the relapse. The only question is, why did Toji come down here?"

The makeshift detectives were still pondering this question when the lift arrived at its destination. Kensuke immediately rushed out onto the catwalk.

"Oh my God! There they are!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Standing in front of him, of course, were the gigantic Evangelions. Misato looked on and smiled, seeing the look on Kensuke's face. Misato walked into the giant room. "Hmm...Nothing seems wrong here...let's try the top layer." Misato led Kensuke to the lift up to the entry points, used only a few hours ago by a certain lovestruck pair of Eva pilots.

Misato walked across the dizzyingly high catwalk without as much as a shudder. Kensuke, on the other hand, preferred the safety of the lift. Misato walked to a spot in between the heads of the Evangelions, hoping to glean an explanation of some sort.

"Oh, excuse me, Ms. Holmes?" Misato's head flicked to the side, to see that Kaji had somehow sneaked into the Cage room.

"What the hell are you doing here Kaji!?" Misato shouted, grabbing Kensuke's attention from the elevator. Kensuke was confused. [Kaji!? How'd he get here? I thought he was...]

"Oh, I'm just trying to help you figure out what Toji was doing down here..." he grinned, "Just look at Eva Unit Two."

Misato's head turned away from Kaji and toward the red Evangelion. Only when she really looked at it did she notice that its entry plug was out... Misato walked around to the access platform, to look for any reasons that the entry plug wasn't in the Eva as it should be.

"What the...that's weird..." Misato pulled a coat hanger out of the hatch handle. "What's a coat hanger doing on the...oh..." The Major caught on as to what was happening. She twisted open the hatch to confirm her theory. Sure enough, inside, Asuka lay, half-naked, sleeping with Shinji. Misato quickly shut the hatch, and turned to leave, only to find Kensuke had gained the testicular fortitude to walk onto the see-through platform.

"So? Did you figure it out?" Kensuke asked.

"Well, uh..."

"Why've you got a coat hanger?"

"It was in the..."

Inside the entry plug, Asuka's eyes sprung wide open, her pupils dilated. She looked down at herself, and instinctively covered herself up. She sat up, disturbing Shinji's slumber.

"Hrmmm...whassamatter, Asuka?" Shinji mumbled, still half asleep.

"Someone's outside!" Asuka said, sounding a little frantic, while adjusting her bra.

Shinji sat up in shock, making things a little uncomfortable for the Second Child. Asuka bashed her pretty little red haired head against the roof. "Ow! Watch it, will you?"

"Gomen..." Shinji did up his fly, and reached over for his shirt.

Outside, Misato was trying to get Kensuke away from the semi-naked pilots.

"Huh? Did the entry plug just move?"

"No, you didn't see nothing. Now let's go back upstairs..."

"No, I think someone's in there..." Kensuke struggled with Misato before finally pushed past the Major and cranked open the hatch. He craned his head into the entry plug.

Kensuke's eyes were greeted with a bloodcurdling sight, at least to him. Shinji was helping Asuka with her skirt, pulling it down below her shapely thighs. Kensuke was obviously shocked.

[I'd already seen Misato's picture, but seeing it for real really sends the message home...] Kensuke held his position, mouth agape, as he was given an split-second view of Asuka's most private parts. Shinji and Asuka were paralyzed with embarrassment. Seconds went by, until finally, Asuka woke up to herself, as did Shinji.

"AAAAH! PERVERSE IDIOTI!" the couple said in perfect unison. The harmonized shouts reverberated throughout the plug, deafening Kensuke, who fell out of the entry plug, landing on the ground. Misato watched in amusement, as Shinji and Asuka walked out, Asuka purposely walking on Kensuke.

"Do you guys mind!?" Asuka yelled at Misato and Kensuke.

"We were trying to get some sleep!" Shinji continued.

[Oh my God, Shinji's become like the Devil...] Kensuke couldn't believe the immense change in Shinji's personality.

"I'm sorry," Misato apologized, "We just thought something happened to you guys..."

Asuka crossed her arms. "What? Don't you think we can handle ourselves?" she said, in her classic "I'm-better-than-everyone-else" tone.

"Oh, you were doing a lot more than handling yourselves..." Kensuke's remarks got not one but two penetrating glares from Shinji and Asuka. "Gomen..."

Misato smiled. "Cmon, let's go back upstairs. I'll go back home and pick up your sleeping bags."

"Sleeping bags?"

Kensuke picked himself up. "Didn't you guys know it was a sleepover?"

Shinji and Asuka looked at each other quizzically.

"Cmon, upstairs, everyone. Kensuke, one picture." Misato handed Kensuke back his camera. Kensuke treasured the gift as if Misato had just given Kensuke his very own production model Evangelion. He held up the camera, which ironically had only one picture left. Shinji and Asuka stood in front of him, in between the two Evas in the background. Kensuke leveled the camera, herding the two pilots into position.

"Okay, cheese!" Kensuke said brightly.

The two pilots smiled broadly, and Kensuke's camera flashed. Kensuke dummied a backward turn, hoping to catch Shinji and Asuka out with the modified timer. They bought it, and almost instantaneously pashed, confident that Kensuke was out of film. Kensuke held up the camera and smiled. [Perfect...] he thought as the shutter clicked. Kensuke walked off for real this time, with Misato waiting for him, Shinji and Asuka.

"You know, I noticed your trick with the camera," Misato commented, "That's a pretty sneaky idea..."

"Thanks," Kensuke grinned, "It's purpose built for an occasion like this."

"An occasion like what?"

"A lot of my friends all getting really, really drunk," Kensuke laughed.

"Who gets really drunk?" Asuka had walked into the elevator, Shinji close behind.

"Don't worry," Misato smiled as she pressed the "Down" button.

----------

Toji was still sitting outside the elevator. The memory of having his guts ripped out by a berserk Eva was still there, but the phantom pain was gone. He was now sitting upright, wondering how long everyone else would take to get back. And another thing, Misato and Kensuke were accounted for, but what about Shinji and Asuka? Had they gone to look for them? And where the hell was Hikari? He hadn't seen her since they snuck off during the karaoke.

Toji stood up, and shuffled toward the Bridge. Maybe he'd find out something there...

-----------

Rei looked around the Bridge. The only people who she recognized in the room now were Aoba and Hyuga. Even the Commander had gone off somewhere.

[This is just great,] Rei thought to herself, [The one time I act normally, and everyone pisses off!] Rei gasped at her thought process. [My God, is that me?] Rei smiled. [I suppose I should go look for everyone...]

Rei grabbed a bottle of Midori and headed out the door. Just as Rei headed out, Toji entered from the other side. [Damn, where is everyone?] He headed to a group of girls from his school. He could smell the varieties of alcohol on them as he approached.

"Uh, excuse me," Toji interrupted. Four girls turned around, "Yeah?"

"Have you seen where Hikari went?"

The girls looked at each other, then one of them spoke. "I think I saw her get taken off by a couple of the NERV chicks," she slurred.

[Probably talking about Dr. Akagi,] Toji thought. "Thanks," he said as he walked off.

---------

Rei walked down another similar corridor, swigging the odd mouthful of Midori as she went.

[I just realized how boring this place looks,] Rei thought to herself. Walking past one of the offices, Rei heard a strange moaning noise from inside. Rei stopped, helping her hear the voices clearer.

[Miss Ibuki...and someone else...] Rei walked to the door, hoping to find out whose office it was. The name "Dr. Ritsuko Akagi" was etched into a plaque hanging on the door. Rei put her ears against the door.

"Now, now, Hikari," Ritsuko's voice said, "be a good girl and have another shot...don't worry, it doesn't hurt..."

"No! You're crazy, you know that? That shot possesses people! Don't you dare come near me with that?"

"Aw, I love it when you play hard to get," Ritsuko taunted, "What are you gonna do? Struggle in your ropes furiously at me?"

[Dr. Akagi has taken Hikari prisoner...] Rei thought to herself, [I must do something...]

Rei opened the door slightly. Luckily for her, the door was facing away from Ritsuko and Maya, and toward Hikari. Rei saw Ritsuko lean over Hikari, the schoolgirl trying to struggle out of the ropes bonding her to the chair. Hikari's clothes were disheveled, leaving nothing to the imagination when it came to her recent activities. Hikari leaned her head over past her captors to see Rei. Rei put her finger to her lips, telling Hikari to keep quiet. Hikari returned her head to its normal position. Rei snuck up to Ritsuko, using her old, heartless voice to say, "What are you doing?"

Ritsuko turned around, surprised by the blue-haired girl. "What? Oh, Rei," Ritsuko said, "It's only you..."

"You shouldn't do that to people..." Rei's old voice told off Ritsuko.

Ritsuko smirked. "Really?" she said, now advancing on Rei, holding out a syringe. "And what's the blue-haired wonder gonna do about it, hm?"

Rei demonstrated what she would do about it. Grasping Ritsuko's syringe arm, she thrust her palm underneath the doctor's elbow, forcing Ritsuko to drop the syringe. Rei then lifted her leg, kneeing Maya in the guts, who was rushing to hit her. Rei then turned, slamming her elbow into Ritsuko's stomach, reared back and punched Ritsuko in the mouth with a screaming back fist. Ritsuko flew into the back wall, falling groggily to the ground. Hikari looked on, amazed at Rei's incredible martial prowess. Maya got to her knees, wincing in pain and holding her gut. Rei picked up a letter opener from Ritsuko's desk, and used it to cut Hikari's restraints.

"How on earth did you do that?" Hikari asked, as she released her wrists from the cut rope.

"Standard self defence training," Rei said, no longer so monotonous, "Anyone who works at NERV is forced to take up some form of martial arts. Shinji chose Nan Chuan, and Asuka already knew Jeet Kune Do. Back when I had no personality, the Commander chose one for me: Aikido."

"Oh, really? Where did you take it up?"

"The Major organized a sensei to come down from New Yokohama to tutor me."

"Hmmm..." Hikari's mind ticked over. Rei knelt down and picked up the syringe. She knelt down to Ritsuko's neck, and injected the fluid inside it into Ritsuko's neck.

"Now, Dr. Akagi," she asked, "what was in that syringe?"

Ritsuko refused to tell the Eva pilot at first, but then the drug kicked in. "It's a form of neural paralysis fluid, that works solely on the part of the brain that governs self control..."

"Which does what?"

"Basically, it removes the subjects capacity for free thought. Any idea suggested to the subject is automatically executed by the subject."

Hikari was outraged that a human being would use that on her. "You bitch! Just you wait..." Hikari was about to hit Ritsuko, but Rei held her back.

"No, Hikari," Rei said, a grin starting to form on her face, "I think the punishment should fit the crime..."

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

What kind of punishment does Rei have in mind? What's the deal with Misato and Kaji? Will Kensuke live longer than a week after he gets that film developed? All the answers and more in the next Last Gift She Expected!

Note: My real name is NOT Hideaki Anno. I do not own Gainax or any of its creations let alone Neon Genesis: Evangelion. Characters, locations, themes, and ideas used in this fic are used without permission from Gainax or Hideaki Anno.

Author's Note: Finally, the computer has been fixed! I can start posting again! What a glorious day! I am looking forward to finally finishing this story. Just a few things I want to clear up: I am relatively new to the fic-writing game, so from other stuff I've read on this site, I set myself a line that I couldn't cross in the ways of lemony content. I've tried to limit the content contained in the story to a level that I consider acceptable to the good people here at FanFiction.Net. If any part of this fic has offended anyone in any way, then I wholeheartedly apologize, but also stand by my decision as a fic-writer not to adjust the story in any way. Also, about Mrs. Suzuhara, be patient, I'm going somewhere with it, and "fifty-foot" is localised slang referring to something bloody big, eg. "So this fifty-foot frickin' shark jumps clean into the boat!". If there was any confusion, well, gomen. Chapter 8 coming soon, sayonara folks!