**************************************

An ecstatic Misato and her crew jumped in jubilation as they saw the Angel; fall to the ground; dead

"Alright, chalk one up for the home team" Aoba said and strummed an air guitar

"Okay, clean up time: get Division 21 down here to secure the area and start removal of the Angel corpse" Misato gave the last important order for the evening

"On it" Hyuga got on the phone to said division

"Okay, as soon as the clean up crew are here, we can leave.  Until then, relax a bit people" Misato said as she left the trailer to go and check on the pilots

She trailed down the mountain towards the area where the Children were gathered, passing a medical team on the way

"How are they?" she asked

"They'll be fine.  A few cuts and bruises that a few days of rest won't cure" the medic said

"There were two guys down there with them, but the 2nd Child assured us that they were on the level" he said

[Goten and Trunks no doubt] Misato thought

Before she could ask another question, a riotous noise assailed her ears: singing.

"What the hell is that?" she asked

"WE CAN'T BE BEATEN" was being yelled loudly over the land by a myriad of voices

"That, captain, is a really bad rendition of Rose Tattoo's 'We Can't be Beaten' I believe" a medic with a nose ring said

Misato blinked and continued to go down the mountain to the sound of the loud and off key singing and she would of cried if her position allowed her to: the five kids were gathered around a make shift campfire and Shinji was dancing around doing the main body of the singing, with the others chorusing in every now and then: except Rei, but the fact that she was sitting smiling by the campfire was a rarity in itself.

"Having a good time are we?" she asked, stopping the uproar

"Yeah" Asuka said

"Come on, home I think kiddies" Misato chuckled and helped Asuka up

Shinji and Asuka groaned as they got up from the comfortable seated positions that they were in on the ground and dusted themselves off

"Come on, tell ya what; party at my place in a few.  You kids go there now; Shinji maybe you can go and get Hikari.  After all that noise I'm pretty sure she's still awake" Misato said

"Yeah, and since school will still be out tomorrow; you three can sleep in and relax" Misato added

"Oh that sounds good" Shinji said as he stretched and began walking

Asuka and Rei also began walking, each with those they love in step with them while they trudged up the hill towards home

"Am I invited to this gathering, captain?" Rei asked

Misato turned and looked at the girl quizzically

"Of course; you shared the danger, now you share the celebration" Misato declared to the group

"Oh nuts" Goten exclaimed

Everyone looked at him with questioning looks

"That means me and Trunks don't get to come" he said

To Goten's surprise, everyone burst out laughing at his comment, including Rei.  It was that funny.  Goten was approached by Asuka and whacked upside the head

"Goten, sweetie, lovely that you are.  You can be kind of dumb sometimes" Asuka sighed as she explained that he and Trunks were welcome at the party also

"Oh okay" he said and grinned the famous grin that the Son family all had

Trunks smiled and looked at his friends and girlfriend and a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning: here before him, were the new Z-Warriors.

[The second generation of fighters to protect the Earth from her enemies and already they are warriors; oh yes this planet is in good hands] he thought and told Rei he'd meet her at the party in a few minutes

"I have to get something from my place, I won't be long" he promised and pecked her on the cheek before flying away

Goten, who had been watching his friend's face whilst he was thinking knew what he was going to get

"Misato; if you give me the keys to your place, I'll go and set up a few things for when you all get home" Goten offered

"Thanks Goten, I'll still be here for an hour or two but these three can rock up when they're changed" Misato agreed and tossed the keys to Goten

"Okay; I'll pick up a few munchies on the way home" he called, as he flew off

"Saiyens are big eaters Misato; he'll probably need a few trips just for the food he and Trunks will eat" Asuka said

"What?" she asked

"Just wait and you'll see what I mean" Asuka assured her

*************************

Trunks arrived at his apartment and went inside and began looking for something, a certain capsule that he had in his private collection.  After rifling through all his gear and stuff like that, he found it: Capsule 001.  Grinning he opened it and a small box appeared.  He picked it up left the apartment and continued on his way to Misato's house.

He flew a little slower than normal to enjoy the night air; it felt cool against his skin if he flew slow enough.  Trunks began humming a song to pass the time as he flew.  He was a block away from Misato's house when he looked down and saw four ally scums cornering a woman and he child.

"Their kind never learn" he growled and landed quietly to observe before acting

The four people, for one of them was a woman herself advanced on the defenceless mother

"Come on honey, all we want is the money and you and the kid can leave" the female said

"No, I need this money to feed him" she sobbed as got within a few feet of her

"Tough luck" the biggest one rumbled and made a reach for the woman

Trunks decided he had seen enough and turned Super Saiyen (he didn't want to be recognised later by this person) and stepped into the fray

"Four against one; such bad sportsmanship.  Shame" he said and punched the big one in the face

"Get him" the woman shouted and her other two beefcake buddies leapt for the Saiyen

"Too slow" Trunks mocked them as he lightly kicked them both in the head with a jump split kick

"Now tell madam; why are you robbing this woman?" he asked

"This is out territory: they pay the toll if they want passage through it" she growled and pulled a gun on Trunks

"Ooh a gun.  Shoot me, I dare you" Trunks said and leaned against the wall

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

12 shots spilt into the night from the small automatic pistol; the woman grinned and blew the small puff of smoke from the barrel cowboy style.  Her smugness turned to shock and fear when she saw Trunks was still standing and without any blood on him at all.  Nonchalantly he walked up to her and grabbed her hand.

The woman closed her eyes as she prepared for trouble; but she felt something warm in her palm and nervously opened her eyes: the nearly doubled in size when she saw what the warmness was: 12, recently fired 9mm bullets.  She raised her head to the boy, no older than herself and she was scared; he glowed with his yellow aura and fiery hair

"Now listen to me, very carefully: stop this toll bullshit.  This is a message from me to you and those of your ilk in this area.  Pull a stunt like this again, and you shall all know wrath" he said; his voice cutting her like a blade

She gulped and nodded: Trunks then released her hand and pointed to the three pions on the ground

"Take them as an example of what can and will happen if this sort of thing continues" he added as she fled; leaving her male companions behind

Trunks turned to leave; but he was stopped by a shaky hand on his shoulder

"Thank you" a shaky voice said

[The woman] he realised and turned around to face her

"That was amazing, thank you" she repeated

"It is alright.  I must go now" he said and began to slowly rise into the air

"Wait, what's your name?" she asked

Trunks thought for a minute and remembered Gohan and his Saiyaman debacle: Trunks thought that Gohan deliberately took the Mickey out of himself there.  And unlike his friend he decided no stupid costume, only a name

"Super Saiyen.  My name is Super Saiyen" Trunks answered and flew away; faster this time.

Once in flight he dropped out of Super Saiyen and searched out Goten's Ki.  He soon found it and the apartment it was in and landed on the balcony.  Trunks knocked on the glass to get Goten's attention

"Oh Trunks is here" Goten said to himself and let his friend in

"Hi.  The others here yet?" he asked

"No, now help me set up" Goten answered as he piled food onto the small tables in the house

"Okay, okay" Trunks said wearily and put the box on top of the fridge and began to help set up a party spread to be remembered

Not long after they had finished, Rei and the others arrived, with Hikari in tow: they stared at the large amount of food and drink (all of it non-alcoholic) and went for it with gusto; even Rei ate faster than normal because she was hungry.  Trunks and Goten also dug in, with more speed than anyone thought possible

"My, god" Hikari stared as Goten drank an entire jug of Coke as if it were a glass

Trunks ate with a bit more restraint but still managed to put the food away as if he was starving

"You must have a very metabolism" Rei said as she drank a cup of green tea

"You have no idea" Trunks said, winking at her

Rei returned the wink with a level stare a smile over the teacup.  Asuka watched this small exchange with more interest than is deemed normal for most subjects in life

[I don't believe it; she's, she's flirting with him] she thought in amazement

Soon, most of the food was gone and some music was on while they sat in chairs and simply talked; exchanged tales of woe, humour and others of interest.  Misato's arrival, with one Mr. Kaji in tow was greeted with a few helloes and waves from the occupants of the main room.  Misato soon pulled a few to many beers and was careening around the house in a madness

Kaji was left with the task of handling his somewhat drunk girlfriend but with a little coaxing Misato sat down and relaxed a little.  However upon an inspection; she saw that Trunks and Rei were asleep on the couch despite the noise: at least Trunks was, Rei wasn't

Trunks was a heavy sleeper according to Goten and made very little noise aside from breathing when he slept but his tail tended to flick around while he slept, as was the case here.  Once the confused Kaji was let in on what these two extraordinary boys were he was cool.  Rei was sitting with Trunks's feet on her lap; his tail had made its way around her thigh as best it could and Rei, out of sheer curiosity stroked the appendage: the fur was smooth like his hair.  But it produced a much more fascinating reaction from its owner

He made a loud deep throated noise that was, kind of strange.  Goten couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing at what happened

"Goten, what was that noise?" Hikari asked

"It was Trunks" he answered

"We know who made it, we want to know what it is" Asuka said leaning over Goten and brandishing her fist in such a manner as to threaten him

"He was *chortle* purring" he said with some difficulty

Misato, indeed most of those assembled blinked

"Purring?" Shinji asked

"Like a cat?" Hikari prodded

"Yeah, and for the same reason" he said and winked at Rei; who was now an uncharacteristic shade of red and trying to be very small

"I didn't mean to do that" was all she said

"Don't worry Rei, Goten here is the same" Asuka said again whacking Goten upside of the head

"Asuka, maybe I should mention that I am not into S & M" Goten made the unwise choice of tying to be witty around Asuka

She then began to yell at him all sorts of threats to his manliness, digs at his (as yet undemonstrated) sexual prowess and other aspects of his being.  But due to the red on her face, Asuka's argument lost a lot of credibility.  Goten blinked and looked Asuka up and down

"You know, you are really sexy when you're angry and flushed" he said

His death warrant was sealed upon the completion of that sentence

******************************

Misato awoke the next morning with a wicked hangover and an even more wicked stomach cramp from too much rich food.  A quick look beside her confirmed that she was not alone in her futon; the sleeping face of Kaji greeted her

[Gentleman spy, I think not] the thought with humour and got up for a coffee

Asuka was still snoring in her room and Hikari was in Shinji's room because Shinji and Goten were passed out on the floor of the main room after finding some of Misato's 'special moonshine' in a cupboard.  Misato scanned the room for the other two participants of last night's bash and saw them on the couch.  It was so cute Misato wanted insulin

Rei was curled up like a baby in Trunks's lap with her head on his chest; and he had his arms around her: hell would most likely freeze over before an outside force broke that hold.  A light blanket had been thrown over them, no doubt Hikari or Kaji's work before they had retired to bed themselves

Misato dimly remembered Asuka (vainly) trying to beat Goten up last night after he called her sexy, but there weren't any tell tale signs to that effect on the boy's face so she dismissed the thought while making her coffee

"Good morning, my dear" a deep voice grated her nerves in that equally irritating and irresistible manner that it always had

"It was for you" she said and poured the coffee

A knock at the door prevented Kaji from retorting to that remark

"I'll get it, Misato" he said and went to the door in his bathrobe

"Ah good morning Ritsuko, Sub-Commander" Kaji said, a little louder than was required

[Sub-Commander, oh hell if he catches Rei asleep on Trunks he'll have my head] her thought processes were unfortunately not as fast as her reflexes or ability to move

Fuyutski walked into the apartment with little regard to the man trying to distract or stop him and into the main room: Misato was still in her dressing gown when she made it into the room and saw the last thing on earth she needed her superiors to see

Ritsuko caught up and although was rather ecstatic for her little sister, she groaned at the grilling Misato would most likely receive for this slip in duties and stood well out of the way of the old but very tall man.  Fuyutski was about to ask if Misato would brew him a cup of coffee when he saw Rei; still asleep in her overly cute position

"Captain, would you care to explain this?" he asked, tapping his foot in impatience

"Well sir, I really can't explain it.  It happened while I was still on duty last night: there was a small celebration here for the pilots and their significant others" she said with no amount of humiliation

"It's a serious lapse in judgement is what it is" Fuyutski said

"With all due respect sir, what the children do while off duty is none of our business" Misato offered her opinion on the matter

"Captain; I agree that they should have privacy, but given their age it's inappropriate I'm afraid" he said, genuinely sympathetic

"In that case sir, may I respectfully suggest that you either allow Goten to wake them or let them wake up themselves" she said, not wanting Fuyutski, a nice man, to be very badly assaulted if he tried to wake Rei a little roughly

"Why, may I ask?" he enquired with a puzzled grimace

"Because sir; Trunks is fiercely protective of Rei.  It's in his nature to be like that" Ritsuko decided to intervene

"I see" the man looked at Trunks: the mysterious and interesting youth who had managed to secure the heart of Rei

"I'll allow them to wake on their own accord" he said and turned to his Chief of Operations

It is at that moment that Misato realised that something very important was happening for the Sub-Commander to personally visit her home, with Ritsuko as well.  And she doubted that it was regarding a small disciplinary problem

"Sir, with respect: why are you here visiting me at 8:30 in the morning?" Misato asked

Fuyutski laughed a little and held out a small polished wooden box with and attached letter to Misato

"This is for the 2nd Child" he said

Misato stole a glance in the box and her eyes widened a little and she snapped the box shut; Kaji was trying to see it buy failed

"I'll leave the presentation to you captain, good day" he said and saluted

Misato returned the salute with as much dignity as a woman who hasn't washed, eaten, totally woken up or recovered from a large hangover can; all while dressed in a white bathrobe.

As the Sub-Commander left, he said two things

"You have been given the day off captain, enjoy it" this he said aloud

"Ikari will have a shit when he hears this", that part, he muttered.

***********************

A few minutes after Fuyutski left, Rei and Trunks woke up.  But not before Ritsuko, who quickly went and borrowed Misato's camera, snapped a picture of the two of them asleep together

"And what have you got planned for that?" Kaji asked as Ritsuko took the Polaroid and slipped it into her jeans pocket

"21st birthday embarrassment material" she replied

Rei rubbed her eyes and blushed when she saw that she was sitting on Trunks

"Well, good morning" he said softly

"Yes, although I think we are drawing a little too much attention to remain in this comfortable manner" Rei said, pointing to the three pairs of eyes watching them

"Oh, I see" Trunks said, blushing a bit himself as Rei got off him and went to have a shower

As soon as she was gone, Kaji and Misato cackled loudly, waking Goten and Shinji

"And what is so hilariously funny that you have to wake me up with your laughing?" Shinji asked

"Yeah" chorused Goten as he rubbed his head

"That" Kaji replied as he handed the two boys the picture

Goten was the first to do anything: he smiled and eased over to his buddy

"So, you want a suit or the Royal Armour?" he joked

"Shut up fool, at least we trust each other enough to allow that situation" he shot back

Shinji then added his two cents

"Yeah Goten, I have to agree, Trunks and Rei are on better ground than you and Asuka are" he remarked

"Shut up" Goten hissed

"Oh, why is that Shinji?" Trunks asked

"Well Asuka decided to try and kill Goten after he called her sexy" Shinji said before Goten leapt for him, to get him to shut up

Trunks chuckled and got up and stretched: his clothes smelt of Rei: he wasn't planning on washing them in a hurry.  He went over to the counter and drank the whole coffee jug in one gulp.  Soon after, Asuka and Hikari entered the room

"What a party" Hikari groaned as she reached for an apple

"So Hikari, where did you sleep last night?" Shinji asked

"In Asuka's room; we had mad lesbian sex all night" Hikari said

"Oh, and you didn't even let me watch" Goten said

"Cool" Shinji said

Kaji was timing in his head

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0] he thought

On the 0, Shinji and Goten both spat out their drinks and looked at their respective girlfriends and cried out

"WHAT?"

[Bingo, right on the dot] Kaji said to himself

The two females in the room remained silent and bemused

"She was joking guys: Hikari slept in your bed Shinji, you may want to frame that load of linen" Asuka said as she handed Hikari a 50 Yen note

"What was that all about?" Shinji asked

"Hikari bet me 50 Yen that you two wouldn't believe us if one of said we had sex last night" Asuka explained

"Oh okay" Goten said and resumed drinking what remained of his juice

Misato picked up the box Fuyutski had delivered this morning and held it behind her back

"Asuka, there was a parcel for you this morning" she said

"Oh, where is it?" Asuka asked

"It was from Nerv, here" she handed her the box and began reading the letter

"Evangelion Pilot Soryu,

For your great display of bravery against the 5th Angel, indeed nearly dying to defend the 3rd Child, the city and this world, we award you with the Nerv Medal for Valour

Congratulations,

Commander Ikari"

Misato finished reading the letter aloud as Asuka removed the three point star shaped medal with the symbol of Nerv on it and a small plate with the words 'For extreme Valour in the course of Duty' written on it

"Wow, congratulations Asuka" Hikari and Shinji said

"Yeah, we're very proud of you" Goten said and picked Asuka up and spun her around, making her giggle

"Put me down you big brute" she said

Trunks all the while said nothing and went to find his box: he nodded to Goten who nodded back as he put Asuka down and kissed her.  Rei emerged from her shower in a fresh set of clothes she'd brought with her last night

"Asuka was given a medal for valour" Hikari said

Rei smiled a little and congratulated Asuka

"Thanks everyone" she said, all smug.  The medal had inflated her ego somewhat

Trunks stood up and cleared his throat

"May I have your attention please" he said, making everyone look at him

He opened the box and pulled out four necklaces, each one had a medallion on it with a Z embossed on one side

"A long time ago, Goten and I were part of a special group called Z Fighters, a special team of warriors skilled in using Ki" he started

They were following him well enough

"We each wore one of these as a show of membership.  But sadly most of the team are dead.  Except us" he paused and held the necklaces up

"And now I am asking you: Shinji, Rei, Asuka and Hikari, if you will join me and Goten in being the 2nd Generation of Z Fighters" he said

Asuka, without any hesitation at all, grabbed one of the necklaces and put it on.  Shinji and Hikari also took one after some thought and consideration.  Trunks went over to Rei and held one out to her

"Rei, what do you say?" Trunks asked

Rei looked at the necklace and gave it some thought: would this bind her into anything she didn't want to do?  Or could this be something that she would be able to be a part of long after the need for Evangelions was gone.  Could they be, her family

"Answer me this: what were the Z Fighters, the old ones" she asked

"They were a group of friends and their loved ones, although my mother and Goten's mother never fought, Videl did.  And she was a good warrior.  So did my sister and Goten's niece" he explained

"You were a family then, regardless of blood ties" Rei surmised

"Yeah, and when the need called for it, we saved the world on a few occasions" he said

Rei ignored the last part: that was all she needed to hear: family, something she had so little of now, would be increased by this joining, or course she and Trunks would remain as they were to each other.  But it meant that now Hikari and Goten were her family now.  The bond of family already forged with Shinji and Asuka from Eva piloting.  And it was possible that one day, the old Z Fighters would come.  And then she would have a large family

"I accept" she whispered and took the necklace, putting it on

Trunks smiled and they went over to the others.  Goten grinned as the pendants began to glow softly.  Hikari and the others turned them over and saw that a '2' had appeared on the blank part at the back of the pendant

"Goten Son"

"Shinji Ikari"

"Asuka Langley Soryu"

"Trunks Briefs"

"Rei Ayanami"

"Hikari Horaki"

Trunks grinned as the adults watched on in interest

"Z Fighters, 2nd Generation", Trunks said

No one thought it then, except maybe Rei with her blossoming powers could foresee that this bond they had just entered into was so strong that it would help them in the times ahead, and that it would last for a lifetime.  She smiled broadly at that thought

************************

A/N: this was also a small filler chapter before the restarting of the Tournament that was suspended when the 5th Angel attacked.  And I used it as an excuse to induct the pilots and Hikari into the Z Fighters

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