I own nothing. This story is set in an alternate universe. There will be OOC. You have been warned.
While You Were Sleeping
Chapter Seven: Secrets
"So how have you been doing Asuka?"
"I've been doing alright Kaji," Asuka said simply. "I guess."
"You guess?" Kaji asked. "That doesn't sound like the Asuka Sohryu I knew."
"I know," Asuka said in annoyance. "But everything's changed."
"I guess everything has," Kaji agreed. They had been talking and walking the halls of the Geo-Front ever since they had been dismissed from the debriefing. "I guess meeting Shinji again was a pretty big shock."
"So you know his secret too?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah," Kaji said with a chuckle. "You should have seen the look on Misato's face when she figured it out."
"Do you have a girlfriend now?" Asuka asked. Kaji paused and laughed.
"Nope. Despite my best tries I'm still single."
"Oh," Asuka said. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Kaji said. "Are you going to ask me out on a date?"
"No," Asuka said. "How could you do what you did? How could you set up your own people?"
"I guess you would need that explained," Kaji said. "Sorry. I'm used to working with people who already know how the military operates."
"People like Shinji," Asuka said.
"Well. . .yeah," Kaji said. "He's been a mercenary for about eight years. I'm pretty sure that's right. You have to understand, that's all they are. They're soldiers we pay to fight for us. If a few die then all we have to do is get more." Asuka stared at the man. For a moment she was horrified by his explanation. "Mercenaries can't be trusted. We can only truly count on our own. People like you. You're a NERV personnel. Shinji is just a paid terrorist." It was beginning to make sense. "I don't like it, but its what we have to do."
"Oh," Asuka said. "So. . .do you know where was Shinji before he came here?" she asked.
"I. . .I don't know," Kaji said. Asuka stared. It had almost been perfect. He had hesitated. He knew something. "It doesn't matter. We have him under contract. He's a good little dog of war. He'll stay loyal as long as we pay him. . .I hope."
"Yeah," Asuka said. She had found it. She had found a crack in the great Shinji's armor. He had a secret and she would find it. That secret would make her the best again.
(:ii:)
"Hey Shinji." Asuka watched as Shinji turned and glanced at her.
"Hello Asuka," he said simply. He turned back to inspecting his assault vest.
"What are you doing?" Asuka asked as she moved to stand next to her superior officer.
"I'm just making sure that this vest didn't take any damage," Shinji said.
"Because once a Kevlar vest is damaged it looses its effectiveness," Asuka said.
"So you were paying attention in basic," Shinji said as he lips twitched upwards slightly. He finished his inspection and pushed the vest aside so that he could sit on the table. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Asuka said. "I was just wondering around."
"And you decided to check out the Genesis locker room?" Shinji asked, one eyebrow rising. "I don't appreciate being lied to Asuka."
"Okay," Asuka said, her eyes darting around for a topic. They fell on Shinji's open locker. "I wanted to ask you about your knives." Shinji stood up and tugged several weapons out.
"Which one."
"That one," Asuka said as she picked up a knife. It was a massive weapon with a forward swept blade. "This is a Savior combat knife!"
"Yeah," Shinji said.
"Why do you have a knife issued to the enemy's elite forces?" Asuka asked.
"Because it's better then the NERV-issue knives," Shinji said. "This is a Kukri knife. The design makes it possible to take a soldier's head off with one swing. Plus the top part of the curve has blood grooves so you can stab someone with it and not worry about it getting stuck."
"Oh," Asuka said as she unsheathed the combat knife. The word 'sin' was etched into the metal where the blade met the handle.
"Experienced Genesis operators usually carry these," Shinji explained. "Actually these are highly prized."
"So where did you get this?" Asuka asked.
"I got it from a Savior Colonel," Shinji explained. "Long ago."
"Wow," Asuka said. "Were his initials S-I-N?"
"No," Shinji said. "Is that all you wanted to know?"
"I also wanted to know where you got this one," Asuka said as she picked up the brass knuckles knife.
"My trench knife?" Shinji asked. "That's something Pierce gave me a couple of years ago. It was a present for my commission."
"You knew each other before NERV?" Asuka asked.
"We worked together," Shinji said. "He trained me to be a sniper. When I came here he decided to come with me."
"Where were you before this?" Asuka asked. "I mean before you came back to NERV."
"I was part of a military force," Shinji said simply. "I impressed the commanding officer when we met and he allowed me to join them."
"When was that?" Asuka asked.
"Give me a minute," Shinji said as he scratched his head. "I guess it would have been about three years after you were frozen. Third Impact occurred two years after you were frozen and I left. I meant the commander a year after that."
"And then you came back here in 2024," Asuka said. "So you were with them for seven years?"
"Something like that," Shinji said. He chuckled. "It doesn't seem that long."
"Well you're in a good mood," Asuka commented.
"I'm having a good day," Shinji said. "No mission, no paper work, and all the equipment maintenance is done. Have you done yours yet?"
"Yes Skip," Asuka said flippantly, using the name Maria sometimes said. "Now I have to go have a talk with someone."
"Have fun," Shinji called.
(:ii:)
Asuka looked around the shooting range and spotted her prey. "Hey Pierce!" The older man glanced at her and rolled into a sitting position. He had been lying prone and firing at some distant target. "Can I talk to you?"
"I guess," Pierce said simply. Asuka glanced to the range and whistled.
"How far away are those targets?"
"The first one is nine hundred meters, the second is eleven hundred, and the third is twelve."
"That's really far away," Asuka commented. She almost kicked herself. That had to be the stupidest thing she could have said.
"Well this is a really good rifle," Pierce said simply, patting his bolt-action rifle.
"That's a Type 408 right?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah," Pierce said.
"I've never seen that rifle before," Asuka said.
"It's a CheyTac Intervention M200 rifle. It was designed as the pinnacle of long-range precision shooting," Pierce explained. "As part of a system it can maintain sub-MOA performance out to two thousand two hundred and seventy meters."
"Wow," Asuka said. "I wanted to ask you about Shinji."
"Why would you ask me about the Captain?" Pierce asked.
"I know you worked together with him before you came to NERV," Asuka said.
"Who told you that?" Pierce asked.
"Shinji did," Asuka said. "He told me when I asked him about the trench knife."
"Bad karma?" Pierce asked. Asuka nodded. "I gave that to him as a gift when he got his commission."
"Shinji didn't have a commission?" Asuka asked in surprise. She hadn't actually thought much of it when Shinji had told her about it.
"He was a grunt for the first five years that I knew him," Pierce said. "Then he got his commission."
"I didn't know that," Asuka said.
"The Captain doesn't talk about the past much," Pierce said with a shrug.
"I have another question," Asuka said.
"Yes?"
"How come you're a Sergeant Major and you've only been here for two years?" Asuka asked.
"I don't actually belong to NERV," Pierce explained. "I'm a mercenary, same as Shinji and most of the Genesis."
"Oh," Asuka said.
"Is that it ma'am?" Pierce asked.
"Yes," Asuka said. Pierce nodded and lay back down next to his rifle. He brought the stock to his shoulder and Asuka held her hands over her ears as he fired. She watched in amazement as the target set at twelve hundred meters shook wildly.
(:ii:)
"I'm exhausted."
"Have you slept at all since we came back?" Maria asked.
"No," Asuka said. "I've been trying to figure out where the Captain was before he came here."
"Why?" Maria asked.
"Because it's a secret," Asuka tried to explain.
"I knew it," Maria said with a shake of her head.
"What?" Asuka asked.
"You officers really don't do anything," Maria said. The joke took Asuka completely off guard and she stared at the Sergeant for a moment. "Not even a giggle?" Maria asked. "I thought that was a good one."
"Only for those of us who don't have a commission," Richey said.
"I guess so," Maria said. "I was joking there. Get it?"
"I get it," Asuka said.
"You do know that Shinji has girlfriend," Richey said. "A girlfriend that he loves very much."
"I do not like him!" Asuka said.
"Could have fooled us," Maria said.
"Speaking of you two," Asuka said. "I noticed that you both seem to be hanging out a lot recently."
"Nothing better to do," Richey said. Asuka noticed with some interest that Maria's cheeks were slightly red.
"Are you blushing?"
"No," Maria said quickly. "I'm drunk."
"Right," Asuka said. She paused and stared at her friend. "Didn't you run into Shinji before NERV?"
"Uh. . .yeah," Maria said. "It was a while ago."
"You said six years," Asuka said.
"I did?" Maria asked. "Yeah. I guess that's about right."
"You said he was part of a private security force," Asuka added.
"Well I thought so," Maria said. "Maybe he wasn't."
"But he was a soldier," Asuka said pressed.
"Yeah," Maria said. "He was a sergeant. There was another sergeant with him."
"What was the name of the security force?" Asuka asked.
"I really have no clue," Maria said. She paused and her mouth fell open. "Holy shit!"
"What?" Asuka demanded.
"The other sergeant!" Maria exclaimed. "That was Pierce! Damn, he hasn't changed at all."
"Did the Captain still have gray hair back then?" Richey asked.
"I think so," Maria said. "Damn. He must have been in his early twenties then."
"Did the poor guy ever have hair color?" Richey wondered.
"When he was fourteen," Asuka offered. "It was dark brown."
"Most women like his hair," Maria said. "It makes him look dignified."
"And then he opens his mouth and gives them fifty pushups for staring," Richey said.
"Speaking from experience?" Asuka teased.
(:ii:)
"Lieutenant Sohryu has been poking around."
"I know," Shinji said as he looked through the scope of his Type 3. "She walked into the locker room while I was inspecting my gear. I think she wasn't expecting me. She ended up asking me about my equipment."
"I see," Pierce said. "She asked me about you."
"I figured she would."
"She's going to find out," Pierce said.
"No one has yet," Shinji said.
"Colonel Ryoji from Intelligence suspects us," Pierce said.
"He's been suspicious since he saw Genesis in action," Shinji said. "Besides, he's a spook. They're always suspicious."
"I saw him talking with Sohryu," Pierce said.
"They go way back," Shinji said with a shrug.
"I believe that he may have used Sohryu's superiority complex and set her out to discover your secret in the hopes that it would make her better then you," Pierce said.
"Damn good theory," Shinji said. "Ryoji is conniving enough to do that and Sohryu is just naïve enough to let him do that to her."
"You should put Sohryu on a shorter leash," Pierce said.
"Is that your recommendation Mike?" Shinji asked.
"My recommendation is a training accident," Pierce said. "But you won't do that."
"No I won't," Shinji said with a chuckle.
"You're going soft," Pierce sneered.
"Yeah," Shinji commented with a sigh. "I really am." He unfolded the rifle's side-folding stock and pulled the stock back to his shoulder. He rested his face on the cheek pad and stared through the 4x scope. His finger pushed the button behind the trigger and moved to the trigger. The rifle cracked and the target shuddered slightly. "How far does that look to you?"
"Two-point-three millimeters," Pierce said as he glanced at the target through his binoculars. Shinji adjusted his scope and moved the rifle in its clamp. He set the trigger again and fired. He smiled as the bullet struck the target directly where he had aimed it.
"Perfect," Shinji said. "Ranged out to a thousand meters."
"So what do you want to do about Sohryu?"
"Killing her is just too much trouble," Shinji said. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"You should get rid of your knife," Pierce said. "She may figure out whose name is engraved in the blade."
"She may."
End
(:ii:)
Author's notes. Some bastard at work signed up for the hours I normally take. So I signed up for different hours. Now I keep getting called to work the God damned hours I normally work. Now instead of working one day out of my two God-given days of rest, I am working both weekend days. I hate that lazy fucker!