I own nothing. This story is set in an alternate universe. There will be OOC. You have been warned.
While You Were Sleeping
Chapter Eight: Dead man walking
"Come in!" Asuka opened the door in front of her and walked into the room. "Oh. Hi Asuka."
"Hey Misato," Asuka said with a smile as she closed the door.
"So what are you doing here?" Misato asked suspiciously. "I don't like the way you're smiling."
"I just have a couple of questions," Asuka said. "Are you too busy?"
"Not at all," Misato said cheerfully. "Have a seat. What did you want to know?"
"I was wondering if you knew where Shinji was before he came back to NERV," Asuka said. "He's being really dodgy about the answer.
"I never asked," Misato said with a shrug. "He must have been part of some elite team somewhere though."
"He is really good," Asuka admitted. "Did he really organize Genesis all by himself?"
"Well Pierce helped him," Misato said. "But since he wasn't an officer he didn't get as much credit."
"Was he mad?" Asuka asked. She couldn't imagine having someone take credit for something she did.
"Pierce is a career NCO," Misato explained. "He's used to getting dumped on."
"Did you know that Shinji was an NCO?" Asuka asked.
"I think I heard that somewhere," Misato said. "I guess that's why he gets along so well with the enlisted. Most leaders avoid their men and try to appear aloof. It's mainly because they're afraid of making a fool of themselves."
"So Pierce and Shinji worked together a lot?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah," Misato said. "They came from the same unit, so they just kept working together here."
"I have one more question," Asuka said.
"Alright," Misato said.
"Could you tell me what happened while I was asleep again?"
"Sure," Misato said. There was a knock at the door. "Come in." Maria poked her head in.
"Captain asked me to bring some papers to you," she explained. "Are you two gossiping?"
"A little," Asuka said. "Want to join us?" Maria eyed the smiling sub-commander for a moment, but finally nodded.
"Sure."
(:ii:)
"So you want me to start from the beginning?" Misato asked.
"Yep," Asuka said.
"The beginning of what?" Maria asked.
"When I was frozen," Asuka explained.
"That would be way before I got here," Maria said. "Sounds interesting."
"Okay," Misato said. "You were frozen in 2016, right?"
"Yeah," Asuka said.
"How old were you?" Maria asked.
"I was sixteen," Asuka said.
"Then you were. . .fourteen. . .fifteen during the Angel wars?" Maria asked.
"Yeah," Asuka said proudly.
"That's young."
"Anyway," Misato said, obviously annoyed by the interruption. "Two years after that the Third Impact occurred in 2018 and Shinji left."
"Captain?" Maria asked. For a moment both Misato and Asuka froze.
"Yeah," Asuka said, thinking quickly. "He lived with us remember?"
"Oh yeah," Maria said. "No one has explained that to me yet."
"Shinji's the son of a professor from my old university," Misato said. "I agreed to have him live with me."
"Oh," Maria said. "Must have been weird. Living with Shinji Nagisa and working with Shinji Ikari."
"It. . ." Misato trailed off.
"It wasn't that hard," Asuka supplied. "Shinji Ikari was really weak and shy. Shinji Nagisa is a lot stronger."
"You said that Nagisa was really shy," Maria said.
"He was," Asuka said. "But he was really strong under that shyness."
"Maybe you just never noticed how strong Shinji Ikari was," Misato said.
"Let's not get into this right now," Asuka said.
"Fine," Misato said.
"Anyway," Maria pressed.
"Shinji said that he joined some elite private military branch a year after he left," Asuka supplied.
"Really?" Misato asked. "I didn't know that."
"Can you get back to story ma'am?" Maria asked.
"Right," Misato said. "Seven years after the Third Impact the Crusaders arrived. A year later Shinji came back and the Saviors came."
"That's kind of weird," Maria said. "Shinji just happens to show up when the Saviors come. It's like he knew that we'd need someone to save our asses and came."
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked.
"I told you this," Misato said. "When the Crusaders first showed up everything was rough, but we held out own. Then the Savior came and everything went to hell," Misato said simply. "The only special forces unit at the time was the Demons. They were more then a match for the Crusaders, but they were woefully unprepared against the Saviors."
"In the first few weeks our forces were almost decimated," Maria said. "The Demons are a more conventional force. The tactics employed by the Saviors took them completely off guard and they never recovered from that."
"Right," Misato said. "About a year after the Saviors came Commander Ikari tried to initiate the Forth Impact."
"Why?" Asuka asked.
"To be reunited with his wife or something," Misato said dismissingly. "As we all know Shinji put an end to that and to the old man's plan to destroy the Geo-Front."
"Ikari was married?" Maria asked. "What kind of woman would marry that?"
"Yui Ikari was a brilliant woman," Misato said. "And Gendo Ikari was, supposedly, a different man when they meant."
"I thought he was always an asshole," Asuka said. That got a laugh from both Maria and Misato.
"Anyway," Misato said, trying to get back to her story. "When Shinji saved the base he became NERV's wonder boy. He could do no wrong in the eyes of the high command."
"So he decided to put his new position to good use and brought up the creation of a new special forces team," Maria said. "This part I've heard."
"Right," Misato said. "Everyone was skeptical, but the Genesis began bringing in major victories."
"It's because we fight like the Saviors," Maria explained.
"So Genesis really isn't that old," Maria said.
"You're only the second class of graduating Genesis soldiers," Misato said. "The First group was pretty much a bunch of mercenaries recruited from dozens of special forcers teams. They were chosen for their skills and trained rather quickly. Even with that they're excellent fighters."
"Why thanks sub-commander," Maria said proudly.
"Yeah," Asuka said as she stood up. This had given her more questions then answers. Was it possible that Shinji's return and the Savior's appearance were more then just coincidental?
(:ii:)
"I just spoke with Maria." Shinji glanced up at Pierce.
"Okay."
"She said that Asuka was asking the Sub-Commander about you," Pierce said.
"So she's still on her little detective trip," Shinji said. Pierce nodded. "Is your recommendation still to kill her?"
"Yes," Pierce said. "You'll be the first to know if I come up with something different."
"I haven't changed my thoughts," Shinji said. "We're not killing her."
"She will expose us," Pierce warned.
"Maybe you should try praying," Shinji suggested.
"I'm an atheist," Pierce said. "Just like you."
"Then ask Ben Stein for guidance," Shinji said with a shrug.
"You really have gone soft," Pierce growled.
"I never killed my underlings before," Shinji said with a shrug. "And I've never hesitated. That fact has kept you alive on more then one occasion."
"Is something wrong?" Shinji turned and saw Gordy standing behind him. "Did someone die or something?"
"No," Shinji said. "Pierce is just worrying about something."
"Again?" Gordy asked with a sigh. "Keep that up and both of you will have gray. . ." he paused and looked at both of them, "hairs."
"Funny," Shinji said as he ran a hand through his short silver hair. "Keep it up and I'll make sure you wake up with pink hair."
"You wouldn't," Gordy said.
"We wouldn't," Pierce said. "But you picked a really easily influenced idiot for a bunk mate."
"And I can guarantee that Richey would," Shinji added.
"Yeah he would," Gordy said with a sigh. "Why in God's name did I bunk up with him?"
"Because your both pig men?" Shinji asked.
"I never asked to lug around a pig," Gordy said as he sat down.
"Would you rather be a rifleman?" Shinji asked.
"No," Gordy said simply. "I prefer carrying around my SAW."
"Oink," Pierce deadpanned.
(:ii:)
Misato looked up as someone knocked on her door. "Come in!" The door opened and a tall man stepped into the room.
"You wanted to see me Misato?"
"Yes I did Colonel," Misato said coldly. "I know what you are doing."
"What am I doing?" Kaji asked with a smile.
"You know what Asuka is like," Misato accused. "So you're using her to try and get to Shinji."
"Why would I do that?" Kaji purred.
"It's because the Intelligence section is full of incompetents such as yourself!" Misato screamed as she shot to her feet. "You can't capture the spy and that's making you desperate. As a matter of fact I think you're so desperate that you would go after anyone. Shinji is your suspect for some reason and you want him to be the spy so much that you'll arrest him even if he's innocent."
"What Asuka does in her spare time is her own business," Kaji said smoothly.
"You are causing dissent amongst the ranks," Misato growled. "If you or any of your underlings get one soldier killed I will. . ."
"You'll what?" Kaji asked smugly.
"I'll have you eliminated," Misato hissed. "You think you're immune because you're a colonel, but you aren't. I'll see you hang."
(:ii:)
"I hate paperwork," Shinji stared at the action report on his computer and hit the spell check key. The report was probably a little strongly worded, but Shinji really didn't care. The spell check came up with a few misspellings. Shinji ignored them. It wasn't his fault his computer couldn't comprehend some of the language he used.
"Hey Captain!"
"Come on in." The door swung open and Hikari walked into the office. Shinji smiled and stood up. "Good mourning."
"Actually it's evening," Hikari said as she leaned across the desk and kissed Shinji. After a moment she pulled back. Shinji glanced at his watch and frowned.
"Damn it. Another day wasted on paperwork!"
"Calm down," Hikari said as she sat down. "You mind if I read it?"
"Actually it's already sent," Shinji said. He didn't like lying to Hikari, but she worried enough about him without knowing that his own superiors set him up.
"I've heard that Asuka's been poking around," Hikari said.
"Kaji set her on my track," Shinji said.
"Bastard," Hikari hissed angrily. "He needs to have an unfortunate training accident." Shinji chuckled as Hikari used a term that she must have picked up from him. She looked up at him. "What?"
"Nothing," Shinji said. He glanced at his computer and hit the send button. "You want to go get something to eat?"
"In a couple of minutes," Hikari said. "Do you know what Asuka will do if she figures it out?"
"She'll run to either Misato, Commander, or Ryoji," Shinji said with a shrug. "Probably Ryoji."
"What will happen then?" Hikari asked.
"You know what will happened then," Shinji said.
"You can't just sit around and do nothing," Hikari said.
"So you're jumping on the 'kill Asuka' bandwagon?" Shinji asked, trying to hide how amused he was by all this.
"Pierce thinks you should kill Asuka?" Hikari asked in surprise. Shinji reached under his black T-shirt and drew a diminutive black TACOM pistol. He laid it on his desk and looked up at Hikari.
"What do you think I should do?" Shinji asked. "If you say I should kill her then I definitely won't just ignore it." Hikari stared at him for a moment as if she was trying to decide whether he was joking or not. "The only reason I'm hesitant is because a murder is fairly hard to dodge in such a small, closed community."
"Don't," Hikari said finally. "You aren't a soulless killer Shinji."
"You must know something thatI don'tthen," Shinji said as he slipped the weapon into his shoulder holster and picked up his urban BDU blouse. "Now how about dinner? We can go to the officer's lounge."
"I'm not in the mood for that watered down stuff tonight," Hikari said simply. "Let's go get something real to drink."
"Sounds like a plan," Shinji said with a nod.
(:ii:)
Asuka jerked awake and looked around her quarters. "Nightmare?"
"Yeah," Asuka said. "Did I wake you up?"
"I just got in," Maria said. "So what was your nightmare about?"
"Just some bad memories," Asuka said.
"A mission?" Maria asked.
"As an Eva pilot," Asuka said. "The Fifteenth Angel."
"Alright," Maria said, obviously letting the topic drop. "You want to go grab a shower?"
"What time is it?" Asuka asked as she looked around for the clock.
"One in the mourning," Maria said. The light flickered on. "You want to grab a shower?"
"Sure," Asuka said. "Don't feel obligated or anything."
"I don't," Maria said. "I need a shower."
"Why?" Asuka teased. "Have a good date with Richey?"
"A very good date," Maria said smugly as she found a towel and draped it over her shoulders. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Asuka found her towel and quickly followed after her roommate.
"So when did you and Richey hook up anyway?" she asked.
"Right around the time you went into basic," Maria said.
"And I never knew," Asuka said. She opened the door to the showers. She looked around and spotted a man drying off his hair. She was about to look away when the man draped his towel over his shoulders. In a moment she could see the crest tattooed on his right shoulder blade. She heard Maria gasp in completely surprise. The man whipped around and Asuka stared at Shinji in shock. Maria's nails dug into Asuka's shoulder and she jerked her backwards through the door.
"Did you see that?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah," Maria said, she sounded as surprised as Asuka was. "That was the Savior mark."
"We have to talk to Misato."
"No," Maria said. "We pretend this never happened."
"We can't do that," Asuka said. "We can't take a chance."
(:ii:)
"You want me to believe that Captain Shinji Nagisa is a Savior?" Misato asked.
"He had the Savior crest tattooed on his back ma'am," Maria said. "I don't want to believe this any more then you do ma'am."
"It makes sense," Asuka said. "He showed up a few days before the Saviors showed up. Check his locker. He has a Savior combat knife."
"That doesn't prove anything," Maria said coldly. "Most Genesis do. I have a Savior knife. Maybe you could act a little less like accusatory towards the man who saved your life."
"But the knife," Asuka said. "It has the letters S-I-N on it."
"And?" Misato asked.
"Shinji I. Nagisa," Asuka said.
"What?" Maria asked. "Captain doesn't have a middle name." Asuka ignored her and stared at Misato. She could see the older woman's eyes widen suddenly.
"Oh my God." The door opened and Asuka spun to see Shinji step into the room, his expression unreadable. "Hold it right there Shinji." Shinji slowly let his hands rise into the air. Asuka turned and stared at Misato. She was shaking slightly, but the pistol in her hand was unwavering. "Do you have a weapon?"
"Yes ma'am," Shinji said.
"Take it out slowly and lay it on the ground," Misato said. Shinji nodded and slowly pulled out a small black pistol from under his T-shirt. He carefully laid it on the ground and straightened up. "Is it true? Are you a Savior?"
"I was," Shinji said with a nod. Asuka smirked at his confession "And by now intelligence knows that." Asuka smug grin dropped as she suddenly realized just what kind of trouble Shinji was in. "Looks like I'm a dead man walking."
End
(:ii:)
Author's note. Stop touching that! It'll get infected.