I do not own the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of the characters, equipment, or locations written in this fanfiction. The purpose of this fanfiction is merely for the non-profit enjoyment of other readers. If requested by Gainax, Hideki Anno, or other parties which represent aforementioned objects in this story, I will remove it promptly.

Chapter XVIII:

Very little of what took place out in the desert would ever be revealed to the public. Even if it was, not many would believe it. A few women with small arms and a giant robot crushing a platoon with armor support, somehow outmaneuvering all searches by one of the largest military forces in the world, and inconspicuously returning to Tokyo-3 by an aircraft carrier that was reported by all major channels as being at least three-thousand miles away from where it retrieved us is a hard story to swallow. I knew it happened, however, because I had experienced it.

More importantly, Kensuke knew it, too. However, he did not act in his usual manner, pestering me for details. A week before I began class, he escorted me around the campus for a day, answered my questions, and generally behaved like a gentleman. I had asked him specifically to get me acquainted with the school, as I could not trust the others. While Hikari could have easily done the job, she and I were far from being on friendly terms.

"Susan," Kensuke spoke up timidly. A few girls in their turquoise jumpers pointed and giggled as we made our way along the courtyard to the parking lot at the end of the day. Aida and I made an odd pair, him dressed in typical short sleeved dress shirt and slacks, while I, as a female, committed the ultimate sin of wearing a man's suit and tie. The eyepatch didn't help, either, causing a few more stares, some from people to my left that I couldn't see. But I knew they were reacting, because Kensuke, standing on my right, would scowl as the girls began their teasing. Turning to face him, I noticed his eyes were focused on the ground not a foot in front of him. "What... happened, with Shinji, I mean?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I thought you would know, because you pilots spend more time together."

I shook my head slightly. "I was overseas for a couple days." Looking over my shoulder, I noticed a couple men in black suits off in the distance. "I can't say anymore about it, so don't ask. But I haven't been around for a while, and I have a place of my own, so I haven't seen Shinji." Thinking for a moment, I recalled how his behavior seemed to shift between highs and lows, mostly lows, throughout the series. "Why? What's the problem?"

Kensuke sighed, shaking his head. "He doesn't go to school much anymore, and he won't speak to me." Aida pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, and looked mournfully out towards the horizon as we walked back to my place. "Did something happen... at NERV, I mean?"

"The last couple battles have been... very dicey," I sighed. "Every time we go out there, we might not ever come back, and we may take half the city with us." Coming to a stop, and turning to see the girls pointing and cringing. "There's just one more, but it will be the toughest."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it will be a friend." Kensuke shuddered, and started to walk away. Just before he left, I reached out to his hand. It was an awkward gesture, and one I would never have done as myself, but I had to play the role of a hormone-driven girl. "Just one last thing, Kensuke." He seemed to blush as he spun around in disbelief. "When it starts to go down, can I ask you to get Shinji, Asuka, and Rei out of here?"

"I... don't have the resources," he began to say, before I handed him the keys to a certain black Section Two van I had thought of disposing somewhere, but then had the better sense to hide after the Fifteenth Angel. "What... what is this?"

"Ever wanted to drive a Section Two van?" I asked. "Don't worry, I can teach you."

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Ritsuko was back when I got home later that night. It had been nearly three days since I saw her. Setting my sneakers off to the corner of the entry way the second I stepped inside, I closed and locked the door with the two deadbolts I had installed. "How was the trip?" I asked.

I heard a loud, exhausted groan from the kitchen. "Everything is done," she sighed. "You really needed me to buy that real estate?" When I nodded, she just shook her head. "What could you possibly need it for? It's out in the countryside, away from civilization!"

"You just answered your own question," I replied.

"And your other purchase will arrive in a couple weeks."

"I'll need to find a place to work on it. What kind of shape is it in?"

"I did as you asked, and hired a mechanic to help check it over. It is in good shape, and what little needs to be fixed, they told me the parts are still available." I walked into the kitchen, washed my hands, and began to prep for dinner. "But why did you need it? There are plenty of cars in town, and you're not even old enough to drive."

"It's a classic, and one of the faster cars of it's time," I answered. "Also, I have some business to attend to that requires, shall we say, an unassuming performance car?" Akagi glared at me, but just shrugged her shoulders. She had pretty much given up on trying to keep me out of trouble. "I need something fast, but classy and inconspicuous so no one tries to bother me. Besides, did I mention one of my old managers had that car? Well, he had an earlier model in mint condition."

"It's going to get stolen," Ritsuko muttered under her breath.

"Not if I take some rather... creative precautions."

Ritsuko shook her head. "What did you get me into?"

The two of us sat down for a quiet dinner, each of us reflecting on our own problems. That was, until Ritsuko brought up a particularly touchy subject. "Maya informed me about the recovery mission of Unit-04," she said flatly, setting her chopsticks aside. I winced, but it at least gave me some time to put the chopsticks down, as I still couldn't use them effectively. I learned the continental dining method for handling a knife and fork. That I could live with, but two sticks you had to handle like tweezers, especially for rice or smaller food particles, was just out of the question.

"Do you want to tell me why?" she asked.

"Why, what?" I replied.

"You killed all those people," she grumbled, glancing down at the right side of the table. "But you couldn't stop them from violating Maya and the others, could you? You had to wait until the damage was done." She turned back to glare at me, her eyes beginning to tear. "You had to have an excuse to murder them, so you did nothing, right?"

"If you don't know what you're talking about, shut your mouth!" I hollered. Ritsuko leaned back into her chair, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry I didn't just run out like Errol Flynn, but I was a little preoccupied being drowned and tortured! Did Maya mention that, or did she leave that part out?"

Ritsuko frowned, her face relaxing into a depressed expression. "I'm not a miracle worker, Doctor. If there was anything I could have done, I would have never let them so much as look at Maya." She didn't seem to believe me, and just left, leaving her food on the table. I stared down at the rest of the food. Even with a side of chili, it just wasn't looking too appetizing.

Before I had a chance to clear the table, the phone rang. Ritsuko still couldn't understand what I saw in the touch-tone phone styled after the classic '30s rotary design, especially when there were cheaper phones with voice messaging and cordless handsets available. The mechanical bell rang again just before I reached the end table in the living room. Switching on the nearby desk lamp, its warm, yellowish glow filling the dark void of the room, I answered the call.

"Ikari residence," I hesitantly stated, fumbling with the words. It was still difficult to speak in Japanese. Sometimes I would find myself slipping back into English, or even speaking what little Spanish I could remember whenever trying to converse in the national language. Whenever this happened, I would always mentally chant "You must think in Russian!"

"Su-Susan?" a shaky, high-pitched voice asked. I couldn't place it at first, but then I heard the distinctive background noise of Misato's apartment. It mainly consisted of Misato's slurred yelps, dishes being thoroughly scrubbed, and on occasion, Asuka's Germanic curses. This time, however, the sounds from the kitchen were not part of the background.

"Shinji?" I asked.

"Umm, yes..." Shinji answered. His voice was still unsteady, but he seemed more relieved once I recognized him. "Can we... meet?"

•••••••••••••

I arrived at the Katsuragi apartment sometime around nine o'clock at night. Shinji cringed as he answered the door. "Is that... you?" he asked. Misato was at the door in a matter of seconds, glaring at me. Slowly, however, she went back to her late dinner as Shinji gestured for me to enter. "Asuka... not well," he continued.

"You want me to talk with Asuka?" I asked. Ikari nodded, and sighing, I followed him back to the German's room. He knocked on the door, which returned nothing but shouting from the other end of the door. Obviously the redhead didn't want to be disturbed. "Hey, open up! We know where you live!"

The violent response Shinji and I received was not as bad as it could have been. Soryu tossed a shredded pillow out through the thin paper door, splintering the frame. "Asuka!" Misato yelled. "That's coming out of your pay!" But there were no muffled grunts of recognition, hate, or otherwise from the Second Child's room. Pushing the broken door aside, I walked in.

"Asuka, we need to talk... again," I stated coldly. The room was completely dark. Even the moonlight was blocked outside by the curtains being drawn shut. Only the light from the hallway filtered in through the door's remains. It was enough to make out the remains of the room, and all the torn, dented, and broken possessions of the girl scattered over the floor. "You want to pilot that bad?"

In the distance, I saw two cold, blue eyes staring back in anger. "I said, do you want to pilot?" I asked again. I could see the eyes move diagonally in the pitch black void. She must have been lying on her bed, her body propped up at an angle, nodding. "Then get your identification, and come with me. We're going to settle this like men."

Shinji cringed watching the redhead and I stride out of the room with deliberate, aggressive steps. "Where are you going?" Misato huffed, blocking our passage out of the hallway.

"We're going to headquarters, and we will synch with the Eva," I grunted. "I don't care how long it takes, or who we have to threaten to get this done. We will get our synch ratios up." Misato blocked our path with her left arm, but I returned the favor with an elbow strike to her solar plexus. She wheezed, and fell to the floor. "You owe me, Major!" I snapped. "You owe me for Nevada, for Rei, and for Ritsuko. Don't you DARE interfere!"

Asuka and Shinji stared in surprise, but the redhead was the first to respond, following me out of the apartment. We were both about five feet from the door when I heard the hollow click of a double action pistol's hammer being pulled back. We froze, but I would not allow Asuka to be stopped so easily. "You won't shoot me, Misato," I snarled. "You aren't that evil."

I wanted desperately to turn around, but I knew if I did, my actions could be considered hostile, or more importantly, it would be seen as an act of weakness. Asuka hesitated, but followed me. "You can't!" the major growled. "You are still suspended."

"Then get me back on active duty, Major. I don't have time for games." Now I decided to turn and face her. "The last Angel will be sent by Seele, specifically to stop Commander Ikari. The battle will take place inside headquarters. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"That doesn't mean a thing!" Misato said, hesitating. Her Jericho pistol shook in her hands, the woman unsure of what to do. "You can't disobey orders, no matter what you know!"

"But aren't you yourself questioning NERV? Or are you just going to let Kaji's death be in vain?" I chose those words carefully, knowing full well it would strike a nerve for both Asuka and Misato. Watching the two react was interesting. Soryu's jaw dropped, while Misato slowly lowered her pistol, and dejectedly glanced down at the floor. "Face it, Misato. Second Impact, the sacrifice of Toji, as well as millions of others were all for Seele's desire to establish themselves as gods over man. You really think you can trust them?"

Shinji stood frozen, about five feet from Katsuragi. It was like watching a computer frozen in the middle of an operation. He knew what he wanted to do, but he lacked the courage to do it. For a brief moment, my eye and his met. I watched him cringe, wanting to run to his room for safety. "Shinji, do it." Then came the line I never wanted to say, as I thought Shinji was in the right throughout the series. "Do not run away from this."

Shinji glared at me with a hate I had never seen in him before. It was clear we were the same. "I am not running away!" he shouted. At least he knew that phrase in English. I nodded to him, and slowly, cautiously, he knelt by Misato. It took a full two minutes according to clock on the kitchen wall, but eventually he wrapped his arms around the major.

"Shin-ji?" Misato squeaked, beginning to blush. Slowly, however, the boy relaxed, holding Katsuragi in his arms. They were frail, weak arms, but they offered warmth. The major looked up at Asuka and I, glaring. "What can you possibly do?"

"We are pilots," I stated coldly, baring my teeth in a feral snarl. "The ultimate weapon to win the war is in our hands. Mankind's destiny is ours to control, and we will deliver swift, ruthless justice." I saw Soryu stare at me, her eyes wide. If she thought I was just blowing smoke, she didn't now. "We will bathe in our enemies' blood, and make them afraid."

Asuka walked out of the apartment with me, all the hairs on her neck standing on end. "Where do we begin?" she asked.

End of Chapter XVIII

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