Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 94: Findings
Asuka's Room – The Next Morning – 10:00 AM
Again… I did it again… I promised myself that I wouldn't cry like that again, and yet here I am, once more, with Asuka in tears. I can't believe I put her through that twice already. I was supposed to be the one that was strong through all of this, I wasn't supposed to let her see me cry. I'm not even crying with her, I'm balling. She took care of me though, just as she did the previous night. We were in her bed, my face buried in the crook of her neck, with dried tears still on my face. Not wanting to be in that helpless position, I get out of bed and head for the shower.
I didn't even wash when I was in there, I just let the warm water beat against my back. I just tried to relax and – for once – think things through. I had to prevent myself from doing that again. I mean, it was okay to shed a few tears here and there, but to sob every night is just too much. I had to stop it, but I wasn't about to forget about Dietlinde to stop the tears. See, there in lies the problem. I'm completely okay with me thinking about her, but it's when OTHERS speak of her. Asuka really isn't included in the 'others' category, mainly because we could talk about her without any problem. I wanted people to just stop talking about her, to make my pain go away, but at the same time I didn't want her to be forgotten by others. I know that it sounds corny, but I wanted her memory to live on in people's mind. There was no way around it, I just had to get over it.
Feeling a certain sense of emptiness, I crawl out of the shower and get dressed. When I walk back into the main room I see that Asuka is still asleep on the bed. How long did I keep her up last night? One thing that did catch my eye was that all of Dietlinde's things were in our room… how'd they get in here? I walk up to the crib – now stripped down to the frame – and find a small note. 'Shinji and Asuka, sorry it took so long, but we had some problems. Don't worry about it. Sorry for coming in when you two were asleep, but I didn't have a place to drop them off. I just used the master key to get in. Again, sorry for the intrusion. Ritsuko Akagi' I felt my heart sink. If she was able to get in so easily, then wouldn't Dietlinde's killer be able to do the same? Great, now I had two points of possible entry; one through the window and one with the door. In my opinion, the window is just too unlikely for someone to fit through; the blood was probably just a false lead that the killer set up. So to get the master key, one would have to either be God himself, or be an employee of NERV… he was in here.
"Shinji? What are you doing up?" I hear Asuka prop herself up in bed, "Oh, her stuff is here…" she sounded disappointed and happy at the same time, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine… sorry for last night… I really didn't want that to happen, but I-" she cut me off.
"Why are you apologizing? So you cried a little, big whop. Did you not see me a few days ago? No, I'm not over it, but I was just able to get it out. You on the other hand didn't. Don't worry about it, just know that if you ever need someone to lean on, I'm here," hearing that from her actually made me smile. That was the first time she's ever said that. I walk over to her and hug her tight.
"Thank you Asuka…" she was obviously surprised, but she soon embraced it.
"Am I interrupting the two lovers?" I let go of Asuka and look at the door. Gahiji was leaned up against the doorway with a smile.
"How'd you get in here?" Asuka instantly walked over to him and lifted him up by his shirt collar. She was basically a giant compared to him, so it made for a pretty funny sight, "You have five seconds to answer before I break that little neck of yours… four… three…"
"Whoa! Asuka, calm down! I just used the master key! Sorry if you didn't want me in here!" she set him down and stared down at him. I jet over to him, accidentally pushing Asuka back and grab his shoulders, "Why the hell am I getting beat on today!"
"Gahiji, listen to me, where did you get that key? This is important, please don't lie," he raised an eyebrow.
"And why should I tell you?" his attitude set me off. I grab his collar and while he was in the air, I slam him against the wall.
"This is NOT the time to fuck with me! I swear to God I'll beat the living crap out of you if you don't tell me!" he was wide eyed at what just happened. Out of surprise and shock, he kept quiet, "Tell me!" he finally spoke up.
"Fine… I got it from the storage room and made a copy. Happy now?" I bring him back and once again slam him to the wall.
"Drop the attitude! How many did you make?" he held up two fingers in front of me.
"I only made two. One for me, and one for backup in case I lost it."
"Give me the other key!" I let him down, "Where is it?" he waves me over to his room.
"I got it right here. I kept it under my bed so no one would find it," he lifted up his mattress and let out a gasp, "Damnit! Someone stole it! It took me forever to find that thing!" he reached into his pocket and pulled the other one out, "At least I still have this one!" I immediately punch him across the face, sending him falling to the ground.
"Do you have any fucking idea what you've done!" while he was on the floor – still stunned – he shook his head, "Not only did you put everyone at NERV in danger, but you killed my daughter! What the fuck were you thinking!" I kick him in the ribs, "You killed her! This is all your fault!" I kick him again, making him scream through the room, "I had to listen to her die, I woke up with her fucking head in my bed, and she was butchered all because of you!" I go to kick him one more time, but I feel a pair of arms pulling me back.
"Whoa! Shinji, calm down! What happened?" Asuka was pulling me away from Gahiji.
"He did this! Dietlinde's dead because of HIM!" I struggle against her, but soon fall to my knees, "That fucking child killed my daughter…" I hear Asuka gasp.
"I didn't do anything!" I lung at him and grab his throat.
"What the hell did you just say! You gave SEELE all they needed! If it wasn't for your fucking mischievous attitude, she'd be alive right now!" he grabs my arm and tries to pull me off. Asuka once again pulls me off of him.
"Just come on…" she guides me out of the room. She was obviously crying, I didn't see her, but her voice was uneasy. She eventually took me to Akagi's office.
"Oh, hey gu-… are you two alright?" she got up out of her seat and walked over to us, "What's wrong?"
"Change all the locks in NERV as soon as possible…" Asuka stared at the ground. Her bangs hid her tears from showing, "Keep the master key with you at all times when you do… don't let this happen again…" Ritsuko hugs both of us at the same time.
"Just tell me what's going on…" she whispered.
"Gahiji made a copy of the master key… one got out… that's how SEELE got into our room…" Asuka finally let her tears run more freely.
"He did what!" she stormed out of the room and came back a few seconds later holding Gahiji by the arm, "Tell me what you did!" he just shrugged with that smug look.
"All I did was make a copy of a key. These two babies started to cry about it," Akagi grabs him by the shoulders.
"Their daughter was killed because SEELE got into their room. You gave them the key… you killed her!" at first, he stood still in shock, then he shrugged again, "Do you even see what you did?"
"Of course I do, and I'm sorry about it, but she was what, two months old? She didn't exactly have much to live for," I tackle him to the ground, "Oh come on, how much could you have possibly 'bonded' with her? So your baby died, so what? Just have another one. Same thing," I punch him across the face.
"I'm sick of your fucking attitude!" Ritsuko grabbed onto my shirt and tried to pull me off, "Akagi! Don't touch me!" she continued to tug at me, "Did you hear me? That's an order!" she let go with a gasp. That was the first time I've used my commander position for power, "Give me one reason I shouldn't have you killed for betrayal of a government organization!" and I was able to do that. A crime like that was punishable by death.
"I'm a pilot and so are you! You can't do crap!" I punch him again.
"Like hell I can't! I'm the commander of NERV, I can do whatever the hell I want!" I grab his shirt once more and bring him to his feet, then slamming him against the wall as hard as I could.
"Was that supposed to hurt?" he had that smirk on. Before my brain could register, he grabbed my wrist and twisted, making me let go of him. He then kicked me in the stomach, sending my flying onto the floor, "Hello? Did you forget? I know how to fight!" he put his hands in his pockets and began to walk out of the room.
"Get your ass back here!" I get to my feet. Asuka and Akagi were close together as they stared at all of this. He stopped and sighed.
"Are you seriously going to make me kick your ass?" I had a good foot and a half on this kid! Like he could do that!
"I said get back here!" he rolled his eyes and began to walk towards me, then stopped a few feet from me.
"God, who would have thought you'd be so whiny about this. Fine, sense you seem soooo upset about your brat's death, I'll tell you something…" he took a long pause, "I'm the one, okay? I killed her, my bad," he had a sarcastic voice on.
"You'd better be fucking kidding!" I charge at him with a punch, but he simply side steps and doges it.
"You want a bedtime story? Fine. Yes, I was sent here by SEELE, and no, I'm not a pilot, that was the dummy plug piloting. I was originally sent here to take out Gendo, but looks like Karsten did that for me. Then I was told to somehow give you a warning to drop your commander position, so, you know," I once again charge at him, and just like before he dodged it.
"Then why did you kill Dietlinde? She was a baby!" he scratches his chin.
"I dunno… I guess because I knew it'd be easy. Man, you should have seen her face when I wrapped that wire around her neck." He chuckles a little.
"You sick bastard!" I charge at him with another punch, and actually make it this time, sending him flying across the room. With a smile, he reaches behind him and pulls out a gun.
"You know, you really should have gotten out of bed. You could have easily stopped me, and she'd still be around loving you. I'm actually surprised that you didn't hear me take her out of the room!" I glance over at Asuka. Her face was buried in Akagi's shoulder sobbing. Ritsuko had a few tears running too.
"What the fuck are you talking about!" I didn't make a move. I had to wait for the right time to go after him.
"You didn't know? Yeah, I took her out of the room. I didn't kill her in there, I just made it so she couldn't cry or nothin'. But damn, when I got to my room and took off that wire, she was loud! Thank you Gendo for giving me a room away from all of you! I'm sure you would have heard it, then I'd be busted." His eyes were literally evil. I could barely stand to look at them.
"Why did you take her out of our room? What did you do to her!" he raised an eyebrow.
"You seriously don't know? Didn't you look in her crib? I did all that in my room, then simply went back in yours when you fell asleep and dropped it off. You know, you both are hard sleepers for me to be able to put the friggen head in your bed!" I feel tears start to run down my face as I fall to my knees, "Awww, did I say too much?" he walked over to me and poked my head with the gun, "I have to admit, she was a fighter, but I obviously won. I just cut her up piece… by… piece until her little heart finally gave out. I'd say it took around ten minutes of slicing until the screaming stopped…" I pound the ground with my fists.
"You made her suffer!" I was basically sobbing at this point. I've never cried this hard before, "You tortured her!" I hear Asuka sobbing.
"AHHH!" she was on her hands and knees sobbing, "Dietlinde!" Akagi simply stood there shocked at the whole situation.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve?" he looked at Asuka with a smile, "You know Asuka, you may have a sexy body, but Dietlinde did teach me something… we all look the same on the inside…" he fired a bullet at her, shooting her thigh as he did. She let out a painful scream, "You see, now that you all know what I did, I might as well finish what SEELE told me to do," he shot her in the shin, "So goodbye my beautiful pilot," before he could fire, I leaped up and leaped in front of the gun. I feel a sharp pain in my abdomen as I fall to the ground, "Oh, now why'd ya have to go and do that? I had something special planned for you! Whatever, tell Dietlinde I said hey…"
A/N- And there you go. The end of the fic. Sorry if you don't like it, but there will be an epilogue. Before I get any questions, Asuka died, Shinji died, Sam died, Cass died, Akagi died, and NERV fell. SEELE takes over and eventually brings upon the Third Impact, thus killing all of humanity. It will all be explained in the epilogue. Keep on keepin' on!
A/A/N- Gotcha… read the next chapter; Gahiji Screws Up, until then, keep on keepin' on!
A/A/A/N- (looks around) Why are you all glaring at me? (people surround me) What are you all doing? (gets beaten for a crappy joke)
Hey this is the proof reader Frost-Eva-04, if you guys have see any constant screw ups send me a message. My knowledge is no where near prefect so just tell me if it keeps coming up. Keep it frosty.