I don't own anything.

Intelligence:

-Chapter Nine: Tell Me

Shinji knocked on the door and listened carefully. He couldn't hear any movement from inside the apartment. "Who's there?"

"Room service," Shinji called. The door cracked open and Shinji stared right at the eyes peering at him from inside.

"Ikari?"

"You owe me at least four beers," Shinji stated. "Let's go."

"What?" Manfred began brilliantly.

"Fine, I'll pay this time. Now come on," Shinji pressed. "Since when did a German turn down free beer?" Manfred's eyes narrowed.

"Very funny you damn Jap," he shot back. "I'll have you know that Germans will always turn down that piss water you Japs call beer. Now what's this about?"

"We can talk over the beers," Shinji stated. "A little trust for the man who saved your ass?" The door closed and Shinji heard a chain lock being undone. The door opened and Manfred stepped out with his hands in his pockets.

"You work for Japan, right?"

"Well, being Japanese and all. . ."

"You know what I mean," Manfred interrupted. Shinji chuckled and dug out his wallet out of his pocket. He flipped it open to show his ID. "Internal Affairs? What kind of shit is that?"

"It's a cover obviously," Shinji stated. "You want a drink or not?"

"You first old buddy," Manfred replied. Shinji caught sight of the slight bulge in the man's coat and smirked.

"I knew you'd be happy to see me."

"Just move."

(:ii:)

"So, you're Japanese IA at the moment, right?"

"I am pretty good at stabbing people in the back," Shinji commented as he took a sip from his pint.

"True," Manfred allowed as he pick up his beer. "How's your daughter? Did you manage to finish paying for her surgeries?" Shinji hesitated.

"I just realized how long it's been since we saw each other," he stated. "It was the UN hospital in South Korean, right?"

"Yeah," Manfred replied. "I still owe you for the save, even though I have chronic indigestion now."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Shinji pointed out.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I work for the JSISDF," Shinji stated. "We're tracking German activity in this city. I was wondering if you'd heard anything."

"Had a perky wigged blond ask me something similar," Manfred replied. "About five ten maybe one thirty to one forty." Shinji dug out a tiny notebook and wrote that down quickly. He pushed the book back into his pocket and picked up his beer again.

"Could you pick her out of a picture?"

"No," Manfred stated. "She was wearing the wig and a big pair of sunglasses."

"How do you know she was German?"

"She identified herself using an old code name that was popular with German case officers," Manfred explained.

"An old code name?" Shinji asked. "You sure she wasn't another nationality trying to trick you?"

"I'm sure," Manfred stated. "Level with me."

"On what?"

"What were you doing in Somalia?" Manfred asked. "I mean, what was your mission when you found me?"

"Did you ever hear of a small village north of Mogadishu that was obliterated when a Japanese soldier from the First Airborne Brigade called in an artillery barrage?" Shinji asked. Manfred's brows knit as he thought and then his eyes widened.

"That was you?" Shinji nodded. "Jesus. I read about the casualty numbers. What did they do to you?"

"They killed my team," Shinji stated. "Orders were to observe the village. I don't know how, but they spotted us and dropped a mortar on our hide. We had been given orders telling up to act as we saw necessary. I saw it necessary to erase that fucking cesspit."

"Damn," Manfred replied. "Is that why you aren't in the army anymore?"

"Yep. A promotion and an honorable discharge to get rid of me and shut me up." Shinji raised his glass. "To the dead guys."

"Rest in peace," Manfred agreed as he raised his glass in toast.

(:ii:)

"What the hell?" Asuka stared at the two men sitting near the back of the bar. She had been hunting through all of Manfred's known hangouts in search of the older man. Reinhard had sent her to do a bit of aggressive negotiation.

Asuka knew he wouldn't be threatened into helping them. He had no real family to use and was obviously not afraid of dying himself. That meant they would have to kill him. There was a sniper waiting outside for just the opportunity should Asuka give him the go ahead.

For now Asuka just watched as Shinji and Manfred drank and talked. Shinji pulled out a picture and passed it to the older German. His weathered face split into a grin and he handed the picture back. He said something and Shinji grinned as well. They looked, for the entire world, like a pair of old friends catching up on missed time.

Asuka scowled. Reinhard was going to have a lot of explaining to do when she found him. This time he wasn't going to get away with that 'not here' answer. She was going to find out what was going on or she was going to wring his little pencil neck! Asuka turned and walked out of the bar, tugging her cell phone out of her purse.

"Cancel the shot," she stated. "I repeat, cancel the shot."

"Cancel the shot," the man on the fifth floor of the building across the street repeated. "I copy."

(:ii:)

"So, what's your big plan for the German problem?" Manfred asked. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Manny," Shinji began, "I always have a plan."

"Well?" Manfred pressed.

"We find someone who knows more than we do and torture him until he gives us another name," Shinji stated. "Kiss. Keep it simple, stupid."

"The UN would not approve of that," Manfred commented.

"They wouldn't approve of my choice of words," Shinji corrected.

"Eh." Manfred shrugged, but didn't bother denying it. "Whose authority are we working under?"

"ISDF," Shinji stated. "We?" he added. "Are you coming along? Aren't these your countrymen?"

"I thought so too and then they sold me out to the fucking Somalis," Manfred replied.

"I'm surprised you'd work for any covert government units after that," Shinji commented.

"I like Japan's system," Manfred stated. "There's almost no bureaucracy here. The system is more streamlined and everyone is working towards a common goal."

"It is a good one," Shinji allowed.

"Shall we begin?"

"I've have four pints," Shinji pointed out. "You've have six. How about tomorrow?"

"Pft. Lightweight."

"Kiss my ass kraut."

(:ii:)

Nagao frowned as he leafed through the reports that had been piling up on his desk. This situation in Tokyo-3 was becoming a bigger problem than he had anticipated. It was good he had his best man there and even better that his best man knew the area. "What's the status of the backup being sent into Tokyo-3?"

"They'll be arriving in the city before morning," Nagao secretary reported.

"Good," Nagao stated. "What kind of equipment are we sending them with?"

"Heavy," Nanasawa stated. "With Ikari's last run in with that direct action team, Tokyo-3 had been classified as a stage-2 area."

"Excellent." Nagao stood and stretched. "Did we turn up anything more on the stiffs that Ikari and Yoshikawa dragged in?"

"Nothing new," Nanasawa stated. "They were all German and ex-military Spec Ops. Now they're all dead German ex-military Spec Ops. It's a dead end."

"Of course," Nagao picked up the latest report and scowled down at it. Instead of a field report it was a report from his superiors. They didn't like his conduct. He tossed it in the rubbish bin.

(:ii:)

Reinhard winced as the door to his temporary office burst open and a very pissed off looking redhead walked in. "Wow," he stated. "You found my office. I was kind of hoping you wouldn't be able to."

"Who the hell is Shinji Ikari?" Asuka demanded. Reinhard glanced around. "I will force you to tell me if you say that this isn't the place."

"I see," Reinhard replied. "He's Internal Affairs with the ISDF and ex-Spec Ops. Actually, you'd probably know better than I do."

"Why was he meeting with Manfred Walther?" That got Reinhard's attention.

"He was doing what?" His explosive reaction seemed to steal all of the redhead's fire.

"Shinji was meeting with Walther at the bar when I went to find him," she stated. "They seemed rather chummy." Reinhard shot to his feet and almost ripped open one of the filing cabinets against the wall. He dug out a thick folder and laid it on his desk. There was no way that they could have worked together. The analysts would have seen that and tagged it. As he expected, he found nothing.

"What the hell?" An idea struck him and he sat down behind his computer. He accessed the German military reports from Somalia and found the letter that had been sent to them regarding a German soldier found half dead in the desert. It was from the Japanese government. ". . .was rescued by a Japanese Special Operations team," he read. "Fuck!" It must have been Shinji who rescued Manfred.

"What is it?" Asuka demanded.

"I'll tell you later," Reinhard stood. He needed to look into this. 'I hope that sniper still has a bead on. . .' "Erk!"

"You'll tell me now," Asuka hissed, the hand holding his collar twisting and making his gag.

"Okay," Reinhard squeaked. "Don't blame me."

"For what?"

"You'll see," Reinhard stated as Asuka let him go. He his the button on his intercom. "Please call Joseph to my office."

"Yes sir," Reinhard's secretary replied.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. The chronic indigestion this will be explained later.