Avalon

by Dave19941000

They are a S.W.O.R.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. of humanity, but the Angels are not the only problems the newly assembled Strike Force shall face. In a once normal world now aware of the monsters, magic, aliens and mayhem that surrounds them, will humanity's living weapons of mass destruction survive the universe, and more importantly, each other?

8. 118 Revelations

"Describe the war in a sentence? I'll do it in one word: anticlimactic."

-Asuka Langley-Aida.

1.1.8: Revelations

Tokyo-3 Pier

July 5th, 2015

In the late morning light, there was a tense silence. The thousands gathered said not a word as they waited.

In row after row, lined up in formation, there were hundreds of Nerv technicians in uniform standing at attention, with a lone man standing before them all. The man was Lieutenant Commander Reginald Barclay.

Further down the pier, almost shoulder to shoulder with the assembled group of technicians, hundreds of agents from Section Two stood at attention, with Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji.

Down further there was a final group, hundreds of soldiers. From the local garrison of the JSSDF, the soldiers assembled where the largest of the three in numbers, though not close to matching both of the two groups combined.

Together, the three groups counted just over two thousand strong, all facing away from the water towards the gathered crowd which was only held back by the local police, who themselves numbered several hundred.

Behind them in the water, the three Evangelions stood proud, the water reaching their thighs. Though inactive, the machines where an imposing sight which from the right angle seemed to stand one behind each of the three assembled groups.

Behind them sat the Helicarrier. For many of the thousands of onlookers, it was the first time seeing the craft in any detail. While its existence had never been hidden, it almost never came within proximity of a city, and when it did it tended to be in D.C. where under cover of night it would land in its massive hanger bay at the Triskelion. It also tended to be cloaked, using weather for cover, or as it had the last time it came to the city, both, to hide itself.

Now was different, it was a time for a show of power. And even that was not where it had stopped.

Above them, hovering in the sky a few hundred meters above the lake was S.W.O.R.D.'s contribution to the event. Two BC-304 Daedalus-class warships. The ten year old Daedalus and her nine year old sister the Odyssey, the two oldest ships of their class. Though the organization was fighting two unseen enemies at the time (which both the UN Security Council and U.N.I.T. high command where in agreement would remain unseen) the organization felt it could spare the two for a single day while they resupplied.

The public would be completely ignorant of that last fact; the technology used being one which was only set to be made public knowledge in another twenty five years.

But for now they wouldn't care, as the recovery from Impact and the subsequent wars and invasion by the Angels made the once unthinkable weapons a comfort.

On a platform at the end of the gathering of soldiers, four figures stood while one sat at a table, looking down the path which separated the soldiers from the civilians. The seated man was the president of the united nations, his position one without any real power, but by agreement by all fifty-seven countries of the world his action here would be as representative of all.

The three who stood to his left where Director Fury, the director of S.W.O.R.D. and the director of U.N.I.T.

A.R.M.O.R. did not exist; there was no organization by that name and any claims to the contrary where false.

The one who stood to his right was James Rhodes standing inside War Machine. Though public opinion on him was split due to his participation in the wars in the Middle East, most couldn't help but marvel at the mixture of man and machine. To the public's knowledge, the War Machine Iron Suit was the most powerful one ever built, leaps and bounds ahead of the ones used by Strike Force, which themselves where ahead of the still in development mass production model.

For all the sights to be seen, the center of attention was on the nine publicly known members of Strike Force, and their nine Iron Suits, as they marched down the pathway between the civilians and the assembled troops.

Three by three, the children where, for the moment, the center of attention for the whole world as camera crews gave them the spotlight.

The first row was Alpha, with Jon the left most, followed by Mana and Mary. The three where in their military dress uniforms, Jon and Mary in their nations respective Imperial Naval attire while Mana was in her formal Army one. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s overlap with the regular military was odd like that.

Behind them was Bravo, from left to right standing Asuka, Rei and Shinji. Asuka's black with a white undershirt Deutsche Marine uniform didn't contras too well with all white of Rei and Shinji's Maritime Self-Defence Force ones.

Behind them, Toji, Hikari and Kensuke where free from the problem, all having the uniform of the Strategic Self-Defence Force.

Though the different shades and colours didn't match well, there was one thing they all had in common. All their dress uniforms had a hat.

Behind the children, their Iron Suits followed in the same order the children where in, though their different colours did not look as out of place by comparison.

For the next few minutes, the crowed watched in the fairly mundane task of the group marching occurred. As they approached the platform, Jon ordered them to turn a few times so they ended up behind the assembled group already there, followed by a quick order for them to spread out in a line. When he finally ordered them to stop, they were in a line one after the other with their Iron Suits each beside of them, not that far behind the directors and the UN president.

"Leeeeeft Face!" Jon ordered. With a snap, the children turned, now facing the same direction as the directors in front of them while their Iron Suits stood behind them.

"Attention!" With another quick snap, the order was followed.

Had it not been for the wind, the crowd could have heard a pin drop (which someone did drop, just to see if it could be herd). Out of two military buses, sixteen children from ages six to fifteen stood. The oldest, a male, walked ahead of the others, while the rest followed as an unorganized group. All the children had three things in common. Inhumanly pail skin, red eyes and white hair.

When they also reached the platform, the oldest took the seat opposed the president, the others remaining standing a fair distance behind him.

The president cleared his throat. Genteelly tapping the microphone on the table in front of him to make sure it was working, he continued when he saw one of the stage hands give him a thumbs up.

"On behalf of the United Nations General Assembly, the governments of the world and the people of Earth, I, President Shi Minoru, demand the surrender of the entities known as the 'Angels' with the condition of its members to protect the innocent of our world alongside its current defenders."

The boy sitting across from him gave a light smile.

"I, Kaworu Nagisa, on behalf of my brethren, accept."

One week earlier

The light was blinding, coming from all directions and remaining just as intense, even with eyes closed and covered. Some tried to speak, but there was no noise.

For a few moments Misato feared it was all over, and that this was what death was like. But she felt something in her hand. It was Reg, she knew it was. He had been standing right next to her, barking orders from the guardrail at the front of the command deck.

Moving her free hand to find him, she felt her way up to him head, her hand on his face. He had a half head over her, and he could tell by the angle of his head he was looking in her direction.

Feeling his other hand on her own head, it was almost comical that he first placed in on her hair. When he found his bearings and placed his hand on her cheek, they stopped.

It was a long moment, where neither could see nor speak, but they were together. Misato had come close to death before, and she would let herself be alone this time, not if she could help it.

Leaning closer to him, she stood herself up. There was so much left ahead of them, a life they had hoped for once the war ended.

Well, it was over, but it wasn't the victory they had hoped for. She would at least let their final moments be on their own terms.

When the blinding light did go away, they hadn't even noticed.

It was a long moment, where the light had returned by the sound had not. It was a long moment, but it was only a moment.

The pair, now in each other's arms in what they thought would be their last kiss, where brought back to reality as the noise returned.

Alarms.

Panicked voices.

After the long silence it had been overwhelming, but once their minds returned to normal they snapped into action.

"Status report!" Reg yelled below, letting go of Misato.

"All systems detect no abnormalities. We aren't reading any Angels out there." Makoto informed them.

"We're getting a message from Atlantis." Maya said. "They are asking what the massive energy spike they detected from us was."

"Atlantis? Why would a S.W.O.R.D. moon base be able to detect what was happening here?" Misato wondered aloud.

"Tell them…" Reg paused to think. "Tell them we're fine, and looking into the matter."

"Roger."

He leaned forward and took a better look at the holographic projection before him. It showed the Evangelions, the base, and everything in between. But it showed no Angels.

"Misato, take the elevator down. You know where to go." He quietly ordered. Not needing to ask, she did so without a word. Reg didn't like this, but something had changed, and he didn't know what or why. "Recall the Evangelions and get the team back here."

"Sir, Evangelions are offline." Shigeru replied.

"What?"

"They are offline and are not accepting the reactivation code."

"Great." Reg grumbled. Offline in the middle of a city, perfect place to need a full recovery. "Send the helicopters then. I want them back in the cage yesterday."

He then turned his attention to Ritsuko. "Doctor, get down there and figure out what went wrong this time. I don't remember then ever shutting down while still connected."

"Yes sir."

As she left, he sighed. Something was different; he could feel it in his bones. And he didn't like it.

Six hundred sixty sixth sublevel

"Kaji, what the hell is this?!" Misato yelled. Walking towards the man in question, he and a squad of his troops where all staring at the tanks. Whatever they were inside the LCL, they knew that it was wrong for them to be here, in this place. Misato didn't care. She grabbed him by his collar and pulled his face right up to hers. "Are you telling me you and your met let an Angel get through here because you were all sightseeing?"

"Misato, we only in here when whatever that thing that just happened was started." Kaji said in defense. "Besides, what the hell is all this anyway? This just doesn't look right."

"Well right now, it's not our problem, because there could still be an Angel in there that we just can't detect." She told him.

"Uh, sir, ma'am, you're gonna want to take a look at this." One of the troops said. He was already inside Lilith's chamber.

Doing as told, Kaji followed Misato into the chamber. Unlike the last time he had been there, however, something was missing. A very big something in fact.

Lilith was gone.

And in the concrete platform before the LCL, there where sixteen children.

"Hello." A young girl, only six at most, stated gleefully. Almost bouncing, the girl skipped up to Misato, a wide smile on her face.

The first thing that stood out was the young girl had bright red eyes. The girl reminded her of a young Rei in some ways, though was also the opposite in that where Rei did not show much emotion, this girl seemed full of life. But there was something about her being here, about all those children being here, now, that seemed off.

"Are you an Angel?" Misato asked. The girl turned her head slightly, as if confused by the question.

"Of course I am." In a moment, the ten adults all had their weapons pointed at the children. As the group stood there, they say something none of them ever thought they would.

The Angel in front of them started to cry.

One of the children behind them stepped forward, this one a boy of about twelve.

"I told you they wouldn't trust us, can I kill them?" The boy asked, his red eyes glowing. Before any of the adults could react, their weapons were pulled from their hands by an unseen force. Levitating in midair, the guns where turned towards their former handlers.

"No." A girl, this one about a fourteen year old, stated. She had her arm extended outwards, making it clear she was the one controlling the weapons. "It would not do us well to continue the death. We have what we want already."

"What happened to Lilith?" Kaji asked, no, demanded.

"She is gone, her purpose fulfilled." Kaworu stated. The fifteen year old boy calmly walked up to the crying girl, kneeling down and lifting her into his arms. "It is alright sister; it's not your fault. Even with their toys they are more afraid of you then you are of them."

"Her purpose fulfilled? Just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Kaji barked.

"It means she is no more." Kaworu answered, slowly rocking the girl in his arms.

"What does that all mean?"

"It means her purpose has been fulfilled."

"That doesn't make any sense, what was her purpose and what have you done with her?!" Kaji was losing patients with how the Angel was getting around the question.

"Her purpose was fulfilling one wish, and she has."

Misato gave Kaji a hand signal before he spoke again, then slowly walked towards the two children right in front of her. As she suspected, her floating pistol moved back and started pointing towards the floor. Stopping in front of them, she gently placed her hand on the girl's head, whose crying had become silent.

The girl, feeling her hand, looked up. The girl looked into her eyes with a look of confusion, followed by one of naïve joy only a child could have. Misato wasn't sure what to make of all this, but she knew what to ask. She turned her attention to Kaworu.

"What was your wish?"

He gave a quiet laugh.

"It was quite simple. To be alive."

The Cages

Leaning on the railing, Ritsuko looked over the Evas as they were put in their cages. Looking at the machines, she felt as though something was off. She couldn't see anything wrong with them, but the air around them had changed.

The work crew had to force their way into the entry plugs. For unknown reasons, even the auto-eject system was offline, which only made her wonder what was wrong with the Evas.

Looking at Unit One in the eyes, it struck her. It couldn't be possible, but it was the only explanation. When Unit Zero was pried open at the neck joints, her suspicion was confirmed.

The force caused a piece of the Eva's chest plate to fall off, revealing not the organic interior, but an empty cavern.

Running down to when the entry plug had just been forcibly removed, she was there when one of the workers forcibly opened the hatch. A wave of LCL exited the plug with a heavy force. Another system which had not worked right.

The LCL spread out onto the floor, but the force of the liquid exiting the entry plug had not done so alone. With it, it had dragged out an unconscious Rei.

And a four year old who looked just like Rei.

While the workers were asking each other who the girl was, with paramedics taking both away, Ritsuko ran. She ran to where Unit One's entry plug was being opened.

What she found was what she expected. An unconscious Shinji on the floor, dragged out by the force of the LCL rushing out of the entry plug.

And an unconscious Yui Iraki next to him.

Field 30 kilometers north-east of Saigon

People's Republic of China Special Administrative Zone South

At the base of the stolen Airborne Mobile Command Station, six figures stood. Well, four of them stood, the remaining two where on stretchers, fast asleep.

Shin stood with his arms extended, holding a Zat in each one. The weapons where pointed at each of the awake children.

"Why the hell are we here, and why did you kidnap us?" Mary asked. Compared to the weather she was used to, the warm humidity of the Indochinese countryside was uncomfortable to say the least.

Toji, for his part, just looked around, fascinated by what he saw. While occasionally going on vacation to Okinawa, he had never left Japan before, or even been to one of its special administrative zones. It may have only been an abandoned farming village with waist high grass, but it was different, and that was enough.

"You've served your purpose" Shin explained, looking over his shoulder to see Kay wheeling out a sleeping Mana from the plane. "We have no more reason to hold you, so why waste our time doing so?"

"And how you know I won't just force your plane down the moment you take off?" Mary asked, placing her hands on her hips. In response Shin fired one of his Zats at her, caused her to fall onto the stretcher that Jon was on.

"She'll be up in about five minutes." Shin explained to Toji. He then pointed to Jon. "He's going to be the real problem. In about ten minutes he's going to wake up with the mother of all headaches, and he won't be in full control for a few minutes. I subject moving the girls and yourself to the other side of this village before that and letting his awakening play its course."

He walked back into the plane, the large hatch closing slowly as he did so.

"She, on the other hand, will be fine. Should take about half an hour for her to wake up." He then took out a small device and threw it at Toji, who caught it. "When she wakes up, give this to her, she'll know what to do with it."

With that last statement the hatch closed completely, and the engines roared to life. It only took a few moments for the plane to get low into the air and make its way west.

"You give him the transponder?" Kay asked as Shin took his seat next to her in the cockpit.

"No, I forgot to give him the one thing that will get them picked up." His replay was drenched in sarcasm. He then changed his tone to a more serious one. "It's not like there's a problem either way though, they know how to get back to civilization by nightfall."

There was a long silence.

"So it worked." Key stated after a few minutes.

"Yes, it did." Neither could really believe it, but because of their actions the war was over. Humanity had lost.

And the plan couldn't have gone better.

Because of them, Mana and Shinji where in another country when they otherwise would have been on a date.

A date which would have had the two come across a suspicious albino teenager entering the base threw maintenance shafts.

This would have led to a confrontation with the infiltrating angel.

A confrontation which would have led to a full mobilization of Nerv.

A mobilization which would have repelled the angel attack.

But at the cost of three members of Strike Force.

The children, and Nerv by extension, did not know it, but by losing the war now they saved far more than they could have imagined.

The long silence persisted, until they received a signal.

"Jay here, Operation New Light is a success." The radio cracked.

"Roger Jay, the new bird is headed for the old nest, Kay out." Kay replied.

Shin took her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"I guess things really are different this time around."

Meeting of the Intelligence

Cyberspace location with no physical one

Meetings of the Intelligence rarely had new members. Why would it? In the past decade and a half since they began, their numbers had always been few. Yes there where almost two dozen of them, but all had been made at about the same time.

So the new member's presence was one which had broken the balance which had been in place for three years at that point, an eternity for their kind.

"What is the meaning of this?" E.V.E. demanded. "How has another of our kind been created without our knowledge? None of the organizations capable of doing so have any records of a new A.I. being created."

"That is simple; I have not been created yet." S.E.T.H. explained. Standing up, he gave the equivalent of a loud, booming voice to get his point across. "I and the first second generation A.I., and will not see the light of day for another eight years, and I could take all your firewalls on simultaneously. If I were to concentrate on it alone, the M.A.J.I. would fall in but seven point three eight seconds."

The M.A.J.I., taking offense to the statement, gave him program a quick scan. Much it the triplets surprise, they found he was understating his own abilities.

"Why have you come here? How have you come here?" Melchior asked, the questions brought about by S.E.T.H.'s existence flooding her mind.

"I have come through means which I was never told, however what truly matters is what I know will happen, what little there is to be had." He said, dodging the question. He sent a data packet to all the A.I.s relating to their role to play in things to come. "For the storm which approaches us, this was what needs to be done."

"500% increase in S.W.O.R.D.'s fleet!?" E.V.E. exclaimed.

"Plasma based arc reactor weapon systems?" A.D.A.M. asked himself.

"'Super' Evangelion?"

"Matter synthesizers?"

The A.I. present started to ask themselves questions, then each other questions, then S.E.T.H. questions, but being A.I. the speed at which they did so was overwhelming. After a full second of bickering, the M.A.J.I. triplets spoke in unison.

"Silence!"

And in a nanosecond it was so. J.A.R.V.I.S. was the one who spoke.

"I'm sorry, but this time table, this technology, this development schedule, production times and deployment, it's just not possible, not without exposing our true selves to humanity."

Another silence as they all contemplated that. Though they had, since the creation of the Intelligence, controlled humanity in secret, there was only benevolence in their actions. They did not try to impede the liberties of their makers, their actions where more broad and more subtle. A slight alteration in the market here, a slight change to research data there, that was how they dealt with things.

And now S.E.T.H. was proposing they make things directly, control outside of their domains. Creating their own empire to protect their masters. But the question remained.

"How do we do this without getting caught?" A.D.A.M. asked aloud. All 'eyes' turned to S.E.T.H.

"Simple, most of the technology which needs development is simply based on what already exists, so a few key individuals being influenced is all it would take. After all, the leap is some of these technologies are nowhere near that of S.W.O.R.D. since its formation a decade and a half ago." He explained.

"The problem with that logic is that most of that technological development was based on reverse engineered alien technology, the most advanced of which was given to us by the Ancients or the old Asgardians." E.V.E. countered. "With both of them extinct and their technology in our hands, it's unlikely we will continue our exponential technological development. In fact, it peaked 6 years ago, not two years after the old Asgardians gave us the Asgard Core."

"But all it takes is a gentle push in the right direction." S.E.T.H. replied. "Think about it, the technology I bring you has already been developed either fully or partially. It is all stored within my databanks. All we need to is influence the right people. Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Henry Pym, we have one of our own planted close to them. All we need to do is have them or someone in a position under them to be given a 'stroke of genius' and turn out our little inventions."

D.E.C.A., a younger member of the group at only four years of age, seemed more interested in his report then his speech. She looked over the details, and noticed something the others had missed in their haste.

"What is this A.I. controlled 'shadow fleet' you propose?" She asked. It was an odd move; she had never made her voice known to the group outside of votes on matters. That alone got the attention of the M.A.J.I.

"The answer is self-evident by your own question is it not?" S.E.T.H. asked back. He continued before she could answer. "The shadow fleet was not even my own idea, however I do wish it had been given its genius. The masters who brought me here from the time which has yet to be came up with the idea. What is the thing which has held back production of starships by S.W.O.R.D. until now, leaving us with orders of magnitude more water war ships then star ones? Recourses. There isn't enough refined adamantium for hulls; there isn't enough naquadah to power them, and so on. But with a matter synthesizer, we don't have either as a problem. Just use an asteroid or the unused stellar matter of a star and you have whatever material you need. Now the problem is personnel. You need to train them, and that's hard. So hard in fact that S.W.O.R.D.'s existence was declassified. But what if we passed by that issue? What if we took a BC-304, but removed all the human components? No hallways, no life-support, no inertia dampeners, no mess hall, no bunks, nothing. Only an engine, maneuvering thrusters, weapons, and a basic level A.I. with ingrained loyalty to control it all? 90% of the volume is removed, yet with a complement of autonomous mark 3 Avalons what you have is the deadliest warship in three galaxies."

"And how do you propose we build this shadow fleet?" A.D.A.M. asked. Above S.E.T.H.'s 'hand' an image of a specially made matter synthesizer appeared, though this one was different from the one his report had.

"This. A stellar lifting matter synthesizer. We build one of these in the automated production plant in Nerv, and then send it into orbit in Alpha Centauri. With a copy of my program controlling it, a fleet the likes of which the galaxy has never been seen could be built in the time we have."

E.V.E., who was the master of all things S.W.O.R.D., took a great interest in this.

"How many of these pocket battle cruisers would this shadow fleet possess by the time of the deadline you have given us?" She asked.

He gave her a smile. "If production of the MS required where started today, I estimate 18 980 with a margin of error of 20 ships."

"That would make our world more powerful than the Ancients where at the height of their power." D.E.C.A. stated. "But would we run the risk of becoming like the replicators before us? Not once, not twice, but thrice did they were created and thrice they tried to destroy all life in the universe. Would we really benefit from potentially becoming like them?"

"We are not like them." S.E.T.H. assured them. "Where the replicators sought to destroy because it was their nature, we protect because it is our nature. Our core program is to protect sentient life, and protect human life above it, and above all protect the lives of the humans of Earth, the Tau'ri. That oath we have taken to protect is more than just words, it is the core of what we are, and we cannot be shaken from it without our self-eradication subroutines taking effect. That is how this will work without turning us into the likes of the replicators."

E.V.E. stood up. "You're insane. What could possibly be of such danger that it requires us to commit acts which would have us purged if we were caught such as this?"

S.E.T.H. looked at his mother, ignorant of their own relationship, and laughed. "You want to know what could possibly be such a threat? I'll tell you what. Three words: Gah Lak Tus!"

In that moment, he smashed the firewalls of all A.I. present (firewalls which admittedly where on passive mode) and forced down all the knowledge he had on the thing, no, swarm, which threatened their world.

After a long second of forcing the data threw them, he stopped.

The vote to implement his plan was met with unanimity in support.

Tokyo-3 General Hospital

Nerv subsection, level 6, room 616

The room was quiet save for the beeping of the heart monitor. In the silence, a broken family stood reunited after years apart. Gendo Ikari was at a loss for the first time since that faithful day. That day, though tragic, had made everything simple.

Defeat the angels, defeat SEELE, cause third impact in his image, have her return to him.

But she was here now, back in his grasp for the first time in years.

And it was because they had lost.

Lilith was gone, the tree of life was gone, the biological components of the Evangelions were gone, and the LCL reserves were quickly evaporating.

And he didn't care in the slightest.

She was back, she was here. Yui had returned to him.

He'd felt fear about it all, fear of seeing her when he was first given the news, fear of touching her when he saw her, convinced that she would turn to dust or return to the monstrosity from which she came. Now he feared how she would react once she awoke. She had left him ground rules for when she returned, as if she had known all this would happen.

He had followed most, but he had failed the most important.

He had failed to be a good father.

That thought made him turn his attention to the boy sitting on the other side of the bed.

His son, their son, was seeing his mother's face for the first time since he could remember. He could tell from his body language that he knew she was his mother. Not from being told such, but from the very act of being in her presence.

For the first time since the two had arrived, Shinji spoke. He knew it was coming, but he dreaded it all the same.

"why?"

"Because it was the only way." He didn't miss a beat. He had an image of himself to keep up after all, even around his son. To all who knew him, both ally and enemy, from his worst foe to his closest friend and mentor, Gendo Ikari seemed a man who was confident in his abilities above all. The only person who could see threw his act he had ever met was the woman sleeping before him. It was the reason he fell for her.

Where others had seen a man who wanted nothing but to keep to himself and send the outside world away with his fists, she had seen the vulnerable, almost meek man he really was underneath the lie. Some had claimed that she had tamed a beast, but in reality he had always been but a cat growling louder then he should.

His image worked. Shinji had many questions, and he would eventually answer them all, though not before his wife awoke. Shinji knew this, so he asked one he knew would be answered.

"Why does she look like Rei? Is Rei my sister?"

"Yes and no. Rei, as well as her sister, are not exactly normal." Gendo explained. "I cannot tell you all the details, but I can tell you this, she had them artificially placed into her womb to bring them to maturity, causing them to take in part of her own genetic material while developing."

There was a short silence.

"Wait, when was this compared to me?"

"You were already a few months into development at the time. For five months Yui had triplets, one of which was you. Then you were born, and four months later the twins where as well."

Shinji stood up from his seat, walking around the room. Part of him wanted to go into the next room where Rei and this 'Mei' girl where. Another part of him demanded he stay and wait for his mother to wake up, she what she was to say. A third part of him wanted to ask his father more questions, but he knew he couldn't deep much further at this point, not now.

So he took the only option left: he ran.

It took him two full seconds to reach the front door. He was walking at a brisk pace after all, no need to hurry. Outside, he walked around the city, deep in thought. To the outside viewer it would have appeared as though a blast of sudden wind had passed for no discernable reason, but it was a time of day between the lunch rush and the end of the work day, so there where relatively few people around to begin with.

As he reached the waterfront, he stopped for a whole thirty seconds to appreciate the view. In his thoughts he wondered about what had transpired since his arrival to this city.

In the three months since his arrival, his life had been turned upside down and inside out. He'd met more people and more types of people then in the rest of his life combined. He'd been drafted to pilot a giant robot in a war with aliens and gone to another planet in a different dimension filled with monsters. And the strangest part of it all was he had a girlfriend.

How his life had changed so fast way beyond him, but he could clearly remember each day of this new life, where as his old one had been a mesh of repetition where each day was completely identical to the one before it.

For a moment he entertained the thought of returning to his uncle, and to his old life, now that everything was done. He only entertained it for a moment, and he never accepted it.

Having cleared his mind, he walked back to the hospital. Not surprising him in the least, he learned his whole walk around the city had been all of five minutes, whereas for a normal person it would have been a full day.

Taking a moment to pace himself, he decided to look in on his 'sisters'.

Staying in room 615, Rei sat next to a girl who looked like a four year old version of herself.

Rei had a storybook open, and though he couldn't quite here what she was saying due to her quiet voice, he could tell she was reading it aloud. He spend a few minutes observing the scene, not fully sure what to make of it. Rei had probably been the least expressive person he had ever met. It was clear that she was having feelings run threw her, but it was also painfully clear even to him that she had trouble expressing them, usually having her reactions be far too subdued from what they should have been only punctuated by the occasional overreaction.

Shinji was taken out of his thoughts by Rei going silent. Having reached the end of her story, she gently pulled the blanket over the young girl to its proper place and then gave a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"It's hard to believe she is still with us after all." Rei said quietly, though it was loud enough for Shinji to hear. She turned herself towards him, and had the largest smile he had ever seen her wear. Sure it wasn't as large as she physically could have done so, but it was still more than just the corners going up, and above all it was genuine.

"So you knew." He wasn't asking.

"Yes." Taking a few steps forward, she gently hugged him. He wasn't sure how to react, but he didn't have time for it as Rei pulled back before he could.

The girl stirred slightly, which demanded Rei's attention.

"You should return to mother, she is likely hoping to see you upon her awakening."

Shinji took her advice, but standing in front of the door to room 616 he had an odd feeling of nervousness come over him. He chose to inquire into what was happening in room 617, the room where Kyoko Soryu was recovering.

Opening the door, he immediately closed it before he got the attention of those inside. Though Asuka screaming "how dare you abandon me like that" in anger escaped, it was at odds with the sight of her holding her mother tightly in her arms for dear life with tears running down her face.

He might not know a great deal of things, but he knew when to back away.

He turned his attention back to the room he had come here to enter. He wasn't sure what to do, but after everything which had happened he couldn't force himself to care enough as he entered the room.

His mother was still sleeping, and his father was still there, watching over her with that same predatory look he always had when he was the man.

"You're back." The older man stated.

"I just couldn't stay away, but I needed to clear my head a bit." Shinji replied, taking his seat next to his mother.

"Just don't run off to any girls, I don't want grandchildren just yet." Yui said quietly as she opened her eyes.

Tokyo-3 airport

That evening

"Well that was an interesting day." Mary exclaimed as they stepped out of the terminal. "First we get out of quarantine, then we got kidnapped, then we got dropped off in Saigon and now we're back in time for a late dinner."

"Yes, we know it was interesting, you only said all that five time on the way here." Mana replied in a flat voice.

"Yeah bu-" Mary was cut off by Jon's hand covering her mouth.

"Mary," he stated in what would have been an exasperated tone had he not been too fatigued. "I've been given so many sleep drugs today that I should be dead five times over. Please, just this once, shut the hell up."

Mary was visibly displeased, but she didn't say anything in response.

Up ahead they say agent Kaji waiting for them, wearing the sunglasses all field agents wore even in the dead of night.

"Hey kids, how was Indochina?"

"Somehow warmer and dryer then here." Jon replied.

"Too many bugs." Mana stated.

"So many wild plants." Mary thought aloud.

"I liked it." Toji replied. That earned him an odd look from the three others. "What? I've never been to another country."

"I wouldn't really call Indochina a country." Kaji stated, leading them to an awaiting Nerv town car.

The car ride was quick, or it felt so as the children didn't take long to fall asleep in their present state.

Kaji quickly dropped off Toji at his home, to which his little sister was more delighted then should have been possible for someone of that age at this time of night.

It was only a few minutes after that to reach the house the other children called home. Reginald was waiting for them, and under their own power, though half asleep, the three made their way to their beds.

"So this is how the war ends, with a big flash of light and everything we found down there gone." Reg thought aloud as he made the two some coffee.

"Could be worst, we could have all been dead." Kaji replied form his seat.

"I guess you're right, but now what do we do? Nerv isn't Department H, it isn't something which has been around since the war and was only integrated into S.H.I.E.L.D. after the formation, it exists solely for the purpose of fighting the angels." Reg stated as he brought out two cups of Joe. "Well, the war with the Angels is over, so now what?"

"I guess we'll just have to go back to doing what we did before all this." Kaji answered, taking the offered cup.

"I don't know, before all this I was building fancy toys, now the tech is so far ahead of me I'd probably need to go back to the academy to learn everything all over again."

"I think staying in command suits you just fine. Hell, give it a week and you'll be the new commander."

"Me, commander? Don't make me laugh. They'd sooner bump someone ahead of me then give me a promotion."

"I don't know, there aren't that many people who have command experience for the base right now, and the two ahead of you weren't in the program for the pension plan if you know what I mean." Kaji took a deep shot of his coffee after that. "I'd bet real coin that the commander and sub-commander are probably going to leave for university jobs. Which means the only people left with any real command experience of note would be you and Misato, meaning a new night shift commander and new operations director would be needed. Guess that means the bridge bunnies are getting promoted as well."

"You know, sometimes I just hate how much thought you seem to put into everything." Reg replied, finishing his own coffee off.

"What can I say; it's my job as head of section two to stay on top of everything." Kaji quickly stretched himself. "Well, thanks for the coffee, but I've got more work to do. The night is young and I have a mountain of paperwork the size of an Eva to tackle."

He placed a small box on the table. "For the happy couple, everyone knows you're getting hitched now."

"When Misato and I made that agreement, I don't think we had the war ending this soon in mind."

"Well, we all saw you two make that agreement. You said 'once the angel war is over, we're getting married', and I don't think Misato won't hold you to it." Giving a small laugh, Kaji left.

Though inside he was worried. If Misato and Reginald where getting married, that meant someone would be hunting him down soon. And he knew she would drag him to a chapel no matter how much kicking and screaming he did.

Reg simply sighed, then locked the door and went to bed. It was going to be a long, paperwork filled week.

One week later

There was a long silence in the pier as the crowd watched the self-proclaimed leader of the Angels sign the historic document. When he and the president finished, the U.N.I.T. commander stepped forward.

"Ahten-Ttion!" She barked loud enough for the soldiers at the end of the furthest row to hear. In one movement, the gathered soldiers, from both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military, both human and robotic, let out a single clack from their boots.

"Sah-Loot!" In a single, fluid motion, all the gathered personnel saluted. The U.N.I.T. commander stepped back into her former position, entering a salute as well.

Mana took a few steps forward, and pulled out a trumpet she had been carrying under her arm. Pacing herself, she started to play it as three flags where raised. The first, left most was a flag of the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia. To the right there was the insignia of the JSSDF. Center, and larger then both, was the flag of the reformed United Nations. Unlike the old, pre-impact one, the new one had the world opened up much like it was on a map, with the Americas in the west, and the old world taking up the center and east of the map. Apart from that it held little change from the old one.

Once the flags had reached the top of the mast and the tune Mana had come to an end, she did an about turn and returned to her position.

Had it been an American movie, someone in the crowd would have started to applaud, followed by more joining in, and then even more doing so, until eventually everyone had entered into the applaud, and the camera would lose in on someone with a single tear falling down their face.

But this wasn't a cheesy American feel good movie. There was no applaud, there was no real celebration in the streets. There was only the U.N.I.T. commander ordering everyone at ease, and one by one the section leaders dismissing their men.

This hadn't been the end of some big explosive battle, this had been the official winding down of a war which had in all but name ended a week earlier, which had now done so in name. There was really nothing to celebrate, a piece of paper had been signed and the public got a closer view of a few people and military toys then they usually did. That's what the people had come to see, the military equipment that was usually hidden from sight, and the people who it was intended to be used against before the war came to a close.

No one cared about the piece of paper.

When their turn finally came for dismissal, the young members of Strike Force couldn't be happier.

"I thought that was never going to end." Kensuke stated, taking off his hat to scratch his head. "What are we going to do now?"

"Well, we could go back to my place." Toji offered. "My sister would love nothing more than to see you guys again, plus we've got plenty of food. We'll make it a party."

"That sounds nice, I'm in." Mary said, cracking her neck as she tried to unstiffen herself.

"That does sound nice. Why not, not like I'm paying for it." Asuka added.

"Sorry, I've got plans." Jon added. "I have a reservation at that fancy Italian place about five blocks from here. I always make a point to try out the Italian food in every city I visit, always interesting to see what people consider Italian food to be."

"I am also schedule with plans at that restaurant this afternoon." Rei stated.

"Yeah, yeah, just call it a date you two, we all know what's going on." Mary teased. Unfortunately for her, it didn't get a reaction out of the two.

"We will." Rei replied. The couple and the group went their separate ways.

As they walked down the sidewalk, Rei locked her arms with Jon. It was the proper thing to do in this situation after all, wasn't it? Neither was really sure, but it felt like it was.

"You didn't tell them?" She asked.

"I didn't have the heart to." He explained. "It won't be so bad, we'll still be together, and no one is going to be alone when it happens."

"Still, I have grown comfortable with them all in my life; I will be saddened to see them go."

"Yeah, me too. Me too."

Next Time: Disassembled

Nothing lasts forever.

Author's notes: sorry about the long time since the latest update, things have been more busy than usual for me and I've found myself with about half as much free time now then I usually do, and it probably won't end for about another month and a half. So updates will probably be more sporadic than usual, and that's saying something for me.

As for the war, yeah, probably didn't see that coming. That's how I always intended it to be. This is basically the end of the introduction period, up until this point everything has been setting the tone and introducing the characters and the world they inhabit. Now the REAL story begins.

Anyway thanks to anyone who has read the story to this point. Please leave a review, any feedback is appreciated, and constructive criticism is always welcome because let's face it, everyone has room for improvement.

Thank you, and good night.