Chapter 10

The Evangelions had been humanity's greatest weapon, and their only hope to defeat the Angels. Conventional weapons could not even hope to pierce their main defense, the AT-Field, except in ludicrous quantities or through the use of N2 weaponry. The only thing stopping an Evangelion from being automatically considered a similar threat to the safety of humanity was the massive investment that building one required, as well as the infrastructure needed to keep it functional.

Unit-00 had self-destructed, utterly annihilating itself along with the Sixteenth Angel. Unit-02 had been torn to shreds by the Mass Production Evangelions sent by SEELE. Unit-01 was used in the ceremony to initiate Third Impact, and ended up in outer space.

It was therefore not only a complete surprise to the NERV officers to see all three in the cages before them, but also an incredible shock to see the current state of two of them: Unit-00 was completely armour-less, and Unit-02 was little better. Scraps of metal plating still clung to Unit-02's body, but it was mostly uncovered and lined with horrific scars. It was clear now what had scared Maya; she had practically ended up face-to-face with the massive fleshy head of Unit-00.

Misato had once stared into the uncovered eye of Unit-01 during the operation to retrieve Shinji from the Evangelion's core. That alone had been unsettling enough, but seeing the other two behemoths in their state was worse. They looked much more like the monsters they truly were.

"My god..." The astonishment was obvious in Ritsuko's voice. "T-they're not supposed to be here anymore..."

"You're stating the obvious, Rits." Fear and anger jockeyed for position on Misato's face. With the Evangelions gone, there would have been nothing more to endanger her children. Now that all three were back, however...

Ritsuko finally broke out of her daze. "Get up to the control room and get the Evangelions locked down!" she yelled at the technicians. "Without their armour, they're a potential danger to us and the entire base! Flood the cages with Bakelite if you have to!

Makoto was the first to move, tugging Maya along as he left the cage. Shigeru stopped at the door and spared an apologetic glance at Misato before turning to catch up to his fellow technicians.

The two senior officers watched and waited. A tense minute passed before warning bells sounded as the restraints latched onto the Evangelions and locked them down. Misato held her breath, almost expecting one of them to awaken and go berserk, but there was no response from the Evangelions as they slid into their resting position.

Ritsuko contacted the control room. "Just keep them restrained for now. Don't connect them to our systems yet."

"Roger that, senpai," came the terse reply. "Does that include power umbilicals?"

"Affirmative. Physical restraints only. I don't care if their batteries are drained. That hasn't stopped an Evangelion from activating before anyway. If one of them even twitches, flood the cage."

"This is wrong," Misato quietly said. "Why are they back? The Angels are gone, we don't need these... abominations anymore."

The two of them left the chamber and started heading to the control room. The door to the cage hissed quietly shut behind them, and Ritsuko keyed in the lock code before replying.

"Whatever the reason, we're stuck with them, Misato. And until we can get new armour on Zero and Two, we're going to have to keep a constant watch on them. We can't afford a berserking Eva, especially now."

Misato grit her teeth. "We should just dump them in Terminal Dogma and collapse the chamber on them. No good will come of keeping them around."

"Misato, I know how much you hate the Evangelions, but why go to such extreme measures to get rid of them?"

Misato stopped and planted an arm against the wall in front of Ritsuko. "Tell me, Rits. What are the Evangelions? What is the one single word you would use to describe them?"

They stared at each other for a moment. While anger showed prominently in the major's body language, fear was evident in her eyes.

"The answer you want to hear from me is 'weapon', Misato," Ritsuko said as she broke eye contact and resumed walking. "And yes they are weapons, first and foremost. You are worried about what will happen when humanity is restored."

"I'm worried about the kids, Ritsuko! They are the only ones that can pilot them. What if Germany gets back on its feet and decides it wants Unit-02 and its pilot back? Are you going to be the one to tell Asuka she'll be forced to leave Japan? You know that they'll claim that there's no more reason for us to keep them with the Angels gone."

The scientist raised a hand and thoughtfully tapped her chin. "With Evangelion and N2 technology, and no outside threat to keep humanity united, there is a good chance that people in high places will start getting... ideas about expansion. There might come a time when an Eva would be forced to fight against a human force, or even another Eva." She turned and pointed at her friend. "That is what you truly fear, isn't it Misato?"

Misato halted in her tracks as her worries were voiced by somebody else. She had promised to do everything she could to protect Asuka and Shinji, but even a NERV major could not overrule an entire government. It would be depressingly easy to coerce or threaten a pilot into 'pro-actively' defending their home, even one as headstrong as Asuka.

"Well," Ritsuko continued, not having stopped her stride. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. Humanity first needs to rebuild, which will likely take quite some time. Speaking of which, we need to start communicating with the outside world. People might have started returning. We need to make ourselves known and co-ordinate relief efforts. I'm going to start work on that. You should go see Asuka in the meantime. She'll probably be happy to know that her Eva is back in one piece." She turned down the hall leading to the Evangelion control room. "Mostly."

Misato snorted humourlessly as she walked away. "Bet you a beer you're wrong." If anything, Asuka would likely be just as worried as her after everything the girl had been through.

XX

Asuka was almost beginning to fall asleep again as she sat next to the bed. The scan had been mildly interesting for a short time but her college degree did not cover anything like this, and so the readouts were useless to her. She tried to keep her mind occupied by thinking about the mystery of her perfect lunch, made by a boy who had never even seen anything German before meeting the redhead.

'The meal that I loved, and the chocolate that always cheered me up. Once is happen-stance, twice is coincidence,' Asuka thought. 'If I go back to the apartment and find a packet of German biscuits hiding in a cupboard, there's going to be a problem.'

While Asuka had spoken to Shinji about German meals, mostly about how she would much prefer one to a Japanese dish, as far as she could remember those two precious memories of her mother had never been mentioned.

"Maybe you're just incredibly lucky, Dummkopf," she muttered to the unconscious boy. "It certainly wasn't pure skill that got you to this point alive."

A hand on her shoulder almost made her shriek in surprise.

"I don't really care about what got him this far, Asuka," Misato said from behind, ignoring the glare Asuka shot her way. "We're all here. We survived the worst life had to throw at us, and that's what matters."

The scans had apparently finished. The waldos started to retract into the ceiling, and a soft chime emanated from the console nearby. Almost at the same time, Shinji's eyes began to open. While it looked like he was naturally waking up from a long sleep, the still-vacant look in his eyes showed that nothing had changed, to the disappointment of both females.

"Is this really surviving, Misato?" Asuka wondered out loud. "Shinji is almost mentally dead, and you and I both actually died."

The woman gently began stroking the boy's hair, and tried to avoid looking into his eyes. She didn't know how to answer the girl.

"So are you going to let me know what was so important that you all ran off and left me here?" Asuka asked.

Misato told her, without looking away from Shinji. The lack of response from Asuka finally made her look up, to see that the redhead was white as a sheet.

"They're... they're back?!" she stammered. "Mein Gott. And here I thought we'd finally get to have normal lives."

'Told you, Rits,' Misato thought to herself. Out loud she said, "Ritsuko thought you'd be happy about it."

Asuka stood up so fast her chair nearly fell over. A mixture of emotions swirled over her face as she paced the room. "I thought I would be too, not that long ago. It's just... You know my mother was in Unit-02. Now I only want to see if she's still there. If she managed to escape the Sea like we did."

Once again, Misato put her hand on Asuka's shoulder as the girl walked past her. Asuka stopped and took a deep breath, looking down at the ground and clenching her fists.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up that she would return. Mama said that even she didn't think it was possible. But Unit-02, the thing that housed her soul for a decade, what if she managed to get out of the Sea and is back in there somehow?"

She was dragged back towards the bed as Misato wrapped her in a hug. "You feel that you have to see if your mother is in Unit-02," the woman said. Asuka nodded as best as she could against Misato's chest, but didn't speak. "Look, for now there's nothing you can do about it. There is too much strangeness about the Evangelions, so you won't even be able to get near an entry plug for a while. Even if we decide to activate the Evas, Rits will want to run thousands of tests on them just to be sure that they're safe."

"Where the hell is she anyway?" Asuka asked as they broke the hug. "Shinji's tests are finally done."

Misato pointed towards the communication panel, and Asuka immediately went over to contact the control room. Ritsuko answered, and acknowledged the completion of the tests.

"I can transfer the results to my terminal here and look them over. Right now we're setting up automated messages to the outside world, so this will give me something to do while waiting for a response."

The scanner beeped as the transfer began, and Asuka closed the channel before returning to the bed. Misato was now holding Shinji's left hand and stroking the back of it with her thumb. Her other hand was once more going through the boy's hair. She idly commented that Shinji could do with a haircut, to which Asuka nodded.

"He needs a wash, more than anything," she said. "The idiot's been wearing those same clothes since I saw him on the beach."

"Are you offering, Asuka?" Misato slyly asked, trying to lighten the sombre mood that had fallen over the room. It appeared to work, as the girl's face almost turned the same shade as her hair.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you know how inappropriate that is?"

"The same could be said about any of us doing that though, but we can't simply ignore the problem. He needs fresh clothing, a bath, and a haircut." Misato let go of Shinji's hand and wiped the dirt and grime off on the bed. "And I can only do one of those things without you calling me an old pervert."

"Why don't we just tell him to do it himself?"

"Because it doesn't feel right ordering him around like we've been doing. He's a scared, sick boy, not a... a puppet with strings for us to yank on. Shinji deserves better treatment than that."

Asuka slapped her forehead in realisation; she hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah... I guess you're right. Alright, fine. I won't call you a pervert, Misato." She thought for a moment, before continuing. "Well, you did say he's pretty much your son, so I suppose it's kind of like helping a disabled family member."

The two began chatting for a while about what they would do upon their return to the apartment. Asuka realised that she would need some more clothes, considering that her rampage had destroyed much of what was in her closet. She decided to try and find something for Shinji at the same time. Misato was starting to respond with what she would have to do to assist with the relief efforts when a slight pressure on her hand stopped her.

Shinji's left hand had clenched ever so slightly tight around Misato's. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. Both females looked expectantly into Shinji's eyes and saw...

"Still nothing..."

"Gottverdammte... SCHEISSE!"

The explosion of anger shocked Misato, and she backed away from the bed as Asuka pounded on it with her fists and began swearing in German.

"I am so sick of this! I'm tired of being worried about him every time I see him twitch in his sleep! I hate getting my hopes up whenever it looks like he's finally responding!" She latched both hands onto Shinji's shirt and lifted him up. "Come back to us, damnit!"

For one brief moment, it seemed as if Shinji was looking at her before his eyes unfocused, but the lack of response caused her anger to dissipate as fast as it had risen. Asuka dropped him back down to the bed and slouched forward on the chair, hair now completely covering her face. Misato's first instinct was to drag Asuka out of the room for the outburst, but she could feel the girl's pain. That tiny amount of pressure on her hand had almost been too much for her as well.

Shinji's mouth parted slightly, unnoticed by the two of them.

"S'ry..."

That one mumbled word, despite the lack of any further response, was all it took. Asuka looked up, and then collapsed onto Shinji's chest. With all thoughts of punishment gone, Misato quietly walked up behind the girl and gently stroked her back as she sobbed.

"D-damnit... How did you do this to me?" Asuka choked out. "Why the hell am I crying about you?"

There was only one thing Misato could answer that with. "Because you care about him, Asuka. It's as simple as that. Shinji's hurt, and you feel like there's nothing you can do to help him."

"I... I care about him? About this idiot?" Asuka lifted her head, vision hazy as she looked back at her guardian through blurry eyes. "Is that really what it is? This... pain I feel?"

Misato nodded, unwilling at the moment to speculate on what else the girl felt for him, and Asuka buried her head in Shinji's chest again. She dragged another chair over to the bed and sat down next to the girl. One hand resumed stroking Asuka's back, and the other grabbed hold of Shinji's hand again.

She completely ignored the communication panel when it began beeping.

XX

Maya swivelled in her chair to face her mentor. "They're not responding, sen-... Ritsuko."

"Alright. Once I'm done here, I'll go back down there and let them know." Ritsuko looked back down at her primary monitor. Their efforts had already started to bear fruit. It had only been a few minutes since their first automated message went out before NERV HQ received a reply.

A retired police officer had come out of the Sea and seen a small group of returnees milling about nearby. He had guided them inland to an intact Angel shelter and later organised them into a scouting party to look for other people. They had then found more people, and the officer was waiting for their return when he picked up the message from NERV HQ.

"How many people are in that shelter right now?"

"Six, including me," replied the officer. "And one of them just now reported back that they found a family. Two parents and a child."

"Are all of them okay? No injuries or illnesses?"

"Nothing serious to report, ma'am."

"Very well. Look after them as best as you can. If you locate any NERV personnel, get them to contact us. As soon as possible, we are going to have to organise relief housing for the returnees. In the meantime, please continue sending out search parties. The quicker people know that we're recovering, the better."

While there had been no word from overseas as of yet, Ritsuko was optimistic that the same thing was happening worldwide. People were now starting to return, and so they would need to be looked after. Leaders would spring up and guide their groups to safety. Critical services like food production would start again, and organisations like the United Nations could eventually start sending aid elsewhere. It would take time, but humanity would recover.

Hopefully the world wouldn't descend into chaos as more aggressive types rose to power with nothing to stop them.

There was nothing she could do for now, though. Ritsuko turned to the secondary monitor at her workstation. Try as she might, the three words in front of her refused to change.

NO ANOMALIES DETECTED.

A worried-looking Maya got out of her chair and walked over to her. "Do you want want me to tell them, Ritsuko?"

"No," Ritsuko sighed, burying her face in her hands. "I'll do it. There's something I need to speak to Misato about anyway."

As she slowly went to get out of her seat, two hands gently pushed her back down and began massaging the scientist's shoulders. Ritsuko didn't bother to struggle, instead leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes. After a few minutes, the aches that had slowly been building up were gone. Ritsuko almost regretted that fact as Maya returned to her station after giving her a smile.

Even though the massage may have done nothing about the dread Ritsuko still felt, it had perked her up physically, and she now felt ready to face her friend with both the bad news about Shinji and... the other thing. She left the control room behind her and headed to the medical wing once more.

When she walked into the room, the way that Misato and Asuka got out of their chairs with expectant looks on their faces was almost enough to make her try to give an excuse and leave. Taking in a deep breath, Ritsuko stepped closer to the bed. Asuka appeared to have been crying, but the scientist tried not to let on that she had noticed.

"I can already see that you don't have good news, Rits," Misato said as she sat back down.

Ritsuko nodded, not making eye contact with either of them. "I'm... afraid so. The test revealed nothing. As far as the scanners are concerned, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Shinji."

"That's a load of bull!" Asuka exclaimed. "Just look at him, this isn't normal at all!"

"This has gone far beyond any concept of 'normal', Asuka." Misato placed a hand on Shinji's head. "If even NERV's best technology can't help him, I don't think anything can. Whatever he experienced in his role as the trigger for Third Impact, Shinji was so scarred by it that his mind has simply closed off."

"So you know about that," Ritsuko said. "At least that saves a little time."

The major looked up at her friend and narrowed her eyes. "Are you finally going to tell me everything?"

"Yes. I know you don't trust me as much as you used to, and I can understand that." The scientist brought a hand up to rub her eyes. Her glasses hadn't come back with her, and she couldn't find them anywhere. Squinting at computer screens was starting to give her a headache, and what was about to happen was not going to make it any better. "I just pray that what I'm about to tell you doesn't destroy what remains of our friendship."

Asuka got up out of her chair. "I'm sure I don't need to hear this. I know enough about what you did that just being in the same room makes me want to hurt you."

Ritsuko's eyes widened. She knew that Misato had a good idea of the truth behind Third Impact, but Asuka too? She stared at the girl as she took Shinji outside, which Asuka returned with hate in her eyes.

Just before the door closed behind her. Asuka heard a snatch of the conversation.

"Alright, what do you already know?"

"I got a lot of info from the MAGI right before the JSSDF attack..."

The hiss of the sliding door drowned out whatever else Misato was about to say. Asuka guided Shinji to the lounge out in the lobby and sat down next to him. With nothing to do but wait, Asuka's mind turned to the future.

How long would he stay like this? Technology had failed, but could a psychologist find a solution? Could anyone help him? Shinji's mental trauma appeared to have made him almost completely incapable of responding to the world around him, only capable of responding to her commands.

Asuka sighed and leaned back into the chair, tilting her head sideways to gaze at Shinji. If nothing could help him, there would always have to be somebody looking after him. Possibly for the rest of his life. Asuka couldn't stand the thought of placing him in a mental ward. While they would be perfectly capable of seeing to his needs, minimal as they were, they wouldn't really care about him, like Asuka now realised she did.

And if the story behind Third Impact was ever made public...

A crashing sound from down the hallway made Asuka sit up. A moment later, Misato stormed towards the lobby and stopped in front of her with her arms folded.

"We're going home," she said. The tone of her voice indicated that she would hear nothing to the contrary.

Returning to the apartment turned out to be easier than reaching the Geofront. With power restored, so too were the transport systems. Nearly all the train tracks needed to be repaired, but the quality of construction in the large car train meant that it was still usable.

In her current mood though, Misato seemed to barely even care that her car had survived intact. When she was told that the car train was functional enough to take her back to the surface she simply made a beeline for her beloved Renault Alpine A310, got in, and started it up after only a couple of attempts.

Asuka had honestly expected her to hug it first.

The redhead bundled Shinji into the back seat and sat next to him. When they reached the surface, Misato surprised the girl again by not driving in her usual insane fashion. She was driving rather sedately, apparently deep in thought about whatever Ritsuko had revealed, and only swerving to dodge rubble.

A few returnees were spotted on their way to the apartment. They looked up and waved at the car as it passed, before returning to whatever they were doing. The pair remained silent as they slowly pulled into the parking lot of their apartment complex. As they went up the stairs, Misato's shoes crashed down on every step as if they had personally wronged her.

They pushed the sliding door to their apartment open, and went inside. While Asuka took Shinji to his own room and got him into bed, Misato collapsed lengthways into the lounge chair with her eyes closed as fatigue started to catch up to her.

She would not remain alone for long, however. She heard Asuka walking back up the hallway to the kitchen, before stopping suddenly. A couple of minutes later, she heard the girl speak behind her.

"Hey Misato. I think I found something to cheer you up."

"Unless it's a cold six-pack, please stop trying," Misato muttered.

"I guarantee this is better than a hundred beers."

A heavy weight was suddenly placed in Misato's lap. What was the girl sounding so sure about? What could possibly-

Misato opened her eyes. Two beady green orbs in a white and black face stared back at her.

"I-is that...?"

"Wark!"

It was better than a thousand beers.


A/N: Wow, more than a hundred followers and over 10k views! Thanks to all of you for deciding to read my story!