Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC comics or anything associated with it and am making no profit off this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.


Chapter Fourteen: Eleventh Hour Discoveries

It was the middle of the night in Tokyo-3. The stars twinkled in a cloudless sky, while the moon bathed the city in its cool, silvery light. No Angels plagued the fortress of humanity that night, nor did any other fantastical threats make themselves known. Overall, Tokyo-3 was the very portrait of peace.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Misato Katsuragi's bedroom, where the lady of the apartment was tossing and turning almost violently in her sleep. Her pretty face was twisted into a grimace, and small pitiful moans were escaping through her clenched teeth.

Finally, with a loud gasp and a burst of explosive motion, she sat bolt upright, her brown eyes popping wide open.

For several long moments, she just sat there panting, her chest heaving.

"God damn it," she breathed softly to herself as her breathing gradually slowed. She leaned backwards a bit, propping herself up with an arm.

Her pajamas, which that night consisted of a tank top and a pair of panties, were completely soaked with sweat, and the temperature inside her room felt like it was few degrees shy of the melting point of lead. Getting up, Misato staggered over to the window, nearly tripping over several piles of dirty laundry and other junk several times as she went. With a heave, she pushed the window open.

The air outside her room was cooler than the air inside it but not by nearly as much as she had hoped.

She wanted a beer. Desperately. She could picture it so clearly in her mind's eye: the amber liquid shining like gold in a frosted mug, cold and delicious as it ran down her throat. If she'd still had any in apartment, she doubtlessly would've gone and helped herself to a bottle. If she didn't know all too well what happened when she tried to drown nightmares in alcohol, she would've seriously been considering a run to the liquor store, the late hour be damned.

As it was, she just stood in front of her bedroom window for several seconds, feeling frustrated and dressed in sweaty pajamas.

Getting absorbed by the Sixteenth Angel had not been as terrible as the mind games the Twelfth had put her through, but it still hadn't been pleasant. It had felt as though the Angel had run tendrils straight into her brain, connecting her to it. She had been aware of everything it had been using her power to do, but she hadn't been able to break free until the Evangelions had done some damage to the Angel, no matter how fiercely she fought it.

So, naturally, now she was having nightmares about not managing to escape it, where the Angel used the power of her ring to destroy the Evangelions and kill the Children.

I should go back to bed, she thought eventually, looking at her futon.

Unfortunately, she not only still felt wide awake, but she still felt incredibly hot, as well. She couldn't even imagine going back to sleep right now, not until she managed to cool down a bit, anyway.

Water. A glass of cold water might do the trick, even though it wouldn't taste nearly as good as a beer would.

She walked over to her bedroom door, then hesitated, wondering if she should put on some more clothing before she left the privacy of her bedroom. Then she shrugged and walked out. Feeling too hot was the whole problem, and adding more layers usually didn't help with that. Besides, Shinji and Asuka were probably sound asleep. Even if they weren't, it wouldn't be the first time they'd seen her in less clothing than could strictly be considered appropriate.

She trod over to the kitchen, finding it dark. Thanks to Shinji, there was no garbage to trip over in this part of the apartment, so she easily navigated it without light, getting a glass from the cupboard. Then she opened the fridge to get the pitcher of water inside.

Light streamed through the kitchen as the bulb inside the refrigerator automatically came on, illuminating the redhead sitting at the table. Startled by the realization that Asuka was right there, Misato barely managed to hold back a shout of surprise.

"What were you doing, sitting around in the dark?" the purple haired woman hissed.

"Having a drink," Asuka replied, holding up a can of fruit juice.

"But why didn't you turn on the lights?" Misato demanded as she did just that.

The redhead shrugged. "There didn't seem to be a reason to. I have good night vision."

If that was true, then Asuka was reacting remarkably well to having the lights turned on, Misato noted. She wasn't squinting or shielding her eyes at all.

Eventually, Misato gave a mental shrug, deciding that the redhead's eyes must've adjusted to the light a bit when she'd opened the fridge, or something.

"You know," Asuka said as Misato finally got around to pouring herself a glass of water, "if that top was white instead of black, it'd be transparent right now, you're so damn sweaty."

"It's hot out tonight," Misato said with a shrug as she took a long drink.

"Is that why you're prancing around half naked?" Asuka asked. "Or are you hoping the baka will catch a glimpse of you and finally start puberty?"

Despite herself, Misato couldn't help but smirk a little bit at that. "Well, I have made a few voices deepen early, in my day, and besides, a young man should know what a woman looks like," she said, thrusting her ample chest forward.

Not for the first time, she noted with pleasure just how firm and perky she was looking lately. Using her ring to remove an entire decade's worth of wear and tear from her body might've been an accident, but damn if she wasn't glad she'd done it.

"Of course, given how many glances Shinji steals, I think it's safe to say I don't need to invoke puberty in him," Misato said, cupping her significant bust and hefting it for emphasis.

Asuka rolled her eyes, looking exasperated and perhaps just a little envious. "Okay, sorry I asked. Now would you quit that? The pervert would enjoy this show, but I don't."

"Of course not," Misato said with just enough sarcasm to make the redhead roll her eyes again. "So, what are you doing up at this hour?" she asked, sitting down at the table next to Asuka.

"Couldn't sleep," Asuka replied just a bit too nonchalantly. "You?"

"Same here," Misato replied. "Needed to try and cool down a little before going back to bed."

The Second Child made a small grunt by way of reply to that, and for a while the two young women lapsed into silence, quietly sipping their drinks.

Eventually, though, Misato ventured a remark. "So…Shinji told me the other day how terrifying it was when the Fifteenth Angel attacked his mind," she said.

Even before the redhead opened her mouth, Misato knew she'd touched a nerve. Asuka's head jerked away from her can of juice to face her guardian, and her sky blue eyes flashed. "You think I'm as easily scared as the baka?" she demanded.

And this, Misato thought, is why it's so much more difficult to talk with Asuka than with Shinji.

If she wanted to discuss a subject like this and the Third Child didn't, he would attempt to pretend that everything was all right, but he'd do a very poor job of it. All she really had to do was push a little bit, and he'd admit he was being evasive and start talking.

Asuka, on the other hand, was prickly. Misato knew she'd have to choose her next words carefully, or she wouldn't get anything out of the redhead.

"I think," she said, "that going through that would leave anybody shaken, and it must've taken a lot of courage to attack the last Angel when it took the shape of the Fifteenth."

Asuka blinked at this, and Misato could almost see the gears in the redhead's mind turning as she tried to decide if the compliment to her bravery adequately made up for the implication that she'd been just as rattled by the Fifteenth Angel's attack as Shinji had been.

"You know, Asuka, I'm always here if there's anything you want to talk about, even if it's just to get it off your chest," Misato said.

The redhead sighed and mumbled something, too softly for the older woman to pick up on.

"What?"

"I said I've been having nightmares about the Fifteenth Angel," Asuka said, with more than a trace of anger in her voice.

Misato nodded, having expected that answer. "It's the burden soldiers have to bear," she said quietly. "We take the risks, and then, if we survive, endure the nightmares, so the civilians can live and be safe. So society can continue."

Asuka gave her a funny look in response to that.

"What?" Misato asked eventually.

The redhead shrugged. "I…don't think you ever spoke to me like that before," she said. Then, obviously seeing the older woman's confusion, she added, "Like an equal, I mean, or a comrade-in-arms."

"Oh," Misato said with a tiny, rueful smile. "Well, you've seen enough action for me to consider you a fellow soldier, even if you've had the most unusual tour of duty in the history of war. And you've grown up a lot recently, too."

That last part was truer than she'd really noticed until now, she realized. While Asuka was still somewhat hot tempered, and her rough edges definitely hadn't been entirely smoothed out, there was no denying that the redhead was a good deal more reasonable and responsible than she had been upon arriving to Tokyo-3.

Misato would've liked to think that was because of her, but between being the Ops Director and being the Green Lantern, she hadn't found very much time to spare for Asuka, she mused guiltily.

"Thanks," the redhead said.

Misato shrugged. "Just calling it as I see it."

They lapsed back into silence after that, and for a few minutes they just sat there, quietly sipping their drinks. Eventually, Misato finished her glass of water. Her body temperature seemed to have backed away from that of molten lava, she noted.

"C'mon," she said, getting up and putting her glass in the sink. "Nightmares or not, we still need sleep."

Asuka grumbled something that Misato didn't quite catch, but she threw her now empty can away and made to follow her guardian back to the part of the apartment that had their bedrooms.

"Oh, by the way," Misato said just before they parted ways. "Take it from a woman who's made mistakes. If you ever feel the urge to try drinking yourself to sleep when you have nightmares, don't. It really seems like it should work great, but it doesn't."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Like I would ever try that," she grumbled, just before disappearing into her room.

As irreverent as ever, Misato thought, shaking her head with a little, rueful smile.

Of course, there had been a time when she herself would've scoffed at the notion that she'd ever have problems with alcohol, too. Misato just hoped that Asuka turned out to be right in her certainty that she would never sink to that, or, failing that, that she was around to help her with her problems.


The Evangelion graveyard was usually one of the darkest places in Terminal Dogma. There was no need for light there; it was a dumping ground for the useless remains of failed attempts at creating giants. Any knowledge that NERV could've gleaned from them had either already been acquired or abandoned as unimportant and not worth the effort.

That day, however, light chased even the darkest shadows out of the usually dim room. Golden light.

Gendo Ikari hovered well above the floor of the massive chamber, clad in the uniform of the Sinestro Corps, a yellow halo blazing around him. He concentrated, and a beam of light streamed forth from the ring on his finger, quickly taking the shape of a massive hand. The ring construct reached down, grabbing the head of a dusty old Evangelion body…and easily crushed both armor and bone in its grip.

The Commander of NERV nodded slightly with satisfaction. His new power ring was nothing short of incredible. Indeed, if Green Lantern's ring could equal his own in terms of raw firepower, then it was no wonder she had managed to steal NERV's thunder so often. In fact, it was rather surprising she'd had as much difficulty with the Angel as she had.

The Old Men are in for a very unpleasant surprise, should they attempt anything in the closing days of the Scenario, Gendo mused.

As a consummate schemer, Gendo Ikari had no intention of scrapping all his current plans for more direct actions with his new power ring. If he had possessed it before, he doubtlessly would have worked its capabilities into his plans. With the completion of the Scenario so close at hand, however, he would be perfectly happy to allow his original plans to unfold, assuming that they did so without any undue complications. He never had been the type to act directly, preferring to use others to accomplish his goals, and gaining the yellow ring had not changed that.

However, it was good to know he now had insurance against even a catastrophic occurrence. If Keel, Green Lantern, or any of the city's other superwoman tried to interfere with his plans, they would pay. Dearly.

With that thought in mind, the Commander released several energy blasts from his ring, firing down another dead Evangelion prototype, turning it into Swiss cheese.

A tiny smirk appeared on his face. Even with no AT field to protect it, an EVA's armor was extremely tough, but it wasn't nearly durable enough to withstand his new power.

"I appear to have mastered constructs and energy blasts," he remarked.

"This ring still has other functions," the band of golden metal on his gloved finger hissed. "These include timed commands, inter-universal travel, and the ability to instill fear in a target."

Gendo's eyebrows rose with interest as he heard the last one, but it would have to wait. The elevator nearby released a chime, indicating that someone else was venturing down into NERV's restricted sub-basement.

The Commander quickly descended, his feet returning to the floor. Then his yellow and black uniform seemed to become more golden light, which was pulled into the ring he wore, leaving his NERV uniform behind. By the time the elevator doors slid open, there was no sign whatsoever that he now possessed a ring of power very similar and yet very different from Green Lantern's.

"Commander," Ritsuko greeted him as she stepped out of the elevator.

"Dr. Akagi," he replied curtly, annoyed at the interruption.

The bottle blonde hesitated for a moment, taken aback. Even in the safety and privacy of Terminal Dogma, he didn't tend to be any warmer to her than he was in the more public parts of the base, but he also usually wasn't colder, either.

"Ah, there's been some news," she said, eventually regaining her composure. "The Marduke Institute has just announced that they're sending us a new pilot." She handed him a manila folder.

Gendo opened it, ignoring the written dossier to look at the picture of the soon-to-be Fifth Child. The boy had ash gray hair and eyes as red as Rei's. Clearly, SEELE wasn't even trying to conceal what they were doing.

"Very well," he said. "It is, after all, not NERV's place to question the selections of the Maruke Institute."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow at that. While that was technically true, the Commanders could dismiss any pilot for any reason, and neither the Institute nor the Committee had any formal authority to stop them from doing just that. With the three pilots of their three Evangelions somehow still all alive and perfectly functional, Gendo could've made a solid argument against accepting the new boy.

Of course, that assumed he wanted to keep the would-be Fifth Child out.

"You…do know what he probably is, of course?" Ritsuko spoke up.

"Of course I do," he replied, irritated that she'd even felt the need to ask. "He must be dealt with before the Scenario can reach completion."

"I see," Ritsuko said. "Very well, then…is there anything else you require, sir?"

Gendo silently looked the bottle blonde up and down for a second, noting the way she was thrusting her chest out, not enough to be completely blatant about it, but more than enough for him to know she was making an offer.

For all she wanted to be different from her mother, Ritsuko was every bit as easy to manipulate as Naoko Akagi had been. If anything, she was even more needy than her mother.

"No," he replied bluntly. "I'm busy."

The bottle blonde responded by getting noticeably less subtle. With a faux casual movement, she pulled the zipper on the front of her shirt down a few centimeters, and lifted her chest a bit higher.

"You're certain?" she asked in a voice that was markedly less than professional.

"Yes," the Commander practically growled, that single word dripping with menace. "Get out."

Ritsuko paled. She would've sworn that his eyes had turned yellow behind his glasses for a second, but that was probably the least frightening thing about him in that moment.

"Of…of course," she stammered. "Excuse me."

With that, she all but ran back to the elevator.

Gendo watched her go without regret. Indulging another woman's desires, all in the name of getting his Yui back, had grown extremely tiresome over the years. With his plans nearing their conclusion, her assistance was not nearly as critical as it had once been; he could afford to snub her now, especially with his new power serving as a safeguard against any unforeseen complications.

"If I need her help, and if she tries to refuse me, she will know fear," Gendo said aloud as yellow light blazed around him once more.


Though not very well versed on popular culture, Shinji Ikari knew, of course, that giant robot shows were extremely numerous and popular in Japanese media. Yet so far as he was aware, none of them ever quite portrayed the pilots of the giant robots as being ordinary people when they weren't saving the world or whatever.

For instance, he'd yet to see a scene in a giant robot anime where one of the pilots spent time cleaning up their home, and Shinji himself did that regularly.

A lot of people out there would've said that such simple housekeeping tasks were beneath the pilot of a giant robot, but Shinji actually enjoyed cleaning. He found it to be very relaxing, not to mention wonderfully normal.

Besides, until NERV pays me enough to hire a maid or something, it's either this or living in squalor, he mused.

"There," he said as he finished with the kitchen floor. "Now what's next…?"

Going through his mental checklist, the Third Child initially couldn't think of anything else that needed doing. The carpets had met the business end of a vacuum cleaner only recently, the windows were clean, and there were no dishes in the sink.

"Oh," he said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "I forgot about Misato's room."

He normally didn't bother with his guardian's room; with the way she seemed determined to keep it a pigsty, trying to clean it was definitely an uphill battle. Also, it had always seemed a tad intrusive to him, even though Misato had never seemed to care much if he poked around in her room.

Still, the place needed to be cleaned occasionally, at least, and Shinji figured that Misato's room was probably overdue.

He told himself that his sudden determination to tidy the place a bit had absolutely nothing to do with the suspicions he'd recently developed about what his guardian was doing with her spare time.

Gathering up a garbage bag and an empty laundry basket, Shinji ventured into the heart of messiness, making a face as he took in the piles of trash and dirty laundry that almost entirely obscured the carpet in the room.

"How can anyone live like this?" he wondered aloud, shaking his head.

He wasted no time getting to work, throwing empty beer cans and other rubbish into his garbage bag. Once he'd gotten rid of most of the rubbish, he moved the laundry, carelessly tossing most of it into the basket, but handling Misato's undergarments like they were live explosives.

Though even with his trepidation, he still couldn't help but take note of just how large the cups of the bras were…

"Well, at least it looks fit for human habitation again," he remarked to himself as he surveyed the room.

Normally when it came to cleanliness, Shinji was a bit of a perfectionist, but he'd long ago accepted that where Misato's room was concerned, "good enough" was, well, good enough. He was about to leave when he remembered one last thing.

"The closet," he muttered to himself. There was probably a ton of dirty laundry in there.

Opening it up, he soon discovered that there was indeed a great pile of rumpled clothes sitting on the floor inside. With a sigh and a small, rueful smile, he started to gather it all up.

It's a wonder she ever has anything clean to wear, with the way she just leaves most of her wardrobe laying on the—

A beam of green light escaped from the pile of clothing then, briefly bathing the interior of Misato's closet in emerald light. Shocked, Shinji released a small yelp and dropped the armload of clothes he was carrying, covering the source of the light and plunging the closet back into shadows.

"No way," he breathed. He hadn't seriously thought he'd find reason to believe that Misato was the Green Lantern while he was at this. In fact, he'd forgotten that the idea had ever crossed his mind several minutes ago.

With suddenly shaking hands, Shinji slowly started picking up clothes again, and soon the green light reappeared. It wasn't long before the Third Child had exposed what looked like an old fashioned train lantern made of a dark green metal.

"Incredible," he breathed, grabbing the handle and picking it up. An otherworldly emerald light glowed from within the lantern, but there was no flame or heat.

He might have stared at it for several minutes, but the sound of the front door opening interrupted his amazement.

"I'm home!" Misato called.

Eyes widening, Shinji quickly shoved the lantern as far back into the closet as he could and dumped a big pile of laundry on top of it, stifling its light completely. Then he jumped to his feet, shut the closet door, and bolted out of the room, somehow carrying both the garbage bag and the laundry basket at once.

All the while, one thought kept running through his brain, as though endlessly repeating it would make it easier to believe.

Misato is the Green Lantern!


The next day, Misato was a woman on a mission.

Her mission to rescue Fuyutski from the grip of the Committee had technically been a success, but it had yielded very little of the information she had hoped to obtain. In fact, the only thing she'd really learned was just how deep her ignorance of what was happening behind the curtain truly was.

That wasn't acceptable, not when the EVA pilots were doubtlessly caught right smack in the center of whatever plans that the Commander and the Committee were hatching.

So, she went looking for Kaji, eventually finding the new Ops Director loitering by a bank of vending machines, drinking a can of coffee and looking exhausted. He didn't look up as she approached.

Misato felt a pang of guilt seeing him so obviously bone tired. After all, he wouldn't be stuck with her old job if she hadn't walked away from it.

She ruthlessly suppressed the feeling, however, reminding herself that she couldn't have done half as much good as Green Lantern if she'd kept the Ops Director post.

Looks like he's lost his little shadow, she thought, noting that Chiron didn't appear to be hovering around. Good.

"Hello, Kaji," she said.

He looked up at her, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, however, she gave him a good shove, pushing him against the wall and then all but pressing herself against him.

To anyone watching the base's security feeds, it would look like they were about to start necking. However, Kaji, who could see the look in her brown eyes, clearly never made the mistake of thinking Misato had romance on her mind.

"Hello there, Katsuragi. Is there something you wanted?"

Of course, that didn't stop him from making a smart remark. He just wouldn't have been Kaji otherwise.

"As you probably noticed, Fuyutski's back," she said softly. "I got him out of the dark cell they had him in."

"And a very good job you did of it, too," Kaji replied. "I knew you could do it, of course. You've always been as lethal as you are beautiful."

"Cut the flattery," she said in a low voice. "I'm not stupid. I know that it was probably your job to go and bust him out, but you couldn't do it because Section Two's been watching you so closely since you got my old position. I did your dirty work for you."
"Yes, so?" Kaji frowned. "Don't tell me you didn't figure that out before you did it."

"Of course I did," Misato scowled. "But the whole reason I did it was because I expected to learn something about what's really going on around here. I barely got anything out of Fuyutski, though. I didn't get much time to interrogate him."

"I didn't promise you a twenty minute interview with him," Kaji pointed out.

"True, but I want to know what the hell's really going on around here," she said. "And you're going to help me find out."

She didn't add the "or else", but she knew Kaji well enough to know he'd understand it was implied.

The long haired man's eyes flickered over to the security camera hanging from the ceiling, appraising what it could see and what it couldn't see. Then, he slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew a small white and red capsule.

"I think that this should help you find the information you want," he said, handing it to her. Misato could feel something small rattling around inside of it. "And god knows you'll have more opportunities to use it than I will. But be warned, you may be surprised by just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Don't come complaining to me if you don't like what you discover."

"I won't," she promised, slipping the capsule into her pocket. "And thanks."


"What a day," Shinji muttered to himself as he walked through the halls of NERV headquarters.

Ever since he had discovered the lantern in Misato's closet, he had been able to think of little else. He kept wondering if he should tell her that he knew she was Green Lantern. It might make it easier for her; she wouldn't need to hide it from him, and he could help her keep the secret from others. Also, he found that he very much liked the idea of being her confidant.

On the other hand, he was afraid she'd be angry at him for snooping. As much as he'd rationalized what he was doing at the time, in hindsight, there was no way to deny that he had gotten nosy and gone spying. The perpetually disastrous state of Misato's room had merely been his excuse, and he had little doubt that she'd immediately realize that.

Of course, dealing with a conundrum like that hadn't helped him at all during the math test he'd faced that day at school. He had a bad feeling that his grade in that subject was about to dip.

"Excuse me."

The soft voice instantly pulled the Third Child from his thoughts, and he looked up to see another boy his own age standing nearby.

"Um, hello," Shinji replied.

He wasn't sure what surprised him more: the presence of someone his age at NERV headquarters who wasn't Rei or Asuka, or that the boy had ash gray hair and red eyes just like the First Child.

The other boy smiled benignly. "My name is Kaworu Nagisa," he introduced himself. "I've recently been selected to serve as the Fifth Child. And you must be Shinji Ikari. I've heard a lot about you."

"You have?" Shinji asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes," Kaworu nodded, his smile widening. "Forgive me, but you seem rather ignorant of your position here at NERV."

The Third Child blinked, then chuckled. "I tend to be pretty ignorant of all the goings-on at NERV, actually," he said sheepishly.

Hell, half the time Kensuke knows more about what's going on around here than I do, he added silently.

"Is that so?" the gray haired boy asked, looking quietly amused. "Have you at least learned your way around headquarters?"

"Oh yeah," Shinji said at once. "Or, at least, I know my way better than some people, anyway." He added modestly.

At least he didn't still get turned around occasionally, unlike Misato.

"Then do you think you can show me around the base?" Kaworu asked. "I'm afraid I find the layout of this place quite confusing."

"Sure, I can give you a tour, I guess," Shinji said with a shrug. He had some time, and maybe it would get his mind to stop going in circles like a dog chasing its tail as he tried to decide what to do with his new knowledge about Misato.

Shinji proceeded to take Kaworu around the base, showing him all the places in it that an EVA pilot should know how to get to, everything from the commissary to the test plugs to the cages. The newly minted Fifth Child spoke rarely, but Shinji considered him good company anyway; the silences between them were comfortable rather than awkward, and there was something oddly soothing about the red-eyed boy's presence that put the Third Child at ease.

"And that's pretty much all the important stuff," Shinji said as he concluded the impromptu tour. "There are offices and labs and stuff all over the place, but we usually don't have to go there. This place really isn't that much of a maze once you get used to the layout of it."

"I see," Kaworu said, his perpetual smile still very much in place. "Thank you for showing me around, Shinji Ikari."

"Oh, you can just call me Shinji," he said. "Say, it's almost lunch time. You want to head down to the cafeteria and get something to eat?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot," Kaworu replied. "I have some synch tests scheduled for less than an hour from now."

"Ah, too bad," Shinji said. "Well, it was nice meeting you. I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Kaworu nodded. "Until then."

"See you," Shinji said, and with a little wave he parted ways from the newest pilot, thinking that he would probably enjoy working with Kaworu.

For his own part, the Fifth Child silently stood and watched Shinji's retreating back until the Third Child turned a corner and disappeared from his view.

Only when he was alone did Kaworu's smile twist into a small frown. "He was not quite as I expected," the gray haired boy commented to himself before turning and heading off to his sync test.


"The Fifth Child?" Misato asked.

"That's right," Ritsuko replied with a sigh. "The Marduke Institute recently recruited him, and we put him through the initial testing today."

Ever since she had stepped down from the Operations Director post, Misato had found that she had quite a bit of spare time during her workday, even with Kaji dumping a significant portion of her former paperwork on her.

Assuming, of course, that no Angel or anything else that might demand Green Lantern's attention showed up.

She spent a lot of her new free time goofing off in her office, but that often got boring, so she'd seek out Ritsuko. Oftentimes the bottle blonde had neither the time nor patience for her. Sometimes she did. And sometimes, she'd share some interesting bit of news with Misato.

"I'm surprised they didn't feel the need to inform me," the purple haired woman remarked. "After all, a new pilot showing up is pretty important."

"Well, I'm sure they informed Kaji," Ritsuko muttered with a shrug, not looking away from her computer screen.

"So how'd he do on those tests, anyway?" Misato asked.

"Extremely well," Ritsuko answered distractedly. "His initial sync ratio was far higher than even Shinji's was."

Misato's eyes widened. "That's incredible."

"Yes," Ritsuko said. "However, given that the first three Children are still doing quite well, amazingly enough, and Pilot Nagisa's complete lack of combat experience, he'll likely be a backup pilot unless something changes."

The volume of her voice dropped steadily as she told her friend this, so much so that Misato had to strain her ears to hear the last few words.

She was just about to remark on that when Maya walked into the office, carrying a manila folder. "Hello, Sempai, I—"

"Ah!" Ritsuko seemed to jump a foot before landing back in her office chair.

The petite brunette cringed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sempai!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to startle you like that!"

"It's…all right," the scientist replied, though she looked badly flustered. "Thank you for bringing those documents I asked for." She accepted the folder from her assistant. "You can go for the evening." She added, shooing Maya away.

"Right. Sorry again about scaring you," the brunette said sheepishly before making her escape.

"All right, what the hell is with you today?" Misato demanded the second Maya was gone. "You're more nervous than I've ever seen you, and when you're not jumping at shadows, you're quiet and listless."

"I can't tell you," Ritsuko said. When the other woman opened her mouth to protest, she quickly added, "I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"Fine, why tell your best friend?" Misato asked, exasperated.

"I'm sorry, it's very personal," Ritsuko said, and she seemed so tired and depressed that the purple-haired woman couldn't stay annoyed at her. "But…"

"But?" Misato prompted.

"…I hate to ask this of you, since I know you've sworn off alcohol, but I really need a drink right now, and I don't want to drink alone," Ritsuko said.

The former Ops Director hesitated. She was very anxious to see what she could do with the tiny microchip that had been inside the capsule Kaji had given her, but she understood where her friend was coming from. Misato knew very well that where alcohol was concerned, people often drew lines for themselves which they were loathe to cross, and drinking alone was a big one.

"Yes, I can go to the bar with you," she answered eventually.

It was the end of the day anyway, so the two of them punched out and headed up to the surface, then made their way to a quiet bar where they got a booth in a dim corner. Misato ordered a ginger ale. Ritsuko got a vodka shot and wasted no time in knocking it back and ordering another one.

Something is really wrong with her, Misato thought. She hadn't seen the bottle blonde drink this heavily since they'd been in college. Even then, Ritsuko would only consume this much booze at once when she was celebrating the end of exams.

However, she didn't try to press her friend to tell her what the problem was again, and though it made her feel a little guilty, she didn't try to slow Ritsuko down, either. It wasn't long before the scientist was well past tipsy.

"God, I'm such an idiot," Ritsuko said softly, gulping down another shot and then motioning for a fresh one.

"Why do you say that, Rits?" Misato asked. "You're the smartest person I know."

"Oh, I'm plenty book smart, but I've always been a complete fool when it came to relationships," she said, every syllable dripping with disgust at herself.

"What do you mean?"

Ritsuko barely seemed to hear her. "I thought he loved me. I did…horrible things for him because I thought he loved me," she whispered. "I never should've believed that; it was obvious that he didn't care about me like that. But I did, because I wanted to believe it."

"Rits…who is 'he'?" Misato asked, feeling a spike of anger. If someone had been abusing her friend, then he was soon going to be treated to the sight of a very large, green fist rushing to meet his face. "Has 'he' been hitting you?"

Ritsuko released a harsh, unpleasant bark of laughter. "Like he'd ever stoop to something so crude," she said. "No, he just strung me along for years and years when I should've known better. And now that he's almost got what he wants, he doesn't have to pretend that he wants me anymore."

"Ritsuko, who are you talking about?" Misato asked.

The blonde ignored the question again. Her speech was slurred by this point, but she still seemed to have enough of her wits about her to keep that detail to herself. "Should've known. It was so obvious," she said miserably, tears springing to her eyes. "With what we've been doing all along…but I thought at some point he'd come to love me. To want me more than her. I was an idiot. Pretty soon, he'll go down there and get what he wants. And what do I get? I get to be alone."

Before Misato could try to get the blonde to explain her ramblings, Ritsuko started crying quietly, big, fat tears sliding down her cheeks. The bottle blonde was obviously well past squishy and completely hammered by this point.

The former Ops Director sighed. "Come on, Ritsuko," she said, placing a wad of bills on the table. "You're really drunk. Let's get you home."

"Okay," Ritsuko agreed, allowing Misato to help her up and then guide her across the bar. "You know, Misato, I always used to think you were kind of a dummy. All the drinking, the way you skipped class all the time to have sex with Kaji…thought you'd be a total mess by the time we were this age."

"How nice of you to keep that to yourself for so long, then," the purple haired woman replied dryly as she half carried Ritsuko outside.

"But looking at us today…you've got it together a lot more than me," Ritsuko said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears again. "Shows how much I know. Again."

"Don't beat yourself up, Rits," Misato said as they made their way down the street together. "I'm sure you're being too hard on yourself."

"What's the secret, Misa?" the blonde asked.

"Secret?"

"Yeah," Ritsuko said. "How'd you pull yourself up from rock bottom? Because I know you hit it. Everyone knew. That secret."

"I think you need to have the ability to overcome great fear," Misato said quietly.

Ritsuko laughed bitterly. "Then I'm screwed," she said bluntly, "because I've never had that, and I never will."


The next day found Kaworu Nagisa standing in the Evangelion cages, gazing up at the armored head of Evangelion Unit Two.

Nothing in Tokyo-3 was quite the way he'd expected it to be. His brethren had not inflicted nearly as much destruction upon the fortresses city as he would've thought, and the pilots had held up under remarkably well under the long string of assaults, very possibly because they'd been getting help from the likes of the Green Lantern.

He was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to know Shinji Ikari better. Even before he'd first encountered the Third Child, Kaworu had felt that he'd born to meet Shinji. There was just something so wonderfully human about the other boy, and he'd wanted to learn as much about humanity as possible, before his time came.

Unfortunately, the Third Child had only a casual interest in getting to know the new pilot, preferring to spend most of his time with those he already trusted and cared for.

So now the hour had come, and he was left feeling unfulfilled with how he'd used his allotted time. It was a true pity, but there was nothing to be done for it now.

"Awaken, bastard spawn of Adam," he commanded the red Evangelion.

Nothing happened.

Kaworu allowed himself a small sigh of annoyance. That was another thing that went against his expectations. According to Keel, it was ordained (which, when the of leader of SEELE said that, meant that it had been written in the Dead Sea Scrolls) that the crimson Evangelion's soul would have been put to sleep by the actions of its pilot by now. Yet that clearly was not the case.

"Nevertheless…" Kaworu said, and his scarlet eyes began to glow with an otherworldly light. "Awaken."

Unit Two's head snapped up, its four eyes blazing white. Kaworu smiled, even as klaxons started to blare all around him.


"Good morning, Ritsuko," Misato said, deliberately keeping the volume of her voice low as she stopped by the scientist's office. "How are you feeling today?"

Given the dark glasses the scientist was wearing, the purple-haired woman felt pretty safe in assuming that Ritsuko had one bitch of a hangover, but it seemed like it would be impolite not to ask.

"Not so well," the scientist answered, rubbing at her temples. "God, the next time I decide to start doing shots on a weeknight, I want you to shoot me."

"Can do!" Misato replied cheerfully, giving the blonde a thumbs up.

The former Ops Director couldn't tell for sure thanks to Ritsuko's dark glasses, but she felt pretty sure that the Project-E Chairperson gave her a glare for that one. Then, without a word, she turned her gaze toward her computer screen and got to work.

Misato loitered in Ritsuko's office for a few seconds, then, seeing that the scientist apparently planned to ignore her until she left, started heading for the door.

"Misato," Ritsuko called just before she left.

"Yes?" she asked, turning.

"I didn't say anything…embarrassing last night, did I?" the bottle blonde asked quietly.

Misato shrugged. "Not really," she lied. "You just sort of rambled about how bad you are at relationships. You weren't exactly making sense, though."

"Okay, good," Ritsuko said, looking relieved. "I don't remember most of last night. Thanks for making sure I made it home safe, by the way."

"No problem," Misato said. "You know, you can talk to me about things, Rits. I am your friend, after all."

"Thank you," the scientist said. "I'll keep that in—"

Alarms started to blare before she could finish, and Ritsuko moaned in pain, placing her hands over her ears.

"God, why today?" she complained.

For her own part, the former Ops Director looked down her hand, where her power ring sat, invisible, upon her finger. It should have warned her if an Angel had gotten close enough to set off the base's alarms.

"Come on!" she said, half dragging Ritsuko to her feet.

It was a long way from the Project-E Chairperson's office to the command center, and having the badly hung over scientist with her didn't exactly cut down on the time it took to make the trip. Misato dearly wished she could simply sneak away and become Green Lantern, but it would raise too many questions if she disappeared after having been in Ritsuko's office when the alarms sounded.

It'll be fine, she told herself. Even when the damn Angels seem to appear out of nowhere, there's always still at least a few minutes before it's on top of us.

Once they reached the command center, hopefully she could make some excuse to slip away. In the midst of all the chaos that came with scrambling the Evangelions for a battle, nobody would pay too much notice to a lowly advisor like her disappearing. Except maybe Kaji, but he'd probably continue assuming that she was simply avoiding him.

After what felt like an eternity, they burst into the command center, where nearly every screen was flashing a red warning message.

However, what caught Misato's eye was the main viewer, which displayed Units One and Two, descending down a massive shaft inside the base, the retrorockets in their legs blazing and preventing an uncontrolled fall. The two giants were locked in close quarters combat, stabbing and slashing at one another with their progressive knives.

"What the hell is going on?!" Misato demanded, momentarily forgetting that the NERV staff didn't technically need to rush to obey anymore when she barked orders.

Kaji turned away from the monitors to glance at her. "It turns out that the Fifth Child was an Angel infiltrator," he informed her grimly. "He's somehow managed to hijack Unit Two. Fortunately, Shinji happened to be here for a physical when he made his move."

"How the hell did he even get into Unit Two's entry plug?" Misato asked, feeling sick.

"He didn't," Makoto answered, typing in a command.

The image on one of the smaller screens shifted, showing the Fifth Child, who was suspended in mid-air before Unit Two. Misato found the placid smile on his face nothing short of sickening.

"Why are you doing this!" Shinji cried, Unit One's external speakers amplifying his voice tenfold. "I thought we were going to be friends!"

"I am doing this because I must," Kaworu answered, even as Unit Two continued to grapple furiously with its purple counterpart. "The progeny of Adam are very different from the lilim. For all your bodies' weakness, you are free to act as you please. We are ultimately slaves to our nature."

Unit One's prog knife thrust toward Kaworu himself, but a barrier of orange light sprang into being just before the strike could connect, shielding the gray haired boy.

"Why isn't Unit Zero out there, too?" Misato asked tersely.

"We don't know where Rei is, and Asuka's not compatible with Unit Zero's core," Aoba answered.

"How the hell can we just lose track of an EVA pilot?" Misato scowled.

"Unknown, ma'am," Aoba replied helplessly. It wasn't the bridge techs' job to keep track of the pilots.

Misato made a mental note to chew out Section Two, but her mind was already reeling as she tried to figure out some way she could slip away and help without it being painfully obvious that she was the Green Lantern. Slipping away before a battle, ostensibly on some errand, was one thing, but departing in the middle of one was quite another. That the battle was happening in the bowels of NERV headquarters only made the whole thing worse.

As she was desperately trying to come up with some workable plan, the image on the main screen abruptly dissolved into static.

"What's happening?" Kaji demanded.

"The power of the Angel's AT field just spiked! It's interfering with all our monitoring equipment!" Maya exclaimed.

"Damn," Kaji swore. "How close are they to Terminal Dogma?"

"Their approximate ETA is under one minute," Makoto reported.

"…Prime the base's self destruct mechanism," Kaji ordered, his voice heavy. "If the Angel manages to open Heaven's Door, detonate it."

"Yes, sir," Makoto said quietly.

Misato's hands clenched into fists. Damn her secret identity; she had to help!

She was just about to march toward the exit when the screen abruptly cleared, revealing Unit One on its hands and knees just outside the LCL production plant. The rather mangled form of Unit Two lay nearby.

"What just happened?" Kaji asked.

"The Angel's AT field and blue pattern just disappeared," Maya said softly. "Pilot Ikari must have killed him."


Kaji decided to postpone Shinji's after action debriefing. It was one of the few decisions he'd made since becoming the new Operations Director that Misato wholeheartedly agreed with.

The Third Child was pale and silent when he returned from the depths of the NERV base, and the former Ops Director didn't need to guess why. After all, as intense and painful as his previous battles had been, at least he'd been facing inhuman monsters.

Not this time.

Misato didn't even bother trying to make conversation with him at the base. Instead, she led him to her car, then drove straight to the observation deck where she had taken him after the First Battle of Tokyo-3. The city hadn't been retracted for this battle, so there would be no scene of it rising out of the ground this time, but it was still an impressive view.

Not that that was her main concern, of course.

"Shinji," she began, once both of them were out of the car.

"Please don't, Misato," he cut her off. It was the first thing he'd said since the battle.

"Don't what?" she asked, frowning.

"I know why you brought me here," he said, almost accusingly. "You're going to tell me that it's okay, that I did the right thing, and that I shouldn't feel bad. But I just killed a person, Misato. I killed him. That's not okay. It makes me a murderer."

"No, it doesn't!" she said sharply.

Startled, Shinji jumped, looking at her with surprise plainly evident on his face.

"A murderer is someone who kills out of hatred, or vengeance, or greed," Misato said fiercely. "A murderer kills someone, usually an innocent, for selfish reasons of his own. Today, you killed to protect others. That doesn't make you a murderer, it makes you a soldier."

"But Misato—"

"I've killed people," she cut him off. "Back before I joined NERV, when I was part of the regular military. Do you think I'm some horrible, soulless killer?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why are you holding yourself to a different standards than me?" she asked. "You shouldn't be harsher on yourself than you are on other people like that. You'll only make yourself miserable."

Shinji sighed. "I guess you're right," he conceded, unable to argue against her logic. "But that doesn't make me feel less horrible." He said, placing a hand to his chest.

Misato embraced him then, for once being careful to make sure his face didn't end up pressed against her bust. "You have a gentle soul, Shinji," she said softly. "Too gentle for war."

"Misato…"

"I know that it hurts," she said. "It's not an easy thing, to kill, no matter how good and justified your reasons might be, and the first time's always the worst. I wish I could take the pain away from you, but I can't.

"You should know, though," she continued, "that I don't look at you and see a murderer. I see an incredibly brave young man who was thrust into a role he didn't want, and who's been defending humanity from certain destruction this whole time."

Shinji didn't reply. He just wrapped his arms around Misato and squeezed her tightly.


Author's Notes: I must admit that I frequently find myself not quite knowing what to do Kaworu, and this was one of those times. As a result, I decided to focus more on both Misato and Shinji discovering a few things that had been kept secret from them.

In any event, we've finally finished with the Angels in this story, leaving only EoE to go. After starting the SOE2 series all the way back in 2009, the story that started it is finally nearing its end. I promise it'll go out with a bang.

As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.


Omake!

A Momentous Discovery

"No way," he breathed. He hadn't seriously thought he'd find reason to believe that Misato was the Green Lantern while he was at this. In fact, he'd forgotten that the idea had ever crossed his mind several minutes ago.

With suddenly shaking hands, Shinji slowly started picking up clothes again, and soon the green light reappeared. It wasn't long before the Third Child had exposed what looked like an old fashioned train lantern made of a dark green metal.

"Incredible," he breathed, grabbing the handle and picking it up. An otherworldly emerald light glowed from within the lantern, but there was no flame or heat.

He smiled suddenly. He knew just what to do with this.


Zap!

Several hours later, Shinji was sitting in his room, still marveling at his own cleverness.

Zap!

Sure, most people would've seen the lantern and hidden it again, never taking the risk of Misato finding out it had been discovered.

Zap!

Others might have even seen it as opportunity to blackmail Misato, either by threatening to expose her secret or by hiding the battery and not giving it back until their demands were met.

Zap!

But not Shinji. Oh no. He had looked at the emerald green power battery, and he had seen its true potential.

"Those damned mosquitoes will never bother me again!" he cackled, as he watched another of the pesky insects fly toward the lantern, which he'd hung from his ceiling. They all seemed to be completely enthralled by it.

Zap!