Chapter 6: Fallen Masks and Fateful Introductions

There's a remarkable amount of things that, even undercover, I could manage to change. As trying as Asuka could be at times, her interest in me allowed me to sand off some of the nastier edges to her character, something that as much as as I care for her now, is something we can both agree that she desperately needed. Along with making a connection that would prove to be supremely important.

But even still, it didn't stop the nightmares. Nothing ever does. And I doubt anything ever will.

- Where I've Been, 15th Entry

Daniel's Flat, 1 Year Later, May 2014

Daniel Theisman sighed quietly as he regarded the paper report he held in his hand. The eighth such report he'd received from who he now knew was Stinson and Halsey, and the eighth such report that Karl (a name that Daniel had apparently earned the right to simply call him after a rather spectacular barfight where they'd defended the honor of his fallen brothers, and the interesting night in jail afterward) had had cross his desk.

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. More and more, it really seemed like magic. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, even now, especially in a digital age such as this one. But of the 6 LCL storage rooms and the pipes leading to them for nearly 10 meters around the area, he'd seen no sign of anything that had been placed on anything carrying LCL, not even anything resembling a meter. He'd had a few close calls with whoever these thieves were when he was checking, but every time, they'd been nowhere to be seen, even in a dead-end area.

'Maybe it's finally time I broke out some more powerful options.' Daniel mused. 'If these people are from out of town like I am, then maybe… why are my feet wet?'

He looked down and jumped slightly at the pool of water that had crept under the table, his alarm growing as he saw the wet carpet that had spread across the living room and led into the bathroom. "Aw, hell," he whispered as he got to his feet.

In a slight panic, Daniel called the building manager, his water shutting off from a terribly leaky pipe under the floor. For all his skills and abilities as an Evangelion engineer, Daniel was by no means a plumber. And besides, the water damage would need to be repaired, other apartments would need to be checked on…

He sighed quietly as he squelched to his bedroom, ensuring that his valuables, and his work clothes, were safe as he made another call. This was shaping up to be a hell of a day off.

As the call connected, Daniel again sighed quietly. "Misato, I have a favor to ask you."

. . .

Daniel, a few moments later and with a backpack, two bags under his arms, and a box in his hands, Misato with two bags herself, stepped into Misato's flat with a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Misato," Daniel said with a smile. "I don't know how long I'm going to be here, but I'm grateful to have somewhere dry to crash while repairs are going on."

"I'm glad you managed to catch it before it flooded the whole place," Misato said with a grin. "Admit it, you probably feel at least kind of lucky."

"Yeah." Daniel sighed quietly. "I guess I am."

He looked over to see Asuka emerging from her room, a smile lighting up on her face. "Hey, Daniel!" she said brightly. "What are you doing here?"

"A pipe burst in his flat," Misato said, "So he'll be camping on our couch for a little while."

"Man," Asuka said with a grimace, "that sucks. Any more luck with that LCL thing?"

"Not as of yet," Daniel said somewhat sourly. "I think I'm getting close. But not yet."

Asuka sighed dramatically as she helped unburden Misato and Daniel. "Well," she said as she leaned on Daniel's side, "I do hope your guitar survived. I'd like to see you try and play some of those songs I've challenged you to."

Daniel realized what was going on. What Asuka was trying to do. He needed to find a way to let her down gently, and he needed to do it now. Heaven knew he probably had more than a little time here around her to make it happen.

. . .

1 Week Later

Daniel's fingers flew across the fretboard of his electric guitar, the song Asuka had challenged him to learn coming easily to him now. Asuka watched him with a slight smile on her face, Misato working on some paperwork with a beer sitting on the table by her hand.

It was a rather technical piece, Daniel's face scrunched slightly in effort. Finally, he made it to the end of the song, Asuka pumping her fist. "Awesome! I'm amazed you could play both solos all the way through!"

Daniel shook a hand that was more than a little sore. "Could, but not should. The calluses only help so much, y'know."

"Not bad at all, Daniel," Misato said with a slight grin as he stood. "Maybe the question should be if you still fight as well as you play."

Daniel walked through the flat to where his guitar was stored, which just so happened to be Asuka's room through what was surely chance, putting the guitar away as he massaged his fingers slightly.

"So," he heard Asuka say, looking over his shoulder to see her leaning on the doorway, "What's your next song?"

Daniel hummed. "Well, once my fingers aren't on the edge of bleeding, I've actually got a song for you."

Asuka's brows rose. "Oh? All for little old me?"

Before Daniel could reply, he felt his phone ring. Pulling it out, he saw that Shinji was making a video call to him. He answered it, Shinji's face lighting up with a slight smile as he waved from behind his cello. "Hello, Shinji," Daniel said in English as he sat in a chair by Asuka's desk. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," Shinji replied in English as well. He was rather proficient at it now, with both school and Daniel teaching him, and Daniel's time here in Germany had him teaching the beginnings of the language to him.

"I just wanted to show you a cello piece I've been working on recently," Shinji replied as Asuka came around to see who Daniel was talking to, sitting on her bed. "Oh," Shinji frowned slightly, "I didn't know you were somewhere public."

"Well, I'm not," Daniel said. "Shinji, this is Asuka Soryu-Langley." he nodded over to Asuka, who flashed a quick peace sign. "I'm staying at her guardian's place while a little… plumbing problem at my flat gets resolved."

"Ah. I see." Shinji looked over at Asuka. "Hello. I'm Shinji Ikari. It's nice to meet you. I live in Yamanakako, in Japan."

"Good to know," Asuka said, slipping into Japanese with what seemed like a practiced ease. "Nice to meet you too. You must be alright if you're friends with Daniel."

"Oh," Shinji said, slipping into Japanese himself. "Well, he was my guardian for about 3 years before he left for NERV-2."

"Oh, neat," Asuka said. "So, you've got your cello in front of you. What are you gonna play?"

"It's a solo rendition of Air from Bach's Suite No. 3," Shinji replied. "Are you… listening as well?" he said somewhat hesitantly.

"I mean, it's a good choice of music," Asuka replied with a shrug. "It's just not my usual thing. Go ahead."

Shinji nodded slightly, put bow to strings, and began. It was a somewhat slow, mellow thing, Shinji taking his time even as he added his own little flourishes, and an air of calm washed through the room as the song progressed. Daniel glanced over at Asuka from time to time, noting how she watched the performance rather intently.

Soon enough, the song finished, and Daniel smiled. "Well done, Shinji. Impressive as always."

"Thank you," Shinji said with a bashful smile. "I hope I did alright."

"You did decently enough," Asuka said with a shrug. "I've heard players in my University classes do about as good as you have, and they've been playing for years."

"Oh. You're in college?" Shinji asked as he began to put away his cello.

"On track to be valedictorian of University of Neuberlin's 2014 class," Asuka said proudly.

"Wow…" Shinji said.

Daniel checked the time, then remembered what day it was. "Alright, Shinji. I've got something I need to go and do. If you need to talk any more today, just go ahead and text me."

"Alright," Shinji said, Daniel saddened by the sadness in Shinji's voice. "Talk to you later."

The call ended, and Daniel stood, walking out of Asuka's room. "Where are you going?" Asuka asked as he made his way to the front door.

"We're getting our LCL shipment from HQ tonight," Daniel replied, pausing in the doorway. "I'm going to install some security measures to try and see how our friends helping themselves to our stash operate. I should be back tonight."

. . .

Daniel, the 6 LCL storage plants thus 'trapped', as it were, came home at about 11:30 at night, rather exhausted, and tumbled onto the couch and off to sleep. His mind spun slightly, bouncing from trying to bring Asuka down to earth, to helping Shinji get a little more out of his shell, to the ramifications that having Shinji and Asuka meet this early entailed. In short, he had a lot to think about, and a difficult time getting to sleep.

It still didn't stop the nightmares.

Daniel woke up in a twin bed that sat in the corner of a room that had been relegated to a distant memory, an ancient ache. Looking around for a moment, he opened the door, revealing a long hallway, infrequently lit by flickering fluorescent bulbs. At least, those that remained intact.

He walked slowly through that once-familiar stretch of gray, splattered with the drying of blood and something else, the floor cluttered with scattered clothing, armor, and weapons. But there were no bodies to take them up. There were no shouts or screams, no dreadful crashing or crackling of flames. There was just… silence. A silence that Daniel did not have to himself.

There was something behind him. A presence, an utterly powerful force, that compelled him to turn, even as the rest of him screamed not to, to run away, to not face…

He now stood in a room full of windows, all seeming to stretch up into eternity. The room itself was furnished in a way that he hadn't seen in… forever. All too literally so.

"Where are you?" a young woman's voice called.

He turned, and saw the hazy outlines of four people. Why didn't he recognize them? Why was that so excruciatingly frightening?

"Where are you?" another voice asked.

"What have you done?" Daniel felt a stab of pain at the accusation.

Then, something slammed against the glass behind him, the dream turning him to see a pair of eyes, utterly detailed to show him the fear, the terror in their eyes. "Please!" it cried out in a language Daniel could only barely parse. Then, another pair of eyes joined it, anger burning in them. "Damn you!" it cried in yet another language he almost understood.

More and more eyes joined them, until they filled the windows, banging them as they screamed and begged and questioned and swore oaths now unfulfilled in a great, unending babble, driving Daniel to his knees as he clapped his ears, squeezed his eyes shut, all to try and stifle the voices, make the eyes depart. But the wall of sound, the thunder of the voices, the pleas, the eyes uncounted, all on him for what he'd done to them, could not be banished. The eyes. The eyes!

Finally, it fell silent, and Daniel opened his eyes to find himself in that hallway again. The eyes had gone. The windows had gone. All he was left with were the two people he was most afraid of seeing here.

Shinji and Asuka, in their Plugsuits, stood together at the end of the hallway, illuminated by a single fluorescent bulb.

"What have you done?" Shinji asked, cold condemnation in his voice. "Where have you gone?"

"You left us," Asuka growled, a single eye leering at him as she pointed with an arm that had been nearly bisected. "You promised you wouldn't leave us!"

"I…" Daniel began, then he felt a spike of pain bury itself into the top of his sternum, what words he would have said next coming as a gasp. His hand went up to the old brand, coming back with blood smeared across his entire palm.

An old fear began to take hold. A monster. A demon. More powerful than any he'd ever felt when the brand had marked him as a sacrifice. What…

Then, out of the shadows behind the Children, stepped the last thing he had ever wanted to see here.

"Get away from them," he growled at the beast who wore his face, clean-shaven and bearing that damnable brand, older still than the one on his breast, that glowed with a deep gold above his brow.

"They are no longer yours." the thing that wore his face said calmly. "You lost them when you returned to me."

"

GET AWAY FROM THEM!"

He lunged, a

nd slammed into the floor, the impact finally waking him from the nightmare.

He rose up on his arms and knees in the dark, a hand instinctively rising to cover his forehead as he looked at the time. It was 3 in the morning. He focused as best he could, his breath coming in gasps as he did his best to dispel what might have been there.

His chest hurt, but whether it was from the fall he'd taken from what he now remembered was the couch in Misato's living room or from the shadow of the brand, he could not fully tell. If there was something here…

He took hold of the soft, pliable couch and the hard, sturdy coffee table, and lifted himself to his feet, stumbling in the dark towards the bathroom.

The light he turned on blinded him for a second, Daniel wincing audibly as his tired eyes adjusted. Then, he pulled down the collar of his shirt, a crew-cut like every shirt he owned now, and studied the pattern drawn by the scar there.

It was a prominent thing still, even so long after it had been rendered inert, a hard-edged figure-8 that had the highest corner seemingly broken through by the line that bisected it, its point a three-pointed almost trident of a thing.

Besides being a somewhat raised, puckered scar, it did not react. The pain in his chest was beginning to recede, and Daniel breathed a quiet sigh of relief. 'It would need a hell of an Apostle to be on the same floor as I am to even start ticking now.' he assured himself. 'If they existed here at all.'

He didn't know fully how long he spent consoling himself thus, memories flowing even from simply seeing the scar again.

"What is that?"

Daniel let go of his collar as he looked back to see… Asuka, dressed in a black bathrobe. He almost couldn't believe it was her that had asked the question. The voice that had spoken, quiet, tired, and uncertain, couldn't have possibly belonged to her.

"It's…" Daniel hesitated as his jumbled brain did its best to put something plausible together. "Something someone gave me a long time ago. Someone that betrayed his friends."

Asuka frowned, then nodded slightly. Daniel saw his eyes reflected in her; tired, afraid, afraid especially to go back into the night where dark things waited for them. Then, Daniel's head tilted slightly. "What's with the bathrobe?" he asked quietly.

Asuka looked down, seeming to fully notice it as her eyes went wide, then looked back at Daniel with something else; a silent longing.

Daniel was silent for a long moment, then sighed quietly. "You want to fully be an adult. You want me."

Asuka looked away, nodding as her cheeks burned.

Danie stepped away from the bathroom mirror, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Kiddo… I get it. I've been in your shoes, wanting to be respected. Taken seriously. Like adults are. But part of becoming an adult is accepting the timing of things. And the timing between us means it would never work. Not legally on your part, not morally on mine. I won't take advantage of you like that. I'm sorry."

Daniel could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. The first he'd ever seen. "Now what?" she said huskily, a sullen tone to her voice. "You probably don't want to see me right now, do you? I'm a freak to you now, aren't I?"

"No, Asuka," Daniel said reassuringly. "As much as I won't give you what you think you need, I'm not going to send you back to what's waiting for both of us. Because there's nightmares waiting for you too, aren't there?"

Asuka looked back up at him, then nodded silently. Daniel nodded in turn, seeing now, perhaps, who Asuka Soryu-Langley really was underneath the mask. "Well, I won't let you be alone right now. So, go and get dressed. We can wait things out on the couch. Sounds good?"

Asuka looked at him for a moment, Daniel able to see the conflict in her eyes, before she nodded again, turning and going back to her room. Daniel turned out the light in the bathroom and went out into the kitchen, turning on a small light above the sink.

He looked back after a moment leaning on the sink, seeing Asuka standing there in a large, loose shirt and shorts, the tears wiped from her eyes. "So," she said quietly, "what were you dreaming about? I heard you telling someone to… 'get away from them'."

Daniel sighed. "That's going to take some explaining. And a drink to wake me up a little. Do you want something?"

Asuka nodded after a moment. "One of your Bundabergs, please."

Daniel smiled slightly. "Coming right up."

They soon were on the couch together, sipping from the slightly fizzy ginger beers. For long moments, they sat there in slightly awkward, but largely companionable silence.

As Daniel took another drink, though, he sighed quietly. "There's a lot that I can't talk about yet. A lot that, as intelligent and capable as you are, you won't truly understand right now. But… I've made bad calls. A lot of bad calls. Sometimes, it's just embarrassing, a little part of living life. But sometimes, it ends with people dead. Dead because of my choice."

"Are you talking about Brazil?" Asuka asked quietly. "I've heard you and Misato talk about how bad that was, sometimes."

'You have no idea, love.' Daniel mused darkly. "Yes," he said aloud, "at least in part. But I've made plenty of bad calls that can sometimes hurt a lot more than dead soldiers in war. At least there, it's a part of the job. But driving someone away, killing your relationship with them… that's different."

"How?"

It was such a simple question, coming from the smartest 14-year-old he knew. But it held so much depth. "Because then," he said quietly, "you can only wonder what could have been. What it would be like to even just be friends again."

It was silent again for long moments before Daniel sighed. "That sort of letdown has cost me the people I've loved. A lot of them. My friends. My family. It's what brought me to Japan."

"Family." the way Asuka said the word, it seemed almost alien to her, a nigh-incomprehensible concept.

It was silent again. "Daniel…" she was silent again, building up the courage for something. "I… I love you. You're so mature, even compared to the people I go to school with. So well put together."

"And I love you."

The admission seemed to shock Asuka as Daniel continued. "But I don't love you just for your beauty, though you have that in spades. I love you because of who you are. A woman with the boundless energy to go out and train your hardest to keep the world safe. To be the best possible version of yourself you can think of. You inspire me every day."

Again, silence, before Asuka chuckled. "That sounds so… sappy. Like something a dad would say to his kid."

The slight smile she had on her face until this point vanished, her expression hardening. "Do you… have any family?" Daniel asked cautiously.

"Not anymore, really." That hardness on her face had entered her voice as well. "I've just been on my own for a while before I started living with Misato and training. I've been… lonely."

She looked over at Daniel, the tears in her eyes returning. "I... I don't want to be lonely." her voice quavered, an admission that seemed like the hardest thing in the world to admit.

Daniel nodded. "Everyone needs family, I've found, of one kind or another. Someone who loves them unconditionally." Daniel paused, contemplating his next words. "I can't promise any luck as a father. But how would you like a big brother?"

Asuka stared at him unbelievingly, the tears in her eyes heavy and threatening to fall. Silence reigned in the room for a heartbeat. Then another. "You won't leave me?" she whispered. "You mean it?"

Daniel nodded, scooping her into an embrace. "Yes. And I can tell you this; the time will come when you find the other sort of love you seek. I promise."

A sniffle. Then another. Finally, a dam broke as Asuka squeezed Daniel fiercely, quiet sobs seeming to try and break them apart to no avail. For now, the empty bottles stood forgotten on the coffee table.

Finally, after long minutes neither of them bothered to count, Asuka's sobs stilled, and she looked up at Daniel with a wet, imperfect, beautiful smile. "Thanks, big brother." she whispered.

Daniel smiled slightly, tears in his own eyes as he kissed the top of her head gently. "Of course, little sister."

They parted from their embrace, Asuka leaning against Daniel's side as he put his arm around her. Soon enough, they fell asleep against each other, their empty bottles silent witnesses as they stood sentinel in the darkness.

. . .

Misato Katsuragi groaned, as she did every day when her alarm went off, smacking the offending alarm clock until blissful silence reigned once again. After just enough time to appreciate that it was a Sunday and she didn't absolutely need to go into the base today, she dragged herself out of bed, stretching as she turned on her light, rubbing her eyes as she began to pick out her clothes today.

After a moment, the continued silence outside her door caused her to pause for a moment, a puzzled look crossing her face. 'Asuka should be up and bouncing off the walls - and Daniel - by now. What's going on?'

She finished dressing, slowly opening her door and peeking out at the living room. It was still silent, but a grin slowly spread on her face as she saw Daniel's head peeking up over the back of the couch. 'Busy last night, Daniel?' she mused as she crept out of her room with an expert ease.

She crouched, slowly making her way over to the back of the couch to give him a little surprise when she shook him awake. Daniel could be terribly funny when he was just waking up, she had found out…

As she stood up, however, looming over Daniel, she paused as she saw perhaps the last thing she'd expected to see. Asuka was curled up in the crook of his arm, sound asleep and with a small, contented smile on her face. It was so rare to see her so genuinely happy, even asleep. Misato smiled slightly at the picturesque sight before her. It made her hesitant to disturb it.

So, before she did, she circled the couch, noting the two empty Bundabergs, and took out her phone, ensuring that it was silent as she took as many pictures of the cuddling duo as possible. 'Because when am I ever going to get this chance again?'

With her little photo shoot accomplished, she walked over to Daniel and gently shook him. He stirred after a moment, eyes cracking open as he stretched slowly. "Sunday, right?" he murmured.

"Yep," Misato said slightly. "Sunday. One last day off."

"Good. Thank god for D shift."

Misato chuckled softly. "Amen to that. So, what got Asuka out on the couch with you? Couldn't sleep last night?"

Daniel looked down at the fiery hair that rustled as Asuka began to stir. "We came to an understanding last night," he said quietly, a slight smile on his face.

Misato waited for him to elaborate for a moment. When none was forthcoming, she straightened her shoulders, her smile becoming a grin. "So, you made a deal with her? Does she get free rein to beat you at every video game you play now?"

Daniel opened his mouth to reply, but Asuka, rubbing her eyes, grinned herself as she nudged Daniel's side. "Yeah. Won't you take pity on a poor little sister and let her beat you every once in a while?"

Daniel scoffed slightly. "I thought I already was."

Misato arched a brow, and Asuka rolled her eyes as she looked over at Misato. "So, what's our gourmet menu look like today?"

Misato placed her hands on her hips. "Well," she said with a slightly prideful air, "I'd figure we fall back on a familiar classic. Gourmet toaster waffles, cereal with the finest whole milk, and some fresh muffins from the great bakers of Aldi's."

Asuka shrugged. "Well, it's a start." she paused as she looked up at Daniel. "Want to try and make something out of it?"

"Well, I'll see what I can do." Daniel shrugged. "But it'll still have the Misato touch we know and love."

Asuka chuckled, Misato rolling her eyes. "Fair enough," Asuka said, and they did their best to begin the new day.