Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ So Happy Together ❯ chapter 25 ( Chapter 24 )

Asuka walked into her and Misato's apartment around 7 am. She was beyond tired, but her mind was going a mile a minute. She couldn't believe what they did, what *she* just did. However, she didn't regret her actions. And that fact was reiterated in the smirk that graced her lips when she thought about it. <you're going to pay Wonder girl for taking what's rightfully mine> Unfortunately for the pilot, her sense of victory was snatched away when a very irate major Katsuragi screamed

"Where_ the_ hell_ have you been?!!"

When Misato saw Asuka walk through the door, she was at first relieved that the girl was ok. But when she noticed the girl mischievously smirk, all her relief turned into fury. Misato knew that the second child had been up to no good; and that pissed her off because she had been searching for her roommate for over 15 hours! She was terrified that Asuka might have been killed by one of the commander's henchmen. She had searched everywhere, called all of her friends (every hour on the hour) and even sent out a search party to find her.

"I've been calling your phone for hours! Why didn't you answer?" the woman yelled angrily. "Where the hell were you!"

"I was .. out..." Asuka admitted with obvious fear. Misato looked mad enough to kill her.

"Out where?" the guardian growled and put her hands on her hips.

The second child shifted her gaze away from the woman. She wasn't allowed to tell where she went or *who* took her there. "I was at .. Hikari's."

"Nuh uh_ Try again!" The purple haired woman growled. Because of the girl's lies, she was even more pissed. "And the truth this time!"

Asuka didn't respond. Instead she used her energy and concentration to keep her face from betraying anything.

"Answer me, Asuka!" Misato fumed. She was tired of the games. "I was worried sick about you! I had Tokyo-3 turned up-side down looking for you! So don't give that bull $#~% about being in the city!!" She quickly closed the space between her and the pilot. "Where the hell were you?!"

Though she successfully hid it, the girl was *very* afraid of the purple haired woman. She had never seen her guardian so angry. The second child took a deep breath and roared "I was just out, ok !" Then pushed past the woman, ran to her room, and locked the door.

Misato narrowed her eyes and stomped towards the girl's room. She had one nerve left and her roommate was jumping on it. "Open the f*cking door, Asuka!!"

Asuka did the exact opposite. She quickly pushed her dresser and barricaded the door. She knew from past experiences that if Misato wanted in, she would get in no matter what she did to keep her out. But by blocking the door, this gave her the needed time to get rid of the evidence of her transgression against Ayanami.

The major banged on the locked door until she heard the sound of heavy furniture being moved. "If you think that's gonna keep me out!...." She shook her head. "You are sadly mistaken!!" She stormed into her bedroom and came out with a crowbar. She then jammed it where the sliding door met the wall and forcefully pried opened the door.

Asuka's eyes tripled their sized. She didn't expect the woman to be able to open the door so quickly. She quickly scrambled off her bed, grabbed her book bag, and ran to the back corner of her room. Fortunately for her, she had just gotten rid of all of the incriminating evidence.

Misato crawled over the dresser. "Answer me, Asuka! Where the hell were you?!"

"I told you!" Asuka yelled defiantly. "I was out!"

Misato sinisterly shook her head no and jumped off the dresser. That answer was not going to be good enough. She had been stressing over the unknown fate of the girl for almost 15 hours. She was going to get answers, *the truth*, even if she had to beat it out of her.

The pilot of unit 02 looked from side to side, in search for an escape, and cursed that fact that she had literally backed herself into a corner. She looked back at the woman, swallowed hard, and.... lied. "Misato-san,... I just needed some alone time... because..... I just found out that Shinji asked that b*tch to marry him!"( it wasn't exactly a lie) Asuka inwardly smirked at her cleverness when she noticed her guardians disposition change from angry to sympathetic.

Misato continued to close the distance between she and the girl, but she was no longer angry. "I understand your feelings, Asuka. I've had a similar experience when--"

The girl interrupted and screamed "You have no f*cking clue how I feel" despite the fact she was trying to get back on her guardian's good side. She couldn't help herself, for the major's words infuriated her. She honestly believed that no one, besides Ritsuko, could identify with what she was going through. So she continued with her rant. "You don't understand what it feels like to have *everything* you've ever wanted stolen from you by an emotionless doll!!"

Misato was taken back by her sudden brashness.

"You have no idea what it feel like to love someone so much, you can feel them in your blood!"

"Asuka..." the major whispered as her brow furrowed dejectedly. She reached to embrace the girl; she wanted to comfort her, and show her that she wasn't alone.

But Asuka didn't want her pity or her comfort. "No!" She hit the woman's hands away. "Don't_ touch_ me!" She screamed, backed up and pressed herself against the wall, as if she would be burned by the major's touch. "Only *he* can touch me!" She shook her head wildly side to side. "But he won't, because he's been brainwashed by that f*cking doll! He can't even see that he really doesn't love her! She won't allow him to see that it's *ME* that he loves!" Her eyes became wild and crazed when she returned her gaze to her guardian. "She's tricked him, so he can't see her for what she really is! But he *will* see!" A sadistic knowing smirk appeared on her lips. "He will see that she's just a doll! Just an emotionless, *lifeless* doll! They'll both see!"

<both?> A cold chill shivered down the major's spine after Asuka made that last statement. "What do you mean..... both?"

The pilot blinked and instantly composed herself. She gave the woman a superior shrug and lied." I don't mean anything."

Misato took a deep breath and chose her next words very carefully; even though, she had a good idea of the answer. "Who were you with while you were gone, Asuka?"

"No one." Asuka lied yet again.

And Misato knew it. She nodded, quickly walked over to the door, crawled over the dresser and left the girl's room. Once she was in her own room, she picked up her phone and pressed 7 on her speed-dial.

~ring ring~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ring ring~

"Dr. Akagi, here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<damn you!> The major asked with false stress and curiosity "Ritsuko, have you seen Asuka?" She was furious at the doctor. When Asuka was missing, Misato couldn't get in touch with her friend either. So for the mere fact the she could get in touch with her now, proved that they were together. She knew that her conclusion was circumstantial, but she also knew she was correct.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No" the doctor lied. "Why?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've just been looking for her that's all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor didn't respond. <I wondered if Gendo already knows what we did.... I wonder if he already got to the second child..>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The major took note of her friend's silence. <damn you Ritsuko! why did you have to involve Asuka!> "Uh never mind she just came in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh..." She tried not to sound too relieved. "That's good to hear."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes_it is." Misato said bitterly . "I've got to go. Ja'ne"

~Click~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ja--" The doctor was surprised her friend hung up on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"DAMMIT!!"

Misato started pulling on her own hair. She had put the puzzle together. Asuka was with Ritsuko and they've plotted to do something against the first child.

This weekend she had a bad feeling something was going to happen. It all started when she and Akagi had a drinking binge on Saturday night. Ritsuko's rants about how Rei was the source of all her problems was nothing new. Since last year, the blue haired girl and Gendo were always the center of the doctor's drunken conversation. But last Saturday night, her fury was more of an insane rage. She threatened to expose what the girl truly was to the world. She fumed about how disgusted she felt every time she saw Rei and Shinji together. She accused Gendo of wanting his son to be in love with Yui, just like he still was, and that's why he allowed the relationship.

Misato didn't comment on what her friend said. She had no idea what she was talking about. That was until Ritsuko spilled the beans about the first child's true origins. She informed her that Rei was a clone of Shinji's mother, and that there were other clones which were also the dummy plug system before SEELE destroyed all of them when they attacked NERV almost three years ago. She screamed how she wished that *she* got to destroy them. Misato didn't believe her of course. She thought her words were just drunken rants from someone who became insane by unrequited love.

It wasn't until Ritsuko uploaded Rei's picture, and placed one of Shinji's right next to it. Misato felt her blood run cold when she noticed their facial similarities. It was so obvious, she wondered why she didn't see it before. Now it made sense to her why the commander was so partial to the first child. She was also informed that Shinji knew that he was related to Rei, and that somehow, he had known for years but it didn't matter to him. He didn't care that his girlfriend was a clone of his mother. Misato couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she knew it was true. She also couldn't understand why the boy she raised, would want to be intimate with Rei after knowing what she was. She couldn't understand why his father would *allow* it. It didn't make sense, and it was too much to try to understand. So in the end, she made a drunken resolution to not try to understand it, and that it was none of her business. In her opinion, the Ikari family, which now included Rei, was just a bunch of weirdoes.

The doctor purposely failed to inform the major that Rei was also part angel. However, over the past two years Gendo had been conducting Rei's medical test himself; therefore, what the doctor didn't know was that her information was outdated, and that Rei wasn't part angel anymore, but 100% angel.

Misato knew that Ritsuko was trying to turn her against Rei, but her attempt failed. She didn't care about the Ikari business. She didn't care how the doctor perceived Rei to be the source of her problems, because she told her to dump Gendo a long time ago. And she didn't care what the first and third pilot were doing to each other at night. Sure, she found the information disturbing, very disturbing, but not enough to try do *harm* to the girl. Ritsuko even tried to propose the fact that Rei wasn't real, or human and that like her name, she was nothing. Akagi wanted her to help her plot against an innocent child. But Misato wasn't going to have any part of it and she severed the conversation before it even got started. However, she didn't put much weight into the doctor's anger because she didn't think her friend was actually serious. In a drunken stupor, Ritsuko had made similar plans and rants before, but she never actually tried to implement any of them. Unfortunately, this time Misato knew it was different and that she was too late to stop it.

"Asuka, you f*cking idiot!!"

Misato stomped back to the girl's room, and kicked the dresser, pushing it forward out of her way. "What_ did you, Asuka?!"

The girl swallowed hard. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The major rushed the girl, and with surprising strength, she picked her up by her collar and threw her on the bed. She straddled the girl waist and slapped her already sore cheek. "What the hell did you do?!!"

The pilot choked on her own tears as she tried to stifle her cry. She reached above her head and tried to grab something to hit the crazed woman with. Unaided by sight, she delved in her book bag and grabbed the first hard thing her hand came in contact with. "F*ck you, Misato!" She brought the item in her hand down to hit her.

Misato high blocked it, making the item fall to the floor. She quickly glanced to see what Asuka tried to impale her with, and her eyes tripled their size. She quickly got off the girl and picked up the video tape. "Where did you get this?"

"None of your damn business!" The second child spat out angrily as she scrambled off the bed. She stood up in a fighting stance and prepared herself for another attack.

"Did Ritsuko give this to you?" She waved the tape in the air. "Is that why you helped that b*tch?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" the girl lied.

Misato closed the distance between them at a dangerously fast pace. "Who gave you this tape, Asuka?!"

The second child didn't answer; she attacked.

With a skill that rivaled Bruce Lee, the major fought through Asuka's attacks and pinned her down on her stomach. "Answer me! How in the hell did you get this tape?"

The pilot coughed out because the wind was knocked out of her "I ... I found it, ok!"

Misato wasn't satisfied with her answer. She held the girl's arms behind her back, and she increased the pressure. "Where?!"

The second child cried out. "I... don't know!" She felt like her arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets.

"Wrong_ answer!" Misato increased the pressure. "Now try the truth this time!"

"Arghhhh!!!" She could hear her bones popping. "In Shinji's locker!! I found it in Shinji's locker!!!"

Dumbfounded, she let the girl go. <how in the hell?... Rei... >

Asuka quickly scrambled to her feet. "What the f*ck does it matter anyway! It's just a tape of him and Wonder B*tch!"

The woman narrowed her brown eyes at the girl. "This *tape* is your *life*" She stalked out the room toward the living room. Just to make sure it was what she thought it was, she put the tape in the VCR.

"How dare he!"

Misato turned toward the girl; she was surprised that the girl actually followed her.

Asuka eyes were like two blue infernos as she stared at the TV screen. "So he wants to gloat and show all his friends what the doll did to me!" She smirked evilly and said under her breath "Well,.. we'll see how much he gloats when Wonder girl get hers." Asuka didn't even see her guardian coming when she felt another hard slap hit her face.

"Asuka for your own sake, I hope you didn't mean what you just said!" the woman growled. She didn't exactly hear what the girl mumble but she could imagine. "I swear, if you did anything to harm Rei you are as good as dead!" <the commander is going to kill you... slowly, painfully and personally>

The second child narrowed her eyes as she refused to soothe her aching cheek. "What?.. Are you telling me that you would kill *me* for her?"

Misato didn't answer her question. Instead she pointed at the TV. "Are you so f*cking selfish that you cannot see what that is?"

"I know exactly what it is!" The child spat out bitterly. "I was there, remember!"

"I don't think you do!" The major roared back as she angrily pointed to the screen again. "That tape, is the reason you are alive today! Rei.... Do you hear me? *REI* took it from NERV security to save your sorry @$$!!"

"So?" Asuka responded indignantly. " She's the commanders *daughter* She can do what ever the hell she wants. He won't punish her!"

"That may be so! But what Ritsuko told me about Rei's relationship with the commander..." The major took a deep breath to try and calm down, then continued. "Rei has no idea that the commander feels that way about her.... She respects him as a loyal subordinate, and she goes out of her way not to displease him!"

"So!" The girl growled.

"So!!!" The major blinked hard. "Do you not know who much she risked stealing this tape to save your ungrateful @$$?!!"

"She only did it so that she could humiliate me!"

In exasperated anger, Misato through up her hands. "You've convinced yourself that everything she does is to plot against you and your happiness! Get this through your thick skull, Asuka. Rei doesn't give a f*ck about you!"

"*I'VE* convinced MYSELF?!" the girl sputtered. "She stole Shinji away from me! She planned the whole thing!"

"You know that's not true!" Misato yelled. "We both knew that Shinji always loved Rei. You knew it. I knew it. If she wanted to steal him away from you, she wouldn't have waited 5 months to date him after *he* left and moved in with her. She wouldn't have waited two years to have a real conversation with him!"

Asuka shook her head no. She was not accepting the woman's words.

In a calm knowing voice the major said "Asuka, you didn't even love him."

"How... how could you say that?!" Her eyes widened in shock. "I did too!"

"If you really loved him, you wouldn't have treated him like dirt." Misato retorted calmly. "You just tried to keep him."

"Because he was mine!"

Misato shook her head no.

"He *was* mine!" The girl turned around, stormed away from the woman and screamed. "And no one takes what's mine!" then ran to her room.

Misato dejectedly shook her head as she took the tape out of the VCR. She broke the tape over her knee pulled out the film, then took a match and melted it in the kitchen sink "Thank you, Rei."

***********************************

The commander narrowed his eyes at his favorite, and cut off the audio tape in the major's apartment. Rei quickly became *very* interested in her meal.

"You stole a tape from the security room?" His tone was very angry and very disappointed.

Without looking up at him, Rei nodded meekly. A second later, she followed up her confession with a gesture done purely to get herself out of trouble. She gave him the puppy dog face Shinji always gives her to get his way. *Then* to top it off, she said the word she knew he loved to her. "Shikisha... gomen"

<it's ok my little Rei> He nodded and returned to his food. He knew that when it came to Rei, his will was rarely his own. So when she gave him that sweet face and called him shikisha, it was a battle lost before it even started.

Rei breathed out in relief and returned to her food as well.

After a few minutes of silence, the commander spoke. "That would be a test I would love to see if she passed."

Rei looked up at her shikisha. "To kill the second child?"

The commander smirked and nodded. "If she completes that task, I will give her the position myself."

The first child shook her head no. "I do not want pilot Souyru dead."

The commander looked at her and said "She wants *you* dead."

"It does not matter." Rei said adamantly. "The second child is.. <insane> ..unwell. She cannot be held accountable for her actions. I do not want to see her dead."

Gendo made no response to her words, for he did not agree. But for now, he would humor her. He returned to his food.

Rei returned to her food as well. She knew that she did not win this battle, but for now, she would let the conversation drop.

Aoba just stared at the two commanders with a dumbfounded expression. He couldn't believe how casually they spoke about the fate of the second child's life. He also couldn't believe that not only NERV was tapped but so were their HOMES!!!! <that has to be illegal... it just has to be...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3:20 pm

Shinji had just called NERV and informed Misato that Rei was too sick to go to her synch test. He sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed and cupped his face in his hands. He knew, that she knew, he was lying.

"Why do I always have to stutter when I lie to her!" He plopped back on the bed. "I blew it!"

He groaned, tightly pressed his eyes shut and rested his wrist on his fore head. Misato had rescheduled her test for Sunday. He hoped that his beloved would be back by then, but he had a sinking feeling she wouldn't.

*******************

A little over one week later, and two days until his birthday.

"GAWD THIS IS SOOO HARD!!" The third child had just hung up the phone. He had been calling NERV and making excuses for Rei's absences for over a week! It had been an absolute nightmare for him!

"I can't believe that I ever thought that this was going to be easy!"

His father came back, then left again, but his beloved never returned. He thought Fuyutsuki was now gone as well, but he wasn't sure. He wasn't good at this game. That's what Aida called it. A *game*

The pilot moaned to himself. "I just wish someone would tell me the rules...."

He laid on the bed and curled into a fetal position. He felt sick. He was too stressed. And to make matters worse, he only spoke to Rei twice during the entire week. But she only called to say Ai shiteru. The only thing good that came out of this horrible experience was that he was now a better liar. *IF* you could call that a good thing.

~DING DONG~

Shinji glanced toward the door and groaned to himself. "Go away!" He knew who it was. It was Touji and Kensuke.

~BANG BANG~

He ignored them.

"Don't make my use my key, Shin-man!"

Shinji's eyes widened. "You better not have a key, Kensuke!" He quickly got off the bed and stomped to the door.

When he opened it, he saw the shorter of the three stooges giving him a victorious grin. "Told you that would make him answer the door, Touji. You now owe me five bucks!"

Suzuhara rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket to get the money. Before he handed it to Aida, Shinji snatched it.

"Thank you, Touji. About a hundred more of these, and we'll be even."

"Hey!" Aida yelled as he tried to snatch the money back. "That's mine!"

"Now it's mine." Shinji stated absolutely, and he put the money in his pocket.

Kensuke narrowed his eyes and brushed past the pilot to go into the apartment. "I can't wait until Ayanami gets back. You're turning into a total @$$!"

"So." The pilot turned to face his friend. "You'd be one too if Kimiko was gone for three weeks and only called you a total of seven times."

Rei not having returned, was sort of a surprise to his friends. When Shinji returned to school, Touji and Kensuke immediately saw through his lie. They knew him well enough to know when Rei was back and when she wasn't. The boys kept it a secret though, and they also kept him company despite the fact that their own respected girlfriends wanted their attention. They knew how the third child hated being alone, so they felt that it was their duty, as friends, to keep him from being lonely.

However, Shinji was starting to wish that they didn't come by so often. He stared at his friends as they made themselves comfortable in his home.

Kensuke cut on the TV and his videogame station. He had left it at the apartment so they could play it when it was too hot outside to play basketball. He made himself comfortable on the bed and said confidently. "I bet I can beat my last score!"

Touji carried a chair out of the kitchen and grabbed one of the controls. "You may beat your last score, but your still going down, Aida."

Shinji brought a chair out too and grabbed the third control. "Kensuke"

"Yeah?"

The pilot smirked. "I'll watch your back if you watch mine."

"No way! That's cheating!" The fourth child yelled.

"So." the two conspirators said in unison.

"I still owe you from the last time you cut my head off." Shinji said in a playful growl.

"Fine!" Suzuhara laughed. "Team up against me.* Both* of you are still going down!"

"We'll see." Kensuke laughed victoriously.

~~~~~~~~~~

1 hour and 45 minutes later

"A_ B _A _B forward forward block, Shinji!!" Kensuke yelled the control sequence for the special move the pilot's character did, for the third time. "He's about to kill me off!"

"I *am* doing that!" Shinji yelled angrily as he pressed on his controller buttons. "It's not working!"

"Mawahahahhahaha!! And then there was one!" Touji mocked in a sinister laugh right after he killed Kensuke's man off. "I thought you two were going to beat me!"

"Dammit!" Kensuke threw his controller on the bed. He looked at the screen. "Shin-man, get the extra life coin!!"

"Where is it?" Shinji asked frantically. He was about to be killed off as well.

"I think it's behind that green blotch!" Aida pointed to the TV screen. He could barely make anything out. Shinji's TV was all messed up. The color pixels were making funny color blotches all over the screen.

Shinji's man jumped in the air to get whatever was behind the green discoloration. "There's nothing there!"

"Nope!" The fourth child laughed. "And now _you die!" Touji's man shot Shinji's in the back, ending the game. "Once again, I am the WINNER!" He started making stadium crowd noises. "Go Touji! Go Touji!"

The other two boys rolled their eyes.

"Yes, I am the sh*t!" Suzuhara's stomach rumbled angrily, making him buckle over. "Speaking of sh*t...." He looked at Shinji. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"YES!" the pilot yelled. "Yes, I do!!"

"Please man..." Touji moaned out as his stomach did flip flops. "You know what that soy milk does to me!"

"Then you need to stop drinking it!" Shinji growled.

"I need to drink it... ohhhh.... My grades are better since.... I've started drinking it." Suzuhara got up and made his way to the pilot's bathroom anyway. His *business* was coming out whether the third child wanted it to or not. "It helps my memory..... oww my stomach...."

Shinji outwardly groaned, and walked to the back of the apartment to open the window. "Why do you always have to take a dump at my place!!"

"Leave me alone, man!" Suzuhara moaned out painfully as he sat on the toilet. "I can't help that my body likes taking a dump here!"

Shinji rolled his eyes, crawled out the window, and sat on the steps of the fire escape. He knew it would be about 20 to 30 minutes before it was safe to go back in. He leaned forward and called out to Kensuke. "How can you stand it in there?"

Aida had restarted the game. His eyes never left the TV screen when he shrugged and answered. "After a while, you get used to the smell. Anyway it's too hot outside."

"You're just nasty." Shinji shook his head in disgust and rested his elbows on his knees. "Touji don't forget to light like ten matches after you're done!"

~~~~~~~~~~~

About ten minutes later.

Touji poked his head out the window, patted his stomach and playfully roared "I feel ten pounds lighter!"

<you nasty f*cker I didn't care to know that> Besides crossing his arms and rolling his eyes Shinji made no response.

Touji noticed his friend's angry disposition and mischievous playfulness overwhelmed him. "Come back in, Shinji" He laughed when he saw the third child's 'HELL NO' face "It smells like teen spirit!"

Kensuke chuckled. He knew that his friends where going to be fighting pretty soon. Shinji was already in a bad mood, and Touji was in one of his aggravating moods.

"Come on" Suzuhara goaded as he reached and grab the pilot by the wrist and tried to pull him back through the window.

Shinji gagged from the smell when he was dragged to the window. He quickly brought his free hand up and pressed it against the window pane to keep himself from being pulled into his foul smelling apartment. "Dammit Suzuhara! Leave me alone!"

Touji laughed and pulled on his arm. "You know it's spring time fresh in here, so stop playing!"

Shinji screamed in pure frustration. "It's too hot to be playing around! STOP!!!"

~ding dong~

All three boys ignored the door. Shinji was too busy trying to say out of his apartment. Touji was too busy trying to pull Shinji in the apartment, and Kensuke was too busy trying to beat his top score.

~ding dong~

"Stop f*cking around, Touji!!" Shinji yelled as he planted his foot against the wall to keep from being pulled in. "I swear, I'm going to kick your @$$!"

Touji laughed. He must of heard that threat a million times.

~ding dong~

All three ignored the door once again.

"Shinji, Rei are you .... I know you're in there, so open the door!"

"MISATO!!!" Aida and Touji happily chimed out. They loved Misato. The fourth child released the third child's wrist and Kensuke forgot all about the game and both boys ran to answer the door.

Shinji wasn't going anywhere near the door. If it wasn't his Rei-chan, they weren't important enough to deal with the smell.

"HELLO MISATOOOOO!!" Touji and Aida yelled out, in a sing-song voice, in perfect harmonization.

She was taken back to see the two boys. She expected Rei and Shinji to be alone. "Is Shinji here?"

"He's on the fire escape!" the fourth child quickly answered before Aida could.

She nodded and walked into the apartment "OH_ MY_ GAWD!!! WHAT DIED IN HERE?!" She pinched her nose shut and fought the urge to vomit.

"Touji took a dump!" Kensuke quickly answered with a toothy grin.

The fourth child punched the boy in the arm for embarrassing him. "You didn't have to tell her @$$hole!"

Misato shook her head, telling them she didn't care as she quickly kicked off her shoes and made a dash for the window. She ran so fast that she totally missed the wedding certificate that was hung on the wall matted in a HUGE frame. After she pulled herself through the window she asked.

"Shinji, where is Rei?" She stood up and crossed her arms angrily.

The boy swallowed hard. He could tell that his former guardian was pissed. "She went...." He pressed his eyes shut ."Out...?"

"I thought you said she was ill." she responded with calm anger.

He looked at her and lied. "She is."

Misato narrowed her eyes at him. "If she is so ill, why hasn't she gone to see Ritsuko?"

Shinji answered honestly. "Because my father told us to stay away from her."

The major paled. <so he already knows some thing's up> The woman had been trying to find out what her *ex* friend had planned to do. She wanted to intervene before it was too late and Rei got hurt.

"Misato-san?" Shinji noticed her demeanor.

She shook her head and recomposed herself. "Shinji, I know that Rei is upset with me for what..." She leaned to the boy and whispered. "We did, but she has a job to do."

"I... know.." he agreed meekly.

"No," she interrupted. "I don't think you do. So let me finish. I know the commander doesn't care what she does. She could break every rule in NERV and go without being punished...."

Shinji narrowed his eyes and interrupted. "That's not true! Anyway, why are you always talking against her--"

She interrupted. "If you would just calm down and shut up, you will see that I'm *not* against her! I've been covering for her @$$ for over a week!"

"Huh?"

"Shinji, you can only have one unexcused absence from work at NERV."

He gave her a surprised look. He had no idea. "But *I* had more than--"

She interrupted. "That was under different circumstances. Trust me, you would have been replaced if unit 01 didn't reject all other pilots."

He was silent because he knew her words were true.

"Shinji, what I'm trying to say is..... Rei going to be fired from NERV."

The pilot couldn't help himself; he laughed at her confession.

"You think it's funny!" She gave him a pissed stern look. "Or is it that you think that it will never happen because of what she is."

The boy stopped laughing and glanced quickly into his apartment to make sure his friends didn't hear her. Luckily they were too busy with the video game to hear what she said. He whispered. "What do you mean *what* she is?"

"I know..." She looked away from him so he couldn't see her disgust and whispered back. "Ritsuko told me that she is a clone of your mother."

"Oh..." Besides that, he didn't respond. When *he* found out about Rei, it was before the third impact, and Misato was there. But since that past had changed, but his memory of her knowing hadn't, he wasn't shocked that she knew.

The major couldn't believe how nonchalant he was about the whole thing. She looked into his dark blue eyes, grabbed his shoulders and asked "Why?"

"Because.. I love her." He didn't explain anything else to her, for he wasn't allowed to tell the major what Rei *truly* was.

She whispered in pure disgust. "It's incest, Shinji!"

He broke away from her hold and shrugged. "I don't care."

She disappointedly shook her head.

"Is that all Ritsuko told you?" he inquired with a surprising calm.

She didn't answer right off. She had to take in the truth that the boy truly didn't care about his genetic relations to his girlfriend.

"Is that all Ritsuko told you?" he inquired again.

"No." she finally answered. "That's why I'm here. I wanted to prepare you and Rei..."

"For what?" he interrupted.

She looked him in the eyes. " I'm sure Rei told you that your father and Ritsuko were lovers..."

"NANI!" Shinji almost fell over the fire escape railing. He was expecting her to tell him about knowing about the angel side of his kioshii-tsuma's DNA, not *THAT*! <was I the last person in the world to know?>

"Oh" She was surprised and thought he reacted that way because he didn't know. "Oh well, now you do." With a flick of the wrist she waved that subject away. "Shinji what I'm trying to tell you is ...despite my protest, Ritsuko petitioned for Rei's dismissal from NERV."

The boy shrugged. "So. My dad would never approve it."

She nodded. "Your dad might be the boss of all of us, Shinji, but even *he* has someone that outranks him!"

His brow furrowed; he didn't understand.

Misato sighed when she recognized that she wasn't getting through to him. "Ritsuko not only went over my head, she went over your father's head as well!"

"WHAT?!" Now he was beginning to understand.

"When Rei didn't come to any of her synch tests, that gave Ritsuko the rest of the ammunition needed to get her fired." She handed him a stack of papers. "This is the request for Rei's dismissal."

Shinji looked through the papers. "This looks like a medical report."

"I know." Misato said "She had to do it on the grounds of Rei's mental state because I refused to help her. Although, you will see that she did include Rei's job performance in her report as well. However, she can't validate her findings on Rei's job performance because I refused to sign the petition."

Shinji looked away from papers and at his former guardian. "Why?... Why did she do this?"

Misato reluctantly admitted. "She hates Rei, Shinji. She blames her for the way your father treated her."

He shook his head, then asked "When did she do this?"

"I just found out about it today." the major admitted. "But... I think she sent it in three days ago."

"Sent it in... to who?." He couldn't imagine anyone outranking his dad. Rei had told him that his father *owned* NERV after the changes made by the third impact. "Who's over my dad?"

"They are called the Tri-Counsel, Shinji." she said solemnly. "I just learned about them today. They were implemented so NERV doesn't try to end the world like SEELE did two years ago. They're our regulators because we're the worlds super power."

"Do you think that they will approve this?" He was completely distressed.

"Read if for yourself and make your own decision." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder "I'm sorry" She looked back into through the window and planned her escape out of the stinky apartment. <now if I can get my shoes on before I run out of air..... do I really need my shoes...?>

******************************

"You know, when described like this, I look very incompetent." Rei stated as she pilfered through the stack of papers composed to damage her creditability.

Kozo chuckled as he looked through his copy. "It says here that you are mentally unstable, Rei."

"I saw that." the first child said with a bit of an edge to her calm voice. "Did you see what she wrote about my synch ratio?"

"Yes, I did." Kozo answered mirthfully.

Gendo put his copy on the desk. Unlike his two subordinates, he wasn't finding any humor with the present situation. In his opinion, Ritsuko had overstepped her usefulness. In his opinion, she should have been dead.... three weeks ago. Only for Rei was he playing the fool to her attentions. But for her to go over his head... "This is inexcusable!" he growled sadistically.

"I agree. She didn't even include any of my successful missions." Rei said and furrowed her brow. "Only my failures."

Kozo chuckled then said with mock seriousness. "Are we ready to begin?"

The first child smiled and nodded.

Gendo groaned in irritation. "This is completely unnecessary."

Rei gave her shikisha a disappointed look.

The commander rolled his eyes behind his tinted glasses, and waved for them to continue.

Rei's smile returned. She was excited because this was *her* idea, and it was the first time it was ever used.

Kozo made a makeshift gavel with a paper weight and banged it on Gendo's desk. "I now call upon the first meeting of the Tri-Councel."

******************************************

Shinji was lying on the bed with the earphones to his SDAT in his ears. He had the old familiar tune of disk 25 blasting against his eardrums. This was the first time he listened to this since he moved in with Rei. Unfortunately, it wasn't helping him like it used to. He couldn't escape his problems.

Kensuke stared at his friend. "He should tell her."

"How, numbnut?!" Touji growled. "He can't even get in touch with her!"

Kensuke picked up Rei's phone. "He can use her phone."

"He still doesn't have a number!" Touji said matter-of-factly, rolled his eyes and returned his gaze back to his depressed friend. "I can't believe that b*tch did that to Rei."

"Yeah, but it can all be fixed. It's just a misunderstanding!" Kensuke unfold the her phone. "Once Rei finds out, she can tell them that she was actually gone. They can't fire her for being out of town with the commander."

Touji glanced back at his other friend and almost had a heart attack. "Are you nuts?! Close up her phone right now! Who knows who you might call!"

"Look! Rei is going to loose her job because of some crazy b*tch's ill placed vendetta! I think she has the right to know!"

Touji tried to grab the phone from him. "Shinji can tell her when *she* calls him! Now put it back! Only gawd knows who you will end up calling with her phone!"

Aida swiftly moved away and dodged the boy. "She said that she has to use the commander's phone to call him, right? So the last number that called this phone was the commander's. So all we have to do is *69 it!" He started to push the numbers.

"NOOO!!!" Touji leaped out of his seat and tackled the boy, but it was too late.

~ring ring~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ikari."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kensuke froze when heard the commander's voice. He wasn't sure if the commander was addressing Shinji or stating who he was. So he did the only thing he could do; he looked at the phone and...... tossed it on the bed beside Shinji.

Seeing Rei's phone open, the third child quickly took his earpiece off his ears and answered the phone. He thought he missed hearing the phone ring because his music was so loud.

He cooed. "Kioshii"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rei looked quizzically at the commanded when he handed the phone to her.

"Hello?" She wasn't sure why anyone would call her on the commander's phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I love you!" Shinji chimed. He didn't catch the uncertainty in her tone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shinji?" She was completely surprised. No she was SHOCKED. He new that calling his dad's phone was forbidden. "Why did you call this phone?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I didn't." His brow furrowed. "You called me...didn't you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He glanced at his friends. They looked as if they just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I'm so sorry, Rei."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She glanced at the commander to see if he *will* be sorry about it, then let out a relieved breath. He didn't seem to care. "Kioshii-otto.. why did you call?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I didn't." He repeated. "But ..can you talk?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I..." She could hear the distress in his voice. "I must ask." She resolved to use the face that had been most beneficial when it came to getting her way. She gave the commander a puppy dog face and asked "Shikisha.. may I talk to my husband?" (blink blink blink of her beautiful crimson eyes)

<you better not say no, Gendo!!!> Kozo mentally warned. He was a complete traitor to his friend when Rei made that face.

<of course my little Rei> The commander was useless against that face as well. He nodded his answer.

<this is just too easy> She returned to the phone. "Yes my love, I can speak to you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He let out a dejected sigh. "I have bad news. I have failed you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You could never fail me, Shinji." she assured.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes I have.." He started to sob. "I didn't know how to make up good enough excuses for your absence and now ..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now a letter went up to the Tri-Councel suggesting my dismissal?" she asked knowingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah..." He was surprised that she knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do not worry yourself over it." she commanded lovingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...." He didn't know what to say, but he trusted her. He heard his father call her in the background.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shinji, I must go now... but... stay home tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you coming back?!!!" he asked hopefully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh" he said dejectedly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just be home, kioshii , I love you. Ja'ne"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I love you too Rei-chan." He said as he held back his tears. He hated saying good-bye to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~click~

"What did she say?" Kensuke asked quizzically.

Shinji absently looked at the boy. "She told me not to worry about it."

Aida nodded in relief.

"But she's going to lose her job!" Touji said still stressed over the fate of his friends wife.

"She told me not to worry." Shinji repeated. "I trust her, so I'm not going to worry about it."

"Did she say when she was coming back?" Kensuke asked trying to change the subject before Touji asked too many questions.

The pilot of unit 01 shook his head no. "But she did tell me to stay home tomorrow."

"You think something's wrong?" Touji asked.

The pilot shrugged. "She didn't say."

"Want us to keep you company?" Aida offered.

<not really> He shrugged again.

Aida nodded and got up. "I'll be back. I just need to go and spend so time with Kimiko, so she won't go ballistic. I'll come back after I get my stuff."

Touji caught on to what Kensuke was talking about. "Yeah me too.. except I'll be right back after I get my stuff. Hikari's most likely hanging out with Asuka. That girl's been acting weirder than usual lately."

Shinji didn't respond. He was too depressed. Tomorrow was the day before his birthday and Rei was still not going to be home. He didn't even notice his friends leave. He didn't hear what they said until it was too late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji woke up that next morning to a knocking door. He was exhausted. Last night, his friends decided to make it a guys night out to cheer him up. At first he didn't want to be bothered, but now he was great full that they went to such lengths to cheer him up. He had a lot of fun. He felt really lucky to have them as friends even though they got on his nerves most of the time.

Groggily he sat at the edge of his bed. He didn't rush his movement because his whole left side was sore from when he fell off the 10 foot gate. He grimaced as he remembered when his shoe lace got caught in the fence when they were sneaking into the fair that was to open tomorrow. They wanted to get the gist of the layout so they would know exactly which rides to go to first.

~Knock knock~

"Answer the door, Imooto-chan!" Touji yelled out in his sleep then put his pillow over his head.

Shinji chuckled as he looked at the boy who took dibs on the air mattress.

"You're not at home Baka, so stop yelling" Aida groaned.

Shinji got off his and Rei's bed and stepped over Kensuke who was stuck sleeping on the hard floor. He felt sorry for him. He knew from past experience how hard the floor was, and with his injury from the fall. Shinji just shook his head (Shinji had grabbed Aida on his descent and used him as the cushion to break his fall)

"I'm coming!" Shinji yelled right before he opened the door.

Three NERV agents was out side his door.

Shinji's eyes widened in shock. He knew who they were. They were Rei's personal agents; he remembered that two of them were standing outside his apartment door on the day he and Rei got married. He had no idea why they were there unless "Has something happened to Rei?"

The oldest looking man shook his head no and said in a surprisingly kind voice. "We're just delivery boys."

"Huh?"

"Isn't it your birthday?" the smallest of the three asked.

"Tomorrow" Shinji admitted just as he friend stood behind him.

When Kensuke made his way to the door, he was happily surprised by what he saw behind the men's backs. "Holy Sh*t!"

The men smiled and used a pulley to dragged the huge box in the apartment.

"Where do you want it?" the older man asked.

"Ummm... here I guess "Shinji pointed to where his TV/VCR was. Which was directly adjacent to the foot of his and Rei's bed.

The men moved the small TV/VCR and the small dresser it was sitting on. Then placed the huge 52 inch screen TV in its place.

Touji was now up because of all the ruckus and walked over to his fellow pilot. "So this is why she wanted you to stay home."

"I guess" Shinji said happily. There really was no room for that enormous TV in their idybity apartment and he had no idea why Rei bought him such a big one, but he was more than happy he got it.

The agent with a mustache walked back out and came back with another large box. "Where do you want the speakers."

"Speakers?"

"For the surround sound."

"WHOA!" the three boys exclaimed happily.

The older man walked out and came back with another large box.

The smallest man walked out and came back with a tool box and a medium sized box.

Shinji watched the men in awe. This was the best birthday present he had ever gotten in his entire life!

The smaller man took a drill out of the tool box and started drilling into the wall by the window.

"What are you doing?!" Shinji screamed. He now had a hole that went clear through the wall. He could see outside!

"I need a to do this so I connect the satellite."

"YES!!" Kensuke practically leaped with joy. "Shinji you'll finally have more than basic cable!"

"There's nothing wrong with basic cable!" Shinji shot back defensively. Inwardly he was just as happy as his friend, if not more.

The older man took a video camera out of the box he had, and connected it to the TV.

"What's that for?" Touji asked Shinji with a libidinous chime in his tone.

Shinji blushed and playfully punched his friend in the arm. "Shut up, Suzuhara!" He didn't deny what his friend was thinking because he wasn't sure if he was wrong in his assumption. One could never tell with Rei.

Kensuke was busy asking a million-and-one questions to the smaller man, on the fire escape. He wanted to know everything about that apparently powerful and secret satellite. For if it was a normal TV satellite Kensuke wouldn't even bother questioning about it.

The mustached man finished connecting the surround sound and placing the speakers in various places around the small apartment. He glanced at his watch then looked at the other two men. "Are you two almost finished we are running out of time."

"If this kid would leave me alone, I think I can finish in about two minutes."

"Make it one" the man ordered sternly as he walked toward the window, grabbed Kensuke, and not so gently dragged him to the bed and sat him down. "Stay."

Aida meekly nodded.

Touji and Shinji chuckled.

The older man said proudly. "I'm finished."

One minute later. "Me too" was heard from the man on fire escape.

The mustached man smirked and turned the TV on. Some English speaking show was on.

"Oh wow!" Touji yelled in excitement and turned to Shinji. "You can get channels from different countries."

"How many channels do I have?" The pilot asked the agent that fixed the satellite disk.

"I have know idea." he answered honestly. "I guess as many channels there are in the world, minus the frequencies blocked by NERV."

"WOW!" All the boys yelled in unison.

The mustached man gave Shinji a huge @$$ remote control and started explaining to him how to use it.

10 minutes later.

"So this is the frequency button?" Shinji asked, again. The remote control for this thing had more instructions than his Eva.

"Yes" the man answered ,again. "Any more questions?"

"No, I think I can remember everything now." Shinji lied. He just didn't want to repeat the same questions, for the fourth time. The man already looked a little annoyed.

The men nodded and left the apartment.

Aida sat indian style on the pilot's bed. "Ok Shin-man, I wrote down all the good channels that you went through when you were practicing."

Touji smirked.

"Ready?" Kensuke asked.

"Uh..." Shinji glanced down at his remote then back to his friend. "Yeah sure."

"Ok." He beamed a smile and sat a little straighter. "Frequency 7."

Shinji changed it to the seventh frequency. "Okay."

"Channel 201."

Shinji changed it to 201.

"AHHH AHHH Harder.. ohhhh YEAH right there baby!!"

Shinji shook his head. He should have known that his friend would have him turn to a porno channel.

Touji laughed. But didn't complain about what they were viewing. He had his list too, and on frequency 2 channel 37 there was a very similar type channel he picked out.

Without an utterance of complaint, Shinji sat on the floor, since his bed was taken, and so was the air mattress and watched as well. What could he do? It was *educational* and he was 16 years old.

About 5 minutes later the screen went black.

"Hey! Whatcha do!" Aida yelled to the other two boys

"Nothing!" Shinji yelled completely afraid that his present was broken.

"You mean it's already broke?!" Touji yelled in a very distressed voice. "Now I'll never know what happens at the end of the movie!"

"They cum!" Shinji growled as he walked over to his TV to see what was wrong with it. He was just about to bang on it when it started flipping through frequencies and channels by itself.

"What the hell?" Kensuke whispered to himself.

It stopped on a blue screen and for about 30 seconds, nothing happened. Then...

"I should have known you guys would be watching porn." said a sweet, calm, knowing voice.

"REI-CHAN!!!" Shinji bent down and planted about a hundred kisses on her face on the TV screen.

If anyone of his friend could see, Rei had her lips poked out as if she was actually going to feel his kiss.

"I miss you sooooo much!" Shinji cried out to his beloved wife. He was kneeling directly in front of the screen. He couldn't even see her clearly, just a bunch of pixel dots.

"Back up, kioshii" She gently ordered as she gestured for him to do so with her hands. "I cannot see you."

"Huh?"

"Back up" she repeated and pointed up. "Sit on the bed so I can see you."

He looked up at where she was pointing and saw the video camera. "Oh" He quickly got up and pushed Kensuke off his bed yelled ."Can you see me now?"

She smiled and nodded. "No need to yell, my love, I can hear you just fine."

He nodded eagerly. "I miss you!" he repeated again.

"And I you." She cooed sweetly. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you, but.." he meekly admitted, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "My birthday's tomorrow."

"It's tomorrow here." she said sweetly and winked.

"Thank you." He said again. "I love the TV. It's so huge!"

"I am glad you like it. It is the least I could after what I did to your TV."

"Don't worry about that Rei-chan. It still works, and you can hardly notice the discoloration when it was on."

"Whatever." Touji said under his breath.

"But being able to see you is the best gift ever!" the pilot chimed as he wiggled happily.

"I will be sure to relay the message to your father." Rei said sweetly.

Shinji was shocked. "You mean... my dad gave me the satellite?"

"No. That was from Fuyutsuki." Rei informed calmly. "This frequency is from your father."

"Oh" He sighed happily.

"Shinji" she said sweetly in her usual calm voice.

"Hmm?"

"I need you to stay home today."

"Ok" he responded, no questions asked.

She smiled, for he rarely questioned her. She new that his attitude would make things a lot easier for her when her rank as 3rd commander was officially announced, and she was required to handle things in a commander of NERV type of way.

"Rei-chan, guess what?" he said excitedly.

She smiled. "I do not know. Please tell me 'what'."

"There is a fair in Tokyo-3 and it opens tomorrow!" he informed with a child like exuberance.

She smiled warmly and said as if she didn't know. "Really?" She had been practicing this reaction since she thought of this gift.

<faker> He smiled back. "Thank you." He knew that she arranged it for him. Kensuke told him about seeing all three of the commanders at park in the same exact spot the fair is at now.

She giggled. "It wasn't only me, Shinji."

"I know." He laughed back. He loved to hear her laugh, it was infectious. "Could you tell my father and the 2nd commander Thank you for me?"

She smiled and shook her head "No. I will allow you to do that for yourself."

"When!" He asked excitedly. "Are you on your way home?"

Her disposition darkened and her eyes narrowed slightly. "No. I still have things to do here."

"Oh" His heart felt like it shattered.

She looked to her left and nodded. "My love, I am sorry but I must go."

A tear escaped his eyes and he nodded. "I love you."

"I love you more." She gave him a cocky wink and the screen turned blue.

Shinji cupped his face in his hands and cried. "She's not going to make it back in time."

Kensuke and Touji felt bad for Shinji. They were really hoping that Rei was going to be back for his birthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rei walked out of the specially made green room and toward the training room. She was pissed. BEYOND pissed. The commander had told her that she couldn't go home for Shinji's birthday because when she rejected to subsist on her S2 organ, she put them two days behind. She was told that the project was her top priority , not her husband, and that she had been working on it before she even started having a relation with his son. The commander told her to be happy with the frequency conversation, *today*. Not even on his actual birthday was she going to be allowed to use it. She arrived at the training room door and walked in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure this is wise, Gendo?" the sub-commander ask in a low whisper.

The commander didn't respond. Wise or not, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Maya had now replaced Aoba on this part of the mission. She had come with Fuyutsuki. She completed the last check on all the controls to make sure this test would go as planned. Once she was satisfied, she leaned in her seat and spoke into the microphone.

"Prepare yourself, Rei." Maya felt a bit awkward calling her commanding officer by her first name. But she wasn't sure how to address her anymore. Ayanami was no longer her sir name and to call her Ikari sounded so..... male. "I will count down before the test will begin."

"Hai" was the tender response of the angel.

Rei stood in the middle of the training field. She was BEYOND furious, though no one who didn't know her extremely well would be able to tell.

Maya started the count down:

"5..."

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"FIRE!!"

~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gendo sat at his desk with his hands clasped in front of his face. He passively watched the tracker of the bullets as they passed each point marker and get closer to his favorite.

~~~~~~~~

Rei allowed the bullets to come, even though she knew that she could barely *control* her powers *at will*. But she was upset, and she was cutting her nose to spite her face. She wanted to leave his place, and she wanted to leave *today*! Shinji's birthday was tomorrow!

~~~~~~~~

The last point marker had been acknowledged. If the first child didn't react now, she would be killed.....

~~~~~~~~~

<oh God!!> "Rei!!!!" screamed the Professor once he realized that the bullets had now passed the range safety. He ran to the screen in a futile attempt to save her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rei had not moved from where she was. She was not afraid. She was too angry to experience fear. She watched the bullets come; she allowed them to come. And at the very last second, she expanded her AT field. All 248 bullets had stopped, not even an inch from her body. She could feel the heat permeating from all of them. She could smell the gunpowder. A second later they exploded.

Once the smoke cleared, she stood there, unafraid and unscathed. Slowly, she turned around and faced the cameras with her crimson eyes glowing. She had a frown on her face that could rival her guardian's.

~~~~~~~~

Maya was crying out. "Are you ok, Rei!" Her nerves were shot.

Fuyutsuki was breathing heavily as he turned around; his hand was on his chest to calm his heart beat. He observed his long time friend.

Gendo was still sitting calmly at his desk in the same position. He looked unaffected by what just transpired. Unbeknownst to everyone in the observation room, the commander felt like his stomach, heart and lungs was stuck in the back of his throat. He had never been so scared in his entire life. His calm state was not a result of his conditioning to control his emotions. He was scared stiff. After about a minute, the commander collected himself, stood up, and walked out of the observation booth.

The professor followed. He was amazed that his friend didn't react.

"Do you know that she just did?" Gendo asked his long timed friend.

"She couldn't control her AT field in time?" Kozo stated questioningly.

Ikari shook his head slightly. "What she just did, was the equivalent of a child who holds one's breath until they turn blue."

Fuyutsuki was shocked. "You mean Rei was throwing a tantrum?"

The commander nodded and smiled to himself <you got a temper my little Rei.> He wasn't angry. He knew she had a temper, and a bad one. She had displayed it once when she was a little girl. It was the Lillith in her. However, he wasn't upset because his plan worked. Because she embraced her anger, Rei now had a better control of her powers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji was alone in his apartment. Watching pornos all day, his friends were too horny to stay around. They left because they said they needed to visit their girlfriends before they died of blue balls. Unfortunately for Shinji, he had to handle his own business. Now the pilot was asleep, holding one of the many birthday gifts he received today. It was a wedding picture of him and his kioshii-stuma. The background of the picture was false, but everything else was real. It was one of the many picture he got of his wedding. He actually got a wedding album filled with pictures of that day. There were pictures in all angles, so he assume that they were stills taken from video cameras. He was glad to have them. Very glad. He got a lot of things for his birthday. A new bed for him and Rei. It was made exactly they way he told her he wanted their bed. He had teased her about pushing him off the bed in one of their few conversation, then she asked him what type of bed he wanted. From the top of his head, he described one. And now he had exactly what he asked for. He received the complete Akira model set. He also got original signed cells of the movie, a new stereo and countless other things that he absently said he wanted at one time or another. She remembered everything and forgot nothing. He was happy that she went to so much trouble just to please him, but he would trade everything in or give everything back just to have her there on his birthday.

~knock knock~

The pilot's eyes fluttered open. He groaned as he got out of their new bed and walked to the door. He was used to this routine. He had been getting presents almost every hour on the hour. He glanced at his new alarm clock. It was 12 am.

When he opened the door, the same three NERV agents that have been his delivery boys, all day, where there. The pilot forced smile.

"You have one more gift" the older man said sleepily as he handed the pilot a medium sized wooden chest.

Shinji nodded politely and received the gift. It was heavier than he expected. He turned around and brought it into the now very cluttered apartment.

"Oh wait, Shinji!" the older man called out. "That's only part of the gift."

Shinji turned and faced the men once again.

The two other men in the back, stepped away from each other and revealed...

"REI-CHAN!!"

The young Mrs. Ikari stood there smiling at her husband with a little pink bow stuck to her forehead. "Happy birthday, Kioshii".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry everyone for taking so long with this chapter. I haven't been feeling well lately. Sorry.

Oh I told you, my knight, that I would bring Rei back in this chapter ^_~

I still don't own anything that deal with Evangelion.