Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Different View ❯ Victory ( Chapter 3 )

A Different View

by Keen Drallin

Chapter 3 - Victory

Disclaimer - I do not own Evangelion. No money is being made from this.

"The Angel appeared about two minutes ago." Hyuga said. On screen in front of him was a map of the Angel's last known position; directly over the East Indian Ocean.

Misato nodded, listening with half an ear as the techs ordered an observation satellite's into place. She wasn't ignoring them, but she'd learned long ago not to bother with every little detail. At least, not the ones that weren't her department. If it would give her even the slightest edge for planning how to actually kill the Angels, she'd know the most minute facts and figures. But it wouldn't, so she left the technical department to the techs.

NERV's Operations Director tuned back in as the image on screen changed. Rather than the computer generated image of space and satellite locations, the massive form of the Tenth Angel appeared.

Misato was momentarily taken aback by the bizarre being. It looked almost like a child's drawing, a strange cross between the abstract and the absurd.

It's center body piece resembled some huge, grotesque eye. Branching off from each side of the center were two wing-like structures, each trailing off into even smaller extensions.

"It's enormous!" Hyuga said, awe evident in his voice.

"It's impressive, all right," Misato agreed, listening to the techs speaking to each other about the correct placement of satellites.

A moment after she heard a tech say, "Data transmission complete," the image from the satellites flickered, then went completely dead.

"Was that an AT-Field?" Misato asked.

"Yes," Ritsuko said, her tone strangely calm, "a new way of using one."

---

Shinji Ikari sat on a bench in the lounge, staring out one of the windows. He liked to do this on occasion, whenever he was tense about something, and he was definitely tense right now.

He was always nervous before an Angel attack, and today was no different. The pilots hadn't been told very much of what this Angel's physical appearance or probable capabilities were, just that it seemed to be coming at them directly from orbit.

The Angel wasn't the only thing that made Shinji feel less than his best this morning, however. The day had started off bad, with both the Second and Third Children waking with the exact knowledge of what a hangover felt like. And if that wasn't bad enough, they'd been greeted by their all-too-cheerful guardian not long after they'd risen to consciousness.

Despite Misato's initial amusement at the state they were in, she'd quickly become much more serious. And despite their slightly addle-brained states, both pilots had very quickly figured out why.

Although Shinji's memories of the night before were somewhat fuzzy, he could still remember all the major points of conversation. Foremost among them was Misato's firm insistence that the three of them would talk tomorrow. The topic of discussion made Shinji understandably nervous, and it had been even worse this morning. Last night, at least, the conversation was going to take place sometime in the future, always a comforting thought about unpleasant situations. This morning, however, it had been staring them right in the face, and Shinji had known that there was no way himself and his fiancée would be able to delay it any more.

Misato had told the two pilots they had an hour to get ready, then they were going to 'talk.'

Before the hour had been up, however, they'd gotten a call from NERV saying that the latest Angel had been sighted. And although he hadn't yet discussed it with Asuka, the Third Child knew that his fiancée was just as nervous about the upcoming talk.

Shinji was interrupted from his train-wreck of thought by the sound of the door sliding open. He turned towards the entrance of the lounge to see Asuka walk into the room. Like Shinji, she was wearing her plugsuit. And also like Shinji, she didn't look to be functioning quite at maximum capacity today.

"You look like I feel," The Second Child said, walking over and sitting down next to her fiancée.

Shinji laughed weakly, then noticed that Asuka was holding some kind of small plastic container in her hand. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a pill bottle. Shinji just then remembered that Asuka had gone to the infirmary for aspirin.

Asuka smirked at Shinji's look of confusion, but she could understand it perfectly. Even she seemed to have the attention span of a toddler with ADD this morning. "Is that yours?" She asked, pointing at the half-empty bottle of soda sitting next to Shinji.

The Third Child nodded, so Asuka grabbed the soda and used it to wash down a few of the capsules. She handed the soda and the aspirin to Shinji.

"Thanks, Asuka," he said, also downing a few of the small white pills.

"Misato never told us what a hangover was like," Asuka said sarcastically.

Shinji laughed slightly. "I guess she thought we'd know."

Asuka raised her hands in mock-exasperation. "That women expects us to know all about the horrors of alcohol?! Who does she think we are, us poor young innocent little children?!"

Shinji tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't for more than thirty seconds. He really did try, but he just couldn't keep the laughter down.

The Third Child almost fell down laughing. If he hadn't been sitting down, Shinji knew that he would have been rolling on the floor. A moment later, Asuka joined him. The two Children practically had to hold each other up, they were laughing so hard.

"Are you all right?"

Shinji and Asuka looked up at the question, still chuckling. To their surprise, Rei Ayanami stood several feet in front of them, looking as inscrutable as ever. After another moment of confusion, Shinji realized that she must have walked in while the future Ikari were indisposed.

"We're okay, Rei." Shinji said, both trying to be polite and trying not to start laughing again.

"In a manner of speaking, anyway." Asuka said, facing the same internal dilemma as her roommate.

"That's good," The First Child said. Then she walked over to one of vending machines, purchased a bottle of water, and sat down several tables away from the engaged couple.

Shinji and Asuka traded a confused glance at their comrade's behavior, but they were both used to strange behavior from her. Shinji wanted to talk to the pilot of Unit-00, but he couldn't think up any kind of opening that seemed appropriate; one that wouldn't irritate Asuka or alienate Rei. He reflected upon the blue-haired girl, all that he knew about her, and everything they'd ever discussed in the past. From their first 'meeting,' before he'd first gotten into Misato's car, to their talk before the Fifth Angel, he'd always gotten the impression that Rei was a truly questioning soul, one that wanted to understand but couldn't. Yet at the same time, a person possessed of almost unbelievable courage, not even hesitating before risking her life for a fellow pilot.

Asuka briefly glanced at Shinji, noting the distant look in his eyes and the slight frown on his face, then she mentally shrugged. God, she hated having a hangover. "What are you doing here, anyway, Rei?"

The question wasn't rude, so much as genuinely curious; as far as Asuka knew, the First Child never came to the lounge. To the Second Child's surprise, Rei responded, "Major Katsuragi suggested that I come here."

---

"Look at the size of that tidal-wave. That's an AT-Field impact," Misato said, looking at the images displayed on the monitors. The primary command staff was assembled in one of the conference rooms, all except for the commanders. Not for the first time today, Misato wished that her two superiors had waited one more day before heading off to Antarctica.

"It uses kinetic energy also," Maya said. "This Angel is like a huge living bomb."

"At least the first blast missed and hit the ocean," Ritsuko said optimistically. Her tone fell slightly as she continued, "However, the second shot hit closer to land, and it's been steadily correcting its error ratio."

"So it's learning to aim itself," Misato said with a sigh.

"We detonated an N^2 aerial mine on it," Hyuga informed the major. "No effect."

"And the Angel has been hiding since then," Aoba said after checking over the latest readouts. "It's jamming is just too strong."

Misato sighed again. "It's coming here, isn't it?"

"It's a safe bet," Ritsuko said with a humorless smirk. "And if it falls on us..."

Misato could easily figure out what her old friend meant. "Then there'll be a third Ashinoko Lake, right?"

"Actually," Ritsuko corrected, "this whole area will become an extension of the Pacific Ocean."

"Is there any way we can contact Commander Ikari?" Misato asked.

Aoba shook his head. "It's impossible; we can't get through the Angel's jamming effect."

"What about the MAGI?" The purple-haired woman inquired.

"The MAGI are unanimous in recommending evacuation," Maya replied.

"What will you do?" Ritsuko asked Misato. "You're the one who's in charge of all this now."

NERV's Operations Director thought for a moment, then announced, "notify all the ministries concerned that I am issuing a special D-17 declaration. All residents within a fifty kilometer radius are to be evacuated immediately. Also, tell Matsushiro to back up the MAGI."

"Are we going to evacuate as well, ma'am?" Hyuga asked.

"No," Misato said, "but it's not necessary to place everyone here at risk. Order the evacuation of all non-primary personnel to Matsushiro."

----

Asuka sighed and took a few more aspirin. Despite her own ambivalent feelings for the First Child, Asuka had been trying to initiate a conversation for the last five, mainly for Shinji's sake. They'd had a talk about Rei once, a few weeks ago. One of the things that Asuka had gained from the conversation was a greater understanding of the interaction between her two comrades, and how Shinji felt about the mysterious pilot of Unit-01.

The conversation, and its counterpart, had helped clear the air between the two youths. And while Asuka had been irritated to hear about Shinji's 'accident' at Rei's apartment, the redhead's own admission on what had happened on her voyage to Japan had really knocked the wind out of her offensive sails.

Today, the First Child had proved to be as good a conversationalist as usual. By now, Asuka had exhausted just about every avenue of conversation she could think of. Shinji had also just about run out of things to say, and now the roommates were trying to figure out exactly why Rei was there. It certainly wasn't to talk, and one of the few things they'd been able to get out of the blue-haired girl was that Misato's suggestion to come to the lounge had been just that; a suggestion.

That was what surprised Shinji the most, that Rei had chosen to come to the lounge of her own accord. As far as he could recall, the First Child had never wanted to spend time with her fellow pilots in a casual setting.

Just as Shinji was opening his mouth to again try and make conversation again, an announcement came over the public address system. "All pilots, please report the briefing room 2. All pilots, please report to briefing room 2."

With a sigh, the Third Child pulled himself out of his seat. "That was quick," Asuka said, also getting up.

"I wonder what ideas Misato came up with," Shinji wondered out loud.

"A plan to defeat the Angel."

Shinji turned in surprise to Rei, who'd spoken the words.

Asuka bit back the rude response that had almost come out. Now that Rei was finally speaking, it wasn't the time to insult her back into near-mute status.

"What do you think it is?" Shinji asked the blue-haired girl, curious as to why she chose to answer a question of that sort.

Rei shrugged. "I do not know."

"I wonder if it'll be dangerous," The Third Child muttered to himself.

Asuka almost laughed at her fiancée's usual 'enthusiasm.' "The most it could do is kill us," she said with a smirk.

Shinji turned to face his roommate, wide-eyed. After a moment, he just sighed. Asuka now laughed, then stood there smirking imperiously at him, the expression too exaggerated to be anything but a joke.

Shinji tried to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn't help but smile at his fiancée's enthusiasm.

The two pilots smiled at each other, then both glanced over at Rei, who was looking back and forth between them, puzzled.

"What is it, Rei?" Shinji asked.

The blue-haired girl looked ready to ask something for a moment, then her expression changed slightly. She almost seemed to shrug before replying, "we are supposed to report to the briefing room."

With twin sighs, the engaged couple followed the First Child out the door.

---

Ritsuko, Misato, and the Children were on the bridge in the command center, looking at the geo-map of Tokyo-3 and the surrounding area.

Shinji simply watched the actions of everyone around him, his mind focused on the 'plan' Misato had come up with. At first glance, it seemed so foolhardy as to be suicidal, but...

Misato had never failed the pilots before. And as bizarre as her judgment seemed to be some times, she had proven time and again that her battle plans were some of the best out there.

"The Angel's ECM jamming has caused us to lose track of it again," Maya reported.

"Since it's impossible to calculate the exact location," Misato said to the pilots, "the MAGI have estimated a probable drop zone radius from what little data we've been able to collect."

NERV's Operations Director gestured to the screen, which changed slightly. Rather than the even green it had been before, three large circles shifted to orange. "This is it…"

"That's a huge area to cover!" Asuka exclaimed.

"It could drop on any of these locations?!" Shinji asked, both upset and uncertain.

"Given the size of the target's AT Field," Ritsuko said, "it could completely annihilate NERV Headquarters simply by coming close with a near miss."

Misato continued on before the Second and Third Children could say anything else about the probability of success. "We'll disperse the EVAs so there's one at each of these three points," she said, gesturing to the center of each orange circle.

"What is this dispersal based on?" Rei asked.

Misato's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned back to the screen. The purple-haired woman's voice was firm as she replied, "a guess."

Despite their decision to trust Misato's judgment, Shinji and Asuka couldn't quite believe what their guardian and commander had just said. "A guess?!" They asked in unison, their voices full of disbelief.

"It's women's intuition," Misato shot back.

"Women's intuition," Asuka muttered sarcastically to Shinji. "It looks like our miracle is getting further and further away."

"Miracle's aren't something that just happen," Misato said, her back still turned to the pilots. "They're something that people make happen."

---

'Here we go again,' Shinji thought to himself as he stared out through the front of the elevator. On either side of him stood his two fellow pilots, both also looking straight ahead.

He was worried about the upcoming fight, more worried than he usually was. The last Angel had been awkward to destroy, but only because NERV's power had been shut down. If NERV had been at full capacity, it was possible that the EVAs might not have even had to launch. A single N^2 mine might have destroyed the Ninth.

But it'd had no obvious offensive abilities besides its acid. This Angel, however...

Shinji was interrupted from his ruminations by Asuka poking him rudely in the side. "Dammit, Asuka!" he exclaimed, turning to look at his fiancée. She looked shocked for a moment, then her eyes narrowed.

"Awww, did I interrupt da poor widdle pilot?" She cooed, her tone almost ridiculously childish. She had a strange expression on her face, one he'd only seen a few times before. It was almost like Asuka was... probing for something, though what that was he didn't know. And almost every time she'd looked like that, she'd become insulting to him.

He just didn't understand her at times. Shinji almost sighed, but he stopped himself. He didn't want to show any signs of weakness to her right now, not when she was like this. Ignoring the fact that Rei was there with them, Shinji frowned. "I was trying to think, Asuka," he said, trying not to lose his patience.

She seemed not to notice his attempt to stay calm, instead stepping closer to him. "Oh, sorry, I forgot how slow a thinker you are," she replied, her tone anything but polite.

Shinji's frown widened at the insult, then even more when Asuka's smirk became even more exaggerated. "What the hell do you want, Asuka?! We're about to go into battle, you know! Shouldn't we save this for the fight?!" He said heatedly, stepping close to her, heedless of the fact that they were now standing almost toe-to-toe.

Asuka's smirk became even more pronounced at Shinji's show of spine, but it was different now. Rather than the calculating look from earlier, it was an expression of triumph. She closed the final foot between them, a delighted grin dancing across her face. "And where did this spine come from?" She asked, her tone almost like that of a child on Christmas morning.

Shinji blinked.

And just like that, the tension was gone. "Well... um... it's like..." the First Child stuttered out, trying to describe it without sounding stupid.

Asuka was faintly disappointed for a moment, then she just smirked again. 'He's there, all right,' she thought to herself, reassured. Two months of observations and thoughts had been proven correct once again. Well, more than two months, actually, but the rest didn't really count as much.

She'd actually planned on talking to him about they were going to be doing tonight, but that was hardly important compared to what had actually happened.

Asuka's smirk faded slightly. Shinji would have only reacted like that if something was really bothering him. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, her tone serious.

Shinji ran a hand through his hair, then shrugged. "Yeah. It's just... this Angel is so... big."

Asuka nodded solemnly after a moment, then her smirk reappeared. "Jealous?" She asked innocently.

Shinji turned bright red and started sputtering a response. Asuka just laughed.

Shinji smirked at the sound of his fiancée's laughter. He would be damned if she was going to win again. "That's not what you said..." he began, but then his eyes widened. He turned around to look at Rei and again turned as red as a tomato.

Asuka followed his line and sight and also flushed. God, she'd almost forgotten about the First Child even being there. 'I just know she's going to have a question or two about this one,' she thought, almost mortified.

Rei was indeed quite curious, glancing back and forth between her two fellow pilots.

"What is it, Rei?" Shinji asked, trying to stop blushing so heavily.

The blue-haired Child took a moment before replying, "I had assumed that your previous fighting was simply a ruse to conceal the fact of your relationship."

"Well..." Asuka said, "It was... mostly."

Shinji nodded hurriedly, trying to figure out a way to steer the conversation onto any other topic.

"Your impending nuptials are now public knowledge, so why do you still fight?" The blue-haired girl asked.

"It's not really fighting now," Shinji said, "It's... um... Asuka?"

The Second Child frowned slightly at her fiancée for passing off the question, but tried her best to give an accurate answer. "It's... almost like a joke now, a way of relaxing."

Rei nodded, then went back to looking at the front of the elevator. Both Shinji and Asuka silently thanked their lucky stars that the First Child hadn't asked about the tail end of their conversation.

Over the intercom, they heard a tech announce, "Twenty minutes to estimated time of impact."

---

Inside Unit-00, Rei Ayanami lay back in her seat, her eyes closed. It looked to all the world that she was asleep, but the First Child was simply relaxing and conserving her energy for the upcoming fight. She wasn't worried about being destroyed in the battle, but Commander Ikari had once told her, 'waste not, want not.' If she obtained the rest she needed now, then she would not have to worry about the possibility of becoming fatigued prematurely during combat.

While she lay there, she briefly reflected upon her earlier conversation with the Second and Third Children. They'd seemed puzzled by her questions, and this confused her. She didn't understand everything they had said, and they didn't seem to understand what she'd asked.

In the privacy of Unit-00's entry plug, Rei Ayanami frowned. Why couldn't anyone help her understand?

---

Inside Unit-02, Asuka was also reclining in her seat with her eyes closed. Unlike her red-eyed comrade, however, the Second Child wore a confident grin. She was listening to music on a pair of earphones, but she hardly heard a single beat. Also unlike the blue-haired girl, Asuka's mind was as far from troubled as it had ever gotten.

What was there to be troubled about? Sure, just about everyone who'd seen her today had given the girl strange looks, ones filled with condescendence and ill-natured humor. Yeah, she still had to figure out a way to tell her best friend why she'd kept such a major secret from her for so long.

Asuka's grin widened. All of that could wait. Now... was the time for battle.

---

Shinji was sitting forward, his eyes focused on nothing in particular. Like every time he knew he was about to go into battle, his thoughts drifted back onto the past, forward into future, and everywhere in between.

His life had changed considerably since the first time he'd been inside an entry plug. Back then, he'd been a relatively normal fourteen year old boy, his only real goal in life to do good in school. He hadn't had any real friends, or even a real parent figure, no one to go to if he had a problem.

Now... he piloted an EVA, and was instrumental in the defense of humanity. He had friends, good friends that he knew he could count on. He had Misato, who was more a parent to him to anyone else had ever been. And... he was engaged. He was actually going to be married.

This thought had almost amazing power over Shinji, but it was still edged with some disbelief. He'd begun to accept the power he had in Unit-01, even if he didn't fully understand it. He had also begun to accept what Toji and Kensuke, and Rei, were to him, and how much their friendship mattered. He'd even begun to realize that Misato genuinely did care for him. But Asuka...

Sitting in the war machine that was his to command, the Third Child smiled.

All he'd wanted to do before was run away from his problems, hoping that somehow it would make it all better. But... running had never helped him before, and it would probably never help him again.

"I won't. I won't run away."

--

"The target has been sighted," Aoba exclaimed. "Maximum magnification!"

"Distance approximately 25,000," Hyuga reported.

Misato thumbed the intercom switch and announced, "The falling Angel has been sighted. All EVAs, get on your marks."

On screen, the forms of the EVAs crouched down into runners' starting positions and Misato continued, "we can only give you a rough estimated trajectory based upon optical observations. The MAGI will guide you until the estimated distance is 10,000 meters. After that, you'll have to use your own judgment."

'Good luck, and godspeed, my Children,' Misato thought, her hand coming up to touch her cross.

----

"Here we go," Shinji said, his voice barely audible. Asuka and Rei nodded in agreement over the com, then the EVAs umbilical cables were ejected the five minute markers started counting down.

"Let's move out!" Shinji yelled, then took off before his fellow pilots could say anything.

Everything became a blur for the Third Child as he rushed through the city. He was vaguely aware of his entry plug readouts showing where the other EVAs were, but almost all of his attention was focused on a tiny red blur he saw high in the sky; the heat of the Angel's entry making it stand out against the darker blue of the afternoon sky.

He heard Aoba give the Angel's current distance, and Shinji nearly panicked. It seemed much too far away. 'Gotta go faster. Gotta go faster,' he thought, he thought, his mind racing, his blood pumping in his veins.

Unit-01 practically slid through the city, tearing up building it its wake. Part of Shinji's mind wanted to slow down, but the rest of him refused that thought, knowing that the building were evacuated. It might cost money to fix, but there would be nothing at all to fix if they weren't able to stop their latest foe.

The massive form of the latest Angel parted the clouds ahead of Shinji, no red haze around it anymore.

His thoughts near animalistic, Shinji skidded to a halt in the dirt. "Spreading AT Field!" he yelled, bracing himself for the impact and raising Unit-01's arms.

The area around the two dueling behemoths began to glow with a purplish-red light as twin hexagonal fields flickered into existence.

Shinji grunted under the strain. He could feel Unit-01's footing begin to crumble, his enemy's mass beginning to drive him straight into the earth. A momentary bout of panic seized the Third Child as an image burned itself into his brain; himself, entombed within the earth, with Unit-01 as his coffin.

His footing crumbled even more for a moment as his will briefly fragmented. Then rage replaced terror, and Shinji felt a burst of energy explode from somewhere within him. What it was, he didn't quite know... nor did he even remotely care. All he cared about right now was the enemy.

Unit-00 was rushing at top speed across the outskirts of Tokyo-3, its pilot entirely focused on coming to the aid of Ikari. A promise made months ago would have come to her mind, had it not been fogged by her almost filial concern for the pilot of Unit-01. "Unit-02, expand your field!" Rei yelled.

"I'm already doing it!" The Second Child yelled back, pushing Unit-02 (and by extension, herself) as far as she possibly could.

The ground shook beneath the EVAs' power as the two war machines came charging up the hill to their comrade's support. With Asuka running in from Shinji's right and Rei from his left, the three cybernetic giants seemed to move almost as one for a brief moment, each pushing up on the monstrous form of their divine foe.

"Do it now!" Shinji yelled, all of his energy focused into one task; holding up the Angel long enough for Asuka and Rei to kill it.

Rei snarled, then slammed one hand against the Angel's AT Field. With her other hand, the First Child used her prog knife to slice open the hexagonal field of energy. Without worrying about where her prog knife would fall, the girl let go of the weapon and grabbed each side of the rip she'd cut into the field, then pulled with all of Unit-00's might.

"Eat this!" Asuka yelled as she lunged forward, prog knife firmly clutched in both hands. A fierce growl emanated from deep within the Second Child's throat as she felt her blade stab into the core of her adversary. Both the Angel and the knife glowed momentarily with a bright blue light, then the luminescence faded into nothingness.

The massive Angel's AT Field died completely. It's huge body collapsed over all three EVAs, then bubbled up for a brief moment, before exploding in a massive burst of heat and light.

And when it was all over, there was a massive crater from where the Angel had exploded, one more battle scar for Tokyo-3. But the EVAs had not been destroyed, and Tokyo-3 had been saved.

---

Major Katsuragi appraised the Children, more proud than she'd been in a long time. As Operations Director, she was proud of the three Evangelion pilots for performing to the best of their ability and destroying the Angel. As Misato Katsuragi, she was proud of her three Children for not disappointing her.

Shinji, Asuka, and Rei stood next to each other in front of the command dais, all with similar expressions on their faces. And while Rei looked to be the least interested of them, Misato could see the faint signs of pride in her expression, well hidden though they were. Even Shinji looked satisfied with himself, something that Misato hadn't seen in a long time.

And Asuka had been smirking ever since the three had gotten out of their entry plugs. The energetic redhead looked so smug and self satisfied that Misato almost felt sorry for Shinji. The purple-haired woman smirked at the thought. While she still held a few reservations about the situation, last night, and today, her opinion had begun to change slightly. Not completely, but she was more confident now that perhaps it wasn't as bad as she'd initially thought. Maybe they were mature enough for this.

Then her smirk widened. Maybe they were, maybe they won't... but she couldn't wait until the 'talk.' She would have her revenge for them keeping it a secret.

Shinji began to get slightly nervous at his guardian's smirk. Before he could ask Asuka what she thought, however, Aoba spoke up.

"Wireless communications have been restored," the long-haired technician said. "We're receiving a transmission from Commander Ikari en route to Antarctica."

The lighthearted mood that had seized the command center faded almost instantly at Aoba's announcement. Despite the fact that they'd won with minimal damage to either NERV headquarters or Tokyo-3, the minor damage (and the Commander's general attitude towards his underlings) made them all nervous.

"Connect him, please," Misato said soberly. As soon as the Sound Only screen appeared on the terminal closest to her, she spoke up, "I apologize, sir. Because of my irresponsible judgment, Unit-01 has been damaged. I take full responsibility for this."

Surprisingly, it was Fuyutsuki who spoke first over the com. "No. Destroying Angels is the Evangelions' purpose. It was fortunate that the amount of damage done was minimal."

Commander Ikari spoke up a moment later. "Indeed. Excellent work, Major Katsuragi."

Misato blinked at the unexpected praise. She spoke up a moment later, hardly able to keep the surprise out of her voice. "Thank you, commander."

"And on the subject," Commander Ikari asked, "Is the pilot of Unit-01 there?"

"Um... yes," Shinji said hesitantly, surprised (and a little worried) about what his father might want to say to him.

"I've just read the report," the commander said. "Good work, Shinji."

The wide-eyed Third Child was barely able to respond, "oh...um... yes, sir."

The commander continued on almost as if he was unaware of the effect he'd had on the pilot of Unit-01. "Now Major Katsuragi, I'll leave the handling of the rest of the this in your hands."

"Yes, sir," Misato replied.

As soon as the com line was shut down, Misato turned to the Children and gestured to one of the briefing rooms off to the side of the bridge. The three followed her into the room, then all took seats at the conference table.

"I'm going to be here a while doing paperwork. As always, you're free to stay, but all of your duties have been fulfilled," NERV's Operations Director said, glancing at each Child in turn.

Asuka still seemed just as smug as she'd been before Commander Ikari's transmission, although she kept sneaking glances at Shinji, who looked mind-boggled. It was easy enough for Misato to guess why. For her part, Rei looked slightly confused by something, but Misato wasn't nearly as sure about why.

"Are you going to head home or stick around?" Misato asked, already knowing what each would say.

As expected, Rei spoke up first, "I will go home."

To Misato's surprise, Asuka shook her head. "We're going out for dinner," she said, looking at Rei.

Like their guardian, Shinji was looking at Asuka in confusion. He thought he knew what she meant, but he wasn't sure.

"When do you plan on being home?" Misato asked. "I'll probably be here for the next few hours, so you'll probably get home before me."

"That all depends on Wondergirl," Asuka said with a smirk.

Rei blinked. "I do not understand."

Asuka threw up her hands in exasperation. Shinji sighed. Whether it was from Rei's response or Asuka's seemingly boundless enthusiasm, he couldn't quite tell.

"We're all going out to dinner together," Asuka said firmly. "A team thing, you know?"

Rei stared at her fiery comrade for a moment longer, then nodded. "I understand, Pilot Sohryu."

Misato couldn't help but smile at the unique interplay of her Children. Why Asuka wanted all three of them to eat together was beyond her, but she figured the pilot of Unit-02 had some kind of reason, bizarre or not.

Just as Shinji was getting up to leave, Rei asked Asuka a question. "Why do you wish for me to come to dinner?"

"Well, it's a team-building thing!" Asuka said enthusiastically. "And since you had so many questions earlier, I figure you can ask them while we're eating, instead of while we're getting ready to kill some giant b-movie monster."

Rei nodded, looking more enthusiastic than she had for a while. "Thank you, Pilot Sohryu."

Misato quirked an eyebrow. "What kind of questions?"

"Um... well, they were about different things," Shinji said hesitantly, still thinking about the 'argument' they'd had in the lift.

Rei nodded again. "Yes, Major Katsuragi. I am interested in understanding why Pilot Ikari would be jealous of the Angel's size, and why Pilot Sohryu didn't complain about Pilot Ikari's size."

Misato was staring at the blue-haired girl, mouth agape. Although Rei said it all in a calm tone of voice, Misato could easily read between the lines.

"Shinji... Asuka..." NERV's Operations Director turned to look at her two charges, both of whom had twin blushes and equally nervous smiles on their faces.

"Well," Asuka began, chuckling nervously, "we kind of got to joking around and all, you know?"

Shinji nodded hurriedly. "Yeah. It was all a joke."

Misato sighed. "Don't tell me; I don't want to know... I really don't want to know."

"Now let's get going!" Asuka demanded, getting up and striding toward the door. "I'm hungry."

Shinji was out of his seat and behind his fiancée in almost record time, as anxious as possible to get out of that conference room. Rei followed after them, much more calm.

Misato couldn't help but laugh as she watched the pilots leave the room. Although they could be strange at times, the Children were good people, ones that Misato knew she could trust.

With a sigh, the Operations Director got up to leave the room.

It was going to be a long night.

Author's Notes

It's been a while, all right.

I have no real excuse for the lateness of this chapter, except that real life has become quite busy for me. In addition, I also suffer from periodic writer's block, and I'm sure you can guess what effect that has on the story.

In terms of actual story, this is really nothing more than an adaptation of episode 12, with the changes necessary to reflect the events that have thus far taken place within the continuity of A Different View. Also, my free writing time is still tied up in the prequel to this story and several other Eva fanfics I'm currently working on.

I watched episode 12 at least a dozen times during the writing of this chapter, so all the differences between this and that have a purpose. Even if it seems there was a scene I left out or a scene I added in gratuitiously, rest assured, there was a purpose for everything.

I make no promises for when chapter 4 will be up. All I can say is that it will definitely be up... eventually. I also make no promises for the prequel. I expect to be finished with it sometime around chapter 5 or so, but I'm not sure.

Also, I apologize for not taking the time to thank the reviewers. Your feedback is always appreciated, even the reviewer who calls himself 'BAKAMAN.' Despite his insulting manner, I should feel flattered that he thinks reviewing my story is worth his obviously valuable time.

Until next time,

-Keen Drallin

Rough Draft Started - 6/27/04

Rough Draft Finished - 9/12/04

Final Draft Finished - 9/13/04