I do not own Evangelion. All characters and related materials are the property of Gainax.

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"Do you really think that matters anymore?"

"It worked in the past. Look, it was just a suggestion."

"We can't get ourselves out of this one I'm afraid. The U.N. knows we had knowledge of SELEE and Ikari's plans. It no longer matters whether the impact was successful or not. As long as they have proof of our involvement…our ship is effectively sunk gentlemen. The contents of those plans fall under the category of global mass terrorism."

"So were stuck. What happens next?"

"A political firestorm. The decentralization of NERV. Probably a military court marshal for the top brass at the JSSDF. At best the entire government will undergo a thorough investigation, likely leading to more charges and then removal from office."

Hitoru sighed.

"They'll need witnesses."

"That's correct."

"Any chance of those involved staying loyal to the Japanese government?"

"Not likely. No one from the former NERV facilities has much love for us anymore. Especially after the incident with the JSSDF."

"What about elimination?"

"That won't help us out very much I'm afraid. The only one still in Japan is Ikari."

"Where is he?"

"He's a Junior at Tokyo-3 U."

"Out of any of the pilots, he knew the most…"

"Don't you think that boy has suffered enough?"

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"Is he going to be there?"

"I don't know. I'm not even sure if he's still alive. We haven't spoken since I was fourteen."

Asuka Langley Soryu rolled over in her bed facing out toward the window and the lake that sat beyond it. The moon reflected itself in the water, casting light onto the rest of the forest. She could feel his eyes staring at her back.

"I wish you wouldn't go. I…" Aiden's voiced trailed off and Asuka thought she could hear a faint inflection of tears in his throat as he did so. The second child sighed and wrapped herself tighter in her comforters.

"I don't have a choice. If I don't go they're just going to come and force me."

"We could leave. We could run away."

"Don't be stupid."

Silence.

Maybe that was too harsh, Asuka thought to herself. But sometimes that was what it took to get through to him. Run away? What an idiot.

"I'm sorry, Asuka. But who knows how long it will take for all of this to conclude itself. It could be years."

With some air of finality Aiden lay back down on his pillow and tried his best to think of something, anything that would allow him to keep her close. He turned his head to the right and found himself again staring at the back of her head.

"You're not coming back, are you?"

Asuka said nothing.

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"So I suppose I don't really have much of a choice do I."

"No sir, you don't."

Toji Suzahara chuckled for a moment before he decided to speak again.

"What happens if I decide I don't really wanna go all that much? I'm at least twice your size…I could probably snap your neck if I wanted to," Toji said with a smile as he looked at the tiny build of the blonde woman next to him, her CIA badge glinting in the sunlight. The woman smiled back at him.

"Well that's why I carry a big gun."

Toji laughed again.

"I figured this was gonna happen eventually. Kinda makes me mad that I'm gonna have to get pulled back into it though, its not like I really had anything to do with what happened. Hell I wasn't even in Tokyo-3 when everything went down."

The woman shook her head.

"I'm sorry to hear that but the investigation calls for full disclosure."

"Well can't I just write a statement or something?"

"No. You're a witness. The U.N. wants you on the stand. Plus you're getting a full psychiatric evaluation."

" 'The hell? What for? They think I'm gonna flip out and kill someone?"

"No. But you were a minor at the time. The actions of the Japanese government are being seriously questioned. There's a fairly substantial child abuse charge in the suit. It could mean a lot of money for you and the other children involved."

"I don't want the money. I want to stay here. Finish my damn education. Don't I have to bring charges for them to get tried for this stuff?"

"Well you would need to do that for a civil suit, but these are criminal charges being brought forth by the U.N. itself."

"Then why would they care about how me and the other pilots were treated? It doesn't have anything to do with the third impact."

"I won't lie to you Mr. Suzahara. The Japanese government will not survive this investigation. This is basically the equivalent of a war, even if it is fought entirely on paper. The U.N. wants the complete dismantlement of the Japanese governmental state as we know it. Therefore the more charges that can be brought, the more people can be removed, the more people the U.N. can replace. We want to be absolutely sure that when this is over what happened six years ago won't happen again."

"So you're worried that someone might try and end the world again, eh? And here I was thinking you were worried about lil' old me."

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A red light. A red light was definitely not good. Shinji Ikari had seen enough action films to know what that meant. His retina's followed the milk carton as it dropped from his hands and hit the floor. He was terrified, but knew it would all be over in less than a second. Decision time. Shinji let his body fall limp as a hole an inch thick was opened in his refrigerator by the force of a sniper bullet. The third child felt his head slam against the tile of his apartment floor and tasted the warm sensation of blood trickle from his tongue where he had bit it in the fall.

Shinji scrambled to push himself up to his hands and knees as his roommate woke with a scream.

"What the hell was that noise?"

Shinji watched as his roommate stood up from his bed and ran to where Shinji lay behind the kitchen counter.

"Shinji are you alright?"

"Takeshi get down!"

"What?"

The left side of his head exploded as the bullet exited through his skull, staining the white wall behind him with a circular are of reddish fluid.

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"Come on. Stand up you son of a bitch."

Ryushi Ito pulled his left eye away from his scope and blinked twice before again focusing on the fifth level dorm floor.

"Damn."

Ryushi slowly twisted the zoom on the rifle, and then the focus in turn. He had his sight dead on the corner of the small counter overhang in case his target decided to make a run for it. But why would he? He wouldn't. Not unless he was either terrified out of his wits or completely and utterly stupid. Ryushi knew he had failed his mission, and now it was only a matter of time until…

"Don't move."

The sniper felt the muzzle of a gun get pressed up against his skull, just above the right ear.

"Let go of the rifle."

Ito slowly let go of his gun, his hope, and what most assuredly would end up being his life.

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Rei Ayanami slowly stepped off of the fold out stair case of the plane and onto the asphalt runway. The heat hit her like a punch to the gut. It was staggering and immediate. The first child had never been anyplace as hot as this before.

"Excuse me, but, where are we?" she questioned the black suited man who had accompanied her on the flight. Rei couldn't believe his choice of attire for the weather.

"I'm afraid you're not allowed to know that ma'am. It's for your own safety."

"I see."

"Please," he motioned off toward the palm trees that seemed to be stretching into the horizon around her, the heat making the air around them hazy.

Rei followed the man northward from where they had landed, another man carrying her luggage and trailing more than a few steps behind them. After about half of a minute a motorized luggage cart of some kind could be seen emerging from the trees and making its way toward them.

"Finally," her guide said, now showing the signs of the temperature as he loosened his tie while sweat dripped down his dark face.

The cart slowed to pick them up and then drove lazily back to the man who was trying his best to carry Rei's luggage. Once everyone was on board and accounted for, the driver quickly headed back towards the ever growing tree line. Rei watched the face of her guide until he noticed and began to speak.

"The hotel is only about 10 minutes from here. Were gonna be there in no time so just sit tight."

Rei nodded in acknowledgment.

"You'll love it," he continued, "It has air conditioning."

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"It's alright kid! Stand up. It's over."

"Get the hell away from me!"

"Drop the knife."

"You shot him! Christ…You blew his brains out!"

"No. That wasn't me. But we got him. He's finished. Look," the man let his MP-5 fall from his hands, dangling from the strap over his shoulder.

Shinji studied the figure before him. He was dressed entirely in black, his chest covered in Kevlar (and probably the rest of him too), a black mask over his face, eyes obscured by some sort of electronic equipment over his goggles.

"Alright," the third child said, his voice trembling in his throat.

Shinji stood and walked over to the man, carefully stepping around what was left of his room mate.

"Why'd they do it?"

"Do what?"

"Shoot him for God's sake!"

The man glanced down at the body on the floor before answering.

"So there wouldn't be any witnesses."

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Asuka Langley Soryu slowly lifted her clothes out of the grey suitcase that had carried them and onto the hotel bed. Once, everything had been removed she began to open the drawers in the dresser next to the television set and to slowly put everything away. Socks and underwear up top, then skirts and shorts, then pants, then sweatshirts and jackets. When she had concluded Asuka found the small black bag in which she carried her tooth brush and other toiletries and took them into the bathroom. When she could no longer think of any work that needed doing she sat on the bed and let the boredom sink into her. She stared absentmindedly at the unfamiliar ceiling above her and let her eyes blur. She awoke several hours later to the sound of a vehicle coming up the road.

Asuka stood, yawning and stretching as she rolled off of the mattress and up to her feet. She slowly slid back the sliding glass door that kept the balcony separate from the rest of the room and stepped out into the warm night. After a few moments she managed to spot the luggage car that had carried her to the hotel making another trip up the road. As it turned in a wide arc to the left on the road below Asuka spied unmistakably the white shirt with the dark jeans. It was him.