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Chain of Command

Part 1

Restart, 2021

By Random1377

Daniel Green was feeling lucky. It was his first shore leave in four months, and the bar he had chosen was filled with attractive women.

-Which will it be?- he thought, smiling broadly as he scanned the room once more.

He had been there for two hours (he hated rushing this sort of thing), and so far he had managed to make eye contact with a short blonde, a tall brunette, and a redhead of average stature.

"Ahhh, I love a variety," he said to himself.

His shipmates had elected to hit some of the more, shall we say, seedy bars in Tokyo-3 – opting for the easy pick-ups they knew they would find there… but Daniel fancied himself a connoisseur, and any ordinary woman simply would not do.

His eyes widened as a young woman in a white long sleeve shirt and mid-length skirt entered the bar, accompanied by a man Daniel guessed to be about his age. The man was dressed in a black jacket and slacks that reeked of low-profile military.

"Oh, my," Daniel mumbled as the two headed towards the bar, "I do believe we have a winner."

He watched them speak to the bartender for a moment, trying to decide if they were together or not. The way the man stuck close to her side indicated that they were… but the way they made no contact, and the lack of smiles from either of them, indicted that they were not.

The man whispered something into the girl's ear, then moved off towards the bathroom as she nodded.

Daniel grinned, deciding that now was as good a time as any.

"Buy you a drink?" he asked casually as he walked up to the girl. She turned her head, and Daniel's heart skipped a beat. –Man, those eyes are gorgeous!- he thought, -Definitely the right choice!-

"I am not thirsty, thank you…" the girl replied, turning back to face the bartender, who was writing something down on a scrap of paper.

"Well, how about dinner?" Daniel pressed, determined not to be shot down after only one pass.

"This guy bothering you?" a voice said softly at Daniel's side.

The girl shook her head absently as Daniel turned to find her companion standing less than two feet behind him. "No," she said quietly, "but thank you for your concern."

The man relaxed and bowed (rather diffidently, Daniel thought), then stepped around to the girl's other side.

"So how about dinner?" Daniel asked after a moment. –They're not together,- he thought firmly, -maybe coworkers… but that's it.-

The girl took the scrap of paper that the bartender offered her, thanking him in her quiet, almost sub-audible voice, then turned to him. "I'm afraid that my schedule would not permit it," she said softly, "but I thank you for your invitation."

Much to his surprise, she bowed, bending at the waist. "I… umm, yeah, sure… any time…" he stammered as she straightened.

"If you will excuse me," she said, "I must go now. Mister Aida."

Her companion nodded, "Yes, Commander." As Daniel's eyes widened, the man named Aida patted him on the shoulder, "Keep trying man… she's way out of your league…"

Daniel just nodded, dumbfounded, as the two made their exit.

**

"You didn't have to be that polite, Commander," Kensuke said as they walked out of the bar, "next time just tell the guy to screw off."

NERV's commander in chief turned shrugged slightly. "There is no harm in politeness, Mister Aida," she replied, "and besides… perhaps I might have taken him up on his offer."

"Y-you can't be serious!" Kensuke sputtered, stopping dead in his tracks, then running to catch up as she kept walking.

"I am human, Mister Aida," she replied calmly, "regardless of what Captain Souryu believes…"

"Well, yeah," he said, flushing slightly, "but some sailor in a bar? You can do better than that!"

She considered this for a moment. "He is human also," she said finally, "you cannot judge a person by his profession or outward appearance."

Kensuke sighed. "I guess… but still, there's a reason why stereotypes exist – and the one about sailors being unruly, foul-mouthed woman chasers tends to be true. Believe me, I spent half of my childhood around ships."

"Perhaps," she admitted, "but there is no way to know for sure without speaking to them first, correct?"

He shrugged. "Just remember that people aren't always what they seem," he said, his tone indicating that he was tired of the conversation.

"You are overly-protective of me," she noted quietly.

He flushed. "It's my job to be, Commander."

She nodded, but said nothing.

"Let's try the place he suggested," Kensuke said, shaking his head to dismiss the image of the sailor and the Commander in a passionate embrace, "maybe we'll find him there."

"Yes," she replied, "maybe we will."

**

Shinji Ikari took a long pull from the bottle in his hand. "So then," he said, continuing his story, "the thing grabs my EVA by the head, and starts slamming this big energy spike into it."

The three girls that were sharing his table gasped in unison, their eyes wide. "Then what?" one of them asked, "What did you do to get away?"

"Get away?" he laughed, his voice slurring slightly, "I couldn't think about getting away… I could feel it – like it was pounding on my head, and…" he trailed off, "this bottle's empty…" he observed, his tone indicating that he could not understand why this was the case.

"Next one's on me."

"Kensuke," Shinji said happily, "nice to see you, man! What's…" he trailed off as his old friend stepped to the side. "Commander…" he said, bowing his head slightly, "this is the last place I would expect to find you."

"Sadly," she replied, "it is the first place I should have looked for you, Ikari…"

"Maybe you shouldn't have looked…" he answered sullenly.

"You do not speak to me that way when you are sober, Shinji…" she observed, "then you are always courteous and thoughtful." She tilted her head to the side, "Are those your true feelings towards me… or is this?"

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "you know my feelings towards you… Rei…"

"And you know mine," she said quietly, "so you must know seeing you this way hurts me…"

He flushed, "Yeah, well, maybe you should-"

"Your mother asked me to find you," Rei said, cutting him off gently before he started screaming, "she says she has not seen you in over a week. She is concerned."

He scrubbed a hand over his face, "Ladies… could you excuse us?" he said, noticing the wide-eyed stares of the other girls as they looked at Rei. They nodded and rose, forcing smiles and muttering that they would see him soon.

"Sit," Shinji said, gesturing to one of the chairs as the girls left.

"No," Rei replied, "please come with us…"

"Shinji," Kensuke said, breaking his silence, "Asuka's coming back from the Germany branch tomorrow… Misato wants to meet her plane." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Sure would be nice if you were there with us…"

Shinji closed his eyes, fighting the whirlwind of feelings the girl's name evoked.

"I'll always wait for you…"

"I know… I love you…"

"I don't think she'll want to see me," he said quietly, "we… I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Please, Shinji," Rei said softly, "for me?"

He chuckled, "You don't play fair, Commander…" he said, rising and pulling out a few bills. Laying them on the table he said, "I'll be there…"

"We'll give you a ride home," Kensuke said, as Shinji made no move to leave, "come on…"

Shinji sighed. –Guess I shouldn't have thought that would work,- he thought sadly, -maybe I'll pick up a bottle in the morning.-

The thought of facing the redhead while he was sober gave him the shakes – especially after the last conversation they had had.

"I will call your mother and tell her we are on the way," Rei said quietly, "and thank you, Shinji…"

He nodded. "You know I could never say no to you," he answered as she pulled out her cell phone.

A faint smile appeared on her face. "Only that one time…" she whispered.

"Yeah…" he said, avoiding her eyes, "except then…"

As they walked towards the car, Rei dialed Shinji's adopted mother.

"Major, we've found him…" she said. After listening for a moment, she smiled faintly, "I still do not feel that it is appropriate… but I will try…"

"Still trying to get you to use her first name?" Shinji said with a grin as Rei hung up the phone.

"She is my elder," the blue-haired girl replied, "and deserves respect…"

Shinji laughed, opening the car door and motioning for her to get in. "I doubt Misato cares all that much about respect," he said, "I'm sure she's too busy with work and Reiko."

"Your sister is most… precocious…" Rei observed, climbing into the car, "I am uncertain if that trait comes from her mother or her father…"

Shinji frowned. In an odd way, Rei was his sister – much more so than Reiko would ever be… but the red-eyed girl refused to acknowledge this fact.

It had made for quite an interesting six years.

"Well," he said softly, "dad IS kind of precocious himself."

Silence descended as Kensuke started the car and headed for the Kaji residence.

-I wonder if she'll even talk to me,- Shinji thought, his mind filling with several images of the Second Child.

He sighed and closed his eyes… passing out before the car had gone three blocks.

**

Asuka Langley Souryu looked out the window of the descending airplane and sighed, resting her head in her palm.

"Maybe I should have stayed in Germany," she muttered, "sure would have been easier."

The Commander would not have allowed it, though. As much as she disliked the blue-haired girl, she had grown to respect the girl's strength… and her unwillingness to tolerate insubordination.

She grinned as she thought of (for her, at least) the event that had shown Rei's true colors. It had been two weeks after she had been named Commander, and Touji Suzuhara had been giving her a hard time on some issue that Asuka could not even remember.

'Come on Commander,' he'd said, 'give us a command, or something… you're not just going to sit up there and fold your hands like Ikari did, are you?'

Rei had considered him silently for a moment, then nodded and turned to the security officer at her side. 'Have pilot Suzuhara placed in custody and detained to the brig,' she instructed the man, 'he is out of line.'

There had been no further jokes or off-color comments about her being in charge.

Leaning back in her chair, Asuka closed her eyes. "You're still a doll…" she whispered angrily, "Ikari might not be pulling your strings anymore, but you're still just a puppet…"

As the plane landed and taxied, she pondered just who was in control. Not Fuyutsuki… the old second in command had retired following the whole Ikari/SEELE blowup that had resulted in the forbidding man's death and Rei's appointment as Commander.

And it certainly wasn't any of the SEELE members… unless one of them had survived Ryouji Kaji's covert action to rid the world of their influence.

"We've arrived, Captain…" a voice announced, cutting into her thoughts, "there are some visitors at the end of the ramp, waiting for you."

"Thanks," Asuka said, getting to her feet and grabbing the small duffel she had taken on this plane.

Coming down the ramp, she spotted Kensuke, Misato, and Hikari waiting for her on the tarmac.

"The Commander sends her greetings," Misato said formally, "and regrets that she cannot be here for your return." She bowed, "How are you doing, Captain?"

"I'm still mad at you for taking Kaji from me," Asuka said, dropping the duffel bag, "but other than that, I'm ok."

"It's been five years," the purple-haired woman responded, arching an eyebrow, "you may need to get past it."

The redhead shrugged, "Someday… I might." She broke into a huge grin and threw her arms around her former guardian, "How is he? And how's the squirt?"

Misato laughed, "He's good. Had to work today, but he sends his love. As for Reiko, she's waiting in the car with Touji."

Asuka giggled as she let the other woman go. "He must have been thrilled… did Wondergirl order it?"

"Actually," Hikari said, stepping forward, "he volunteered. Said he could see you at work any time, and that that was more than enough for him."

"Wow," Asuka marveled, "the stooge of stooges, being magnanimous… has hell frozen over while I was away?"

Hikari smiled, hugging her friend and kissing her cheek briefly, "Hush…" As she stepped back, she whispered softly, "Shinji's here…"

Asuka tensed, looking around again.

"Hey…" Shinji said, stepping out from behind Kensuke, "it's nice to see y-"

"Not another word!" Asuka snapped, making him jump. "Can you guys excuse us? We have… things to discuss…"

Misato nodded, "We'll talk later," she promised, "come on everyone… back to work."

As they filed out, Asuka stared the Third Child down.

When everyone had gone, he looked away. "Asuka…" he said softly, "I don't know what to say… I…"

"That's all you have to say?" she said as he trailed off, "just 'I'? Nothing else? Nothing you want to say about the last two years?"

"Just that I'm sorry," he said awkwardly, "I didn't think you would want to talk to me… after what happened…"

"I'm not the one that slept with someone else," she retorted, folding her arms over her breasts, "if I recall correctly, that would be you."

Shinji flushed, "I know…" he said miserably, "I don't know what I was thinking, I-"

"You're a fucking coward," she spat, stepping closer to him, her hands dropping to her sides and balling into fists, "I know what you were thinking. You were thinking, 'Oh, I'm so scared of commitment… this way I won't have to worry about it.'"

His jaw dropped, "I-I don't know what you mean…" he stammered.

"Yes you do," she said angrily, "you thought I would be so mad that I would want to break it off… well you know something?" abruptly, she slapped him, "I AM mad – I'm mad as hell! But I'm not like you, Shinji… I don't run away when things get hard."

He stared at her, holding his cheek in silence.

Finally she let out an exasperated sigh. "Look," she said, speaking very slowly, "I'll make it very clear for you, Third Child… you're not getting rid of me that easily, got it? I don't care if you're scared… I don't care if you think we can't make this work – fuck, I don't even care if you finally up and did it with Rei for God's sake, but I won't give you up without a fight."

She reached out and pulled him into her arms, resting his head on her shoulder. "I said I'd wait forever for you, didn't I?" she whispered, "Did you think I was lying? Did you think I would just let you go after it took me four years to admit that I cared for you?"

"N-no…" he whispered, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks, "God, Asuka… I'm so sorry…"

"You should be," she replied, holding him tighter, "you should be more sorry than you've ever been in your life… but don't you think for one second that I'll let you fuck up what we have – no way."

He nodded against her shoulder.

She sighed. "Idiot…" she said softly, "it figures you would fall all to pieces while I was gone…"

"Sorry…" he whispered, "it just happened all at once and I-"

"I don't want to hear about it," she interrupted, "all I want is to go home… so lets go."

"W-with me?" he stammered incredulously.

"Haven't you been listening?" she asked, shaking her head, "How can I make you understand?"

He opened his mouth to admit that he didn't know, but she drew him into a long, passionate kiss before he could speak.

"Mmmmm…" she whispered as she broke away, resting her head against his shoulder, "six months is a long time to be apart, Shinji…" she kissed him again, longer this time. "Take me home…" she said softly, reaching down to take his hand in hers, "you can finish… apologizing there."

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Alright…" he said softly, thinking that she was the only woman on the planet that could make the word 'apologizing' sound so sexy. And that he was the luckiest man on the planet… because she was still his.

As they headed towards the car, Asuka's mind was racing. –I need to talk to Wondergirl,- she thought, -she needs to know what I found out in Germany… about the remaining angels…- She looked at her lover, sighing softly as he opened the trunk to put her suitcase in, -don't break my heart again, honey…- she thought, -I said I'd wait for you forever… please don't make me regret that…-

When they returned to the apartment that had become theirs when Misato married Kaji, Shinji showed her just how sorry he was for what he had done… and in the quiet of the afternoon, Asuka's faith in him was tenderly restored…

Continued…

Omake

What DO you do with a drunken sailor?

"Hey, can I buy you a drink?" the sailor asked, coming up to the bar and eyeing the blue-haired girl approvingly.

"I am underage," the girl replied.

The sailor grinned rather drunkenly, "That's fine by me – if there's grass on the infield, I say play ball! Hey, what's your sign?"

"I do not have one," the girl replied, "I was genetically engineered, and I do not have an astrological sign."

"Whoa! That's cool!" the sailor answered, looking around for the girl's companion, a man with dark-tinted glasses and a beard, "Say, why don't we get out of here and go somewhere more private?"

She regarded him for a moment, "I do not think it would be very quiet, as you are inebriated and have thusfar shouted in my ear three times."

The sailor smiled, pulling out his best line, "Nice shoes… wanna fuck?"

"No, thank you," the girl replied calmly.

"It is time to go, Rei," the girl's companion said, appearing (seemingly from nowhere) at the sailor's side.

"Yes Commander," the girl replied softly.

"Hey man," the sailor said jovially, throwing an arm around the other man, "what say you share her with me?"

The man smiled, "You would be wise to remove your hand," he said softly, "and I don't think Miss Ayanami would be interested in anything you would like to do."

"No need to be selfish," the sailor grumbled.

The man sighed, "Rei… wait in the car. I need to speak to our young friend here in private for a moment."

"Yes commander…" Rei replied.

"Yeah!" the sailor said, "Deal time, right?"

"Oh yes," the man replied, smiling faintly and leading the sailor towards the back of the bar, "it is indeed time to deal…"

The next morning, the owner of the Little Okinawa bar and grill was most shocked to find that an unconscious, totally naked sailor had been shoved unceremoniously into his meat-locker.

It wasn't that something like this had never happened before (it WAS a raucous bar, after all), but never before had the person been shaved, hung by the arms on a meat hook, and had the word, 'Chester,' tattooed across his chest…

Author's notes: the initial idea for this story was the omake – the moral of which is not to hit on Rei while the Commander is in the bathroom… ^_^ The more I toyed with the idea, the more it changed. It went from a simple little humor fic to 'what if Rei was Commander' to 'What if Rei was Commander AND Shinji was a drunk,' to… well, you get the point. Why set it six years in the future? No, not for lemon potential! :P I wanted to give valid reasons for Kensuke being in Section Two, Rei being Commander, Shinji being a lush, Misato and Kaji being married, etc, and I thought all of that would be more likely given more time. But what about the angels, you say? Sit tight… I'll lay it down next chapter. ^_^

Thanks to Ryoma for pre-reading and making some fine suggestions (the baseball analogy in the omake was his :P).

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