N.G.Evangelion - When Angels Deserve to Die

Chapter Seven:

Misato was crashed in a chair near the door as the sun started to rise.

Alexia moaned curling up in a tighter ball.

Rei stirred, then returned to her soundless slumber, still covered with blankets.

Jack was bandaged up, but fine, snoring away loudly, hisr str standing back up once more after the emitters were removed.

Alexia sat up looking at him. \"Angel....\" She whispered softly.

He didn\'t stir, and remained sleeping, rolling over on his stomach. \"No...zzzzzz...I dun wan\'....th\' cheese duck....\"

/I know who you are..../ She thought looking directly at Jack. /The boy who was to pilot your Eva died..../ She thought

Jack twitched in his sleep, and snored again, his hands encircling his pillow, and his mouth coming down on it, biting it. \"Giant...marshamallow....bad....\"

Alexia moved from her bed, careful not to wake anyone. She walked over to Jack\'s bed.

He chewed at the pillow some more, before giving up on it.

Misato mumbled something about rabbits.

Ikari slowly made his way down the hall, his hands behind his back, as he decided to visit the infirmary to see if anything had happened during the night other than what had been reported.

Alexia looked up as the door opened and yelped, backing up at seeing Gendo standing in the doorway. Fear filled her eyes.

He looked at her, his mouth in a thin line. \"What are you doing? Attempting to assault one of the injured?\" There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

She shook her head backing away more. She bumped Misato\'s chair, waking the woman.

\"Huh... Sir.\" Misato stood at attention.

Gendo had a slight frown on his bearded face. \"I thought someone more...responsible...would be watching them....why was she up, and approaching the Sixth Child\'s bed?\"

\"I... I don\'t know sir.\" Misato saw the fear in the girl\'s eyes as she tried to cower behind one of the beds. \"Sir, Are you saying she\'s the cause of the incident yesterday?\"

Ikari pushed his glasses up with one finger. \"I have my suspicions, but beyond that nothing substantial...however, there are TWO factors that may have set things off..\"

Alexia shook her head, remembering the gun the man had. She sank to the floor shivering. \"Sir, what did you do to the poor girl?\" Misato asked.

\"She...was...I can\'t quite put my finger on it, but she made threatening...gestures..during the incident...I was only defending myself...\" he spoke slowly, as though trying to piece together something that didn\'t fit.

\"..trapped.... want free....\" Her voice was cold, she made no move to attack though. \"....Pain... others.... So many others.....\"

Misato looked at her.

\"She was doing this before...I don\'t know what to make of it..\" Ikari shrugged, hands still behind his back.

\"Pain.... One in pain..... another... cloned.....\"

Jack rolled around, twitching, and muttering about bones and metal, things that didn\'t seem to make any clear sense...

\"Armor off.... real self....\"

Ikari\'s eyes narrowed. \"I think we should sedate her...we can\'t run any risks here..not this close...\"

\"You think she\'s an Angel?\" Misato asked looking at the frightened look on the girl\'s face.

Then there came a laugh from Jack. Not a nice laugh, though a familiar one...robbed of its horrifying qualitites from before, but still nonetheless startling. Ikari frowned. \"I don\'t know what to believe here..\"

\"No.... Stay back..... Don\'t hurt me.....\" Alexia begged as if in response to Jack\'s laugh. Misato knelt by the girl, who was shivering with fear.

Rei stirred, and awakened, blinking with bleary eyes. \"what is...happening?\"

Then Jack fell silent, and began snoring peacefully, as though nothing had happened. Gendo rubbed his temples. \"A headache..\"

Alexia moaned going limp like before. She stayed on the floor. \"Commander... she\'s passed out again...\"

Ikari rubbed his temples harder. \"This is going to be a long day...\"

Misato nodded. \"What\'s going on here?\"

\"As I have said before, I have no idea...however, it is connected with what we are trying to prevent here...that much is certain.\" Gendo pulled at his gloves, and regarded the children.

\"he\'he\'s an Angel, would it be safe to house her in the apartments? I couldn\'t kill her... She\'s so defenseless....\"

Gendo again remained near-impassive. \"I think we should do some lab work-ups on her...see if we can find anything Angel about her...if we find nothing, then we go ahead...if we do...well, we\'ll cross that bridge when we come to it.\"

Misato nodded. She looked to Rei. \"Rei, did she act strange when we left the three of you alone?\"

Rei blinked. \"she only complained of cold...nothing more...except she reacted when the Sixth touched her..\"

\"...Lost....\" Alexia muttered.

Ikari frowned noticably. \"Where are those doctors? I want a lab work-up on her NOW!\" His frustration was becoming more and more evident, and he rubbed his temples with his gloved hands.

Alexia cringed, curling up more.

\"Commander, calm down, you\'re only scaring her; if she is one, you might make her attack.\" Misato said, wrapping an arm around her as the doctors came in.

Gendo was still on the path to being livid, something he didn\'t show much. \"I am NOT risking Third Impact, is that clear? And someone wake the idiot up!\" He pointed at Jack.

One of the doctors, one of the ones that had to deal with the first of the mess, rather rudely dumped a glass of water on Jack, making he wake up cursing at them all. \"ACK! What the Hell was that for?!\"

Alexia looked up, anger in her eyes as she looked at Ikari.

Gendo sighed, and left the room. I want any findings sent to my office...\" he said over his shoulder as he left.

Asuka ran down the hall to check on the others. \"Third child hurry up!\" She yelled back down the hall almost crashing into Ikari.

Gendo glared down at her with all his might. \"What do you think you\'re doing?\" he asked simply, the hardness of his voice, along with barely concealed anger, making Shinji stop in his tracks.

Misato looked at the doctors. \"Be as gentle as you can running the tests.\" She said as the scared girl was taken from her.

\"Huh.... I was going to check on Wonder... I mean Ayanami sir. Ikari and I have been worried about her...\"

\"She\'ll be fine...\" the other doctor said, before smacking the other one with a chart. \"You idiot...that was a bit much, wasn\'t it? The kid was vomiting blood for most of the night...God..\"

Gendo let his glasses move down, revealing his narrowed eyes. \"Does that give you the excuse to nearly run me over in the hall? If you\'re that worried, send a card..\" He pushed his glasses back up, and put one hand in his pocket.

Misato looked at Jack. /For someone who was that sick... he doesn\'t seem hurt... / Misato looked to Rei. \"You okay?\"

\"I\'m sorry sir. I didn\'t mean to... If Ikari wasn\'t such a slowpoke..... I won\'t do it again sir.\" She said quickly.

Rei nodded. \"hai. i no longer feel cold, and i think i am fully recovered.\" She looked over at Jack, and just stared im, im, while he spat out water.

Gendo nodded. \"I seem to be saying this more than necessary, but I will overlook it this ONCE. Any further incidents like this, aherehere will be consequences...is that clear?\"

\"Very, sir.\" She agreed.

Misato sighed. \"Jack, do you think you can go with the girl? I have a feelling that the Commander wants the same tests run on you.\"

\"Meh? Okay, I guess,\" he shrugged, getting out of the bed. \"But I don\'t think she likes me that much..\" He added, following the doctors as they left the room to head to the labs.

Alexia had faded off to sleep on the way to the testing room.

Asuka waited for Gendo to leave and Shinji to catch up.

Gendo nodded again. \"You are excused...the same for Shinji...\" He walked past them, and went for the elevator, hand still in his pocket. Shinji let out a breath, and ran up slowly to catch Asuka.

\"I can see why you don\'t get along with your dad. He\'s creepy.\"

Once they got there, the doctors set her down on one slat, and motioned for Jack to get one another. \"Okay, now we\'re going to do some brain scans, see if there\'s any mental trauma....I believe that the Sixth Child was diagnosed with a mental disruption, so this would be the best way to start.\"

Shinji nodded. \"At least I don\'t live with him anymore...\" he said as they walked into Rei and Jack\'s room. He blinked, then scratched his head, confused. \"Hey....where\'s Jack? Wasn\'t he supposed to be here too?\"

Alexia moaned slightly her eyes not opening. Her face twisted slightly in pain.\"Th\"They took him to run some tests.\" Misato said deciding on not telling them about the girl yet.

The doctors ran CT scans, and MRIs, on the two, and after a few more tests, one nodded. \"Okay, there\'s some slight deviations from the norm in the girl....and wihe She Sixth Child, the results match the previous ones done by NERV-2...so, at least that much is right...now for some x-rays, and blood tests..\"

Shinji nodded slowly, and noted the wet bed. \"Ah...did they dump water on him...or...\" he cut it off, blinking still. Rei yawned then, the sound small and low, and yet demanding attention.

Alexia screamed out as she felt as if something was sealing up in her again. She arched her back, then fell limp. In another part of the compound Jack\'s plug was being repaired.

Misato and Asuka both looked at Rei.

\"nani?\" she asked, blinking, also confused. She rubbed at the back of her neck, and tore the gown she was wearing. Shinji eeped, and looked away.

Misato bit back a snicker. \"Asuka, why don\'t you go with Rei to the locker room? If you feel up to it, I don\'t see why you can\'t go enjoy the day. I\'ll send Jack your way as soon as they\'re done with him.\"

The doctors shared a look, then one went to get some sedatives. She tapped the needle to make sure it was flowing properly, then inserted it and depressed the plunger, injecting her with the meds after taking a sample of blood with her her needle. \"Okay, now for the other one.\" She removed the vial of blood, and threw the needle away, getting another one, and drawing off some of Jack\'s. He remained almost motionless, looking up at the roof.

Rei looked at the torn material, and blinked, not put off by it in the lea She She tugged at it, and tore it some more. \"i think they should get better ones.\"

Alexia slept as they finished the testing.

The doctors looked over both blood sample reports. \"W not nothing wrong here...both seem to have normal human blood....now, for the X-Rays...\"

Asuka noted Shinji\'s look. \"Maybe we should go before he has any walking problems.\" She grinned.

After getting the x-ray images developed, the doctors puzzled over them. \"The girl seems to have suffered several fractures and breaks that have all been healed for some time...while the boy\'s skeletal structure seems almost perfect...except for an odd break in the left arm. It seems consistant with some of what\'s been seen with the Children synching with an EVA, then suffering trauma due to the link...now, for a few miscellaneous scans...\"

Shinji went a deep red color, and resisted the urge to say something. Instead, he bit his lip. Rei blinked, then got out of the bed, still fingering the rips and making them worse.

\"A...angel...\" Alexia muttered in her drug induced sleep. \"Ja...\" She hissed as if something was hurting her.

The doctor who had dumped the water on Jack frowned. \"Do you see this?\" he asked, pointed at a few vestigial organs on one of Jack\'s scans. \"They seem enlarged, especially the appendix...but..\"

\"But what?\" the female doctor leaned in to get a better look.

\"There\'s no sign of infection, or damage....this is odd....it\'s almost like this is a natural state for him.\"

\"Eva.... dark cold.... blood....\" She shook her head slightly.

The female doctor nodded, and sent copies of the results to Ikari\'s office, as well as the voice recordings. \"Well, that wraps this up...Jack, thanks for being so cooperative....as for the girl....wheelchair.\"

Jack looked over at her, and shook his head. Then he smiled at the doctors, and sat up. \"Well, get her in one, and I\'ll take her back out for you.\"

She rolled her head forward as she was put into a wheelchair.

Jack nodded, and took the chair by the handles, pushing it ahead of him. \"And now....pants!\" he said to himself, whistling a small peppy tune.

Alexia started to wake again, the drugs starting to wear off.

Jack continued pushing her down the halls, looking for his room. \"Daylight come and me want to go home...I see someone\'s lucid again..\" He smiled a bit, and kept going.

\"What... what happened...\" She asked softly.

\"Tests....you got drugged...not much interesting...why do you babble when you\'re drugged?\" his voice was calm, and almost cheery, but there was a hint of seriousness to it.

\"I.... I babbled?\" She looked at him, her voice was soft, almost as loud as Rei\'s but not quite. \"What did I say?\"

\"Well, the last coherent thing was \'Eva.... dark cold.... blood....\' What does that mean?\" He whistled some more as he coned wed wheeling her down the hall.

She paled. \"The fluid... When... when I was first in the plug.... It was cold... I smelled blood.... Then... then the accident happened.. I was on my way to the testing and... It hurt... I was warm all over...\" She wrapped her arms around herself. /I saw the original pilot of one of the machines get killed.../ She thought feeling anger.

\"Oh, that...it\'s always like that...except that part you\'re talking about there. Anyway, an accident, huh?'ve 've been in plenty of those...including this hair..\" He smiled as he stopped pushing her to look around. \"Now, which way was it again...?\"

\"Where are we going?\" She asked. \"Will I be allowed outside? The doctors at the American base I was at wouldn\'t let me outside after the accident. They didn\'t want to risk me being hurt again... But it\'s cold here.... I don\'t like it...\"

Jack shrugged. \"Maybe they\'ll let you out...I walf-alf-awake at the time, but there was some talk of putting you in the same building as most of the others....and it\'s not that cold. Take this from a guy wore nothing but a plugsuit and worked almost 24/7 in the pools...THAT is cold.\"

\"It\'s not cold in that sense... it\'s cold as in sterile...\"

\"Oh...well, sterile\'s good...sterile\'s fun.....it\'s even more fun when I start painting the walls...\" he snickered, remember the hours he spent doing graffiti all over NERV-2.

Misato saw them coming and smiled, seeing that the girl was at least awake.

\"What\'s your favorite color?\" he asked her, slowly pushing her down the halls.

\"The walls of my room were decorated with books..\" She nodded to Misato. Alexia looked at Jack. \"I... I don\'t know.\" Her voice seemed more like Rei\'s as well as her tone.

\"I\'m going up to ask Commander Ikari if it will be okay to take the two of you out of here. Jack, you missed classes today.\"

\h...h...I\'ll just paint everything PINK..see what that does to Ikari\'s mood...meh heh heh...\" He grinned, already imagining the look of outrage and pink walls. \"I did? ..Oi...\"

\"Pink?\" She shook her head.

\"What? Pink is a good color...it\'s an evil one too...\"

\"He\'d kill you if he heard that. Though I saw some of the photos of what you did. We may be able to figure something out so that you can get one of the lower rooms as a rec hall or something. I\'ve been trying to get him to make one for moral purposes.\"

Jack made a pouty face. \"No pink? Awww...I wanted to see how long it\'d take to make him go nuts. Oh, well...\" He let out a sigh, then looked around. \"Where is everybody? Rei\'s not with you?\"

Misato walked beside the two. \"Tell you what, how about we all join up tonight at my plac for dinner.\"

Asuka walked up with Rei. \"So what now? We stuck here or can we go?\"

Jack shrugged. \"Meh, I guess so....BUT...I have one demand!\"

Alexia and Asuka looked at him.

\"Sure. What is it?\" Misato asked.

\"PANTS.\" he said simply. \"I want pants.\"

Misato laughed. \"Your clothes are still in your locker.\"

\"Good...I hate wearing these things....at least I have underwear on...\" Jack sighed, handing Alexia over to her. He walked away, whistling...only it wasn\'t the same tune as before...it seemed more..classical.

Rei blinked, and tilted her head, trying to place it, humming it. \"i know that one...\"

Alexia looked up at Misato. /They all know I\'m here now.../ She thought. \"I... Have my things been moved?\"

Rei continued to track Jack\'s progress until he was out of view, still humming softly.

Shinji stepped out from somewhere, holding a cup of coffee, and a slight grimace on his face.

Misato looked at Alexia. \"I think it\'s been moved already. Would you like to hang out here while I go talk to the Commander?\"

Asuka looked at the girl. \"Um... I thought you were dead...\" She said recognizing her. \"You don\'t have that ugly Eva of yours here do you?\" She asked.

\"Bleah...this stuff is awful...how can anyone stand it?\" Shinji complained, breaking some of the silence. He sipped it again anyway, and made a face. \"Ick..\"

Alexia nodded to Misato. \"No, I heard that it was destroyed. I was sent here ahead of it because something was going on there...\"

Sooner than one would think, Jack was strolling back down the halls, fixing the emitters in his hair. His white shirt had been cleaned up since the previous day, and his pants were spotless. \"Hey! Hair up, or hair down?\"

Alexia grinned. \"I like it up.\" She said softly.

Asuka had to agree with the girl. He looked better with it sticking up.

Misato watched the children a moment then went to talk karikari.

\"Really? I heard from someone I looked less like a matchstick head with it down.\" Jack grinned, then removed the two emitters, pocketing them. \"Well, whatever. I guess it goes up.\" Rei was humming still, only stopping when Jack looked at her.

Gendo was reviewing the reports from the doctors, a glass of whiskey next to him on the desk. The music of Mozart was playing, and he took a wing from his glass. /What a mess...we\'ll be lucky if SEELE doesn\'t get wise../

\"Well... nothing to do but wait for Misato.\" Asuka took control of the wheelchair. \"Better keep you away from the boys, they\'re a bad influence.\"

\"Commander, What dodo wdo with the two?\"

Jack made a face. \"Bah! This from someone who lusts after an older man.\" Then he glomped onto Shinji like she had Kaji.

Alexia looked at Jack, her eyes pleading him for help to get away from the loud German.

Shinji went a dark red color, and coughed, nearly spilling the bitter coffee.

\"Jack...calm down...don\'t start...\" he sof softly, before looking over at Asuka.

Jack grinned evilly. \"I have not yet begun to be a pain!\" Then he coughed a few times, and rubbed his throat.

Asuka was walking towards them. \"Then what about Wondergirl and Commander Ikari?\"

Rei blinked. \"what about us?\"

\"The two of you spend a lot of time together. Bet you\'ve done it with him, haven\'t you?\"

Alexia tried to get up from the wheelchair. \"Don\'t fight...\" She knew she probably wouldn\'t be heard.

Rei blinked, then slapped Asuka across the face, the sound loud and carrying throughout the halls. Jack and Shinji made the wince of sympathetic ouchies.

Alexia smiled slightly to Rei. \"Commander Ikari talks of Rei all the time. He loves her yes... But as a daughter. He talks of Shinji as well... I heard him say he was proud of him. Though not sure how to tell him...\" She said softly.

\"Bitch.\" Asuka growled fighting the urge to slap Rei back

Shinji tried to pry Jack off of his arm. \"Okay...you can let go of me now...please?\"

\"Ahh, spoilsport...\" The American let go, and went for the wheelchair. \"Let\'s leave the married couple alone, please..\"

Alexia nodded. \"I\'m feeling tired again... What did they give me?\" She asked trying to stiffle a yawn.

Jack shrugged. \"No clue...I was staring at the roof...I tend to go blank when they start poking at me..\"

Shinji rushed up to follow them, being careful not to spill the coffee. \"Well, this has been...eventful..\"

Asuka glared at Rei, then turned leaving. \"I have better things to do.\"

\"Is she always like that?\" Alexia asked meaning Asuka.

Rei watched her leave blankly, then followed after the group, silent as usual.

Shinji sighed. \"Yes..at least, that\'s all she\'s acted like since she\'s got here..\" He sipped at the bitter liquid again. \"God, they need to fix the coffee machine down here.\"

\"Then why do you keep drinking it if it\'s bad?\" She asked.


\"Because I hardly slept last night.\"

Alexia nodded and went silent. She stiffled another yawn.

Gendo finally spoke, looking up from his papers. \"Watch them....they don\'t seem to be Angels...however, they do have slightly odd brainwave readings...moreso than the other children..\"

Misato nodded. \"I\'d like to have Jack moved closer as well as Rei. It would be easier on them if they alled ced closer.\"GendGendo thought on that. \"Perhaps...however, we aren\'t the ones we set him up in his current lodgings....he apparently did that much himself....I\'ve already arranged for him to be moved, but he ignores all orders regarding leaving the ruin he\'s in now.\"

She nodded. \"I\'ll talk to him.\"

\"Sir... It may be a good idea to create a rec hall for the children here too. A place where they can relax bet tes tests...\"

\"Very well...now, if there\'s nothing else...?\" He took another swig of his whiskey, and coughed. \"And I\'ll see if we can do something about that...if the budget allows...\"

\"We can use one of the old cafeterias from when it was being built... I\'d supervise the children and we can do the decor ourselves. It would be a good exercise in teamwork. Right now they still need a lot of that. Especially Asuka.\"

Gendo made a slight face. \"Make it so....now, is there anything ELSE you\'d care to run by me?\"

\"No sir.\" She nodded turning to leave.

\"Good.\" He turned the volume up on his music slightly, and began re-reading the reports...especially the ones on Jack\'s oversized vestigial organs.

Alexia moaned slightly lifting her head shaking it as if to force herself to stay awake.

Jack smiled at her. \"It\'s okay, you can go to sleep...we\'re not going to molest you or anything...right, Ikari-kun?\" oth other boy went a light red, and made a muted reply. \"See? We\'re all honorable men here.\"

Rei pressed one of the buttons on the lift, which was slightly crowded. \"is everyone accounted for?\"

\"Without the loud German, yes.\" Alexia commented.

\"i see.\" With that, the lift doors began to close.

Misato dailed Rei\'s cell number figuring the First Child would have it on her.

There was a chirping sound, startling the Hell out of Jack, which made Sh spi spill the some of the coffee on the floor of the elevator. too took out her cell, and answered. \"hello?\"

\"Rei, do you think you could take the girl to Shinji\'s apartment. Her things should be there by now. And is Jack with you?\"

\"hai hai.\"

\"Could I talk to him a moment?\"

\"hai.\" She handed the cell to Jack, who blinked, then took it.

\"Jack\'s Pizza....thirty minutes or it\'s on us...what\'s your order?\"

She chuckled. \"Jack, I\'m wondering if you would be willing to move. There\'s a three bedroom apartment in our complex, I think it would do you and the girl some good if you were closer to the rest of us.\"

Jack blinked again. \"Maybe...but that depends on the home theatre setup I get. I require a big-screen television, a DVD player, and surround sound.\"

\"It\'s possible. Just don\'t watch them too late okay. I know about your habbits.\"

Alexia started snoring softly, her head at an odd angle.

\"B.it\.it\'s only fun if you can scare the pants off the neighbours...\" He looked down at Alexia, then at the others. He unbuttoned his shirt, then took it off and rolled it up, cushioning Alexia with it. \"Well, I also need to see if I can sleep there....I have odd sleeping habits..\"

\"Understood.\" Misato sighed. \"I\'ll see you there. I have to make a few stops first.\"

\"Okay...bye bye...\" He handed the phone back over to Rei, and shivered. \"Man, these elevators are cold.\"


TBC