Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or anything associated with it. I'm writing this story simply because I enjoy writing.

Chapter 1: Misato's Bad Day

Major Misato Katsuragi of NERV was not what anybody would call a morning person. Never had, and the people who knew her doubted that she ever would be.

As the sun began shining through her window and striking her face, the purple-haired Major whimpered in her sleep and rolled over, curling up in a ball on her bed, dragging her blanket up to cover her face. This tactic worked and let her stay partially asleep for a few more minutes…until Misato's alarm clock began ringing its electronic head off.

Slowly, bloodshot brown eyes appeared from beneath the blanket and stared balefully at the wretched device she kept only as a necessity. Eventually resigning herself that it really was time to get up, Misato snaked her hand out and smacked the alarm clock's off button.

Groaning as she rubbed her eyes, silently hoping that someone would do her the immense favor of blowing up every alarm clock factory in existence, Misato pushed aside her blanket and sat up. Only to very nearly collapse back down upon her futon, feeling as if someone was taking a jackhammer to the interior of her skull. She then placed her hands on her forehead, trying to stabilize herself enough to actually get to her feet and face the day ahead.

Yawning in a decidedly un-ladylike manner, Misato took a moment to do a few stretches, and was soon clomping unsteadily about her apartment in her tank top and cutoffs, making her way to the kitchen. Sniffing the air as she went, she smiled. Unless her nose was also suffering from her hangover, something delicious was presently cooking in the kitchen, no doubt under the careful attention of her ward, Shinji Ikari.

Several more unstable steps later, Misato had entered the kitchen, her smile deepening. Sure enough, the 1st Child of NERV was already dressed for the day, smiling as he cooked something in a frying pan. A quick check revealed that he had already fed Misato's pet warm water penguin. PenPen was happily gulping down his plate filled with sardines without a care in the world.

As the purple-haired woman staggered into a wall, Shinji jumped slightly as he turned to her. Blinking a few times, he said, "Oh! Good morning, Misato!" Managing a slight smile as Misato dragged herself into the kitchen, the boy gave her a look of concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Ugh…hi, Shinji…" Misato managed to get out. Even with her head feeling as if it were about to explode, the sight of her ward was enough to bring a smile to Misato's face.

"How are you doing?" Shinji asked her in his usual quiet manner. "You...don't look too good."

"Yeah, well, I don't feel that great, either. Though I've felt worse," Misato replied in a dismissive fashion. Deciding to focus on more immediate matters, she looked at the griddle that was sizzling nicely on the stove. "So…what's for breakfast?"

"Oh! I thought I'd make waffles and sausages," Shinji replied shyly.

"Asuka's favorite," Misato noted with a hint of amusement, wincing as her head throbbed some more dissuading her from saying anything teasing.

"Well, she has been in a bad mood lately, so…" Shinji trailed off helplessly, shrugging his shoulders as he returned his attention to breakfast.

Misato shook her head slowly, wincing at the additional effort, knowing that this was a gross understatement. Asuka had been a barely-contained storm of fury in the week since Shinji had returned from the Eva, often leaving him in the awkward role of peacemaker.

Wait. Has it already been one week? Misato wondered absently. A quick-but-painful recollection of the date confirmed that. Exactly one week had passed since Shinji, the 3rd Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit 01 had been released by the monstrous purple behemoth after thirty days of being trapped within its Entry Plug as nothing more than a soul and some additional LCL. Thirty days Misato had been spent dreading the possibility that she would never see her Shinji again.

Misato winced, for just thinking about these horrendous events was making her head pound even more. "Let me know when breakfast is ready, okay, Shinji-kun?" she groaned, moving over to the refrigerator. The memory of such horrors chilling her right to the heart, making her want nothing more than to wash them away. And she knew exactly where to find the cure for what ailed her.

"Um…Misato? What are you doing?" Shinji asked, the smile gone from his face as fear shone in his blue eyes.

Smirking at her ward, Misato replied, "I'm doing what I do every morning, Shinji-kun! I'm grabbing a little pick-me-up!" Then she shot him a dangerous look before adding, "And please, do us both a favor and don't lecture me on my drinking! Because I'm really not in the mood for it right now!"

"Uh, no! I mean, I wasn't gonna do that!" Shinji grimaced even as PenPen looked up from his sardines, a drop of sweat appearing on the water fowl's head. "But - you see..."

Shinji's voice trailed off as Misato opened the refrigerator and reached in for a can of her favorite flavor of alcohol…only to stare in shock at its absence. Her mouth open in disbelief, Misato looked even closer, feeling about the inside of the refrigerator, unable to believe what her eyes were telling her.

"…you drank the last of it last night," Shinji whimpered while PenPen waddled madly out of the kitchen.

Blinking a few times, Misao stared at the interior of her refrigerator. This did nothing to change the reality its empty interior. Then she gave a quick shake of her head. It remained empty. Finally, the purple-haired woman sagged in acceptance of this brand-new reason not to get up in the morning before slowly closing the refrigerator door and turning to her ward.

"I'm sorry," Shinji apologized, clearly wishing he had followed PenPen's example. "I...well, I was planning on doing some shopping today, but..."

If it weren't for her headache, Misato might have said something nasty. If she were feeling a bit more energetic, she probably have done more than just stare with her bloodshot eyes. And if she had been dealing with anybody but Shinji, the closest thing she had to a real family, there would most definitely have been bloodshed. As things were, she contented herself to groan, put both hands to her head, and muttered, "Get me some coffee, Shinji. And see if you can dig up some aspirin while you're at it…"

While Shinji was sighing in relief that things had not gotten ugly, Misato made her from the kitchen to the living room. There she collapsed upon the couch, and set to work trying to convince her head not to fall of her body.

Misato didn't know how long she had lain on her couch, wishing that she could just crawl back into bed and hope for a better day tomorrow. All she knew was that her headache was slowly becoming tolerable when a familiar voice split her ears and almost did the same to her head. "Thiiiiird!" shrilled Asuka Langley-Sohryu. Holding her head up with one hand to make sure it didn't roll off her shoulders, Misato looked up from the couch to see the German redhead stomped into the kitchen, wrapped in a bathrobe and her blue eyes filled with fire.

Looking on in dismay as she watched Shinji cringing before the volatile 2nd Child, Misato's heart sank even more as he asked, "Wh-what is it, Asuka?"

Staring murder at Shinji, Asuka intoned in the voice of death, "Why is there is no hot water?"

Shinji looked blankly at Asuka before replying, "W-what are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?! There is no hot water in this apartment, that's what I'm talking about!" Asuka ranted, drawing herself up as high as she could so as to look down on Shinji.

Taking a moment to rip his gaze away from the furious redhead, Shinji went to the kitchen sink and turned the knob. Sure enough, the only water that made its way out of the faucet was the cold variety. "I guess the water heater is broken."

"You guess?!" Asuka shrieked, sending daggers into Misato's brain. "How the hell am I supposed to take bath without any hot water?!"

"Um…I'm sorry…" Shinji replied lamely as Misato groaned unhappily.

Shoving her face right into Shinji's fearful one, Asuka snarled, "I don't want any damned apologies! I want to know what you're planning to do about this!"

"Leave him alone, Asuka…" Misato spoke, dragging herself into the sitting position. Migraine or not, she wasn't about to sit on her dead ass and watch Shinji be bullied. Especially not after everything that happened. As the redhead turned her wrathful gaze towards her new target, Misato struggled to keep talking. "It's not like there's anything he can do about it…"

"Oh, really?" Asuka smirked in mocking way. "And here I thought that the Invincible baka Shinji could do anything!"

Before Asuka could really get going on her diatribe and send Misato's headache skyrocketing to new heights, Shinji came to the rescue. "Um…breakfast is ready?"

Asuka returned her attention to Shinji, looking ready to take his head off, only to notice her favorite breakfast had finished cooking and was ready to be served. Her blazing fury slowly reduced to a low boil as she looked at Shinji again. "You better have strawberries to go with those waffles," the redhead declared. "And those sausages better be low-fat! I've got a figure to maintain, you know!"

Shinji nodded quickly. "I know. And I got strawberry syrup, too."

Frowning as only the Red Devil could, Asuka turned about on her heel. "I want that hot water working by this afternoon, baka!" she declared. With that, she seated herself at the table and waited for Shinji to start serving her breakfast.

Sighing with almost palpable relief with the narrow aversion of this minor crisis, Shinji went to work preparing everybody's dishes and getting the coffee going while Misato somehow got to her feet and joined Asuka at the table. It wasn't long before everybody was served and they started eating. The meal passed slowly and awkwardly around all the tension that had been piling up since Shinji's release.

Shortly after breakfast was done and Misato was downing a couple aspirin, she practically jumped out of her skin when the telephone rang. "I'll get it," Shinji called out, quickly moving to the telephone and picking it up. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" Misato wondered blearily, propping herself up as she watched Shinji talk to whomever was rude enough to disturb them at such an indecent time of day.

As Misato turned to look towards Shinji, their eyes met as he told her, "It's Dr. Akagi."

"Rits? At this time of day?" Misato grimaced, the image of NERV's Head Scientist popping into her fogged mind. "Look, Shinji-kun, if she wants to give you another check-up, fine, but..."

"She doesn't want to give me a check-up," Shinji informed her. The worry in his voice betraying his concern.

"She doesn't?" Misato asked, narrowing her eyes in surprise. Ritsuko had insisted on giving Shinji a complete medical examination every day this week, just to be certain that there had been no harmful side-effects of his absorption by the Eva. "So what's she bugging us about?"

"She wants all of us to come in to Headquarters," Shinji explained in a worried fashion. "Apparently, the Evas Now that NERV and the Evas have been fully repaired…she's ordered a synch test for all of us."

At these words, Misato's face fell. "What?" she demanded, hoping against hope that this was some kind of sick joke. "Wait, Shinji...uh, gimme the phone, will ya?" Nodding in a somewhat wary fashion, the 3rd Child gingerly approached and handed the Major the receiver. Gruffly taking it from his hand, she placed it her ear and snorted, "Rits?"

"Morning, Misato," came the voice of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. "I guess Shinji gave you the bad news."

"He did," Misato promptly confirmed. "And now I want to have a word or three with the person who delivered said message."

"Well, before you shoot the messenger, let me remind you that Commander Ikari has given me explicit orders to get NERV and the Evangelions back into functional order. And as quickly as possible," Ritsuko commented in her usual businesslike manner. Then her voice soured somewhat when she added, "And given the recent...failure of the Dummy Plug System, that means we have to make certain that the pilots are recovered and ready for action."

Misato frowned, for while she recognized the eminent logic in the doctor's words, she found herself resenting the cold, casual fashion in which they had been spoken. Then again, that's not exactly a big surprise, she frowned disdainfully. Lately, it seems like Rits is getting to be less human, and a lot more like a goddamned computer like the MAGI.

Pressing her lips together, Misato did her best to stifle her annoyance and shove it to the side. "Maybe so," she eventually conceded. "But I thought the Commander had order Unit 01 grounded!"

"He did," Ritsuko confirmed, as aware as the rest of them the reasons for the Commander's caution. "But even so, Unit 01 is presently fully functional. And if we wind up facing off against another Angel like the 14th, then we're going to need every active Evangelion we have to handle it. And that means we need each of the Children ready and able to pilot them."

Hissing a tiny breath, Misato gave heavy consideration to protesting this decision. She wanted to say that Shinji wasn't ready to return to duty as of yet. That there was no guarantee that the events that resulted in him being trapped inside of his Eva would not repeat themselves, now that the notorious destroyer known as Unit 01 had possession of an S2 organ. She wanted to say so many different things, if only to put off his return to NERV Headquarters for at least one more day.

But she didn't. She couldn't.

Because as much as she wished otherwise, Misato knew that Ritsuko was correct.

The Angels were a menace that had to be defeated, at any costs. For to suffer even one loss to them carried with it the risk of suffering Third Impact. And after seeing the Second Impact firsthand, Misato knew that would very literally spell the end of the world.

"Alright, fine, Rits," Misato muttered in a sour manner. "Just do us all a favor and keep the poking and prodding to a minimum today. Because I'm telling you right here and now that none of us here is in the mood for any more shit."

"Hmm. Join the throng," Ritsuko returned, sounding a bit more like the human being she had been back in their college days. "Relax, Misato. It's just a synch test. What could -?"

"You finish that sentence, Ritsuko Akagi, and I will personally weld your mouth shut for good!" Misato broke with a great surge of annoyance. "After everything that's been happening lately, the last thing we need to do is go around, tempting fate!"

Groaning somewhat at this, Ritsuko replied, "Okay, I guess you got me there." Heaving a weary sigh that seemed to match Misato's own disposition, the doctor went on to say, "So, guess I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah. Later," the purple-haired woman muttered before handing the receiver back to Shinji. As he accepted it, she paused to study the boy who had become the family she had never had. And as she did so, Major Misato Katsuragi of NERV came to a conclusion.

This was going to be a very bad day.

After splashing a couple gallons of water in her face and downing even more coffee, Misato got dressed in a blouse and skirt that left nothing to the imagination, as well as her usual flight jacket. Asuka donned her school uniform and clipped on her A-10 nerve clips, while Shinji donned his usual slacks and short-sleeved shirt. Once they were all more-or-less ready to face the day, or as close to it as was possible, the Major led her wards down from their cozy apartment to her blue Renault. After fighting with the starter for a few a seconds, she coaxed the battered vehicle to life, and the three of them began their journey to the underground fortress that was NERV Headquarters.

Holding the steering wheel with her right hand, Misato massaged her forehead with the left, driving far more cautiously than she usually did. Asuka was still grumbling from her place on the backseat, while Shinji had long since put on his SDAT and adjusted the volume so as to block out the German.

Looking at Shinji, Misato couldn't help but feel saddened by the way the boy used that infernal device to keep the world at bay. The boy had lived through ten years of loneliness and pain, ever since the day his mother had died and his father, Commander Gendo Ikari, had decided that he couldn't be bothered with raising his own son. The boy had spent those ten years being cared for by his teacher, and while Misato didn't know that man personally, she was already certain that she hated him. For in those ten sad years, the 3rd Child had become convinced that nobody could ever have any use for him, let alone care for him.

From the day she had brought Shinji in to live with her, Misato had learned some of the details of Shinji's life from his file, and had pieced together a lot of the rest from her time together with the boy. So she knew how much pain he had suffered. But she had also seen his strength, his courage.

From the very first day he had been forced into piloting Unit 01, Shinji had been confronted with hell so many times that Misato was at a loss to count them all. She had sent him out in Unit 01 to battle the Angels, she had seen him being carried from the Eva's Entry Plug, unconscious and badly injured, she knew the terror he felt at piloting the barely-controllable biomechanical monster, and she felt the new emotional scars he bore from every battle he fought and invariably won.

Why can't you see it, Shinji-kun? Misato found herself wondering, looking at the boy as he once again hid away from the world. Wishing not for the first time that she could do something to ease his pain, to take up the burdens that she had been forced to place on his shoulders.. Why can't you see how strong you truly are?

Fortunately for her frayed nerves, they made it to one of the entrances to the Geofront without incident. From there, they rode a tram that carried them and the Renault into the depths of the self-sufficient colony that was NERV's domain. Casually observing the familiar sight of the bottoms of many of the buildings of Tokyo-3 protruding from the roof of the Geofront, she waited until the tram deposited them at the parking garage. As soon as she was parked in her reserved space, Misato and the Children got out of the car. Only to be surprised by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Good morning, everyone," Dr. Ritsuko Akagi greeted them, a slight smile adorning the faux-blonde's face. Replete in her lab coat and with a clipboard in hand, NERV's resident mad scientist projected an air of businesslike cheer that everybody could tell was casually forced. Masking the fact that, in her way, Ritsuko was as emotionally drained as the rest of them

"Speak for yourself, Rits," Misato groaned. Not willing to muster the energy needed to force the illusion of civility.

Ritsuko gave Misato a lopsided smile, her green eyes sparking with humor. "Whew. I haven't seen you like this since we were college," the doctor muttered in what was supposed to be a pleasant manner, but ultimately came off as forced as her earlier greeting. "Remember all those parties we went to back then?"

Despite everything, Misato managed a weak smile. This mentioning of better, friendlier times past taking away some of the pain of the present. "Some of those were less fun than they looked."

Returning Misato's smile, Ritsuko directed her attention to the two children. "Okay, you two should get to your Evas," she told them before returning her attention to Misato. "We better get going as well. You know how the Commander hates to be kept waiting."

"Um…" Misato hesitated, drawing everybody's attention. As the doctor and her wards looked quizzically at her, Major struggled to get her thoughts in order before she tried again. "You go ahead, Rits. I'll catch up."

Frowning as she narrowed her eyes, Ritsuko finally shrugged in a 'why not?' manner. "Just don't get lost this time, okay?" she asked in a voice that was half-joking, half-pleading. "I've got enough on my plate without having to track you down again."

Not bothering to vocalize her response, Misato simply nodded. To her relief, Ritsuko sighed in response before turning to leave. "Okay, you two," the Major sighed haggardly as soon as the doctor was out of sight. "Let's just get this over with." With a nod from Shinji and a gruff snort from Asuka, the three of them were on their way.

Though NERV remained a massive labyrinth to her, one that was painfully easy to lose one's way in, Misato and the children knew the path that would lead them first to the women's locker room fairly well. However, when they finally reached their destination, they received a minor surprise.

"Oh!" Shinji started as soon as he caught sight of the figure standing just outside of the women's locker room. "Hi, Ayanami."

"Hello, Ikari-kun," Rei responded instantly, giving Shinji a polite bow of her head. The enigmatic 1st Child of NERV was already garbed in her skintight plug suit. The blue-haired albino's face was an inscrutable mask as she surveyed the rest of them, bowing to them in turn as well. "Major. Pilot Sohryu."

"Hiya, Rei," Misato replied as Asuka snorted disdainfully.

Rei watched impassively as Asuka joined her and the two entered the locker room. "Um…good luck with your synch tests, you two…" Shinji spoke in that way Misato had long since identified that showed that he didn't know what else to say them.

Unfortunately, it quickly turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Asuka turned to look at Shinji, her face darkening as she snarled, "What are you talking about, baka?! You think I need luck?! Is that what you're saying?!"

Eyes widening in surprise, Shinji held his hands up and waved in negation, sputtering, "N-no, I didn't – that is, I…I'm sorry…!"

Her mood turning from anger to grumpy sullenness, Asuka hissed in disgust. "Mein gott, you're pathetic. Always apologizing for everything," the redhead declared, as if she were dealing with something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "Well, maybe I will be lucky…and you'll get sucked into that damned Eva again and never come back!"

Rei narrowed her eyes slightly at this, the corners of her mouth turning slightly downwards. As for Misato, her face became a magnified version of Rei's barely visible ire as she started towards the redhead, screaming, "Don't you even joke about that, Asuka! Don't you dare!"

"Who's joking?" Asuka smirked, apparently oblivious to the way Misato was clenching her fists. "Anyway, later, jerk." With a haughty air, the redhead turned and made her way out of sight.

Once the German was gone, Rei looked at Shinji, a hint of affection slipping past the self-imposed mask of her face. "Good luck, Ikari-kun. And welcome back."

As soon as Rei disappeared from sight, Misato growled deep in her throat. "I can't believe that girl…!"

"Misato, please! It's okay!" Shinji pleaded, a hint of fear showing in his voice. "Please, I…"

Sighing as Shinji once again took on the role of the peacemaker, the way he had been doing all week, Misato looked at her ward and frowned wearily. "I'm sorry, Shinji-kun."

"It's okay, Misato," Shinji replied reassuringly. "Come on, I have to get changed, too."

Nodding reluctantly, Misato followed the boy to the men's locker room. When they finally got there, Shinji looked at the Major and said, "Well…I guess I'll see you later, Misato."

"Right," Misato replied, trying to keep her voice level. But when Shinji turned and started into the locker room, a dam broke inside of her heart. She reached out and grabbed Shinji's wrist. "Shinji, wait…" she almost begged, quickly dragging Shinji back to her. Placing her other hand on his shoulder, she stared deeply into his gentle blue eyes. Taking in every detail of the kindly boy that had found his way into her home and her heart.

"What is it, Misato?" Shinji asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

Sighing as she fought the emotions boiling inside of her, Misato got out, "Look…if you want, I could talk to Ritsuko and the Commander…maybe put off your synch test for a few days…"

"What?" Shinji wondered.

Shaking her head as all air of pretense fled, Misato lowered herself to look Shinji square in the eyes, holding onto his shoulders like she would never let go. "Shinji...okay, I admit it. I'm scared. I know it's stupid, but I just can't help it," Misato confessed, her emotions close to the surface, in a place where she only allowed Shinji to see them. "After what happened the last time…every day, I'd come here and stare at that purple monster, thinking about you, scared that…that you'd never come back."

"Misato…" Shinji murmured.

Tears welling up in her eyes, Misato continued. "When our salvage operation failed…I'd thought I'd lost you forever." As the purple-haired Major confessed her fears, she drew Shinji into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. She thought back to the sight of his blue and white plug suit spilling out of the Entry Plug in a surge of Link Control Liquid, of how she had cried and cried with it in her arms before Shinji had been returned to them. A sight that now haunted her during the day, and found her in her nightmares. "I don't want to lose you, Shinji. My Shinji-kun."

Hesitating, almost flushing at the feel of Misato's body, Shinji hugged her in return. "I…I don't want to lose you, either, Misato," he replied before pulling back just enough to look her in the eyes. "But…I'll have to do this sooner or later."

"I know that, but…" Misato protested unhappily. Fear unmoved by logic.

"I can't run away anymore," Shinji told her, the strength Misato knew he had surfacing just behind those storm blue eyes of his. "So many people got hurt by that last Angel…all because I didn't want to pilot. I can't let that happen again."

Shaking her head slowly and sadly, Misato rubbed the cheek of the young man she now admired so much with her own. When she finally stood, she kept looking at Shinji. Keeping him close to her…and away from the damned monster that had stolen him away, and left her shattered.

As the two of them stood there in silence, holding each other tight, the silence was completely shattered as the halls were flooded with red and an alarm sounded. "What the…?" Misato started, standing and looking about in confusion before a massive impact shook NERV headquarters. As the vibrations subsided, the Major and the 3rd Child looked each other in the eyes, one thought racing through their minds.

An Angel!

Putting everything aside, her fears, insecurities, and affections, Misato focused on the discipline and responsibility she had honed over the years. She looked her ward, the 3rd Child of Nerv, and ordered, "Shinji, get to your Eva!"

"Right!" Shinji responded as he turned and headed into the locker room.

Just before he was out of sight, Misato shouted, "Shinji?" As he stopped in mid-stride, looking over his shoulder at her, Misato said in a semi-serious, semi-teasing voice, "Don't you dare make me wait another thirty days before coming back this time!"

A moment passed before Shinji rewarded her with a smile. "I won't, Misato." And with that he was gone. Gone to battle on her behalf once more.

Taking a deep breath, steeling herself for what lay ahead, Misato began a mad dash for the bridge as a bad day got worse. Already certain that the worst was yet to come.

Author's Notes: First of all, I'd like to take moment to thank everybody who has read and reviewed my story. This means a great deal to me.

I have rewritten the first chapter so soon mostly because I pushed a little too hard to get it posted as fast as I could, due to time constraints on my end. As a result, I really didn't pursue my editing as I should have. That was my fault.

As Dartz-IRL pointed out, as a result of my hurrying, I made Rei too robotic. Sorry about that, Rei. Now, as for Shinji, Misato, and Asuka, while it may be true that I went overboard with them as well, the fact is I deliberately exaggerated their character flaws to show that things are especially stressful for them right now. As anybody who has ever been in a tragic situation themselves will tell you, just because a bad situation has been successfully, even happily resolved, that doesn't mean that everything is suddenly okay. There remains, at least for a time, an emotional scarring while the healing takes place. This is shown in the series by how quickly Misato went to Kaji's apartment after Shinji was released from the Eva, desperate for some comfort, and I wanted to explore how that stress could affect them at home as well. If I failed, I apologize, and will make an effort to better in the future.

Besides, on a personal note, Asuka's abusiveness and arrogance have long since landed her a permanent place on my Bad List. I just can't stand the Red Devil! And as for whether or not waffles with strawberries and sausages actually are her favorite breakfast…I haven't a clue. I don't think it's mentioned, and I just wanted to show that Shinji is trying to make everybody feel better.

Dartz-IRL: Once again, I thank you for the honest critique. I will take everything you said to heart, and since this is the holiday season, I'm making sure that the full NGE series lands on my DVD player. I'm going to get this story right even if it kills me!

Biohazard 101: I won't tell what's going to happen to Asuka, but as for Gendo, Karma most definitely has plans for him. Of course, in the Bastard King's case, it's going to be difficult for me to come up with a comeuppance that accounts for every evil thing he's ever done.

Mr. Lee: As I said above, I was trying to exaggerate Shinji/Misato/Asuka's character flaws in order to show things are very stressful for them right now. Again, if I blew it, then I apologize.