Take Care Of Yourself. (A countryhumans fanfic)

fail-safe Friendship (alternatively: Hana Hirokazu)

Alone in the darkness of the entry plug, I come to find that keeping track of time is much harder than I had expected. How long has it been since I lost power? An hour? Three? My only reminder of the outside world being the occlusal tremors that rock the plug and the occasional shift. I play with the fabric of my gloves, pulling it out and watching it snap back over my fingers. A loud bang comes from above and the sound of muffled voices outside the plug. The emergency entry opens and light spills into the cockpit, blinding me as I struggle to look up through the light. Japan is looking down on me, she's wearing her plug suit as well.
"Ame!"
"Hana?" I ask. She reaches out her hand and i quickly take it, pulling me out of the plug i splat into the hot metal of my eva like a new born baby, choking out the lcl in my lungs. Japan kneels down next to me, crouching down to help me catch my bearings. Looking around, I see the sun set low in the bright blue sky. Her unit is there too, standing proud and tall, unlike my poor, totaled, unit 02. To my right, unit 06 is there as well, just as worse for wear, its arm has a nasty looking injury, its spillings gallons of blood out onto the sand and painting it red and black.
"Did you-" I gasp."did you defeat the angel?" She gives me a stiff nod.
"Yes, I did." she smiles at me, glowing in the early afternoon light.
"Wow. you're really something ey?" a slap her back. "Congrats on being the only useful pilot!" Japan giggles at that but its true, she really is the only useful polit it seems.
"Don say that." UN is standing behind her now, he's in a suit soaked with seawater.
"What happened to you?!"
"Well, i dont know whether or not to blame the angel, or to blame the russians." he huffs.
"The russians?" I ask. A spot of white on the red Eva in the distance catches my eye, a tall boy in a red plug suit, his hair is snow white, strange.
" you mean that one?" I pointed over to the white haired boy.
"Yeah" UN grunts. "That one.". UN lets out a long sigh before leaning back, his spine makes a loud pop and he's straight again. "Why dont i get you two home, you have tests tomorrow and i'd rather you not be falling asleep in your cockpits."
"What about NATO?" Hana asks, tilting her head. UN looks to me as he answers the question.
"Hell be home late, he has to deal with the new transfer so i suspect that you'll be making yourself dinner tonight Ame." I have to thank God, NATO is good at many things but cooking was never one of them. To make dinner myself is a blessing.
"Its really no problem." i say politely as were joined by safety personal, i have a gut feeling that tonight will be a long one.

...

Russia's Eva wasn't in its type B configuration, it wasn't made to handle water, the numerous warning tells him as such.
"двадцать секунд до выключения
системы!" The timer is still going and Ivan starts to realize that he's screwed. The angel is still active, both his and unit 02 are waterlogged and in no condition to fight. He's got 15 seconds before shut down. "Нет, нет, нет!" The angel disappears into the water and Ivan's eva goes limp. It's over. It's all over. His Eva is waterlogged. He's failed. Failed his country, his father, his pride. He starts banging his fists on the controls in a desperate rage "I was so close!"
The plug screen goes black and Ivan is left in the darkness. The only indication that the outside world still exists is the loud bangs and shakes that occasionally plague the Eva. This isn't fair, this is all America's Fault. The unit goes still and everything is silent. He punches the console and screams. "I HATE YOU AMERICANS!" He screams until his voice is hoarse and raw, then he screams some more. He wants the whole world to hear his rage, to know what they have done.
This is not over. He waits in that pitch black Eva plug for almost three hours before he feels the tell tail lurch of his Eva being pulled from the water, it's an hour more before the jostling stops and the emergency hatch to his plug is opening and sunlight comes pouring in. He can see the dark silhouette of his father blocking out the sun.
"Ivan?!" He says, reaching in for him. He rubs his eyes as he blinks over and over again, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. his pale eyes are still incredibly susceptible to bright light.
As the world comes into focus, he takes in the sight of his father. "papa..." He calls. He slowly extends a hand, hoping he'll be helped out of his cockpit. "Its all that americans fault." He takes a breath, steadying himself. "I can still make this right. I must make this right.." His father drags him up into the smooth metal of the Eva's back. He gives the boy a tight hug and fat kiss on the cheek, Ivan squirms at the attention. It's embarrassing!
Especially with all of the recovery workers around. Ivan takes a moment to survey the damage. Both of the mass of robots are laying face down on the shore, still attached to the heavy duty vehicles that must've dragged them from the water. His unit, 06, has a nasty gash where it's shoulder is, and unit 01, blue and white in color with the American flag painted on one of its shoulders seems to have a few cracked bits of armor. He spots a small group of people gathered around the entry plug... how come he gets the welcome party, Ivan thinks.
" не говори глупостей, иван. Я просто рад, что мой ребенок в безопасности."
"НАТО скоро будет здесь, чтобы забрать вас." His dad pauses for a
moment. "Там вас отвезут в штаб-квартиру NERV. Я хочу, чтобы ты вел себя хорошо, ты и я одного возраста, вы могли бы быть друзьями." he tells him, looking over at the other Eva. Ivan has to wonder, now that he's in America, we're will he stay. Nerv? "Ну, может быть, вы найдете некоторые в школе." He says with a
sigh. The taller man turns to look at the pale boy, still dressed in his bright red plug suit. "Вы
просматривали все свои английские слова и буквы, верно?" Ivan gives a reluctant nod in response.
It would be embarrassing to tell his father that he's struggling to learn English. To think his father taught himself English with only a few books. He's just a kid; he can't speak as well as a grown man can. "Да, я читал," he says softly, a proud smile curving his lips for the first time since the battle.
Even if he can't speak it, he's been able to understand his father's broken English this far. He'd never let him Know that. "Hey! You two." A voice comes from below them, a muscular man with slightly tan skin in a black shirt, military bottoms and a hat with sunglasses is clambering up the Eva towards them. He greets his father with a smile and a firm handshake that his father returns before looking over to him.
"You must be Ivan, I've heard so much about you." He smiles. He has a small name badge with the NERV logo and NATO written on it. Ivan's first instinct is to put his guard up, but he tries his best to conceal it. The man is American, and he's wearing military garb to boots. He seems kind enough but that doesn't mean he's trustworthy. "Hello..." he says awkwardly. He's not sure how to respond. Even his father appears more friendly towards this man. But he can't help but wonder what he's even doing here. His father pushes him towards the man slightly by his back.
"ты будешь жить с ним. Я хорошо его знаю, я ему доверяю." He Assures the boy. Ivan's stomach drops. He did not expect this. He can't help but feel betrayed. He's going to live with this foreign stranger, who he's never met before, in a land that he doesn't know.
This isn't okay! "Что?!" Ivan's tone is harsh and his anger is apparent. He takes a step back as his father pushes him. To be honest, he's never been able to get along with most people his age, but to live with a total stranger in a foreign place is just too much. "I can't believe this!" "Don't be like that, you'll get your own room and everything! It's for the better, as Chef commander of NERVs military branch, which includes the Eva's, I thought you'd be excited?" He shrugs, for such a high standing man he seems awfully casual. "Excited?!" Ivan's voice is a mixture of anger and desperation. Living on his own, in a foreign country? A military branch that controls his father's unit? This man wants his pride to bend over and kiss the American boots! "What is this, this-This is ridiculous! I don't care what you think, I'm not going to live with you!" He's practically shouting now, his breath heavy and his face getting red.
his fists clench and unclench as he tries to keep himself in check. "не будь трудным" his father
reminds him. "I say sorry for his feelings." His father tells the man his English is limited to mostly simple terms. Ivan is still struggling to keep himself calm but his father's apology is enough to get him to stop screaming at least. He crosses his arms and glares at both the man and his father.
He glares more at his father though.
Does he have no spine? Would a little resistance really have been too much to ask? He's disappointed in his dad more than anything. "Fine..." He huffs.
"Great! You and America will be fantastic roommates!" nato says loudly.
"Roommates?" the Russian boy asks, his tone filled with disbelief. Well, won't this be fun.