Awakenings

By GreyWolf

(with a little backup from Random1377)

Disclaimers: I do not own the rights to either Neon Genesis Evangelion or Gundam Wing – that honour goes (respectively) to Studio Gainax animation and Bandai Entertainment. Should either company, or any of their affiliates, request it, this story will be removed from the web. Thank you.

Prologue – From Here to Eternity

Dogma – the belief in things felt, but not seen… the foundation of any religious faith. Shinji Ikari had never been a religious man, a detail he would readily admit, should anyone bring the topic up, but as Central Dogma – the heart of NERV's complicated underground installation – shook around him, he found himself wondering if maybe he had been foolish not to believe in something.

It was not the looming threat of death that had him questioning himself, nor was it even the guilt he felt over being forced to kill Kaworu Nagisa, the seventeenth angel (and Shinji's only friend) less than thirteen hours prior. No, what shook Shinji's reality the most was the deep, tender kiss he was receiving from his guardian, Misato Katsuragi.

He stood frozen as the purple-haired woman held her lips to his, completely unprepared for the emotional bombardment this simple act rained down on his fragile psyche. Why? he wanted to sob, why are you being that gentle with me? I don't deserve it!!

Misato broke away from the kiss with a forced smile. "That was an adult kiss," she managed, her face contorting with pain, "w-when you get back, we'll… do rest…"

Shinji stood with his back to the closed elevator door; a plethora of emotions overcoming him as his guardian started to pull away. It had already been several hours since the siege of NERV headquarters had begun – for reasons that Shinji did not know and did not care to know. What did it matter to him? He was worthless – weak… completely unable to protect anyone or anything that mattered to him. For all he knew, everyone in the installation was dead, besides him and Misato.

…and from the looks of it, Misato was not going to be with him much longer.

Just one more person to say goodbye to, he thought dismally, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

Misato coughed twice and slumped down on Shinji's shoulder; the sudden weight pressing on his body back into the elevator's metal security fence. "You… should go," she coughed, fumbling for the keypad that would open the fence and send Shinji safely up to the EVA cages.

Too… weak, she thought desperately, damn fingers – come on!

The world greyed at the edges as the last of Misato's strength left her legs, catching Shinji off guard as he struggled to hold her upright. Slowly, he eased himself down to the floor, bringing her with him as some of the malaise that had seized him wore off.

She was hurt… badly. No matter his own feelings of abandonment, he could not quite bring himself to simply let her fall to the floor like a bag of discarded garbage. "Misato," he panted, shaking her lightly as her eyes slipped closed. "It's… it's not bad, right? You said it's not that bad…"

Misato's eyelids fluttered. "Mmm?" she hummed. "Shinji? No… no I'm fine, just... tired..."

Shinji was on the verge of replying when he became aware of an odd flavor permeating his mouth. Tastes like I was sucking on a penny, he thought, refusing to acknowledge what, exactly, that taste could be even as he touched the corner of his mouth with his forefinger.

"Mi…Misato?" Shinji said, a note of pleading desperation colouring his voice – as if he was begging her to say that she would be okay.

He quickly wiped his finger on his pants, pretending that he did not see the smear of red that stained them.

Misato's eyes opened again, but she could only smile as she placed an object in Shinji's free hand… her cross pendant – the one given to her by her mother before her death – its blocky edges horribly smoothed by the copious blood covering the woman's trembling fingers.

With this last act, Misato's world lurched from grey to black, her body slowly growing limp against Shinji's as he desperately tried to get her to say something – anything – to show that she could hear him.

"Misato, hold on!" the boy cried, feeling sweat break out all over his body as his eyes suddenly began burning with hot tears. "Misato, please hold on! Misato…"

When there was still no reply, Shinji leaned back against the elevator's fence, softly stroking her dark hair as he quietly began to sob.

"Hold it right there kid!" a voice to Shinji's left boomed, the sound of a gun cocking punctuating the statement with the finality of a period typed at the end of a judge's death sentence. From the corner of his eye, Shinji could see four of the soldiers who had been trailing them working their way through the heavy security door that had brought him and Misato to this place.

One of them was levelling a nine-millimetre handgun at the Third's head, an expression of wicked triumph on his face as his team-mates clambered laboriously through the opening.

Shinji continued to cradle Misato's still body in his arms. "Go ahead," he whispered hollowly, forcing himself to keep his eyes open… wanting his last vision on this Earth to be that of someone he had once believed cared about him.

I've got nothing left anyway.

The soldier nodded, walking right up and pressing the barrel of his gun against the boy's temple. "Proceeding with termination," he said coldly. "See you in Hell, k-"

"Hold it!"

One of the other soldiers held up a hand.

Shinji waited in silence for the end to come, knowing that even if he wanted to there was nothing he could do to stop it. You were wrong about me, Misato, he thought miserably, I AM just a coward…

"Change of plans," the solider said, motioning for the team's medic to come forward. "Sedate… detain… retrieve, those are the new mission parameters – all Children and top-level support personal are designated Alpha priority."

"Aww screw that," the solider with his gun against Shinji's head muttered disgustedly. "You know what these freaks have been doing here?? There's no way we can just let them wal-"

"That's an order," the first solder cut in calmly, putting his hand on the butt of his pistol. "You're not disobeying, are you? I'd hate to have to act on that new Executive Order that calls for summery execution of-"

"I get it!" the second soldier snapped, pulling his gun away from Shinji's head. "I get it…"

"Good."

Shinji made no move to stop the men as the medic came forward, pulling out a hypodermic and filling it with some clear liquid from a vial on his hip. "What about the other one?" the man asked, holding the needle up and tapping its side to knock the air bubbles to the top. "She's still breathing."

"Is she anyone important?" the first soldier murmured.

"Eh, could be Katsuragi," the medic shrugged, nodding for the remaining two soldiers to take hold of Shinji – which they did with far more force than was necessary. "Fits the description."

"Why can't these damn people wear IDs?" the captain groaned, rubbing his eyes in a pained fashion. "Yeah, do what you can to patch her up and we'll take her with – I don't want the general breathing down my neck if we let one of their new POWs die."

"POWs, huh?" the medic chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled Shinji's shirt up and slapped him smartly on the upper arm to make his veins stand out. "Well, I guess this IS war…"

"Hey," the captain muttered, "they called it down on themselves. Personally, I'm with Nishimura – I say waste the lot of them – assholes playing God REALLYpiss me off… but orders are orders."

Nodding, the medic jabbed the needle into Shinji's arm, ignoring the boy's gasp of pain and pressing the plunger to send the sedative into his body. "They'll get what's coming to them," he said sagely, yanking the needle out and turning his attention to the woman on the floor. "Not too sure this one's gonna make it, though, she's lost a lot of blood… can't we just say she was dead when we found her?"

Through the fog that was slowly settling over him, Shinji tried to whisper, "No… save her – I'm the one that deserves to die…" but no matter how hard he tried, he could not make his mouth work.

"Orders are orders," the captain repeated, "do what you can – if she dies on the way, oh well, but we were ordered to try."

Shinji's vision began to darken around the edges as the medic sighed heavily and knelt on the floor. "Right, right," the man grumbled, "I'll just…"

Whatever the man was going to 'just' do, Shinji never found out. The darkness tickling the corners of his eyes suddenly reached out and seized his senses, sending him spiralling down into a deep, thankfully dreamless sleep.

- - - - -

General Yoshikazu Tsuge stood with his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he oversaw the taking of massive complex. Everything was going quite smoothly – particularly the battles between his troops and the pathetically trained 'security' personnel of NERV. It had only been 20 minutes since he had received the change of orders, of course, so it was perfectly understandable that some of his troops might not have gotten the instruction to stand down just yet.

Can't be helped, he thought smugly as a desperate cry rang out over the walkie-talkie on his belt, quickly followed by a burst of automatic gunfire. Less prisoners means less paperwork anyway – and as long as the top brass and those damn monsters of theirs are secured, no one's going to bitch about a few more body bags.

He focused his attention, however, as he heard his name called through the walkie-talkie. "This is Captain Nakamura from second platoon," the voice reported after Tsuge had acknowledged it. "We have taken the Third Child and Major Katsuragi into custody. Katsuragi has been wounded but is being treated by the medics – forty percent survival probability. Team four reports that they have found the Second Child – alive but heavily sedated – and Dr. Akagi, both of whom are in custody… though it is my understanding that Akagi injured several of Sadamoto's men and had to be forcefully subdued."

"We won't tell their wives," Tsuge replied sardonically, "get the prisoners ready for transport."

"This is Sunaga, from third squad," another voice cut in, sounding annoyed, "have encountered stiff resistance, request permission to use grenades."

"Request denied!" Tsuge snapped. "Reinforcements are coming to your location, do not…I repeat – do not use explosives. We cannot risk damaging the MAGI. Carry on."

Tsuge stroked his moustache as he wondered why NERV had not deployed their Evangelions. He heard that they were powered for a maximum of almost ten minutes without an 'umbilical cable,' and while he trusted the bakelite insertion he had ordered, he was not one hundred percent sure that it could actually hold the behemoths, should the pilots truly unleash them.

I wonder how Kuramoto's doing. he mused, glancing at the radio as if expecting it to suddenly burst to life with the man's voice. He and his troops should have reached the command centre by now…

- - - - -

A sense of doom added to the tense atmosphere that filled the command centre as each of the bridge crew could plainly see position after position in the Geofront being completely overrun, wave after wave of JSDF soldiers storming through NERV's defences as if they did not exist. On the monitors, though, something had changed. If they were not dead or wounded, the NERV employees were being allowed to surrender themselves, dragged off-screen by gruff-looking soldiers to points unknown even as the wounded were… silenced.

Here and there, occasional skirmishes still broke out between NERV's security officers and the invading JSSDF troops… but they were plainly one-sided, with the valiant NERV employees being swept aside like wheat before a scythe.

"Isn't real," Maya Ibuki was whispering to herself, her fingers flying on the keyboard of her laptop as Shigeru Aoba and Hyouga Makoto desperately tried to return the fire of the few JSSDF troops that had managed to get through their hastily constructed barricade.

The gun Aoba had thrust into her hands lay next to her knee – discarded… but not forgotten as the young technician scrambled to find a way out of their situation.

"Isn't real, it isn't real… isn't real, it isn't real…"

Over and over she whispered these simple, comforting words, praying that any minute, she would wake up in her bed, clutching the teddy bear her father had given her when she was four and sighing as she rolled over to go back to sleep.

But there is no waking when the nightmare is real.

"Ibuki," Aoba shouted, bracing his rifle against his shoulder and letting off a controlled burst so as not to waste ammo, "pick it up – they're breaking through!!"

"C-can't," Maya sobbed, blinking away tears as she continued searching through her files. "There has to be another way – there has to!"

"Idiot!" the other tech cried. "We're all going to die here if we don't stick tog-"

"Watch out!"

Makoto's cry of warning came too late, and the soldier that had been training his aim on Aoba opened fire, catching the man in the shoulder and sending to the floor with a strangled cry.

"Shigeru!!"

"Nobody move!" one of the soldiers cried, bringing his gun to bear on Makoto. "You don't have a chance – don't make me use grenades, son."

Makoto wet his lips, taking stock of his options. Aoba's down, he thought nervously, Maya's… useless, he glanced around as he realized that the command centre had gone deathly silent. All the other techs are waiting for me to make up my mind – damn it, how did I become the leader?!

Clearing his throat, he addressed the soldier up at the head of the small brigade. "I want your guarantee that-"

"Don't make me laugh," the man cut in dismissively, "there's no guarantees here, son – besides the one that says you're going to die if you don't drop that gun in the next five seconds."

Makoto took another look around. "Your word, then," he said quietly, slowly easing his hands off of the gun's stock, "that the women stay untouched."

The soldier snorted. "We're JSSDF, son," he said proudly, "not thugs. This is your last chance. Drop the gun."

Seeing that he had no choice, Makoto lowered the rifle to the floor, feeling sick to his stomach as the techs all around the command centre followed suit. Because of me, he thought disgustedly, they're following my lead…

As the solider stepped past him, Makoto whispered, "Man to man – as a personal favour… the woman behind me is weak. Please don't hurt her."

The soldier eyed him for a minute, then nodded, pitching his voice equally low as he replied, "There's no shame here, son… you fought bravely, even though you knew you were outmatched – I can respect that." His eyes flicked over to Maya for a moment before returning to Makoto's face. "I'll take care of her."

"Thank you, sir."

"All of you – get away from your stations!" one of the other soldiers shouted.

The techs did as they were told, raising their hands high with a visible air of defeat as the JSSDF soldiers closed in.

"Now get down on the ground and spread 'em!"

Everyone obeyed, knowing that even a hint of rebellion could easily result in a quick, painful death. The JSSDF soldiers quickly rounded the technicians up, leaving the core trio of Makoko, Maya, and Aoba clustered around the leader of the insertion team, a medic crouching next to Aoba and tending to his wound with a clear air of distaste.

"Sunaga did WHAT!?" the solider exploded, momentarily losing his composure as he pressed his walkie-talkie tightly to his ear. "Oh this is just great! Tsuge's NOT going to like this." Maya could not hear the other side of the conversation, but the soldier's tone was clearly unamused as he replied, "Understood. Yes, we've just secured the command centre, casualties were-" he cut himself off in mid-sentence when he noticed that Maya, Makoto and Aoba, were all hanging on his every word. "Get them out of here," the solider said to his second in command, grabbing the other man's arm as he turned away.

"Be gentle with the woman."

"Yes, sir."

The three techs were lead through the chaos of Central Dogma to the surface of the Geofront, where a light rain hand begun to fall. As the procession of captured personnel neared a line of troop transports, Maya saw Evangelion Units 01 and 02 being loaded onto Neopath carriers, and though the crowd she was sure she saw Major Katsuragi stretched out on the hood of a jeep with a series of IVs hooked to her arms and a deathly pallor around her normally healthy face. Maya cried out, though, as she spied one of the soldiers carrying Shinji's limp body, but as she was about to break away, she spotted someone else.

"Commander Ikari!" she cried, waving frantically as the man was led past. "Commander Ikari!! Over here!"

The elder Ikari glanced up at her, his eyes bright and crafty behind the tinted lenses of his glasses, and after a moment, he inclined his head, squaring his shoulders and marching with his back ramrod straight towards a waiting helicopter.

Before Maya could call out to him again, she was at the troop carrier and one of the soldiers was helping her up inside to join well over fifty of her fellow NERV employees. Slowly, she sank down on one of the benches in the carrier and put her head in her hands, trying not to sob as the door was slammed shut with horrible, resounding finality.

- - - - -

Shinji woke up groggy and disoriented, clutching his head as he forced himself into a sitting position. "Where…?"

He glanced around, finding himself in a spartan holding cell. It was painted a dull, flat grey, and had only a sink, toilet and the bunk he was sitting on. Looking down at himself, Shinji found that he was still wearing the same clothes… complete with the heavy staining of Misato's blood.

Misato… he thought, burying his face in his hands as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. She could be dead now because of me – because I couldn't do anything! God, I just want to die!! Guilt – unlike any he had experienced before – slid easily through the cracks in his carefully constructed armour of apathy. Why did I throw them away? he thought miserably. I could have at least TRIED to help them… and now they're probably all dead – just because I wanted to run away….

Unable to contain it any longer, Shinji burst into tears, his hands covering his face to muffle the sobs.

How many are dead? How many are dead because of ME?!

After ten minutes, his sobs trailed off to sniffles, leaving him feeling scraped out and empty. He blinked, wiping his eyes as he heard muffled voices though the cell's door. His breath caught, however, as he caught the words, "…rd they got Katsuragi, too – you know, the operations director?"

Misato!?

Shinji shot to his feet, racing to the door and pressing his ear against, his senses straining to pick up the rest of the conversation.

"Yeah," a voice – one of the soldiers that had taken him in – was saying, "I was on the team that got her. She was all messed up, but I guess they managed to keep her alive."

Oh thank God… Shinji slumped against the door. Thank… God…

"Were they many other survivors?" another voice was asking. "I know they were pretty rough when they went in."

"Well," the first voice said, "not many IMPORTANT people. I know that they found the Second Child all doped up, so she wasn't hard to get a hold of, and Third Squad found the First Child floating in a pool of some yellow stuff… guess she didn't even ask who they were, she just went with them without saying a word. The other units captured some others, I guess, but I don't know who…"

They got Rei and Asuka also!? Shinji thought, unsure of why he was surprised by this detail. Who else?

As if echoing his thoughts, the second soldier said, "What about the Commander?"

"He's dead," came the flat reply. "Inuyama from Second Squad killed him – guess he tried to make a break for it… killed a couple guys. You know Inuyama – he's about as tight as they get – he just snapped and put two rounds through Ikari's head before anyone could stop him. I also heard they found some kind of thing growing on Ikari's hand. The docs are trying to remove it, but when I asked for more detail, all I got was that 'need to know basis' crap!"

"Man," the second soldier muttered, "this whole operation gives me the creeps. "What's with this change of plans, anyway? Why save these people? They're sick… all of them."

"Hell if I know," the first soldier snorted. "Personally, just seeing that Ikari kid made me want to ice him – but the Captain stopped me." There was a deep sigh. "So when will they be ready?"

"In about three days, I hear…" came the reply. "Hey, did you see that new issue of SportRifle? That new Hammerli is looking pretty sweet! It's…"

Shinji backed away from the door, his mind struggling to keep up with the influx of new information.

Ready for what? What's going to be ready? he wondered, though somehow… he had a distinct impression that he would not like the answer. Suddenly, had never been so afraid for himself or the ones he cared for. Dark forces were in motion, and all he could do was keep his head above water and hope for the best. Running away was no longer an option – no matter how appealing it sounded. Misato was hurt, Asuka and Rei were both captured, and his father… his father was dead, leaving no one he could rely on but himself.

Somehow, he told himself, he had to find a way to be strong.

With a quiet hiss, the door to his cell opened, revealing a middle-aged man with cropped, dark hair, brown eyes and a moustache. His shoulders were broad and powerful, giving him an intimidating presence, and Shinji could clearly recognize the markings on his uniform as those denoting a JSSDF General.

"So you're the Third Child huh?" the man said without preamble. "I'm General Tsuge, Japanese Strategic Self Defence Force."

"What happened to Misato?" Shinji asked immediately, trying to sound braver than he felt. "Is she okay?"

"Ah Major Katsuragi will be fine, given some time to recover," the general replied, mildly impressed by the boy's boldness in the face of adversity, "Your father, however, is another case…"

Shinji frowned, waving the update on his father away. He already knew that man's fate… and in all honesty, there was only the barest pangs of sadness for his passing. "What about Ayanami?" he asked hesitantly, "And Asuka? Are there-"

"I'm not here to answer your questions," Tsuge cut in coolly, "I just wanted to see you for myself before we really begin this operation."

"I don't… understand," Shinji admitted.

"Get some rest kid," Tsuge said softly, refusing to elaborate as turned around and stepped back through the door. "It's going to be a long journey."

- - - - -

Misato's return to consciousness was accompanied by the most pain she had ever felt in her life, making her groan weakly as she tried in vain to rise to a sitting position. Glancing down, it was not hard to see why sitting up was impossible. She chuckled weakly, pulling gamely at the restraints at her wrists and ankles.

Yeah, I'm a dangerous one alright, she thought, wincing as fresh pain washed over her with every breath. Couple broken ribs… huge hole in my back – at this rate I might be able to overpower a nurse, if she's weak, and make it all the way to the bathroom in a mad dash for freedom.

A second glance showed that she was wearing a hospital gown, and leaning her head back on the bed showed her the clean, antiseptic white ceiling of a hospital room.

"Ok," she muttered, clearing her throat as she found her voice rusty and unnervingly weak, "so they want me alive." Her eyes widened as a moment later, the reason for her injury jolted back into her mind.

Shinji! she thought frantically, working her wrists in the straps and trying to pull the heavy Velcro free. What happened…? Shinji, where are you??

Slowly, her struggles ceased, sweat rolling freely down her face as she collapsed against the bed. "Shinji," she groaned, clearly recalling the feel of the bullet slamming into her back and Shinji's arms gently folding her in a protective embrace.

Must've blacked out after that, she thought, closing her eyes against the harsh white of the unfamiliar ceiling. I hope he's okay… and what about everyone else? Who else made it?

Since she had been taken alive, it was probable that Shinji would have been as well. This thought calmed her racing heart somewhat, allowing her to relax on the bed and wait for someone to come tell her what her fate was going to be.

Misato knew only that the JSSDF wanted them kept alive – otherwise, they would have let her bleed to death and put a bullet through Shinji's head on the spot

...but what do they want us FOR??

Shivering, Misato closed her eyes, deciding that whatever plans the JSSDF might have for capturing them, it certainly was not going to be as restful or quiet as death…

- - - - -

Three days later, a fleet of transports came to a top secret facility somewhere on the continent of Europe. Tsuge stepped carefully off of his helicopter, moving a safe distance away from the blades before saluting the American man in his early fifties, wearing the uniform of a United States Army General.

"General Yoshikazu Tsuge, Japanese Strategic Self Defence Force."

"General Edward Barnes, United States Army."

"Is the facility ready for our guests?" Tsuge asked calmly, trying to hide his dislike of the American.

Americans were always so brash and boastful, and Barnes, Tsuge knew from personal experience, was one of the worst of their culture – a loud, gung-ho cowboy who enjoyed nothing so much as blowing things up and crushing enemies beneath his feet.

Well, Tsuge thought idly as Barnes confirmed that everything was in order, if this operation goes as planned, he'll get to stomp anyone he pleases.

"Please follow me."

Tusge nodded, marching side by side with Barnes and making sure the man did not get TOO far ahead of him. He was not a schnauzer to be led around by the nose – he was the leader of the JSSDF's Eastern force, damn it! Sure, this facility was technically under Barnes' command, but Tsuge still felt that he deserved some measure of respect.

After all, he was the one responsible for securing the test subjects and their hardware.

"Any thoughts about what we should call this organization?" Barnes asked, producing a keycard from one of his pockets as they approached a heavily armoured door.

Tsuge nodded, opening his mouth to reply… but before he could speak, Barnes slid the card through the reader next to the door, and a blast of frigid air washed over the JSSDF general, taking his breath away.

"C-cold," Tsuge stammered, shivering in spite of his resolve not to show any weakness.

Barnes, the Japanese man noted with some relief, was also shaking. "It'll be a lot colder once we get the operation under way," he said, grabbing a pair of parkas off of a peg just inside the door. "Here, this will help – it has heating coils built into the lining."

Tsuge quickly threw the parka on, feeling the warmth immediately bleeding into his skin.

"Now," Barnes said, shrugging into his own coat as he led the other man to a long flight of descending stairs. "What were you saying about a name?"

"Ahh, yes," Tsuge said, grasping the handrail and starting down towards the installation where history would be made. "I was thinking of something like the Global Earth Alliance… or perhaps the Earth Sphere Coalition – but there's no rush."

He grinned as he thought of the miracles that would be uncovered and distilled here – miracles to benefit the entire human race. His spirits lifted, as did his footsteps, and Barnes nodded as the Japanese man voiced one of the oldest adages in either of their cultures.

"We have all the time in the world."

To Be Continued…

Preview for next episode.

400 years have passed since the averted Third Impact… and humanity now wears a very different face. The species itself remains largely unchanged, but the chosen environment of these would-be rulers of the universe has moved upward and outward – the fingers of mankind stretching like a curious infant to the very stars themselves and establishing massive, orbiting wonders known simply as 'the colonies.'

The names of NERV, EVA, Ikari, and others associated with that dark time have faded into obscurity. No longer do the children of the world look to the past, fearful of repeating its mistakes, but grope blindly towards the unseen future, surrounding themselves with technology gleaned from sources long forgotten, and left wisely buried in the shrouds of time.

But it is a time of unrest in this new era. The United Earth Sphere Alliance, fearing the colonies' separation and advancing technology, assassinate colonial leader Heero Yuy… and the shot is felt as a stinging blow of oppression, echoing through all of the colonies and sparking a massive, bloody revolution.

To counter the Alliance's tyranny, Rebel citizens have assembled and launched five advanced mobile suits known as Gundams to the surface of the Earth with orders to liberate the planet from the stranglehold the Alliance holds there.

The time for war is at hand… blood will soon flow… and in a long-abandoned facility, on a once proud continent now wallowing in poverty and sadness, one of the Gundam pilots is about to awaken a force left sleeping for two centuries… and change the course of history forever.

GreyWolf's notes: I always wanted to do a Gundam Wing/Evangelion crossover.

Random's notes: I don't really have anything I can think of that I want to note on this first chapter, since things are just getting started and all the plot lines are still pretty basic. If things get TOO confusing… well, I probably won't note anything then, either – so here's hoping it stays easy to follow. : ) Hope you like it so far!