Piercing brown eyes met amber glasses. The two men faced each other for a long while.

"Hello, Gendo," said the younger man with a sneer. "It's nice to see that you still enjoy looking down upon everyone else."

From his vantage point over the tank, Gendo Ikari frowned. His son was supposed to be meek and passive. This display of arrogance from Shinji caused him to revise several contingencies in his head.

"It's been a while, Shinji," replied Gendo, keeping up a calm, collected facade. "I would have thought you happier to see your father."

"Oh right, the father I haven't seen in over 14 years. You abandoned me with my uncle and aunt when I turned 6, remember?" Shinji voiced. "Now get to the point. You called me here for a reason, correct? Something to do with your work at NERV, if I were to hazard a guess."

"I see tact is not your strong point, Shinji. However, you are correct. We would like you to pilot this."

Floodlights came on and pointed at the object in front of Shinji. A large purple head with a long horn rising out of it was illuminated clearly for Shinji.

"Impressive," Shinji sneered, though he was far from impressed. "You made a cyborg. Congratulations. Why? Oh wait, is it to fight that big thing that crushed my car on the city limits? The army was getting destroyed by that last I saw."

"Precisely the purpose of the Eva unit," Gendo admitted. "The Evangelion artificial human is the only thing we have capable of fighting the Angels."

"Angels? Thing was more of a Demon to me. You might want to revise your codex on those. Angels were messengers of God, bringing good tidings. That thing outside was no angel." Shinji remarked. "However, why do you need me to pilot it? Why not get some soldier to do it? And don't even think about telling me that my mother's soul is in there and will only sync with me due to our relationship as mother and child."

Gendo was taken aback by the admission of knowledge of the Eva units' construction.

"Are you saying you won't pilot it?" He asked, his calm veneer starting to chip away.

"Oh I never said that," Shinji smiled, a smile with utterly no warmth to it. "So don't bother bringing Ayanami out. Or do. I'd like to meet her at some point today. If only to see how much she resembles Yui."

"What?" Gendo cracked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I not supposed to know about Ayanami? What a shame. Anyways, my terms for piloting are as such: Firstly, Ayanami does not pilot, ever, unless under most dire circumstances. Secondly, get some decent anti-armour weaponry. It'll come in handy against armoured targets, which there are sure to be. Third, I have on-scene command. Any decisions made on the battlefield are to be made by me. Fourthly, you give my wife a job at NERV."

"Your... wife," stuttered Gendo. His reports on Shinji said nothing about a wife. Granted Shinji did drop off the grid for 6 years, once he turned 14.

"Oh yes, my wife. Fortunately, unlike you, I was able to keep my own family name. Shion Ikari will be coming to Tokyo-3 once I've successfully cleared out your current Demon infestation." Shinji revelled in the knowledge that he was confusing his father. "Anyways, you'll meet her soon enough. So, do we have an accord?"

"I... this is absurd!" sputtered Gendo. "Rei is vital to this project and can't be sidelined. Also, giving military command to a civilian?! The higher-ups would have my head for that!"

"Such a shame. I make a great tactician, though you wouldn't know that. I've been quite successful in avoiding your gaze for the past six years," murmured Shinji. "Well, if that concludes the business portion of our meeting, you may as well bring Ayanami in."

Within minutes, a gurney was brought in and hustled over to the horned visage of the cyborg. Upon it lay a young woman, with pale skin and pale blue hair. Her breathing was laboured and she wore a bandage around her waist and a cast on one of her arms.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, the Demon looked like it was getting close to our location, 30 stories up," the young man remarked as he took two long strides away from the Eva.

With that remark, the Demon above released a wave of energy that penetrated fourteen armour plates. There was a rumbling in the Eva tank, and suddenly the ceiling above the Eva crumbled and began to fall. The two medics attending to Rei dove into the blood-coloured pool in an attempt to get away, but they became pinned under a great slab that bounced off of the catwalk above.

Back on the catwalk, the gurney had fallen over during the shaking and one of the heavy steel I-beams lay crumpled around it.

Shinji carefully picked his way through the rubble, thankful he had moved from where he was standing. He came to where the gurney lay crushed, and started to dig through some of the rubble. He had moved several slabs when he uncovered Rei's bloody upper body and head. A quick glance told him she was still alive, but would not last very long. Her ribs had been crushed by debris and a piece of rebar was sticking out of her stomach.

"Ayanami, can you hear me?" Shinji asked, with some concern.

Rei's eyelids rose, slowly, as though they carried a great weight upon them. She slowly looked over to where Shinji crouched over her.

"I hear you." The words came, pained.

"I'm sorry that we had to meet under such circumstances. I was hoping that I could get you to meet my wife and that we would be good friends," Shinji said, "But it appears that fate had something else in mind for you. You are dying, Ayanami."

"Will it be a quick death?" asked Rei. "Or am I to lie in a bed until my body can no longer support itself? If the latter, I would prefer to be given a gun."

"I have no gun," admitted Shinji, "but if you wish a quick, painless death, I can provide."

"Do it. You are a kind man, Shinji Ikari, to offer such a thing," Rei smiled, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. "I would call you friend."

With tears on his face, and a hole in his heart, Shinji Ikari pulled his arm back, gripped a slab of concrete, and slammed it into her temple. With a sickening crunch, her skull collapsed and her body went utterly limp.

Slowly, Shinji got to his feet.

"Well, Gendo," he choked out. "It seems that you are out a pilot."