Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Rebuild of Evangelion.

(Also: This is my first fic)

NEON GENESIS

EVANGELION: SUBSTANCE

Episode 1:

"The Beast that ripped his heart out."

(The year is 2015 A.D.)

(Tokyo-3)

"Due to special emergency, all lines are currently unavailable."

The boy held the payphone close to his ear while a female robotic voice announced, once again, that the lines weren't working. He had tried to make a call for over ten minutes, hoping that was just a temporary malfunction, but eventually realized that he was just wasting time.

He gazed at the handset with an disappointed look, as if the plastic object were at fault.

"It's useless", he sighed, placing the phone back in the holder, and looking around him, trying to decide what to do, or find someone to ask for directions. He looked at the golden watch on his left wrist, checking the hours. He slid his thumb on the metal: still good as new.

The streets were completely empty. Not a soul was visible, even if there were some cars parked here and there, but beyond the presence of some birds on an electric pole, he was completely alone, and he had the feeling that something weird was going on: he had always heard that Tokyo-3 was one of the most advanced cities in Japan, maybe in the whole world, so he found it odd that there was nobody on sight. He expected packed streets, hundreds of cars on the roads, and train cars moving on the many rails he saw crossing the city. But instead, the city stood completely still.

Not that he was one to complain: he always enjoyed the silence, the peace and tranquility, being no fan of big crowds, nor being used to them. The place he lived since he was four was a relatively small town, with low population and quiet streets, even in the middle of a working day. Back there, the quietness was calming. But right now, the silence was unnerving.

He sighed again, and started to regret leaving his home. "Why did I even come?", he asked himself, without really knowing the answer.

When the letter had come, the one to open it was his guardian who, the boy remembered well, furrowed his brows upon reading the paper. "Who sent it?", he asked the man, puzzled by his expression. The man sighed and snickered, as if he considered the letter a bad joke.

"It's from your father", he answered. The boy took half a minute to process that information, and when he did, many thoughts and questions rushed through his mind: "What does he want? Does he want to...see me again? Ask me to move in with him?". While he knew that was probably not the case, he at least was curious about the possibility that his father wanted to talk to him.

The last time he saw him was three years ago. At the occasion, a visit to his mother's grave, both were silent: his father stood there like an emotionless statue, glasses covering his eyes, and every word that he directed to his son was cold and uncaring. The boy simply kept quiet and stared at the grave, not knowing what to do or what to say, incapable of trying to reach out to him. Eventually, his father was gone, and he was left alone. But now, he sent him a letter. Not a phone call, not a visit: a simple letter.

Curiosity got the better of him. "Can I read it?", he asked his guardian, with wide expectant eyes. Whatever it was, he wanted to see it now.

The man scratched the back of his neck and made a worried expression as he looked at his protégé and back at the paper. He hesitated for a few seconds, and then handed the letter, with another sigh. "Sure. It's addressed to you, anyway."

The boy, even without realizing, was excited to read it. His father sent him something. He never called, never checked, never made anything that showed the boy that his father even remembered his existence, except now. That was a first.

He got the letter, and then read it, surprisingly fast. Too fast. The paper was covered with black highlighter, and there was only one sentence he could read, at the right bottom of the paper, written in kanji.

"COME".

That was it. He turned the paper backside, expecting to see something more, but there was none. He focused on the only word that was readable, and stayed there for a couple of minutes, trying to understand.

That was it? A single word, blunt and cold.

As he should have expected from his father.

He started to get angry. All these years, and that was the only thing that his father could say to him. He had no idea of what he wanted, but the fact that his father simply ordered him to go, like he was just some tool to be discarded and picked up when needed, enraged him. He slowly crushed the paper with his hands, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, trying not to cry.

But after a few seconds, a hand took hold of his shoulders, and he turned his face to see his guardian standing beside him, a look of understanding in his eyes.

"I know how you feel, Shinji. But getting angry won't solve anything, you know it". Shinji listened to him. His uncle always had the best advice. He started to calm down and brushed the tears from his face.

"Good, breathe slow and steady. There.", his uncle and guardian said, as Shinji got back to normal. He lifted his arm from around the boy's shoulder, to give him some space to think. Then, the boy turned to face the man.

"What do I do, uncle?", he asked, with an expression of genuine doubt. He didn't want to go, that was clear, but an order from Gendo Ikari was hardly disobeyed without consequence.

The man held a thoughtful expression for a few moments, then finally gave Shinji a small smile and answered honestly:

"You have to do what you think is right, Shinji".

Shinji had pondered upon those words for some time, trying to decide if they were good advice or not. He could decide not to go and face the consequences, and he probably wouldn't have to face his father again if he just ran away. He would give up on him for good.

"'For good?' He already gave up, a long time ago", Shinji remembered himself, with a frown, and a annoying feeling on his chest.

But he had come anyway, and he didn't know the reason. Did he want praise? Did he want to try and have his father in his life once more?

Nonsense, he thought. He didn't need him. He didn't need a father figure: he already had his uncle, and it was more than enough. He didn't need to prove anything to him. But he had to be a man, and face the situation, as his uncle always advised.

Shaking these thoughts off, he sighed and held up two other objects that came with the letter: an ID card, with a red fig leaf as a symbol and the word NERV in it, which should be his father's company; and a photograph of an attractive woman, with purple hair and wearing an yellow tank top and shorts. She leaned her body, making sure he could see a bit of cleavage (there was also an arrow pointing at it, with the phrase "Check it out!", so it must have been intentional), and had an flirtatious expression, blinking one eye. There was even lipstick on the photo, where she apparently had kissed it.

His uncle had not seen the picture, as Shinji found it later between the papers, and he had quickly slid it into his pocket.

Not that he was going to, well, do something with it: he was not the kind of person to simply use the image of an woman he didn't even knew for that kind of stuff. He wasn't a pervert.

But truth be told, she was really attractive, so he decided to keep it. And aside from being the woman who sent him lewd pictures, she was also going to retrieve him when he got to the city, so he might as well return it to her. Except the problem lied there: he had been waiting her for more than half an hour, and no sign of any car.

He was ready to walk away, to at least get to some shade or anything to protect himself from the heat, when suddenly he heard the sounds of a flock of birds taking off, which startled him a bit. But when he turned to look, something else catch his attention.

In the middle of the street, a couple of hundred meters away from him, standed a girl, all alone. He caught a glimpse of blue from her clothes and hair, but when Shinji blinked, the girl disappeared.

"Huh", he thought, raising an eyebrow. "Must've been my imagination". He returned to his task of getting out of the heat. But before he could move, he felt a strong wind blowing him, and a loud sound from some distance, like an explosion. He put his arms in front of his face, trying to protect himself from something that never came, but seeing that he was safe, he turned to look to the source of the noise. When he saw it, he regretted his last thought: he wasn't safe at all.

From behind a tall hill covered with trees, he first saw many VTOL Aircrafts retreating back side, clearly keeping watch at something. That something came soon after. Shinji, at the time, could only stare in horror as he saw it: a monster, a creature, taller than a building, with a weirdly humanoid form and long arms and legs. He was black for the most part, with some white around his legs and on his shoulders. He didn't had a "head", per se, but on the top of his chest, there was a weird bird-shaped mask, with two holes for eyes. And on the center of his body, a protuberant crimson orb , like a giant tumor.

Shinji heard a hissing sound from behind him, and emediatelly ducked out of fear as he saw two air-to-air missiles dart towards the monster, who received them full blast. The explosion lifted an cloud of smoke, and from inside it, a beaming red spear pierced one of the Aircrafts, which then lost control and landed right in front of Shinji, who was now trying to get up, decided to run for his life.

The boy didn't even saw it jump, but in a few seconds, the creature was right in front of him, stepping with his gigantic foot on the crashed VTOL, causing an explosion that sent Shinji back to the ground. He hurt the palms of his hands trying to soften his fall, and he would've felt the burning pain if he didn't had an absurd amount of adrenaline running through his body.

I'm going to die, he thought desperately, paralyzed by fear and unable to get up and run. He closed his eyes and waited for his doom.

Instead, he heard a screeching sound and smelled burning tires. He opened his eyes, and saw that between him and the monster's foot stood a blue Renault Alpine, still wobbling from the sudden brake, smoke coming from the wheels.

Immediately, the driver's door opened to reveal a woman in black clothes and sunglasses looking at him with a smirk in her face.

"Get in! Sorry for taking so long!", she said hurriedly, and Shinji was pleased to comply: he jumped from his pathetic stance on the ground and threw himself inside the car, almost landing with his face on the woman's lap. He lifted himself and screamed "GO!", his mind set with the only objective of getting the hell out of there. But she was already ahead of him, changing to first gear and accelerating at full strength.

The tires lifted some smoke, but soon the car was darting in the opposite direction of the giant creature, and they almost got smashed by it's other foot, which destroyed the entire streeb behind them.

Shinji tried to hold himself inside the car, as the woman's driving skills seemed a little too orthodox for his taste. She apparently didn't care if they crashed in a lamp post or broke their necks turning a curve, as she drove madly throughout the streets, without slowing down.

"Well, beats being crushed by a giant foot", he tried to convince himself, as he feared for his life once more.

(NERV Central Dogma)

Gendo Ikari watched the attack through a big screen located on the opposite side from his commanding post. The screen was big enough for everyone on the room to watch, and served the purpose of giving a overview of the battle. His chair was located a little further from the balcony, where the highest ranking generals of Japan sat and overseed the combat operation.

The Commander of NERV usually would found this insulting: the purpose of his organization was to deal with this exact situation, and now he was left on the side because they thought they were better prepared and equipped to handle the situation, despising Gendo and NERV and labeling them "a waste of money and taxes on toys".

Gendo, of course, didn't found this insulting. To be insulted was a waste of time, and would in no way further his objectives. The only virtue he had to held right now was patience, as he watched for the strike operation to fail completely. The UN and Japan had no weapons that could even scratch the creature, a secret that he held to himself. No need for the military or whoever ordered the attack to know this kind of information, as he had them right where he wanted.

So he kept to himself, and waited.

"It's been fifteen years." Kozo Fuyutsuki commented in a monotone tone, standing on his right side, as the Sub-Commander would usually be found.

"Yes", Gendo replied, with equal indifference. "It's an angel".

As they talked, the Angel moved to the the center of one of the many tactical cameras that sprawled through the city, still destroying the aircrafts and missiles thrown at him with ease, as if they were mere flies.

"Dammit, it's no use!", General Yamamoto growled, slamming his fist on the table and making a mess out of the ashtray which lied there.

"Artillery and guided missiles have no effect", General Konoe sighed, with his arms crossed and a frown, "We'll never defeat it with the firepower we have".

The existence of the A.T. Field, something which no conventional weapon could trespass, was no secret to the Commander. But once again, he kept quiet.

A phone call, an I.D. sliding and a quick conversation among the generals informed Gendo that they had decided to hold back the aerial attack, and use their last resource: an N² mine. The explosive was almost as powerful as an nuclear bomb, without the radiation and complication that splitting the atom ensued.

Commander Ikari, unbeknownst to everyone else, smirked behind his gloved hands. Everything was going according to the plan.

Away from the city, inside her car parked on a cliff, Misato Katsuragi watched the battle unfold, while Shinji tried to look past her to see what was going on: at least thirty VTOLs swarmed the air above the Angel, in attack formation. She knew it was useless, and the military was only wasting money and lives. What good was NERV, if they couldn't even do their jobs?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the whole fleet of aircrafts suddenly retreated, leaving the beast all by itself in the middle of the city. Misato frowned, as she didn't understood what was happening.

"Are they giving up on the attack? Did they authorize NERV to deploy EVA? But how…"

Soon, her eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen.

"GET DOWN!"

She threw herself over the boy, who squealed at the sudden move. How manly, Misato thought sarcastically, as she braced herself for what was coming.

A blinding flash of light engulfed everything, making Shinji gasp before closing his eyes, not understanding what was happening. But soon a shockwave and a loud blast made the car go upside down, and keep rolling at the cliff they were at.

They both kept bumping on the sides of the car, and when the car stopped spinning, the woman kept holding Shinji with all her strength against her chest to protect him. When the boy found his bearings, he noticed the awkward position, causing his face to quickly flush.

Fortunately, the woman was too distracted to notice the teenage boy internally screaming on her bosom, and released her hold on him, trying to get out of the car, which Shinji now noticed was upside down. "Damn, that hurts", she whispered to herself as she exited the vehicle and helped the boy do the same, before looking around her.

The car ended up outside the road, and she could see the mushroom cloud on the distance, looming over them like a storm, result of the most powerful weapon on the military's arsenal. She hoped it would stop the Angel, preferably killing it. But she would worry about it later.

Turning to the boy, Misato gave him a good look, analysing the skinny boy, dressed on a white shirt and black trousers held by a buckle.

On his left wrist, a golden watch, and a expensive one, at that. She whistled mentally.

He had short brown hair and dark blue eyes, and even though his face was covered in dirt, he was kind of cute, and held a determined expression as he dusted off his clothing, breathing heavily. He must be popular with the girls, she thought.

Shinji was trying to enwrap the situation, which moved from giant monsters to nuclear explosions. "What the hell is happening here?", he asked himself, before raising his eyes to see his savior looking at him, head to toe. For a second he forgot she was there, and for another second blushed as he remembered his face pressed against her chest.

He recognized her, now that he had time to think: she was the woman who sent him that lightly explicit photograph which was now on his pocket, and the one who was supposed to pick him up. He stuttered at the realization, as meeting her in person was slightly better than seeing her on a picture. He quickly recomposed, cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes.

"T-thank you for saving me!", he said with genuine gratitude and a quick bow. He was terrified of the whole situation, but she came on the last second to save his neck. Ok, he thought, she is a bit reckless, or even crazy, but she was brave too. Shinji didn't know if he would had the courage to drive through the middle of a battle to rescue someone, but was glad she had.

The woman was looking at him, but didn't seemed to pay attention to his words, but after a few seconds she blinked, noticing the boy thanking her. She held her hand up.

"Ah, don't worry. I had to pick you up, and I did, didn't I?", she said, with a small laugh. Then she extended her hand, and gave him a disarming smile. "Misato Katsuragi, nice to meet you, Shinji-kun".

Shinji gave a nervous smile at this, but shook her hand firmly. "Nice to meet you too, Katsuragi-san".

"Oh, please, just call me Misato", she answered. People addressing her with honorifics made her feel old, and she wasn't even thirty yet, even though it was getting close, a feeling she shuddered at.

"Ok...Misato", he said, still smiling. Misato was satisfied: he stopped stuttering, and looked more relaxed. "Are you hurt or anything?", she asked.

Shinji waved his hands dismissively, not wanting to worry her.

"Don't worry, I was just a little bit dizzy from the crash, but I'm ok."

At that, Misato gave him a warm look, before turning to more pressing matters.

"Well, looks like we'll need to turn the car over. Can you give me a little help?"

Miles from there, at the epicenter of the explosion, a colossus rose again. The Angel standed up again, still recovering from the massive blast which hit him directly. It wasn't enough to destroy him, but was enough to stop him for a few hours, while he regenerated. His facial plate was damaged, so he started to generate a new one, while his lungs sucked the air heavily. He would delay his advance towards the depths of NERV until fully recovered, meanwhile unleashing his wrath on the remaining artillery around, which kept shooting at him, like a bunch of insects stinging their prey, without any result.

The military at the command center was in panic, as their most powerful and efficient weapon had failed completely.

"W-we...have nothing else on our arsenal. He's too strong!", cried General Konoe.

The Angel looked straight to the camera on the helicopter, before a flash of light appeared and disappeared on a blink. The camera immediately stopped working, the words "Malfunction" all over the screen.

"Interesting. His regenerative abilities are impressive, and he seems to be capable of evolving his cognition", Fuyutsuki mused, a hand on his chin.

"It is an highly evolved autonomous weapon. Seems our expectations were correct", Gendo Ikari concluded. Everything was following the path, even the Angel and it's appearance and power. The Dead Sea Scrolls didn't lie, after all.

Sachiel, the angel of water. True to his name, he had come from the seas, and stalked the flooded areas of the city until rising to dry land and destroying everything in its path. He was merely a test, according to the Old Men, as were all other Angels they expected to appear. Their end goal, while still a bit far, was closer than ever. They had to start somewhere.

So when the three generals who were still on the command bridge called upon him, with troubled looks on their eyes, Gendo obeyed.

"Gendo Ikari, from this point onward, the command of this operation will be entrusted to you.", Yamamoto said, with discomfort and a frown. He didn't enjoy having to do this. "We admit that our weapons have no effect on the target. Are you sure you have the means to defeat the creature?", he asked.

"Of course. That is why NERV was created", Ikari responded.

The general squinted his eyes, and gazed at the tall brown haired man's glasses, trying to detect some hint of hesitation. He found none.

"Very well", he completed, pressing a button on the command panel, which made his seat, and his peer's, to sunk into the ground like an elevator, disappearing from the command center.

Kozo Fuyutuski watched the military aircrafts retreating on the holographic map, like scared flies, and then turned to Ikari.

"What are we going to do?", he asked, calm.

"We'll activate Unit-01, of course."

The Sub-commander's eyes widened. This was unexpected.

"But we have no pilot", he said, frowning. What was Ikari's plan?

Gendo turned to him, adjusting his glasses, and smirked.

"We do, Professor. A spare is coming."

Shinji, while not exactly comfortable with Misato's speed and driving skills, understood that she was in a hurry. There was a monster attacking the city, after all. He also kind of understood when she took...no, stole, some car batteries on a nearby gas station.

Instead, he was watching the place where the explosion took place, and he could see the top of the giant creature's head, just standing there. Impressive enough, it wasn't dead, or even hurt, by the looks of it. Maybe it was invincible.

Shinji shivered at the thought.

Misato kept muttering something about "loan payments", "car repairs" and "her best dress ruined", her face increasingly worried. The car was a wrecked mess, but it still worked, so he just left her alone.

He looked ahead and saw a tunnel approaching. When they entered it, Misato pulled the car into some kind of elevator, which transported the car down sideways. After a few minutes, the woman broke the silence.

"So, Shinji-kun, do you know what your father does here?", she asked in a "trying to make conversation" tone.

Shinji looked at her, and scratched his head. His uncle didn't like to talk about his father's work too much, always changing the subject, usually something less "Gendo-oriented". It became evident that Gendo was a touchy subject for him too, so both had agreed not to talk about it too much. That thought reminded Shinji how much he missed his uncle.

But he had told Shinji what his father's job was, once. So he pulled that from the back of his memory.

"My uncle said that it was, um... important work for the protection of humanity", the boy answered, with his hand on his chin. He then looked around him, and saw the same red symbol that was on his I.D. Card painted on a wall, reading "NERV". "So this is my father's agency?", he asked Misato.

"Yes, he is the Commander of NERV, a very important position. Meaning: he pays my salary", she grinned at him, but stopped when she saw his thoughtful expression. The boy seemed to be shy at one moment, and then turn completely serious all of the sudden. Misato felt that this was wrong: a child should be laughing and making jokes, and not being moody and introspective.

Shinji turned to her. "Are you taking me to my father?", he asked, frowning as he made the question. The woman took this as a sign that the boy didn't exactly saw his father eye-to-eye. She smiled anyway, leaving her worries beside.

"Yes, apparently you will be needed", she tried to not sound like he was some kind of tool to be used. "Everything NERV does is very important work, we help humanity as whole, you know? I'm sure whatever they need you for, you will do a fantastic job". Now she tried to be cheerful, but apparently, touching on the subject of his father was not a good way to lift his spirits, as the boy sighed and responded with a weak "Sure".

She decided to change the subject.

"Did you received you NERV I.D. Card?", she asked.

The boy searched his bag, and then found the paper and the dark piece of plastic with his picture in it, which he handed to her. The letter was crumpled and torn apart on the edges, and Misato frowned, looking at the boy, who just shrugged. Then, she took a good look at his I.D., where a picture of a bored Shinji Ikari was printed.

"Well, to your credit, you do look better in person", she said with a chuckle. The boy managed to smile shyly. "Thanks", he responded.

Shinji, while not used to many compliments (except from his uncle, who used to say good things about his cooking and skill with the cello, among other cheerful comments he generally said towards the boy), knew that the woman meant it. She didn't look like the kind of person to lie about stuff like this. Evading the praise would generally just annoy the person, so he usually just said thanks. And, besides, he liked it.

"Uh, Shinji-kun?", Misato asked softly, with a small smile on her lips. "What about that picture I sent you?"

The boy froze for a second, looking at her with wide eyes. He had forgotten about that.

"Hmm, s-sorry Misato-san. Here it is", he said, as he pulled the picture quickly from his pocket, handing it to her.

Misato, on her side, had to suppress a laughter. So he IS a normal teenage boy after all, she thought. Grabbing the picture from his hand, she couldn't help but to feel good about it: not only her amazing body and dashing looks were still at hundred percent, but the mere act of Shinji hiding the picture told her that the boy had more on him that the eyes could meet, and wasn't that much of a doormat as he looked. It was normal for a boy his age, she wouldn't judge him as a pervert.

Hell, she thought, maybe I am the pervert here.

She then shot a grin at Shinji, who began to stutter "Sorrysorrysorry, it fell from my pocket and I picked up and didn't put back on the ba…"

His mumbling was interrupted when a strong light engulfed the car, making Shinji look for it's source. When he found, he hanged his jaw, stunned by the vision.

"It's...a real Geo-Front!", he declared, with a wide smile on his face as he watched the huge concave cavern which housed NERV. He was in awe, as he never had seen such a thing before, only heard from it. He could see train lines crossing the place, hanged on either sides of the cave, and a big pyramid-like building on the middle of a green field, littered with trees.

Misato explained that the building was NERV's command center, his father workplace, where he would meet Shinji. The boy didn't even flinched at his father's mention: he was too enthralled by the view.

"Oh, right! I forgot", Misato hit her own forehead. She pulled a small book from the backseat and handed it to Shinji. It read "NERV - For your eyes only". Top secret stuff, apparently.

"It's the manual. You will find everything you need to know in it!", she added with a smile.

Not everything, of course. There were many thing hidden on the depths of the Geo-front which she had no information at all, and Misato was used to bugger her friend Ritsuko about supposed secret NERV stuff. Only as a joke, sure, but she was starting to think that the doctor's secrets must've been very good ones, for her to not tell her absolutely anything.

Maybe these "secrets" were not that interesting, she sighed.

"Misato, are you sure this is the right way?", Shinji asked, after long twenty minutes of walking around. He had the manual in front of his face, apparently reading the map, se he might've been right. But Misato wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Sure, Shinji, I know this place like the palm of my hand!", she lied blatantly. The boy just look at her with an unsure expression, but kept going anyway. No need to antagonize her.

Meanwhile, Misato tried to figure where the hell where they. "Maybe I should've turned left on the last door, or maybe go straight ahead?", she muttered to herself, not wanting to be heard by Shinji.

"Dr. Ritsuko, Dr. Ritsuko, please contact Captain Misato Katsuragi of Operations, Division 1, immediately".

"I can't believe it", Dr. Akagi groaned, as she left the pool of LCL on a diving suit. "She's lost again".

Shinji stood in the elevator, reading the NERV guide intently, trying to find something interesting, or, at least, something that could tell him what NERV actually did. Meanwhile, Misato stared at the doors, with the intent of rushing out of it as soon as it opened, to try and find her way as quickly as possible.

When she hear a 'ding', she prepared herself to rush in, but the vision of a faux blonde woman dressed in a lab coat made her stop and fear for her life.

"Ritsuko! I was looking for you!", she said, trying and failing to fix the situation. The doctor just frowned and stepped inside the elevator.

"Captain, what are you doing?", she asked, calmly, staring at Misato with eyes that could melt walls. "We're short on manpower right now, so we can't waste time like this".

Misato just put her hand in front of her face and gave her an apologetic "Sorry!". Ritsuko sighed deeply, then turned her attention to the boy in the corner, who had lifted his head to see who had entered the elevator. When he saw the doctor, he lowered the guide, and payed attention.

"So, you are him?", she asked, with an raised eyebrow. He didn't look like much, just a skinny little boy, although she could see the resemblance with his father, like the brown hair and his jawline, which even though wasn't a grown man's, reminded her of the Commander's. She shuddered at the thought.

"Yep! Here he is: the Third Child, according to the Marduk Institute", Misato said, giving him an approving look. She already liked the kid.

"I see. Nice to meet you", Ritsuko said, nodding her head to the boy.

Shinji, instead, bowed with a meek smile on his mouth. "Pleased to meet you too. I'm Shinji Ikari", he presented himself.

Ritsuko couldn't help but smile. Even though the reports said that he was a shy and introvert, the boy was apparently very polite, and didn't even broke eye contact with her, which was a sign of inadequacy.

"I know your name, Shinji, don't worry. I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head scientist of NERV", she said, shaking hands with the boy. A firm grip. "As you may deduce, I work with your father", she added.

Ritsuko would lie if she said she wasn't interested in seeing the boy's first meeting with his father in years, so she payed attention to the kid's reaction to the mention of the Commander. His smile faltered a bit, but besides that, he kept his composure. Maybe the kid wasn't that weak willed that the mere mention of Gendo would make him go depressed. Or maybe he was used to it.

"Y-yes, I thought so", he simply said.

Eventually (and with Dr. Akagi's help) they found their way and boarded another lift.

Both women started to talked about something that the boy didn't understand, so he choose to ignore it.

"It seems pretty serious, huh?", Misato asked upon hearing the alarms on the base. "How is Unit-01?"

"Unit-01 is still frozen, and it's using B-Type equipment. It's chance of activation is 0,000001%", Ritsuko answered, unfazed by the low number.

Misato whistled. "That's pretty low".

"Don't be insulting. It's not a zero". Ritsuko retorted.

The lift they took passed along a huge aquarium like structure, and Shinji stared at the glass, seeing something inside it.

He squinted his eyes, trying to make its shape. It looked like something big, but he couldn't tell what.

It looked like...tentacles? No, maybe...fingers? A hand?

His vision of the aquarium got blocked by a steel plate, and he saw that the ride was over.

He was now in a dark room, his only source of light was the elevator's, which soon closed, leaving him in complete blackness.

"What the...what happened?", Shinji asked aloud, hoping that his two companions would hear him, but before they could answer, the lights came on. Shinji closed his eyes at the bright sudden light, and when he opened again, he saw a monster.

Jumping back at the vision, the boy gasped as he saw a giant head made of steel, painted purple, with a single horn and white eyes, which stared at him, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Is this...is this a robot? But how...", he as stupefied at the sight, and after a few seconds tried to search about this...thing on the manual. Dr. Akagi stopped him short.

"You won't find anything in there", she said, and Shinji looked at her with an puzzled look, waiting for her to continue.

"This is mankind's ultimate multipurpose weapon", she explained, looking over at the giant head. Shinji followed her gaze. "The synthetic human, Evangelion Unit-01", she finished.

The boy kept staring, with his mouth open. This...this was crazy. He had saw that huge monster destroying the city, which he barely escaped from. Now, in front of him, another monstrosity lied, staring at him, with empty eyes. The thing had green details here and there, and the head looked something like a japanese feudal helmet, it's mouth grinning at him, like the thing was laughing at the boy.

What the hell was his father work?, he asked himself. Could it be...that they are trying to fight the monster he saw outside?

"It's been a while", a voice said from the speakers. A voice familiar to Shinji, and at the same time, not familiar at all. He suddenly felt something stir up in his stomach, and his chest started to feel heated. He was angry.

"Father?", he lifted his head, to see a figure standing up on a command platform, behind a glass window. When he saw him, some of that rage was gone. Now that he was on his presence, he didn't knew how to act. He couldn't just jump at him and scream, could he?

No, of course not, don't be stupid.

He could see the man looking down on him, his eyes behind the glasses, like a wall, hiding his true face, whatever it was. Shinji suddenly felt very small, and he could barely look at his father in the eye. But he kept the eye contact. Even angry, confused and without knowing what to do, Shinji still wanted to know what his father planned.

Seeing the child like this made Gendo smirk.

He had hoped that Akira had grown the boy into someone who could stand up for himself, and obey orders when commanded. The first part was half-true, and the latter would still be seen. Maybe the boy wasn't such a coward: he could see the rage behind his eyes. If he could, he would strangle Gendo right there, he thought. They were justified, maybe, but there was no time to play this childish game.

If he didn't pilot, he was useless to Gendo. Fortunately, he had a few ways to convince him.

"We are moving out", the commander announced. Misato's eyes widened.

"What? But...Unit-00 still in cryo-stasis!", she desperately told the commander. Seeing no reaction, she realized what he was planning. She glared at the EVA standing beside her. "Are you planning to use Unit-01? But Rei is still hurt!".

"It has to be done. As for the pilot, one has just been delivered", Ritsuko responded, a serious look on her face. Misato knew that look. The doctor would not change her mind.

"You have got to be kidding", Misato said in disbelief. She looked at Shinji, and saw the boy looking wide eyed to the EVA, his mouth agape.

"Shinji Ikari", RItsuko called his attention. Shinji turned to look at her, clearly not understanding the situation completely. "You will pilot it".

The boy was taken aback by the doctor's words. How in the world would he do that? It's madness! Was that why his father called him? To make him enter this giant robot and get himself killed?

"B-but, I don't even…"

Misato cut him by yelling at Ritsuko.

"Even Rei took months to synchronize with her EVA!", she tried to convince her friend that this was a bad idea. She couldn't just let them shove that young boy inside a deadly machine without any training.

"He is only expected to sit on it, nothing more", the doctor was getting impatient. "We need any combat Unit available in this moment of crisis. You know how important it is that the angels are defeated, Captain. You more than anyone else."

Misato didn't respond to that. Ritsuko's words cut deep. She was right, her deepest desire, her reason for working at NERV, the thing she most wanted, was to destroy every angel out there, the creatures that destroyed everything she had. She wanted...revenge. Was it even revenge? Where once there was rage, now there was only a hollow feeling. She sighed.

"I...see", Misato answered, defeated.

Shinji kept looking at the EVA, not believing that was happening. This was suicide.

"Father...is this why you called me?", Shinji asked, with his head low, but looking at his father intently.

"Correct. You will pilot it", he responded, his voice commanding and monotonous at the same time.

Shinji suppressed his anger, but not entirely. He wouldn't been able to.

"T-this is absurd!, he yelled. "You expect me to enter this thing and fight that monster?!"

Shinji now looked directly at his father, his indignation evident.

"That is right. It's the reason you are here", that was his only answer.

"I can't! I don't know how!", Shinji yelled once again. So his father only called him when he needed cannon bushing? Why was it that only him could pilot? "Why...why me?", he asked.

"No one else can", his father responded.

Bullshit, Shinji thought angrily. They were just talking about another pilot. He or she could do it, with training! Why did they had to drag him there?

"Decide at once! If you will pilot, then so be it. If you don't, then leave!", the Commander said in a harsh tone.

Unbeknownst to them, the technicians that worked on the EVA all had their attention at the discussion. They knew the commander was a harsh man, but to make a fourteen year old boy pilot a war machine? That was beyond their imagination.

Shinji just kept quiet, and didn't answer. How could his father expect such a thing from him?

Just a wave of his hand and Shinji would behave like a puppy, and obey his orders. He wasn't his puppet! He hated his father! He wouldn't pilot just to spite him!

He can go to hell, he thought, angrily. There was a tremor. Probably the angel attack.

Misato looked at the boy, worriedly. "Shinji, you must do it. Please." The boy ignored her.

"Why did you come here, Shinji? Please!". The boy couldn't keep from hearing her, and it got to him. Am I a coward?, he asked himself.

The Commander looked at him with a scowl. The boy didn't had to answer his demand for him to know he hadn't the intention of piloting.

But there was another way.

He opened a video feed to his Sub-commander.

"Fuyutsuki, bring out Rei", he coldly ordered the older man.

"Can we use her?", he asked.

"She isn't dead", Gendo replied. The feed closed.

He opened another.

"Rei".

"Yes", a feminine soft voice answered.

"The spare is useless. You will pilot Unit-01", he declared.

"Yes", the voice repeated.

Misato and Dr. Akagi both left his side, while the comms announced the reconfiguration of Unit-01.

"I knew it", Shinji thought. "That is all they saw on me. Just a puppet".

He heart a ruffling metallic sound, and looked to his right. Coming from the door, came a team of medical staff, all dragging a stretcher. Was this the pilot?

When they got close, and Shinji could look at the patient, his eyes widened and he frowned, a gasping leaving his mouth.

The girl had a slim body, covered in some kind of white suit, which delineated the curves on her body. Her hair was of a soft blue, and her eyes, when she looked at Shinji, were crimson.

He had seen her before, but where?

No, it was impossible. He never visited Tokyo-3, and his memory wasn't that good. He was mistaken.

The fact was that the girl was hurt. Badly. She wimpered and moaned in pain as she tried to rise from the stretcher. It seemed like every inch of her hurt. Shinji looked at her, feeling a pang of guilt. She was the pilot?! They were going to send her to be killed?

Suddenly, he heard a blasting sound, and everything started to shake, like an earthquake. Shinji fell into the ground and tried to hold the edge of the walkway, to avoid falling into the pool where they kept the EVA. He saw the blue-haired girl fall from the stretcher, screaming in pain. Shinji gasped, and tried to run for her, to help her get up, but another tremor sent him down again. Then he looked up and saw it.

The pipes and beams above him started to break and fall, coming right at him. Shinji screamed, and held up his arms, in a useless attempt of protecting himself. He would die.

But it didn't came. Instead, he hear the sound of something moving through water and the metal beams hitting something also metallic. He opened his to see the EVA's hand protecting him from the falling debris. "How did it…?", Shinji asked, perplexed.

"This is impossible! It doesn't even have an entry plug! It couldn't have moved on his own!", Dr. Akaki yelled, not believing what she saw.

Misato was also perplexed, and looked at the boy who was below the EVA's hand. How did it happen? "Could it be protecting...him?", she asked herself.

Shinji didn't waste time: he ran straight to the hurt girl, who was lying on the floor. He took her upper body and lifted, trying to help her to lift, but she was too hurt. Just her face showed that she wouldn't take it. While he tried to help her, he felt his right hand grow warm. He brought it up so he could see it.

It was covered in blood. He felt the girl shuddering below him, and Shinji hated that. She was almost dying, and they would make her pilot it? It wasn't fair! She could die easier than him, even with her training! The boy took deep breaths, and, from the back of his mind, a memory stirred.

"I-I can't do it, uncle!", a younger Shinji cried. "I hate them! I hate everyone!".

The man now had a problem: his nephew had refused to return to school. The reason was pretty obvious: Shinji wasn't used to crowds. The school that he had been frequenting was relatively bigger than his older one, and the boy got scared.

He was young boy, barely seven years old, and it was an understandable fear. But the boy had to study. He had no future if he didn't.

Akira wasn't the better example of the world when it came to advices. He committed mistakes in the past, but managed to live a life past them, mostly. He had run away from situations before, so he knew how the boy felt. And he also knew how it would be for him if he kept doing it.

"Shinji, come here.", the boy sniffed, and slowly approach.

"Why are you scared?", he asked tenderly.

The boy looked at the ground, with a look that seemed more angry than sad.

"I'm not scared!", he replied.

"I see. Then why don't you want to go back?"

Shinji took his time. He fiddled with his fingers, and eventually, with great strength, talked.

"They all go home with...their mothers", he said, depressed.

The man understood. He understood what Shinji was feeling, as he knew of his mother's death, and because he had lost his own. The boy had lost her when he needed the most, so it obviously had a great impact on him. He sighed.

"Shinji, you know your mother can't take you home anymore", at that, the boy lowered his head even more. "But", he continued, "she will always be with you, kid. Even if you don't have memories of her, or even photographs, you still know that she loved you. And that is what it matters", he completed, patting the boy's head.

He still sniffed. "I-I know. But...it feels lonely. Like I can't talk to anyone there. I know they will mock me, call me names! In the end, they just hurt me!", he half yelled.

"You don't know for sure, Shinji. You have to try it first.", the man replied, before assuming a pensive expression.

He then took his golden watch from his wrist. Shinji had always had a fascination for the object, being golden and apparently indestructible: Shinji saw pictures from years back in which his uncle was wearing the same watch.

He then handed the object to the crying Shinji.

"W-wha…?", he asked between his childish sobs.

"Take it, kid. Keep it in your bag. Maybe wear it when you are older. Just don't lose it", he said, grinning. "When you are feeling lonely, just take a look at the watch. You will know that I'm out there, proud of you."

Shinji slowly took the object, not believing it. He would've tried to refuse it, but even a seven year old could understand the value of that gift.

"Shinji", his uncle continued, "I ran away when I was younger. I ran away from so many things, and there is not a day I don't regret those things.", he said, with a sad smile. The boy listened intently, his tears already cleaned.

"If you don't act, you will never know what could've happened. It's always worth it. That is why", he paused, sighing, before looking at Shinji and saying slowly and clearly: "You must not run away".

Shinji looked at the watch on his wrist. The golden color was still shining, even if it had a scratch here and there. It was his most precious object, besides his SDAT. But the music player was different. It had a more distant value, something Shinji couldn't even grasp. The watch was different: he remembered the moment he received it. And he never let go of it.

He read the inscription that was written on the buckle of the object. It was the name of the former owner, his uncle, the man who took him and cared for him when no one else would.

It read "Akira Rokubungi".

Shinji never understood how a man so kind could be brother to a man so cold and uncaring like his father.

But right now, it didn't mattered. He shouldn't run away. He would never ran away. It didn't mattered if he would do it to protect a girl he barely knew, he still had to to it.

He gave the girl a last look, before assuming an determined expression. He gazed at Dr. Akaki and Misato, who were watching him.

"I'll pilot it.", he said.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Notes: Well, as I said before, this is my first EVA fic. It started with this idea of another person molding Shinji's character as he grew up. Since we barely see or hear anything about his sensei who raised him (badly), I tought: "Well, that's a good place for a change".

Also, be advised that this FIC will contain stuff from the original show AND stuff from the new theatrical movies. I may prefer the show, but the Rebuilds had interesting stuff which weren't that well explored.

I will update this at regular intervals, when I find the time. I already have a good idea for the ending and the stuff that happens in the middle, so, we'll see.