Evangelion AF

by ZeroAcception

Asuka and Mana have arrived in Russia, where Shinji was last known to be. There, they are shocked to be joined with another pilot and Eva, the two had never heard of. And Toji learns the truth about his Eva, and the fate of his mother.

4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Eva. Never have and never will. Most of the characters don't belong to me either. I might make one or two up, maybe even more, but you guys out there know who belongs to who. So, on with the story.

Enjoy.

Chapter04

The first thing Toji realised was the hospital ceiling. It was beginning to feel way to familiar for him now. He sat up slowly, stopping just as pain registered in his left arm and leg. He paniced, fearing that he had once again lost his limbs. He looked to see his arm was there, but was completely covered in bandages. His leg was the same. He blinked, remembering the Angel had tried to infect him and Unit-03 saved him...but what happened after that? He blinked as he found himself lost and unable to remember what had happened. So lost, that he never noticed the girl sitting to his right. He blinked again when he heard the girl give a soft cough to get his attention. To his surprise it was Rei who was sitting next to his bed. He blinked once more (okay, the blinking stops here. Sorry) a few times before he believed it was really her sitting there. "Ayanami? What are you doing here?"

Rei sat perfectly still, her hands resting in his lap as she stared at the Fourth Child. "Dr. Akagi requested that I keep watch over you till you recovered from the surgery."

"Surgery?"

Rei nodded her head. "Correct. The Angel's infection had to be removed from your artificial arm and leg before the contamination became worse." She blinked. "The surgery was a success, aside from the scaring left over from the contamination. The rest of your body came out unharmed."

Toji lifted his arm, ignoring the small amount of pain that was registered. "I'm alive though. How is that possible? It was right in my face when it attacked."

Rei sat quietly watching Toji try and remember the events that took place. But she herself knew all too well what happened within the confines of the entry plug...

OOO

Rei was calm and collected as she watched the black Eva take a dive, its entry-plug soaring through the air and slowly descend to the ground below. She had long since felt Bardiel's pressance rise from within the confines of the plug. She could feel something within herself as she pondered on what actions would be taken to defeat the angel. With Pilot Suzahara inside, he would most likely be infected by the time any actions were made to rescue him. There was a chance however, if his will was strong enough, perhaps he could hold off the Angel's assult. Asuka could not hold her own against the Fifteenth due to her mental instability, but Suzahara was stronger in many ways then he let others know about. But he would not last long, even with his own strength. Rei's thoughts drifted to Shinji, and how he would feel on the situation. "He would act," she said to herself.

Knowing Shinji would be highly upset if something were to happen to Suzahara, Rei closed her eyes and concentraited on her AT-Field. Using the part of her angel side that allowed her to connect with all humans, she stretched her mind out to the plug, hoping to make contact with Suzahara to at least aid him in his struggle, but she was surprised to find that there was another pressance besides the pilot and the Angel. But alas, that pressance too was not strong enough, even with the aid of Suzahara. As she contimplated on another move, she felt something. It was far away and very faint, but it was there. Rei's eyes snapped open as she realised who and what it was. "Shinji." She clossed her eyes again, harder this time. She felt her connection to Suzahara shattered by the Angel, but quickly began stretching her field as far and wide as she could. The strain was too much, her body collapsing to the floor but she held on. Her mind crossed the ocean waters, the grass lands and forest of the mainland, and eventually crossing the mountains and valleys till the image of Unit-01 was seen climbing a hill. As her mind drew in closer, Unit-01 snapped around and Rei could see Shinji looking directly into her eyes...

OOO

"Rei?" Toji asked. The girl had all of a sudden zoned out and looked lost in deep thought. "Hey, Ayanami?" The girl blinked once before turning her gaze down to Toji. "You okay? You look tired."

Rei nodded her head. "I am. I will leave to inform Dr. Akagi that you have awaken."

Toji watched the blue haired enigma stand and walk towards the door. "Rei!" The girl paused, looking back at the pilot. "Th-thanks. It means a lot that you stuck around. You're a good friend." He watched her nod and turn to the door, missing the small blush. He watched her leave, the door closing slowly behind her. Toji fell back on the bed, staring out the window to his left. The scenary outside was nice, showing no signs of his botched testing and struggle with the Angel within. "Must be on another part of the Geofront." He listened to the silence of the room, aside from the steady beeping from the machines around him. He continued to stare out the window, listening to his soft breathing. His eye began to twitch. He looked around the room finding nothing to keep himself entertained with. He growled. "God I'm going to be so bored here!"

OOO

Ritsuko walked lightly down the corridor, stopping at the only cell that had a guard. He nodded when she presented her ID and stepped aside, telling her she had ten minutes. The door opened and she entered, looking back as the door closed behind her. She looked into the dark room, taking in the shape of her friend sitting on the single cot that was against the wall. The Major looked into the eyes of the doctor, neither saying a word. Ritsuko was the first to look away as she approached, taking a seat next to her friend. Again, silence.

After what might have been two minutes, Misato was the first to speak. "How's Toji?"

Ritsuko nodded her head. "He's fine. Resting as we speak. Rei is keeping watch over him till he wakes up."

"Is Toji..."

"No. He's healthy, though his artificial arm and leg are scared and deformed due to the surgery. It seems his natrual body had built some sort of immunity to the first Angel attack, but his prostetics had none, and took most of the infection like how Eva-00 did when the Thirteenth started to infect it." She let out a sigh. "He's just as lucky as Shinji when it comes to these things."

Misato nodded in agreement. Again, silence fell upon the two friends before Misato again broke it. "What happened, Ritsuko?"

The faux blonde looked up at the dark ceiling. "We don't know. Everything went crazy when we detected that second AT-field..."

OOO

The alarms sounded once more, the bridge bunnies scurrying to their posts to try and figure out what was going on. Maya was the first to speak up. "Ma'am! Second AT-Field detected!" All arguing parties turned to young techy who stared in horror. "It's emmiting from Unit-03!"

"Is it another Angel, or the same?" Fuyutsuki asked, moving closer to look down.

"Negative! It's the Eva's!" Misato stared at the screen, confusion running across her face. Ritsuko moved to the computer, her figners performing their dance across the keyboard to see if there was a flaw, but there was none. The AT-Field was coming from Unit-03.

"Ma'am! Another AT-Field detected!" shouted Shigeru. "But its coming from within HQ!"

Makoto sat upright in his seat, looking to the other male techy. "Another Angel!?"

"AT-Field is being directed towards the entry plug!" Maya shouted, returning to her possition as Ritsuko stepped back. "The Angel's and the unknown AT-Fields have made contact!"

"What the hell is this? Is this Third Impact..." Misato said.

"Unknown AT-Field redirecting out of the Geofront!"

"What!?"

Gendo remained calm. You couldn't say the same thing about Fuyutsuki though, who was leaning so far over he looked ready to fall down to the bunnies possition down below. Nothing was making sense. Everything they were used to or learned from the previouse battles were not helping at all. Asuka and Mana remaind outside, looking too and from the fallen Eva and the entry plug. Asuka could hear all the frantic screams and shouts between the adults but couldn't figure out what was going on. Mana was equally confused since this was her frist Angel attack, and had expected to do a little more then to just stand around in her Eva. But nothing prepared them for the new, more equally strange action that was about to follow.

"The second AT-field is gone...wait we're getting something from outside the Geofront!" Maya shouted. "Its even outside the city!"

"Great, what now!?" Makoto shouted.

"The MAGI are tracking down the source of..." Maya's face paled as she read the information that ran across her screen. "Oh God, the signal is coming from the mainland. MAGI have confirmed its an AT-Field. Field is recognised to be from Evangelion Unit-01!"

Ritsuko paled along with Fuyutsuki. Gendo remained emotionless as usual, but if you looked close, you could see his eyebrow arch slightly. Misato's knees went limp and she went down, staring at the overhead screen of the entry plug. Makoto removed himself from his station and kneeled down to Misato, trying to shake her from her daze. Asuka, who had heard them shout something about Unit-01, was asking very rudely as to what the hell was going on. Mana of course was as confused as ever. But just as everything went crazy, the alarms stopped as all AT-Fields had vanished. Everyone looked to the main screen and watched as the hatch blew off. The pilot, Toji Suzahara, was seen slowly rising from the plug with what looked to be tentacles wrapped around his body. Connected to them, hanging from his left arm, was a large, shiney red orb. All knew exactly what it was; the Angel's core.

Ritsuko could feel the tears building up in her eyes as she watched the boy scream. She couldn't hear it, but she could only imagine that scream as if she was standing right there, only a few feet away. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. And she was glad that she didn't, for if she did, she would have missed seeing Toji place both his hands on the core, seemingly trying to remove it. The boy tore free of the tentacles that had latched on to him with perhaps strength given to him by his replacement arm, cracked the core in his hand till it burst into pieces. And for a long time, Toji stood still, leaning out over the entry plug, his hand stretching out to nothing. His body then fell limp over the edge of the plug and then slammed into the ground, lying lifeless on his side...

OOO

"Shinji helped him, didn't he?" Misato asked. From the corner of her eye she watched her friend nod. "How? He's somewhere in the mainland and he somehow 'helped' Toji fight off the Angel."

"I think Rei had something to do with it," Ritsuko said.

Misato looked to Ritsuko from the corner of her eye. "Rei?"

After showing Misato the truth behind Rei and Eva, she was beginning to come out with the truth much easier then before. She gave a nod. "Yes. It was probably her AT-Field that had first attacked the Angel, but when she couldn't aid in it's defeat, she probably sought help from the one person who she knew could help; Shinji."

"But how!?" Misato snapped. "Shinjis nowhere near us! And to do something like using an AT-Field at that level..."

"My only theory is that Shinji somehow used an attack similar to the Fifteenth Angel. How, I don't know. If he was here, I'd run some tests but I can only guess. Remember what I said about his abilities with the Eva increasing because of his anger towards his father, and perhaps the rest of NERV?" Misato nodded. "Well, maybe its gotten as far as Shinji being on equal ground as say, Matoko Nagisa?"

Misato narrowed her eyes. "Are you implying that Angel had something to do with this? Even if she's dead?"

Ritsuko paused. "Maybe..."

"Times up," the guard said. The cell door opened up, the soldier aiming his gun inside. "Time to leave, doctor."

Ritsuko nodded and stood up, turning from her friend. "I'm going to check on Toji. I'll send him your reguards."

"Ritsuko," Misato called. The blonde stopped and looked back. "Don't let anyone get near him. Many may see him as a threat now because of the attack. The commanders might even do something."

Ritsuko nodded and left Misato to sit alone in her cell. As she left the cell, she stopped when she took notice of the First Child standing down the hall. She blinked just before a frown appeared on her face. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she marched down the hall only to stop in front of the young girl. "I thought I tolled you to stay with Toji," she said.

"Pilot Suzahara is awake, Dr. Akagi," she said in her usual tone.

"That's beside the point. I placed Toji under your watch so nothing would happen to him." She sighed and marched pass the young angel. "God I only hope nothing has happened to him." She bit her lip, thinking on some other things that could be happening within NERV, mostly involving the Commander. The commitee wouldn't like the idea that the boy had come so close to being contaminated by an Angel that should already be dead. Perhaps they would take steps to insure he wasn't a threat to the scenario, or the Commander might have something else in mind. She hadn't seen Gendo since the Angel alart and was curious as to what he was doing. She looked back to Rei. "Return to Toji and make sure no one gives him anything unless I had authorized it, understood. That means the Commander as well." Rei stood silent as her mind considered the idea of defying the Commander, but gave a nod and walked away. Ritsuko took out her cellphone and dialed Maya's number. "Maya, its Ritsuko. Listen, is Unit-03 cleaned and repaired?" she paused to listen. "Good. Have Unit-03 moved over to the weapons development cages." Pause. "Yes, I know that's where we don't usually station the Eva's, but its important. I have a bad feeling something is going to happen soon and we need to be prepared, and that means having Toji and Unit-03 ready." A small smile began to spread across her face. "Yes, you're correct. So get a good team together to re-fit the F-Type equipment for Unit-03."

OOO

Elsewhere, high in the sky, Asuka sat in the transport carrier staring out over the ocean waters far below. She breathed heavily through her nose as her mind drifted on the events that had taken place. The Angel attacking was a surprise to everyone, but seeing Toji climbing and and crush the core in his bare hands was more surprising. They wouldn't answer any of her questions when it came to the discussion of Unit-01. Instead, they strapped Unit-02 to the carrier and just kicked her off, saying that finding said unit was more important now since they had gathered enough information to pin-point where exactly it was located. Stupid, asshole commander, Asuka thought, anger easily displayed on her face. Could have at least let us get cleaned up for this mission. Now I'm going to smell like LCL till we make our first landing.

Mana of course, sat quietly on the opposite side of her fellow pilot. She kept glancing over at the firery redhead, wondering what could be going through her mind. She could see the girl's reflection in the window and decided against it. She looked angry and didn't want to invoke her wrath. Looking out the same window as Asuka, she watched the other aircraft move through the air, her Eva suspended underneath on what looked to be a cross. Its armor gleamed in the fading light of the sun as it began its descent in the far horizon. "It looks okay," Asuka said suddenly. Mana glanced over at her fellow pilot, surprised she would speak to her at all.

"Um, what?"

"Your Eva. It's not that bad. Too bad it looks like that Stooge's."

"Thanks," then added quietly, "I guess." Again, silence fell between the two pilots. Mana's eye darted around the small room before looking to Asuka and said, "So, um . . . tell me about Pilot Ikari." Mana leaned back as far as she could when Asuka turned to face her. Asuka seemed lost in her own thoughts, trying to come up with something in responce to what Mana had said.

Asuka looked back out the window, resting her chin in her left palm. "Shinji Ikari. I first met him on the one of the carriers that was escourting myself and Unit-02. I half expected he would look a little more decent; bigger, stronger, smarter, and maybe even better looking then my guardian Kaji. But instead, I came in contact with this scrany, studdering, weak pervert that never stood up for himself and was always being pushed around. Especially by me. He did whatever anyone tolled him to do so he would get praised by his father, the Commander."

"Wow. I had no idea he was like that."

"Oh yea." Asuka paused, as if to think about what to say next. She inhaled through her nose and continued to stare out the window. "But underneath that weak little pervert, there was something else I never paid attention to. He was smarter then I thought he was. He had kept our home clean, cooked for me and Misato and took care of our laundry. He piloted like it was second nature and had a starting snycronization above 40 percent on his first launch, and that was during the 3rd Angel battle. He saved my life, diving into a volcano with no protection to the Eva and defied orders to do it." Asuka looked away from the window and stared down at the floor. "But he never asked for anything in return, at least as far as I knew or was concerned with. He never tried to hurt me or anyone else. He did his best to make those around him happy, even came close to dying just so others wouldn't get hurt."

"If he's so great, why did he run away? Why steal Unit-01?" Mana looked out the window. "And how? I thought Unit-01 didn't have an S2 engine. How is it running on its own power?"

Asuka said nothing but her thoughts ran rapid. Why did you run, Shinji? she thought.

OOO

"Misato!" Asuka shouted as she ran towards the arrested Major. Misato cuffed and forced to walk ahead, looked back at the running redhead. "Misato what's going on? Someone said something about Shinji!"

"They've found Shinji's present location, Asuka," Misato said, staggering as she was pushed forward.

"Do not speak, Major," a armed agent said, pushing Misato again.

Misato, fed up with being pushed around, shoved hard into one guard and kicked the other one away. She ran fast to Asuka, nearly falling to her knees to only be caught by the young pilot. She looked into Asuka's saphire eyes. "Listen to me. You mustn't let them hurt Shinji. They've pushed him so far..." The guards were quick to recover and were already pulling Misato back. "Bring him back, Asuka! Bring him home!"

"Why'd he run! I want to know! Tell me!"

OOO

"I bet it had something to do with the Fifth Child," Mana commented.

Asuka blinked and turned to rookie pilot. "What?"

Mana turned to Asuka. "The Fifth Child. I had asked Ritsuko about Shinji once before and she said something about the Fifth Child."

Asuka was curious now. She already knew Mana was the Sixth child, and had heard something about the Fifth child dying during the battle with the Seventeenth angel, but no one spoke of Shinji and the Fifth Child being close. "What'd she say?"

"Something about she and him meeting and spending the day together. We were interrupted when the Commander called us in."

Asuka looked away, a little disappointed. She had been hoping for something a little better then that. But thne her thoughts moved to why they hadn't informed her of anything. A fellow pilot is dead, but no one bothered to explain what exactly happened. And how did this new pilot effect Shinji so much, that he would tear his way out of NERV and run away; even going as far as to SWIM across the ocean to get to the mainland. "There's something going on. They're not telling us something."

Mana glanced at Asuka as the conversation got serious. "Think it has something to do with the Fifth Child?"

"You said she spent the day with him..." Asuka back peddeled in her mind as she recalled what Mana had said. "Wait you said she?" Mana nodded. "You mean the Fifth Child was a girl?"

Again she nodded. "Yea. Matoko Nagisa, Fifth Child."

"What could they have possibly done the whole time?" Asuka asked.

Mana arched a brow, then grinned evilly. "Something wrong? You think they did something naughty?"

Asuka blushed. "I do not! You pervert! Why would I think such a thing?" She looked away with her arms crossed. "For that matter, why would I care if Shinji and the Fifth did something? If she was interrested in him in the first place, then she has no taste at all."

"Didn't sound like that when you were describing Shinji. Almost sounded like you liked him."

Asuka stood and threw her arms down at her side, glaring at the giggling Mana. "Did not!"

OOO

Toji could only watch as Unit-03 and the Angel struggled with one another. He growled as Unit-03 was quickly being overpowered, thrown to the side and into one of the fake buildings that made up his mind. He narrowly avoided some of the falling rocks that had made up the building's wall. Turning its attention from the fallen Unit, the Angel looked down at Toji, reaching out to take him up into its hand once more. Unit-03 was quick to stop it, wrappign its arm around the Angel's neck and dragging it back from Toji. The Angel, since gathering enough knowledge from Toji, drove its elbow into the ribs the Eva, and kicked it back once its arms were loose. The Eva swung its fist, but the Angel easily dodged it and drove it's palm into the right temple, followed by another shot to the throat.

The boy cringed in pain when he saw the blows that were being made to his Eva. "It's using the judo classes I took a few years back to help it fight," he said. Toji grabbed the side of his head. "It's using me to fight Unit-03!" He looked up in time to see Unit-03 thrown to the ground. He growled in anger and ran towards the battle, stopping just next to the Eva. "Hey! Unit-03!" The Eva ignored him, climbing to its feet to face the Angel again before being knocked back into another building. Toji ran forward, narrowly avoiding debree from falling on him. "Hey! Damn it listen to me!" The Angel was upon the Eva, it's hands wrapped around the Eva's neck. "Listen to me, you stupid piece of junk! Let me fight!" Again, no responce accept the sound of the Angel's fingers tightening around the Eva's neck. "Please! Let me fight! Let me help you, you stupid over sized piece of...!" Toji closed his eyes and ran to throw a punch into the Eva's metal hide, when he felt his fist hit something soft. He opened his eyes to see the Angel fly across the block, away from him. "Wait, what the...?" He glanced down and around himself, seeing he was once more in the entry plug, snuggly placed on the Thrown of Souls.

Toji smiled, breathing heavily as he felt the pressure that was once around the Eva's neck vanish. The LCL was warm and comforting, almost welcoming to him. "Okay...okay..." he looked to the Angel, slowly lifting Unit-03 up to its feet.

Bardiel shook its head, feeling its spongy organic jaw twitch with pain. It looked to Adam's shadow and found the black Eva once again on its feet, but its stance was different. The back was straight and fists were balled to dish out heavy punishment. The Angel charged ahead anyway with a punch, only to have it blocked. Its second punch was caught in Unit-03's hand. Toji pulled it close, the forehead of Unit-03 driven into the Angel's face. A gargeled hiss was let out and Bardiel staggered back. Its multiple eyes locked on the Eva, it's hand signaling the Angel to come at it again. It almost looked like it was smiling.

"Pay back's a bitch, ain't it?" Toji remarked. As if to respond to Toji's remark, the Angel shook slightly and it's size seemed to double. Toji's smile faded as the Angel not only grew taller, but its muscle mass also seemed to grow. "Oh man...it's Hulking out on me. Must have dove into the comic book side of my brain. Remind me to thank Kensuke for checking out those Amiercan comics."

The two charged at one another, but upon collision, the Angel brought a powerful fist down on Unit-03's head. It's knees buckled and the Eva fell onto them. The ground beneath its feet and knees had cracked and broken under the force. Even the glass from the surrounding building's were broken from the impact. Toji felt like someone had brought a hammer down onto his head. He looked up to see the Angel grab him by the head and was quickly intruduced to the Angel's knee. The ground beneath him disappeared and Toji could only see the sky above, which flashed an orange light. He was caught in the air, and landed in a slump against something.

Unit-03 turned its head to look back to see a single red eye staring back at him. Unit-00 helped the surprised Toji and Unit-03 up to its feet and quickly moved to the advancing Angel. Unit-00 sprinted towards the Angel, just ducking under a powerful fist that was swung at its single eye. Unit-00 stopped and turned to bring a kick to the Angel's spine. Bardiel staggered and turned to attack, but was struck in the back again by Unit-03. Toji didn't care how Unit-00 came to be in his mind, only that it was here now and helping him win the fight.

Knocked to the ground, Bardiel was unable to defend itself from the dual attacks. Unit-00 and Unit-03 were on top of its hulking form, pounding away at its body with everything they had, but getting a well placed foot onto Unit-03, it kicked Toji and his Eva away. Now alone with the blue Evangelion, Bardiel grabbed it by the head and slammed it into the ground. With its grip tight on the skull of Unit-00, the Angel rose to its feet and began to apply even more pressure.

Toji shook his head and looked up to see Unit-00 thrashing in the grip of the Angel. "No!" He stood and charged, but was too late to stop the Angel from copeltely crushing Unit-00's head. The blue body of Unit-00 disappeared in a bright orange light, leaving Toji alone once more with the Angel. "Damn you!" He only hoped Ayanami wasn't somehow linked to that.

Angel and Eva, once more, stared at one another. The large, slouching form of the Angel hissed and snarled as it stared at it's prey. Unit-03 remained emotionless as Rei, but Toji on the other hand was trying to come up with a way to end the situation. Bardiel took a step forward, causing Toji to react and step back. The Angel grinned and took another step. Toji moved back again, preparing for any sudden attacks. The Angel moved agian, but stopped. It stood silent for a second before Toji could see blood slowly dripping from the Angel's mouth. He watched on till something errupted from the Angel's chest. A glowing red orb fell from the Angel's wound, smashing into the ground. It bounced once before slowly rolling down the street towards Toji, stopping just at his feet. He blinked, confused at the situation in front of him, and looked up to the Angel.

Bardiel stared down at its core lying on the ground at the feet of Unit-03, then down at its chest where the core once lye, seeing only a blood covered hand protruding from it like a new born alien from the movie Alein. (Come on, you'd think the same thing, right?) The Angel looked back over it's shoulder, only to stare into a set of glowing white eyes and a purple command horn. The sky of memories changed from those of Toji's, to those of the Angel's short life and they were all filled with the images of a purple Evangelion. Bardiel shuddered again as it was lifted off the ground on Unit-01's arm. Unit-03 remained motionless as the Angel was turned away, letting Toji see Unit-01 in its full fury. With unmatched strength, Unit-01 flung the Angel towards Unit-03. Toji reacted and stepped to the side, letting the Angel pass him and continue down the long stretch of road till it impact the building at the far end.

Toji shuddered, and Unit-03 mimiced his reaction. He slowly turned his head to Unit-01 as it just stood there, staring down at him with its mouth open. Its chest heaved as it took in the air around them. The Angel had once been frightening to him, but the site of Unit-01 and how easily it handled the Angel was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. He could feel something else too. It was like the Eva was just as scared as he was. "I can't blame you. I mean, Unit-01's the one who tore you apart." Unit-01 moved. "Awe!" He flinched, shielding his face from harm. He looked between his shields to see Unit-01 run past and slam hard into the Angel, putting it down to the ground with ease.

As the two wrestled in the one sided fight with Unit-01 being the winner, the innitial shakes from the fight caused the red orb to roll towards Uni-03 again. Toji looked down at the orb and realisation came to him. He remembered his training, when it came to fighting the VR Third Angel. "Ritsuko said to aim for the core." Unit-03 reached down, taking the orb in hish ands. He isntantly felt pain as the orb began to infect the hands. Veins of infection began to run up from his hands and up his arms. "N...no...not again!" Fighting back the pain, Toji began to appply the pressure onto the core, watching the orb crack under the strain. The world around him began to change as the cracks grew. The world inside his mind would change from the city to the grassy field outside NERV HQ. He would see Unit-03 in the distance with Unit-02 and 04 standing over it. He looked at the orb again and put in more till a piece splintered off. After that, the core completely crumbled between Unit-03's hands.

Toji's world was empty. He stood silently in a field of orange flowers with nothing but a cool wind and clear blue sky. He looked down to see he was in a different body, much like that of Unit-03. He looked over to the side and there stood Shinji in a similar situation with his body replaced by Unit-01's. His back was turned but to Toji's surprise, there was a girl standing behind Shinji, her arms wrapped tightly around his waste. She wore the girl's school uniform. Her hair was a snow white and as she looked back at Toji, he could see her eyes were just as red as Rei's. Even weirder was that there was a woman standing just to the side, her hand resting on the girl's shoulder. She had short brown hair, lighter then Shinji's. Her back was turned away so Toji couldn't see her face. All he could see of her was her legs since her lab coat blocked most of his view.

Toji stepped towards them, his arm stretched out to them. He called out to Shinji, but his voice went unheard. He called again, but was silenced when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck and pull him into a tight enbrace from behind. He stiffened, thinking the fight with the angel wasn't over, but then a memory flashed in his mind; one he had not seen in so long. The arms were familiar to him, and brought so much warmth and love to him, he wanted to cry. As he felt those tears come, the world began to melt away into darkness...

OOO

Rei sat silently looking out the hospital window, staring down into the darkened forest of the Geofront. Night had come and Toji was fast asleep in the hospital bed. She was preforming the duty that was asked of her from Dr. Akagi and was making sure no harm was to come to the young pilot. Her thoughts were directed to the wayward pilot that they searched for till Toji stirred in his bed and awoke to Rei sitting in his room. Rei stood and approached, seeing Toji sit up with his good hand resting against his temple. "Pilot Suzahara?"

Toji blinked and stared at Rei, wondering what she was doing there. His mind drifted to the image of the Unit-00 that had helped him fight off the Angel. "Rei, I want to ask you something, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Rei gave a nod for him to gone on. Toji took a deep breath. This was going to sound weird. "Did you help me defeat the Angel?" He waited for a resonce, but Rei said nothing, and continued to stare at him. "The thing is, when the Angel was in my head, I was fighting it with Unit-03, but it knew my every move. Then another Eva should up; yours. Your old Unit-00." Again, Rei said nothing. Toji gave a light chuckle. "It's crazy I know. Sorry if I sound weird, I just wanted to ask."

Rei looked away, turning her gaze out the window. "I wasn't the only one who assisted you, Suzahara."

Toji gasped. He watched the side of Rei's face as she stared out at nothing. "How...how'd you do it..."

"You saw Shinji, did you not?"

Toji blinked. She was avoiding his question. He turned away and stared down at his bed sheets. "Yea he was there, but he wasn't alone."

Rei looked to him again. "What do you mean?"

"There were two others there with him. A girl that looked like you and an older woman. It was weird. I tried to talk to him, but someone grabbed me and pulled me away." Toji, at remembering the feeling of those arms wrapped around him, circled his arms around his chest. He grit his teeth. "I know who's arms they were, but I couldn't get a name or a face!" He tightened his embrace. "Who was it?"

"Your mother, Toji."

Both Rei and Toji turned to the door, seeing Ritsuko standing at the open door. She was looking off to the side, as if ashamed to look at the boy. With a huff, she turned to Rei. "Leave us. I wish to speak with Toji alone."

Rei faced Ritsuko. "Are you sure?" She spoke as if there was more to those three words then what Toji could guess.

Ritsuko knew what Rei was refereing too and nodded. "Yes, I am. Now, go get some rest. We've got a lot of preparing to do for the next few days."

Rei turned to Toji, and gave him a bow followed by a 'goodbye' before leaving. She gave Ritsuko one more glance before leaving the room, closing the door behind her and leaveing the two alone. Ritsuko pulled a chair over to bedside, refusing to look Toji in the eye till she was ready to speak. She could feel the boy's eyes burning into her but not with fury, but with curiousity. When she looked up, she saw she was wrong. He did look furious. "What did you say about my mother?" Ritsuko bit her lip. She knew this was going to be hard.

OOO

Somewhere, far away and shrouded in darkness, Shinji lye on his back. He couldn't see, but he could hear and feel. He was lying down on something soft. He could feel a gentle, warm breeze blowing over his body. But there was something else. A humming sound. Someone was singing, or at least humming a song. Who was it? His eyes cracked open, and he could see the bright sun peering in through the branches high above. He took a deep breath and let it out, only to have it caught in his throat as a voice and unfamiliar language. He tilted his head back to see the face a girl, very attractive girl, staring down at him. Her gray eyes looked to the sides of his face, her short cropped blonde hair swaying with the wind. She spoke again, and at first, Shinji couldn't understand it but as she repeated the same thing, and this was weird even for him, but he began to understand her. "...ou okay?"

Shinji blinked, letting go of the breath he held. "What?" he spoke back. His eyes widened as he finally registered that he spoke back in the same language, and said language was...Russian?

"I asked if you were okay?"

To Be Continued . . .

OH GOD! I finally update this damn thing. Sorry to those who are actually interrested in this fic. I've been occupied with returning to my art and models and other priorities of life which suck, like a job for instantce.

But for a little bit of a taste for the next chapter, here's that British narrator chick from Guyver!

Shinji, found in the hands of a young girl, sinks into a new life of quiet solitude, while his mind rages on with the thoughts of the past that haunt him. His dreams scratch at him as he replays the events he wishes to forget, along with the three special words said from a girl who's blood stains his hands. All the while, Toji grips with the knowledge that his mother resides within Unit-03, and Asuka continues her search for the wayword boy who has elluded NERV and Seele for so long.