Note: Please tell me if there's anything weird or off about the formatting for this one; my word processor was playing up a little when I wrote it.


"So what do you make of the Third Child's little theorem?" said Fuyutsuki from behind Gendo, the office as cold and dark as ever despite the presence of one of the major sunlight mirrors right behind it.

"It might amount to something useful, but it is far more likely that any... enquiries... he makes will be problematic. Make sure Ritsuko knows to deny him access to our data," replied Gendo. "And don't let him near the fabricators. It's bad enough he managed to cobble together so much equipment from scrap electronics; if he gets his hands on one of our fabricators..."

"Done and done," confirmed Fuyutsuki, "But that wasn't what I meant. It seems he has quite the scientific mind, when pushed."

Gendo snorted derisively. "He's playing mad scientist and just so happened to find a field he can actually make discoveries in. None of his ideas are particularly new."

"He doesn't know that," retorted Fuyutsuki. "Besides, I think it's pretty interesting how he thinks we can mechanise the AT Field. It might be worth encouraging him unofficially, and if he comes up with something..."

"The plan calls for him to be in a very specific mental state for an extended period of time," said Gendo, firmly. "We don't have time for him to play about with his toys. Perhaps if we had learned of this a year or more ago, we could use him, but we do not have the time to entertain his childish ways."

"You've never had time to entertain anyone," said Fuyutsuki.


Michael stepped into Admiral Jones' office and saluted. "Captain Ayanami reporting as ordered, sir!" he said. The Admiral waved casually to a seat, the desk clear for the first time in living memory.

"Take a seat, Mike," Jones said. "And at ease." Michael sat in the chair offered and leaned back. He got the feeling that if he closed his eyes he would go to sleep pretty much instantly; between Rose's nightmare last night, the ceremony and the short fire-fight earlier, he hadn't had much sleep. Not to mention he still needed a shower.

"What did you want, sir?" he asked. On the table behind the Admiral, a kettle boiled – he must have appropriated a tea trolley from somewhere.

"Two things, Mike," said the Admiral, standing up to pour the tea. "It's two sugars and milk, isn't it?" he asked. Michael nodded and Jones busied himself with task. "Firstly," he continued, passing a mug to Michael, "what do you think was going on with those infiltrators?"

Michael sighed, and sipped his tea. He revelled in the warmth before speaking. "Their tactics didn't make any sense," he said. "Why plant one bomb but not two? Why didn't they investigate when their bomb didn't go off? I took a look at that bomb they planted; they could have just put it in the corridor and gotten us both." Rose was, in fact, trying to get some answers from the sole surviving enemy. Michael had learned she could be quite persuasive when annoyed.

"I've sent out some enquiries, called in a few favours. No-one seems to know who these people were or why," said the Admiral. "I even got in touch with some more... unsavoury... friends of mine. Nothing."

"They didn't have any identifying markers, they acted worse than amateurs, and they went for the worst target in the area," Michael said. "Killing an Evangelion pilot is pretty much an act of war. They couldn't have gotten out without taking a few casualties; the security here's just too tight." He took another sip of tea.

"Maybe they weren't supposed to get out alive," reasoned Jones.

"Probably not," agreed Michael. "We're not going to get much further on this for a while. What was the other thing you wanted, sir?"

"I'll be heading off to the Jet Alone presentation next month," the Admiral said. "You'll be in command of the task force until I get back."

Michael's eyes widened, mug raised to his lips. "Are you... certain that's a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, I know I'm technically an officer, but... I've always been a front-line soldier. Rose is always the one who does the paperwork and stuff..."

"I wouldn't be giving you the job if I didn't think you could do it," Jones said. "You've shown how good a leader you are whenever you've had the opportunity. I want to see if you're a good commander too."

"There's something behind this, isn't there," said Michael. It was a safe bet; there usually was.

"We might end up with an expanded Evangelion corps in the next few years," admitted the Admiral. "You'd be in charge on the field in that case." He caught the look on Michael's face, and continued before he could say anything. "Yes, I know the Vatican Treaty technically prohibits the creation of more Evangelions, but this is politics. Even with the Longbow system, there's still a need for people like you. Evas are one of the best ways to project force – with appropriate upgrades, of course."

"I'm fourteen years old and a navy Captain already," said Michael, finishing his tea, "If I keep this up, I could be First Sea Lord by the end of the decade. Look, I know you've been pushing me up the ranks, all I want to know is why?"

The Admiral drew in a breath. This was going to be a long one. "What's the first thing you remember, Mike?" he asked.

"Waking up in Wales, barely able to breathe, with you dragging me out of Unit Seven's entry plug," Michael replied.

"I went to that town in Wales because I heard from someone very dear to me that they needed help," began Jones. "When the Lancaster pulled into what passed for a port, all that was left of the town, of the army I was sent to fight and the man I loved was ruins and wreckage. When I saw that behemoth, the first thing that ran through my head was to lock every single gun, missile and torpedo we had onto that thing and blow it into oblivion. And then, I remembered something he'd once said to me; that he'd needed a pilot, and one had been... found. So, I had a team climb that thing's back, pull the manual ejection and looked into the pod. I saw... you. You'd been shot... three or four times, you had burn scars all over you, and you were barely awake, but you looked at me – a six-year-old kid – and smiled. I've used you as a soldier ever since; and you've grown to be a brilliant soldier. That'll have to make up for not letting you be a person."

Michael sat there, quietly thinking, for a while. "Thank you," he said, simply.


Shinji walked into the classroom, dreading what was probably about to happen. Surprisingly, however, few of the students acknowledged him; a few gave him a nod or thumbs up or something similar, but most seemed to ignore him. Rei glanced up at him briefly before turning to look out the window again – he got the impression that was her version of a wave – but he was interrupted by a shout before he could walk over to her.

"Yo, Shinji!" said Toji from the back of the classroom, waving. He was leaning over Kensuke's desk, the nerd watching some video or other on the school laptop. Shinji walked over, and Kensuke pointed at the screen.

"Check this out," he said. "Looks like you're out of a job."

"The Longbow system?" Shinji asked. Kensuke nodded. "I'm... familiar with the concept," Shinji continued, "But I'm not sure it'll be useful against an Angel. The first one I fought took an N-Two Mine and survived; most Evangelions aren't rated for that sort of firepower. Apparently, they've been getting even more powerful." He'd switched back into scientist mode without even noticing. "A Longbow satellite might be able to take down an Evangelion, but it might not even hurt the next Angel."

"Then how do you kill them?" asked Toji, confused.

"Destructive resonance," Shinji explained. "My AT Field – the shield I use – resonates with the Angel's, and effectively cancels it out. Once I'm through the AT Field, all I need to do is hit the core – the big glowing red thingy – and it seems to die. The AT Field is the hard part; without that they seem to die pretty easily."

"If you can call the last battle "easy"," Kensuke said. He continued in a low voice, "I've got burn marks from where it stabbed the Eva. It must have been... pretty painful."

"I didn't even notice until after it was dead," Shinji said. The other two stared at him in shock. "Of course, then it hurt like hell." Something on the screen caught Kensuke's attention, and his eyes widened with excitement.

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed, "There's a close-up of Unit Seven! I haven't had any new footage of her since Jerusalem! Look at the new armour plating, it's supposed to be optimised for Eva-on-Eva combat, and that left arm has mounting for the shields the Russians unveiled last year! Oh man, is that a magazine on the back of the Trebuchet mount? That thing could level a city!" Shinji took the opportunity to escape, and took his seat, nodding to Rei as he sat.

"Hey Ayanami," he said. "Any new questions for me?" She turned to stare at him, and he felt the confidence boost from the class' reaction fade away.

"No," she said. Okay, Shinji thought, I know that's talkative for her from Misato's stories. She totally doesn't hate me. Somehow, those words didn't exactly have the desired effect. The teacher chose that moment to walk in and start the class – twenty minutes late, too – so that was the end of the conversation, such that it was.


Toji cursed as the stuffed bear landed just millimetres away from the chute. "God damn it," he shouted, "Give me my damned bear already!" Kensuke pushed past him, slipping a coin into the slot, and took over. A few seconds later, the nerd had the bear. "How the hell did you do that?" Toji asked, incredulous.

"Well," said Kensuke, "you did put it right next to the hole..." He took one look at Toji's face, and hastily continued. "So you get to keep it!" he said, handing over the bear. "I hate to ask... but what do you want with one of these anyway?"

"It's for Mari," Toji said. Both fell quiet. "What's up with those two, anyway?" he asked, breaking the silence. He pointed to one of the shooting games, where Shinji and Rei were blasting through hordes of zombies. They'd burned through several continues before Rei had grasped the concepts behind the game, but now her gun arm was a blur of motion – a contrast to her calm, still face. Shinji was the opposite; his face showed the usual level of panic, but his arm was mostly still as he picked off zombies at the back of the screen.

"Shinji invited her after we invited him," Kensuke said. Toji felt a sudden urge to punch him for stating the obvious. "I don't think he actually thought she'd tag along."

"I meant why those two seem to get along," Toji said, exasperation showing in his voice. "Has Rei ever really spoken to anyone before? Hell, when she transferred in she didn't even introduce herself!"

"There was that one time -" began Kensuke, before Toji cut him off.

"We all agreed never to mention that again," he said, sharply. "The entire class made a pact, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kensuke conceded. "Maybe she just likes the fact he's a pilot or something? Or maybe she's just lonely?" Both of them considered the second option for a moment, before dismissing it completely.

"Here's a crazy thought," began Toji, "Maybe she's a pilot too. I mean, none of us really know much about her besides "she's quiet and is Rei", and NERV's got two Evangelions stationed here..."

Kensuke considered it, and nodded. "Unit Zero was supposedly damaged in an accident a week before the Angel showed up; isn't that when Rei got caught in a car crash or something?"

Shinji, meanwhile, was panicking. Not that there was anything unusual about that; it seemed his emotion range was restricted to panic mode, scientist mode or occasionally the state he (or rather Misato) had decided to call Gendo mode. Right now, the cause of the panic was the blue-haired girl beside him, who was mowing down the horde of zombies on the screen with unsettling efficiency. She'd been the one to pick out this game nearly as soon as they'd walked in, as well. That wasn't why he was panicking, though; he was panicking because she was here at all. He was well aware the only reason this wasn't considered a date by the standards of the rest of humanity was because of the presence of his other two sort-of friends. The panic wasn't calmed by the fact that the entire classroom – including the teacher – had frozen as soon as he'd asked her along with them, and somehow managed to freeze even more when she'd accepted.

"Please focus, Ikari," she said. Oh god oh god oh god, he thought, she's talking to me has she been doing that this whole time what if she thinks I've been ignoring her oh god. "We have reached the final boss," she added. Sure enough, a cutscene was playing on the screen, showing the final boss – some sort of gigantic zombie or something – wiping out an entire platoon of soldiers. Anticlimactically, when the battle actually begun the boss died nearly instantly to the constant stream of shots coming from Rei. Shinji didn't even get to fire a single shot. Rei sighed as the boss died, drawing looks from Toji and Kensuke – it wasn't a sound they'd heard before. "That was not a feasible chain of events," she said, somehow sounding annoyed.

"Yeah," said Shinji, "There's no way a virus like that could work. Let alone the physics of that big guy at the end; he should have just collapsed under his own weight!"

Rei took this in, and nodded. "The plot is not realistic," she said. "If the government were to hear of a mansion over-run by such enemies, they would not send two agents armed with handguns. Nor would the man responsible for the virus allow them to wander around the mansion without deploying his most potent forces first."

Shinji laughed at that. "I suppose if that had happened, there wouldn't be much of a game," he said, when he'd recovered.

Rei nodded. "I have determined which game we shall play next," she said, walking over to a 4-player dogfighting game and taking one of the pods. The other three looked at each other, shrugged, and took their seats.

I have no idea how to fly a plane, thought Shinji as the pre-match screen flashed. He picked a plane at random – an American F-14 apparently – and hit the "ready" button. He took a breath and ran an equation as the countdown began, and gripped the flight stick.

The best aircraft to choose is one that can function in any situation, Rei thought. She selected an RAF Typhoon fighter, reasoning it was the best all-round aircraft available. She hit the ready button, and waited patiently for the countdown to end.

They loaded into a large, open arena; the map description told them it had a network of tunnels in the mountains below, along with lots of terrain on the surface to dogfight through. Toji, in an ancient Russian MiG-21b, dived into the caves at the first opportunity, while Shinji, having read the description of the Tomcat fighter he was piloting, elected to stay at altitude where his long-range missiles would have the advantage. Kensuke, who'd entered in a code given to expert players and received a Russian Su-47, dived down to the surface terrain after Toji, while Rei considered the situation and decided to go after the two pilots below her. Shinji loosed a missile after Toji as he dived, the ancient plane showing up at extreme range on his radar, but his target was in the caves long before his missile reached it. He circled his plane in the air, looking for any of the others, but they had all elected to go underground. He felt rather lonely.

Kensuke stalked through the caves, his plane well suited to the tight twists and turns. Toji's MiG flew ahead of him, but Kensuke hadn't been able to get a lock yet. Suddenly, a lock warning tone sounded out of his pod's speaker, and he pulled hard on the flight stick. His Berkut made the Immelman turn with ease, even in the cramped caves, and he fired his cannon – it was too late for a missile. Rei's Typhoon rolled onto one wing, avoiding his cannon fire, and launched a single missile. He blinked in shock as the "game over" screen came up; she'd managed to sneak up on him, even though he was in the better fighter!

Toji, meanwhile, had looped around through the tunnels to try to get behind Kensuke. He entered the cave Rei and Kensuke had duelled in, emerging right behind the blue-haired girl's fighter, and launched a salvo of air-to-air rockets from his plane – it had several short-range missiles, but he wanted to save those. The explosions rocked Rei's Typhoon as she banked around to face him, but didn't seem to do much damage, so he triggered the cannon. This time, he clipped her wing, but before he could follow up on the hit she'd used her own cannon with devastating accuracy. "My poor MiG," he said, despondently, as the death screen came up.

The damage to Rei's fighter forced her out of the caves lest she crash, and she followed the surface as close as she could to Shinji, taking advantage of the various spires and arches in the mountain range. Shinji, for his part, had noticed her fly out of the cave system, but had lost track of her shortly afterwards. A lock-on tone warbled, and he rolled the Tomcat on to one wing as a missile flew up from beneath him. It skimmed the bottom of his plane as it passed by him, and he spun around to face directly downwards. Another missile was already on the way, but now he could lock on to Rei... and he could fire four missiles at once, as opposed to her one. He loosed his missiles, rolling to avoid her second missile, and desperately hoped for a hit as they sped past each other, cannons blazing but failing to connect. Rei had managed to lose three of the missiles, but the last had managed to get into a tail-chase, and her fighter wasn't responding well to her controls. She stared impassively at the death screen, while Shinji blinked as the win screen came up just before he was going to crash into the ground.

"Good game," he said as they got out of the pods. "To be honest, you really should have won that."

"Your performance was... impressive," said Rei. "You did not get as many "kills" as I, but you maintained your advantage throughout the game. When confronted by a situation where your advantage was negated, you reacted quickly." She scanned the arcade before speaking again. "I have selected the next gam-"

Her phone rang. Shinji's heart raced; was it another Angel? He waited as she conversed, her side of the conversation being a series of "Yes"s. She put the phone down, and turned back to him. "I am required elsewhere," she said. "You are not required." With that, she walked out of the arcade.

"Man," said Toji after she left, "that was ice cold. "You are not required?""

"It- it's not like that," Shinji stammered, blushing. "She was just telling me it wasn't an Angel."

"How would she know if it was?" said Kensuke. Shinji belatedly realised they didn't know Rei was a pilot – he thought it would have been obvious.

"She... she... works with my Father at NERV," he improvised. It wasn't exactly a lie. "They didn't have my mobile number last time," he continued (leaving out the fact he didn't even possess a mobile phone until recently), "so they told me about the last one through her. And the sirens, of course."

"Ooooh!" squealed Kensuke, "What does Rei do at NERV? I have got to ask her this next time I see her!"

"Idiot!" snapped Toji, hitting the nerd on the back of the head, "It's probably classified!" He turned to Shinji, with an apologetic look. "Sorry man, but we're gonna have to split. It's been fun."


The next day was the beginning of a weekend, so Shinji found himself at a loss for things to do. He'd cleaned the apartment, fed the penguin (why the penguin was there was one of those things he'd decided not to ask) and got breakfast ready for the two of them, but now he was bored. He'd even done the laundry, and that was one of the few jobs he'd let Misato keep. I can't even do anything with my equipment at the moment;I need a few new parts before I can actually find out anything new, he thought as he flicked through the channels on the television. An episode of Firefly was on, but he wasn't exactly into the show. A re-showing of the Avengers film that came out a few years back; they'd included a fictional Evangelion pilot as one of the Avengers, but he'd seen that film a dozen times. Not that he felt like watching anything involving an Evangelion at the moment; it was too much like work. He kept flicking through the channels. News? Nothing he could learn that he couldn't learn from poking Unit 01 with a stick, so no point. There was a romantic comedy on one of the other channels – something involving time travel, the ability to see ghosts and a whole lot of unlikeable characters, so he skipped through it.

That was when his phone rang. Oh god please not an Angel, he thought as he answered: "Hello?"

"Pilot Ikari," came Rei's voice. What does she want this time?

"Yes, Ayanami?" he said.

"I have noticed you are not performing well in the combat simulations Doctor Akagi has set for you," she replied. Yeah, thanks Rei. I really needed that confidence booster while talking to you. His performance – or lack thereof – in the sims was something he was working hard to not talk about. Even Misato had learned not to ask him about it.

"That's... correct," he conceded, reluctantly.

"The Commander has given me permission to help train you, as I am the only member of NERV in Tokyo-three with any prior combat experience in an Evangelion. Aside from yourself, obviously." Rei did not offer help so much as state that it was being given. Shinji smiled despite himself.

"That sounds good," he said. "When do we begin?"

"As soon as possible," she replied.


Shinji gasped as Rei's knife pierced his shoulder. At least it was only the shoulder this time; every other time it had gone right into his back. He'd learned that much, at least. He span, bringing his rifle around, and fired a burst into the cloud of smoke where Rei should have been. "Smoke launchers?" he asked, "Why don't I have those?"

Rei's voice came over the radio. "They are useless in anti-Angel combat. Angels only posses one sense; that is, the AT Field. Therefore, they were omitted from Unit One's design."

"I could use them right about now," he muttered, scanning the buildings around him. That was another thing he'd learned. A pair of gunshots rang out, the rounds pinging around his feet and Shinji ducked behind a building. He'd seen the muzzle flash, so all he needed to do now was try and get a good return shot in. A grin spread across his face as he came up with an idea. He set the rifle for full-auto, turned the electronic safety on, wedged a truck to keep the trigger down, and mounted it on the building he was on. Taking care to not cross the street Rei had shot at him from, he took cover behind another building, drew his pistol and turned the safety off.

The building didn't hold for long against the rifle's recoil, but it didn't matter. He'd forced Rei's head down, and now he could just wait for her to pop out. He steadied his aim, staring down the street. Rei's Evangelion poked out from behind a building, rifle ready – but Shinji was faster. He squeezed the trigger on the pistol, sending a round right into the orange Evangelion's head. HahahahaAHAHAhahahaHAAHAHAha! he thought, I showed her! Just like I'll show them all! He tipped his head back, and laughed manically.

That was, of course, when Rei's return fire ripped through his chest, ending the simulation.

"Pilot Ikari," she said, a hint of reprimand in her voice, "the Evangelion does not have vital organs despite its humanoid appearance. Aim for the chest."

God damn it, Shinji thought.


The weeks passed. Shinji settled into a sort of routine; doing chores, going to school, hanging out with his friends (sometimes including Rei, and the class representative seemed to be joining in more often now too), training on the weekends (he was beginning to win occasionally, and Rei had even said something that could be likened to being nearly praising), occasionally trying to get some useful data out of NERV (apparently he wasn't allowed near Unit 01 unless he was doing an experiment for Dr. Akagi), and then doing more chores. It was... pleasant.

Maybe this is why Father called me here, Shinji found himself thinking one evening. Misato had invited Dr. Akagi over, and then insisted that she would be cooking, so he'd begun running a few simulations on his computer. Maybe Father does want the best for me. He sighed as the simulation gave an inconclusive result; he was working off of observed data from some declassified footage of the British Isles Campaign. It wasn't much to begin with; he'd worked out that this was the most incoming fire Unit 07 took on camera, so it was his provisional lower limit for the AT Field's capabilities, but that was it. Behind him, in another world, the doorbell rang.

The so-called meal, of course, consisted entirely of cheap instant food (Not even the slightly better kind, Shinji despaired) and rice. The rice was actually something he'd insisted on; he needed to eat something tonight, after all. From the looks of it, the only person who was actually enthusiastic about the meal was Misato. Even the penguin looked mildly apprehensive. He mostly tuned out the two women while they chatted away, occasionally saying "Yes" or "No" as appropriate. Maybe I should ask Rei if she'd take the measurements for me, he thought, lost in his world. She seems to be allowed near her Unit Zero. Or maybe I should try to get in touch with one of the national programs. Rei mentioned having family in one of them.

"Hey, Shinji!" said a voice from across the table a world away, and he snapped back. Misato had stood up to get a beer or something, leaving him and the doctor alone. "Earth to Shinji!" she said, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "I was... thinking."

"You've been working pretty hard recently," said the blonde-haired doctor. "I'll tell you what, since Rei's activation test is tomorrow I'll make sure you've got the day off."

"It's fine," he insisted. "Besides, I want to be there in case something goes wrong."

"And they say chivalry is dead," said the doctor. "What were you thinking about?"

Shinji paused; he'd only really explained this to Rei, and even then only because she wasn't someone you could easily refuse. "One of my projects," he said, opting for the closed approach.

"You're doing something on the AT Field, aren't you?" Dr. Akagi replied. "Don't be surprised; I designed half the equipment we use at NERV, and I got a look in your room earlier. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed."

"Most of it's just scraped together from old electronics," Shinji said. "Although I did manage to scrounge a Petrokov tube from an internet auction. Apparently used by the Chinese back in oh-eight."

"I'd give you access to NERV's stuff," said Akagi with a sigh, "but the Commander insists it's classified beyond your clearance. Although..." she took on a thoughtful look, "if you keep improving as well as you have been these past few weeks, I might see if I can't get you some data or something." Shinji's face lit up.

"I'd really like that," he said. "I think I've nearly got a model that -"

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" shouted Misato as she walked back into the room, crunching an empty beer can in her hand. "What're you two talking about?" she asked as she sat down.

"Nothing much. It turns out our little Shinji here's quite the scientist," said Dr. Akagi. Shinji fell silent, and began to slip back into his world. "Anyway," she continued, "I gotta go soon. Early morning tomorrow, with the activation test and all. Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed, getting Shinji's attention. "You can do me a favour, one of you." She reached into her handbag and drew out a NERV ID card. "I kept forgetting this; Rei's card is about to expire and I'm not going to see her before she tries to get into NERV tomorrow. Can one of you give it to her for me?" She passed the card over to Misato, who promptly gave it to Shinji.

"Shinji here can do it," said Misato, slurring slightly. "He's got quite the crush on the girl!" Shinji stared at the card, thinking. Card number zero-zero-zero-zero-three? How long has Rei been at NERV? "Hey, Shinji! Stop staring at her picture!" teased Misato from beside him. He blushed, reflexively, and tried to speak. Damn it, he thought as he spluttered, I hate when I get like this.


The next day, Shinji found himself in front of a very dilapidated apartment block. Okay, there's no way Rei can live in a place like this. More to the point, how the hell this place end up like this? This building can't be older than five years! This has got to be a trick, or test or something. He checked the address Misato had given him. This was the building. Misato hadn't even been drunk when she'd written it down; she'd taken some sort of pills after Akagi had left last night. He sighed, and stepped inside.

The elevators weren't working, of course, but he probably wouldn't have taken them even if they were. He didn't want to die in a falling steel box. As a result, he was rather out of breath when he got to the floor with the first 400-series apartments. Apartment number 402 was, of course, at the end of the corridor. Seriously, this place looks like a deserted war zone. Why the hell does she live here, of all places? A thought crossed his mind. She's not a psycho, is she? They say piloting does something to your mind, and she does seem the type... Images of their training sessions flashed through his mind, and he gulped. Overriding his apprehension, he pushed onwards, knocking at the door to what was apparently Rei's apartment. It was occupied – he could tell that from the massive amount of mail stuffed into the letter box. He counted several eviction notices amongst the mess. Okay, psycho or not I am having words with Misato later.

He realised he'd been standing there for about a minute with no answer. He knocked again, and called out; "Ayanami? Are you in there?" There was no answer, but Shinji could just about hear running water. He sighed, and leaned against the door. The door, being neither locked nor properly closed, opened before him, depositing him on the floor of Rei's hallway. The corridor outside was dirty. Inside... well, he needed a new word to describe the inside. Yes, words will be had, thought Shinji (and about a kilometre away, Misato sneezed). But that wouldn't solve the immediate problem. He felt his breath become sharper and quicker as the panic rose. The place needed to be tidied. Are those... those are! Why the hell does she just leave used bandages on the floor? How the hell is she still alive?

He stood up, threw his bag on the bed (which also desperately needed changing) and got to work. He found a few plastic shopping bags, and started scooping rubbish into them. The bandages got their own bag – he didn't even touch them with his hands, using a pair of rubber gloves (unused, by the look of them) he'd found in one of the kitchen cupboards. He finished the immediate job, tying off the last plastic bag, and sat on the bed, taking care to use his bag as a cushion. A pair of glasses on Rei's night-stand caught his attention. Rei... doesn't wear glasses? He stood up, and picked them up. G. Ikari? These are... Father's? I wonder if...

He made the decision, and put the glasses on. A cold smile spread across his face. I am Shinji Ikari! he thought, and NOTHING can stop me! He spread out his arms, threw back his head, and laughed. "AhahahAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" All I need is a lab coat...

"Pilot Ikari," came a quiet voice from behind him. Oh shit. "Why are you laughing?" Really? That's the question she asks? Not "why are you here", or "what the utter fuck, Pilot Ikari?"

He turned towards the girl. "I just realised why -" Oh SHIT.

She was naked.

Okay, thought the one part of Shinji's mind that was still close to functional after that shock, at least now we know that hair colour's natural. The rest of him was warring over whether or not to follow his body's... natural programming. She tilted her head, like a confused puppy, and a part of him broke off from that discussion to note that part of his heart seemed to be melting.

"You just realised wha-" Rei's eyes snapped to the glasses before she could finish the sentence, and she started walking towards him with a determined look on her face. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit thought the part of Shinji responsible for panicking right now. The girl reached for the glasses, and Shinji stepped back in reflex-

and tripped, and then they were both on the floor, and she was naked and on top of him and OH SHIT.

His mind gave in, and decided to replace the image before him with a "technical difficulties" card. Soothing music began to play in his head.


Shinji sat bolt upright, panting. That had to be a dream. There was no way in hell that just happened. Then, he noticed wasn't in his bed. Oh shit.

"Pilot Ikari," said Rei. Shinji nearly panicked again, but forced himself to run through the thirty-seven Rogerson equations. That seemed to work. "Are you well?" she asked.

"I'm... fine," Shinji lied. Rei stared at him, now wearing her school uniform. "Okay," he admitted, "Maybe not, but I'll be fine soon." He hesitated, then decided he had to ask. "What happened?"

"You fell," Rei said, "And suffered a minor blow to the head. You do not appear to have a concussion, but I deemed it best to ensure your safety before I left."

That comment sparked a thought in Shinji's brain. "Oh, yeah!" he said, reaching for his bag. "I've got your new ID card; that was why I was in here. Doctor Akagi asked me to give it to you..." he trailed off as she took the card from his hand.

"Could you please answer my earlier question?" Rei asked. Oh, right. That.

"Like I was saying, before -" he cut off for a second, blood rising to the surface in two areas as a memory played in his mind's eye, "before that happened, I realised why Father wears those glasses." Rei kept staring at him, so he explained, "It's... a shield. A way to stop thinking about what other people think. When I put them on... I felt like I did back in the hanger before my first fight." Rei nodded, accepting the explanation, and moved to leave the apartment. She paused by the door.

"Are you coming, Pilot Ikari?"


Needless to say, the journey into NERV was not very comfortable for Shinji. He kept finding himself looking at Rei, and having a certain memory play out in his head. Distressingly, he found himself thinking about her in other situations. He'd caught sight of her in her swimsuit, once, and now a parade of Reis was walking through his mind in various costumes. NO! he thought, forcing the images away. I am NOT some hormone-ridden ape! I am SHINJI IKARI! The images were replaced by the surprisingly comforting series of equations, although he couldn't quite get rid of the schoolteacher-Rei who was writing them on a mental blackboard. I should probably see a psychiatrist at some point, he thought.

Before he knew it, they were on the escalator that led from the entrance to the NERV Pyramid above them to the Evangelion cages. He noted there was a lot of escalator. This could get awkward, he realised.

"Why are you here?" asked Rei. Okay, that one makes sense.

"I wanted to be ready in Unit One if anything happens... like last time," he answered. Rei turned to look at him at that. Yup, he thought, awkwardness abounds.

"Pilot Ikari; the Commander has personally looked over every component of Unit Zero in preparation for this test," she said. "There is no reason to be worried."

"Like I'd trust him to do the chores back home, let alone check an Evangelion before a test," Shinji snapped. He was not exactly in the mood to hear about his Father, especially not after seeing Rei's apartment. He noticed the expression on Rei's face change to something approximating anger, and then she slapped him. Okay, what? "-the FUCK?" he said.

"The Commander has done much for us both. Please do not insult him in my presence," said Rei.

Okay, then, thought Shinji, the emotional turmoil of the day overwhelming his panic, let's do this.

"Firstly," he said, coldly, "never hit me again, unless I directly ask you to." The part of him that had read a lot of books knew to leave some sort of exit clause in that one. "Secondly, NEVER hit me again, unless I directly ask you to." He noticed he was using a line from a film he'd seen about the Evangelion pilots fighting some monsters a few years back. Atlantic Rim, or something. "Thirdly, so far all he's done for me is cause severe emotional trauma that I will probably never recover from and conscript me into a war against an alien race that we know nothing about aside from "stab it in the big red thing." Finally, he hasn't exactly done much for you, either." The angry part of him revelled in the confused look that spread across Rei's face, while the rest of him forced him to turn away and stop talking.

Needless to say, the rest of the journey was undertaken in silence.


Shinji sat in Unit 01 as Unit 00 went through the activation test. I have got to apologise to her afterwards, he thought as he waited. And one of these days I swear I'll... he shook his head. No point in thinking about that right now. I'd never go through with it.

"Pilot synchronisation is steady at... forty percent! We have a stable connection!" came Dr. Akagi's voice over the radio. "She's lost a few points, but we were expecting that." Shinji breathed a sigh of relief, bubbles rising in the LCL. Thank whatever god is listening today for that, he thought.

The sirens began wailing.

"Angel detected!" came another voice. Shinji felt his heart sink. At least I might have Rei this time, he consoled himself. No, he decided, I'll do this alone.

"Do we deploy Unit Zero?" said Misato.

"No," said his Father. "Deploy Unit One. Alone." It seems we're thinking the same thing for once, Father.

The Evangelion locked onto the launch platform as Misato laid out the strategy. "Get moving as soon as the launch clamps unlock," she said. "Determine its capabilities, then see if you can kill it. If you can't, fall back."

"Got it," acknowledged Shinji. G-forces pushed him down into his seat as per usual, and he tried to force himself into the angry state he had been in early. I am going to kill this one quickly and easily, he thought. The G-forces stopped as the Evangelion came to a halt...

"MASSIVE ENERGY BUILDUP IN TARGET!" a voice screamed. "GET OUT OF THERE!" Wait, what?

The wall in front of him opened, revealing the Angel. A massive diamond. What? He watched in slow motion as a beam lanced out from the tip of the Diamond facing him, heading for his chest. The clamps should have released by now, why can't I move? It tore through his AT Field like it wasn't there, and then it was hitting him and burning through the armour and he couldn't move and he couldn't run or fight or hide and he'd never get to apologise to Rei if this kept up and -