A/N: please, if you guys are faving and alerting the story leave a review. I'll keep writing no matter what but I like to feel my ego inflated. Criticism helps too, just no flames.

Asuka's hold on his arm was... uncomfortably tight, but he kept his mouth shut for the moment. The streets were crowded considering it was a Saturday after school. They headed down the shopping strip, looking for what... Kaji didn't know.

"Thanks for coming shopping with me Kaji, I was afraid you'd say no."

The man did his best to keep smirking, this was a bit... "Yeah," he said cheerfully, "Shinji was busy wasn't he?"

"What, that idiot? Why would I go shopping with him?"

Kaji scratched his cheek with his free hand as they turned a corner, "Well it seems he's taken with you."

She snorted, "Yeah right, even if he did like me he wouldn't stand a chance, especially not against you."

"Why not? He seems like a charming kid, confident, charismatic, if not a bit stumbly."

Asuka frowned, as much as she didn't want to admit it...

No.

Nonono!

Her grip tightened as they entered the store.

Kaji raised an eyebrow, "You're shopping for a swim suit?"

"Yep," she said cheerfully, pulling away from him and running down the isle, "School trip's coming up, I gotta be prepared."

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Empathy

Episode 10: Heat

"What do you mean we can't go on the school trip!"

As loud and annoying as Asuka was at the moment it was hard to choose who to agree with. Misato sat calmly across from us both at the table, sipping her beer, "Exactly what I said. It's for work."

"You mean we're on standby 24/7?"

Misato nodded, "Yeah pretty much. It's for the better, after all, you never know when an angel is going to attack."

Asuka wheeled on me, "Shinji, say something will ya? You said we were a team remember?"

I stumbled, "Erm... well, I also said Misato was a part of it too, so... it's kind of hard to take a stance on something like this."

Misato smirked and crossed her arms, "Good boy."

"Ugh you are so henpecked!" screamed Asuka.

"I'd be henpecked no matter what side I took!"

Misato laughed a little bit, "Think of it as a chance to catch up on your studies." She slipped a couple of hard disks onto the table, "After all, with grades like these you need it," her voice turned a bit threatening.

Shit...

Asuka and I paled.

"Y... yes Ma'am," we droned.

I yawned loudly, leaning back in the chair at the pool side table. My laptop screen displayed a list of problems that I had yet to really nail down, most of it was physics.

Rei, donning a white one piece, dived in at the further end of the pool.

Hmm, she was pretty graceful. I stood and stretched a little bit.

"Watcha got there?" piped up a voice.

Asuka stood in front of me in a red and white striped two piece that I could only assume she had bought for the trip. Blood rushed to my face, "W... well, physics crap," I said with a nervous laugh, "It's the subject I'm having the most trouble with." I sat back down in the chair, "Velocity, mass, force, thermal expansion, shit like that."

Asuka laughed in an almost mocking manner, "You must be joking, that stuff is entry level. Thermal expansion is easy, when something gets hot it expands, that's why cylinders in engines work."

She leaned over my laptop, pretty much shoving her bust in my face. I cleared my throat... and remembered the night before our fight with the last angel.

'Jeez, for someone who hates me so much she sure likes showing herself off to me.'

"There, all done," she chirped, clicking out the first problem, "It's not so hard."

I raised an eyebrow, "If it isn't hard then why are your grades as bad as mine?"

She frowned, standing up straight once more, "I can't read kanji too well."

"If you want me to I can tutor you," I said.

She looked taken aback for a second before she recovered, "You, tutor me? That would be laughable."

I smirked, "Hey, you're kanji sucks, the offer still stands no matter how much you try to let your pride get in the way. In return you can help me with physics. We're on a team, remember?"

She huffed, "Alright fine, you're on."

"Why does everything have to be a challenge for you?"

She glared at me, "That's what life is, a series of challenges!"

"You need to relax," I said with a laugh, "If you're all business all the time it's gonna end up breaking you in the end."

For a second I thought I saw her look sad and a bit horrified, but she recovered the next instant, "It's none of your business anyways!" she shouted, running to the end of the pool where Rei jumped in.

"H... hey... you could slip!"

My warning came too late.

Asuka plummeted, hitting her head on the side of the pool as she fell in.

I moved as soon as Rei came up from the other side of the pool, "Rei, help me out!" I shouted.

Her blank expression gave way for one of confusion as she dropped the towel she was about to use, then one of understanding when she realized what had happened. She dived in with no hesitation.

I jumped in a split second after.

Asuka lay at the bottom as we both moved towards her.

I grabbed her right arm just as Rei was on us grabbing her left.

We hauled her to the surface.

I jumped out of the pool and took her from Rei, laying her down as she coughed and sputtered the water from her lungs.

"Ugh, what happened?" she brought a hand to her forehead.

My heart was beating so fast I almost didn't hear her over the sound of it.

"You fell," said Rei calmly, holding onto the edge of the pool, "I assisted Shinji with saving you."

"Wha..." she sat up, running a hand across the back of her head and flinching when she touched where she got hit, "Sheiza."

"Idiot!" I shouted, "I told you to be careful!"

She just stared at me with a blank expression, then it traded for a smirk, "Hah, were you worried about me?" Her condescending tone was back.

My heart froze when I finally realized...

"Asuka..."

"I'm fine!" she declared, standing up and cracking her neck, "Just a little slip, thanks though!"

Just as she was about to turn and walk away I stood and grabbed her wrist. I didn't know what to say... we stood there like that for what seemed like an eternity. "Let go dumbass!" she pulled away from me, storming out of the pool area.

I finally realized there was something wrong with her...

"Rei," I said softly, "Let's... get out of here, I don't feel like swimming anymore."

She nodded and pulled herself out of the pool, "Is Ms. Sohryu damaged?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Do you think you can stick with another stupid plan of mine?"

"Yes."

"Two hundred more feet..."

The probe ship was cracking under the pressure of the magma in the volcano, it was only a matter of time. The lab room was deathly quiet. "Ma'am," piped up one of the scientists, "If you take it any deeper it'll collapse in on itself."

Misato leaned toward the monitor, biting her thumb, "I know that, NERV will pay for the damages."

Another beep.

The probe was crushed almost instantly, "Well, that's it for that I guess," grumbled Misato, "What'd you find?"

The scientist on her right paled, "A blue pattern."

"The angel is at an estimated one-thousand and one-hundred feet." The panel below our feet in the briefing room lit up, displaying what looked like an fetus inside of a cocoon, Misato continued, "The plan is to send down an Eva unit, with adjustments for heat and pressure of course. We have an energy cage that can be used to capture it alive."

"We're capturing it alive?" I asked.

"Yes," said Ritsuko, "It can be used for research in order to figure out how they tick."

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

The room went silent before Misato continued, "One of you will do the diving with Type D hazard equipment, the other one will be on standby with Type C just in case something goes awry."

"Why Type C?" I asked, "Wouldn't the other need D as well?"

Misato shook her head, "The Evas can withstand extreme heat and pressure, but only so much. We'll be lowering the Type D Eva slowly, so it'll need the extra time that the hazard suit gives it."

I nodded.

"Will I be the diver?" asked Rei.

"No," said Misato, "Unit Zero is on standby, since it's a prototype it can't be equipped with the hazard suit. It's between Asuka and Shinji."

Our hands shot up at almost the same time, but Asuka...

"Oh pick me, me me me!" she shouted.

Misato chuckled, "Alright, Asuka will be the diver, get ready."

Asuka finished putting on the suit in front of her locker, hitting the button to cause it to contract against her, "Hmm, this heat sui isn't very different from a normal plugsuit," she said.

Ritsuko stood at the side, going through her papers on the clipboard in an absent minded fashion, "Hit the button on your right wrist."

"Oh, okay."

"This is such a joke!" she whined.

I bit my right knuckle, trying not to burst out in laughter. Unit Two was already suited up with what looked like an astronaut's suit, bowl head and everything. 'Type D' was written in bold english letters on the front.

That wasn't what was so amusing though...

Asuka had come from the locker room looking like she erm... put on a few pounds.

Ritsuko had failed to mention to her that the anti-heat plug suit was a bit hefty, and she ended up looking like that one kid from Willy Wonka that ate the blueberry, except... red.

I sniggered.

"Shut up Shinji! You know what? You should be the one doing this!"

"How disappointing," sounded a voice from the catwalk above. Asuka and I looked up and there was Kaji, leaning on the railing with a grin, "I was looking forward to seeing you in action Asuka."

Asuka visibly paled and let out a groan of embarrassment.

Oh man this was too good, I wish I had a camera or something, "Hey Asuka... I think I saw a treadmill for sale the other day," I said with a grin.

She glared at me, "I will kill you."

I grabbed Rei's shoulders and pushed her in front of me, "You have to go through her first!"

Rei turned her head over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at me.

"What? I thought all quiet people knew martial arts or something."

"I have no time to take classes."

"What do you do in your free time?"

"Read."

"That's it?"

I was so caught up in my conversation with Rei I didn't notice Asuka coming towards me, which was saying a lot considering how... round she was at the moment.

Asuka slapped me...

Hard.

"Crane ready..."

Asuka's mech was strapped to the hook of the large crane above the crack in the ground, suited up and holding the red stick that opened up to create a cage field. Its prog knife was in a holster strapped around the fat suit's left leg. The forest was quiet, as if every creature had vacated the area when we arrived, which wasn't a surprise. I heard the sound of jet engines and looked up, "Why's the Air Force here?"

"They're ordered to bomb out the area with N2 mines if the mission goes awry," said Ritsuko.

"What? You guys are scientists, aren't you noncombatants? What kind of idiot would order something like that?"

"Commander Ikari ordered it."

My grip tightened around the controls.

That son of a bitch.

I gritted my teeth.

"We don't need to worry about that," said Asuka, "I can do this no problem, I'll be in and out with the angel before you know it!"

"Unit One ready on standby," I managed to grind out.

"Alright, begin lowering Unit Two."

The crane lurched and Asuka began her descent into the lava below her.

The small control trailer they had set up was designed specifically for this situation, computers showing depth, pressure, and estimations lined the wall.

"Depth is three hundred... three hundred fifty," said Maya.

Misato's grip tightened on the back of the chair she was standing behind, Ritsuko was the only one who noticed her slight twitch.

"Five hundred, five hundred fifty."

Asuka frowned, "I can't see anything! Switching to CR vision." Her display changed slightly, and her surroundings became bathed in random shadows throughout the magma. "Oh man, that didn't help at all."

"Just squint real hard."

"Shut up Shinji, you're not helping!"

"Depth is one thousand one hundred, approaching estimated point of contact."

Asuka heard something shatter, "What was that?" asked Shinji.

"A coolant line just ruptured, Asuka, do you see the target?"

Asuka frowned, "No, I can't see anything, it's not down here."

"Lower her further," said Misato.

"Ma'am, are you sure? The suit can only take so much."

"Yes, lower her."

"It's okay," said Asuka softly, "I agree with Misato, we have to do this. I really wish I could get outta this hot suit though."

"Tell you what Asuka," said Misato, "We'll go straight to the hotsprings as soon as we get you out of there, all three of us."

She had to admit, that sounded nice.

Nothing surrounded her but magma, the heat was killing her. Sweat came off her brow like someone poured a bucket on top of her head. She adjusted herself slightly with a frown, so this was what it felt like to be morbidly obese.

"Depth at one thousand five hundred."

Another crack.

"Another coolant line has been ruptured, the progressive knife's holster has shattered, Unit Two has lost its knife."

A feeling of nervousness crept up into her.

Yesterday...

She almost drowned.

This time she was in magma, not water.

She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

This was no problem for her, she was good at stuff like this.

'Just pretend it's water, just pretend its water.'

"Depth at one thousand and six hundred."

"Wait, I see it!" shouted Asuka.

About thirty meters away was the cocoon. The thing was creepy to say the least. Nonetheless, Asuka turned on the thrusters on the haz suit and began her approach.

"Remember Asuka, the current down there is strong, so you have to catch it the first time, otherwise you won't see it again."

"I know that!"

The creature became larger in her vision. She pushed the cage forward, "Deploying cage." It automatically extended and activated, forming a rectangular shield of energy around the angel, "Gotcha, it's like going fishing! Alright, beginning my ascent."

Her Eva lurched when the crane activated, pulling her up bit by bit.

Before she got past the first hundred feet she felt another lurch, "Oh no."

"Reading an energy spike! The angel is hatching!"

"Change of plans!" shouted Misato, "Kill that damn thing!"

Asuka released the cage just as the creature expanded enough to break it. It looked like some giant deformed fish with three fins and four eyeballs on top of its head after it hatched, a far cry from the almost human-looking fetus that it was in the cocoon. Asuka cursed under her breath, pulling away from it as fast as possible.

She reached down to grab her prog knife...

"Shit! I forgot, my prog knife is gone."

"We'll send you Shinji's, just hang in there!"

The creature wheeled around and charged her.

"You might wanna hurry it up Shinji!"

I ran forward, cursing under my breath. Stupid shit like this going wrong...

I pulled out my prog knife, keeping it in its holster and tossing it down as hard as I could into the lava below, "Special delivery!"

"His knife will be there in about forty seconds!"

Not fast enough.

The creature's maw opened, clamping to her helmet with tentacles from its throat.

"Shit, releasing waist clamp and crane line!" The clamp pulled itself back, and her way out was gone.

"What the hell? It just opened its mouth in magma? What's this thing made of?"

Asuka struggled against it, reaching up and attempting to pull herself free, but the angel was much too strong. She barely managed to grab the knife and unholster it when it fell past her.

She moved to stab one of the eyes.

It was like poking metal with a bare finger, "What the..."

"The creature is hardened from adapting to the magma!"

Her helmet compressed, she felt it squeeze into her head slightly, "Agh!"

The glass snapped.

"Another coolant lines been ruptured!"

"Wait... coolant," mumbled Shinji, "Asuka, thermal expansion!"

Her eyes widened in realization, "Right!" Her left arm was spraying coolant from the ruptured line, she thrust it forward, pushing it into the angel's maw. "Eat this you son of a bitch!"

It groaned and she brought the knife down as hard as she could into the eye.

The angel's grip on her helmet loosened, and it let out a low groan before falling from her and fading away.

The hazard suit began to compress from the areas that had been exposed. She pulled herself out of the thing just as it collapsed in on itself. The temperature inside her Eva rose exponentially. She was so hot she wasn't even sweating anymore. Her throat was parched.

Unit Two began to sink, "Well, I got him," she said softly, "But I guess..."

This was it.

"Shinji, what are you doing?"

"Diving," I answered simply.

"But she's so deep, you could only get down a thousand feet at best, she's still sinking!"

"Misato!" I snapped.

She quieted herself. I ran to the edge of the cliff, hitting the release for the crane as I did so. I leapt from the cliff, grabbing onto the line as it descended at maximum speed.

The magma covered me before I knew it.

A warning popped up on the control screen.

I ignored it.

"Unit One at five hundred, seven hundred, nine hundred!"

Misato gritted her teeth.

I was sweating like crazy. The Eva creaked under the pressure. I could feel my surroundings push in on me, as if an invisible force was trying to crush me.

I tried to breathe but it was hard.

The air was way too thick.

"One thousand, one thousand two-hundred!"

A hairline crack appeared in the screen and alarms started to blare.

I kept my grip on the line.

I could feel it burn into my skin as the Eva's armor melted.

I screamed.

Everything felt like it was on fire.

Asuka closed her eyes...

This was really the end...

She felt something grab her arm and her Eva lurched.

"Gotcha... partner!"

She looked up, not quite willing to believe it. "Shinji," she said softly, "Again..." She smiled... "You idiot."

It was the first time she didn't use it as an insult.

"Pull them up now!" shouted Misato.

The hot spring was already reserved just for the three of us as soon as we got there. Asuka and Misato had already ran off to change, leaving me smirking at their mutual excitement in the lobby. The front door slid open to a man holding what looked like a large box, "Delivery for NERV personnel from a Kaji Ryouji."

"Kaji?"

I signed for it and took the box, setting it on the lobby table and cracking it open.

Pen Pen lurched up, looking around like he was confused as all hell.

I laughed, "You wanted to come to the hotsprings too huh? Alright, let's go."

I picked him up as soon as he stopped freaking out, carrying him with me to the male side lockers.

"Sooooooooo," said Misato, pulling off her socks and tossing Asuka a grin as she sat down on the locker bench, "Shinji seems to be quite... enamoured with you."

Asuka frowned, "Me with that dumbass?"

Misato sighed and shook her head, "Oh stop being such a stubborn goat, he risked his life you know."

Asuka turned away, still frowning, "I know that," she grumbled.

"You could be a little nicer to him."

"I have been!" she shouted.

"Well, you don't argue as much as you used to, but you still blow him off a lot. Playing hard to get is one thing but..."

"I'm not playing hard to get! I don't even like him!"

Misato rolled her eyes, "Right. Of course you don't. I mean, you've been living under the same roof for three weeks, working together for three weeks, putting up with each other for three weeks, oh, and he saved your life."

'Twice,' thought Asuka. "Whatever, let's just get out there, everything hurts and I need to relax."

"Whatever you say."