Alpha and Omega Book 2: The Fallen

by Xed Alpha

Having been cast down at the conclusion of his battle with the Leviathans, Shinji Ikari finds himself caught between his new world and an old one that looks suspiciously familiar. And while he may be trapped with only one companion, a certain someone universes away prepares to go to any lengths to see his return. Rated M to be safe

10. Chapter 10: Reactivation

V 1.07 09/12/2014. With thanks to Vandenbz as always for his assistance with corrections.

[A/N] Back to this tale once more. Sorry especially to my readers who come to me for this tale only, sorta had to give some attention to a far-too neglected story for a while, but back now so all good. Right, usual warnings for chapters that aren't entirely appropriate for a working environment come into play for this one, just letting you know, and if that distresses you…skip this one I guess. This one also ended up a whole lot longer than I initially intended, so sorry about that too if it bugs you. I'll try to post future progress updates on my feed a bit more often too, just so people know how things are going without PM'ing me direct. Right, as I feel that I've delayed this one for long enough, let's waste no more time...

Chapter 10: Reactivation

"Oh, she is looking so good," beamed Mari as she leaned out over the railing in the cage. Evangelion Unit-08, or EVA-Ω8 as its gleaming, dark pink metallic armour plating now identified it, had been altered quite substantially from its former appearance. The removal of her internal batteries in favour of a much smaller micro-mass effect reactor had given the EVA a much leaner appearance. It also lent the mecha a subtle blue glow from within the rear section, which in turn had extra layers of armour plating installed to protect that particular spot.

The section where the umbilical cable would have formerly connected to appeared unchanged, though it had in fact been repurposed into an outlet designed to link up and provide energy to the prototype autocannon, which required a substantial amount of energy to power its built-in mass accelerator.

An armoured compartment had been installed on the EVA's outer thigh to provide both permanent holding space and easy access to the upscaled automatic pistol that Garrus was almost finished putting the final touches on. Both pirates and WILLE staff alike were experiencing anxiety over the prospect of putting an autocannon normally seen mounted on battleships and dreadnaughts in the hands of someone like Mari, but circumstances had pushed them to that.

The salarian scientists were still concerned about the entry plug, which they had been forced to effectively redesign from scratch with both EDEN and Ritsuko's assistance. The EVA's onboard computer systems had to be scrapped also, along with the entirety of the personality transplant OS, which was swiftly rewritten by the second-gen MAGI into something more compatible with the new hardware.

The only section of the EVA that remained exposed was the core, which was still hooked up to the rechristened EVA-Ω2, which had been given similar upgrades, this included full replacement of the facial plating and cybernetic eye. Like Ω8, Ω2's armour was also of a darker hue now. In both cases this had been due to a lack of plating that matched the old colour schemes rather than pure aesthetics on the part of the salarians.

On both EVAs there were new sections of armour on the backs and limbs lined with bars of refractive green, which were in fact shield generators for the deployment of kinetic barriers in case of an emergency.

The elder Shinji had said something to Asuka about not wanting her to get a spear through her eye simply because of a vulnerability in her A.T. Field.

She had considered it a suspiciously specific concern on his part at the time.

EVA-Ω2's damaged limbs had completed their regeneration by that point and were now fully encased in armour like the rest of it. And while Mari seemed delighted, Asuka merely frowned at the exposed section of her EVA. The heavily damaged core was still charred beyond recognition, and even more cables and equipment had been added to link it up to EVA-Ω8.

At the halfway point between the two EVAs there stood a tall, ruby red platform linked up to the connecting cables. It was surrounded by security shields as well as numerous signs written in various languages that warned people not to attempt approach. This was due to the fact that the tall cylindrical dais had in fact been forged entirely out of the core material which had infected Unit-08's arms. Asuka recalled Shinji referring to it as a 'bridge' that he would need for the restoration to succeed.

She wasn't so sure.

Asuka's arms were folded as she surveyed the pair of EVAs. The Second Child had almost convinced herself that Unit-02 was gone for good, and her pragmatic view on life often left her taking any optimism with a pinch of salt, "They'll have wasted a lot of time for nothing if this mad idea of the big idiot fails."

Mari was rocking on her heels, not letting herself be gotten down, "Come on, Princess. What was the other option, have our two EVA's joined at the hip? But then…I suppose that having you and I joined at the hip wouldn't be too-"

Asuka cut in right there "-Okay, that joke wasn't funny when the idiot made it, and it's really not funny when you do."

Mari hummed and arched about to look at her, "Hmm, so you like things just a little bit better when he says them, eh?"

Asuka closed her eyes and scoffed, "As if. You have no idea how crazy having two of the brat slash idiot around drives me."

"Says you…" murmured Mari with a smirk. She then turned back to her EVA and narrowed her eyes a fraction. If things went as planned then she would be on active combat duty within the next few days. She would be back on their first line of defence against anything that NERV threw at them, just how things should be.

She gave her refitted EVA its millionth look up and down.

Oh, how she prayed NERV would try something soon.

"Where is the big idiot anyways?" asked Asuka in her usual grumpy tone that implied she didn't care what the answer actually was, "I haven't seen him since yesterday."

Mari cocked her head off into the distance, "Back on board his ship. He said something about an appointment he had to keep." She paused then to snicker briefly, "And considering what his 'job' is, I think you can guess what that might involve."

Asuka's arms tightened about herself and she flushed despite her best efforts.

Mari's smirk tightened and she leaned in closer, "You know, if you're really good, I'm sure he might find it in his heart to find a slot for you too."

Asuka's face flushed several shades deeper and she swung pointedly away, "Don't be disgusting," she snapped, much to Mari's amusement, "You know what I think? I think your jokes are getting worse in your old age, Mari."

Mari lowered her voice, "Who says I was joking this time?"

Asuka flinched and then chose to depart swiftly before her co-pilot could embarrass her any further.

Mari just kept on smiling as Asuka stormed off. She then returned her attention to the EVAs once more.

Things really were getting interesting these days.

-Ω-

Aria looked up from the display built into the desk in Shinji's quarters, shutting off the list of figures with an irritated shove.

"How bad is it?" murmured Shinji. He was lounging back on his bed, staring listlessly down at the Wunder as it hung silently in the night sky alongside them.

"Mercenaries don't come cheap, especially on an extended operation like this one."

Shinji reached for his Omnitool and tapped a few controls. Aria's blinked in kind and she brought up her display, "what is this?" she asked, looking at what appeared to be a sheet of disturbingly large numbers.

"Just what EDEN's had to pay so far for the retrofitting of the EVAs and the Wunder."

Aria regarded the figures impassively, controlling her expression. If the numbers were accurate, then the AI had already forked out about three times what she had to pay to repair the damage done to Omega by Cerberus.

"That's why you haven't heard much from EDEN lately: besides keeping an eye on the WILLE people, she's dedicated almost all her runtime to managing finances alone. Turns out that if you want to upgrade an EVA with modern technology then you have to pay EVA-grade prices."

Aria suddenly didn't feel so bad about staff and ship maintenance costs.

"We'll be leaving a lot of that hardware behind when we leave," noted Aria as she circled about the bed and sat down, lounging back in her usual fashion by Shinji's side.

Shinji cocked his head, "True. However, when it comes to things like that, I much prefer to use your outlook."

"And what outlook is that?"

A smile tugged at the edge of Shinji's mouth, "That it won't be my problem anymore."

Aria smirked, "Good boy."

Shinji sat up when a flash on the horizon briefly lit up the sky outside. He stood up when, moments later, a massive, three-winged craft approached silently alongside them and came to a halt.

Shinji noted that whilst the new ship appeared to be fully functional, it had numerous superficial scars and scratches embedded into its hull.

Aria didn't get up as she regarded the new ship for a second before quickly losing interest, "So they sent the Nefrane, did they?" she mused, idly pushing Shinji down onto his back once more.

Shinji looked at the asari cruiser in silence for a moment, "They mustn't have wanted to risk destabilizing the relay by sending the Ascension through. It still seems a bit much just to pick up two people."

"Standard political posturing," murmured Aria almost indifferently as she went about flicking the clips free on Shinji's waistcoat, prowling over him in the process.

A communication indicator blinked to life on Shinji's Omnitool to show an incoming link from the guest quarters on the Elbrus, "Consort Ikari" Came Tevos' voice a second later.

Aria tapped the control to open the link on Shinji's behalf, but otherwise she didn't stop what she was doing, tugging his shirt open with one final, deft movement of her hand.

"Councillor," responded Shinji in kind, stifling a giggle as Aria went back to idly teasing his chest.

"The Captain of the Nefrane has informed me that recalibration of the relay will take approximately six hours. They will then be ready to extract myself for the return journey."

"That's good news." He said, his voice briefly rising to a squeak as Aria playfully bit down on the nape of his neck, "I'll...make sure to see you off."

"That is very kind of you." She paused for a second, "Did I call at an... inopportune moment? You sound distracted."

Aria didn't help her consort's composure much by letting her hand trail down his chest and then sinking below the band of his trousers. Shinji gulped and passed a flushed, irritated glower at Aria. He suspected he wasn't succeeding very much in appearing genuinely upset however, "N-no ma'am," responded Shinji quickly, "Everything is...ah…perfectly fine," he said, having to pause and gasp when Aria took it upon herself to apply subtle pressure through the lining of his pants, teasing his arousal higher.

"Very well," said Tevos, "Would you please inform Justicar Samara of the arrangement. I believe she is currently on board your vessel."

"She is." Said Shinji, trying to sound as perfectly conversational as ever even when Aria shot him a grin before linking her nervous system to his without further warning, "For some reason, she seems to have become…oddly fond of mediating in my port lounge. I'll let her know when I go down and see her."

"I wish you luck with that. Have a pleasant evening, Shinji. I will leave you in Aria's capable hands."

"Thanks," gulped Shinji before ending the linkup. He let Aria steal a long, drawn out kiss for a moment before looking up to chastise her, "She knew what you were up to."

"Of course," responded Aria, who had paused in her ministrations for now and was idly trailing her left palm up and down Shinji's chest, "She wouldn't be very good at her job if she wasn't perceptive."

Shinji's brow then furrowed, "She wished me luck…" he mused, glancing up Aria as her eyes shifted back to their regular hue. The presence in his mind vanished and he suddenly felt a well of disappointment open for just a brief moment. He did his best to hide it however, "What'd she mean by that?"

Shinji leaned up to return her earlier kiss, only for Aria to pull back and shift away to one side.

"You're stopping now?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Aria looked back down at him over one shoulder, "Don't like being teased?"

"Of course not, not like…that."

She narrowed her gaze, "Well now you know how it feels. Besides, I feel you work best once you get appropriately…worked up. You need to be elsewhere tonight."

"B-but…"

Aria trailed a fingertip up the nape of his neck as she responded, cutting him off "In answer to your earlier question, let's just say you might have your work cut out for you even more than you did with Tevos. She was right to wish you luck."

Shinji tried to control his breathing under her touch as he responded. His body often did feel oversensitive after a joining. He smirked, "Did you like your little surprise by the way? I never did manage to get any feedback."

"I was very pleasantly surprised, as was the councillor."

Shinji reached back to touch her hand almost unconsciously, "Well, I did make you a promise…" His smirked widened slightly, "I didn't even know A.T. Fields could be used like that."

"I'll bet that set off some alarms on the Wunder…"

Shinji's brow furrowed then as he tried to remember, "I think I must've had too much to drink. At what point did Kasumi and Tara turn up?"

"Somewhere between the fifth and…seventh time, or about halfway into the third bottle of rum if you're counting in those terms."

"Yeah…things did start getting a little hazy around that point. Poor Tara, she's been ill for days because of that."

"Do you have any plans on how you're going to deal with Samara?"

Shinji blinked, "Come again?"

"You're going down to see her. I checked your journal and-"

"-Please stop hacking into that." Cut in Shinji wearily.

"-Someday, maybe, but according to your little chart, her name has an outstanding mark against it."

Shinji seemed to sink down somewhat and he sighed, "Yes…last one outstanding. I have no idea how Tevos found out about it though."

"Then deal with it."

He looked to her, "B-but…" he stammered once more, before quickly looking away again.

"What is it?" she asked, turning her attention to him fully this time.

"I..." he stopped, as if unable to find the words, and he found his gaze drifting unwillingly past the Nefrane and down towards the Wunder.

There were things to do tomorrow, Shinji knew this.

The Thunder Child was his base of operations, but more than that, it was his simply his refuge; a slice of home. But that dark world seemed to always be just a glance away, no matter how hard he tried to avert his gaze, "I…think I need to be with you tonight."

Aria was quiet for a moment. Normally she would respond without hesitation, but in this instance she took a second to select her words carefully, "If I thought that were the case, then believe me, you would already know it. You need something else tonight."

"And that is?" he murmured distantly.

"You'll work it out," she said dismissively, "As good as you might be with others, you really can be a slow bastard when it comes to working yourself out."

Shinji looked back to her and smiled weakly, "I suppose that's true."

"It's also not wise for you to hold onto debts that you have an opportunity repay. Now go, clear your ledger. Business first."

Shinji nodded, and for some reason the weight on his chest lifted just a little. He sat up also and let himself lean against Aria. She didn't move away this time.

He frowned in thought across at the wall as he flipped his shirt over one shoulder.

"Do you have a plan for dealing with her?" she asked, arching her head about slightly to look at him.

Shinji shrugged and shook his head, "Not this time. Normally I plan everything ahead, but this time I'm just going to have to wing it and hope for the best. If you'd like, I could invite her up here instead and-"

"-I think I'll pass in this instance," interjected Aria, glancing away again "Don't get me wrong, I'm as fond of a decent piece of ass as anybody –and that one is more than decent- but I've had bad luck with justicars in the past. But I'm sure I'll get the play by play from you later as normal. Try to keep me entertained."

"I always do," he said, but then glanced sideways to look back at Aria. He had to ask, "Define 'bad luck'."

Her eyes flicked left to regard him sidelong, "Let's just say that the last one I was with didn't quite know who I was until the morning after. Not that it'd startle you, but I don't consider fighting a justicar while ass-naked and sporting a hangover to be a pleasant way to start my day."

Shinji was now marginally worried. He didn't know what kind of rules justicars had for such situations as the one he was about to instigate. In fact, he considered it a retrospectively bad idea not to have read up on some of their code before now.

Deciding to bite the bullet, Shinji slipped his shirt on and dragged himself to his feet with a sigh.

"Come running if you hear me screaming…" he murmured as he headed up to the doors. They slid open on his approach.

Aria repressed a smirk, but otherwise gave no response.

-Ω-

Shinji slouched back against the wall of the elevator. Dealing with enforcers of justice was normally Aria's specialty, but for some reason he suspected that she wouldn't have bothered much with reading up on their code beyond learning how to use it against them, which wasn't what Shinji was after. If anything, he considered such an action entirely counterproductive to his final goal.

He instead dwelled on one of his previous conversations with the justicar, in particular the one back on Omega before the leviathans attacked.

He turned his attention to his Omnitool then and adjusted some controls, "This is going to cost me…" he murmured, quickly establishing a barely stable link through the relay.

LIVE TIGHTBEAM LINK ESTABLISHED

Shinji sighed and entered a message

From: Consort/Captain Ikari

To: Consort Sha'ira

Priority: HIGH

Subject: RE(134) To my fellow Consort…

Message Body: As ever, I hope you're doing well. This message will come as a break from our normal correspondence, hence the live transmission and priority, and I deeply apologise if I've caught you at a bad moment, and also for the breach in our usual protocol. However, I have a professional query, if you take my meaning.

Do you have any advice on justicars?

Kindest regards

Shinji Ikari

Account information for direct credit transfer attached.

Shinji hit the send button the then let out a long, exasperated breath. He wasn't sure what to expect. The transmission would be received instantly on the other side, but there was no guarantee how long it would take for any response to be sent.

Shinji waited for a moment in silence and then shook his head at his own foolishness. He was starting to worry that he might just be stalling intentionally, most likely out of concern that he might mess things up this time.

Pushing his concerns to the one side along with his trepidation, Shinji reached for the control panel.

Shinji's Omnitool gave a quick buzz and an indicator flashed.

As the tightbeam link was still open, the device opted to feed the communication straight through to avoid incurring the user additional fees.

"Good evening, Shinji…" came the kindly voice, and Shinji nearly jumped out of his skin in response. He swung about, his back pressed against the wall.

He fought to catch his breath for a moment whilst looking quickly about.

There was a pause, "Down here," came the now slightly amused voice. Shinji looked down at his hand.

A tiny holographic image of a person was hovering patiently above his wrist, "C-consort Sha'ira?" stammered Shinji, turning his hand uncomfortably about so he at least wasn't holding her upside down.

She inclined her head as curtly as ever, "Consort Ikari."

"I…ah…didn't expect you to actually call me."

She smiled, responding, "Evidently not, but since your message requested my assistance on a professional level, I thought it best we discuss this directly."

The image flickered briefly, momentarily distorted by the unstable connection, "I...I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, noting that she appeared to be sat on the edge of something resembling a bed, and was dressed in some kind of a nightgown that left very little, if anything, to the imagination. He blinked, "Wait, I didn't wake you, did I?"

Shinji didn't bother to ask if she had been with a client, as he knew she wouldn't answer that kind of question, nor would she have called in the first place if she had been in the midst of an appointment.

"I was merely taking some time to meditate on the day's events, but thank you for your concern. I will however keep this as brief as possible for you."

"On the clock, am I?"

She just smiled again. Shinji wasn't sure what kind of rate Sha'ira put on short notice calls, but he wouldn't be shocked if it was charged at a premium rate, and considering her regular fees…

"You have a client?" she queried, "You will of course have my vow of professional confidentiality should you feel the need to discuss names or specifics."

Shinji nodded.

"A justicar?" she guessed.

"That's right."

She nodded, dwelling on it, "Interesting…"

"I was just wondering if you had any…experience?"

Shinji could see in her eyes that she was trying not to chuckle at his choice of words.

"You know what I mean…." He sighed.

"I always know what you mean," she responded, "How long until the appointment? Do you have weeks, days…?"

"I have however long it takes for this elevator to get me to down a couple of decks."

"That is short notice," her brow furrowed slightly, "You really should learn to schedule further in advance."

Shinji felt a smile pull at his face, "And yet here you are."

She gave him an almost whimsical look, "That's different," and Shinji could almost see her switch modes internally, "Justicars, as a rule, rarely have need of…my kind of services. Self-reliance, as you can imagine, is a common trait for their order."

"So…nothing then?"

She smiled patiently, "Shinji…if you were to give a person advice on how to deal with an encounter with you, what might you say to that person?"

Shinji looked away and frowned in thought, "I…wouldn't really have any. I'm just…me." His gaze returned to Sha'ira only to find her looking at him expectantly, "Is that your way of saying to look past the whole justicar aspect?"

Her expression softened, "I just said that a justicar would rarely feel the urge to accept the attentions of one such as you or I. What does that tell you?"

"Look beneath…" he murmured, realising that he'd been focusing so much on the professional front that Samara put up that he'd only been skimming the surface of what lay underneath. He closed his eyes, "And just do as I would normally do."

"Treat her like a person, as you would anybody else. I do not think you could fail if you did that. Your talent, like mine, lies in an understanding of who people are."

"The who, not the what…"

She nodded, "Precisely."

Shinji briefly cursed himself for losing confidence in himself to the point that he had to be reminded of such a simple thing. It was after all what he'd always done in the past: looking to what he understood and related to in the people he was trying to help, as opposed to focusing on what he didn't.

He smiled, "Thank you, Sha'ira. I…feel a little more like myself again." He looked off to one side for a moment then, "I sometimes think I've been forced to become someone else as of late."

"If that is the case, feel free to call me again should you feel the need. I will endeavour to make time. On another note," she suddenly said, switching tracks again, "I have a proposition for you, professionally speaking. There are some clients whom I am unable to assist for…various reasons, who I feel may be, shall we say, suited to your personal talents. The arrangement could be…very beneficial to us both in the long run, especially considering the identity of some of the clients. Aria I'm sure would also agree," she reached off the image and manipulated something. Another indicator light flashed on Shinji's Omnitool, telling him a new message had come through.

Shinji glanced down as a list flicked up on his display. Sha'ira spoke again, "A list of some of my clients who have expressed an…interest in what you may have to offer. Just something for you to consider when you get back."

His gaze went back to her, "Shall I consider this a favour?"

Her gaze turned almost calculating for a brief instant, "Perhaps…"

Shinji nodded, "I'll certainly give it some serious thought." He wondered briefly if Sha'ira knew that he'd recognised a couple of the names from various news vids that he'd seen, mostly from the business and political channels, "Send me the bill as normal."

She inclined her head, "Of course."

Sha'ira moved to terminate the connection only for Shinji to speak again, "Wait, just…one last thing, if you don't mind of course. Sorry…"

Sha'ira looked patiently back towards Shinji, not a flicker of irritation on her face showing through if she did indeed feel any, "Yes?"

"It's just…there's something I have to ask."

She regarded him in curious silence, prompting him to continue.

"How are you with children?"

She smiled, "I'd like to think I'm rather pleasant company for anyone. I do however limit my range of services for younger clientele. You of course follow." She tilted her head almost curiously, "Why do you ask?"

"Let's just say I may need a quotation for your services. I have this...friend who may be coming back with us. He's probably in dire need of someone to talk to. He's what you might call 'damaged goods'. Think of him as a war orphan."

"I would of course do what I could, but do you not think a dedicated child psychologist would be more suited to the task? Even with such a person hired on an entirely private basis, the costs would still be significantly reduced for your part."

Shinji took a second to think how best to phrase it, "If I'm honest, I think this is one person I wouldn't trust in this way with anybody else in the galaxy…except you."

Her expression softened just a little more at that, "You really are too kind. And is there a reason you feel you cannot help this child yourself?"

Shinji looked away, "Let's also just say that this may be the one person in the galaxy I probably can't help, at least not completely."

She nodded slowly, "Very well. I will do what I can, should you require it of me. I will have my chief acolyte provide you with the appropriate documentation. Usual discounts will of course apply."

"Now who's being too kind?"

Again, that brief, sweet chuckle was his response, "I do try."

"Good night, Sha'ira."

"Likewise. Best of luck, Consort Ikari."

The image vanished and Shinji let out a weary but somewhat relieved sigh. He was starting to understand why people paid so much for the Consort's attentions: She seemed to have a way of making you feel better just by talking with you, even if it is just briefly.

Keeping what both Aria and Sha'ira had said in mind, Shinji tapped a control on the wall panel and started the elevator moving, having kept it on hold for the past few moments whilst he talked to the consort.

The elevator came to a halt again on deck two and Shinji looked up as Garrus boarded and tapped the control for deck five, "Evening, Shinji," he said with a curt nod, "Is there a reason I was standing out there for five minutes? I do hope you weren't fooling around in here. EDEN was strangely silent about it when I asked."

Shinji smiled weakly and shook his head, "I'm sorry about the wait, Garrus. A call came through that I had to take. How's the project coming along?"

He nodded and folded his arms, "Quickly enough. Got a few calibrations to perform on Ω8's sidearm, but otherwise it's almost complete."

"Good, good," murmured Shinji almost distantly.

Silence fell for a moment, "Garrus?" Shinji finally asked.

"What is it?"

"You know Samara quite well, right?"

He inclined his head into a slight nod, "We've been through life and death together on an unhealthily regular basis, yes."

"Is there anything I should…know?"

Garrus turned to look fully at Shinji at that point, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason…"

Garrus narrowed his eyes slightly. He then made a deep noise in his throat akin to an amused hum, "I see…"

Shinji rolled his eyes, "I owe a favour, Garrus, and I'm just repaying it in kind. You know how I work. I was just wondering if there was anything you know that might…assist and make things go a bit smoother."

The turian folded his arms and seemed to dwell on it, "Well…I'm not really sure if it would be appropriate for me to disclose-"

"-Tell me now and I'll let you know the names of the eight women on this ship who are deeply, madly attracted to you," cut in Shinji flatly.

The sudden widening of the eyes and brief silence that Shinji got in response told him a lot.

Garrus turned fully about, "…Eight, you say?"

"Nine, but she's borderline. You might not be surprised to know that I've become very good at reading body language in my old age. Plus, people seem to just like telling me things. EDEN says I have a very disarming face, whatever that means."

Garrus drummed his fingers off his lower arms. His normally aloof attitude had suddenly been replaced by borderline sheepishness, "Would I be…pleased to know who they are?"

"Pleased, oh yes. In one case probably frightened, and in one case most definitely surprised."

Garrus' eyes flicked left and right, as if worried that someone might overhear something. He then shuffled just a few steps closer, "Deal," he said, glancing about once more, "but nothing too personal."

Shinji inclined his head, "Just tell me if there's anything you know that I should avoid mentioning because of the whole justicar thing. Any likes or dislikes might help too."

Garrus nodded, and then seemed to ponder it for a moment, "Well, she's retired for the most part. From what I hear she'll be leaving the service again once Tevos is back through the relay. Her family is a sensitive spot though, best not talk about that unless she volunteers it. Other than that and what I know about her combat skills, she keeps her preferences very much to herself."

"Her family?" asked Shinji, "Did she…lose them?"

"All but one from what I know. And from what I hear she was only recently reunited with her."

Shinji frowned, "Surprises then, is it?" And while Garrus may have said not to bring up her family, Shinji suspected it probably had something to do with her choice to be in her current line of work. And while he may indeed avoid the subject, he'd certainly keep it in mind when choosing his words.

Shinji tapped a few controls on his omnitool and sent a document to Garrus' own device, "That's a list of names," he said, and his brow narrowed into a scowl, "And you didn't get it from me."

Garrus looked down at his screen, nodding absently as he brought up the document. His eyes went wide even as Shinji left the elevator, "You can't be serious," he said, looking up at the captain's back.

"Every last one," said Shinji as he departed, adding, "You go have fun with that," even as the doors began to close.

Garrus had his mouth open as if to say something, but the elevator door closing bit off whatever he may have been about to vocalise. Shinji just kept on walking, smiling slightly as he headed for the lounge, "And one more good deed done."

Shinji hesitated by the lounge door. He tried to remind himself that he'd been through this before. And yet he still had to ask himself what the strange sense of wariness that he couldn't entirely shake was about.

Sucking it up and forcing his apprehension down, Shinji took a step forwards, triggering the door mechanism and allowing him entry.

-Ω-

The lounge door closed behind Shinji with an almost silent series of clicks. He stopped a single step within.

Samara was sat in the centre of the room in perfect silence with her legs folded under her.

Shinji noted how the justicar seemed to exude an almost palpable aura of contentedness to the point that he almost felt bad for intruding on it.

Despite the lounge being one of the more frequented areas of the ship, Samara appeared to have the place entirely to herself. Shinji had to assume this was due to the majority of his somewhat morally dubious crew being wary of spending any time in close quarters with a justicar, especially after the tongue-loosening effects of a few drinks.

Shinji stood in silence for a moment, finding himself at a rare loss for words. He inhaled quietly and opened his mouth to speak.

"Consort Ikari…" said Samara rather suddenly, cutting him off.

"I…hope I'm not disturbing you," he said, still feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Not at all," she said. Her tone was quiet, almost peaceful as she arched her head around to regard him slightly, "I would be glad for the company."

Shinji cocked his head, finding that he had to ask, "How…did you know it was me?"

"I heard your approach. You have a hesitation about you in your steps that is somewhat unmistakable, especially on a ship such as this. Is there a problem?"

Shinji glanced quickly down at his feet before walking to the bar and grabbing a bottle from Aria's reserve along with a pair of tumblers. Samara observed him silently as he then walked over and settled down alongside her, adopting the traditional seiza position as he spoke, "N-no, nothing's the matter."

Samara inclined her head curtly in acknowledgement before returning her gaze ahead, "I see. Is there something I can help you with in that case?"

"No, but councillor Tevos asked me to tell you that she'll be departing in the morning aboard the Nefrane," he said, nodding ahead at the battleship hanging silently in the air alongside them, which by this point had already docked with the Elbrus.

Shinji stole a brief glance at his Omnitool as it indicated a confirmation that the councillor had been transferred over to the recently arrived vessel. He looked to the ships outside once more as he spoke, "That was Moran. He's confirmed that Tevos has been received by the Nefrane and is safely aboard. I've been informed that your navy classifies the interior of your vessels as being part of asari territory, yes?"

"That is correct."

"Then it looks like Tevos made it…" lamented Shinji with a cock of his head, "good for her."

"Then my mission has been accomplished."

"Looks like," said Shini, glancing towards her, "I take it you'll be departing tomorrow too?"

She nodded, "That is my intention," she then glanced at him, "Unless you have any further demand for my services."

Shinji shook his head with a small smile, "No, I don't think it fair to impose on you any further." He bowed his head formally, "Thank you for everything you've done, Samara."

"It was my duty. You have no need to thank me."

"Regardless," he said, to which Samara inclined her head mutely in acknowledgement.

Still looking down, Shinji poured two glasses and then offered one almost offhandedly out as he straightened up, "Rumour has it that you intend to resume your retirement after finishing here."

Samara regarded the offered beverage almost quizzically, "That is also correct."

Shinji cocked his head at the drink, "Is there any kind of grace period before that change comes into effect?"

"No, however I am not sure it would be appropriate to immediately-"

"-might I ask you something?" interjected Shinji gently.

Samara nodded, and so Shinji went ahead and asked, even though he knew he was gambling at this point, "Is there someone out there close to you, someone you hold dear?" he asked, nodding out into the dark.

Samara hesitated before nodding once more, "There is one, yes."

Shinji nodded, as if contemplating her answer, "And if that person were here right now to advise you on this situation, what do you suspect they might say?"

In response, Samara took the glass and inclined her head at the thought, "She would no doubt admonish me for what she would most likely phrase as 'missing an opportunity'." She regarded the swirling liquid carefully, "I really should be beyond such things…"

Shinji sipped his drink, "I should be beyond everything," he murmured, his voice resonating about the inside of the glass, "and yet here I am. Eternity was a long time to wait, even if you don't really remember it."

Samara emptied contents of her glass in one. Shinji watched her hold it in her mouth for a few seconds before drinking it down. She took a long, slow breath through her mouth, "Noverian Rum…" she lamented, "I'm not familiar with it."

"Never had it before now?"

She held her empty glass in her lap between her palms as she responded, "The colony on Noveria was founded sometime after I began my time as a justicar."

Samara accepted a top-up without objection as she asked, "And do you feel your current situation was worth that time of solitude?"

Shinji narrowed his eyes, "By 'situation', do you mean to end up living with an alien career criminal aboard a space station, only to end up getting hurled right back into the same sort of mess that I used to eons ago?"

Samara inclined her head.

Shinji downed his drink and then shook his head to dispel the burn as it lingered just a few too many seconds for comfort, "Absolutely." He responded with a smirk.

Shinji absently trailed his fingertip around the rim of the glass until it released a low, musical hum, "Why, if I'd never ended up on Omega, I wouldn't have found a whole world of new mess to get myself into," he frowned slightly and his eyes went distant before continuing, "I never used to care about the future very much, Samara. My answer to an essay when I was younger about what I'd like to do when I was older was literally 'nothing', and that I probably wouldn't care very much even if I died."

Samara glanced briefly sidelong at Shinji, "A morbid response for one so young."

Shinji smiled grimly at the memory, "My teacher made me redo it. Told me to take it seriously." He paused to let out a weary sigh, "I used to just live each day as they came. I did as I was told and nothing more. And when I became an EVA pilot that was me just living to do as I was told again, all for the sake of trying to please others…" his brow narrowed into a frown, "come to think of it, I think I might have had some real initiative issues back then."

"And what changed?"

"I had an epiphany. A rather big one; an earth-shattering one. You might even call it a reality-altering one."

"May I ask what it was?"

Shinji shrugged and he smiled weakly, "It sounds silly when I say it, but it was literally just realising that I could be any way I wanted to, and that to do or to stop doing something didn't make me any more or less myself. I learned that even if I hate myself, I might be able to learn to love myself. It was all literally a matter of perspective."

"And you…altered your perspective?"

Shinji nodded, "After some thought, I realised that maybe the world wasn't such a bad place after all." His smirk tugged tighter, "but then something else changed. After all the years alone, something I didn't realise I was missing showed up."

"And that was?"

That smirk darkened a tad at that, changing Shinji's expression to a borderline mischievous one, "A corrupting influence. Sometimes all we need is a push in the right direction for us to see that we really can be any way we wish to be."

"Interesting…" said Samara, and she almost seemed to muse silently on the concept while turning her attention ahead once more.

"And what about you?" asked Shinji after a brief silence, moving automatically to top up both glasses again.

Samara inclined her head back towards Shinji, both out of courtesy for the drink, and curiosity at the question. She didn't speak, but merely looked at him in request for clarification.

Shinji shifted his seating position to restore some circulation as he responded, "Now that you're not a justicar, technically, what would you like for yourself?"

She looked away again, obviously thinking on it, and Shinji could tell that it probably wasn't the first time she'd posed that question to herself.

Samara took a moment to reduce the double in her glass to a single before responding, "I became a justicar to atone for my past mistakes. You must understand, I fully expected to die in service to the order. I, like you, never had much thought for my personal future."

"And yet you didn't die. Here you are, alive, and frankly as atoned as a person can be. Your future is like mine was: a blank slate." He turned his attention to the stars in the night sky outside, "Out of everything out there that's open to you, in the great vastness of that galaxy, what would you like to just do?"

It was her turn to regard him, "May I ask why you are so curious?"

His smile returned almost automatically, "Think of this as part of my returning a favour."

"As I recall, physical attentions were what you offered above the philosophical."

Shinji's smile again tugged tighter for an instant. He repressed a chuckle before responding, "I can jump to that if you insist, but humour me for now: What is Samara like when she cuts loose?"

"Are you attempting to be a corrupting influence now?" she asked, clearly avoiding the question, and Shinji watched her finish her third double shot. He wondered if her mentioning about his previous offer was the asari equivalent to a Freudian slip on her part, possibly brought on by creeping inebriation. He also had to assume her alcohol tolerance had probably lessened over the years, not that that seemed to be slowing her down very much.

"I prefer to phrase it as a push in the right direction."

Samara allowed Shinji to top her up again, though he kept it to just a single this time, "You remind me of another human I once knew," she commented, "That person appeared to have a similar goal in mind to yours."

"I recall you mentioning someone like that," said Shinji, remembering back to one of their earlier conversations, "Did this human ever succeed?"

Samara looked ahead almost pointedly this time, "…that is for me alone to know."

Shinji smirked. Her reaction implied that the answer was either a resounding 'yes', or a regretful 'sorely tempted, opportunity missed'.

"Okay," said Shinji with a nod, "Well you do recall my offer, then?"

She nodded.

"And also that I would be sorely insulted if I missed the opportunity to repay my debt?"

A shorter inclination of the head was his response, along with, "I do recall words to that effect, yes."

"And this will be the last opportunity I will have to repay that debt for the foreseeable future…"

Another nod.

"Right, and so what would do you suppose that person waiting for you back home who you mentioned earlier might say, if he or she knew you were going to willingly, yet admittedly politely, pass this opportunity up?"

She looked to him, "She," Samara confirmed, "I suspect, would be most displeased with me. In her own way."

Shinji chuckled, "Okay, and so taking all of that into account…" he said, setting his glass down close enough to hers so that his fingertip brushed subtly against the top of her hand. Samara looked down as Shinji continued, his voice lowering, "What do you suppose should happen next…justicar Samara?"

The former justicar turned her head to look at him for a long moment, searching the cobalt pools of his eyes for something. Without warning, she stood fluidly to her feet, her eyes set ahead, "Accompany me. We should continue this elsewhere."

"As you wish," said Shinji, standing up, "but why?"

"Because I prefer such matters to be conducted in private whenever possible, and Kasumi has been sitting shrouded in the corner of the room since before your arrival. I believe she was hoping you would fail to notice her presence."

"You're no fun," came an almost pouting voice from somewhere off in the corner, "It was just about to get good."

"That'll do, Kasumi…" said Shinji flatly as he turned and followed on after Samara.

"Aye-aye, Captain" sighed the disembodied voice in the instant before the doors closed behind him.

-Ω-

"I hope your quarters were satisfactory," said Shinji in that quiet tone he liked to use whilst 'working'. He wasn't too shocked to find out that Samara wore nothing under her justicar garb, it didn't leave too much to the imagination after all, especially in terms of the top half.

The now former justicar had been sharing a room with Tisala since coming on board, the exec's room being just large enough to comfortably house two people on a temporary basis, just so long as they didn't mind sharing a bed.

Tisala hadn't minded.

Shinji noted that the former justicar hadn't permitted herself any vocal exclamations of pleasure or relaxation so far.

He dug his thumb into the nape of her neck, working out the subtly toned muscles he felt there. The only indication of her satisfaction was the subtle changes in the breaths Shinji felt her taking underneath him.

That was more than he needed.

Most would be embarrassed beyond belief to be crouched over a naked asari whilst wearing only their undergarments, but Shinji had swiftly grown past such things. The constant barrages of tests he used to be exposed to at NERV whilst wearing even less had helped some way towards that.

He used his knee to apply pressure into the lower left of her back while she replied. Her tone was as perfectly even as ever, even though Shinji could feel the subtle increases in body temperature against the inside of his thighs, "More than adequate. I am grateful to your officer for accommodating me. She was very pleasant company."

Shinji smiled and shifted his attention to the other side, "I wouldn't think you'd need to mention it. Tisala was…more than happy to offer you some accommodation." His right hand drifted down the back of her thigh, he teased the muscles just like the others until they yielded, releasing what tension they held under his ministrations, "How many?" he asked.

"How many?" she echoed.

"How many times did she come onto you?"

"Your officer requested specifically that I not answer that particular question should you ask it."

Shinji chuckled, "So more than once then. She's a bit clumsy when admitting her own feelings, but she tries to keep her heart in the right place. I take it you guessed that she's an admirer of yours."

"I had reached that conclusion, yes," she responded, even as Shinji ran his palm over the soft, yet still subtly coarse blue skin near her shoulders.

Samara inclined her head against the pillow, as if conceding a point, "Had it been several hundred years ago, I believe that I would have readily given into her advances. You may reassure her of that."

"I'm sure her ego will be glad to hear that," Shinji's brow furrowed then and he gave a thoughtful hum.

"Is there a problem?"

"To be honest," he said as he sat back slightly and wiped his oiled hands against his thighs, "I've never seen anyone quite like you before. You do not have a single knotted muscle in your entire body. You are in…perfect shape."

She rested her head on its side to pass Shinji a sidelong glance after giving his form a brief, surveying look without actually altering her gaze, "A compliment?"

He shrugged, "a somewhat professionally astonished observation…and a compliment."

"Thank you," she responded simply, and then seemed to inhale far more sharply than she intended to when Shinji's hands slid up her lower back and he massaged gently in a firm circle above the general area a human would have their tailbone.

Samara's fingertips tensed against the fabric of the bedsheets.

"Interesting," mused Shinji almost clinically as he let his other hand drift down the side of her ribcage, capturing the swell of one breast in his palm to tease the sensitive area about her areola. He didn't relent with his other hand however, "almost every single asari I've encountered is almost equally sensitive upon that spot. I'll have to read up on that…"

Samara shifted, seemingly to make to turn over, only for Shinji to dig in deeper with his left hand without warning. Her entire torso tensed rigidly up in response. In his right, he felt further clear evidence of her rising arousal.

"There it is…" he whispered, leaning down over her now. Using his knee to keep pressure up, he gently circled his arms about her torso. The mere act of the embrace drew an unwilling gasp from the asari, and her entire body seemed to relax down into his arms an instant later.

'And likes to be the one being held…' noted Shinji silently to himself with a cocked eyebrow, 'Interesting, didn't see that one coming.'

"Are you feeling better now?" murmured Shinji into her ear before resting his forehead against the pillow alongside her head, grinning slightly, "I could stop if you'd like."

Her breath was hot against his cheek when it came out, "I wasn't objecting."

Shinji hummed, briefly enjoying having her like that as his palms gently caressed the smooth but again subtly textured skin of her chest. He idly caressed one taut nipple between his ring and middle finger, coaxing arousal slowly and subtly higher, "So…" he murmured, his voice low, "Ask yourself: Are you ready to cut loose yet?"

That was his goal, as it always was: using physical intimacy as a mere conduit to help people realise things about themselves and move on, if only by just a single step.

Samara took a sharp intake of breath, as if surprised by some reaction within herself. Shinji was actually surprised when she seemed to swallow almost audibly. It was one of the most involuntary actions he'd seen from yet.

The former justicar inhaled long and deep. Shinji felt her then release the breath slowly out underneath him.

He smirked. She was calming herself, restoring a brief loss of control, "And you?" she asked, her tone was controlled, but Shinji could hear a subtle undercurrent of something else.

Shinji blinked, briefly startled, "Me?"

"You surely have greater concerns than some minor personal debts."

Shinji melted slowly away from Samara.

Sensing the sudden change in his mood, she rolled slowly onto her back to regard him. Clearly uncaring of her personal state of undress, she didn't make to cover up.

Shinji looked away and smiled almost ruefully. Only now did he realise why Aria had insisted on his doing this: she'd seen what he'd been trying to hide.

Shinji would've call his bondmate-to-be annoyingly perceptive, would it not have been a very hypocritical thing for him to say.

"I…" he began, pausing briefly, hesitating almost, "…have found myself picking up something that I thought had been left behind forever. I'm restarting Project E, Samara, and I'm doing it with my own two hands."

"And this worries you?" she asked, sitting up between his thighs and settling her arms about his torso.

"No…I'm just resurrecting forbidden technology and preparing to battle for the future of an entire planet. Why on Earth would I be worried?" His smile turned from tight to almost sad, "And Aria saw it in me like I'd scrawled it on my face…that must be why she insisted I remember to take care of this: she wanted me to get back a sense of normality." He chuckled dryly then, "And this is normal now, how about that."

"Choosing to help others is not a vocation to be ashamed of." She said, gently leaning forwards to usher him down onto his back under her, even as he looked off into the distance, frowning in thought.

Shinji blinked and returned his attention to her, only realising then the switch in their positions, "W-what are you doing?"

She tilted his chin up to look deep into his eyes, "You asked me if I was ready to 'cut loose'?" she replied simply, leaning in closer.

Shinji smiled with amusement even as she reached down with her other hand to finish disrobing him so he matched her own state of complete undress. She then returned the weight of her chest to his as she settled back over him once more, "I did," Shinji responded.

Her gaze remained unflinching as she drew her thigh across his, "The answer to that would be yes." Her stare seemed to pierce right into him then, holding the consort in place under her, "Are you?"

Shinji suppressed a shudder of something akin to arousal spliced with sudden fear.

It was a very pleasant sensation. And he only had one perfect response for her query.

"Let's find out."

Shinji barely had a second to register the change in Samara's eyes in the instant before she finally covered his lips with hers and fused her nervous system straight into his through the entirety of their embrace.

The consort's fingers clenched reflexively into Samara's shoulders at the sudden influx of sensation. He was sure he was drawing blood, or that might have been her own hands digging into his flesh. It was hard to tell at that point.

The sudden shift pulled a startled cry of pleasure from the depths of Shinji's throat. Samara responded with a low hum that seemed to travel across the length of her tongue as it massaged against his and then right down into his core. Shinji felt her hand rub a gentle caress down his arm in response, as if to sooth what bordered for him on a moment of panic.

Passion. That was the swirling undercurrent in Samara's mind realised Shinji; so deeply controlled and suppressed, yet it was reaching up now to engulf him. Her mind was powerful, almost terrifyingly so.

He dared not gnaw at what restraints Samara had around her mind like he had the councillor once before. He briefly feared that the storm of passion she controlled, which she was now unleashing about him in a carefully escalating cascade, might be more than even he could handle.

He was intensely aware of her tongue intertwining about his as he let his hands roam her form, embracing her closer.

He'd been staggered, that was what Shinji suddenly realised with a start while simultaneously fighting to form a coherent thought. She was dominating him, almost aggressively so, and he was falling behind.

He couldn't permit that. He had a reputation to keep.

But what could he do?

He was powerfully aware of the sensations as Samara adjusted her thighs about his. Her palm came to rest atop his chest. A sudden, mutual sigh of pleasure escaped them both as Shinji felt his sensitive manhood press against her entrance in the instant before it was drawn up inside the white hot core of his lover. And her slow, measured movement didn't stop until her hips were pressed firmly against his and she had him buried deeply and securely within her.

She had him, realised Shinji through the haze of pleasure as Samara leaned forwards to rest against him, her fingers entwining with his once more. A rhythmic, massaging sensation about the most sensitive are of his body made it impossible now to ignore how much she had him.

With his mouth still open and breathing heavily, Samara returned her lips to his and so continued her duel with his tongue while her hips began to shift with slow insistent strokes, drawing him back and forth inside of her.

There was only one thing for it then, realised the consort: let her have him.

'Let's see what you can take…'

Shinji relaxed his mind and sank deeper within his partner both physically and mentally as their bodies fell into an unconscious rhythm about them. And when the lines began to truly blur between them, he drew her even deeper within the calm core of his own consciousness. He let his mind compliment Samara's at a subconscious level. He let her know what she needed to know: that it was okay to simply yield right now; that in this place there would be no judgement, merely another soul who knows the pain of being unable to escape one's own guilt…and that sometimes it's okay to just let it all go.

The concerns and nagging feelings at the back of Samara's mind suddenly evaporated at her partner's behest, allowing her mind to suddenly focus without distraction on the sensations and emotions going on in the present, without the filter of the past keeping hold of her.

Shinji wasn't sure if Samara intended to bite so hard on his lower lip, but the fact he'd drawn such an involuntary reaction from her pleased him to no end.

'Point to me…'

He knew with certainty now that Samara's nails were digging into his hand, and that the hot, viscous substance running down his wrist wasn't mere perspiration. The tightness within her increased suddenly also, and the movements of her hips became shorter. Shinji couldn't stop his back arching up against her just a little in response as spikes of pleasure raked his form. But he couldn't lose ground, not now.

Shinji took the opportunity at that point to slip one hand free of Samara's to cradle the small of her back. That gave him the leverage to roll her gently over until he was on top again, in both senses of the word.

Samara didn't object. Her eyes were clouded over and had been little more than pools of black for some time now. He did notice a moistness about those eyes however. Shinji took a moment to encapsulate the engorged bud of her nipple in his mouth, raking his teeth teasingly over the surface and sending brief trembles up the former justicar's frame. Her fingers dug down into his shoulders in response as Shinji moved up to kiss her briefly once more.

"I see now…" was all she whispered as she looked up at him with those hazy, black eyes, hooking a leg about the back of his thigh to draw him fully back into her once more.

Shinji's gaze softened and he smiled back at her, "Most do, sooner or later..."

From there on there was no competition, just a seeming eternity of union, until their shortening movements allowed Shinji to sense the oncoming build-up to a rather earth-shattering finale creeping over the horizon. Soon there would be no avoiding it.

Samara's ample chest heaved under Shinji and mashed against his as she hooked her arm tightly about his neck to drag him closer, sealing her mouth firmly over his once more. The leg hooked about his grew taut, holding him deep within whilst allowing him to keep moving without coming close to actually being released from her form.

Shinji attempted to slow the pace. Samara wouldn't allow it however, keeping control of the rhythm between them now with the subtle yet powerful muscles in her thigh and the arms she kept about his back, "Let it happen…" came her whispered command, along with a hot breath that swam over the nape of Shinji's neck and sent his nerves to tingling. He wasn't sure if Samara had merely spoken or if the words had also been sent mentally via their bond, but that soft yet insistent command was enough. Both were past the point of no return now, and when it finally hit, it felt like a thunderbolt comprised of pure ecstasy striking their mutual systems.

Samara's cry was unrestrained for the first time, and the mutual pleasure being shared from both perspectives was more than Shinji's mind could take as the asari gripped him close in both her arms. The internal massage he was being subjected to at the same time finally became far too much for him to bear and he released himself deep within her.

Shinji wasn't sure how long the storm if climax lasted as she coaxed him mentally and physically whilst at his peak, each release of his essence being aided by a strong, rhythmic contraction of her inner muscles, as if she were doing her best to force him to ride out the pleasure for as long as was physically possible. Spots swam over Shinji's vision after a period, before the world finally turned to white about him.

'Fine…we'll call it a draw.'

Shinji wasn't sure how long he'd been out when he finally came back to his senses. He first became aware of a familiar kind of warmth emanating from all about him. The sight of a dark blue arm and bare leg draped about his form confirmed his suspicion: he was lying in the arms of another. Samara had him nestled securely against her atop the sheets. His neck was nestled against the cushioned mound of her chest and the rhythmic rising and falling of it against him threatened to lull him swiftly back to slumber once more.

"Thank you," came the words from somewhere just above his head, and it amazed Shinji how Samara was sometimes able to speak without fully breaking a silence.

A weak smile tugged at the consort's lip, "You're very welcome. Though I should apologise: it's normally my job to do the holding afterwards, except when Aria's involved of course. I'm normally not on this end of it." He rested his hand atop of the arm hooked over his waist, his other coming to idly stoke the smoother inner skin of the asari's thigh. Her arms tightened just a little in response, though her breathing remained perfectly even and slow.

"I'm more than content as I am, you need not concern yourself," Samara's voice was as calm as ever, though it held a somewhat more tranquil note than it normally did, "Rest now…"

Shinji began to close his eyes once more, "Aria was right," he murmured, "I think…I did need this."

Samara looked down upon him as he returned to his sleep. She considered briefly commenting that perhaps the sentiments were mutual, but she suspected Shinji knew that already. Instead, she merely rested her head against the nape of her lover's neck and drew him slightly closer before allowing herself to drift off into peaceful slumber.

-Ω-

Shinji was stood atop the podium in the CIC the next morning. A holographic transmission was being displayed through the system that normally generated the galaxy map, "Thank you once more for all your assistance, Consort Ikari," said Tevos with her usual courtesy.

Shinji bowed his head, "I was just doing my job, Madam Councillor, but it was my pleasure regardless."

Tevos bowed her head back, choosing to leave it at that. There would be no more words, no more expressions of debt, they were equal now and all was square between them.

Shinji just hoped it could remain that way for the foreseeable future.

The consort turned his attention to the former justicar, who stood alongside the councillor, "Thank you again for your help, Samara."

"It is as you said: I was merely doing my duty. You have however given me…much to think about."

Shinji smiled, "Then I suppose I must have done something right. Always good to know."

Samara turned her attention to the Turian standing off behind Shinji, "Garrus Vakarian…" she said, inclining her head towards her old comrade.

Garrus nodded back, "It was good getting to work with you one more time, Samara."

Samara nodded in silent agreement.

Tevos cut back in at that point, "We will be departing momentarily. I wish you luck with your endeavours, and the challenges I know you have coming."

Shinji nodded, "Thank you both." And with that, the image shimmered as both asari vanished from view.

A moment later, the indicator representing the Nefrane vanished from the display on the console before Shinji, signalling the departure of the asari warship through the relay.

"And that's that…" lamented Garrus.

Shinji fell into silence then for a moment. He stared off ahead into the distance and said nothing until he heard Garrus depart from behind him, leaving only one other standing there, "You were right." he finally said, "you were…very right."

"Of course I was," said Aria from somewhere off behind him.

"I…needed time to distance myself and find focus again. Going back to my old job for a while helped."

He looked back to Aria then, his brow furrowing, "You knew that?"

Aria merely regarded him back as stoically as ever, "You're not as complicated as you think."

Shinji smiled, "How is it that that actually sounds like a compliment when it comes from you?" He adjusted the panel then to clear his display and restore the usual holographic image of the map behind him, "I hope Tisala didn't mind me hijacking her room last night by the way."

"I kept her suitably entertained," remarked Aria.

"Good girl," said Shinji with a chuckle as he turned about and stepped down. He stopped alongside the pirate, staring past her at something in the distance, "Thank you, Aria..."

She passed him a sidelong glance, "You're getting sentimental in public again. I don't like that."

Shinji's smile returned and he carried on walking into the elevator, "liar."

-Ω-

Shinji found himself standing on the gantry in the cage some time later. He watched as the crews prepared the finishing touches to the connections between EVAs Ω2 and Ω8.

"You didn't give me any advance notice about the arrival of that other ship," said Misato from behind him while she too looked down to survey the EVAs.

Shinji glanced briefly back at her. He noted that the younger Shinji was sanding not far off from her. The consort had observed that while his younger self seemed to be just a little less reserved as of late, he knew that the child still had a long way to go. He also noted that despite everything that had happened, he seemed more often than not to be in the company of the WILLE commander, which frankly intrigued the elder Shinji. He wondered if either of them had even noticed that yet.

The consort opted not to voice any of his thoughts and simply turned back to the EVAs once more, "I didn't know when they would be arriving," he responded with a slight shrug, "I was expecting a transport ship or tactical scout. I honestly didn't think the asari would send an actual warship."

"And they opted not to remain?" asked Misato, her attention now fixed on the elder Shinji.

Shinji nodded, "Their task was to extract Councillor Tevos and nothing more. Everything else happening here they can't get involved in. Besides, things would probably get…unpleasantly complicated if the Citadel fleets chose to intervene."

As Misato didn't have any personal insight on the inner workings of alternate realities, she chose not to comment on that statement. Instead, she decided to focus on what was actually irritating her about the whole incident, and where her problem actually lay with it, "You ignored my comms during the night when I tried to get an explanation. If you want us to work this closely together then I expect to be kept informed."

Shinji chose not to remind Misato that, as far as he was concerned, WILLE was working for him, not with him. Instead, he just sighed tiredly, "I was…otherwise preoccupied. I promise, if it had been an emergency then you have my assurances that it would've been called in." His brow furrowed in recollection, "As I recall you used to hate being woken up in the middle of the night."

Misato looked away, her irritation spiking.

His eyes narrowed, remembering still, "You used to get such horrible bed-hair…"

"Is that why you always take so long to get ready every morning, captain?" Came the voice of Mari from up in the direction of EVA-Ω8, her loudspeaker suddenly engaged.

"Listening in, Mari?" asked Shinji, looking up at where he assumed the EVA's eyes were.

"I have a directional mic now," chimed Mari, "and all these other buttons too…" and by her voice, Shinji could tell that she was marvelling at her surroundings. He knew that the entry plug control interface had been completely swapped out with both new software and hardware. The main external display had been modified also to be able to provide the pilot with full 360 panoramic when needed. This had been accomplished by way of a series of defensive drones that orbited the neck of the Evangelion when deployed from the shoulder pylons. The old tactile controls had also been replaced with their modern holographic counterparts. The only physical controls that actually remained from before was the control yokes.

"Wait, how am I actually even pressing these things?" she asked, and the lights on the EVA's armour suddenly flashed, followed quickly by the whistling cry of a distress flare that shot out of one of the neck joints, only to ricochet off the ceiling and then narrowly miss Doctor Vara by a few feet. All this indicated Mari to be deeply engrossed in the process of toying with random buttons.

"Sorry about that," said Mari almost timidly, "You okay, Dr. Scales?"

Vara didn't dignify her with a response beyond a disgruntled mutter.

"Mari, stop playing with the control systems until we can walk you through them," sighed Ritsuko as she looked over some final calculations. She was flanked by a pair of salarians who murmured to her the occasional correction to the figures going into the system. If the former vice-captain actually cared that her two assistants happened to be reptiles from an alternate universe, then to her credit she hid it extremely well.

"But in answer to your question," said Shinji, pausing to flick the flare off the gantry with his foot, "there are electrodes in your new plug suit's fingertips and palms. They simulate feedback so it feels like your fingers are making contact with something." he held up his own gloved hand, "mine have them in too. Some people, ship officers normally, have them implanted in their fingertips, but most make do without going that far."

Vara climbed the steps up to the platform after carefully skirting the exclusion zone around the crystalline bridge between the EVAs, "Final checks complete. Doctor Akagi?" he asked, looking towards her.

Ritsuko exhaled a breath and shook her head as she regarded her clipboard, "We're going by abstract mathematics here, so nothing's certain," she took off her wireframe glasses and slipped them into her coat pocket, "but the figures check out. If this will work, then it's all on him." She said, nodding at the elder Shinji.

Shinji nodded in kind and stepped forwards, "Okay," he announced loudly, drawing the attention of all within earshot, "There should be no danger to anybody here. However, any Lilim present who aren't sitting inside of an EVA right now should probably evacuate the cage, just in case."

"Why?" asked Misato, "What's the worst case scenario?"

Shinji shrugged and stepped out of the slippers he'd been wearing in preparation for what was to happen and then started shrugging off his shirt, "Worst case? I lose my concentration, my A.T Field catalyzes with the core material along with the two EVAs and an anti-A.T Field gets generated into the immediate vicinity, reducing any Lilim unlucky enough to be caught within it into a pool of LCL. Beyond that, probably nothing."

Shinji realised that he probably should've commented that he was actually joking for the most part, and hoped his smile carried that fact across. He finished slipping off his shirt at that point, exposing unbeknownst to him the series of scratches still running up his back and arms from the previous night. His words, combined with that sight were enough to set a certain someone off, "Shinji-kun!" snapped Misato, her voice like a whiplash that caused both Shinji's present to flinch. Her voice then dropped to an almost dangerous growl, "Are you taking any of this seriously?"

Shinji looked back at her, and Misato noticed suddenly that his smile no longer reached his eyes, "Am I taking this whole thing seriously?" he asked, and then shook his head, "No, Misato-san, of course I'm not. I've got the weight of a world resting on my shoulders. Tell me how I could possibly take that seriously and manage to still keep coping?"

"It's your coping mechanism?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

Shinji shrugged as he turned about once more and tossed his shirt over the railing, "Your words, not mine. I will say though that I am more focused this morning than I've probably been in quite some time.

"Seriously though, you should probably all leave, just to be safe. If there's any energy released then I'm not sure if the containment fields will be enough to hold in all the discharge."

Shinji didn't turn about as people started moving again behind him. Instead, he kept focus on the red platform at the bottom of the steps between the EVAs. Black pillars surrounded it at a distance, the cables linked to the EVA cores were in turn linked into these. Multiple field generators had been set up beyond that, creating the large exclusion zone on the floor of the cage.

Shinji stood motionless for a long moment until the prolonged silence confirmed he was alone. He then inhaled a deep breath, which he let out as a long, weary sigh as he looked to the two EVAs towering above him. Even in their current sitting positions and incomplete state, they presented an imposing sight, "And now it's just us..."

"You say like that's a bad thing, Doggie-kun," said Mari.

Shinji turned his attention to EVA-Ω2, "How are you doing, Asuka?"

There was silence for a few seconds before a voice sounded out from the red EVA's speaker system, "Will this even work?" Asuka finally responded, her tone guarded.

Shinji smiled, "Why, worried that everything I've been saying up until now has been complete and utter nonsense?"

Shinji expected to hear a scoff in response along with Asuka's usual haughtiness. Neither came, "I'm worried that I'm starting to believe it might not have been."

"You're worried what might happen if you put your faith in Shinji Ikari once more?" he asked, briefly switching modes, expression softening slightly, "The fact that you fear doing it, but hope to be able to regardless should be enough."

"Your words," said Asuka, quietly echoing Shinji's prior sentiment, "not mine."

Shinji looked the EVA dead-on, "Asuka…neither my younger self nor I have ever tried to let you down. Regardless of what you may think about your Shinji, I can tell you right now that all he's ever tried to do is his best."

Asuka said nothing.

Shinji smiled, "Did you know he tried to flatten NERV central after that incident with the Dummy System? That never happened in my reality –mind you the circumstances were somewhat different- but I thought that was rather sweet of me, don't you?"

Shinji caught the sound of sputtering over the comm system, followed by more silence.

He cocked his head, "Are you pouting in there now?"

A chuckling could be heard coming from EVA-Ω8.

"J-just shut up and fix my EVA….idiot."

Shinji bowed his head in acquiescence, murmuring, "That's the spirit"

"I heard that…"

Shinji rolled his eyes. Like the others, he briefly questioned his wisdom of dropping that much advanced tech into the hands of the two pilots, "Getting the hang of things in there?" he asked, getting back on track.

"Yeah, I've got it," grumbled Asuka, "It's just the same as before with a bit more flash and a few extra options."

Shinji nodded, "Right. Well since all the control booths were destroyed when the Thunder Child crashed, it's just going to be the three of us in here. All the others will be able to do is monitor the status of your EVAs from outside. But then this isn't really something that they would have had any control over once it starts regardless. Just remember though: on top of all that, we're only getting one shot at this. If we mess this up now, Asuka's core will most likely end up damaged beyond repair."

"Noted," said Asuka gravely.

"Roger that," responded Mari.

Shinji nodded once in acknowledgement. He then began walking down the steps and across what felt to him to be a seemingly endless distance to the red barriers of the exclusion zone.

"Those are some serious marks you've got on you," observed Mari, "Who'd you pick a fight with?"

"You know I wasn't fighting, Mari…" sighed Shinji as he kept on walking.

"I know, I know. So…who was the lucky lady then?"

Shinji smiled reluctantly, knowing Mari was just trying to lighten the mood in her own way, "Client confidentially, Illustrious. I don't kiss and tell." His gaze flicked up to her then, "Well, not unless someone was spying on me in the first place anyway."

"I still have a copy of that by the way," prodded Mari with a smirk.

"Good," said Shinji indifferently, "Make sure you send me one. I'd like to review it when I get a chance."

Mari frowned slightly, "Oh, there was nothing wrong with your performance. I think Shikinami can vouch for that too."

"Well of course not," replied Shinji with a marginal shrug, "I just want it for the record. There are some notes I'd like to make in my journal. The visual reference would help."

"Oh…" said Mari, sounding actually disappointed by the lack of a flustered response, "So why have you taken your shirt and shoes off?" she asked, opting to change the subject,

Shinji smirked, "Less interference. I don't have a plug suit ready, so it's either this or just be stark naked."

Mari could be heard taking a breath in preparation to talk again.

"Don't…say it, Mari." Cut in Asuka before her co-pilot could speak.

The security field vanished as Shinji approached, reappearing again as soon as he crossed the cordon.

He paused in front of the tower of gleaming, laser-carved core material and then closed his eyes.

Mari and Asuka watched in silence as Shinji's body began to glow slowly from within. The points of red on his wrists appeared to light up like tiny crimson stars from a distance. A halo glowed to life above his head then, and the light under his skin became bright enough to light up the entire bay.

The myriad of scratches on the consort's torso sealed up and vanished as his Angelic side took hold and instantly regenerated any outstanding imperfections.

Asuka felt a tingle in her covered eye as she watched the elder Shinji ascend slowly into the air and then touch down atop the dais. The Second Child's eye could actually be seen to shimmer with a subtle blue light beneath its containment, and she could hear a note resonating throughout the cage, even from within her entry plug.

The instant Shinji's feet made contact with the core material, the light in his body seemed to seep out into it until the entire platform was glowing a vibrant bloody red.

Shinji stood there for a moment, his head lowered and eyes closed, as if he were focusing on something that couldn't be seen.

Shinji then raised his chin up slightly, and the two other pilots observed as he opened his eyes once more.

Both Mari and Asuka could see clearly from where they sat that Shinji's eyes too now glowed with the same light as the core material beneath him.

Shinji's gaze was focused on the far wall between the two EVAs when he finally spoke, "Begin." He decreed, his voice echoing almost inhumanly about the two mecha.

Mari nodded. A frown was etched into her normally carefree features as she tapped a few holographic controls and then took hold of the EVA's controls, "Initiating first stage connections. Backup batteries are showing as charged; power levels in main reactor are reading stable."

Shinji responded without moving or nodding, "Right. Remember, Mari: this part might feel a little…odd. Just remember not to fight it."

Mari closed her eyes and squeezed a control. A shimmering of light passed over her and the connection to the EVA continued to its next phase.

Shinji's fist clenched as the presence of Mari's EVA began to creep up through him like a slowly spreading electrical current, until finally it bled about his consciousness and the circuit between he and the EVA was complete.

'Focus…' Shinji reminded himself, 'let none of yourself into it. Just let her pass through. You're nothing but a stepping stone for her to cross.'

Mari inhaled a sharp gasp of air as she felt herself synch with the EVA just as she had a hundred times before, only there was a difference this time: her mind was moving past its former confines and expanding outwards, as if to fill some space that hadn't been there before, "Wh-what…what is this?"

'Cross-synchronisation,' responded Shinji, and it took Mari an instant to realise that he hadn't actually spoken out loud, 'you're synchronising with me through the EVA. I'm going to direct you to Asuka's EVA and use my S2 cores to regenerate the one in her EVA using the structure of your own as a template.'

"Will that work?"

'Your EVAs are both Production-Type models, and are essentially clones of each other. It will work. Just so long as I can-'

"-what is this?" cut in Mari in an awed tone, "I can feel what you're-"

"Stop!" bellowed Shinji out loud, causing both Asuka and Mari to wince. She sensed his composure return an instant later however, 'Stop…focusing on me. I'm just here to form a link. If either of us lose focus then things could get very messy.'

"Messy?"

'Quiet, Mari. Now if you've got a place to go in your head for contemplating your navel then I suggest you take this opportunity to pay it a visit.'

It took a few moments for things to harmonise, but eventually the cage became alive with the steady sound of Shinji's A.T. Field resonance.

Shinji had his focus and Mari was calm, though it turned out that she liked to put herself in such a state by singing to herself, which was fine as far as Shinji was concerned.

'Just keep yourself like that, Mari.' Said Shinji through their link, 'I'm making what's left of EVA-Ω2's core an extension of your own.'

'Got it,' she responded, not even bothering to speak out loud either now.

Shinji had to actually vocalize now with a prompt of, "Asuka…"

She nodded, "Opening synchronisation circuits…" and with that, the red EVA began attempting to link its pilot to what remained of the core. Nothing happened of course, but it was essential for the attempt at connection to at least be there in progress.

Finally, the link to what was left of the damaged core was established, and Shinji began his work. His body flashed brightly, just as a series of angular, almost bladelike orange wings began unfurling from his back.

A twinge of something bordering on fear went through Asuka as she looked out at the glowing form, 'He has wings like they do too?'

The platform under Shinji fractured and then shattered abruptly before reforming into a hovering sphere of viscous red liquid beneath his feet. Shinji held position in mid-air.

The substance held itself still for an instant underneath Shinji's feet, before moving to coil about the cables and then snake up toward the fractured remnants of the exposed core, where it melded and sank seamlessly into it.

While all this went on both pilots kept focus, seeking the other out as the core regenerated. EVA-Ω8 simply used the energy being offered up by Shinji as if it were merely regenerating a part of itself.

EVA-Ω2's core cracked suddenly, just as the platform had, shifting into a liquid state. It convulsed and flexed out for a second, before swirling inwards to finally reform into a perfect sphere of ruby-red embedded in the EVA's torso.

It was done.

Shinji severed his link to EVA-Ω8 the instant the job was complete.

Mari slumped back at the sudden disconnection, and besides feeling a little lightheaded, she remained otherwise unaffected. Hydraulic bolts around her EVA's torso gave a hiss as they detached the cables connected to the pink EVA's core and sent them clattering away to the ground.

Wasting no time, MAGI-controlled robotic arms descended from the ceiling and immediately began moving in to reaffix the armour plating back over the EVA's chest compartment.

Meanwhile, Shinji made to sever his link with EVA-Ω2. His intention was to do this before Asuka could fully synchronise with the restored EVA while it was still connected to him.

He had been aware of the warm presence within the core during the length of the operation. As he suspected, the control system had remained undamaged despite what had happened to the physical structure of the core itself.

What Shinji hadn't been expecting however was the sudden, almost forceful way that Ω2 suddenly came back online. He wasn't sure if it was Asuka, the EVA, or a combination of both, but for a second it almost felt as if the EVA was forcibly trying to keep both of them melded together.

Asuka's eyes went wide as she felt the startlingly unfamiliar sensation of Shinji's mind suddenly flood through her own.

She let out a startled cry and the whole EVA convulsed, tearing free the cables bonded to the core.

'Th-this is…' she managed to think as her mind was assaulted by a barrage of alien images.

-?-

Asuka was…somewhere –that was the only way she could accurately describe it, not beyond the fact that she appeared to be kneeling on a beach of some kind anyway.

A great ocean of LCL stretched out about the corpse of a colossal white being whose form encompassed the entire horizon.

A figure was laying in the sand before her and Asuka recognised the girl instantly.

'Is that…me?'

No.

Asuka knew the answer instantly. No, this face had a similar, but still entirely different name:

This was Asuka Langley Sohryu.

Asuka Shikinami became aware of something else in the image. Her hands…her hands were outstretched towards the other her. They were wrapped about her throat, only for them to fall limply away a second later.

"Disgusting…" came the word in Asuka's own voice as her perspective orientated away.

Shikinami stood up a moment later and her view orientated itself on the ocean. The presence of another figure became apparent at that point: A translucent girl with blue hair hovered above the ocean's surface not far off, looking right back at her with a clear question in her eyes that Shikinami felt that she should understand, and yet simply couldn't for some reason.

Only then did it occur to Asuka what was going on.

'These are Shinji's memories…' realised Asuka, 'Is this how it ended for him?'

Asuka became aware of an understanding being reached between the one whose eyes she was looking out of and the being hovering before her. It was an exchange that used no words, and for some reason Asuka simply knew that it was an exchange of concept beyond normal lilim comprehension.

"I have to go…" came the choked voice from all around. Shikinami recognised it instantly as the younger version of Shinji.

Or at the very least a younger version of him.

He took a step forward then, but his foot didn't sink into the LCL. Instead, he stood firmly atop of it and the transparent girl hovered closer still. Then he started walking, and Shikinami became aware then of the other Asuka calling out from somewhere behind her. She strained to focus as the shouting grew louder and more insistent. Shinji arched his head about to look back at her, his vision was blurred.

'She knows…' realised Shikinami, watching herself with detachment, 'she knows he won't be coming back, not this time.'

But what had been her last words to him?

More importantly, wondered Asuka, what had his been to her counterpart?

The other Asuka closed her eyes and bellowed one final thing that Asuka Shikinami couldn't make out. It was as if something were filtering the words out intentionally in order to prevent her of all people from hearing it. And she somehow knew that Shinji was smiling sadly back at her at that point, even as his hand reached out for that of the ghostly figure.

Shikinami waited in anticipation as she felt Shinji open his mouth to respond just one last time to whatever it was that the other Asuka had said.

"I…"

ENOUGH!

-Ω-

The memories of the world's end shattered away from around Asuka like shards of broken glass, and just like that, the link was violently ripped away.

Asuka let out a shocked shriek as she suddenly found herself right back in the entry plug once more. Her chest was heaving as she fought for breath.

Her EVA was fully active around her, and she realised that EVA-Ω8 had its arms wrapped around her EVA's torso as if to restrain it.

Asuka could see Shinji on his knees across the bay from her. His cheeks were flushed with strain as he too fought for air, though his expression was one of complete and utter indignation as he glowered furiously back up at her.

Asuka could only watch in numb silence as Shinji then proceeded to slump sideways into an unconscious heap, his body back in its fully human state once more.

-Ω-

"How many times are you going to end up in here?" asked Aria with her usual degree of controlled exasperation.

Shinji still had his eyes closed. The familiar soft shape of a bed in his medical bay was underneath him, "How did you even know I was awake?"

"I've become sensitive to the signs," she said, utilising her usual indifferent tone that concealed any emotion that may lie beneath it. Her tone shifted noticeably however for the next question, "Now what the hell happened?"

Shinji's brow furrowed and he struggled up into a sitting position. He opened his eyes, only to scrunch them half closed again as the light assaulted his retina. Aria was stood by his bed, her arms folded as she regarded him.

Asuka was on a nearby bed with Hayabashi hunched over her, seemingly in the process of doing some final checks. The Second Child may have been laying down, but she had her head arched about just enough to regard Shinji with her uncovered eye.

"A slight miscalculation…" grumbled Shinji in response as he rubbed his temple with one palm.

Hayabashi crossed over to him at that point, "How are you feeling, Captain?" she asked, immediately moving to run a scanning beam over the side of his cranium.

"Slight headache, otherwise fine."

The doctor hummed as she regarded the wall monitor above Shinji's bed, idly tapping the side of his skull in the process with one fingertip, "Well everything seems to be fine in here, not that I'm exactly sure what it was that just occurred. There's no sign of any visible damage. Your neural transmitter levels are slightly elevated though, and you appear to be in a state of mild hypertension," she paused to press a medical implement to his neck and administer an injection, "but that should have you back to normal. Please try to take it easy for the next day or so," she glanced at Aria out the corner of one eye at that point, "And you make sure you go easy on him too."

Shinji nodded, rubbing his neck absently as Aria looked away, which was the closest she could come to actually acknowledging an order.

"A slight miscalculation?" echoed Asuka, obviously not happy with Shinji's explanation, "You call that a slight-"

Shinji's gaze flicked left to Asuka, cutting her off with a look alone. She quickly averted her stare upwards to avoid meeting his glare, murmuring something in the process.

Shinji kept his gaze on her as he responded, "Let's just say there were a couple of variables that I didn't consider, namely that EVA-Ω2's control system and her pilot in conjunction reacted…differently than I assumed they would."

Asuka whipped her head back to look at him, indignation clear in her voice, "Oh, so this is my fault, is it?"

Shinji wasn't sure what expression he was wearing, but it had the rare effect of once more silencing the Second Child where she lay.

He still didn't look away from her as he addressed Misato, who was standing by the doorway with EDEN standing on the opposite side, "The EVAs?"

"Stable," she responded, "Full activation was achieved in both cases, although it'll be a few days before we can finish calibrating Unit-Ω2's synchronisation circuits to the point that she can be used in battle. Mari is performing a harmonics test with Unit-Ω8 as we speak, there doesn't seem to be any issues with her EVA."

Shinji lay back again to regard the ceiling, "So…it worked then. The first of the Omega Series is actually viable."

EDEN inclined her head, "It would appear so, yes."

Silence fell as Shinji looked briefly about the crowded room before settling his gaze on Asuka again, who was still actively trying not to look at him. Aria read his expression and turned for the door, "I'll be in your quarters. Let me know when you're up and about."

Shinji nodded tiredly, "Will do."

Aria inclined her head as she reached the door. Hayabashi and EDEN took her cue and departed along with her, as did Misato after a second's hesitation. That left Asuka and Shinji together in uncomfortable silence.

Shinji returned his gaze to the ceiling.

Neither said anything for a full moment. As if one were daring the other to speak first, and Shinji was in no mood to rush things.

"What I saw..." began Asuka.

"What you saw," cut in Shinji, his tone just crossing the threshold of being harsh, "You had no right to see. There's only one person on this ship allowed into that level of my memories, and it's not you."

Asuka scowled across at him, "Well excuse me, but that wasn't exactly my doing."

Shinji sat up to glower across at her, "You could have pulled away at any time, just like Mari did. It was the EVA that wasn't letting me go. And in case you didn't know, an EVA responds to the subconscious drives and desires of its pilot."

Asuka had no response to that accusation. Instead, all she found herself able to say was, "But that was me in those memories…"

"That was not you!" snapped Shinji, possibly louder than he intended. The pain in his head spiked as a result and he closed his eyes, rubbing the side of his head to stave off the stabbing sensation.

He took a calming breath before speaking again, "The person you saw died a long, long time ago."

"B-but you just left her behind? You just left me there!" Her voice rose to an almost irate octave, and Shinji suspected that her next words wouldn't have been spoken if she were in a calmer state of mind, "Is there any world out there where you don't end up abandoning me?"

Shinji's fists clenched atop his thighs. For some reason he didn't feel the strength to correct her this time, "I had to leave, for her sake, for everyone's sake. I had to make sure what happened could never happen again."

Both averted their gaze from each other for a moment.

Once more, it was Asuka who spoke first, "She knew, you know, she knew that you wouldn't be coming back that time."

Shinji took an uneven, shuddering breath, "I know…"

Asuka remembered the end of that image. She remembered the distorted sound blocking the voices out.

After a long moment of uncertainty, she opened her mouth and turned to look at Shinji once more.

He was already looking back at her though, but he said nothing. The meaning in his eyes however was clear. It both pleaded and commanded the same thing:

'Don't ask that question.'

Asuka looked away again, "Sorry," she murmured under her voice reluctantly, "And…thanks…for what you did with my EVA."

Shinji smiled reluctantly, "Asuka apologising and showing gratitude in one breath? Why whatever happened to you?"

Asuka had to look away again. She smiled ironically as she shrugged, "I got left behind."

Shinji managed a smile back, "I suppose I had that one coming." And he would have said more, but a sudden jolt to the ship silenced him by knocking him off the bed and flat onto the deck.

The lights shifted to their darkened emergency state as an alarm sounded out around them.

Asuka looked up as she got to her feet and then bent down to give Shinji an arm up, "What the hell is going on?"

Shinji steadied himself on his feet and grabbed his clothes off an adjoining bed. He began changing as quickly as possible whilst Asuka tried to keep her gaze politely averted, "That wasn't turbulence," he said as he dragged his coat on and forced his feet into his boots, "We're under attack."

Shinji tapped a control on his Omnitool as she ship shook again, "Tisala, what's going on up there?"

The exec's hurried voice responded a second later, "We just took a couple of grazing shots to our outer hull."

"Shots from where?" asked Asuka.

"There are two unidentified objects holding position in geo-stationary orbit directly above us. They opened fire just a moment ago."

"Why weren't we alerted in advance?" asked Shinji, "This ship's sensors should be able to detect an incoming object from right across the solar system."

Another jolt caused there to be a brief pause before Tisala could take time to respond, "It looks like they were free-floating in a powered down state among the satellite debris that orbits the planet. They must have used the Earth's rotation to get into position above us. Due to the difference in our levels of technology, the sensors couldn't differentiate them from the rest of the trash up there."

Shinji smirked grimly, "Father's gotten clever in his old age. I'm on my way up. Ask Aria to meet me on the bridge."

"Will do."

Shinji cocked his head at the door. Asuka nodded and grabbed her hat and jacket off a nearby bed before following.

-Ω-

The pair made it to the CIC a moment later. Aria was already there, as was Misato.

Shinji walked about the galaxy map and headed for the cockpit, talking as he went, "EDEN, what's happening out there?"

Her voice responded from all about him, "I'm detecting two active S2 signatures. I would hazard a guess that there are two active Evangelion units attacking us from what they consider to be extreme range."

Shinji dropped into the co-pilot's chair, "Any damage?" he asked, looking to the asari pilot.

Tisala was busy maneuvering the ship, and didn't look up as she responded, "A little scorching of the hull, but otherwise no. We took a blast from some kind of positron cannon. It skimmed our port side and struck the Elbrus head on. She wasn't prepared for battle either, but luckily her outer armour managed to protect her key systems."

"What's the status of the Wunder?" he asked.

"No damage. The enemy seems to be focusing its attention solely on the rest of the fleet for now."

Shinji nodded, "Can you get me sight on whatever it is that's up there?"

Tisala nodded and brought up a sensor readout. It presented a vague green outline of two humanoid figures, which were barely visible amongst the field of floating metallic chunks.

"Asuka?" asked Shinji, nodding at the image.

Her visible eye narrowed as she regarded them, "Mass Production-Types. Early models by the look of the outline."

"NERV probably seeded them up there years ago," commented Misato.

Shinji frowned in thought, "Father must either be getting impatient, or he's feeling the need to revise his strategy by probing our defences again."

"His mistake," said Aria, "order the fleet to break away and converge on the targets. Remove them."

"Yes, Aria." said Tisala.

"No," said Shinji flatly, and he turned immediately to Aria, knowing she'd want to know why he'd just flat out contradicted her orders, "I guessed this is what he'd be sending against us at some point, and I don't want to waste the opportunity. That's why I asked you to be here in particular."

Aria frowned at him, but Shinji could see there was a hint of reluctant intrigue in her eyes, "I'm listening."

"You see those EVAs?" he asked rhetorically, nodding at the sensor readout.

"What of them?" she asked with a relenting sigh.

"Well they're obviously sacrificial pawns. Older models, like Asuka said. However, I figure that, in the right hands…"

"Get on with it." She grumbled.

A small, sweet smile graced Shinji's features, "Well, it's just this really isn't my field, and what I really need is someone who might be able to…orchestrate their acquisition on my behalf."

She looked at him dryly, "You want me to steal you a pair of EVAs?"

Shinji's smile tightened slightly on one side, "Your words, not mine."

-Ω-

To be continued…

[A/N] Well that was fun. Nice to get back into the swing with this one. Sorry if you felt it took a while to come out but I had to give some care and attention to some of my other stories. Had to lay the foundation for some upcoming escalation too, so I'm sorry if you felt that not much happened this time around, plus I had some plot points to resolve as you no doubt noticed. Again. sorry about the length, really ended up longer than I thought it would. Well let me know your thoughts either way if you have any and I hope you'll stick with me until next time even if you hated it.

Catch you in Chapter 11: Omega Series