For your reading pleasure I bring you the next chapter. Btw, just to let some of you know, this story has more cliff hangers than the Grand Canyon... and my brother bitched at me every time, so I'm use to it now. Anyways, this is the scheduled release for the next chapter, 10 was an apology release (as I said in the intro there.) so, read and review, and hope you like.

Disclaimer in ch1, additional disclaimer, I do not own artist of the song, or the song it self, I DO however own the right to the two characters who show up later in the chapter.

11

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, thankful that it was dark out. He wasn't sure where he was or how long he had been out, the only thing he was sure of was that there was a great weight on his right arm, but he was still too exhausted to further investigate, so he simply closed his eyes and let his body continue to rest.

The sound of a door creaking open slowly woke Shinji from his restful slumber. Once again he slowly opened his eyes and found it to be light outside now, giving him a better view of the hospital room the he was currently residing in.

He glanced toward the door and the creator of the noise that awoke him and smiled as Misato slowly crept into the room. He was about to say something when she put her finger to her mouth to silence him.

She pointed towards his arm, he remembered it being weighed down, and saw a disheveled pile of red hair quietly snoring. Shinji smiled as Asuka continued to sleep, and once again looked towards Misato and whispered "how long have I been out?"

Misato looked at her watch and whispered back "Four days. You gave all of us quite a scare you know."

Shinji looked on in disbelief, 'Four days...what the hell happened...' he thought.

Misato sensed this and continued "You did manage to stop the angel from making contact with the ground Shinji, but we are not sure how. All we know for sure is that you forced your AT Field into something of a beam and pushed the angel back into space. After that..."

Shinji waved his hand to stop her and slowly wiggled his arm out from under Asuka without waking her. He slowly got out of bed and held onto Misato's arm and motioned for them to leave the room, they quietly walked out and headed for the cafeteria, being unconscious for four days tends to make one hungry, where they continued their talk.

"Okay, so I did stop it from landing?" Shinji said as he took a drink of orange juice.

Misato nodded and continued her story "As I was saying, after you forced the angel out of the atmosphere, your Eva simply shutdown. We didn't know what had happened, you should have had enough energy for another two minutes, but the batteries were completely drained. Asuka single handedly picked up Unit-01 and carried you to a retrieval elevator. Once we got your Eva back into the cage we force ejected the plug, where we found you unconscious. Asuka completely flipped out and had to be restrained, you know I think she has a thing for you." Misato said with a smirk.

Shinji just waved his hand and told her to continue "Well, other than that you've been sleeping for the last four days. Ritsuko said she couldn't figure out why you passed out, or why the Eva used the full battery in about half the time, or how you manipulated the AT Field like you do. I'll tell you one thing though, Asuka hasn't left your side expect to go to the locker room to get a quick shower and a change of clothes. Shinji... I think she really cares about you." Misato finished with a more serious tone that Shinji was used to.

He finished chewing his food before he spoke "Misato, I know she does, she told me that before we went on that mission, and I told her the same thing. That's why I couldn't let that angel land, but I have no idea how I pushed it, or why I passed out, I fought so long to stay awake, but the last thing I remember was a message from command, something about my vitals and my sync ratio, but after that I don't remember much." he finished and pushed his plate away, "Guess I should go wake up my sleeping beauty." He said after a minute with a slight chuckle.

"Are you going to be okay to go back alone?" Misato asked him, he nodded and stood up.

Shinji quietly opened the door to his room and walked in slowly, so as not to disturb the fiery haired goddess that continued to sleep next to his bed.

He carefully sat down on the bed and leaned over to her and gently brushed the hair out of her face. 'She really does look like an angel when she sleeps... the good kind at least...' he thought with a smile.

He leaned in further and softly kissed her forehead, causing her to stir in her sleep.

Asuka opened her eyes groggily 'Sleeping like this for four days has taken it's toll on my neck' she thought as she raised her head to meet the new day, and to her amazement, a conscious Shinji.

"Oh! You're awake!" She shrieked as she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Yeah, I'm awake Asuka-Chan." He replied as he returned the hug.

"Oh god Shinji, I thought I lost you." she said in a tone that Shinji swore sounded like a quiet sob.

"Shhh, it's ok, I'm still here, and I'm fine" he said to comfort her.

She pulled away from him and smiled "Thank god, I couldn't stand it if I would have lost you so soon."

He smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "Hey, where are my clothes?" He asked, wanting to get out of the hospital as soon as he could.

Asuka walked over to a duffle bag in the corner and pulled his clothes out, "Here ya go." She said as she handed them to him, he nodded and looked up at her,

"Oh, right... guess I should... go wait outside..." she said as she realized what he was waiting on and turned to leave the room.

Ten minutes later, a fully recovered Shinji Ikari walked out of his hospital room and started for home with Asuka's hand in his.

As they walked along the streets of the city, Asuka started leading them towards the park.

It was quiet for the two as they were the only ones in it, all the kids were in school, and most of the adults were working. Shinji smiled as they approached the exercise area where he was training the day she challenged him.

"Alright As-Chan, what's with bringing me out her?" He asked as he stopped and turned her around to face him.

She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes and again threw her arms around his neck and began to weep into his shoulder.

"Shhh, Asuka-Chan, it's alright." He told her as he held her and stroked her hair.

She fought back the tears and quietly spoke "You don't understand... You could have died... and I would have been left all alone... again... I... I can't take it..." she finished as she broke into tears again.

Shinji could only hold the girl as she soaked his shirt. "As-Chan... there's... something I need to tell you... come over here..." he said as he led her to a bench just off the side walk over looking the lake in the middle of the park."I... I'm not sure how I did what I did in the Eva... but I did it to make sure that nothing happened to you... I may have pushed myself beyond my limits... Believe me though, when I say that I will never leave you Asuka. I love you to much to let something happen to me. Something inside told me, while I was pushing that angel, that everything would be okay, and that as long as I pilot nothing bad will happen to me while I sit there... and I trusted that voice, and I came out just fine.. Please don't cry anymore Asuka, it pains me to see you sad." He told her as he stared into her tear filled eyes.

She quickly wiped the remaining tears and smiled "I should have known that nothing could beat my invincible Shin-kun" she said with a smile.

Shinji grinned as he stood up "Okay... I don't know about you, but I'm starving, wanna grab a bite to eat?" he asked as she stood next to him.

"Sure, there's a nice place right around the corner." she said as she started towards the exit when he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him, spinning her in the process so that she faced him, and gave her a deep kiss, one so deep that both felt as though they had melted in each others arms.

They separated a moment later and smiled widely "I love you As-Chan" He said

"I love you to Shin-kun" she said as they started for the restaurant.

"Are you kidding me?" Shinji asked as they sat in peace and ate.

"Nope, apparently this angel was some kind of nano-virus that attacked the magi. Course, because they keep the anti-virus up-to-date it was snuffed out before the base was put into any danger." Asuka replied, informing him of some of the events he missed over the last four days.

"Well, I'll be damned." he said with a smile. He was happy to know that he hadn't missed too much in the last few days, at least nothing that would put Asuka in any kind of danger.

"Shinji... listen... I know you just got out of the hospital and stuff... but... I was wondering..." Asuka was having trouble getting her thoughts out and Shinji noticed this quickly.

"Just ask me Asuka." he said with a smile that made her blush slightly.

"Okay... would you like to spar again?" he looked at her and chuckled

"It's getting kind of late, how about tomorrow, that way we can use the NERV gym and gear."

She nodded in agreement, and mentally smiled, hoping it would be a very... physical... match.

After returning home from dinner, the children got started getting ready for bed.

Shinji walked into his room and lie down on his bed, put his SDAT on and started to get comfortable.

About half an hour later, he heard a soft knock on his door. He stopped his player and walked over to the door. When he opened the door he was surprised to see Asuka stand on the other side in her normal evening wear of a large oversized shirt and shorts.

"You okay?" he asked her as she kept her head hung low, she simply stepped forward and held him in a simple embrace. "Don't want to sleep alone huh?" he asked her, she simply nodded into his chest.

He smiled as he rubbed her back and held her. They walked over to his bed where he got in first, closest to the wall, and she crawled in next to him.

As he lay on his back, she rolled onto her side, facing him, and put her head on his shoulder and placed her arm across his chest.

Shinji looked down at her and watched as she slowly slipped into a peaceful sleep. He had a small smile on his face as he closed his eyes and soon fell into his own peaceful sleep

Shinji looked around and saw only black, and heard nothing.

"Where am I?" he asked to the shadows "What is this place?" he said as he continued looking around. "

You are in your own mind." boomed a voice from no where and everywhere at the same time.

Shinji started spinning around, hoping to find the source of the voice. A light clicked on and several feet from him stood a mirror image of himself, with its head hanging down.

"What do you want? Why am I here?" he asked himself, the copy cackled softly before looking up, its eyes were a bright crimson.

"You have awoken something deep within yourself, namely Me. You may call me second" it said.

Shinji looked at the red eyed clone with interest. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Second snapped his fingers and suddenly they were standing on the shoulder of Unit-01, above it was the angel from space, both frozen in place. "In this moment of time, you called upon a power far greater than anything you could have realized."

Second snapped his fingers again and they were now in the entry plug. "You are now going to see what you missed." he said as he snapped his fingers a third time.

Shinji watched in amazement as time started back up around him, he saw himself holding the angel above him, and watched as he slipped into unconsciousness.

What he saw next shocked him, his eyes snapped back open, the same eerie crimson color that Second had, and watched as the battery timer started counting down to zero faster, and the angel being pushed further and further into the sky, until it was nothing more than a speck flying into deep space.

Everything was black again, save the light over Second. "Tell me how that happened. I have to know." he yelled, needing to know how to use this power to save those around him.

Second simply laughed and turned away. "You are not ready to control this power yet. One day though, you will access it, but the question is. Will you do it in time?" he said cackleing evilly and disappeared into the darkness.

"DAMN YOU!!! GET BACK HERE!!!" Shinji shouted.

Shinji's eye's snapped open; he was breathing hard, and sweating profusely.

He glanced around the room and found Asuka was missing, he looked at his clock and saw that it was nearly seven am.

He sat up on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands and tried to calm himself. 'What the hell was that all about?' he asked himself and he stood up. 'What kind of power was that, and can I really control it?' he continued as he walked to the restroom for his morning routine.

As he walked into the kitchen he was glad to see that Asuka had made him breakfast once again.

"Hi Shinji-kun. Grab a plate and eat up." she said in an unusually chipper voice.

"Sleep well I take it?" he asked as he sat down to breakfast.

"You know it." she said with a grin "I haven't slept that well in ... Well, let's just say it's been a while." she grabbed her own plate and sat down next to him.

Shinji sat and ate a little bit before he started thinking about his dream again.

Asuka saw that he wasn't acting like himself, "Are you okay Shin-kun? You've been playing with your food for the last five minutes."

Shinji looked up from his food and smiled weakly "Yeah, I'm alright, I guess... Kind of had a bad night."

Asuka looked a little worried when he told her this, "Are you okay? Do we need to see Dr. Akagi?"

He shook his head, "No, just had a... odd dream, that's all, I'm sure it will be alright... Are you ready for our little rematch today?" Shinji said, changing the subject.

She caught it but followed along anyways, "Yeah, time to see if you were just messing with me, or if I truly am better." she said with a smirk.

They finished their breakfast and headed out the door for headquarters.

Asuka and Shinji stood six feet apart from each other on the mat in the middle of the NERV gym, they were kind of surprised at the amount of people that were there working with different machines and training equipment.

"Must be a lot of Section two." Shinji said, noticing some of the people wearing nothing but black as their workout clothing.

Asuka nodded in agreement and took her fighting stance.

Shinji grinned and took up his own stance; they stood and faced off and circled each other for several minutes before Asuka rushed forward with a quick jab.

Shinji side stepped the jab and thrust his hand forward, shoving Asuka's arm away and causing her to go off balance.

She put her other hand on the mat and flipped forward landing on her feet.

Shinji grinned as he rushed at her, stopping a few feet from her as he placed a hand on her shoulder and flipped over her, twisting mid-flip, when he landed he swept his foot knocking her feet out from under her.

She hit the ground and rolled away before springing back to her feet.

"Are you going easy on me Ikari?" She asked as she brushed her shoulder off.

Shinji chuckled, "Can't fool you can I." he said as he readied himself again.

This time they both rushed each other, each throwing a right cross. Their fists collided and a loud boom could be heard from the impact. They pulled back again and began to rub their knuckles.

"Okay, that hurt a little." She said, and Shinji nodded in agreement.

A man in black clothes walked from one of the machines "Mr. Ikari." Shinji looked over at him as he walked towards Asuka.

"That's me." Shinji said.

The man walked closer "My name is Robbins, Joseph Robbins. I've been with section two for a while." He said as he extended his hand.

Shinji took it and shook, "You look a little young." he said as the examined the young man across from him.

Joe stood roughly 6' tall, with short spiky black hair and eerie green eyes.

Joe chuckled "Yeah, I get that a lot. Anyways, I was wondering if you would be interested in having a match with me, I would be honored to face off against you."

Shinji looked him over and looked over at Asuka

she shrugged "I'm going to rest, I think I hurt my hand a little." she said with a grin, she kissed his cheek and walked over to a chair and sat down, grabbing a towel out of her bag and wiping off her forehead.

Shinji looked back at Joe, "Sure, why not." he said with a nod.

Joe was excited; he had waited for this for some time. "Just so you know Mr..."

Shinji cut him off, "Please, call me Shinji."

Joe nodded "Shinji... that I tend to be a pusher... by that I mean, if I don't feel your giving it your all, I'll push you until you do... My brother and I used to have matches like this. It was a way for us to push to our limits and see what we could truly do."

Shinji nodded his head as he took his position on the mat. "Alright Joe, let's see what you can do." Shinji said,

"Oh, wait a sec." Joe walked over to a stereo that was set up next to the mat, after asking if anyone cared he put a CD in the player and hit play.

Slow music starts

"Alright, I want you to give me your all... I want to see what you can do." Joe said as he took his place on the mat.

GET THE FUCK UP! C'MON!
GET THE FUCK UP! C'MON!
Yeah motherfucka comin' up behind you
Slap you in your fuckin' face and blind you

Joe rushed forward and caught Shinji in the chest with a straight punch, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Come on! What the hell was that?" Joe said as he retook his place.

Shinji stood up, slightly annoyed that he was so easily caught off guard. "Alright, let's do this then." he said as dropped into his stance.

Once again Joe rushed forward with a straight jab to the chest, Shinji caught it with his left hand and brought his right fist across and connected with Joe's jaw. Joe's head snapped back, and stayed that way.

With a chuckle Joe brought his head down, "Now that's what I want to see." Joe brought his left foot up to Shinji's chest and kicked, sending the boy staggering backwards.

Then maybe you'll learn not to FUCK WITH ME!
I don't want to see you
I don't want to feel you
I want you to learn not to FUCK WITH ME!

Shinji quickly regained his balance and lunged forward, throwing quick jabs here and there.

Joe was easily dodging or blocking most of the attacks.

When Shinji made a misstep and was thrown off balance Joe took full advantage of it and kicked Shinji in the knee, dropping him to the mat.

"Come on Shinji, I've seen you fight, I know what your capable of. What's wrong? Don't think your good enough to beat me? Think you might hurt me just because you've had training? That all means jack dick! Now get to your feet."

Shinji was pissed, all the training he had been through and it was having no effect on this man.

He jumped up to his feet and once again rushed Joe, but where Joe was expecting punches, Shinji straight up head butted him, sending him sprawling to the ground, blood trickling from his nose.

I'll break you down, I'll break you down
I'll break you... down...
DOOOOOWWWNN!!!

"That's what I'm talking about!" Joe shouted as he stood up and wiped the blood from his nose.

He jumped in place for a minute and rushed Shinji once again.

Before Shinji knew what was going on, Joe was behind him, his arms held securely at his side, his legs immobile as well.

Joe leaned in close and whispered into his ear "maybe after I show that little girl of yours who's truly the better man, I'll take her out and show her a good time" Joe said with a chuckle.

Shinji had heard enough, Section 2 or not he wasn't about to let this continue. He brought his head back and slammed it into Joe's jaw, causing him to lose his grip.

As Joe staggered backwards, Shinji spun around in an attempted roundhouse; Joe brought his arm up and blocked the leg, then swept the other one out from under Shinji, causing him to hit the ground hard, his head bouncing off the mat.

I'LL BREAK YOU DOWN, PUNK
DOWN, PUNK
DOWN
I'll break you down

Joe frowned a little, 'That had to hurt.' He leaned over Shinji, then turned his head and yelled "Someone get the smelling salts!"

When he turned back, Shinji was awake, but something was different. His eyes... his eyes were a flaming crimson.

"Hell ye..." His sentence was cut short as Shinji thrust a fist forward catching Joe in the chest and sending him flying across the gym into a padded wall.

He hit the ground with a thud, and coughed as his breath came back.

"NO ONE WILL DARE MAKE A THREAT LIKE THAT AROUND ME!" Shinji shouted.

He took one step forward then literally flew, inches above the ground, across the room towards Joe.

Joe staggered to his feet as Shinji flew across the room. 'This is what I was hoping for' He thought as his target approached.

With a quick flex of his muscles the air around Joe whipped into a violent torrent of electricity and color.

"This is what I came here for... To see if what he said was true!" Joe rushed forward and the two quickly collided in the middle. Joe threw a right hook, Shinji threw a right, and when their knuckles connected in the center windows shattered within the room.

Yeah I know that you didn't see me
Yeah I know that you didn't feel me
And now you've learned not to FUCK WITH ME

Shinji jumped back and flexed his muscles, creating a torrent of energy much like that of Joe's.

"Let's see just what you can do." Joe said as he held out his palm, a bright sphere of light forming in the middle.

Shinji grinned and disappeared from Joe's view, he reappeared to Joe's left and grabbed his wrist and squeezed.

A loud pop was heard as Joe's wrist shattered "ARGH!!" he screamed and threw a right hook, catching Shinji in the jaw, but seemed to have no effect.

I see you on your knees
And you're begging to me, pleadin'
And how you've learned not to FUCK WITH ME

I'll break you down, I'll break you down, I'll break you down... Punk...
I'll break you down, I'll break you down, I'll break you down... Punk...

Joe jumped back and started laughing as he gripped his wrist. "You've done it now. I haven't used this in quite some time." he said as he separated his feet, "Now you'll see what I'm really made of!" he screamed, his hear spiking upwards and shifting colors. His eyes shifted to a bluish green and his muscles bulged. "Now we'll see if you can take me." He said smiling.

Shinji just grinned and threw a punch straight into Joe's stomach, only it felt like he had just punched a solid steel door, and his hand ached.

RUN THE OTHER WAY!
NOTHING LEFT TO SAY!
COME ANOTHER DAY...

Joe laughed out loud and picked Shinji up by his shoulders, "I told you I was a pusher, didn't I?" Shinji kicked at Joe's stomach, but he never even flinched.

"You will not touch her! Do you hear me! I swear I will kill you if you try!" Shinji shouted.

Joe held him tight and looked over at Asuka, who was standing in a silent stupor

"Asuka, would you please come over here?" Joe asked, Asuka slowly walked over to them.

"Shinji, look, Asuka is fine, I would never hurt her, I just wanted to see what you were capable of... calm down." Joe told him as he continued to fight.

Joe turned him around and lowered him to the ground.

Asuka ran up to him as he continued to fight against his restrainer. Asuka wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered "Please Shinji, calm down."

Shinji looked at her and saw the pain and sadness in her eyes, and stopped fighting.

Joe let him go and reverted back to his normal looking self. Shinji turned towards Joe again, this time his eyes were back to the normal.

"I want to thank you Joe..." He started "Thank you for helping me out."

Joe just smiled "Not a problem. That was actually the most fun I've had in a while. Maybe another time we can continue this?" he asked hopefully.

Shinji nodded "Yeah, I'd like that."

Suddenly the alarms went off and everyone was rushing here and there to their designated locations.

The children took off to the locker rooms, but as they were about to leave, Shinji turned to ask Joe something, but noticed that he was no where to be found.

Joe stood atop a sky scraper in the middle of town and watched as the newest angel, a large black orb with white stripes, drifted slowly across the sky.

"So... How was it?" A dark shadow asked from behind Joe.

"About as was expected, He has awoken, but he is unable to control it at this time." he replied back to the shadow.

"I see, does it have a trigger like the others?" the shadow inquired, Joe simply nodded,

"But I do not recommend that we use it. Forcing his hand by using his trigger might cause a major imbalance." Joe said as he turned to face the shadow "I do not see that we will be required to stay any longer, but I have to ask. How did you get into his dreams like that? How were you sure he was the one?"

The "shadow" walked into the light and revealed himself. He stood about 6'2", slightly taller than Joe, with short blonde hair, and eyes the color of hellfire.

"Hmmm call it... instinct." The figure said with a smirk, "Shall we watch the events unfold? Or did you have other plans?" The man asked.

Joe smiled evilly "I'd like to stick around and see how things go. If I'm not mistaken isn't this the one that ca…"

The taller man put a hand up to stop him. "Come now, you know we cannot discuss stuff like that in the open." He said.

Joe let out a small sigh, "Your know fun, you know that?"