Taming the Beast
Chapter 21
She felt like she was in two places at once, which was normal for her when she piloted. Everything seemed to be going fine, until the connection was suddenly cut. Being synced with the Eva, it felt like someone had taken a red hot blade and cut her body and soul in half. All she could feel was intense pain, and she raged against it. So great was the pain, that she didn't even notice the entry plug ejecting. She struggled, trying to become whole again, but she couldn't. Then she heard a voice. It soothed her, and suddenly, she was whole again, no longer separate.
The door opened, "Rei?"
"Commander?" She was suddenly afraid.
"I see." There was no kindness, only disappointment.
"Rei."
"Shinji?"
The Commander and the entry plug dissolved, leaving only herself and Shinji, though neither of them had any clothes. She blushed, but not out of embarrassment.
He pulled her in close and cradled her head against his chest. "I love you, Rei-chan."
Rei felt herself wake up, but felt far too tired to open her eyes. She stayed where she was eyes closed, listening to the constant beep of hospital monitors. Eventually, she realized that there was someone beside her, resting their head near hers. She turned and opened her eyes, finding a mop of white hair. Shinji was sitting in a chair next to her bed, his head resting on the pillow beside hers. She wanted to both hug him and run from him, but she had no strength for either action. Tears streamed down her face.
"You are a clone of Yui Ikari."
She had wanted to tell him, had known it was the right thing to do, but she became scared. So she had run from him, thinking that it would be best if she simply disappeared. Yet he had sought her, even when she tried to avoid him, he still came after her. Did he really love her that much?
Would he reject her?
"I'm telling you, I don't know anything. You two know more than me in this case."
"Ritsuko, you're her doctor. There has to be something. Medical records, birth certificate, anything like that could help."
"I'll see what I can do, Coby, but it's probably so highly classified that I won't be able to get any of it."
"That's all we can ask. Thank you."
Lori walked into the room, "Shinji, time to… Oh! You're awake, Rei!"
"Really?" Coby asked, also walking into the room.
"Watzgoingon?" Shinji muttered, sitting up. He noticed Rei was awake and smiled. "Hey."
Coby and Lori sat down on chairs next to the bed as Ritsuko came in with a clipboard. She checked a few things, such as Rei's pulse and temperature, and nodded. "You'll be fine in a few days, Rei. You're still bleeding internally, but your S2 organ is repairing the damage at an incredible rate. Just don't get out of bed, and you'll be fine." She turned to leave, but Lori stopped her.
"Rei, what do you know of your origins?" Coby asked.
Her lower lip trembled and she shook her head. The fear was evident in her eyes. Shinji gently clasped her hand, "Its okay, Rei. You can tell us. Everything will be fine." She looked at him, took a deep, albeit painful breath, and nodded.
"All I know is what the Commander told me," she answered. "He said I was a clone… of… Yui Ikari."
You Bastard, Ikari, Ritsuko thought furiously. You no-good, sorry excuse for a bastardly son of a bitch!
"He lied, Rei," Lori said. "Your genetics were manipulated – probably by him – in an attempt to make you a clone of Yui Ikari, but you are not. We know this because you and Shinji don't share enough genetic similarities to even be cousins. We don't know who your real mother is though. We were hoping you did."
"Can we have a moment?" Shinji asked. The others nodded and left, as they had other things to do.
"I'm sorry, Shinji-kun," Rei said. "I wanted to tell you…"
"Shhh," he whispered, bending over to kiss her. "It's okay. I know what it's like, to want to do something, but be too afraid to."
"I feel so tired," she told him.
"Internal bleeding," he said. "You lost a lot of blood to it. You'll be tired and on an IV for a while. But perhaps… I can… help." He unbuttoned the top of his shirt, blushing slightly, and Rei found herself licking her lips in anticipation. Gently, he cradled her head to his neck.
When Shinji left, promising to return, Rei felt slightly stronger.
Shinji looked at the image of the Angel and sighed, "Once, I wanted to go to Egypt. I never did, but I also never thought it would come to me."
"It does look like a hieroglyph," Coby chuckled.
"That's because it is," Galaxy Convoy said, participating through a holoscreen. "It's two in one, in fact."
Gendo frowned, unseen behind his hands. He didn't like the idea of working with the Cybertron Army, but now SEELE had ordered it so that they could keep an eye on them. "Explain."
"The Angel's shape matches two ancient Seibertronian hieroglyphs," Galaxy Convoy said. "Horizontally, it means 'sky'. Vertically, it means 'bomb'."
"That explains why it keeps dropping small parts of its mass from time to time," one of the techs said.
"It's correcting its trajectory," Misato realized.
"Targeting us," Lori said. "Once it has it right, it will drop itself on our heads."
"That'll be quite the headache," Coby joked. No one laughed.
"So why don't we just shoot it?" Asuka asked.
"We tried that," Misato answered. "Everything is ineffective at that range."
"Soushireikan, can we combat it in orbit?" Coby asked.
"Negative," Galaxy Convoy said. "Attacking it in orbit could convince the Angel to make its suicide run early. We can't take the risk."
"What are we supposed to do then, catch it?" Shinji asked. Then he saw Misato grin. "Uh, Misato, I was being sarcastic."
"Baka, I'm going to kill you for this," Asuka growled over the comm.
"Asuka, I swear, this isn't my idea. I was being sarcastic," Shinji insisted.
"When the Angel dives, it will have to use its AT Field to enter the atmosphere," Galaxy Convoy said. "That will leave its rear exposed. Live Convoy and I will drop behind it and try to damage it as much as possible."
"Shinji, Asuka, you two need to catch the Angel before it hits the ground with your AT Fields. Coby Rumble and Lori Hitomi will be on your shoulders to back you up with their SD Fields," Misato continued to explain. "Megalo Convoy will help you hold it up while Flame Convoy cuts open the Angel's AT Field, and Nitro Convoy will shoot the core."
"Major, Unit 00 has activated!" someone shouted. "It's using its AT Field to push it back onto a launch ramp!"
"Is someone piloting it?" Misato asked.
"We can't tell. There is an entry plug inside, but we can't get any readings from it."
Misato turned toward the images of the pilots. "Shinji?"
Shinji closed his eyes and focused. "It's Rei. She wants to help."
"She should be in the hospital," Ritsuko said.
"She is," someone else said, pulling up a camera image of the blue haired girl sleeping peacefully."
"Sempi, I know this sounds impossible, but I think I know what is happening," Maya said. "I'm getting a sync ratio of 99.9!"
"She's syncing OUTSIDE of her Eva!" Ritsuko exclaimed. "INCREDIBLE!"
"Launch Unit 00," Misato ordered. "We need all the help we can get."
"INCOMING!"
The Angel had begun its decent, falling at incredible speeds. As predicted, with it's AT Field in front, it was vunerable from behind. Galaxy Conovy and Live Convoy dropped behind it, whitiling away at it.
Shinji got below it. "Unit 01: in position. AT Field: Full Power!" Unit 01's AT Field hummed above him with energy. Unknowingly, he was tapping his own S2 organ, increasing the AT Field's power.
Asuka ran up next to him. "Unit 02: in position. AT Field: Full Power!"
"SYMBIOCON DUALITY FIELD TECHNIQUE: ULTIMATE BARRIER!"
The combination of the two Fields created a shield of glowing, golden energy above the Evas and Symbiocons. Unit 00 finally arrived and added its AT Field just in time.
CRRAAACK!
The shockwave from the impacting Angel was enormous. Megalo Convoy, who was making his way over, was nearly knocked onto his back. Flame Convoy and Nitro Convoy weren't so lucky. Both were thrown to the ground. Megalo Convoy hurried over to the straining Evas and Symbiocons and placed his hands against the Field, pushing up and supporting. His optics blazed as waves of energy seemed to radiate from him, reinforcing the Field. Galaxy Convoy and Live Convoy flew around and under, adding their strength. The Matrix of Leadership blazed to life inside Galaxy Convoy's chest, and a small hole appeared in the Field made by the mechs.
Flame Convoy leapt up with his ax and struck against the Angel's AT Field. It held only for a moment against the brute strength of the Guardian of Animatros. He transformed as he fell, landing in dragon form on all fours. "Now, Nitro Convoy!"
"FORCE CHIP! IGNITION! MACH SHOT!"
The Angel was died so quickly that it never exploded. The group gently set the Angel down while NERV cheered, each with their own thoughts.
"They did it! They did it!" Misato whooped.
"Looks like we have another specimen," Ritsuko noted, already excited.
Kaji stood in the doorway and shook his head. Looks like SEELE's plans are falling apart. He blushed and turned away momentarily when someone mentioned that his fly was down.
This wasn't part of the scenario. This is not good, Gendo thought. It's time I took care of two extra variables.
In the hospital, Rei opened her eyes and smiled. "We win again, Adam," she said softly before going to sleep. She wanted to be wide awake when Shinji visited again.