'In the early hours of last night a state of emergency was called after terrorists attacked several points in the German city of New Berlin. As of yet there have been no confirmed casualties but there are said to be several injured. Amongst these is the Commander of WILLE Gendo Ikari who was shot in the chest. No organizations have stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attacks but it is believed that this was an attack focused on WILLE as the attacks took place at several locations owned and operated by the group.

Police are urging citizens to be cautious when out and about and a curfew will be put in place this evening. We have also been informed that security on the borders of the city will also be tightened and to remind citizens that no one is to leave the city.

Police have also sent a warning to be on the look-out for former WILLE Vice-Commander Misato Katsuragi. Miss Katsuragi was witnessed on the scene of one of the attacks shortly before they occurred. They have said that if she is seen to not approach as she can be considered armed and dangerous. If seen contact the police or WILLE security forces immediately.'

Adler turned down the volume on the radio and breathed a sigh of relief at the report. Everything had so far gone to plan. They had managed to stir up enough chaos in New Berlin to get Shinji and Asuka out of there, it hadn't been easy but now she was approaching six hours of continuous driving and the border between Germany and Poland. Once over the border she could finally stop and rest. She had been given a location of a small village there which could give her fuel and supplies and then the journey would continue again towards the Russian borders and eventually into Northern Russia. Depending on how many hours they travelled a day they could make it in a week, once there they might be safe.

She glanced in the rear view mirror. Asuka was sitting up staring out of the window, she had long ago taken her earphones out. Stretched out asleep with his head resting on her lap was Shinji. Every now and then Asukas' hand would gently stroke his hair in a calming gesture. Adler hadn't said anything to them on the journey, not after what had happened to Gendo.

She turned her eyes back to the road wondering just what she had gotten herself into. At the start of the year everything had seemed relatively normal. Reports from Tokyo-3 were positive, there were no more expected Angel attacks and her own mission for NERV was going fine. She had her own carrier, a small fleet and a happy crew. Five and a bit months later that had all gone, the Sindram had been decommissioned after the drone attack. NERV had been shut down and rebranded to WILLE. She had learned some of the truths behind the Evangelions and the Third Impact and had been recruited to help fight against the man in charge of WILLE.

'Have I done the right thing?'

She looked again in the mirror. Asuka was still staring out of the window, Shinji was still asleep. What could either of them be thinking? How were they both able to function having been through all that they had been through? Was it because they had each other or was it something else. Ever since the Second Impact children were no longer just children. They were forced to grow up much quicker, contribute to their societies much quicker and help out in the rebuilding of the world. Certain countries saw this more than others but this had to have been true for Asuka and Shinji more than anyone.

She felt so sorry for them. Adler, even with all she had been through when she was younger. The loss of her father and leg couldn't even begin to imagine the pain those two had suffered. Yet she knew there was going to be more, she knew their journey wasn't over yet. They had got out of the frying pan that was New Berlin but waiting for them in Northern Russia was a raging inferno.

'Also the means to extinguish it... but we have to put our faith in those two. They are the only two who can do this.'

The thoughts hit her hard. Once again entrusting the future of the world to Shinji and Asuka. Langley had told them when they planned the escape what lay at their destination. He had also made them promise to not say anything to the two former pilots, especially not Asuka. She had to find out on her own. Adler felt guilty though, like she should say something but if she did would that just mess up the entire plan? If she didn't would that not be worse?

'When they find out... they'll never forgive us. They'll hate us.'

Asuka continued to stare out of the window, she could have slept but the dull ache in her lower stomach was hindering any potential attempt. Instead she listened to the music on the music player, then when the battery was running low she switched that off to listen to the radio and the sound of the car engine. All the while she stared at the changing German scenery.

The sun was starting to rise now and with it she could see further along the German countryside. It was so open, so spacious, a more childlike part of her wanted to go out amidst all the grass and flowers and farmland and just lie there but of course that wouldn't be possible. They had to get out of Germany, put more space between them and the people who were after them.

She shifted slightly making sure to not wake Shinji and again gently ran her hand through his hair. Shinji had been asleep for a few hours. After she had got him to put the headphones in he had rested his head on her lap and shortly afterwards fallen asleep. He looked so peaceful, so calm and cute laying there but she knew that the truth of what was inside was not peaceful.

'What happened back there? Misato shot Commander Ikari… but why?'

Asuka had heard the news report, absorbing every detail of it. Gendo had been shot in the chest and had been taken into hospital. His injuries were severe but not life threatening. Misato on the other hand was now wanted in connection with the attack. Was that part of the plan?

Asuka knew little of the plan only that it was to get her and Shinji out of the city. At first she thought it would be to another part of Germany. They were closing on the Polish border now, was that where their final destination lay?

"Hey… where are you taking us?"

Asuka saw Adlers eyes quickly dart to the mirror to view Asuka, "We're heading towards a small village in Poland, your father has agents posted there who can look after us. Provide us accommodation for the evening."

"And then?"

"Then tomorrow we start on our journey again, up to Lithuania, through Latvia and across the Russian border."

Asuka sighed as she processed the information. Her grasp of European was somewhat shaky, it wasn't one of her better subjects but she knew depending on how long they drove for it'd probably be a week minimum before they reached the Russian border.

"Is he alright?"

"Huh?"

"Shinji… what he saw as we were leaving, I know he didn't really get on with his father but seeing his own father get shot. He wasn't... supposed to see that."

In truth Asuka didn't know how Shinji was feeling, he had been asleep for the better part of the car journey. They hadn't exchanged any words while he was awake, all she had seen was him listening to whatever tracks came up on the music player with his eyes shut. Every now and then she'd hear a muffled noise from him but that was it. There had been very little, there had been no tears, no further yelling, just quiet.

Something about Adlers words had piqued her curiosity though, what did she mean by saying Shinji wasn't supposed to see that? Asuka thought she should ask but it could wait until later, when Shinji wasn't in danger of hearing. For now making sure he was calm and looking after him was her priority.

Asuka wondered what the angry Asuka from last year would think if she saw her now. The Asuka who did not hesitate to berate Shinji at every opportunity, who didn't hesitate to call him a pervert and deride him and his abilities. The Asuka who only had one thing in mind and that was showing how good she was, her only goal to be the best Evangelion pilot of the bunch. She wondered if maybe she had changed of the last few months. Her interactions with Shinji had certainly changed, she no longer derided him or called him a pervert all the time. Other parts of her maybe not so much, she still took pride in what she did and she still set out to be the best. She still wanted people to know just how good she could be.

She shot Adler a smile, "He'll be alright. After all he has me. What more could anyone want?"

'I might not be an elite pilot anymore Shinji… but I am going to look after and protect you. No matter what happens. I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu, I excel in everything I set out to do and this will be no exception.'

"We should be arriving at the village in half an hour, should we wake him up?"

Asuka looked down, "Leave him be, just give us a few moments alone when we arrive and I'll talk to him as well."

She wasn't sure what she would talk to him about, she'd just have to improvise but there was no telling what sort of state Shinji was going to be in when he woke up. Either way she was the only person who would be able to ensure he was alright.

Adler glanced at the two of them and felt that pang of guilt again. They weren't supposed to have seen or known about the exchange between Misato and Gendo. Would telling Asuka that make things easier? Would it help Shinji? They hadn't discussed the possibility of this happening when planning. They had a reason for going to their final desintation and that was something she wouldn't be able to tell them. They had to discover that themselves but this was different.

"In which case, before you wake him there is something you should know…"

"It's about his father isn't it?"

"You're very perceptive."

"Of course I am, I wouldn't have been such a good pilot and leader of the other two if I wasn't."

Asuka might have lied a little bit about being the leader of the three pilots. In truth there wasn't really a leader, although she had devised a successful plan to defeat an Angel once so that did count. Adler was about to tell her but Asuka quickly moved to stop.

"Tell me when we arrive, then I'll tell Shinji whatever he needs to know."

Asuka looked down again and again ran her hands through his soft brown hair, she envied his ability to sleep at times like this. When she slept after an incident like this all she found was nightmares, Shinji for the entirety of his dreaming looked peaceful, a million miles away from the hell he had just witnessed.

Shinji's eyes opened slowly and he found himself looking straight ahead at the back seat of the vehicle. He slowly sat up looking around, the car was parked up at some small petrol station. Outside he could hear voices belonging to Asuka and woman he knew as Adler. He felt numb with the realization that the last night wasn't some strange dream but was in fact very real. He recalled the image of Misato shooting his father in the chest and strangely enough he felt nothing. Just a strange numbness. It was exactly the same as when Kaworu had been killed, part of him wanted to cry but he just felt nothing.

'Misato… why did you?'

Shinji remembered the last words his father had said to him before the warehouse had been attacked. There wasn't a reconciliation between the two, no sudden understanding between them or common ground found. He had certainly not forgiven his father for everything and there was no hug or handshake on departing. Just the same awkward silence. What had happened though was a step was taken, the potential for something and within moments it had been ripped away.

'The same story… every time we progress forward we get knocked back… what's the point?'

He looked over at Asuka just in time to see her look back towards the car. Shinji was unable to make out what they were saying to each other but Asuka didn't look happy about it. Within a moment she had walked back over to the car and had opened the door. She knelt down beside him and gently caressed his face.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"Adler has to fill up the car with petrol and get a few things, she said she'll be about ten minutes. There is something I need to tell you, come on."

She took his hand but Shinji made no motion to move. He knew Asuka was trying to help him but right now he just wanted to be left alone, "Just leave me."

Asuka let go of his hand and knelt down bringing her face level with his again. She was smiling at him, "Shinji, if you don't get out of the car I'll carry you out. You know I can do that, so it is your choice. Now I have something to tell you, so come with me."

He couldn't help but smile softly at her words. Asuka always had a way of provoking something in him, she had calmed him last night and she had made him smile today already. He took her hand and followed her to the other end of the car park.

For a moment the two of them looked out across the vast wilderness. There was nothing here, just a lonely road leading to the service station and a small village half a mile down that road. The rest was vast countryside, in the distance a forest could be seen surrounding the base of a number of hills. Asuka was still going over the facts in her head, ensuring she got the story straight to tell Shinji. Shinji had a right to know the truth, now she was about to tell him it she wondered exactly how to do it.

"There was a news report on the radio earlier, whilst you were asleep. About what happened last night."

No reply, she had expected as much. Shinji had not moved since they made their way to this spot nor had he looked up at anything.

"They mentioned your father, he's alive and recovering in the hospital. They also mentioned Misato, in a warning. They said she is believed to be one of the terrorists who committed the attack and warned people that she is armed and dangerous."

Shinji still didn't say anything nor did he move. Asuka had expected some sort of reaction from him.

'Damnit Shinji, you're not making this easy for me. Why does this have to be so difficult anyway? It's not like this is a bad thing!'

"Basically Misato shot your father because that was part of the plan."

The words sounded wrong the moment they left her lips. While the statement was true at some level it left out a lot of important information, like why that was part of the plan, how it was Gendo's idea and how the shot was supposed to be non-lethal and Shinji wasn't supposed to see it.

"Part... of the plan was to shoot my father?"

"Yes... well, yes! But it wasn't supposed to be- we weren't supposed to see- it was-…"

She trailed off again searching for the correct way to phrase it before digging a hole for herself.

"I... don't understand."

'No, of course you don't. You try explaining this to someone Shinji and see how far you get. This should be no trouble for someone like me.'

"After the attack they knew WILLE would need someone to blame so Misato stepped up to the podium. They also know they'd need someone on the inside so both Misato and your father couldn't disappear. Your father volunteered to be the one on the inside, working both with and against WILLE to help us. The argument was staged, everyone knows Misato pretty much hates your father so the idea of her turning against him and attempting to kill him isn't a hard one to imagine."

The images flashed back through Shinjis mind as her words sunk in. Going back over the scene it all made sense, the way his father had come out of the room to be confronted by Misato. The argument and the sudden shooting. His father had let Misato shoot him so that they could escape.

"I... Thank you for telling me."

"Well what exactly did you expect me to do? I wasn't going to hide that from you, you'd do the same for me wouldn't you?"

He nodded, "When did you find out?"

Asuka hopped up from where they were sitting, "About five minutes ago just as you were waking up. Adler told me. She said we weren't supposed to have even seen it happen but because we did it was only right we knew."

"My father... risked his life to protect us. I didn't think he would ever do something like that."

"Well he did say he wanted to amend things. Most families, like mine tend to have a dinner together or talk. Talk about going to the extremes, but I suppose he does have a lot to make up for."

He still felt somewhat numb at the thought of it but he allowed himself to raise a smile at her words. Somehow she always had a way of making him happy. He looked at her confidence, at her smile and the bluntness in which she spoke to him sometimes and it made him happy.

"I don't think I could ever forgive him for what he did but... I don't want him to die."

That much was true, he had even in his darkest moment not wanted to see his father die. He had hated him, wished he could confront him and even hit him but he had never wished death on him.

"I suppose that is an improvement over when you two first saw each other again. The look in your eyes said you wanted him to, and you were even willing to do it yourself."

"I'll never understand my father, I'll probably never get along with him... but"

"He is still your father?"

Shinji nodded, "I am thankful to him, for maybe the first time in my life."

It was evening, Asuka knelt in front of the fireplace of the log cabin they were using to stay overnight. She rubbed her shoulders and arms to try to get some measure of warmth in them, it had grown cold over the course of the day a far cry from the warmth experienced in the city. She had a blanket draped over her shoulders to try to help.

'Damnit if I had known it was going to be this cold I'd have brought thicker pyjamas…'

She looked around the room, there was not much there. A television that was showing some local news story that she cared little for. There were a few seats scattered around and a coffee table, Adler had commandeered the table to set up her equipment. Basic communications to listen out in case they had been followed or for anything from Asukas' father. So far they had heard nothing, no news in this case being good news.

One the other end of the room was a basic kitchen. Her stomach growled at the smell of the food that was being cooked within it. She had no idea what Shinji was making in there but she was looking forward to it. Shinji was a perfect cook, she hadn't told him this back when they had met but from the first time she had tasted his cooking she had fallen in love with it. She of course made it look like she was forcing him to cook for her, almost bullying him into it. Asuka felt guilty about it, she should have told him she liked his cooking and that was why she wanted him to cook for her but of course she couldn't have done that back then.

She stretched up trying to see what exactly Shinji was making. There was an assortment of vegetables cut up on the side, a few pots and a joint of meat cut up. Whatever it was it smelt delicious. Asuka of course didn't have much in the way of cooking skill. She could manage, certainly better than Misato but it was not on the level of what Shinji could do.

"Shiiiiinji…"

Without turning to look at her he responded, "Yes?"

"What are you cooking?"

"Food."

'That sarcastic littl-… how dare he.'

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Why not."

"Because it isn't ready yet."

"Oh come on tell me!"

"Not yet, it'll be ready soon."

Shinji smirked to himself as he heard Asuka flop back down on the floor in frustration. He enjoyed cooking and even more so because he knew Asuka would enjoy it. In truth what he was making wasn't exactly complicated, it was just a basic beef stew. This was the first time he had tried to make something like this though. When he had arrived in New Berlin he had looked into European recipes and came across this sort of thing. He thought Asuka might enjoy it and it seemed simple enough to try making.

It was probably a little bit heavier than what he might usually have for dinner, the beef and vegetables had been cut fairly thick in keeping with the recipe and the gravy used was fairly thick but he had to admit it did smell good and from initial tasting it seemed alright. The real test would be Asuka. Cooking was one of the few things he had admitted to himself he was good at, one of the things he allowed himself to enjoy.

Adler intrigued by the exchange between them and also at how Shinji had volunteer to prepare the meal spoke up.

"Did you always cook back in Tokyo-3 Shinji?"

"Most of the time, we had a rota but…"

Asuka grinned and cut him off, "Be careful with those next words Shinji, I'm only over here."

"I was just going to say, I ended up doing most of it because… well… I err… enj-"

"What Shinji is trying to say, in his usual tripping up over his words and digging himself a hole way is that he did most of the cooking in our apartment. This was for two reasons, one because I was an elite pilot and therefore did not have the time to concern myself with trivial things like cooking meals for him and our guardian."

Shinji frowned, that wasn't exactly the way he would have phrased it. He wasn't going to say it but he did feel a lot of that was down to Asuka being lazy than not concerning herself with it.

"The second reason, is because if our guardian had been left to the task we would either be dead from over-consumption of frozen dinners or dead from consuming just one of her meals. Isn't that right Shinji?"

"Well… kind-of…"

Adler laughed at the exchange. She saw what had happened straight away. Both Misato and Asuka had given the boy little choice, "So those two pretty much forced you to do it then?"

"It wasn't like that, I enjoy it, honestly…"

"I see, well I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to eat some real food for a change. We have a long journey ahead of us these next two weeks so I'm sure your talent will come in handy."

Asuka sat back down and watched Shinji finally lift the lid on the pot he had the food cooking in and begin to serve it up. It was perfect timing as her stomach rumbled again. If this was what it was going to be like at their final destination she might be able to get used to it. A place where no one knew them, where they would be safe and alone. Adler had told her that the places they were going were isolated communities, only commuting into larger towns and cities for trade and in some cases work. These places were untouched by the hand of the Second Impact, safe from the reach of WILLE and whatever else might dare to reach them.