Shinji opened his eyes and looked back up at a familiar ceiling.

He was not surprised to be back in the hospital again. There was an IV tube stuck into one of his arms and the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. His mind wasn't completely focused and it felt as if he were drifting between waking and sleeping.

"How are you feeling Shinji?" A warm familiar voice spoke.

He turned his head to see Misato standing there by his bedside, smiling at him comfortingly. Both her hands held behind her back.

"I'm fine. Is Rei all right?"

"Is she all that matters to you Shinji?" Misato asked in a kind voice. "The entire world is in danger and all you care about is Rei. Are you really so selfish?"

Her words caught him by surprise. Misato was usually very understanding. "I… I don't think it's selfish to be worried about Rei. I love her."

"She is dead Shinji." Misato said pleasantly. Her smile grew wider and stretched from ear to ear. "I am dead. Your father is dead. We are all dead, because of you. We all died because of you. You were a coward and you let all of us die."

From behind her back Misato drew out a small pistol and placed it to the side of her head.

"And now you are all alone in Hell."

She pulled the trigger and blew her brains out right in front of him.

XXX

"No!" Shinji shouted and sat up in bed.

He looked about wildly. He was in a hospital room with an IV and heart monitor, but there was no sign of Misato.

The door opened and a nurse in a white uniform rushed in. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Shinji stared at her. It took him a moment to realize it had been a dream. His heart was beating like crazy and his hands were shaking. Not knowing what else to do he began to cry.

The confused nurse told him she would get the doctor.

XXX

Commander Fuyutsuki was standing on one of the walkways high above the EVA holding pens.

Unit 00 was covered in scaffolding and work crews who were feverishly working to reattach its right arm and repair the damage to its side. It had been about twelve hours since the end of the battle but no one had gotten any rest. Along with the work being done here a 'cover' was being built where the pyramid had once stood. That was to at least give a pretense that the next Angel wouldn't have a straight run to Terminal Dogma. Fuyutsuki knew it was a pointless effort; a little concrete and steel wouldn't make any difference come the next attack. But it had to be done, for the sake of moral if nothing else. The next attack could come at any time.

Unit 02 had been officially decommissioned. Given the extreme costs to repairing it and its poor performance record the decision had been made to scrap the EVA and use it for parts. Bits of it were already being used to repair Unit 00.

Also beneath him in one of the holding pens was Unit 01. The EVA had taken virtually no damage during the battle. Nevertheless, it had multiple restraints placed over all its appendages. Even with nothing to repair there were workers crawling all over it, both on the outside and the accessible sections inside. Following the battle Unit 01 had been given a shutdown order and it had turned off.

Eventually.

"I have been with this project almost from the beginning major." Fuyutsuki said. "Yet even I don't truly understand what these… weapons are capable of." That was true, though he knew more than he let on.

"Yes sir," Misato replied sounding very tired. She had been going nonstop since the battle. Recovering the pilots and their EVAs had been nerve wracking. Unit 01 had ignored its shutdown order and had even continued with its meal after having its cable ejected and running pout of battery life. When it had finished eating it had finally shut itself down. After witnessing everything it had done Misato couldn't help but feel nervous around it.

"Can you give me a status update on the situation?"

"Yes commander," Misato refocused on her duty. As soon as she was done here she would need about a gallon of coffee. "Pilots Kaworu and Rei suffered no harm beyond mental trauma connected to the damage inflicted on their EVAs, they have already passed medical examination and been released."

"And pilot Shinji?"

"He recently awakened and is being evaluated now. Ritsuko will let us know his condition as soon as she finishes examining him."

The commander nodded. While he was quite eager to find out Shinji's condition that wasn't the priority at the moment. "What about the EVAs?"

"As you know commander Unit 02 is being broken up for parts. Unit 00 should have its right arm reattached and be combat worthy within seventy two hours. If we are attacked before that time we could still use it, though its combat effectiveness would be seriously degraded."

The commander simply nodded and invited her to continue.

"Unit 05 is already on route to us. It should be here in less than three hours. When I called Beijing and told them we had only one operational EVA they actually got off their asses and decided to help us." Misato couldn't keep the smugness from her voice.

"Despite the situation I want to keep to the protocols. Given what happened with Unit 03 I don't want Unit 05 brought to the geofront until it has been tested."

"That will delay things a bit but I certainly can't argue with you. I have already arranged to have Unit 05 delivered to Hinata Base and scheduled preliminary tests. Kaworu has agreed to act as test pilot. I also intend to run some tests using the Dummy Plug with no pilot on board." Next time Misato intended to know for sure whether or not the Dummy Plug could operate an AT Field on its own.

"Carry out whatever tests you feel to be necessary, just be sure that the unit is functional and safe before bringing it here."

"Yes commander."

Though there was no one within earshot Fuyutsuki still looked about and then lowered his voice. "Now what can you tell me about Unit 01?"

Misato fidgeted ever so slightly and cast a nervous glance downwards at the gigantic mecha. "All the monitoring and recording devices inside the entry plug were inactive for a period lasting nineteen minutes and twenty six seconds. The lapse coinciding with the moment Shinji lost consciousness and ending when Unit 01 shutdown. During that time it acted independently of its pilot and defeated and… and then consumed most of the enemy angel."

"Including its S2 engine." Fuyutsuki said quietly.

"That's right commander, not only did it ingest the S2 engine but our preliminary findings are that it has somehow relocated it into its own body. I don't know how, but it appears to have a functioning S2 engine now." Misato licked her lips uneasily. "Given what happened to the NERV base that was experimenting with Unit 04 I can't say I am very happy about it."

"I can understand your concerns Major. As of this moment this information is classified. You are not to file any reports about this matter or even enter it into the data base. You can share what you know with Ritsuko but no one else, is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Misato answered but did not look happy.

"Also, have the research team that was investigating this arrested immediately and put into isolation."

"What?"

"You heard me major. I want it done immediately. I am very serious about keeping this secret."

Before Misato could argue with him Fuyutsuki turned and walked away. Unlike Gendo he had no intention of murdering innocent men just to keep a secret. These men would be kept in calls and not allowed to communicate with others. It was drastic, but if he was going to keep SEELE from finding out the truth it was necessary.