A/N: This is it! The long awaited 50th chapter! Another huge milestone for me! And I'm almost at 300 reviews! Woot! Woot! But now to the big issue at hand here: Rei Ayanami. She is suffering from ARS or Angel Rejection Syndrome. Will she survive? Or will she die? Read on!

NERV Hospital

Shinji looked on into a room from the observation room, within the NERV medical ward. The sight beyond the glass was horrifying to some extent, but that would not stop him from visiting anyway. On the other side of the glass, he saw Rei Ayanami, The First Child, designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 00, a friend of his, who was a connection between him and his mother, fighting for her very life with the use of a life support system.

Since Shinji's last visit, Rei's general appearance had greatly deteriorated. She was now of a ghostly white, and her face was contorted in pain. Her temperature had not lowered, and she had another expulsion of Angel cells the previous night. Ritsuko said she was in so much pain, that the doctor decided to put Rei into a medically induced coma to try and relieve some of the stress on her body. Yet despite the coma, her body continued to writhe in pain as it continued to destroy her from the inside out. Misato had given all the kids the day off from school for the Monday, with the exception of Elly, as she was still in NERV's custody.

That day, everyone was out doing their own thing for the day. Zack and Ivana got some much needed rest to compensate for the unfortunate all-nighter. Misato had likely gone off to see Kaji, and do more of what they do. Asuka was at home, just finding things to do to let time go by.

"Rei," Shinji weakly says to the sick girl. Even if she couldn't hear him because she was comatose, or because the observation window soundproofed the room, he felt he had to say something.

"You just have to get better. You may not know it, but you are an important person in my life. There are people out there who are worried about you okay? You're not fighting this alone. We're all here for you. Myself, Asuka, Zack, Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, Ivana, Elly, and Misato too. And the others as well. We're all praying for your recovery. Please, onee-chan, get through this. You don't deserve this pain," he began to walk away from the window, but turned back to see her one more time.

"I'll visit whenever I can," he finished saying. And with that, he began his stride home.

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Ritsuko's Office

Ritsuko was still going over the information they had on Rei and her condition, to see if it was possible to cure her. Ritsuko's past with Rei was not what many had considered to be the best of things because of Gendo Ikari, but she was trying her best to put the past behind her. She knew she would be no better than that bastard if she didn't try to help Rei.

She had looked over the data she had. The problem that was plaguing her was where the mistake in Rei's genetic patterns that allowed the Angel Rejection Syndrome to take place. After looking over it a few times with no success, she called Maya in.

Maya entered Ritsuko's office not long after she was summoned, "Yes doctor?"

Ritsuko got up from her chair, "I'm going to the sleeping quarters to get some rest," she states, as she rubs her forehead, "Just continue to go over Rei's data, and see if there's anything I missed from the previous scans."

"Yes doctor." Maya then sat down in the seat and began working while Ritsuko went to find herself a bed.

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Misato's Apartment

Shinji had finally arrived home, to see that Zack was watching TV on the couch, watching the Maury Povich show, and Ivana was sitting on the floor cleaning one of her many weapons. Shinji slightly smiled remembering the big fit Misato had when she had discovered how many weapons Ivana had concealed. His smile widened even further when he recalled how badly she shrieked seeing an Old Russian Pssh, and even an American M1 Carbine.

"So where's Asuka?" Shinji asks, as he takes off his shoes and sits down on an armchair.

"She likely went off to see one of her friends," Ivana simply replied, her eyes glued to the firearm in her hand, "Probably Hikari."

"I'm surprised she has any friends with her attitude," Zack darkly muttered, "I heard she went from most popular to not so popular in no time, while I shot all the way to the top."

"Just wait till everyone knows what an idiot you are, and then we'll see how long that lasts," Ivana scathingly retorted, looking up from her weapons.

"Do you two fight like this all the time?" Shinji inquired, as he tried to sink into the chair, and avoid a possible fury of fisticuffs.

"No," Zack raised his hands in mock shock, "I would never cause pointless fighting," suddenly then changed the subject, "So what's for lunch?"

"Let's just order pizza," Shinji sighs out, "Don't feel like cooking right now." He picked up the phone book and began looking for the pizza place.

"By the way, where's Misato?"

Ivana had a look of disgust on her face, "When I found out what she does with Kaji, I was so glad he does not live here. Otherwise, we'd hear her screaming her lungs out every night. She went to see Kaji." Now Shinji had a look of disgust while looking for the number while Zack mumbled something about Kaji being a player.

While dialing the number he found, he overheard Ivana and Zack going at it again, "If you had the chance, you would be doing disgusting things with Elly."

"I would not!" Zack shot out, sounding scandalized, "We haven't done anything yet."

"Yet? So you were going to!" angrily groaning in exasperation, with a hint of pain in her voice, "You men are all the same."

"All the same?" now Zack was confused, "What do you mean by that?"

"Never mind." Ivana went back to cleaning her guns. And someone had finally answered the phone from the pizza place.

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Somewhere in Tokyo-3

"So Rei is sick?" Hikari and Asuka were sitting on a bench to occupy some time. Asuka had decided to pop by school during lunchtime to socialize with her friend.

"Apparently, she's very sick. But the doctors don't know what it is yet." Asuka obviously knew the details of Rei's illness; Angel Rejection Syndrome was classified information. Information that Hikari wasn't allowed to know.

Hikari decided to change the subject, "So Asuka, I uh… have a question to ask."

"Go ahead," glad about the sudden change in subject, "Is it about that Stooge Suzahara?"

"Hey don't talk about him like that!" Hikari retorted in Toji's defense, "You don't know him like I do."

"Let me guess, you like him and want to tell him."

Hikari blushed, but nodded in confirmation, "But I can't… every time I try to tell him, I just… just freeze. And every time I finally muster it up, something inconvenient comes up and ruins everything. The last time I tried, there was an attack on the city and we had to run for the shelters."

"Then you gotta just keep trying until it works." Both Asuka and Hikari turned in the direction of the voice. It was Elly, pink hair and all.

"If you want advice, get it from a pro like me, and don't rely on someone who read the Complete Idiot's Guide to Romance!"

"Hey shut up you pink bitch!" Asuka yelled out, furious she was still trying to get in between herself and Shinji, "You never had to deal with telling Mr. Casanova how you felt."

"Only because he beat me to it," Elly casually replied, smirking afterwards.

She went over to Hikari. "If the only thing stopping you was a distraction, then I think you just need to keep trying."

"Really?" Hikari asked hopefully.

"Definitely," Elly replied, smiling, "I work with him, and he talks about you from time to time. I think he's just waiting for the message from you. And knowing the woman's intuition, it'll all work." Elly went on for a bit on what Hikari should do to guarantee getting Toji's attention and helping him fall for her.

The advices soon improved Hikari's mood, as she spoke with a new boost of confidence "Wow. Thank you Elly. I didn't know you knew so much about relationships."

"You learn quite a bit when you spend time on the beaches of Sydney mate," Elly smugly replies. The bell rang, which meant it was time for the next class.

"And that's my cue to exit. Best of luck my friend." And with that, Elly walked back towards the school. Asuka felt like she was ready about to challenge Elly and her so called knowledge that she probably dug out of 'Love for Dummies' when her cell phone began to ring. Upon checking it out, someone had sent her a text message. The message read:

Asuka, we are ordering pizza soon. If you want some, I suggest hurrying home to get your slices before Zack does.

Shinji

Less than 10 minutes later, everyone's favourite, well not everyone's favourite redhead had found her way back to the somewhat dysfunctional apartment. She saw Zack watching the Maury show in English, and was making some comments at what she assumed was a woman who found out that the man she thought was her child's father was not. Ivana was now in a corner, cleaning some of her weapons, and Shinji was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Asuka then picked up a magazine that Misato left lying around, and sat down as she made herself comfortable and read.

25 minutes later

"You're late! And that means the pizza is free dumbass!" Apparently, the pizza order arrived late, and Zack was trying to use the store's policy again to get some free pizzas.

"Come on sir…"

"Come on my ass!" shouted Zack, waving his fist in his face, "I'm so sick and tired of this bullshit your pizza store tries to pull! I'm gonna call my superiors at NERV, and they'll run you out of Japan!" And just like last time, the delivery man cowered to the threat of someone calling NERV. Zack came walking in with two pizza boxes which emitted the aroma of well… pizza.

"Pizza's here," he declared, "Let's fight over it."

"How about let's not," Asuka growls as she quickly grabs a box from his hands.

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On the roads of Tokyo-3

Misato felt relived after visiting Kaji at his residence in the Geofront. Although Ritsuko would shake her head in dismay, and Asuka would rant on about how dirty she is, a little time with Kaji always helped relieve the stress regardless of how much of a pain in the ass he was. Once she left his place, she called Ritsuko at NERV, only to have Maya answer instead.

"Hello," Maya answered exhaustion in her voice.

"Hey Maya," Misato replies back, "You sound tired. By the way, what's the status of Rei? I heard Ritsuko put her into a medically induced coma."

"Apparently, Rei had another DNA expulsion last night, and was still in a lot of pain on top of having a temperature that won't quit. The purpose of the coma was to relieve the stress on her body."

"What a bummer," Misato stated, with a tone of sadness in her voice, "Well, make sure to keep me posted on her condition. And get some rest if you get the chance. The mind doesn't always function properly when not well rested. "

"Will do Misato. Talk to you later." Maya hung up the phone. And so Misato continued on towards home, hoping to get a nice cold beer to finish offsetting the pain in her heart from seeing Rei sick like she is.

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After pizza, everyone went back to whatever they were originally doing. Ivana had finished cleaning her weapons, and was now into a novel written entirely in Russian. Zack was now watching the afternoon version of the Jerry Springer show with Pen-Pen. Shinji was in his room listening to his SDAT player and Asuka had fallen asleep and was snoozing on their futon.

Just then Misato came in the door, calling out, "I'm home." She noticed that Zack and Ivana were doing their own things, but the other two weren't around.

"Where are the lovebirds?" she asks, as she walks towards the kitchen to grab a beer.

"In there," said Ivana as she lazily pointed in the direction of their room.

Misato immediately halted, as she went into shock for a second, "They're not doing it are they?"

"Don't worry," assured Zack, "If they were doing the bad thing, or getting kinky, we'd be hearing it. Wonder why I got the volume down low?"

"I see." Misato went to the fridge and got out a beer.

"Ah, nothing tastes good like beer after se…" she trailed off not daring to finish the last word.

"After what?" Zack calls out, looking at her curiously.

Misato's mind scrambled as she tried to find a word to replace her most secret addiction. "After… see-sawing in the park."

"See-sawing?" Ivana asked suspiciously as she put her book down, and eyed her dangerously.

"Hey, we all still have the little kid inside of us," Misato nervously replied, "You'll notice that when you grow up too and be like me."

"Be like you… no thank you," Ivana replied, scoffing at the idea as she went back to her book. She knew damn well what that last word was, but was not in the mood to start another fight over it. Glad that she averted what could have been a disaster, Misato makes her way to the couple's room, and peeks inside. To her relief and correct assumption, the two were soundlessly asleep. Shinji was sleeping with his head on the pillow, while Asuka was sleeping horizontally with her head on his chest, bobbing up and down with Shinji's breathing. Misato made a mental note to wake them up soon so they would sleep tonight. She wanted them to go to school tomorrow.

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NERV HQ –Barracks (Where you go when you plan to be at NERV all night)

After taking quite the long needed snooze, Ritsuko Akagi stretched as she finally got out of bed, and felt much better rested. Ritsuko quickly remembered the task at hand which was finding a way to save Rei, the last of her kind from the deadly illness of Angel Rejection Syndrome.

Not even bothering to change out of her pink slippers, she proceeded down NERV's halls until she reached her office where she found Maya doing everything she can to stay awake, while continuing her research.

"Getting enough sleep?" she asked as she walked in. Fortunately, Maya was so either out of it, or seriously concentrating on her work, that she was startled by her superior's question.

"Ahh Doctor, you startled me there for a second," said Maya, as she clutched her chest from shock, "No I haven't been sleeping at all. This is just tiresome, and I haven't found anything. I'm sorry, I tried…"

"Relax Maya. This illness is mind-boggling, even for me," Ritsuko looked at the monitor. "Not even the MAGI can think of a solution."

"Yeah. If it's beyond the MAGI, it's likely beyond us too," Maya stated regretfully, "It's too bad we don't have any more replacements," remembering what happened with Ritsuko and the other 200 or so Rei's, "I'm sorry Doctor."

"It's all right Maya," Ritsuko replied, placing a hand on the young officer's shoulder. 'Wait a minute,' she thought to herself.

Maya noticed that her superior seemed to be lost in thought for while, "Uhh… Doctor?"

"Eureka! That's it!" the blonde suddenly shouted, as she practically shoved Maya out of the chair, and began furious work on her computer.

45 minutes later

"So why did you call us down here?" asked Misato. She had brought the whole crew from her apartment. Herself, Shinji, Asuka, and Ivana were in a briefing room with Ritsuko and Maya. Zack on the other hand was off to hang with Elly so the both of them would be out of everyone's hair.

Ritsuko began to speak, "After long deliberation, we believe we have found a way to save Rei."

"Really? How?" Shinji asked, anxious to see Rei up and about ASAP.

"Well, Rei's body as it is will soon die," Ritsuko solemnly replied.

Misato and Shinji were about to interject when she quickly cuts in, "Hold on, I'm not done. The only way to save Rei is to make her a new body."

"Can you actually do that?" inquired Misato.

"Do you need to ask that?" answering her question, with another question, as she raised her eyebrow, "Did you already forget the fact you saw what was the core of the Dummy Plug System a while back?" Misato growled angrily at the smugness on her face, and was on the verge of snapping from the stress.

"Yes we can," Maya quickly interjected, attempting to defuse the situation, "We have DNA from Reilith that we can use in constructing her new body along with the DNA we have from Yui as well."

That seemed to have calmed Misato down, as she continued her line of questions, "But wouldn't that just make the ARS relapse and come back?"

"That's the other part," Ritsuko replied, "Because Rei has a S2 organ the Angel DNA is required temporarily. But after that, we need to convert the DNA into human DNA, and the S2 organ with it as well. But we need a human donor for the DNA," Ritsuko then turned to look at Shinji, "Since Rei will not accept anything that doesn't have her genetic code, we have to use something that comes as close to her as possible, then use immune suppressants to make it stick. You are the closest to matching Rei's DNA."

"Me?" Shinji jumped back in surprise.

"This is completely up to you. But if you wish, we can take a DNA sample from you, and use it to save Rei. Yui's DNA is part of you, as much as she is part of Rei. So chances are that she will accept you, just like a normal brother would donate for his sister," Ritsuko explained.

"So Reilith's DNA would convert into Shinji's DNA, using DNA manipulation?" Asuka asked, as all this talk of DNA manipulation, cloning and others, was greatly intriguing her college mind.

"Exactly," Ritsuko replied in a manner-of-fact tone, "And as for Rei's memory and soul, they can also be transferred into the new body we are making for her. So long we can keep her soul intact within the S2 organ inside her body, we can transplant the soul into the new body, as we have done before with the 2nd and 3rd."

"Will this work?" asked Misato, when another question hit her, "Wait…where the hell are you going to get Reilith DNA? I thought all of her remains were destroyed.

"To answer your first question, we don't know," the good doctor replied, "Although we have done this procedure multiple times, some have lead to failure. There is a chance this won't work, and we only have one shot, as we can only have so much DNA at our disposal."

"But if the surgery goes as planned," Maya continued on, "Rei's life will be saved. But there may be some side effects to this."

"Like?" Ivana asked, as she continued to listen attentively.

"Since she'll have Yui's and Shinji's DNA in her, the chromosomes in her body may start altering her body to match the chromosomes' information." They were a tad confused for a moment before Maya spoke again.

"In simple terms, she'll start looking like Shinji." This put a look of surprise on everyone's face.

"And as for your second question," the doctor continued, "Reilith was not completely destroyed. I don't know if you were ever told this, but Unit 02 was reconstructed through usage of Reilith's body."

"WHAT!" Asuka shrieks out, "You mean that my precious Unit 02 is going to save Wonder Girl!"

"That is correct," Ritsuko calmly replies. Asuka opens her mouth in objection, but noticed the pleading look in her eyes, that she let out a sigh, and tells them to do what they needed to do.

Ritsuko then returned her attention towards Shinji, "So Shinji, do you wish to donate some DNA. We just need to take a blood sample from you, and we can go from there."

"Okay, I'll do it," Shinji confidently replied, "I'll give her some of my blood."

Shinji was then led into a room where they did some initial tests to determine if his blood was safe to use, which was deemed safe. The doctors in there then laid him down on a bed.

"We're going to take some blood from you," one of them explained, "You may feel a little weak and some dizziness afterwards. But it will be nothing a night's rest will take care of." Within about 10 minutes, he was brought back out, already feeling the effects of sudden blood loss.

"Feeling alright Shinji?" Misato asked worriedly.

"Just…YAWN…tired…"

"Good. Then we can go home, while they save Rei," Misato turned to faced Ivana, "Go find Mr. Casanova, tell him to finish up, and then we're going home."

"Understood." Ivana then went down the hall to Elly's room.

"So Misato," began Shinji. "What's for din…" he suddenly looked dazed and almost fell if it wasn't for Asuka and Misato catching him.

"Looks like someone's tired out," Misato joked, "Hopefully Casanova can carry or drag him back to the car when he comes back."

A/N: And there you have it! Rei has been given a chance to fight for her life! Will she survive the surgery? Or will she die during surgery? Finally, I have completed the 50th chapter! Wow, what a feat!

A/O/N: Give a BIG thanks to my prereader, Marine Brother Shran. He's made the last few chapters better than ever since he offered to preread for me.

A/O/O/N: For other details, or if you have any questions about this fic that you want answered, check out my forum when you get the chance.

Until chapter 51 and beyond, be cool!