Rei floated in the LCL. It was her monthly 'special' synchronization training. In reality, it was a cover for Ritsuko to evaluate her and backup her memories to the spare clones floating in the tank behind the curtain.
Ritsuko had had the curtain installed because she found the empty, mindless eyes of the Rei clones creepy, and that was saying a lot, as very little bothered the tough scientist.
"Your stress hormone levels are very high. Is there anything the matter?" Ritsuko asked, clinically.
"No. I am content." Rei replied, before adding, uncharacteristically, "I have refrained from hunting for several months now."
Ritsuko glanced over at the table holding the hand gun, slightly concealed by a couple of folder laying on top.
"The commander has instructed that if your 'urges' become so overwhelming that you can't function, that he will provide you with 'prey'." Ritsuko recited what Gendo had told her the night before. She really would prefer if Gendo didn't discuss topics like that directly after sex. Or at all, but she knew that was asking too much.
"That will not be required. I am in control." A small smile spread across Rei's face, as she recalled the previous evening. After sync training, she had walked with Shinji to a high rise hotel and they had gone out on to the observation deck and looked out at the skyline. It was beautiful – she had never thought of a city that way before. 'How did Shinji know to go there? How did he know it would appeal to me?' These were both the best moments of her life, and the most intimidating, all because Shinji had expressed affection for her. Because she did not quite understand it, which scared her. How did she keep from damaging something she did not comprehend?
"Good, good." Ritsuko adjusted a few settings, and added a small feed of alprazolam to the LCL. Most medications had a limited effect on Rei's hybrid metabolism, but still... She doubled the dose.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
"Ooh, you're cooking dinner. What's the occasion?" Misato teased Shinji. It was good to forget work for a bit. She didn't want to think about the reports coming from the American branch - one of their test facilities just disappeared, taking Unit 03 with it. Thank god that she didn't have to deal with the fallout from that disaster.
"Nothing! I always cook dinner" Shinji retorted quickly.
"Yes, but this looks a lot fancier - it's at least a three course meal." Misato peered over his shoulder and snagged a string bean from the simmering pot before dropping it in her mouth (much to Shinji's dismay). "Are you hoping to impress Asuka?"
"No," Shinji kept chopping the greens – they had to be added last, in about five minutes. "I just had a little free time."
Misato nodded. She knew that Shinji and Rei strolled around the city most afternoons. Not that either one had mentioned it, but Section Two gave her a weekly report. She didn't want to spy on Shinji, so it just stated the basics – that they met up after school or NeRV training, and then spent an hour or more walking around together. But that did mean that there was less time left over for cooking. Which was a shame - Shinji was an excellent chef.
"Yeah, because Rei has to stay late at NeRV." Misato added knowingly. She watched with a smirk as Shinji blushed red. "You know, its pretty obvious that you like her. Just go ahead and ask her out!"
Shinji was blushing so hard that he looked like blood would start spurting out of his ears. He focused on preparing dinner, "Maybe I'll ask her to come over for dinner," he muttered. The only way to avoid Misato's teasing was to not engage with it, and distract her quickly.
"Yeah, that would be great. And you can ask her out when she's here, at your 'safe space'."
Obviously he failed. Equally obviously, the apartment was NOT Shinji's 'safe space'.
"Anyway, will Asuka be home for dinner?"
Misato glanced at her phone, "She hasn't said anything to the contrary."
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
"Major, make preparations to receive another Evangelion," Gendo pronounced as Misato stood at attention before his desk. Fuyutsuki was at his usual spot, off to one side (where he could pretend to be examining the paintings hung there).
"Another one? But the treaty prohibits any country having more than two Units. We're already skirting that by upgrading the prototype to combat specification." Fuyutsuki asked, turning in surprise.
"We both know that the law is irrelevant. The Angels are coming here, and if we don't stop them, there will be no more humans to argue about all this." Gendo drawled. What he saw no need to mention was that SEELE had informed him that their puppets in the UN would have the treaty suspended as of tomorrow.
"I wouldn't object to the additional firepower." Misato hated this office. It was designed to intimidate. She felt like a school girl being sent to the principles office. 'How does Ritsuko handle it?'
"Unit 04 will be here in a week. Prepare the test facility at Matsushiro to receive it."
Misato saluted and made her escape.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
"Um, hi." Shinji had sure to arrive at the school extra early, so that he could intercept Hikari as she came in. He had been waiting by the front door for a half hour.
"Hi," Hikaro stopped, breathless. Shinji was waiting for her. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Um, you asked if I wanted to go out with you this weekend, and uh," Shinji glanced down at his feet, "I'm sorry." He wasn't certain if he had read too much into Hikari's invitation - he probably had – but just in case, he wanted to avoid any hurt feelings when Hikari found out he and Rei were… Shinji's mind balked - still couldn't quite believe it.
It took Hikari a moment to understand what he was saying. "I thought we were friends." She finally managed.
"We are friends, but it's just you're too..." Shinji stopped, at loss for words. He didn't know how to say any of this without hurting Hikari's feelings. And she WAS a friend, and he didn't want to hurt her.
"It's because I'm not like Rei or Asuka." 'Not a pilot.'
Shinji gave small nod. Hikari wasn't like them - she was normal. Not broken or genetically modified or twisted into being some kind of teenage super-soldier.
Not waiting for any further response Hikari brushed by Shinji, running inside.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
"Hey, Baka, have you seen Hikari?" Asuka asked Shinji as he settled in to eat his lunch. Hikari had disappeared right as soon as lunch started. She had been there in the morning, though she had been unusually quiet. Asuka was worried about her - she had even come up to the roof to ask Shinji, which was not a pleasant experience: Rei was sitting at his side, glaring daggers at Asuka as soon as the redhead started walking over towards them. Asuka had given up on trying to figure out what Rei's problem was - she was tired of her melodrama, and its not like she would do anything more than glare (as long as Asuka remembered to stay out of arms reach). 'It's a good thing Rei has no social skills, otherwise she would be pulling something like trying to poison my reputation or stealing my friends or some other passive aggressive shit.' Asuka smirked at her little private joke.
"No." Shinji didn't want to talk about what had happened that morning. Besides, Hikari had seemed her normal self during class. He walked over to the other side of the roof so that he could look down at the picnic area at the back of the school. "Have you tried the cafeteria?"
"Yes, I have tried the cafeteria. I'm not an idiot."
Shinji shrugged self consciously. Was Hikari hiding from him? He didn't think it would bother her that much, but that just showed how little he understood normal people. They would have never worked out.
But now Asuka didn't have anybody to sit with, and it maybe was his fault. "Do you want to sit with us instead?"
He did not notice that Rei's head had rotated like a turret, transferring her death glare from Asuka to a new target.
"Nah. I'll leave you two to your shared weirdness." She gave a casual wave as she headed back for the stairs.
"Why do you dislike Asuka so much?" Shinji asked, "And don't say that its because of her hair color."
Rei considered the question for a moment before replying. "Because she likes you."
Shinji waved it away, "No, she doesn't. You've seen how she acts."
"But she eats your food." Rei pouted. In the past couple of weeks, the formerly stoic girl had become more expressive. Or maybe Shinji had just gotten better at reading her.
Shinji put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a momentary hug before releasing her almost immediately, self consciously. "Rei, I've explained that eating food is not a romantic gesture. At least not usually. I make food because it feels good to feed people, and Asuka eats my cooking because she hates cooking."
"And because it makes her happy."
Shinji sighed, before retorting, "I don't know about that - I don't think anything makes Asuka happy."
Rei's face brightened at that.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
It was later that evening, and Asuka was in her room, reading, when she heard the apartment door open. "Misato called - she's not going to be home tonight – she's doing something at the Matsushiro facility, so you're only cooking for two today." She called out without bothering to get out of bed.
"Three actually. Rei will be eating with us."
Asuka groaned, 'Maybe I should just eat in my room?'
"It will be a great opportunity for all of us to hang out and get comfortable around each other," Shinji added.
Asuka flopped back into bed. 'Yeah, it will be hell.' Because she got along FINE with Shinji, so his little bombshell was code-speak for 'I want you and Rei to play nice'. Which just wasn't going to happen, because Rei was a passive-aggressive psycho-bitch.
"I do not think that this endeavor will be successful, Shinji" Asuka heard Rei's voice faintly, "Sohryu is too self absorbed to try."
'Self absorbed!?' Asuka sat up in bed again, 'wait, since when are they on a first name basis - Rei doesn't call ANYBODY by their first name.' Now it was getting interesting. Asuka put on her slippers and opened the door.
"So, what's cooking doc?"
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
Dinner was exactly as bad as she had imagined.
While Shinji had been cooking dinner, it hadn't been too terrible, as Rei chopped and fetched for him like a well programmed automaton, but once the food was on the table, Rei switched her attention to Asuka, watching her like a hawk. Whenever she reached for any food dish, Rei made sure to be the one to pass it to her, even if she had to grab it almost out of her hands.
Shinji's attempts to talk about something (anything) were met with silence. Neither girl wanted to talk about school, and the one time Asuka tried to gossip, Rei just looked blank, like she couldn't understand why other people's lives mattered. For her part, Rei conversational sally consisted of commenting that the clouds were very fluffy today (which garnered a nod from Shinji, and a strange look from Asuka).
"Next time, we should invite Hikari as well," Shinji ventured desperately, 'She's friends with both Asuka and Rei.' Shinji paused with his chopsticks half way to his mouth, 'Or she was.' He glanced over at Rei. 'Did I just ruin a friendship?'
Asuka watched Shinji out of the corner of her eyes as he sat like a dork, mouth open but chopsticks frozen. She wanted to say 'What's wrong, Baka? Did you forget how to eat?' But no, she was going to be the adult. She wasn't going to be the one to ruin Shinji little peace-dinner. That would all be Rei, the wonder-doll.
"I do not think Hikari would be a good addition," Rei replied. She paused for a moment why that was so, "She is not a pilot like us."
"Yeah, she's lucky that way. But she's still our friend."
"What's wrong with being a pilot?" Asuka demanded.
"You mean other than the pain, both real and sympathetic from the Evangelions? Or the fact that we have to fight and kill Angels, and if we mess up, who knows how many people will die?"
"I thought you liked laying the hero"
"I… You're right, I don't mind it. But there is something wrong with me. I know that. And I know that if Hikari was to pilot it, would destroy her. "
Rei reached out, interrupting Shinji by placing her hand on the side of his face. "There is nothing wrong with you. It would be optimal if more people were to emulate you." When Shinji turned to look at her, she tried to make him understand the depth of her feeling, but she could not find any words, so she just stared at him and hoped to communicate through silence.
Asuka watched the stilted exchange. 'Oh, please god, let there be an Angel attack'
All three cell phones went off at once.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
"So what are we expecting?" Asuka asked, from the cockpit of Unit 02. All three Evangelions were deployed in the hills to the west of Tokyo 3. Since Misato was away at Matsushiro, Commander Ikari decided to take direct command himself, which was a new kind of joy. Whatever else she might think of Shinji, Asuka fervently prayed that he wouldn't grow up to be an asshole like his dad. Gendo hadn't even bothered to brief them, instead ordering them to deploy first, like they were his toy soldiers or something.
"The Angel is several minutes away. It will be coming along the main highway between the two hills." Gendo's voice was cold, as always.
Shinji glanced behind him. The three Evangelions were deployed in a V, with Asuka on his right, on the other side of the valley (part way up the hillside), and Rei a half mile back, with a sniper rifle. Even with the upgrades, her unit was still slower than the other two (and her poor sync score didn't help matters) so that she was most effective as a sniper. He turned back just in time to see the Angel come into sight as it shuffled around a hill.
"That's an Evangelion!" Shinji rocked back in shock.
"We have designated it the 13th angel" Gendo countered.
'What am I piloting?' Asuka wondered in horror as the former Evangelion 04 walked fully into view.
"Father, does that Evangelion have a pilot?"
"It is not an Evangelion – it is an angel."
"What if..." Asuka whispered.
When Shini interrupted, "Is there a pilot?"
"That is not relevant," the commander replied. "If they are still alive, they have been contaminated."
Shinji nodded. As much as his heart went out to the poor person stuck inside the contaminated Evangelion, he had to stop it before it reached Tokyo Three and endangered Hikari and everybody else.
Suddenly, ice went through his stomach. 'She wouldn't do it. I told her how dangerous piloting is. She knows better...'
But Asuka hadn't been able to find her during lunch, and she wasn't in class in the afternoon.
'It takes more than a single afternoon to train to be a pilot', Shinji desperately searched for why it couldn't be Hikari in the contaminated Evangelon. But he remembered the first time he had piloted – his father had ordered him to get into Unit 01 right in the middle of a battle. 'Father doesn't care – we're all interchangeable tools to him.'
"Is it Hikari?" Shinji demanded. There was no answer, but it fit. Hikari was like him - she also needed to help people. He had told her that the Evangelions were dangerous, but she wouldn't care. She wanted to be like Asuka and Rei.
Asuka glanced over at Unit 00. 'How will Rei react if given a chance to kill her rival?' Dumb question. "I think the pilot is just another student. Remember, it can be anybody born after Second Impact."
Shinji clenched the controls as cold fear roiled in his stomach. He knew that Asuka was wrong. It was Hikari. 'Why would she do this? The whole point is that she stays safe in Tokyo 3, living a normal life.' Otherwise this whole existence was futile. Before Shinji's minds eye flashed the image of a purple haired girl. He didn't know who she was, but he knew she was kind, and sweet, and loved to cook, just like Hikari. And he that he had promised her a normal life. A promise that in the end he had not been able to keep.
'No, it can't be Hikari.'
Nevertheless, the fear didn't abate. Because even if Asuka was right, even it wasn't Hikari (it was Hikari), this was probably somebody he knew, somebody he had said hello to in the school hallway.
Somebody who's normal life had been been destroyed.
Somebody that he had failed to protect.
For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to {make people happy / protect them}. But they were usually faceless, generic 'people' and if he failed, there was just a little bit of guilt, offset by the knowledge that he had tried. But now..
"Asuka, Rei, we need to rescue the pilot before we destroy that thing. Rei you're the sniper – as soon as it reaches the spot directly between Asuka and me, pin it down so that we can circle in from opposite sides. I will grapple with it and then Asuka will remove the plug." Because it could be Hikari.
"You're name might be Ikari, but you're not the commander," snapped Asuka by reflex before adding, "But its a good plan."
"It is too late to save the pilot - the Angel will have contaminated them." Gendo explained. He didn't need to explain - he was the commander, and his orders were absolute - but he was magnanimous, and it cost him very little.
"You don't know that for a fact. And until you do, we have to attempt rescue the pilot. Our job is to save everybody."
"Negative. Your job - your ONLY job - is destroying Angels. This plan has too much risk. You will not attempt it," Commander Ikari countered.
"I need to concentrate, commander. Please do not interrupt." Shinji replied calmly, switching off the command channel on the radio.
Now it was Gendo's turn to rock back in shock. This was completely out of character for his son. He turned a questioning look to the Lt. Commanded. "What is the source of this? Has there been contamination?"
"You will have to ask Dr. Akagi – That is not something I am an expert in." He paused before adding, "He could just be growing up."
"This is not the scenario. The boy that Shinji was does not grow up into this sort of man."
The professor just nodded and sighed. This wasn't the time to argue, even if Gendo's understanding of children was feeble. 'This 'sort of' man is a lot like you, Gendo.'
Meanwhile, the two Evangelions had moved apart, trying to get under cover at opposite sides of the valley as they waited.
"It's coming… It will be in the target zone in 5, 4, 3... It's gone!" Rei announced before chaos erupted.
"Angel is engaging Unit 00!" Yelled Maya.
"Rei, hold on! Asuka, same plan!" Shinji bounded up the hill to where Unit 00 struggled to keep back the Angel. It had somehow managed to cross the distance in a single leap, coming in too close for Rei to use her sniper rifle.
Unit 00 tried to push the Angel away with its rifle so that it could get it position for a shot, but the former Unit 04 was pulling in close - it's hands were splayed around Unit 00, holding tight as if they were glued onto Rei's Evangelion.
Unit 01 barreled into them both, grappling the Angle away from Unit 00 and twisting so that Unit 02 could get at its back.
"Pilot Sohryu - shoot the angel. You don't have time." Gendo ordered.
Asuka ignored the order - if she used her rifle, there was a chance that she would hit Shinji. Unit 02 reached out to grab the Angel's head, but it spun around like like an owl and bit her before trying to hip throw Unit 01, forcing it to stagger into her, knocking them both backwards. At the same time the Angel's arm stretched out, looping out like a giant elastic to rope up Unit 01's arms. Shinji tried to twist out, bracing himself as he yanked back. The Angel staggered but kept its grip on Unit 01 arms with one tentacle, while its other 'arm' lashed out at Unit 00 as Rei started to back up, wrapping around its neck, strangling it.
"Rei's life signs are fluctuating!" Maya announced.
"Cut synchronization rate by half!" Gendo ordered, "Pilot Ikari, engage the enemy!"
Shinji grabbed the arm that was wrapped around Unit 01's torso and pulled it towards him, trying to pin it down against his chest. But despite being stretched out nearly a hundred feet, the arm was still strong enough to fling Evangelion 01 against the rocks.
As Unit 01 hit the ground, Shinji had the presence of mind to brace himself and yank again, pulling the Angel off balance. It was at that point that Asuka reentered the fray, leaping in from behind the Angel to land on its back, staggering it. The Angel tried to turn, but Shinji lunged forward, getting a better hold on the arm, and at the same time Unit 00 pulled the appendage off of its neck.
The Angel threw itself at the ground, hoping to dislocate Unit 02, but Rei managed to keep a hold of the tentacle-arm that had been attacking her. Meanwhile, Shinji pulled, working his way up the other tentacle to the Angel's shoulder.
Between the three of them, they managed to force the Angle face down on the ground. As soon as it was pinned, Asuka grabbed at the entry plug, but she couldn't pull it out - the back of Unit 04 was covered in some sort of blue webbing. "Use your prog knife!" Shinji panted.
"I'm not stupid!" Asuka cut the thick blue strands holding the entry plug in place, scraping them off as they tried to squirm back into place.
"I think I can grab it now." The Angel bucked fervently, and it's legs looped back tentacle-like, wrapping around Unit 02, but it was too late. Asuka had already gotten a good hold on the entry plug and yanked it free.
"We did it!" Shinji felt relief.
As soon as Unit 02 removed the plug, the Angel stopped moving.
Rei stabbed it in the back several times, just to be sure.
/\/\/\ Beautiful/Night \/\/\
Shinji was anxious all the way back to the Geofront.
It was almost an hour later that the pilots were back at NeRV, and Shinji had sat, his stomach clenched in knots, in his entry plug the whole way. As soon as the plug was ejected, he ran down the ladder and demanded of Ritsuko, "How is the pilot? Was it Hikari?"
Asuka was climbing down the ladder as he ran by. 'I hope he's wrong.' She anxiously waited by Shinji's side to hear Ritsuko's reply.
The blond scientist had been conferring with Gendo, who turned to glare at the pilot. "Third child, you will follow my orders in the future. If this happens again, you will be suspended from piloting. It was your disobedience that lead to this near fiasco!" Gendo was always so calm and controlled that it was hard to tell, but he appeared genuinely annoyed.
"Hey, Shinji. Let's go get changed." Asuka took Shinji's and tried to steer him away. She could tell that now was not the time for a confrontation (Oddly, she could identify the situation very easily when it was Shinji, but not whenever she was arguing with Misato).
"I was trying to save the pilot!" Shinji wasn't having any of it. "Something that you clearly don't care about." Shinji was furious, but most of his anger was at himself: He had gone out there, risked his life, he had done everything he could, but it still wasn't enough. But he had plenty of spleen left over for his father: There he stood, having contributed nothing, and yet dared to criticize him for trying to save lives.
"Your attempts were counter productive." Gendo didn't understand why his failure of a son was so fixated on saving some girl. "The entry plug was contaminated with Angelic matter. The recovery team had to destroy it."
"The pilot - was it Hikari?" Shinji glanced from Gendo to Ritsuko. The scientist wouldn't meet his eyes, "Is Hikari dead?"