Lucky #13 Chapter 4: First Child and the Fourth Angel

"Goodness, it's way too early for this." Toji yawned, as he walked onto the school bus, the other two Stooges right behind him. "Showing up to school over an hour early for a field trip encroaches on my beauty sleep."

"Maybe if you didn't stay up so late reading manga…" Kensuke grumbled, only to receive a whack on the back of the head. "Hey, what was that for?"

"I shared that with you in confidence!" Toji exclaimed. "Now everybody is gonna think I'm some sort of nerd or something."

Shinji held his tongue, although he felt a strange urge to make a sarcastic remark. Instead he let out an artificial yawn as he made his way onto the bus; one of the benefits of the recent bond between Shinji and Bardiel was that he woke up every night feeling like he had slept flawlessly, courtesy of the Angel's S2 Engine. While everyone else was still trying to wake themselves up, Shinji felt like he'd never lost a wink of sleep in his life.

"Oh, Ayanami's back." Toji noted, as the boys took their seats. "I was wondering when she would come back, she's been out for a while."

"Ayanami?" Shinji asked, as he turned back to face the rear part of the bus. He saw a blue-haired girl he had never seen before, although somehow she looked faintly familiar; her arm was in a cast, and she had bandages over one of her eyes. "Who is she?"

"I thought you would've known, Shin-man." Toji replied. "Her name's Rei Ayanami; she works at NERV just like your guardian, or something like that."

"She… she does?" Shinji said, confused. Why would there be another child working at NERV? "That's… interesting."

"Shinji, what's the only other reason a child your age would be at NERV?" Bardiel asked. "Critical thinking skills, buddy."

"She's a pilot!" the boy thought to himself. "But if that's the case, how come I haven't been introduced to her yet?"

"You've only been here for a couple weeks so far." Bardiel pointed out. "Maybe they just didn't feel like it was important."

"I guess that makes sense." Shinji mused. "Are there other pilots, or is it just us two?"

"Hey, Shinji, you there?" Kensuke asked, shaking the boy out of his mental conversation. "You looked like you totally just spaced out of it."

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Shinji replied, turning to face the blonde boy. "What's up?"

"Well, I figured, since we've got a bit of a bus ride until we get to the museum, maybe you could give me the skinny on those giant robots that NERV has!"

"Umm, what? What giant robots?" Shinji exclaimed. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"C'mon, your guardian works for NERV, you gotta know something!" the boy insisted, as Shinji let out a huff. "C'mon, you gotta tell me something, please!"

"Just one little thing, please!" the boy insisted, as he followed Shinji off the bus.

"You are impressively single-minded." Shinji remarked, as he stopped outside the bus. "I don't know if I've ever met someone that's so incredibly motivated that they'd bother people that don't know anything for an hour straight."

"Leave him alone, Ken." Toji said, as he gave the boy an earnest slap on the back of the head. "Shin-man doesn't even work there, it's just his guardian, so it's not like he knows anything."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kensuke muttered, as he turned back to the other two. "I guess I'm just a slave to my passions."

"You've got that right." Toji chuckled, as he gestured for the other two boys to follow him. "C'mon, we've gotta have this worksheet the teacher gave us filled out by lunchtime, or else we don't get to go home early."

"What's this museum even for, anyway?" Shinji asked, as they headed up the steps towards the front doors. He had just had Misato sign his form last night, and the paper didn't mention much about the trip.

"Knowing our professor, you can't guess?" Kensuke said, only to get a shake of the head from Shinji. The blonde boy simply giggled, and opened the door for Shinji. "It's a pre-Impact museum, of course."

Shinji walked in, and was wowed by the sight in front of him. Massive metal planes hung from the ceilings, while dioramas of families and worksites panned out around him. Television screens displaying pre-Impact dramas and television shows were arranged throughout, and different wings of the museum seemed to branch off in different directions.

"Alright, kids, I'm Mr. Ushijima!" a middle-aged man with a wide smile said, as he approached the group with a stack of papers. "I work for the museum, and I'm in charge of your field trip here today! Now, I've got one worksheet for each of the four sections of the museum, you guys come up here and grab one for each of you, okay."

"Ooh, c'mon Toji, let's go to the military section!" Kensuke exclaimed. "I hear they've got part of a B2 bomber!"

"Whatever, man." Toji grumbled, as the three boys made their way towards the museum employee. Toji and Kensuke grabbed their worksheets, but when Shinji made to grab his, the man placed a hand over the worksheets.

"Sorry, kiddo, your teacher instructed me to have you kids work alone or with a single partner." Mr. Ushijima explained. "You're gonna have to go to a different exhibit, otherwise you three'll just work together anyway. I know how kids are."

"Umm…" Shinji muttered, before looking at his friends. "I guess I'll see you guys in a bit?"

"Seeya later!" Kensuke replied, before he began dragging Toji by the sleeve of his jacket towards the exhibit, much to the taller boy's chagrin. Shinji let out a little chuckle to himself, before turning around to the employee. "I guess I'll go to…"

"How about you go to the family section?" the man said with a smile, as he handed him a worksheet. "There's another girl that went there without a partner… Ayanami, I think her name was? How about you two head through the exhibit together?"

"Ayanami?" Shinji asked. "I've never talked to her…"

"Well, now's as good of a time as any, right?" Mr. Ushijima replied with a wink. "Who knows, perhaps you'll have a lot in common?"

Shinji gave the man an awkward smile, before taking the worksheet from his hand. He made his way past the military and job exhibits, finally making his way down the wing of the family exhibit. As he walked down the corridor, there were many stages set up showing what families were like in the decades before the Second Impact. One showed a father and mother sitting at a table, having lunch with their son. Shinji felt a slight pang of longing at that one, but he continued on nonetheless. At the end of the hallway, he found Rei standing in front of a diorama of a hospital room, depicting a mother holding her baby while surrounded by doctors and nurses

"Um, Ayanami?" Shinji started, expecting the girl to turn or acknowledge him somehow. She instead continued to stare at the exhibit. "I don't know if you know me, but I'm…"

"I am aware of your identity, Pilot Ikari." Rei droned, not even turning to face him. "Introductions are unnecessary."

"Oh, well, okay." he replied, as he awkwardly made his way to stand next to the girl. "It's, um, an interesting exhibit?"

"Hmm." Rei hummed, as she continued to look at the faux hospital set up in front of him.

"I wish my mother was still around." Shinji muttered, as he looked at the bright smile on the mannequin inside the box. "I don't even remember what she looked like…"

"But you still have your father, do you not?" Rei asked, suddenly showing a faint interest in the boy.

"My father… doesn't like me very much." Shinji replied. "He sent me away when I was really young, and he never talks to me unless he needs me. I don't even know why he called me here… he never even talks to me."

"Don't you have any faith in your father?" Rei said, her voice gaining the slightest note of a questioning tone.

Shinji forced himself to reign in his instinctual frustration; he had just met Ayanami, and he didn't want to scare her off. "I don't, no. He's never given me a reason to have faith in him, I guess. He never even told me 'thank you' for piloting the Eva."

"Why would he thank you for piloting the Evangelion?" Rei asked, finally turning to face the boy. "Piloting of the Evangelion is your job, Pilot Ikari."

"Because there's more to life than piloting." Shinji said with a sad smile. "There's the sun, and school, and friends… I just hoped he might have shown me he cared."

"How are these things more important than piloting the Eva?" Rei inquired.

"They aren't, they're just different." Shinji replied. "Just because there are multiple important things in your life, doesn't mean one is more important than the other." He thought of the accidental friend he'd made, and gave a slight smile. "I guess you can say those things are bonded to you, in a way."

"A bond?" Rei said, suddenly taken aback. Wasn't that what the commander told her? 'Eva is your bond,' he had always said. 'Your bond is the most important thing to the Scenario.' But now, his son was telling her there were bonds outside of Eva? Was that true?

"Yeah, a bond." the boy chuckled awkwardly. "If you spend enough time doing the things you enjoy or spending time with those you enjoy, they kinda become a part of you, I guess."

"That metaphor was a little on the nose." Bardiel noted, causing Shinji to giggle slightly.

"A bond…" the bluenette thought, before turning to Shinji. Her bond to Eva was good for the Scenario, so naturally, a bond to the commander's son would be beneficial as well? In fact, if bonds were good, shouldn't it be her goal to establish as many bonds as possible? "If friendship is a bond, then I would like to be your friend, Pilot Ikari."

"You don't have to call me Pilot." Shinji said. "How about you just call me Shinji, and I call you Rei?"

"Okay… Shinji." Rei replied awkwardly. She was unused to such social interaction; the only people she had exchanged more than a handful of words with in years had been Doctor Akagi and the Commander. "What do friends do?"

"They spend time together and have fun." Shinji smiled. "How about we finish the rest of this exhibit together?"

"Okay, Shinji." Rei said, as she followed after the brown-haired boy, heading further into the museum.

"They had a real Type 2 tank!" Kensuke exclaimed, as he and Toji headed down the steps towards the bus. "A 240 horsepower diesel-powered V12 engine!"

"Jeez, Ken, keep it in your pants." Toji replied, before stopping suddenly. "Am I seeing things, or is that Shinji talking with Ayanami?"

"Oh, you're definitely…" Kensuke began, before turning and seeing the blue-haired girl talking quietly with the boy near the bus. "Not seeing things?"

"Oi, Shinji!" Toji called, as the two made their way over to their new friend. "Where were you the whole time? We were wondering when you were going to catch up with us."

"But… I had to go to a different exhibit?" Shinji said. "How would I have met back up with you guys?"

"We both kinda figured you would just sneak back over to meet us." Kensuke added.

"I didn't even think to do that." Shinji replied. "Rei and I ended up going through the museum together."

"That's cool, Shin-man." Toji laughed, as he gave Shinji a slap on the back. "I just didn't know you two were friends."

"I am trying to acquire friends, as bonds are beneficial." Rei said resolutely. "I would also like to be friends with you, Suzuhara, and you as well, Aida."

"Oh, well, um, sure!" Toji replied. "Just call me Toji then."

"And, um, call me Kensuke." the blonde boy said awkwardly.

"Very well, Kensuke, Toji, we are now friends." Rei noted, with all the finality of a priest declaring a union.

Before the two boys could comment, the blaring sound of the warning siren filled the air. Toji and Kensuke turned around, looking back up the steps as the last few students ran out of the school towards the bus, then turned back. As Kensuke was about to make a comment to Shinji, he looked and saw that neither Rei nor Shinji were there. He looked around quickly, and saw Rei walking as fast as she could towards the train station, with Shinji trying to keep up with her rapid pace.

"Where are they going?" Kensuke shouted, drawing Toji's attention.

"Who knows?" he responded. "Maybe they've got some kinda special shelter for NERV people or something but we gotta go!"

"...fair enough." Kensuke replied, still not satisfied with the answer. "I'll find out somehow."

"That conversation you had with Rei at the museum seemed very heartfelt." Bardiel said to Shinji as the boy put on his plugsuit. "Makes me feel real jealous of that friend you care so much about."

"Oh, stop." Shinji chuckled, as he pressed the button to zip the plugsuit to his body. "I was thinking, I felt a little more… confident than normal during that? Like right now, I feel like if I went up and tried to talk to a girl I don't know, I would freeze up."

"I think that's just some of the personality overlap." Bardiel replied. "Some of my reckless confidence probably bled over and met your earnestness."

"Hmm." the boy hummed, as he hung his clothes on his locker in the male pilot's locker room. "Does that mean I'm gonna end up acting like you?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." the Angel retorted, before laughing. "Most likely not, you'll probably just feel it in situations where you're high on emotions anyway."

"Well, that's good to know." Shinji said, as he exited into the hallway outside the locker room. "Now, what can you tell me about this Angel?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." Misato replied, causing an unaware Shinji to jump in fright. The woman was leaning on the doorframe of the locker room, likely waiting for him. She gestured for him to follow her, and he ran up alongside her. "It's large, red, and headed here rapidly. It'll enter Tokyo-3 within about 5 minutes."

"How am I supposed to beat it?" Shinji asked.

"We'll be sending you up with a Pallet Rifle." Misato said, as the two entered the Evangelion cages. "You'll also have the Progressive Knife in your right pylon; just neutralize its A.T. Field with yours, and destroy the core."

"Okay." Shinji responded, trying to steel himself as they approached the entry plug.

"Are you ready for this, Shinji?" Misato asked. "I don't want to make you do something you're not ready to do."

"It's okay, Ms. Misato." Shinji replied, as he took a seat inside the entry plug. "I'm the only one that can, and besides, I've got a friend looking out for me, right?"

Misato smiled at him and gave him a big thumbs up, before the plug closed itself and screwed into Unit-01's neck. Shinji let his hands lay on the controls, taking a deep breath.

"She totally thought you were talking about her." Bardiel noted, as he formed on the boy's lap.

"That was the point." Shinji thought, as he ran through the pre-launch checklist he'd been taught. "I was trying to be funny."

"We'll work on it." the Angel commented. "While you're at it, shut off the video recorder for a moment?"

"Why?" Shinji asked.

"Because I'm gonna try and do a deeper bond, since we're in the Evangelion." Bardiel replied. "And it's probably going to feel and look pretty weird at first; they can't see me on the cameras, but they'll probably be pretty suspicious if you start looking at yourself in astonishment for no reason."

"Fair enough." the boy responded, as he flicked off the video recorder. "Let's do this, Bardiel."

The boy watched as the inky black that made up the Angel seeped from his shoulders, down his legs and arms, and settled into the plugsuit, turning it pitch black. He looked at the reflective surface of the top of the plug, and a different face looked back. It was still his, but different; his features seemed sharper, and his hair had darkened. The biggest difference, however, was how his eyes had become a deep crimson, just like Ayanami's.

"Yeah, see, I told ya going all the way would feel weird." Bardiel said. "Congratulations, you're now 50% Angel."

"Wasn't I 50% Angel before?" Shinji asked. "Since we were already bonded?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so, but now you look the part." Bardiel pointed out.

"Shinji, are you ready?" Misato asked, as her face popped up on his monitor. He flicked his video recorder back on, and sure enough, he looked perfectly normal on the video feed.

"Yes I am, Ms. Misato." Shinji said with a thumbs up. Before Misato could even issue the order, she saw a small blip of light on her console labeled 'Manual Launch Initiated.' She smiled again as she turned back to the video feed, and watched the pilot shout. "Evangelion Unit-01, launch!"

"Alright, so what's this one's name and what can it do?" Shinji asked, as they rocketed towards the surface.

"Her name is Shamshel." Bardiel grumbled, "and she's the worst. Cocky, annoying, thinks she's all that because she's 'hot' or whatever. She would constantly put me down for being the 'ugliest' of the Angels, that self-righteous son of a..."

"Umm, Bardiel?" Shinji said. "Not to, um, cut you off, or anything? I kinda wanted to know what she's capable of."

"Oooooh…. Yeah that's my bad." the Angel responded. "Shamshel is the Angel of the Morning; she's got whips made of light that extend from her arms, and they're fast and deadly. Try staying out of reach, but if you have to get in close, go as close as possible. Avoid medium range combat at all costs, that's where her whips are most effective."

"Alright." Shinji let out a deep breath right as the Evangelion clanged against the top of the deployment cage. "Let's do this."

The boy crept out from the deployment chute, grabbing a weapon his HUD identified as an 'MM-99 Pallet Rifle' from the firearms locker, before turning back to face the Angel that was slowly hovering into Tokyo-3. He braced his arm on a nearby building, keeping his focus on the red monster headed into the city.

"Alright Shinji, here's the plan." Misato said. "You need to extend your A.T. Field to neutralize the Angel's, then hit the core with your rifle."

"Okay, Ms. Misato!" Shinji shouted in response, before turning his focus back to the Angel. In the moment he had looked away, however, the Angel had swiveled into an upward position, and was now lashing a pinkish-white whip towards the boy. "Oh, crap!"

Shinji leapt back, only for his rifle to be sliced in two. "Alright, the rifle's gone; new plan?"

"Return to the weapon locker and grab another rifle." Misato ordered.

"Ignore her, Shamshel's just gonna smash it." Bardiel said. "You're gonna have to go into melee range and get her with your knife."

"Deploying Progressive Knife." A low droning voice echoed in Central Dogma, much to Misato's chagrin.

"Shinji, what are you doing?" the purplette yelled. "Retreat and grab another rifle!"

"I'm… already retreating!" Shinji exclaimed, as he used his knife to attempt to parry the whips of light, to surprisingly great success. "The whips it has are two dangerous at medium range, I need to close the distance!"

"Grrrr, fine!" Misato growled. "Move in and finish it off with your knife, but we will be having a talk about this."

"Man, she's grouchy." Bardiel commented, as Shinji closed the distance, slashing the whips into pieces whenever they came toward him. "Did she not get her daily intake of beer last night?"

"Not… helping!" Shinji shouted. He parried another whip, before jerking his arm forward to stab the creature in the core. His arm was caught with the blade only a dozen feet from the core, however, as Shamshel's whips wrapped completely around the Evangelion's arms, searing them with pain.

"Alright, this is… a problem." Bardiel mused. "She's got you held tight, and with the A.T. Field you're putting out right now…"

"Bardiel!" Shinji screamed. "Please, just make a decision and do something!"

"Alright, I got an idea!" the Angel yelled, as Shinji's plugsuit seemed to explode, inky black filling the back of the Entry Plug as Bardiel infiltrated the depths of the Eva.

The Angel knew that this robot was a clone of an Angel, although under all the modifications he couldn't tell if it was Adam or Lilith. It didn't matter much to his original plan, however; a big lobotomized dummy like this needs something within to not only power it, but to produce the A.T. Field. Bardiel would simply take that place, and give the EVA a bit more juice. He worked his way along the outside of the Entry Plug, before finally making contact with the core and coating it completely, taking control from the resident occupant.

"Emergency Override 777." A familiar voice echoed throughout the Entry Plug and Terminal Dogma. "Back Door Code: Instrumemory System! Engaging Impact Lance!"

Ritsuko Akagi, who was currently captivated watching the battle, spewed out the coffee that was in her mouth when she heard those words, and even Subcommander Fuyutsuki let out a gasp. Gendo was resolute as ever in the physical world, but mentally the man was in complete turmoil.

The Evangelion's arms seemed to liquidize, absorbing the Angel's whips, before glowing a bright color, blinding the occupants in Central Dogma. As the light dimmed, they saw that Unit-01's arms had been transformed; the entirety of the forearms had turned a ruddy green with tan highlights, and a massive spike jutted out from each elbow.

"YAAAAAAH!" Shinji screamed, as he slammed the Angel into a nearby building, before grabbing the core. The spike in his elbow began to glow, before ramming into the creature's core over and over again. It attempted to sit up, but Shinji simply shoved his other hand over what seemed to be the creature's head, and blasted it with another elbow spike. The creature let out a keening wail as the red core shattered, and the beast slumped against a building, draining reddish LCL into the streets.

"Target… defeated." Shinji muttered, before turning towards the nearest entrance hatch. "Heading back to chute C17."

"What in the FUCK was that!" Misato exclaimed, as she grabbed at her hair in confusion and frustration.

"I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but…" Fuyutsuki said to Gendo, before stopping himself. "Actually, honestly I would put it like that; what in the fuck was that, Gendo?"

"I… don't know." the Commander admitted. "It seems like Yui had plans for Unit-01 I was unaware of."

"Evidently." Fuyutsuki grumbled, before turning back to face towards the rest of Central Dogma. "Begin Angel clean-up operations immediately, priority one is on recovery of any core remnants!"

"Yes, sir!" Misato saluted, before turning back to Ritsuko and continuing their rapid conversation.

"Fuyutsuki, attend to the situation here." Gendo said, as he stood up from his desk. "I will be in my office; do not disturb me."

Fuyutsuki refused to respond, instead facing forward as the other man left. He looked out over all of the movement in Dogma, as NERV personnel scurried back and forth, coordinating clean-ups, planning repairs, and preparing recovery routes. Some movement on the upper command deck caught his eye, however, and he looked down to see Rei walking over to Misato.

"Captain Katsuragi." Rei said, as the purple-haired commander turned around to face the bluenette. "I would like to… talk to Pilot Ikari."

"Talk to him? Um, sure, I guess." Misato replied, as she swiveled the microphone in Rei's direction. "It's on, so say whatever?"

Rei stood, trying to think of something to say. She had never really talked to someone long enough to have to congratulate someone, or even learned how to express gratitude. She thought for a few moments, before settling on imitation; Commander Ikari would always speak to her after every test, so maybe what he said was the best form of encouragement?

"Good work, Shinji." Rei whispered into the microphone. "I am pleased to call you my friend."

"...me too, Rei." Shinji replied. "Thank you."

Fuyutsuki chuckled slightly as he watched the interaction, before making his way down from the platform and heading for his office. After all, he had to sign the check he was giving to that museum fellow for participating in his little antics, and he had to address the new development to his plan.

"I feel like I'm twenty-two again." Fuyutsuki laughed, as he made his way through the cold steel corridors of NERV. "Now I understand why Ikari spends so much time scheming.

Author's Note: Professor Fuyutsuki strikes, and not for the last time! Rei is a character I typically struggle to include properly in my NGE fics; she usually becomes relegated to an unimportant side character from the start, so I'm doing my best to make sure she maintains a significant presence in the story. She's not part of the main quartet of this story (Shinji, Bardiel, Asuka, and Mari), but she's still a main character, so rest assured Rei fans, she's not departing from relevance. Also, there is very, very obvious reference to one of the chief fics that inspired this one, Little Angel's Thesis. It's incomplete and only has 5 chapters, but it's a fun little piece that planted the idea in my head.

SheriffJohnStone: Hopefully I did Rei at least some justice; in AU's, it's sometimes a bit tricky to build up Rei and Shinji's relationship in a way that's different enough from canon to keep it interesting, while still staying true to the dynamic between the two.

Nonameasushin: Thank you! I appreciate that you've stuck with me that long.

hys8892: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm trying new things in this story, and it's fun writing a less-straightforward twist on canon.

KySocceRref: Hmm, I wonder? :P I'm hoping to keep people guessing on exactly where things are going.