Author's Note:  And now for something completely different.  In this chapter, I decided to expand on the dream link between Rei and Shinji.  As always, review it early and often.

Now, again, for the people that might sue me: don't.  I'm getting no money.

--Omega

Narration:      Omega wrote about speech types.

Thought:        'This is an unspoken thought.'

Speech:          "Hi!  I'm a sentence spoken out loud."

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Dreaming of an Angel

Chapter Two

            Fear.  Shinji knew it far too well.  At this moment in time, it was all he could feel.  The Angel held Unit One in its crashing grasp, slowly wearing through its head.  Through Shinji's head.  Every blast of energy from its hand sent another spasm of pain through Shinji's beaten body.  It struck again and again, and he knew that he wouldn't last much longer.  He was going to die.

            Finally, it happened.  The beam broke through Unit One's head armor and pierced Shinji's mind.  He couldn't see, he couldn't hear; all he felt was the searing pain as it continued to burn.  And then, past the darkness of his blinded eyes, deep inside his mind, he saw her.  He felt her.  As she stood there staring, Shinji could feel the pain being drained away.  Everything seemed to melt into one object, one focus of his attention.  Rei...

            And then suddenly the Angel was gone, and with it the pain.  He was safe again.  The sun streamed in from windows on his left.  Only the birds' chirping punctuated the silence.  Shinji lay unmoving and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.

            'The sky...it's nice.  Peaceful.  And yet so alone.  Like me.  Like her...'  He stood there by himself watching the clouds float past above and the cars stream by below.  'All of it in silence...always in the empty silence.'

            That vaguely familiar metallic squeaking slowly filled the narrow corridor.  Turning to see whether it really was what he hoped for, he... 'hoped for?  Do I want it to be her?  I don't know, I...I'm so confused.  What is it I really want?  And who really wants me?'

            It was her.  The same three medical personnel, ushering her down the hall; the same stretcher, her same prison.  Some of the bandages were gone.  Her empty expression never wavered as she rolled by, staring.  Although she never said a word, Shinji could see in her eyes a weak flicker of gratitude.  It was almost as if he could hear her still, quiet voice whispering "Thank you."

            The door to Misato's apartment slid open.  She walked in casually, but Shinji paused.  'It was nice of her to let me live here.  I would have been fine alone.  I told them that already.  Besides, living at Nerv, I would have had more chances to see...stop that.  She doesn't want you.  It's foolish to think she would.'

            "Shinji?  Come on in."

            He looked up from his interrupted thoughts.  "I don't...want to intrude..."

            Misato smiled.  "Shinji, this is your home now."

            'Home?  I have a home?  ...Yes.  This is my home.  This is where I belong.'  He stepped cautiously inside.  "I'm...home."

            Her smile widened.  "Welcome home."

            'The warm water felt nice.  It's soothing,' he thought.  'But bad memories always seem to find me in the bath.  Like my father.  And that girl, Rei...  Who is she?  Why is she always so sad?  I guess she could ask the same of me, but she never says anything.  I've never heard her speak at all outside of...the dreams...  But why am I dreaming about her?  I never dream about anyone, except for my mother.'  He leaned back, letting his head rest on the back wall of the tub.  'Is this just a dream, too?'

            Having dried off and dressed for bed, Shinji walked through the hallway to his room.  A crude, hand-made sign adorned the door.  He opened it and entered "Shinji's Lovely Suite."  No matter how often Misato said it was, his room wasn't anything even remotely resembling a suite.  Boxes strewn about, a small bedside table, a floor-set mattress for the bed.  'This place is a dump,' he thought.  'But it's my dump.'  He shut off the lights and switched on his SDAT.  Letting the familiar music carry him off into blissful unconsciousness, he slept.

            Meanwhile, several miles away, pilot Rei Ayanami began her own nighttime ritual.  As she slipped into her inadequately furnished bed, her mind began to wander, just as it always did.  The line between the world and her dreams blurred quickly; she was asleep within minutes.

            'Silence.  Always is the empty silence.  But silence is not so bad if one can still hear through it.  I hear the echoes of silence and of my mind.  Yet tonight, I hear another.  The pilot.  The pilot that sacrificed a normal life for me.  Me, a random girl he barely knows.  Why does he care what happens to me?  I am expendable.  But does he know?  And would that matter?  There is a strange kindness within him, a kindness that I have seldom known.  This kindness, can it be merely because of our jobs?  No.  This is deeper.  Now I see him, here in my world of dreams.  He calls out to me.  He searches for me, and I for him.  So easy it is in dreams, and yet so difficult when we are awake.  The realm of dreams seems preferable to reality.  But then what is real?  And what is real to me?  Ikari.  I will seek him out, and with him the answers for which I thirst.  It is only a matter of time...'

            Shinji woke in a cold sweat.  'What was that?' he thought.  'The dreams are coming more frequently now, and they're still all about one thing.  Ayanami...it was as if she was right here.  I could feel her.  I was...'

            He grasped his head in confusion.  "Shut up," he said aloud.  "That can't happen, that wasn't her, and she doesn't lo--"  He choked on his own words.  "Where did that come from?  Of course she doesn't.  She barely knows you, and you know her even less.  It's impossible and it could never work.  Just give it up."

            Slumping down to his cold pillow, he hid his face under the covers from the harsh green light of his clock.  It read 4:18 a.m., and he needed some real sleep.  Deep sleep wasn't so easy to attain, though, for every time he began to drift off, he would dream.  And every time he dreamed, his subconscious thoughts turned to Rei.  He fought it, and yet he never really knew why.  For the rest of the diminishing night, Shinji endured the hedgehog's dilemma.

            "Shinji!  Rise and shine!"

            Misato's far-too cheery voice hammered at Shinji's barely conscious mind.  'She's been drinking.  No one is ever that happy this early.'  He struggled to lift himself to his feet and, using the bedside table as a crutch, managed to stand.

            Misato popped her smiling face in through the doorway.  "You up?"

            "Mmphmm," he mumbled.

            She laughed.  "Not a morning person, huh?  Well, come on.  I let you sleep in, after all.  You should be doing fine."

            "You what?"  Shinji glanced over to the clock and saw 8:47.  "But...that can't be right."

            "It is.  Get dressed, you're on standby today."

            He paused.  "You want me to go back there again?"

            "Well, of course," she said.  "You're a natural pilot and it shows.  We need you.  Now hurry and get ready."

            As Misato left the room, Shinji remained standing there.  'NERV...needs me?'  It was a foreign concept to him, being needed.  He got dressed and walked out to the door.

            The ride to NERV passed without incident.  A marked departure from the usual morning run, Misato found her way through the maze-like walking tunnels of the Geo-Front without getting lost.  Shinji couldn't have been more greatful for the timing of her amazing feat; he barely had the energy to keep awake for the short route.  When they reached Dr. Akagi's office, Shinji fell into the nearest chair and rested.  Misato gave him a sort of sideways glance and turned to talk to Ritsuko.

            "So, the reactivation experiment is today?" she asked.

            Ritsuko looked up from her computer.  "Yes.  I still say it's too early, but Commander Ikari says we can do it."

            "And what about the pilot?"

            "As usual, she just follows orders."  Ritsuko frowned.  "I wish she'd have more say in her own life."

            Grinning, Misato replied, "sounds like you're the one who wants to get noticed."

            "I'm fine with the duties I have now.  They are enough for me."

            "Okay, Rei."

            Ritsuko sighed.  "Don't call me that.  How's the new pilot?"

            "He's been under a lot of stress.  I don't think he's sleeping much, either."  She looked over at him.  "Well, except for now."

            A small chuckle escaped her usually stoic face.  "Am I that boring?"

            Misato grinned back.  "Of course.  That's what makes you you.  Shinji!  Wake up!"

            He awoke with a jolt.  "Wh--what?"

            The two onlookers laughed.  "Come on, you're on standby.  The least you can do is go out there and watch Rei."

            "Watch Rei?  What's that supposed to mean?"

            Both women exchanged quizzical glances.  "...It means that she's inside Eva Unit Zero.  The activation test is coming up soon.  Didn't you hear me tell you that, or were you too busy daydreaming?"

            "I was..."

            Misato stopped him.  "It's fine, I know you've been tired.  Just go out there and watch the activation.  You might learn something."  Shinji nodded and left.

            "Go ahead, what are you trying to tell me?"

            "What?" Misato responded casually.  "Why is it that you think I'd go to all that trouble just to talk about Shinji behind his back?"

            "Because that's what makes you you.  Also, I never mentioned Shinji."

            Misato blushed.  "Okay, okay.  I just keep wondering...do you think there's something between them?"

            "Who?" she feigned.

            "You know perfectly well who I'm talking about.  I've seen the way he looks at her."

            "Maybe so," continued Ritsuko, "but I don't think that's any of our business.  When the time comes, he'll know what he needs to do.  After all, this is Commander Ikari's son.  I'm sure he'll be fine."

            Shinji was not fine.  As he sat there in the observation deck watching Unit Zero, he started once again to nod off.  The mechanical chatter of the lab technicians seemed to all congeal into a single, annoying hum.  The last thing he remembered hearing with any clarity was a far-off announcement over the speakers: "Commendcing reactivation test."

            It was dark inside Shinji's mind.  No light penetrated the cocoon-like enclosure in which he sat.  All was silence, just as it always was.  And then...light everywhere.  It burst in through the wall, through the floor, illuminating it all.  Patterns began to form within the chaos.  Before him was a seat that stretched for the length of his legs.  Two armrests appeared, but Shinji could already tell of their difference.  These had triggers.  The seat was hardwired into the walls.  It all looked so familiar.  And then it him him: he was inside an entry plug.

            He looked out the canopy and saw the observation deck.  Ritsuko and Misato were watching him.  All the technicians seemed to be fixated on his Eva.  He saw the young woman, the two men, and a boy his age.  The boy looked remarkably like Shinji; the same brown hair and clothing adorned his familiar body.  He was sleeping.  'That's odd,' he thought.  'He's just like me.  Probably dreaming...like me...'  He paused.  'No, he is me.  But if this is a dream, then how am I watching myself back in reality?'  Looking around for clues, he brushed aside an errant lock of his blue hair.

            Every muscle in Shinji's body abruptly froze.  Even as they did, he knew that they weren't really his muscles.  Pivoting his head to the left, Shinji saw himself -- herself -- in the mirror.  The crimson eyes widened at the realization.  In the midst of his confusion, he flet something, a premonition.  Something was going to go wrong.  His glance shot back to his own body, stirring wakefully in the observation bay.  A technician accidentally brushed into his leg and the boy began to wake up.  Rei's eyes closed, and Shinji's opened.  There, apologetically walking away from him, was that same technician.

            "Rei!" shouted Shinji.  Receiving more than a few odd looks, he jumped out of his seat and ran at full speed out of the deck and down the stairs.  The entry door to the cage was down there.  Soon, he would be too.

            Misato and Ritsuko stood staring at the downstairs exit that had so recently been used.  They slowly turned to look at each other.  Not a word passed between them.  They looked back at the door.  It was still swinging open.

            "Primary lock bolts released," announced the head tech.  "...Secondary lock bolts released...primary and secondary retraints disengaged.  Releasing the umbilical bridge."  His eyes stared intently at the control panel in front of him.  "All major restraints disengaged.  Commencing activation."

            Misato's face hardened into a watchful, blank slate.  "Pilot readings are normal...reaching absolute borderline..."  Her eyes narrowed as she whispered, "Come on...work..."

            The piercing shriek of alarms exploded from the speakers.  "No!" yelled Ritsuko.  "Sever the umbilical cable now!  It's going berserk!"

            Inside the cage was madness.  Unit Zero had ripped free of every restraint, trashing them all.  Its massive arms grasped its head as if in some terrible pain.  Bringing its arm back, it began to mercilessly pound the reinforced steel walls around it.  One of the punches crushed through.  Shattered debris rained down to the distant ground.

            Going down the stairs, Shinji heard a sound like a bomb going off above him.  He was more than a little surprised to look up and see a fist the size of a small house retracting from the upper floors.  Dodging the falling beams, he hurried ever farther down.

            "How much more time?" yelled Misato.

            "Forty-one seconds.  We should be able to contain it."

            "Start flooding the chamber with bakelite.  Do it now!"

            "Yes, maam."  The tech opened a glass cover and pressed the button inside.  Thick, red liquid boiled out of holes in the cage walls, but Unit Zero continued its assault unfazed as the panel covering Rei's plug blew off.  "Captain!" he yelled.  "It's going to eject!"

            "No!!" Misato screamed.

            A long, white cylinder fired from the Eva's spinal column.  Bouncing along the ceiling and walls, it began to fall.  All was chaos inside the deck as Rei's entry plug slammed into the floor.

            Right then, Shinji was nearly at the bottom of the stairs.  Although everyone in NERV could hear the deafening impact of Rei's plug hitting the floor, Shinji alone cried out and doubled over.  He fell down half a flight of stairs curled up, grasping his ribs.  "Rei..."  Dragging himself to his feet in an all-too-familiar motion, Shinji half-charged, half-limped into the cage door.  When he saw the devastation inside, he nearly collapsed again.  He charged through the cage, ignoring the bakelite flooding, the warning sirens, and the giant robot frozen above him.  All he could do was call out her name again and again, and run.

            Finally he reached the plug.  Shinji grabbed hold of the handle to open it and prompty recoiled.  His hand was burning, and yet he still didn't care.  "Rei!!"  Enduring the pain of the plug's seething metal, he cranked the hatch until it unlocked and ripped the door open.  "Rei!!"

            Rei Ayanami's sense of hearing slowly returned.  Even before she could see him, she heard Shinji's frantic, tormented screaming.  'He is...calling my name?  ...He is here.  At last.'  Her eyes opened, and as her vision cleared, she saw his terrified face.  'Why is he afraid?'  She blinked, and he smiled a smile of relief.

            "Ayanami...you're...you're alive."  Tears of joy streamed down his face.  "I thought...I thought you were..."  Shinji broke down and sobbed.

            "...I'm sorry."

            He looked up and brushed the tears, which still flowed freely.  "For what?"

            "I caused you to feel...sad."

            "But Rei," he said, "that's not your fault.  I'm...so happy to know that you're alive."  She sat there in awkward silence as he waited.  "Why aren't you happy?"

            After a pause, she replied, "I'm sorry.  I don't know how to act or feel in a situation like this."

            "Just...try smiling, then," he said, as a tear-streaked, broken smile crossed his face.

            Rei opened her mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it.  The corners of her mouth rose slowly, and her face bloomed into a radiant smile.  No words had to be spoken between the two; that same flicker of light within her eyes told Shinji all he needed to know.

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Chapter Three coming soon.