Next chapter, as promised, ja?

See first chapter for not-so-standard disclaimer.

This section (And the general sequence of events

folowing) is based more on the mange then the anime.

Just warnin' ya.

Thanx again to BrinDani for pre-reading.







My angel's eyes, you haven't seen a thing in years,

But all you do is cry.

My angel's hair, you haven't felt the wind in years,

But all you do is fall.

My angel's lips, you haven't said a thing in years,

But all you do is scream.

My angel's skin, you haven't touched a thing in years,

But all you do is bleed.

My angel's soul, I haven't seen your light in years,

But all you do is burn.

I cannot be your friend, my angel, dear,

I love you too damn much.

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Shinji walked through the endless hallways and corridors of NERV HQ. He had never been to the briefing room before, usually the attacks came so

quickly that they had no time for luxuries like plans.

He found it at last, pushing open the large double-doors and walking in. He was shocked by the massive size of the dark room.

'You could probably fit every person in NERV in here and still have room to spare.' He thought, awed

Misato and Dr. Akagi were standing, facing the huge screen, waiting for him. Rei was standing stiffly at attention a short distance behind them.

"I'm glad you decided to join us, Shinji. Now we can begin." Dr. Akagi said with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I was going to be here sooner, but then I got lost, and..." He was cut off by the massive screen that dominated one of the walls coming to life. On the screen was a group of ships at sea. They were warships, that surprised Shinji, most governments had dramatically reduced their armed forces after second impact, they were all too busy just trying to survive to fight amongst themselves.

'Man, Kensuke would love to see this.' Shinji thought. He took a few steps forward, coming to stand next to Rei.

"What is this?" He asked, half turning to glance at her.

"The last angel attack." She replied with usual air of indifference.

"WHAT? There was an attack? When?" He was shocked. How could they have fought off an angel without the EVAs?

"Shhh." Misato hushed him. "Just watch."

On the screen, one of the ships lurched in the water as if it had been struck by some large force. It listed on its side and began to slip under the waves.

"At 1400 hours, Zulu, the sixth angel attacked the U.N. convoy carrying EVA Unit-02 to Japan." The man doing the dubbed in voiceover was cool and composed. The crew of the ship where the cameraman was were not quite so calm.

"Contact lost with The Tempest!"

"Where are the status reports?!."

"Damn! What in hell is going on?!"

Meanwhile, one of the ships fired off a salvo of torpedoes at the angel, which could only be seen as a violent disturbance under the water. The shots

impacted their target broadside, but had no outward affect.

"Four torpedoes dead on! Why won't it sink?"

"Target approaching rear transport ship!"

"SeaSprite, Vigilance, come about, hard to starboard. Get yourselves between the target and the transport ship."

Two more ships were gutted and sunk.

"At 1410." The voiceover said, "EVA Unit-02 activated."

The angel slammed into the bulk transport, causing it to almost snap in half, moments before it sank, a massive figure leapt from the cargo bay, completed a back-flip in mid air, and landed on the deck of a small destroyer. The vessel's bow dipped dangerously low, but stayed above the water line. The red EVA that could only be Unit-02 stood tall, still clutching the remains of the canvas cover that it had been lying under for the length of its voyage, holding over its shoulders like a cloak.

The Angel, as if sensing its foe, changed course and headed straight for the destroyer. Unit-02 cast off its cloak and sprung from its perch, flying

gracefully through the air and landing on the deck of the flagship. The aircraft carrier listed to port at the impact, numerous planes were knocked loose from their couplings and slid across the deck and off the edge. Unit-02 grabbed the edge of the deck to balance itself.

"That's incredible." Shinji said aloud.

"The pilot does seem capable of pushing the EVA to its design limits." Rei said in monotone.

"Are you saying you're impressed?" Shinji asked jokingly.

"That's not what I said." Rei replied impassively.

On the screen, at a command by the pilot, the right shoulder holster popped open to expose the handle of a progressive knife. Unit-02 reached around, grabbed the knife, flicked the switch on the hilt to extend the blade, and brought the knife horizontally in front of it in a defensive stance.

The angel sped toward the flagship, building up speed, and, without warning, came up, out of the water and flew through the air, straight at Unit-02. The blood-red Eva nimbly side-stepped out of the way and drove its progressive knife into the angel's side. As the angel flew by, the knife slashed a huge gash down the length of its body. It landed on the other side of the carrier, but the rest of the fleet was waiting for it there.

"After this, two battleships fired at it point-blank..." Misato said. "It was -over-. True, she had help from the pacific fleet- but she defeated the angel within thirty-six seconds... Before her internal batteries could run out. Asuka Soryu has certainly started her piloting career on an impressive note."

"Yes," Ritsuko replied. "Evasive maneuvers, decision making, piloting skills- whatever you look at, she's perfect. It's hard to believe, The Second

Child's abilities surpass even the rumors..."

"But why was the angel -there-...?" Misato asked offhandedly.

"It could have been after Unit-02, as it was being transported." Ritsuko theorized.

"And where's Unit-02 now?"

"Cage NO. 5, cold storage. Asuka's checked into a hotel."

"What's Miss Soryu like?" Shinji asked, curious about the new pilot.

"Interested, Shin-Chan?" Misato teased.

A slight blush spread across Shinji's cheeks, for some reason he felt more self-conscious because of Rei standing next to him.

"Well... She will be going into battle with us from now on..." He tried to justify his question.

"She's very bright, that's one thing." Ritsuko supplied. "Graduated from Freie Universitat, in Berlin at fourteen."

"WHAT?!" Shinji exclaimed. "UNIVERCITY?!"

He 'sweatdropped' as Misato gave him and Rei an inquisitive look. "She could be the most normal one of the bunch." She said to Ritsuko with a grin.

"And what do you mean by that?" Shinji accused.

"Well, I'll introduce you to her tomorrow, after we go through the official procedures. Something to look forward too... Come to HQ as soon as school lets out, okay?"

"Okay." He said as he turned to leave, following Rei who was already heading to the elevator. Once inside, they began the long ascent to the surface. Rei stood stiffly in one corner, quietly holding her bookbag in front of her, staring forward. Desperate for something to break the silence, Shinji tried to start a conversation.

"I didn't know," He said, "That other countries were also making

EVAs... And that there were other pilots. Did you know, Ayanami?"

"Yes." She replied. No trace of emotion appeared on her passive face.

"So... you coming to school?" He asked.

"Yes." She said after a brief pause.

'Her _expression never changes.' He thought. 'No matter what I say. She looks no different from before... But...'

His train of thought was interrupted when the elevator reaching the surface. They disembarked and walked wordlessly to school. The hallways were crowded as they entered. Shinji almost thought he saw a glimmer of apprehension or distaste play across Rei's normally stoic features as they walked though the press of bodies.

Shinji stopped as Touji and Kensuke called to him. Rei surprised him by half turning to glance at him and speaking. "See you later, Ikari. I... have to go."

Touji and Kensuke wore their shocked expressions clearly as she walked away. She left the school and headed back to NERV HQ. She wasn't quite sure why she had bothered to accompany Shinji to school in the first place. She simply found the experience of walking with him... Agreeable.

'Why did I do this?' She wondered. 'Walking to school with Ikari serves no purpose if I only have to walk back immediately.'

This troubled Rei. Something without purpose was extraneous. Something extraneous was expendable. She was certain that the time she had just spent with Ikari was not expendable.

She ran through a simple mental exercise that Commander Ikari had taught her years ago. She could still remember his words.

'Any problem can be solved; any situation can be turned to your advantage as long as you follow one simple formula. Observe, Analyze, Formulate, Execute. Observe a situation, Analyze its properties, Formulate

a course of action, Execute a sequence of events which leads to an acceptable outcome.'

Having observed an incongruency, namely, her actions towards Ikari, Rei began to analyze it to the best of her abilities.

'My actions lacked purpose. What could this mean?'

The Commander had once told her that emotion was the counter to logic, that the mind and heart were locked in a constant struggle for dominance. With that in mind, Rei had always sought to apply logic and calm, deliberate thought to every problem she faced. This situation, however, was beyond her limited experience. She felt the need to discuss the issue

with someone. But who?

Her first instinct was Commander Ikari. He had always been there for her in the past, but this time going to him just didn't feel right. Her next candidate was Dr. Akagi, but Rei had sensed a growing animosity from the older woman recently. This left one option. If she considered Commander Ikari to be her father, then this man was surely her grandfather.

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Subcommander Kouzou Fuyutsuki, Nobel Prize winner, ex-university-professor, second in command of one of the most powerful organizations on the planet.All of those were notable accomplishments.

'So why, oh why.' He mused 'Am I the one stuck with this never ending paperwork?'

He knew the answer of course, he was one of the few people that Gendo Ikari actually trusted, there were some things that were for his eyes only. For example, a note from one of the command techs showing an encoded message containing details on NERV's artificial evolution project which was hidden in one the Magi's routine memory dumps.

'Hmm, The JSSDF should know better then to send spies into NERV.' Fuyutsuki thought wryly. 'They should have noticed by now that they seem to last very long.'

He sent a short memo to Section Two, marking the spy for cancellation. It was an old game, and one that Fuyutsuki was getting rather tired of. As long as the government didn't hold NERV accountable for the man's death, NERV wouldn't call The JSSDF on their espionage attempts.

'Thus,' He thought, 'The endless cycle continues.'

His cynical thoughts were interrupted by a timid knock on his office door.

'Probably another incompetent subordinate here to waste my time.' He thought.

"Come in." He said in a tone which simultaneously expressed both boredom and annoyance. He was surprised when the door opened to reveal Ayanami Rei.

'This is certainly unexpected.' He thought. 'But not unwelcome.'

"Sub-Commander." She said, bowing her head respectfully.

"Rei, please come in, have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"I... I do not wish to be an inconvenience." She said, quietly.

"Don't worry about it." He said, smiling warmly. His personae of the crotchety old man melted away. Rei always had that affect. "I was just getting some paperwork out of the way."

'Kami-sama,' He thought, 'She looks like Yui... I wonder if Ikari planned this?'

Rei demurely lowered herself into the seat opposite his desk.

"I wish to know... I mean..." She paused, considering her words carefully. She seemed uncertain as to how to proceed, this piqued Fuyutsuki's interest. Rei composed herself. "I wish to know, why are expressions of emotion forbidden."

"The answer to that question is simple, Rei." He said. "They aren't."

"But..." She started, her confusion was written clearly on her delicate features.

Fuyutsuki raised one finger to cut her off. "But that's not to say we all have free range to act upon whatever foolish notions enter our heads. Discretion is the key to success in any endeavor."

"I don't understand." Rei said, waiting for clarification.

"Look at this." He said, handing her a sheet of paper from one of the piles on his desk.

She briefly scanned the report. "It says that Leftenent Hyuga is ill and has taken several days off to recover." Her brow furrowed in concentration. "I do not grasp the significance."

"What about this one?" He handed her another piece of paper.

Rei glanced at the paper. "Sir, I do not see the relevance. This merely states that an elderly woman named Ishiro Hyuga is recovering from surgery at the Tokyo-3 general hospital. This has nothing to..." She paused, realization playing across her face.

"His mother." Fuyutsuki confirmed.

"Lt Hyuga will be disciplined." It was a cross between a question and a statement.

"I met his mother once, she loves telling the nurses at her rest home about all the hard work that her little Makoto-Chan does keeping the city safe. She needs him just as much as we do. But that's beside the point, because he's off sick, not caring for his mother."

"I... I think I understand sir."

"Why are you here, Rei, really."

"I would rather not say."

He considered ordering her to tell him but quickly reconsidered. Sometimes it was safer not knowing certain things.

"Very well. But, Rei, be careful. In Lt Hyuga's case, some degree of lenience is used. That is not the case in every situation. NERV's goals may be humane, but their means seldom are."

"I understand, sir. May I..." She glanced towards the door.

"Of course, you may go." He sighed, hoping that She got the point.

Rei got up and slowly made her way to the door.

"Rei." Fuyutsuki called, getting her attention. She turned to face him again. "You shouldn't live your whole life in *his* shadow."

"Hai." She replied, bowing, and left.

'It's going to be one of those weeks.' He thought, sighing inwardly. He had no intention of reporting this meeting to Commander Ikari. If it got out later, it could cause trouble, but still...

'Kami-Sama. Yui, my secret love. Would you have wanted all of this?'

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End chapter two.

What secrets will be revealed in the next chapter?

What are Rei's intentions towards Shinji?

Will Gendo ever find the truth?

How will the Second Child effect things?

Does Gendo wear pants under his desk?