I don't own anything. (My new idiot-proof disclaimer.)

Lycanthrope

-Chapter Fifteen: Abomination

Shinji glanced around the look out over looking Tokyo-3 and tossed his cigarette on the ground. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Shinji said as he fished another cigarette out of his brown leather jacket.

"Bull shit," Yuki argued. She pushed off the guardrail and turned to glare at him. "I'm your mate damn it. I know when something is wrong."

"Foolish me," Shinji said with a small smile.

"Damn straight," Yuki said as she wrapped her arms around him. "Now what's wrong?"

"The Sixteenth Messenger is coming," Shinji said. "Armisael the Angel of Something or other."

"I can't sense it," Yuki said as she glanced out over Tokyo-3. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Shinji said. "I'm sure."

"Maybe you're just paranoid," Yuki suggested. Shinji's eyes narrowed and he heard her laugh. "I'm just kidding."

"Yeah right," Shinji said as he let go. "Let's get out of here?"

"Where are we going?" Yuki asked.

"Home," Shinji said. "We left six hours ago and I still don't fully trust Asuka not to attack Misato."

"Was you're life always this insane?" Yuki wondered.

"My life before was a bitch," Shinji said. "This might be crazier, but now its fun."

"Fun," Yuki said. "Worrying about your roommate devouring your other roommate is fun to you?"

"Its just one of the things that makes my life interesting," Shinji said. He paused and grinned brilliantly.

"What?" Yuki asked suspiciously, trying to ignore how her body reacted to that grin.

"I've never been this happy in my life," Shinji said. "All my fucking life."

"Did you just realize that?" Yuki prodded.

"Yeah," Shinji said. He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer as they began to walk. "Let's get out of here."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Misato stared at Asuka cautiously and tightened her grip on the SIG-Sauer pistol in her hand. The young redhead didn't move at all and Misato eyed the massive bruise in the middle of her forehead from the rubber bullet. At first Misato had panicked and thought that Asuka was dead, but then she had spotted the gentle rise and fall of Asuka's chest. "This is really not good," she murmured as she kneeled down and released her death hold on her weapon. She kept the pistol trained on Asuka with her right hand and gently reached out to prod the other woman with her left. A hand grabbed her wrist and Misato spun to see Shinji.

"Shhh," he hissed quietly. Misato withdrew her hand and Shinji nudged Asuka. Immediately her eyes snapped open and she lunged at him.

"Shit!" Misato yelped in surprise. Before she could react further Shinji had grabbed Asuka by the throat and slammed her down onto the floor. Misato winced slightly at the loud impact.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Shinji bellowed as he let go of Asuka. Misato watched in shock as Asuka scrambled to her feet and looked at the ground like a scolded child.

"I was just playing," she muttered with a pout.

"Playing my ass!" Shinji snapped angrily, making both Asuka and Misato jump.

"You obviously have never dealt with children." Misato turned and saw Yuki leaning against the wall. She pushed off and moved to stand next to Asuka. "Scolding only goes so far."

"I'd like to see you do better," Shinji growled.

"Alright," Yuki said as a sadistic smile spread across her face. She turned to face Asuka. "Now listen. If you ever do that again. . ." She trailed off and leaned closer to whisper in Asuka's ear. Misato watched in shock as the redhead turned white and her eyes widened. "Now that doesn't sound fun, does it?" Yuki asked.

"No," Asuka said, her voice trembling. "I'm going to my room."

"Jesus Christ," Shinji said in shock. "What did you say to her?"

"I'll tell you," Yuki said with a smile as she dragged Shinji towards their room. Misato, who had watched the preceding in silence, quickly moved to the kitchen to find a beer.

"Life use to be so simple."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"You look like shit." Shinji growled and flipped Touji off. "Are you just annoyed that school is starting again?" Touji continued.

"That's not it," Shinji said. He glanced ahead of them at Yuki and Asuka. Touji followed his gaze.

"Oh." Shinji glanced at his friend and noticed a wide grin breaking out on his features.

"I am going to disembowel you." Shinji was not in the mood for Touji's know-it-all attitude. He was sore and the scratches on his back were just beginning to heal.

"Disembowel?" Touji asked. "That's a new one."

"Its on my list of things to try," Shinji explained. "Its right under filleting a living human."

"Did I miss something?" Kensuke asked.

"Yeah," Touji and Shinji answered in unison. Shinji glanced up and noticed that Asuka and Yuki had stopped walking right in front of the schoolyard.

"Wonder what's wrong with them," Touji muttered. They caught up and Shinji stared at the mass of humanity in the schoolyard.

"What the hell?"

"Did you eat another student?" Touji hissed.

"No," Shinji said. "Maybe we're getting a famous transfer student."

"You've been reading those girl comics again, haven't you?" Touji asked.

"Blow it out your ass," Shinji growled.

"Mr. Ikari!" Shinji glanced around and saw one of the reporters running at him. "How does it feel to be an Eva pilot?"

"Oh shit," Touji grumbled. Shinji ignored him and extended his claws as he licked his lips and grinned. The reporter froze in place and quickly backed away, as did the other reporters who had rushed to follow the first.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit."

"You get paid?" Yuki asked in surprise.

"Damn well too," Touji added.

"Not enough," Asuka argued. "My last shopping spree wiped my bank account clean."

"Remind me to hide my credit card," Shinji muttered, massaging his temples. He stalked forward and noted with satisfaction that the crowd parted readily for him. Touji quickly caught up with him.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," he began, ignoring the reporters.

"Yeah," Shinji said. "I sensed it too."

"Armisael," Touji said sadly, shaking his head. "The fool has no clue what's going to happen to him."

"Like you were any better Bardiel," Shinji said.

"Shut up Fenrir," the angel-human hybrid growled. "Seriously though. Armisael will not be easily overcome."

"So?" Shinji asked. "What do you know about him?"

"Not much," Shinji said. "I know he's quite a sadistic little bastard, not unlike Arael."

"Wonderful," Shinji said. "God I miss the old ones. Zeruel, Israfel, Shamshel, Sachiel, you. It was always fighting, none of the brain rape shit."

"I can still kick your ass," Touji offered, his crimson eyes glinting maliciously.

"You wish," Shinji growled as he pushed the door open. Touji stepped in behind him and held the door for Asuka and Yuki. "So when's this stupid bastard going to show?"

"To hell if I know," Touji said with a shrug.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"Well this has been an eventful day." Shinji grunted in agreement and leaned against the guardrail on the school roof. The class had been empty as every student, save for Hikari and them, gave an exclusive interview to the reporters.

"Never realized that I had some many best friends and girlfriends," he said.

"If I hear one more girl say that," Yuki growled as her claws extended.

"Easy," Shinji said soothingly. "We'll kill them all tonight."

"What?" Touji demanded.

"Want to come?" Shinji asked.

"Well actually," Touji began. "There is that bastard who's been hitting on Hikari."

"Did you ask her out?" Shinji asked in surprise.

"Uh huh," Touji said with a smile. "We've been dating for about two weeks."

"Maybe you actually do have a brain," Asuka said. "You had better be good to her or I'll. . ."

"You'll what?" Touji interrupted.

"Nothing compared to what I'll do," Shinji growled. "Hikari is a nice girl and a friend of Asuka. You do anything and I'll rip you into little bits."

"Fair enough," Touji said.

"Why don't you just tang the bastard?" Yuki asked.

"Tang him?" Touji asked.

"LCL does look like tang," Shinji said. "Now why don't you just do that?"

"Not painful enough," Touji said.

"You're kind of sadistic," Yuki said. "Not exactly how I pictured an angel."

"Angels have already gotten into heaven," Touji said with a shrug. "That means that we don't have to be good anymore." Shinji watched as a black Section-2 sedan pulled up and several agents ushered Rei out of the school and into the vehicle. "Wonder what that's about."

"The bastard probably doesn't want the reporters to go after Ayanami," Shinji said with a shrug.

"What are we?" Touji asked. "Chopped liver?" He froze for a minute. "Yuck."

"What?" Shinji asked, licking his lips.

"I said chopped liver and you all got this glazed look," Touji said. "And you're drooling Shinji." Shinji quickly reached up to wipe his chin, but froze.

"Shut up." Touji grinned brightly and laughed. Then the angel alarms began to wail. "Looks like the other bastard finally showed up."

"You knew the angel was coming?" Asuka asked in surprise in a rare moment of calmness. "Doctor Akagi should just hook you up to the MAGI. Would make my life easier."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Shinji settled into the plug and shifted uncomfortable. Sitting in any chair with a back was rather painful at the moment. "What's the situation?"

"The angel is contaminating Unit Zero!" someone screamed.

"What?" Shinji roared. "Get me on the fucking surfaced." Shinji felt the Eva lurch as it was loaded onto the catapult. Without warning G-forces slammed down on his shoulders. He shrugged them off easily. He hit the surface in seconds and the weight on his shoulders disappeared in less then a second. The locks released and Shinji sprinted towards Rei's location.

"What about a weapon?" Misato called.

"I have a weapon," Shinji said as he drew a progressive knife from the Eva's right shoulder pylon. Ahead he could see the blue Eva struggling with a ring of light. He charged in and swiped with his knife. 'This is too fucking easy.' His train of thought was interrupted as Rei screamed in pain. Everything fell into place at once. "Oh fuck." He leapt back and parried a blow from the angel with his knife.

"What's wrong?" Misato demanded.

"I can't hurt the angel without hurting Rei," Shinji said. He dodged to the right and fought the urge to slice off the offending appendage. "Shit." Shinji was worried. He was worried about getting out of this one alive, he was worried about getting out of this one without killing Rei, and he was worried that he was worried. 'Are we confused yet?' Shinji wondered. Another long white chain of light stabbed at him.

"Don't let it touch you!" Shinji glanced at the screen and saw Touji. "Keep the fuck away from it!"

"I thought you said that you didn't know anything about it," Shinji growled.

"I didn't," Touji said. "Stop screwing around and kill it."

"It's attached to Ayanami," Shinji growled as he dodged another shot.

"She's gone," Touji said coldly. "You can't get her back. Grab a pallet rifle and put a bullet through its core. One shot no pain."

"Yeah." Then something slammed into the Eva. In the seconds that Shinji had been distracted the angel had managed to wrap a tentacle around the Eva's ankle. Shinji screamed in rage in pain as he felt the angel burrow into his skin.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

'What are you doing among the Lilium!' Touji winced as a loud voice roared in his head.

'Not so loud you asshole,' he growled.

'Bardiel!' the Sixteenth screamed. 'You traitor!' Touji bit back the urge to roll his eyes.

'You should worry about the fight,' he said. 'You won't be on this plane of existence long enough to worry about me.'

'Don't be foolish you traitor!' Armisael roared. 'I have this traitor and the abomination under my control.' Touji stretched his awareness. He could feel Rei's determination and Shinji's all-consuming rage.

'No you don't.'

"What the hell is going on?" a longhaired man demanded. "Eva Unit Zero's self-destruct has been triggered!"

'Good-bye Armisael. I hope the Seventeenth won't be as pathetic as you.' Touji diverted his eyes as the blue Eva exploded with the force of a small nuclear weapon. "See you in your next life Ayanami." Touji stood up and left the bridge.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Shinji leaned under the spray of the shower and let the hot water work out the kinks in his shoulders. He shifted his stance a little and nearly fell as he put pressure on his right ankle. "Damn it."

"I sorry Shinji." Shinji turned when he heard Asuka's voice. She was standing somewhere just outside of the shower room. "I just fell behind."

"Its not your fault," Shinji said as he turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around his waist and grabbed another one to drape around his shoulders. "You couldn't have done anything even if you were out there. I wasn't even able to do anything."

"Am I supposed to tell you that it's not your fault now?" Asuka asked tiredly.

"I supposed so." Shinji walked out of the showers and past Asuka. "I'm going home. You coming?"

"Yeah."

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

Shinji brought his new can of beer to his lips and put the whole thing down in one shot. "I don't think I've ever seen you drink like this," Yuki commented. "It's a little surprising."

"Why?" Shinji asked as he reached for another beer.

"You never really mentioned that other pilot," Yuki explained. "I don't even know her name."

"Rei Ayanami," Shinji said. "Her name was Rei Ayanami."

"Alright," Yuki said. "So why are you so bummed out about a girl you never talked about?"

"Once I became a lycan," Shinji began. "I started to sense things."

"Like when angels were going to attack?" Yuki asked.

"That's exactly it," Shinji said. "Exactly. She was an angel hybrid like Touji. When I first sensed what she was I was terrified."

"You?" Yuki asked in amazement.

"Me," Shinji said. "Remember how you felt about Touji when you first met him?"

"Yeah," Yuki said.

"It was like that," Shinji said. "Only a lot worse for me. I've avoided her since I was turned."

"That's been a few months," Yuki said. Shinji nodded. "So why are you all hung up? Did you have a crush on her or something?"

"No," Shinji said. "But she was one of the people I trusted. She saved my life and almost lost her own."

"Were you as untrusting as a human as you are now?" Yuki asked. Shinji nodded. "Then saying that you trusted her is a big deal."

"Yeah." Shinji cell phone rang and he picked it up. "Hello?"

"She's alive!"

"Calm down Misato," Shinji growled. "I think I went from drinking to hung over without the nice hazy part."

"Rei is alive," Misato said. "Do you understand that?"

"Scratch that," Shinji said. "I have found the nice hazy part."

"Is Yuki there?" Misato demanded.

"Yeah." Shinji held out the phone. "Its Misato."

"What does she want?"

"I don't know," Shinji said. He downed his beer and went for another one.

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

"I hate this place," Shinji growled as he looked around the hospital. "Why did you drag me here?"

"For the twelfth time," Yuki said slowly. "Ayanami is alive."

"You didn't see the explosion," Shinji said. "The entry plug couldn't have gotten away."

"You were listening!" Yuki accused.

"Doesn't matter," Shinji said. "Its not Ayanami. It can't be." Yuki dragged him towards one of the hospital rooms and shoved the door open. Shinji sighed and stepped inside. The room's sole occupant turned to regard him. Horror and loathing flashed in her eyes for a moment, but it quickly disappeared. "You mind if I speak to her alone?"

"Sure," Yuki said. She stepped out and Shinji sat in the chair next to the hospital bed.

"Who are you?" Shinji asked.

"I am Rei Ayanami," the blue-haired woman said.

"Cute," Shinji growled. "But alright. What are you?"

"I do not understand," the woman said.

"I didn't expect you to," Shinji said. "So are you the second Rei Ayanami?"

"I believe I am the third," the woman said.

"Who was the first?" Shinji asked. The woman's face looked strained for barely a moment.

"I do not know," she said calmly. She looked at Shinji. "You are not human."

"Like you're one to speak," Shinji shot back.

"What are you?" the woman demanded.

"Not human," Shinji said. "Beyond that it does not concern you." He watched as her crimson eyes narrowed.

"You are an abomination."

"Spoken like an angel," Shinji said with a laugh.

"What am I?" the woman asked.

"You aren't human either," Shinji said. "The sooner you accept that the better off you'll be."

"If I am not human then what am I?" the woman continued.

"You're an angel," Shinji said. "One of the messengers."

"Who am I?" the woman asked.

"That's for you to figure out on your own," Shinji said. "No one else can tell you." The door slid open and Shinji turned to see a bearded man. "Remember that." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and started to move past the man.

"I have called off the Section-2 alert," Commander Ikari said.

"I thought you did that a while ago," Shinji commented. "After all, Section-2 has been avoiding me for well over a day."

"I would prefer that you didn't kill your own bodyguards," Commander Ikari said.

"Keep your dogs on a leash," Shinji said. "Wild dogs always have to be put down."

-End

(:::::::::::::ii::::::::::::::)

-Author's notes. And so passed the Sixteenth Angel and the second Rei Ayanami. Long enough for you?