The Angel gets His Wings
"Blue readings confirmed. It's an angel alright." The Commander sighed heavily, falling back in his seat.
"I can't believe this. We've barely recovered from the last battle. They certainly aren't giving us much time to breathe, are they? How much time?"
"It should arrive in about three hours."
"I'll send a message to the children," Misato said, turning away from the screen. She walked to the door and opened it. A second later, she let out a shriek and leapt backwards.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT DOING THAT?!!" she screeched, pale, a hand clapped over her heart. Narikage bowed quickly, unable to hide the small smile on his face. Even the other people in the room were snickering.
"Gomen, Misato-san." His voice, however, lacked sincerity and Misato scowled at him.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"What are you doing here? You said you were going to rest at home."
"I changed my mind. And don't dodge the question."
"I'm here for that." He pointed to the large screen that showed the spike of blue. Misato blinked.
"But...we just got the readings...how on earth...?"
The door behind Narikage slid open again and the two girls rushed in, plowing right into Narikage's back. He didn't even stumble and both girls went tumbling to the floor in the most ungraceful manner.
"Rei! Asuka!"
"We followed him," Asuka said from her spot on the floor, pointing up at Narikage. "He said there was an angel coming."
"There is. Look." Rei, who was sitting on Asuka's back, pointed to the blue spike and Asuka blinked.
"He was...right?"
"Narikage, are you saying you knew about this angel?" the Commander questioned, standing.
"I just had a feeling, that's all. So, who's going out there.?" Commander Fuyutski blinked a couple time then cleared his throat.
"Well, we aren't sure yet—"
"It's OBVIOUS who should go out there." Asuka said, finally managing to stand. "Rei and I. After all, Narikage, you've been sick." She gave the older boy a sly look and he scowled a little.
"I'm fine."
"Asuka's right," Misato said. "You still haven't fully recovered—"
"I've recovered just fine. Commander, I am fully capable of piloting—"
"And I say you aren't. I'm your guardian and I say that you're still too sick to pilot."
"Captain, I'm going to leave this decision to you," the Commander said, sitting back down.
"I've made my decision. Rei, Asuka, suit up."
"Misato-san!"
"You don't sound attractive when you whine," Asuka said smugly as she passed, flicking the boy's nose. His scowl grew and his angry blue eyes flicked to Misato.
"May I have a private word with you?" Misato sighed and shook her head.
"My mind is made up, Narikage. You need more rest before you get back into your unit."
"Please." She sighed again.
"Very well." They slipped into the hall. "Narikage, you aren't going to convince me otherwise. I don't want you piloting until you've gotten some proper rest."
"I rested all day yesterday. I don't need to rest anymore. It's YOU who needs it, not me."
"I'm not changing my mind, Narikage. You've had a rough week and the last thing you need is to get in that unit and fight."
"Please, Misato-san," the boy said in a soft voice. "You don't understand. Being in that unit...it's the only way for me to be close to her."
"Her?" As soon as she said it, she knew who he was talking about. "Oh."
"I promise, I'll leave the bulk of the job to Rei and Asuka. I'll just be the coverman."
"I'm not sure..."
"Please." Misato searched his face then sighed quietly.
"That was a really cheap card to play, you know." A smile appeared on Narikage's face.
"I know. But it worked."
"You swear to me you'll stay out of the thick of it?"
"I swear."
"I know I'll probably regret this, but suit up."
"Arigato." He turned and started to leave but Misato cried out and grabbed his shoulder.
"Why is there blood on the back of your shirt?!"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just fell back against the fence at school. Nothing to worry about."
"Don't lie to me. What's going on?"
"Really, it's nothing. I fell during gym, that's all. They feel better already."
"Narikage—"
"I have to go suit up." He pulled away from her and hurried off before she could stop him.
'He's hiding something from me,' she thought, following him with her dark eyes. A tiny voice inside of her was screaming for her not to let him go, but his words kept repeating over and over in her head. It was the only way to be close to her...to his mother... "You're going to explain things when you're finished fighting, mister," she muttered aloud. "And if you don't, I'll ground you for a month...not that you go anywhere else anyway..." She shook her head and went back into the control room to tell everyone she had changed her mind.
(Cut)
"It's just you and me," Asuka said, adjusting her red suit. "Finally."
"That wasn't very nice, what you did back there." Rei vacuumed the air from her suit and folded her school clothes.
"I could have done worse. Like broken his leg. Then he wouldn't be able to pilot for a lot longer. Besides, he deserved it after saying all those things today."
"It still wasn't a very nice thing to do. He is a good pilot...even if he is a little arrogant about it."
"I never thought I'd hear such cruel words from you, Miss Ayanami." Asuka let out a loud shriek as Narikage appeared from behind the lockers, already in his deep green plug suit. Rei flushed slightly.
"What the hell are you doing here?! And in your suit?!"
"I'm piloting, that's why."
"No way! Misato said you couldn't!"
"I'm your coverman. You two will be doing the actual work."
"You jerk! It's our turn to fight!" Asuka cried, leaping forward.
"You will be fighting. I told you: I'm the backup. Just in case." He glanced over at Rei.
"That was a really jerky thing to say," the German snarled.
"Given what you two say about me behind my back, I figure you deserve a small taste of your own medicine." He spun on his heel and marched from the locker room. Asuka glared after him.
"I cannot BELIEVE that guy."
"I guess we are kind of mean to him when he's not listening..."
"Please don't tell me you're taking HIS side."
"Well, maybe we should at least try to be a little nicer." Asuka rolled her eyes.
"He should be nicer too, you know."
"Maybe if we're nicer, he'd be nicer. I mean, you heard what Misato said: he's been all alone for most of his life. It's harder for him to connect to people."
"I've been alone most of my life too, you know. And I don't act like that guy."
"You did when you first came here." That stopped her short and Asuka fell silent, staring down at the tile with a furrowed brow.
"Yeah...I guess I did..." she finally murmured in agreement. "Alright. I'll try to cut him a little slack."
(Cut)
"Ew, gross! It looks like a giant mosquito!" Asuka said, squinching her nose. "Why do all of these things have to look like bugs?! I hate bugs!"
"Then you'll have no problem squashing it," Misato said over the units' intercoms. "Just be careful; we aren't quite sure what this thing is capable of yet."
"If it's a mosquito, I suggest watching out for the nose," Narikage said and Asuka turned her head to look at the little screen displaying his picture.
"Don't act like you know everything."
"Just a suggestion."
"Don't start, you two. Narikage, you distract it. Rei, Asuka, you two move in and destroy the core. It should be located on the underside somewhere."
"Right." Unit 02 and 00 crouched, preparing to charge the angel. Unit 01 stood behind them, rifle raised.
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
"Go!" Narikage open fired on the flying insect/angel and the other two units dashed forward, drawing their progressive knives. The angel let out a buzzing hiss and, faster than they could register, zipped out of sight. Rei and Asuka pulled to a halt, looking around them.
"Where is it?" Asuka said.
"Narikage! Look out!" Misato suddenly shouted over the intercom. Before the boy could turn the unit, the angel had attacked him from behind. Latching onto the umbilical cable, it's razor-sharp nose punctured the back of Unit 01's neck—right where the plug went in. Unit 01 gave a violent jerk and Narikage let out an inhuman shriek that set everyone's teeth on edge.
"Narikage!"
"Narikage!"
"Girls! Get that thing off of him!" Misato screamed.
"The nerve connections are breaking down!" Maya cried. "Unit 01 is going berserk!"
Inside Unit 01, Narikage was still screaming and flailing desperately. There was a searing pain in his shoulders, like something was trying to burst from his skin. Images were whipping through his head, his past memories, and he clutched his forehead, screaming.
"Get off of him!" Unit 02 tackled the angel from the side. There was a sickening crack accompanied by a roar from the angel. Half of the nose remained lodged in the back of Unit 01's neck while the rest of the creature—with Unit 02 on top of it—rolled about three hundred feet away. Unit 01 was still writhing out of control, clutching its head.
"What are the readings?!"
"We can't get any! They're being blocked!"
"By what?!"
"Never mind the damn readings!" Misato cried. "Just get him the hell out of there!"
"Narikage!" Rei ran forward and grabbed the part of the angel that was still stuck in its neck. She was thrown back a moment later by the wild flailings.
"Rei! I need your help first!" Asuka cried. She was struggling to restrain the mosquito-like angel, who kept trying to fly out of her arms. The wings were sharp and cut repeatedly into her unit's armor. "Rei!"
"I'm coming!" She picked up her fallen progressive knife and sprinted over to the struggling pair. Asuka rolled onto her back, holding the thrashing angel. On the abdomen, the red core glowed an angry red and Rei began hacking it. "It's not even cracking!"
From behind them, suddenly, came Narikage's high-pitched scream. Hidden somewhere in the volumous sound was the word "Mother." When Rei heard this, something inside of her snapped and she let out her own roar, slamming the glowing knife down hard.
The core shattered.
Asuka shoved the still body off of her, panting hard. Rei was also panting, holding the knife limply at her side.
"Rei...are you alright?" Asuka asked quietly. Rei let the blade fall, silent. Then:
"Narikage!" She spun around. The Unit was lying face down on the broken ground, completely still.
"You two have to get him out of there! We can't get any readings on him!" Misato cried over the intercom.
"Leave it to us!" Surprisingly enough, it was Asuka who spoke. It took the both of them to remove the needle-like nose from Unit 01's neck. Once that was done, they forcefully ejected the plug then ejected themselves.
"He'd better be alright after all this trouble," the German said as they struggled to open the super-heated hatch. Rei said nothing. She was trembling harder than ever before. What if he...just like Shinji...? "Got it!" Asuka pulled the door open and they stuck their heads in.
And gasped.
Narikage was slumped over the arm of his chair, unconscious. Blood trickled down his plug suit, mixing with the yellow-orange LCL half-filling the plug.
And from his shoulder blades arched two silver wings.