Angels of Armageddon

by Ryan Xavier

Love and warfare after the apocalypse...

12. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: The characters, story, universe, etc. of Neon Genesis
Evangelion belong to GAINAX. They're not mine, and I make no claim to
them.

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Foreword: Yes, it's true; I'm still writing this thing, even after that
mess at the World Trade Center. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shaken
up...in fact, that's one reason this chapter's a little later than I'd
planned. But I still intend to finish out this story. I'm also going
to be updating my web site, as soon as I get a free moment.

In case anyone's wondering: since, according to the Eva timeline, 2nd
Impact hit in the year 2000, the recent terrorist attacks never would
have happened in the Eva universe. So the Americans will still be the
egotistical, self-centered, trigger-happy jerks we all know and love.
^_^. By some odd twist of fate, they make their grand re-entrance in
this chapter. Enjoy.

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" " = speech
^ ^ = thoughts
_ _ = italics

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Angels of Armageddon
Author: Ryan Xavier
Chapter 9: Deepening Waters

It was with tired feet that Shinji Ikari trudged up towards the hulking
form of Evangelion Unit-00.

He'd been searching all over the camp, trying to find some clue as to
the whereabouts of the elusive Rei Ayanami. He had a feeling she'd be
out here, but he'd wanted to check the closer places, first. Coming
out here could be a bit of a walk, if you were tired. And he was.
Much like every day after Third Impact, he'd been on his feet all day.
His legs felt numb, and his feet were sore.

Even worse had been turning down the enticing offer to stay home.
Asuka had seemed particularly predatory today. That could mean some
interesting "catching up" time with her, but only if he got back soon.
He'd known that look in her eyes; the offer was only good for so long.

But he still kept walking towards the Eva. He knew why; as much fun as
it would be to let Asuka have her way with him, he wouldn't really be
able to enjoy it. Something would be weighing on his conscience:
concern over a certain blue-haired girl.

^What is it you don't want me to know, Ayanami?^ he thought, and not
for the first time. Since that first time, long ago, when he'd first
met her, it had always seemed as though Rei was involved in something,
something she couldn't talk about. Some secret so enormous that it was
dominating her entire life. He'd never had the courage to ask her
about it. He - not to mention the rest of the world - had had to learn
the hard way, years later, just what had been planned for Rei.

Now he could only hope that, just for once in his life, he'd be able to
make himself press an answer out of her.

As he came up to the blue colossus, he saw her: standing with her back
to him, looking off into the distance. She was just now stopping;
Shinji could see her take her last step as she came into view.

He slowed down, as he saw her. Even when she wasn't looking at him,
Shinji got a feeling of unease around Rei Ayanami. Just looking at her
like this, he still felt a brief chill. It was a veritable Pandora's
box: something entirely unassuming on the surface, but was underneath
was something dark, something that should be kept locked away for the
good of the rest of the world. But though he knew it was dangerous, he
just couldn't stop thinking about what lay there. No matter how many
warnings he received, he still wanted to see what the truth was about
the enigma otherwise known as Rei Ayanami.

As a slight breeze caressed her hair, Rei made no move; it was as
though nature itself was only background noise to her. Even after
Third Impact, the girl had an aloof feel around her. There was
something about her that could not be touched, even by the apocalypse
itself. Shinji felt a brief pang of regret, as he remembered a brief
sensation, of coming so close to that mystery inside of her.
And...rejecting it.

"Ayanami," he said, the word coming out of his mouth almost on its own.

The girl turned around, her skirt flaring briefly. Her face was still
the blank mask it usually was, but her quickness in turning showed that
she hadn't expected this.

Unconsicously, he looked away, his eyes flickering down to her visibly
healed right arm. That appendage was definitely the question at the
forefront of his mind, at the moment. But he couldn't allow himself to
linger on it. He looked back to her face.

"I need to talk to you, Ayanami," Shinji said, after he'd gathered up
the courage to speak again.

"Yes, Ikari-kun?" she asked, after a short pause.

Shinji hesitated; now that Rei's crimson eyes were on him, the effect
of looking at her was increasing exponentially. To him, it was as
though he had taken the heart of winter into himself, feeling the
deathly cold overtake his own heart until he was not sure that he was
still alive. He had to fight the urge to shiver.

"Ayanami I...I just spoke with Ritsuko-san."

Rei blinked, but otherwise gave no response.

"She said everything was OK, with everyone who'd been involved," Shinji
continued. Inwardly, he was thoroughly berating himself to get on with
it. ^Just _ask_ her,^ he thought.

Rei nodded. She reached behind her back with one arm and grabbed her
other arm, still hanging by her side. She was also periodically
shifting her balance, as though unsure which foot to put the most
weight on. Or else it seemed the foundation she stood upon was no
longer stable.

^Strange...it's almost like she's nervous,^ Shinji thought. He nearly
smiled. ^Yeah. Ayanami, nervous? I don't think so.^

This thought was enough to snap his mind back into focus.
"Ayanami...Ritsuko-san said she'd also examined you. She showed me a
few things, and...well, we all think something might _not_ be OK with
you. And Kaoru-kun," he quickly added on, as an afterthought.

Rei stared at him, her gaze slipping into the pools of his eyes and
seeming to touch his mind directly, brushing against his very being
with a caress more subtle than a summertime breeze. But instead of
warming him as a touch would have, Shinji felt his own anxiety increase
by a thread, as if the tiniest grain of ice had wormed its way into his
very core and was threatening to grow until it consumed him.

Finally, though, she averted her eyes, looking down and to the side.
"What did she show you?" she asked, quietly.

Shinji mentally recalled the explanations Ritsuko had given, about how
most of it was just theory and speculation. That, and samples of
bodily fluids, ending with a blood analysis. But in that blood...

"Enough to make us worried," Shinji said, in what was effectively a
good summary. He paused after this, waiting for the girl to respond.

Rei made no immediate response, however. One of her feet began to move
backwards, as though of its own accord. But she snapped it back
alongside her other foot before she could complete the step.

"You do not need to worry about me, Ikari-kun," she said, uncrossing
her arms and lowering herself to a sitting position. She closed her
eyes for a moment, taking a few slow breaths as she visibly regained
whatever modicum of composure she'd lost a moment ago.

Shinji sank down as well, though not nearly as gracefully as Rei had
been able to. He was quite grateful Rei had chosen to sit down; he
didn't know how much longer he'd have been able to stand. And it
hadn't just been simple muscle fatigue; fear had been writhing around
in him, making his heart beat faster as it surged adrenaline through
his veins and filled his instincts with the raw, fear-borne desire to
run, to be anywhere but here, no matter how strained his muscles were.
It had been like trying to run in opposite directions; the only thing
keeping him from shooting off was the fact that the two forces canceled
each other out.

But now that he was sitting down, it made things easier. Shinji just
let his legs go limp; he didn't even try to arrange himself into a more
dignified position.

^Don't need to impress Ayanami,^ he thought, offhandedly.

For some reason, this thought sank into his consciousness, refusing to
just be brushed aside like any other casual observation. As the pale
girl in front of him opened her eyes and again fixed her demure gaze on
him, he couldn't help but think that this person did not need to be
impressed. It was entirely possible that she _couldn't_ be impressed,
that she was completely unaffected by anything he or someone else did.
And she didn't care. Even the way she looked at him now - a calm gaze
that struck him, making him remember how she'd looked just before he'd
seen her smile at him for the first time - he felt that Ayanami was
someone he'd never have to prove himself to. No matter what he did or
said, no matter if it was wrong or right to his or anyone else's mind,
she would always look at him in the same way, with a face that neither
asked of nor judged him. Unlike pretty much everyone else here,
including a certain red-haired girl waiting for him back at the camp...

"Ayanami, it's my job to worry about people living here," Shinji said
slowly, as his mind began to switch back to matters at hand. "You've
been quiet...well, even more quiet than usual." He clenched and
unclenched his fist nervously, as he felt a sweat break out on his
forehead. "And I was just wondering what's going on."

Rei leaned back, putting her weight on the Eva's foot. One hand
reached out and touched the cool metal, while the other encircled her
knees and pulled them up to her chest. It seemed her usual habit from
a lifetime ago, something which, even now, was still distinctly hers.

"What did you tell Ritsuko-san not to tell me?" Shinji asked, finally
getting around to it. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Ikari-kun," Rei replied, cooly.

She made no effort to meet his gaze, and in fact seemed like she was
trying to avoid eye contact with him. That in itself was not strange,
but he vaguely remembered Ayanami staring ahead in almost every time he
had seen her in that forgotten past, seeing but not noticing, unless
there was something for her worth taking note of, like when she spoke
with his father. Now...the fact she was _trying_ to look away made him
feel uneasy, for if he was not fit to be looked at - if not noticed -
by even Ayanami, then who would notice him?

^But why ask Ritsuko-san not to tell me something?^ Shinji thought,
trying to keep his mind on the conversation at hand.

"I'd like to believe that, but..." Shinji tried to begin. But he
stopped soon after, as his train of thought abruptly ran out of words
to express itself with. ^But...what?^

"But..." he continued. "I can't. Ayanami, what is it you're trying
not to tell me?"

^Did I just ask that? Or did I just imagine myself asking?^

Rei turned her head, meeting his eyes. She blinked once, then again,
more slowly. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as she seemed to consider
something. And all the time, Shinji found his gaze held by those
crimson irises. Something in them was holding onto him, not letting
him look away, even though he knew it was probably rude to stare.

Rei seemed equally held by his gaze, but only after a few moments.
Eventually, her eyes widened slightly, and she looked away again.
Shinji thought he could see a little redness in her pale cheeks.

"Nothing is definite," Rei said, finally. "I have no other experience
to work from."

"So...you're just guessing, then?"

Rei nodded, saying nothing.

"Well...could you at least tell me what happened to your arm?" Shinji
asked, a faint note of determination present in his voice. He could at
least get _that_ out of her, having walked all the way out here.

Rei still said nothing, though she unconsciously flexed her right arm,
as though assuring herself that it was, in fact, healed. Shinji
waited, letting the quiet girl sort out her thoughts. He felt a faint
urge to try forcing her to answer, but he repressed it. He knew about
Rei and her penchant for following orders, but somehow, he felt that if
he commanded her to explain herself, she would clam up even more than
before, if that were possible.

"I can only assume that my healing process was accelerated," Rei said,
after several minutes of tense silence.

^So I noticed,^ Shinji thought, bitterly. He shook his head. "Yes,
Ayanami. But...do you know _how_?"

Again, Rei fell silent. Shinji let out a low breath, the urge to try
shaking an answer out of her growing with every passing moment. The
pale girl, perhaps noticing his anxiety, finally spoke up.

"An influx of energy," Rei said, finally. "Some external force which I
did not anticipate."

Shinji looked at her for a long moment. Idly, his mind trailed back to
the recent discussion with Ritsuko.

^Something is drawing off that extra energy,^ he rembered her saying,
in reference to the lack of destructive force from the S2 engine
explosions.

^An influx of energy?^ Shinji thought. "No...no way..."

Rei looked over at Shinji as he voiced his thought. Her expression was
one of slight confusion.

"Ayanami...did Akagi-san tell you about the S2 engine explosions?"
Shinji asked, carefully.

Rei blinked once, then nodded.

"Do you think that might be where the energy came from?" Shinji asked,
forcing himself to meet her eyes.

Another blink on Rei's part. Her chest rose and then slowly fell, in a
silent sigh of deep thought. Finally, she broke eye contact, turning
away from him as she shook her head.

"I am uncertain," she answered. "Perhaps it was filtered through the
Eva. The only way to check..." Rei stopped, her voice trailing off as
she came to an inward conclusion. Her mouth tightened slightly,
sealing off any more words she may have had to say.

"Would be if you got into another fight," Shinji commented. The events
following Third Impact had had more of an effect on him than he'd
realized; two years ago, he never would have thought of finishing
someone's sentence for them.

Rei nodded, a simple tilt of her head that could have just been
Shinji's imagination.

"I don't like it," Shinji said, more to himself than anyone else. "No,
I don't like it at all..."

Rei stood, using the Eva's foot as a brace to lift herself up. "Is
that all, Ikari-kun?"

Shinji looked up at her, now feeling obligated to stand, himself.
"Ayanami, I can understand if you don't want to say. I mean, I know
what it's like to not be accepted."

Rei turned her head slightly, her gaze again meeting his. But this
time it was not one of questioning, or apathy. Even as he watched,
Rei's eyes narrowed slightly. As if to say, 'you do _not_ know. Not
as well as I do.' Shinji swallowed, realizing the truth of the
unspoken statement. He unconsciously took a step back. He'd only seen
Rei angry once before, when he'd said he could not trust his father.
That had been unsettling, especially with the slap that had followed.
But this look...it was something else entirely. There was no promise
of injury. Simply a deep, unspoken resent, only briefly flashing up to
the surface before submerging again, falling to some unknown depth.

"But...is there something else?" he asked, the words coming out of his
mouth apparently of their own accord.

"No," came the blunt reply. It may have been Shinji's imagination, but
he thought he heard a faint trace of anger in her voice. But there was
something else...nervousness? Fear, even?

Shinji let out a slow breath, then got up to his feet. "You sound a
little unsure of yourself," he said, as he stood up straight.

"I am fine, Ikari-kun," Rei said. "Now I must speak with Kaoru-san."
She turned and started walking back towards her shelter.

Shinji moved before he could stop himself.

Rei halted almost as soon as she had started, feeling that something
was holding her back. Her head quickly turning in surprise, she saw her
hand clutched in Shinji's, the boy himself tensing as if preparing to
hang on should she try to go.

Shinji winced, slightly, as he saw Rei's eyes widen again. He knew he
shouldn't have done this. Rei had an air around her that made her as
untouchable as anyone could be. He felt as though he'd broken some
important rule by touching her like this. It had often seemed in the
past that Rei did either what she was told, or what she thought best,
and never let anything stop her. And now here he was, trying to keep
her from doing what she wished.

Not only that, but he could feel her soft, limp hand underneath the
calluses of his own. It was like marring something otherwise perfect,
like kicking up the bottom of a riverbed and sullying the clear water.
He felt dirty.

"Ikari..." Rei said, her voice soft and more than a little inquisitive,
not to mention surprised.

"You're worrying me, Rei," Shinji said. He stopped, thinking that over
again. "Uh..._Ayanami_. Sorry. But...I can't help thinking
something's wrong, and - "

"Rei is fine."

Shinji blinked, then momentarily forgot to breathe as the meaning of
those words hit him. "What?"

"You may call me Rei, Ikari-kun." Rei said, turning around to face him.
"If it makes you more comfortable."

Shinji blinked again. 'If it makes you more comfortable', was a
sentence he'd have _never_ expected to come out of Rei Ayanami.
_Nothing_, physical or otherwise, had ever had an effect on her.
Ayanami was supposed to be the one constant in this crazy world, the
one thing that couldn't be changed. But...

^I keep forgetting she's still a girl,^ he thought. He noticed that
she was now staring at him intently, patiently waiting to see what he
would do next.

He looked down, embarassed, only to see that Rei's hand was still in
his. Why hadn't she said anything earlier? He released her hand
immediately, pulling his arms behind his back as though ashamed that
she should see them.

"Uh...right," Shinji said, looking back up. "But you _do_ have me
worried. I can't help thinking something's wrong with you, and you're
not telling me, for some reason or another."

Rei met his eyes. "If something were wrong, I would tell you, Ikari-
kun," she said, evenly. "You are my commander, so it is my
responsibility to do so, correct?"

Shinji shook his head. "I don't want to be like that," he said,
turning away. "Ay...Rei, don't treat me like my father. I'm no
commander, trust me."

"I disagree, Ikari."

Shinji turned back around, his brow furrowing. "What did you say?"

"You are not like Commander Ikari, that is correct. But you are still
a commander."

Shinji shook his head. "I don't understand."

Rei took several hesitant steps, coming up to him. "You are still a
leader," she said, tilting her head slightly to compensate for their
height difference. Years ago, they'd been nearly the same height, but
with the passage of time, that was no longer true. Shinji now had to
look down to meet those red eyes.

"People do as you ask," Rei continued. "They respect you...and Soryu.
If they did not, you would not be a leader."

Shinji backed off, as he realized he could feel Rei's body warmth. He
held up his hands, as though trying to push her away. "Look, it wasn't
really a choice. I'm not my father, Ayanami," he said, his voice
betraying some slight anger. "I was here first, so I had to do it," he
finished, quietly, looking away.

"You never _had_ to do it," Rei said, only using the slightest emphasis
on the word 'had'. "You could have simply deferred to Soryu. Yet I do
not need to say this...do I?"

Now it was Shinji's turn to avert his eyes. ^She's right, isn't she?
I never had to do this...but I did it, anyway.^ A flash of memory came
to his mind, the face of Gendo Ikari. ^God...did I become my father?
Because I 'had' to? No...no, that can't have been what happened.^

"And even with more experienced personnel currently available, you
remain in your current position. Is that what you wish to do?" Rei
asked, taking another step towards him.

Shinji backed off another step. "Look, it's just the way things turned
out. I'm no leader."

"I believe you are," Rei said, keeping her eyes trained on his. "You
must admit it to yourself, however."

Shinji again looked away. After a long moment, he let out a sigh.
"Well...Rei, thank you for at least talking to me. Please don't avoid
me if...if something's wrong." He turned around again, heading back
for the camp. ^Damn, now it's late. Asuka's going to skin me alive.^

Rei nodded. "I will remember that, Ikari-kun. Thank you."

Shinji stopped abruptly. He half-turned his head, looking back at the
blue-haired girl. "Did you just..." he said, trailing off.

Rei cocked her head, looking at him questioningly.

Shinji shook his head. "Forget it," he said. "And it's no problem. I
don't like feeling that you're avoiding me." At that, he started
walking off again.

Rei nodded, even though Shinji wouldn't be able to see. Then she
turned and walked off in the other direction, towards her shelter.

Shinji, in the meantime, was turning over that last sentence of Rei's.
^She _has_ to have said 'thank you' at some point in the past, I'm
sure...but when?^

* * *

Asuka was not normally someone who paced. She hated the pointless
movement; walking without getting anywhere. But she was about ready to
_start_ pacing, now.

She'd dragged Hikari with her back to the shelter, and they'd talked, a
little like they had in old times. It had been fun. Her friend was -
quite understandably - even crazier about Touji than she'd been before.
She was a little better at hiding it, save for her stomach, which was
now rounder than ever, but Asuka had still been able to tell. A few
minutes ago, Hikari had left, to go and find the aforementioned boy.
Touji was due back in his shelter pretty soon, and she hadn't wanted to
miss him.

Asuka was currently sitting on the floor of her shelter, having not yet
found the energy to stand. Much as she didn't want to admit it, it
_had_ been a tough day. As usual.

^For everyone except _those_ two,^ she thought. ^Nagisa and
Wondergirl. They get to just sit around the Eva all day and make sure
it doesn't go berserk or anything.^

That, and save the whole camp on occasion. But Asuka wouldn't let
herself remember that part of the red-eyed childrens' job. Right now,
they were just nuisances, two people who were useless in physical
labor, and spent all day doing pointless things with a relic from a
half-forgotten life.

^And they have baka Shinji caught up in it,^ she thought, shifting
around where she sat. ^No, _she_ has baka Shinji caught up in it. I'm
sure Nagisa's just watching and snickering.^

She lay down on the ground, then sat up, then made as though to get to
her feet, then decided against it. No position could be comfortable in
the face of restless anxiety. Somewhere in the back of her mind she
knew that if she'd checked a timepiece, it couldn't have been much more
than an hour since Shinji had left to go look for Rei. And Hikari
hadn't left more than ten minutes ago. But it sure _felt_ as though it
had been longer. Much longer.

She looked out the door, for the 258th time - and she'd kept count.
Where _was_ he?

^If he's where I _think_ he is, I'm going to tear him a new one. And
that would just be to start,^ she thought. ^He said he'd just go talk
to Wondergirl, but that...girl can be strange. Suppose she just came
right out and said, 'I love you, Ikari-kun.' What would baka Shinji
say to _that_, huh? I should just leave. Let him try sleeping alone.^

But she didn't move. She continued shifting in her position, waiting
impatiently.

^Well, since the sun's going down, I guess it would be pretty pointless
to go out,^ she reasoned. ^Yeah...that's why I'm not leaving.^

She lay down, this time staying there. She crossed her arms over her
chest and looked at the ceiling, trying to will her mind to think about
something else. She didn't have much luck.

Some measure of time passed. Finally, footsteps came up to and passed
through the doorway. Asuka's eyes turned in their sockets, looking at
Shinji as he came in. She said nothing; she didn't even narrow her
eyes at him. They both knew who was in the wrong.

"Sorry," Shinji mumbled, almost immediately. "It just took longer than
I thought."

Asuka rolled her eyes, shaking her head and feeling the dirt crunch
underneath her hair. "Baka," she said. "You _should_ be sorry. You
know how long I've been sitting in this stupid place?"

"Sorry." Again, the old excuse, the old escape from guilt.

Asuka summoned up what strength she had left and propelled herself up
to her feet. "Yeah, you're sorry. Start making up for it," she said.
It sounded like a command and a suggestion rolled into one. She
grabbing him by his shirt collar and pulled him towards her, the need
to satisfy her craving overriding the desire to take it slow.

She could feel him jump a little as his lips touched hers. No matter;
very often she got him by surprise with this. ^Baka's still just as
nervous as when I first kissed him,^ she thought, thinking back to that
time in Misato's apartment, when she'd still just been trying to tease
him. But he'd catch on eventually...

...ah, there it was.

Asuka turned her head a little more, letting Shinji lean into it more.
Though they were both nearly exhausted, they were still nearly choking
on each others' tongues. Their hands began to roam, Asuka's arms going
around Shinji and pulling him up against her, pressing his body up
against hers, if only to assure herself that she was no longer waiting,
alone in the dark.

Finally, Asuka pulled back, turning away and out of Shinji's grasp.
She tossed her head as though nothing had happened. "Well, that helped
break the boredom, I guess," she said, in a teasing tone.

"Sorry," Shinji said, once again. "It's just that it took so long to
find her. Always in the most distant, most inconvenient place, right?"

Asuka snorted. "Well, you could at least _find_ her," she said,
turning around. "I guess you're good for something."

Shinji smiled, backing up and leaning against a wall. He closed his
eyes and let out a slow sigh, trying to force the tension out of his
body. Asuka smirked, coming over to him and placing herself directly
in front of him. Before Shinji knew what was happening, Asuka had
placed one hand on the wall on either side of his head, effectively
holding him in place. Now she stood right in front of him, her clear
blue eyes locking with his.

"And is everything OK?" Asuka asked, raising her eyebrows haughtily as
she thinned her eyes to slits. "Didn't want you to know she'd stubbed
her toe, or something like that?"

"Well, I think everything's OK," Shinji said, looking away nervously.
"I think Rei's just as unsettled as the rest of us, she just doesn't
know how to show it...what's wrong?"

He asked this last part as he saw Asuka's eyes widen. Because in her
mind, it had just clicked what Shinji had said.

"Excuse me," Asuka said, narrowing her eyes again and tilting her head.
"What did you just call Ayanami?"

"Oh, yeah. Rei told me it was OK if I called her by her first name.
Said I could if it made me more comfortable."

Asuka developed a tic under one eye. "And it does, I guess?"

"Well, yeah. I worked with her for over a year, and I was still
calling her like I'd just met her. Maybe without NERV, she thinks it's
OK to make a friend. Hey...what's wrong, Asuka? Are you angry about
me being late?"

Asuka found she was unable to answer with words; one of the emotions
roiling inside of her had sealed her throat closed, tightening it to
the point that she could barely breathe. So, she just used the _other_
way she had to answer Shinji's question.

* * *

"Now I _know_ that's gotta hurt," Touji said, from his seat in a small
folding chair.

"It does," Shinji said, holding one hand on his cheek. "Believe me
Touji, it does."

"I don't see why Asuka would get so angry," Hikari said, coming in with
a wet rag. She handed it to Shinji with an apologetic look. "Here,
this has been out in the air for a while. It's a little cold."

"Thanks," Shinji said, quietly. Then he held the rag over the perfect
imprint of Asuka's hand that was now branded onto his left cheek.

"So you want to stay here for tonight?" Touji asked, sprawling out in
his chair and letting his arms hang limply by his sides.

"If it's OK, Touji. I don't want to impose."

"It's fine," Touji said, waving one arm through the air. But he still
glanced over at Hikari. The girl looked concerned, as she finished
making the stew sitting over their small fire. But it was enough; if
she'd looked as though she disapproved, then Touji would have had to
change his decision, or else there would be _two_ guys kicked out of
their shelters tonight.

"Well, we've got enough room for one other guy," Touji said. "You want
dinner?"

"No thanks," Shinji said. "It hurts to open my mouth right now. I
think I'll just go to sleep."

"Right."

Shinji stayed in his seat a little longer, feeling his cheek still
swelling. He was going to have a _nasty_ bruise to explain pretty
soon.

"So what did you say to her, again?" Hikari asked.

"Nothing!" Shinji said, defensively. "I just told her what Rei told
me, and how Rei said I could use her first name, now."

Touji cocked an eyebrow, in appreciation of Shinji's apparent ability
to get Rei Ayanami to open up. Hikari, on the other hand, looked up
from what she was doing long enough to look at Shinji pensively for a
moment.

^What are you doing, Ayanami?^ Hikari thought, with some apprehension.
^I guess it's OK to try getting a friend, but I thought you knew how
Asuka can be.^ She shook her head, not knowing what to say.

"Well, you can lay down over there," Touji was saying, gesturing to one
wall of the shelter. "How long you figure you'll need to stay here?"

"Not long. She does this every now and then, you know. In 24 hours
I'm sure she'll have forgiven me enough to let me back into my own
home."

* * *

Ariel was just sitting down for what felt like the first time all day
when a knock came at her doorway.

She turned her head to see Asuka standing there, her fist still perched
over the wall she'd just rapped her knuckles on. Under her free arm
was a folded-up blanket.

"Hi," the German girl said, quietly. "Can I come in?"

Ariel met Asuka's eyes for a moment, swallowing quietly as she did so.
"I see no difficulty with that."

Not that a different answer would have changed much; Asuka was stepping
inside and taking a seat even before Ariel had started talking. She
crossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her hands on her ankles.
Ariel, for her part, moved off to the side, until she could lean
against the wall of her shelter. She quickly looked up and around at
the small room: it was about five by three meters, with the only
decoration being a blanket at the far end. It wasn't much, but it was
enough for her to survive, at least for now. She was still amazed at
how quickly the humans had been able to set it up.

"Do..." Asuka began. Then she shook her head and switched over to
German. "Do you mind if I talk with you for a while?"

Ariel blinked, then slowly shook her head. "I suspected we would talk
again at some point." ^Though not this soon,^ she mentally added. ^It
has not even been a full day yet. Is this how humans interact? I
wonder if I have the stamina...no, of course I do. I just need to
alter my outlook, I suppose.^

"I guess I should apologize," Asuka said, leaning back on the blanket
roll. "Normally, I'd go talk to Hikari, but she's kind of...occupied
now. I know we just met, but I wanted to talk to someone."

"Very well."

Asuka put one hand on her forehead, as she leaned her head back.
"Where'd you learn to talk, anyway? You sound like Ayanami, and that's
_not_ who I want to be listening to right now."

Ariel closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself. ^_Again_
she compares me to Zero,^ she thought. "It is just the manner I choose
to speak in."

"Just don't go around saying 'yes sir'," she said, momentarily
switching over Japanese and using a ridiculously monotonous tone as she
spoke Rei's characteristic line. "At least not to me. Or I'll have to
hit you."

Ariel drew back a little at the implication of violence. "Very well,"
she said, cautiously.

Asuka fell silent after that, taking several slow breaths. Ariel just
watched. As much as she tried to resist, she could read Asuka's body
language like a book. Every little twitch, every breath, every glance
meant something, and Ariel knew them all by heart. And currently,
Asuka was quite visibly troubled. Ariel guessed that, even if she
didn't know Asuka the way she did, she'd be able to tell something was
bothering the German girl.

^What am I to do in this situation?^ she wondered. ^Am I to attempt
consolation? Or am I to leave her to deal with her own problems?^

Unable to make a decision on this subject, Ariel continued watching.
She could _also_ tell by Asuka's body language that the girl was
working up the courage to try speaking. So it was really just a matter
of time.

After a few minutes, Asuka raised her head up to look back at the other
girl. "You ever have a boyfriend, Ariel?"

"No," Ariel answered immediately. "None that I can remember," she
added on, as an afterthought.

"Oh yeah, your mind's a blank, isn't it?" Asuka asked, leaning back
onto the blanket.

"I am sorry. But I simply cannot remember much of my past life."

"It's OK." Asuka paused after this. Ariel could see she was choosing
her words, so she waited.

"Well, you probably snagged a few guys," Asuka said, glancing back at
the other girl. "Or at least turned a few heads. But anyway, tell
me...hypothetically speaking, suppose you had a boyfriend."

Ariel blinked at the odd suggestion. "Yes..." ^Though I haven't the
slightest concept of what that would imply...^

"Now suppose you found out some other girl was interested in him. And
he was getting kind of friendly with her. What would you do?"

Ariel took a breath, letting herself think. ^I have no idea
whatsoever,^ she was tempted to say. What experience did she have on
this subject, anyway? None. Even Asuka's memories were no help; the
girl had received plenty of love letters, to be sure, but she'd never
had anyone she'd labeled as her 'boyfriend'.

But as she thought, she reviewed the tones she'd heard in Asuka's
voice. This wasn't just a random question; she knew that much already.
Taking into account her apparent relationship with Shinji Ikari,
then...

"I suppose it would depend on your..._my_ boyfriend's actions," she
said, cautiously.

"Heh," Asuka said. "Well, suppose he was sacrificing time with you to
go spend time with..._her_." That last word was nearly growled out.

Ariel swallowed quietly. From what she'd heard, it was someone Asuka
knew, and knew well. Not only that, but someone she'd already taken a
dislike to. That left a very small list, which was headed by...

^Zero...^ she thought. ^No, it _cannot_ be. Not the untouchable Zero.^
She paused, thinking it over. ^Although...I find it difficult to
believe that this weakling Shinji Ikari could have held more power than
Zero did during the Unification. Yet her actions were governed by
his...^

She turned it over in her mind, letting it go through her brain for a
few seconds before she figured out an answer Asuka would like. "Well,
punishment would definitely not be unwarranted," she said.

"No kidding. Slap his "I'm sorry" face 'til he takes the hint,
right?" Asuka said the words, but her voice quavered as she did so.

"Perhaps not physical punishment," Ariel said, awkardly. "Because
that's obviously hurting you as much as it did him. Perhaps...uh..."

"You can tell, huh?" Asuka asked, sitting up.

Ariel paused, looking at Asuka's face, now sitting in the shadows of
the growing night. Ariel finally shrugged, at a loss for what to say.
A silence then fell on the pair, as Asuka leaned back against the wall.
Some measure of time passed; it became steadily darker, and the stars
began to come out. And still, no words passed between the two girls.
Then:

"Without your...Evangelion," Ariel suddenly began. Asuka turned to
face her, not saying anything, but listening intently. "Without your
Unit-02...do you feel so worthless? That perhaps Ikari-kun is the only
thing you have left?"

Asuka said nothing. She merely blinked once in surprise. But
understanding quickly passed over her face, as she again turned away.

"I don't know..." the German girl mumbled. "I don't know..."

Now sitting in in the encroaching night, she passively let the shadows,
with their gently imploring touch, envelope her in a dark embrace.
Slowly, as the last rays of light began to fade, her head still bowed
in thought, her face gradually grew darker as she seemed to recede into
serious thought, something she had hardly ever done, but Ariel could
tell that this time it was dead serious. Suddenly not wanting to be
around this girl, Ariel started to back away.

Asuka's lips twitched, mouthing a simple word: "mama". Slowly, she
turned her head, looking over at the retreating girl.

Asuka finally smiled, looking relieved that she was still able to do
so. "You know, I like you, Ariel. It's like you know me already."

Ariel managed a nervous smile in response to this.

"So anyway..." Asuka continued. "Is it OK if I stay here tonight? I
promise I won't roll over onto you or anything."

Ariel glanced around at the diminutive size of the shelter again. In a
way, it was good that she didn't have many furnishings; there was
nothing to get in the way.

"I suppose," she said, finally. "I normally sleep near the back, so
the rest is open."

Asuka nodded. "I just don't want to stay back at my place," she said.
"He might come back begging to be let in...and to tell the truth, I
don't know what I'd do if he did that."

"The best solution would be to keep him out," Ariel said. "He would
learn his lesson that way."

Asuka shrugged. "Dunno. I just don't know if I could say that to his
face. Stupid Shinji can look _reeallly_ pitiful, when he needs to."

"Yes, I suppose Ikari would have practice at - "

"_Please_ don't call him that," Asuka said, exasperated. "Please.
_Anything_ but 'Ikari-kun'. Call him baka, call him 'Shinji-chan' if
you want, but don't call him 'Ikari-kun,' or 'Ikari', or anything else
like that."

Ariel mentally reviewed possibly names for Shinji Ikari. Asuka had
sounded like she was giving something up by saying she could call him
anything ending with '-chan'. Apparently she liked being the only one
to call him that.

"Very well. I suppose...Shinji would have practice at appearing
pitiful."

"It's his one skill, ain't it?" Asuka asked, smiling again. "That and
knowing when to be tough. Kinda moot without his Eva, though."

"Not necessarily." ^Why did I say that? Why should it matter to me
what these humans think of each other? Although...now I too, am
human...^

"Yeah, I guess," Asuka muttered, unconvinced. She turned and looked
out into the sky, watching it darken.

Several minutes passed. After a while, Asuka unrolled her blanket near
the doorway, lying down on it and looking up at the ceiling of the
shelter.

It was about then that the first lights appeared.

Ariel jumped, letting out a brief cry of surprise as a tiny, yellow orb
of light, seemingly coming out of nothing, materialized in front of
her. She backed up until her back was to the wall, her eyes darting
around quickly. Where had that _come_ from?

It came again. Ariel's gaze shot over to it just as the light, rising
up into the air, died off. Narrowing her eyes, she could just barely
make out a small creature, buzzing through the air. Even as she
watched, it lit up again, rising upwards as it did so.

"Pretty," Asuka said, looking out the door.

Ariel turned her head. Her eyes widened. There were _hundreds_ of the
little lights, flitting around through the air.

"Wh-what _are_ they?" Ariel asked, looking back to the room and trying
to pick out the one that had intruded. She found it quickly, also
seeing that a few more had joined it, and were now flying around inside
her shelter just as the others were outside.

"Now _don't_ tell me you've never seen fireflies," Asuka said, throwing
an annoyed glance back at the white-haired girl. "They're harmless.
You just look at them. They're pretty, huh?"

Ariel looked back out, forcing her heart to stop beating so fast. They
were just..._lights_, flying in the air.

Flying lights...

She crawled forwards, until she was next to Asuka. Looking out, she
let herself relax. Knowing there was no danger in looking, she could
see they _did_ have a sort of natural grace to them. It was like
a...what was the word? A little like an image from Asuka's past,
something she'd called a 'Christmas tree', in the dark. Just a bunch
of lights filling the air.

Asuka reached out and grabbed one of the bugs out of the air, holding
it in the protective shell of her fist. Smiling, she looked into her
hand, watching the periodic light flickering out of it.

"I guess this is a good sign," Asuka said. "Next thing you know, we'll
be having cicadas buzzing away." At this, she extended her hand
towards Ariel and released the bug. Ariel took the hint and snagged
the bug before it got too far away.

"No, not like that," Asuka said, seeing Ariel clench her fist. "See,
now you just crushed it."

Ariel's eyes widened, as she looked into the palm of her hand. "I...I
didn't mean to," she said, seeing the squashed firefly sitting there.
Its light was forever extinguished, as surely as its life had been
ended with that simple gesture. Ironically, even when she'd been an
Angel, Ariel had never taken a life, though she'd certainly _tried_.
So, even though it was just a simple insect, she couldn't help feeling
a little sick, thinking about what she'd just done.

"It's OK. Just try again," Asuka was saying.

Ariel brushed the insect body out of her hand and looked back into the
night. "I think I will be content to watch," she said.

Asuka smiled, joining the other girl in watching the natural spectacle.
All around the camp, other people were also coming out to see the
little miracle.

* * *

Days passed, slowly but surely turning into weeks. Shinji and the
others continued expanding and developing their little settlement,
while Rei and Kaoru maintained the Eva which everyone hoped would not
be needed again, at least not for the purpose of destruction which
appeared to be its calling. The metallic titan watched silently as
homes were developed, its single eye watching unblinkingly, as though
unable to decide what to think about what it was seeing.

It didn't take _too_ long before Asuka let Shinji sleep back in their
shelter. She made no further mention of Shinji's use of Rei's first
name, and didn't even seem to mind when Shinji called the blue-haired
girl by her first name. Though perhaps she made _too_ much of an
effort to show it didn't bother her; her aloofness, at times, seemed
strained.

Though this was technically a time of peace, it was an uneasy one.
Everyone was wondering if another of the giant white demons would come
for them, to kill more of their number. It was even worse for people
like Misato and Shinji, who _knew_ there were other MP Evas out there,
and who had no guarantees they wouldn't decide to wake up, either.

One day, this peace was broken, by another aerial traveller. Yet it
was not _nearly_ as unwelcome as another MP Eva would have been.
Though it had a set of problems all its own to drop on the refugees, as
well.

* * *

Shinji looked up as he heard the noise: the steady 'thwock-thwock' of
helicopter blades, slicing the air hundreds of times a second. The
tire he'd been rolling towards their collection of automotive parts
rolled on, finally wobbling and flopping onto the ground with a 'thud'.
He barely noticed.

There they were: coming in from out of cloud. Not nearly the fleet
they had been last time, but still, there were four choppers descending
on the camp.

"They're here," he said, simply. Around him, other people were
dropping what they were doing and looking to the sky. Conversations
quickly broke out as to what this visit entailed.

Shinji wasn't all that sure of why they'd be coming, either. That last
radio message had said the Americans were going to "investigate". What
that meant doing, he wasn't sure. And what he saw wasn't too
encouraging: two of the four helicopters were quite obviously meant for
the blood and chaos of battle. They were much thinner than the other
two, and each had a pair of weapons-heavy winglets hanging off their
sides.

^Those two alone could level this whole camp in under five minutes,^
Shinji thought, nervously. He momentarily tried to console himself by
saying that if they wanted to attack, they'd have come at night, and
not in the middle of the day like now. That consolation didn't last
long. ^Why bother waiting until the night? It's not like we have
anti-aircraft guns lying around.^

The lead helicopter was that large-windowed scouting model that had
landed last time. It was probably once again the command ship,
carrying whoever was in charge. The fourth, however, was definitely
not a gunship. It was an enormous cargo chopper, larger than the other
three combined, dangling beneath two sets of blades rotating on top of
its hull.

^What's _that_ thing for?^ Shinji wondered, as he watched the quartet
veer off towards a landing point not far from the perimeter of the
camp. That in itself helped some; at least they weren't immediately
bombing the whole area.

The attack helicopters split up, staying aloft and keeping a watchful
eye aimed in every direction, like two ferocious animals straining at
their leashes as they steadfastly protected their masters from all
harm. Only after both of the other choppers had landed did the attack
helicopters begin their respective descents.

Shinji had to squeeze his eyes shut as he approached the landing zone.
The wind and dust all the blades were kicking up was enough to make him
have to lean forwards just to keep his balance.

The command helicopter's side door opened, and a man jumped out. He
was dressed in camo fatigues, and had a rifle of some sort strapped
onto his back. ^At least it's not in his hands,^ Shinji thought.

The man looked around quickly, nervously. His grip tightened on the
strap at his shoulder, before he decided all was well. He turned back
and gestured for the other people in the chopper to come out.

Someone vaguely familiar was the next person out, jumping out the door
so quickly that the first man had to back off quickly to avoid getting
hit. He nodded at the first man, who snapped to attention.

The man who'd just exited was also wearing fatigues, but they looked
significantly more natural on him; _he_ was wearing _them_ instead of
the other way around. Unlike his compatriot, he was only armed with a
pistol strapped to his hip. He was also wearing a set of dark aviator
sunglasses, hiding his eyes. But even with the new addition, Shinji
instantly recognized the man.

Shinji walked up to him, crossing the distance as quickly as his legs
would allow. As he approached, the first soldier made as though to
unshoulder his gun. But the other man just held up a hand, stopping
him. Then he yelled something in rapid English, to which the other man
nodded and ran off, towards the cargo chopper.

"Major Lewis?" Shinji asked the significantly larger man, as he finally
caught up.

"That's the name," came the reply. Lewis eyed Shinji carefully, before
raising up a hand. "Ikari, right?" he asked, pointing at Shinji.

"Shinji Ikari, yes."

"Yeah, who could forget this place," Lewis said, nonchalantly. He
turned around, grabbing a handhold and hopping halfway into the chopper
he'd just left. He yelled something into the interior, gesturing for
someone else to come out. As he jumped back down, a few more soldiers,
all looking no older than Shinji and all carrying guns, began to
clamber out.

"Rookies," Lewis muttered, shaking his head as he jumped back down. He
reached into the chest pocket of his shirt, pulling out a pack of
cigarettes.

"So...hello," Shinji said, not really knowing what to say. "I knew
someone would be coming, but I didn't expect you."

Lewis shrugged, as he pulled out a cigarette. He hesitated, noting the
high winds from the still-rotating helicopter blades. Deciding to wait
on the smoke, he stuck the cigarette behind his ear.

"Well," he said, "I just drew the short straw, I guess."

Shinji blinked, not having expected that answer.

Lewis smiled and clapped Shinji on the shoulder, the amicable gesture
feeling more like a punch than anything else. Shinji winced under the
sudden force.

"Ah, c'mon, kid. I'm one of the few officers available that speaks
fluent Japanese. And I'd been here before, anyway. Who else you think
they'd send here?"

Shinji nodded slowly, trying to pull out of Lewis's grasp on his
shoulder. He didn't have to try for very long, however; Lewis's gaze
turned, looking at something behind the boy.

"Hello there, Katsuragi-san," he said, backing away from Shinji and
bowing ceremoniously.

Shinji turned to see Misato walking up to the choppers. "Major," she
said, angrily. "What's the meaning of this? You didn't give us any
warning you were coming. This isn't America, you can't just come and
go whenever you want."

"Au contraire," Lewis said, raising one finger. "I've been sent over
here to...explain a few policy changes."

"Policy changes?" Shinji asked.

"And I ain't even a lawyer," Lewis said, shrugging and continuing to
speak, acting as though Shinji hadn't even opened his mouth. "Come on,
let's get out of this shit," he continued, gesturing for them to follow
him. He started heading over towards the cargo chopper, which was
already lowering its massive loading ramp.

Misato and Shinji looked at each other, both seeing if the other had an
answer. Then they followed, grateful for the relief from the deafening
roar of the engines and the choking dust from the blades.

"All right, now that _that's_ over with," Lewis said, turning around,
"we can talk." He walked backwards, maintaining eye contact while
continuing towards the helicopter.

"So why are you here?" Misato asked, more calmly.

"I'm here as an investigator to find out what happened to the plane we
sent out here a while back. Now from what they told me, one of your
giant robots came and ripped it up."

Shinji shook his head. "It wasn't one of _ours_," he said. "It's got
a mind of its own." In the back of his mind, he wondered how Lewis
wasn't tripping over anything as he walked backwards.

"So it attacks American property?" Lewis asked, turning around and
coming to an abrupt halt. They'd finally reached the back of the
chopper. Inside, Shinji could hear powerful diesel engines starting
up.

"I don't _know_ why it went for the plane," Shinji answered,
exasperated. "Maybe because the Eva was in the air, too."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. The 'bad' giant robots can fly, and yours can't,
right?" A definite cynical tone was present in Lewis' voice as he said
this.

"You can look over Unit-00 if you want," Shinji continued. "It doesn't
have wings. Not like the Eva Production Series."

"Yeah, yeah. You might want to stand back, kid."

Shinji looked up just in time to see a veritable mountain of metal
trundling down the offloading ramp on thick caterpillar treads. He
jumped, quickly backing away from the machine.

As the shock quickly passed off, he saw that it was, in fact, a
bulldozer coming down off the ramp. Hiding in the shadowy interior of
the chopper was more of the same.

"What's all this for?" he asked incredulously, gesturing at it.

"Well," Lewis said, glancing down at the boy, "if we're gonna build a
landing strip, we're gonna need something more than a few shovels,
son."

"A _what_? Major, why build a landing strip?"

"So we don't have to come hauling around in these damn helicopters all
the time, of course. If we can get something set up, we can use cargo
planes to fly stuff in, and send the choppers out somewhere else."

"Wait a minute," Misato said, walking up to the man. "Who gave you
permission to build here? This _is_ Japanese soil."

"New law, Katsuragi-san. America needs a presence here if it's going
to investigate properly."

"And if we say no?"

Lewis turned to face her, lowering his sunglasses and looking into her
eyes. His gaze held none of the 'one-of-the-guys' feeling that seemed
to follow him around. Rather, it was the cold, merciless gaze of
someone who knew what it meant to be in the military. His blue eyes
met Misato's brown ones, an invisible war going on between them. Lewis
didn't need to say it out loud; if they refused, then the Americans
would _take_ a plot of land.

Misato looked away, seeing it was rather pointless to continue. She
still grit her teeth, in frustration. Lewis, smirking, replaced his
glasses and turned back around, supervising the work.

"So anyway, we'll be setting up out here," the man continued, watching
as another bulldozer rolled out. "We'll try not to bother you people
too much, but we want to be close enough to see these robots for
ourselves, if another one comes along."

Shinji watched nervously, as the huge machines set up for work. Men
and women scurried around them, directing the drivers and doing last-
minute checks before the giant shovels started on their business of
reshaping the very earth.

"So you want to stay close enough to defend us?" Shinji asked, as the
first bulldozer began to get lined up.

Lewis glanced down at him. "My first responsibility is to my men, kid.
That, and see just what the hell is going on here that's causing so
much trouble. I won't be bringing in any tanks, if that's what you're
wondering. Hell, even _those_ babies," he said, gesturing at the
attack helicopters, "will be shipping out in the next few days."

"So what are you supposed to do, then?" Shinji asked, not
understanding.

"Watch, mostly," Lewis said, again turning his gaze on the boy. "I
can't ask my superiors for anything unless I prove that there's a
reason to request the stuff, in the first place."

Shinji backed off, letting out a slow sigh. ^Figures,^ he thought. He
glanced at Misato, who was just shaking her head slowly, watching as
the construction machines began their work.

^So we're still on our own.^

* * *

It passed through the air, silent as a ghost, just as intangible, and
just as terrifying to behold.

It was a living midnight, the darkness of the heart given monstrous
shape and form. Its very physical presence was nothing but an
illusion. An illusion the Lilum, in their blind overconfidence, had
fallen for, time and again.

One of them had already paid the price for his ignorance. Now he was
slowly being digested, destroyed by forces his simple mind could not
even begin to fathom. He had been the Lilum's strongest warrior, and
he had fallen so easily...

It went back through its memories, to when it had first pulled in that
machine, that bastard child of the true Mother. The Lilum had been
communicating by some kind of energy waves going through the air. They
had been easily detected and even heard.

"A shadow?!" Shock, and stark fear.

"Ikari-kun!" More fear, but not for oneself. Rather, fear over the
situation of another. What was the word for it...worry?

"Baka! Get out of there!" This voice betrayed anger, but also hurt,
and more of this 'worry'.

"Asuka! Ayanami! Misato-san! Misato-sa..."

Surely these Lilum were not true threats. How had they managed to
destroy so many of the others? By luck? No. Perhaps the others had
just been weaker. Yes, that was the answer: it was the strongest yet.
Using subtlety instead of pure force, it had overcome those toys of the
Lilum.

It switched its focus to the lilum inside of its body: apparently, the
boy was having a brief hallucination, something the Lilum referred to
as a 'dream'. The images were much more clouded, more distorted than
when it had been listening to the Lilum communications. It could only
make out a brief sentence:

"Well, that's good for you,"

This was the voice of a female. How odd. Why would the boy dream a
female's voice? Not that it mattered. Now to move on to Father...

* * *

Shinji woke up, in a cold sweat.

"What the..." he muttered. He got to his feet, holding one hand to his
forehead, as though trying to sense by touch what was going on inside
of his brain. On the ground, Asuka rolled over, mumbling to herself
but staying asleep.

The dream, like all dreams, was slowly evaporating, even as he tried to
grasp onto it and remember what he'd seen. Only a few things remained,
sticking in his mind instead of disappearing in the face of the
sunrise. Mostly, they were sensations, emotions and desires not his
own. Of coldness, of a raw sense of purpose, driving him onwards
relentlessly. Of a sensation of...darkness, so utterly complete it
could never have come from any human heart.

Memories, long put aside in an effort to release the past, immediately
sparked to life, as though those events had happened only yesterday.
He could remember crying out those names, long ago. He remembered
seeing Unit-01's feet sinking into a black shadow, being sucked into
depths better left unknown. The shadow had crawled up the Eva's body,
a numb feeling creeping through him as it sucked him in, like the
numbing sensation of frostbite.

He knew his radio had still been working then, but he hadn't been
paying attention, for obvious reasons. But this dream had dredged up
those memories. Asuka had been herself, sounding angry at him, but
still scared. He could remember that much.

And Rei...

She'd...

She'd sounded _worried_? The girl without feeling, sounding worried?
About _him_? Why?

Shinji started walking, not sure of where he was going or why. He got
outside of his shelter, turning as he saw the sun rising up over the
horizon. In the background, he could hear some people beginning to
stir, coming out to greet the day.

He turned, feeling his gaze drawn to a specific direction. It was like
a magnet, slowly but surely turning him where he stood, until he was
staring out over the land, several degrees to the right of the rising
sun. He tried turning his head to one side, then the other, and always
felt that odd pulling sensation, turning him back to look in exactly
the same direction as before. An invisible hand beckoned to him, again
drawing his eyes towards that point on the horizon. It was
simultaneously enticing and horrifying, filling him with a sensation of
raw fear and a burning need to find what it was that sought him.

Then, like the dream, it was gone, forgotten in an instant. He
blinked, surprised at the sudden loss of the pulling sensation. But
also with this loss, a feeling of raw fear was growing in him, making
his heart beat faster. He'd been about to see it, about to make some
revelation about something important. But now he'd lost that
opportunity, again being plunged into the dark night of ignorance.

He swallowed, backing off and looking around quickly, trying to see
what it could be. Nothing was in the vicinity, at least nothing he
could see. So what could it have been?

His eyes fell on Unit-00, still waiting out at the edge of the camp,
locked into a kneeling position, like a warrior waiting to tbe
knighted. Or to betray its master at the slightest sign of weakness;
no one was really sure which. Shinji's eyes widened, as a thought
struck him.

He turned, going back to his footprints and finding where he'd been
standing. With his finger, he drew a line in the dirt, aiming off at
the point on the horizon that had held his attention so firmly. Then,
he looked up at the sun, squinting to try and protect his eyes.

If the sun could be assumed to be at dead east, then south would be
_there_, and west would be _there_...

He drew four lines on the ground, in the four cardinal compass
directions. Then he stared at his little artwork, trying to imprint it
on his memory. Once he was sure he had it appropriately memorized, he
turned and jogged off towards another end of the camp, where the
Americans had set up their base. The bulldozers, cement mixers,
backhoes, and other construction vehicles lay dormant for the moment,
but within hours they would power up again, their roaring engines
rousing everyone from whatever sleep they may have been hanging on to.
The Americans had been working hard for weeks, and the progress was
definitely showing; it wouldn't be long before a halfway-decent landing
strip would be in place.

He tried not to think about what it could be, that odd dream. In fact,
he tried not to think at all. But one thing kept coming back into his
head, a mantra repeating over and over again:

"Well, that's good for you."

He couldn't stop thinking about it. He could remember Rei saying that
to him, once, after the 12th Angel. He'd been shocked out of his skin,
both that Rei would say something like that, and that he was sure he'd
heard someone else saying those same words, sometime, somewhere...but
the memory was long gone, blown away like dust on the wind. Whatever
it was, there had been an unmistakable feeling of deja vu, hearing Rei
say that.

With this phrase still stuck in his head, he made it to the main tent
of the Americans. A man stood guard there, holding a machine gun
loosely against his shoulder. He saw Shinji, and nodded, a polite
greeting. Shinji didn't return the nod; he just walked through, and
into the tent. Of _course_ he could get in here. Lewis would have
made sure his men knew who was in charge.

There: sitting in the middle of the tent was a table, with an enormous
map covering its surface and hanging off the edges, like a tablecloth.
As Shinji walked up to it, he could see it was a map of Japan. It was
just what he'd wanted to see. Though he prayed that it wouldn't show
him what he feared.

It only took him a few moments to find a pencil lying on another table
nearby. The tent's few early-morning occupants watched him
suspiciously, wondering why the leader of the Japanese survivors would
come in here so early, without so much as a quick apology for the
intrusion.

Shinji paid them no heed; for once in his life, an apology was not at
his lips. His mind was focused entirely on the task at hand; it had to
be, so he could remember what direction he'd been looking in. His face
appeared strained, as though he was only just realizing how many lives
depended on him. And how they also depended on him drawing this
correctly.

He made a dot right where he could see the camp on the map, about where
he figured he'd been standing. Checking the compass rose at one corner
of the map, he drew two lines, cutting an imaginary wedge out of the
paper. As he did this, one man at the back stood up, holding up a hand
as though to stop him from doodling on their property. But then he
lowered his hand; he didn't want to bother someone his commander had
said was the man in charge.

Shinji looked around, his eyes darting across the paper, searching.
His eyes widened as he saw what he hadn't wanted to see.

Carefully, he lengthened his lines, trying to keep them acceptably
straight. He couldn't _exactly_ remember which way he'd been looking,
so he had to give himself some margin of error with this wedge. But if
he drew it too large, then he might get the wrong idea from what could
have just been a bad dream.

But Shinji had the sinking feeling it wasn't "just" a bad dream. Bad
dreams didn't leave sick feelings in your stomach, lingering long after
you'd awoken. Bad dreams didn't leave the feeling that something had
touched your mind, had invaded you and somehow left an eternal scar on
your very psyche. It was kind of like the feeling he'd had after he'd
first piloted Eva-01.

He continued his lines until they reached the Japanese coastline, off
to the southeast.

And between them...

"Oh, no..." he mumbled, his voice little more than a whisper. As the
horror of full realization came upon his mind, he backed away from the
table in fear, the pencil dropping from his fear-stricken hand, or as
if it had become a hissing viper in his grip. Turning, he bolted out
of the tent, past the guard, and back towards the camp.

Back inside the tent, the man who'd been about to stop Shinji walked up
to the map and looked at what could have caused such a problem. He
shrugged at what he saw, then went back to his work, figuring it was
the problem of someone higher up the command chain than he was.

After all, what did it matter that the boy had bracketed one of those
petrified giant robots with his two lines?

* * *

"So you admit there's no concrete evidence?" Ritsuko asked, from her
seat in a folding chair.

"I don't know," Shinji said, running his hands through his hair. "But
it's just...I _know_. Something is going to happen, and it won't be
good. I can't help feeling that if we don't do anything, we'll all end
up paying for it."

^And pay dearly^ he added mentally. For one of the few times in his
life, he was able to put his convictions into words, and though the
foundation they stood on was shaky at best, he had to try and convince
them, warn them of the coming danger.

They were currently in a tent the Americans had let them have;
apparently they'd brought enough supplies this time to let the
survivors actually keep some of the materials the relief crews used,
instead of just snatching them away as they left. Asuka, Kaoru, Rei,
Misato, and Ritsuko were all sitting in a semicircle, looking at
Shinji, who was pacing nervously in front of them.

The boy in question briefly thought about sitting down, then turned
around and went back to walking, apparently unable to decide what to do
with his arms. So he simply resolved to hold them tightly against his
sides, as though trying to hold onto anything in a world he simply
could not control. It was something none of them had really expected
to ever see: Shinji Ikari, actually trying to convince other people to
take action, instead of the other way around.

"We can at least look," he mumbled. The words came out more of their
own accord than his own, so caught up he was in trying to balance the
need to convince them and the need to maintain his fragile image as a
leader.

Rei watched, her face still blank. She felt uneasy, watching Shinji
behaving like this. She was confused, not knowing what to think,
seeing the boy mired in anxiety like this. She glanced over at Kaoru,
sitting on her left. The boy apparently read the question in her eyes,
because he shook his head. He leaned forwards, lowering his voice to a
barely audible whisper that, if the two pale children were not who they
were, would have been considered conspiratorial.

"He sounds earnest," Kaoru said, calmly. "He does not seem unsettled
enough to be losing his reason."

Rei nodded slightly. "Yet Ikari-kun has never before relied
on...guesses," she whispered back, using the only word she could think
of to describe the situation. "Nor has he ever shown this sort of
conviction about an unsupported claim."

"Shinji, you're getting paranoid," Asuka was commenting. "You've got
to loosen up. It's a tough time, I know." For once, the girl sounded
genuinely concerned.

"Yes," Misato said, nodding at Asuka in agreement. She turned back to
Shinji. "Shinji-kun, I can see you feel strongly about this. But we
can't just pack up and head off for the coast without some kind of real
evidence."

Ritsuko raised her voice again. "Ikari, I don't know what's going on
in your head, when you say you just 'know'. But _I_ know that it is
generally a bad course of action to commit so many resources on
something that may not even be real."

Rei glanced over at Ritsuko, then looked silently over to Shinji,
waiting to see how the boy would respond.

Shinji let out a sigh, gritting his teeth and finally forcing himself
to stop pacing for a while. His right hand clenched tightly into a
fist, shaking with repressed frustration. "Maybe that's true...but I
can't just sit around here doing _nothing_ when I think...no, it's
stronger than that...when the sun might not even rise tomorrow!"

In the silence that followed, everyone's attention was eventually drawn
over to the quiet whispering over at Rei and Kaoru's end of the group.

"Excuse me?" Misato said politely, raising her eyebrows.

Kaoru looked up immediately, making eye contact with Misato as Rei went
back to staring at the wall. Most people who knew her before the
apocalypse might make a joke of it, saying it was due to the lack of a
window in the room or just her usual habit, but only a few would have
noticed that she was truly absorbed in her thoughts.

"Yes, Misato-san?" Kaoru asked, politely.

"Have you two been paying attention?" Misato asked, smiling a little.

"Of course. We were just discussing the issues."

Misato opened her mouth to say something else, but then thought better
of it and looked away. Over at the other end, Asuka rolled her eyes,
mouthing the word, "Wondergirl" as she did so. Since she was sitting
in Rei's field of vision, the blue-haired girl was able to see the
move. She turned her head slightly, locking eyes with Asuka. Asuka
tried to return the stare, but then looked away, not wanting to try
facing down those eyes, boring into her with the stabbing cold of
icicles, akin to the feeling most people get upon seeing the shining
metal of a gun barrel, its laser sight hovering directly above their
heart.

"The people here need us," the German girl said, shrugging as she
shifted her attention back to Shinji. "And you know we can't just
leave them all behind because you had a bad dream."

Faced with a wall of unanimous opposition, Shinji looked away. Rei
could see him rationalizing to himself that maybe it _had_ just been a
dream. She let out a slow sigh, thinking things through for herself.

"Look, I have work to get back to," Ritsuko said, standing up. "Ikari,
if you can get me some kind of real evidence, I'll be behind you. But
until then..." she trailed off, shrugging. After a moment, she turned
and left, the tent flaps swaying as she brushed past them.

Even before Ritsuko's footsteps had receded, Misato shook her head.
"Shinji-kun, the same goes for me, I'm sorry to say. I _want_ to
believe you, really, but...well, maybe we can talk the Americans into
helping out."

^Unlikely,^ Rei thought, hearing the tone in Misato's voice. The woman
was just saying that so that Shinji could feel a little better about
what was apparently a waste of time. Rei knew as well as everyone else
in the room that the Americans either couldn't or wouldn't help them,
at least not until they saw a good reason to. That in itself was
another reason to stay, even if no one had said it out loud. Why leave
to attack another Eva? If Shinji were correct, then if they stayed
here, the MP Eva would eventually attack, giving the Americans the
proof they wanted.

But not before a lot of people died. ^It is not our place to decide
who may live and die,^ Rei thought. ^Ikari-kun does not hold that kind
of authority.^ She thought it over. ^Should _anyone_ hold that kind
of authority?^

Shinji looked to Asuka, his eyes nearly desperate. The girl looked at
him apologetically, but said nothing; not in front of an audience.

Shinji backed up, leaning against a wall, looking like he was ready to
collapse. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Sorry for getting you all excited
like this." He slumped against the wall in utter defeat, robbed and
drained of any will left to move, think, or act in any manner in the
face of, and the completeness of, his defeat. To someone who knew
just the right things, he looked just like Evangelion Unit 01 did in
the battle against the Third Angel, when it had been smashed against a
wall and defeat seemed almost certain with its inexperienced and
frightened pilot unconscious. Like his Eva, he was defeated; his hand
didn't tighten into the fist it seemed accustomed to becoming, now.
Some flicker of hope, of determination, could still be seen in his
eyes, but even that was slowly vanishing, disappearing under the veil
of apathy which, for just a moment, had lifted off of the boy, long
enough to crush his hopes of any support.

Rei watched him sink into a depression, feeling something pulling at
her heart. Inside, she could feel some kind of...sensation, akin to
pain. But it was not sharp and intense like mere physical pain, which
she had grown to know and live with. Rather, it was duller, deeper,
and it flooded her entire being with a mix of dread, fear, and cold,
icier than even an Angel's touch.

And the feeling became progressively worse, as Shinji continued to fold
in on himself, simply crumbling like a building bereft of support. The
boy's carefully built confidence was seeping out of him bit by bit, as
if his very life force was being drained.

Even as she watched, his demeanor changed, from the determined yet
frightened one he'd had only moments ago, to a broken, frustrated one.
And as it happened, Rei felt something she had never known, much less
appreciated, crumbling to dust inside of her. She tried to catch
whatever remnants there were, but they indifferently slipped through
her fingers like sand, blowing away at the first wind and forever
denying the answer to her. She felt cold, broken, watching Shinji.

Like a forgotten doll.

It could only be seen by the extremely perceptive. It was so subtle,
that no one near her could feel Rei's change in mood. But Rei's eyes
softened, as they watched at Shinji slumping down. She could see him
giving up, already questioning what fragile faith the others had had in
him to begin with, and wondering how much of it was left.

She watched him crumble from within, like an irreplacable and ancient
stained glass window, years in the making, and only seconds in the
destruction. It would never regain its former glory, and it seemed as
if even the final shards were being crushed under someone's heel.

Rei thought quickly, forcing her mind to make a decision, rather than
be told the answer. Finally, she let out a quick breath, closing her
eyes as she came to a resolution. She stood up.

Everyone briefly glanced at her, only to see who was moving. They all
looked away immediately, though Shinji's eyes lingered on Rei for a
heartbeat longer. Rei could see it in his eyes: a feeling of betrayal.
Of another person leaving him behind, refusing to support him.

Rei opened her mouth, pausing briefly to gather herself together.
^Treat it as though it were a status report,^ she thought. ^It is
something that needs to be said, nothing more, nothing less.^

"I support Ikari-kun," she said, finally.

Dead silence was the only response. Yet it was deafening, in its
completeness. Kaoru was the first to react, tilting his head and
giving her an interested smile.

Asuka whirled. "What did you say?" she asked, incredulously. Misato
was giving Rei a look that asked the same question, while Shinji...

...Shinji's face was one of total confusion. He wanted to believe what
he was hearing, but he couldn't. He was a 'useless boy', in so many
words. He'd wasted their time because he'd had a little daydream. And
yet, Rei...

"I support Ikari-kun," Rei repeated, in the exact same tone and volume,
as she looked over at Asuka.

Asuka's eyes widened, as she visibly fought the urge to resort to
physical combat. She took a step towards Rei, as her fists slowly
clenched. Her eyes flickered off to the side, however, at Misato,
after the first step. She halted her advance, preferring instead to
just meet Rei's eyes with a smoldering gaze.

"And why is that, Rei?" Misato asked, her voice interested and at the
same time concerned.

"Though he is out of practice, he does have combat experience,
Katsuragi-san," Rei said, not taking her eyes off of Asuka even for a
moment. "Any impressions he receives will be based upon his
experience, and therefore have some realistic aspect. It would be in
our best interests to listen to them."

Shinji blinked rapidly, as the scene unfolded in front of him.
"Ayanami..." he mouthed. Rei, her eyes still held by Asuka's, did not
catch the gesture.

"It's still just a hunch, Rei," Misato said. "We can't afford to waste
resources on something like that. We don't have any resources to
waste."

Rei shook her head slightly, finally looking over at Misato. "Yet if
Ikari-kun is right, as I believe he is, then we have the opportunity to
prevent further damage to this encampment, by moving to an offensive
stance."

Asuka had finally calmed down, though she still turned up her nose and
crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you're forgetting something,
Ayanami. Me and Shinji-chan are holding all the cards. And I don't
especially feel like sending out half the camp on a wild goose chase,
while those damn Americans cut themselves out a nice home where _we're_
supposed to live!"

"It is irrelevant, Soryu," Rei shot back, her voice still level, though
a little louder than usual. "It is possible that if we do not act on
this now, there will be no 'home' for any of us."

Kaoru snorted out a brief laugh, looking down at his feet. Asuka
turned her head towards him.

"Something you felt like adding, Nagisa?" Asuka asked, her eyes
narrowing.

"Nothing, nothing," Kaoru replied, smiling back. He got to his feet,
standing next to Rei. "But you forgot that Rei and I have full
possession over the one piece of equipment we would actually require."

Asuka blinked. Hard. "You wouldn't dare," she said, her voice nearly
a growl.

Kaoru just raised his eyebrows, shrugging as he looked back at her.

"That Eva is _ours_," Asuka replied. "You can't just go out on some
_joyride_ while we're still struggling here! We need that thing around
here, Nagisa!"

Shinji, at some point, had come away from the wall, and now stood
behind Asuka. He gently put his hands on her shoulders, making the
girl jerk around quickly to see who was behind her. She only just
barely relaxed as she identified him.

"Asuka _is_ right," Shinji said, quietly. "We _do_ need the Eva here.
Kaoru-kun, and...Rei, I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea."

"No, it was not," Rei replied, this time shifting her gaze to meet
Shinji's eyes. She felt her heartbeat accelerating as his deep blue
eyes met hers. Confusion filled her, as to what this reaction meant.
Yet still she was able to find her words, her mind able to operate even
when bewilderment was threatening to cloud her perception.

"You believed you were right, Ikari-kun," she continued. "And I
support your original decision."

Shinji shook his head. "No, look..."

"I trust your judgement, Shinji-kun," Kaoru said, an apologetic look on
his face as he cut the boy off. However, a faint note of sadness was
present in his voice. "I...know from experience that you make the
right choice when necessary."

Shinji looked back at them, falling silent. His eyes went to the thick
scar around Kaoru's neck, but only for a moment. He could not quite
drive out that horrible sensation, something that had plagued his
nightmares after...it had happened. The feel of something in his hand,
of bones crushing and blood spraying as he'd clenched his fist,
destroying the one thing he'd held dear. Because it had been the
'right' thing to do. He closed his eyes shut, trying to block out that
image. Apparently, two years was not long enough to entirely come to
terms with what he'd done to Kaoru.

In his mind, he was shouting at himself to say that Kaoru was right.
To say that he could feel that something was wrong, something that he
just _knew_ wasn't from a human. But he couldn't say that. Everyone
else had just denounced him, so he had to be wrong.

Right?

Rei stepped forwards, hesitantly. "You have made a decision, Ikari-
kun," she said, quietly. "And I intend to stand by it. Not a
retraction in the face of...uncertainties." As she said this last
word, her eyes flickered between Misato and Asuka. Misato blinked,
feeling a slight tingle of shame in her from those accusing red eyes.
Asuka, however, gave no such reaction. She just seethed, not wanting
to say anything to justify Rei.

Shinji blinked, looking at Rei as though seeing her for the first time.
"I can't..." he said. Then he shook his head. "Well, Rei...I guess we
can at least see if anyone wants to come along."

Asuka looked from Rei over to Shinji, then back to Rei. Taking a
breath, she whirled on Shinji, fists bunched at her waist. Rei could
not see Asuka's face, but from Shinji's reacton, she could take a
pretty good guess.

"You _can't_!" the German girl said, nearly shouting. "If we go,
they'll...they'll..." she stammered, unable to say much more because of
the raw fury filling her. She swallowed, forcing herself into some
semblance of calm. "If we go, we'll get set back for weeks, Shinji.
We can't afford to miss a _day_ out here! And now, just because
of...you want to..."

Shinji put his hands on Asuka's shoulders again. "I just want to see
if anyone else would go on this crazy thing," he said, keeping his
voice soothing. "And you know one of us can stay behind. It's not
like we _both_ have to go."

Asuka just stared at him after that last comment. "I'm coming," she
said, simply, then stalked past him, out the tent flaps and back into
the world outside. Shinji watched the space where she'd been, then
shook his head. His feet immediatly started carrying him towards the
exit.

But he stopped before he could leave, turning back to face Rei. For a
long moment, he just looked at her, trying to decide what to say. Rei,
for her part, felt her pulse begin to accelerate again, under his gaze.

"Ayanami, I...well, I...," he said, trying to think of what to say.

"Come on, baka Shinji!" Asuka's voice called from outside. "You're the
one who wants to get ready!"

"Coming!" Shinji called back. He glanced back at Rei. "Thanks," he
said, knowing it wasn't nearly enough. But it was all he had time for;
the next moment, he was gone, chasing after the German fireball.

Misato, who'd been watching, shook her head. "Every time I see them
like that, I have to fight not to step in," she said, still looking at
the door. "I guess they just have to learn on their own, huh?" she
asked, turning towards Rei and Kaoru.

Kaoru nodded, grinning as he did so. "A feeling similar to a mother
watching her children grow up, I suppose?"

"Exactly," Misato said, smiling sadly. She looked back at the doorway.
"Oh, for the good old days of living in an apartment with the two of
them."

Rei did not partake in this exchange. She simply started walking,
heading out of the tent. Her face, though betraying little, still had
a slight hint of sadness to it. No one, including Rei herself, would
know, but it was the same expression she'd had on her face when Gendo
Ikari had taken her to Lilith.

^I merely wanted to reinforce his position as leader,^ she thought. ^I
suppose expecting anything in return would be unwarranted. Still...you
are welcome, Ikari-kun.^

* * *

Several days later, Lewis was inside of his tent, sitting on a folding
chair and staring at the wall. The silence and darkness of night had
long ago fallen around the area, but he didn't feel like sleeping.

On the wall was an old dartboard he'd brought with him. And on a small
card table next to him was an assortment of several glittering knives.

Carefully, he picked up one knife by the blade, balanced it for a
moment between his fingers, then flicked his wrist, sending the weapon
flying towards the wall. He flinched, as the knife bounced off the
edge of the dart board, cutting into the canvas side of the tent before
clattering to the ground.

"Shit..." he muttered to himself, reaching for another knife. Although
several knives were imbedded in the board itself, there was also a
large collection of suspicous rips around it.

The next knife hit the board with a satisfying 'thock' sound, quivering
slightly in the 15 points position. As one corner of his mouth turned
up, Lewis reached for the smoking cigarette sitting next to the knives.
He brought it to his lips just as the tent flaps rustled.

He'd positioned his seat such that the doorway to his tent was just a
little off to his right; still in his field of vision, but far enough
out of the line of fire that he wouldn't accidentally catch someone
with a ricocheted knife. He looked up, taking a drag on the cigarette
to give him time to think up what to say. He quickly identified the
person entering as Asuka Soryu Langley. Right behind her was that
Shinji Ikari boy.

"Good evening," Shinji said, as he came in.

"Major, we've got a favor to ask," Asuka said, moments after Shinji had
spoken.

Lewis slowly let out the lungful of smoke, filling the air in front of
him. "Figured I wouldn't be getting both leaders at once just 'cause
you were feelin' lonely," he said, in a slightly mocking tone. "What's
your problem?"

"Well, we're..." Shinji said, trailing off. "That is, we..."

"We're taking the Eva off towards the coast," Asuka said, firmly. Her
face was set, now; she showed none of her previous trepidation.

"Congratulations," Lewis said, sarcastically. He reached over and
picked up another knife, closing one eye and inspecting the weapon for
straightness. "So why do I care?"

"We need some support," Asuka said, putting her hands on her hips. Her
brow furrowed in slight annoyance that the Major wasn't giving them his
full attention.

Lewis turned and flicked his wrist again, sending the knife humming
into the board. "What kind?" he asked, again cautious. "Better not be
anything too extreme."

"Well, to start, we could use some fuel," Shinji began, hesitantly.
"We have some vehicles that'll run, but we only have the gas in their
tanks - "

"Fuel, you can have," Lewis said, cutting him off. "We got too much of
the stuff already. Now what else? You're way too nervous to just be
asking for gas."

The children hesitated, looking at each other nervously. Lewis just
smirked and took another draw on his cigarette.

"We need some of your trucks."

Lewis coughed, choking on his cigarette in surprise. Surprise both
from the demand and from the new voice. He turned his head, seeing
Misato walking in, coming to stand behind the two children.

"The chaperone's arrived, I see," he said, spitting out his cigarette
and leaving it to slowly burn away on the dirt ground. He shifted his
grip on the knife. "Were you standing outside to make sure they didn't
screw up?"

Misato's eyes narrowed. "I just came in a little late, that's all."

"Yeah, yeah," Lewis said, throwing the knife. It stuck into the very
edge of the board, then slid out of the too-shallow indentation,
clanging to the floor.

He looked back at them. "That's impossible," he said, raising his
eyebrows. "I'm not authorized to give stuff like that away."

"We only need one or two of them," Asuka said, successfully keeping
herself from taking a pleading tone. "Look, we've got some vehicles
salvaged from the ruins around here, but they can only hold so much.
We just need a little more room, and maybe some extra equipment."

"And a side order of fries," Lewis added on, cynically. "Look, you're
talking about American hardware, here. Stuff that hasn't been rated as
'give away'. I can't just let you drive off in that stuff without a
certified individual accompanying you."

"What kind of certified individual?" Asuka asked, crossing her arms and
looking down her nose at him.

Lewis smirked, picking up another knife and standing up. Now at his
full height, he was taller than the rest of them. Asuka could no
longer look down at him.

"Probably an officer," he said. "Though I could probably get away with
just packing a grunt along with you. But I can't even do that, girl,"
he said, turning and slinging the knife through the air with his whole
arm. It 'thocked' dead-center into the board. Lewis smiled to
himself, seeing this, then looked back to them. "I'm under orders to
stay here, and that's what I'm gonna do."

"But this is serious!" Shinji shouted out. "There could be another Eva
about to come here and wreck this whole camp!"

"In other words," Misato said, more calmly, "it concerns you too,
Major."

Lewis turned away, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let's
see," he said, quietly. "Supposing you're even telling the truth, my
hands are still tied. So I guess that leaves you with just two
options." He turned around and started ticking things off on his
fingers. "You could beat me up, and try using me as a hostage."

Shinji unconsciously looked Lewis over. The man had to weigh over
ninety kilos, none of which was fat. That, plus whatever hand-to-hand
training he knew from being in the military...^not a good choice,^ he
thought to himself.

"Or," Lewis continued, "you could try breaking into the next cargo
chopper. Which means subduing the armed guards _and_ making sure the
pilot doesn't just lift off while you're trying to steal what you
need," he finished, emphasizing the word 'steal'.

Shinji averted his eyes from the Major's gaze. Asuka glowered, but
looked away, as well. Misato, on the other hand, looked at him
strangely, putting her hands on her hips.

"You're telling me you can't just loan us something you've already put
on the ground?" she asked. "You must have over a dozen vehicles lined
up, out there," she said, anger showing in her voice as she gestured
broadly towards the edge of the American camp.

"Nope," Lewis said, sitting back down. "There's some red tape even I
have to go through just to authorize someone to drive some of that
hardware. I don't just have a lockbox with all the keys in them, boys
and girls. We're a little more organized than that."

Shinji sighed. "Sorry to have wasted your time, Major," he said. He
carefully put one arm around Asuka's waist and turned her around,
before the German girl could say anything inappropriate to the American
commander. Misato gave him a burning look, then turned around, as
well.

Lewis reached into his pocket as they turned to go. The jingle of keys
could be heard as he brought his hand back out. "Yep, the only vehicle
I have total jurisdiction over is my command Humvee."

Misato stopped dead in her tracks, then turned around quickly. Sure
enough, the man was dangling a set of keys around his index finger.
She became aware of the two children coming back alongside her, and
could almost _feel_ their spirits rising.

"You'd let us have that?" Misato asked, carefully.

"No," Lewis said, smirking. "But I might be inclined to forget where I
left the keys to it, if you'd answer a few questions." He began to
twirl the keys around his finger, watching their eyes try to follow the
circular motions.

"What questions?" Misato asked.

"What are those things?" Lewis asked, stopping his spinning motions and
clenching a fist around the keys. "Those giant robots."

"The artificial human Evangelion is an organic battle machine," Misato
said, reciting from memory. "It's a living organism that synchronizes
with a pilot's mind in order to operate."

"Then what's piloting Big Blue? Not to mention these white ones you
_say_ keep attacking you."

"It's a long story," Shinji said. "But the white ones...we think have
some old enemies of ours inside of them." Misato and Asuka nodded
curtly at these words.

"I'll have to wait to hear the whole story, won't I?" Lewis asked. He
started spinning the keys around his finger again. "OK, last question.
I've heard from a few of you people that these Evangely-whatevers are
indestructible. 'Conventional weapons have no effect on an AT field,'
they said. Well, conventional weapons are all I got, but I got a _lot_
of them. So, just tell me straight out. If one of these robots
decided to drop in on us, could we fight it off? Or would just be
pretty much fucked?" As he finished, he clenched his fist around the
keys again.

Asuka looked down, remembering half-forgotten visions of battle. Evas
were vulnerable, yes, but...

"It's the latter," she said, firmly. "You wouldn't stand a chance."

"Huh," Lewis said, turning around such that his back was to them.
"Damn, but if I could believe you."

Asuka's eyes widened in anger, as she took a step forwards. "Well, let
me - "

She was interrupted by a jangle of keys. Her eyes traced a moving
object in midair, which Misato deftly caught as it reached her.

"Be careful with that thing," Lewis said, casually. "Or I gotta
explain what happened to it."

All three of them felt shock, at first, then had smiles threatening to
break out on their faces. Misato was the best at not showing hers.

"Thank you," she said, nodding at the Major's back. Shinji and Asuka
followed suit, moments later.

"Yeah, yeah," Lewis said, turning and picking up another knife. "One
more thing: there's a video camera in the back of it. If you can get
me real, undoctored footage of one of these white flying bastards
attacking people, it might help convince a few people to let me be more
of a help than I am now."

Misato nodded. "You'll get it."

"Good," Lewis said, waving them off. "Now get out of here, before I
change my mind."

All three of them nodded again, and left. Lewis's voice yelled out to
them as they walked off, telling them where to find the truck. Once
they were gone, he went back to practicing his aim. Now all he had to
do was think of a decent story for how a military-grade vehicle had
wandered off in the middle of the night. No problem.

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Endnote: You can probably guess what comes next: FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!!
MWA HA HA HA!!!

For my fellow Americans, still locked into using pounds, 1 kilogram =
2.2 pounds. So Lewis weighs approximatly 200 pounds.

Oh yeah, and in regards to Shinji and Asuka (ahem) "having fun", stop
thinking like the hormone-crazed pervert you are. I'd have said if
they were having sex.

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Started: July 22, 2001
Version 1 Ended: August 21, 2001
Version 2 Ended: September 23, 2001

Send comments to: otakusadist@hotmail.com
And visit my site: http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/shinjirei

Thanks go to the Avatar of Dragonia, who shouldered the entire burden
of prereading this particular chapter.