To Have Seen an Angel – Chapter 4

--
Author's Notes:
Less notes – more story. Enjoy :D

Later,
PitViper

-

Title : To Have Seen an Angel
Universe : Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre : Action/Romance
Type : Multi-chapter Story
Rating : R – Adult Language, Graphic Violence, Adult Situations
Disclaimer : Gainax owns Evangelion. So does ADV and others. I don't. This is just a nonprofit fan-work. Don't sue me.

--

Chapter Four: Misconception

Each soul is a universe in itself. Ever evolving, growing, and learning: The only constant is change. Sometimes though, the knowledge we gain as we pass through life changes too. We sometimes learn things that are not true – or watch as once true things become false. We see the battle of light and dark, and sometimes… just sometimes… we forget why we were fighting in the first place.

To say that Asuka Sohryu was one such soul would be an understatement. Even before her transformation at the touch of the 16th, she was well on her way to apathy so deep and so destructive that it had the potential to destroy her very soul.

While the danger may have passed with the coming of the 16th, she knew that Armiseal was just a temporary reprieve. Now she had even more things to worry about – her change being just one of the multitude of things affecting her life in ways that she could not comprehend.

Of course, now she was on her way to NERV, to fight the angel that had come.

-

Shinji lay unconscious on the floor, his eyes having fluttered closed shortly after Rei had laid her hand on him. His chest rose and fell in the rhythms associated with a deep slumber. One could fire a gun next to his ear, and he would not rouse from his dreamless rest. Which is just what Rei had wanted.

"You bitch!" Akagi screamed, firing several shots at the blue haired girl. Rei maintained an impassive stare at the elder woman.

Time seemed to dilate, as the bullets flew through the air towards their target, Ritsuko's face caught between a vicious scowl, a jealous rage, and a genuine smile. Rei could see Akagi's pulse as her heart pounded her blood through the carotid artery. 'Thump, Thump, Thump…' Rei thought as the bullets neared.

Rei's eyes dilated for an instant, and she held her breath for a fraction of a second. Then her features lost their normal placid countenance, and a frown of disappointment crossed her features as she was suddenly bathed in orange light.

The AT-Field sprung to full life around Rei and Shinji, and instantly Angel alarms began to blare throughout the complex. 'Let them howl, foul beasts of human technology…' Rei thought acerbically, 'Let them herald what comes for you, Akagi. Let them herald my message!'

Akagi's insane combination of rage and bliss gave way to mortal fear. She could taste the adrenaline upon her tongue, and smell the fear in her own sweat. She watched in horror as the AT-Field leaped to life like an electric fence, whose energy could easily block any attack with a conventional weapon.

Akagi was a logical woman: a scientist. While her jealousy filled rage had left her, the basic premise of her being had not. Logic had dictated that she had attacked her enemy. Logic dictated that if she did nothing further she would most likely die. Logic dictated that she must do something to prevent her death. So Ritsuko Akagi did the only logical thing.

Four more bullets made their way towards the blue haired girl.

Four more bullets were stopped by that impenetrable barrier. Rei's frown deepened.

"So," Ritsuko said calmly. "Here we are."

"You still have one more round in your weapon, Akagi-san." Rei said softly. Her eyes narrowed, "Do you think that you can lull me into some form of self-confidence where I will lower my guard?"

Akagi chuckled slightly. "Even if I could, the bullet would never reach you anyways."

Rei nodded simply, then looked down at Shinji.

Akagi also looked at the prone boy, who was barely visible beyond the lab table. "Will he be alright?"

"Concern for Shinji?" Rei asked softly.

"I…"

"No. Not Shinji. Major Katsuragi." Rei completed.

Akagi smiled. "You know me too well."

"You are predictable." Rei said in her normal tone. "This is why the Commander finds it so easy to manipulate you."

"Not that that will matter anymore," Ritsuko breathed. She wanted a cigarette.

"Not that it will matter…" Rei repeated lifelessly. "It didn't before, it doesn't now. His manipulations are impotent."

"I see why he wanted to eliminate you now. You're not his perfect 'Rei' any more." Akagi noted. Then she blanched when she saw the wicked smile cross her face.

"I was never his." She looked down at Shinji, and all traces of wickedness left her features. "I was always his."

Ritsuko looked down at the boy. "Will you do me one small favor Rei?"

Ayanami's face came back up to watch Ritsuko's features intently. She could see the internal struggle for words. Trying, desperately, to identify some way to get out her request and to ensure that it was received in the best possible light. 'Is this what a human consumed with fear looks like. What a person looks like when they know they are about to die? Is this… fear?' Rei analyzed her thoughts carefully behind the mask of her features.

Akagi licked her lips. The time for daring speeches, and insane accusations was over. This was the moment of reckoning for her. She had dared to attack the vessel of Lilith. She had attacked the Mother. She had betrayed the bond of the Angel and the Human. She would suffer the ultimate price. "Please, Rei…"

Several moments past as Doctor Akagi tried to form the words she wanted to say. Her fingers gripped the gun tightly, prepared to move in an instant's action. She focused her mind on the action she was about to take.

Finally she said the words, her whole body tensed for action, "Make it quick."

Rei nodded once, and then closed her eyes. "As you wish…"

-

"Explosion in Terminal Dogma… AT-Field spike, pattern unknown!" Makoto shouted.

Maya looked at the damage reports. "Sectors 13, 15, 16, and 18, sublevels 21 through 25…. Are gone."

"No casualties reported. The sublevels were evacuated at the first sign of the AT Field several minutes earlier." Makoto shouted back, then thought, 'Thank God it was delayed for some reason…'

"Rei… Shinji…" Misato whispered.

"Life signs Confirmed!" Maya shouted… Then in a much lower voice, "Two… two life signs."

"We have telemetry back from the room monitors. We can only see one of the four cameras." Makoto said.

"Show me." Major Katsuragi commanded, looking at the static filled display. The screen slowly cleared, with the occasional static bar cutting into the image… before it finally resolved to crystal clarity.

Rei was holding Shinji's limp form, near the remains of the desk in the room. There was a swath of destruction panning out from there, casting into the opposite room. Misato could see that both Rei and Shinji were breathing, despite the boy's being unconscious. "Get me audio in there!"

-

"Rei!" A speaker blared.

Ayanami looked up, and responded softly, "Yes?"

"What happened? Where's the Angel?"

"There is no Angel." Rei said simply.

"Is Shinji all right?" The major's voice blared again.

"He is… Uninjured."

"Rei… Where's Doctor Akagi?" The speaker carried the major's voice once more - the sound of which caused Shinji to stir slightly, a frown beginning to envelop his face.

Rei closed her eyes as she spoke. "Doctor Akagi is no longer here."

-

"Ritsu?" Katsuragi muttered numbly as she watched Shinji wake up.

Shinji's eyes began to flutter open, as he tried to get his bearings. "REI!" He shouted.

Ayanami stroked his hair calmly, holding him down as he tried to get back up. She felt his struggles lessen as she continued to be in contact with him. Finally his eyes focused on her.

"Rei!" He said again, with a little less volume. "Rei, Doctor Akagi…. Did she shoot you?"

Major Katsuragi blanched. Of all the things she had expected to hear, that was the last one. 'Why would Ritsu try to shoot Rei?' she asked herself as she observed the children.

"She tried. She would have killed you…"

"I must have passed out, I'm sorry Rei. Some protector I am…"

"It was not your fault, Shinji." Rei replied calmly, "There was nothing you could have done."

"But I… I needed to protect..." Misato watched Shinji trail off as the boy took a look at his surroundings. "Rei… what happened?"

Misato responded, "There was an Angel, Shinji-kun. An AT-Field…"

"There is no longer the threat of an Angel, Shinji." Rei stated, her voice soothing and calming his nerves.

"What about Ritsuko?" The boy asked, highly agitated on the screen.

"She…" Rei paused for a moment, "She was taken by the AT-Field blast…"

Shinji gazed blankly at her, "Rei…"

"It will be alright, Shinji-kun. I wouldn't let anything harm you, brother." Rei said finally, stroking her hand slowly across his cheek.

Moments later Asuka came into the command center, dressed in her plug suit. But the look on her face was not one of the excitement of battle. It was one of complete apathy. Still, she had a purpose while she could fight in Eva. 'But without my Eva, what was the purpose in fighting?' "Where's the Angel?" Asuka asked, her voice reaching the Major.

"Asuka… We don't…" Katsuragi began, but was interrupted.

"There was no Angel. The alert was false." The voice of Commander Ikari boomed throughout the command center.

"No angel?" Asuka asked… she could have sworn that she felt… something. Then she looked up at he monitor, and saw the two children. Rei and Shinji, practically fondling each other in the middle of the ruined room. She watched as Shinji continued to hug Rei as he continued to shudder almost uncontrollably…And Rei… her hand curled around his arm, her head leaning slightly against his shoulder. 'Are they? Did they?' Asuka thought for a moment. She recognized it for what it was. 'They… love each other.' She thought, and felt that perhaps it was love not in the way of a brother for a sister.

Maya spoke up at this moment, "But sir… The Magi…"

"The Magi were in error. Do you understand me?" The commander threatened.

The command center, with the notable exception of Major Katsuragi responded with a loud "Yes Sir."

The commander nodded once. And prepared to leave.

"Commander, what… What about Ritsu… Doctor Akagi?" Misato asked, her eyes still on the children, who were comforting each other.

"List her as… Deceased. She could not have survived the attack." The commander said once. He looked down, and watched as Maya blanched. "I expect that Lieutenant Ibuki will do her best to fulfill the duties of Project E chairperson…"

"Sir!" Maya shouted her voice slightly raspy with held back tears.

"Lieutenant Ibuki… Tomorrow morning you will report to my office for a complete debriefing on Project E… That is all." Gendo said, and then he and his desk lowered into the command spire.

"Yes sir." Ibuki said in a small voice.

Misato wrenched her vision away from the two children, who were now being escorted out of the room by Section Two security. The person upon whom her eyes fell was not a better sight to behold. Asuka seemed completely detached from the situation. A few moments later, the girl turned and left, sulking back to the change rooms. The major then turned her attention to the Lieutenant.

Maya Ibuki was hugging herself, as though the act would drive away the cold chills in her form. She shivered uncontrollably as she tried to stop the sobs. Makoto and Hyuga simply busied themselves at their consoles, despite having little to do there.

Misato approached the young woman, and placed her hand upon the Lieutenant's shoulder. But this did nothing except to make her speak softly.

"I don't know enough…" She whimpered, and drew in large breaths. "I mean… I can't. I can't do it like she did."

"Maya, we have faith in you…"

"You… you don't understand. She…" The lieutenant looked into the Major's eyes. "She was amazing. No-one… nobody has her talent. I'll never be able to replace her."

Misato knelt down to the woman, and pulled her chin up, so that their eyes met. "And nobody can replace her. But… but you're amazing too, you know? Ritsuko couldn't have done half the things she did without you. That makes you every bit as special as she was."

"I... I just can't believe she's gone." Maya said, and blinked as a tear rolled from her eyes.

"I… I know. Neither can I," Misato said, looking back up at the empty and half destroyed room in the image above. "Neither can I."

Deep in terminal dogma, beyond heaven's gate, laid the physical form of the First Angel. Lilith. Her body was a twisted ragged mess of strange protrusions and equally vile secretions flowing from a thousand haphazard wounds. Her stomach was distended, almost pregnant in appearance. The secretions continued to flow down the red cross upon which she was impaled and filled the massive chamber with her blood, the blood of life: The blood of Lilith.

Humans called this substance LCL. But whatever its name, one thing was certain; it came from the creature impaled upon the massive cross.

At the bottom of her ruined torso were hundreds of protrusions that looked like the lower halves of human torsos. Thousands of legs and partial torsos hung from the Angel's flesh, as though they were beings trying to crawl back into the great white monster. One of these protrusions twitched; the white of its skin fading slightly. The legs became more defined, and the Angel flesh around them began to ripple… as though it were trying to spit something out.

An instant later, a slurping sound could be heard, as yellow mucus began to drip down over the embedded torso.

Although the lake was guarded by a gunship, the crew was sound asleep in her berths. After all, they could never leave terminal dogma. They would never see daylight or sunlight again. And they need only be awake when the commander entered, or when there was an Angel alert. So the activity of the white beast upon the cross went unobserved by the guardians of the lake.

The yellow mucus completely enclosed the one torso, and began to drip slowly towards the LCL pools below. A sucking sound could be heard, as the torso began to free itself from its imprisonment. The mucus formed a hard outer shell around the form, while still liquid mucus flowed openly from the location as if it were a gaping wound. As the thread of mucus reached and touched the LCL, the body, fully formed, but merely a shadow thanks to the thick yellow substance surrounding it, fell down and into the orange liquid with a splash.

As it settled to the bottom of the lake, the form within the yellow cocoon curled into a fetal position. Its shape was vaguely feminine; but, it had not completely formed yet. However time moved quickly for the being and its formation was very rapid indeed.

-

Rei stood above the Angel, looking downwards with some form of grim satisfaction. She nodded to the beast below once, as if she approved of something it did. 'Akagi had wished for it to be quick. And so it was…' She thought to herself. 'But death is not yet ready for you, Akagi-sempai. You still must learn your lesson…'

As she left, bubbles could be seen far below in the LCL as a dark shape began to surface.

--

Author's Notes:

Well, another chapter of "To Have Seen an Angel" is ready. Sorry if it's a little short, but I'm still trying to find time to really work on this story. :) I hope that the ending was good. After all, I couldn't be that cruel to Ritsuko. She is, like so many characters in Evangelion, a tragic figure.

So I have some interesting plans for her. Assuming that people are still interested in my story despite the massive amounts of time between updates.
Since I want to get this chapter out, I'm going to forgo the Omake this time around. I really can't think of a good one at 4:30am. :)

So I hope you enjoyed the story, please leave your thoughts about this story in the reviews.

Later,
PitViper (pvalpha@yahoo.com)