Hmmm…haven't updated lately…Don't worry, I'm still around, and I haven't given up on any of my fics, just sort of checking out random fanfiction from other people…

By the way, if you haven't already, check out my sad and only completed fanfic, End of Evangelion: Darkness.

Well, enough talk, let's begin.

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL! I also don't own anything that happens to be referenced in this story.

Tokyo 3, Japan

Empty Street

Shinji Ikari strolled down the sidewalk, looking about the buildings around him, normally bustling with life, but now, around dusk, rather desolate.

He hummed to himself, strolling by store windows and peering into their dark, closed recesses.

"With or without you…hm…hmm…with or without you."

He stopped in front of a window apparently advertising fine women's clothing, peering at a light blue dress he thought would be great for Rei.

Too bad the store was closed, but buying gifts for Rei was the least he could do. She had been there for him when he had needed someone, when he had been at his lowest; she had come to his salvation. She had changed since those days in the Angel Wars.

Shinji turned towards the young pilot, confused at her words.

"We might die…"

Rei locked her eyes with his, her crimson orbs bewildering the Third Child.

"Why do you say that? You will not die. I will protect you."

Shinji sighed.

Maybe she hadn't changed so significantly, he had always sensed a warm almost maternal caring in her, somewhere underneath the cold fog of apathy

Shinji stopped at a crosswalk, lost in the memories of his past.

Suddenly a great screeching sound, Shinji spun around just in time to see a black sedan speeding towards him at breakneck speed.

His eyes bulged out as he realized what was happening, and then suddenly in the corner of his eye, a blonde woman in white sprang out, just in time to shout.

"Look out!"

Shinji sprinted away from the car, darting to the right, the black car swerving to continue to follow him, only a few feet away from him, getting closer, and closer.

Shinji kept running and running, he ran until his muscles ached, until his heart pumped, his veins bulging, his chest expanding and deflating rapidly.

But the car did not tire, it was a metal mongrel with tinted windows, Shinji couldn't even see the driver.

No…No…I can't die like this…Not like this…Move! Faster! Move! You can't let Rei down, you can't…

Shinji shook his controls, feeling a soreness in his body, ignoring the draining feeling that was pervading, and the open wound in his chest.

"No! Not like this! Move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, move, please move! If it doesn't move now, if I don't do it now, everyone's going to die! I can't stand it anymore! It'll all be for nothing if you don't move!"

Shinji shivered uncontrollably, tears carving themselves down his pale face.

He was nothing if he couldn't pilot it, he was useless, unloved.

No one needed Shinji Ikari.

They wanted the Third Child.

Shinji peered at his useless hands and let out a choking moan.

"Move! Jump!"

Shinji let out a roar, hearing a voice telling him to jump, and did not think, simply following the instructions as he heard the bellow of the engine behind him.

Shinji's legs let out a huge final thrust, sending him flying up in the air, and then suddenly two warm hands grasped around him, hauling him up over onto an odd white structure as the car sped past.

He let out a gasp as he landed on his stomach and stared down at the black car as it passed by.

The windows were less tinted in the passenger seats, but he couldn't make out much, just a face pressed against the glass that seemed inhuman and disturbing and another head that was shaking rapidly, almost at an impossible speed.

There were faces pressed against the back window, and he shut his eyes, unable to take anymore of the inanity.

Shinji groaned and turned around to look at the person that had rescued him, his body weary.

Standing directly in front of him and looking down with a listless, incalculable face was a middle-aged blonde in a white lab coat who seemed mildly familiar.

"Ritsuko!"

Shinji's eyes blinked and then dilated as Shinji fell into a bright light, and then darkness.

Shinji groaned, shaking away the sore feeling in his skull, and looked around, his eyes growing orientated to the darkness.

He was in a vast, dimly-lit chamber, which seemed vaguely familiar, with a hard, cold metal floor.

Squinting in the space ahead of him, he could barely make out two glowing orbs that seemed like the lens of glasses and then a familiar, rigid face.

Gendo Ikari stared at him listlessly, as one would stare at a wall, or a piece of furniture.

And then he smirked.

Clenching his fists, Shinji shook his head, standing up straight and staring down his father, refusing to cower or flinch like the days of his youth.

"No! You're dead! What are you doing here, you bastard!"

"That is irrelevant, Third Child. The question is, what are you doing here? Ask yourself that, and see if you can live with the answer, boy!"

"What the hell are you talking about, father!"

"Just repeat it to yourself, you'll feel better, Third Child. 'You're alone, and you'll die alone.' 'You're alone and you'll die alone.' You damned scum!"

The last word was delivered with much venom, Gendo's face twisting into a image of contempt and snarling disgust.

Shinji shook his head, confused and angry, and charged forward towards his father, fists ready to strike down the man who had neglected him all his life.

But the former Commander of NERV disappeared into a well of darkness, a swelling growth of darkness that covered the entire room, until Shinji could only stand and stumble, unable to see anything, let alone his own body.

"Where am I, dammit! Father! Rei! Asuka? Asuka!"

Suddenly Ritsuko Akagi's voice, coming in at all directions, booming into his ears.

"This is only a test, Shinji Ikari, you'll be fine, you'll be fine. Don't worry. The sins of the Ikari bloodline shall be avenged Everything will end up alright."

And then, his mother soft voice, and a smooth warm comfort creeping up his body.

"As long as the sun, moon, and earth exist, everything will be alright, my son."

"Are you alright? Hey, mister, you okay there?"

Shinji Ikari let out a moan, and then his eyes blinked open, the gray Tokyo-3 sky above him.

Yelping, he sat up quickly, his eyes darting around to see the retreating back of a young child, apparently the source from which the voice had come.

He shook his head, dusting the dirt of his body and realizing he was close to home.

Shinji spoke to himself as he slowly rose, as if to answer the child that had left, as if to answer that familiar child in the train car he had so often seen.

"I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine."

Tokyo 3, Japan

Shinji's Apartment

Shinji peered uncomfortably at Rei Ayanami as she yawned in his bed, stretching her arms and blinking her red eyes.

"What did you say happened?"

"Um…"

"You're just tired, Shinji, you haven't had sufficient rest these past few nights you know."

At the last word, Rei's left eye seemed to wink mischievously, which caused Shinji to shiver slightly completely unused to such an expression, voluntary or involuntary.

Shinji let his hands rest behind his neck and stared up at the ceiling mournfully, causing Rei to peer at him with a listless expression.

"Perhaps it's the pressure, Shinji? Thinking of Sohryu lately?"

Shinji stiffened and shook his head, still staring at the ceiling.

"No…No…Not Asuka. What made you bring her up?"

"You promised that you would not let Asuka torment you anymore. After what she did to you, after Kaworu, after all that self-hate, you swore, Shinji."

"I'm not…I'm not thinking of her…What made you think I was?"

"Because she always seems to be on your mind, Shinji, I just can't understand why you haven't forgotten that woman at all. She did nothing but antagonize you thoroughly for the whole time of the Angel Wars."

"When was the last time I said a word about her, Rei?"

"It does not have anything to do with spoken words…"

Rei paused, waiting for Shinji to answer, but he remained silent, apparently unable to continue the conversation.

Instead, he turned to her and slowly placed a hand on her shoulder, clearly still shy after all these years and experiences.

"It's all past me, Rei. It's all in the past."

"Maybe it's the war? Have you been having nightmares, Shinji?"

Shinji closed his eyes, turning over onto his back again.

"It's still there, Shinji, I know it is."

She placed a pale, warm hand on his forehead, and a slight, sad smile seemed to dance across her face, although Shinji could not see it.

"You cannot go through that ordeal without having reminders left in your psyche, I know it's true Shinji, but you must let go of the past."

Shinji shook his head, annoyed, his eyes fluttering open.

"No! What does that have to do with anything! The barricaded subway stations! The creatures! Those people!"

Rei seemed to let out a small, almost indiscernible sigh, slight and sublimely beautiful to the ears.

"There are plenty of odd humans left after the Angel Wars, you know it left a mark on humanity as a whole, but you managed to save us from a worse path. It is simply a trick of your mind, Shinji, you need calm."

"They're…They're like demons Rei…monsters…"

Rei rubbed Shinji's forehead consolingly but stiffly.

"Demons, Shinji? We faced the Angels, you fought with the Angels using the Evangelion series, you remember the ordeal, the information that leaked after the war. You've seen far worse than some homeless people and deformed street kids. It is simply the pressure, Shinji."

Shinji shook his head under Rei's hand.

"No…Rei. They were trying to kill me, to run me over! And I swear I saw-"

"Teenagers on a joyride, Shinji…It happens all the time, the post-Tokyo-3 government is still struggling to police the streets, you are aware of that yourself Shinji, you tried yourself to fix the problems of this city, but you felt the consequences of that with Kaworu. You need to let go, Shinji, you need to stop blaming yourself."

"They…They weren't human, Rei! They weren't human!"

"Think logically, Shinji? What could they have been but human? The Angels were destroyed long ago. You made sure of that yourself."

Shinji doesn't answer, turning over onto his stomach and staring into his pillow, his body shivering with what could be sobs, although the shivering is only slight and tears do not run from his eyes.

"Do you still love me, Shinji? I still feel empathy for you…"

Shinji Ikari does not respond, shutting his eyes tight at the darkness of the pillow muffling his face, voices echoing through his mind.

"You are worthy of my empathy…in other words, I love you."

"So you think you love me, you idiot!"

"I feel a warmness when I'm around you, Shinji, although I cannot understand why.

Way too short? Well, I'm sorry for that, but I was in Europe for a few weeks, and I have a ton of fanfics to update and lots of other non-fanfic stuff to write.

I had to get back into my train of thought, so if this chapter seemed brief or mediocre, that's why.

Well, see you Chapter Six.