ANGEL'S LOVE

Chapter 6-Attack of the Clones

by Gunman

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the series or the title of this story. (George Lucas, please don't sue me)

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It had been two weeks since Rei had left Gendo's office, informing him that she no longer had any intention of going through with 'her destiny'.

The wedding rehearsal had gone off without much trouble, save for some uncomfortableness among the party.

Toji was asked to be the best man, and Asuka was asked to be the maid of honor.

This was uncomfortable enough, but Hikari had to walk down the aisle with Kensuke.

Misato was giving away the bride, and the groom, and Pen-Pen was going to be the ring bearer.

"I can't believe you want the penguin to hold the rings." Asuka grumbled.

"He's part of this family, Asuka. Besides, it'll be cute!" Misato gushed.

"Cute? What if he eats them? Animals are attracted to shiny objects, you know."

While the pair were arguing in the kitchen, both Shinji and Rei were out running errands. Shinji had to go pick something up at the jewelry store, and Rei had been called in to NERV for a meeting with Dr Akagi.

What she didn't know was that Gendo had Akagi call Rei for the meeting. He wasn't sure that she would come if he called her.

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Gendo meets with Rei in the Eva cages, on the catwalks surrounded by the LCL lake.

"Commander? Where is Dr Akagi? I was told to meet her here." she asked as she stood before the face of the mighty Unit 01.

"Dr Akagi did not call you Rei. I did." Gendo said as he turned around to face her, looking down at her as he usually did.

Rei suddenly felt uneasy about this.

"Why?"

"You must not go through with this. All our plans will be ruined."

"Your plans, commander. Not mine."

"You were part of them! You agreed to them!" he shouted, voice echoing through the cage room.

"That is because you did not present me with any other options. You made me believe I had only one purpose, one destiny. Shinji has given me a new one, one that does not include my death. I cannot, will not, abandon this child or my love for him."

"And you would marry this boy. Does he know about your past? What you are? He will hate you for keeping this from him."

"My Shinji would never hate me. Never." she declared. "You do not know him as I do."

That's for damn sure. "You are being selfish Rei." he stated.

"As are you, commander." she retorted.

"Watch your tone, child." he grimaced more.

"My tone has not changed." she remained straight faced as ever.

"This is my game Rei, I hold all the cards."

Rei looked at him strangely, tilting her head to the side.

"You speak in metaphor. I assume these 'cards' which you refer to are myself and Unit 01, which I believe only Shinji can pilot. Therefore, you hold no cards at all."

Gendo was fed up with reason and growled as he leaped at Rei, wrapping his hands around her neck.

"I do not suffer betrayal lightly, Rei! I will remedy the situation, by ridding myself of you and the abomination inside you!"

Rei struggled against the commander's grip.

"How ironic that you should meet the same end as your predecessor!"

Rei's oxygen was starting to dwindle.

"Once you are removed, I will activate the next clone. I'll have to make up a story for Rei not being pregnant anymore, or why she doesn't care for Shinji, but I'm sure I'll think of something."

Rei's vision was starting to go.

"And once Shinji has served his purpose, he too will die. But now, goodbye, my little doll."

Suddenly, an orange energy field materialized/exploded right between the commander and Rei, knocking the older man backward almost to the end of the catwalk.

Rei had not moved from her spot as she dropped to her knees, holding her neck as she coughed hard, relieved to be breathing again.

Gendo was confused.

"What...What the hell was that?"

"It appears...that my child...does not like you. And neither do I." she frowned.

"It's able to generate an AT-Field? I was right! It is an abomination. I will end this now!" he said, pulling a gun and aiming it at Rei. Specifically at her stomach.

Suddenly, a new figure, clad in white, leaped from the top of Unit 01 and kicked the gun from Gendo's hand. The gun fell into the LCL as the figure dropped onto the catwalk in front of him.

Gendo looked startled.

It was Rei.

"What is..."

Suddenly, the surface of the LCL broke as six more Rei's surrounded him on the catwalk. They were all dressed in white plug suits, and all of them had a mean glare in their red eyes.

Gendo was shocked at this, but Rei knew what was happening.

"My sisters have come to help me."

What followed was a simultaneous attack, an almost rehearsed battle plan, on the man of evil from all sides, which Gendo was not able to defend against for more than five attacks. In fact, the only time he seemed to get attacked was when his back as to one of the girls. He fought back, pushing half of them into the LCL, only to have the others distract him while the rest quickly climbed out and resume their attacks.

They pressed their attacks and kept hammering on the cruel man like a relentless machine. Though not physically strong enough to take him down quickly, they struck numerous times and consistently, eventually wearing him down. Amid the knee-strikes, flying roundhouse kicks, and gut-punches, the grim commander started to waver. As soon as he began to loose his balance, the clones swarmed him and all at once pushed him into the LCL lake opposite Unit 01.

"Help! Help Me! I can't swim!" he cried.

Like son, like father, is seems. Rei thought, remembering that Shinji mentioned having difficulty swimming as well.

"Do not worry commander, our sisters will help you." the seven clones said in eerie unison.

Suddenly, the other five clones exploded out of the LCL and latched onto Gendo.

One grabbed his right arm, one grabbed his right leg, one grabbed his left arm, one grabbed his left leg, and the last one wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist.

The other Rei clones jumped in the LCL as soon as Gendo was secured and proceeded to push him further down into the LCL.

Rei watched in morbid fascination as the twelve clones forced the man under. One of them popped back up and turned to Rei.

"We will take care of the commander from here. You had best return to your fiancée."

Rei nodded, picked herself up, and ran all the way back to the apartment, never stopping until she was safe in her Shinji's arms.

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Rei pounded on the door, drained of energy she slumped to the ground. The door opened seconds later as Shinji appeared in the entryway.

"REI!" he shouted as she leaned down to embrace the girl. "Rei, are you alright?" he asked frantically.

Rei turned up to Shinji, her eyes streaked with tears. With the last of her strength, she forced herself to throw her arms around Shinji's neck, hugging him as she cried.

Shinji hugged her back as Misato and Asuka came up behind them.

"Shinji, what happened to Rei?" Misato asked.

"Is she alright?" Asuka asked.

Shinji didn't answer, just hugged Rei back, then slid one of his arms underneath her legs, lifting her off the stoop and back into the apartment.

Misato and Asuka just followed the boy into the living room where he sat down on the couch with Rei in his lap, holding her and whispering words of comfort into her ear.

Hours later, Rei woke up on the couch, a blanket covering her, and Shinji asleep on the floor next to her. She smiled at him as she gently touched his hair. She noticed that both Misato and Asuka were nowhere in sight. She looked at Shinji again.

No time like the present. She thought as her smile faded. "Shinji?" she whispered softly.

"Yes, Rei?" he moaned groggily as he sat up.

"I...I have something to tell you." she said sadly as she started to cry once again.

Shinji moved to her and hugged her again, silently letting her know it was alright. "It's alright, Rei. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Rei shakes her head vigorously in an effort to stop her eyes from tearing; but to no avail. "I-I-I have deceived you, Shinji-kun."

"Deceived me?" he asked, obviously confused as he sat next to her on the couch.

"I have kept something from you that you should have known at the beginning of our relationship."

As Shinji started to rock her back and forth, he whispered into her ear. "I'm right here Rei, I'm right here. You can tell me anything. You know that."

She nodded. "I am...not who you think I am. I am part...Angel." Rei quickly looked down to the floor, not being able to look him in the eye.

"Part Angel?" he asked, a little confused. He knew that Rei was the serious type, and that she would not be crying like this if she was speaking of the biblical heavenly angels. "You mean, like the ones we fight?"

Rei nodded sadly, unable to look at her love. "I was created by NERV, using the genetic makeup of the Angel Lilith, and your mother, Yui Ikari."

Shinji jaw opened, but no sound came.

"The reason was for this was, I believe, that they were both in love with her." she sighed. "Your mother's DNA was used to give me a human body, but other than that, I'm an Angel. Little more than one percent of Yui's genetic structure was used. But...don't you hate me now, now that you know the truth I have kept from you?"

Dumbfounded was a major understatement for Shinji, but fortunately, after a few minutes of silence, he recovered. She's really sad at this, more than I've ever seen her before. He thought for a moment before contemplating this and asking her, "Rei, did you choose to be this way?"

Rei couldn't believe Shinji would ask such a question, but at seeing the look of fear on his face, she answered with a shake of her head, 'no'.

His expression changed instantly, into a warm smile. "Then how could I hate you?" he asked as he hugged her tighter. "You said that you had only one percent of my mother's DNA in you. That means you're not a full clone of her. You're not my mother, or Lilith. You're Rei, a complete person." he touched her cheek gently. "I could never hate you, Rei. I love you more than anyone I've ever met."
Rei was a little shocked that he was taking this so well, and smiled as she saw the boundless love in his eyes she knew she felt for him.

In a split-second Shinji was tackled down onto the couch as Rei began to smother him with enough kisses, and tongue, to last him a lifetime. After several minutes, Shinji gently pushed her away and asked her to stand up. She did so and as Shinji got down on one knee, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.

"Rei-chan, I have something to tell you also. I had to leave early this morning to pick up something. I know that we're already set for a wedding, and our child is on the way, but I felt something was missing." he paused as he took a deep breath. "I love you, Rei-chan. I will always love you. And even though you know that, I wanted to give you something, as a symbol of that love." he said before revealing the box and the ring inside it. I'm going to owe Misato for the rest of my natural life. It was a 24 karat sapphire set against a white gold band with an intricate weave to it. Rei held her breath as Shinji said the six words she would never forget. "Rei Ayanami, will you marry me?"

Though Rei had cried hard before, she cried yet again as she dove at Shinji and hugged him fiercely.

"Yes, Shinji-kun! Yes, with all my heart!"

Shinji slid the ring on her delicate finger, and was rewarded with another slew of kisses while pinned down to the floor.

Of course, Rei was careful not to injure her child as well.

Asuka and Misato were watching the tender scene from the kitchen, along with Pen-Pen.

"I hope they're not going to start doing it in the living room." Asuka grumbled.

"Why not? Shinji will clean up anyway." Misato smirked as she went into the kitchen.

"I so didn't need to hear that!" the redhead grumbled as she followed her guardian.

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Secret lab inside NERV...

"Very well done, my squad." the blond doctor said as the twelve girls stepped into the chamber.

"Thank You, Mistress!" the clones said in unison.

"Was Rei II injured at all?"

"No ma'am. We arrived in time." the first clone said.

"Good. Good. No sense in ruining Shinji's life just for my revenge."

She turned and walked over to the tank of modified LCL where the limp and bruised body of Gendo Ikari was suspended with a mask and waterproof earphones on his head.

"And now, Gendo, my neglectful lover, you will be reeducated in what it means to be a servant. This process of sensory depravation is most effective in brainwashing. It's especially useful if the subject is suspended in water or any variable liquid, weightless, completely devoid of feeling. With a few modifications that I made special for you. The normal length of time for mind control is less than twelve hours. I'm going to keep you in there for a WEEK if I have to! You're going to be my little slave, lover boy. You're going to do what I want, when I want, how I want, and always smile as you do the job. But before that, I think we need to give you a shave as soon as you get out of the tank. That beard of your always tickled me wrong."

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Authors Notes:

I hope everyone liked this chapter. I tried to make this as entertaining, as dramatic, and as emotional as possible.

I wanted to add the part where Rei tells them everything and Misato and Asuka go Gendo-hunting, but considering I already had the Rei-clones deal with him, I figured it was unnecessary.

I apologize if this seems a little quick.

I have an Epilogue coming up and that will conclude this story.

Read and Review.