Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 19: Captured
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

"Quit belly-aching." Asuka growled.

"Easy for you to say."

"I gave you ample warning."

"You just said, 'Don't say it', how was I supposed to know what you meant?"

"Well now you do." The German pilot shook her head and looked backwards to Shinji's plug, its side hatch open and LCL slowly draining out and onto the forest floor. She turned to regard Shinji again who was slowly bring himself back to his feet. "Good lord, I didn't hit you that hard."

"From my end of it-"

"Tristan should have been training you to toughen up. You need to be able to take a hit or two or else you'll be down after a single gunshot."

"What?"

"In our EVAs, stupid." Asuka shook her head, Shinji wasn't getting this, and probably wouldn't anyway. She scanned the forests around them. "Damn, I am amazed I was able to find you out here." Shinji regarded their surroundings also.

"So this is the Amazon Jungle?"

"Well it isn't the Congo." Asuka snapped back. "Course, it's drier than I would have imagined."

"Second Impact." Shinji answered.

"I know that!"

"I'm sorry." She rolled her eyes and cursed. Shinji frowned. "So what do we do now?" He asked, after giving Asuka a few moments to
calm herself down. The red head looked skyward."I guess the first thing we have to do is find out who won the battle." She approached one of the trees and looked up. "If I can get to the top of this tree, I should be able to see above the canopy."

"What good will that do?"

"So I can find out whether or not Tristan was shot down or not, stupid. As far as I know, you, me, that sniper, we were taken out of commission. So we don't know whether or not Tristan won. If he did, the we just wait."

"And if he didn't?" Asuka looked at Shinji and then at the forest floor. A noticeable look of worry on her face. Shinji felt a small note grow in his stomach and he drew his mouth taut, trying to mask the emotional pain with that of Asuka's punch to the gut.

"Then we head south back towards the ridge. With any luck, UNIT hasn't driven them away. But we'll worry about that when we get to it." Asuka took a deep breath and jumped at one of the lower branches of the tree. Her jump came about four feet too short. Again she tried with only about an inch of difference. She cursed and looked to Shinji, still standing there, watching her. "Make yourself useful and help me up to that first branch." Shinji regarded the tree.

"That is too high, Asuka. What if you fall?"

"We need to use a high tree like this, and besides, I've been climbing trees since I was a child. Now help me up." Shinji approached and with his back against the tree, leaned forward and cupped his hands. "At least you know what to do." Asuka remarked. She put her foot into the cup of his hand. "Now don't get any funny ideas." She warned, leaning forward, planting a hand and her other foot on his shoulders, brining her chest close to his face. "Okay, now lift."

Shinji did so, pushing her foot upward and giving her enough of a boost that her hand grasped the branch. She laughed in triumph and grabbed it with her other hand. Quickly, she positioned herself, swinging her feet to get momentum and lifted herself up to straddle the first branch. She looked down at Shinji, far below her.

"If there is something important you have to tell me, then call for me. But it will take me some time to get down, so if you can do it yourself, don't call."

"I'm not a child."

"Debatable." She murmured and looked to the higher branches and gave a huff. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Of course it isn't easy." Tristan once remarked. He was hanging upside down from a branch in a tree in Berlin. "If it was, you'd be able to do it." This was the younger Tristan, a mean grin on his face as he regarded Asuka glaring up at him from below.

"That doesn't mean I can't do it!" She snapped back.

"Oh?" Tristan righted himself and sat on the branch. "Then come on up here and prove it." Asuka regarded the branches and spotted the lowest one. Smiling, she approached it, reached for it but was easily too short. She jumped, but still not enough. After the third try, Tristan laughed.

"See? I told you, you're too little. Just a baby."

"I am not a baby!"

"Well you were crying like one yesterday." He remarked. He was right, it was only yesterday that they had met, they didn't even know each other's names back then, and even though they antagonized each other, Tristan was the only one who actually talked to Asuka besides her teachers, and no doubt Asuka was one of the few people who had more than a few things to say to Tristan, let alone regarding him.

"It was rain, I wasn't crying."

"Sure." Tristan climbed to a higher branch and manoeuvred so that he was sitting directly above her on a higher branch. "You still can't get up here, so you're little and a baby." She leered at him and then looked around. There had be a way of getting a little bit higher. Asuka noticed something and then looked up at Tristan with a sly grin.

"I'll be right back." She headed to the other side of the tree.

"Sure you are. Go ahead and run home, baby!" He called after her. A few moments later he saw her returning, albeit very slowly and with great effort. In her arms she carried a cinder block and was moving it over the tree. Slowly she put it down into the grass and steadied it.

Tristan watched, intrigued, as little Asuka climbed onto the cinder block and from there reached towards the low branch, she jumped and managed to wrap her arms around the branch and clamber up onto it. Straddling the branch, she looked up at Tristan and smiled. He whistled, impressed. "You're small, but you're pretty smart... For a girl I mean." She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "You got a name, kid?" Asuka blinked, still in the middle of her raspberry. Withdrawing her tongue she smiled.

"My name is Asuka Langley Sohryu." Tristan smiled and pointed to himself.

"Tristan Wilhelm Nevril. Please to meet you." She nodded and started climbing to a branch that was level with his, albeit slowly. "Never thought you'd use that cinder block." He commented. She turned, having seated herself on a closer branch.

"That's cause I'm smarter than you."

"Yeah right. Girls are dumb."

"I'm smarter than you, though. I'm smarter than you so that makes you an idiot compared to other boys." She stuck her tongue out at him again, and he responded in the same way. Their first conversation together was childish to be sure, but their banter and arguing helped make them fast friends. His name calling was less of an affront as the days went by, becoming almost a term of endearment, just like her calling him an idiot.

That was the same day when Tristan broke his leg. Asuka quickly learned how to climb up into the tree, but not how to get back down. Tristan tried to help her by carrying her, but in the end, he fell and broke his leg. Thankfully, it was late enough that Asuka's father had come out to look for his daughter, and was willing to help the injured boy.

Asuka was quickly alienated at her new school as being worse that Tristan was, having broken the kid's leg. Tristan didn't have any friends however, so no one really cared, that Asuka stuck close to Tristan and vice versa. They were considered the quiet bullies on the playground. No one made fun of them always being together, for fear of having a limb or two broken by the two of them, even though it was a rumour based upon only one event.

Asuka smiled to herself as that kinder memory bubbled to the surface as she reached the highest point in the trees. She looked at the massive ocean of green leaves surrounding her. She slowly looked around, and felt a calm breeze that only helped to punctuate the abject silence. In a place where there should be so much life, now there was only silence. But she wasn't searching for life necessarily.

In the distance, Asuka could see the crumpled heaps of several Evangelions. Unit-05 and Unit-06 she could easily recognize. Then there was nigh decapitated sand one. And finally... Asuka smiled as she saw the blue Evangelion that had gotten the jump on the lot of them was now lying in a heap. The metallic form of Unit-08 was nowhere to be seen. In that case, he must have succeeded.

She quickly headed down through the branches. Her descent was obviously far slower, considering she was now seeing the height she was climbing down from. Tristan had gotten her to enjoy tree climbing a lot, but even he would have to be impressed with how will she had improved. But the joy faded while the rest of her memories came back. Including the day she destroyed their friendship. She was so selfish and she regretted that she couldn't take back what she did. That guilt it bothered her every night, even those she felt were better than any other. Looking down, she spotted Shinji searching for her. No doubt not being able to see her with the green plug suit on. She admitted that it looked awful, but the designers of Unit-05 seemed to enjoy being fashion-conscious. It was sad really.

A few more feet and Shinji finally spotted her. He waved; of course, she wasn't stupid enough to wave back. Her hands already full with trying not to drop to her death. But the more she thought about Shinji, the more her guilt mounted. He was pathetic to be sure, and it was his own damn fault. She didn't pity him so much as she felt bad for some of the things she put him through. Especially, her recent attempts to push him away. After all, it was completely understandable for him to try and be with her, after all, he didn't understand living in a foreign nation or such concepts as war. Asuka blinked.

"What do I know about war?" A rhetorical question. Shinji didn't hear it, and good that he didn't, or else he would have probably started making a run for the trees thinking she was going crazy again. Crazy. Like how she assumed that he had raped her. She swallowed and sighed. She hoped that horrible chapter of her life would quickly disappear. She closed her eyes for a moment, and felt her fingers slip off of the bark.

Asuka gasped as she snatched a branch before she started for fall and began catching her breath. That was a close call.

"Asuka!" Shinji hollered. She looked down at him below.

"I'm fine." She answered and started back down towards the ground, dropping the reminiscing and working on getting down to the ground. She reached the final branch and looked down. She needed Shinji's height to get up her, and now she realized just how far down the ground was. She swallowed.

"You okay?" Shinji asked, standing below her.

"I said I'm fine, stupid. Now get out of the way, I'm going to drop down." Shinji did so and moved out from under her. Carefully she worked her way until she was hanging off the branch. She took a deep breath, counted to three, and dropped. The next few seconds were a blur as she landed, immediately lost her footing and collided with Shinji. When she opened her eyes, she was lying on top of the boy, he blushed, eyes wide. Immediately she got off of him with a growl of disgust.

"You should have stayed farther back." She grumbled.

"If I didn't catch you, you might have broken your neck." Shinji replied, getting up.

"Don't expect me to sound grateful."

"I don't." Shinji dusted himself off. "So who won?"

"Tristan did." The boy nodded. He observed the small smile on her face and looked away. He was indeed glad that Tristan had survived, by now Asuka's joy was starting to bother him.

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait." Asuka responded and sat down on a stone. "As soon as the infantry captures the bunker they will start looking for us. Fortunately we're close to one of the entry plugs so it'll probably be fairly quick."

"About how long?"

"I'd say before sundown." Shinji looked skyward. He couldn't tell the approximate time, and there was no point in asking Asuka. That was probably the last thing on her mind. Shinji sighed and found a place to sit down across from the German girl.

"I know you really don't want to talk to me, Asuka..." She sighed but he paused only for a moment. "But it would likely make the time go by faster."

"It would, but..." She looked towards the forests. "It's complicated and..." She fumbled for the right words. "Shinji, do you think I'm a bitch?" The boy took a double take.

"What?"

"A bitch. Do you think I'm a bitch?"

"No, no! Of course not."

"Honestly?" He nodded. She wasn't convinced. Madison all over again. Damn. "What brought this up?" She shrugged. "Well, you're not a bitch."

"Then what am I?" Shinji looked skyward, he had to be tactful. He shrugged, at a loss. "I see..."

"But you're not a bitch. There's just no way to describe what it actually is. You're... Difficult... But definitely not a bitch."

"I see... Well, I'm sorry I've been so... 'Difficult'." Shinji shook his head.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"But I am... This is really... Tough to explain."

"What about?"

"You, me... Tristan."

"Oh..." He looked away.

"No, I just want you to listen, Shinji. Please." He slowly looked to her, pursing his lips. There were so many things he could say, but he tried to hold them all back. He gestured for her to continue and she took a deep breath. "It's true that there is a lot of history behind Tristan and I. And even though I did a lot of damage to our relationship, I feel like a might be able to set it right. At the very least regain our friendship. Because, I envy the relationship you and Tristan have."

"However it seems you are alright for him to stay with you." Shinji interjected, accusingly. Asuka looked away.

"You might think it makes us close but, I can still feel that distance between us. I think he does these things just because he was our commanding officer, not because he wants to be my friend. But... He's been dropping hints."

"Hints?"

"Just the things he says. The way he says them... It's obvious that he means something by them." Shinji swallowed hard. "But even though he says them, he still keeps his distance. It's confusing."

"And?" Shinji beckoned, wishing for the worst possible thing she could say to be brought up at that moment.

"You know why am telling you these things, right?"

"Uh?" Shinji blinked, the question catching him off guard. Asuka was pensive. "Because I am so close to Tristan?" She sighed.

"I- I haven't been the nicest person, Shinji. Especially to you. That's why I asked if you thought I was a bitch."

"Which you are not." She nodded.

"I- I... I don't hate you... Really, Shinji... I don't really hate you." Shinji closed his eyes and considered the statement for a moment and nodded. "I guess it's the way you just apologize for things." She laughed, realizing how absurd it was. "It just makes things easier, but after all this time, I..." She collected herself. "I think... That we've become friends. Stupid, huh?" Shinji shook his head.

"It's not stupid. We've done a lot of things together. Hell, we used to live together. If we weren't friends..." He shrugged. "But yeah, we are friends." Asuka gave a small smile.

"I'm glad." He returned the smile.

"So what does this have to do with Tristan?" The red head looked away.

"Well... I'd like to know what Tristan is actually thinking, how he feels about me. Whether or not we're friends, or something more."

"More?" Asuka thought about it and looked skyward.

"Wow, it's almost been two years. But, just before we headed to our plugs for our final examination, Tristan approached me. He told me that... He loved me." Shinji felt the pit in his stomach deepen and wondered if this was going to lead to an ulcer.

"'He loved you'?" She nodded. "Did you feel the same way?" Somewhere inside him, he was now praying to any God that would listen.

"Well... At the time, no. When I realized that he was in love with me, I realized that I had an opportunity I couldn't miss. I knew that synchronization was based upon emotion, so I took a chance. A stupid chance. I laughed at him. The kind of laugh when you have pulled a cruel prank. I told my childhood friend that he was a fool. Not an 'idiot' or 'stupid', but a fool. I told him that I would never love him, that he wasn't worth love, or praise, or anything at all.

"When we were finally called in for the final examination... His synch ratio was zero. All so that I could pilot Unit-02. I broke his heart, Shinji... I felt so ashamed. Some nights I couldn't sleep because I thought about what I did. I really wish that Tristan hadn't come back, but now I am constantly faced with him and I can't bear to bring up what I did. Not even to apologize."

"You feel guilty for ending a good friendship." She gave a small smile and looked at the ground.

"My only friendship. Until I met you, I mean. It was wrong of me to play with his emotions like that."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"It's not just because I want to explain why I was always so distant from you, but also to explain why I'm asking you this favour?"

"A favour?" She nodded.

"If you can, find out how Tristan feels about me. Does he still hate me? And what did he mean by those hints he kept telling me?"

"What kind of hints?"

"Confronting me when I wanted to quit. Being there when I found out about my false pregnancy. Saying that he would protect me. Before you and Madison showed up at my door, he even called me 'honey', even though he denied it."

"So you want me to find out if you can still become friends again?"

"I want to know if he is ready for me to apologize to him. To tell him the truth."

"The... Truth?" She nodded. It would have been more straightforward if she kicked him in the balls, shot him in the belly, and twisted a knife into his heart. He knew what she meant... Shinji lowered his head for a moment. He then looked up and smiled.

"I'll do it." She smiled.

"Thank you, Shinji." She stood up. "I'll be right back." Asuka head for a more secluded spot. No doubt, nature was calling. Shinji probably felt similar, but the dismal feeling he was being overcome by was keeping him from everything else.

If only he had to the guts. That was really the only thing that was stopping him from saying it those three words he wanted to say for so long. It wasn't that she was the second choice to Rei, even though he was attracted to her, he was still pulled in both directions. But of course he was too scared to make a choice that he would regret. Indecision would lead to an answer. At least, that was the theory at first.

Now it was clear his strategy didn't work. Rei was gone for good and now Asuka was in love with another. The two people he had become closest to were now gone, as were the others he became close to. Perhaps, unconsciously that was why he wasn't always trying to get so close to Misato, for fear that he would lose her too.

The truth, the one meant for him, was staring him right in his face. There was no one in the world for him. Those who believed that he was, or those Shinji felt were for him, were simply destroyed, often by his own actions. Kaworu was especially the case. The only person to actually tell them they loved him, the three most important words in the whole world and Shinji killed the person who told him them.

Shinji bit down on his lower lip, trying to hold back his despair, but a few hot tears managed to roll down his cheeks. He frantically began to wipe them away. What would Asuka think if he was crying? Claming himself, he took a deep breath and sighed.

Only a cough managed to escape his throat as someone's arm snapped around his neck, forcibly holding him against him or her. Shinji tried to pull himself free until he felt the cold muzzle of a gun on his temple. The boy slowed his movements, his hand slowly moving to where his sidearm should have been. His assailant had been too fast and all he could feel was empty hair where the grip should have been. He was feeling his own weapon against his head.

"Get up." His captor ordered. Slowly he did so. "Keep you hands down." He swallowed. What was he supposed to do in this situation? His blood froze as he heard a branch snap from the direction that Asuka had left from. Damn, she could have gotten away. "Stop!" The assailant barked. Asuka stopped and stared at Shinji in confusion, but quickly spotted the pistol at his head. She moved for her weapon.

"Don't!" Shinji warned, and was punished with the arm around his neck tightening.

"He's right. Try it and he'll die." The hostage taker pulled down the hammer on the pistol. Asuka raised her hands away from the weapon.

"Down on the ground." Asuka followed the order, kneeling. "Now, remove your sidearm and throw it to your right." Asuka did so, a very brave look on her face as she tried to study her foe. Shinji was next to drop own to a kneeling position and then down onto his stomach. Asuka blinked as she realized their enemy was wearing a plug suit.

This pilot, this young woman, was the one Asuka managed to down. It had to be. But a chill went through her as she realized just who it was. Her dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, rather than what Asuka had remembered her usual hairstyle was. Her brown eyes were almost feral, likely from the adrenaline of the moment. Her kind face was now twisted into a look of dark determination and killer instinct. Even her freckles reflected a look of sobriety.

"Hikari?" The pilot raised her weapon and narrowed her eyes at Asuka. She studied the German girl for several seconds, and slowly her eyes widened.

"Asuka?" A weak smile formed on the two girls' lips.

"What?" Shinji mumbled from the dirt. Hikari retracted her foot from the boy's back. Asuka didn't care to notice.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you. But doesn't it seem obvious?" Asuka regarded her plug suit and her face was played with concern.

"Mien Gott, I almost killed you." Hikari shook her heard.

"I already knew what you were going to do. Sure I was scared at first, Hell, even when you did take out my Unit-07, I expected the worst. But now I am a little glad that it was you."

"What do you mean by that?" Hikari laughed and shrugged. There was a moment of silence and then Hikari practically jumped into Asuka's arms.

"God, I missed you so much Asuka, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Same to you. But..." Asuka stepped away from her best friend's embrace. "Why are you working for UNIT? Short of that, why are you a pilot?" The joy faded from Hikari's face.

"It's... It's complicated, Asuka. It really is." She closed her eyes and then looked up at her friend. "But now is not the time. We have to get out of here."

"What for? The rescue teams are on their way to retrieve us." Shinji added, dusted the dirt off of his plug suit. Hikari turned to the boy and shook her head.

"We're about to send in a second wave of Tridents into the area. This place is going to get far worse that it is. They're giving me and... The other pilot, a chance get out of the area and back to safety before they attack."

"To safety?" Asuka asked. Shinji on the other hand, was puzzled as to why Hikari avoided mentioning the name of the other pilot. The UNIT pilot gestured with Shinji's pistol at some point in the forest.

"To the north that way is a river. Even though the local bunker was lost, we still have lines of soldiers on the other side of that river. If we head there, we will not only be out of harms way but also out of NEC influence." She started heading towards the point she indicated.

"Wait a second. What do you mean out of NEC influence. Hikari, we are NEC pilots." Shinji observed. The girl stopped and lowered her head. Asuka noticed something and immediately went to her holster. Her sidearm was gone. At that same moment, Hikari turned around, levelling one pistol each at Shinji and Asuka.

"I know that Ikari. I'm sorry I had to trick you like that Asuka, but it's for your own good that you come with me back to UNIT. The NEC is trying to take over the world and I don't want you guys to be on the wrong side."

"'Wrong side'? UNIT attacked us first." Shinji protested. Hikari was both shocked and confused, but then there was a glint of understanding.

"I see, so they haven't told you? About the NEC massacre that occurred just before this... Thing... Happened."

"Third Impact... But why would Tristan's people do such a thing?" Asuka asked. Hikari just shrugged. "I think it was the fact that you'd ask those questions is why they didn't tell you. It's not safe to go back to Europe, Asuka. Once they're finished with you, they will just kill you."

"That's not true!"

"It doesn't matter Asuka." A pained look came on Hikari's face. "For your sake, you have to come with me to UNIT, and if not I will just have to kill you. Please don't make this anymore difficult than it already is. I don't want to hurt you." Asuka exchanged glances with Shinji. He shrugged.

"I guess we don't have any other choice." Asuka murmured.

"Thank you. Now... Hands above your head and start walking." Hikari barked. The class representative in her arose once again.

"What was in that syringe?" The pilot whispered as Misato entered the room.

"Thiopental sodium."

"What?"

"'Truth serum'."

"There's no such thing."

"We'll just have to find out... How are you feeling?"

"Why do you care?"

"Pilots are hard to come by."

"I won't join you."

"I didn't suggest that. So how do you feel?"

"Fine... Tired."

"Well I need you to stay awake. The sooner we can finish the conversation, the sooner you can sleep."

"I won't tell you anything. Regardless of how much of that stuff you pump into me."

"Were you trained to resist interrogation?"

"No, but there is no such serum that can make someone tell the truth."

"You believe it wasn't going to come up? Or was it your government?"

"My government?"

"United Northern Independent Territories. Isn't that what it is called?"

"Yes." The pilot, a woman, scrubbed her face.

"Still groggy?" Misato poured the girl a glass of water and handed it to her. The pilot stared down at it. "It's not drugged. Anything else in your system could cause a bad side effect." She wrapped her fingers around the glass but didn't move to drink it, only to stare at it.

"You're the pilot of the blue Evangelion?"

"Unit-09. Yes."

"It's unfortunate that the pilot of the other Evangelion was lost. The one who protecting the bunker before you arrived."

"She managed to eject before her Evangelion was destroyed." She took a sip of the water. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome, 'pilot'."

"I have a name."

"I am not psychic, so the only name I know to call you is 'pilot'."

"Call me, Ayanami."

"Ayanami... Well my name is-"

"I know who you are." The scarlet eyes looked up from the table at Misato. Of old, this girl had given her an uncomfortable feeling when she looked at her with those eyes. Even more so when Dr. Akagi finally showed the awful truth of her origin. But this one... She was different, there was something else behind her eyes, either it was the drugs or something else, but it was showing through. This was unexpected.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, what happens now?"

"I don't know. It depends on what you ask me?"

"What should I ask you about?"

"You're after information about Trine."

"Your military organization?" Ayanami nodded. In her mind, Misato was grinning like an idiot. Not only had the drug worked, but she was managing to catch everything this pilot was spouting out about. Certainly, her peers in the adjoining room were baffled by how effectively she was getting information. "What else would I ask you about?"

"Weapons and technology."

"The stuff you find?"

"The stuff we make."

"You mean the Tridents? I noticed that you make a very large number of them and throw them into any situation. It must take a very large population to manage that."

"No, that is the job of the MAGI. Trine doesn't feel UNIT needs a bunch of computers to decide how to manage their growth."

"Trine manages the MAGI, UNIT, and the military. It is the central government?"

"Bureaucracy only leads to greater trouble, especially when the populace desires decisive action in any crisis. Especially after what you people did."

"What?"

"You had one of your Evangelions attack a city in the north eastern part of our territory. Hundreds were killed."

"When did this happen?"

"Three months ago, early on into the formation of UNIT." Misato was silent, considering the answer.

"Are you sure it was our Evangelion?"

"It wasn't one of ours. We don't have a silver one in our cages." Misato's frown deepened, but she remained silent. "Are we done?" The major sighed.

"It would seem so." She stood up and left the room.

"Impressive." Tristan remarked in the hallway. He stood arms crossed, looking at the UNIT pilot through the slightly opened doorway. The girl glanced at him and quickly looked away before the door closed. "No training whatsoever for a situation like this, the serum didn't even change anything."

"It seemed that way. At least we have a better understanding of who is actually running UNIT. But a silver Evangelion?"

"No doubt someone else has been able to operate the Evangelions, therefore there must be a base somewhere in the Canadian region of North America." Misato shook her head.

"R & D and bunkers, that's all they asked from the Canadians. Greenland is the same way." Tristan gave a grunt and looked back at the door.

"Something is wrong with that girl."

"What do you mean?"

"She looks like she's supposed to be Japanese, but her eyes... She can't be an albino because the pigment in her hair."

"I thought about it the same way when I first met her." He looked at the major quizzically. "Her name is Rei Ayanami, a former pilot in Tokyo-3. You might think her appearance is strange, but it isn't, it's how she acted.

"When I was in command in Japan, Rei often functioned like an automaton, doing what she was told and rarely acting out. But she is being more natural now, the inflections in her speech, her diction, I don't think the drugs were the cause."

"Perhaps she grew out of it." The second lieutenant offered. Misato simply shook her head and sighed.

"It's nothing to get hung up on, we got some information, which is all we can ask for this early."

"And how are the searches going to find Asuka and Shinji?"

"That battlefield is very large, a few hours is nothing in something of this magnitude." Tristan looked at the floor. "You're really worried about them." She observed.

"I am their commanding officer and so it is my responsibility to ensure that they return. If they actually die out there, I will never be able to forgive myself. And then..." He hesitated. "They're my friends. But I suppose not after the threats I had to give." Misato put a hand on the pilot's shoulder.

"You did the right thing in stopping Asuka. Only folks your age can pilot the Evangelions and it is your generation that will carry the world on. She would have made an awful mistake if you hadn't intervened."

"It still feels like I alienated them."

"I can explain it to the two of them when they return. But know that I cannot make an promises."

"I didn't ask you to try and fix it, major. I..." He trailed off as Misato's cell phone rang. She picked it up. "Major Katsuragi... Yes... Yes? ... What? How could-? ... Yes... All right... Understood... We'll start preparing immediately." She snapped it shut.

"What was-"

"Shinji and Asuka have been captured by the enemy. They want to do an exchange. Rei for one of our pilots, and our second pilot for..."

"For what?"

"Unit-08."

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes
Rei Ayanami fans rejoice! S+A fans start your murder machines! Just because Asuka has feelings for Tristan doesn't mean that Shinji is out of the game yet, however, just things are going to get even more complicated from this point on for their relationship, at least in Shinji's point of view. Another couple of characters have returned, to wet your pallets. And the conflict between NEC and UNIT takes several turns. Many of you already know who I am referring to when I mentioned the silver Evangelion. Say and rant what you will about it, but this was a decision I settled upon a long time ago and I know that I cannot weasel my way out of this one.