Disclaimer : I do not own Evangelion, although like many others I wish I did. I own none of the characters. This is a normal Eva fic, not sure about Eva battles because I am trying to focus on Shinji's torment and hopeful revenge, hehe. Read and Review, I need criticism and I need to know people are reading this garbage. Right, from now on all currencies are in english, (i.e. GBP or £) if you want some idea what that is to local currency go to and go to the currency converter. Anyhoo, on with the show!

Right then

'Thought'

"Speech"

"(Actions in speech)"

"She'll be here soon… Misato's out of town… Rei is at a training weekend… it is just me and her."

Shinji lay on his bed, looking around his room that he had decorated as best he could, glancing past the décor and straight at the clock.

"The NERV personnel car will be here to take me to the airport soon."

Shinji took this time to scan his room and check that he had acquired everything necessary to make this weekend go off without incident. First there was the simple romance idea, his room was spotless, there was no junk visible in his room, on the table lay the presents that he intended to give Asuka and a few other items she had said to pick up. He then looked around the rest of the room, thinking back to a phone conversation he had shared with Hikari when he first came up with the plan. He replayed Hikari's part of the conversation while at the same time answering them out loud in the same sort of thing he said to Hikari over the phone, although now he was far more agitated.

'Get some nice drapes up, some reds and oranges, then some candles…'

"But I can't have candles because of the super sensitive NERV fire alarm they installed!"

'Oh… then some nice fairy lights, either white or the reds, maybe some romantic music. Oh and flowers! Asuka told me that she has never received flowers off anyone before in her life!'

"Well I have the flowers."

Shinji glanced over at his desk, among the assorted presents there was a single red rose in a vase on the edge of the table, he had only bought it a few hours earlier and it had been sitting in water ever since. He looked around and traced the path of the red, orange and yellow fairy lights he found, then along to the CD player he had purchased with some CDs he had made on the NERV computers with some romantic music from the West. He also made sure he picked some songs he had heard Asuka listen to or seen in her CD collection, before she left anyway. He was so nervous, he had showered, shaved, combed and gelled his hair. He had even had his haircut, so although it was still floating around the various colours between brown and black, it was no longer dangling in front of his eyes. He had put on some expensive aftershave he had bought and it was now in the final minutes before he would be taken to the airport to meet her.

"What happens if she has decided the long distance relationship won't work… what if she's found someone in Germany… what if…"

Shinji had found himself quickly returning to his old self as the day had gone on, he had Kensuke and Touji helping him with shopping in Tokyo-2, earlier in the day. They weren't very happy that they were shopping and that Shinji was buying flowers, chocolates and the like. They were then more than shocked when Shinji stopped outside of a 'girlie' shop. Shinji knew it was a girlie shop, as had been defined to him as one where the overall colour of the shop was pink, the name was in some silly font and the vast majority of people inside were of the female persuasion. Then in the same way that he had managed to take himself into a flower shop he grabbed the two other boys and dragged them into the pink realm of fluffiness. The only thing keeping him from turning into some form of produce, which is what believed happened to a boy who went into such shops of his own accord, was the memory of why he was in there.

Shinji lay on his bed, he had been speaking to Asuka for a solid couple of hours and the fact that NERV paid all their phone bills was becoming somewhat of a blessing. They were in one of their silent moments, between topics of conversation and they were both running low on the ability to make a decent conversation out of telling each other how much they loved one another. As Shinji began messing with his recently cut hair he heard the smallest sound emanating from Asuka's end of the phone.

"Shinji…"

"Yes Asuka?"

"When you go out to buy the shampoo and things… you could… maybe… pick something else up for you…"

"Asuka, I have already told you, I am not buying £30 aftershave!"

"No, not that…"

"What then?"

"You could pick me up some underwear… I'm size 8 to 10."

"Underwear…"

"And I might wear it for you… and we could… maybe… act out that conversation we had…"

Just thinking about it made Shinji's nose pulse a little, but now was not the time to get excited, especially with all the girls around, he helped Touji and Kensuke dodge each rack of clothes and he reached his target. A small rack with assorted thongs, Touji and Kensuke stared between Shinji and the rack with some sort of amazement.

"Shinji… you lucky dog!"

"Nothing like that has happened yet!"

"But it might… with something like this."

Shinji ignored his friends and he grabbed a small black thong with the number eight printed on it, he was as unsure of what the measurements converted to as the author is, but he just listened to Asuka's directions. He grabbed the item and went to the counter, looking incredibly embarrassed, so much so that Kensuke and Touji were sure they saw his eyes go light pink. He stood at the counter as the woman slowly priced the item and placed it in a clear bag, every so often glancing up at the boy who was just looking around waiting for someone he recognised. When they finally left the store Shinji almost ran out, they got outside and looked at each other.

"This stays between us."

"Agreed."

Shinji was now ready and waiting, the presents ready to give, flower, shampoo and stuff, chocolate and the… thing. The music was already playing on a continuous loop in the background and he did a quick test, which he had to admit to himself was quite impressive.

"I must admit, this is quite impressive."

He left everything on as he heard the beeping horn from outside, he wasn't shocked, and he knew the time for anxiety was yet to come, waiting for Asuka at the airport. He closed and locked his door, then descended the stairs towards the car, waiting to take him to the airport.

The journey was unpleasant, Misato had said that she was unable to take Shinji to the airport, so he had to be escorted by agents, although he was happy that he would have Asuka all to himself. He spent the entire journey playing the weekend through in his head, a night in, then tomorrow, they would go shopping and then out for a romantic dinner, then Sunday, they would go back to Misato's and have a dinner with her. Then once the dinner was over, he would kiss her good bye and return to his apartment until school the next day.

"I… guess this is a bit much for two weeks apart… and she will still be with me... afterwards…"

They approached the airport, as Shinji watched the rain fall outside he could almost swear that the rain was falling slower than usual, like time itself was slow. As the main entrance got closer and closer he felt more and more anxiety and worry, by the time the car had stopped Shinji's hair had begun absorbing light. Shinji was literally sapping the light from the room, his eyes were blank and vacant, it was like he had ceased feeling any emotion. He dragged his feet through the airport, he stopped as he reached the board warning of flights, he couldn't see any that were due to arrive for Germany.

"None… from Germany… What?"

He scanned the boards again and he stopped when his eyes fixated on a single column, it had no origin, no destination, no delay time or time of take off, just a message and a gate.

"Gate 13… Government use only… Asuka…"

Shinji was quickly away, it was almost like that alone brought him from the brink of despair, his hair shot to a dark brown and he sprinted along towards the gate signposted as 13. He pushed past unknown numbers of attendants, passengers, flight crew and waving loved ones as he hurtled down the corridor. He felt his feet throb with every agonising step he took towards depot, he twisted and turned, every wall he came to had a sign saying the direction of the elusive terminal 13. At one point he pushed himself off the floor so hard he felt it give way slightly and he turned in mid-flight to see tiny cracks in the floor. He had to see her, just to reaffirm her face in his mind, that would have been enough. He finally entered the final long hall, in the far distance he could see a sign pointing to the left with a large 13 printed on it. Then much like Eva Unit 01 performed in the orbital falling angel, Shinji watched as his surroundings moved faster and faster behind him until he was moving so fast that the metal hand-rails around him had begun to vibrate and resonate as he passed. His feet had begun tearing holes in the shined metal floor and when his turn finally came, he slammed his feet down, his head turned without any concern for his direction of movement.

"Asuka?"

But as Shinji looked, he saw only delegates of a conference stretching and looking at their bags, in the background Shinji could make out a pair of soldiers, that was until he began paying attention to where his feet were. He had chosen to stop on a large mat, placed on the floor before the terminal to, what Shinji assumed, make the delegates feel welcome. Although he found the mat slid fairly well along the shined metal floor, when enough force was applied to it.

"ARGH!"

Shinji slid about ten metres further down the hall until he came to a stop, although he didn't really care anymore. He just lay, the mat folded so that some was under his back and the rest over his legs with his feet where the fold was. He stared at the ceiling, his hair going darker with each second, when he finally managed to drag himself off the floor he just brushed himself off. His steps were slow and laboured towards the terminal, he glanced left and noticed that his eyes were pink, the glass windows of the old terminals 14 through 20 that had long since closed, or been destroyed, reflected his emotions perfectly. As he turned back to the front he noticed the two German soldiers had taken position at the door, they were pointing their guns at the boy, obviously taking his abrupt entrance and exit to be a threat. In his current mood, he knew he could probably dodge the weapons, it wouldn't be hard, see where the gun is pointing and move before he pulls the trigger, but Shinji's energy levels were far to low for him to care. He simply lifted his arms in the air and stopped walking.

"Halt! Anschlag oder wir schießen!"

'I had already stopped you German…'

The two soldiers moved towards him, he continued to stand straight and decided to try and make some amends to the situation. He bowed his head and hid his sadness and displeasure.

"I apologise, I thought I was meeting a friend…"

"RUHE!"

One of the soldiers hit Shinji with the butt of his rifle, which, much to the soldier's surprise, only managed to send the boy's head to one side. Shinji did not like being hit, he did not like being threatened, and he certainly did not like soldiers. When the soldier got angry Shinji knew what was coming next, another butt to the face, another attempt to get the boy to submit and hit the floor.

'I'm not in the mood for this… dumkopf…'

Shinji's hair rapidly turned black, it even began to stick up slightly, almost like how an animal sticks up its hair to make itself look bigger, then his eyes went bright red. The soldier didn't get a chance to see the red until he wondered why his gun had ceased moving. He followed the boy's dark hair along his shoulder and arm, then up to the hand that had clasped his rifle by the butt, the soldier tried to over power the boy, but he was unsuccessful. He stared into Shinji's red eyes and became paralysed with fear, his friend, who had not yet made a move on the boy pointed his gun at the back of the boy's head.

"Das würde nicht klug sein."

The soldier turned his head towards the terminal and a tall figure stood watching the spectacle, almost taking pleasure from it. While the soldiers knew the voice had only an authoritarian feel to it, even in German, Shinji knew who it was. And that didn't please him. They stood frozen in position for several more seconds before the figure stepped forwards, once more asserting his authority.

"Weg gesetzt hinunter die Waffen und den Schritt, bevor er Sie verletzt."

The soldiers looked at one another, their weapons, then the boy. They weren't just going to drop their guns and move away, and they certainly couldn't see how the boy would hurt them first. So they remained on guard, the man stopped several feet away, pushed his glasses back up his nose and sighed.

"Pilot Ikari, remove your hand from that rifle now, that is an order!"

The soldiers knew limited Japanese, but they knew rifle, when the rifle was released the two jumped back quite quickly. Their guns were still trained on the boy but Shinji's attention was elsewhere.

"You are dismissed."

The two soldiers then stepped back from the boy and lowered their weapons, Shinji then took several steps forward, he walked over towards the Commander, his head held high, he wasn't going to give his father any satisfaction from the encounter. As Shinji approached the megalomaniac, he was certain he was yet to see his father under such circumstances since his great change in personality. So he was going to make it as memorable as he could, he stepped up to his father, who had always towered above him, then brushed past, their shoulders' separated by only an inch or so in height. Also in doing so, Shinji flashed the reddest eyes he could muster at the old man, even seeing this Gendo didn't flinch. In fact as Shinji got a step behind him he spoke once more.

"Oh and you can drop the knife as well."

"Yes, Commander."

Suddenly a large clatter could be heard as a large army-issue knife hit the floor with an almighty 'thud'. Shinji then moved away from his father, quite content in how the encounter had unfolded, he also listened for the muttering in German from the soldiers while they inspected their uniforms. Sure enough, the soldier that had had his gun pointed at Shinji was missing a knife from his belt, although he had no idea how it was removed. Once Shinji had left the immediate vicinity, Gendo smiled, he turned back to the German delegates who each looked stern.

'It would seem that things are proceeding along the scenario just as I had predicted.'

"Very good, Shinji."

He then stepped into the terminal with the German delegates, his smile quickly changed to his stern, commanding features. He stomped into the room and the two soldiers who were meant to be protecting the delegates remained behind, totally afraid of the situation they had just witnessed.

"What is the meaning of this recall order?"

"We, the people of Germany, feel that with the angels gone, Evangelion Unit 02 would be best serving its defensive purposes at home rather than abroad."

"You don't have the facilities to deal with an actual operational Eva!"

"Yes we do."

Shinji's pace was distinctly slower as he reverse navigated the halls, he noticed several footprints on the walls and floors from where he pushed off in his haste. He chuckled a little at his weakness, all this for a girl who wasn't even there. Part of him was still unsure as to how to act in such a situation, Asuka was gone, she hadn't come back, he hadn't even heard from her in days. He knew it was coming, he just didn't know when, when the pain in his heart would arrive and he would more than likely fall to the floor. His head remained down as he walked, trying to think of things to cheer himself up, mainly how he had triumphantly stood up to his father, without running away. He continued to walk when he came across a familiar pair of shoes.

"Shinji?"

Shinji looked up, following the shoes, to the pants, to the jacket and eventually the head of white hair.

"Professor Fuyutsuki. Good evening."

Shinji knew that the Professor was his father's top lackey, but still he showed no ill will to the man, and although at times he had been strict on the pilots' showcasing, he was a good man and something told him that his mother trusted him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I thought Asuka was coming back, the terminal down there was the only one that could have even been from Germany so…"

"Ah I see, you haven't been told."

"Told?"

"The delegates down there are here to take Unit 02 back to Germany, it would appear as if the Second Child will not be returned to us."

"Not coming back?"

"No… I'm sorry Shinji, I read the memo that Major Katsuragi wrote, it is a pity it ended so swiftly."

Shinji was feeling the feeling that he had worried about, that pain in your heart like someone's stabbed a large, double tipped, helix-like, red spear through it. The feeling that Asuka wasn't coming back, his mind raced as all his different emotions put their own opinions forward, Shinji wasn't even sure which emotion said what.

'Then… we'll be alone?'

'Why hasn't she contacted us? Doesn't she care about us?'

'She must have found someone else! And when I get my hands on them!'

'I'll never get to see her again…'

'There was a memo?'

"Hey yeah!"

Shinji was now sure he was going to shift all his self pit and anxiety over to anger at Misato, that seemed like a good idea. He turned his attentions back to the aging professor, smiled and gave a slight nod.

"Thank you, Fuyutsuki-san."

"Anytime, Shinji."

Within seconds of Shinji leaving, Gendo strode up, his pace much quicker than Shinji's and he stopped once he reached his second in command. They looked at one another for a second then checked the surrounding area.

"So did they take the bait?"

"Yes, they took Unit 02, they also believe that doing so has greatly disturbed my scenario, the fools, they have only managed to re-enforce it."

"You saw him, didn't you."

"Who? Shinji? Yes, his progression is ahead of schedule, I am impressed at how quickly he is adapting. It won't be long before the time is right."

"Gendo, is it fair to place all of your hopes into Shinji?"

"He is strong Professor, he will succeed where I failed."

Shinji wearily opened his front door, each bolt seemed to weigh a tonne, he clicked and turned, finally the door jarred slightly and he pulled it open. It slid open quite effortlessly, he walked into his apartment alone, it was all romantic and there was everything that he had done waiting for him. He sighed, breathing out the heavy air that filled his lungs as he slid off his shoes and placed his jacket on the rack. He was about to take another step but he decided out of simple habit and nostalgia.

"Tadaima!"

"Okaerinasai."

Shinji jumped out of his skin, why was someone in his house? He quickly jumped into the kitchen to find that, even at the late hour it was, Rei was stood at the stove cooking some food. Shinji didn't know what to say, or what to do.

"Rei, why are you here?"

"I am here to keep you company. The Commander told me that Miss Soryu would not be returning and I thought that you would need a friend to be here."

"You thought?"

"Yes, was I wrong to do so?"

Shinji answered the girl by drawing her into a long tight hug. At first Rei was unsure how to act, it was not a situation she was accustomed to, but Shinji began holding her tighter and he rested his head against her's. From the sorrow-filled sigh that Shinji let out, Rei knew she was doing the right thing. After a few minutes, Shinji released her and looked at her, she saw her own face reflected in his pink eyes, so she smiled softly and brought her hands up to his face. Shinji just remained still, inside his emotions, logic and common sense were all having a free-for-all, his eyes just wobbled slightly from side to side as Rei closed her eyes. She then used her hands to guide Shinji's face to her own, meeting him half way, it was the moment of contact when the free-for-all finished, Shinji pulled back looking at Rei. His eyes were like two kinds of water mixing together in a sink, pink turning into blue turning back into pink.

"Rei… I…"

"Shhhhh."

She brought her finger up to his lips, Shinji was pretty speechless, he craved company now more than ever, he craved the caring, the touch and the love. Rei turned the stove off, inside Shinji saw that there was only simple noodles, nothing she would have spent more than five minutes making, he was about to question her but she grabbed his hand a pulled him towards his bed. Walking into the highly romanticized room, Shinji couldn't help but feel that he could have Rei, that there would be no problems, he could have her and be with her forever. But she took him to his bed, she removed his shirt and her own, but from there she slid him into bed without either of them disrobing further.

"Rei?"

"When I needed someone, you did the same. I feel that you need more intimate contact, also I… want to be like this."

"Understood."

Rei then cuddled up to Shinji and began to drift off to sleep, Shinji just held her and stared at the ceiling, he looked over to his CD-player, it was still playing from when he left. He listened for the track to change, once it started he simply closed his eyes and quietly started singing.

"No one knows what it's like to be the bad man… To be the sad man… behind blue eyes… And no one knows what its like to be hated… to be fated to tell all the lies…"

Author Note – Okay for those who don't know, that last bit is from "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit. Now I got a pretty angry review for the first version of this chapter, and to be quite honest, I didn't like it all that much either. Although it was the chapter that took months to write, it just isn't the same as doing it all at once. So I changed it for this one, which has a better twist in it actually. Hehe, anyone who liked the old version… well… I can send u a copy but I will be changing the storyline from that ending. So it is a bit crap.