Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, support official release

It was night at the Geo-Front, or at least that's what the reflection glasses want everyone to believe. As we got out of the car and entered the facility, they soon arrived at a problem…

Adam POV

We're lost…

Somehow this woman has managed to get us lost.

Usually I would give her the benefit of the doubt considering the size of this place, but I get the distinct feeling that she does this all the time.

"From the Terminal's Western exit, head north to the 3rd gate and take a right…" Misato read as her hair flowed behind her, reading the "map" of NERV HQ; a nice detail that only adds to her charm… if she had any. "Then we need to head for Route 8 and…"

The door before the fast moving conveyor belt-like walkway opened to reveal a large empty black chamber, with several other catwalks and conveyor walkways above and below us. "Jeez, couldn't have made the HQ more complicated?" Misato sighed, looking back down. "Hmm… this should be the correct route…"

I facepalmed at the sheer audacity of this woman.

Shinji looks back at his handbook, reading through the history of NERV and the U.N. "...we're lost," Shinji stated, yet his silence came like a question "aren't we?"

Misato sweat dropped, the expression on her face was all the answer we needed. "I'm not used to the base yet…"

Oh god…

"But we'll get there as long as we move forward!" Misato exclaimed cheerfully.

I had enough. "Jesus Christ, just call someone to get us out of this mess already!"

Misato jolts at the sound of my voice suddenly rising a few decibels and could have sworn she saw the face of an angry demon beside the teenage boy.

…maybe she should call someone.

"Secondary cooling cycle complete."

"We're all set here, ma'am."

"All personnel, exit the tank immediately." An intercom announced.

"I want the left arm conductive plating defrosted and ready for battle in the next three minutes!" A scuba diver ordered, exiting the tank and taking a seat on the metal plating above the red liquid tank. "And don't forget that apoptosis data!"

""Yes, ma'am!""

"Doctor Akagi: Captain Katsuragi and one Shinji Ikari alongside a John Doe have arrived at Shaft S36." Another intercom, this one from Central Dogma spoke as said Professor undid her diving gear. "Repeat, will Doctor Akagi please…"

"Great," Dr. Ritsuko Akagi sighed, pulling her goggles above her short blond hair to show the disappointed look in her eyes "she's late…"

Normal POV

Back with the threesome twosome, they've managed to find an elevator to take them deeper into NERV; the problem, however…

They were still lost.

It came to no surprise to either of them that this woman has no sense of direction, even with the help of a map. The elevator finally stops at Level 08-31 and comes face-to-face with a blonde woman that seemed to be of Misato's age - maybe a little older - wearing a scuba outfit under a white lab coat. "R-Ritsuko!" Misato yelped in slight surprise.

"Colonel, you were supposed to be here 12 minutes ago," the blond scientist, Ritsuko, explained to a nervous Misato. "We're short on staff and time; so I was asked to meet you personally."

"Oh, uh hehe… sorry…" Misato apologizes, feeling small.

The bottle blond sighed and nodded, her eyes looking over to the boys an arches an eyebrow at the two's near identical facial features "I was informed that Third Child had no siblings."

"Same but I checked his records and Shinji is the commander's only child which means that this is just one of those random coincidences you run into in your life." Misato tells her friend.

"And yet instead of taking him to a shelter, you brought him here." Ritsuko states in a matter-of-fact tone yet you can hear the exasperation in her voice.

"Hey, I was almost blown up by an N2 mine and everything! Sorry if I didn't have the time to make a detour when we're in an emergency!" Misato exclaims.

Ritsuko simply rubs her temples; this is going to be one of those days, huh?

"Well, my name is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. I am the Chief Director and Engineer of NERV Project E. A pleasure to meet you two." The blond woman introduced herself.

"Likewise ma'am." Shinji said.

"Hm." Adam grunted.

"Fuyutsuki, I'm leaving the rest to you." Gendo stated, before a small lift lowers him out of sight. Fuyutsuki merely sighs; that man is as emotionless as ever, and will probably remain like this for a long time.

Still…

"Their first meeting in almost eleven years…" The old commander muttered, before an officer informed him the Angel's movements. "Right, all units to Level 1 battle stations!"

"Attention! All personnel to Level 1 battle stations! This is not a drill!"

Shinji, Misato, Ritsuko and Adam meanwhile, had taken up a small dingy and were cruising through some kind of red liquid when the intercom came to life. They were heading towards Dr. Akagi's "Project E" and see a "wall" though calling it a that is an understatement. It had the letters and numbers "E-01" and "L-03" with a rather odd looking purple and green pylon attached to the wall. Suddenly, a light quake can be felt as the dingy begins to shake left and right.

"Did you feel that?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, seems like the situation is about to get serious." Ritsuko replied.

"While we're at it, what's the status of Unit-01?"

"It has already been fitted with the B-Type Equipment and is now cooled."

"...are you really going to activate it? As far as I know, there has never been a successful test before."

"The odds of a successful activation are at 0.000000001%. We call it the 0-9 System."

"So you're saying it's not going to work?"

"My, my, I didn't say it was a zero." Ritsuko quipped.

"Yeah, but that a theoretical chance, but apparently 'sorry, that's impossible' is considered a lazy excuse here." Misato retorted.

We got out of the dingy and entered a dark chamber where a large silhouette is present.

"Can someone turn on the lights?" Adam asked.

As if hearing his request, the light turned on and what was in front of them made Shinji and Adam's eyes almost come out of their sockets. In front of them was a large monster-like face. Faded out yellow eyes can be seen under a purple helmet with red lining on the eye sockets topped off with a large chin and long horn on its head. Where its cheeks should be were large green mouth protectors of some kind.

Shinji gave one look at it and instinctively back away, fearing for his life.

Adam… was different.

His expression constantly shifted from shock to apprehension almost instantly, making it unreadable.

"This is the ultimate man-made multipurpose fighting mecha. The artificial humanoid: Evangelion." Ritsuko explained.

"Artificial humanoid…" Shinji began.

"Evangelion." Adam finished.

They both kept staring at the behemoth until Shinji broke the silence. "Is this part of my father's work?"

"Correct."

Everyone looks up to the observation platform to find Commander Gendo Ikari staring down on us with a smile on his face. "It's been a while."

Shinji stared at his father, a man he hasn't seen in eleven years, and begins to seethe in anger. "Father…" He growled.

The elder Ikari simply stares down at us - at Shinji - unmoving like a statue. He then finally turns to Misato. "We're moving out."

Misato jumps in shock. "M-Move out!? But Unit-00 is still in cryostasis!"

However, it didn't take long for Misato to put the pieces together on the Commander's little plan and gasps as she turns to Ritsuko. "You're planning to use Unit-01!?"

"We don't have a choice, the Angel's forced our hand." Ritsuko answered, looking at one of the boys beside her. "Shinji Ikari?"

"Yes?" Shinji meekly asked.

Ritsuko's face was stern, almost like his father's. "You will pilot." She stated, shocking the boy.

"But it took Rei seven months to synchronize with her EVA. He just arrived! How is that supposed to work!?" Misato screamed in outrage.

"We just need him to try and sit on it. We don't expect him to do anything else." Ritsuko answered calmly.

"But-"

"At the moment, our main concern is to stop the Angel. If there is a chance that he will be able to move the EVA on his first attempt, however slight as it may be, then we can at least have to try!" Ritsuko demanded. "We are out of options. Do you understand that, Lt. Colonel Katsuragi?"

"You… you're probably right…" Misato conceded hesitantly, although she didn't seem very convinced. She didn't like this situation in the slightest, especially when she looked at that despondent boy over there.

It all reminded her far too much of things she prefers to forget, and she felt much more compelled to side with Shinji than what would have been reconcilable with her duty.

Shinji himself has spent all these long minutes which Misato and Ritsuko had spent arguing about this crazy situation which he found himself in believing less and less of scraping together the valor to speak for himself.

All of this talk about Angels and synchronization was beside the point. That wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Father… why did you call me here…?" Shinji asked.

"You already know the answer." The dark silhouette before him answered, without the slightest shred of feeling.

Every single thing about this was just too ludicrous.

What is this, some cheesy robot anime!?

No! This is reality, and it has a twisted sense of humor!

Shinji no longer even tries to conceal his discontentment. "Then you seriously want me to climb into this thing and fight that monster I saw on the way here?"

"Yes." His father answered instantly like it's the most normal thing in the world.

Is he serious!?

Shinji has finally reached his boiling point. He could no longer stop the warm, salty fluid from pooling beneath his eyes. "I won't. Why are you saying this all of a sudden? I thought you didn't want me!"

"I called you here because I have a use for you." Gendo answered, still not showing much of a reaction.

"And why did it have to be me?" Shinji asked despondently, hanging his head on all of the multiple screens the older Ikari was standing next to.

"Because no one else will do it."

"But I won't either!" Shinji countered, his voice quaking. As helpless as he felt, they might as well have pulled the ground out of under his feet. Why was his father so thoroughly convinced that he has any chance at doing anything remotely expedient with that huge robot thing?

"I have never seen or even heard of that thing in my life! What makes you think I can do this?"

"You will receive instructions."

But Shinji wasn't evenly listening anymore. "No… that's enough, I can't! I just can't do it, okay!"

Unfortunately, the commander seemed to be nearing the end of his patience as well. "Either you get in the robot or leave."

The callousness that last word was spoken with earned Shinji the sympathies of Misato and probably roughly half of the technicials present, but the being which Ritsuko has referred to as an "Angel" was notably less tactful. An earthquake interrupts the admittedly rather fruitless father-son talk.

"It has found us." The former noted, understandably less than pleased.

Outside, Sachiel fired a beam at the ground, creating an explosion which shot upwards creating a red cross of energy at the center. The NERV base shook violently at the hit.

"I'll pilot."

Everyone turns to the sudden voice and sees Adam standing beside Shinji as everyone has seemingly forgotten the other boy.

Gendo turns to the boy and stares down at him before turning his attention to Misato. "You brought a civilian to headquarters." It wasn't a question but a statement of the fact.

Misato felt a lump in her throat as the commander stared down at her. "W-well… I couldn't just leave him out there to possibly get stomped by the Angel or burned by the JSSDF."

"Irrelevant." Gendo said, his voice was stern and cruel. "You have wasted time retrieving this boy instead of focusing on bringing the Third Child posthaste like you were supposed to."

"Seriously," Adam began "for someone who leads an organization that's supposed to protect mankind you sure don't sound like you actually care. I mean you don't seem to give a damn about what would have happened to a child like me up there."

"There are more important things to be concerned about. A child like you cannot understand." Gendo stated.

Adam snorts, clearly not buying it. "That something only a shortsighted idiot would say."

Everyone looks at Adam like he has grown a second head. Does he not realize who he's talking to? He is the commander of NERV, the most powerful man around! And he is acting like he owns the place.

'Damn… kid's got balls of steel…' Misato thought.

Gendo's expression hardened at the boy's disrespect and it seems like his son wasn't willing to cooperate. He turns to the many screens that now show Shinji's face. "Fuyutsuki." he ordered, a screen switching to the Sub-Commander in the Command Center. "Wake up Rei."

"Are you sure she'll be able to do it?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"She is not dead. Patch me through to her."

"Understood." The screen switches to one with the words "SOUND ONLY" on it.

"Rei." Gendo called out.

"...yes." An emotionless, yet strained feminine voice answered.

"Our spare is useless. We're sending you out." Gendo explained, not bothered by the pained gasp from Rei.

"...yes, sir." The screen closed.

Ritsuko glares at Shinji, angered at how this boy wouldn't accept the order he was asked-no, given to fulfill. 'So much for the Third Child.' She glanced at the other boy who was trying to snap Shinji out of his little episode with some success. 'He would have made a better pilot.'

"Switch Unit-01 to L-00 type core and begin activation!" Ritsuko ordered, leaving towards the opposite end of the catwalk. Misato did the same, leaving the poor boys alone before Unit-01's "sleeping" face.

"Come on, we should leave." Adam suggested.

Shinji didn't acknowledge his words. Why did his father even bother to call him here? And why was he so evident in having him pilot this monster.

Abruptly, a ding sounded off taking Shinji out of his thoughts as an elevator opens. Exiting the elevator was a nurse and two doctors, rolling in a… girl. An injured girl on a hospital bed. When they passed by the boys, they could see that the girl had an IV and an arm cast as well as multiple major injuries to her arms, legs, and left eye as it was covered by a white cloth. She has blue hair and red eyes and is wearing a skin tight white suit.

"What the fuck…!?" Adam exclaimed, horrified.

The girl struggles to rise as she attempts to exit the hospital bed. She gasps, barely able to breath and is visibly in pain. Another tremor shook, this one harsher than before as it shook the entire Geo-Front. The shaking sends the girl out of the hospital bed with a cry as it tipped.

"Look out!" Shinji cries out, rushing to her. "Are you alright!?"

The girl only winces in pain, tightening her eyes shut to try and hold in any screams of pain. Above the pair, a metal railing collapses in on itself with another tremor on the base, spiraling down above the pair. Whether out of instinct or concern, Adam manages to be quick enough to push both Shinji and Rei to a safe enough distance but there wasn't enough time for him to avoid the metal railway.

"Adam!" Misato yelled, but everyone was frozen by what occurred next.

Before the metal railing hit him, Unit-01's arm ripped out of its restraint and moves its forearm to protect him from the debris. "It… Unit-01 broke out of its arm restraint!?" Ritsuko was more shocked than surprised or happy. "It moved on its own!?"

"No, it moved to…" Misato blinked as she looked at EVA Unit-01 and turned to Adam, who was just as shocked as her. She somehow felt that the EVA was more concerned with the boy's wellbeing than its own. "To protect them… to protect… him."

Adam stares at a downed Shinji who was still cradling the cripple like his life depended on it. He could see that some of her bandages were now seeping with blood, most likely because the sudden tremors reopening her wounds. It was clear that Shinji wanted nothing to do with his father or his organization, yet the fact they had a crippled girl on standby if he refused just made him grits his teeth as anger slowly swells in his chest.

'So that's his plan, psychological manipulation…' Adam thought as he realized what Gendo is doing.

It was disgusting, effective, but disgusting. Gendo gave Shinji the illusion to choose when in reality he had no choice at all.

Adam smirks internally. 'Sorry Gendo, but I'm going to derail your little play.'

Adam stares directly at Gendo, whose expression was just as blank as ever.

"I'll pilot." Adam said.

Everyone looks at Adam like he had grown a second head.

Gendo narrows his eyes… this was not part of the plan. "And why should I let you pilot?"

Adam gives Gendo a deadpan look. "Your son doesn't want to pilot and your backup is crippled beyond belief. The fact that you were counting on some kind of delusion that he will pilot just because you said so is laughable, considering how you treat him. So why not instead go for a more willing participant rather than force it on someone who doesn't want to?"

Gendo's breathing becomes more hitched as he grew more frustrated. "I don't have time to waste on you, either the Third Child pilots Unit-01 or Rei will."

Adam grows more annoyed. "Are you serious? We don't have time to argue about this! I will pilot the EVA, I'm willing to do it. Why are you so insistent on Shinji piloting it!?"

Ritsuko decides to step in. "It's not that simple. Shinji Ikari was chosen by the Marduk Institute to pilot Unit-01 and as such, he is a prime candidate with Rei being an alternative."

"But neither of them are ready! So you either suck it up and let me pilot or just sit back and watch your little city burn!" Adam yelled.

Ritsuko opens her mouth but quickly clamps it shut as she has nothing to rebuke. The boy was right, with the Third Child's refusal and Rei's condition their chances of victory were nonexistent.

"Dr. Akagi."

Ritsuko looks up to Gendo in the observation room. "We are running out of time, let the boy pilot Unit-01."

"But sir, the chances of activating Unit-01 are close zero percent, even if Shinji had accepted it was going to be a maybe at best! It's not going to accept him!" Ritsuko stated.

"Nevertheless, we must use every opportunity presented to us to its full advantage. Prepare him for launch." With that, the commander stepped back and left the observation platform and made his way to the command center.

Sighing, Ritsuko has no choice but to obey him. "You heard him. Come, we need to get you ready."

Adam follows Ritsuko as the medics begin to put Rei in a stretcher and take her back to her room. Shinji blankly stares as Adam is taken away to pilot the EVA. Misato approaches him and helps him stand up.

"Come on, we should get to Central Dogma and let the tech boys do their work." Misato said.

Shinji merely nods and follows her, though his attention was at Adam and the EVA. 'Did I do the right thing?' He thought as he stepped into the elevator and gave one last glance at Unit-01 before the doors closed.

Author Notes

I'm back with this story but don't expect another one for a while (I thought I had more to say, but I kept drawing blanks so this is relatively short).

Leave a comment/review and tell me what you think.

Peace~