Disclaimer: see chapter 1.

Folded Wings

By Random1377

Chapter 24

The air in the EVA cages was tense and heavy as the Children waited for deployment orders. Shinji stood off to one side of the catwalk, strategically located between Rei and Asuka – one of whom was standing in placid silence while the other tapped a foot impatiently, glaring at her 'temporary' replacement as he tugged at the neck of his black plugsuit.

"Would you stop fidgeting?" she snapped, planting her hands on her hips as the Fourth glanced up at her. "I swear, you're making me claustrophobic."

Touji pulled at the collar of his suit one last time before mumbling, "Blue today, Souryu? Did you run out of stupid colors to try?"

"For your information," Asuka said flatly, "contacts and glasses aren't allowed in the plug… which is why your loser friend will never be a pilot." She gave him an entirely false smile as she sweetly concluded, "Feel free to tell him, if you'd like. I was going to, but Christmas is still so far off, and I so hate waiting for my presents."

"Would you two shut up?" Ritsuko snapped, tapping quickly on her keyboard without looking up at the bickering duo. "You're giving me a headache."

"I second the shutting up vote," Misato said, striding up to Ritsuko and laying a hand on her shoulder. "Are we almost ready to go? The Commander's getting antsy."

Ritsuko scowled at her old college friend. "We're waiting for you to come up with a battle strategy," she muttered darkly, "and since the angel's in orbit, we didn't feel a huge need to rush."

Pursing her lips, Misato countered, "The last time an angel was in orbit, it tried to fall on us."

"Yes, I know – so start giving orders so we can do something!"

"I'll take point," Asuka volunteered.

Misato shot her a warning glance. "Don't push it," she said coolly, "you're only here in case Suzuhara can't hack it."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Touji, but it's the truth."

Misato glanced up at the three EVAs as if trying to decide which set of shoes to wear, tapping her bottom lip with her forefinger before finally turning to face the assembled Children.

"Unit 02 will launch in the lead position and take up an offensive sniping position with the type 20 positron rifle," she ordered, leveling a finger at Touji. "You'll pilot."

"Yes ma'am," Touji replied softly.

"This decision is based on Touji's unusually high synch rate and shooting range scores," Misato continued by way of explanation. "Rei will take a flanking position two hundred yards behind Unit 02 and stand by with the prototype positron rifle. Asuka, you'll wait here."

"Super," the Second muttered, tucking her bleached hair back over both ears and looking for all the world as if the entire conversation bored her to tears.

"What about me, Misato?" Shinji asked hopefully. "Should I stay near the base for land combat or… or something…?"

Misato rubbed her eyes. "Unit 01 will remain in the cage, in a zero-power status," she mumbled, speaking more to the room in general than answering Shinji's question. "If there are no more questions, let's saddle up."

"Guess all that time my dad spent teaching me how to shoot rabbits up the mountains is paying off now, huh Ikari?" Touji asked, looking a little green as he clapped Shinji on the shoulder. "Wish me luck… or something…"

Shinji nodded, offering the boy his hand. "You'll do great," he said, trying to sound confident as Touji shook his hand. "If it gets too bad, they'll have to let me go fight too, right?"

Frowning up at Unit 02, Touji whispered, "Then… I hope I don't see you up there."

Averting his eyes, Shinji nodded again. Turning to Unit 00, he found Rei hesitating near the plug – but she silently slid in as Asuka stepped between them, putting her hands on Shinji's shoulders and leaning up against him to whisper, "Guess it's just the two of us."

Shinji glanced around, finding to his surprise that Misato and Ritsuko had both headed out of the cages while he was talking to Touji. "G-guess so," he stammered, glancing once more to Unit 00's now-sealed entry plug.

"You don't need to sound so scared," Asuka said lightly, "I won't bite… right now."

Leaning forward, she gave him a rather wet kiss.

"Better get going," she whispered as she pulled back. "Misato will be mad if you're not where she wants you to be."

"Right," Shinji nodded, risking a quick hug before jogging over to his own plug. "See you later."

Asuka returned his wave, but her eyes were on Unit 00's plug, where she imagined the First with her ear pressed up against the bulkhead, trying desperately to hear what she was missing.

"See you."

( 0 0 0 )

Touij let out a jaw-cracking yawn, trying not to drum his fingers on the control yokes as he sighed, "Can I shoot it yet?"

"No, Touji," Misato's voice replied flatly, "you can't shoot it yet. It still hasn't moved any closer. You'd just be wasting ammo."

"Don't be so impatient, stooge," Asuka's voice recommended. "The angel will come down and eat you before you know it… then you won't have to worry about piloting any more."

Rolling his eyes, Touji muttered, "Shouldn't she be like, standing by, or something? And doesn't standing by mean shutting up?"

"Touji, stay focused," Misato snapped. "Asuka… shut up."

"Hmph!"

Touji sighed as the communications system went silent. "Finally!"

Can't believe I have to do this again, he thought bitterly. If Kimiko wasn't so banged up, I'd tell them to shove this goddamn thing up- Touji cut this thought off, trying to keep his focus as he stared into the targeting computer. Forty-five minutes and the damn thing still hasn't moved, he thought. No big deal… I've sat through classes longer than that without losing my cool.

After another twenty minutes, however, he found himself squirming in his seat, blinking to stay awake as the dot representing the angel continued to shiver and twitch just out of Unit 02's range. Forty minutes later, cradled by the warm, thick LCL all around him, Touji found his eyes slowly… slowly sliding closed.

"Suzuhara!"

"Gah!" Touji snorted. "What? What is it?"

"Don't give me 'what is it?'!" Misato growled. "You were dozing off! Your vitals were slowing down and your synch ratio was dropping! Stay awake, damn it – do you want to kill us all?"

Touji rolled his shoulders. "Did it ever occur to you that I might've been dying?" he countered. "Dying of boredom? That thing's never coming down here, you know – it's just going to stay up there until we launch a shuttle or something. Can't we just nuke it and go home?"

Misato blew out an exasperated breath. "And risk an upper atmosphere nuclear detonation?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea what the fallout would do to the area directly under the angel? And besides, we don't even know if-"

It hit like a hammer, pounding into Touji's skull and blotting the rest of the Major's words from his mind.

"ngel…s…art…cle…we…pon…?"

Touji gasped as he felt something pushing its way into his consciousness, words from the command center reaching him in tiny fragments as he fought back against the invasion.

"N… he… missions… cted… milar… t field…"

"Son of a bitch!"

Screaming out loud, Touji squinted his eyes and willed Unit 02 to pull the trigger on its enormous weapon, sending a ball of charged particles into the cloudy sky.

"Hit," he gasped, squeezing off two more shots as the first went wide, "hit it, you motherfu-"

"Irregular psychograph!" a voice rang in his ears. "Contamination is starting."

Contamination? Touji thought. Screw that!

Gritting his teeth, the Fourth let out a cry, forcing Unit 02 forward and scrambling awkwardly up the tallest building his confused mind could locate.

Images of the past conflicted with the view on his screen – his mother, vaguely remembered, telling him he had to take care of his sister because she would be gone soon… his father, trying to explain his mother's sickness… his sister, first so full of life… then so feeble, relying on machines to keep her alive… past and present, jamming together and trying to overwhelm him.

"Get… out… of my… MIND!"

Hauling the rifle up, Touji braced it against the building he was clinging to, screaming as he fired off every remaining shot the weapon had to offer.

Then, he was falling. Tears streamed down his face as his mental defenses shattered, leaving him powerless as a newborn as Unit 02 tumbled backwards off of the building and crashed into the street with a deafening explosion of concrete, steel and glass.

And finally… there was stillness as his overtaxed mind shut down, taking him away from the pain and fear to a place that no one – not even the angel – could touch.

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji watched in silence as the utility crane hoisted Unit 02 onto its side, finally exposing the entry socket for the anxious rescue team to rush in. It had been nearly an hour since the red mecha had gone silent, and so far, no one had been able to contact Touji at all.

"I'm sure he's fine," Misato murmured, stepping away from Shinji's side as Unit 02's entry plug spun out of its neck. "Go get some rest or something."

Rest, sure, Shinji thought, watching the woman's retreating back. I'll just leave before finding out if my best friend is ok, no problem! I know I won't get any ANSWERS about the fight, so I won't bother asking… but I won't leave until I know he's ok.

The fight, or as Shinji liked to think of it, the nightmare, had been incredibly short, once it had truly started to rage. He had been forced to watch helplessly as Unit 02 crashed to the ground, Touji's screams fading into soft whimpers as the angel simply continued to bombard the defenseless machine with its mysterious mental attack.

He knew that somehow, it was 'infiltrating' Touji's mind, but the extent of the damage was still unknown – as was, to Shinji at least, any information regarding the powerful weapon Rei had retrieved from somewhere deep inside the base, lofting it into the sky and obliterating the angel with a single hit.

If they had such powerful weapons, why weren't they using them in every fight?

From where Shinji was standing, he could see and hear a commotion at the plug, distracting him from his ruminations on the strange red lance… and he was perfectly positioned to see one of the rescue technicians stumbled back, clutching his nose as a whirlwind of flailing, plugsuit-clad arms exploded from the portal. Kicking, screaming, and nearly frothing at the mouth, Touji Suzuhara had to be forcibly subdued by several large support personnel.

"I won't do it again," the Fourth shrieked, his eyes wild and darting everywhere as the medics tried to calm him. "I'll never do it again – you can't make me! I'd rather die!"

Shinji nearly jumped as a hand slipped into his. He turned, finding Asuka standing at his right side and watching the scene unfold with attentive eyes. For a moment, he feared that she might make some snide comment on how Touji deserved this for piloting her Unit, but she seemed as shaken as he, saying nothing as the Fourth was sedated and led away to a waiting ambulance.

"How… horrifying…"

Looking to his left, Shinji found Rei standing next to him, her eyes focused on the ambulance as its lights came on and it pulled, screaming, into the street.

"To have your mind – the one thing that is your own and no one else's… defiled," Rei whispered, lowering her eyes to where Touji's discarded neural connectors lay ten feet from their location. "…horrifying."

Unable to find the words to agree, Shinji simply nodded, and though Asuka scowled at him, he reached out with his free hand and gently laced his fingers together with Rei's.

In silence, the three stared up at the clear, cloudless sky.

Continued…