A/N: I do not own Evangelion. As for the story, it picks up at the beginning of Episode 13. Not exactly a new idea, but wanted to see how a small change would affect the Eva-verse. Hopefully any attitude changes made by the characters will make sense. If not, feel free to flame. If you like, please review. And any insight you can provide would be much appreciated. Thank you.

"What? You want me to take my clothes off again?"

The intercom speaker buzzed slightly before Dr. Ritsuko Akagi's voice came through again. "The next chamber is an ultra-clean room environment. Just taking a shower and changing your undergarments is insufficient."

"Why do I have to go through all this for a dumb auto-pilot test," Asuka whined. Shinji sighed inwardly and looked at Rei, who once again was staring off into space. He idly wondered what would happen first: Ayanami actually talking like a real person or Asuka actually shutting up for once. He leaned his head forward ever so slightly, hiding his grin as he decided that neither scenario had a snowball's chance in hell.

While still calm, the good doctor's voice seemed to be losing some of its patience. "With the advance of time comes the need for Eva technology to advance as well. To do so we need a constant influx of new data. Now get undressed." Shinji groaned slightly but not with Asuka's patented vehemence. Rei had answered with a simple "Yes ma'am."

What followed was a simple shower taken to extremes, in Shinji's opinion. He didn't particularly enjoy the strict regime forced on him at the moment; after all he did a very good job keeping up his hygiene, thank you very much. The water did relax him somewhat, however, even though it did nothing to calm his nerves. He still disliked the Eva and all of its incarnations. Idly he looked at his skin. The slightly pink hue of his skin reminded him vaguely of the other two times he had nearly been boiled alive: once in the fight with the fifth angel and again in rescuing Asuka from death after the eighth. He grimaced, reminded again of the pain associated with being an Eva pilot. He was jarred from his reverie by the door of his 'cell' sliding open and quickly covered himself.

"Alright, I'm here. Just the way you wanted: butt naked and run through the wash cycle seventeen times."

"Very good. And I want all three of you to stay that way as you walk through the room and board the entry plug."

Aw crap, Shinji thought. As much as he disliked the idea of walking through the hallway in his birthday suit, he was both intrigued and horrified at the thought of the great Second Child doing the same. She'll no doubt have something to say about walking naked around a pervert, though she's already done it a few times when she's forgotten a towel. That thought almost made Shinji smile, but that was before Asuka opened her mouth.

"What!"

"Don't worry. The video recorders have been shut off. We do respect your privacy."

"Oh, sure you do. And that's not the point! This is a personal thing!"

Well, at least she didn't mention me. Shinji quietly sighed with relief.

"The purpose of this experiment is to monitor the harmonics directly from your bodies without the interference of you plugsuits."

Another voice came through the speaker. "Asuka, this is an order."

"Alright, but I don't want anyone peeking, Okay?" The camera at the far end of the hall winked off with an audible beep. Asuka turned to him. "And that includes you, Third Child."

"Asuka, how am I supposed to get into my plug without being able to see?"

"Does it look like I care? It doesn't matter to me but you are not getting a free show of this glorious body of mine." She held her fist up threateningly. "Remember the 'Over the Rainbow.'"

He didn't think he could forget if he tried. Still, the memory wasn't all bad. But this left him with the slight problem of how to make it to his plug. He closed his eyes and placed one hand in front of him, the other still preserving his modesty.

"Satisfied?"

"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you don't touch me or anything, pervert." With that the three made their way across the room. Whether by fate or just a subconscious desire to escape Asuka's wrath, Shinji accidentally bumped into his other counterpart. While Asuka went into a rant about how perverted he was for rubbing up on her body with his (I barely hit her shoulder with mine!), Rei did the most unexpected, yet expressive, thing. While Shinji was still stammering out an apology, she gently grasped his outstretched hand and led him to his plug before entering her own. That simple act stunned the Second Child until she realized that she stood alone in the room, naked, with her mouth agape.

The test seamed to be going fine until something happened. He heard it. Was that a scream? Shinji thought, Rei! A moment later Dr. Akagi echoed his last thought. He felt a tremor through his seat as something heavy slammed into the wall where his simulation body was attached.

"Rei's simulation body, it's moving!"

"Impossible," came Ritsuko's reply.

"The corrosion is still spreading! It's invading the simulation bodies' active water system." A discoloration began to appear on the shoulder of Rei's simulation body. Unnoticed by the bridge crew, however, other small streams of similar particles were traveling down the pipes connecting to the two remaining bodies. An arm reached out to the control station and was quickly separated. The whole time the other particles were racing down the pipes, finally making contact with the two bodies.

Misato turned to her long-time friend. "How's Rei?"

"She's alright. Eject the entry plugs! Use the lasers!" Shinji felt himself rocket upwards. Whether it was from the force of hitting his head or what, he wasn't sure, but he saw a bright flash. Then there was only blackness.

Inside the simulation plug for unit 01 a rather strange occurrence could have been witnessed. A red glow began emitting from just behind the pilot's head. Slowly the glow began to absorb him, the glow changing from a menacing red to a more serene golden color. Soon Shinji's entire body was enveloped in its glow. After a moment only the Third Child was glowing as the symbiotic angel began to leave the remnants of the plug for its organic host. As the glow began to fade, other changes were developing. First his musculature, never very pronounced, began to ever so slightly bulk on his frail frame. His skin lightened noticeably too, though not by a drastic amount. Finally, as the groggy boy came around, light golden flecks appeared in his eyes, though they faded after a moment. These changes went unnoticed by the organism himself, indeed, one had to look for the changes at all, but they were there and evident. Indeed, anyone could see the changes. And soon, everyone would.

"What's going on out there?" The entire angel attack had gone by without the pilots having any knowledge past their ejection. Feeling lost and dejected at having been forgotten, nevertheless Shinji was grateful that the recycler for his LCL was still functional. That and there were no communications with the Second Child. He hoped she, and Rei, were alright, but it was nice not having to listen to her incessant complaining for a change. He did like Asuka, on a myriad, of ways, but she never treated him like anything more than a disposable utensil. Something to be used and discarded, nothing more. Still he was used to it and had figured if not her, then it would be abuse from someone else. So he sat back and waited, trying to entertain himself until his retrieval.

He didn't know how long he sat there staring blankly into space before his plug began to jostle with movement. Thrown around violently, he found himself nearly upside down in the cockpit. "Would someone pay attention out there!" He knewyelling was likely pointless but he didn't care. Two more revolutions of his plug and Shinji was thoroughly upset, not to mention disoriented. Finally he was thrown against the control console as the plug was hoisted upwards by its backwards end. Standing more or less in the stirrups Shinji was able to relieve the stress on his chest and rubbed his aching sternum. He was rocked back into the seat as the capsule was oriented properly again. Shaking his head to himself, he waited until the hatch was released. The LCL rushed out of the plug and he leaned forward, expelling the last remnants from his lungs. He took a deep breath, relishing the taste of real air again and enjoying the lack of strain on his lungs. For the moment he even forgot about being stark naked as he sat in the plug. Presently a face interrupted his moment of peace.

"Hey Shinji." Shocked, Shinji moved to cover himself. The predator-like grin on one Major Misato Katsuragi promised nothing but good natured torment.

"Misato!" Shinji was quickly turning from pink to crimson. "Do you mind handing me a towel or something?" The major's grin only widened.

"Why? Red is a good look on you!" Shinji decided not to devote any brainpower to analyze the statement as she left to retrieve him a towel. Shinji was only alone a moment before a towel was handed back to him. Misato stood there, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Only mildly annoyed the boy spoke. "Misato, do you mind?"

"Not at all," came the cheerful replays she leaned her shoulder against the opening, the grin ever-present on her face.

"Misato!" In a mock huff the purple haired woman finally stepped away.

"Anyway, it's not like you didn't bear it all the first night you were in my apartment!" A groan escaped the cockpit and her grin widened. Inside Shinji had turned the color of unit 02 at the memory. He shook the thought off, finally coming up with a retort.

"Well at least it's not as bad as the alleged 'clothes' you wear to breakfast every morning." Inquisitive rescuers turned to see a rapidly growing blush on the major's face. Shinji heard her start to give out orders in an authoritative tone as she moved away. Finally left alone to extract himself from the plug, he smiled. Gotcha! He managed to get out of the plug and still maintain a modicum of decency. The berating of a certain redhead greeted his ears, leaving Shinji with the impression that he was just as well off inside the plug.

"I can't believe this Misato! Do you have any idea how long I was stuck in there?" Their mutual guardian began to sound a bit perturbed.

"Actually we don't Asuka, since it was kind of a priority to defeat the angel first." She finished with a look that effectively ended the conversation. There was a small screech as the cable pulling the First Child's plug strained in the hoist. Shinji, Misato and Asukacould only watch as techs maneuvered the plug and oriented it properly as it came to rest on the deck. Dr. Akagi opened the door and handed the figure inside a towel. As Rei emerged, Shinji couldn't take his eyes off of her. Something was different about her but he couldn't put his finger on it. He could see her, but it was as if he could feel her as well. He could feel her presence. She got out of her plug and looked at him, her head canted in an uncertain expression. This is weird.

"What's the matter Shinji? You haven't looked at Rei like that since Ritsuko gave you her id card. Do you like what you see?" Misato had appeared with a bathrobe for him but had noticed his stare. He reddened and glared at his superior. She merely gave him another evil grin and made her way to where Asuka was sulking with another robe. He looked back over at Rei, who was now also in a bathrobe, and found that she was still staring at him. I wonder . . . Shinji made his way over to where Rei was standing.

"Are you Okay Ayanami? Did something happen back there?" His voice showed genuine concern. He searched her eyes for some obvious sign of her discomfort, but she remained as unreadable as always. So he justslumped his back against her plug, watching her watch him. It was a moment before she finally answered.

"I am acceptable. However I do not have any knowledge of the passing beyond our ejection from the test bodies. It would seem that there was an angel attack."

Shinji shook his head. "No. I mean did something happen to you?" Rei seemed to consider this for a moment.

"No, I do not believe anything unusual has occurred to me." She looked deep into his eyes, as if searching for something. "Has something happened to you?" Asked innocently enough, the question was still loaded to Shinji. He resisted the urge to say 'no' on impulse. After all, his head did hurt slightly. He subconsciously ran his hand along the back of his head, feeling both a small knot and trickle of blood. He looked at his hand slightly puzzled, but then felt the First Child's eyes on his hand as well. He smiled.

"It's nothing," he said. "Just a slight bump on the head." He attempted to smile again but was slightly unnerved as she took his hand gently again for the second time that day. She looked closely at the blood. Odd, wouldn't most people check the wound? Shinji was about to say as much until Rei looked into his eyes. All thought left him as he was momentarily lost in her eyes. Then the moment ended to the tune of a very irate Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"What are you two up to," she asked accusingly. "Holding hands even? I guess the pervert couldn't keep his hands to himself with us all being indecent." She glared at the Third Child. Shinji couldn't remember the last time Asuka had made him so furious. But his was not the voice that countered Asuka berating him.

"Ikari was wounded in the ejection and forcible escape." She held up his hand as evidence of the fact. Asuka merely shrugged.

"So the idiot bumped his head. Only he could manage to hurt himself on a cushioned chair." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away, the conversation over. Rei stared after Asuka before turning her attention back towards Shinji. Hesmiled a small smileagain already content with being ignored by his tormenter. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his other hand as Rei regarded him again.

"Umm, Ayanami, can I have my hand back now?" Looking down at the hand she now held, Rei gradually released her grip on him. He pulled his other hand from behind his head and glanced at it. "See, it's already stopped bleeding. Nothing to worry about, Okay?" He left her with a timid smile as he debarked the boat and left for the remainder ofthe day. She could only watch as he walked away, the slightest trace of concern etched on her face.