I do not own the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of the characters, equipment, or locations written in this fanfiction. The purpose of this fanfiction is merely for the non-profit enjoyment of other readers. If requested by Gainax, Hideki Anno, or other parties which represent aforementioned objects in this story, I will remove it promptly.

Chapter XXIV:

I woke up on the couch in Misato's apartment, the major standing overhead. "Are you okay?" There was no pain, and as I squinted under the intensity of the fluorescent lighting, I noticed all the muscles in my face respond. The digital display on what looked like a DVD player indicated it was past midnight.

"No," I said. "I think I'm dying." I gave a mischievous grin, causing the woman to grimace for a moment. It was a true enough statement, but she didn't want the sarcastic answer. "No, I feel much better. Thank you, for letting my stay over."

The woman ran her hand softly over my forehead, and I shifted uncomfortably. "You said... the Angels are still inside you?" I nodded. There was no hint of disgust as I expected from someone with a vendetta, nor any wish to kill me. However, there was a look of pity, the kind a religious zealot gives someone who isn't "saved." "What is it like?"

I closed my eyes. "Major, it was not the Angels who killed your father. You know it was sabotage by Seele, right?" Misato nodded, though I didn't believe it was entirely sincere. "I can tell you for a fact that the Angels are after the same thing Seele is, the same thing NERV was created for." I paused for a minute. "Have you ever seen the film Highlander?"

Misato shook her head.

"Rent that movie, and you will understand what this war truly is." I looked around the living room. "Where is Shinji?"

"He is... with the enemy," Misato sighed.

I sighed. "There can be only one."

•••••••••••••

I was startled awake by the apartment door sliding open around three in the morning. The light footsteps and shorter stride indicated the visitor was shorter than Misato, and much lighter. "Shinji?" I whispered. The footsteps stopped. "Misato is asleep." Then I felt the stabbing headache again, and threw my right hand to my head, almost pulling the hair out of my scalp. Ikari was there in a second. "Kaworu... is here?"

"He... walked me here," the boy breathed. He did not understand the connection to my question and my pain. Of course he would not understand, though. He had no idea what was happening, and for that I envied him. He would not suffer with the constant pain of knowing the things to come. His pain would be different. He would be the trigger, the very initiator of everything. We both pitied each other, and in that pity, we finally found some kind of common ground. "Why?" he asked.

"Shinji... Kaworu is the last Angel."

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the boy's hand draw back, ready to strike, but it never came. Instead, I watched Ikari frozen in place, his eyes wide, tears running down his cheeks. He knew what I was capable of when someone hurt me, or so much as insulted me. "Go ahead," I said. "Do it. I am dying, anyway. Just do it, and go to sleep."

"Y-you... are dying?" Now the tears were really beginning to flow. He couldn't think clearly enough to form the words in English, but I guessed he asked why. Shinji was still frozen when I rose from the couch, and gripping his shoulders, guided him to sit with me.

"It is the Angels which hurt Asuka and I," I began, whispering to the frightened, burdened Child. "They are inside my head. They are killing me slowly." My hands clenched his shoulders a little too tightly, causing him to yelp. "Sorry," I said, pulling my arms away. "Shinji, I am really sorry... about school..."

"Just... leave me alone!" he cried, leaping to his feet. He was about to leave when we both froze in place. Misato's cellphone rang, the distant chime signaling from the woman's bedroom. In thirty seconds Katsuragi was stumbling out in uniform, flipping on the kitchen lights. "Mi-Misato?" Ikari gasped.

"He is making his move," Misato said, then turned to Shinji. It was a long, emotional conversation, and from what I could make out, she was begging Ikari to fight again. The Third Child, however, wished to refuse. Finally, he seemed to give in, but as we made our way to the door, I shoved him back into the apartment.

"Stay here," I growled. Shinji glared at me, but would not make a move. Then I pulled out the Jericho pistol, causing him to shudder. However, I set it on the floor near Ikari's shoes. "Misato, tell Shinji the weapon is ready for him to use. He just needs to disengage the safety, and he can kill me after I stop Kaworu."

Misato wrenched the collar of my dress shirt, and jerked me to within inches of her face. She wasn't going to hit me again, as she knew I had been hurt too many times. Any more damage, and I was useless as a pilot. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed. Ikari cupped his ears with his hands, shaking his head violently. He didn't want any part of this, and neither did the major.

"TELL HIM!" I shouted back. "Misato... I am about to kill his best... no, his ONLY friend! All I can give him now is the satisfaction of revenge, and maybe a contribution to his college tuition, if we survive!" Katsuragi glared back, confused. "What do you think I was doing with that money I demanded from the Commander? You think I'd really just blow it all on stupid trinkets?" The woman tried to protest, but I continued. "In my apartment, hidden in an open frozen food box in the freezer is everything you need to get the Children out. All the contact information, rendezvous points, the directions to a safehouse with money, clothes, guns, and an unmarked car. After Shinji kills me, take them all, and get to the airport."

"But-" she began.

"If Shinji doesn't kill me, if I live, we will work this out together." I glanced over at the boy, Ikari still trying to block out the conflict. "This is all I can do for them. Do you understand? I can't give anymore, so don't start complaining now." It took another thirty seconds for Misato to attend to the boy. "Shinji, I will do what I can, but if I have to kill Kaworu, I will."

Shinji Ikari never spoke to me again.

•••••••••••••

Misato was going to drive, but I was faster on my feet. She screamed and cursed, but she had an idea I knew how to drive, and I would not back down. We were within two kilometers of the GeoFront automotive escalator (that is the best way I can describe it, as it's designation in Japanese is still unfamiliar to me) when the major finally noticed I was driving a hell of a lot better than she did. "H-how-?" she began.

"I was taught as early as eight years old how to drive a stick," I explained. "I've ridden motorcycles, driven cars, even operated a bulldozer." Misato didn't seem to understand, until I explained further. "You know, tank tracks, big shovel on front?"

"Where did you-?"

"Your brakes need to be replaced," I groaned, the squeaking of the wear indicators digging into the rotors again torturing my eardrums. "You also need an alignment job, maybe check the sway bar end links, and for God's sake, rotate the tires sometime this century!" I had to shove the brake pedal all the way to the floor to finally begin to stop, and the brakes immediately gnashed their abrasive surfaces into the rotors. "Jesus Christ!" I hissed. "Can't you even set the brakes right? Who's been servicing this car?"

"What are you complaining about?" she snapped in response. "Do you know how to fix a car?"

"YES!" I shouted.

"...Oh..." Misato whispered, tilting her head downard as we reached the entrance to the GeoFront.

•••••••••••••

The emergency elevator was slower than I imagined, but we were ahead of Kaworu. Even without Unit-01 to keep him and Unit-02 occupied, he had to punch his way through so many layers of armor and reinforced steel. Considering Rei could retrieve the Lance of Longinus in about ten to fifteen minutes unrestricted by headquarters' defenses, and I could get to the Eva in maybe eight minutes tops, there would be time. However, it would be cutting it close, and the S2 drive was still touchy.

"You were serious about escaping?" Katsuragi mentioned casually as we descended in the elevator. I nodded, causing the woman to panic. "But... that's wrong! We can't just leave our posts! They will find us!"

"Then we kill them," I answered simply.

We stood in complete silence as the elevator sped past the last remaining levels, the buzzer sounding just a few seconds later. The doors opened slowly, and I was cursing the engineers who had built this high speed elevator for nearly ten seconds before I could bolt into the dark void outside. I could make out the shape of my partner in crime. Primer gray on black, its outline was insignificant compared to the expanse it kneeled in. I was still trying to figure out how to reach the entry plug when Misato shouted at me. "The target's almost here!" she screamed. "Get in there!"

"Where is the ladder?" I shouted back. Instantly the major pointed behind the Eva. A very thin, fragile looking frame extended all the way to the back of the exposed entry plug. I had no time to waste, but during the three minutes it took to scale the structure, I was constantly thinking about how I could possibly get into the cockpit. "Have to straddle the bloody plug like I'm some cheap hooker," I grumbled to myself. "Then somehow keep from falling and getting killed."

I reassured myself that if I got to the plug, I would at least be able to activate it faster than any other pilot. I was already deployed at Nagisa's goal, and therefore had the advantage of a prepared defense. Then I looked below me, to the right. Just as I reached the top of the structure, scrambling over the entry plug, I could see it, my weapon of choice. As much as Misato hated me, she at least knew me better than me. The giant positron rifle would prove more than effective at point blank range, AT-Field or no.

Another minute of carefully working into the entry plug, and I was in. "Hurry up!" Misato screamed from below. Shouting wasn't going to help, and besides, I was now at the part which took the least amount of time. Maya was on the tac-net, keeping me updated as I sealed the plug, and began the initiation sequence. "ETA, thirty seconds," she stated. I nodded, forcing my face to avoid smirking. I had gotten down to 25 seconds in the simulated plug for the harmonics test just a few days before, training with Asuka. Everything seemed fine, until the last step of the sequence.

"Oh crap," I grumbled. "S2 drive... inactive." The positron rifle was connected directly to an auxiliary socket in Unit-04's spine. Even if I could aim and fire the positron rifle without the Eva, it still needed power. Without the S2 drive, therefore, I had no rifle, no prog knife, not even so much as a self destruct device. Then I saw the ceiling crumble away, something big descending, and it was brilliant white in the infrared display. "Maya?" I asked, my voice hinting at panic. "How fast can you get me an umbilical?"

"Not... possible," she replied. "The cages are damaged." Then she asked the important question. "Why?"

"Great..."

•••••••••••••

I cursed and spat, hammering the controls with my fists. "You lousy piece of crap!" was one of my least offensive lines, most of which would make a sailor blush. It sickened me how fate was always against me. Here I was, the last Angel to defeat, and of all the times the S2 drive had to fail, it had to go now. As I studied each display, desperately looking for the fault which hindered the S2 drive, the headache returned, stabbing me in the back of my skull.

"You will not find... what you are looking for," I snarled over the built-in loudspeaker. "This is Lillith, not Adam, Kaworu." The Angel and it's puppet, represented as an incredibly small white dot compared to the massive, amorphous form in the display, both stopped abruptly. The headache suddenly grew worse, and my vision turned to gray.

Before I passed out, I accessed the communications controls. Now, to the credit of the engineers who had built Unit-04, the communications system was far more advanced than the other models. It made sense, I thought, as I hammered the ten key buttons, dialing Misato's cellphone number. Of course Unit-04 would have the ability to interface with most telecommunications systems, as well as have the standard scrambled communications computer. Clearly the engineers of Unit-04 remembered the invasion of Grenada back in '83, when soldiers had to relay communications through standard long-distance telephone lines, as their radios were either jammed or monitored.

Unit-04 was a command and control model, after all.

"Yes?" Misato demanded in Japanese.

"Misato, I need emergency power to Unit-04 immediately," I answered. "The S2 drive just crapped out." There was a short pause as the major must have wondered how I not only called her cellphone from Unit-04, but how I was able to override her existing conversation with the command deck. "The existing batteries for the shoulder pylons won't fit. I need an adapter to plug directly into the umbilical."

"I'm on it," she answered. Then everything seemed to go quiet, as a high pitched tone filled my head. I felt light-headed, and leaned forward as the nausea came back. "Susan? SUSAN?" I was going to answer, but decided against it, and cancelled the communications link. My vision grayed out again, then went black.

•••••••••••••

I was there again, back in my red GTO, the woman in the blue dress sitting as she had before in the passenger seat. This time we were closing in on Sacramento, along Highway 16 headed west. I could tell, because we had just passed this abandonned 50's era gas station with it's adobe and checkered tile convenience store. It was the same gas station I remember stopping at before with my grandparents, back when gas was only a dollar and some odd cents per gallon.

"It is nearly time," the brunette spoke. I reached down to feel the Hurst M40 shifter handle in my hand, finding the woman setting her hand over mine. I cringed, trying to shake her grip without disturbing the transmission. Only my girlfriend did that, and that feeling of her hand reinforcing my decisions, assuring me things were going okay, would only belong to her. "You do not approve?"

"No, I do not," I answered coldly. "I do not want you, or anyone else besides-"

"Besides the Lillim you love?"

"...Yes," I replied shakily. It annoyed me how she was in my head, knowing all of my thoughts before I could say them.

"But this was what you did to everyone else, right?" she said, again rifling through my thoughts. I could have written this recollection another way, but I felt it was best to leave all my failings and frailty intact, so as to show the reader just how connected this creature and I were. I was going to answer again, but she continued. "Yes, I do not need to explain." She gave me a wink and a kind smile. "You are quite intelligent, for one of the Lillim. And no need to thank me."

"Bad grammar," we both answered in unison. Okay, that was getting a little too creepy. More importantly, what was even more disturbing was the fact I was getting the impression she was taking a liking to me. Of course, she, or rather it, could have just been manipulating my mind to give off the illusion of a caring, nice woman. Again I forgot how my thoughts could be so easily read, and just as I thought that, she called me on it.

"If I were really going to try and seduce you, I would take on a more pleasing form," she answered, turning her head to stare mindlessly out the windshield. "Short hair, a few more curves, or perhaps..." The next time I turned to face her, she was an identical copy of Maya Ibuki, the uniform, the badges, and the works. Before I could even cringe, she changed back as I checked the gauges again. "It does not please you, seeing her instead of me."

"You know what I am thinking. Do I have to vocalize it?"

"I know you. You would prefer to express everything by voice. You hate your random thought noise, don't you?" My mind skipped for a moment, flashes of memories I did and did not want to remember obstructing the illusion. "That is precisely what you fear the most, isn't it? Another, especially someone you care about, seeing what you don't want to remember." She paused, then blushed. "And are you becoming more comfortable with my presence?"

I looked again at the gauges, and realized the needle pointing to nearly an empty tank was some kind of metaphor. "We cannot get to Adam from here, and you know it," I grumbled. The woman shifted in the passenger seat, and resting her right elbow out the open window, propped her head up with the palm of her hand. "We have to get to Rokubungi." Then the thought occurred to me. "What would happen if an Angel came in contact with Lillith?"

"But we are not going as an Angel," she explained. "We are going as the substitute for Human Instrumentality." The imaginary hairs on the back of my neck stood up as we passed by a few houses, near the railroad tracks which cross Highway 16 just south of downtown Sacramento. She nodded as she realized I understood, but vocalized her thoughts, nodding as I considered she was doing it as a courtesy to me. "We are part Angel, part a copy of Lillith, as you consider Unit-01, and part human."

"But I can't," I protested. "I made a promise to them."

"Even though you truly hate all of them, and before you protest, I know you hate them." Thoughts of Kensuke surfaced, as well as those of Hikari. I would have thought about Toji, but I didn't really get the chance to meet him. They were the potentially salvageable characters, but I highly doubted I could tolerate them for long. "See?" she asked. "You wish to befriend them, but they have their own agendas when they are near you."

"Alright," I sighed. "But you know what I'm going to do if we join with Lillith." She did know, and her eyes made a crude copy of sadness, glancing down at the floor. "Do you still wish to crush your sibling, and proceed?" The gauge was almost at empty, as the GTO approached the on-ramp for Interstate 5 headed north. I saw the woman nod out of the corner of my eye. "Then let's hope Misato has the emergency power supply ready, and we can get this mess over with."

"That will not be necessary," the woman answered as my vision faded to black. When I blinked, my vision came back, I was in the entry plug, ears bombarded with radio traffic. Then I noticed the large orange digits, the countdown timer for the main power reading all eights.

"S2 drive... active," I muttered, disengaging the weapon safeties.

End of Chapter XXIV

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