Unravel

by Homer's Disciple

Shinji rejected Instrumentality, but he made so many mistakes. He has one last chance to set things right, to unravel everything and save what matters. A retelling or altering of the series, an altered version of Shinji with an altered past. Life takes a different path, but do all paths lead to the same destination? Is Shinji doomed to never know happiness?

32. Ally

Hey guys, long delay but I'm back.
Why the long wait? Things in my personal life, and deciding just what to put into this chapter versus what to put in the next chapter(s). There's a lot of things that are going to happen, and I have to plan it carefully.

Note: this chapter has a long prologue.

Here's chapter 32 "Ally"

---

"Why her?"

"Because she's like us."

"… after everything that she did in your time… I thought…"

"That I would be angry with her? No, boy."

"How can you not be?"

"Do you hate her? Knowing what you do."

"I... I don't know. She helped… she worked with..."

"She was used and thrown away. Just another tool. Lied to and manipulated. It doesn't have to be that way. She's not there yet."

"Does it have to be her? Why not-"

"Because she died alone. Just like I did"

- The Broken Man and Shinji Ikari.

---

…

2000 A.D.
Antarctica

"Yes sir. The drills are in place. They're expected to reach the site within the hour. We- no sir. The walls of ice and snow were kilometers thick. Yes, I will keep you posted." the man said.

The man's daughter knelt atop the frozen grounds nearby, running her gloved fingers through the snow. She was wrapped in the layers of clothes and a heavy-duty jacket, she could barely feel the snow, but it was something she'd never experienced before.

She listened to her father on yet another of his phone calls, and distantly wondered why she had been forced to 'tag along' at all.

It wasn't like he had time for her in the first place, why now?

"At least the snow is nice" Young Misato whispered to herself.

Barely a teenager, Misato did not particularly like the research base and expedition site. She much preferred the company of her mother over her father.

"Gendo, I know what I'm doing. Tell Mr. Keel that we'll reach the target within the hour" Dr. Katsuragi said, sounding mildly annoyed.

Misato glanced back at her father for a second time.

You love that phone more than mom... she thought bitterly.

Her father hung up, and turned to her with an apologetic look on his face. As if that somehow made things right.

"Sorry about that, daddy's work is never done" Dr. Katsuragi said.

"Can I go now? It's freezing." Misato asked her father.

Her father's face fell.

"Don't you like the snow? Or the penguins that linger back at base? Come on, it's an adventure and-" he began.

"I wanna go back with mom." Misato cut in. Face cold in that way only teenage girls could muster when they disapproved of something.

Her father looked away before seeming to steel himself up.

"And you will. When this is all over we can go on vacation and fix things. Doesn't that sound nice. The three of us spending more time together." Her father said.

Misato listened without really paying attention. It was always this way with her dad, he was always promising this and that. That when this project was over he'd make more time for his wife and kid. Yet the day never came.

No wonder you two are splitting up. She thought.

The divorce proceedings were already on their way back home in Japan. The only one in denial was Dr. Katsuragi himself. But Misato was stuck here with him until tomorrow.

"Yeah, sound great... dad" Misato lied.

Her father didn't notice. He only patted her on the head and turned back to his phone. Leaving his daughter to the complex set up near the expedition site.

…

At that same time.
Old Tokyo, Japan.

"Mom, I got my grades back," Ritsuko said. The teenager held up the report from school, glancing through the list of top scores in her various classes at high school.

Dr. Naoko Akagi glanced at her daughter but never turned her attention away from her phone. Absentmindedly the woman nodded at her child in the barest hint of approval.

"Gendo spoke with him. They should reach the site within the hour. Yui and I need a sample if we are to continue." Naoko was saying into the phone.

Ritsuko hovered in the kitchen of their home, awkwardly waiting for her mother to finish another of her business calls.

"Yes, sir. Good day, Mr. Keel" Naoko said before hanging up the phone.

Her mother turned to her and held out her hand expectantly. Ritsuko's school had nothing but praise for her, but her mother held her to a higher standard.

Ritsuko stiffly handed her mother the grades.

"Hmm... good. Just as expected. You truly have a gift for science, dear."

"Thank-" Ritsuko began.

"But you're slacking behind. You need to brush up before those A's drop to B's," Naoko cut in shortly.

Dr. Akagi expected no less than excellence from her child.

I'm already the best in the class. I study for hours and- and isn't that enough? Can't you be proud of me for that? she thought.

"Yes, mother," Ritsuko answered glumly.

"Good girl. Now, I'm going to be out of town for a few days. I left you some money in the kitchen and food in the fridge. Please, try not to call me unless it's important" Naoko said.

Ritsuko nodded, the teenage girl waving goodbye to her mother as she left once again on business.

Her mother didn't even glance back on the way out, and the door slammed shut leaving Ritsuko alone. A common occurrence.

…

Antarctica

Misato sat at the table with a cup of coffee in hand. The expedition site wasn't really a place for teens, and there wasn't much to do here after the novelty of snow wore off.

All the adults were busy with their instruments or else construction crews, the so-called 'drilling team' and their site. Said drills were making such a racket that Misato just knew she was gonna get a headache before the day was out.

Whoever knew drills could be so damn loud Misato thought with a grimace.

How she just wanted to go home with mom.

She sat there, alone and trying to drown out the sound of the drills until suddenly... the air stilled.

Years later, Misato would never be quite able to explain that feeling. That primal sense in one's bones that something was wrong. The feeling of your eyes hyper-focusing and your heart beating faster for reasons that you are not fully aware of.

A warning from some primitive portion of your brain. Not fight or flight, but pure flight. That chill that goes down your spine... a warning. 'Run' your body tells you.

Young Misato looked up just as the sound of the drills stopped. And in its place was the ear shattered crack of ice being shattered. The sound of an expedition site being torn apart from underneath, the thing below breaking itself out in place of any human efforts.

She winced at the sound, covering an ear with her free hand, and looked up. She stared open-mouthed at the sight in the sky...

A drill, bigger even than a truck, was flying through the air. It would have been comical if not for the harsh winds that followed, the sight of the vehicle moving through the sky as if it was a toy being thrown by a child.

Th- there was someone inside there... driving the drill... and they... they Misato thought. She watched with horrid fascination as the drill landed dozen of meters away.

CRASH

The vehicle broke the ground where it landed with such force that it left a crater in its wake. Upturned snow and ice propelled into the air as the drill sank into the ocean, an unknown body mangled and broken sinking with it

"Misato!"

The girl turned, unable to process what she saw. The death of the drill driver.

"Misato!"

Her father was running towards her. The adults at the site scattered, crying out in panic. The entire complex trying to find safety or else to evacuate. Trying to flee.

Dr. Katsuragi grabbed his daughter by the wrist and pulled the stunned girl with him as he moved. She dropped her coffee as she was pulled away. Misato was in shock, and she stared at her father with wide confused eyes.

A Giant of Light rose from the expedition site.

Ice broke apart in the Angel's wake, and the frozen lands began to break apart. Entire portions of the ground sinking into the ocean. People cried out, researchers and construction workers all shouting for help before falling into the Antarctic waters.

Misato glanced behind her and was left speechless at the sight of it all.

An unnatural blizzard began forming around the site, hiding the sun and bathing them in an eerie night with harsh winds.

"The Angel is hostile! The Angel is hostile!" her father shouted into his comm unit. He never let go of his daughter. His hands holding her tight as he ran forward.

Misato followed, her legs feeling weightless as her father pulled her along. Her young mind freezing at the sight of so much death.

"Launch the Spear! Its the only way!" her father shouted into the comm.

Dr. Katsuragi pulled his daughter into the complex, the ground beneath them shaking as he did so. An inhuman roar audible even as they entered the facility.

"Dad... dad wh-" Misato stammered.

"Get in!" the man called.

Her father shoved her into an emergency pod. A strange metal tube that acted as a one-man bunker, portable, and built to keep an occupant alive in case of a nuclear blast.

The research complex had a whole row of them. Dozens of pods, and yet only Dr. Katsuragi and his daughter had made it to them.

"You'll be okay!" her father shouted to her, his voice barely audible amid the winds and roars of the First Angel in the distance.

…

Adam slaughtered the Lilin below him.

Tossing their machines aside like the little toys they were, breaking the ground beneath all of them as he hovered above. Letting the humans fall to the frozen waters below, letting them freeze even as he rose.

Wings of Light emerged from his back, and Adam rose even higher. The First Angel moving to end all life on this planet.

Only for a strange object to come rushing after him from a distance. A weapon that the humans had been counting on.

The Spear of Longinus shot through the air, breaking the sound barrier in its wake, and acting of its own accord once set free. The artifact moving to fulfill its task.

Adam roared as the Spear hit him. The blade pierced through his nearly invulnerable skin, and he was silenced but never defeated.

His power was slipping, fading away as the Spear broke his body apart bit by bit. With one final act of defiance, the First Angel sent his energy outward. A blast that would ripple across the entire planet. An explosion that would act as his wrath.

…

"I'll see you on the other side. Daddy loves you very much" Dr. Katsuragi told his daughter through the safety glass of the emergency pod. Tears dripped down from his red eyes. Blood slid down the side of his face, an injury that Misato had not noticed before.

Misato tried to say something. To reach out to him despite being encased in the pod. But she never got the chance.

The walls of the complex came apart, ripped open by some unseen force that sent her father flying back. The doctor had never had a chance of getting a pod for himself.

Misato watched her father's body fly away even as her pod flew through the air too. Her body shaking as the unseen force carried all of them, Misato, her father, and the fragmented bits of the building itself. The explosion shoving all of them aside.

In that moment in time, things seemed to play in slow motion, her father's body disappearing from sight as the pod rolled and rolled with her in it. Misato, safe in her one-man bunker, and everything else ripped apart.

And in the distance the eerie sight of a Giant of Light, with a Spear impaled through his chest, hovering off the ground.

The First Angel broke apart, coming undone, as the blast spread out far above him. The energy rippled across the sky even as Adam lost more and more mass.

Second Impact.

…

Minutes later
Japan

Ritsuko turned on the tv only to find static.

The young girl blinked in surprise as the lights flickered in the apartment, and the phone line shrieked as if short-circuiting.

Outside, she heard the power lines and street lights going haywire. Terrified, the girl stumbled out of the apartment to find her neighbors doing the same. Dozens of tenants filing out of the rooms as the whole block seemed to be experiencing the same thing.

The ground shook, and with it the apartment building.

BOOM

An ear-shattering sound echoed across the city... and perhaps beyond.

Mom... mom I'm scared Ritsuko thought shaking as she stumbled out of the building along with the others.

"Earthquake" someone was calling.

No... not an earthquake but something else Ritsuko thought. The girl came to a stop outside just as she caught a glimpse of the early morning sky.

It came.

A shimmering wave of light above the clouds, a ripple that sent shock waves across the sky. It broke the sound barrier, leaving a sonic boom and in its wake, the ground shook and the street lights exploded with a hiss. Windows shattered and the street cracked, cars crashed, and a convenience store nearby collapsed in on itself. All of it followed the ripples in the sky, some unseen force that brought destruction to all it met.

Ritsuko fell to the ground, ears ringing and too shocked to even breathe as the world around her came undone.

Chucks of her apartment complex fell from their place in the structure, pieces of the walls that came free as if ripped out. The building fell in on itself.

Ritsuko flinched at the sight. knowing that if she had still been inside... she would have been crushed.

And when it was over, the girl stood inside a wrecked city. One among countless refugees wandering the city with no power, running water, or working phones of any kind. Dust and blood, surface wounds caused by flying glass, covered her young face.

Bodies lay in the street, leftovers from the many car accidents, collapsed buildings, or else killed by the strange force that had erupted across the sky.

Nervously Ritsuko tried to call her mother in the chaos that followed, but no signal ever went out. All the public phones were dead. The girl ended up sitting at a random bus stop, a fallen street light beside her. Just another lost soul in the aftermath of what would one day be called the Second Impact.

In the days that followed, Ritsuko would wander the streets along with the countless others roaming in search of help.

…

Antarctica

Misato gasped as she felt a warm liquid in her mouth.

The emergency pod was floating in the ocean, blown away by the blast, and when Misato opened her eyes the sky was grey. She sat up and gasped at the sharp pain under her breast. She looked down to see bright red blood seeping out of her jacket.

She shuttered uncontrollably at the sight of her own blood and looked around to see that the pod had been heavily damaged. Its top was completely blown off.

Shrapnel... hit me... what happened to it? Misato thought as she sat in the open pod, floating aimlessly in the ocean. A dead red sea where once had been the icy waters of Antarctica.

The sky itself seemed to have been wounded. Grey and dark, it loomed over her menacingly.

"Dad... dad" Misato whispered as she shook.

She sat there in the pod, floating aimlessly for hours. The image of a Giant of Light burned into her memories, a haunting nightmare. The image of an Angel and its wrath.

…

5 days later

Ritsuko was brought to the Nerv base via helicopter. She had been found in a refugee camp outside Old Tokyo, just another homeless kid out there until someone had managed to identify her. She'd spent 3 days at the camp, locked in with the other survivors of 'the incident'.

Only to be as surprised as anyone when the helicopter and men armed in military gear had landed to pick her up. Her mother had used her connections at Nerv to send for her.

The base itself acted as a center for people to re-group and for various organizations to coordinate the relief efforts. With aircraft and trucks coming and going with a military presence around the perimeter.

Ritsuko stared open-mouthed at everything, at the sheer size of the operation below. She had just gotten out of the helicopter when her mother met her with a fierce hug. The action made her blink, she couldn't remember the last time her mother had hugged her, and slowly she returned the gesture.

…

Misato sat alone, away from the adults. She was having trouble processing everything that had happened.

The boats that had come to rescue her, the team that had stayed behind at the site, her flight back to Japan, the frantic calls from her mother, the stern face of Gendo Ikari asking question after question.

"She's almost mute. In shock. The lone survivor of the Katsuragi expedition." Misato had overheard the doctors telling Gendo.

"I see. Hmm... send for her mother and make sure she doesn't get in anyone's way" Gendo had said.

That was how she found herself sitting alone. Just another 'civilian' brought in, another family member of a high ranking Nerv employee brought here for their safety. Allowed in only due to that connection.

She was brought out of her thoughts when suddenly, another girl around her age sat in the chair beside her.

"Hello," the girl said. She had a bandage on her cheek and looked like she hadn't showered in days, just like Misato, and her clothes with filthy. Another refugee brought to safety.

Misato turned her tired lost eyes to the new girl.

"I'm Ritsuko," the girl said, holding out a hand slowly.

"... Misato" she whispered taking the girl's hand to shake.

Ahh, She thought through gritted teeth. Wincing at the pain in her chest, the bandages would hold but the doctors said she'd have a scar.

"I'm sorry. You're hurt." Ritsuko said awkwardly.

"... it's okay" Misato whispered, eyes still lost.

The two girls sat there by themselves. Out of the adults' way. The only teenagers or children brought in it seemed. Both having been in the thick of it when 'the incident' had occurred.

"... my dad died" Misato whispered suddenly. Voice empty and flat.

Ritsuko snapped up to look at the strange girl.

"oh... I'm so sorry. I didn't know- " Ritsuko stammered. She didn't know what to say to that, she had never been good with people.

"... it's okay" Misato answered slowly. Her words slightly slurred. She hadn't gotten used to talking again.

"Looks like we're the only kids here... um have you had any food? I was going to head to the cafeteria" Ritsuko said slowly. There wasn't much to do here. All the adults were busy.

"Yeah... I mean no... I mean.. I'd like some food. Yeah," Misato said slowly, shaking her head to get the words out properly.

Together, the two girls headed to the cafeteria. They ate. The only kids in the entire base. It was good for both of them. Misato having someone to get her out of her shell, Ritsuko having company for perhaps the first time in her childhood.

They became friends.

"Mom sent the helicopter for me. Funny, she made such a fuss. Hugging me so tight I thought I'd suffocate, but now that I'm here ..." Ritsuko said slowly.

"... now she doesn't have time for you. Just like before" Misato said, still speaking in that damaged slurred way of hers. Still processing over her shock.

Ritsuko sighed softly at that.

"Yours?" Ritsuko asked, sharing a cupcake she had managed to grab before anyone else. The thing was ludicrous, having a cupcake while the rest of the world was bleeding.

"She's on her way. Called me a bunch of times. A courtesy because of who my dad was." Misato said. Getting the words out empty and flat.

They both grew silent. A tension neither had meant to bring up.

I'm sorry... I didn't mean- I shouldn't have mentioned it, Ritsuko thought frowning.

It's okay. I'm still getting over it... might not ever... but I have to try Misato thought firmly. Her father was gone, and there was no bringing him back. The thought was harsh but never untrue.

Suddenly, a burst of static white noise caught their attention. And the girls looked up to see an adult fidgeting with one of the TVs in the cafeteria. The man moving through the channels until he finally reached a station that was playing amid the crisis.

"Got one" the man called, and already a small crowd of people looked to see the TV actually playing a live stream after days of silence.

Ritsuko and Misato looked up to see it too.

The lady on the TV looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her expression was dire. An exhausted reporter unable to do anything but put out information whilst the governments and authorities did the 'real' work.

"-power out for most of Europe, Japan, and China. Around the globe, the death toll keeps climbing. Massive tsunamis had been reported, along with earthquakes, electronic disruption, massive flooding in coastal cities, and abnormal weather patterns that do not show any signs of stopping" a news anchor said.

Ritsuko shivered at the thought of it. Memories of her days of wandering aimlessly in Old Tokyo, of the bodies in the streets and crowds of refugees.

"The Impact is still being felt for the whole world. Experts are saying that the planet may never be the same. The UN is scrambling to provide aid whenever and wherever it can. The meteorite that collided into-"

"They're wrong," Misato said. Interrupting the news station on the tv.

Ritsuko turned to her. None of the adults even paid attention. All the others glued to the reports of the calamity that would one be called 'Second Impact'.

"It wasn't a meteor. It was something else... something... alien" Misato whispered, speaking more to herself. The image of the Giant of Light still fresh in her mind.

The memory of Adam's wrath. Of her father sent flying through the air.

"... not a meteor. You saw it too... didn't you?" Ritsuko said slowly.

Misato turned to her.

People had been saying that the meteorite had sent massive burning debris into the atmosphere that had spread across multiple continents, but somehow... both girls knew it was wrong. An explanation to stop the speculation and allow people to work on recovery operations.

"The Light." Misato and Ritsuko said meeting each other's eyes unblinkingly.

Different images playing in the back of their minds. Two witnesses to the event with different perspectives. The Giant of Light... and the blast that had rippled across the sky.

A secret that both girls did not know they had uncovered. Something that years later, when told the truth, they would realize that they had both known for years.

---

Present Day
Tokyo-03

"You don't need those things, boy," the Broken Man said.

The mental projection of the old man lingered behind Young Shinji as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, contact lenses on his finger. The boy reached up to place the contact lenses atop his eye.

"I like them. They're like my old eyes," Shinji said softly.

"Mine are better."

Shinji paused at that. Flexing the fingers on his hand, five fingers where the Broken Man had only three. Soft unblemished hands, not a single scar along his flesh.

"... I know" the boy answered quietly, putting the contacts on and blinking carefully to adjust to the strange sensation.

Shinji left the bathroom and the mental projection vanished in his wake. He made his way to the kitchen, made breakfast and set the table for both Asuka and Misato.

He was already heading for the door when Misato was first getting up, and his guardian blinked in surprise at early her charge had risen.

"Shinji?" Misato yawned in surprise. Stretching her arms as she stepped into the already set table, complete with breakfast and drinks.

"Wanted to get a head start," Shinji said in passing. He was already dressed in his school uniform, backpack and lunch packed. He'd also left a separate lunch bag for Asuka near her breakfast.

We're supposed to eat meals together, Shinji. To be more 'normal' and- ahh you get up too early for me, kiddo. Misato thought with a shake of her head.

"I- okay. Uh did you take your medicine for the day? Don't forget your pills" Misato called.

"Already took them" Shinji lied. He turned and waved, before heading out the door.

Misato watched him go. She stood in the kitchen wondering what had gotten into the boy before she shrugged and sat down for breakfast.

…

Shinji went through his day at school like any other day. In truth, he agreed with the Broken Man that his education was mostly pointless at this stage in the game. School would always be there for him, and he had more important things to worry about.

He frowned as he noticed Rei's seat empty once again. She hadn't been at their old meeting spot on the way to school either.

Where is she? He thought.

I don't like it either. Old Shinji stirred.

He ate lunch with Toji, chatting about things that didn't matter and pretending to be the kid he used to be before his journey inside the Eva.

Asuka still wouldn't talk to him. The German girl barely sparing him a glance as their school day went on. Another mystery he had to wonder about.

---

After school
Nerv

"I'm ready," Shinji said into the comm.

"... you're sure? Shinji, no one would think less of you for waiting-" Maya began.

"No. Gendo already cleared Unit 01. It'll be fine" Shinji answered simply.

"He said he was up for it. Can we get going already" Asuka cut into the comm. A flicker of annoyance in her voice.

Shinji turned his gaze across the hangar to his partner in the red plug suit, both pilots awaiting access to their Evas.

Asuka had been quiet on the ride over after school. They were supposed to run the simulation together, the reformation of Eva Team One. Yet there was this tension between them that Shinji didn't understand.

Maybe it was something Misato said. She can be overprotective with me but distant with her the boy thought.

"Right, Asuka. Give us a minute, okay" the older woman's voice came in over the comm.

Maya strained from inside the command center. She wished Ritsuko were here, Unit 01 still scared her to be honest. The way it had moved... the way it had spoken. And those eyes.

Evangelion Unit 01 lay unbolted at long last, standing tall in its usual place in the hangar. New face-plate on, eyes and mouth concealed under the plate armor.

Maya nervously entered the commands into the terminal, and the entry plugs were released with a hiss of compressed air.

Shinji nodded at Asuka and stepped inside his entry plug, breathing calmly as he was reinserted into the Eva.

He closed his eyes.

...

The Other Place

Shinji stood in that white void that stretched on endlessly, the Broken Man standing across from him.

"Here we are. What's the plan?" the boy asked the elder.

"We give them what they want. A pilot like no other. The trick is not to overdo it. Too high and we'll get unwanted attention." Old Shinji said.

Like we need anymore. That damned stalker. Shinji thought bitterly. Even today, that damned car had followed them on his way to Nerv.

Shinji shook his head. He had to stay focused, they had a job to do.

"Too low and they might decide we're not worth all the trouble," the boy said slowly.

The Broken Man nodded, the taller man still dressed in weathered rags that made him look homeless.

You're catching on. Good.

Old Shinji reached his hand out, and Young Shinji took it. Five fingers meeting three.

A handshake.

…

The real world

Shinji sat there, eyes closed, as the LCL filled the plug.

Asuka sat through the same process and nodded confidently at her display.

"Unit 02 at 67%. Good work, Asuka" Aoba called in through the comm system.

The German focused and fought to stop the smirk from appearing on her face. She had worked hard to achieve that number, more than any of the other pilots. A stable and reliable sync that was always over 50%.

She glanced at Shinji and his Eva across from her in the hangar, he was being unusually quiet lately. And she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Then again... she hadn't tried to talk to him much as of late.

...

Maya watched nervously as Unit 01's sync ratio appeared on her screen. She glanced at the Eva and breathed a sigh of relief. No incidents.

"52%. 60%. 67%. And... still rising. 72%. 77%. 80%. 81%... 82%." Maya said into the comm utterly astounded at the results.

In their stations adjacent to hers, Hyuga and Aoba stared at the readings too.

"Damn" Aoba muttered under his breath.

"Ritsuko's gonna wanna see this" Hyuga said shaking his head.

…

"Load the simulation," Shinji said into the comm, eyes still closed.

"... Looking good Shinji, Asuka. Just pilot like you always do, the Eva Units won't be moving in the real world but in the sim" Maya said into the comm.

Shinji opened his eyes and worked the controls. Phantom sensations active, and yet much more a part of him than ever before. His bond with the Eva was stronger than it had ever been, his connection with the soul inside of it.

The Broken Man reached out to meet him halfway, working together and yet holding back enough to be just what Nerv and SEELE wanted them to be.

Shinji went through the simulations, his eyes seeming to work better than ever. His reflects seeming higher, and the Eva more responsive. The boy worked with the added experiences that had been bled into him from the Broken Man.

A boy moving with the wisdom of a man. 10 years of training with Lilith bled into him in a fraction of the time.

It took Asuka by complete surprise. She stared at him, even from within the simulation, and shook her head as the scenario began.

Simple target practice.

Eva Team One cleared the first three simulations with ease, then the next two, and so on and so on.

Asuka actually struggled to keep pace with her partner for once. She could, definitely, but it was a challenge. She was a better shot than him, but the boy seemed to handle himself much better than before.

She could hear the surprise in Maya and Ritsuko's team as they loaded scenario after scenario for the pair of Evas.

The Magi supercomputers created scenarios for them, recreating the previous Angels they had faced. Letting the two of them fight them again in this digital re-enactment.

…

Misato stepped in the command center, unnoticed by Ritsuko's team, and watched the boy in awe.

82% on his first try. And the way he moves. Where did this come from Shinji? Misato thought.

His guardian watched as for once... Shinji took the lead.

…

The boy ran the simulation with Asuka. Fighting the Abnormal Angel once again with Unit 02 by his side.

Asuka unloaded another clip into the creature. The Angel slowed but did not stop.

It leaped for her and her Eva, and Asuka brought a hand up. AT Field already forming... until Unit 01 grabbed the Abnormal Angel mid-jump by the leg.

With a heavy pant, the boy pulled the Angel back with him and toss it to the side. The action left Asuka with room to fire if she wanted to, and space for Shinji to press on as well.

Asuka blinked in surprise, and let her AT Field fade away.

Shinji brought his Eva forward hand raised and his AT Field erupted into existence. A brilliantly bright shimmer of lights that acted as a shield, its stability, and durability a calculated variable dependent on his real-life sync ratio with his Eva.

He used the shield as a battering ram and slammed it into the Abnormal Angel. The Angel slid back, and before it could recover Shinji brought the shield down on its head.

The Magi Supercomputers predicted an outcome and played it out in the simulation, the Abnormal Angel fell to its knees winded and knocked senseless.

It gave Asuka a clear shot. She brought her Eva to point-blank range and unloaded a full clip into the Angel's eyes, the only weak point it would have had in its armored body.

The result was theoretical, as the Abnormal Angel had been killed differently, but for the simulation, it worked. The Angel slumped over and disappearing.

You're overdoing it, boy. The Broken Man thought.

I am? Sorry. I'll make sure to get hit more in the next simulation.

Asuka's paying attention. You went too far and now she knows you're different.

Thought that was the point. This story we came up with, that my time in the Eva gave me a better connection. Play up my role as the freak.

To our enemy, yes. But this is different. Asuka has a role to play. Her own burdens to carry. And she has her pride, don't be upset with her.

I won't be. I promise. Still no sign of Ritsuko.

She's here.

… you hurt her. You know that, right? You almost broke her.

I told her the truth. Nothing she didn't already know, deep down.

… and you're sure it has to be her.

Do you hate her?

No... I don't think so.

People are complicated, boy.

It's hard. She did... things. Terrible things.

She's not there yet.

Ahhh. This is confusing. Two sets of memories.

Yes

Shinji and the Broken Man spoke non verbally. Conversation via pure thought.

Absentmindedly, he nodded his Eva in Unit 02's direction. A gesture of respect, or at least that was what the boy was going for.

Asuka returned it, albeit with some hesitation.

Shinji glanced away from the display, from the simulation, and the command center on the other side of the Hangar.

Ritsuko had taken a few sick days, and Rei hadn't been seen at school for a while either.

Where have they gone? He thought.

---

Deeper levels of Nerv

Ritsuko sat in front of the terminal, looking through the various readings of her patient, with her boss and 'lover' hovering over her. Yet the data was blank to her, her mind wandering from her work to thoughts most unpleasant.

A lingering cold that had trickled into her life since that day, when the boy had come back. This empty abyss that chipped away at her, bite by bite, a corner of darkness in her soul that never quite left.

Ever presents, it pulled at her attention. Her eyes fell, punching in commands on pure muscle memory.

"Dr. Akagi, are you even listening? I expect better from you." Gendo said suddenly. Voice stone-cold and firm as always.

The older man was tall and quiet, eyes hidden behind tinted glasses, gloved hands folded behind his back, and with a demeanor of impatience. Always with a look that said he had more important places to be.

"Sorry sir. You were saying-" Ritsuko began, snapping out of her it. Her eyes brought up momentarily before falling again at the interruption.

"What is her progress?" Gendo cut in. He cared so little for her apologies.

Ritsuko paused and looked up from her computer screen to the patient on the other side of the observation glass.

Rei Ayanami iteration number 2. The pale girl appeared to be asleep, eyes closed, and floating amid a vat of luminous fluid. Built like a test tube large enough for a human, with various wires that ran from a device wrapped around the patient's forehead. The machines read all of her vital signs and performed scans of her brain itself.

Another of Rei's check-ups.

"She's fine. No health issues. But the fluctuations in her brain waves continue. The pattern started the day your son-" Ritsuko began, voice flat and empty.

"The Third Child" Gendo corrected suddenly. Fingers twitching slightly at the mention of the boy.

"The day the Third Child was absorbed into the Eva." Ritsuko finished. She lowered her tired and sleep-deprived eyes a second time. Unable to even look at her lover and boss.

"What could it mean?" Gendo asked, speaking with the authoritative tone of one who holds power over another.

I don't know. I just don't. That the Angels continued deaths are affecting her... that she's not entirely human... that all the Rei iterations are acting odd. I didn't build her, you did. Ritsuko thought bitterly.

"We can only speculate it has something to do with the plan. The continued deaths of the Angels" Ritsuko said at least. She picked the theory that Gendo would have liked best.

"Hmm," Gendo answered in a low murmur.

Not even a thank you. Coming into work on one of my sick days, sharing your bed for months yet never for more than an hour, doing your dirty work down here. Nothing. I... how did I end up here? Ritsuko thought bitterly.

And then it came again. The words that haunted her. That had lingered days after they were uttered by the boy. The memory made her shake, the way Shinji had spoken. It had hit her and left her open and raw, like a nerve that had been exposed.

"My father doesn't love you, Ritsuko. He doesn't love me. He doesn't love anyone. Only a ghost, only the dead."

And

"We're just tools to him"

There it was. A simple truth that was more immutable and unforgiving than gravity.

Ritsuko blinked, shaking off the memory of Shinji Ikari for the present with his father.

"I see. Let her out, she has a sync test scheduled today" Gendo said simply.

Ritsuko punched in the command, and from the other side of the observation glass, that vat began to empty itself.

The fluid was drained out, leaving Rei standing awkwardly as she woke still inside the vat. Gendo left Ritsuko to her company and entered the room to assist his 'project'.

Rei groaned weakly as she fell, the vat doors sliding open with a hiss, naked and cold she shivered until Gendo threw a towel on her. Expression blank, a mask of calmness that never broke, Gendo reached down and helped Rei take off the helmet and its wires.

Rei shivered the whole while, clinging to the towel and covering herself the moment it was given to her. A new development Gendo noticed. A sense of modesty? Reactions to temperature?

All the while Ritsuko watched from her room behind the observation glass.

Watched as the only man in her life actively treated his project better than her, watched as he helped the girl up with a bag of clothes in hand. And Ritsuko hated everything about it. Hated that she hated it.

Am I really so pathetic? Getting jealous of a 14-year-old girl who's not even human. Is that the kind of person I grew up to be? Ritsuko thought.

Just thinking about it disgusted her.

"Thank you, Rei. You were very brave. There's a sync tested scheduled within the hour. Get dressed." Gendo said. Voice betraying perhaps a hint of warmth.

"Yes sir" Rei breathed weakly, still catching her breath after her check-up.

"Dr. Akagi, I trust your sick days will not interfere with our work," Gendo said suddenly, speaking to her as he left Rei to her recovery.

Ritsuko looked up to meet his eyes, just once. His expression betrayed nothing, an empty calmness. Their relationship at this moment one of a boss and his underling.

"... no sir," Ritsuko said.

"Good. We have important work to do" Gendo said in goodbye. Not a hint of warmth in his tone, and he never once glanced her way as he departed.

---

Later

Ritsuko walked into the break room, eyes downcast and headed straight for the coffee pot. Her fingers slipped as she tried to operate the machine, and she dropped her cup as she tried to set it. Thankfully, the cup had been empty.

She cursed at it as if the cup had been the source of all her problems.

"Whoa. Hey girl, you alright?" Misato's voice called suddenly.

Ritsuko glanced up to see her only real friend in the world step inside to join her

Misato picked the cup up for her and surprisingly, gestured at the coffee machine. I'll do that for you the gestured seemed to say.

Ritsuko stepped back, silent as Misato made her that coffee.

"You shouldn't be here, Ritsuko. Sick days are a thing. You... you look like shit" Misato said carefully. She tried to make it a joke, something to ease the tension, but her attempts were met with failure.

Ritsuko only scoffed but took the coffee in thanks.

"Thanks. That's really what I needed to be told right now." Ritsuko answered bitterly.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," Misato said quickly.

Ritsuko took a sip of the coffee.

Damn this day. I need a cigarette. What happened to me... I used to be the mature one. The one 'all together' she thought.

"Look. I don't know what happened, what you're going through, but I'm worried about you" Misato said. She breathed a heavy sigh and gave her friend an earnest look.

Ritsuko had taken several days off, using up her sick days, and though Maya did her job well enough... Misato missed having her friend. Something had been eating up at Ritsuko, something that she tried to hide and Misato just didn't know what.

There's just so much you don't know, Misato. Things that I can't tell you. I walked into this mess because I thought it was a higher purpose. A cause. But lately... have you ever felt like you became someone you never wanted to be? Ritsuko thought.

"I'm going through something right now. I just need... space. I'm sorry, I have a lot of work to do" Ritsuko said avoiding Misato's gaze.

Misato made to say something, to reach out and comfort her, but Ritsuko shook it off. She left the break room without another word.

And Misato watched her go. Unable to help, never knowing what her friend had gotten into so long ago.

---

Back with Shinji

"We did good today, right Asuka," Shinji said stepping out of the men's locker room. Asuka stepped out of the girl's.

They had both changed back into their street clothes. Multiple simulations ran on the magi supercomputers' new training program.

"... yeah. Of course, we did." Asuka said slowly. She gave him a curious look, one that Shinji didn't know how to describe.

The reunion of Eva Team One was not how Shinji had imagined it to be.

How does he do it? Shinji the Golden Boy, everyone's favorite. 82% sync ratio... he didn't even try. He didn't earn anything?! How... I trained so hard... I put in more hours and he- he just... no. Don't be mean to him. Don't be mean to him. Asuka thought.

"You're getting better. I heard you scored a sync higher than 60%. That's amazing Asuka. Really, impressive" Shinji said.

You were gone for two months. Gone... and you came back like this. Asuka thought. She had to fight the urge to shake her head at the frustration.

"Asuka. Hey, look... I don't know what happened while I was away. But we're partners. We gotta at least talk to each other, right?" Shinji said awkwardly. He ran a hand through his hair, contact lenses standing out more than ever in the light.

"We're talking. We can talk, alright." Asuka said.

I promised Misato not to give him a hard time she thought. Part of her wanted to be angry with him, to let her be jealous... no Asuka Langley Sohryu did not get jealous. She was better than that. Ahh... why did the idiot have to be so damned nice about it.

Asuka tried to leave but Shinji stopped her. He stepped in front of her before she could reach the door.

"Asuka. What happened?" Shinji asked again. He frowned at her just wanting to know what she was thinking for once.

"... you were gone" Asuka snapped. She wasn't sure why she did it. Maybe some part of her liked the conflict, liked the fight and arguments that came their way. But she regretted it once the words came out of her mouth.

"... It wasn't my choice. You think I wanted that. I was trapped in the Eva for two months! I lost two freaking months of my life" Shinji said. Voice raised, and eyeing her with an incredulous look.

"You were gone. And you just came back with... never mind. I told Misato we'd stop fighting." Asuka said shaking her head at him.

Before she could make things worse, Asuka walked past him and headed for the door.

Shinji sighed as the door closed.

Didn't we just have a conversation about this, boy?

You don't need to say it. I know, alright. This isn't easy for me. I have to keep acting like things are the same. Like I don't know the end of the world is coming.

Hmm.

I'll try to make up with Asuka. I know how she feels.

Shinji shook his head and left too. He wandered the halls at Nerv heading for Misato's office. He was getting a ride with her back to the apartment whilst Asuka had made plans with Hikari after school.

Normally, he'd get a ride and spend time with his girlfriend but he knew Eva Team Two was scheduled for testing.

He was about to take the elevator when he stopped mid-track.

Rei was walking down the corridor. No doubt heading for the locker room to change into her plug suit.

"Rei!" he called out to her.

The pale skinned girl turned at the sound of his voice.

She stared at him unblinkingly, not seeming to know whom he was, a blank expression filled her face. A stranger looked back at him. And then, like a switch being flipped, she blinked and almost beamed at him, taking a deep breath as if momentarily losing information only to recover it.

Whoa... what was that? The boy thought worriedly. He wanted to frown, to come to her and ask what had happened, but he knew he couldn't.

The mental image of the Broken Man appeared beside him. The man gestured to the corner, and Shinji saw the camera recording the security footage.

Shinji walked past the mental projection, not that the Broken Man minded, and met Rei as she stopped mid-step.

"Rei. Hey, where have you been? It feels like I haven't seen you since I left the Eva" Shinji said in greeting.

The girl tilted her head at him.

"I was undergoing tests." Rei half lied. Gendo Ikari's words echoed across her mind as she did so.

...

Tell no one of our activities in the lower levels of the complex. - Gendo. Orders that Rei would follow, she knew nothing else.

...

And as she lied, Rei felt a stirring in her chest. A weight that she did not like, an unusual sensation.

She's cold. Watch how she shivers. And her hair is still wet, she didn't finish drying herself the Broken Man said.

Shinji noticed it too. The slight shiver in her movements, her white blue hair that had drips of water along the edges. Like she had taken a shower despite not reaching the locker room yet.

What the hell? he thought.

"She's been scanned. Her vitals checked and her memories backed up. And something more... experiments" the Broken Man said. A hint of bitterness seeping into his voice.

The two of them were getting better at this. Holding multiple conversations simultaneously, able to share information without Young Shinji losing track of the people in front of him. And Old Shinji knew to linger to the sidelines, as no one else could see him, and help the boy maintain their cover.

Rei reached out to him, her hand brushing against his face and she tilted her at him.

"Your eyes are different again... brown" Rei said slowly. She stared curiously at the contact lenses, and seemed to forget that her hand was on his face.

"Contacts. Mari got them for me" Shinji answered with a shrug.

Rei lowered her hand, blinking as she realized that she had left it there momentarily.

Red eyes... they were like mine the pale girl thought. Her memories came back slurred, the image of the boy's return with changed eyes. An unique feature that they had shared, once.

"Did not you like them?" Rei asked slowly.

Shinji smiled at her, and she felt memories of similar events coming back to her, memories of the boy's smile.

"I just preferred my old ones, the ones I was born with. There's nothing wrong with red eyes" Shinji said softly.

Rei looked away, finding it hard to meet his smile.

"That's good to know" she murmured.

"Hey, I've been meaning to find you. I picked up your worksheets from the school days you missed. I'll bring them by tomorrow if you want. Least I can do, after the times you helped me" Shinji said softly.

Rei nodded slowly, and again memories resurfaced in her head. She steadied herself, and tilted her head at him saying "I would like that."

"Rei. Are you okay?" Shinji asked. His face grew serious, and he took a step forward to feel her forehead, his free hand on her arm. Concerned tone entering his voice.

"I am fine." Rei lied, blinking repeatedly as she calmed herself. She would follow the orders Commander Ikari had given her, she was a good pilot.

Shinji opened his mouth to say something but Rei interrupted him.

"Thank you Shinji... you are a good friend" Rei said. Her mind was dizzy, fragments of various memories that came and went before recovering themselves, yet that constant remained.

Shinji Ikari was her friend. A thought that never faded. It brought the shadow of a smile to her lips.

He let her go, looking over her curiously.

"Hey dummy" a voice called from around the corner.

They turned, and Mari emerged into the hallways to join them.

Shinji smiled and she wrapped an arm around him and beamed.

"Heard you did amazing at the sync test. Ran through the simulations like they were nothing" Mari said, patting him on the chest affectionately.

Shinji laughed saying "Asuka did most of the work."

"Come on, dummy. Don't sell yourself short." she teased.

"I won't" Shinji chuckled.

Rei watched the two of them wordlessly. Eyeing the couple with a decidedly blank expression.

"And Rei, you alright? Ready for the sync tests?" Mari asked, the older girl turning her attention to her partner. Her arm still wrapped around her boyfriend.

Rei nodded, and spoke in a neutral tone saying "yes."

Mari offered her a polite smile, they were partners and they did need to work together.

"I'm sure both of you will do fine." Shinji said, looking between them calmly.

"Sigh. At least you and Asuka can actually pilot. We're stuck with sync and sims until my Eva's fixed. It blows." Mari said, adopting an impatient tone.

Evangelion Unit 03 was almost operational, the battle with Zeruel had destroyed so much of it that it was almost completely rebuilt save for the exterior. And for the most 'energetic' pilot the wait was a tedious dull affair. Simulations would have to do for Eva Team Two in the time being.

"It'll be fixed when its fixed. You got this." Shinji said reassuringly.

I can still pilot Rei thought to herself. Her Eva was operational.

Before any of the teenagers could continue their conversation, the intercom chimed in overhead drawing their attention.

"Eva Team Two. Please report to the testing chambers as soon as possible. Sync test are scheduled today" the intercom announced. It was a facility wide broadcast, a polite call for the intended pilots to hurry up.

Shinji shared an amused look with Mari, an expression he had to fake, and sighed.

"Guess that's our cue. Alright Rei, time for Eva Team Two to make a come back. Can't let Team One have all the fun" Mari said with a smirk reminiscent of Asuka.

Rei nodded her goodbye to Shinji, and continued for the changing room where her plug suit awaited. Mari followed closely behind.

"Hey, you coming over later?" Mari called from up ahead.

"Can't. Still making up all the school work I missed" Shinji called back apologetically.

"Goody two shoes" Mari teased him. Understanding, if a bit disappointed.

Shinji smiled and watched them go. Eva Team Two.

Only when the girls were gone, did his facade fade. His face falling at what he'd seen.

---

The drive home was mostly uneventful. Or it was until Misato turned to look at him with a questioning gaze.

His guardian drove the car through the traffic, Shinji himself sat in the passenger seat with his SDAT player. He watched the traffic absentmindedly, playing music but not really listening to it anymore. He had too much on his mind lately.

Their stalker was still around, the lone car amid a sea of fellow vehicles. They followed Misato's car from a distance, never far behind. And only with the Broken Man's help was Shinji even aware they were being followed.

Nothing to do about it now. Later he thought, eyeing the rear view mirror.

Misato broke him out of his thoughts.

"Those things okay? They don't bother you?" she asked him.

Shinji glanced up at her, and she gestured to his eyes.

"The contacts are fine. Takes a little getting used to, but nothing I can't handle" he answered honestly.

Misato smiled softly at that.

Mari you crazy girl... you really do know Shinji, don't you? Misato thought. She had been surprised that the girl had gone out of her way to buy him the contacts. Hell, Misato wasn't sure if she would have thought of that. She wasn't sure if she would have considered the idea that Shinji did not like the changes he came back with,

It warmed Misato's heart to see that. Even if she still wasn't sure if she exactly liked Mari as a person.

"She's a sweet girl, deep down huh? Not the wildcard she likes to show off in public" Misato asked teasingly.

"She's both. Lively and caring at the same time. I know that seems strange on the outside looking in. She cares about me, and I care about her" Shinji said not taking the bait.

Misato chuckled at that.

"Well, I'm glad that you're happy Shinji. After everything we put you kids through, its the least you deserve" Misato said to him.

Happy... right. Shinji thought darkly.

---

Late Night
Misato's apartment

Shinji Ikari held his cell phone calmly.

This will only work once. After tonight, I doubt we can do it again. The Broken Man said.

Guess we'll just have to make it count. You sure you know where it is? I've never been.

I have memories beside my own. She will be there.

Shinji dialed the police force number for Tokyo-03.

"Police. What is your emergence?" a calm and polite speaking woman answered.

"Good evening. I'm a tenant in Nerv's apartment complex. And I noticed a strange car has been coming and going for a few days now. They stay in the parking lot, then occasionally leave to follow after other cars. They didn't seem to have a parking pass and they almost never turn off the engine" Shinji said calmly and carefully.

The operator on the line paused for a moment. Then asked "can you describe the vehicle?"

Shinji did, telling the nice woman the car's make, color, and window tint.

"We'll send a patrol over to check on things. Stay in your home." the police operator said.

"Yes ma'am" Shinji said politely, before hanging up.

Well, that takes care of that. But if they stalkers are cops too?

They won't be. Government, SEELE, or Nerv it doesn't matter. The cops will keep them busy.

Shinji nodded his agreement. He waited a few minutes, before moving out of his room and carefully closing the door behind him. He was fully dressed, wearing his contact lenses as an added precaution once outside, and he moved quietly through the apartment.

Misato and Asuka should be long asleep by now. Or so he hoped. Quietly, he stepped out onto the apartment balcony to take a look.

A police patrol had arrive and was driving up the parking lot. The stalker didn't take action, calmly waiting for things to play out, and the police started for them.

Got them Shinji thought.

He turned back inside, closing the balcony door behind him, and started making his way to the front door.

Stop. We're not alone. The Broken Man stirred.

Shinji froze. He turned in the dark to see the outline of a teenage girl watching him with a bemused expression.

Asuka.

"Asuka" Shinji whispered in greeting.

"What the heck are you doing?" the German girl said incredulously. She was dressed in her night clothes, hair undone, and clearly not in the mood for games.

"What are you doing?" Shinji countered softly, without malice.

"Getting some water. I couldn't sleep. And don't change the subject" Asuka whispered, crossing her arms in the dark.

Both of them glanced towards Misato's room down the hall, but the woman seemed to still be asleep.

We're running out of time. Think of an excuse so we can leave.

Shinji inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as Asuka thought of one for him.

The German girl narrowed her eyes at him with a knowing, if annoyed, look and shook her head at him.

"You're fully dressed. Let me guess, sneaking out to the girlfriend aren't you?" Asuka said.

Thank you Asuka, Mari he thought.

"You caught me" Shinji half lied.

Asuka scoffed.

"Listen. Don't tell Misato, alright? I'll make it up to you. I just- I just missed a lot of time when I was gone." Shinji said.

Asuka seemed to consider that in the dark.

"... fine. But if Misato catches you you're on your own. You owe me" Asuka said shaking her head at the whole thing.

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded in agreement.

He turned to go, moving quietly through the dark for the front door.

Asuka ran a hand across her face. She couldn't believe the idiot boy she'd known as the spineless wimp was currently sneaking off to visit his girlfriend. How did that happen?

Such a weird boy. Gah... don't be mean. Don't be mean. Asuka thought.

"Shinji" she called suddenly just as he opened the front door.

He turned back to look at her.

"... I didn't mean to snap at you earlier." Asuka whispered under her breath. The words came out reluctantly but it surprised Shinji all the same.

Slowly, Shinji smiled at her in the dark.

Asuka shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it. See you tomorrow" Shinji whispered, before he carefully closed the front door and went on his way.

…

Shinji moved through the apartment complex quietly. He took the stairs to draw less attention, and when he reached the ground floor he was careful not to step outside just yet.

He took a peek through the window.

Out in the parking lot, the police patrol had cornered his stalker and they were chatting. A police officer shinned a light into the driver's seat, the two groups arguing with each other. The cops did not look happy to find a mysterious car in the parking lot.

Shinji slipped outside, and hurriedly made his way out onto the street while the stalkers were busy with the police.

The boy left the apartment complex behind. The Broken Man telling him where to go under the cover of night, a chance to get things done without being followed or watched.

---

Ritsuko's apartment

Nerv's head scientist sat alone in her bedroom. Cigarette in hand, and unfinished drink on her counter. House cat lying beside her feet on the floor, purring softly despite her owner's distasteful mood.

Ritsuko took a long whiff of the cigarette. She couldn't sleep, too many thoughts crammed into her head. And she had started smoking again, she had promised herself she would stop.

It only made her more sad. The state her life had taken.

Ritsuko shook her head, only to pause... as she saw the light outside turn on. Through the space between the floor of her apartment and the door, she could see the lights on in her kitchen.

Someone was in her apartment.

Ritsuko felt a shiver crawl down her spine, and she gently pushed the house cat away from her. She took a swing from her drink, before reaching behind her dresser to pull out her gun.

A simple pistol for home defense. Considered rare in the pre Second Impact era of Japan, but less so in the Post era.

Ritsuko made to grab her phone and call the police, but then cursed under her breath as she realized that she had left it in the kitchen.

She opened the door slowly, and stepped out from her bedroom. The kitchen light was still on, but there was no movement and no sound. Even her cats were silent.

Ritsuko raised the gun and entered the kitchen... to find a fully dressed Shinji Ikari standing in the room. The boy had been waiting for her.

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow at her gun. She stared open mouthed at him, and felt foolish for having brought her gun.

"Ritsuko... please don't shoot me" Shinji said slowly.

If she shoots, I'll take over. I won't let you get hurt. The Broken Man stirred dryly. It unnerved Shinji at how calmly the Broken Man had spoken, but the man was more experienced than the boy.

"Shinji?! What- what the hell are you doing in my apartment?!" Ritsuko cried.

She lowered the gun and put the safety back on, she couldn't believe that she had pointed a gun at a freaking kid. What had happened to her life.

"Does Misato know you're here? Gah. Shinji... go home. Wait. I'm calling Misato she needs to know, I can give you a ride. She wouldn't want you wandering the city at night" Ritsuko said.

She shook her head at it all, and reached to the breakfast table to where her phone lay.

Shinji intercepted her, stepping forward.

"No. Ritsuko, he needs to talk to you" the boy said suddenly.

I don't have time for this. Ritsuko thought, trying to brush the boy aside. But he grabbed her by the arm and wouldn't let go.

"We need to talk."

The words came from the boy's mouth but they weren't his. There was an edge to the voice, a tone that she had heard only once before. A voice that had, with only a few words, shattered the beautiful lies she had told herself.

Ritsuko froze.

She turned her sleep-deprived eyes to the boy's and found a hollow empty gaze in them. Eyes that no child should have.

…

The Other Place

Young Shinji shuddered at the sensation. Whenever the Broken Man took control in the past, he had never realized it, had never been 'awake' but this time was different.

He was completely aware that he was not in control of his body. It was a strange feeling, and he did not enjoy it.

Old Shinji stood across from him. Tilting his head apologetically at the boy.

"Don't interrupt, boy. I have to tap into a power I haven't used in years." the Broken Man said.

Then it happened, and Shinji stepped back. A shadowy cloud seemed to emerge around the Broken Man, a dark shimmer that came from inside his body. Not the bright light of Adam, not the power of the First Angel but a piece of the Second's. A Broken Man in the Dark.

…

The real world

"... what are you?" Ritsuko said slowly. Her voice on edge, breathless. She couldn't tear her gaze away from it, the different eyes that the boy held. Contact lenses or not, it wasn't the boy.

The Other Shinji tilted his head at her, almost Rei like in his moments, and spoke.

"Someone who can change things. I've waited years for this. We've spoken twice before. Do you remember?" the man asked with the boy's body.

Ritsuko shuddered. It was unnerving to witness.

"What? I-"

"The second time, you were drawing blood from the boy. And I told you what you needed to hear. The first time, I gave you a message. One that I hoped would make things easier," the Broken Man said.

Then the boy leaned in and whispered: "Help Shinji."

And it came flooding back to her, the memory of the day Nerv was breached. When Zeruel had come crashing through the hangar when Eva Unit 01 had woken. The day the Evangelion had spoken.

Ritsuko remembered cowering as Evangelion Unit 01 knelt down to her, and opened its mouth to speak in a raw harsh tone that was not natural.

"HELP SHINJI" the Eva had said to her and Misato. Only... the message hadn't been for Misato but for her.

Ritsuko marveled at the sudden revelation. The words that the Eva had spoken, and here what the boy had told her. The connection between the two. And Ritsuko knew... she knew that this Other was somehow inside Unit 01. Perhaps he had always been.

"I need you to see something," the Other Shinji said. Then before Ritsuko could even blink, he raised a hand and brought it to her face.

Ritsuko gasped, and the gun fell from her hand.

...

The Other Place

Young Shinji turned, eyes wide, at the sound of humming. Far into the distance, the verge edges of the void, the Woman in the Dark wandered. The figure moving through the air quietly. She rested at the edges, out of sight yet humming softly. The Woman in the Dark.

A fragment of the Second Angel that Other Lilith had given freely to the man she had loved. A ghostly specter from a time that no longer existed.

The Broken Man closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face, and spoke in barely a whisper. A human low voice that cut at him.

"Forgive me, Rei. I'm so sorry," Old Shinji said. Tears at the edge of his eyes, the dark sheen of Other Lilith's power shimmering over him as he wiped the tears from his face. He did what he needed to do, no matter much how it hurt him to do so.

…

The Real World
Geofront

Deep underground, in the lowest levels of Nerv's headquarters, the Second Angel lay crucified in her prison. Impaled and propped up by the Spear of Longinus.

Lilith lay barely awake, with only the smallest smudge of consciousness active. Barely 'alive' in this state. Held prisoner. Trapped in a never-ending dream that left her unaware of the world around her.

Until now.

Lilith stirred, head turning to the source of the change. And her body burned. It was a sting that cut deep into her core. The Angel core locked away deep under her flesh shuddered. If she had a mouth, she would have hissed from the pain.

…

One floor above Lilith, in the secret lab that Gendo and Fuyutsuki had built years ago, the LCL tanker holding the various clones of Rei Ayanami lay sleeping. The girl or girls, if you could call them one being or several, lay dormant. Soulless and empty, the pale-skinned girls floated aimlessly.

Rei iterations 3 through 100.

All of them shuddered at once. The Rei clones twitched, tossing and turning in their LCL tanker. Eyes opening slowly, each of them struggling to breathe. As if every single one of them was having a seizure.

…

Rei's apartment

The pale-skinned girl woke with a start. Her skin was burning her, and she rolled out of her bed landing onto the floor with a thud.

"Ahhhh!" Rei shouted at the sensation. This pain that ran along her very veins, the burn that carried itself along her blood, the sensation of every cell in her body crying out. Unable to stop it, she rolled on the floor helplessly.

She got to her knees, trying to get up but cried out as the pain continued. She held her head as suddenly, violently, it began throbbing with so much pain that she thought she would pull the hair from her scalp.

Rei shuddered, twitching and turning, crying out into the night. Images flooded her mind... an image of a Giant in the Dark. The Giant saw her, it turned its massive head to face her, dark red eyes gleaming among the shadows, and Rei tried to run away. The Giant looked directly at her from the dark.

That was the last thing Rei saw, a glimpse of an Angel before she fell to the floor shaking as if in a seizure.

---

The Other Place
With Shinji and the Broken Man

Ritsuko didn't know where she was. One moment she had been standing with Shinji in her apartment... and the next she was somewhere else. Some other place where she didn't belong.

The woman gasped as her vision returned to her.

She stumbled to her knees, landing atop a stretch of land with the ruins of a city visible in the distance. A red sea formed a tide up along the land's edges. LCL?

The sky was grey and dead. Almost like... almost like the sky had been when she was just a little girl stranded in a wrecked city. Almost like the aftermath of what she had witnessed during the Second Impact, the ruins of Adam's Wrath. But this... this place looked like a piece of Tokyo-03. How could that be?

She wasn't alone. Ritsuko gasped and turned to see Shinji Ikari and another man dressed in rags standing beside her.

Ritsuko panicked, not understanding where she was and what had happened. The other man knelt down putting a hand to her shoulder. An anchor to keep her from losing her way.

"I see the sorrow behind your eyes, Ritsuko. I can see how far they twisted you, and far they will break you in the end," the Broken Man said.

Ritsuko stared up at him. A man older than Gendo Ikari, with dark greying hair, dressed in withered rags and missing two fingers on one of his hands. Deep lines and subtle scars marked his face giving him an aged weathered look. He had mixed colored eyes, one red and one brown, they were hollow and empty, weary, with sunken cheeks... and he was thin, so very thin. A walking scarecrow of a man.

A dark shimmer surrounded the other man as if he stood amid complete utter darkness. Strange, almost alive, the shadows clung to him before he waved them off.

Behind the Broken Man, Young Shinji watched curiously.

That 'cloud' and his eyes... he is not human. Not anymore. Angel? No... something else... Ritsuko thought.

"Who- who are you? What is this place? I- Shinji?" Ritsuko stammered.

She squirmed away, getting to her feet and taking all this in. It was all so real, she could even feel this strange dead air upon her face, it was empty and dry.

Young Shinji and the Broken Man watched her.

She gasped turning from side to side taking in the surroundings. The ruins of a city in the distance, the moon itself hovering above with a scar upon its surface, and the cracked faded pavement.

The Broken Man took a step forward, letting her focus on him a second time.

"I am Shinji Ikari. And I am from the future. From another timeline. I've traveled here to fix everything, even you."

Ritsuko scoffed. The scientist in her going wild, this was too lucid to be a dream or hallucinated. This place... it felt too real. Yet it was all wrong. The moon above had a scar upon its surface.

"That's insane-" Ritsuko stammered.

"Is it?" the Broken Man countered coyly.

She turned to look at him again. Breathing slowly as she thought she might have recognized him somehow.

"You have seen beings that defy the laws of nature at a whim. You have seen evidence that they can, in fact, fold and bend space. By that logic, is it truly that hard to believe that they could bend time as well?"

Ritsuko blinked, thinking that over. Despite her fear and shock, she was a scientist and the strange man had proposed an interesting question.

"I stole their powers and used them in a way they never would. I am Shinji, but much older than the little boy you knew."

Ritsuko panted at the two figures. Could such a thing be possible? If so, why had none of the other Angels done something similar? Could they not do as this strange man claimed to have.

"No, they couldn't. Their creators put restrictions on them." the Broken Man answered, knowing what she was thinking.

"Ritsuko, you need to see it. It'll change everything" Young Shinji said suddenly.

She turned to face him, glancing back between the two. The boy, and the man.

"Make this stop. Whatever it is just stop-" Ritsuko said.

"I cannot. You need to see," the Broken Man interrupted. He raised a hand and the world around them changed, coming undone only to be remade once more.

Shifting through memories that were both his and yet not his.

...

The memory that they landed in was one of Ritsuko's. Not this Ritsuko's, but the Other Ritsuko's. Her fate.

Current Ritsuko gasped at the sensation. At seeing through the eyes of another. But not the eyes of her Other, a strange third-person perspective that let her watch the unfolding events.

They were standing in the deepest level of Nerv.

Another version of Ritsuko stood with a remote trigger in one hand, and a gun in the other. Gendo Ikari and a naked Rei stood across from her. The looming figure of Lilith hovered crucified above them.

Events from the Other Timeline.

"I'm sorry, but when I installed the firewall I changed the Magi's programming without telling you," Other Ritsuko told Other Gendo mockingly. Her eyes were mad, and a deranged glint filled her voice. Her words slurred, on the verge of breaking down.

Other Gendo said nothing, the man only watched wordlessly as she threatened him and everything he had worked for. Other Rei watched blankly, seemingly lost to the world.

Other Ritsuko scoffed and let out a laugh. Crazed eyes gazing up above, to the upper levels where the Magi supercomputers lay. Her mother's life work.

"A loving daughter's final request. Mother... let's end it together" Other Ritsuko said, closing her eyes just as she pressed a command on the remote trigger. A command to activate the self-destruct sequence and blow the entire Geofront to hell.

An end after all this madness. An end to betrayal and cold bitter rejection.

The Others, Ritsuko, Gendo, and Rei, waited... but nothing happened.

Other Ritsuko gasped as the silence lingered. Her eyes opened with a snap.

"It's not working. Why?!" Other Ritsuko stammered. She looked at the remote trigger's display and found the layout for the Magi supercomputers on screen.

Melchior, Balthasar, and Casper the three 'cores' or different aspects of the Magi. Modeled after the personality of Ritsuko's own mother... Naoko Akagi.

"Capser betrayed me?!" Other Ritsuko cried. The display revealing that the Maji refused the order to self-destruct. The 'core' modeled after Naoko's aspect as a woman.

Rejection, even at the very end.

Other Gendo reached into his jacket and pulled out his own gun.

Other Ritsuko looked at him utterly defeated, tears falling down her face.

"Ritsuko Akagi... the truth is..." Other Gendo began. And she would never hear the words that followed.

BANG

Other Gendo shot Other Ritsuko.

Current Ritsuko watched in horrid fascination, watched the memory of her death...

How can this be... it's impossible... this never happened... she thought.

She gasped and felt the burning sensation in her heart. She could feel where the bullet had hit her, could feel the blood sliding down her shirt. She could feel everything, even the fall as her Other Self hit the floor.

...

The world went dark. The light faded away, the room and everyone in it disappearing with it. As if the stars had ceased to exist. Ritsuko shivered at the sensation. At the loss of sight.

Did she even have a body anymore? The world was gone, everything was gone. She didn't even breathe and slowly... she found herself forgetting how to.

"What is this place?" Ritsuko asked in a small terrified voice. When did she get a mouth? How could she talk without breathing?

"This is death," the Broken Man answered. His voice stern and hard, yet distant.

She turned to look for him, but couldn't find him. Yet she could tell he was 'here' with her. His words shook her to her core. This... this sheer cold that filled her from being here. From seeing death. This cold dark place, a void where time was meaningless.

"I've been here many times now. It is... an unpleasant experience." the Broken Man said, voice distant and cold. Far off, uncomfortable memories of his own deaths playing back in his mind. So many times that he had been brought back...

He grabbed Ritsuko's hand in the dark and pulled her out of it. Back into the same memories as before.

...

Other Ritsuko's body hit the floor with a thud, and Other Gendo turned away with Rei in hand. Not even a second glance spared for his former 'lover'.

Current Ritsuko stood staring at the corpse. At the blood pooling around the floor of where her counterpart had died. She still felt it, this cold emptiness. The loss of blood as her Other died.

"This is your fate, Ritsuko. To die alone. Forgotten. Killed when trying to get your revenge on Gendo, for betraying you to SEELE. For choosing Rei over you." the Broken Man said turning to her.

Young Shinji watched wordlessly as Current Ritsuko sunk to the ground in the memory. He watched as she ran her hands along her Other's corpse.

Years Ritsuko had spent working for Nerv, achieving the rank of Head Scientist, working as Gendo's secret researcher and his lover. She had tried to justify that relationship, telling herself that it was nice to be needed, even if it was only physical. That 'normal' relationships were too much work. But in the end, she had just been nothing.

Trash to be thrown out.

What the Broken Man had shown her had rocked her to the core. Her own death, her fate at the hands of the man who had only ever used her.

Tears found their way into her eyes. Her shaking hands moving slowly across the corpse of her other to cradle its head.

Young Shinji watched her sadly, and he made to comfort her but the Broken Man shook his head.

"My father used you. Just like he used every one. I told you, we were all just tools to him," the Broken Man said.

He strode over and knelt down to Ritsuko and the corpse of her Other.

She turned back to him with wide uncertain eyes. Lost in the tragedy that had been her life.

"He chose you because you were vulnerable. Living in the shadow of your mother, always so lonely and apart from others. You were young when he got you. You saw Second Impact and lived through it, and you wanted to save the world. An idealist, easy prey for a man like Gendo.

You see, no one actually believes that they're a bad person. Everyone tells themselves that they have reasons for what they do, good or bad. We rationalize that we are working for a higher cause, the greater good. That's what you told yourself, Ritsuko. What you rationalized after all the help you have given them.

What Gendo counted on. That's how he brought you into the dirt with him. How my bastard of a father made you experiment on Rei, and help him in his madness. He took your virginity..." the Broken Man said.

Ritsuko looked away. Shame filling her eyes, her whole life wide open to Old Man Shinji. It had felt... nice. God help her, but it had felt nice to be wanted for once, even by a man such as Gendo. Not in the joking or teasing manner that Kaji had often played at, but wanted and needed. A time where she hadn't played second fiddle to Misato.

Was I really so pathetic? Jealous of my only friend for the attention she always drew. Ritsuko thought bitterly.

The Broken Man placed a hand on her face, gently turning her to look at him again.

"He started breaking you, and by the end, you were broken. He left you at the hands of SEELE in Rei's place. And then he killed you when you tried to stop his plans." The Broken Man said, gesturing at Other Ritsuko's corpse in the memory.

"... he's a monster" Ritsuko hissed under her breath.

"Yes. SEELE and my father never wanted to share their power, or their dreams, with anyone. Not you, not me." The Broken Man said.

He rose, and the memories shifted again. This time, going into the Broken Man's personal memories.

Young Shinji let out a heavy breath when the three of them landed in the Post Third Impact World.

...

38 years after the Impact.

Ritsuko blinked in surprise at the harsh grey snow. Unnatural, it had mixed with ashes. The mountains that had surrounded Haven were torn down, what cities had once laid in the far distance were gone. The settlements completely wiped out.

Barely a trace that humanity had existed on the rock we called a planet.

"Look around you. This is the legacy of SEELE and my parents. Those who sold the world. Humanity is dead. There was no one left... only me. And I wasn't human by then anymore," the Broken Man said.

Ritsuko looked around and saw only more and more ashes. A barren lifeless world.

"This is wrong. I- I wanted to save the world" Ritsuko stammered. Everything she had done, working with Gendo and even SEELE, had been for the Human Instrumentality Project.

The idea that they would move mankind forward, evolve it, transform it, create a world without suffering. It was what Ritsuko clung to, her higher cause, what she told herself whenever she doubted the work she did for Gendo.

"But that isn't what they wanted. They lied to you, Ritsuko. The Human Instrumentality Project is a joke. A petty scheme made by rich old men who fear death. They wanted to become god-like. Joining all of mankind, binding their souls together, not to help us but to sacrifice us. Fuel for their ascension. Cowards." the Broken Man said bitterly. A cold laugh creeping into his words towards the end.

He turned to Ritsuko again, and slowly helped her to her feet in the memory.

"Is this my legacy too? Is this... hiccup is that what I made?" Ritsuko said crying softly. Her tears sliding down her face in the cold.

Her entire life had been a lie it seemed. SEELE, Gendo, Nerv all of it had been wrong... so very wrong. It flashed all before her at that moment, her life's work.

Ritsuko could remember all the years she had spent studying and working hard in college, staying in whilst Misato and Kaji went out to party. Getting her first internship with Nerv, meeting Gendo so many years after her mother's funeral, working alongside the man and moving up the ranks of their organization.

Working on the Eva Units and the Magi supercomputers, continuing her mother's work well beyond even what she had imagined they could be. Being touched and wanted for the first time by Gendo, or so she had thought. She could still remember her first debriefing and signing her first non-disclosure agreement.

Her first meeting with SEELE. Her introduction to the secretive Human Instrumentality Project, their lies of a glorious future for mankind after the Angels were dealt with.

And it all led here... to extinction and lonely bitter death.

"It doesn't have to be," the Broken Man said not unkindly.

---

The Real World
Ritsuko's apartment.

The Other Shinji held Ritsuko gently. Hand on her face as she breathed a startled gasp. They had returned to the real world.

No... I never left... all of that... everything I saw... it was somewhere else. Inside my head? My soul? Ritsuko thought slowly.

"I need your help."

The Other Shinji wiped something from her face, and Ritsuko gaped at the blood trailing down her lips. She had suffered a nosebleed.

"Time is ever-changing. We can make it right. Both of us. We can save the world. And if you want revenge... I can give you that too," the Broken Man said. His words came through the boy's body.

Ritsuko blinked at him. Still wondering just how this 'other' Shinji had come to be. She looked away, barely able to think let alone speak. The Broken Man comforted her, cupping a hand to her cheek and telling her to 'breathe'.

"I know this is a lot to take in. But I need an answer. I won't force you. It's your choice."

Ritsuko met his gaze carefully, and though she shook at the revelations of the night, she answered.

"... Yes."

The Other Shinji let her go and helped her back to her feet. The woman shook but slowly recovered, coming to a composed stature.

"I'll help you," Ritsuko said more firmly, breathing as if she'd just run a marathon.

The Other Shinji nodded, he never smiled. And then handed Ritsuko her phone.

"I need you to call an ambulance for Rei. Our Rei. Iteration 2. The other clones will survive on their life support," he said.

Ritsuko opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"She's had a seizure, and she needs the hospital. I'll explain later, call the ambulance."

Ritsuko dialed the number, and Young Shinji blinked suddenly in control of his body again.

The boy breathed heavily and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

---

Elsewhere
Minutes later

The door was kicked in, and the EMTs came rushing inside to find the pale-skinned girl lying on the floor. Her eyes were open but narrow and unfocused, foaming at the mouth, and her heartbeat was slow.

Rei's last thought before losing consciousness had been of an image, a Giant in the Dark. An Angel.

"She's alive!" one man told another. The EMTs rushed to get to work.

They got her on the stretcher and into the ambulance, before rushing to get her to the hospital, emergency lights and siren blaring the whole way. Traffic moved aside as they drove.

---

Lots of stuff in this chapter, I hope it wasn't too much.
I've always wanted to write about Misato and Ritsuko during the Second Impact, as I think its an unexplored area in Evangelion lore. I wanted to show that the event shaped them both, and how it led to them joining Nerv. It ties into Ritsuko's 'higher cause' what she imagined she was doing vs what she was actually doing. The idea that Ritsuko thought she was a good person trying to save the world, and now she knows that that wasn't true. She has seen her old fate.

Don't worry, Young Shinji is not all-powerful but he has gained a lot of experience from his time in the memories of the Broken Man. Many of his trials are not physical but emotional. I tried to write him as having to live two lives now, one where he pretends to be normal, and the other where he works with the BM.

And poor Rei. What did you think of the Broken Man using Lilith's power?

Thanks for Reading and please Review.