Two hours later, Asuka was sitting in the relative comforts of what had become her home over the course of these past few months. It certainly wasn't the most luxurious of homes, her own bedroom back in her family's residence in Germany was larger than the living room she was currently seated in. However, this small apartment was more of a home to her than that house, the people here more of a family to her that her blood relatives were.

But this… this news had snapped her into a state of shock that was worse than the mental violation of the Fifteenth. Fear gripped tightly at her heart as her breathing threatened to press into the realms of hyperventilation. What if she couldn't pilot anymore? Being an Eva pilot was her life, every bit of her being. If this… condition… prevented her from getting into a plug again, what would she do? What would she go?

Her mind in overdrive, she could feel her withdrawing inwardly. If only she was back in that hospital room, maybe things could be different. Sure, she wouldn't be a pilot. But, she wasn't one now either, was she? At least there, she would be safe. At least in the comforting embrace of a comatose state, she wouldn't have anything to fear.

It was only the fragrant scent of Yebisu and sausage that kept her grounded in this reality. 'No, it's not just that,' her mind reminded her. Barely audible, she could hear a soft humming coming from the kitchen. It was that very same song that had helped pull her out of the coma in the first place. Sure, it was that idiot that was humming it, but at least it was there for her to hear.

And then, what little piece she had managed to find was abruptly shattered as a door slammed shut.

"ASUKA! SHINJI! KITCHEN! NOW!"

Chapter 2

Paradigm Shift

"HOW?! HOW COULD YOU?"

"Misato… please… It's not what you think," Shinji meekly said from the stovetop. Misato had been rather adamant that her two charges be seating for this tongue lashing, but the realization that he was cooking with her beer changed her mind. He seemed insistent on making this dinner, even almost outright threatened to use more if this batch went to waste. While she had conceded to letting him cook, in part because of how wonderful dinner smelt, his minor defiance had only served to fuel her anger.

"Not what I think?!" Misato's screamed, her face flush with rage. "And just what am I to think, Shinji? I was willing to leave you both alone so often because I thought I could trust you! And now what?" At this point, Pen-pen, hearing his owner's voice and smelling dinner being cooked, stepped out of his refrigerator to see who he could peck for some fish. "How long, you two? How long has it been?!"

"Mi… Misato… Shinji's…"

"Oh, this should be rich! What, Asuka? Shinji's what? Are you going to be saying he's sorry for him now? Or are you going to try and excuse this with some story about how great he is in bed?" At that, a heavy silence filled the apartment as three things happened in very quick succession. First, the normally strong, composed red head got up and ran to her room, tears threatening to burst forth from her eyes. Second, the sound of a metal spoon clanking against the kitchen floor rang out as Shinji's shaking hand was no longer able to hold it. Third, Pen-pen's door hissed shut, the warm-water penguin apparently deciding now was the worst possible time to try to get some fish.

"How could you, Major?" asked Shinji. A small amount of venom seemed to slip into his voice, causing Misato to sweat drop. She'd been riding high on her rage since the doctor had passed the information to her, and not once stopped to really think about what was said. She knew her two charges had some repressed feelings for each other, and they were alone together quite a bit. It only made sense that, if Asuka was pregnant, Shinji had to be the father. Or so she thought, but seeing the mix of pain and anger flashing across Shinji's face told her otherwise. "I'm not the father, Misato. Do you really think Asuka would want to be with me?"

Suddenly, the adrenaline that had been fueling the Major left her veins. Half a second later, she felt like a hot air balloon that had its envelope filled with ice water. How could she have been so far off the mark? "Shinji, if you're not…"

Shinji cut her off with a shake of his head. "She wouldn't tell me, Misato. She's hardly even yelled at me since we left the doctor's office, much less tell me much of anything." He let out a sigh as he got a new spoon, the fallen one unceremoniously being tossed into the sink. "Not that I'd have any right to know anyways."

Whatever could pass for a motherly instinct within Misato finally started to kick into full gear, the image of a broken Shinji before her being too much to bear. She stood up, getting ready to try to comfort the young man with a massive hug. 'No, not him. He doesn't need me right now,' she thought to herself. So, instead, she just placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go talk to her, OK?"

As she left down the small hallway to Asuka's room, the faintest of "Thank You"s reached her ears.

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

"Asuka, I'm coming in!"

"Go away, Misato!"

"Not a chance," Misato said calmly as she opening the sliding door to Asuka's room. "We… we need to talk." Asuka's only response was to roll over on her futon, refusing to say anything more to her guardian. "Asuka, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone jumping to conclusions like that. I just got it into my head that you both had betrayed my trust and couldn't see anything else."

Misato walked over and sat on the edge of Asuka's futon. She hadn't been sure what she would say when she came into the room. She still wasn't, so she just let the words flow. "I can only imagine how hard this is for you to go through. I know nothing I can do or say will make this any easier for you. But, if you need someone to talk to, I am here. And I promise to try not to jump to conclusions again."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Misato felt her charge tense for a moment from the contact. "Will you tell me who the father is?"

Silence reigned through the room as Misato just sat there, waiting. The minutes passed slowly until Shinji's voice cut through the air, announcing that dinner was ready. At that, Misato gave Asuka a final squeeze of the shoulder, before quietly getting up and walking out of the room.

"I don't know who…"

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

Shinji went to bed that night on an empty stomach. He'd made dinner specifically for Asuka, so he didn't feel quite right eating it without her. Instead, he let Misato have what she wanted, then packed away the leftovers for another time. After he finished preparing lunch for tomorrow, Misato had insisted that he go back to school tomorrow to at least gather their missed classwork from the past week, he retired to his small room.

He had no idea how long he had lain there, humming along to his SDAT player, when he heard his door slide open. Instinct took over as he paused the music and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that whomever it was would leave when they assumed him to be asleep. That wasn't to be the case, however. He felt the warmth of another body pressed gingerly against his back. Without a second thought, he began to turn around to see who it was.

"Don't," started a soft voice he instantly recognized. "Please, don't turn around."

Shinji did as he was told, settling, albeit uncomfortably, back to back with his roommate. After a few moments of silence, Asuka spoke up again.

"You must think I'm filth." Shinji's breath caught for a second, before he started to turn around once more. "I SAID DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

Both children lay there in silence, fearful Misato may have heard Asuka's outburst and come barging in any second now. When a few long moments passed and nothing happened, Shinji let out a sad sigh. "No, Asuka, I don't."

"How can you not? I'm carrying some bastard's child. And the worst part is, I don't even know…" Asuka stopped herself, suddenly realizing what she was about to share. Something she swore she wouldn't let anyone know, lest they think even worse of her.

"You don't know what, Asuka?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. Forget I said anything."

"I won't, Asuka. Just tell me," Shinji implored.

"You'd really think me worse than filth if you knew…"

"No, I won't Asuka. I promise."

She let out a soft sigh. There was just something about his voice, something that made her want to believe his words. "I don't know who the father is, Shinji. I'd thought it a dream… a nightmare… But now…" Her voice started to catch as she fought back the urge to break down. "No one is going to want trash like me…"

"Miss Soryu needs someone, now more than ever. Will you be that someone?" Those words hung heavy on Shinji's mind. Sure, it was probably just a trick his mind played on him while he was unconscious, but Kaworu had seemed so real. How could he dishonor the memory of someone who had meant so much to him? Especially when it was a request he want to fulfill.

Ignoring her earlier commands, Shinji rolled over. He was too quick, or too confident, for her to bark away this time. In a fluid motion, he wrapped his arms around the red head beside him. "I will be that someone…" Shinji whispered.

"Huh?"

"It's not important right now, Asuka. Get some sleep. For tonight, I will protect you."

Torn between rejecting and accepting, Asuka's exhaustion managed to win out. Even if it was that pervert, she couldn't disagree that, for the first time in a while, she felt safe. A small smile settled upon her lips as her eyes closed. "Idiot…"

A/N: Well, there you have it everyone. The second chapter is done and ready for reading! Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far. And a special thanks to those of you who have made this story a favorite. As I've mentioned, this is my first fan-fic, so to have such a solid response right out of the gate was a welcome surprise. I'm hoping to keep a fairly steady pace of a new chapter every Wednesday and Saturday morning (U.S. EST), though how well that will work is going to depend on how nice of a buffer I manage to build up. So, if I miss a day, please don't panic too much. I already like this story a lot and would rather not let it fall by the wayside. And hey, I'm only about four scenes into the original source material, so I've got plenty to work with.

As I've told some people through private messages, I'm hoping to follow the original plot line pretty closely, although I would really like to make sure that the character personalities aren't as far from their in-anime appearance. So please, if I deviate too far too fast, pull my feet back to the fire. I may not agree, but I'll certainly listen to your opinion! And, on that note, I'll be seeing you on Saturday! Looking forward to trying my hand at the classmates.

JaceSterne