Chapter 34: Hope Lost and Found

Hello, here's the second of my, 'hold off until I get back chapters'. Again, I was unable to contact my beta, so forgive any mistakes I may have made since my grammar skills are not as great

Disclaimer: I do not own NGE, Gainax does. I do own all original characters, and if they bear any resemblence to real people or fictional characters in other stories it is merely coincidental

Now, on with the show!

Everyone was stunned when the plug shattered to pieces against the mountain side. There was no possibility of survival, the plug completely crushed from the force of the impact. The monster continued to thrash about, but was in control now that it was no longer piloted.

In his plug the power had gone out, but Shinji saw the plug shatter and the LCL spill everywhere. In the darkened space, the boy shuddered as tears merged with the liquid around him

He's dead, the thought echoed through his mind, Iak's dead

Outside, Touji stared from the shattered plug to the monster it was in, "Um, what just happened?"

The injured Angel began to stalk towards them, roaring loudly. Asuka and Rei stepped in front of the purple Eva to protect its pilot from harm.

"Shit," Asuka shouted, "This is bad"

Stepping in front of the others, Hunter told them, "Clear the battleground"

The red-head was about to demand what was going on when the two cylinders on the green Eva began to move. Turning along a pivot point near its shoulders, the cylinders flipped over and stopped when they were parallel with the ground. The ends pointed at the Angel opened up and a triple barrel appeared.

The monster in front of Hunter's Eva roared in defiance as it charged forward. The barrels spun around, first slowly, then with increasing velocity. Just as the black being was upon the green unit, Hunter unleashed hell. His guns fired thousands of red-hot lead into the beast.

Literally flying away, the monster withered under the overwhelming power. When it landed, the beast attempted to get up. Hunter gave no quarter; he fired at the monster, tearing it to pieces under the sheer number of bullets it fired. It roared one final time, its body torn to pieces.

When it was over, all that was left was very small pieces of metal and bio-metallic material. All of that lay in a lake of red blood-like liquid that spewed out during its last few moments of coherence.

Guns smoking, Hunter stood back and observed the scene, waiting for any surprises that Kaitos may have put into his 'ultimate' Evangelion. Since nothing exploded in his face, he assumed that the target was silent.

"That's done," he said impassively, "You had better go get checked out, you were beaten up pretty badly"

"But," Asuka said in a shaky tone, "what about-"

"Go," Hunter commanded in a tone that brooked no argument, "I will stay and help cleanup. I will rejoin you shortly"

Before she could argue, Misato spoke up, "You better listen to him. Touji, return to the lab, we'll explain everything there"

Desperate for some answers, the jock went back, stumbling around a little as he did so. Rei and Asuka used their Evas to lift and carry Unit-01 back to Nerv. Neither of them wanted to look back at the carnage that was wrought or the wreckage of the entry plug where it crashed terminally into a mountain.

Nerv

Gendo watched as the pilots were rushed to the infirmary. He was disappointed that the scenario didn't go as planned, but the end result seemed to be the same. Shinji looked like a total wreck after the battle, glaring at him before he was sent to the medical wing.

"Commander Ikari"

Pressing the intercom, he asked, "What is it?"

"We have determined the source of the explosion," the person at the other end said, "It originated from one of the mountains to the north. Apparently the Avatars had hollowed it out and were using it as a sort of hangar for their Evangelion"

"I see"

A smile graced his face. Gendo now had the location of a major Avatar facility. If he could get some useful information from there, he could utilize it to capture them.

"One more thing," the man continued, "The Avatars were hurt badly during the explosion, and are asking for medical assistance"

Better and better, the Avatars were in a weak position. He can use this to his advantage. Before he could order their capture, he was interrupted by another voice on the intercom: his voice

"Escort the Avatars to the medical wing. Under no circumstances are any of them to be harmed"

Before Gendo could countermand the command, he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw that Cairn was there with a stern look. Standing behind him was Fuyutsuki and a cloaked person.

"What is going on?" Gendo asked as he saw that Fuyutsuki wasn't being held back in anyway, but Cairn had pulled him up by his shirt.

Closing his eyes, his Second said, "It's about time someone did something about you. Ikari, you have been steadily growing more inhumane with each passing day. In the beginning your intentions may have been good, but your sense of morality has deteriorated to such that you would put your own son through hell. I am sorry that I wasn't able to stop you, but I'm happy to see someone take care of you"

Smirking, Gendo countered by telling him, "If I'm gone, what will become of Nerv. I'm the only one who can outmaneuver SEELE and defeat the Angels"

"You're right," the cloaked man said, speaking for the first time since he appeared, "I am the only person capable for the job"

Pulling back his hood, Gendo was shocked to see himself. Every detail on his face matched his own perfectly, with one exception: he was older. The Gendo in the cloak had silver in his hair and beard, and his face had more wrinkles around his eyes.

"Well," Cairn said with a jaunty tone, "You finally get to make amends. How does it feel?"

"I'll tell you when I do," the older Gendo replied, "What will you do with this me?"

Chuckling, the dark man said, "Balance, if you take you must give back"

A portal opened up, filled with darkness. For the first time in a very long time, Gendo felt fear in the pit of his stomach.

"You can't do this," he said, struggling to pull out of the Avatar's grip

"Ah, but we can," Cairn countered, "And besides, it's a chance to travel, and learn something"

Pulling him in, the dark Avatar said, "All yours, 'commander'"

Once they had gone, Fuyutsuki said, "Welcome Commander Ikari"

"Rokubungi," he corrected, "I don't deserve to take her name"

Nodding, the old man corrected himself, "Welcome Commander Rokubungi, I look forward to working with you"

Medical Wing

After being checked out and deemed fit for continued duty, Asuka went to look for Shinji. She was worried; he hadn't said a thing ever since they pulled him from the plug. Finding his room, she peeked inside to find him lying on his back in bed.

"Shinji-kun," she said softly, coming to his bedside, "Are you okay?"

Opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling, he said, "He's dead. We could've saved him, but he's dead"

Tears welling up, Asuka took his hand, "It'll be alright"

Sitting upright, Shinji let his tears flow, "He has a little sister. Who's going to tell her…?"

"Shh," the red-head shushed, bringing him into a tight hug, "There wasn't anything you could do"

Sobbing, Shinji continued to talk, "If I hadn't attacked him, we could've saved him"

"It wasn't your fault," Asuka said sternly, "And if you keep talking like that I will personally castrate you"

In a softer tone, she continued, "Besides, it's as much our fault. We were so busy that we couldn't save him ourselves"

They held each other, finding solace and comfort in holding one another. Both of them thought of another person who would be twice as broken as they were.

"We should tell her," Asuka said finally, "It would be better"

He nodded, and followed her out of bed. They had heard that the Avatars were in bad shape, and that many of them were here for medical treatment. It would be easy to find Rikku, and tell her the bad news.

The first person they came upon was Hunter. He was the least beat up of the group, next to Cairn, and was making sure Section 2 wasn't taking advantage of the group's weakness.

"Shinji, Asuka," he greeted, "how are you two?"

"We're okay," the red-head replied, "We were wondering if you knew where Rikku was"

"She knows"

Shinji and Asuka shared an uneasy look, while Hunter continued, "She's in room 593, but you shouldn't go there yet"

Nodding in understanding, Shinji asked, "How're the others?"

"Sai and the twins will be alright," the military man replied, "Though Shuri has a slight concussion he'll be able to recover from. Keevan has a fractured arm, but he is up and helping with healing the others using his magic. Cairn and I have escaped major harm"

Jerking his head to the ER, Hunter told them, "Kaitos received the worst treatment, and is in surgery right now. Keevan is with them, so he will also recover"

"Can we see them?"

Nodding, Hunter directed them to the rooms the Avatars were staying in. The first room they came to was the twins. Shuri was holding his head while Shara was literally climbing the walls.

"Argh, I'm so bored," she shouted, "Let me out of here!"

"Sister," Shuri groaned, "You're making my head hurt"

"Gomen," Shara said in exasperation, "But I hate sitting still!"

Then she spotted the visitors, "Finally, can you get me out of here before I lose my mind?!"

Rolling his eyes, Shuri asked, "We didn't see much of the battle, what happened?"

Seeing the pilots' downcast looks, the ninja changed his mind about wanting to know. His twin, however, was not so easily deterred

"Come on, what happened?" Shara asked in a desperate tone

Shinji said in a low tone, "During the battle, Iak's entry plug was ejected"

"Oh," Shara said in a disappointed tone, "So he's fine"

"It crashed into the mountainside"

The kunoichi stopped dead in her tracks, which was the ceiling. She dropped to the ground, landing on the bed her brother sat on

"No way," she said in a stunned tone

Shuri was pale as he asked, "Is he…alright?"

No one said anything for a long time. Hunter got up and left, telling the others that he was going to check up on the others. Silence pervaded the room as the four were lost in thought.

"Does Rikku know?" Shuri asked at last

Shinji and Asuka both nodded. Sitting back, the ninja sighed and closed his eyes. His sister drew up her knees and hugged them tightly.

"I'm never really liked him," the kunoichi said, "but I never wanted him gone"

Patting her back, Shuri replied, "Don't worry. We should probably think of a way to help Rikku"

Asuka was holding Shinji's hand. She could possibly imagine what the Aerolan would be going through. Losing the one you loved, it would be like missing a piece of your body. Selfishly, she was glad to never know what that felt like.

Shara pushed her brother back onto the bed, "Ni-san, you need to rest. We can talk about this later"

Getting up, Shinji said, "We'll leave you to rest, we'll go talk to Rikku"

Closing the door on the twins, the couple walked down the halls. They walked slowly, holding hands and talking about how they would talk to Rikku. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the room Hunter had told them.

"We're here," the red-head said nervously, "Are you ready?"

Giving a nod, Shinji raised his hand to knock on the door. Just as he knocked, the door slid open, a bemused Rikku standing in the doorway, her arm in a sling

"Oh," the Aerolan said in surprise, "There you are; I was just about to go looking for you two"

Shinji and Asuka were confused at the mood of the woman. It was as if her love wasn't killed earlier today. Clearing his throat, the boy stepped up to speak

"Um, Rikku-chan," he began, "Are you alright?"

Smiling, the blonde Aerolan replied, "Of course. A couple of bruises here and there, but I'm fine"

"We came here to apologize," Shinji said, bowing his head, "We weren't able to save him"

A confused look on her face, Rikku asked, "What are you talking about? Who couldn't you save?"

Wondering if the girl was in denial, Asuka gently took the other girl's hand, "It's alright, if you need to talk, we're here"

A strange look on her face, the blonde girl asked, "Were either of you hit really hard in the head during that last battle? Because I have no idea what the two of you are talking about"

"Hey," a voice called from behind Rikku, "Let them in"

Both Asuka and Shinji jumped in surprise at the sound of the voice. A look of understanding on her face, the Aerolan gestured for them to come in. Stepping into the room, the couple stopped and gaped in amazement.

Lying on the bed, encumbered by bandages and casts and IV drips was Iak. His forehead had a bandage wrapped around it as he turned to look. Elevated, the Aerolan's right arm was completely encased in plaster, as was his left leg. A splint was on his left wing, folding it against his back.

"But how," Asuka asked in a daze, "We saw the plug smash into the mountain"

"The plug, not me," Iak answered, "Although I may have cut my exit a little close"

Flashback

Struggling to wrest control from the parasitic Angel, Iak felt for the emergency exit. Priming the bolts, he felt himself being ejected from the behemoth. Struggling under the G-forces, the Aerolan fired the explosives that were attached to the end of the plug.

The end blew off, and Iak was sucked out of the plug by the sudden rush of wind. Spinning around uncontrollably, he straightened his wings as best he could as he attempted to balance himself. The lack winged Aerolan was able to straighten his wings enough to get himself level.

Despite his wings wrapped in waterproof material, Iak was able to glide to the ground. Unfortunately he was flying at terminal speed, and was running out of airspace to slow down in.

Bracing himself, Iak weaved back and forth the best he could in his constricting suit. He hit many branches along his way and finally stopped by hitting a huge mound of dirt. Groaning, he pulled his good arm up and pulled himself out. Before losing consciousness, Iak was able to activate a tracking beacon before losing consciousness.

End Flashback

"So you had an emergency plan?" Shinji asked in amazement

"Partly," Iak answered, "Like I've always told Rikku, I like to keep a few options open"

Rolling her eyes, Rikku retorted, "I know, but no amount of options saved you from being injured"

Nonplussed, the man on the bed said, "Anyway, I know why you two came here, and it's alright"

Giving them a smile, he said, "None of this was your fault. It might have happened regardless, and in another world it probably did, but don't blame yourselves for what you couldn't control"

Gulping, Shinji shook as he said, "But…"

"No," Iak interrupted, "Don't apologize, it's not alright because it's nothing to apologize for"

Leaning up as far as he could, the Aerolan told them, "I am alive, be happy. If I was dead then you could apologize all you want, but I am still alive, and I will continue to live"

Pushing him back into bed, Rikku said sternly, "And if you want to live, then stay down and rest"

"And you two," she continued, looking at the pilots, "Get some rest; it's been a long day"

Rushing out of the room followed by Rikku's death glare, Asuka and Shinji panted for breath as they stood outside. Suddenly, the red-head laughed, causing the boy to look at her

"Hunter said that she knew, and she did," she explained, "we completely misunderstood"

Once he got it, Shinji began to laugh too. There was nothing like the sound of children laughing

Thanks for reading, I await your comments and reveiws. To remind you, I will not be updating during the summer, so you will have to wait until the break is over for anything new. Thanks again for your patience

Later-Much