Alright guys I loved the critism and I'm glad someone picked something up. This chapter was done with a lot more concentration and I hope it makes up for the sloppy one before hand.

Part 2 begin

The night was soothing for a change. The stars all blinked merrily as if comforting Shinji. Something he wouldn't mind having at that moment. He laid there, his newly purchased MP3 player lying on his stomach playing his favorite collection of songs he managed to scrape from the Internet only hours ago. He looked over to his right and listened as Asuka was snoring soundly within the dimmed room. He couldn't blame her exhaustion. They haven't slept in nearly two days and it was taking a toll on them. His mind was at ease. The things from his vision were not taking shape. The only real setback he faced was realizing the organization of Rose existed. Other than that he was fine. He was actually quite surprised that his vision was no where near the way it was coming out to be. From that moment on, he decided to forget it. There was no more need to continue dwelling on... a dream. He remembered his mother's words. Time has nothing on him. Time is what he makes of it and not what it makes of him. He smiled. His mother was brilliant.

From the darkness he could see the time on the cable box. It was nearly three am. It was odd he found himself lying awake. He thought he would have been tired but now it was quite the opposite. He felt wide awake and now that he had a flashy new MP3 player he was quite content.

He suddenly felt a breeze enter the room but once he turned his head towards the windows he realized they weren't even open. Confused he sat up and through the darkness he could see someone squeezing through the door in attempts to enter quietly. Shinji dislodged his earphones.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." said a feminine voice. At first he thought it was Misato but the voice was too girly to be her. It must have been Dr. Nikki's daughter, Carla.

"Oh, it's alright. I wasn't asleep." he assured her. Through the dimmed lighting he saw her lean on a wall and look down towards the floor. She didn't say a word.

"You want to talk or something?" he asked her feeling uneasy that she was just standing there. She nodded and propped herself up against a wall near him. Shinji had never encountered a girl that was even more shy than he was. She was intensely quiet and only responded when you asked her something. Quite unusual considering she was American. Not in a bad way. She was the same height as him but had long flowing blond hair and bright blue eyes. Her skin was fair and she was quite slim. She sure did look like her mother. Shinji found himself staring and he immediately looked away.

"Um, later on, could you tell your mother thank you for letting us stay and for giving me this?" he asked lifting up the MP3. The girl smiled.

"Actually, I made that myself." she whispered.

"Really? You made this?" he asked taking a look at it.

"Yes, I made it from scrap pieces of computer chips and a scavenged hard drive. My mother didn't really bother looking at it because she's always busy making things for different companies but I think she liked it. Anyway, I don't listen to music much so I thought you may... like it." she said. Shinji smiled as he thought. He was given a gift by a complete stranger. That was something he didn't experience everyday.

"Thank you... very much. I really appreciate it." he said.

"So, I heard your guardian went to talk to the Secretary of Defense." she asked, her thin wire glasses falling to the tip of her nose. Shinji eyed her suspiciously, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry in your business. I should go now."

She quickly went towards the door but Shinji caught her hand. She looked back at him with a surprised look.

"Stay for a little." he found himself saying.

"You sure?" she asked pointing at Asuka who was sprawled out on her back looking like a bum. He glanced at her and said, "Positive."

She took a seat beside him.

"So... um... what are you listening to? I saw you look up Mozart but I don't know anything from him." she admitted. Shinji picked up the device and then one of the earphones and handed it to her.

"I think you might like it. I think it's his Piano Concerto No. 24." he whispered. He tapped the makeshift play button and listened along with the free earphone. So, there they sat listening to the music. Shinji couldn't help but stare at her. She had her eyes closed and her head began to sway left and right to the music even though her tempo was remarkably off beat compared to the actual tempo. He didn't mind it. He actually thought it was cute. The light of the moon fell through the window and fell over her white clothing. The color brought some sort of calmness in him but he couldn't point out exactly what he was feeling at the moment. His mind couldn't help but linger on the thought of what was going to happen. He felt as if he was alone in the world but then he remembered he had Asuka and Misato. He wasn't paying attention after the song finished and she was staring at him with her big blue eyes.

"Oh, sorry, let me switch the song." he said. He quickly pressed several buttons until he landed on a very slow song. It wasn't classical and we wasn't sure how or when he got this song but it was different and he didn't feel like changing it once it started to play.

"Your name is Shinji right?" she asked him and he responded yes.

"Aren't you surprised I can speak Japanese?"

"Now that you say that I found it a bit strange... but in a good way." he reassured her, "You look really smart so it's not really surprising." She smiled and despite that the room was dark he could make out a hint of pink over her cheeks.

"So where are you headed after here?" she said.

"I'm not sure. From here on out I know it's going to be long and rough. I'm just glad we got a little breather here." he said motioning his head towards the sleeping Asuka. Carla looked at her and blinked.

"She's pretty." she said. Shinji couldn't help but scoff, "I don't think I'm that pretty..."

"You're joking right?"

"No..." her voice said fading.

"I think you're pretty." he said.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Some of the boys at my school say I have owl eyes. You know... because they're big." she said. Her eyes looked up at him and stared. They are pretty big, he thought, but that could be overlooked.

"Is she your girlfriend?" she asked. He opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it. He wasn't sure. I mean they only kissed a handful of times but other than that nothing had been written into stone. He looked over his shoulder and at Asuka. Her snoring has stopped.

"I don't know." he admitted, "she's a hard one to figure out but we're friends I know that much."

"Do you guys kiss?" she asked. He wanted to lie but his mouth beat him to it.

"Once or twice."

"And she's not your girlfriend?"

"Like I said, I don't know." he said. Silence erupted into the room to the point it was almost deafening. Maybe he should have just said no. Things were planning the way he had hoped and what's more it felt like there were multiple voices in his head telling him just to wait a little bit longer. That not everything is what it seems. His mind continued to yell to wait and see what happens but no, his body didn't want to wait. He really didn't want for results. He was tired of others telling him what he should do. Not this time. If they wanted to see what he would do they were just going to have to wait there and shut up and let him tell the story and if they didn't like it they could just screw off. That's it. He wasn't going to try and please everyone. He was going to do things his way.

He kissed her. Despite the fact he had only met her yesterday and only moments ago had first engaged in a real conversation with her he felt this was the right way to go. She pulled away clearly stunned as to what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Sorry."

"I should be going now. You should get some sleep."

"Yeah, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight. Shinji."

"Night."

Several feet away Asuka gritted her teeth.

Misato was agitated the moment she walked out of the hotel. The idea that her training was being questioned by a mere official of defense rocked her. In her mind she wanted to tell him off and explain her training wasn't to question and only the circumstances around her was the problem. So what she was training in tactical strategy and was a ranking officer before she even joined Nerv? That wouldn't guarantee she would have to go against her will just to help save two kids. That did not instantly give her the freedom to willingly help someone in which she really had no choice. She didn't want to help Gendo. She despised the thought of it but at the moment she had no choice but to follow along. She was doing it for them. She was doing it for Shinji and Asuka. She did it to keep them away from harm.

The more she thought of it the more angry she became. I don't understand people who don't take consideration about me, she thought, I try hard and all I got is more bullshit. She was now standing at the entrance to the hotel. Rain was coming down now but her mind wasn't focused on not getting wet. Rather her mind was contemplating the consequences of going against Gendo's plan. She did a 180 and reentered the hotel. She took a sharp right and into an elevator. She pressed a button and several moments later she found herself in the same hallway she had been not fifteen minutes ago. She stomped down the corridor and knocked on one of the doors. A hard voice called from behind it.

"Come in."

She opened the door. The Secretary of Defense sat relaxing with a cup of brandy swishing in his hand. The old man looked at her perplexed and asked, "Didn't we already have a conversation?"

"We did but this time I will listen to my gut." she said. She slammed the door shut, opened her purse and withdrew a pistol from it, she tossed her purse onto the bed and aimed the gun at him, his old eyes staring wide at her.

"Do you not know the seriousness of what you are doing?" he asked.

"I know exactly what I am doing Mr. Secretary." she said. She swiped the cup of brandy from his hand sending it shattering on the floor. She took his collar and pulled it down onto the desk causing his head to slam against it. Unrelenting she forced the barrel of the pistol to his head and said, "You tell Gendo that I officially resign from Nerv. And if he has the stones to send people after me tell him I'll be waiting. I was a fool to agree to help him and I was a fool to let you tell me that my training was insufficient. I don't care what anyone says. I am me. I will not be sorry for that." she said forcing her gun against his skull with each emphasize in her words.

"You will regret this." the man said.

"Shut up, I'm the one with the gun not you. I won't regret a thing considering your own government wouldn't like the fact that its own official of defense is being contracted by a secret organization created by higher ups. So, I wouldn't tell anyone of our second meeting if I were you. Just tell Gendo what I said. If I find out you squeal about this to anyone else I will personally spread how you are practicing an old art called treason." she said in disgust. She backed away and retrieved her purse and hid her weapon. She stormed down the stairwell ignoring the elevator. She found herself walking out of the hotel lobby and into the street where she soon began to regret doing what she did. She had placed herself and the children in jeopardy. She shook her head in frustration and continued down the street, her high heels clicking angrily against the concrete side walk.

"Hey.."

She stopped. Looking around she quickly shook off the thought of someone trying to capture her attention. She took a step to cross the street.

"I said hey..."

She turned around but she felt someone push her forward.

"Keep walking. Don't look back." a deep feminine voice said. She obeyed.

"Who are you and are you working for Gendo?" asked Misato.

"I do not know who that may be but that doesn't matter. I am interested in you." the mysterious woman said. Misato's ear perked.

"What do you mean interested in me?" she asked.

"I heard you upstairs."

"You mean you were spying?"

"I don't like that word. I like to think of it as investigative insight but I know you need my help." she said.

"Keep talking."

"I am not an ally nor am I your nemesis. I work from the shadows and pull the strings along with my men. We are known as the Deciphers. Since the American Revolution there has been a secret mercenary group that fights for a sum of cash in order to change the course of politics. The American Revolution began with us. We were the ones who won that war. The civil war, President Lincoln paid us to join the union. The Vietnam war, we were payed by the Vietnamese to keep America at bay. The Cold War, we were paid by both sides to keep the other from launching nukes. Truth be told we were the ones who sabotaged much of the Soviet's missiles but we were also the ones who fought the Americans at the Bay of Pigs. We were also in the World Wars but telling you what we did there would prove meaningless..."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Misato.

"I think we might need each others help. I have been tracking the Secretary of Defense because the American government had paid us to keep track of him. They had a feeling he was working for some other organization but couldn't prove it. They paid us to find out but I can see you are involved. Now, I can smell an opportunity when I see one. I have a feeling that if I help you somehow you will be able to show me where this secret organization is I can get paid by the Americans. If you don't want to help me I can easily take you in and get paid but I wouldn't get much from just you. Now what's your answer?" said the woman.

Misato walked but she could feel herself being led by the mysterious woman down several streets. She felt something hard against her back and she didn't want to see if that was indeed a gun.

"So you know about Nerv and Rose?" she asked.

"Nerv and Rose? So that's their name huh? That's a start. I know of them but until now not their names." the woman answered back.

"So, the US knows that their secretary is working for them? And you want to get rid of them so you can get a bonus?" asked Misato.

"You're smarter than you look. That's correct."

"So you'll help me destroy them if I lead you to them?"

"You are correct."

Misato hadn't realized it but she was in an alley. Smoke rose from the gutters and the stench of several dumpsters traveled into her nostrils.

"Turn here." said the woman. Misato obeyed and found herself standing in front of a warehouse door. The woman withdrew a walkie talkie from her back satchel and said, "David, open the door. I'm coming in with a stranger."

"What stranger?" the radio asked back.

"Our bonus." she said. The front door slowly opened, its rusty frame showering the doorway with falling paint chips. A rugged looking man peeked from behind it and once his eyes darted from Misato to the enigmatic woman behind her he opened the door only several more inches. The woman pushed Misato into the doorway forcing her to squeeze into the tiny opening.

Misato felt a hand touch her shoulder and guide her into the darkness. She heard several more doors open and then she heard a many people around her whispering inaudible phrases.

"Don't be afraid." whispered the woman.

"I'm not." Misato retorted.

"Turn on the sky light!"

A single light above the Major lit up and she was temporarily blinded by it. The woman that had guided her here stepped in front of her. A hood shielding her face. She lowered it exposing her face.

"I am Lilith. And this is my crew..."

The entire warehouse lit up and what Misato saw made her jaw drop. Hundreds of men and women stood around her. Some standing, some sitting on tiers of empty storage shelves, all staring down at her wearing camo like clothing holding rifles and pistols. Many of them looked young and some even younger than her.

"This is not all of them. There are more of us around the world. You can say we are like mercenaries. All of these men and women have let their families and their existence to fight for a world that should be already here. They fight alongside me to make sure the world does not free fall into chaos. We are the Deciphers." she said lifting her arms.

"How in the world are you able to hide hundreds of men without alerting the authorities?" asked Misato.

"Are you serious. We are the authorities. We have people on the inside of every single government in the world. Ever heard of the US Secret Service? They are us. We are everywhere but despite that we recently realized that not even us know much about the world anymore. That's why I have a personal vendetta against secret organizations. Despite us being everywhere information and secret pacts still have a way of getting passed us. Now that I have at least one person on the inside now I can operate." she said.

"If I may interrupt I would like to express my conditions." said Misato. Lilith's eyes raised.

"Conditions? Honey, I don't know if you didn't hear me. But like I said we are everywhere and it would seem as if little old you has a choice on the matter but to aid us."

Misato wagged her finger.

"Actually, it would seem to me I have an advantage over you. You need my information in order to go anywhere." she said.

"We can easily take you in and have you done away with." Lilith retorted.

"Go ahead but two things will happen. You will get very little for me and with a group like this I don't think you can spare getting so little and second you will still be ignorant to the fact where these organizations are and I seriously doubt that even with your extensive reach around the world you won't come up with any more information regarding them."

"I... uh..."

The hundreds of men and women that were around looked over at their commander expecting a response but there was none to give. Checkmate, thought Misato, how's that for tactical planning?

"I can see that I am in a bind. What are your conditions?"

"I want to command a section of your force and I want unconditional loyalty from them."

The entire warehouse exploded in laughter.

"Are you serious? Come on honey, do you think they will give you such a thing?" said Lilith.

"I won't share anything unless this is given to me."

"I can see this is the only way to get through to you. So be it."

Lilith pointed at several people and beckoned them forward. Three men and two women walked over to her.

"I'll assign you six men, no more no less. Each one has extensive training so I doubt you'll need anymore."

"Six? Where's the sixth?" asked Misato.

"Me."

Lilith pointed to herself.

"I'll be instructing the rest of my men however you have us under your wing. And one more thing, the only reason I'm giving this much is because I know you are a Major."

"At least you'll get paid after this."

"You best pray to that. If I don't I'm going to kill you first."

"Agreed."

Mariamnè stood in front of Gendo, a sleek smile over her violet lips.

"So, we have a deal right? I call off all future Angel attacks and you give me that red headed girl." she asked him. Gendo in his famous pose shuffled his feet. On all other counts this deal would be a great one but he couldn't figure out why she wanted Asuka so much. Why was she so special?

"Granted only that you tell me what's her role in your plan?" he asked.

"That's simple. I need her because she has a connection with the world beyond this one. She has an undying link and it's far easier to initiate my plan if I have a child with a link to the dead."

"Why is that?"

"For one the link she has is an ability not many humans have. That ability is a prerequisite for evolution. If I can manipulate her physique alongside her Eva then I can trigger Third Impact with you at the helm." she said.

"Sounds good but something always struck me as odd." he said, "Why did Seele give you command over the sister company of Nerv?"

"Isn't it obvious? They did what they thought would keep me on their side and plus I had extensive knowledge about the Angels and I took on the shape of a human since they were the first beings to encounter me. I am the leader of Rose because if Nerv ever failed I would take up the endeavor of initiating Third Impact. That is... if the children survived."

"What about the Eva's? What would happen if they got destroyed?"

"It wouldn't matter. Rose is not Nerv's sister company for nothing. We had duplicates of every single Eva you ever created."

For the first time Gendo felt his eyes widen.

"How is that possible?"

"I'm surprised Gendo. I would think that the commander would know the history of all his employees. Truth be told Seele sent double agents to work for you when in reality they were collecting information on all Eva's you created. By the time you created them we would have created an identical." she said.

"But how? You don't have Adam nor Lilith."

"I said we are your sister company. You may not realize it but we share everything. The only thing different is that many of your prototypes died. This is not the case with me. I kept ALL clones of your prototypes alive. And yes, if you were wondering, I have copies of Unit 00-03. They may not have souls to synchronize correctly with as of yet but that's why I need Asuka's Eva. To make a internal copy of that soul. You know, kind of like copying the memory of a computer. I just need to pop a disk in and viola I have a copy."

It occurred to Gendo that despite this woman being an Angel she was incredibly ignorant to the fact that Shinji's Eva, Unit 01, had the best soul to use. He had to remain quiet about it.

"Alright, I get what you're trying to do. Have you heard anything from Seele?" he asked.

"To my own surprise I heard they went hiatus. Haven't heard anything from them. What about your Major. Doesn't she have the kids?"

"Yes, a contact of mind gave her the instructions ands that's the last I heard." he said.

"How's your company doing? Your employees?"

"Don't worry about them. As far as they're concerned they think they're on holiday." he said.

"So you're the only one operating the system? Impressive."

Asuka stared angrily at Shinji all morning. She was pissed. After what happened earlier that morning all Shinji could do was talk with that dork of a girl. She gritted her teeth and often made fists behind her to suppress the undying anger. They talked they laughed while she was in the background. After all they had been through this is how he repays her? The three of them, Asuka, Shinji and Carla sat on an elongated table. Small droids ushered around them holding plates of breakfast items.

"Where's your mother?" asked Shinji as the American girl was busily tapping away at a small touch phone, a small apple label on its front.

"She went to another company to show off her technology. She gets money if a company likes her machines." she said, "I'm just writing a few programs."

Asuka stared with poison in her eyes.

"So you must be real smart huh? Then tell me... is space a vacuum?" she asked.

"No, in theory it should be a vacuum but in fact there's just a very minimal amount of matter there and they're very spaced in between creating the illusion of a vacuum. It's kind of the same idea behind A.T. Fields."

Shinji jerked his head towards her.

"What else do you know about A.T. Fields?"

"What isn't there to know about them? I have created something that can fortify a A.T. Field." she said smiling. Shinji was surprised. He never knew you could enhance an A.T Field. Asuka on the other hand sat with a sour look on her face.

"She's lying. There's no way you can do that." she said. Carla looked up angrily.

"I am no fibber. I have made an enhancement drug about a year ago. It's right here." she said darting to another room of the house. She went into her room and pried a floor tile from its place releasing smoke from its depths. She took in a deep breath and placed her hand into the smokey abyss and withdrew a small red cooler. She replaced the tile and headed back into the dining room holding the extremely cold cooler. Carla placed the package onto the table and from the corner of her eye she could see Asuka staring with hate. The American girl loosened the top cover of the cooler and then withdrew a pair of tongs from her back pocket. Which was weird.

Shinji watched the girl pull out a small syringe and within it a clear but sparkling liquid shimmered within it.

"Ever since my mother taught me what A.T. Fields were I always wanted to make it better. I don't know if it works because I ran out of hamsters but it should." she said.

They all took a look at the concoction unaware that several men in uniforms with machine weapons were charging down the street. The emblem of a rose stitched into their arm sleeve.

Hopefully this chapter adds some clarity and some at least a little excitement for future chapters. I had to rewrite some of the plot.