(A/N Well here it is, another installment to the EtLomS series. This chapter preserves some of the new viewpoints I have added to my story. But just wait, the story gets even better from here...if I can decide what I want to do next. There are two options I have come up with and I have to decide one of them. Although both can go into the story, I don'[t know which should go first. Anyway, chapter 10 should be pretty obvious to spot if you read the first section. But trust me, it won't be as simple as it appears to be. Anyway, I thank you readers for your continued support and hope that you can give me some feedback on this chapter. Thanks. Oh, and go check out J.Alana's audio manga and YoungBoch's story 'Nothingwill ever change that.' Both are AWESOME!!!)

Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, Halo, or Ace Combat. However, we've survived the air attacks, and are preparing another attack on all three fronts!

Chapter 9

Reunion

(POV 'Unknown' Blaze 'Unknown')

"Hey Snow, bring up calibration sensor 2 and see if you can stabilize the readings on it?"

The voice of Dr. Maya Ibuki rang through my ears as I stepped through the door into the first testing facility. She, along with her technicians, scrambled around, hard at work preparing S-Unit 3, which stood within view behind the glass window for its upcoming mission. This mission has had everyone tense since its order was given a week ago. And, since my schedule was suddenly freed up thanks to a friend, I have decided to do what I can to help out.

"How goes the effort Doctor?" I ask stepping right beside her.

Having just taken notice of my presence, she peers up at me before returning to looking out the glass at S-Unit 3, saying, "I honestly don't know what to tell you!"

Puzzled, I grunt out, "Hm?"

"Well, I've dealt with targeting sensors before, but none like the ones you guys have brought to us," She explained, adding, "I can hardly pick up any errors or discrepancies."

"Oh no, they're there alright. You just need to look harder," I tell her, fully prepared to give an example.

Looking away from S-Unit 3, I walk over to a group of computers on the back side of the room. I look through the mess before finally finding the one I want. Looking at it to make sure that it was what I wanted; I pull up the information the computer offers

"Ah, here it is," I say to nobody in-particular.

"Huh?" Grunts Dr. Ibuki, a confused look crosses her face.

Looking back to the screen, I call out, "Hey Snow, can you hear me?"

A moment passes before, "Yes Captain, I'm right here."

"Good! Look, I need you to do me a favor for Dr. Ibuki here," I tell him.

"I'm all ears Captain," he replies full heartedly.

Looking back to the screens, double checking his targeting configurations, I order, "Snow, you'll need to deactivate your atmospheric cross analyzer. You won't need that where you're going."

"Sorry Captain, switching off," he replies.

In the background, I hear a few beeps before Snow comes back asking, "Anything else you need over there?"

"Nope, I think that was it, good job with the rest of it though. Over and out," I call over the radio.

"See Doctor? There's always something. I'm confident that you can find the rest," I say. Satisfied that I had proved my point, I walk back over to the glass and return my gaze to S-Unit 3.

Dr. Ibuki looks up at me before saying, "Thanks, for all that you guys are doing."

Not even looking back at her, I reply, "Don't go thanking me. Thank Snow for doing this mission for you. He was the one who agreed first."

"Yeah, only 3 more days until the Unit-01 recovery mission," She states than adding, "We're going to need every Eva we can get our hands on if we want to keep going."

"Yup, and with my Eva still coming back from Europe, we're going to need all the reserves we can gather," I add.

"Where is your Eva anyway? I heard that it's being shipped back now, but I don't know how far along it is," says Dr. Ibuki

"It should be in the Panama Canal by now. Than it'll be another 3 days before it arrives in New Yokosuka. Than it should be shipped here…first class I suppose," I say.

"I guess so. The Commanders fear a battle is coming over the horizon," says Dr. Ibuki.

"Yeah, but who exactly is the fight against now?" I ask, not knowing where the fight would turn to now. If there were no more angels, than what was all of this effort going towards.

"The Commanders are worried that members of our last enemy, the organization known as SEELE, still hide deeply rooted within the governments of the UN," explains Ibuki, her words seemingly damped in sorrow

"So everything we do here is to prepare for the worst?" I ask.

"I guess you could say that, but we'll just need to wait and see what happens now," says Ibuki, now looking down into the ground.

Silence passes between us, the only sounds being those that the technicians behind us are making.

Suddenly, Dr Ibuki gasps before exclaiming, "Wait, aren't you supposed to be escorting Asuka out of here?"

"Actually, Nagase's taking care of that," I explain, adding, "When I protested, she made it sound like it was her obligation to take her. Kind of funny since she met the girl just last week."

"Don't say that," breaks out Dr. Ibuki before adding, "She probably just feels she needs to comfort Asuka."

"What makes you see it like that?" I ask, puzzled and dumfounded.

"Call it woman's intuition," She says, walking off to join the other technicians puzzling over some unsaid problem.

(POV Kei 'Edge' Nagase)

The hallway stretches on as I try to make my way to the parking lot out in front of NERV branch hospital. Beside me is a young girl of no more than 14. To think that just a week ago, this young girl wouldn't respond to any other Human being. Now she is walking beside me, almost at a skip, a smile on her face as she hums to herself, her red hair bouncing with her steps.

Originally, Blaze was the one who was supposed to be taking her down to the front lot, but when he had told me of this, I had insisted on doing it myself. I was somehow able to convince him that he was needed more with helping out Dr. Ibuki and the prepping of S-Unit 3 for its upcoming mission. Of course, Blaze protested at first, but I got him to come around. But there's a reason for my switching of jobs with him and it's not just because he might say something that could scare this girl back into submission.

"Hey, Miss, just where are we going?" says a young voice, breaking me from my channel of thought.

"Hm?" I grunt, looking to the girl, the source of the voice, before realizing that I had stopped at a split in the hallway.

"Um…this way," I say, leading her off to the right.

"You know, you don't have to come along. I can find my way to the lobby on my own," protests the young girl.

Smiling, I tell her, "I'm sure you can, but the doctors aren't fully convinced of that just yet."

"Well that's stupid. If I can walk and talk, than that should be good enough for them," complains the girl.

I just look at her, not replying but giving her a smile just the same. We walk a little farther along the hallway until we reach an elevator. It isn't until after I had hit the button that the conversation picks up again.

"Say, I never got your name. Would you mind telling me it?" Asks the young girl.

"Oh! Sure. My name is Nagase. Kei Nagase," I tell her.

"And I'm Asuka! Asuka Langely Sohryu," exclaims Asuka, giving me a great smile as if saying her name were a thing of pride.

I smile back, a chuckle making its way out the throat. Just before I can ask her something, I'm interrupted by the dinging of the elevator. The doors open to reveal a doctor and nurse rushing out of the elevator. Than Asuka and I walk into it ourselves. I hit the button for the ground floor and the doors shut once more. Than as the elevator begins to move downward, Asuka begins talking again.

"You know, I've never seen you around here. Are you new or did you work at another branch before coming here? " Asks Asuka, and just before I answer she adds "And what do you do here? Do you work for security or technological development? Or do you work with the Eva's? Do you know how those are coming along?"

"My, my, so many questions for just one little girl," I state, which gets a quick frown out of her. Not knowing which question I should answer first, I decide to start with the basics.

"Well, to answer some of your questions, my friends and I are quite new here, I guess you can say we work with Eva's, and they're all coming along just fine, but I don't think I can tell you much more than that," I answer, listing off everything I think would be safe to tell to Asuka.

After a pause, Asuka says, "I guess you can't. But that's okay; Ritsuko told me everything I wanted to hear!"

"Who told you what?" I ask, puzzled at the unexpected response.

"Ritsuko told me. But I guess you know her as the Sub-Commander now," answers Asuka.

"Oh," I exclaim, now asking, "And what did she tell you?"

"I can't tell you! She told me it was between me and her and that I wasn't supposed to tell anyone else just yet," Asuka exclaims, another smile planted on her face.

"Oh, well I suppose I'll find out with time," I reply, just as the elevator dings.

The doors slide open to reveal a family of four trying to get into the elevator. Asuka and I manage to squeeze our way into the lobby just as the doors shut behind us. Making our way across the beautiful marble flooring, we head for the exit. The twin glass doors slide open as I feel the warm sunlight bathe across my face. For a moment, I lose myself as I just drift for a few steps in the basking light.

Suddenly, I'm brought back to Earth by Asuka's voice, saying, "You know, you look familiar. Like someone I've seen before, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Well, I assure you, I'm probably someone you've never met in your entire life," I say.

I lead Asuka to a bench next to the street. We both sit and wait as we just gaze out into the distance, the only sight being the mountains and assorted construction equipment.

(POV Shinji Ikari)

It's been one week since we received the call about Asuka's recovery at the hospital. Since than, Misato had turned this whole week into one of preparation for her impending arrival. We had to clean out one of the bedrooms for her, since we know she'll want her privacy. Than there was the clearing of mountains of beer cans and beer bottles. I swear, it would have been more effective to use a shovel than to pack it all away in garbage bags.

The rest of the week turned into a routine as Misato couldn't go a day without calling the hospital at least twice, asking if we could see Asuka or take her home. Finding my old cello in my new room, I have returned to practicing it, finding myself in a new found peace as I play it. Having promised my mother that I would find some self worth in myself, I have gone in search of that with my cello playing. So far, the search has yielded few results, but I'm still willing to try and find myself in it.

Anyway, today is the day that we received the confirmation call about Asuka's health. Misato was told that we could come and pick her up from the hospital today and take her home with us. I swear, when Misato went to the phone this morning, she jumped 6 feet into the air shortly after answering it. Now we're driving through the ruins of Tokyo-3 in search of the hospital and, against my repeated suggestions, Misato refuses to use her Onboard Navigation.

"I think we're supposed to turn here…no maybe it was back there…urgh," Misato curses to herself as she fails to find the hospital yet again.

Luckily, the streets were empty as Misato raced along them at speeds that made a super-sonic aircraft seem slow. Quickly making our way at break-neck speeds, Misato and I suddenly find ourselves in the midst of new construction. Misato is forced to slow down as we find ourselves trapped following bulldozers and tractors through the area. The sudden loss of speed does give me a chance to view all of the new buildings being put up.

"Jeez, what's going on here? I would have thought Tokyo-3 was going to be abandoned and that would be the end of it," Misato bellyaches.

"I guess some people want to come back here. Otherwise, why bother, right Misato?" I state to which Misato grunts indistinguishably.

That's when I return to the words said by that man two weeks ago.

'NERV isn't as dead as you've been lead to believe.'

That thought still echoed in the caverns of my mind, and it filled me with both curiosity and fear. Since than, I have asked myself the question 'what are they going to do next,' but it always yielded the same answer. 'I don't know!' So than I decided to wait in anxiety, until either a clue of some kind reveals itself or I am freed from NERV once and for all. But than again, if it hadn't been for NERV, I would have never met Misato or Asuka. This has left my thoughts in their current conundrum. 'Did I really ever hate NERV…or was it just my father?' I guess I still haven't even figured myself out yet, but hope is not lost just yet.

I decide to drop all thoughts of NERV for the time being, just in time to hear Misato scream, "HAH! We're here! Take that GPS navigation!!! I never needed ya'!"

The car comes to a halt in front of the hospital. Looking out the window, I notice, sitting on a bench right next to us, is Asuka. However, also sitting right there, is a woman I had never seen before, chatting and even laughing with Asuka. It isn't until I get a good look at the other woman's face that I see a striking resemblance.

I decide to ask, "Hey, Misato, doesn't that woman right there look familiar to you?"

"Huh? ...well, now that you mention it, she does sorta look like Rei. What an odd coincidence," says Misato.

Actually, the one I thought the woman resembled was my mother. I compare the woman's face to the face of my mother, within my memories of Third Impact. I consider myself fortunate enough to have met her within Unit-01 just before returning to Earth, but I still feel saddened by the path she has chosen for herself. To remain in space for an eternity serving as a marker for the existence of mankind, a lonely and terrible existence for any human, yet she had chosen this for herself. It was the saddest thing to have to say goodbye to her…if only I could see her once more.

I look back out the window to see Asuka walking towards us, waving to the smiling woman as she approaches. She makes it up the sidewalk, opens the door behind me, and climbs in.

"Bye Miss Nagase. See you later," Asuka yells as she sits down and shuts the door.

"Hey Asuka, who was that woman you were talking to?" asks Misato, who is now leaning back and looking at Asuka from the driver's seat.

"Oh, that was Miss Kei Nagase. She's one of the new people working for NERV," states Asuka.

"Odd, why would a disbanded organization hire new people?" asks Misato, probably to herself as she places a hand under her chin.

"What!!? Haven't you been watching the news?" asks Asuka, than explaining, "There was a giant Eva incident in Berlin and the UN is considering reinstating NERV."

Than a thought suddenly occurs to me!

"Asuka, do you remember anything happening when I came to see you in Berlin?" I quickly ask, but half worried she might remember everything.

"Well, I do remember you coming to my father's house, than we talked and…," She seems to hesitate before continuing with, "Well, we went to a café, and than the rest is just a blur."

She seems to frown and hide her face beneath her hair.

"Shinji, don't question her like that. She's probably still coming off of her more recent ordeals," states Misato in a serious tone before turning back to Asuka and saying, "We're just glad to have you back."

With that Asuka re-reveals herself with a smile saying, "Thank you Misato."

With that, Misato starts the car and we begin the long, and probably painful, ride home.

(POV Kei 'Edge' Nagase)

I step through the door into our living quarters. Due to the fact that there were no surface facilities, my comrades and I have been forced to live down here underground. Also, because there is limited space between all of the staff, all four of us have been crammed into this one room. It was a great relief to all of us when we heard that new homes and facilities are going to be built up on the surface. All of us could sure use a little more sun then what we are getting right now.

As I move into what we have come to know as the rec. room, I find Blaze sitting on the couch, watching something on the TV. What's strange about this scene is that he has a notepad out in front of him, and he seems to be writing something into it. As I take my next step into the room, Blaze notices my presence and turns.

He waves and says, "Hey Nagase. Hang on; I just need to finish taking notes here."

"And what exactly are you taking notes on?" I ask.

"Well, since I got back from S-Unit 3's preparations, I started taking notes on security feed videos," he explains.

"And you think that's going to help you fight better?" I ask, wondering if that was the reason.

"Actually, it was originally to find out how NERV operates. Now it's to answer some nagging questions I've recently found myself with," he states.

"What have you found out so far?" I ask.

"Jeez, what is this, 20 questions?" he asks, to which I frown, before explaining, "Anyway, So far I've found out that Dr. Akagi's story about Pilot Sohryu has turned out to be valid except for one thing,"

"And that one thing is…," I say, leaving the statement open for an answer.

"On the day before Third Impact happens, she is visited by Pilot Ikari, who does something…well, that's not the point," says Blaze, who clears his throat before continuing, "Anyway, the next day, between about 0800 and Third Impact itself, she goes missing."

"Do you know what happened to her?" I ask again.

"No, but I have Grimm working on a solution for that," he states.

"And what is your solution?" comes the last question.

"To crack the Magi database and find the missing information," Blaze answers.

(A/N oooh, what a way for me to end it. Originally, I wasn't going to have that last part, but the chapter wasn't long enough as is, so I added it for your amusement. Enjoy the suspense before my next chapter!!!)