I do not own the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of the characters, equipment, or locations written in this fanfiction. The purpose of this fanfiction is merely for the non-profit enjoyment of other readers. If requested by Gainax, Hideki Anno, or other parties which represent aforementioned objects in this story, I will remove it promptly.

Chapter IV:

Just as she had been told, Ensign Wanabe had sounded Alert Status Five, the klaxon alarm blaring throughout the complex. Also, just as she had been told, Lieutenant Ibuki was immediately at her station. "What is our condition, Ensign?" Maya asked. She looked at the display, the worst possible scenario now apparent.

"Blue pattern detected," Keiko answered hesitantly. "Visual confirmation in three seconds." The main monitor flickered to life, showing another humanoid form, this one with stumps for legs ending at where the knees should have been, a bulky, overdeveloped upper torso, square shoulders with no apparent arms, and a white, skull-like mask covering the head. It was, Ibuki believed, the ugliest of the Angels they had encountered.

"Sorry I'm late,"Misato suddenly called out, stumbling to the lieutenants' command tier. "What is the status of the pilots?"

Keiko punched in a sequence of keys, studying the small video images which appeared on the terminal. "Pilot Soryu has entered Unit-02, and synchronization has begun," Wanabe answered. "Pilot Ayanami is in transit to Unit-00."

"No, send her to Unit-01," the booming voice of Commander Ikari projected throughout the command center. "Unit-00 is still undergoing repairs. We need a fully combat-capable Eva to defeat the Angel."

"Understood," Keiko nodded, entering the commands. Ibuki leaned over the ensign's shoulder, studying her inputs. The ensign was perfect for this job, which caused her to wonder why she was still here. "Sir, may I return to my station at the Cages?" Maya cringed slightly, then glanced back at Misato. Katsuragi gava a reassuring nod, as if she knew the questions which plagued someone new to the command role.

"No, you are doing well," the brunette answered. "Major, with your permission, I would prefer Ensign Wanabe take my station. I can instruct her from the Cages if there is any difficulty."

Misato didn't really understand why Ibuki wished to be closer to the Evas. The lieutenant had already proven with the few necessary keystrokes that any error with the Eva series could be dealt with from the command center. There was no need for her physically in the Cages, unless... unless she desired to be away from the command staff.

"Understood," Katsuragi answered confidently. "Do what you can to assist Doctor Akagi."

•••••••••••••

"Keep trying!" Gendo ordered over the public address system. Still, will alone would not prove useful in this matter. The Eva simply rejected the dummy plug. Unit-02 had been swiftly defeated, and Unit-00 was sacrificed resulting in only slowing down the enemy's advance. There was no other hope but to make Unit-01 accept its artificial pilot. That was the plan, at least, but fate never follows the course humans wish it to take.

"I will pilot Unit-01!" the Child screamed. Ibuki hardly recognized it over the loudspeakers as she used every means available to adjust the synchronization settings, hoping to get some kind of result. The voice was a scared, high pitched scream with words. It was the voice of someone who knew what they had to do, or were forced to do, but was still terrified of the implications.

"Why are you here?" the father snapped back in disgust.

"What is he thinking?" Maya shrieked to the techs. "Doesn't the commander even know the old saying, 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth?'" At that, she received a slap from her superior. Ritsuko was standing over her now, glaring down as though the lieutenant was nothing more than dirt to be trampled over.

"This is a personal matter, which relates directly to piloting," Akagi barked. "If Shinji simply thinks he can come and go as he pleases, he is sorely mistaken. Piloting is not a game. It is a strict responsibility, and regardless of his skills, he can't play some part-timer who simply shows up to save the day like an old-fashioned knight."

"But... isn't that what he's always been?" Ibuki retorted, almost without thinking. What was she doing? This was the woman who she looked up to since her training began, the one who taught her everything, and now her own apprentice was questioning her?

"If you have a problem with the way this operation is run, you can leave... now."

"But... don't you need me?" the lieutenant asked. "Don't you need him? We're talking about life and death, here!"

The blonde doctor had no idea where this new confidence had arisen, but it was proving unproductive to retain the status quo. "We are an operation that demands loyalty, Lieutenant. Loyalty comes before all else. She paused, noticing the newly-arrived pilot, still wearing his standard issue school uniform. "Now, make your decision."

Maya glanced over at the boy, his eyes wide in fear. That was it, she realized. That was the simple reason he was motivated to do everything. It was fear. Not fear of dying, nor the fear of letting those he cared about die. The brunette understood completely. It was the fear of being alone, of having no one care for him because he didn't perform some task they expected him to. He was Pavlov's dog responding to a bell. When there was a task to be completed that he did not do, he was denied the one required element to survive. Not even a lab rat would protest, but Ibuki started to hope, even if that hope was small, that somehow, this one would.

"Doctor, I wish to put in my formal resignation," Maya grunted. "Once this sortie is complete, and the pilot safely returned, I quit."

•••••••••••••

Those were the longest thirty days of Ibuki's life. While she reluctantly followed the orders of her superiors, and was looked down upon by the technicians, the ensign which would take her place always greeted her supervisor with a smile. "Good morning, Sir," Keiko Wanabe greeted the lieutenant.

Maya shifted in her chair, face planted firmly in her arms, sleeping hunched over at the workstation in the Cage. "Uhhnn... morning already?" Ibuki groaned. "Damnnit... I just wanted a few minutes to rest my eyes!" The woman was already revived by the adrenaline in her system, pounding the terminal with her fists. "If I could have just stayed away for a few more minutes-"

"Sir, we all need rest!" Keiko argued, taking a seat beside Maya. "We are human after all."

Changing the subject quickly, Ibuki shifted her gaze to the purple construct, dark circles under her eyes. "Status still unchanged?"

Wanabe sighed. "I thought you were going to quit after the sortie."

Ibuki continued to stare off at the Eva. "I said I'd quit when the pilot was safely recovered." The woman turned her head, eyebrows furrowed. "Not until then!" The brunette paused, watching the ensign's face contort into a faint smile. "What is it?" she barked.

"I have a feeling," Wanabe answered, "that your persistence is not wholly driven by your infamous devotion to duty." Ibuki's face was too stiff from a lack of calories and sleep to show any outward sign to the ensign, but the way she tried to change the subject again on the recently increasing level of microwave radiation fluctuations from within the plug gave the matter away. "I knew it! You have feelings for the Third Child, don't you?"

"Ensign," Maya began, "that would be a serious breech of my obligation to NERV. A relationship with a coworker, especially in the military is completely improper!"

"But he won't be your coworker when you quit, will he?" Keiko grinned. For a moment, the reasoning was lost on Maya, the exhaustion wearing down her train of thought to only reciting the same figures she had seen on her terminal for the last 36 hours. Slowly, her mind processed the implied meaning, and ever so cautiously, the blood began to pool in Ibuki's cheeks, her face flushed slightly.

"Perhaps you are right, Ensign," Maya answered. "However, that will be an issue that cannot be taken lightly, and will involve significant discussion."

"With whom?" Keiko grinned. "The Child, or the Child Services officer that comes to ask what you were thinking when you're led away in cuffs?" Immediately Maya rose to her feet, about ready to deck the ensign, when Wanabe held up her hands. "I-I'm sorry, Sir!" she squeaked. "It was just a joke!"

"Just... get back to your post, and give me updates every hour!" Ibuki sighed, rubbing her face with her hand, trying to stay awake. "This conversation is pointless if we can't even retrieve the subject." Keiko nodded hesitantly, and walked down the platform to her station. As she did, however, Maya strode to the upper torso of the restrained creature, running her fingers over the section of chest with the armor removed.

"This is very difficult for me," she breathed at a whisper's volume. "I... I've never thought about it seriously before. First... I just thought you were here to do your duty, nothing more." The lieutenant started to smile. "You know, I even tried to avoid you by ducking into little alcoves and corridors in the base to make sure I wouldn't get too attached to you. I just... I didn't want to lose my objectivity..."

The lieutenant didn't even notice the major slowly walk down the platform come up from behind. She knew Katsuragi had been making regular visits to the Cage, but somehow the brunette had forgotten the time, or simply wasn't even aware of the time. Misato glared, listening to the confession, wondering what she would have to do about this once Shinji was recovered.

"The last thirty days, I've been thinking, and I can't help but admit it." Ibuki sighed. "It was supposed to be so simple! This was a big city, my tour was almost over, and I was just going to settle into a decent career. You know, then do the typical clubbing and scouting for any guy...or girl... which fit the bill." Maya blushed. "Probably... didn't know that about me, did you? Or did you even notice me at all?"

Katsuragi slowly approached the woman, still listening in, keeping her presence unknown. "I even thought about Major Katsuragi like that for a while." At this, the mentioned individual nearly stumbled to the catwalk floor. "I was just... I didn't think there would be any guys that would like me, and well... what else was there to choose from? They haven't exactly invented robots built for that function... yet."

The lieutenant cringed for a moment. "But it's more than that. I want someone who I can talk to, who I can love and who loves me for who I am. Even trying to find someone for a one night stand impossible when you're not following the latest trends, so what were my chances?"

"I think he understands," Misato answered softly. The lieutenant lurched backward, turning to give a salute and apologize, but the major stopped her before she could reply. "Yes, he has noticed you." Katsuragi approached the creature, tracing her fingertips, just as Ibuki had done before, over the exposed flesh. "He always wondered why someone like you worked for NERV, you know? Somehow, he couldn't picture you as fitting in around here. He said you always came off more like a strict school teacher than a soldier. But then... there were those days he would see you flinch around Ritsuko during synch testing." Katsuragi smiled. "He was the only one here, I think, who suspected that about you."

Gathering up all her courage, Ibuki sighed, and spoke her mind. "Sir, if he is retrieved, and I resign, what are your intentions?"

"Meaning?" Misato asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If this soldier intends to make herself available, would friendship with the Third Child be allowed, or would all contact be severed for security reasons?"

Misato nearly laughed. She couldn't help it. "You really are a strict schoolteacher, you know that? As for NERV policy, yes, they would ban you from seeing him." The facial expressions which had been frozen from exhaustion were now slowly fading into the lieutenant's skin, her lips pulled down in a frown, head drooping. "But I'm not going to let him pilot again, ever."

"Sir, he's the best we have-"

"He's the most unstable, flighty pilot we have!" Misato yelled, her right fist balled up, punching the chest cavity of the beast. "He does whatever he's told to with no will of his own, just to make people happy! He doesn't even care enough about his own life to take the obvious steps to preserve it, on or off duty." The major was crying now, leaning her head into the chest of the creature. "Stupid! He's so stupid, but you can't not love him, because he'll give it his all simply because he thinks it will make you happy! The only reason he quit is because it risked the happiness of others, not for himself!"

An alarm on Maya's distant terminal started to beep, followed by the klaxon projected by the loudspeakers. Maya sprinted to the workstation, punching in the sequences of keys, trying desperately to get readings from the sensors. "What... is this?" she gasped.

But Misato already knew what it was, as the entry plug retracted, tumbling from its socket on the spine of the construct down to the catwalk floor with a thud. Her stomach twisted slightly when the LCL was dispersed over the deck by the automatic bilge system. However, some pounding and a few ragged screams from within reassured her. "He's come home..." she breathed.

•••••••••••••

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