Asuka stormed into the waiting room. She felt her rage, which had seemed eternal and invincible, begin to drain. As mad as she was, there was, there was something about the hospital that drained her fury. She wasn't sure if this was caused by the memories of her mother in the psych ward, the sick people around her, or just human nature. She sighed and sat down. "Gott in Himmel..." she groaned. A boy sitting next to her turned and smiled. He was about her age.

He said," Sprichst Du auch Deutsch?"

She leaned in closer and said, "Ja."

The boy extended his index finger and thumb about an inch apart. He winked and said, "I only speak a little. I haven't used it in years."

Asuka gave him a quick look-over. He was reasonably attractive, if a bit on the skinny side. He was an albino, which she found intriguing rather than put her hand on his thigh and looked him in the eye. "We should do something together when we're done here."

"You seem like a kind enough person, but I'm afraid you have the wrong idea."

He opened his wallet, revealing a rainbow flag card next to his ID.

"I'm sorry... Kaworu," said Asuka, reading his driver's license. She sighed again. Just her luck. All the cute ones were gay or married. Or whiny, neurotic little glory hogs, in Shinji's case.

The secretary gestured to Kaworu and said, "Next!"

He walked up to her desk and said, "I'm here to see Shinji Ikari."

Asuka sprung up out of her seat. "So am I!"

"Small world," said Kaworu. "Do you wish to see if he's doing well too?"

"Fuck no! I'm here to give him a piece of my mind!" yelled Asuka, only to be hushed by the secretary.

Kaworu looked in bewilderment as Asuka slapped the desk. "I'm here to give that nepotistic little brat a wake up call." She glared at the secretary and demanded, "What room is he in?"

The secretary- Gladys, according to her name tag- scrolled down her spreadsheet. "According to this, he checked out this morning."

Kaworu sat down and wondered why Shinji didn't call him and tell him he had left. Asuka sat beside him and let her rage simmer.

Shinji got home using a train and a cab. Nobody at the Academy seemed to notice that he was gone, though everyone must have heard about the Sachiel case by now. He trudged back to his dorm with his head bowed. He entered his room and collapsed onto the bed without even changing his clothes. He masturbated and cried himself to sleep. Shinji's dreams were filled with visions of a masked maniac and a strange albino boy who was kind to him for no apparent reason.

Gaghiel thought this would be much easier if he had a mask. Sachiel had a mask, as did most of the previous Angel's. Unfortunately, fate had seen fit to task him with stalking his targets masked only with a smile. His prey left the gleaming building she worked in and walked past him. As predicted, she was the last worker to leave this evening.

Gaghiel turned towards her. "Do you work at the aquarium?" He pointed to her jacket, emblazoned with the Baltimore Aquarium's logo. In truth, he knew she worked there, as he had followed her every action over the last 48 hours.

"Must be cool to work with all of those fish."

She nodded without interest and kept walking. He could tell she just wanted to go home and was confused by his interest. Good. She wasn't scared yet.

"I'm a fisherman, he said, pointing to his attire. "So I've always had an interest in aquariums."

"That's great." She stepped back cautiously as he moved closer and closer to her.

She was too slow. In seconds, his arms were gripping her shoulders, and he wrapped the fishing line around her throat. Her body spasmed frantically as he tightened the plastic chord. She soon became still, leaving Gaghiel alone in the night.

Misato was waiting for Shiji right outside his dorm. She waved enthusiastically. He walked with her to her office in the BAU. on his way, Shinji looked at the bustling agents hard at work, starting their mornings off with grisly murder and coffee. It occurred to him that this is what his mornings would soon look like.

Misato's entire office was decorated with crime scene pictures. Most agents would delegate that to a single wall or board, but Misato's were strewn across the entire room. Shinji was a bit of a neat freak, and couldn't comprehend how she got anything done with this setup. He recognized a few pictures as the work of Eric Benedict.

Misato sat down and spun lazily in her chair, apparently oblivious to all of the corpses around her. "I need you to perform another interview for me."

"On Kaworu?"

"No. The next Angel may already be women have been strangled and dumped in the Baltimore harbor in the two weeks since Benedict died. The director does not believe the UnSub would be someone Kaworu knew again."

"So who will I be talking to?"

"Lilith Fabian."

Shinji gasped in spite of himself. "You mean Leliel?"

Misato nodded. "She was the only Angel ever captured alive, and was in a relationship with one of the most brutal ones. She could provide valuable insight. The director also believes that the may be a candidate for the new leader of Seele."

Shinji couldn't bring himself to object to his assignment. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to.

After a lengthy security screening process, Shinji was brought into a holding cell at Alderson. Even though this was supposedly a minimum security complex, the process seemed to take forever. After a minute r two of being alone, the guards brought in his subject.

Lilith Fabian had changed a lot in prison. The pictures of her after her arrest depicted an average looking blonde woman. Her ordinary appearance had disturbed Shinji at the time. He learned at a young age that the worst monsters looked just like everyone else. Now her hair was dyed in black and white swirls, and religious tattoos poked out from under her outfit.

She sat down and looked him right in the eye. "Where shall we start?"

Shinji nervously fumbled with his pen while maintaining eye contact.

"How about we start with Eric Benedict?"

Lilith shrugged. "I haven't seen him in years. He was a pretty small fish. Never visited me, unlike some of the others. I'm surprised he had it in him."

"Were you aware of his plans to restart Seele's activities?"

"No, and I don't think it was his plan."

"So you don't think Benedict was acting on his own initiative?'

"No."

Lilith had an amused look on her face. She clearly thought she had the upper hand. If Shinji wanted to get anywhere he needed to take her down a peg.

"What is your opinion on the involvement of Tabris Kihl?"

"Honestly, I'm not surprised. He never really liked any of us. I understand he like you, which isn't much a surprise either."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're his type."

"Excuse me?"

Lilith chuckled and watched a twinge of pink enter Shinji's cheeks. "You've had an interesting week. The best thing I've seen all month was a fight between a gang member and an arsonist two weeks ago. You, on the other hand, have not only managed to befriend the son of your father's nemesis, hop up a level in the FBI, and personally meet two serial killers."

"One."

"Excuse me?"

"Technically, Benedict was the only serial killer I met." Shinji swallowed his disgust at what he was about to say. "You only killed one child before they caught you. You don't count."

Lilith's smile vanished. With a bit more confidence, Shinji said, "You shouldn't feel inadequate. After all, we can't all be like Shamshel, can we? I wonder, did you know what Seele was when he initiated you?"

"Honestly, I thought it was some sort of bandage club. Which wasn't totally inaccurate, given what he was doing to the victims."

Shinji made a note of Lilith's decision to use the word "victim." It implied the people her lover killed did not deserve to die.

"There's more than one difference between you and Benedict."

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"Your eyes. When I looked into Eric Benedict's eyes, they were as blank as the mask he was wearing. Yours look just like mine do in the mirror."

"And you think that tells you something about me?"

"I think you spent a lot of time feeling terrified and lonely while Seele was active. I think you were just as scared of the other Angels as that boy was of you. And I think you're afraid of yourself, and of what you did to him."

"I suppose you're right in a sense. Everyone is afraid of their self. The question is which self they are afraid of."

"I don't follow."

"Think of it this way. There is more than one Lilith Fabian, depending on who observes me. To elaborate, there is the Lilith Fabian in my mind, and there is a Lilith Fabian in your mind. their is a Lilith Fabian in the mind of Tabris Kihl, one in the mind of Gendo Ikari, one in the mind of Shamshel, and one in the mind of the American penal system. All are very different from each other, but they are all undeniably Lilith Fabian."

"That's an interesting philosophy," said Shinji. "Which version of yourself scares you the most?"

"You're the profiler. You figure it out."

Lilith stood up. "I'm afraid we're out of time. I have to get my beauty rest, and you have a killer to catch."

AS she stepped towards the door, Shinji said, "You realize that if Seele is returning, the only way to make up for what you did is to help us."

Lilith glared at him For a split second, her eyes looked just like Benedict's.

"And you must realize that the only way you can stop them is to become your father."

Misato Katsuragi's name blinked on his vibrating phone. Shinji answered with a quick "Hello?"

Misato did not greet him back. Instead, she said, "How did it go?"

"Hit and miss," answered Shinji. "If she knows anything, she isn't willing to tell us. But I don't think she's involved. She certainly isn't pulling the strings."

Misato sighed. "I thought that might be the case. I doubt there is a single leader like last time. If there were, they would have revealed themself already. It's probably a coalition of former members calling the shots."

Shinji heard the faint rustling of papers, followed by what sounded like a chair spinning. Misato said, "Before I forget, you'll be having some help. They selected another cadet to work on the case. One of the Academy's top students."

Shinji felt his stomach sink. "What's their name?" he asked sheepishly, afraid he already knew the answer.

"Asuka Langley Sohryu."

At that exact moment Shinji's phone buzzed as he received a text message. It read: "Get ready to see how a real FBI agent does it, motherfucker. Prepare yourself for the German Invasion. XOXO, Asuka."

To be continued.