+++++ UNN LHD-5, Pride of Dublin. Sunday +12.

Much of the conversation after the initial meeting remained between Shinji and Asuka. The two spoke quietly of the three encounters he'd survived, the way it felt and the way he could still feel the pain if he thought too much on it. Over the hour and a half between meeting one another and their arrival aboard the Pride of Dublin, Shinji managed to note that Asuka was simply a very emotional creature. She would veer between extremes, both logically and emotionally, but had since managed to direct those extremes to someone or something other than him.

For Asuka, she'd reassessed her impressions of the experienced pilot with her now. He wasn't seeking to outdo her, he wasn't even looking at it as a competition. Everything he said was said by way of preparing her for what was to come, not to tell her she couldn't hack it. His quiet reserve, combined with the flashes of anger when someone or something threatened the people he protected, made it clear that the waters deeper than surface level did not stand still. "There's my baby," she crowed, taking Shinji by the hand and dragging him towards Unit-02 faster than the others as they climbed aboard the Pride of Dublin. "The first true production model, based on your prototype model." Forgetting to let go of his hand, she set her other against the shoulder armor of her Eva. "I've been training every day with him, since I was four years old."

Shinji wished he'd had that opportunity. "I look forward to fighting alongside you, then. Unit-00 only recently was repaired enough to not hurt Ayanami-san when she piloted…and the attacks are getting worse."

"Then it's a good thing you're getting the best," she declared without shame. "I managed a synchronization score of eighty-six point two just before leaving Germany. Once I get real practice under my belt against an Angel, I'm sure I'll go even higher."

The number itself was meaningless to Shinji, but he was glad she was happy. A happy comrade was one that would fight at your side rather than against you. "During the last battle, Doctor Akagi said I hit-"

"Hey, Shinji!" Misato waved at him from near a crate of some kind. "Give me a hand here, would you?"

It was at that moment he realized Asuka was holding his hand, his natural motion towards the Tactical Commander causing his arm to twist slightly in her grasp. "Oh, uhm," he blushed, embarrassed at having not noticed, "I'm sorry. I'll be back once I'm done helping Misato-san."

"No worries," Asuka murmured, beginning to see further behind the mask her new peer wore. The way he hadn't ripped his hand free once he realized she'd kept it meant far more to her than it had him, not that she knew it. He wasn't what she considered her 'type', but he also wasn't unattractive in the slightest. Dark, a bit too brooding possibly, but with a clear gaze and honest respect for the people around him. She might let him take her out to dinner, if he didn't screw up the landing.

Reaching Misato's side, well out of earshot of Asuka or Nanako or Verðandy, Shinji announced in a quiet voice to the Tactical Commander, "She is very…touchy."

"Like a grenade without a pin and a decaying rubber band holding the spoon," she agreed.

Blinking several times, Shinji tried to determine where the miscommunication occurred. "I…mean she likes to touch people."

"Oh, you meant 'tactile', yeah…that too. She was raised entirely in the West. Very, very different social boundaries." Pointing down to the lid, she kept 'in character' and pretended to ask him for help, "Asuka's watching us, so if you wouldn't mind ripping that open for me? I called you over here to…give a bit of advice."

Shinji couldn't quite understand the need for subterfuge, but he admitted that was a lifelong affliction and not anything this situation created. Working his fingers under the lid, he tore the top off with one smooth motion. "Is something wrong, Misato-san?" He caught her scowling at the crate and waited for a few seconds before repeating himself, "Misato-san? Is something wrong?"

Clearly trying to keep her voice down, Misato answered his question with a question, "Why didn't you use the crowbar?"

"The…what?" He looked up to the sky. "There wouldn't be any crows this far out from land, would there? I didn't think they could swim."

Unable to completely swallow her laugh, Misato gripped his shoulder tightly and squeezed with affectionate teasing, "You are a treasure, Shinji. An absolute treasure." Patting his cheek, she bent down over the top of the crate and began digging for something. "Be careful around Asuka. She's…we've already talked about how her emotions are a little different, and how she was raised in a different society, but I have never seen her take an interest in anything or anyone and have it turn out…good for all parties."

With Misato's pert rump jiggling before his eyes, Shinji found somewhere else to look during the discussion. "Isn't her being interested in becoming friends a good thing?"

Pausing her motions, Misato sighed. "Do you hold hands with all of your friends?"

"Not…all of them, no. Not the male ones." He tried to remember a female friend he hadn't held the hand of at some point. "All of my female friends just kind of…take my hand and start playing with my fingers. At least the ones at school do. Are we friends?"

"I'd hope we're on our way there, if not already." Popping back out of the crate, she looked at him with a half grin. "You're a good man, Shinji. Good men don't look for snakes in the grass because they're too busy looking towards the horizon where they're needed." Stepping forward and pulling him into a hug, she whispered her advice once more, "Be careful around Asuka. She's not quite what she seems, and I'd hate to see you be hurt."

Haltingly, he wrapped his arms around her in turn. Between her attitude shifting from cold and biting to warm and friendly, and the recent problems with his close relationships all taking a broadside, he worried that he might be misinterpreting the gesture as a further attempt to confuse the watching Asuka behind him. When she tightened her hold slightly, after he met her halfway, he gave in to the hugging and sighed out in frustration. "I like hugs."

"I do too."

"You…scared me."

"I know," she admitted. "I…didn't make the best first impression, and I treated you like every other man out there. I'm really sorry, Shinji. I promise, I am."

"I…like how you feel, in my arms." It was best that he be honest. Lying or hiding things only led to pain. "You're strong, but soft…and you're warm."

It's like hugging an animated steel bar! Misato tamped down on the blush that was threatening her cheeks. No wonder he was able to help me lift the car, he's all muscle despite having no definition. "You're not so bad yourself. Certainly not soft, though," leaning her head back, to press her breasts against his chest and see his reaction, she continued, "what's your workout strategy?"

Treading what he felt was dangerous waters, he kept his eyes locked onto hers instead of glancing down at the inviting valley below. "Uhm…running. Lots and lots of…." Something glanced off of his subconscious, something inhuman, causing him to look out towards the east. "Run."

Before Shinji could urge her towards the bridge of the Pride of Dublin, an enormous waterspout blasted out of the water half a kilometer to their southeast. The force sent both shockwaves and actual waves blasting towards the ship, too great for the inertial stabilizers below deck to compensate for completely, sweeping everyone on deck from their feet.

All he could do was cradle Misato's head and accept that it was going to hurt. Keeping one arm locked around her body, and the other stopping her head from smashing against anything, Shinji rolled across the deck for several meters before slamming awkwardly against a VTOL that had been lashed down for repairs. The sound of the impact matched the way it felt, agony racing in both directions away from the small of his back. "Gah…." He swallowed, keeping himself from vomiting. "Go…it's an Angel. Get us authorization."

Misato was dizzy, but aware enough to agree that his priorities were in the correct order. "Yeah, yeah let's go." She helped him to his feet, seeing how he was wobbly when trying to stand upright and scowling. "Ok, lean on-"

"Go," he urged, shoving her away. "I'll get Asuka in Unit-02, you tell the Admiral we're launching." He turned and hobbled towards where he'd left his fellow pilot, shouting over his shoulder, "And send someone with a radio for Nana-chan!" He was five steps away from where he started when he felt his two best assets reach him and begin supporting his movements. "Nana-chan, I think Asuka's hurt." Keeping his voice low to avoid scaring anyone, forgetting that nobody close to him but the two non-humans were able to speak Japanese, he laid out his fears. "Can you help her if she is?"

Their line of sight on the redheaded foreigner was cleared, and Shinji's belief became reality. Lying on the deck, unconscious and bleeding, was Asuka Langley Soryu. She had moved between the shoulder pylon and the neck of Unit-02, and when the ship was struck by the wave had lost her balance and smashed against the unforgiving metal frame of the giant Eva. She had then bounced off of the platform and slid across the deck several dozen meters away.

"I can get her to a human physician," Nanako hedged. "There's no telling what she managed to foul up in there." Looking directly at Verðandy, she grit her teeth and did what needed doing. "Hold him up. Let's get him in his suit and inside that beast."

"Agreed." Ðandy, took over main responsibility for stopping Shinji from hurting himself further while Nanako dug out his 'work clothes'. "In the spirit of our truce, may I ask why there is a Seed of Life attacking this planet? It is clearly demarcated for Knowledge."

"Wish we knew." Finding her target, Nanako tossed the rest of the bag aside. "Ok, boss, strip."

Following orders, Shinji looked to Ðandy pleadingly. "I need you to stay here. Is it going to force you to follow Unit-02? I don't want you to be hurt."

"Shit," Nanako swore. "I hadn't thought about that."

Seeing in Shinji's eyes genuine worry for her safety, and knowing that the System Force was very determined when it chose to be, Ðandy offered something she'd never have for anyone else. "I will trust you, Shinji Ikari, the same way you trusted me." Creating a necklace that held a tiny mirror on it, she braced herself for her own worst nightmare. "Hold this please." She forced his fingers to accept it. "When you are done, you can touch the back of the mirror and call my name three times. That will release me. Nobody will remember I was here, to stop them from wondering where I am, so wait until you are alone before bringing me back."

Before he could argue or ask what she was talking about, Ðandy disappeared into the necklace's mirror in a flash of light. Hastily putting the necklace around his throat, he finished doffing his clothes. "Nana-chan," he began climbing into the plugsuit, "would it be bad of me to ask for a kiss…for luck?"

+++++ Tokyo-3 Intercontinental. Sunday, +12.

Watching the battle from the comfort of Shinji's hotel suite, Washu, Minaho, Misaki, and Funaho were not well pleased by the condition of their favorite human. Nanako's field report regarding the circumstances, coupled with her praise for his quick thinking, made it a general sentiment that he needed to be thoroughly pampered when he returned 'home'. The way his mind was attempting to moderate his response to the pain of his back having been damaged on impact with a landing strut made each of them want to go there now, in person, and just leave the planet to suffer its fate after reclaiming him and perhaps a few other key individuals.

Unit-02 responded reasonably well to him, though it was evident that there was greater delay than if he had been inside of Unit-01. "The spirit of his mother recognizes his being. If this monstrosity is of a similar design, it is not unseemly that the poor woman inside would have little idea who he is and why it is not her daughter," Funaho mused aloud.

Watching as Shinji grabbed the enormous aquatic Angel before it could swamp the Pride of Dublin, Misaki thought of several different ways to handle the situation were she in it. When the Angel forced his rear foot off the deck, sending them both back into the Pacific, she snarled, "It was foolish of them to attempt to send this via their oceans. It became an irresistible target."

"Their technological limitations don't help them either," Washu agreed, much less concerned. She knew that Shinji wasn't bound by military training or doctrine, and would be much more likely to improvise a solution that took advantage of his unpredictability. "Using a train and just building out a track from the other side of the landmass would have been better, had they unified properly under their supposed 'United' Nations."

The Angel crested again, this time flailing in an effort to rid itself of its passenger. Unit-02, like some type of enraged ape, was now clinging to the flesh closest to the mouth and delivering an unrelenting stream of punishment with its free hand to the mouth and teeth of the creature.

Minaho tittered. "Ok, not what I would have done but it's clearly working."

Leaning in, Funaho's lips curled downwards. "Why does he not use the Wings? Is it the unfamiliarity with his vessel? A desire not to 'out' our presence?"

"One of their vessels just launched something," Misaki announced darkly. "Do they not understand that their weaponry will not break through the shielding the Adamite uses?" Her question was answered by Shinji using Unit-02 to lever the Angel's mouth wide open, and just barely dodging the non-nuclear-tipped cruise missile as it rammed its way into the Angel's mouth to strike the core directly.

Watching helplessly as Unit-02 was blasted two kilometers away in an uncontrolled spin, Minaho's fists clenched tightly. "He can't swim." The other three slowly turned to look at her, dawning horror at what they knew was now going to be a serious problem.

+++++ UNN CVN-75, Over the Rainbow. Sunday +12.

"Solid kill, sir," a nearby ensign reported. "The 'Kyiv and the 'Warsaw both report visual confirmation. The enemy is breaking apart and sinking."

The bridge let loose a cheer at the victory, something the Admiral of the Fleet tolerated for a few seconds to allow emotions to be better managed. "Order them to make full steam towards Captain Ikari's position," he gestured towards the comm officer, directing the tasking, "have them make ready for him to use them as pontoons. That beast can't swim, but we are not resigning his soul to Davy Jones without a fight." Turning towards Misato, the old man eyed her firmly. "I believe he would understand the orders better from you, Captain. I would appreciate it if he used as little strength as possible to hold onto my submarines."

"Shinji? Shinji, can you hear me?" Misato hadn't received a report from him since he'd hit the water again. She waited impatiently for a full five seconds before asking again, "Shinji, baby, please tell me you can hear me."

It seemed everyone on the bridge became aware at once that they weren't receiving any signal from inside of Unit-02's cockpit. The victorious atmosphere began to inexorably drift towards recognition of the potential cost. Ideas began to be passed up the chain of command, many impractical but all full of hope and well-meaning. They could create a makeshift net to scoop Unit-02 out of the water, using two of their frigates as trawlers. They could send out a dive team to lash the balloons they'd use to bring a plane that fell overboard to Unit-02. Sailors asked what the likely buoyancy point was for something that size and shape. Some of the brightest minds in their fields bent their will towards saving the life of the man that had possibly given his own for them. He fought by their side; if he had died in their stead then they would bring his body back to his home no matter what.

"'Warsaw reports visual contact with Captain Ikari's vessel," the ensign called out. "Negative visual on power, she believes it's dead in the water."

Nearby Misato, a man wearing markings indicating he was not an average sailor began to murmur just loud enough to be heard, "Admiral, you give me the green light and we'll get that man out of there. The redhaired chit wouldn't shut up about how wonderful her beast was, kept talking about how you could survive anything in it because you were breathing in some form of liquid they had a lot of. He might be alive, just can't talk." His dark skin prevented Misato from seeing his emotions, if he had any. "We'll secure him."

"Inform In Amber Clad and Spirit of Fire to drop anchor near Captain Ikari's position." The Admiral looked at the dark man. "We are not going to lose cargo or Captain, Master Sergeant. Coordinate with Army Captain Katsuragi for any information you need."

Snapping a sharp salute, the man turned around and nodded to two others nearby in similar uniforms. As those two filed off the bridge in a hurry, he approached Misato and spoke in heavily accented Japanese, "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to walk me through opening that devil up. If he's roughed up in there, we're already wasting too much time talking."

"You are not cleared for that knowledge, Master Sergeant." Misato scowled, seeing the dilemma and not having any good paths forward. "But you get out to him, and I'll work the phones on my end to get you clearance. Just…no matter what, please bring him home. I'm not in your chain, and I certainly can't advise you that six M150 PAMs would penetrate the armor enough for you to reach the entry plug so long as you line them up six centimeters away from the seam between hatch and hull equidistant from each other and the center, but I would really appreciate some patience while I argue with idiots in bad suits."

"One Team, One Fight, ma'am." After a curt nod, he too hurried off the bridge.

+++++ UNN LHD-5, Pride of Dublin. Sunday +12.

Back over on the Pride of Dublin, Nanako sat near Asuka's gurney while the redheaded pilot was weaned off of the sedation used to keep her unconscious to avoid too much movement while they used a mobile x-ray to see what was possibly broken. After the corpsman determined that she'd just had a hell of a knock on the head and was otherwise going to be physically fine, the number of people in the room dropped to only the occasional visitor to update Nanako on the status of the recovery operation to get Shinji and Unit-02 out of the drink.

"They've managed to keep her from sinking further, using several of the subs to nudge her back upwards from time to time while they rig the 'Amber and 'Fire up to hoist her out." One of the ship's doctors had stopped by to share what had been passed around. "Your Captain's a hell of a fighter, Miss. I'm sure they'll find him alive."

Nanako just smiled and nodded. She wouldn't let anyone know, but she knew he was alive. He was unconscious, and not in the best physical shape after having been slammed around inside a small metal tube, but he was alive. Better to play up the angle that she was silently worrying to build up esteem for Shinji further than act as if nothing was wrong.

"…Er hat meinen Eva mitgenommen?" Asuka's first statement, instead of everything else that was clearly more important to the world around her, was that of frank disbelief that anyone would dare to steal her Unit-02.

"He piloted Unit-02 to defend us against the Angel, he did not 'take' Unit-02." While Nanako had developed a margin of respect for Verðandy, after the Norn had not only been brave enough to accept confinement but willingly offered it, she had much less positive inclinations towards the brash and swagger of Asuka.

More fully awake, and not inclined to include the nearby doctor in her ravings, Asuka switched to Japanese, "He stole my Eva?"

"He effectively piloted Unit-02 in the battle against the Angel. He did so after you were knocked unconscious, five hours ago." It probably wasn't very nice of her to seed further discord between others and the brat, but Nanako wanted the ship to know that Asuka cared more about personal glory than their lives. "How is your head?"

"I'm fine," she snapped, trying to get up only to discover that the doctor was far stronger than her. "I am fine, let me go."

Still holding Asuka down, the doctor shook his head. "You have cranial trauma, and likely a concussion. You are to remain here until I am certain that you are not going to injure yourself or others." His voice darkened, "That might be a while." Turning to face Nanako, his more professional demeanor shone through. "Since she is awake now, I'll need you to give us some privacy. Patient confidentiality, and all that."

Standing up with a shrug, she gave a simple tap of her fingers to her head and waved goodbye. "She's all yours, Doc." Whistling on her way to find a ride back over to the 'Rainbow, she suddenly felt much better about the world.

+++++ Pacific Ocean, Unit-02. Sunday +12.

A series of thumps brought Shinji back to the state of consciousness he'd been drifting in and out of for a period of time he couldn't quantify with a gun to his head. The world around him, as cold and dark as he'd left it, had suddenly grown just a little colder. From nearby, however, he heard what sounded like a hissing. The hissing grew louder rapidly, then a small circle the size of a cantaloupe began to glow off to his right. Before he could determine what was happening, there was a rapid pressure change as a hole was punched through the side of the entry plug. It, like everything else that day, hurt.

A strange mask was quickly forced onto his face by an arm that reached through the hole, lit by a pair of bright red lamps, a process he helped with as best he could. The sudden burst of pure oxygen caused him to choke, then vomit out the LCL in his lungs. Some form of vacuum tube inside the mask sensed the liquid and kicked on, siphoning away the dangerous materials as fast as he could produce them. After his visor was cleared again, he looked over into a man's face who was using a series of hand gestures to communicate. He needed to pull the top of the mask back over his head.

Doing just that suddenly brought audio to the otherwise creaky void. "Can you hear me, Captain?"

The Japanese was reasonable, if a bit off-key. "Y-y-yes," he chattered out through frosty lips.

"Get in this." Another item was shoved through the hole, before a red lamp was attached to a nearby portion of the entry plug and switched on. "It will drain out the seawater and start warming you again while we pop the hatch. Can you move?"

Fumbling with numbed hands Shinji did what he could to do as he was ordered. "C-c-can't f-f-feel…."

"Understood, Captain. We are going to begin cutting again, please stay away from this side." The voice changed language, "Goofy, he's at least stage one. We're switching to the unsubtle plan. Prepare to receive, over."

A feminine voice followed as the hull began to glow in four distinct points, "Goofy copies all, Hoplite. Tell the Captain I've got milk and cookies waiting. Out."

It was another minute before each of the lines met up at two different angles, and five seconds before the now much larger hole was ripped free by the man who'd been talking to him. Shinji hadn't made much progress on shoving himself in the bag as requested, and his mind had regressed back to a much earlier life. Stilted and stuttered as it was, he forced out what he believed would be his final apology, "I am-m-m s-s-sorry f-for m-m-my f-failure, uncle. I-I did n-not l-lisssten t-to your ex-x-xplanation and am-m-m r-r-ready t-to b-be p-p-punished f-for th-the d-d-d-dishonor I havvve b-b-brought up-p-p-pon you."

"Christ alive, what did they do to you?" Slipping in enough to shove Shinji into the rescue sack, the Master Sergeant tried to soothe a man who he knew wasn't even old enough to enlist. "Don't worry, Captain. You're safe. Just focus on my voice, stay loose, ok? Just keep your body loose."

In short order, Shinji began to feel a slow warmth crawling along his skin. It hurt in ways he'd never believed possible without knives involved, but it was still a glorious warmth that changed his attention from the fact that he was being floated around an endless expanse of darkness by a strange group of people. Far sooner than he'd thought likely, gravity reasserted complete control over his motions.

The top of the bag was pulled apart, and in looked the cheerful face of 'Goofy'. "Howdy, pardner." Straight, jet-black, hair pulled back into a tight ponytail decorated her head, bobbing around as she worked the bag loose from him. "You don't look half bad for a drowned rat. 'Rainbow Actual, it's looking like two hours in the tub with me to be safe. Interrogative: how do I get him out of this…BDSM getup he's wearing, over."

Any response went silent as 'Goofy' gently removed the mask he'd been breathing through and helped him get up onto a nearby bed. After a brief delay, she pushed the blue button that would release the electrolization of the compound keeping the plugsuit on. He could only offer general aid in her stripping of him, but when she went to take off his necklace he found that he could engage in a determined fight to prevent its loss.

"Okay, okay, the necklace stays." Undaunted and unfailingly cheerful, Goofy patted the necklace and recovered her hand. Settling dozens of small plastic bags around him after crushing something inside of them, she covered him over with two different blankets and flicked a switch on the side of the bed.

Once more, agonizing warmth crawled along his skin. Once again, he fought against making any noise. Making noise only ever made it worse.

"Okay, Sugar," her finger held in place above his eyes, "need you to follow the pretty digit."

He didn't understand her words, but he'd seen Ritsuko do the test before. Left, then right, then down, then up, then in a slow circle around, and finally the tip of her finger landed on the tip of his nose.

"Perfect." Her near violet eyes considered the skin on his face for a bit, while she made notes on a tablet. "Negative, ma'am." She pursed her lips and shook her head, responding to some unheard voice. "He's at the edge of stage two hypothermia. I'll do what I do best, you focus on helping them secure Captain Ikari's rig."

He recognized his name, and looked over to the woman who'd been speaking a language he couldn't begin to identify. "Y-y-yes?"

"Not you, Sugar. I'm telling your helicopter tiger mother that you're ok." Slipping one hand under the blanket, she felt at several locations on his skin. "Gonna have to ask what you did that caused you to look like you won a fight with an ocelot." She snorted out a laugh. "I mean, we chicks dig scars and all, but there's got to be some stories here." Satisfied that the makeshift oven was warming him properly, she pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste. Pantomiming what she needed him to do, she ordered, "Ok, open wide!"

Having someone else brush his teeth was a strange sensation. It did, however, feel wonderful to get the taste of the LCL out of his mouth. After a job as thorough as the one he would have done himself, she switched out tools and used a floss-pick to get between his teeth, all the while humming a strangely comforting song with a beat and rhythm he didn't recognize. Once the flossing was done, she used two small tubes to finish up, one spraying a mist of liquid in his mouth that tasted of sharpness and cold, another suctioning out anything but that first liquid.

"Looking much better," she cheered, spreading a medical-grade gel across his lips, and dropping something on his tongue that dissolved on contact. "Now you're only half-drowned." A slow, warm, hair wash was next on the agenda, some form of dry powder that became a foam when exposed to the seawater he'd been exposed to. Now that she wasn't leaning over his mouth, she began to sing the song she'd been humming.

Shinji couldn't understand those words any better than the ones she spoke, but either she had a lovely singing voice or he was too tired to properly judge it. It sounded, to him, like a lament. It flowed like a river, rapid in some places and steady in others. Were it not for the pain, he probably would have fallen asleep. Between the heat stabbing him with trillions of tiny knives and her pulling firmly on his hair, sleep was prevented most effectively.

His hair was rinsed out, then roughly dried with a towel. "There we go, got some blood flowing up to your pretty little eyes. I have to admit, I kinda like being able to talk around a patient without them understanding me. Get to tell you how cute you are without you getting all offended that I said 'cute' and not 'handsome'."

Her washing out his hair had brought a greater degree of awareness back into his mind, enough that he began to worry more about his situation. He was in a bell-shaped container, there was a hatch on the bottom of the container, there was warm air in the container. There was a large door on one side of the chamber. That door was made of some form of clear substance.

"Oh, that?" Goofy tipped her head towards the exterior hatch. "Half a foot thick reinforced glass-steel composite. Since we're going up and not down, it's not in any danger of letting the big blue in." Leaning down on her elbows, she gauged his complexion and alertness through what he did when she moved. She wasn't the most gifted in the chest at the moment, but she knew how to plump her girls up enough to catch a man's eye. Easily able to see him notice, then blush and avert his gaze, she grinned happily. "Good. If you're able to blush, your capillaries are starting to move blood much better." Reaching over with one hand and fixing his hair, she pursed her lips and nodded. "Definitely cute. Might need to give you a bit of a push, but we can make it work." Giving him a winning smile and a wink, she added, "I'll show him a woman scorned."

+++++ Author's Notes.

Author0fntent: RE: SIRP.

Right. Yes. Ok, I remember that now. I'll have to brush up on the Agents before I'm able to say whether or not they'd make it into a story.