+++++ ?. Tuesday, +21.

Verðandy's visit to her now former home had not been going as she had hoped it would. With Shinji safe in the company of the Valkyrie, she had wished to visit her mother to pass along the news of her recent fortunes. Halfway there, with Rind accompanying her as a visible presence for the other goddesses, she had run into her stepmother, Skuld's mother, Frigg. Instead of the traditionally cold reception she received from the woman who had replaced her own mother at her father's side, she had been quickly pulled into a tender embrace and then hastily showered with both apologies and enthusiastic congratulations for 'choosing a wonderful man'.

Recovering quickly from shock, Skuld had then drawn the lot of them off to the side of the lane they'd been walking along to discover what, in her words, 'the ever-living fuck' had gotten into her mother. A lengthy story had followed, including the discovery that with Tyr now no longer in charge, she was finally as free as her name described. An avalanche of embarrassed and impassioned pleas for forgiveness from 'both of her daughters' took the majority of an hour. It was then that, to everyone's surprise, Michael had walked past with 'the prisoner' at sword point.

"Wait, Lord Archangel," Frigg called out, hurrying over and stopping them from continuing the march of shame. "Please, I would beg a favor."

Bringing Tyr to a full stop, Michael turned a regretful gaze towards the woman speaking with him. "I would, my lady, but I have been bidden by my lord to take this thing somewhere it won't make a mess and grant it peace. His words."

"I would then ask that you stay his judgement while I beg the favor of him. Please," with her hands clasped, the goddess dropped to her knees in supplication, "what I desire cannot be granted after justice has been met."

"Hi Ðandy," Shinji's voice carried a hint of hesitation at the sight of a woman almost praying to Michael, "is something wrong?"

Speaking before anyone else could, preventing the situation from snarling further, Michael glanced at his approaching Lord, "The Lady Frigg, soon to be a widow, has asked that I refrain from following your order. She has a matter she feels can only be met pre-mortem."

"Soon to be a…oh," Shinji blinked as he caught up with the conversation thus far, "that must mean you are…." He looked at Frigg, then at Ðandy and Skuld, and decided it was the latter she favored most. "Skuld's mother." Instinct told him to bow, believing that if any child he ever had brought someone home to wed, it would make him feel good to be honored so. "I am sorry that we couldn't meet before everything happened, ma'am. I want you to know that I will do everything I can to take good care of Subeki." He didn't see Skuld pointing at herself where Frigg could see, mouthing that she'd explain later. Standing back up, and seeing tears standing in Frigg's eyes, he hardened his voice to do what he knew had to be done, "I will not allow him to live."

"Oh, no, no no." Frigg dashed over, taking up Shinji's armored hands and holding them tightly with a beaming smile on her lips. The cold fire in her eyes, and the ice her tone conveyed next gave him more than enough of an idea of how he would answer, "I would like to be the one to swing the blade, and I feel that Ansuz should also be there to witness the moment."

Ðandy spoke up, clarifying for her beloved, "My mother."

Pragmatism was something Shinji could accept as a guiding star. "Michael, is he able to escape?"

"No, My Lord." There was no offense taken in the question. "Few, if any, in your universe could hope to escape my ire should they draw it."

Skuld peered around, remembering the other piece of their quartet. "Where's Hild?"

"Talking to the former chief security lady, who I am not going to try and name or give her rank, because those words are almost as hard as your names on my brain." Scratching at the back of his head and wincing as he tangled the chainmail that covered the backs of his fingers in his hair, he shrugged with a weak grin. "She said she wants to set up an orderly process to cease all hostilities, but the first thing she'll need is a safe place to bring the important people to. The nice lady she was speaking to assured me that Hild would be safe, if that's what I wanted her to be."

"I-I apologize, My Lord," Frigg stammered, "did you say…cease all hostilities?"

With a simple nod, Shinji answered her question while begging her, "Please, ma'am, I'm just Shinji. You're my mother-in-law, and it wouldn't be right at all to have you call me something so…formal." Glancing over to Ðandy, he tried to get everyone moving. "Can we go see your mother? After I apologize to her, I want to get this done and finished. I have to get back home and inform the Empresses that I…kind of offered to host actual peace talks. Once we know who is going to take over for him."

"By rights, My Lord," Michael interjected with what came across as genuine regret, "that would be you."

"Oh fuck no." Looking around and seeing everyone nodding in agreement with the Archangel, he shook his head firmly. "No. I'm not even in charge of our fucking house, let alone a power that causes Jurai to carefully consider whether or not war is an answer."

Skuld tried to explain what he was missing, "Shinji-"

"No!" While he couldn't turn the way he wanted to, owing to Frigg still holding his hand tightly, he used what mobility he had to make it clear that he wasn't going to be talked into it. "I am sworn to serve Misaki and Funaho. I am a Hell Knight, serving a woman who just swore subservience to me for all time. That alone is already a massive conflict that I don't know how to resolve, but asking me to suddenly try to keep this empire-"

Frigg corrected him, "Kingdom."

"Whatev-" Clamping his mouth shut, he stopped himself from further raising his voice. After several slow breaths, he spoke in a much more even tone, "I do not have the knowledge, skill, training, or temper to rule. I would be a disaster. There has got to be a better answer than throwing an inexperienced teenage moron on the throne."

"And there is wisdom in knowing one's own limitations, my dear, dear, Shinji." Frigg used her free hand to lightly stroke her fingers along his cheek, a motion that it seemed many of the women in his life had come to recognize calmed him greatly. "But as my daughter was going to say before anxiety and worry overran your manners, just because you sit upon the throne does not mean that you rule alone. Our people, for they are our people now, would gladly recognize the presence of a pro-tempore designee for day-to-day functions. They would simply have to have a bond of marriage to you, so as to avoid the unseemly position of being a 'power behind the throne'."

With a frown, Shinji accepted that he hadn't known, or even thought about, that particular possibility. "I'll…give it some thought."

"Again, there is wisdom in caution." Shifting her position, Frigg took up his arm to walk alongside him. "Might I ask that you walk beside me, as we go to find poor Ansuz? I find that I am a bit unsteady, with all of the excitement."

"Oh, uh," for his mother-in-law, Shinji would walk across flaming glass barefoot, "sure. I…don't know which way to go, though."

"Follow me, My Lord," Michael gestured with his sword, shoving Tyr in the direction of travel at the same time, "I am aware of the hospice she is held within."

Falling in behind Verðandy and Skuld, who joined arms in sisterly love, Shinji asked the obvious question, "Hospice? I…if I had to guess, that'd be someplace where people are sent to be cared for. Like a hospital…maybe just smaller?"

"An accurate guess," Frigg praised him. "However, in this case, it has sadly been more of a prison than a place of care." With a small cough, she asked, "Verðandy, dear, would it pain you if I shared the tale with your husband?"

"It would actually spare me the pain of doing so," Verðandy replied, sotto voce. "Thank you."

Lowering both her volume and speed of motion, Frigg drew Shinji back far enough that her words would not be overheard easily. "The tale begins, as most sorrowful stories do, with an innocent mistake born out of genuine love. Long ago, before my husband showed his true colors, Ansuz was the most powerful Goddess in all the realm. Her strength came from her overfull heart, her spirit of service, and her dedication to doing what was right regardless of how difficult it might be. She truly loved us all, helping us learn to love one another even in those dark times in which we warred against other nations."

Shinji asked, "Like Jurai?"

"…Quite often, sadly." She patted his forearm. "I am glad to see that you desire peace, for it has been ages since we have known it. In what may be one of the greatest ironies, the last day we knew true peace was the first day of Ansuz's marriage to Tyr. She had been wooed with promises of affection, of understanding, of a place at my husband's side in decision-making. And, to his credit, he did include her in making some decisions for a time. Until, as tends to happen between men and women, she grew with child. Under the guise of caution, he asked that she limit her time in court. Without her knowing, he slowly poisoned public opinion against her by appearing to be under great duress. He would manufacture situations that would press her towards losing her patience, making sure that someone would 'just happen' to be around once she finally grew distressed enough to challenge his position. Over the months of her pregnancy with Verðandy, he crafted a persona of the patient and aggrieved husband, all the while making poor Ansuz believe that he was genuinely begging for people to be 'more understanding' regarding her temper in her 'delicate state'."

Having experienced gas-lighting firsthand, even if he lacked the name for it, Shinji's jaw clenched in anger at the thought of Verðandy's mother being treated so horribly. "So she started to believe his lies herself. She started to believe that she was a terrible person that was making everything harder on him. That she deserved the abuses, that she deserved to be locked away. That he was a good person."

Gently gripping his forearm, squeezing enough to recenter him, Frigg nodded. "A parallel to your own life, in a way. When he had stripped from her the last of her dignity, when he had reclaimed his 'rightful place' as the center of focus…he divorced her and sent her into the hospice we are travelling towards. A few years passed, and like the light-blinded idiot I am he managed to convince me to give him another daughter. I had truly believed his story, in those first years. It was only after…far too long that I began to see the truth. When I did, he threatened both poor Verðandy and Skuld with things best not discussed here and now should I be anything but the 'perfect wife'." Nearing the building in question, she sighed in pain. "It has been a very, very long time since Ansuz has said anything. Even to her own daughter, she has remained silent and without visible activity."

Not aware of the customs involved, Shinji asked a question he could not know would be rude. "How…old is Verðandy?"

"I am far older than your world, my love," Verðandy answered, over her shoulder. "I hope that does not bother you overmuch?"

"You…uh…." He searched his memory for any information on the age of the Earth, and came up empty. "You don't look a day over nineteen, if I had to guess." Looking down at Frigg, he scowled. "Neither of you look even close to the same age as Misato or Ritsuko. Are you, uhm…was that a joke?"

"It is not," Frigg replied patiently. "It is, however, rather lovely of you to say that I still retain a youthful glow."

Grabbing Tyr by the back of the neck, Michael slammed him against the hospice's outer wall. "With your permission, My Lord, I will not inflict his presence upon Her Ladyship until it comes time to relieve him of his burdens."

"We will remain here as well," Frigg declared, hooking a finger at Skuld. "There is no need to overwhelm her, and if she will not listen to Verðandy or her husband then I doubt she would hear a word we spoke regardless." Looking at her stepdaughter, her tone grew gentle, "Take all the time you need, my dear. This day will wait for you, whether I must make it do so or not."

+++++ ?. Tuesday, +21.

Shinji was grateful that the armor he was wearing made very little noise when he walked. He hadn't been certain what to expect when he walked into the 'room' where Verðandy's mother had been locked away from the world, but silence seemed to be the best initial response to stop himself from doing or saying something that would embarrass his wife. The drab, grey, walls allowed little light to grow in the area, and the thick metal door that had been set up 'for security' instead reminded him of the jail cells he'd seen on one of Misato's movies. The thin, just shy of emaciated, woman seated next to the only window that allowed any sunlight had not responded to their entrance.

Either accustomed to the reaction, or in an effort to reduce the strain on Shinji's social ignorance, Verðandy took charge of the initial introductions. "Good afternoon, mom!" Speaking with a voice full of joy, she acted as if nothing around her was as dreary as it seemed, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit for a bit, a lot has happened." Motioning for Shinji to come closer, she hugged his side and announced, "I got married! It was a little rushed, but I'm really happy that I was able to find someone like Shinji. He's a great man. He protects his people, he spends time helping everyone he can, and his heart is just full of love."

The last time he had ever seen eyes as empty as those staring blankly past Verðandy, he had been looking in a mirror while still living with that bastard. "It is an honor to meet you, ma'am." Bowing as best he could while hampered by Verðandy's hug, he took her cue and acted as if everything was fine. "I apologize for not meeting you before our marriage, but I promise I will do everything I can to keep her safe, happy, and fulfilled. She has been a miracle."

There was a brief silence, the air hanging with potential. At the ostensibly joyous news perhaps sparking life in her demeanor, or the promise he had made showing that despite her suffering love did exist still…or, as it turned out, potential for her to remain silent and unmoving.

Her joy fading, Verðandy recognized the facts of the matter and sighed out with pained resignation. "I should not be surprised. She hasn't moved in millions upon millions of years…it was silly of me to hope that she might move now." Separating herself from Shinji, she walked past her mother to clear away the dust that had been allowed to accumulate around the window. "At least we should be able to move her into better accommodations."

Bidden by some impulse he would not ever be able to explain, Shinji took the two steps closer to Ansuz and dropped to one knee before her. With great care he picked up her hand in his leather-clad fingers, lightly moving her own digits to see if motion was still possible. "We still have spare rooms in the house. Is there any reason we can't move her where we can care for her better after your father is safely past tense?" Gently setting the hand down after determining that she wasn't rigid, only motionless, he blew out a thoughtful sigh. "Maybe Washu could help."

"I would like that very much," she responded, a smile once again adorning her lips.

It was what he had, what he could offer, and it felt so inadequate. Laying his hands atop Ansuz's, he spoke from his heart, "I promise you, whatever I have, whatever I can find, we will help you recover your life. If it takes the rest of my own, or simply the next beat of my heart, I swear that I will not fail you."

To Shinji, his words were a pale shadow of his determination. This woman before him had given him a gift beyond comparison in Verðandy, and if for no other reason than that she deserved his very best. To Verðandy, they were yet another declaration of his love for her. She knew in her soul that her husband was not someone who said things just to say them, and that even with all of the distractions that might crop up he would dedicate himself to finding a way to give her mother life again. To the System Force, however, his words were law.

The brief shudder of Ansuz's arms caused Shinji to lift his hands upwards, fear that he might have harmed her breaking their connection for the merest second before Ansuz inverted her hands and reconnected their bond. Her lost, glassy, gaze grew razor sharp, her attention now entirely upon him. With a voice that rattled and croaked due to countless ages of non-use, she spoke her first words to him alone, "I accept your offer…and free you of your bonds." Her form began to fill out once again, her hair shifting from lifeless strands to flaming gold. She was beauty beyond description.

A sense of weight dropped from Shinji's shoulders just as his grasp on consciousness fled entirely.

+++++ NERV, Hospital Ward. Tuesday, +21.

Pain was the first thing Shinji registered. Not conscious thought, not fatigue, pain. Sucking in air through brutalized lungs, he forced his eyes open and tried to make sense of the change in location. All he could see, through a blurry fog, was one woman blazing with an aura of light speaking very deliberately to several other blobs of shadow. Lifting the hand closest to the shining lady, he noted the presence of his armor with some confusion. The armor had been meant to protect him, why was he now in this much pain?

Taking hold of his gauntleted hand, the shining woman squeezed it twice to recognize his plea before making a dismissive motion to the others and turning her entire attention upon him. It was not more than a few seconds of what he determined was her mouth moving before a vaguely familiar, and much more blue, presence made itself known in the room by sending the shining woman flying parallel to his body towards the nearby wall.

Her blazing weapon, a sword he had felt the sting of more than once, identified the new entrant as Misaki Masaki Jurai. Shinji couldn't make out what she was saying, but he understood the tone she used quite well. This was both and neither Empress or and nor woman, claiming without condition or compromise that he belonged to her.

His first halting attempt to ask for a cessation of hostilities was thwarted, speech being something that was not going to happen so long as there was plastic medical tubing jammed in his mouth and down his throat. Shifting all of his focus to that, he was only vaguely aware of the flurry of motion that comprised the battle next to him. Not a blow touched him, not a swing threatened him, but pain still blossomed for every centimeter of well-intentioned harm he hauled out of his body. His heart beat erratically, his vision was alternatingly limned in red and white, his hands trembled, and when the tube came free there was more than a little blood that walked the same path, but he managed to cough out a weak, "Stop."

Combat, such as it was, came to an immediate halt. Neither woman, both of which were armed with a weapon they appeared more than capable of killing with, lowered her guard. During the pause, he fought his way into a seated position. Each of the combatants seemed aggrieved that the other was preventing them from moving over to help him, still neither sacrificed their position or readiness to do so.

Spitting out even more blood and discovering that the only way to remain upright was to use his arms to keep himself that way, he looked sluggishly between the two women and was somewhat surprised to see that Ansuz had been the 'shining woman'. "Your-" A wracking cough interrupted him, followed by more blood being spat out. "Your Majesty," he managed on the second attempt, followed by several pained breaths, "this is Ðandy's mother…. Please…stop."

Hope arrived in the form of Hild, materializing behind him and pulling him through time and space to land directly in Washu's pocket dimension before closing off the portal and beginning to swear. "Ok, Red, no more fucking around with the pretty boy. Fix him."

"In the tank." Washu hurried over, grabbing his feet and helping Hild toss him into the nearby tank of greenish liquid. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, she shut the lid and moved the tank towards a series of sensors. "We've been trying to fix him. His wounds weren't healing, even after we'd managed to get all of the shrapnel out. That he's alive at all right now is honestly rather shocking. His heart has stopped beating at least nine times, he's missing four vital organs, and yet somehow he manages to sit up and scold two enraged mothers? Something's keeping him breathing, and so far it hasn't been us." Wagging a finger along the length of his torso, she asked, "Armor?"

"Gifted by someone more powerful than Tyr," she bit her thumbnail, "and me."

"Ok, so you were in Yggdrasil's presence?"

Grunting in the affirmative, she continued to tap one heel on the floor in a rapid tattoo. "It wasn't the world tree. How much of Ansuz's story do I need to catch you up on?"

"Not much. I hadn't expected her to be up and about, given her traumas." Washu began looping sensors into place, seeing the same diagnostic numbers that she'd been seeing for the past several hours, only with Shinji seemingly conscious and miserable this time.

"She's severed the Doublet System's bonds between us." Feeling her companion's gaze on her, she shrugged. "No, it's not possible. Not unless you complete your curse, and I designed the curse to be something that couldn't be completed in a single human lifetime."

"So she's back, and she's more powerful than before." Washu pushed out a breath through pursed lips.

Both women were startled, hearing a voice from behind them, "I have always been this powerful." Ansuz stood at a respectful distance from the two, her face set in an emotionless mask. "Since the human girl did not want to answer me, perhaps you'll humor me: What has happened to the man who has broken my curse?"

"I'll trade you an answer for an answer," the redhaired scientist subtly prepared to defend her domain and her favorite research subject, "how did you get in here?"

"Nothing may hide from the sight of an Aesir, and where he goes I will forever follow." Working her grip on the decorated staff she wielded, she raised an eyebrow in anticipation of the deal being kept.

"Shinji, inside of an enormous abomination, managed to summon eleven Light Hawk Wings to kill an Adamite weighing over ten million times said abomination as he held it up off the ground." Washu kept her tone as neutral as Ansuz's, really not wanting things to go downhill with Shinji so close. "Restraints that had been fashioned for him, to prevent him from accidentally destroying any nearby galaxies, exploded directly next to his torso. He's missing his liver, his pancreas, his spleen, and his gall bladder. He's also missing roughly seven tenths of the musculature on his torso, several yards of intestine, and a great deal of bone. When you showed up, we were attempting to heal him without much success, despite our advanced technology."

"Could we maybe put the weapons down?" Hild, increasingly disturbed to find how powerful Ansuz had truly been, flicked one lacquered nail towards the staff her rival carried. "We all want the same thing, and a fight isn't going to get us closer to that."

Ansuz snorted with disdain. "I held back against the Juraian out of respect for him. Neither of you could begin to hope to give me an actual fight." Dismissing her weapon into the ether, she walked towards the tank containing Shinji with a clear message that stopping her would not be wise. Laying one hand atop the clear glass, she made eye contact with him and frowned in worry. "He is strong…almost impossibly strong. He fed me the barest sliver of his power, and I awoke. He gifted me a meager cup of his power, and I am unstoppable." She noticed the way Shinji laid his hand against her own, with only the glass between, and felt fresh turmoil begin to slither through her guts. "Has the sentence been carried out, witch?"

"I stayed long enough to make sure that Skuld could handle your daughter's weeping afterwards, then came here to help," Hild explained with a touch of heat. "Maybe in your infinite power, you could-"

"A daughter that would not raise a single finger to help her mother is scarcely one worth worrying over," she snapped. "I sat, for ages uncounted, and waited for her to find a scrap of courage. To reach out, as Shinji himself did on first meeting me, and break my curse. Not once," she glared flame at Washu and Hild, "did she offer to help me recover my life. A man who knew nothing more than that I was an invalid with a tragic history shoved his entire arm into a realm which my daughter refused to lay a finger within. He is dead, that is enough."

"Do you have any insight on healing him?" Washu was less concerned about the inner politics of a series of fuckups and more concerned with Misaki losing her mind at losing another good man. "Nothing we've tried so far has managed to gain traction."

"I do." Ansuz looked back down to Shinji. "But I will require privacy to discuss it with him."

Hild snarled, "Like Hel-"

"Five minutes," Washu interrupted, pulling Hild back. "If you try anything…untoward, my big sister is going to want a word with you." Hauling Hild back into reality, she whispered something that calmed the woman down enough to leave.

Once the portal closed, Ansuz relaxed. With a gesture, she dismissed the lid of the tank Shinji was in, seating herself on the edge of it and taking one of his gauntlets off to hold his hand. "It has been some time since I even came close to feeling someone with as much pain as I feel myself. I do apologize, but I must ask the last question first," the smile she favored him with was capable of melting the hardest heart, "would you do me the great honor of accepting my hand in marriage?" Watching his face, she saw his incredulity and giggled. "Yes, I know that many have a claim already made for you and your time. I assure you, your time is not as finite as you think it to be. You will have more than enough time to dedicate to our union, away from any of the others, once this crisis is over. My reasoning is quite simple," tracing a rune on the back of his hand, she continued, "I will not allow my people to suffer under the rule of a tyrant. You cannot avoid responsibility for having deposed a tyrant. We must bring hope back to our people, and a trinity has a much better chance of inspiring that hope."

Mouthing the word 'trinity', Shinji tried to make sense of the logic through the wall of pain.

"Three people, each equally responsible, each accountable to the other two. Balances against tyranny, so that you can learn what it means to rule, and so I will not be seen as usurping the throne." Her smile grew brittle. "If you cannot agree to this, then I will not heal you. I deserve something more than an eternal cold shoulder from our people, something other than a memory forever paraded in front of my eyes in the form of a woman who spent billions upon billions of years doing nothing but moping about in private while proclaiming to bring joy in public." Leaning forward, her entire being rang with hope. "All I ask is some of your time, some of your attention…a chance to reclaim a life lost to the endless halls of time. My curse was that I could not awaken again until someone offered themselves to me of their own free will, without judging me for what I once had been, or that they would be the second to know me."

He couldn't fail. If Washu and Ritsuko had tried for hours and could only barely keep him alive, what chance did he have of living without her offer? Using her grip as a counterbalance, he surfaced out of the liquid in the tank and rasped out, "I…won't…betray…oaths." What use was living, if living meant going back on his word to the women he already had ties to? If he would fail them by living, and fail them by death, then at least in death there was honor.

Settling him back under the healing waters, Ansuz shook her head slowly. "I am not asking you to. I am asking you to grant our people the same dignity that you give to the Juraians. I am asking that you give our people equal weight to that demon. We can, and will, find another woman to balance us out. Someone to join us in marriage, and life, so that we can restore peace to our home. Learn to love me, as I will learn to love you," taking his hand in both of hers, she beamed her smile down on him, "is that such a terrible fate?"

He felt his options were limited, given that he couldn't think clearly at all. She wasn't asking him to do anything he hadn't already done, and she wasn't asking him to do it for inexplicable or irrational reasons. He could make sense of things later, once he was back on his feet and able to speak with those he knew were far smarter than him. Giving her a pained nod, he hoped he wasn't making an irredeemable mistake. The look of relief on her face only further clouded the issue, and were it not for her suddenly glowing with a light that made his pain turn to euphoria he might have tried to ask her about it.

+++++ NERV, Hospital Ward. Tuesday, +21.

Half an hour later, Shinji slowly walked into the leading wall of the storm. He had agreed to enter the room with Ansuz on his arm, as he had given his word that she would receive his time and attention like any other of the women in his life. All conversation stopped, all eyes were focused on the woman beside him, and with the hope of keeping the conflict to come limited to words, Shinji did his job. "Everyone…it is my honor to introduce my wife, Ansuz."

Those eyes that had been boring holes in Ansuz now switched to Shinji. Proving her place in not only the universe, but also in Shinji's life, Funaho slowly raised to her feet and held out one hand to him. "My love, if you would please let me gauge your health?"

Equal time, in his mind, meant that a reasonable request placed before him that would not take him away from anyone must be granted. When he went to take the first step towards Funaho, he discovered that his mind was not the only one that would be involved in making such decisions in the future.

"My husband is well, thank you." Ansuz's hold on him was both gentle and unyielding. He was not to leave her side for now. "It was a simple matter of granting him the strength of our union. I am committed to him, heart and soul, and so his body recovered."

"I would like to measure his health for myself," Funaho insisted, without heat or impatience.

"And I would prefer he not submit to the touch of one not married to him. As his wife, I believe that is a reasonable request."

Keeping his voice low, Shinji asserted, "Before we were married, I swore myself to Their Majesties. I am a Knight of the Empire, and you promised I would not have to break any oaths."

"I also told you that I freed you of all your bonds," Ansuz reminded him.

A hint of anger grew in his voice, "My oath to them is not a bond, it is a gift. I gave them my word, knowing with all my heart that they would cherish it. If I do not keep that word to them, how can you expect me to keep it with you?"

Searching his face for a few seconds, she nodded slowly, once. "A fair argument. So long as they uphold that standard, I will not argue the point further." Raising up on her toes, she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, whispering, "I will not allow my husband to be abused, even by those he would love."

It was a position he could understand, and might empathize with in time, but for now he was irritated at the thought that Ansuz would think to stop him from letting Funaho inspect him. Still, he was gentle and inoffensive in freeing his arm before crossing the room to take Funaho's still outstretched hand. "I am better," he declared as she looked along and through his armor. "I have no idea how I was still alive, missing most of my body, but I do know that I'd really rather not experience that much pain again."

"You were alive because you swore to return to me," Funaho offered with a hint of a grin. "I have noticed that you are very, very good at keeping your word." Lifting her chin slightly, she offered him a kiss.

Before Shinji could bend down to deliver the affection he also felt, Ansuz once more spoke up, "Is it now Imperial policy to fraternize with subordinates?"

Feeling Shinji tense, Funaho squeezed his hand twice to silence him. This is my duty, my love. Trust in me, as I trust in you. "The official announcement has not been made, yet, owing to the particulars of the situation, however it will not be fraternization for Us to share our affection with Our Consort."

"Even after all these years, your people still prefer to engage in piracy? I would have thought that habit would be left behind when you attempted to apply the veneer of legitimacy by unifying under an emperor." Ansuz walked slowly closer, avoiding the appearance of imminent violence. "My husband has just deposed Tyr, ordered his execution, and now is the only legitimate candidate for rulership of Ásgarðr. Your desire to marry your throne to his is not a simple matter of an announcement. Peace will be maintained, but not at the end of your spears."

Funaho froze, slowly looking back to Shinji in shock. "You…deposed Tyr?"

"Did Hild not tell you? Or Washu?" Shinji himself was just as surprised at the lack of communication on that end as Funaho was at the matter in total. When Funaho shook her head in the negative, he sighed. "When I died in Unit-01, I woke up with Hild, Subeki, and Ðandy in their homeland. I was introduced to another visitor there, Michael, who had begun the process of removing Tyr from his place in my name. He swore a few things to me, so did a lot of women in a tall building, all carrying swords and clubs and spears…. It's where I got this," he gestured with his free hand along his armor, "and where I met Tyr. He threatened Hild, tried to punch her head off…." His gaze went distant, remembering the look in Tyr's eyes. "He reminded me of my uncle. I asked Michael to grant him peace."

Once Shinji trailed off, Ansuz reached his side and locked eyes with Funaho. With a lowered voice, to not go past the three of them, she made her ultimate point, "Peace is now not only possible, but likely. Only, however, if we do not trip over idiotic and misguided pride at the finish line. My husband's actions are almost universally applauded by our people, watching his life unfold has become the highest form of entertainment in Ásgarðr, but if you swoop in and declare him a Consort they're going to view it as nothing short of a declaration of war. We will not become a vassal state to our greatest enemy just as we taste free air for the first time in untold ages."

Her attitude and actions now made much more sense to Shinji, and inwardly he admitted that he would have trouble trusting her for some time yet simply because he was who he was. Reaching over and setting one gauntleted hand on her shoulder, he let out a slow breath before speaking, "Thank you. I wouldn't have thought about any of that."

"Which is no fault of yours," she answered with a warm smile. "Like it or not, you are the sovereign ruler of Ásgarðr until we find another woman to provide us balance in setting up a Triumvirate and you declare parity between us for the time it takes you to gain your feet." Her smile faded as she looked to Funaho. "You act to protect your people, Your Majesty…do not expect me to do any less."

"So you seek another trustworthy woman of Ásgarðr to share the burdens with," Funaho mused. "So that you do not appear to be seeking power."

"I want nothing to do with it," Ansuz stated without the slightest hint of falsehood. "Once he has learned how to avoid the traps and pitfalls he faces, I fully intend to step away from public rule to simply serve as confidant and counsel. I will spend the time I need to stop myself from hating my people, to stop myself from hating the very idea of life itself…to bask in the love of the man I might have been tied to had I not allowed myself to be convinced by a vile serpent. If you wish me to swear an oath on that, I only ask that you record it so I do not have to repeat myself."

Skuld's discussion with him regarding the poisonous nature of hate came to mind. "You've spent…longer than I can even make sense of with all of this anger." Shinji's childhood bubbled to the surface. "Nothing but darkness, revulsion."

"And at the end, light and love." Taking the arm connected to the hand he used to touch her, she pulled herself close to him, closing her eyes and resting her head against his shoulder. "I understand the anger that will be directed my way, I accept that anger…but I have been rescued from eternal misery," her eyes opened, full of fire and fury, directed at Funaho, "and I am not going back."

"You are not," Shinji agreed, understanding better what was happening now. "We have a lot to talk over, it seems, and I do not keep secrets about myself from my crew. Let's wrap it up here and get everyone home."

+++++ NERV. Tuesday, +21.

"Captain, I appreciate that you are willing to take this risk, but I am bound by my own promises to not allow Pilot Ayanami to leave decontamination for another sixty-two hours." Kozo ignored the strange new woman that was holding Shinji's arm as if it were a life-preserver, focusing his statement on Funaho and Shinji instead. "Doctor, surely you can understand my position. It is in both her best interest and the interest of those living with Captain Ikari that she not be prematurely released. If there is any contamination, it would spread like wildfire. Anyone in such close proximity to a live Angel would be subject to the same quarantine procedures."

"Would it not be possible to build a temporary quarantine chamber, then transfer her using appropriate precautions?" Ansuz looked past Shinji to Funaho, not wishing to speak to Kozo directly. "It would only make sense to at least allow her to sit out the necessary time in closer proximity to her loved ones."

Shinji shook his head, not accepting the compromise. "No. She is not infected by an Angel, no more than I was when I climbed out of Unit-01 to save Soryu. According to Misato and Ritsuko, we are scanning constantly for the Angel's signatures and if those scanners can't pick it up in here where it is arguably the most important place to check then we have a lot bigger problems."

In his capacity as Commander, Kozo tried to press the issue, "Captain, you do not-"

"Two choices," Shinji growled. "One, you let her leave with me. Two, I tear down everything in her general direction. I have died repeatedly saving this fucking planet, I have a better grasp than anyone on what these assholes are capable of. If I'm wrong, it's on me."

"If you assault this facility, it will result in both legal action and a physical response," Kozo retorted. "I am in charge of this facility, Captain, and I-"

"Excuse me," Shinji interrupted, freeing his arm from Ansuz and walking over to the door out of the commander's office. Placing his hand against the surface, and turning to look back at Kozo, he made the situation clearer, "Tell me, sir," the door itself vanished in a flash of light, taking a great deal of the surrounding wall, ceiling, and floor with it, "do you feel like you're in charge of anything right now?" Through the veil of sparking wires and creaking metal, the bridge crew involved in recovery operations had all turned to watch as Shinji made his point. "With or without your approval, Rei is coming home with me. The number of personnel you are 'in charge of' will depend on how many you feel like ordering to their deaths in a pointless effort at stopping me." Stepping over the hole he'd made, he waited on the other side and offered his hand to help Ansuz and Funaho. "Nobody stands between me and my crew. Not you, not NERV, no one."

Ansuz silently walked over, her bearing proud and her lips curved in a tiny smile of approbation. Accepting Shinji's hand and lightly hopping across the gap, she waited for Funaho to join them while humming an ancient tune.

"You two go on ahead, Captain." Funaho remained where she was, her face impassive. "I'll catch up in a bit." He thinks he's doing the right thing, and he is very frustrated because he doesn't understand why I let you do what you've done. I'm going to explain to him that he is genuinely not in charge of, or responsible for, this situation. Misaki will be along to keep me company. Get our dear crewmate home.

With a curt nod, Shinji started off towards the quarantine wing. He'd made his point, and he admitted to himself that a great deal of what he'd done was borne of his own frustrations.

+++++ NERV. Tuesday, +21.

Several floors down, with Ansuz's humming serving to calm his temper, Shinji was surprised to run into Asuka. Slowing to a halt, he said the first thing that came to mind, "Are you ok? Maya said you were bleeding, but," he looked around what exposed skin she had, "it doesn't look like it was-"

"Why is it every time I see you, there's a different woman hanging off of you?" Asuka crossed her arms under her chest, glaring at him.

"My husband is simply someone people feel comfortable around," Ansuz responded evenly.

Holding his free hand out, Shinji tried to refocus the conversation. "Stop. I'm genuinely concerned about your health, Soryu. Please, I just got out of a hospital bed myself…are you ok? Have they treated you well?"

"Yeah, I'd heard that you were on death's door. Funny how that might have been a bit exaggerated," Asuka retorted. "Up and walking about in cosplay already? What, do you just need the attention?"

He would not rise to the bait. "It is a very, very long story. I was hurt, very badly, and it took unconventional medicine to heal me. The armor was…a gift. I'm wearing it because I haven't had a chance to get home and change."

"He is being prevented from going home by you, at the moment," Ansuz pressed. "If you would be so kind as to assure him of your health…?"

"Stop," he ground out, looking with frustrated irritation at both women. "Ansuz, I am concerned about her health, about how she's doing emotionally, and about her. Asuka, I hate attention. I hate people looking at me all the time like I'm somehow special, important, or worth their time. Please, I am doing everything I can to not be constantly bickering with you."

"You hate attention," Asuka snapped, "but you have a strange habit of getting it every time we go out and fight. Oh, Shinji is so wonderful! Oh he'll go out and protect us without you! All he needs is his little blue doll! I don't get you! They say you were abused as a kid, but here you are with women hanging off of you. They say you've almost died repeatedly, but you're up and just bouncing around saving the world every three seconds. Every time I think about calling you, suddenly I'm distracted by eight different things! I've spent hours going over the damn Evangelions with a magnifying glass and haven't found a single fucking camera! Nothing about you adds up, nothing about this adds up, and all I am finding is that I wasted my life for nothing!"

Partway through her rant, his irritation died. He knew she was right, and he knew that she was intelligent enough to have put everything together except for the illogical farce his life had become. What he didn't know, however, was how to handle it. He'd been asked to not say anything. If he told her the truth, he'd be breaking a promise. If he lied…he'd be lying.

"Perhaps this might help some," Ansuz answered for him. With a slight shift of her shoulders, two graceful ivory wings extended outwards with the tips just touching the walls on either side of the corridor. When Asuka's jaw hit the floor, she smiled sadly and let her wings vanish again. "It is up to you to make of this what you will, but you might want to consider that very few people will believe you. If you claim that humanity's champion is married to an angel, they will not respond kindly. Without proof, it will be your word against his. Without my consent, they'll never discover what I am. He is blessed, and was blessed to make up for a genuinely horrifying childhood." Pulling on Shinji, she set them moving again. "You did not waste your life, Miss Soryu. But if you don't seek help for the problems you have, that very well might change. I encourage you to try to befriend my husband, instead of seeing him as a challenge or antagonist. You both will be happier that way."

Noting that Asuka hadn't moved since the revelation, and after they'd moved far enough past her to speak privately, Shinji was at a loss for how to express the complicated series of questions he'd just had dropped on his shoulders. Someone outside of the house now knew at least part of the truth. Someone he wasn't certain had the best self-control. Someone-

Calm, if you would, Ansuz's voice rang in his mind gently. She will not tell anyone, if for no other reason than that she'll fear the potential embarrassment of people not believing her. There will be no recording of the event, no witnesses beyond the three of us. Whoever she goes to she would have to trust implicitly…and I fear that there is no such person in her life. "That's why I urged her to seek out friendship with you," she looked up at him with a pained smile, "because you, of all people, would understand the pain that loneliness can bring. She needs help, and she too is one of our people."

Every time he thought he had a grasp on the motivations and intent of the woman at his side, she found some new way to throw him off his balance. "I wouldn't have known."

"No, you would not have." Patting his forearm, she snuggled in against him again. "Another reason why a diversity of companionship is essential."

The last few corridors between the pair and Rei's quarantine cell, unsurprisingly situated in the facility's prison wing, were spent with Shinji contemplating how knowing that Asuka was just aggressively alone explained so much of her personality. He set aside the thought when he saw Rei sitting in a room bereft of any form of stimulation. Plain white walls, a single wall-mounted bed with a flimsy futon pad, and a toilet placed where privacy was not an option for the user. His confusion, his worry, his anxiety, all those things that he'd been wrestling with on the journey down were summarily shoved into a bag, tied off, and thrown aside to make room for righteous fury.

Rei saw his approach at the last minute, and found a way to turn even more pale. Approaching her cell was a man she knew as gentle and kind, now dressed for war and with an immeasurably powerful entity on his arm. When he reached the glass wall separating them, she didn't know whether to anticipate his fist cocking back would bounce off of the seven-centimeter thick plasteel barrier as any normal blow would, or destroy the half of the facility in front of him. She had not expected the woman he was with to catch that fist while looking at him chidingly.

"Please do not send fragments of shrapnel towards the woman we came down to liberate, husband," Ansuz spoke gently, eyeing him significantly. "I understand, and approve of, your anger at this slight. We will ensure that it is rectified, but not at the cost of the child's wellbeing."

Still exquisitely furious, Shinji growled as he let Ansuz lower his fist. "I don't think I can control my strength right now…could you please?"

"Of course." Summoning her staff, she tapped it against the plasteel gently. The entire wall turned into smooth sand, pouring down to the floor in a rattling clatter of noise. With a gentle smile, she dismissed the staff then held her hand out to Rei. "Come, child. My husband has declared that your place is at the side of your family."

Watching as Rei carefully walked across the plasteel remnants, Shinji moderated his tone, "I am so, so sorry Rei. This is…." His jaw worked silently as his teeth ground together. "They didn't even give you a book? This is how they treat my teammate? This is how they treat one of the most important people on Earth?!" Stepping forward and pulling the bluenette into a warm embrace, he held her close and added, "I'm sorry…if I hadn't let myself get hurt, I could have intervened. I could have done something…."

Once more proving that Shinji did not know or understand Ansuz, she joined them in the embrace, soothing Shinji and greeting Rei, "It is a pleasure to meet you, child. Of every woman I have seen in his thoughts, you are the only one that he views as fully safe. He would fight with you at his back without hesitation or fear. He would share his darkest secrets without pause."

With her safely in his presence once again, Shinji felt it was safe to attempt introductions. Pushing her gently out to arm's distance, he kept one hand in each woman's and began, "Rei, this is Ansuz. She's Ðandy's mother…and now my wife."

Taking a moment to process the statement, Rei purchased time by asking, "Ansuz…as in the Nordic rune?"

"Yes." Ansuz decided to answer the questions Rei was pondering instead of allowing the awkwardness to linger, "I am somewhat estranged from my daughter, and I do not approve of her actions or deeds during the duration of my imprisonment. The concerns that you have…are not things I would be overly worried about. Should you feel the need, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your fears in private. My husband would encourage the same, I'm sure."

"Absolutely!" He wasn't certain what they were speaking about, but Shinji knew that he would encourage people to talk out their problems before they exploded into bigger issues. "For now, though, let's get home. I'm tired of being in this armor…makes it hard to feel the hugs."

With a slight frown, Rei looked up at him. "Why are you wearing armor?"

"Really long story," Shinji sighed out. "I'll explain it to everyone when we're not here."