A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. I've just been so busy and struggling with a lack of motivation. In fact, I had to cut this chapter right down the middle and split it into two, just so it was more digestible to work on.

Please follow my twitter, WA_Stokins for more updates on this fic.

Special thanks to my beta readers: Jake Van Eyck, , & Rambllz.

Along with all the love in the world to boyfriend, Crow for his unwavering support.

Rei stepped inside of Unit-00 Kai's Entry Plug. The door clasp shut behind her, and the world seemed to go silent. Sitting down in the pilots' seat - firmly grasping the unit's controls. She closed her eyes, as the team outside began the boot-up sequence.

"Cooling cycle complete.", "Shutdown signal plug extraction complete.","Roger, inserting entry plug.", "Unlocking spinal conduit system, prepare connection.", "Plug locked in position."

She tried to clear her mind. Eliminate as much mental noise as possible, to synchronize with her Evangelion.

"Initiate level one connection.", "Entry Plug, Flooding.", "Main power connection complete!", "Feeding power to all circuits!", "Initiating level two contact.", "A10 Nerve Connection achieved, status green.", "LCL ionization level, normal.", "All harmonics are green."

Her body tensed slightly as the plug flooded with LCL. Maybe it was just the dream she had last night getting to her, but her breath became terse as it flowed into her lungs. The amber-colored fluid smelled horrid…It smelled like blood. It was a stench that lingered, no matter how hard you tried to clean your body. She'd gotten used to it. Ironic, that the liquid that gave life to the Evangelion smelled like death.

She was finding it extremely difficult to clear her mind. It…Was strange, she had piloted this exact Evangelion dozens of times beforehand with no issues. But…She couldn't stop her mind from wandering, being left to its own devices. She was so lost in thought, she didn't even feel the entry plug screw into the Evangelion's back.

"Release lockdown bolts!", "Initiating umbilical bridge retraction!", "Retracting restrain frames.", "Disengaging safety systems.", "Internal battery fully charged.", "External power source connector, connected."

So, she tried a trick. She sang.

"I want to spread my wings to the sky,

And fly away.

To the free sky, where there is no sadness.

I want to flap my wings,

And go there."

She sang in a low voice, barely above a whisper. It may seem a bit counter-productive, but it gave her something to focus on. To channel all her energy into.

But it didn't work.

"DEPLOY!" Major Katsuragi ordered.

The 'bridge bunnies', the small team in charge of the unit's vitals - indeed, did launch the unit exactly as ordered. But…Still, there was an uneasy feeling in the air. Something was wrong.

Makoto Hyuga, one of the bunnies, called out "Major!"

"What is it?" She snapped, turning away from the live feed monitor to look back at them.

"Something's wrong…" Maya Ibuki, another one of the bunnies stammered, as he kept on talking. "Major Katsuragi, The pilot's synchronization level is extremely low! Only 12%!"

In her mind, it was such a basic and routine training exercise that she hadn't even bothered to wait and get the all clear for launch. An act of hubris that was coming back to bite her in the ass. "What?!" She stammered. "It was just fine yesterday!"

"We're picking up an extraordinary level of mental noise, combined with an elevated heart rate!" Shigeru Aoba, the last of them spoke up.

Misato thought back to the locker room, and wondered - what the hell could they have been talking about to get the usually calm and composed Rei so upset?

"Listen to me! We're pulling you out, we'll try this again another day!" Misato shouted into the microphone, to which Rei barely seemed to react to her superior's slightly frustrated words.

"Her synch ratio is too low to even move…" Maya frowned, feeling a twinge of concern for the pilot and what put her in such a state.

The Eva was launched to the surface via a sort of catapult system…Which meant going up was extremely quick - but rescinding it? Was extremely slow. The Eva was left to the open air, as it slowly sunk back into the subterranean depths.

But, a dark cloud was slithering across the horizon. Like a vulture, preparing to scavenge its next meal. At least, they assumed it was a cloud….It had the shape of one, but it wasn't fluffy. It looked artificial, and it had a strange color - like dust that hadn't been cleaned in a while. The entire bridge had a bad feeling, as they began shifting gazes over to their radar equipment.

It rolled overtop of Unit 00-Kai, not wasting any time in letting out a bolt of lightning. The sky seemed to go from a bright blue to a pitch white, and the resulting thunderclap was so loud that some of the staff suffered temporary hearing loss.

Unit 00-Kai completely went dark. Its singular eye seemed to dull from a cherry red to a dull black, as all the color seemed to drain from its body.

"There's a critical short! Battery is discharging at a rapid pace- It's flat!" Makoto stammered, in awe. All diagnostics went offline. It wasn't receiving any external commands, despite the Bunnies' furious issuing.

"She doesn't love you."

Rei, the pilot inside the unit, paid no attention to any of this. She was still deep in thought, trapped in her own mind. But, she was startled when she heard what sounded like another voice. Heard– well, probably wasn't the correct word for it. It wasn't like a sound her ears picked up, it was like another voice started speaking in her mind. Still, she darted her eyes around the entry plug, trying to find a source.

"She could never love something like you."

The voice sounded nearly identical to her own. Her eyes went wide. She grit her teeth, and held her temples as the voice kept speaking, louder and louder. "N…No!" She pleaded.

Rei loved Mari, and she wanted more than anything for Mari to love her back.

Rei finally reached her breaking point, as a single tear rolled down her face.

Unit 00-Kai began to move. It destroyed every safety harness desperately holding it back, stepping off the platform and onto the surface. The platform had just barely begun descending, and it was only about up to the Eva's ankles.

The bridge buzzed with curiosity, as to why it stepped off…But they decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth. "Close the door!" Misato frantically ordered. It was a pure stroke of luck that the elevator was so slow, or else they'd have to kiss Central Dogma goodbye.

Unit 00-Kai turned around, and began pounding on the door. Even though it was extremely strong - reinforced steel. It would only last so long under the Evangelion's might.