Eventually, they reached a destination where they were near a baseball field. Next to it was a yellow bus tucked away within a hillside, which Danya had taken the time to turn it into a makeshift home. It wasn't much. Just two separate beds on a floor with a bunsen burner, some canned food and a collection of belongings. But it was a shelter nonetheless.

Asuka walked in, sighing and sitting down on an old chair- barely managing to hold her weight. She looks out past the hills, still being able to make out Lilith's eye. It felt like it was staring. Judging her for what she did from afar... Asuka grimaced, before turning around in her seat and looking around. The place was pretty small and disheveled, but it was liveable. At least it was bigger than most apartments in Japan…

Near the side of Danya's makeshift bed, he had a small collection of cassette tapes and a cassette player, just like Shinji. He also had himself a couple of belongings such as a rosary, a cigar box with trinkets and photographs, and a peculiar book, a Bible.

He sat up from his position as he picked up from his book, which was in Russian, and read from it. His faith, albeit fractured, was one of the only things that kept his sanity in check, and from losing his hope in the world. Though his faith in fellow man had withered almost entirely. As of now, Asuka was the only one he trusted. After all, who could he trust after everything he had fought for was sabotaged from the beginning? He mumbled a prayer to himself.

Asuka slightly tuned out Danya's reading - all she could really focus on was Lilith, looming in the distance. That couldn't be Rei, could it? She hoped not... she'd never forgive herself if she realized that she was partially leading to the death of Rei. She brought a hand up to the window of the bus, caressing it lightly as she continued staring down the behemoth that was split in half, mumbling something under her breath.

"...I'm sorry."

She mumbled. It wouldn't fix anything. She wanted to apologize. To Rei, to everybody she'd been such an ass to in the last year. Though, now... she didn't know if she'd ever get that chance. Asuka's posture was slightly hunched, her face showing uneasiness.

Danya turned to look at Asuka who was peering out the window of the bus to the head of the behemoth that lay upon the horizon. He could tell that something about its ominous glare struck a nerve with Asuka in such a manner that it virtually pulverized her. He couldn't help but sigh. Perhaps he was wrong about her. Maybe she really has changed. But now…now what?

He got up and decided to duct tape a cloth over the windows which had the Behemoth Rei staring into them, to break Asuka out of her trance. "Dinner?" He asked. It was a long walk from the ramen bar to the Bus.

Asuka suddenly breaks out of her trance by the cloth covering the window. Not caring to undo it, she sighs before turning to face Danya, giving him a solemn look before answering herself.

"...Sure. I'm gonna go outside for a second..."

She says, quickly grabbing a random coat lying around on the bus and sliding it off. Before Danya could even respond, Asuka was outside. She walks out, getting a good view of the behemoth. Her left arm- the bandaged one, and the lack of an eye under her eye patch on her right eye stung- a permanent reminder of what happened just a few weeks back.

She looked at Rei. She had to find a way to fix this... she couldn't live with herself if she didn't. The lack of closure was slowly eating away at her. If she stayed like this for long enough... she'd probably go insane. But how would she even manage that? Well... the short answer was that she couldn't. People could only return from Instrumentality if they visualized themselves, and for most people she knew... they probably wouldn't, considering that Instrumentality was basically a perfect world.

She'd say sorry- but at this point, it wouldn't have any effects. No amount of repent could fix the damage done... Asuka sighs, and sits down on the metal steps leading up to the bus... she sometimes regrets leaving Instrumentality.

At this point, there was no doubt about it. Danya knew there and then that there was more to Asuka than meets the eye. What he saw in instrumentality was but a fraction of the bigger picture. He wondered, if he could get Asuka to talk, maybe she would open up to him. But…after everything that's happened, it would be a massive undertaking given their fate.

In the brief moments he saw their memories in Instrumentality, he knew who the villain was; Gendo. That heartless bastard. A man who sacrificed the world and his own begotten son to achieve a delusion in the form of so-called "forced evolution" which if anything sounded like a complete misnomer given the state of Instrumentality.

To some, Instrumentality was a perfect world. But to others, such as Shinji and Danya, it wasn't. In their case, there was nothing but an empty sea. What was there to be found in nothing? But the most hurtful…the most insulting…part of Instrumentality…was Adeline…she never came back, no matter how hard Danya wished she would…

He cooked some canned potato soup on the bunsen burner and served it. "Dinner's ready." He said to her, just as he would to Nikolai.

Though, maybe there was a chance of Rei being here... right before her 'reconciliation' with Shinji, she'd seen a figure standing on the water- LCL? She didn't know nor did she care to find out. All she knew is that she was Rei... maybe she was here somewhere. Or, maybe, her mind was playing tricks on her. At this point, she couldn't really tell anymore.

Right as her mind begins to dwell on what could've been- that perfect reality she saw during Instrumentality- her mind's immediately ripped out of it by Danya calling out to her. Dinner's ready. Right. Quickly walking back in, she gave one last look to the remains of Lilith. The Sun wasn't peering over the horizon now, only some light left. She walks in, grabs the food and looks at it. She devours it pretty quickly, then cleans whatever silverware/bowls she used to eat the soup.

"...Thanks, Danya."

She said, pretty emptily before sitting down and looking at her bandages. It was probably time to take them off... She slowly unravels the bandages, revealing that her wound had pretty much healed by now. A massive, unkept scar runs down the middle of her hand and up to her elbow. It's dark, too... her arm still felt weak. Slowly, she began taking the bandages off on her head. Scars lined it, obviously. Before she took off the bandaging that included the bandage, she looked to Danya for a split second. She takes off the bandages, revealing what was probably a pretty weird sight for Danya. Her right eye had no iris- no pupil. Just white... She looked at Danya, slowly getting up. Her face looked.. partially relieved that she wasn't going to die from her injuries, or scabbing, or anything like that.

"...Do you have anything to change into?"

She was still in her Plugsuit. Luckily, it did have a feature where it could remain completely sterile for months even with contact using... some weird NERV tech.

As far as Danya could tell, he might've well been imagining things as well as he saw a figure standing on the red ocean as soon as he resurfaced weeks ago. There, on the beach of Anchorage, he waited for Adeline, Captain Tyler, Lucas, anyone to return. But none of them did.

Unlike Asuka, Danya liked to take his time when eating. In doing so, it was a reminder that whatever happened, he was still alive and breathing. It was easy to forget how commodities become a blessing in such a catastrophe.

"Unfortunately I don't have any clothes. But there's a second-hand store down the hill a few blocks North of here. And there's also a shower and toilet in the locker rooms near the baseball field." He said to her.

"Alright. I'll just wear my plugsuit for a while, then... it sterilizes itself."

She says, slowly getting up, stretching, and walking over to where the showers were. Quickly walking to the girls' shower room, she barricaded the door by pushing a locker in front of it in case someone tried to come in. She takes off her Plugsuit, turning on the shower. Feeling the ice cold water hit her skin was refreshing. A reminder that she was actually here, and a small amount of relief from the humidity out.

She quickly washes herself up, drying off before sliding back in the Plugsuit, and pressing a button on her wrist and causing it to become skin-tight around her body (except for her left arm because there wasn't any Plugsuit there). She walks up to the locker, moving it away from the door and walking out, feeling... refreshed, slightly.

Danya takes his turn and walks to the lockers down the hill near the baseball field and soaks himself. For a while he sat on the concrete floor, lost in his own thoughts. He loved being in a shower, as the noises from the water would help him drown out the bad thoughts that came running back to him. For a moment he had peace. All the while he also prayed.

After he came out of the shower in a change of clothes, he walked back to the bus and sat upon a chair. The sun had begun to set across the water, giving it a unique color. "Asuka, I probably haven't told you my name. But it's Danya. Danya Aloyoshenka." He replied.

"There's something I must know. But you don't have to answer." He said. "All things considered, could the Third Impact have been prevented? Or was it inevitable?"

Asuka looks at Danya as he says his name, nodding to confirm that she heard his name. As he begins to ask if the Third Impact could've been prevented, she looks to the side... remembering it all stung deep, but she wanted to at least give him a slight answer.

Before she speaks, she remembers the fight with the MP Evangelions... the Beginning of the End, so to speak. She could remember herself screaming from anger and determination at those bastards- the screeching of metal as she dismantled them all... temporarily. She looks away from Danya as she answers, an uneasy look on her face as she spoke.

"... I don't know. Maybe if I'd been less of an ass to Shinji, we could've stopped it."

To hear Asuka admit the fault within her actions brought a sense of closure for Danya. He paused for a minute to reflect on what she said. Now that he thought about it, he didn't hate her for who she was, but because of what she did. It was an old saying that stuck with him, 'Love the sinner, hate the sin'. But in the case of the Third Impact, it was hard to forgive those who conspired against them all, including SEELE.

It wasn't necessarily Asuka's fault that he hated her, but it was because of a number of other reasons that were personal to him, that he had yet to reveal. Adeline. It was her. Ever since the moment she died in his arms, Asuka had been like a doppelgänger.

"Is Shinji going to be alright?" He asked her.

She began wondering - why did Danya defend Shinji so much? She and Shinji had never seen Danya once, and Asuka only figured out about him through one of Misato's drunken rants where she was yelling about how NERV-U (Nerv USA) were going to fuck it all up. Quickie deciding to ask, she looked at Danya with a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

"...I think so. But, I want to know something, Danya... why do you defend Shinji so much? I don't think he's even heard of you before."

Now that was the real question wasn't it? Because after all, Danya had seen but a brief moment of him, where Shinji's insanity reached its breaking point. He witnessed his memories faintly, but it was enough to give him an idea of how dysfunctional his life turned out to be.

Danya slowly slumped over, hesitant to answer, as he was afraid that Asuka would berate him for showing weakness just as he was bullied relentlessly for his own.

"Because I made the same promise to my little brother before he killed himself…" He revealed.

It made him shudder and heart tensed up inside him. Though time had passed, the memory was still burned into his mind. Why did those good for nothing bullies have to drive him over the edge?

She bit her tongue as he spoke... similarity. The same reason she hated Shinji (because he was similar to herself) was the same reason Danya defended him with his life (because he had a similar promise to his little brother). Asuka gives a glance to Danya... her face showed slight care for him.

And there were more similarities. They both had family members who'd committed suicide. She looks at him... it's almost like he was an alternate version of herself. If she'd taken the opposite path, it seems... she didn't know how to react, so she stayed silent, trying to formulate a response... she eventually speaks up.

"...I guess... we're not so different."

Upon hearing that, it made Danya smile a bit. He could relate to Asuka, even though he disagreed with her coping methods. The main difference was how she possessed an inferiority complex, while Danya possessed a savior complex. To think that two people with different similar personalities could end up gaining differently complexes stemming from the same trauma…it befuddled him.

He yawned as the sun went down over the horizon. He crawled under the covers of his bed which lay on one side of the bus while Asuka's bed lay on the other. "Goodnight Asuka." He said to her as he listened to his walkman. "Sleep well."

Seeing Danya smile made her smile, too. It was a bit more subtle than Danya's though... she was also surprised how the two had experienced at least slightly the same trauma yet ended up being nothing alike. Though, his trauma was probably different in a few ways than hers. Thinking about it stung, but she was slowly managing to cope with it without burying it deep within... for once. She looks at Danya after he tells her goodnight.

"G'night, Danya."

She flashes him one more smile, this time, it was pretty easy to see. Notably, it was... different. It wasn't a cocky or smug smirk- it wasn't forced- it was genuine. She seemed at least slightly genuinely happy. She slowly lies down on her back, pulling her blanket up to her mid-chest. She takes her hair clips out, placing them on the counter next to her before slowly falling asleep.

Perhaps the reasons they ended up so unalike was rooted deeper within their upbringing, before their lives took a turn for the worst, especially when they both lost their parents. Each of them were forced to fend for themselves, but unlike Asuka, Danya had his little brother, Nikolai to look after, which gave him a sense of responsibility, which ultimately turned into a savior complex. Now that he thought about it, if things turned out differently for him, he could've ended up just like Asuka. Ironic.

EVANGELION: WESTSIDE STORY

Episode 2:

"Gimme Shelter."

In the dawn of the next day, he began to sweat, and breath heavily. "Adelina…" He mumbled in his sleep. Just then he gasped as his eyes shot open, another nightmare about the Third Impact. He lost count of them since it occurred, and several weeks had already passed. He sighed before he started to write in his journal to cope with his thoughts. By that time the morning sun was piercing through the windows of the bus.

As for Asuka's sleep, she had no dreams. She usually didn't have any dreams, and when they did occur, they were extremely bizarre and more comparable to nightmares than dreams. As the hours passed and the sun began to shine through the windows of the bus, Asuka groaned and rolled on her side, her hair hiding her eyes from the sun. Eventually, a few minutes after Danya finished writing in his journal, the redhead slowly rises up, outwardly extending her arms before yawning and looking over at Danya. She noticed he was pretty sweaty, so she quickly hopped out of bed and walked over to Danya to make sure he wasn't overheating or anything- due to Japan and what seemed like the rest of the world being trapped in an eternal summer. She plops herself down, sitting next to Danya in his bed.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She asked, a hint of worry in her voice. If she were honest, she barely knew why she was being so compassionate towards him... maybe it was because he was the only one who was... relatively sane that actually seemed to understand her fully.

Danya sighed. He hoped no one would have to see him. But he never thought Asuka of all people would care to ask how he felt. The more time he spent with her, the more his first impressions of her turned out to be misconceptions. He knew instrumentality was partially responsible for the dramatic changes she underwent, as he did. But sometimes he couldn't help but wonder what else it would take to show this side of her, a side he rarely showed.

"Another nightmare." He briefly said.

After writing, he decided to go ahead and make some breakfast for the two of them. This time it would be corn-beef hash. Danya didn't understand her fully, at least, not yet. Perhaps he never could. But it wouldn't stop him from trying. If anything he was far from sane. Everything that had happened to him had stripped him of emotion. In fact most of the time all he felt was apathy. Deep down, he was afraid to feel anything again, as he was dreadfully fearful that the only emotion he would ever feel again was pure agony. He suppressed them in an act of hyper vigilance and only let his guard down when he knew he was absolutely safe. As of now, the only person he trusted was Asuka.

"... Nightmares. I have them too, sometimes. What was it about?"

She asked, looking at Danya. She had the occasional nightmare too, and they were usually abstract, or she was just... alone. Nobody was there for her, nobody there to give her affection or care. Just... a pitch black void. It was her personal hell.

Asuka watched as Danya made breakfast, slowly getting up and occasionally helping him. She was a semi-decent cook. If she were honest, opening up to someone felt reliving. Even if the two did blow up at each other, the interaction they were having now made up for it...

As he finished the food, Asuka immediately dug in, though this time eating a bit more slowly. Her hair was still pretty messy, so after eating and washing her bowl, she grabbed her duffel bag- full of what was left of her apartment after NERV raided it. There were some snacks, food, etc. She grabbed some hair spray and a brush and slowly brushed her own hair, before looking at her Interface Headset thoughtfully after grabbing it... she eventually put it down.

Maybe she didn't have to wear them today.

Danya's nightmares weren't usually empty. Rather, they were rendered with his past terrors, and future fears. All throughout his life, he had a sense of premonition, or mental foresight, as if he could detect when something would happen. His parent's, being the realists they were, often dismissed it as superstition. His priests however, said that it was a gift from God, the ability to perceive events. However, no foresight whatsoever could ever have foretold the coming of the Third Impact.

Danya's personal hell, his greatest fear and insecurity, was failing miserably to help another person, let alone one who reminded him of himself, such as Shinji. His savior complex was what he felt justified his existence, which in this scenario was next to meaningless given the circumstance. Sitting there helplessly while everyone around you is forced to perish...it was absolutely traumatizing.

He as well could feel himself softening up to Asuka in spite of first impressions. After he ate he pulled out a map from underneath his pile of books, and examined it. It was a map of the surrounding California Coastline. "We need to restock on food, and get you some clothes. There's a secondhand store that opened back up a few days ago. But they're not accepting cash, only raw materials. We could find some at the scrapyard down here."

Asuka nodded as Danya explained something about a secondhand shop... but it only accepted raw materials. She understood why- The US dollar and nearly every other currency had basically become completely worthless ever since the Third Impact. Though, she did have an idea on what they could do instead of having to scavenge for resources to sell themselves. There was a megamall Misato was always rambling about. How it had the finest beers. It was near the center of the city they were in, just a few miles away, and it likely had a ton of resources.

"We could go to the megamall at the heart of the city. Though, there may be other people there that're there for the same reason-"

Indeed, the Megamall in the center of the particular city was being looted by the minute. Every day it was getting harder and harder to find raw resources there. It was a matter of survival. "I think we'd be better off taking chances at a junkyard." He said to her. "Shall we head there?"He asked as he got on his jacket.

She sighed before nodding, standing up. She was pretty exhausted- both physically and mentally. She wished that things were back to normal, but she knew that something like that would never happen unless some timeline-resetting bullshit happened, which, well... was plausible considering the absolute madness of the world they lived in. Asuka walked out, looking back to Danya.

"Well, we should probably get going before anybody else gets there..."

She says, speed walking in the direction of the junkyard- trying to ignore the looming head of Lilith staring the two down in the distance.

A just world was a sane world, and there was nothing sane with what happened during the Third Impact. As for timeline-resetting shit, something was bound to happen. Something in his gut told him such an event was possible. He had a feeling that The Third Impact was only the start of a truly troubled existence.

Soon they reached the junkyard, which has expanded threefold beyond it's borders since the cataclysm. He searched through a pile of old appliances. "So...Asuka...before...everything happened. What was your family like?"

He wanted to know if her life was once happy before it took a turn for the worse, or if it always was this way.

"...Well, I... I had my mother. I loved her a lot before that stupid experiment. I talked to my father a lot too, well, until after the whole incident."

She said solemnly, just digging through some scrap. She'd occasionally poke her arm or something along the lines of that, but her pain tolerance was so high that she barely made notes of them in her mind. She managed to find a few pieces of useful scrap and set them in a pile before talking to Danya again. She remembered the incident- her mother returning home but with something incredibly wrong with her mind. The last time she'd ever spoken to her was in a small argument where she begrudgingly said 'I love you.' Of course, it wasn't all like that... she just wishes she got to savor the time more. Even the bad moments.

"So did I. They were both part of the Russian Armed Forces. My little brother Nikolai was born in Volgograd. The last I heard from my parents was when they were sent to Moscow to curb the riots. One day the city went dark, and no one was heard from again."

The Second Impact scarred the world and marked the beginning of the end. Some places, like Tokyo-3 were miraculously restored to full function, partly due to the hidden efforts conspirators such as SEELE. Other places like Moscow, weren't so lucky. In those days, economy of Russia plummeted and the Kremlin was on the verge of collapse. Chaos roamed the streets and outrage filled the people. When the lights of the city went out, so did everything else. The borders were Quarantine, and no contact had ever been reestablished. To a boy and his little brother, it felt unreal, even when they were miles away from the carnage.

Asuka stayed silent, but gave Danya a nod. Just to confirm that she was listening. She couldn't help but think about her mother... how she had to watch her spiral into insanity. It pained her immensely... Asuka continued collecting scrap, setting the useful stuff in a pile. She couldn't help but also think about Shinji and how Gendo just... abandoned him, basically. How his mother was also lost to experiments... that explained a lot. She guessed they weren't so different after all... Shinji. Now that she'd thought about it for a while... was he really to blame for what he did? If she were to forgive herself for what she'd done... it'd be hypocritical to not forgive Shinji, right? Maybe.

Danya couldn't think about the time he spiraled into insanity the moment he saw Nikolai...dead by his own hand. It wasn't even a week later before he received an anonymous email to summon him to NERV-U. He wondered what sort of fate befell his parents in the aftermath of the loss of Moscow. The reports said they were KIA. But he had his suspicions.

The fact that both mothers were used in the Evangelion project was not a coincidence. It was all a setup by SEELE to further the Human Instrumentality Project, to psychologically subject their human pawns to their iron will. Which for the most part succeeded, except when it didn't, and Danya resurfaced back in Anchorage.

Asuka's face...it reminded him of Adeline. His sweetheart, his comrade. To him, Asuka was like seeing a doppelganger. But...he had to remind himself that he had to forgive, even though at times he felt unworthy. But he had to try, because if we could never bring himself to forgive his shortcomings, how would he be able to forgive those who wronged him? And was it even worth the effort?

She eventually collected a satisfactory amount of scrap, and quickly shoveled it into her backpack, putting it around her back. It was heavy, but not too much for her to handle. Asuka walks over to Danya, tapping his shoulder. She seemed pretty ready to go to the store...

"I think we should make our way to the store now... seems like we both have enough scrap to get more than enough food for a while."

She said, looking at Danya and nodding in his direction. Seemed like he had enough scrap as well... she eventually began walking North- the direction of the store with Danya, being able to make it out. They eventually reached the front of the place and Asuka looked at the store. It seemed pretty run down, with the inside having barely functioning lights and the outside looking like it was nearly abandoned. She eventually just walked in, pushing the door open and holding it for Danya.

Indeed the store was barely functional given the burgles that have occurred nationwide in the aftermath. Although, it was pretty normal at this point to see the majority of ever single business on the verge of being run down. The radio stations of the West Coast had only recently been reactivated.

As Danya carried his scrap with him, he browsed the shelves with what little supplies they had upon them. He rounded a corner continuing to browse until he saw who he imagine he'd never come across. His eyes widened in shock and he dropped his backpack of scrap in awe. There before him stood the tragic hero, the prodigal son, the wounded one...Shinji Ikari.