FicWad

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: ASCENT OF THE FALLEN

By Sparky Clarkson

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In the past, the alarm had achieved its intended effect. The loud ululating scream of the warning siren had been designed to shock those who heard it, jolting them with adrenaline even as it alerted them to danger. In what seemed another life, Shinji had reacted as the makers had hoped, growing tense and grim even before he got suited up for battle. Now, though, the sound had worn itself blunt against his mind from overuse. When the angel attack alarm screamed to life in the depths of NERV Headquarters, Shinji barely flinched.

Shaking his head ruefully as if he'd just heard a sad story on the morning news, Shinji closed the battered copy of Foundation he'd been reading, and set it down next to his coffee cup. He slowly stood up from the well-cushioned chair in the small pilots' lounge, groaning, "It'll never end." He remembered himself after a moment and walked quickly to the boys' locker room.

Kaoru had already gotten into his suit, and he pressed the vacuum-shrink button just as Shinji entered. "It is an attack, is it not?" Kaoru asked as his friend began stripping out of his clothes, folding them neatly before placing them in his locker. "I still do not know what alarm means what."

"Yeah," Shinji replied. After a moment, he asked, "Are you okay with this, Kaoru? I mean, you'll be fighting one of your brothers."

Kaoru nodded as Shinji began stepping into his plugsuit. "I know," he said. As Shinji wriggled all the way in and hit the vacuum switch, Kaoru continued, "It... it is difficult to face the prospect of killing one of my own kin as difficult as it must have been for you, when..." He trailed off for a moment when he saw Shinji's face twist briefly with pain. "But Iam a human now. Circumstance forces me to fight against the angels. For the time being, we are enemies."

"I'm sorry, Kaoru," Shinji said, "I wish for your sake... for everyone's sake... that this was over."

Kaoru walked over and patted Shinji on the shoulder. "I know, Shinji. We just have to be strong for now. There will be a reward for our perseverance," he replied.

Shinji sighed, then straightened up. "Come on," he said,"Misato will probably want to brief us."

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"That's not what I expected," Misato said, frowning. "Before, they always came here."

"Yeah, like we were some kind of angel magnet," Shigeru agreed."Tokyo-3 took the punishment, while the rest of the world asked why they were funding us."

The viewscreens in Central Dogma, however, revealed that the situation had changed. An angel rampaging through city streets was not an unusual sight for Tokyo-3, but the streets under attack this time belonged to Tokyo-2.

The invader crashing through them looked like the folktale version of an angel: a gigantic man with huge wings. Subtle differences, though, made all the difference. The wings were golden in color, and by the way they sliced through steel-reinforced skyscrapers seemed to have strong, razor-sharp edges. Also, the angel possessed a strange beauty never given the messengers in folklore. While the angel was certainly lovely to look at, its appearance also held something else as if the beauty of its soul had shone through to the surface for all to see. Misato felt drawn to the angel, yearning to run and bask in its exquisite, unearthly glow. Apparently, many people in Tokyo-2 felt the same urge; they ran to the immense winged creature and were crushed beneath its massive feet.

"Few can resist the seduction of Jophiel, the angel of beauty," Gendo stated dispassionately. Only he, behind the orange lenses of his glasses, seemed unmoved by the gorgeous angel.

Misato turned, wondering whether the Commander had read her thoughts. After a moment, she asked, "Why is it attacking Tokyo-2? Will it come here soon, like the others?"

"No," Gendo replied. "Not without a change in the situation. These new foes the archangels are not like their brethren. They have no need for unusual shapes to defeat us. Nor do they need to reach Lilith to fulfill their missions. The archangels have both strength and subtlety. They will kill the beast by crushing the head."

Misato thought for a moment, then gasped, "The UN! The full assembly meets in Tokyo-2 now! Jophiel's trying to destroy them!"

Kouzou nodded, saying, "Tokyo-2 is no place for the Evas to fight, though. It is too far away, and there are no places where weapons are hidden. Our attack would come too late, and would not be effective."

Misato knew the answer. "Well, then... if these archangels will not come to us by choice, we must lure them here. For the Strategy Section, Isuggest that we evacuate the UN representatives from Tokyo-2 and bring them here."

Gendo gave her a cold smile, and replied, "An excellent suggestion, Major Katsuragi. It has already been implemented. The UN representatives are departing Tokyo-2 in a fleet of VTOL aircraft even as we speak. They will arrive here in 90 minutes, and I expect Jophiel will not be far behind. Ready the operational Eva units."

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The children sat tensely in the briefing room, waiting for Misato to arrive. Asuka sat in the front row, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her auburn hair in her fingers. Shinji sat curled up in one of the chairs, his arms locked around his knees, gazing glumly around the chamber. Kaoru was in the seat next to him, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair, his expression pensive. Rei sat rigidly in the very back of the room, staring straight ahead.

Misato entered at a brisk pace, scanning the children's faces. Asuka's expression had gone from vacancy to eagerness as soon as Misato arrived, but the other three children didn't change. Seeing Rei in her plugsuit, Misato said, "Rei, you know you don't have to be here. You don't have a unit right now."

"I wish to stay anyway, as... as a show of support," Rei replied guardedly, her voice revealing nothing of her intentions.

Misato nodded, noting the brief flash of surprise that appeared on Asuka's face. Shinji also unfolded from his curled position and sat up on hearing Rei's words. Misato turned to children and began. "As usual," she said,"Our information is sketchy. We've seen some footage of the attacker, but that has told us nothing except that he's big about half again as large as an Eva unit. Hopefully, our numerical advantage will balance out the size disparity."

She continued, "The initial attack occurred at Tokyo-2, beyond the range of our sensors, so in-depth analysis of the angel's structure has been impossible. We have no idea where the core is, or what its capabilities are. So far, it does not seem to have deployed an AT field, but I think it's safe to expect that it will have a pretty powerful one." She glanced at Kaoru. Seeing the angel nod, she added, "I think our best chance in this situation is to use coordinated attacks. Keep track of where you are, and try not to get in each other's way. I'll give you further instructions when we know our tactical situation better. Understood?"

"Yes!" the pilots responded in unison. Misato again found herself studying them. Asuka was enthusiastic as ever. Always ready to try and prove herself, Misato noted, then moved on to Shinji. As usual, he seemed to be acontradiction. His facial expression was one of sad resignation He never wants the fight, Misato thought, the fight always comes to him, but his dark blue eyes displayed a steely determination.

Kaoru, of course, was nearly unreadable beyond his obvious concern for Shinji, he revealed nothing to the Major's eyes. This is the moment of truth, Misato realized, Today he'll have a golden opportunity to betray us again. I can only hope he's been honest with us.

As the pilots filed out, Rei moved quickly to the front of the room. She gently grabbed Asuka's shoulder, causing the redhead to spin around. "What do you want, Wondergirl?" Asuka asked impatiently. Her resolution to be more patient with others had so far not been extended to Rei.

"Just... good luck," Rei replied quietly.

Asuka was silent for a moment, staring open-mouthed at the red-eyed girl. Then she nodded curtly and said, "Thanks Won... thanks, Rei."

Misato almost did a double-take. Did I miss something? she wondered. She saw Rei lean over and whisper something in Shinji's ear also. The brown-haired boy smiled and seemed to relax slightly after she spoke to him. Perhaps,/Misato thought, /They're finally learning to work as a team.

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The three units silently awaited Jophiel's arrival. EVA-01, 02, and 05 stood together, staring towards the giant that walked towards them. Much larger than the Evas, Jophiel seemed unconcerned about the three creatures made from Adam.

"Okay, kids," Misato's voice came in over the commlink, "I've come up with a kind of plan. I think it's best to start simple. I want you to fan out and use your rifles to try and hit that thing from a distance. If that doesn't work, activate your AT fields and move in with prog knives. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Got it!"

"Yes ma'am."

"Damn it Kaoru, don't call me 'ma'am'. It makes me feel old."

"Yes, Major Katsuragi."

Misato shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Though more talkative, Kaoru could be worse than Rei at times. His strangely formal mode of speech often grated on her nerves. "Move out," she ordered.

Asuka swung out to the left, keeping her rifle trained on the angel at all times. Kaoru swung out to the right, making sure his aim remained steady too. Shinji moved forward. Jophiel continued his straight path, essentially ignoring the Evas. "Now!" Misato ordered, and the three Evangelions opened fire.

The antimatter rays splashed up against an invisible barrier and disappeared.

"Such a powerful AT field..." Makoto whispered.

"Scheisse!" Asuka swore, yanking the trigger of her gun a few more times. As before, the ray dissipated against the massive strength of the angel's AT field.

"To think that even this is not his full glory..." Kaoru muttered.

"Shit!" Misato shouted, then got a grip on herself. "All right, then lets move on to Plan B. Asuka and Kaoru, swing out until you are parallel to the angel, then move in. Shinji, you take it from the front when they start to charge. Everyone got it?"

The pilots voiced their assent and began to execute the maneuver. Jophiel seemed to have noticed the last attack, though it had clearly not done him any injury. He moved his head so that his featureless eyes (they had neither iris nor pupil, being pure golden) caught a glimpse of each Eva. The androids reached their appointed positions, and then charged in on the angel.

Jophiel stood impassively as the three Evas approached. The AT fields came in contact and simultaneously neutralized each other. Still, the angel did not so much as twitch until the three Evas were nearly on it. Then, with an almost haughty inclination of his head, Jophiel swept his wings downward, at once sending the Evas crashing to the earth and shooting himself up into the air. The response was so simple that no-one had anticipated it.

Shinji, however, managed to react in time. EVA-01 reached up and stabbed its prog knife into Jophiel's foot. But rather than dragging the angel down, the move caused EVA-01 to be pulled up as the angel flew into the sky. Shinji growled as he tried to make EVA-01 pull itself up further onto the angel's foot. But before he could manage that, the angel kicked its foot violently, shaking the knife loose and causing EVA-01 to fall 200 meters to the ground.

Shinji screamed as EVA-01 hit the ground and bounced twice.

"Shinji!" Asuka and Kaoru shouted at the same time.

"Keep your eyes on Jophiel, dammit!" Misato screamed. "If the angel gets to Shinji right now, he doesn't stand a chance!"

EVA-05 whirled and brought its progressive knife up as Jophiel touched down next to the prone form of EVA-01. But Kaoru's line of attack was momentarily blocked as EVA-02 tore into the angel, it's progressive knife striking at every surface available. Jophiel was forced back towards Kaoru.

The fallen angel wasted no time. He lunged forward and thrust his knife into Jophiel's back. The archangel of beauty whirled with such violence that both Evas were thrown free. EVA-05 landed gracelessly on its shoulder, eliciting agrunt from Kaoru. EVA-02 fared better, landing on its feet in a crouch.

"Come back here, you bastard!" Asuka shouted as Jophiel once again began to advance on EVA-01.

But Shinji had recovered somewhat from his bruising fall. EVA-01 struggled to its feet even as EVA-02 slammed into Jophiel yet again. "Be careful, Asuka," Shinji called, "Nothing's hurt him yet!"

"Wha..." Asuka said as Jophiel once again threw her off. But the truth of Shinji's statement was obvious. Every wound that the Evas had made in the massive creature had already closed up, with no sign of lasting damage.

"What's going on?" Shinji asked as Asuka slowed her attack somewhat.

"The scans aren't much good at this range," Misato said, "But as far as we can tell, the angel isn't feeling any ill effects from this at all. We think that you'll have to destroy the angel's core in a single blow to defeat it," Misato announced over the link.

"Fall back!" Asuka shouted. Kaoru had been about to spring, but saw the wisdom in her advice and took a few steps back. Shinji, still a little shaken and unsteady from his fall, also acquiesced.

"The main problem facing us is that we do not know exactly where Jophiel's core is," Kaoru noted.

"What, don't you know?" Shinji asked in disbelief.

"The location of one's core is not a polite subject to discuss," Kaoru sniffed.

Shinji shook his head ruefully, and began trying to think of some way to determine where the angel's core might be. Jophiel paused in its advance, looking from one Eva to the next while Shinji kept an eye on him. After a few fruitless moments, Shinji asked, "Are you sure we don't know /anything/about this angel, Misato?"

"Only that he's the angel of beauty, however that helps," Misato replied.

"Beauty... beauty..." Shinji muttered. Maybe that has something to do with it. What do I know about beauty? he thought. After a tense moment, he remembered a discussion he'd had with his teacher about art once. What did he say, Shinji thought, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...'

"That's it!" Shinji shouted.

"What?" Misato asked immediately.

"Look... I, um... I think the angel's core might be in his eye," Shinji said.

"Perhaps you haven't noticed, stupid," Asuka remarked dryly,"But that thing has two of them."

"Well then, we have to try both," Shinji said. "I'll go for the right, you go left, OK?"

Asuka grunted in assent, adding, "Kaoru... how about you just try to distract it."

"Very well. Let us begin"

Kaoru charged the angel from behind as Shinji and Asuka ran at it from the front. The angel looked like it was going to take off again, but EVA-05 leapt up and buried its prog knife in one of the wings. Kaoru willed his unit to grab the tip of the other wing, howling in pain as the razor-edged appendage cut deeply into the palm of his Eva. The angel, its upward progress halted, attempted to swat the two Evas assaulting it from the front away with its hands. Shinji, still not at full strength after the fall, was caught by one hand and knocked to the side. He was back up almost immediately, but his Eva was limping.

Asuka, on the other hand, leaped over the angel's fist and with an overhand chopping motion buried her Eva's prog knife in the angel's left eye. "It's the right eye!" she shouted, seeing the wound already starting to close.

"I can't make it!" Shinji shouted. Jophiel's massive hand had closed around his Eva's throat. Shinji felt like he was being choked."Catch!" he coughed, and tossed his prog knife to Asuka. Still holding the first knife in her right hand, she reached out with her left, caught Shinji's blade, reversed it, and plunged it into Jophiel's right eye.

An immense gout of flame exploded from the eye, knocking Asuka back."AT fields NOW!" Misato shouted over the radio. Kaoru and Asuka managed to throw up fields at full strength, but Shinji in his weakened state could only achieve a half effort. The angel exploded, singeing Shinji's Eva and causing him to feel a burning pain over his whole body. Again, Shinji screamed.

The firestorm was quickly over, leaving no trace that the angel had been there at all. EVA-01 had landed face-down on the ground. EVA-02 was on its back 50 meters to its left, and EVA-05, spilling liters of fluid from its ravaged palm, crouched near the ground 200 meters in front of them. The wound closed quickly.

"Such pain..." Kaoru moaned. "I was not ready for it... I had forgotten..."

Asuka merely panted from exertion for a moment. Then she shouted, "Hey Shinji! You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm OK," Shinji said. His voice was weak, and his breathing was slightly shallower than normal. He grunted as he willed his Eva to push itself into a standing position.

"Good job, kids!" Misato said over the radio. "Get on back to the cages, shower off and relax. Dinner's on me tonight!"

"Please tell me that does not mean you'll be cooking," Asuka said.

"Actually, I was thinking of paying a visit to Shigeru's friends," Misato replied.

"Oh, the Golden Arches," Kaoru replied. "I have been looking forward to seeing them."

Shigeru's rather indignant voice piped in, "Hey man, they're artists. They can't let their creativity be sapped by difficult careers."

Shinji sighed and switched off his communicator.

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Misato picked up the trays and carried them off to the trashcan. The burger joint was packed with people too busy to be bothered with preparing their own food, and Shigeru's long-haired friends were being kept hard at work filling the gap.

Asuka leaned back with a contented sigh. "I haven't had a good burger in a while," she commented.

Kaoru looked a tiny bit queasy. "Is all food that comes from America so... greasy?" he asked. He and Shinji were sitting on the opposite side of the booth from Asuka.

"Oh yeah," Asuka said happily. "Pound for pound, Americans have more fat than any other nation in the world. And that's leaving out the fat in their brains."

"Aren't you American, Asuka?" Shinji asked.

"Ich bin ein Berliner!" Asuka shot back angrily.

"You are a jelly donut?" Kaoru asked innocently. Asuka threw awadded-up napkin at him.

Misato seemed to be having some trouble getting through the press of people in front of the trash cans. The heavy food and the day's exertion was causing the children to feel lethargic, and they just sat for a moment. Then Shinji said, "Asuka?"

"Yeah?"

"You were great today."

Asuka smiled at Shinji. "Thanks," she said. "You weren't too bad yourself. That was a great throw." Turning to Kaoru, she added,"And you did pretty good too, mop-head. Up until you grabbed that wing, Iwas thinking you might not have any balls. I guess you grew some."

Shinji and Kaoru looked at each other for a moment after she said that, and then both burst out laughing.

"What?" Asuka asked. "What's so funny?"

But neither boy would answer.

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Shinji slowly sipped the hot tea, sighing quietly as the warm liquid soothed away some of his aches. He'd blended the leaves for this himself a while ago after reading a similar recipe in a magazine. The result was a beverage perfect for relaxing knotted muscles something useful when he was sore from a day of piloting, or tense from the ghost pain that lingered after the Eva sustained an injury.

Shinji took another sip and sank into the cushions of the couch. He watched listlessly as Asuka flipped rapidly through channel after channel on the TV. She sat on the opposite end of the couch from Shinji, with Pen-Pen between them. Occasionally, the bird squawked to show its particular displeasure at aprogram. A few times, Shinji saw something that looked interesting, but Asuka always moved on and Shinji didn't really care enough to say anything. He planned to go to bed soon, anyway, so there was no sense in starting to watch ashow.

Shinji wondered briefly where Misato had gone. After she dropped Kaoru off at his apartment, she'd taken Asuka and Shinji home, then gone back out almost immediately. The major had been intentionally vague about her destination, almost mysterious. "I guess she went to Hyuga-kun's," he said quietly before taking another sip of tea.

"Hm?" Asuka asked, then realized what Shinji was talking about."Oh, yeah. You're probably right."

The children fell silent again. Pen-Pen gave up on Asuka's ever finding anything to watch, hopped off the couch, and waddled to the kitchen. Shinji drained the last of his tea, letting the final bit of warmth from the liquid spread through his limbs. Asuka took the opportunity to scoot over next to Shinji. The boy shied away a bit, but didn't shift his own location.

"This is so boring," Asuka said, then turned off the TV and tossed the remote over the back of the couch. Shinji shrugged noncommittally and put his teacup down on the floor. Boredom, he had come to realize, was often awelcome change from the hectic events of his recent life. He didn't particularly mind it.

Asuka interrupted his train of thought by asking, "Do you remember what we did last time I got bored?" A sly grin spread across her face.

Shinji blushed and quietly replied, "Yeah."

Asuka reached out and grabbed Shinji's cheek, turning his face towards her. She ran her other hand through his hair and around to the back of his head, pushing him forward so that his lips ever so gently met hers. After a moment, Shinji's arms wrapped lightly around Asuka's shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

A few seconds later, Asuka broke the kiss and dropped her arms so that they were hugging Shinji's torso. "Your breath still tickles when you kiss," she quietly scolded.

Shinji smiled slightly. "You... you didn't seem to mind this time," he responded, blushing.

Asuka smiled slightly, explaining, "You do the other parts well enough to make up for that." She leaned away from him and broke the embrace, sliding back onto the cushions of the couch.

"Shinji?" she asked, "Do you remember when I first woke up and asked you what was wrong because you looked so thin?"

"Yeah."

Asuka's eyes softened a bit at that word. The wavering in Shinji's voice had alerted her that this was still painful territory for her roommate. "I just wanted to know if you feel up to talking about it yet," she said.

"I, um... I..." Shinji said, trying to start up. He wanted to tell Asuka about it, but he had a hard time making the words come out. Finally he managed to say, "It... it's about Kaoru."

"Really? I was wondering about that. Until you kissed me back a moment ago, I thought he might be your boyfriend."

Shinji blushed deep red. "It... it... it's not like that," he said, "We don't... I mean..." He trailed off into random syllables. Finally he pulled himself together enough to say, "It's hard to explain."

Asuka smiled, and said "It's all right." She paused, then asked,"So what happened with him that hurt you so much?"

Shinji closed his eyes and fell limply back into the cushions of the couch."It all happened so fast," he said. "You disappeared for almost a week, and I was going crazy. I couldn't really talk to Misato or Rei, and without you... I felt so alone. On the same day security found you, Kaoru showed up.

"He... I still can't explain it very well... he makes me feel wonderful. When he's talking to me, I feel so calm and comfortable, like none of my problems really matter. We became good friends so quickly... He said... he said..." Shinji suddenly found himself freezing up. How could he explain this to Asuka? Sure, she was much nicer after leaving her coma, but he still had no idea how to deal with her, and no clue how she would react to what he did. And those words... they were so personal, so precious to him. How could he tell her about them?

Asuka grabbed Shinji's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's all right," she said. "If you can't tell me now, just hold onto it. Idon't want to upset you."

Shinji wondered at the expression of compassion in her eyes. I never thought she could show such kindness, he mused. He took a deep breath and continued, "Thanks, Asuka. Like I said, we became friends really fast. But... but it all went wrong. He... he... was an angel. He almost destroyed all of us, but..."

Asuka reassuringly squeezed Shinji's hand as he continued, "In the end, Kaoru gave himself up. He surrendered to me, and he said that either he could survive or I could. He wanted me to live, so he told me to kill him. And... Idid."

Asuka's jaw dropped. "You... killed him?" she asked.

"I murdered my last friend, Asuka. I felt so dirty and alone... I just wanted everything to go away. I think, subconsciously, I was trying to starve myself to death."

"So how'd Kaoru come back?" Asuka asked.

"His soul went up to heaven and he decided to fall back to earth so that... so that he could be with me. So now he's human, like us."

Asuka nodded. For a moment she sat, apparently lost in thought. Then she said, "I can see why you felt so bad. I know it can't be undone, but for what it's worth, I wish that it had been someone else who had to do that."

"Thanks," Shinji said. After a moment, he added, "I... I'm glad you're home, Asuka. I really missed you. I never knew before you went away how much I... I needed you."

Asuka blushed slightly. "Idiot," she muttered, tousling Shinji's hair. "I'm really glad you didn't manage to starve yourself while I was out." She paused, then continued, "I don't remember much of the time I spent in the coma, but I do remember that... your voice was the sound that set me free. Kaoru's not the only one who came back because of you."

Shinji's smiled at his red-headed roommate. "Thanks," he whispered. The two children simply sat there on the couch for a few minutes, relaxing.

At last, Asuka stood up and patted Shinji's shoulder. "I'm worn out," she said, "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Me too," Shinji agreed, standing slowly. He winced slightly as atwinge of phantom pain in his knee shot up through his leg. He walked gingerly to his room, as Asuka went to hers.

Just as he was about to go in, he heard, "Good night, Shinji-kun."

"Good night, Asuka... thanks for listening."

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Ritsuko chuckled a grim, quiet sound in the close confines of the van. The blonde scientist sat comfortably on one of the bench seats, her cuffed hands resting in her lap. One of the security guards had just buckled her in, and was now closing the door of the black van. The color had incited Ritsuko's laughter. I can only wonder, she thought, Why they always choose black as the color of these vans. They certainly couldn't pick anything more conspicuous. One day they'll probably get burned for their lack of creativity.

The guard locked the door and then moved to sit in the bench behind her. Ritsuko watched him for a moment out of the corner of her eye, then turned back to face the front. The other two guards in the van sat in the driver and passenger seats. They talked quietly for a moment, and then started the van.

"So where am I going?" Ritsuko asked.

The guard in the passenger seat turned around. "There's a detention facility at supply dump 045 in the mountains. We're taking you there, ma'am," he replied.

Ritsuko gave the man a wry smile. "I don't suppose I can expect a trial when I get there," she stated.

The guard shrugged. "I wouldn't know anything about that, ma'am. I'm only here to make sure you don't escape."

Ritsuko looked down at the padlocked heavy steel cuffs on her hands as the van began to roll. "I'm sure the task will be a worthy challenge to your professional capabilities," she replied with a rueful grin.

The guard smiled, laughed, and turned back towards the front. Ritsuko continued to face forward. The van had no windows in the rear, so her only view was through the windshield as the guard quickly drove the van through the streets of Tokyo-3. Hmm, she thought, They seem to have built the city back almost completely. She caught a glimpse of ammo being loaded into one of the depots and continued, And it seems the angels are still a threat. My ears didn't deceive me yesterday after all.

Ritsuko had hardly believed her senses when she heard the angel attack siren the previous morning. Everything she had learned from Gendo had led her to believe that Tabris was the last angel. Then again, she should have known that the scenario had changed when she didn't turn into LCL within a few days of Tabris's death.

I wonder how Gendo is taking the delay, Ritsuko thought. He always showed such eagerness for the complementation project.

The van pulled onto the highway and turned towards the mountains, accelerating as it hit more deserted roads. Ritsuko closed her eyes and tried to work out a geometric proof in her head. She instantly visualized a right triangle and began casting about mentally for some new avenue of approach. Since she'd been arrested, she had proven the Pythagorean theorem 20 different ways. The past week had been a dry spell, though, with only one proof to show for days of thought. She decided that she would have to redouble her efforts. I wonder if it can be done with circles... she mused, then lost the thought as the van turned onto a gravel road.

"Shit," she muttered, and opened her eyes again. In the twilight, the mountain they were now driving up took on a startling golden color. Natural beauty, Ritsuko mused, It's been so long since I thought about it. After all that time I spent working to improve nature, I forgot how wonderful the original itself can be...

For several kilometers, Ritsuko just gazed through the windshield at the scenery the van was passing through. The bumpy ride over the gravel was just beginning to get to her when the van suddenly spun out of control and skidded into a ditch.

"Dammit!" the driver swore, "That's a blowout. At least we've got a spare in the back. Come on, help me." He tapped the arm of the man in the passenger seat, and both guards got out. A moment later, Ritsuko heard the rear doors of the van open. The guard behind her made a grunting noise as he helped them free up the spare tire. Then he made a gurgling noise. Dead silence settled over the area.

Ritsuko closed her eyes. Three dead, she thought. Gendo must truly hate me if he is willing to kill three of his own guards just to cover my murder.

Strangely, though, the death blow she expected never came. Instead, the van door opened to reveal two men in camouflage uniforms. One of them spoke as the other unbuckled Ritsuko and undid her handcuffs. "Good evening ma'am," he said, "You have been rerouted. You may now choose your destination. If you come with us, you will become an employee of the Japanese Intelligence Agency."

"And if I decide not to?"

"Then we will shoot you and blow your body up when we explode the van."

"Not much of a choice, is it?" Ritsuko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No."

"I assume I will be assigned to try and wheedle some secrets out of NERV for the JIA?"

"I do not know, ma'am. I am a retrieval specialist, and information about you is need-to-know only."

"It's not so much of a mystery, anyway. I agree."

"Walk this way, ma'am," the operative said, and led Ritsuko away while his partner began placing explosives all over the van. Out of the corner of her eye, Ritsuko saw the bodies of the dead guards slumped near the rear of the vehicle.

"I am sorry," a familiar voice said, "It could not be done any other way."

Ritsuko spun towards the source of the voice, her eyes widening as they confirmed what her ears had told her. "You?" she gasped.

"Yes," the man replied. "It's time to start setting things right. Gendo has gone far enough."

"I agree. But I would never have expected you to do something like this."

"I did not always work for him, Ritsuko. I have decided that I will not work for him any more."

"'To everything there is a season,'" Ritsuko quoted.

"'And a time to every purpose under heaven,'" Kouzou replied.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Report," Gendo said coldly as Kouzou entered the frigid office.

Kouzou looked down to the sheaf of papers in his hand. "The manifest confirms that three boxes of high explosive shells were placed in the van to be taken to the supply dump. All evidence points to an accident. Tracks in the gravel indicate that the van drove off the road for some reason. If the shells were not properly secured, they might have gone off when the van stopped," he said.

"Survivors?"

"None," Kouzou said, frowning. "I'm sorry Gendo, but... there's no doubt. She's dead."

Gendo snorted. "Dead, alive... it makes no difference to me now. She was of no further use to me," he retorted. After a pause he continued,"Delete this incident from the records, and change them so that they give no destination for her extradition. Though Akagi was useless, there are some useful people who might become difficult to control should they learn of her death."

"Yes, sir," Kouzou replied.

"That will be all."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shinji set down the water can and gently brushed some dirt off one of the leaves of the vine. The moist soil adhered to his skin, staining the depressions between the ridges on his fingers brown, but he didn't mind. The process of gardening relaxed him more than any other activity. No wonder Kaji-san always liked to come here, Shinji thought as he released the leaf and rested his hands in the rich loam. As he kneaded the soil with his fingers, he listened to the whir of the fans in the Geofront, and Kaoru's humming. The fallen angel was leaning against a tree several feet away, repeating the melody of the hymn from Holst's "Jupiter." Shinji closed his eyes and let his mind float free, at peace in the midst of the idyllic scene.

"Making mud pies, Third Child?" Asuka asked. Shinji opened his eyes to see her standing at the edge of the clearing that held the little garden. Her voice had been slightly mocking, but her expression didn't seem to hold any malice.

Shinji grinned. "No," he replied softly, "just... gardening."

Asuka walked across the clearing to the melon patch and took in the sight of the healthy plants. "I guess it stands to reason that you would have agreen thumb," she said, smirking, "You're so domesticated."

"Green thumb?" Kaoru asked, seeming slightly confused. He looked at Shinji's mud-splattered hands. "Shinji's thumbs are brown," he commented.

"It's an idiom, stupid," Asuka replied. "It means he has agift for making plants grow."

"Oh," Kaoru replied, "I see. Well, the ability to help life thrive is something we all have, yet still it is a rare and wonderful gift."

"I think I know what you mean," Shinji said, nodding. He brushed his fingers lightly along one of the vines as he continued, "As pilots, our job is to take life. We're supposed to be proud of our skill at killing. But I gain more satisfaction from taking care of these plants than from doing anything in Eva."

"So you planted these yourself?" Asuka asked.

"No," Shinji replied, still staring at the vines, "They... they were Kaji's... before he disappeared."

An uneasy silence settled over the clearing for several moments.

Asuka broke it by saying, "I miss him, Shinji. I wish he were here."

Shinji didn't lift his head. "I do too," he murmured.

After a moment, Asuka asked, "Shinji?"

Shinji looked up. "Yeah?"

"Could... could I help?"

Shinji blinked. Asuka had been a little different since she got out of her coma, but he would never have expected her to do something like this. I guess it's because they were Kaji's, he thought. A few seconds later, he said, "Sure. I read a whole book on taking care of these. The secret, you see, is to make sure you water them regularly..."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

EVA-00's massive, single eye stared blankly at the trio standing on the catwalk. Maya turned to face Rei and asked, "Are you ready to get back into the Eva, Rei?"

"I must."

"That's not true," Misato said. "If you have any misgivings at all we can put this off. We need a fourth pilot, but there's no need to rush."

"Eventually, though, I must go in," Rei replied, her face expressionless. "It is no worse to go now than later."

Misato shook her head. There was no getting around that simple truth. Commander Ikari had ordered Rei to once more begin training in EVA-00, and so, inevitably, she would. Nothing could brush aside that iron order.

"I will change now," Rei said quietly, and left.

Maya watched Rei leave, shaking her head as the girl walked calmly out of the room. "It's so sad," she sighed. "She seemed to be doing so well... just the other day she read a poem for me, and she sounded so... so /normal./But now it's back to this the same old robotic Rei."

Misato nodded and said, "I know. Since Kaoru's return, she's been behaving more like an everyday girl. I can't explain why she started to change... but I have some ideas on what reversed the trend."

"You think that the prospect of getting back into the Eva has her retreating into her shell."

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Misato said. "Asuka's Eva tried to steal her mind. Touji's Eva destroyed his body. Shinji's Eva swallowed him completely for a while. Maybe Unit Zero saps Rei's personality."

Maya frowned and bit her lip. "It's something to look into," she said, "Even if I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it. I'll go examine some of her neural records. Maybe there's some trauma associated with her experiences in Unit Zero that we haven't caught on to yet."

Misato nodded, but thought, Or maybe it's just that getting into EVA-00 reminds her of what she really is. That's trauma enough. After a moment she said, "Go ahead and do it. A personality isn't essential for a pilot, but I think the four of them would work together better if she had one. In the meantime, we should probably try to cheer her up."

Maya nodded, then turned to Misato with a confused look on her face."How do you plan to do /that/?" she asked. "Rei isn't the most responsive of people, even when she's in a more normal mood."

"I'm not sure yet," Misato said, "but I have an idea..."