Evangelion 1. Intro Part One

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**The Mysteries Of A New Pilot**

**By: Admiral Fergason**

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion and Oh! My Goddess! are not owned by me and are in no way my creation. This is a fanfiction, FANFICTION! and I am making no money on this whatsoever, so don't sue . . . it would be worthless anyway since I only have about ten cents to my name. However, _Red Lightning_ and it's characters are owned by me and are only used with my permission. If you would like to use them, please contact me at Thank you all for your cooperation, and enjoy the read.


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: See Intro Page

**Chapter One**

**Gendo Ikari, the commander of the organization called Nerv, was sitting behind his desk not really believing what he was seeing. If only this could have happened before the failed Third Impact, he probably wouldn't have had to endure the event, and neither would the pilots. Evangelion Unit 04 had been found.  
****The United States branch of Nerv had dug it up from a pile of rubble at their base and had alerted the pilot, the Sixth Child, of its discovery. Apparently they were both on their way to Tokyo-03 now. The next thing to do was tell the pilots who were already here.**

**_Somewhere On The Pacific Ocean_ . . .  
****Tyler, Tai for short, Acheson looked out the window at the ship that was carrying the monstrous creation that he had been trained to pilot. He hadn't needed much training, much to everyone's surprise at Nerv, but he had done it with an ease that they had been impressed by. Thanks to other training he had been able to pull it off though, but he wasn't about to tell them that.  
****Another thing that he had been accustomed to was secrecy. His parents knew about him along with his younger sisters for piloting Eva Unit 04, but there were things that even they didn't know. Following some of the most troublesome things in the orders that he had been given was easy, yet they were troubling in a way. In his hometown he had to keep everything a secret, but in Tokyo-03, where he'd be living from now on, everyone would know about him being a pilot.  
****After Third Impact, he had been depressed because he had not been able to stop it from occurring. When Unit 0 was uncovered though, his spirits were renewed and he was ordered to Tokyo-03 to train with the other pilots.  
****Apparently, according to the reports that he had received on his laptop computer, only three Evas were there. Unit 01 had destroyed unit 04 after Angel infect it. The pilot of Unit 01 had not wanted to attack it because of it still housing a pilot, but due to the 'dummy plug' system, of which he hated, the task was done.  
****Now sitting back in the chair with the laptop on the small table before him, he closed his eyes for a moment. In the past two years he had completely sacrificed his time to Eva, but he had also sacrificed it to something else as well. This was something that he had brought along with him because he wasn't about to leave it behind, and it was the only thing that no one knew about besides him and a few other people. Those people, however, were either dead or could no longer remember it, or him for that fact.  
****It would be a few more hours before he could get the dormant Eva to stand on its feet for the first time in over three months. For now, all he could do was relax.  
****"Tai," came a small voice.  
****Opening his eyes again, he looked over to the side to find a small child there in the shadows of the night. The darkened room couldn't keep him from identifying who it was though. "Jen, what are you doing up?"  
****"I was scared," she said. "I had another dream about those monsters again. Could you scare them away with Unit 04?"  
****He chuckled at his youngest sister's request. She had been a pain in the rear for most of the time that she had been near him in the last few years, but now she was just a comic relief for him. "No, Unit 04 already scared them away," he said, smiling. "Even though she is dormant right now physically, she is still protecting you."  
****"Thanks," she said. "Will you tell her I said so?"  
****"Yes," he said, ruffling her hair a little. "Now, go back to bed."  
****"Can I stay here with you?"  
****He looked around the room to discover a closet that was market 'blankets.' "Only if you can find a blanket in the closet over there."  
****The young child smiled at that and then she headed over to get it. Before long, she had curled up in the booth with him and fallen asleep.  
****"Now that she's asleep I can get my work done," he said as he accessed the laptop. He killed windows on his screen and activated a secondary Operating System that he soon found himself last in. Report after report scrolled by on the screen and he read through it for over an hour. Now he knew everything he needed to know about Tokyo-03, and the other Eva pilots. **

**"Why does he have to come here?" whined Asuka Langley Soryu as she sat down at the table to await supper.  
****"Because Nerv needs another pilot here," Shinji Ikari answered, as he continued to prepare the meal.  
****"BAKA! I wasn't asking you!" Asuka yelled at him, then slammed her elbows down on the table muttering a few choice curses in German.  
****Shinji looked around the room to find that they were the only two people in the apartment, and then shrugged as he declared in his mind that the red head was in another temper tantrum. He had been through a lot during the events of Third Impact, but he had changed his personality a lot as well. No longer was he trying to shut the world out completely and he was trying to get Asuka to notice him as more than a friend, but she was so angry all the time that it never worked. Nervousness, as all males have, about asking a girl out on a date was present in his mind all the time around her.  
****"He will arrive this evening, I think," Shinji said, as he placed the meal on the table in front of her. It was a simple meal this afternoon, but it was enough to silence the German girl's tantrum for at least an hour.  
****"Oh no, not another guy."  
****"What's wrong with that?" he asked, taking a clump of rice from his bowl with a pair of chopsticks.  
****"You, that stooge Toji, and now another baka from the States? Why me?"  
****Shinji grinned an evil grin and folded his hands in front of his face. "Because I say so." Asuka looked up at him and shivered noticeably because it made her think of only one man, Shinji's father Gendo. Shinji laughed.  
****"That was not funny," she said as she shook the image from her mind. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry up to get to headquarters."  
****The boy across from her unfolded his hands and resumed the eating of his meal. "My father issued orders that the synchronization tests will be suspended until the new pilot arrives."  
****Asuka sighed as she finished off her rice and then she got up form the table to walk into the living room. "Fine then, baka-Shinji. Until we have to leave I will be watching TV, and I don't want to be interrupted!"  
****"Of course," Shinji mumbled.  
****"Wark! Wark!" came the sound of PenPen as he walked out of his freezer. He looked at Shinji and then walked over to the table where he stood there, waiting.  
****"You want a beer, don't you?" Shinji asked.  
****"Wark!" the warm-water penguin said in agreement.  
****After getting the beer for PenPen, he walked back down to his room, ignoring the program that Asuka had decided to watch, and found his S-DAT. Once the soft classical music was playing, effectively drowning out the TV, he closed his eyes to have a nap before he had to go to Rei's.**

**Rei Ayanami emerged from the shower in her apartment; the last time that she would ever be here would be tonight. Her things were all packed to be moved to Misato's apartment and they would be moved when Shinji came by to help her in an hour. They had become good friends, even though he now knew how she had come into existence. She resented the fact that she was a clone, although she never said it or showed it to anyone. It irritated her, but she had learned to live with it in hopes that her live could be turned around now that she was fully human. Her Angel side had died with the failure of Third Impact, and now she was going to finally be with others on a 24-hour basis.  
****She had just finished putting her clothes on when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, she discovered that Shinji was there waiting.  
****"Hi," he said, greeting her. "I thought I'd come by early. Mount Asuka blew when PenPen interrupted her show."  
****"Pilot Soryu is unhappy?" she asked, a neutral tone to her voice.  
****"Yes," he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him as she walked back into her apartment. "Thankfully, I'm not the target of her anger this afternoon."  
****"I have been told that Pilot Acheson will arrive this evening," she said. "Do you know him?"  
****"No," Shinji said, sitting down on Rei's bed beside her. "There isn't much known about him other than the fact that he has two sisters and both his sisters coming here with him."  
****"They will be staying in Tokyo-03 as well?"  
****"No, the file says that they are just with him for the trip."  
****Rei looked out the window for a moment as she processed the information. "That will be difficult for him."  
****He looked around the room to see the very few boxes that had been placed against the wall and he sighed inwardly. Rei was a very anti-social young woman, much like himself in that way, but he at least talked to people. He considered her his sister because she looked so much like his mother and the information that his father had given the two of them confirmed that fact. Clone or not, she was still a human being to him.  
****"I wonder what he will be like," Rei though out loud.  
****Shinji blinked as he recalled what Kensuke had said Tai's file had contained. "He's not a very sociable person in public, but he is very outgoing and considerate of others. He has a college degree in psychology and is a computer technician."  
****Rei turned back to him, a puzzled look plastered across her face. "How do you know this, Ikari-kun?"  
****He smiled. "I have my ways," he said, and then focused his attention on the boxes again. "Why don't we get you moved out of here early, since I'm already here, and then we can get something to eat before we have to report to headquarters."  
****"A logical conclusion, Shinji-kun."  
****  
Misato Katsuragi walked into Commander Ikari's office after he had summoned her there. She was not in a good mood, and that had nothing to do with anything that had been happening prior to her being summoned here. It was the fact that she had been summoned that made her mood foul.  
****"Major," Ikari greeted as she walked into the room. "We have things to discuss."  
****The room was dark and she was reminded of the old days where she would be in here with him being interrogated for information by the old fool. "What is it that you wish to discuss?" she asked, politely.  
****"I wish to ask you if there is any way in which you could take in another child?"  
****The Major just about fell out of her chair. "Another child? Commander, I am already housing three children in my apartment," she protested. "How am I supposed to accommodate yet another?"  
****"Arrangements have been made so that you will no longer be paying the rent there at your apartment," Gendo stated. "The building has been purchased by Nerv and the apartment beside yours will now become an extension of your own."  
****This surprised her for a moment. Commander Ikari was being generous and he was even using Nerv to help him in this endeavour. "Thank you, Commander," she said, not letting her surprise show. "When will this take place?"  
****"The renovation team will complete their work before you arrive home this evening," he answered her, a rare smile forming on his face. "It's all under the supervision of Fuyutsuki."  
****Kouzou Fuyutsuki groaned as he heard his name and new mission mentioned. Katsuragi had wondered if he was in the room or not, and this confirmed it.  
****"Also, Asuka and Shinji are to meet the Sixth Child when he arrives."  
****"Yes, sir," she answered.  
****"Dismissed."  
****  
****"What? Alright, but Asuka is not going to like it."  
****Rei watched as Shinji hung up the phone and she had a curious look on her face. Placing the last box down in his room, where she would be staying for the time being, she came back out into the hallway. "Who was that, Ikari-kun?"  
****"Please, now that you're going to be living here, its just Shinji, sis," he said. That earned him a smile and a nod. "Asuka and I have to go and meet the new pilot."  
****"WHAT!" Asuka screamed from the couch. "I'm not going to meet that baka! Do you hear me, baka-Shinji!"  
****"Yes, Asuka," he said, sarcastically. "Then you can deal with Commander Ikari after he figures out that you have disobeyed his orders, again."  
****There was a bit of silence for a moment before the cursing in German began. Rei giggled and Shinji rolled his eyes. "Fine!" Asuka yelled. She turned off the TV and then they heard the sound of her door opening and slamming shut as she entered it.  
****"I can see why you said that you wanted out of here," Rei said as she sat down with Shinji at the table. "When do we leave?"  
****"In about a half-hour," he said. "I think we'll have a few problems with Asuka on the way." **

**The old oil tanker began to slow as the landmass in front of them began to take on clearer characteristics. The buildings that they could see were mostly underwater, and the captain of the ship was trying to order them through it. It was hopeless to get much farther and they would soon have to abandon it so that they could get to shore.  
****Tai now stood above the main tank where Unit 04 was being housed. It lay dormant in there, kneeled as he had left it when he walked it onto the ship. He had repainted the red and black unit a week ago and he knew that his new commanding officer would need to see it in action soon.  
****He watched as the entry plug was lowered into the Eva's back and then he turned around to head off the catwalk toward his quarters. Once there he would be able to find his plug suit and put it on so that he could get his Eva off the ship. The waters here were deep enough to only slow him down a little and, thanks to his Eva's S2 engine, he would be able to run without the need of a power cable. This gave him a lot more freedom than the prototype unit, test unit, and the only surviving production unit that were already stationed in Tokyo-03.  
****Once he had put his plug suit on, he moved back out into the corridor, throwing a duffle bag over his shoulder with his belongings in it. This he gave to a Lieutenant who had been assigned to assist him and his family during the trip over. "See that that gets in the pack," he said.  
****"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant said, saluting and then running down the corridor toward where the 'raft' was being prepared.  
****The raft was something that they had had to think of quickly when he refused to let his Eva be flown overseas. On it would be his family and his belongings and he would be underwater piloting his Eva until they reached shore. Once there, he would simply hoist it over his Eva's shoulder and then carry it the rest of the way.  
****"You ready for this?" Jodi asked, surprising him only a little.  
****"Ready as I'll ever be, sis," he said, calmly enough to irritate his sister.  
****"You know that Jen wants to go with you?"  
****"Yes, I do," he said, sighing. "If I can get her to make sure that she's quiet I can allow it."  
****"Won't Nerv be angry?"  
****"I have read over the Commander's profile in Nerv's database," he answered, laughing evilly low enough not to make it audible to anyone but her. "I can't wait to punch some holes in his attitude."  
****"Keep it up, you pest, and you're going to wind up arrested," she said, laughing at his comment. "Yet, you always seem to succeed anyway."  
****"Sir!" came a yell from down the corridor. Tai turned to see the Lieutenant coming back up the corridor toward them. "We have just received word that Eva Units 00, 01, and 02 will meet you at the designated landing coordinates."  
****Shaking his head and looking at the deck he sighed. "Great, the welcoming committee." He turned to the Lieutenant. "Have my Eva prepared for combat, and have plans changed so that a helicopter will take them to the city."  
****"Sir?"  
****"Just do it."  
****"Aye, sir."  
****As the Lieutenant again ran down the corridor, Jodi turned to her brother with a confused expression. "What are you planning?"  
****"I plan to get my 'show-and-tell' session over with before I have to go through the tests this evening," he said. "If they're coming out with three Evas to meet me outside the city lines, then I'm going to make it worth their while."  
****"You are a sadistic pest, you know that?"  
****"That's why they call me the best pest back home."  
****"Good luck," she said and then left him in the corridor. **

**"Where is he?" Asuka asked as she scanned the area. "I thought he was supposed to be here by now."  
****"_Patience Asuka_," said Shinji as a video screen, showing his face, appeared in her line of vision. "_He will get here when he gets here_."  
****A helicopter flew overheard and then something could be seen moving out of the water. The unmistakeable head of an Eva was beginning to emerge form the ocean and they all looked on as it ascended from the depths.  
****A new video window popped up and she could see Rei this time. "_There is something wrong here_."  
****"Shut up, Wondergirl!" she yelled.  
****No sooner had she said that, an energy blast erupted out of the water and slammed into Unit 01. Shinji had barely had enough time to put up his AT field before it could do any damage. "_Asuka! What the heck is going on!_"  
****"Baka! Can't you see that he fired on us?" she yelled as she gave him a fierce look over the video comm link. "Use your progressive knives, his Eva may have gone berserk."  
****This was the new Asuka talking, still in command of everything that she could take command in, but thinking clearly before acting. Her Eva reached back to where the knife was stored and removed it before activating it. All three Evas stood there, knives in a defensive position, waiting for the next move.  
****It came too soon. The Eva in the water suddenly vanished from site as it ducked down under the water. Nothing moved in the area that they were watching now, and there was nothing that they could do but wait.  
****"Where did it go?"  
****"_Asuka, what's going on out there?_" came Misato's voice over the comm link. There was a video window now displaying her face.  
****"The Eva fired on baka-Shinji," she said. "It's disappeared now."  
****"_Return to the city_, _now!_" the Major yelled. "_You need weapons to fight this!"  
_****Before anyone could react, the red and black Eva burst from the ground behind them and began attacking them with its arms and legs in martial arts manoeuvres. The comm link with Nerv HQ was severed when it hit Unit 02 with a well-placed spin kick to the head.  
****Asuka was now extremely angry and she lashed out with her knife at the target, but it was too quick for her and back flipped out of the way. Looking down at the video window that displayed Shinji's face, the second and third child nodded and began a synchronized attack.  
****With everything that they had, they jumped into the air and prepared to come down on their attacker with their feet. The Eva turned from its position and then kneeled down as if to take the attack. Asuka smiled and prepared to pummel the berserker to a pulp, but that smile was soon wiped off her face.  
****Unit 04 reached up and grabbed the ankles of Units 01 and 02 to then swing them with their own speed and slam them into the ground. Rei watched from her position as the dust rose into the air and then she took action. Grabbing the discarded energy rifle that Unit 04 had dropped, she aimed at its head and squeezed off a round. That was when its own AT field became apparent.  
****Asuka was down, along with Shinji and they were both trying to get their Evas to respond to their commands, but Unit 04 was holding them down. This is when Asuka finally realized that this thing had no power cable and it must be running with an S2 engine.  
****Yet another video window popped up on her screen and it showed something that she wasn't ready to see. It showed the inside of an entry plug and a young face, an extremely young face.  
****"_How do you like being beaten by a seven year old? Nah!_" the little girl on the screen said, sticking out her tongue.  
****"Why you little! Asuka screamed, and then the girl was removed from the screen to show a young man around their age in a plug suit that matched that of the little girl and the attacking Eva.  
****"_I apologize for her comments everyone,_" the young man addressed the three pilots. "_I'm Tai Acheson, pilot of Evangelion Unit 04_." There was a short pause, as he must have glanced at Asuka's face, as it turned crimson with anger. "_I must say that you all can put up one heck of a fight_."  
****Asuka reached up with her Eva's arm and dug its fingers into the side of Unit 04 in utter rage, but that only served in killing the comm link after her getting satisfaction out of hearing him gasp in pain. No one insulted the great Asuka Langley Soryu and got away with it without a scratch. First his Eva, and then she would go after him personally. **

**Back at Nerv HQ, Tai powered down his Eva and then ejected his entry plug. Looking at the sleeping form of his youngest sister he decided that he would need to be extra careful to exit the entry plug so that he would not wake her. It was a habit of hers to fall asleep no matter what she was doing with him around, and on the walk back to the city she had done just that.  
****"Figures," he said as he opened the hatch. "You would make me carry you out now wouldn't you?"  
****Stepping out of the entry plug he placed his feet onto the catwalk and proceeded toward where he saw a door opening. In the doorway stood a young woman about his age that he had seen when he was battling the other Evas, and he recognized her as the Second Child, a German girl named Asuka. By the look that was plastered across her face, she was not happy.  
****Waking Jen he looked down at his sister as lowers her to the floor. "Find a shady spot, this may turn ugly." As soon as she had ran back to where he got out of the entry plug, he turned back to face the woman in the red plug suit.  
****"You! How could you attack me like that!" Asuka yelled. "I ought to rip you apart with my bare hands!"  
****He waited until she was right up in his face and then he looked at her as calmly as possible. "Try."  
****The German girl hauled back her fist and threw one good punch straight at his forehead, which rewarded her only with the rapid moving of his head backwards under the blow. Other than that, he still stood there unfazed by her attack.  
****"Asuka!" came the voice of Shinji Ikari, the Third Child, as he entered the cage. "Don't to it!"  
****"Shut up, baka-Shinji!" Asuka yelled and then turned back to face her opponent. "A duel, now."  
****"Very well," Tai said, and then assumed a fighting stance that Asuka thought she saw a way through and attempted it. She was rewarded with him grabbing her leg and spinning her around so that she fell face first into the steel catwalk.  
****"Had enough?" he asked, releasing her and leaning against Unit 04's chest armor. "I don't want to hurt you."  
****"Asuka!" Shinji tried again.  
****"I told you to shut up!" she yelled, getting back onto her feet. "You'll pay for that."  
****Throwing a series of punches and kicks she managed to break down the new pilot's defences and was working on going for the final blow. Before she could though, he suddenly knelt down very quickly and spun his leg out under her feet so that she again landed hard on the steel catwalk. Fortunately, she saw that he was not getting up and she took this as his defeat.  
****Standing, Asuka leaned over the fallen form of the new pilot and was about to stomp on him when he reached up, grabbed her ankle, and threw her over the rail onto his Eva. She landed hard on the armor and the hand moved, without a pilot inside, to catch her.  
****"Next time, we duel in a more appropriate setting," Tai said, offering his hand to her so that he could help her climb back up. Instead, she jumped and pulled herself up, determined to do it on her own. "Fine, be that way. Come along Jen, I have a meeting with the Commander." His sister came out from behind the Eva and ran to catch up with him as he passed Shinji. "Good luck," Tai muttered to him and then left the room.  
****"Thanks," Shinji said, and then turned back to see Asuka storming toward him.  
****"What were you doing back here! You should have helped me!" she yelled, pouting a bit.  
****"You told me to shut up," he said, with a smile on his face. "I was back here following orders."  
****She didn't like that and pushed him aside in response to then walk out of the room and leave him standing there. _One of these days_, he thought as he followed farther behind her,_ she's going to find herself in a fight she can't survive if she keeps attacking people_. **

**Rei entered the briefing room and saw that she was not the first to arrive. Commander Ikari, Commander Katsuragi, and Doctor Akagi were present along with the new pilot who was still in his plug suit. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but since he had not changed here at headquarters she could understand why he was still in his plug suit.  
****Asuka came barging in a moment later, followed by Shinji and they both sat down beside her and the newcomer. Asuka didn't seem pleased to be seated beside Tai, but she would have to hold her temper in the room with Commander Ikari there.  
****"Now that everyone is here, we can begin," Commander Ikari said from behind his usual pose, hands clasped in front of his face so that all you could see of him was his glinting glasses and the top of his head. "First of all, that was an impressive show of talents out there, Mr. Acheson."  
****"Thank you commander," Tai said as he took in his surroundings.  
****"Disobey orders like that again and I will have you arrested," Ikari said, coldly. "Your first sync test will be immediately following this meeting, then you will proceed with Major Katsuragi," he indicated the Major with a show of his hand, "to her home where you will be staying from here on in."  
****The Major, Tai noted, was an older woman but was still very attractive. He pushed those thoughts aside though and focused on the meeting. "I am still hoping that the offer to fly my family back home is still open."  
****"Of course," Ikari said. "They will be taking my private jet back to the States." Tai and Ikari heard an audible gasp from everyone around the room, but Rei was the only other not to utter it. "Onto business, I assume you have your originally sync test results and the results from there till yesterday."  
****"Yes, sir," he said. "They should be entered into your database as soon as my doctor knows that I have arrived."  
****"I was already talking with him," Doctor Akagi spoke up for the first time. "I will be your doctor from now on. I'm Doctor Ritsuko Akagi."  
****"Nice to meet you Doc," Tai said, acknowledging her with a nod of his head. "You will also be looking after Unit 04 from now on I assume?"  
****"Yes," she said. "And, don't worry, it's in good hands."  
****"I'm sure it is."  
****The rest of the meeting consisted of mindless techno-babble about what was happening here in the last few weeks and Tai was not interested in it. There were times when he could have listened and enjoyed hearing about it just to find out what was going on, but he had conducted enough of such briefings in the past that it had become boring.  
****One thing that he did pay attention to was the fact that they were changing their sensor systems to detect high-powered weapons. This captured his attention until the topic was put aside. If he were caught with something as powerful as he had, he would not be able to stay around for very long. Being able to sneak it in to the beach was one thing, getting it back was another.  
****Deciding to head out once he was settled in and everyone was asleep he settled down a bit and was back into a state of boredom. Thinking about his family going back to the States was something that was on his mind a lot in the past few weeks, and here it weighed heavily on him. They would only be here a few more hours and here he was, sitting in a briefing room listening to stuff that was completely useless to him.  
****Feeling someone looking at him, he looked to his right to find the Second Child glaring at him. Her red hair was flowing around her face, amplifying the stare that she was giving him with her blue eyes. Those eyes he would have sworn were burrowing into his very soul if he didn't know any better. This German girl was as normal as the other two pilots in the room.  
****Getting annoyed he flashed his Iris displays on-line for an instant before returning them to their stand-by mode. This got a reaction of her jumping in her seat and then looking away to whisper to Shinji. He chuckled to himself and then focused back on his thoughts. **

**The meeting had been over for about an hour when he finally got to see his family since he had left the ship. His mother was about ready to break down and his father was standing there very proud of him and what he was doing. Even though they would leave shortly after this, he was confident that he would be able to get along here without them.  
****"Do you know where you're staying yet?" his mother asked.  
****"With Major Katsuragi, one of the command staff personnel," he replied. "And the other pilots."  
****"The other pilots eh?" Jodi said. "I hear there's a red head there who's very attractive."  
****Tai caught the hint of what his sister was implying and he scowled at her. "I don't think that she likes me very much," he told her, flatly. "All the kicks and punches that girl threw at me never left a scratch."  
****His mother gasped. "You didn't hit her, did you?"  
****"No mom," he said. "Protocol won't allow me to punch her outright. But I did block and she face planted herself into a steel catwalk."  
****"You should have saw him!" Jen said, a big smile on his face. "Tai beat her without striking out even once!"  
****Tai looked down at his youngest sister and smiled evilly. "Want to fight me some day eh? You should know that I won't use the same techniques twice."  
****That's when a he was kicked from behind in the back, sending him flying toward the door he was standing near. His head impacted on the wall and he turned around as he slid down to sit on the floor. When his vision cleared enough, he saw his two sisters fighting to control their laughter and Asuka standing there with her arms akimbo.  
****"Baka," Asuka hissed, and then walked away toward where the sync tests would be conducted.  
****"That's gotta hurt," Jodi said, holding back a laugh.  
****Getting back up off the floor, Tai gave her a harsh look. "Hardy har har," he said, sarcastically. "I guess this means I have to get going. There's a private jet waiting for you on the runway. Section Two will be taking you there when you report to the surface."  
****"I'll take them, sir."  
****"Thanks, Lieutenant," Tai said, shaking his hand. "Good luck to all of you, I'll see you when I can."  
****"Take care of yourself, son," his father said and then the group walked off toward the elevators that would take them to the surface level of Nerv headquarters.  
****As he watched them walk off and out of his immediate life he wondered what life would be like without them just a room away from him. There were always times when he thought that he didn't need them, but the Eva project was going to take a lot out of him, along with whatever else happened here. He was also sensing something, something he couldn't quite put his finger on but knew that his counselling degree had something to do with it.  
****In college, he had been ridiculed for being so young, but when the other students saw what he was capable of they had backed off. Never having any friends there he had kept to himself, but one professor had befriended him and she would later become one of his most trusted friends there.  
****Looking down at the deck he found the duffle bag that his mother had brought with her for him. It contained his clothes and his laptop computer along with whatever else he needed for one night. The rest would be delivered to him tomorrow once he had gotten his arrangements made. Slinging it over his shoulder he made his way to the pilot locker room and from there he would go to the test area. The night was young, and it was sure to be one heck of a ride. **

**Sitting down on a bench in the locker room, Shinji began to get changed. First, he unseals his plug suit and removes it. Once that was done it didn't take him long to put it into his locker and put his normal clothes back on.  
****"Baka-Shinji! You slowpoke! Get out here!" came the voice of Asuka thorough the door.  
****"Does she always call you that?" Tai asked, as he came inside trying to compensate for minor hearing loss due to being right beside her when she yelled.  
****"Unfortunately, yes."  
****"Then I'll have to get some ear plugs while I'm living with you people," he said, laughing.  
****"I heard that!" Asuka yelled. "You're going to get one heck of a pounding when we get back tonight, Sixth!"  
****"Whatever Asuka! Whatever!" Tai taunted.  
****They could hear Asuka fuming from outside and then storming down the hallway. "You shouldn't have done that," Shinji said. "She'll be on your case for as long as you live if you keep that act up."  
****"Who's acting?" Tai asked, putting a smile on his face that looked mischievous. "Everyone called me Typest when I was back home, this is just my nature."  
****"A nature that will get you killed," Shinji said, walking out.  
****"A fight?" Rei asked, greeting him at the door. "Should I sell tickets?"  
****"Rei!" Shinji exclaimed. "Please don't scare me like that!"  
****Without another word, Tai got changed and then went to the elevators to go to his new home. Major Katsuragi was nice to allow him to stay in her home, but he felt bad about imposing. **

**Asuka, Rei, and Shinji were all staring as Tai got out of the front seat of Misato's car. They had all been expecting that he would wobble like a drunk out of the car, but instead he was standing firm on his feet in the parking lot. It was weird, Misato had drove like a maniac the entire way here, just like she did all the time, and they had all been worried about him loosing his lunch over it. Instead, he had ate a sandwich the entire way there and had a cup of coffee without ever losing a single drop!  
****"What?" he asked, looking back at the three of them in the back seat. "Are you guys okay?"  
****Everyone then snapped out of their stupor and got out of the car. "Finally, someone who doesn't complain about my driving," Misato said, leading them into the apartment building. "You three should lighten up."  
****Looking around, taking in his surroundings, Tai decided that this place really wasn't so bad. The only thing that he was worried about was being able to get away from here long enough to call upon his vehicle. There would be no chance in the world that he would be able to get a signal out from here without it being detected. Even the subspace bands had been detected by Nerv back home.  
****Sighing, he realized that he was just never in a position where he could be free from the government, of any country. As long as he existed and his technology existed along side him, he would be pursued every time that he tried to use it.  
****"Is there something wrong Sixth?" Asuka asked, glaring at him because he hadn't heard a word she had said. She was, again, up in his face.  
****A smirk was displayed on his face then. "If you wanted a kiss, you could have asked."  
****Shinji broke out in laughter, along with the other two occupants of the apartment they had just walked into. Asuka, again, turned crimson red in the face with both anger and embarrassment. She then grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the living room that Nerv personnel had reconstructed after gutting the place. It was a lot bigger and she had seen the plans for it. Knowing it would be big enough for a fight she threw him into the center of it.  
****"Re-mach, now!" she bellowed.  
****Rei, Shinji, and Misato all stood along the back wall to watch Asuka kick the crud out of Tai. Nervous, he got into a defensive stance and prepared for the onslaught that he knew this young woman was capable of. "Why do you want to do this again? I already beat you once today." He really didn't want to fight, he wanted some sleep and before he could get that he would have to get his car out of the ocean.  
****"You beat me only because you were cheating!" she proclaimed. "Now, you will fight me as an equal."  
****"Alright, you asked for it."  
****With a quick movement, he jumped into the air and landed a kick to Asuka's stomach, sending her to the ground and into the far wall beside Rei. Rei never flinched and Asuka stood back up as soon as she caught her breath. "What was that?" she asked, frustrated.  
****"That was one of my least powerful attacks," Tai answered. "Please don't make me fight anymore."  
****"You will fight!"  
****Lashing out with a series of punches that she had used earlier she landed only one, to his shoulder. He stood there, unaffected by the blow and then she kicked at his legs, only to have it blocked when he brought his own leg up and she impacted dead center between his ankle and knee. There was an audible 'crack' and both pilots were then back in a fighting stance.  
****Dropping to his knee, Tai slashed at her with a Russian leg sweep and took her off her feet. He then held her down with his leg across her stomach and looked into her eyes. Not seeing fear, he decided that there was no point in continuing.  
****"Shinji, get us both a glass of water please," he said, trying to get his breath. As Shinji walked off, he released Asuka only a little bit. "You will not try attacking again. You're a good fighter, but there is no point in continuing this. We are needed here and if we are injured we will be unable to pilot our Evas." Shinji was then back with the water and he gave one to Tai who drank it down quickly. "Understand?"  
****"Yes," Asuka grumbled, clearly unhappy. Tai let her up and then he walked off with Misato toward his room. "I'll get you back for this humiliation." **

**Unpacking what little he had with him at this time, Tai took about five minutes to put his clothing in the drawers of the dresser. Setting up his laptop on the floor next to the futon he began to call up the system schematics for his Eva and study it more clearly before more tests tomorrow.  
****School here would be a little rough for anyone coming from the states who didn't know how to speak Japanese or read the writing. Tai thanked his technology for being able to translate it for him and he knew that without it he would be just as confused as his parents were without the UT units he'd given them. The Universal Translators had been programmed to translate any language on the planet, until a new one was discovered or created that is.  
****Signing as he pulled up the schematics he then rolled over onto the futon and put his ear to the wooden floor on the other side. He couldn't hear anything, save for the noise that the TV was making and he decided that it would be best if he just caught an hour or two of sleep before slipping out.  
****Rolling back onto his other side he called up some music on his laptop, some soft Japanese music that he had downloaded months ago, and closed his eyes after setting an alarm.  
****  
Misato sat in the kitchen as she heard the two children bickering in the other room and Rei came out of the bathroom to join her. The First Child was silent, nothing really prompted her to say anything while she was around people unless they asked her a question or were speaking directly with her. Even then, she didn't speak much.  
****Chugging back her third beer of the evening, Misato decided it was time to go to bed and slipped down to her room after saying good night to Rei. The apartment had changed a lot and she was happy that her room was now a lot bigger, and was sure that the children would like it as well.  
****Rei sat in one of the kitchen chairs and stared out the window at the full moon outside. _I wonder what it is about him that makes him capture my eye like that_, she wondered, looking down the hallway at the only door that had someone behind it other than Misato's room. _I hope I can figure this out_. With that, she got up and joined her fellow pilots, now her fellow roommates, and watched the movie they had put on with them. **

**The apartment was dark, save for the light that the TV still bathed the room in. Tai stepped down the hallway as quietly as he could so as not to wake the three sleeping forms on the living room floor. They looked peaceful, but if they were to wake up and find him sneaking out he would not be able to complete his mission.  
****Getting to the kitchen, he saw that PenPen's fridge was wide open and he stayed against the wall in a cloaking field to wait to see what was happening. After a few seconds the warm water penguin appeared out of the bathroom and waddled over to the fridge that was his room.  
****Once the small creature was inside the fridge and out of the way, Tai proceeded to the door and realized that he had left his key card on his dresser. He smacked himself mentally for his stupidity and then just activated another few systems that the technology in his body allowed him to use. Without another incident, he walked up to the door and then disappeared through its steal structure.  
****"Wark?" PenPen asked, confused as he opened his fridge. The small penguin had sensed someone in the kitchen, but he shrugged it off and grabbed a beer from the fridge to then retreat back to his own fridge for the night.**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**Sunlight crept through the window and shone on the faces of the three children in the living room. Shinji was the first to wake and he noticed that there was something in his face. Not really wanting to know what it was for fear of being beaten to death by Asuka, he opened his eyes and was relieved to find that instead of Asuka's hair, it was Rei's. _At least she won't kill me_, he thought.  
****The smell of food drifted to his nostrils and he sat up on the futon that he had dragged out for himself, which oddly was partially occupied by both girls. This was the mistake he made.  
****Suddenly, he was pulled down and he saw who's arm was now around him. Stiffening, he looked over at Rei, who now shot her eyes open and noticed what was going on. "Help," Shinji pleaded as silently as possible, so only she could hear him. Rei nodded her head and then carefully helped him out of Asuka's grasp so as not to wake her because she too knew what the "Red Devil," as Shinji's friends called her, would do to him if she woke up like that. It was comical sometimes to her, but she would never show that. "Thanks," Shinji said as he stood. "I wonder who's cooking."  
**"**Ah, you're awake," came a voice.  
****Shinji and Rei turned to see Tai standing there with a cooking utensil in hand. "Good morning."  
**"**Good morning, Pilot Ach-"  
**"**Rei, is it?" Tai asked.  
**"**Yes?"  
**"**Just call me Tai, I hate being called by my sir name," he said, then smiled as he put his hand to the side of his face as if to whisper something to her and winked. "It makes me sound old."  
****Rei chuckled at him, and then nodded in acknowledgement. "Good morning, Tai."  
**"**Why don't you both get cleaned up and then we can have something to eat. Breakfast is almost ready."  
****Shinji and Rei went to either of the two bathrooms in the apartment and took showers before getting changed into what they were going to wear for the day. For both of them, unfortunately, it was their school uniforms because they would be going to school today.  
****As Shinji got out of the shower he heard Asuka roar with anger and cringed at the thought of her getting awakened. "That's _COLD!_" she screamed. Shinji walked into the living room to see Asuka drenched in cold water from head to foot and Tai was standing over her with a pale in his hands.  
**"**Get up and you won't need to be woken up rudely," Tai said, and then walked back to the kitchen with the bucket in his hand. "Take a shower and maybe you can warm up a bit."  
****Asuka jumped up and ran past Shinji to her room and from there dashed to the bathroom where she slammed the door shut. They could all hear the sigh as the warm water started and then all was silent in the apartment, but it didn't last long because she screamed when the hot water was finally exhausted.  
****Rei and Shinji sat down at the table and waited for Tai who was still in the kitchen, but they didn't have to wait long because he suddenly came out with two plates of food. On one were bacon, eggs, and toast and on the other was a large helping of salad.  
**"**Tai, I did not tell you that I was a vegetarian," Rei said, looking at her food as Shinji dug into his.  
**"**Just a feeling I guess," he said. "Looks like I was right."  
****Rei seemed to accept that and began to eat her meal. Truthfully, he did not know that she was a vegetarian and had assumed it. There was nothing in her file that revealed that, but it was just by the way she was described there that he must have picked it up. Shrugging the thoughts away he went back into the kitchen and picked up his second cup of coffee for that day. PenPen drifted out of his fridge and Shinji came in to get his breakfast for him since Tai didn't know.  
****Once the penguin had its sardines and beer it waddled back into its fridge and shut the door. Tai stared at the door and looked at Shinji, who shrugged and went back to his meal.  
****Asuka was the last person to arrive at the table, shivering because of the cold water Tai had poured over her to wake her up and the even colder water that she had taken her shower with. The German girl had a scowl on her face that left the other three pilots feeling as if she was going to explode. When Tai handed her her meal, though, he touched her shoulder slightly and a look of confusion displayed itself on her face. For some odd reason, when he removed his hand from her shoulder, she felt as though the water had never affected her and shrugged it off as just a feeling of embarrassment and began to eat.  
****Tai went back to his room to change into his school uniform, hating it more and more as he stood there getting his storage device removed from the USB port on his laptop. What was bothering him more though was the power drain that he had felt when he used his own internal heating system to transfer body heat to Asuka. In truth, he felt bad for the girl and couldn't get over how there was a dark cloud that she seemed to drag with her wherever she went.  
****He sighed as he slipped the small flash drive into his pocket and snatched his glasses of the top of the keyboard. He had been told that every student had a laptop in class and he wouldn't need his so he felt relieved that he wouldn't be taking it along. The first thing he'd do when he got there would be to make some personal modifications to the thing and make it more user friendly to him. All the programs he needed were on the three flash drives that he had in his pocket and the one jump drive that was in its case joining them.  
****Stepping through the door of his room back into the hallway he went back to the kitchen, trying to get used to the feel of the tightly fitting uniform. He had worn uniforms for years while on duty back home, but this was not something that he was used to and would take time for him to adjust to it. At his school back home he would just wear normal street clothes, but here he would be accepting the fact that schools in different parts of the world worked differently.  
****The others were waiting for him at the door and he slipped his shoes on to then joined Shinji to walk to school. This he had done back home, but that was when he was in elementary school. He missed being able to take his car to school and hide it in the graveyard until he was ready to head back home. If he were to use it here though, he was sure that he would be spotted with it and law enforcement would come in to investigate why there was a car on the road traveling well over the speed limit. It was a wonder why Misato wasn't pulled in by the police for speeding.  
****Rei walked alone, behind all of them as Asuka took the lead and kept quiet. He kept an eye on her to make sure she wasn't hearing them and then looked over at Shinji. "Is she going to be alright? I hope I didn't tick her off too much."  
**"**She'll be fine," Shinji sighed. "It's just that no one has ever stood up to her like that before now."  
****It wasn't long before they arrived at the school and the proceeded to classroom 2-A where they would be for the rest of the day. Another thing that he didn't like about to this school besides the uniform, he wouldn't be moving around. The only way he was getting out of this room before the end of instruction hours was lunch and if an angle attacked. Angels attacking during school hours would not be what he wanted though, so he took his seat at the back of the room beside Rei and said nothing.  
**"**Hey, new kid!" came a yell and Shinji just gave him a look as if to say 'good luck.'  
****Looking up from his laptop, that he was powering up when the other student yelled, he saw a tall guy with black hair coming toward him. He had a cold look in his blue eyes as he watched fro any movement, and then he was upon him.  
****Grabbing Tai by the shirt collar he lifted him up out of his seat and toward the back of the classroom where he pushed some desks out of the way. They had arrived early that day, and Tai saw that this was a mistake. Not wanting to reveal his abilities in combat, he let this bully drag him along and create an area in which to beat the snot out of him.  
****Asuka broke off her conversation with Hikari and turned to see what all the commotion was about. When she got a good look she saw that Toji had Tai by the collar and was about to start 'the beating of the new kid' ritual when a smirk came upon her face. This was something that she had to see, especially after what happened yesterday when he defeated her with ease. Toji, although she'd never admit it out loud, was a more formidable opponent than her when she was outside her Eva.  
**"**Alright, new kid," Toji said as he clenched his fist in his other hand, preparing to strike. "You need to be taught a lesson as to how things happen here." Tai remained silent and this infuriated Toji to the point where he hauled back and lashed out.  
****The whole class stood shocked as the blow, that should have knocked the new kid out, hit him square in the head and he never flinched. Instead, he smirked. "My turn."  
****With one swift movement that seemed impossible for any human being to perform, Tai sent Toji flying above the desks in the classroom to eventually plummet into a group of them at the front of the class. Not too pleased, he got up off the floor and wiped the blood from his mouth, ready for another attack when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked behind him to find Hikari there giving him a disapproving look.  
**"**Stand down, or I will make sure that my next attack hurts a lot worse," Tai sneered. "I have no time for bullies like you."  
**"**Good job, new kid," Toji said, sagging into the class rep's arms. "I would have never expected that from anyone, but the next time that we fight you'll have to teach me that."  
**"**Indeed I will," Tai said, the dark look in his face suddenly lifting. "But next time it will not be bully tactics."  
**"**Agreed."  
****Before much else could happen, the sensei came into the room and the normal routine of him blabbering on about the incidents with the angels began. Tai ignored it, having all the data and knowledge on it that he could take. Instead, he reprogrammed the laptop on his desk so that it was up to his standards and reconfigured the interface so that it was more like something he was used to.  
****Rei stared out the window beside him and he was about to ask what was going on when he noticed that he had an incoming message from the network on his screen. Logging on to the chat room, he decided that he would see what was going on.**

**Tai: Who is this?  
****Shinji: Welcome to the chat room, what did you do to Toji! That looked like it was even easier than when you beat Asuka!  
****Toji: Watch what you're saying my friend. You might be the one I fight next.  
****Kensuke: Toji, you're always looking for a fight with the new people. Lay off a while. Welcome to Japan Tai, I'm Kensuke Aida.  
****Tai looked up to see a student with glasses waving from his desk up ahead in the rows of desks.  
****Tai: Thanks, nice to meet ya.  
****Asuka: Just to let you know, the sync tests have been cancelled for the day. I got a call on the way to school this morning.  
****Kensuke: Ah! It's the Red Devil!  
****Shinji: Shut up Kensuke.  
****A book from Shinji's hand hit Kensuke in the back of the head and he rubbed the sore spot it had created before turning back to his laptop.  
****Kensuke: You didn't have to do that!  
****Asuka: Serves you right!  
****Another book, this one from Asuka's hand, hit's Kensuke in the face.  
****Asuka: Thank you, baka-Shinji  
****Hikari: Alright everyone, pay attention. Lunch is in a few minutes. Have some respect.  
****Kensuke, Toji, Shinji: Yes class rep.  
****A message came up on screen saying that the chat room had been terminated and he closed the window to then resume the rest of the special tweaks he planned for the laptop. As he was typing new code in, he felt the presence of someone looking over his shoulder, or, more precisely, someone looking at his screen from the side. Looking to his side he found that the person that was watching what he had been doing was Rei Ayanami, but she was not looking on intently. Instead, she seemed to be confused.  
**"**What is this code?" she asked, trying to understand it.  
**"**This is batch programming," he told her, not breaking stride in the coding. "I learned it from a friend years ago."  
**"**Looks old, very old," she said.  
**"**Yes, but it can still get a lot done."  
****With the programming done he saved the batch file and then rebooted the laptop to put his plan into motion. Opening the BIOS he changed a few things and then logged out of that to then access the main batch program and add his batch program's caller code into it. Once that was completed he rebooted again and allowed the dos controllers to change the settings all over the hard drive. The program he had written finished its job, deleted its caller code out of the file he'd modified and then deleted itself upon reboot.  
****Rei watched the coding fly by as the changes were made and then the computer logged onto a user interface that looked a lot different. "What is this?" she asked,  
**"**I programmed this to act as if it were a Windows machine, like my laptop actually is, but it's just an emulation," he said. "I'll have to work on it a little more to get it to work properly."  
****Copying the necessary files onto the only empty flash drives he had with him he joined the crowd walking out of the classroom for lunch. It didn't take him long though to separate from the crowd and find a place where he could enjoy his lunch by himself. It was not an unusual thing for him and he actually enjoyed the silence.  
****As soon as he was sat down near the tree in the schoolyard, he sensed that someone was watching him and he looked up to the roof where he saw two people looking in his direction. When he did this, they suddenly turned away, trying to hide the fact that they were observing him. He was not fooled and by the red hair that flowed from one of them he knew it was Asuka and Hikari. Not caring, he went back to his lunch and then quickly got up and walked away once he had finished it.  
****  
****Rei was standing near another tree on the opposite side of the schoolyard, observing Tai as he finished his lunch and he walked away. She felt as though she was captivated by his presence and he seemed to be so confident, yet silent. The other pilots had both told her that she was extremely silent and distant all the time, but she had never believed them and felt they were exaggerating. That is, until now. Being what she was had made her distance herself from other humans during the events prior to Third Impact, but now that she had been reborn from the sea of LCL she was fully human and free from being half angle.  
****Observing him as he left she decided that she would begin to try to accept her human side from now on, but she worried about how that could be done. Shinji and Asuka were good friends and that was something that she secretly envied.  
****The kind of friendship she observed between those two pilots was something that was foreign to her. Parents were also something that she had never had because she had been created in that awful lab, something she never wanted to see again. In her apartment, she had longed every day that she would wake up from some horrible nightmare and have a loving family to comfort her.  
****Shaking the thoughts away, and keeping the almost dead-like look on her face as she always did, she walked back into the school. There would be no point in remaining outside, and she prepared for her next class.  
****The rest of the day was uneventful, and, when the final class let out for the day, three pilots were walking back toward their apartment. It was about half way there, during another argument between Shinji and Asuka, when they noticed someone missing.  
**"**Where is Tai?" Rei asked.  
****Shinji stopped on the sidewalk and looked around. "I don't know."  
****Sirens were heard in the distance, but there were of a different type than the ones that would signal an attack. These were the sounds of emergency vehicles responding to something. What was happening was made clear a second later when a fire truck went screaming by them and turned a corner. They looked up to see smoke coming from the rooftops of one of the buildings.  
**"**Let's go!" Asuka shouted. "Maybe we can help!"**

**Inside the building the firefighters were trying keep the flames at bay while they checked the rooms. There was no way that there could be anyone stupid enough to stay inside a burning building, but they had to check to make sure.  
**"**There's no one left here!" one of them shouted from behind.  
**"**Keep looking!" the lead fireman yelled back, holding his hose and dosing the flames in the hallway. "Get that stairwell open and sweep it! I want it checked now!"  
****Two firemen kicked the door open and they were greeted with the heat of more flames to which they dosed with more water, but there was something else. "There's kids in here!" he shouted, pointing up. "Three of them!"  
****Every fireman's nightmare. The leader quickly grabbed his radio and told his chief where they were and told him they were going to get them on the top floor. About ready to carry out his plans and issue orders, he was cut off by what his chief told him.  
**"**Pull out," they heard the chief say, regret in his voice. "They are irretrievable! The roof will collapse any second!"  
****Lowering his head a little, defeated by the roaring monster all around them, he gave the most difficult order he could possibly think of.  
**"**You heard the chief! Get out of here!" he yelled and started to back his team out of the building. _May god have mercy on those young souls_, he thought, and then ducked out the window onto the ladder. **

**Yuri turned to her two younger siblings and had tears in her eyes as the firefighters retreated from the stairwell. "Come on, let's try to find another way out."  
**"**But you said the firemen would help us!" Hero yelled over the flames, tears in his eyes. "They should have helped us!"  
**"**I'm scared," Kikiyo mumbled, also with tears in her eyes.  
**"**Let's go!" she yelled, and then dragged them back into the hallway from where they had came. They were on the fifth floor, the top level in the building, and she knew that there was no way that she would be able to get them out of this. They were all going to die no matter what she did, but there was no reason to tell them that and panic them. All she could do now was prolong the inevitable.  
****Then the final moment came. A wooden beam that was in the ceiling creaked, flames snaking all over its surface, and then it gave way right over top of them. She swung her jacket over the top of their heads so they wouldn't see the end and was about to take the weight fully on herself when she saw a blur of motion and then the beam was punched out of the way.  
****An armored figure stood in the hallway beside them and was looking right at her as it stood there. "You want to live?" a male voice asked, altered by technology. She nodded and he knelt to the floor to indicate he wanted her to hop on his back. "Hang on tight when you three get on.  
****Once she and her two siblings were on his back, he hooked her legs and made sure that she had a tight grip around his neck. Next he saw that the two smaller children had a similar grip on his shoulders and he lung a belt-like object around them to being all four of them together.  
****The armor that had been surrounding him was soft where she was clinging to him, but the rest was as if it was rock. It must have weighed quite a lot, but before she could think anymore he began sprinting through the hallway. His direction was right for the end of it where there was a window that faced the street where the fire rescue crews would be set up.  
****Flames were all around them, but as this person ran though them, dodging debris in every direction, he didn't seem affected by the heat. Nor did she for that face, it was just as if they were running through a normal hallway that was calm and peaceful, as this one had been only a few minutes ago.  
****The end of the hallway neared closer and she could tell that he was not going to slow down. She felt him taking a deep breath, and then his feet left the floor and his body constricted so that they would all fit through the window at once. Gravity then took over. The end had come.**

**Back outside, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka had finally gotten to a spot where they could see everything that was going on. There didn't seem to be anything that they could do, but Shinji felt compelled to offer.  
****Before they could approach the fire crews, they heard the sound of glass shattering above them and looked up. There they saw a figure shrouded in armor burst through the window on the top floor and begin to plummet to the ground. Then they noticed that there seemed to be three small children clinging to this man who had obviously gone suicidal in a desperate attempt to save them.  
****Only a few seconds passed before the sound of gasps radiated around the area after the sickening sound of an object slamming into pavement at high speed. There was no way that the person could have survived the fall, and there was only a slight chance that he got he children to the ground without taking them with him to the afterlife.  
****Asuka was the first to break through the crowd, and what she saw shocked her more than anything else had in her life. On the sidewalk were three very confused children, along with enough paramedics and police to start a small riot. In the pavement that made up the sidewalk though, was a pair of footprints and there was no sign of the person who had made them.  
**"**What kind of person could do that and survive?" Asuka asked, shock obvious in her voice.  
**"**It's not possible!" Shinji exclaimed, and people around them agreed with him.  
****Rei remained silent, pondering over the incident. It was surely confusing to witness this.  
****It wasn't long before the police ushered everyone away, but Shinji looked over his shoulder to see them taking samples of the shattered concrete around the footprints and taking pictures. Before he turned back around to resume his walk home with the others, he saw a Nerv convoy roll up and join in the activity. Something was going on, and it looked as though Nerv had their hands curled up in it. **

**It was going on seven o'clock at night when Shinji and Misato were still at the dinning room table. They were waiting for Tai to get home, who hadn't shown up after school, and both of them were quite worried about him. Rei and Asuka were in the living room watching a movie that Asuka had picked up when she was at the mall with Hikari a few hours ago. Both of them were trying to keep their minds on the movie, but Shinji could tell that Rei was worried about him too. Asuka was in her little way as well, which meant she was being moody and arrogant.  
****The seconds were ticking by on the clock and Misato was trying to get a drunken PenPen to go to bed, when they both heard the door open. Misato was about ready to pounce, but when Tai rounded the corner and appeared before them she just couldn't do it. He looked as if he had gone though a war, which meant to Shinji that he had been in some kind of a fight. His face was bruised and he had what looked to be burn marks where his shirtsleeves stopped.  
****Seeing Shinji looking at his arms, he quickly pulled the sleeve of his jacket back down over them to hide what he was looking at. There was something different about him, but it was nothing that Shinji wanted to know because all he was concerned for was his well being. Now that he saw that he was safe he could rest easily, but the apparent injuries bothered him.  
**"**I apologize for being late Miss Katsuragi," he said as he passed by, almost like a zombie. "I'll see you all in the morning."  
****Misato blinked, and then turned to Shinji who told her that Toji had picked a fight with him earlier. When she was almost on her feet, he added that he had beaten Toji with one hit and she settled down a bit for him to describe what had happened in more detail.  
****In the living room, Rei watched as Tai walked by her and Asuka to then drag himself into his room and shut the door behind him. She was concerned, especially when he seemed to have so much energy when he was around them earlier. In this condition, there would be no way that he could use the martial arts techniques he had used earlier.  
****As she thought this, Asuka must have been thinking the same thing because the redhead paused the movie and walked down the hallway. When she got to his door, she didn't even bother knocking and went right in. There were the sounds of a scuffle going on and then a hand opened the door again and out came Asuka. He had her in his grasp by the shoulders and he put her out of the room gently, yet Rei assumed there was more to it then that.  
**"**Why that little," Asuka said, fuming. "He took every hit I threw at him and he didn't even flinch!" By the time that she got back to her spot on the couch she was shaking her hand as if she had been injured.  
**"**Did he counter attack?" she asked, curious.  
**"**No, Wondergirl," she said. "But his hitting him in the shoulder and head are like hitting brick walls!" The German girl spat out a few curses in her native language and then turned back to her. "He seemed so calm, too. He's like Shinji and you in a way."  
****This was something that she didn't expect from Asuka, and she blushed at the thoughts that were going through her mind. It was faint on her face, but she could tell that Asuka saw it because she had a smirk on her face.  
**"**What were you thinking, Rei?" she said, cooing in an annoyingly suggestive tone. "You were thinking of him, weren't you?"  
**"**That is not your concern," she said, emotionlessly. "My thoughts are my own, and are not to be shared unless I deem necessary to do so."**

**Back in Tai's room, he was sitting in a corner of the small bedroom applying medications to some of his wounds. His laptop was playing some hard rock music to drown out the sound of him wincing in pain because he didn't want the others to hear him. This was his curse, his job was to protect others and it got him injured every time that something major happened.  
****In the comfort of his own room he was able to show more of the pain because he was sure that no one would see him. His lower legs hurt and his knees were burning with severe pain. This was not something that he could deal with on his own, and he dug through his equipment pack to find a small grey device. He hadn't noticed before, but the rest of his things were here now, and he thanked god that that was so because this device was hidden in one of the bags he had not brought with him.  
****Activating the device he tossed it into the air where it began to emit light and then the forcefields began to activate to form the shape of a man. Tai remained seated on the floor with his back up against the wall while he waited for the small device to adjust and bring his help to him.  
**"**Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the hologram said, as it was fully activate. He looked around the room and saw no one in it, but he noticed the laptop by the mattress on the floor and knew who it was who had summoned him. "Admiral?"  
**"**Down here, Doc," Tai said, attracting the Doctor's attention to him. "Keep it down, the others who live here are still awake."  
**"**Aye, sir," he said, digging out the medical kit from where he knew Tai would stash it in his belongings. "What happened?"  
****As the Doctor scanned him with the medical tricorder, Tai looked up from staring down at his wounded legs. "A fire a short distance from the school here. I responded to it when I detected three lifesigns still in the building. _Red Lightning_ is here as well, and she helped me get away and treat some of my wounds."  
**"**These are third degree burns," the Doc said, rolling up his the shirtsleeves to discover Tai's red command uniform underneath the school uniform. It had burn holes in it and was definitely going to be joining the other destroyed sets of uniforms the Admiral had owned. "I'll treat you with the dermal regenerator and give you some medicine for the pain, but you have to lie down before I can."  
**"**Thanks Doc," Tai said, and followed his doctor's orders. "Make sure that you deactivate yourself near the clutter so that you won't be found."  
****When Tai passed out, the Doc went to work. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay conscious for long, but he would be alright once he treated him.**

**Lying in bed, Rei was looking out her window at the moon with a concerned look plastered on her face. It was very late, and she was not getting to sleep because of her worry for the Sixth Child. There was no way that she could explain it, but she was sure that she was starting to feel something for him.  
****Her thoughts were confusing. _Do I find him attractive? Is this why I cannot sleep when he is injured? Do I care for him? How can this be when I have barely known him for a day?_  
****Deciding that she would not be able to sleep that night without satisfying her curiosity on if he was alright or not, she got up out of bed. Not caring that she was wearing only a nightgown, she opened her door and slipped out into the dark hallway and closed her door behind her. She then drifted down the hallway and through the living room to walk down the other hall to his room.  
****Knocking once and receiving no answer, she opened the door quietly and stepped inside. One look around the room told her that he had not had the time to unpack the rest of his things because there was a small stack of boxes on one wall accompanied by a few suitcases.  
****The room was not completely dark, as she would have expected because the moon was not facing this direction. Instead, the soft glow from the laptop beside his futon was bathing his sleeping form in a ghostly glow.  
****She approached him and looked him over as he slept. He had changed into a pair of jogging pants and was sleeping without a shirt, but had a thick blanket over top of him. Her curiosity was not satisfied at this point on whether or not he was alright, and she decided that she would have to spend some time with him to accomplish her task of finding out.  
****Looking at the laptop screen as she circled around so that she was behind him with her back to the wall, she discovered it to be much like what he had programmed at school. The interface was foreign to her and she didn't know how it functioned, but it looked like something was counting down on it. It was then that she noticed the soft music that was playing, almost impossible to hear over his breathing. It sounded like English music, but she couldn't understand a word of what was being said.  
****As she continued to look over the screen she noticed another countdown that was running and it would terminate at around four thirty in the morning. This must be his alarm clock as well, but she didn't understand how it worked.  
****Fatigue was taking over her body now and she decided to just stay with him for the night and slipped under the covers with him. It was warm, compared to the cold that the room had been without the covers wrapped around her. _He must have shut the heat off in here_, she thought, _but why would he do that?_  
****Snuggling closer to him she draped her arm around his torso and held him through the night, not knowing any other way to keep her body warm. She had not noticed how cold she actually was until she had felt his warmth spread through her body. His form shuddered under the covers a little as he mumbled in his sleep. She couldn't understand what he was saying, but whatever it was sounded to her as if he was shouting orders in his sleep. All she could hear was the mumbling as he slept, but what surprised her was he turned on his side and put his arm around her.  
****She blushed heavily, and could feel the warmth in her face as she did so. If he had been awake, he would have noticed it too, but he wasn't and she was glad for that fact. Asuka would have laughed at her for this and teased, but right now she didn't care because she could see that her 'interest' was safe. With him in her arms, and she in his, she fell asleep like that to the sounds of his words as he slept.  
****  
An intruding sound was annoying him as he slept and soon he was awake enough that he spoke an order and the laptop beside him complied by shutting of the alarm. It was a soft sound, but it was repeated enough that he was annoyed by it and woke up. Another early morning in this strange place.  
****He rolled his shoulders as he lay there, regaining motor controls, but there was a weight on him that he noticed immediately. Shrugging it off as he had caused one of his suitcases to fall on him he tested his legs. One was alright, and he felt no pain in either one, but the other seemed to be pinned to the floor as well as one of his shoulders.  
****Concerned that something heavier had fallen on him, he opened his eyes to look into a plume of something blue. This confused him, but then he moved his head back a little to take in more of the scene in front of him. Gasping, he realized what the weight was and he relaxed only a little.  
****Rei Ayanami, the First Child, was asleep beside him in his futon. He turned his head toward the laptop and spoke another order that brought up the LCARS Operating System to then check on the laptop's internal sensors. Sure enough, it had picked her up shortly after a holographic signature was terminated.  
****_She must have walked in just as the Doc was finishing up_, he thought. _Why is she here anyway? This is a very suggesting way to wake up_. He hoped that no one would open his door and see them like this, but was relieved to see that, when Windows powered back up, his clock only read that it was five after four in the morning.  
****Her head was nestled in beside his neck and was lying on his shoulder, while one of her legs was intertwined with his left leg. It was very suggestive, and he didn't want anyone to think that he had done something to her. Not really having to worry about it for a while he brought his arm around her and cupped her shoulder in his left arm to hold her close.  
****Even though she had covered herself with his blanket, his stirring in his sleep must have uncovered her. The light nightgown that she was wearing was too thin to keep out the cold and she must have frozen in her sleep, but she didn't have a look of discomfort on her face.  
****With his other hand, he draped the blanket back around the both of them and she snuggled closer to him. A sigh escaped her lips as she bathed in the warmth that he must have been emitting since she layed down with him in the night, but he could still sense that she was cold. He focused his eyes and activated a pressure sensor that slid two plastic-like screens over his eyes and they came to life with readouts of his lifesigns and technical data on the technology that had been implanted throughout his body. Manipulating the Iris displays, he activated a few extra systems.  
****It was only a few seconds later that his internal body heat spiked up five degrees and he maintained this for a few minutes to warm her up. Relief was displayed across her features and he relaxed to then turn the systems off that he had activated. Scans of her body indicated that her internal body temperature was now where it should be and a little color returned to her cheeks.  
****Returning the Iris displays to their pockets beside his eyes by activating the pressure sensors again, he then decided that this would be a good time to get a few answers. He shook her shoulder gently and slowly brought her back to consciousness.  
**"**Hmmm . . ." she groaned, stretching a little as she came out of her sleep. "Huh? Oh, good morning," she said in her quiet voice, rubbing sleep from her eyes.  
**"**Good morning, Rei," he said, a smile on his face, and then he returned to his neutral expression. "What happened?"  
****She blushed heavily and looked away from him at the ceiling. "I was concerned for you, and when I came in you were asleep. I wanted to make sure you were safe."  
****He blinked a little at that explanation, half expecting it to have been something that she was doing to amuse Asuka. "I'm fine," he said, relaxing a bit and smiling again. "Thanks for making sure I was."  
****The deep blush turned a deeper shade of red as she nestled back onto his shoulder. "You're welcome."  
****He reached over to the laptop with his free hand and brought a different type of music to life as she relaxed with him. "Usually, I ask a girl to go out on a date before she comes and sleeps in my bed though," he joked.  
****A soft chuckle escaped her lips and she looked into his eyes as he turned back to face her. "Would you . . . like to . . . go out on . . . a date . . . with me . . . then?" she asked, but feared being rejected.  
**"**How's dinner sound?" he asked, and she blushed a little more and nodded. "Good, I found this place in the mall I wanted to try. After school today, we'll head down there."  
****They didn't move from that position for a while, both enjoying each other's company as the early hours were used to wake themselves up. It would be a long day, and they both were content to stay right where they were though. However, as fate would have it, there wasn't any way that they would be able to do that.  
****Tai decided, at fife o'clock, that he would get up and take a shower before the others woke for breakfast. Rei, a little disappointed that she could not stay with him a little longer, allowed him to rise from the futon and then followed him out of the room before they each went to one of the two bathrooms to clean up for the day.  
****It wasn't long before he had showered, dressed, and was out in the kitchen digging out what he would need to start their breakfast. He wasn't about to cook anything very elaborate this morning, but he settled on vegetable soup, that he found in the cupboard above the sink, and warmed it up for them.  
****They ate in silence as the last hours of their peace ticked by and then Misato came out of her room to sit down with them. She was surprised that they were up, but shrugged it off and got her morning beer out of the fridge.  
**"**Ohhhh! Yeah! Now this is the way to start the morning!" she exclaimed as she crushed the now empty can down on the table. The sickening crunch of tin sent shivers down Tai's spine and he sat up a little straighter beside Rei. "Are you two hiding something?" she asked, looking at them suspiciously, and had a tone that Tai recognized.  
**"**No, we are not," Rei said, calmly.  
**"**Looks like there's something going on," Misato said, cooing the last three words at Tai.  
**"**Why would you suspect that?" Tai asked, mimicking Rei's calm and neutral tone. Coupled with his deep masculine voice, it sounded eerie, even to him, and this made Misato shiver. He smiled inwardly at his accomplishment, and settled down to enjoy the rest of the morning before he had to go to school and endure another day of classes. At least, now, he had something to look forward to after the day let out, other than piloting Eva or _Red Lightning_.  
**"**Good morning," Shinji said, as he walked into the room. Tai had noticed him leave his room because he was too involved in his thoughts, but it looked like he had taken a shower only moments ago. "Asuka will be out in a few minutes guys, she's not in a good mood."  
**"**Why's that?" Tai asked.  
**"**I caught her in my room again," he said, with a note of shyness in his voice. When Tai gave him a curious look he quickly added, "She sleepwalks at night sometimes, and she somehow always ends up beside me for the night. I don't have the heart to wake her."  
**"**Baka! Just get cooking!" Asuka yelled, plopping down at the table.  
**"**Yes, Asuka," Shinji responded, sarcastically.  
****After they had all ate and were ready to go, they slipped out the door bidding Misato farewell and headed for school. Tai and Rei walked a little ahead of Asuka and Shinji, and they began to wonder what the two of them were up to.  
**"**What is up with Wondergirl and Superman?" Asuka said, walking beside Shinji and being arrogant, as usual. "This guy shows up, beats me up, and now she is attached to him at the hip."  
**"**I don't think it's that way, Asuka," Shinji said, not missing a beat as he told her. "Rei is just being friendly to him."  
**"**I wouldn't be surprised if he's asked her out on a date," Asuka said, shrugging off his words. "All men are the same, and so are you baka-Shinji."  
****He smirked a bit, evilly. "If all men are the same and I am as well, that would mean that I should have taken advantage of you while you were sleepwalking." Without another word, he walked up and joined the other two pilots as Asuka stood there on the sidewalk in shock.  
**"**I'll get you back for that one, baka-Shinji," Asuka snorted, and then continued the walk toward school.**

**Thanks to those that reviewed this story. I will attempt to get the rest of it on-line within the next couple of weeks. With graduation coming up, though, I will not have a lot of time until afterward, however, rest assured that it is all written and it just needs to be put on-line. To explain to one reviewer, though, I have to say that this is a self-insertion fic, and if you don't like it that is your business. However, this was written as a class assignment so I did not have a lot of ideas to work with at the beginning. Once it was started, I couldn't stop, and I enjoyed writing it. Just as a little hint at the flow of the rest of it though, there will be a surprise ending for you all that you probably won't expect.  
I look forward to more reviews! Fergason out.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

** The school day was boring for Tai, as usual, and he got up from his seat at the last bell and tucked his books under his arm. From there, he drifted down the hall to his locker and put a few of them in there before placing another three books into his book bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Slamming the locker door shut and making sure it was locked, he made his way out of the building and waited by the front gate for Rei.  
**** He spotted Asuka and Shinji coming his way and they both passed by without a word to him as they bickered over something. Ignoring the battle that Shinji would surely loose, he continued to watch the front door until he spotted the blue-haired girl walk out of the building.  
**** It was the first time that he actually took a good look at Rei Ayanami, and even in her school uniform she looked beautiful. There had only been a few women in his life, but none had been very truthful or faithful to him. His job always got in the way of spending time with them as well, but he had a feeling that this time it would be different. They were both Eva pilots, so the only thing to get in the way was the _Lightning_ program that he was secretly a part of, and commanding.  
**** They walked back to the apartment, under the pretence that they wanted to get changed into normal clothes for their date instead of going in their school uniforms. It wasn't long before they reached the place and they took their time getting changed so that they wouldn't raise suspicion.  
**** As they were about to walk out, Tai's hopes of slinking away without Misato noticing that they were together were shattered. The Major was standing by the door and looked at them, a smile on her face. "You going out?" she asked.  
** "**Yes," Rei said, not showing her any emotion. "We're going to the mall."  
** "**Alright, be back before it gets too late," she said, and then walked by them and back into the apartment.  
****Tai blinked a little, and then he snapped out of it when Rei shook him a bit. "Sorry," he said. "That was a little unexpected."  
**** After putting their shoes on, they exited the apartment and headed out to the street. Rei put her arm through his and he was a little hesitant at accepting this, but did so when he saw that she was enjoying it. She was a repressed girl, and he wanted to help her as much as he could. His discomfort wouldn't get in the way of that, and he would make the most of the moment.  
**** The walk to the mall was short and they walked inside to the restaurant where they ordered their meal and ate over a conversation about what each other's lives were like. He was shocked to hear that she had, in fact, been half angle, but he never let that get in the way of the conversation. She looked a little worried that he might and was relieved that he didn't care.  
**** Tai had made a decision long ago in his life that he would never judge a person by their past and it held here. This young lady was someone who obviously had a good heart and cared a lot for others, and he was not going to hold her origins against her.  
**** Telling her of home was a little difficult in a way, because there was a huge chunk of his life that he had to leave out for security reasons. The _Lightning_ project had been a huge success before Third Impact, and he wanted to have the same effect here in Japan, but if word got out who he was there would be trouble. As the minutes ticked by though, he had second thoughts about keeping it from her and the others. Simply enough, he would tell them if he could, but until that time came he would keep it to himself like he always did.**

** Asuka was sitting on the couch watching TV, as usual for an evening after school. Shinji and PenPen were in the kitchen, PenPen watching him as he cooked the meal for the evening. Misato told him that she would not be expecting Rei and Tai back for a while and said to only cook enough for the three of them tonight.  
**** PenPen made the mistake of wondering into the living room and interrupting Asuka's show, and he was chased out by her only to have her trip over Shinji. Misato giggled as the two of them got up off the floor from having Asuka land on top of him. She had an angered look on her face and stormed back to the living room.  
** "**She's always so angry," Shinji muttered as he went back to preparing the meal. "I wonder if she'll ever grow out of that."  
** "**Maybe you should ask her out," Misato snickered.  
** "**W-wh-what?" Shinji stammered, realizing that he had said what he had thought about Asuka out loud. "Y-You can't b-be serious."  
**** His guardian looked at him with a really evil look in her eyes that told him she was planning something. "Yup. Rei's hooked up with Tai now."  
** "**What?" he asked, surprised.  
** "**Oh, don't act so naïve," she said, waving her hand in front of her as if to fend off his uneasiness in the conversation. "You didn't notice that they went out on a date to the mall earlier?"  
** "**No," he said, quickly. "I thought they had just gone out, not gone out together."  
**** She laughed a bit and then turned back to him as she headed down the hallway to her room. "Go ahead Shinji-kun, ask her."  
**** He watched her open her door and disappear into her room, and then he again turned back to stirring the pot on the stove. It was true that he had feelings for Asuka, but he could never express them because if he did he would probably end up in the hospital. In this apartment, at Nerv headquarters, and even at school, Asuka was famous for slapping him around. Before Third Impact, it was a regular thing for her to hit him every day, but now she seemed to have backed off on it a bit.  
** "**Ask me what?"  
**"**Ahhh!" he yelled as he just about knocked the pot off the stove. "Nothing, Asuka, nothing. Don't sneak up on me like that!"  
**** A smile was plastered across Asuka's face as she sat down at the table. "I heard Misato. I guess that you just don't want to ask me out then," she said, a disappointed look on her face.  
** "**You heard her?" he asked, a dumb look on his face. "I would like to Asuka, but you never give me the chance. You're so violent all the time."  
** "**And you're so wimpy all the time!" she yelled at him. "We're complete opposites! How dare you!"  
** "**Opposites attract," came a voice.  
**** Asuka screamed and then turned around to see Tai and Rei standing there in the doorway. They looked like they just got in out of the rain that was pouring down outside. "Well, if it isn't Wondergirl and Superman," she sneered. "Did you two have a nice date?"  
** "**Yes, we did," Rei spoke up, glaring at Asuka. "I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you find us something to do, Tai?"  
**** Shocked, Asuka almost fell back into the table before Shinji caught her. Not even bothering to shrug him off, she just layed there and stared at Tai with her blue eyes locking onto his deep blue, yellow streaked ones. "You and her?" He nodded and then stepped by her to go to his room. She turned to Shinji, who helped her to stand back up, and asked. "Did you know?"  
** "**Misato just told me," he answered. "I was a little shocked too. Just think about it, my sister's got a boyfriend before I have a girlfriend."  
** "**Hmmph," Asuka wined. "That tramp's got a boyfriend before me." She unfolded her arms and looked back at Shinji, who was now taking the food off the stove and serving it into bowls. "What have you got planned for tomorrow night?"  
** "**W-Why do you ask?" he stammered, typical Shinji Ikari.  
**** She put her hands on her hips and smiled. "There's a dance at the school dummy," she said. "Would you like to go?"  
** "**With you, you mean?"  
** "**Yes, what did you think I was asking?"  
** "**As long as it doesn't involve the annual trip to the hospital for medical treatment," he said, smirking.  
**** She patted his check softly and then fluttered her eyelashes. "Keep up those sarcastic remarks and it will." Shinji gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat and then agreed. "Well then, it's a date."  
****  
Down the hallway in Tai's room, he had just retrieved the Doctor's mobile emitter and was putting it away in a safe place. That safe place turned out to be an unused PCMCIA card slot on his laptop that had a panel that could cover over it. He was just finishing up concealing it when he heard a knock on his door.  
** "**Come in," he called, placing the rest of his clothing in the dressers and tossing the last suitcase aside.  
** "**Would you mind if I stayed the night here?" Rei asked.  
**** Turning to face her, he found her standing there with a futon rolled up under her arm and she had her head down, as if anticipating rejection. "No, you may stay," he told her, and that got her head to rise and her eyes to gleam along with the smile on her face. "Just wait in the living room while I finish up here. You may leave your things over there by the door and I'll set it all up before coming out to get you."  
**** She quietly did as he said and shut the door behind her as she left. Rei was quite a quiet girl and she never seemed to show her emotions openly. In fact, since he had met her only a few days ago he had sensed great repression in her and this just further confirmed it. The only time that her true emotions were made aware to him were when he had woken up beside her that morning and at dinner tonight when they were sharing tales about themselves.  
**** He picked up a few boxes of things and set them in the closet before taking the suitcases over and tossing them in there to join them. The laptop had to be set somewhere else, so he set it up on the only remaining unpacked box where he left it to receive the incoming information from home base.  
**** The next thing that he did was lay out the futons and make them so that they would not be so cold in the night, and then turned the heat on for the first time. It would be a few minutes before it made any difference, but it would be that much more toward keeping her comfortable through the night.  
**** Walking out the door he saw Rei and Asuka in the living room as he passed by to get to the bathroom where he could change for the night. He had been in these clothes only for a few hours, but they were ones that he wasn't wishing to get too dirty. The jogging pants and short sleeve shirt he put on would suffice for the evening.  
**** As he walked passed the two again, he gave Rei a nod and then she followed him down to his room where she shut the door behind her. Still so very quiet. Not a word was said as they lay down in their separate futons, but that didn't last long.  
** "**Tai, I'm cold."  
** "**Slide over closer to me then," he said. "I'll keep you warm." He hadn't turned to look upon her, but he could tell that there was a blush and a smile on her face.  
**** A small arm slipped around him and the blankets that she had had on her futon were draped over the two of them now. She was not very shy and seemed to be comfortable even though they had barely known each other. This was a very weird thing for him to experience and he was not about to get used to it so quickly.  
**** Staying on his side as he lay there, he could feel his body reroute its heat so that she would warm up under the covers. It wasn't under his control that this was happening, but he didn't stop it because he knew that in a few moments it would stop. He was an extremely kind and generous person, and those were the reasons that he allowed her to be here.  
**** Soon, the night air was still and she was asleep beside him in the futons that had now become one futon. Her sleeping form was one of beauty, but he wished that she would show that beauty a little more often. The way she looked at life reminded him of himself when he had been too immersed into the _Lightning_ just before he started piloting.  
**** Closing his eyes, he fell asleep quickly, but it wasn't an uninterrupted sleep. He would wake up every now and then because she was stirring beside him in her slumber. It didn't bother him that he was being woke up, yet he hoped that he was not doing the same to her through the night.  
****  
School was going as usual, but when they walked into the room there were a few girls snickering at Rei and he could hear exactly what they were saying. This was something that she didn't seem to hear, or she was ignoring it, though, and she continued to her desk without a word. Thinking that they were being extremely rude to someone that he had grown to care about he decided that he would do something about it as soon as he was given the chance to do so.  
**** Sitting down at their seats, Rei and Tai began the work that they had been assigned to do the day before. This would take up the course of their morning classes, since the sensei would be boring them again with another speech about the events of Second Impact.  
**** Tai was just about to finish up the mathematical calculations that he had been working on for the last few minutes when a message alert came up on his screen. Looking over to Rei he found that a similar one was on hers, but because he had changed the appearance of the OS he saw it differently. She stopped what she was doing, and he watched as she brought the message up on screen.  
**** A disgusted look played across both of their faces as they read the short message on the screen and Rei turned her laptop off and calmly resumed her stare out the window.  
**** On Tai's screen, the message was brought back into existence.**

** Hey Everyone!  
**** I hope that everyone will be able to attend my party on Friday night! Be sure to bring food, friends, and, of course, presents! Everyone is invited!  
**** (Except Rei Ayanami)  
**** Maika**

** A roar of laughter then flooded his ears as his attention turned back to the world. The only people who he did not see laughing were Toji, Kensuke, and Shinji. Everyone else in the classroom seemed to be amused by the fact that Maika would do such a thing to Rei. Tai was not amused, and he decided that something needed to be done about it.  
**** Commandeering Rei's laptop of a moment, and isolating his by removing the network cable, he pulled a disk out of his binder that was protected by a plastic shield casing. It was sealed with a sticker that had large bold letters spelling out the word 'Operation Hazard' on its fluorescent surface. He put it into the floppy drive and began his work that quickly ended when the screen went blank and the laptops all around the room began to do funny things. Distortions and weird events on the screens made people jump back, and then . . . everything was dark and silent in the room.  
****_ Oops_, _power grid for the building must have been connected to these computers_, Tai thought, and then reconnected his computer to the network, which suffered the same fate now as well. Removing the disk from the floppy drive of Rei's laptop, he put it back in the case and then back in his binder. His 'Omega' virus was getting to be a little too powerful these days.**

** On the way home, Tai had a look on his face that spelled out satisfaction. Apparently, the virus had been isolated and cleaned from the system a split second before the power grid went down, but they had not had time to trace it properly. Like any good virus, it had covered its tracks and rerouted the detection progress to a certain person's laptop, who probably would have her party crashed because of it.  
** "**I know it was you that did that!" Asuka yelled, attempting to burn a hole through his eyes with her own that were distressed with fury and rage. "Why did you do it!"  
**** He looked at her with an expression that seemed to reflect her rage and anger right back at her, ten fold. "I did it for one reason, and one reason only," he said, hissing, as he explained what shouldn't need to be explained. "Believe it or not, Rei does have emotions and she was harmed by that message. I cannot stand for it."  
** "**So it was you!" Asuka screamed, and wrapped her hands around Tai's neck to chock him.  
**** When he didn't offer any resistance to Asuka's attack, Shinji grabbed a hold of her wrist and held tight. "Asuka! What are you doing? You're gonna kill him!"  
** "**Darn right I am! Maika got blamed for that! Do you know how her parents are gonna react to the news!" She scowled at Tai, who was now trying to slowly regain his breath, Rei helping to support him. "And Wondergirl here doesn't have emotions! She's just a doll! An emotionless doll!"  
**** The sound of skin hitting skin with a sickening '_SLAP_'was then heard throughout the ally as Asuka hit the wall, hard. Rei stood before her, Tai slipping into unconsciousness leaning on her shoulder, and she was not happy. The German girl feared the anger that resonated from Rei, and she spoke for the first time that day. "I am not a doll. And if you find my turmoil amusing I will not show you any degree of mercy. I do have emotions, and they have been harmed by the actions of you and the others in the class."  
**** She then walked away, with Tai slowly coming back to his normal self. Asuka looked over to Shinji, who had a shocked look on his face, but it soon turned to annoyance. "How dare you, Asuka? My sister is too kind to you for you to do that. And what has she done to Maika and the others? Huh? Got out of bed in the morning and come to school? Is that a crime?"  
**** Shinji then stormed off after them, to make sure that Tai and Rei were alright, leaving Asuka behind in the alley.  
** "**Are you alright?" Shinji asked, walking up beside Tai.  
** "**I'll be fine," Tai chocked out the words. "Just need to get a few more minutes of fresh air." He tried to smile, but was thrown into a coughing fit that he had to take a moment to recover from.  
**** Rei was now walking with her arm around Tai, comforting him more than she was supporting him. It was strange to her that he would defend her in any way, but he seemed determined to do so. She accepted it as him protecting her as a friend and left it at that.  
** "**Asuka said that there is a dance Friday night," Shinji said, interrupting the silence. "You two going?"  
**** Looking up from the pavement, Tai glanced at Rei who had a look in her eyes like she wouldn't respond to the question. "You want to go?" he asked her. Her eyes seemed to reflect shock, but she nodded her head and a smile crept across her face. "I guess we'll go then."  
** "**It's a formal dance guys," Shinji said, cringing at the thought of him having to wear a suit to it. Asuka would kill him if he didn't, he supposed. "You'll have to find something to wear other than a school uniform, Rei."  
** "**I'm sure that I can find something," she said.  
** "**I'll ask Misato to take you out and find a dress, sis," Shinji offered, and received another nod from his sister.  
** "**Then it's settled," Tai said, then got a mischievous smile on his face. "So, who's your date, Shinji?"  
** "**Asuka," Shinji muttered, not proud of that because of her actions a few minutes ago.  
**** Tai lost his smile and put on a mockingly serious expression. "I'll bring the first aid kit."  
**** The three of them laughed at his comment together and continued on toward the apartment.**

"**What is it, Rei?" Misato asked, stepping into the teen's room since she had asked to speak with her in private. "Is there something wrong?"  
** "**No, I need a favour," Rei asked, nervously. "I need you to take me shopping to find a suitable dress for the prom this Friday."  
**** Misato put a smile on her face. "Consider it done," she said. "Tomorrow, after school, we'll go to the mall and find one for you! Okay?"  
** "**Thank you, Misato," Rei said, smiling. "I hope we're walking."  
**** Misato pouted. "So, you hate my driving too? Well, I guess we could walk. Good night!"  
**** After she left the room, Rei got into bed and drew the blankets over her. She would stay here tonight since she knew that Tai was okay, but she didn't know where he was. He had left earlier and Misato told him not to worry about what time he got back. Since they were all in their senior year of High School, they didn't have a set time to be home by. Yet, she also warned him that he would still have to go to school and not to complain if he didn't get much sleep.  
**** She wondered where he could be at this hour though. It was almost midnight and she hadn't heard the door open at all. There was a hint of worry that was creeping up in the pit of her stomach, and then she heard him walk in. The footsteps were too faint to make out if there was something wrong or not, but her door opened a second later to reveal him in the doorway.  
**** He looked extremely tired, but he didn't seem to notice that she was awake. There was something funny about his appearance though because he seemed to be wearing some kind of uniform, but it wasn't the one that he was wearing to school. This one looked out of place and had red stripes on the collar, sleeves, shoulders, and on the hem of the bottom of his shirt. On the collar there was something glistening in the light from the hallway, almost like there were three gold stars inside a gold rectangle.  
**** After a few moments, that seemed like hours even though she knew that it was only moments, he closed the door behind him and left for his own room. She decided that she would have to ask him about this soon, but finding the moment and the time would be difficult. As she lay there in her bed she wondered what the emotions that she was experiencing signified. It was strange to her. When she was half angel she would be almost completely emotionless on the outside. The only two people who seemed to get her to show even the slightest hints of emotions were the commander and Shinji.  
**** She remembered the day that Unit 00 went berserk and Commander Ikari pulled her out of her entry plug. He had burned his hands badly when he grabbed a hold of the emergency release levers and wrenched them open. On her first mission out with Shinji, she had been working back up and had to take a hit to protect him long enough for his energy rifle to recharge. After destroying the angel he had ripped the hatch off that covered her entry plug and got her out much the same way as the commander, burning his hands as well.  
**** Those two people were the only ones to see any form of emotion from her, but now there was Tai as well. Only, he made her feel different. The commander was a cold-hearted person who only saw them all as a tool to be used to pilot the Evas, and Shinji was just a very good friend to her. Tai, though, had a different emotional effect on her.  
**** Asuka would laugh at her now if she saw her like this, but she didn't care. There was something going on with her thoughts and emotions and she would have to figure it out soon.  
**** Hoping that Misato would be able to give her some advice, she rolled over in her bed to face the window and fell asleep watching the moon.**

** After checking on Rei, Tai had gone back to his room where he prepared for the next day of school. There were many things to do that he had not done yet, and homework was one of them.  
** "**Man," he complained as he sat down, after changing out of his Starfleet uniform and into some warm bedclothes. "I came here, hoping to get less homework, but, instead, I get more!" He turned his laptop on and linked it up with the Internet through his own remote technology. "At least things feel almost like home here."  
**** For the next half hour he went over his work for the next day and finished what he hadn't completed. Tomorrow he would be taking a free day, since he had gotten all the work done now, unless there was something else that the teacher assigned him.  
****Lying down on the futon, he drifted off into a restless sleep, filled with past memories haunting him. The ghosts of the past just wouldn't leave him alone.**

** The phone ringing woke Misato out of her deep sleep, and she rolled over out of bed before she heard the sirens. First thoughts of letting the phone ring left her mind and she sprang from her bed to answer it.  
**** Tai was out in the kitchen in jeans and a sweatshirt answering the phone when she got out there. He was probably talking to someone from Nerv, and she checked  
on the other three children to find them in various stages of preparation. "Come on!" she yelled. "I'll drive!"  
** "**I'll drive," Tai said, taking the keys from her. "You can drive well, don't get me wrong, but I can get us there faster and alive."  
**** To say that Misato was hurt by that statement was an understatement, but when they all were in the car and on the way to headquarters she saw that he was right. There wasn't a moment that his foot left the pedal, and when they pulled into the parking lot she asked him if he had a drivers license. He tossed her his wallet as he jumped out and followed the others toward the changing rooms to get their plug suits on. Sure enough, an American drivers license, class-5, was inside with his photo ID. She then tossed it in the dash and ran for Central Dogma.**

** Tai was changed into his plug suit in about two minutes, and ran with the others toward the Eva cages. There wasn't any time to loose because they knew just how much damage an angel could do if they were given enough time to do so.  
**** He climbed into his entry plug and sealed the hatch behind him with a heavy slam resonating throughout the cage. Placing the neural interface clips in his hair just above his forehead he could feel the plug being screwed into the Eva's back. It wasn't long before the Nerv connections were made and he could now see the cages and the other Evas.  
** "**Eva Unit 04, activated," he said, knowing Misato and the others would be hearing him. "Standing by for orders."  
**** He heard the rest of the Eva pilots sound off, and then Misato came over the comm. channel. "_The angel is outside the city, coming out of the water_," she told them. "_Units 01 and 02 are to intercept while Units 00 and 04 are on backup_." There was a chorus of responses and then she gave the order, "Launch all Evas!"  
**** Tai was yanked back into his seat as he took hold of the control yokes in his hands. The triggers that were in the back of the grips were positioned just below his fingers now and he felt good, considering this was his first combat mission. He had done a lot of simulations and had been scoring good points in them, but, in the end, they were just simulations. This was the real thing.  
**** Before he knew it, he was out of the tunnels and in the middle of a street standing beside Unit 00. When the final locks released, he got a better grip on the control yokes and then willed his Eva to sprint forward toward the water. There was only a minor hesitation, and then Unit 00 joined him.  
**** Units 01 and 02 were already in the middle of the battle when they got there, and they didn't look as though they could handle it on their own. Unit 02 had taken massive damage to one of its legs and wasn't walking properly, and Unit 01 was pinned to the ground by something that looked like a tentacle.  
** "**Rei," Tai said, after opening a com. channel to her Eva. "Go help Asuka, I'll help Shinji."  
**"**_Understood_," came the cold response, and then Unit 00 burst forward with a speed that he didn't think that the blue Eva was capable of.  
**** With the S2 engine running, he didn't have to worry about running out of power, but Units 00 and 02 still had to worry about the cable. Without a second thought, his Eva's arms crossed in front of itself and reached to the opposite storage bays on the shoulders. From them, twin energy swords were removed and came to life before he charged at the angel.  
**** Unfortunately, the attack had not gone unnoticed and he soon had one of the tentacles holding him down to the ground as well. He sliced at them, but they seemed to regenerate almost immediately to continue holding him.  
**"**Shinji, what's your situation?" he asked, opening the frequency.  
** "**_I can't get out of it's grip_," he said, but he seemed to be struggling to talk. "_I'm not going to be able to get out of here without assistance_."  
** "**_We're firing everything we can at it!_" came Asuka's hysterical yell. "_Nothing's working!"  
_** "**_Asuka, Rei, fall back_," Misato ordered. "_Your power cables have been severed_."  
** "**_I've still got three minutes_," Asuka scoffed. "_I'm saving Shinji_."  
**** Before anything else could be said, a tentacle lashed out at Asuka. Just as it was about to impale Unit 02, Unit 01 yanked it back, violently, and now Shinji was struggling to hold his ground.  
**** Tai saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Dropping one of his energy swords, it died, and he removed a Progressive Knife from the storage bay. With it in hand, he stabbed into the angel's side to distract it, and when it lashed out at him he sliced off the tentacle holding Shinji. As luck would have it for him, the tentacle did not grow back and it focused its attack on him instead.  
** "**Shinji, move back to a safe location!" Tai yelled. "Take it out with long range weapons while I distract it!"  
** "**_Right!"_ Shinji acknowledged and then got his Eva up off the ground to head for cover and a rifle that was being sent to him.  
**** As Unit 01 retreated, the angel was focusing all its strength on Unit 04, and Tai was getting really angry about it. There were stress cracks forming in the armor plating and it was now or never if they were going to destroy it.  
**** Retrieving his other energy sword, he jumped away from the behemoth and held them with the dull edge toward his Eva's elbows. When the angel made another lunge for him, he countered and then sliced through its entire body in an 'x' formation with the swords.  
**** As if he was running on pure luck that day, both of the swords cut clean through the core and the resulting explosion knocked his Eva into the ground. The battle was over, and he allowed the blackness of unconsciousness take over.**

** The light invaded his sleep as he opened his eyes and squinted to see a plain ceiling that was unfamiliar to him. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light before lifting his head to look around the room. It was a hospital room and he knew that something must have happened just before he was able to vanquish the angel.  
****Felling a weight on his stomach, he looked down to see Rei's head resting there. Her blue hair was a mess and she looked as though she had just fallen asleep, so he decided that it would be better if he didn't wake her. She was peaceful when she slept and he didn't want to interrupt that.  
** "**So, you're awake now, eh?" came a voice from the corner of the room. "We thought you'd sleep for days."  
** "**Asuka?" he asked, finding his voice very dry. "How long have I been here?"  
** "**About 17 hours," she said, getting out of her serious tone. "Wondergirl here went to school, reluctantly I might add, and went with Misato to get a dress for the prom. Just as soon as that was done, though, she came here and fell asleep a few minutes ago from exhaustion."  
** "**Where's Shinji?" he asked, taking the water that Asuka offered him.  
** "**He's in the next room, but I just came over to see if you were okay," she said. "Shinji's been awake for a while, but they wanted to wait till you were awake to release you."  
** "**Good idea," he said. "That angel had close contact with us through most of the battle."  
** "**Speaking about that," Asuka said. "Those swords are awesome! I wish my Eva had those."  
**** Tai put his finger to his lips and then spoke quietly. "My Eva has been outfitted with on board weapons, and those are just part of the arsenal." Rei stirred and then picked her head up to see that he was awake. "You okay?" Tai asked. She nodded in response and then layed her head back down. "Let's get out of here Asuka. Tell Shinji that I'm awake and can go just as soon as the doctor sees me."  
** "**Alright, I'll get the doctor before I see Shinji then."  
**** The doctor came into the room a few minutes later and looked him over, checked his vitals, and then said that he would sign the release forms. A few minutes later, Tai was carrying Rei in his arms out to the street, walking alongside Shinji and Asuka.  
** "**Nice going out there, Tai," Shinji said. "No rest for us tomorrow."  
** "**Yeah," Tai said, letting out a sigh. "I guess we have to catch up on what we missed at school."  
**** Asuka put a smile on her face and looked at the two male pilots. "Your printouts are at the apartment, you can work on them when we get there since you have both had a lot more sleep tan Wondergirl or I." Tai let out a groan at the same time Shinji did, and then Asuka grabbed them both by the ear telling them not to complain. It was a struggle to keep a hold of Rei while Asuka was doing this, but somehow he managed to do it.  
**** The rest of the walk home was uneventful, and when they got inside the apartment, Tai put Rei in bed and then joined Shinji in the kitchen to work on the work they had missed. Amazingly, there wasn't much because first and second class had been spent in the shelters, apparently. The other three classes had been in session, but they hadn't gotten much work done because there were discussions on when the next angel would attack.  
**** The laptop played soft music through the night, and at four in the morning Tai had fallen asleep at the console. Shinji had his head down on his book, also asleep, and neither one of them seemed to care.  
****  
Shinji's eyes snapped open and he sat up in the chair when he felt two arms wrap around his neck. "W-wh-what are you doing Asuka?" he stuttered.  
** "**Saying good morning, baka," she said, a rare smile on her face. "What's wrong with you?"  
** "**If she tries to kill you, I'll stop her," Tai said, without picking his head up off the table.  
**** Asuka stood now with her arms akimbo. "And how are you supposed to do that? You're still half asleep!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he moved almost impossibly fast and was standing beside her, fully awake. "Oh."  
** "**Good morning, Tai."  
**** Now it was Tai's turn to freeze, revealing that he really wasn't fully awake. He turned his head slightly and saw that it was Rei. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned around and hugged her back. "Good morning to you too," he said.  
**** Now they all sat down at the table, seeing as though it was still early. Tai and Shinji looked at the clock and groaned, realizing that it had only been a half hour since they had fallen asleep. It would be a long day, especially with the dance that evening, and they would be very tired throughout the day.  
**** Tai and Shinji cooked breakfast and when the scent lingered to Misato's room she wandered out to join them. They were almost ready to go when Nerv called.  
** "**Looks like we have a sync test after school everyone," Misato said.  
** "**Hey! That's not fair!" Asuka started her outburst, but Shinji stopped her.  
** "**Misato, the prom is tonight," he said, Asuka sitting down and muttering German curses.  
** "**I know," Misato told them. "I tried, but Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi need the results."  
** "**What time does the prom begin?" Tai asked.  
** "**Eight tonight," Asuka said. "Why?"  
**"**Because I can get us there from here in about two minutes," he said.  
**** The others sat there, shock written across their faces. "How?"  
****He smiled. "Misato, can I have the car tonight?"  
** "**I guess," she said, nervously. "I want it back in one piece though."  
** "**Don't worry about that," he said, taking a piece of toast out of the toaster and buttering it. "I'll see you guys at school."  
** "**I'll go with you," Rei said, getting up as he grabbed his coffee.  
** "**Alright," he told her. "You ready?"  
**** The others watched as Tai and Rei left the apartment and blinked. "Was that Rei we just witnessed leave?" Asuka asked. "She seemed as though she had doe eyes."  
** "**Believe it," Misato told her, sternly. "And I don't want to hear about any more doll jokes."  
** "**Shinji!" Asuka shrieked.  
** "**I didn't tell her!" Shinji said, hands in front of him to defend himself if necessary.  
** "**Tai told me," Misato told her. "Now, get going to school before I change my mind about not grounding you for it Asuka."  
**** They left the apartment after grabbing their books, but Asuka was in a bad mood. She didn't like being spoken to like Misato had spoken to her, but Shinji hoped that she would soften up a bit after they got to school.**

**Well there's another chapter done. I sure hope that I get some more reviews soon. I'm going to post the next few chapters here tonight as well, before I leave it for another few reviews. I'll with-hold the final chapter and the epilogue until I get at least ten reviews though.  
At this time, I'd like to take the chance to respond to the only two reviers that have currently taken the time to review my work for me.  
**  
**Ominae - Thanks for your support. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear from you about them because I have part two ready to go just as soon as I get part one on-line. I think I mentioned before that this is all written, and I just have to format it to put it online. But, I'm actually currently writing part three now and looking for suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you again soon!**

Maniaco - I'm really having a difficult time understanding why you have not read the statement at the bottom of the previous chapter, so I'm going to put it very plainly to you. This story was written for a class assignment originally. It's great that you have an opinion on what kind of story this is, and I respect it and agree with you. However, I enjoyed writing it and I am going to tell you this: If you don't like it, or it offends you, whatever, don't read it! I'm looking for positive feedback and flames that can help me make it better in the future parts. All you are doing is dishing out garbage right now. If you review further, please make it helpful. Thanks m8.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

** Another boring day was spent listening to the teacher going on about second impact, but the rest of the classes, Tai actually was interested in. History class was about the French Revolution and, since he had been hearing about it the year before at his old school, he was interested in finding out if there were any differences of perception. There were a few of them that he noticed and questioned in class, and the teacher talked with him during lunch while Rei stayed behind to listen to the discussion.  
**** Since lunch was spent talking to the teacher, Tai bought something for Rei and him before the sync tests were to begin. It wasn't much of a meal, but it was enough to hold them over until supper that evening before they went to the school for the prom.  
** "**Tai," came the call over the comm. link with Central Dogma, jarring him out of his thoughts.  
** "**Yes?" he asked.  
** "**Your sync level is at a hundred and fifty percent," Akagi told him. "Good job."  
** "**How do you and Shinji beat me!" Asuka wined. "I'm the best pilot!"  
** "**Calm down Asuka," Shinji attempted.  
** "**Calm down! Calm down, you say! Watch it, baka-Shinji!" Asuka yelled. "I want another duel with you tomorrow, Tai!"  
** "**Good, I don't want to fight before we leave tonight," Tai said. "Careful, though, Asuka. Shinji might think twice about going with you if you keep this up."  
**** Asuka began to yell in retort, but he muted his audio from her and all he noticed was the video feed that kept changing as she made a futile attempt to get his complete attention. When she was tired of yelling at him, her video feed terminated and Tai sat there with his hands on the control yokes, just in case he had to go into action. Thankfully, no angels were detected and it was mere minutes before they were ordered to eject their entry plugs.  
**** In a bit of a mood about Asuka's wining and yelling, he lifted his Eva's hand to place it over the hatch for Unit 02's entry plug. He sat there for a moment after enabling the audio for her comm signal and waited. Sure enough, her comm. link with him reactivated and she was screaming at him to let her out.  
**** Eventually, after a lot of laughs from Central Dogma and the other pilots, Misato ordered him to stand down and he complied, although he made it look reluctant. He teased Asuka as she fumed after they got out of their entry plugs to join the others for the walk back to the changing rooms.  
**** Shinji had to stop Asuka when she tried to pummel Tai on the walk back to the parking lot. She was furious and the anger had boiled in her enough that she wanted to kill him outright. That was settled when they got to the car and Misato cheered her up a bit by saying that Kaji would be driving the girls to the school before Tai and Shinji would join them. Her excuse was that she wanted the anticipation of seeing each other to last as long as possible.**

** Asuka emerged from her bedroom as Kaji arrived and she ran to the kitchen to hug him while in her dress. It was more or less a ballroom dress that she had picked out a long time ago for an occasion such as this was, but her mind lingered on the thought of possible jealousy from Shinji. Shrugging it off, she hugged her former infatuation and basked in the moment.  
** "**Hello to you, too, Asuka," Kaji said, returning the hug. "I hear you're finally noticing Shinji."  
**** She blushed at his teasing, slightly. "I'm going to the dance with my Baka," she said, then batted her eyebrows at him. "Unless someone's jealous and wants to go with me instead."  
**** He backed away from her at that comment and waved his hands in front of him. "No, no, no, I'm not jealous. Shinji is the one you should go with. Not me." She laughed and then went back to her room to finish putting on her makeup. Kaji turned to Misato with a worried look on his face. "How long has she been sick?"  
**** Misato laughed and PenPen almost lost his lunch as he closed the door to his fridge, not willing to see another sight like that nor hear the words spoken. "She's not sick, believe it or not. Ever since Rei got hooked she's been attached to poor Shinji."  
** "**Speaking of him, where is he and this man that Rei has found?"  
** "**Locked in their rooms until the girls leave," she said, laughing hysterically.  
** "**That's a little cruel, Misato," he said, smiling at the comment nonetheless, unable to control his laughter that followed.  
****  
In Tai's room, he was leaning up against the wall, still on his feet, with his suit on ready to leave. There was no one there, but he continued to speak nonetheless.  
** "**Activate cloaking system and replace the vehicle at the aforementioned coordinates." He had a look in his eye that was dark as he used his Iris displays to see what the cameras on board his weapon could see.  
** "**_Transporter lock, confirmed_," he heard _Red_ tell him as he saw Misato's car before the cameras literally went through it. "_Transporter suspension ready_."  
** "**Energize."  
**** A few short seconds passed as he stared out the window and watched what he could see on his Iris displays of the progress the AI was making. Before anyone could notice, he hoped, Misato's car had disappeared and had been replaced with _Red_ with the holographics mimicking the appearance of the car.  
**** Keeping a human being in transporter suspension had always been a difficult task for them the work with, but inanimate objects could easily be worked with, Since there was no risk of loosing the pattern due to normal biological properties, there was no risk of bringing the object back in pieces. It would still leave Misato without a vehicle for the evening, but he had a feeling that she didn't have plans to just stay in while Kaji was in town.  
**** He had heard that the two of them had been dating a lot and there were a lot of unexplained absences of Misato when he was around. Put two and two together and you always get four, but with this it was really none of his business and he wasn't going to become a peeping tom to investigate. Honor was more important to him in this area.  
**** He heard Rei and Asuka talking out in the living room and he heard Shinji groan from his room as Asuka teased him. Some things about women he would never understand, and Shinji probably felt the same way. It was probably best for them not to understand.  
**** After about ten solid minutes of nothing but taunts from Asuka, Tai heard a light knock on his door. "Yes?" he asked, not moving from his position of leaning against the wall beside it.  
** "**I'll see you tonight," he heard Rei's gentle voice.  
** "**See you there, Rei," he said, and then he heard her walk away and then the front door open and close.  
** "**Alright! You can come out now!" Misato yelled.  
**** Tai emerged from his room and walked toward the kitchen where he met up with the two other remaining members of the household. Misato was stunned by what they were both wearing; something that Tai suggested when they were walking by a tuxedo rental place downtown three days ago. He snickered, as she looked them over, as if she wanted to go with them and steal them both away from their dates for the evening.  
** "**Impressive," she said, coming out of her trance. "Where did you manage to get those?"  
** "**We got them at-" Shinji started, but his mouth was covered by Tai's hand before he could get any more out.  
** "**That's our little secret," he said.  
** "**Well, let me just get the camera, and I'll-"  
** "**RUN!" Tai yelled, snatching the car keys and running out the door, Shinji right behind him. If a picture were taken of the two of them, they would never be able to say that it never happened. The proof would be there on the film, and he didn't allow that to happen.  
**** Jumping in the car, they looked up to see Misato coming down the stairs, but Tai was too fast for her. He put the keys in the holographic ignition and quickly started the engine. After a few quick revs, he shifted it into reverse and got out of the parking lot as quickly as he could, without squealing the tires. This car may look like Misato's right now, but if he put he pedal to the metal he could crank out a maximum speed of seven hundred and fifty miles per hour.  
** "**Wow!" Shinji exclaimed as they turned onto the road, leaving Misato behind. "I guess you can drive!"  
** "**You ain't seen nothing yet," he said, taking the opportunity to slow down just a bit to take the next corner. "When it comes to car chases and races, I'm one of the best you can get."  
**** Shinji gulped down the lump in his throat and sat back in the seat as they careened toward the school. He just hoped that they didn't manage to screw up Misato's plan by arriving _with_ Asuka and Rei.  
****  
Getting out of the car, Asuka waved goodbye to Kaji and then walked with Rei into the school gym. The music was already playing and there were a few people there, but she couldn't see anything just yet. Her eyes needed time to adjust to the lighting in the room, which was only the flashing lights that the DJ was controlling, but she was alright after a moment or two.  
** "**How long will it take Tai and Shinji to get here?" Rei asked.  
** "**With Misato probably drooling over them, about an hour," Asuka joked, but then she saw the slightly angered face of Rei as she waved her hands, imitating Shinji. "Just kidding."  
**** Rei relaxed and sat down at a table with them to await their arrival, but they were interrupted when a student came up to them that Asuka barely tolerated.  
** "**Care to dance with me, Miss Soryu?"  
** "**No, Jerk," she said, staring into him with the most powerful glare she could summon. Most people would describe it as if she was tunnelling into his soul to rip it apart form the inside out.  
** "**Well, I thought you were here to dance," he said, acting shocked but not faltering.  
** "**Beat it, Hentai," she said. "I don't want to have to fight here."  
** "**Who you with?" he sneered, obviously not liking the tone that the German girl was using with him. "I see no man here with you, babe, and that means-"  
** "**She's with me," came a strong voice from behind that sounded angered.  
**** Surako turned to find two young men standing there, both wearing black tuxedoes. He didn't recognize either one of them and Asuka began to snicker as Rei stood from the table to greet them. "And who might you be?"  
** "**I'm Shinji Ikari, pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, and you are harassing my girlfriend," Shinji said, leering at him with a stare that could rival Asuka's. "Now leave, before we deal with you."  
** "**Who's we?" Surako snorted. "You and your precious robot going to stomp on little ol' me?"  
** "**I'll fill in to take the place of the second person," the other one interjected. "I'm Tai, pilot of Evangelion Unit 04. Step away, or I will bring harm to you."  
** "**You're the one that beat up Toji!" he yelled, falling back onto the floor on his rear. Receiving only a nod and a gesture form Tai as if he was goin g to rush him, he ran away as fast as he could.  
**** Asuka hugged Shinji form behind as he watched the fleeing form of the bully that had picked on Asuka for days now about he dance. "Thanks Shinji-kun." At this he turned all red, but he only turned around and led her out onto the dance floor while that left Tai and Rei behind.  
** "**Lovely dress," Tai said, looking the simple blue dress over. It was elegant and looked to be made of satin, but he didn't confirm it until she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  
** "**Thank you," she said, nervously. "Shall we?"  
** "**I must tell you, I can't dance," he said.  
**** She looked at him, puzzled by this statement. "I've never been to an event like this before, I will not judge you."  
**** With that, he was led, reluctantly, onto the dance floor and they quickly set up a rhythm to dance to right beside Asuka and Shinji who were also beginning to enjoy themselves. A few of the teachers, chaperones for the evening, were watching from locations throughout the gym, but no one paid much attention to them.  
** "**You okay?" Tai asked, noticing that Rei was tensing up.  
** "**Yes," she said. "But I do believe that I am experiencing nervousness."  
** "**Just let it slip away," he said. "There's no reason for you to be nervous here. You're with me."  
**** She smiled a bit, then asked, "Does this happen every time?"  
** "**Yup," he said. "I feel a bit nervous myself. Only lasts for about a half hour and then slips away naturally. When you find the answer to it, tell me, 'cause I'm still searching."  
**** She giggled at that statement and then brought herself a little closer to him as a slower paced song began to play. He was a little hesitant to be this close to her in such a short time, but he decided that it wouldn't harm them to be dating. They seemed almost as though they were meant to be together, their personalities almost matching.  
**** The song, he noticed, was one that he recognized as one by Savage Garden, one that he had liked for a long time. It was one of his mother's favourites called "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and it brought a feeling of home to him as he danced with Rei. He could see some of the people he now knew from his class, but two groups that stood out were Toji and Hikari, and Shinji and Asuka.  
**** Asuka had calmed down a lot and was dancing with Shinji in much the same matter as Tai was with Rei. Both girls seemed to be extremely happy and he hoped that he wouldn't be pulled away tonight. There was always the possibility, wherever a_ Lightning _pilot went, that there would be trouble. He was the first line of defence back home before the Evas, and here the situation was only slightly different.  
**** Thinking back to the last dance that he had gone to back home, he had shown up with a friend as his date. She had been happy all night long, until about the last quarter of the event, and he had to use his counselling skills to comfort someone who was thinking of committing suicide. It was a horrible night after that, and she had been saddened by his job interfering with the night, but he had come back after dealing with it. It brightened her spirits enough and she kissed him . . .  
** "**What was that for?" he asked, coming out of his thoughts of the past as Rei broke the kiss.  
** "**Just wanted to share something more with you," she said, blushing. "Was I wrong?"  
**"**No," he said, and then kissed her back. "As long as it is truthful, it is not wrong."  
**"**Good," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder as they danced. "Thank you for coming with me."  
** "**Anytime," he said, and then all went quite for them.  
**  
"**Look at those two," Shinji said, motioning toward Rei and Tai a few feet away from them."  
**** Asuka picked her head up and looked in their direction. "Looks cute," she said. "I'm sorry."  
** "**For what?" he asked, puzzled.  
** "**For treating you like I have all this time," she said. "I didn't think that I could show my feelings around you or anyone else. I was afraid of people thinking I'm weak."  
**** He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "No one will think you're weak for dating a baka, such as myself," he said. "And I'll be strong for you when you need me to be."  
**** She closed her eyes and leaned her head back down on his shoulder. The night was peaceful, and there was no one that could bother her now.  
****  
Halfway though the dance, the music didn't fit the mood that the three couples were in and they had taken a seat near the speakers where they were taking a much-needed rest. Asuka was sitting in Shinji's lap with her arms around his neck, cooing at him as Toji stared in horror. Tai laughed as Hikari tapped his face hard enough to snap him back to reality and he mumbled something about "the Red Devil" getting his friend.  
**** Asuka didn't let her attention fade form her date, but she noted that she would have to pay the stooge back for that comment. Right now, all she wanted to focus on was finally being able to stand down her guard and be happy.  
**** Rei was much like Asuka, but different in her own way. She had finally found someone that she could share her emotions with openly. Sitting beside him she had layed her head back down on his shoulder as she leaned against him and he held her with his arm around her waist. It was pure bliss for her, having not experienced emotions that were this pleasing to her. At one time she had thought Shinji may have been the one for her, but decided against that idea when she thought about him being her half-brother in a since.  
**** The main idea of the night had been achieved. Everyone that lived at the Katsuragi apartment had finally come to terms with things in their lives, or so they thought.  
**** The past tormented Tai as he sat there with Rei. Although he didn't show any of it much, he was still feeling the turmoil that was raging inside his mind. It was nothing that he had not experienced before, but it seemed to him that it got worse every time. The Doctor had tried to give him medications to block the almost telepathic-like communications, but he had refused. His body would adapt to them eventually, he always said, but after ten years they had yet to subside.  
**** Closing his eyes, he saw his Iris displays come to life and he scanned the area for possible energy signatures that would be carrying these communications. As always, though, he couldn't find anything. There seemed to be no source, no carrier wave, and no host that his sensors could detect. It was maddening to him to be in the dark about this, but he knew that if he made a scene here, he'd have to leave and not come back. That would leave Rei and the others alone, and would leave Toji the designated pilot of Unit 04.  
**** Unit 04, another monster that he had control over, had been fussy about what pilot it would allow to operate it. There had been several people attempt it, but he and one other ultimately took the dragon by the horns and forced it to obey. That other person was killed when they attempted to launch Unit 04 during a test. They removed the body from the entry plug, preserved even to the slightest detail, when they recovered the monstrosity only a month ago.  
**** The backup pilot, Regina Kyle, wouldn't have been in that entry plug if he had gotten there a little sooner. He would have been the one piloting Unit 04 and he could have saved her and the others at the base. It wasn't fair that she had to die like that.  
**** When the _Lightning_ team was sent out, after Third Impact was over, they began to recover people who were emerging from the LCL ocean. These had been the only people that had chosen that they wanted to live on in the world.  
**** Tai snapped ut of it and opened his eyes to find that Toji and Hikari had joined them. The music that was playing was a little better, so he stood and Rei went with him back onto the dance floor.  
**** It didn't seem like very long before the DJ got the bright idea to have a dancing competition. There were two separate contests; one for the students, and one for the teachers that were chaperoning the dance. Three different teachers put up an impressive fight for first place in their category, while the students were pretty straightforward.  
** "**Hey," came a voice from behind them.  
**** Tai turned around to come face-to-face with a video camera lens. He glared though it, knowing who was behind it. "What do you think you're doing, Kensuke?" he growled.  
** "**Taking video footage of the happy couple!" he exclaimed, cheerfully.  
** "**Kensuke, if you put them on the Internet like a few other I know of," Toji said, shaking his fist, "I'll give you a pair of black eyes." Hikari shushed him before he could add anything to it. Instead, he fixed a glare on his friend that would scare even the pain of a car.  
**** Unnoticed to everyone else, Tai's fingers flew over his wrist as if he was typing on a keyboard and then he touched his right hand to the side of the camera where he knew the tape was. "Get going, Kensuke. There's nothing to be shot here."  
**"**Ladies and gentlemen," came an announcement over the speakers. "You've been a great crowd tonight. The last dance is about to begin. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope to see you again in the New Year."  
**** Everyone returned to the dance floor for the final dance of the evening, but, as they danced, Kensuke was off on the sideline taking a look at what he had gotten on tape. If he got enough, he could use it as blackmail against Shinji, Tai, and possibly Rei as well.  
** "**What the hell?" he asked, after he saw the blue screen come on, signifying that there was nothing on the tape. "My plans are ruined!"  
****Tai smiled an evil smile as he watched Kensuke checking his camera for some kind of defect that he himself knew wasn't there. The mild charge from his implants electro magnetic pulse generator had obviously wiped the tape, most likely to the point where it was like new.  
**** It seemed as though the dance lasted only a few moments, but Rei knew that it had to be a lot longer. Before the lights came on, Tai hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he released her from his hold just as the lights came back to life. They made their way out to the car, the whole way Rei holding her check where he had kissed her. The faintest blush was displayed on her face and she felt warm inside. Before they made it to the car, Tai seemed to tense up though and she wondered if he was not feeling well. This worried her, but she decided that she would not ask until they had a little privacy.  
**** There was something wrong with him, however, something very wrong. He'd sensed that someone or something was watching them, and the power signature that he was detecting was more than enough to raise his alert levels. _Red_ was running the numbers now, but he already had an idea about what was going on and he didn't like it.  
**** Opening the door for Rei, he let her in the passenger's side and then circled around the front of the car to slip in behind the wheel. While the computer was crunching the numbers, there was no reason to jump to conclusions, but he had a strong feeling that nothing good could behind those readings. Right now though, he had to keep the others feeling as though nothing was wrong and he hoped that Rei wasn't seeing through him.  
**** Pulling into the parking lot at the apartment a few minutes later, they got out and walked to the elevator that took them up to their floor. As Shinji opened the door to their apartment, Tai used his Iris displays to send a message to _Red_ to return Misato's car form transporter suspension and await his arrival alongside it.  
**** Without much thought, he took his shoes off and then headed directly to his room where he got changed out of his suit and into his uniform. After he had hastily put that on, he opened a small wooden box and removed his pip-bar and his three golden stars that indicated his rank. Opening another wooden box, he removed his combadge from it and placed it on his uniform. Last were his boots, highly polished, but not needing to do so.  
**** He heard a knock on his door and when he opened it he saw Rei standing there, still in the lovely dress that she had worn to the dance. He was at a loss for why she would be there at his door this late at night, but he opened the door a little wider as if to invite her in.  
** "**Is there something wrong, Tai?" she asked, a hint of hesitation in her voice. Then she noticed that he had changed and took in the sight that now lay before her. _He looks quite handsome in that uniform_, she thought. "Why is it that you are wearing that uniform? Are you going out?"  
**** He looked down at himself, quickly realizing that he had forgotten to engage the holographic generators. Just as he was about to say something to her though, _Red _contacted him through the telepathic-like system that they had between them and informed him that the signal had been lost. Sighing in relief, he decided that he owed these people an explanation. "Is everyone still awake?"  
** "**Yes," Rei answered, unsure of why he would be asking such a question, and not answering her questions. "Is there something wrong?"  
** "**Yes," he said. "I'll explain it to everyone though."  
**** She followed him down the hallway to the living room where Asuka and Shinji were relaxing on the couch and they both stared in shock at what he was wearing. Not understanding anything they could only sit there and not say a word. Misato came in a few moments later and was reduced to the same state as she stared at his uniform.  
** "**Please, take a seat," Tai asked as he motioned toward the two remaining places to sit on the couch. Rei and Misato sat down together, but Rei seemed to be the only one who was calm in the entire group.  
** "**Is everything okay?" Misato asked, the first one able to speak besides Rei.  
** "**What the heck is that you're wearing?" Asuka gasped.  
** "**Who are you?" Shinji asked.  
**** Tai bowed his head in frustration as he heard Shinji's question. It was something that even the closest people to him had asked when he had showed them this, more importantly _Red_ though. They always seemed to be shocked by the car. "I'm Tyler Acheson, the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 04," he said. Everyone let out a sigh, but that soon ended.  
**** Light began to shimmer beside Tai as a female form materialized. "But he is also someone else."  
** "**Who are you?" Asuka asked, narrowing her eyes at the image of the woman in front of them.  
** "**This is _Red_, a holographic representation of my car's Artificial Intelligence program," Tai answered, receiving a glare from _Red_.  
** "**You know I don't like to be called that," _Red_ told him as she turned back to the four people that she had been called upon to help him explain things to.  
** "**So, if he is someone else, who is he?" Rei asked.  
** "**Tell them my service record, general information only," Tai ordered.  
**"**Brian Alexander Fergason; Rank: Third Star Admiral," _Red_ recited the information. "Assignment terminated upon cryogenic freezing in 2006."  
** "**I don't remember ever experiencing anything until about a few months ago," Tai said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "My family was with me in the cryogenic stasis system and we were going to get woke up just a year afterward, but something happened."  
** "**The base was attacked and the system that controlled the cryogenic system was destroyed," _Red _told them.**

** The cryo pod opened and Tai fell onto his knees in full uniform. His sister and the rest of his family were by his side and he hoped that they were all right. When he looked up from his kneeling position he saw that there was a pair of combat boots on the floor.  
** "**Are you Tyler Acheson?" a rough voice asked.  
** "**Who wants to know?" he chocked as he tried to get over the cold feeling of the room that looked very dark for him. He was attempting to bring his Andronian systems on line, but his human systems needed time to wake up before he could accomplish that.  
** "**We were sent here to find a Tyler Acheson," another voice said, sounding a little kinder, and this one was also feminine. "Are you him?"  
** "**I'm him," he said. "What do you want?"  
** "**You have been designated the pilot of Evangelion Unit 04," the man said. "We are soldiers from the Nerv's American branch."  
**** Looking around a little more carefully, he could see that the room had been trashed. Medical equipment was spread out on the floor like debris and there were bullet holes in the wall. "You attacked my base, my home, and you ask me for you help?" he asked, angrily.  
** "**We did not attack you," the woman said. "But we do not know who did, nor why you would be in this kind of facility."  
** "**Well, this is where I was put up when they decided that I needed to go into cryo stasis," he answered. "Now, what is this that you wanted me to pilot?"  
**"**According to what our employers tell us you have been selected to be the Sixth Child and the pilot of Evangelion Unit 04," the man said, like he was reciting something from a computer program.  
** "**It's a big robot, kid," another soldier said as he walked into the room with a firearm. It looked as though it was a machine gun, and on closer inspection Tai identified it to be an MP5K Double clip sub machinegun.  
** "**As you can see, I am not a kid," Tai said, standing to his full height to reveal the weapon that was secured in a holster on his waist. "I have to wake my family."  
** "**If you know how to work the system, be my guest," the first soldier said.  
**** Walking over to a console, Tai observed that they had used it to awaken him using the emergency control that had been destroyed by excessive force. Fighting the system failures that were threatening to hamper his efforts, he eventually made it into the system and then turned to the soldiers. "If you will step outside for a moment I will join you with them in Sickbay."  
****The lead soldier nodded and then exited with his two subordinates. Once they were gone, Tai turned back to his console and activated the recovery systems. Four additional pods opened in the room and his father, mother, and two sisters emerged from them. "It's alright guys, just give yourselves a few moments to recover from the temperature," he said, draping blankets over them.  
** "**I told you you'd have ice in your hair, bro," Jodi said as she stood from her kneeled position first.  
** "**Yet I am able to shrug it off because of the advancements thanks to the Andronian implant," he said, picking his youngest sister up off the floor. "You alright, Jen?"  
** "**I'm cold Tai," she said, snuggling into his shoulder. "Let's get somewhere warm."  
** "**I'll take you guys out of here in one of the cars up top."  
** "**What's happening?" his mother asked.  
** "**I don't know," he answered. "But it looks as though nothing good happened. There are soldiers outside waiting to take us to the surface. I'm going to see if I can get any of the power to the turbolifts if they haven't already."  
** "**They under your control son?" his father asked.  
** "**No," he said. "And I'm still not going to tell you what's going on with me."  
****His father seemed to accept that and they walked through the door to Sickbay, where five soldiers were waiting. Three he had already seen, but the others he had not met yet. What concerned him the most was the fact that Sickbay had been trashed.  
** "**Are you ready to go?" the soldier asked.  
** "**You have a medical facility?" Tai asked as he still held the shivering form of his sister in his arms.  
** "**We have one back at base," the female soldier responded. "Top of the line medical equipment."  
** "**Okay, who are you and what year is this?" his father asked, stepping forward.  
** "**We are soldiers from the organization known as Nerv," the leader responded. "And the year is 2015."**

** Misato watched as the image of _Red_ dissolved in front of them and it left Tai standing there with his head down. He was obviously upset and he couldn't come to tell them why, but they already knew. His entire family had lost a lot more time in suspended animation than what they had intended.  
**** Surprising everyone was Rei though, who stood and embraced him in an attempt to calm him. Silent tears rolled down his cheek as he returned the gesture and then they were all standing around him.  
** "**I am the last hope if the Evangelions fail now," he said as he sat down on the floor. "If we screw up, there will be nothing left."  
** "**If third impact were to happen, is there any chance that you will be able to do something?" Asuka asked, yet another surprise.  
** "**I only have _Red Lightning_ here with me, but there are others and the pilots still remain in cryo stasis," he said. "Or so I though." When he received questioning looks from everyone he decided that the only thing he could do was show them. "Misato, you are the Tactical Officer at Nerv whenever an Angel attacks so you know what I mean when everything has to go right or it all falls apart. When we were leaving the dance tonight, I detected a power signature that I thought I had seen the last of before I went into cryo stasis."  
** "**What is it?" Misato asked, convinced that her skills may be needed.  
** "**An ex pilot who had this," he said, revealing his Andronian implant. "This gives me access to technology implanted throughout my body. She also has one, and if she is here it could mean only one thing. She wants revenge against me."  
**** Everyone was silent, but Shinji broke the silence. "Are you human?"  
**** Tai laughed at that statement. "Only the technology you see here is alien, I myself am human."  
**** Misato stood and looked at her watch. "I think we should all get some rest," she said. "The four of you can camp out here in the living room if you like, but we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Ritsuko has ordered up another round of sync tests."  
**** Everyone groaned, but complied and Tai brought out his futon, as did his fellow pilots and roommates. There was mostly silence as they got ready for bed, but Rei pulled him aside to talk for a moment.  
** "**Is there something you wanted to ask me, Rei?" he asked, looking down at her since he was just a little taller.  
**** She smiled at him "With our current relationship, would it not be warranted to say that we are boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked, getting ready for rejection. Never before in her life had she been in a relationship like this and she wanted to know if this was something more. What really got her wondering was the fact that she _wanted_ it to be something more.  
**** Tai stood there, frozen solid because he had been expecting her to ask him about something from his past. This kind of question blew a whole new lid off the proverbial cookie jar. "I took you out to dinner and I was your date for the dance tonight, so that's two separate official dates," he said, kicking himself for saying something like that to start off with. He noticed that she was looking down and away from him with a saddened expression on her face. "I guess we could consider ourselves in that kind of a relationship . . . if you wanted me to be your boyfriend, that is."  
**** Rei's head snapped up and she looked at him with her crimson red eyes as she quickly nodded her head. His light blue eyes, that seemed to have lightning streaks of yellow around them, captured her. He drew her into a hug and they stood there for a moment just enjoying each other's company. When they parted, he kissed her.  
** "**You two, get a room!" Asuka yelled from the other side of the living room.  
**** Rei giggled as Tai led her back to the other couple. "So, I guess that you two are a couple now too, eh Shinji?" Tai asked. The answer to that question startled him a bit as Shinji drew Asuka into a passionate kiss on the lips. He stood there in shock as Asuka didn't bother to protest, and then a smile crept across the Canadian boy's face. "You two, get a room!" he said, faking a German accent.  
**** Asuka glared at him, but made no attempt to yell at him for copying what she had said to him. Instead, she and Rei went off to their rooms to get changed for the night out of their dresses. This left Tai and Shinji to then do the same as Shinji still was in his suit and Tai was now in his uniform.  
**** Tai returned a few moments later in a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt that got him a strange look from Shinji, but he didn't say a word as they got into their separate futons and prepared for a relaxed evening. Unfortunately, Asuka snuck up on him and pounced, causing him to yelp in surprise and then look at her with an expression that softened from fear as he caught his breath.  
** "**Baka-Shinji, you should not be surprised by me like that," Asuka teased. "I could have given you a heart attack."  
** "**I think you did," Tai said, sarcastically.  
** "**Why you little . . ." She stopped up in the middle of her sentence as Tai levelled his phaser at her. "Never mind."  
** "**I thought so," Tai said, placing the weapon back under his pillow. "Now lay down and go to sleep before I knock you out."  
**** Rei entered a moment later and got under her blankets. She simply said goodnight, and she was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. This shocked everyone, but they had all had a long day so they could understand why she would go to sleep that fast. The poor girl had been isolated most of her life and she had never gone to a dance before, so they all just layed down as well and went to sleep.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

** Sunlight shone through the window and Misato sat up in bed to find that it was just at sunrise. She was surprised that she couldn't smell anything being cooked and she got out of bed, slowly allowing her body to wake up.  
**** Grabbing the beer off her nightstand, she walked out into the hallway as she cracked it open and began gulping it down. Her morning routine never seemed to change, but she didn't want to wake anyone if they were still asleep.  
**** No one was in the kitchen, so she went ahead to the living room and she found that three of the children were still asleep, but Tai was standing in front of the window. He seemed to be concentration on what little of the city he could see.  
** "**Is everything alright, Tai?" she asked, stepping around the others to stand beside him.  
** "**I detected the power signature again," he said. "She's hunting me." He turned to her and looked as if he was about to make an important decision. "After the sync tests, I need to disappear. Section Two is not going to be able to follow me."  
**** Instead of speaking her mind and asking more questions, she just nodded her head. "I see you already have a plan."  
** "**No," he told her. "I'll be hunting her myself. It will be better for me to find her than for her to find me." He walked over to where his futon was and removed the weapon and scanning device that he had hidden there when he set out the futon and sheets last night. "I'm taking Rei with me when I go, but we will be back before midnight."  
** "**I don't approve of you going out on your own like that," Misato told him, sternly. "Section Two is there to protect you against our enemies and people who just want to harm you for who you are. You shouldn't ditch them."  
** "**Believe me when I tell you that I can take care of myself better than anyone else I've ever known," he said, but then a small sound was heard. She watched as he removed a small badge from his pocket and pressed it. "Fergason here. Who is this?"  
** "**_I see that you are here in the city_," came a female voice. "_Where are you?_"  
**** Tai's face contorted into an enraged expression and he turned away from Misato to walk down the hallway. "The question is, where the _hell_ are you!" he shouted, waking the others. "Stop taunting me and tell me how the heck you even remembered what you are!"  
** "**_Meet me at the mall this evening and I'll tell you all you need to know_," the voice said. "_I should also warn you that _Liger _is here too. I've hidden his power signature from you, but _Red_ is right out in the open so much that I could target you from here_."  
**** Tai restrained himself from trying to triangulate her signal. "Alright, I'll meet you there at eight. Come alone and with no weapons. Deal?"  
** "**_I'm bringing one other_," she said. "_Someone I've met here. I agree on the no weapons deal though. We both know that they would do neither of us any good_."  
** "**Very well then."  
** "**_Be nice to see you again, hon. Gordan out_."  
****When the comm channel closed, Tai slammed the combadge down onto the tiled floor and crushed it under his bare foot. He was obviously very angry and frustrated about whatever was going on and Misato assumed that that was the person who was hunting him. Calming after a moment, he moved his hand to the phaser that was holstered at his side and removed it.  
**** Rei stood from her futon and tried to get close to him, but there was some kind of electrical barrier refusing to allow her to get any closer than a few inches. He didn't even know she was there because he was busy examining the weapon, and then he just stepped into his room.  
** "**What's going on, Misato?" Shinji asked, concerned for Tai and trying to calm Rei down.  
** "**He's being hunted," she answered, not really believing what just happened herself. "That was the huntress that he was talking to."  
** "**What's he going to do?" Asuka asked, swallowing a lump in her throat. Tai had always seemed to be very calm, even when in battle. While he was talking to that person, it seemed as if he was enraged though. It didn't seem possible to her that he could be that way.  
** "**I don't know," Misato answered, and then finally turned to Rei. "It's alright, he'll think of something." The phone rang and she went to answer it. "Hello, Katsuragi residence. Yes. Yes. Hang on a moment and I'll get him for you." Taking the portable phone in her hand she made her way, cautiously, to Tai's door where she knocked lightly. "Tai, the phone is for you."  
**** He came out of his room, now back in his uniform and took the phone from her. "Hello?" he asked. There was a short pause and then he said, "Authorization Fergason Tango Alpha 335."  
** "**_I see that you still have a few of your memories_," a familiar voice said.  
** "**Cryo stasis wasn't just abandoned by myself I see," Tai answered. "What's going on Mike?"  
** "**_I'm sending over support when you need it_," he said. _"Base One will be back in working order in a few weeks_."  
** "**Thanks for the good news," Tai said. "Can you track _Grey Lightning_ for me?"  
** "**_No_," Mike answered. "_We've been wondering where it is_."  
** "**I'll have to find it myself then," Tai told him. "Gordan's back and she's decided to hunt me."  
** "**_Good luck, sir,_" Mike said. "_I'll have support to you in a few days_."  
** "**Thanks," Tai told him, letting out a held breath. "Fergason out." He handed the phone back to Misato and then glanced at Rei. "Do you want to come with me?"  
** "**If you will let me," Rei said as she stood back up and looked at him.  
** "**Get changed and put get a jacket," he said. "If you don't have a warm enough one you can borrow my other uniform jacket from my room."  
** "**Yours will do," she said. He nodded and went back to his room to get it as she went to her room to get changed.  
**** Misato followed Tai to his room and she noticed that he had various cases set out on the floor now that looked to be weapons cases. He removed a small weapon from one of the cases and handed it to her. "This is a Type One phaser," he told her, handing the small device over that looked like a remote control. "It cannot be detected by metal detectors or weapons inspections. Keep it on you at all times. I've set it to only fire on stun setting and have locked it."  
** "**Is this really necessary?" she asked, taking the weapon and slipping it into her pocket. "I mean, will this person attempt to capture us as well?"  
**** Tai scowled at the thought of that and looked at her. "It's just a precaution." He then walked out of his room and met up with Rei at the door where she pulled her shoes on and he stepped out into the corridor. Misato followed them, accompanied by Asuka and Shinji until the elevator, where they could get a look at the car that was parked beside Misato's car.  
** "**I've never seen that car before," Misato said.  
** "**It's mine," Tai said, the door to the elevator closing as he and Rei made their way down to the ground floor. After a moment, they had come up beside the door and he opened it to allow Rei to get in. She did so without much thought about it, but when she saw the interior of it she gasped. "Just don't touch anything and you'll be fine. _Red_, activate defence systems and charge weapons," Tai said, getting in behind the wheel.  
**** Misato watched the car pull out of the parking lot and when it hit a straightaway it seemed to arc back and disappear very quickly. "And you complain about her driving, Baka-Shinji," Asuka said.  
** "**That was fast," Misato said, then led the two remaining children back into the apartment.**

** About ten minutes later, Tai and Rei were still cruising around the city and he was trying to collect sensor data to attempt to find out where _Grey Lightning_ was hidden. So far, they hadn't been able to get any readings that would even suggest where it would have been. He was beginning to get frustrated and he didn't like the fact that he was, yet again, being threatened.  
**** In the days that he had been piloting before Vanessa Gordan had joined up, it was easier. _Revenger_ had been his unit then, but the _Lightning_s were already in the planning stage. There were complications with the police in the area, but that just spiced things up a bit and he was able to thwart their efforts to capture him. If only it was so easy here. Now he was up against a pilot that was just as experienced as he was and she had access to every weapon that he had.  
**** There was one thing that he had an advantage over her with, however. Since he was one of the lead designers on the _Lightning_ project, he knew that there were back doors in the AI system. If he could get close enough to be able to access _Liger_ he would be able to execute a shut down command. Otherwise, he would have to play a game of cat and mouse with live ammunition, possible making it a life or death struggle.  
**** Rei sat in the passenger's seat, observing his every move and making sure that she wasn't distracting him. She had never seen anything like this before and she was certainly baffled by the fact that he was being so open about it to them all. This was something that obviously pained him and he was now on a mission to attempt to keep them out of the equation. Nothing that he was doing was adding up in her logic though, because he should be just keeping this to himself and dealing with it on his own.  
**** Logic, however, she had learned, didn't work all the time and this was one of the situations where it didn't. Some aspects of this new identity were troublesome to her reasoning and her feelings about him, but she was taking things as they were put in front of her. Mainly, this would turn out if she had the strength to help him through it, but she knew that this was a situation in which a firefight was possible.  
** "**Do you want anything to eat?" Tai asked, keeping his eyes on the road.  
** "**Are we stopping for breakfast?" Rei asked.  
**** Realizing that they hadn't had anything to eat before they left he turned to the replicator. "Coffee, double-double," he ordered from it. A cup materialized on the console and he picked it up and took a drink from it. "Just ask for what you want and you shall have it," he told Rei.  
** "**Ramen noodles," she said, not really believing it. True to his word though, the replicator came to life once more and produced what she had asked for. She took a taste of them and quickly ate the rest because they tasted like they had just been freshly made.  
**** Tai chuckled a bit. "Replicated food isn't that good, but I guess since it's the first of it you've ever had you'd think so."  
** "**_Energy pattern detected_," _Red_ reported. "_Signal is consistent with that of an Andronian implant_."  
** "**Location?"  
** "**_Unknown_."  
** "**Triangulate the signal and report location."  
** "**_Unable to comply_. _Signal has been lost_."  
****Tai sat back in his seat as he shifted to the next gear, the highest one without engaging the modified engines. He had just about had enough with the taunting that Vanessa was doing. This evening he would not only find out what is going on, but he would stop it once and for all.  
**** Next stop was back at the apartment, where he would try to put this behind him for the time being and then he would go to the Geo Front with the others for the sync tests so that Dr. Akagi would be satisfied. Then they would begin the night op that he would win at, one way or another.  
****  
The mall was packed from one side of the corridor to the other, but Tai knew exactly where he had to go. The small dinning area was deserted, except for two people that sat in the shadows of one of the booths. One was putting out the unique energy signature that would only be emitted from Andronian technology.  
** "**Hello Vanessa," Tai sneered, taking a seat across from her at the table. A man sat with her who seemed to be very serious about what he was doing, but he didn't say a word.  
** "**Hello Brian," she answered, greeting him with a kindness that was beginning to get under his skin. "You came alone I see."  
**"**Not very observant today, are we?" he asked. "I brought a friend with me, who I taught how to use _Red_'s self-destruct system. She's waiting outside this building ready to flip the switch if I don't return within a certain amount of time."  
** "**Always with your finger on the button, now aren't you?" she asked, mocking him as if he was only a child.  
** "**Enough of this crud, what do you want?"  
** "**Simple," she said. "I want you to return with me. We have a lot to discuss about our future together."  
**** He sat there, his scowl growing in intensity. "There is no _us_ anymore, Vanessa. You ended it years ago. I will not be drug back into that kind of relationship ever again. You were heartless and untrustworthy."  
** "**I'm hurt," she pouted, taunting him further. "Fine, since you will not comply, I will have to prove to you my worth in battle."  
** "**Stealing one of the _Lightning_s is not what I think will prove you in battle," he retorted. "Nor stealing a piece of technology that could kill you when interfaced with it."  
** "**We shall see," she said. "This discussion is over."  
**** Tai tapped his combadge and spoke one word, "Tango."  
**** Vanessa watched as the hologram disappeared and then she just how much of a mistake she had made. "We have to get out of here."**

** Tai brought his phaser rifle to bare on the fire control systems and blasted it with a quick pull of the trigger. The alarms blared and the sprinkler system came to life as soon as the blast struck it. Everyone in the mall began to evacuate, thinking that there was some kind of fire.  
**** Only a few moments passed before he got an alert that a transporter system was activating. He smiled as it was blocked by the transport inhibiter field that he had set up. There were a lot more cards that Vanessa held in her hand, but he just took a very important one away.  
**** The next alert that his implant gave to him was that a clocking field was being used. He detonated a small EMP weapon that knocked out the cloaking field generators on both his implant and hers at the same time.  
**** Now, with some of the most impressive systems off-line that the implants had to offer, they were on even grounds and trapped within the mall. He tossed the phaser rifle toward the entrance to the building after setting it to overload and watched as it exploded, reducing the doors to rubble.  
**** Standing from his position on the upper floor, he began his own game, in which there would be no escape. He slung his second phaser rifle over his shoulder and made a quick run for the shadows as the sprinklers continued to rain down upon him.**

"**Where is he?" Vanessa sneered as she walked though the corridors of the mall, staying as close to the walls as possible. She had retrieved her phaser rifle and pack from a public locker she had found when she walked in, and she had just gotten in moments after realizing her former boyfriend's treachery. Inside the pack were a multitude of plasma grenades and a few bricks of homemade C4.  
**** Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she tensed up and kneeled down on the floor. Waiting to see if there would be another flash of movement, she heard a splash from behind her and whirled to come face-to-face with an armor-clad Brian. He wasn't what she was immediately worried about though. It was the phaser rifle he had lowered to her skull.  
** "**You wouldn't really shoot me, right?" she asked, trying to get an advantage by distracting him.  
** "**Wrong." He pulled the trigger and the video feed from the sensors was obliterated.**

** Standing there in the downpour form the sprinkler system, Tai wondered just how many more holographic emitters he'd have to go through to get top the real deal. However, he didn't have to wait long because his target stepped out of the shadows fairly quickly.  
** "**You destroyed the only one, Tai," she said. "I want a duel with you, on fair and even grounds. No weapons, technology, armor, or shields."  
**** Dropping his armor and allowing the pouring water to soak through his uniform, he fixed her with his trademark cold stare. "Think you can handle me hand-to-hand, eh?" he asked, watching closely as she copied his movements in disassembling the phaser rifle she carried. "Didn't we already do this once?"  
** "**Just before we separated," she answered. "That day put you into a state of depression that would last for well over a year."  
**** He tossed the disassembled particle weapon aside as she did that and her pack. Then he stepped a little closer to her to enter hand-to-hand range as he copied the maneuver. It was just like back before they did separate. This time though, it wouldn't be one of the harmless training sessions they had gone though back then.  
**** Getting into a fighting stance that assured him cover from all directions, he narrowed his eyes to lock onto his target's weak points. "I got over that, and have since moved on," he said, as they circled each other. "Now, as your enemy and teacher, I'm telling you to back off."  
** "**Not a chance," she sneered. "Gender doesn't apply here, so don't hold back."  
** "**Very well," he said, cracking his neck as he allowed his eyes to close for a moment, then he looked back at her with a dark look in his eyes. "Protocols rescinded, begin!"  
**** She unleashed with a spin kick, that he quickly parried with a punch to the underside of her leg. It made her fall back a little, enough for him to get a few well-placed punches in. He drove her back quickly, allowing his full power to resonate.  
**** As he was moving at full speed she saved her power and then threw a punch that intercepted a flying kick and knocked him back for a moment, but he recovered quickly.  
** "**You still don't know how to anticipate your opponent's movements," he said, kneeling to rest for a moment. "This will not end well for you."  
** "**Keep talking," she snorted, then launched herself into the air.  
**** Tai remained kneeling as he braced for impact and soon felt the pain as she came down on his head. Damage was minimal, but it made his head spin for a moment. All of her weight was put into the next blow that was made onto his shoulder and then she punched his arm in the other direction. The sound of shattering of bones seemed to please her and she backed off and turned around so that her back was to him.  
** "**You are now below one hundred percent combat effective," she announced, pride in her voice. "You are no longer able to continue with that arm of yours."  
** "**I thought we weren't using any technology,"" he told her as she remained turned around. The calmness in his voice was taunting her to a great extent. "Check your readings again."  
**** She stood there with her back still to him, but he could see the light from her now decloaked implant's display screen. "Two hundred and fifty percent combat effective?" she gasped as her implant was finished recalibrating its scan results. "How is that possible?"  
** "**That grief period, that tortured me for so long, served as a training period for me," he said, standing without effort. "This arm of mine that you have broken is only dropping me by fifty percent, but watch."  
**** Now, turned to face him in shock, she watched as he moved his right arm so that it hovered over his broken left arm's shoulder and then slowly glided it along its length. On her implant, the scan confirmed that he was repairing the injury, and with it his combat effectiveness percentage rose to an even three hundred percent.  
** "**Stay back," she chocked, deploying her armor and raising her shields.  
** "**Don't think so," he said as the power readings she was getting from him went off the scale. "With protocol in the state that it is, I must follow without it. In other words, you made the biggest mistake possible when you told me not to follow it. Thus, with protocol rescinded, I must now finish this battle." He walked up to her, without the use of his own implant and he got back into a fighting stance. "This ends here, and now."  
****  
Receiving the signal that she had been waiting for, Rei decloaked _Red Lightning_ and opened the door. Outside was the lobby of the mall, but it looked as though a war had been fought there. She gazed at the tricorder that she was holding and followed the signal in the direction that it was indicating. Walking through the corridors, she could see that the sprinklers were still running and thought that the system had been damaged by whatever kind of battle was fought here. **

**As she was about to turn the corner, the beeping sounds from the tricorder escalated in speed and intensity. Closing it, she rounded the corner and there he was. Kneeling down beside him, she looked at the young woman who was lying unconscious in front of him. She looked like she had been beaten up badly, but he also looked like he'd gone through quite a battle because he was bleeding a bit from scrapes on his arms and cuts on his face.  
** "**Hand me the tricorder, please," he said, weakly. She handed it to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to give him some degree of support and comfort. He looked at her and gave a weak smile before scanning the woman as she continued to lie there, but then he announced the results. "She's still alive, but just barely."  
** "**What happened to her?" Rei asked.  
** "**Hand-to-hand combat that she was over confident in," he answered. He then reached to her wrist and tore the Andronian implant, an exact replica of his own, from it. "Thankfully she won't die because of me removing this. She hasn't interfaced with it correctly. Now, just to get her somewhere to patch her up before she does die on us."  
** "**Why do we need her alive?"  
** "**She has questions that I want answers to," he said, picking her up and allowing Rei to lead the way back to the lobby. "We'll have to take her back to the apartment where I can interrogate her."  
** "**Is she a danger?"  
** "**Without this," he said, holding up the implant in one hand while he balanced her in his arms, "she's just as weak as Shinji is when he is severely depressed. Just to be safe though, I do have a few forcefield generators back at the apartment among my belongings."  
**** We'll need them then, as a precaution." She rounded the front of _Red Lightning_ and got into the passenger's seat. Tai placed the limp body of the woman into the back and then sealed the compartment with the metal shield. He then sat down behind the wheel and sighed in relieve as she gazed at him. "Who is she?"  
**** Tai turned to her as he keyed in the manual command to cloak the car. "She's a former officer of my organization, holding the rank of commander," he answered. "Her name is Vanessa Gordan, and she was also my former girlfriend of one year."  
****  
The room was dark and it elicited a feeling of dread as she opened her eyes and flexed her damaged muscles. What surprised her most of all that her thought of them being damaged was flawed. They had been punished in the fight with her ex-boyfriend, but now they felt as if that had never happened. She knew it couldn't have been a dream, but now she got another feeling.  
**** She looked around and found that there was a window and she looked out it, without moving, and found that it was still dark. "What hit me?" she asked.  
** "**I did," came a familiar voice out of the darkness, but it was older than she remembered and it was also full of venom.  
** "**Brian," she asked, and then she remembered exactly what had happened to her. "Where have you taken me?"  
**** He smiled a cold smile as he stepped out of the darkness and stood, leaning against a wall beside a door, on the other side of the room from her. "Somewhere where I can hold you behind a forcefield until you answer a few of my questions."  
** "**You know that because of the implant, forcefields cannot hold me," she said, sneering. But then she noticed what she had overlooked. He had removed it. "What have you done to me?"  
** "**The implant gave you the abilities that would have made it possibly for you to escape," he said, holding it up in a small stasis tank. "So I removed it shortly after you fell unconscious."  
** "**So, what are you going to do now that I'm as helpless as every other human being?" she asked, ignorantly.  
** "**Where is _Grey Lightning_?" he asked, ignoring her question.  
** "**Hidden away from you and on autopilot to change locations every few hours."  
** "**Why were you so eager to engage me in combat?"  
** "**I want you back."  
** "**That cannot, and will not, happen, and you know that!" he yelled, slamming his fist against the wall as emphasis. "Now, where is the _Lightning_!"  
**** For a moment she saw something in his eyes that made her fear him, but then she regained her self-confidence and turned her face away from him. "I will not tell you."  
**** Another figure stepped out of the shadows and stood beside him, at the same time handing him a phaser riffle. He nodded to the newcomer and she keyed a command in on a tricorder that drooped the forcefield. "If you will not tell me, then there is no use for you. This phaser riffle is set to vaporize. I'm sorry it had to come to this."  
**** As he raised the weapons tip to be level with her head, she huddled into a corner and brought her knees up to her chin. She was genuinely afraid of him now, and the only thing she could think of suddenly happened. "I can't even find him!" she shouted. "It's a random program with the computer's AI!"  
**** After a second, he lowered the weapon and removed the power pack from it. "You will stay in this room or you will be killed, is that understood?"  
** "**Yes, Admiral."  
**** He then left the room and closed the door behind him and his companion. Vanessa lowered her head so that her forehead touched to her knees and she sobbed. "Why has it come to this?"  
****  
Tai made his way to the living room where he sat down to think about what his next step would be. There was a definite danger to the public if a rouge _Lightning_ was allowed to operate in the area, especially that one. The AI programming of _Grey Lighting_ was flawed to a point where a special pilot was needed to keep it under control, and now it had no pilot.  
** "**Is it wise to keep her there without that forcefield of yours?" Asuka asked, sitting down on the couch beside him to watch TV. "I mean, she could just walk out of here."  
** "**And if she does try it, I will be alerted," he told her. When she looked at him with a confused expression, he tapped his wrist where the implant was. "I tagged her with a tracking device. If she moves beyond the confines of that room, she will trigger it and my implant will alert me."  
** "**I see," Asuka said. "Won't she be able to find it and remove it?"  
** "**She'll have to rip herself apart," he said, keeping his calm voice that irritated most people, including Asuka. "I put it in her stomach, and it should last for a few months."  
** "**That's sick," Asuka said, turning a shade of green thinking of it. "So, what are you going to do now?"  
** "**That's what I'm going to figure out."  
**** Shinji walked into the room, carrying a platter of food and Rei was behind him carrying in the drinks. The four teens enjoyed the small snack that Shinji had prepared for him, and Tai continued to think about the events that could happen. He had sent _Red_ out on a scouting mission and she would be reporting in if she found any sign of her fellow _Lightning_.  
**"**You kids still up?" asked Misato as she came in to join them. "It's three in the morning."  
**** "Tai blew up the mall today," Asuka told her.  
** "**I heard something happened there, thankfully no one was injured." She then noticed the cuts on Tai's face. "Tai, what happened to you?"  
**** He reached up and touched his fingers to the wounds. "More battle wounds," he muttered. "I was in a fight, and I won."  
** "**He also has a prisoner in the spare bedroom," added Rei.  
**** Misato sat down as he explained what had happened and she stared at him as he finished telling her what the battle had been like. "So she's in there now, beaten up that badly! She's got to be taken to the hospital!"  
** "**She's alright," Tai assured her. "I brought some technology with me that serves medical purposes."  
**"**Technology my holographic butt," came a voice from behind Misato.  
** "**Who the heck are you?" the three other pilots and Misato asked in unison.  
** "**I'm the Emergency Medical Hologram," the man replied. "Most people who know me call me Doctor."  
**** Tai frowned, realizing that the hologram's autonomous controls had been reactivated. "Who activated you?" he asked, irritated now.  
** "**I did," the Doctor said, smiling. "While you were out of the room, I finished treating Miss Gordan and had time to reactivate my autonomous controls."  
**"**Great," Tai muttered, hanging his head low and taking interest in the hardwood floor for a moment.  
**** Rei was puzzled about what was going on and asked, "What is wrong with that, Tai?"  
**** He didn't even bother to lift his head. "Now he'll be ordering me to get more sleep and be complaining about every little thing I do. He's a vicious, life sucking monster from which there is no escape."  
**** The Doctor looked at him and frowned. "I'm a doctor, not that teacher you had to deal with in high school years ago."  
** "**Whatever." Tai stood and made his way to his room to get his futon. "We all sleeping in the living room again tonight?" he asked. When he received the response from the others that they were planning on it, he dragged his futon out and got it ready for later. He then made his way to the washroom with a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt draped over his shoulder.  
** "**You are not planning on sleeping with these women, Admiral," the Doctor said, appalled at this. It elicited a series of chuckles from the others as Tai stopped dead in his tracks. "And you, how do you consume that much beer?"  
**** Misato pulled away from the hologram as he attempted to remove the beer from her. This made the others back away from the scene as her face contorted into a glare. "I see what you mean now, Tai. How do I deactivate him?"  
** "**I assure you, this will not help your health," the Doctor said.  
** "**Remove the device that is on his left arm just below his shoulder."  
** "**Now just a minute-"  
** "**Thank god," Tai said, hearing the familiar sound as the Doctor faded away into holographic oblivion. "Now give that to me." Misato handed him the small device that was the Doctor's holographic emitter and he made a slight modification to the circuitry with a tool he removed from it and then he placed it on a shelf. "There, he won't be able to bother us whenever he wants to now."  
** "**This whole hologram thing still freaks me out," Asuka said, shivering just a bit. Shinji put his arm around her in the moment that seemed so rare and she didn't bother to shrug him off.  
** "**He won't harm you," he said, and then added, "physically. The only danger there is is him talking your ears off." Receiving a laugh from that he proceeded back on course to the washroom to get changed.  
** "**Do you think that he has any more surprises that we don't know about?" Misato asked, looking at the other three children. "It seems that we can't go, even for a few hours, without something else popping up!"  
** "**Let's just be thankful that he's on our side," Shinji said. "If he wasn't and was looking to attack us, I'd be a little worried."  
** "**The prisoner's vehicle is still out there somewhere," Rei added, back in a voice that seemed hollow and void of emotions.  
**** Shinji looked at her with a questioning look on his face. "What does that have to do with it? Without a driver, it cannot be a problem."  
** "**Those 'cars' are weapons," Tai said, now back in the room and leaning against the doorframe. "Just like the Evangelions, they have a mission in their existence as well. I can pilot and Vanessa can pilot, not because of sync ratios, but because of training. The AI does a lot of the work for first-time pilots, but left on its own it can become quite destructive without a pilot." He closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a breath. "And there's always the possibility that she has given it a few extra instructions that we don't know about yet."  
** "**Can you force the information out of her?" Misato asked.  
** "**Not without getting back to my base," he said, not looking very enthusiastic about it. "And the fact is, I don't even know if we could do anything there or not either. When I last saw it, the whole place was in ruins."  
** "**Then we will have to question her further," Asuka said. "First thing in the morning."  
**** Misato nodded and then got up to go to bed herself. "I'll see you all in the morning."  
** "**Goodnight, Misato," they all said in unison as she retreated from the room.  
**** Rei was the last one to get changed and she sat there as Tai typed commands in on the implant that he had attached to his wrist. She was curious about it and her gaze drifted from it to his face as he worked. "Where did you get that?" she finally asked.  
**** Tai stopped and recloaked it as he looked up to meet her gaze. She visibly shivered as his eyes met hers and then he sighed. "That's a story that is very long and very troublesome," he said. "To put it in a short form, I got it just before a very dear friend of mine was killed. Along with several hundred other people that I used to work with."  
**** Silence fell on the room after that and he slipped in under the covers as she looked at him with an expression that was unreadable at first, but then became apparent that it was one of wonder.  
**** Rei had simply taken the answer as a shock to her very core. She had never heard anything like that before and, now that she was beginning to get in touch with her emotions; she realized that that information was terrifying. Wondering how he could even stand to remember such a thing worried her and she felt driven to comfort him again, yet resisted. This person that lay on the futon beside hers was obviously one more mystery after another and she was only held back by her worry that she may uncover something worse.  
**** A past that had not occurred to her before was that he had lived before Second Impact, was left to sleep though it in suspended animation, and then revived in time to pilot Eva. It had been rough on Shinji when he first began piloting, but this seemed to be even worse in her mind. Now he had not only piloting Eva to worry about, but also piloting this vehicle that he referred to as a _Lightning_.  
** "**Come to bed, Rei," came his voice, soft and unemotional. "You need your rest."  
**** Almost feeling reluctant to do so, she layed down and covered herself with blankets that she had spread out for her futon while pondering these things. Shinji and Asuka were already asleep and she knew that they wouldn't be woken up so easily. She layed on her side, starring at the back of Tai's head as he layed there and breathed in a steady motion that forced the blankets to rise and fall with it.  
**** Suddenly, he rolled over and faced her. "Thank you."  
** "**For what?" she asked, feeling better in some way that he had faced her. He had a caring disposition that she enjoyed and basked in the feeling of it as he gazed upon her, the edge and darkness now out of his expression.  
** "**For doing what you did for me today," he said. "Most others have been reluctant, and even too scared to even attempt what you did."  
** "**Why?"  
** "**The people who have done that for me in the past just never understood and they were too frightened by the fact that I was a pilot of a weapon like _Red_," he said. "I saw the fear in your eyes as you gazed upon it too, and I was almost ready to take you back when I switched everything to an alerted status. But I commend you for your ability to operate in a tense situation such as that was."  
** "**I understand," she said, inching a little closer to him. "Do you mind?"  
** "**Of course not," he said, draping his arm around her and pulling her closer. "It comforts me more to have someone beside me than being alone."  
** "**Me too."  
**** With that said, they both found a resolve in the night and then closed their eyes to fall asleep. Tai was about ready to drift into unconsciousness when his exposed arm rippled and the Andronian implant decloaked again. He opened his eyes as he felt this happen and gazed at the screen, which read 'Security Breach' in large, bold, red lettering.  
**** Looking over to where he knew that a pair of eyes gazed upon him, he found his prisoner standing there, looking at him. She seemed very upset by what she saw, but he didn't really care about what she felt. The mere fact that she had wanted to harm him brought anger welling up inside him as she stood there, but he suppressed it, like he did everything else that was negative.  
** "**Tyler, are you awake?" she asked.  
** "**The silent alarm sounded when you exited the room," he answered, "so, yeah, I'm awake." He looked at her, clad in her officer's uniform. "I am still armed, I advise that you return to your room before I am forced to escort you and reactivate the forcefield to detain you."  
** "**That won't be necessary," she said, her head dropping to gaze at the floor. "I just need to use the washroom."  
** "**Then do so, and then return to your quarters," he said, closing his eyes. What he said was more along the lines of an order the way it sounded. "I will deal with you in the morning. And the doors and windows are armed with forcefield generators as well, so don't attempt an escape."  
** "**I won't," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  
**** When he didn't hear any footsteps retreating from the other side of the living room, he opened his eyes again to see her still standing there. "Is there something else?"  
** "**Yes," she said. "I'm sorry."  
**** He blinked and then snorted at that comment. "You threatened me and then attacked me," he said, his voice kept low so he wouldn't wake the others. Rei was asleep in his grasp, her back to him, and he really didn't want to worry her. "Your apology is accepted, Vanessa, but I can never forget the fact that you mercilessly broke my arm earlier today."  
** "**I'm sorry," she repeated. "I really didn't know what to do, and I acted on impulse when I saw you with her."  
**** He looked back to the mop of blue hair that protruded from the blankets in the futon next to him. It brought joy to his life, just having her there, but it also reminded him that he had finally found someone who wouldn't leave or betray him. "She means a lot to me, Vanessa," he confessed. "Even though I only met her a few days ago, she means a lot and I've gotten very close to her. If you truly do care for me, you won't interfere."  
** "**I understand," she said, still standing there, now looking at him as he looked intently at his new love and then back to her. "I won't interfere."  
**** The man that she had known for years then uncovered himself, separated from his new girlfriend, and crossed the room to her. She didn't know why he had done this, and the only thing that came to her attention was the phaser that he gripped at his side. Before he got to her, though, he unclipped it from his waist and set it down on the television in the corner. He then closed the distance between them and embraced her as she began to sob.  
** "**It's alright, I forgive you," he said as he held her and she openly cried into his shoulder. Tai had always been a very forgiving and caring person, but she had never expected him to forgive her for what she had done to him in the last few hours. Then, just as unexpected, he guided her to the washroom.  
**** Once she was finished, she emerged, still sobbing openly, and then she saw his face. He looked very tired and she remembered that look only from when she first seen him behind the wheel of _Red Lightning_. In fact, it had been the first time that he had even piloted the car himself. "You're very tired," she managed, between sobs.  
** "**I feel like a truck hit me," he said, adding a soft chuckle after saying that. "But I still have enough energy to get this one last task done for the day."  
** "**Carry me?" she asked, feeling very weak.  
**** Without hesitation, he scooped her up off her feet and began carrying her back to her room, her arms locked around his neck to assist him. It reminded her of when they were still together, and she missed those days . . .**

** Three years had passed before she even knew that he had been in her life before. Then another two years passed before she discovered that he was actually a real person, and not a hallucination, but then ten years passed when he and his family suddenly disappeared . . . along with those amazing vehicles that they had both piloted.  
**** She'd found the base over a year ago, thanks to a few people that she was able to contact in the military. Then she got everything together in an effort to actually get there. The dive gear that she got together was the best that she could afford with her job, the way it paid, and then she had to get someone to instruct her on cave diving. Once that was done with, she was able to make an attempt.  
**** It took her months of diving during her hours off work and she never found the entrance, and then, a few days ago, she found it. Second Impact had rose the water levels to the point where the entrance to Base One was submerged under several hundred feet of water, and the small, one-man submersible, had felt like a coffin. On every dive she had made, she had felt uneasy about it, but when she discovered it, she made sure to log the coordinates and then get back to the surface before her oxygen ran out.  
**** Back aboard the small boat that she now owned, she docked the submersible and then climbed out of it to let it charge and allow her to get some sleep. The thing used up an amazing amount of power, but it beat trying to find any other fuel that would drive something like it.  
**** To be honest, the boat and the sub were archaic compared to what the top researchers owned nowadays, but it was what she could afford. Since she learned of Tai's disappearance before Second Impact, she had saved an incredible amount of money, but had to take many jobs to get it. In the end, it was all worth it though.  
**** The next day, she took the sub back down into the depths and docked it, awkwardly, with the man-sized hatch away from the launch tunnel and main entrance to the base. The pressure of the water would have killed her if she had not checked to make sure that the seal was perfect, but she was thankful that he excitement had not gotten the better of her. When she popped the hatch, she descended into the base, but quickly found that the flashlight she had brought with her was a great idea.  
**** The power was off, and the only light was from her flashlight that she held, and a scattered few consoles that were flickering. The main hangar was damaged, and looked like Second Impact had taken a tole on it. Many of the ceiling panels were jostled free and it seemed as though the only reason that the hangar launch doors were holding was because of something that was added.  
**** Debris was scattered around in all directions, and she could see bodies in some places that had decomposed with time. It had to be one of the most sickening sights that she had ever layed eyes upon. The resemblance was that of petrified wood. Locating where her _Lightning_ would be stored, she was about to move a little closer when she began to hear voices.  
****_ Everyone down here is dead_, she thought,_ how could I be hearing voices?  
_**** It wasn't long before she saw that the voices she was hearing were real. Three men, carrying weapons that looked to be machine guns, emerged from the main corridor that would lead down to the officer's ready rooms. Behind them was something that shocked her even more. Tai was there, along with his family, but they looked as though they hadn't aged a bit! That was impossible! Unless they were in stasis. What she heard next eliminated all doubt of what she was seeing.  
** "**You can go now," came Tai's voice, drifting across the large room and echoing off the walls. "We have our own transportation to the surface."  
** "**Yeah, right, kid," was the sarcastic remark from one of the two soldiers that emerged from the rear of the group. "It took us days to get in here, and we had to use a sub."  
** "**This facility is underwater?" came the unmistakable voice of her former friend, and Tai's sister, Jodi.  
** "**Yes," came the answer, most likely the lead soldier talking. "There is much to explain."  
** "**That can wait until we are where you have to take us," Tai said. "Where is it that we are going?"  
** "**Nerv's fifth branch," came the reply, a woman talking who sounded more relaxed and joyful. "It's in Ottawa."  
** "**I'll be there," Tai responded. "Get going now, I have to get something done here before I leave."  
** "**Kid, we were sent to get you and I have to-"  
** "**Enough!" Tai shouted. "I said that I have to do something and I want you to leave, now! I have transportation out of here, water or no water, now go!"  
**** Vanessa cringed at the tone he was using, reminding her of how angry he got when someone had questioned his orders in the past. This was no different.  
** "**Whatever, kid," the soldier said, and then began to walk off toward another room. "The level below this one is flooded, I suggest you stay out of there."  
**** Within minutes, the soldiers had left and then Tai turned to one of the computer banks that were still active. "Computer, recognize."  
**"**_Fergason, Brian_," the computer responded. _"Rank, Third Star Admiral, pilot of _Lightning_ unit zero._"  
** "**Open storage bay Alpha Zero One," he ordered, and the computer replied by beeping and then the door that was stripped with a red line opened. "Prepare _Red Lightning_ for launch."  
**** The next few minutes were a sad sight as she kept herself hidden, thinking that he wouldn't recognize her if she revealed herself and would consider her an intruder. She then watched the crimson vehicle speed out through the launch tunnel and disappear from view.  
**** After she was sure that they were gone, she walked up to the console that he had accessed and followed his example. "Computer, recognize."  
** "**_Gordan, Vanessa_," it responded. "_Status, decommission, designated pilot of _Lightning_ unit one._"  
** "**Open storage bay Alpha Zero Two."  
** "**_Unable to comply, storage bay Alpha Zero Two is under lockdown protocol_."  
** "**Since when is a _Lightning_ locked down around here?"  
** "**_Please restate the question_."  
** "**I've always hated you."  
**"**_Please restate the question_."  
** "**Override lockdown command, voice authorization Gordan Alpha nine five three." After she spoke those words, the computer chirped and the door that was stripped with a grey line began to open. "Prepare _Grey Lightning_ for launch."  
**  
"**You going to be alright?"  
**** Snapped out of her memories, she looked at Tai as he lowered her onto the futon she was to stay in tonight. "Yes," she answered. "Just remembering things."  
** "**I'll see you in the morning," he said, then his expression returned to one that told her that he was being serious. "I expect answers when I come back."  
** "**I know," she said. "Goodnight."  
** "**Goodnight," he said, then left the room.  
**** It had only been a few minutes ago that he had begun to show any degree of sympathy toward his ex-girlfriend and now he was beginning to feel a little bit better. The fact remained that she could still be a threat, but it felt better to him that she was now beginning to come around.  
**** He walked back to the living room and adjusted the sheets over Rei so that she wouldn't be cold during the night.  
** "**Is she okay?"  
** "**You're still awake, Rei?" he asked, a little surprised. "Did you hear all that?"  
** "**Yes."  
**** I'm sorry that I've kept you up," he said.  
** "**It's okay," she said, shivering under her blankets. "Could you climb in next to me?"  
****He pulled back for a moment, and then realized what she was asking. "You want me to cover us with both our blankets?"  
** "**Is there a problem?" she asked.  
**"**No," he said, adjusting them and making sure that his futon was right up beside hers. He then crawled in under her sheets with her and covered them with his as well. She turned to face him as he did this, and then they just layed there looking into each other's eyes for a moment.  
** "**Let's get some sleep," he said. "I'm going to need to be at my best to deal with her in the morning. She could be back to being nasty."  
**** Rei gave a nod, and then turned away from him and he embraced her from behind. They fell asleep like this and never stirred all night, both content with sleeping like this.**

**Well, that's it. I'm very tired right now because it is going on quarter to one in the morning. I hope that more people will review this story, because, until I get different people reviewing with some POSITIVE feedback or critisism, I will not be forking over the last chapter and the epilogue. Get reading! And review! Let me know that someone else is out there reading this!  
Until next time, Fergason out.**


	7. Chapter Six

I know it has been a week or so since I noticed that there were 10 reviews, but I was camping a lot and I also started work just this week. In fact, I have a day of work tomorrow morning. This is the next chapter, and as soon as I get three more reviews, for a total of 13, I'll put the Epilogue up. Thanks for all your support for those of you who too the time to review. And now, on with the fic.

Chapter Six

**Misato woke up and wondered out into the kitchen where she got a beer out of the fridge and then walked into the living room. Today, all four of the pilots were still asleep, but what registered in her mind first was the fact that Tai and Rei were side by side under the same blankets. Normally, being a mother figure to the children, she would have woken them to begin scolding them, but she thought better of it. They had clothes on and Shinji and Asuka were there in the room too. It wouldn't be right for them to do anything with others in the room.  
****Then she looked to the corridor that led to the prisoner's bedroom. The door was closed, and Tai seemed to be undisturbed so she assumed that she was still in there. It didn't take long for the boy to stir though, noticing her presence.  
**"**Mornin', Casanova," she greeted him as his eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the harsh light of the morning sun coming through the window.  
**"**Morning, Misato," he said, yawning. "Sleep well?"  
**"**Yup," she said, chugging a mouthful of beer. "I can see you did as well."  
****A faint blush appeared on the young man's face as he looked at the sleeping form of Rei, and then he turned back to her. "It's not what it looks like, Misato."  
**"**I know," she said, waving off any further explanation that he would offer. "I'm just teasing."  
****Tai looked back to Rei from Misato and rested his head back down upon the pillow that he had been comfortable sleeping on before Misato stirred him. The one thing on his mind right now was rest, but he knew that the day's duties were about to begin. After last night's encounter with Vanessa, he was a little sceptical on how things would fall into place though. If he could get her to remain in that frame of mind, he could get to her and reason with the rational side of her. He might even be able to get an authorization code, or a tracking frequency out of her. Anything would be better than simply searching the city with a tricorder in hand everywhere he went.  
****That thought brought a new one to his mind. If he did find out where the now rogue _Lightning_ had hidden itself, there would most likely be an armed conflict between him and the onboard AI. _Liger_, _Grey Lightning_'s AI, had never been one to like anyone and had to be tamed. When the programming had screwed up, they had attempted to trace the problem, but were unable to find anything wrong with it. It simply was the way it was because, astoundingly, by choice! The only one that had been able to fully tame it was Vanessa herself, and she was obviously out of commission now that she had been captured. The AI would have long ago considered her a threat now that it knew that the 'enemy' target had captured her.  
****That was another thing that was really beginning to bother him. He was the enemy in its eyes and he was the darned co-creator of the hunk of metal! This would play out to be a very long and tiring mission if it went the way that he was thinking it would go.  
**"**You okay?" Misato asked.  
**"**Just thinking," he answered. "Things have gotten a lot more complicated with a rogue _Lightning_ in the city. Nothing here could stand up against it if it decided to engage a random target."  
**"**This city was made to withstand the Angels, it can certainly withstand the force of one weapon vehicle," Misato said. "How bad can it be?"  
****Tai was obviously a little annoyed and the statement that was just made. "The 'weapon vehicle' you speak of has a plasma based propulsion system capable of vaporizing everything within a five mile radius if it is detonated with the self destruct system," he said, a cold and unnerving tone in his voice. "Not to mention the weapons that it already has onboard, including phasers, disruptors, and a limited number of torpedoes."  
****Misato blinked. "You're not kidding, are you?" she asked, and when he shook his head, a shiver went down her spine. "Does Tokyo-3 have anything that could be used against it?"  
**"**Defence wise, the only thing that might have a chance at standing up to it is an Absolute Terror Field."  
**"**An AT field? The Eva can stand up to it?"  
**"**I said might stand up to it," he said. "And I wasn't including the Eva." He decided to let that sink in for a moment, and then added, "Also, _Red Lightning_ is equipped for _Lightning_-to-_Lightning_ combat. The only drawback to that is that it was only tested once, and that was in a real combat situation."  
****Misato cringed at the tone that he used to finish that last sentence. "How did it turn out?"  
**"**The two _Lightning_s in question suffered extreme damage, making them both look like they had been taken apart by an oversized can opener. Most of the engine was damaged, and the 'enemy' _Lightning_'s engine was about to explode when it gave up and powered down."  
**"**What happened?"  
**"**My second in command and I had a disagreement," he said, a smile now appearing on his face as he remembered the moment. "The Doctor attempted to submit us both for psychiatric help and a few sessions with him, so we deleted him."  
**"**Sounds like you both don't like that guy," she said, indicating the Doc's mobile emitter that was still sitting on the shelf beside the television.  
**"**He gets annoying, too annoying for his holographic health. We once programmed him to sneeze at random times during the day, and when the technician arrived to fix the problem, it was gone. Only to show up five minutes after they had left."  
****Misato joined in with a laugh at that point, but both stopped when the red haired mass began to stir. Misato curled up on the couch and pretended to be asleep, leaving Tai to deal with it all on his own.  
****"Good morning, Asuka,"  
****At the sound of the voice, the German redhead's temper flared and she didn't waist any time. **

**Ritsuko knocked on the door to her friend's apartment and waited, but she heard an unusual amount of commotion from the other side as she waited. It sounded as though a war was being fought on the other side and she thought about returning later, when the door opened.  
**"**Wark?" PenPen said as he looked up at her. The small warm-water penguin was the cutest thing that she had ever seen, but she would never tell anyone that. She had a reputation to keep.  
**"**Where's Misato?" she asked, receiving a glance toward the living room and then she thanked him to then step inside and shut the door behind her. She took her shoes off and met Misato, Shinji, and Rei in the kitchen, but the war-sounds still continued. "What's happening in here? Sounds like Third Impact."  
**"**Mount Asuka just erupted," Shinji said, not bothering to glance over his shoulder, but he winced when he heard a sound that resembled bones being crushed.  
**"**Who's she fighting with?" she asked, curiosity taking over now because she finally registered that Shinji was cooking and not under the German girl's assault.  
**"**She's fighting Tai," Rei answered, emotionlessly.  
**"**And neither of them are winning," Misato added. "They are just too enduring. Yet, I believe that she will tire before he will."  
**"**No, I think they're just getting warmed up," Shinji said. "Normally she would have killed me by now, but he seems to be up to the task."  
****Just as he said the words, a body flew past Ritsuko and landed just before it would have crashed into the table. The boy picked himself up off the floor and wiped a trickle of crimson red blood from his mouth. "Man that girl has a mean left hook." He then dusted himself off and stormed back into the living room, only to have another body be thrown back in his place.  
**"**Uuggh! Why don't you just stay down!" Asuka yelled, picking herself up as well. She looked up to Ritsuko and nodded as she pulled her sleeve back and then stormed back to the battle.  
**"**How long has this been going on?" Ritsuko asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.  
**"**It started as soon as we accidentally woke Asuka this morning," Misato said. "That was about a half hour ago."  
**"**And he's lasted this long?" she asked, not really believing it. She really would have killed Shinji by now if he were the one in the Canadian's place at the moment. "At least she has someone to spar against."  
**"**That's not sparing," Rei said. "They are actually fighting."  
****Ritsuko gave up. Even though Rei had been developing her emotions and keeping away form the Commander, something she took a great deal of pride in getting her to do, she still kept a dry attitude at times. Ritsuko then laid a file down in front of Misato. "I hear there was quite the disturbance at the Tokyo-3 mall last night. It seemed to only involve two people, but it tore the place up a lot. Any idea what I'm talking about?"  
****Remembering how reluctant Tai had seemed to be before he told them the story about what he was and what he could do, Misato instantly said, "No. What happened there?"  
**"**Normally I wouldn't bring this up, but the Magi picked up four separate signatures. Two have been classified as Blood Type Yellow, and the remaining two have been classified as simply red."  
**"**No blood type for the second two?" Misato asked, curiously.  
**"**No, the Magi are either having a glitch or they have picked up some kind of very powerful technology. Yet, if you look at the readings from one of the type yellow signatures, the power levels go off the scale at one point just before they disappear and then the red pattern disappeared shortly afterward."  
**"**Weird," Shinji offered, not showing any sign that he knew anything. "Did you check the Magi?"  
**"**Everything seems fine," Ritsuko said. "Yet I hear that Tai here is a computer technician, and from his file I see that he has some very amazing skills. I was wondering if you would bring him by later to have a look and maybe offer up a second opinion."  
**"**Sure thing," Misato said. "I'll bring him in this evening."  
**"**Thanks, Misato," she said, and then turned to leave. "I'll see you tonight then."  
****  
After Ritsuko had departed, Misato got up from the table and went to the fridge, grabbed another beer and then stormed into the living room. Shinji and Rei were not too far behind because they knew that Misato was going to somehow stop the fight hat has ensued between the Second and Sixth children. She didn't step between them, but she reached underneath her jacket and made sure that her gun was there.  
****Misato then stepped off to the side of the living room where she reached out and took hold of the energy weapon that Tai had placed there before he had talked to Vanessa. She upholstered it and aimed it at the both of them, making Tai instantly seize up, and giving Asuka a free shot at him.  
****After he had recovered a little from the punch that he had received to his chest, he looked up to see that Asuka had also stopped and was now kneeled down beside him. Misato was still standing there, beer in one hand Type-2 phaser in the other.  
**"**Misato, please give that to me," Tai asked, making a move to get it and when her gaze hardened he sat back down.  
**"**Make another move, and I'm going to start pushing buttons," she warned. "You two have been fighting for over a half hour now, and the time has come for you to cut it out."  
**"**He started it," Asuka said, adding a punch to Tai's gut as emphasis.  
**"**Enough!" Misato bellowed, placing the beer down on the shelf and allowing her full attention to be brought to the weapon in her hand. "Stand down or I will be forced to use this."  
**"**Alright, I give up," Tai said, weakly standing and holding out his hand to her as he used his other hand to hold his injured stomach. "Give me the phaser." When Misato reluctantly handed the weapon back to him, he turned it so that the business end of it was pointing toward the floor and checked it. What he saw was that it was set in it's high red mode. "This is set to its maximum setting, Misato. If you would have fired this, you would have vaporized not only Asuka and I, but most of the room and whatever lies below it."  
**"**Wow," was all that Misato could say to that statement before she heard the beeping of him pressing buttons on the weapon to disarm it, and then he pulled the power pack out of it. "I need another beer. No, make it another twenty-four."  
****As Misato left the room Rei walked up to Tai and hugged him before Asuka could stand up off the floor and examine the weapon that he then let her have, minus the power pack of course.  
**"**Sorry for the rude wake up call, Rei," he apologized as he held her.  
**"**Asuka can be quite a hothead at times," she answered. "Although, I think she had most definitely found her match."  
**"**Thank God Misato stopped us," Tai said. "I was starting to get angry."  
****Laughter bust from the German at hearing that and she turned her attention back to the Canadian once again. "Sore looser, eh? We can have a rematch any time you want."  
**"**No one lost here, it was a draw," Tai said deploying his chest armor for a split-second before looking at her in the eyes. He could see that she had noticed it, because her eyes were wide open in shock. "And the rematch is welcome any time that you want."  
****Asuka shook off the feeling of fear that she had just experienced and she walked off behind the Sixth Child to the kitchen where the two of them enjoyed a quiet breakfast with the rest of the residents of the apartment. PenPen had retired long ago back to his fridge when he decided that the fight between the hotheaded German and the willingly confrontational Canadian had gone on even after a guest had arrived.  
****Misato chewed her food nervously, and consumed more beer in one sitting than any of the others could even imaging. Tai was seriously wondering if she was having a nervous breakdown or something. Sure, she had almost killed both him and Asuka, but she was A Major working for Nerv and should have had training in stuff like that. Then again, she was holding something that was a lot more powerful than your normal everyday handgun.  
****Shrugging, Tai finished his meal as quickly as he always did these days and then reclined on the floor in the living room as he flipped though the channels on the TV. The only reason he was even still there was because he had to wait until he was alerted to some sign that Vanessa had woke up. After she did, he would be back in his normal command mode, and for now he just wanted to be a normal person. If that happened to only be a short amount of time, so be it, but he would enjoy it until it ended nonetheless.  
****A rustling sound made his ears perk up and he turned to see that the others had joined him in the room. He was about to speak when his Iris displays slid into place and alerted him of ambient readings having been changed in the room of his prisoner. This was the sign that he had been waiting for all morning.  
****He excused himself and then headed for the bedroom that severed as his prisoner's quarters for the time being and slipped inside without knocking. She was indeed, awake, and just beginning to get the sleep rubbed out of her eyes when he knelt down in front of her.  
**"**Geez! Don't do that!" she exclaimed as she pulled back from him in surprise. "Were you in here the entire night?"  
**"**No," he told her. "There are sensors all over this room. One of them told me that you were just waking up."  
****She shook her head and looked at the futon that lie below her. "What do you need?"  
**"**Answers," he said. "First of all, how you got a _Lightning_ from Base One when it's several hundred feet underwater." She recounted the entire event as detailed as she could remember to him and he took it all in as if it were all something that should have been told to him long ago. If Base One had been in top working order, even underwater, it would have alerted him to a possible intruder. "Why did you take her?"  
**"**I wanted to find you and convince you that I could still be with you," she answered. "I see now that that is a futile effort."  
**"**It was even before you began the effort," he told her. "Protocol 001 Alpha states that the Beta variant of it can only be used twice, and it registers that it has been used those two times already. Protocol also classifies you at the present time as Protocol Theta 001 Alpha. You should be thankful that I even granted you medical attention." He let that sink in as she realized just what he meant by that. "How did you track me to Tokyo-3?"  
**"**I heard what the soldiers were saying when I traced _Red Lightning_ to Nerv's fifth branch. They didn't mention your name, but the description they gave of you and your younger sister was enough to tell me who they were talking about." She leaned back against the wall as he continued to kneel there in front of her with one arm laying over his raised knee and letting his hand drape down over it. "Then, when you left for Tokyo-3, I hitched a ride by magnetically attaching _Grey Lightning_ to the underside of the hull of the cargo ship."  
****He took that in as if it was trivial to him, but he had a look of complete disgust on his face as well. "Now, what of this random program that you placed into _Grey Lightning_s AI?"  
**"**It's a program that randomly designates a new place to hide," she answered. "I really don't know what it would do, it was just a simple command to _Liger_."  
**"**And that sinister artificial intelligence probably took it willingly too."  
**"**Yes."  
**"**What exactly did you say?"  
**"**I said to create a random program to keep away from you and that if you were to come near to fire upon you if you became hostile."  
****He cringed at the thought of his own creation firing upon him, but it was a possibility. His armor would protect him if he had it raised, but nothing cold last for long under the assault of a _Lightning_ weapons load out.  
**"**I guess that we'll have to find it on our own then," he told her. "This isn't good Vanessa."  
**"**I know." **

"**Maya, what is that?" Ritsuko asked, walking onto the bridge in Central Dogma.  
**"**Not sure, the sensors just picked it up," Maya told her. As she looked at it further a familiar warning began to sound. "Blood Type Blue."  
**"**Go to battle stations, Level one," Fuyutsuki said calmly from his position beside Gendo. "Alert the pilots." **

"**Angel Attack!" Misato yelled as she burst through the door to the room where Tai had been sitting with Vanessa gathering more information. "Let's go!"  
**"**How much time?" he asked, standing and hurrying out the door with her to the living room.  
**"**Only a few minutes!" Asuka shouted, already pulling her shoes on.  
**"**Dang," Tai said, grabbing the mobile emitter off of the shelf and activating the Doctor.  
**"**Please state the nature-"  
**"**There's no time for that!" Tai yelled and the Doctor shut up as quickly as possible. "Take Vanessa to a shelter, you will be shown the way. Keep her under guard; my extra sidearm is in the case on the shelf in my closet. The combination is 34, 78, 93. Take her and get out of here as fast as you can."  
**"**Yes, sir," the Doctor answered, taking off to Tai's bedroom and he heard the shuffling of cases as he slipped out the door behind Misato and the others.  
**"**Let's get going," Misato said, taking the handle of the door to her car in hand.  
**"**No, we'll take mine," Tai said, decloaking _Red Lightning _on the other side of the parking lot. "She's a lot faster."  
****As soon as everyone was in, Tai skipped the pre-flight sequence and gunned the engine, throwing them quickly from zero to three hundred miles per hour. The buildings flew by outside in a blur and before they knew it they were already at the entrance to the geo front. Not wanting to get _Red_ inside the Nerv facility, he programmed the transporters and beamed them in.  
**  
"**Are the pilots here yet?" Gendo asked, looking at the Angel on the screen as it neared the city.  
**"**They just arrived, sir," Misato answered, stepping into Central Dogma. "They're getting ready."  
**"**Good."  
**"**Units 04 and 02 are ready for launch," Maya reported, being the only technician that was on duty when the Angel attacked. The others were still on their way.  
**"**Launch Evas!" **

**Asuka had barely had time to get into her plug suit, coupling that with the daze she was in after Tai had transported them in to the base, and now she was already charging into battle. Tai was there with her, and they broke the surface standing next to each other. The black and red-stripped Evangelion stepped forward and snatched a rifle that had been sent up with them and she willed her Eva to take hold of the positron rifle that had been sent up for her.  
****Making a quick check of the weapons, they then barely had time to dodge an energy beam from the Angel.  
**"**_Dang, this thing is quick_," came Tai's voice over the comm. "_We need the others up here_."  
**"**_Move out_," came Gendo's voice, obviously having taken command of this operation. "_Eva Units 00 and 01 are on standby_."  
**"**Great!" Asuka wailed as she squeezed the trigger and sent an energy beam back at the Angel, but it turned its attention to her as soon as she had done so. Barely having enough time to duck back into the buildings, her Eva took damage on its right arm. She was hurt, badly and her communications were cut off. **

**Tai heard the scream from Asuka before the comm line went dead and he charged the Angel, drawing both of his energy swords as he did so. "I've had enough of this!" he yelled, breaking the control yokes down so that he had a pair of joysticks in his hands.  
****The Angel reacted, but too slow as he hacked away at it, twisting and jerking on the control sticks as his effort turned into a struggle. He wouldn't be able to hold the angel much longer and he began to sweat with the exertion. This one was tough, worse than in the simulators and a lot worse than the one actual Angel that he had fought only a few days ago. Something was different from it.  
****Bringing his Iris displays into place over his eyes he scanned the monstrosity with his Andronian sensors and found out exactly why this one was so tough. At the heart of its body, where the core should have been, was something that was very familiar.  
**"**I need Evas 00 and 01 up here now!" he yelled, allowing the Iris displays to slide back, away from his eyes.  
**"**_They are on stand-_"  
**"**Don't give me that!" he yelled back at Gendo, knowing that he would probably be in a lot of trouble for his outburst. Right now he didn't care, there was something that was a lot more trouble than him staring him in the face now. "Send them! I can't do this on my own!"  
**"**_Asuka is still alive, she will help you in a moment_," Gendo snarled as his face appeared on the screen. **

**On the bridge, everyone watched as Eva Unit 04 struggled to keep a grip on the Angel and hold it off from entering the city, but it wasn't getting very far. Misato was angered by how Gendo had taken over the mission, but she had to step down when he wanted her to. Insubordination with that man could lead to many things that she didn't want to find out for herself first-hand.  
**"**_You ever here of the _Lightning_ incident in which a whole American base was wiped off the map Gendo?_" came the reply from Gendo's last statement about Asuka. Gendo obviously had heard that, because now he was standing and staring at the video screen that showed the image of the Sixth Child.  
**"**What of it?" he barked.  
**"**_I'm the pilot_," came Tai's response, which put Gendo back into his chair. _"I'm Third Star Admiral Brian Alexander Fergason. Commanding officer of the Federation Alliance_." Now, everyone on the bridge was shocked as he declared this, but Misato was not shocked by the information but the sheer fact that he'd told everyone. "_If you hadn't noticed, I outrank you, Commander. Get those Evas up here now before I get ripped in half_."  
****The channel closed after that, leaving everyone in shock. Yet, static was displayed on the screen.  
**"**We've lost communications with Eva Unit 04," Maya reported.  
**"**Is he still out there?" Fuyutsuki asked.  
**"**Unit 04 is still active, but I am getting no readings from the pilot. Damage reports indicate that a seventy eight percent failure rate if he continues to hold the Angel without assistance."  
**"**Launch the other Evas," Gendo ordered. "Do it now!"  
**"**Yes, sir," **

**Unit 00 lurched as it was launched up through the tunnels leading to the surface and Rei soon found herself looking at the body of the fallen Unit 02. She didn't have time to check on Asuka, but she hoped that she was alright. Next, she found that Unit 04 was on the outskirts of the city and she moved in to assist, just when Unit 01 arrived on the surface.  
****Rushing into battle was not one of the things that she had been taught, but she did so because she feared for Tai's life. Over the radio he had sounded tired and frustrated and that's something that she didn't see him doing. Not even when he had faced Vanessa down had he been in that condition. Something was terribly wrong.  
**"**You okay, Rei?" a voice asked.  
****Rei jumped a bit in the pilot seat and turned her head to see Tai in the entry plug with her. His image flickered a bit and she instantly understood that this was just a hologram. His voice was strained, but he was alive where he was transmitting.  
**"**I'm fine," she answered, grabbing hold of the Angel with her Eva. "Hang in there."  
**"**Will do," he said. "Tell Shinji to fire on the Angel."  
**"**_Already heard you_," Shinji responded. "_Asuka is in position as well, at least it looks like it_."  
**"**I'm in communication with her," Tai answered. "She's ready to fire on my order."  
**"**Okay," Rei said.  
**"**Everyone, aim for the core," Tai ordered, then waited a few seconds; his Eva then tore the Angels arms out. "FIRE!" **

**An explosion threw all the Evas away and took out a few buildings with them. It was deafening and the only thing that Shinji could see was swirling images in front of him. As he vision cleared though, he began to take notice that his Eva was lying on its face.  
**"**Misato, you there?" Shinji asked, but received static in response. "Asuka, Rei, Tai, everyone okay?"  
**"**_I'm here, baka,_" Asuka responded.  
**"**_I'm alive_," came Rei's calm reply.  
****Silence was heard for a few more seconds, and then, through a lot of static came, "_Mayday, mayday, Unit 04 is down and disabled. Entry plug penetrated by shrapnel and I cannot get it open. Mayday, may-_"  
**"**Anyone got power available?" Shinji asked, checking his Eva's status. "I've got maybe enough to stand, and that's all."  
**"**_I've got enough for the communications system, any more and I'll be drained_," Asuka told snapped.  
**"**_I'll go_."  
**"**Sorry, Rei, I'll see ya back at Base."  
****  
Ripping the back of Unit 04 off was easy, but she had to be careful of how she got the plug out because of what he told her. Technicians were on the way, but with the plug compromised, there was no telling how long they had before he wouldn't have enough LCL to stay alive. Within the Eva, there was no air, and the LCL kept the pilots supplied with oxygen, so it was critical that she get him out of there fast.  
****Ejecting her own entry plug, she climbed down to Unit 04, lying on its side, and went for the back where its entry plug was now exposed. There was an emergency hatch on this one, or so it looked, and she opened it to find that there were computer circuits behind it. By this time she was extremely worried about him.  
**"**Rei!" came a yell from below as a truck pulled up. It was Misato, and she had the technicians with her. "Is he alright in there?"  
**"**He's trapped!" she yelled back. "The entry plug has been compromised! It won't eject!"  
**"**We're on our way up!" yelled Maya, getting out of the truck as well and carrying a large looking pack along with a cutting torch.**

**Once they were up near the plug they looked the situation over and then Misato got to work with Maya on cutting the entry plug form the back. It was a long task that was not proving to be very easy and when they finally got it open, LCL sprayed out at a very high temperature.  
**"**Uuggh, I'm burned!" Maya yelped as she stepped away and cradled her left arm. "That LCL is boiling!"  
****Rei let her head fall so that she looked at the armor of the black and red Eva she was standing on. Nothing worse could come out of this now, he was certainly dead.  
**"**Something's in the pilot seat," Misato said, standing. "I can't get to it with that temperature though." She looked at the one pilot that still had a working Eva. "Rei, get back in Unit 00 and pull the entry plug out of Unit 04."  
**"**But-"  
**"**He'll be okay, just do it."  
**"**Yes, ma'am"  
****Once she had pulled the entry plug out with Unit 00, the power reserves were exhausted and she had to manually eject her entry plug in order to get out of it. When she looked at the mess of LCL that had spilled out onto the street she hoped that she hadn't dumped it onto anyone.  
****When she was one the ground she saw that there was an armored figure laying in the entry plug's pilot seat. It seemed as though it was grappling the control yokes to keep it there. Under protests from Misato, Rei ignored them and stepped inside where the dripping liquid dripped down from the ceiling onto her. It burned, but it was nothing more to her than a sting, as she kept her focus on finding out if he was alive.  
****The armor had sustained damage and there was an object pressing against the ankle portion of it. Taking hold of it in her gloved hands, she dislodged the object from the plug and threw it aside.  
**"**Tai?" she asked, attempting to hold back her emotions. "Tai? Are you there?"  
****The armor then pealed away, slowly, and revealed that he was there. It only revealed his face and he blinked a few times as he tried to keep the pain held back. "I'm here."  
**"**He's alive!" Misato yelled, trying to get the attention of the Nerv paramedics arriving on scene. "Get a stretcher!"  
**"**I'm unsalvageable, Rei," he said, a single pair of tears forming in his eyes. "Take this thing off my neck."  
****She reached out to the chain that was around his neck and took it off him. On the end of it was a sword that had many symbols on it that she had no idea how to read. "What is this?"  
**"**Take it to Dr. Akagi," he answered. "I'll see you soon." With that, the armor redeployed and a clicking sound was heard.  
**"**No," she said, trying to make it seem as though it wasn't real.  
****Appearing in the open part of the entry plug was Asuka and Shinji, who looked at her as she came out of the plug. "Is he alright?" Shinji asked.  
**"**He's dead," Rei answered, hanging her head.  
****Shinji took her into his arms and held her as she sobbed. "It's alright, Rei," he said. "I'm sorry."  
****Asuka looked at the two of them as they held each other. If they weren't brother and sister they would make a cute couple, but she was with Shinji and nothing anyone could do would break them up. However, she let her fiery temper take a back seat as she joined them, and then Misato was there too.  
**"**Is he gone?" Rei asked, looking at Misato.  
**"**Yes, they're removing the body now," Misato answered, tears forming in her eyes.  
****The screech of metal was heard as the technicians attempted to get inside the plug, but it faded as a holographic message was put up in front of them. It was a countdown and they all knew what that was. "Run!" a technician yelled.  
****As soon as they were out of harms way, there was a flash and then there was only an empty entry plug. Inside, there was no sign of a body at all, and Rei stood up first to check it out. Burned into the control yokes of the pilot seat were the words, "I'll be back."**

Okay, that is the last chapter of the story. Next is the epilogue. That's right! This isn't over yet! Like I said, 13 reviews, and I'll put up the epilogue. I'll make sure I don't wait this long after I have the reviews to do so though. 


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, CrimsonGaze, you have convinced me. I know a few people have not reviewed this story as a good one, but all well. That's their opinion and I respect that, doesn't mean I'll act on it though. From now on, there will be no more review requirements. I'll just put up a chapter or so when I get the chance.**

**As soon as I am finished this small note, I'm going to get started on putting up the short epilogue that I do have for this story and then I will work on getting the first chapter up after that. Then, after that is finished, every weekend I'll put up a new chapter until I run out of the material that I have already. Then, it will be a while before I get anything else up on the site. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers for putting up with me and my requirements. You can all thank CrimsonGaze for eliminating that. Enjoy the rest of The Mysteries Of A New Pilot Part One, and then Part Two.**

**Admiral Fergason.**


	9. Epilogue Part One

**Epilogue**

** Three weeks had passed and things were beginning to return to normal around the Katsuragi apartment. Rei had gone back to being an emotionless person, but Shinji brought a smile or two out of her every once in a while.  
**** Rei herself was feeling a little better. Dr. Akagi had taken a look at the sword necklace that Tai had made her take from him and the words that were written on it were "I'll come back for this" in an ancient form of hieroglyphic writing. She wore it herself now, never taking it off and it gave her a sense of comfort.  
** "**Ouch!" Rei yelped as she felt something hot under her shirt.  
** "**What is it, Rei?" Asuka asked, coming over to her as she dug the necklace out. The thing was glowing and it seemed to produce waves of heat. "Is that doing what I think it's doing?"  
** "**I don't know," Rei answered, coming out of her emotionless state for once in the last three weeks. Then she suddenly realized what it was. "It's a beacon."  
** "**He left you a beacon, for what?" Shinji asked.  
** "**For when he came back!" Rei exclaimed, waking Misato.**

** Four miles away, a group of people stepped out of a portal on a rooftop and stood there as they overlooked the city. The leader was clad in armor that shown angelically, as well as the rest of her comrades, but one stood off to the side with a darker armor.  
** "**Rind, you know why I'm here," the darker one said. "That beacon was just to strong to ignore, I can take care of myself."  
** "**We're just here to make sure you're going to be alright," Urd said, coming up to embrace him. "Just because I found someone else, doesn't mean I don't care for you."  
** "**Whatever, I just want to find out what's happening here."  
** "**Then, get going."  
**** With that, the darker armored figure placed his hands together and glowed for a moment while he recited a spell that he knew all to well. In a second, he was standing there in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that fit him well, along with a larger and open silk shirt that had flame designs on it. "See you around," he said, and then jumped over the side of the building.  
** "**I hate it when he does that," Skuld barked. "You're gonna get yourself killed by a demon pulling a stunt like that!" she yelled over the side of the building as she saw him disappear in the fog.  
** "**Tai can take care of himself," Belldandy assured them, placing a restraining hand on her younger sister. "He does have Valkyrie training."  
** "**Yes, but we'll have to watch over him all the same," Urd answered, pulling back from the edge. "Let's just hope he doesn't get killed again in this dimension, we pulled him out just in time the last time."**

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	10. Part Two Chapter One

**Part Two – Angelic Defence**

**Chapter One**

** The pavement cracked when he hit it, but he stood up and walked away from the two footprints that he had made. Pain wasn't there, but he knew that if he were still human he would have been killed by that fifty-story jump. Skuld had yelled after him that he would get killed by a demon being that careless, but the thing that he cared about was more important. The simple fact of the matter was that he would be able to see someone that he cared about, whom he hadn't seen for over a year and a half.  
**** In this dimension, only about three weeks had passed so it would be more of an impact on him now than it would be on her. He had decided not to reveal himself right off, but he would be close to her if he could be. Three weeks ago, this dimensions time frame, he had received a message as he was dying and had requested to stay long enough to give Rei Ayanami something before the goddesses pulled him out. The sword pendant would have already become a beacon for him so he knew exactly where to go.  
**** The streets were unfamiliar to him, but due to a helping hand from his god senses and his Andronian technology, he was able to tell where he needed to be. One last corner and he would be there. Turning the corner, he came face-to-face with a woman that he really didn't want to see and he snarled as she gazed upon him.  
**** "What do you want?" he hissed.  
**** "Why, you!" Hild, Queen of the demons and ruler over Hell, exclaimed. She tried to hug him, but he shrugged her off, threatening her by putting his hand over his chest where his sword should be. When he got it back, it would serve as his point limiter, but he had to live without one for now. She pouted and stood there with a pleading look on her face.  
**** "Do not bother me," he warned. "Or I will be forced to retaliate against you."  
**** "What? Lil' ol' me bother you?" she said, flashing her eyelids seductively, attempting to distract him. "No! I wouldn't do that!"  
**** His eye twitched and he stared at her with an expression that had made even Thor wonder if he was going to explode. "That giggle annoys me."  
**** "Does the God of Chaos need to have a hug? Or possibly something more?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer. However, he stopped her from getting too close and stared down at her from his height of about two inches taller than her.  
**** "Go away, Hild," he said, calmly, preparing to take out his collapsed staff and use it. "Your foolishness will not be tolerated much longer."  
**** "Was that a warning?" she asked, pouting a bit. "Does the little class three god have a tempor?"  
**** He raised his hand as he stepped away from her and a force bolt formed as he did so. When it was just as big as his palm, he brought it behind him where he cupped it with his other hand and added power to it.  
**** "A force bolt? That's not gonna-"  
**** "That's class zero," he said, after the explosion died down. He let out a sigh, hefted his large duffle bag over his shoulder again and then walked passed the smoking form of Hild. "Have fun in Hell."  
**** Hild let out a sigh as he walked passed and then her charcoaled form descended into a portal, grumbling as she disappeared.  
**** Stopping to have a look at the apartment building from afar, the same building that he had lived in for almost a week and had found a woman that he could love who wouldn't betray him, he remembered his time there. It may have been short, but he still thought of it as a lengthy experience. Having one more look over it with his sensors, he confirmed that everyone was there that he knew and he would have to be cautious of his next moves. To get in and purchase an apartment without detection was going to be tough, but he thankfully had his cloaking abilities.  
**** Stepping forward onto the street, he began to cross, but before he could set foot onto the sidewalk on the other side, his body disappeared. He could now pass by section two without being seen.**

** Rei's eyes snapped open and she drifted toward the door to her room. When she opened it, she noticed that everyone else was still awake because she could hear them talking in the living room. The topic of discussion she couldn't hear, but she knew that she didn't want to disturb them. However, what had awakened her she had to show them.  
**** "Misato," she said, entering the room.  
**** "Yes, Rei?" Misato asked, concern etched in her voice. "Is something wrong?"  
**** Rei sat down and showed her the glowing sword pendant that was still around her neck. "It is glowing brighter."  
**** Shinji scratched the back of his head as he looked at the pendant. "Didn't you say that it was a beacon earlier?" he asked. Receiving a nod, he continued, "A beacon for what?"  
**** The blue haired girl hung her head. "I do not know."  
**** Asuka lifted it into her palm. "At least it doesn't burn anymore," she said. "That must have left one heck of a mark on you."  
**** "I saw it, it looked pretty bad," Misato added.  
**** "The mark is no longer there," Rei told them.  
**** Misato blinked before asking, "What did you say?"  
**** Rei looked at her. "The burn mark that the sword created is no longer there." To make sure that the Major knew what she was talking about, she lifted her shirt and exposed her chest, causing Shinji to quickly look away.  
**** "Have you no shame, Rei?" Asuka asked, backing off a little.  
**** "Does this bother you?" she asked. Receiving a nod from the German redhead, she said, "I do not understand."  
**** "You wouldn't," Asuka commented. "Yet, you are right, the burn mark no longer exists."  
**** Misato stared in disbelief before shaking her head and getting Rei to pull her shirt back down before Shinji turned back to them. "It's as if it never existed in the first place."  
**** Rei considered this for a moment and then looked at the tree that stood in the corner of the room. The gifts that lay under it were pilling up, but one small area of the pile brought to existence a pain that she had been feeling for the last three weeks. That area held the gifts that they had still layed out for him and she had insisted that it be done. He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about that, but she wanted to hold onto the feeling of love and trust that he radiated for as long as possible.  
**** The emotions that she had held for him she had never truly experienced, but the truth was that she had never really allowed herself to experience them. Shinji was the first person that she had actually showed a hint of emotion to, other than Commander Ikari, but Tai had brought out a lot more in her. Emotions seemed to be one new problem after another for her when she began to allow them to be a part of her life after Third Impact, yet the new pilot had created a peace within her whenever he was around.  
****A small warmth radiated from the pendant and then a steady electrical hum sounded from it before its glow became very obvious. Even though the lights were on in the room, it was basking it in its glow.  
**** Misato looked at the glowing object and then looked up at Rei's eyes as they searched for a meaning behind it. Then, the glow returned to a soft one that no longer radiated the entire room in a blue glow.  
**** "Okay, whatever that thing is," Asuka said, barely above a whisper. "It's beginning to freak me out."  
**** "Me too," Shinji said, examining it from afar.  
**** A knock sounded on the door and Misato stood to go answer it. When she got there she was greeted by the sight of Toji and Kensuke who gawked at her as she stood there. "You want me to get Shinji?" she asked. They nodded, and she went back and got him,  
**** "What's up guys?" Shinji asked as he arrived in the doorway.  
**** "We just heard that some new guy moved into the apartment below you," Kensuke said. "The guy who told us said that he was accompanied by some pretty hot looking women."  
**** "We were wondering if you knew who they were," Toji added.  
**** Shinji blinked at his friends for a moment. "No, I don't," he answered. "Sorry guys, I just found out that someone moved in from Misato a few minutes ago. We were going to go down and greet them in a few minutes."  
**** Toji and Kensuke's eyes widened with excitement. "Can we go with you?" they asked at the same time.  
**** Again, Shinji blinked, knowing what they wanted. "I, guess . . ." With that, he lead them into the apartment as far as the kitchen and then told Misato that they wanted to join them. Agreeing with him that they could join them, she then went and got a six-pack of beer from the fridge and led them down to the floor below them and then to the door of the apartment.  
**** The door opened after the a few moments of knocking to reveal a woman in a very attractive looking outfit. "May I help you?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the two boys that were staring at her chest.  
**** "We were wondering if you wanted some company," Kensuke and Toji asked at the same time, receiving a knock on the head from both Asuka and Rei.  
**** "We wanted to welcome you to the apartment building," Misato said, holding up the beer in her right hand.  
**** "Sounds good to me!" came a shout from inside the apartment as a platinum blond woman raced out. "Too bad that idiot isn't here to enjoy this after the training you've put him through, Rind."  
**** The woman in front of them turned to the platinum blond woman with an emotionless expression on her face. "Get back to work, we haven't time for one of your drunken stupors," she said, making the woman pout and then retreat back into the apartment and out of sight. Rind then turned back to them. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline in the celebration at this time. Our friend, who is renting this apartment, is out collecting necessities. We just arrived and the landlord let us in so that we could assist him."  
**** "Maybe another time, then?" Misato asked, hesitantly because this woman seemed to be looking straight through her.  
**** "I suppose," Rind said. "I will mention it when he returns."  
**** The door shut in front of them, Asuka began to fume and Misato let out a sigh of defeat. They then returned to their apartment upstairs for the night.**

** The door opened and two people stepped through, carrying grocery bags. The young girl set a few down on the floor while the older boy just brought his into the kitchen where he set them down. He then returned to the door to remove his shoes before returning to the kitchen to put the groceries away.  
**** "Thanks for the help in getting my furniture here girls," he said.  
**** "No problem, Tai," Urd said, winking at him.  
**** "They were here," Rind said, concealed in the corner as she stared out the window.  
****Tai froze up as he turned around and looked at her. "Did they see anything?"  
**** "No," she answered, her voice calm and spooky. "They will return though, for a welcoming party."  
**** "Guess it'll happen sooner or later," he said, and then turned back to his task of putting the groceries away as Skuld put the last of the bags down on the table. "Y'all can get going if you want. I can handle things from here."  
**** "I guess," Rind said, backing into the shadows and disappearing. Urd pouted, and then made her exit through the television. Skuld filled the sink and then turned to him, "If you need any help, just give us a call."  
**** He smiled at her. "Thanks, Skuld. I'll do that."  
**** After she was gone, he put the last of the food away and then went into the bedroom that was down the hall. This was an exact replica of Misato's apartment upstairs, before it had gone through the renovation that Nerv did. Once there, he called out his angel, Evening Rose, and she assisted him with the straightening of his things before he looked at her. She was a very attractive being to behold, but he had his mind on only one person. Before they rejoined they had a light conversation and then he was once again alone in the apartment.  
**** Tomorrow there will be a lot of emotional release, he thought. I just hope that I can take it. My first meeting with her in over a year and a half, and she still thinks that I'm dead. Thankfully, I have a present for her.  
**** With a slight smile evident on his face, he drew the quilts closer to him and drifted off to sleep. Two in the morning would come very early.**

** "Kensuke."  
**** The spectacled boy whirled around from where he was standing and saw Rei standing there, obviously awaiting his response. Even though she had changed after Third Impact, she still creped him out a bit. She may not be the emotionless person that they always knew her to be back then, but some of that strange calmness still remained.  
**** "What can I do for you, Rei?" he asked.  
**** She smiled a bit, and then produced a small grey object from her pocket. "I have a computer problem that requires a person with your kind of skills," she said.  
**** "Sure," he said, taking the grey object from her and examining it. It turned out to be a USB flash drive, identified as a Jump Drive and made by a company called Lexar Media. Upon closer inspection he found that it had a maximum storage capacity of 256 mega bites. "Looks pretty simple to me. What's this about?"  
**** "That is something that belongs to Tai," she said. "I found it still in his shirt pocket when we removed his personal effects from his locker in the Geo Front. I'm hoping it may be able to tell me something more about this necklace that he gave me before he disappeared."  
**** "Let's take a look at it then," he said, following her to her room where he set his laptop up on her desk. Plugging the drive into his USB port on the back he watched as it installed and then he attempted to access it. A dialogue box appeared on screen telling him that the data on the drive had been restricted for access by a certain computer only. "Hmmm, does he have a laptop?"  
**** "Yes."  
**** "Is it still here?"  
**** "It's in his room next door."  
**** "Then that's where we need to access this," he said, putting away his laptop and allowing her to lead him to the bedroom. Asuka and Shinji were entertaining Toji in the living room so they weren't seen by any of them since Misato was also drunk and barely on her feet. Kensuke looked at the old laptop that was sitting beside the unmade futon and studied it for a moment.  
**** The laptop was an old CTX EZ-Book 700-E-Series, according to a sticker that was on the bottom of it. On the side were two USB ports, one occupied by a USB cable linking it to an external hub that then led to a printer, USB External Hard Drive, Web Cam, and a few other flash drives. What really concerned him with the age of this thing was that the screen hinges were busted and there was an external keyboard.  
**** "This thing looks like it's been through a lot," he commented, but Rei stayed silent as he located the power switch.  
**** When it activated there was an archaic software program powering up by the name of Windows 98-SE and he wasn't liking this very much. At the time of its creation, this was the most stable software package that was on the commercial market, even when three newer versions came out. It would be a little bit more difficult to crack.  
**** Seven password programs later, along with three warnings about a self-destruct program, he was in. Opening the central control center, known as My Computer, he plugged the Jump Drive in and waited for it to appear on the screen. After it did, he opened it and smashed through three more password barriers to find an extensive database of files.  
**** "I think that you should probably take a look at this on your own, Rei," he said, reluctantly standing and walking away so that he couldn't see the screen. "As much as I'd like to find out more about him, this is not my way."  
**** "I understand," Rei said, taking control of the console. "Thank you for your assistance."  
**** "Your welcome," he said, turning for the door. He stopped just before he closed it behind him. "I'm sorry about your loss, Rei. If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."  
**** She nodded, and he closed the door to return to the others and give her some privacy.  
**** The data seemed to be more things about trivial stuff than anything, but when she discovered a database filing system, she accessed it to find that it was a journal. All the files were identified with the date and time of when they were filed, so she accessed the one that was made most recently:**

** Dec 2, 0300 Hours  
**** It has come to my attention that there may not be much time left. I have to find out what is happening here and I have to deal with the potential hazard of another Lightning possibility being in the area. If there is even the slightest chance of it and an Angel manages to assimilate it, there can be no telling what kind of power it will gain. The computer AI was not designed to deal with that kind of power.  
**** On a further note, I have been having those horrid feelings again. My sixth sense taking over and making it difficult for me to function without wondering what is going to happen. Rei is sleeping calmly tonight, thank god, but I don't know how much longer I will be here. I'm afraid that this is the big one; the stench of my own death is approaching. I just hope that I'm wrong this time . . . I hate being right all the time.  
**** In the event that I am right, I have had Red produce something for me that will be able to both contact the nearest Lightning pilot telepathically and give her some degree of protection. If an angel does attack and she is out there alone that will be able to give her Eva my own abilities for a short time. Let's see an angel crack both an AT-Field and Ablative Hull Armor at the same time.  
**** I'll make another log entry if I get the chance. Right now, Rei may wake if I keep this up. Fergason out.**

** There was nothing else on the screen, because as soon as she finished reading the computer shut itself off and refused to reactivate. It didn't matter though, because now she knew what the necklace was made for. She would be receiving help soon, and it would be someone who knew him well. At least, she wouldn't have to be alone for too much longer.  
**** Tomorrow was the day before Christmas Eve, so she decided that she would need to cheer up just a bit more, if only to not worry the others. She walked out join the others in showing Toji and Kensuke out and then there was a small party before Misato finally passed out.  
****Shinji and Asuka dragged the unconscious Major to her room as Rei returned to her room where she layed down on her bed. She wondered what would happen tomorrow. There hadn't been a time in her past where she had celebrated the holiday, but now there wasn't a choice for her. Deciding that she would probably benefit from the experience, she rolled over and went to sleep.**

** Misato walked out of her room at three in the morning after shutting her alarm clock off, which someone had rudely set for this very early hour. Grabbing a beer out of the fridge, she chugged it down in silence and then drifted to Shinji's room where she woke him and then they both woke Asuka and Rei.  
**** Upon entering the living room they discovered something very weird. There were more gifts under the tree than they remembered. Going on instinct, they searched the room with their eyes, not wanting to miss anything if there was an intruder. Finding none, they settled down and then took a seat on the couch or on the floor.  
**** "Merry Christmas everyone," came a voice.  
**** Everyone looked around but found no one there. It had seemed to come from the shadows, but there wasn't any way that a person could move fast enough to avoid detection.  
**** "Okay, what's going on here?" Asuka asked, latching onto Shinji's arm hard enough to make him wince. "This is some twisted game."  
**** "I don't think that this is a game," Misato said, sounding very concerned as she looked at Rei, who seemed to be attempting to track the intruder.  
**** Smoke arose from the shadows behind the couch and they all jumped away from it to whip around and stare in amazement as an armored figure arose from the floor. It had black and blue markings on the mask that it wore and the metal plating gave off a glow that was giving them an eerie feeling. When it was finally out of the shadows and standing before them, it had its arms folded and appeared to be male.  
**** "Who are you?" Rei asked, calmly.  
**** "I respond to a beacon that has been sounding for over three weeks now," the figure responded. "There is no reason to fear me, Rei Ayanami."  
**** Realization set in as she looked at the blue sword pendant. "You're one of them, aren't you?" she asked.  
**** "No," he said, pressing a button on the staff that he held in his hand and putting it in a pocket on the inside of the billowing jacket that he wore. "I am he."  
**** With that, the room was basked in a blue glow that slowly transformed into a red one and then left them staring at the figure that had been revealed below the armor. All of the armor was gone now, to reveal one very familiar looking young man on his knees with his head down. There was no mistaking what had just happened, he had returned.  
**** "Tai," Rei said, approaching slowly.  
**** The figure picked his head up and looked at her, tattoos on his face in the shape of lightning bolts. The largest of the three was on his forehead, left side red and right side blue from their view, replicated in smaller forms on each cheek just below the eye. "Long time, no see."  
**** Rei collapsed beside him and took him into an embrace that he returned quickly as tears started to form in his eyes. She was the person that he had wanted to see for as long as he had been gone. Through all the training that he had received, and all the beatings that Rind had put him through he had longed to see her again. When he obtained his Class Zero License, he had finally been given the opportunity to return.  
**** "How?" Asuka asked, separating from Shinji to take in the view with a shocked expression on her face. "You were dead."  
**** "I was very close," he said, clearing his throat enough to speak as he kept his hold on Rei as she sobbed tears of joy. "A few friends pulled me out just before that happened though."  
**** "Where have you been for the last three weeks?" Misato asked, finally reclaiming control over her jaw. "No phone calls, letters, nothing."  
**** "In my perspective, Misato, it's been a lot longer than three weeks," he said. "But, that is not important right now. This is Christmas, bring on the gifts!"  
****"Yeah," Shinji answered, putting on a cheerful expression that proved to be contagious. He then sat down on the couch with the others while Misato, being the only single person, began to pass out gifts.  
**** To Rei and Tai though, the gifts didn't really matter that much. They had each other once again, and there was nothing that could change that. But then everything began to melt away in front of Rei's eyes.  
****  
The blue-headed figure of Rei Ayanami shot out of the futon and she looked around as her eyes began to adjust to the dark. Realizing that all she had just experienced was a dream, she felt the tears coming and couldn't hold them back any longer. The dream that she had just had upset her and she missed him a lot. It would be a while before she could recover, she knew that, but when she did she would feel at least a little better.  
**** She laid back down on her side in her futon, half covered by the thin blankets that she had dressed the bed in, and sobbed for the rest of the evening. It would be a while before she would get back to sleep, but she didn't care. It was now impossible for her to ignore this emotion of sorrow and pain. It had been present since the moment he had disappeared in his damaged entry plug before her eyes. There was no way now for her to ever hold it back.  
**** Eventually, she cried herself to sleep. No more dreams would come, but her soul would attempt to reach out to him . . . wherever he was.**

** Tai sat up in his futon and whipped the sweat from his forehead. As he calmed his breathing he looked to his watch to find that it was only three in the morning. Despite the intense heat that his body was suffering from at them moment, he noticed that it was extremely cold in the room.  
**** Summoning enough of his motor controls to get his body out of the futon, he made his way to the thermostat on the far wall and turned it up a few notches. Satisfied with that, he shivered in the cold air a little as he checked his link-up with Yggdrasill via his ever present Andronian implant, which he'd modified to display his divine power levels. Sure enough, the reading was still registering that they were low from what he had used in the dimensional jump back here.  
**** Now knowing why he was feeling twice as cold as he should be, he dragged himself back to the futon and pulled the blankets up so that they were held tight to him. The telepathic dream that had woken him was intense, but he knew now that he would have to make his presence known soon. The only obstacle now, was finding out how.**

** Asuka rolled over as the sunlight invaded her room. It irritated her, but she resisted the urge to draw the blind and go back to sleep because she remembered that she had had intentions of getting up early.  
**** Groggily, she got out from under the covers of her warm futon and made her way to Shinji's door where she knocked lightly. Receiving no response, she quietly opened the door and stepped inside, pulling it closed behind her. He was still asleep there in his futon and looked very content on staying that way with the cute pout displayed on his lips.  
**** Kneeling down beside his futon, she raised the covers and then slipped in beside him. She wrapped her arms around the thin boy and kissed the back of his neck. Nuzzling against him as he woke from his deep slumber, she could feel how relaxed he was. If she had done this only a few weeks ago, he'd have freaked out and started apologizing again. She'd have to get used to this.  
**** "Ohayo, Asuka-chan," he greeted, turning to face her and returning her embrace.  
**** "Ohayo, Shin-chan," she responded. "Breakfast can wait for a few minutes. I wanted to ask you a question."  
**** He looked at her, sleep melting from his eyes to be replaced with concern. "What is it?"  
**** She smiled warmly, reassuring him and calming him down a bit. "There's no problem with us, baka," she said. "Stop worrying about that. I'll tell you if I have a problem and I trust you'll do the same for me." He nodded, and smiled a bit more, returning to his now normal self. She nodded as well, and continued. "It's about Rei."  
**** "So, you heard her, too," he said, worry now back in his voice.  
**** "She's been really upset since that sword pendant began to glow," Asuka said. "I heard her crying for over an hour at around three this morning. That's not the Rei that we know."  
**** Shinji downcast his eyes in thought for a moment, then an idea sprung into his mind. "I know, let's all go out this evening and enjoy ourselves. We haven't been out like that since before he left us."  
**** The redhead smirked as it dawned on her as well and her own idea came to mind. "We could go shopping and to a movie at the mall!" she declared. "We could store what we buy at the stores in the public lockers and then go see the new three feature there."  
**** The young Ikari cringed at the idea of Asuka shopping. The last time that he had gone shopping with her and Hikari, Toji had showed up and joined in the torture of carrying all the purchases. His back had not felt right for a while after that, making it agonizing to lay down in his futon at night and even worse to get up in the morning.  
**** "Let's not go overboard with the shopping, though," he said, cringing more as she gave him an evil glare as if she were planning to use Unit Two to step on him. "Rei may need more time to adapt to him not being around."  
**** Her glare softened and she sighed in content as she held him tighter to her. "I guess you're right . . . this time," she said.  
**** "A quiet walk in the park after the theatre would do all three of us some good as well," he said, and then kissed her lightly on the forehead. "For now, we should probably get up and get ourselves something to eat."  
**** "Right," she said, a little reluctant to release him. "You get started in the kitchen, and I'll go see how Rei is holding up."  
**** Making her way out the door and toward Rei's room, she heard Shinji greet Misato and PenPen, who were already in the kitchen. Just before she made it to the closed door of the albino girl, she heard Misato shout her annoying cry as she took the first gulp of her morning beer.  
**** She knocked lightly on the door and, predictably, received no response from inside. She announced she was coming in and opened the door, and was greeted to the sight of a bedroom void of a human presence. Thinking quickly, she closed the door to Rei's room and opened Tai's.  
**** The blue haired girl was lying on the futon beside the laptop that Tai had brought with him when he had first arrived. It looked like she had wandered in there and was awake enough to be reading something off the screen, but Asuka knew better than that because she recognized the signs in front of her. The girl's cheeks were stained with tears and she had no blankets over her, indicating she had cried herself to sleep and had been sleepwalking as well.  
**** Sitting down beside the albino, she reached over and shook her fellow pilot's shoulder gently. "Rei, wake up," she said. "Shinji's cooking breakfast. It'll be ready soon."  
**** Shivering from not being under any blankets, Rei picked her head up and opened her eyes. Confusion played upon her features as she realized that she was not in her own bedroom, nor her own bed. "I'll be there in a moment," she said, her voice dry and hoarse from her emotional strain.  
**** Asuka wasn't about to be dismissed just yet, and remained where she was as her friend regained more of her motor controls. "Are you alright, Rei?"  
**** She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and then turned to face Asuka. "I have not been harmed," she answered, her voice returning to the cold and emotionless tone that she had been known for when they first met.  
**** The German's temper flared back to life and she slammed her fists into the hardwood floor, causing a shockwave of sound that made Rei flinch. "Don't retreat back into that emotionless shell that you call a life! You just got out of that! You don't know how annoying that is!" she screamed, advancing as the smaller girl backed up so that her back was pressed against the wall. "He's gone and there's nothing we can do about it!"  
**** Asuka sat back on her heels in front of Rei and calmed her temper before she continued. "I wish there was a way that we could bring him back, but we still don't know exactly what happened in his Eva. There's just no way to even start to explain it." Picking her head back up from staring at her knees, she looked deep into Rei's eyes as fresh tears began to build. "You can either stay locked up in a room dwelling on the past's pain like Baka-Shinji used to, or you can join the rest of us out in the real world. Now, what would Tai want you to do?"  
**** Tears flowing freely from her red eyes now, she reached out and wrapped her arms around Asuka. The redhead talked soothingly to her as she sobbed into her shoulder and the effort managed to calm Rei down after a few minutes.  
**** "You gonna make it?" Asuka asked as Rei pulled back from her.  
**** "I should be . . . fine," Rei said, whipping the moisture from her eyes and holding back the rest of it that was threatening to flow. "Thank you."  
**** Asuka nodded, and then stood. "I'm gonna go take a shower, and I suggest that you do the same. It's not good to hide your emotions, but you look like you went through Hell trying to. A hot shower will help you relax a bit."  
**** Rei thanked her again before she left the room and then she herself left, closing the laptop screen before doing so. She got a change of clothes from her room and then headed for the washroom on this end of the apartment.**

** Shinji had just gotten breakfast on the table when Asuka and Rei joined him and Misato. Asuka gave him a funny look because he had somehow snuck in a shower before he had started cooking. He just shrugged and greeted Rei with a warm hug that made Asuka's face flush with jealousy for a moment before she remembered that she was his sister.  
**** The three teenagers sat down and enjoyed their meal, not knowing yet what was about to happen that evening. A young girl's silent prayer would be answered, but it would come with a price. With that prayer came a demoness who was looking to stir trouble for the three remaining pilots. There was one of them that she had been specifically ordered to target, but once that one was out of the way she could have her fun with the others.**


End file.
