In an effort to get some feed back and improve my skills as a writer im posting my next fic raw. This is what Mr.Tines gets to see and try to fix all spelling errors and such :).

This is the fist chapter of the finaly section of a three parter Ive been doing.

Part one Ambition and part two Reflections in Blue can bothe be found on my darkscribes account here.

http://www.darkscribes.org/site/author.php?user=83

By the way if your looking for a good place to post writen works DS has my endorsement.

And now the fic

Book Three Chapter One: “ Troubled waters ”

“In the last six months, Seele has despite my best efforts, has begun to splinter. The Throne of Souls will soon be no more. All we can do is minimize the damage, and attempt to retain control of the key Evangelion technologies.“

Keel looked across the meeting room table at his senior staff, and tried to read the people with whom he was trying to save the world.

Yui Ikari spoke first. Her hair was a bit longer now, and still dyed brown. She looked like a child in her mothers clothes.

“ Has it really been reduced to that? We had so much international cooperation in the beginning. ”

Still ever the optimist, brilliant, but the practical reality of how the world works escapes her. I'd trade her for Kyoko in a heart beat.

Misato was next. Actually in a regulation uniform, the simple gold engagement band on her finger the greatest change.

“ Seele directed much of that cooperation. With their influence divided, how much or our current resources can we hang on to? We have a war to win. “

I am fast running out of excuses to dislike that one. Still her main concern is the Children, and with them she has had her failures. You could call that inevitable when your only weapon is a child.

Kaji had changed the least, with only a matching wedding band.

“ When they were building toward Instrumentality they didn't need to worry about keeping themselves in power. These days they have given up all illusion of civility. On the bright side, I heard from our agents in Germany. It is confirmed, the regeneration matrix for Kaworu is no longer and issue. They have been above the board with us so for.”

This one is too comfortable in the dark. He's the kid of man that that is far to used to playing both sides against the middle. Yet another important asset loyal for reasons that make me uneasy.

Kaji continued.

“ With Berlin securely in our hands, that should make the next generation of Evangelion beyond any one else reach. If the worse happens we know the battle field with be in the lead technology-wise. ”

Keel spoke up again.

“ Speaking of the last round of upgrades, what is the ETA on Unit 2. ”

Misato answered as if looking at a clock.

“ Twenty five minutes. Mind if I ask why you're not more worried about American 2nd branch Sir?”

“ Because Rei detonated the sixteenth Angel over Tokyo 3 eight weeks ago. The original generation of Angel focused on us, because we had Lilith. Unless their is some reason for them to migrate to Nevada I'm blaming one mans argents for rushing both Evangelion to completion. I'm more worried they will try to get a look at the 2's systems. If we have no trouble how long before we can get it back in the air? ”

Misato again answered quickly.

“ I have the transport staffed with an extra pilot. They need to refuel for the return trip thats it. The big issue is the Asuka needing to stay in the plug for the entire trip. If Asuka has to leave the AT field drops and they can access the same diagnostic ports we use to maintain the Eva. Do we really have to treat the Americans like we do Taiwan? ”

“ The Senator wants to be the next President. Once that danger has past, we can repair relations by helping them rebuild from this disaster. We are sure this is a disaster, and not an Angel? ”

Yui spoke.

“ The scrolls said seventeen Angels. If we take that to mean that Adam born creatures, then even counting Kaworu we have one left. Now most of the Angels where driven by instinct to attack us here, because of Lilith, and Adam. They can't tolerate others of their kind I think. If that translates to the Eva's they could have been attracted by the activation. Those however are very big ifs. Everything so far has been focused on us. ”

Kaji broke in with a rebuttal.

“ Unit Three was almost here when it turned back because of bad weather. We did have a blip on one sensor that might have been a blue pattern. ”

Keel seemed to be rolling his eyes behind his visor.

This one can never come right out with it can he?

“ I'm old Mr. Kaji don't keep me in suspense. ”

“ How much of the scrolls were in Seele's direct control? ”

Keel wished he had a cigar, he knew this was going to be a long day.

“ Everything in public or private hands was collected with in five years of the Impact. Are you suggesting some one in Seele was holding out on the rest of us ? ”

“ If they knew the nature of a few of the Angels was viral like the one that attacked the MAGI, it would be easy to weaken the Eva's immune system. Fly paper for the Angel. ”

“ For a man with no Meta-biological background Mr. Kaji that sounds like you been coached on the Eva's immune system. ”

“ I was to retrieve a sample if it happened here. The Angel infecting the Eva would need to create an S2 core. That would show us just how to create and install one of our own. The Germans have that knowledge and they only share it with us. The Americans wanted that information bad. ”

A bright red warning light and a voice over the intercom ended the conversation.

“ Evangelion is approaching American airspace. Transport confirms a pattern blue, repeat pattern blue. ”

Keel speaks as every one begins to move to the command deck.

“ Angel. ”



**



25000 feet over Nevada desert the redesigned Evangelion Unit Two sprang to life inside a NERV transport. The bulky new backpack unit shined in the sun, as it went.

The lights in the plug came on, as Misato's face appeared on the com.

“ Asuka, your almost their. The MAGI confirms target is an Angel. ”

She sounded a bit uneasy as she replied.

“ You STILL haven't found the other one? ”

“ Doctor Ikari thinks the 2nd branch tried to bring The Four on-line and it went wrong. It used a refurbished S2 organ from an Angel Shinji killed. She said it could have created a Drac Sea that swallowed the base and everything around it. It would need to stay stationary to maintain it, so you only have one to deal with. The Americans would have needed Unit Three to try to break the Drac Sea, what happened to IT we don't know. ”

The girl rolled her eyes.

“ Great tell Wonder-Slut, to keep her hands on my man. ”

“ Asuka! ”

She activated a manual release, and the Eva went into free-fall.

The Angel appeared as a spec on her view finder, and began growing rapidly as ground rushed toward her at 32 feet per second squared. She watched the altitude counter near zero, as image of the hunched over and warped former Eva Unit three came into full view. What remained of its restrains where scattered across last 500 yards of its slow random trek across the sand.

The hulking beast seemed to smile as it turned and look skyward.

“ Feel me coming don't ya? That's good, because I've got jet lag, and PMS! ”

On the ground the Angel looked on as the Eva sprouted wings, and roared head long into it.

The pair hurtled forward for a full mile before coming to a stop.

Asuka folded her wings, and brought the Eva up to a kneeling position over the stunned Angel.

“ That's where I like to be, on top. Now where were we? Oh yes, playing Doctor. I need my scalpel! ”

A pair of progressive knife popped free from their wrist sheaths, and she drove them into beast chest plating in succession .

“ I had to cross an ocean for this crap, so I am taking my fun where I can get it. ”

The blades sank half way into the creatures chest before it recovered its senses, and its serpentine arms wrapped around Unit Two's thought. Asuka felt her own thought begin to close as the arms elongated pushing her back out of stabbing distance.

She through all of the Eva's weight to the left, and lined the monsters face up with her left shoulder pylon. Asuka fired the spike launcher and the Angel went limp as its skull split into thirds. She spent a full three minutes gasping for breath, before turning to the radio.

“ Unit Two . . . to command, Angel is down . . . but not dead. Do we know if anyone is in this thing? ”

Misato's slightly annoyed face reappeared.

“ That jet pack is not rated for combat Pilot. ”

“ Tell the guys in R&D . . . it works fine. Now that Angel I'm sitting on. . . ”

The purpled haired woman put her hand on her forehead, and groaned.

“ That is enough. Lose the lip or I engage the dummy plug, understand? ”

Asuka bit her lip and tried to sound professional.

“ Yes Colonel. It's disabled, and not going to re grow a head anything soon.”

“ Good, pull back to 800 feet, and kill the S2 organ before it overheats. Put the Eva into active surveillance mod, and ONLY bring the S2 core back up to recharge the battery. Understand? The Americans are sending in a task force to try to contain the Angel for study, and try to recover the pilot. ”

Asuka looked ready for another outburst, but to her credit it didn't come.

“ Understood. . . . Unit Two out. ”

**

Misato walked out of Dogma, with Yui at her side.

“ OK we have an Eva full of untested upgrades, on American soil babysitting a headless Angel. Please tell me the telemetry said everything was alright. ”

Yui looked as out of place as ever, like a child in her mothers lab coat. Her words defied her apparent age.

“ The S2 organ is fine for short bursts, I'd have never let her leave if it wasn't. I'll spare you the techno-babble, but that Angel is built on the last generation Eva production module. Even if it heals as I think it can, we've got it out matched by at least %35. The thing that I can't figure out, is why the hell they tried to bring both Evangelion on line at once, in the same base? ”

Misato tried to remember she was talking to someone old enough to her own mother.

“ We are run by the head of Seele directly so we get first dibs on funding. Also we have you, so we lead in R&D. They want to close those gaps as a matter of nation security. We could conquer the world if we wanted, and they couldn't stop us. ”

Yui sounded almost heart broken as she replied.

“ When did this stop being about giving humanity a future? ”

Misato almost laughed.

“ This is humanity though. We always need to protect ourselves from each other. I know it's kind of sad, but its the way of the world. ”

“ I thought when it was over, they'd be running cities with Solenoid engines. ”

Misato used the voice she normally reserved for upset children.

“ They might still, but only if we can finish this. People always have a chance at talking things out. ”

Yui's cell phone rang once and she rolled her eyes after checking the screen.

“ Speaking of talking things out, times up. I'll be on the detention level with Rei for the next hour or so. ”

Misato watched her walk off, and retrieved her own phone after Yui turned a corner.

“ Doctor Ikari is on her way detention. Go to alert level 2, and move the Zero from deep freeze to the cage. ”

**

At the very peek of NERV's headquarters on the main observation deck, Shinji Ikari wrapped in a blanket.

He heard the door slide open behind him, and he felt that knot in his stomach get worse.

“ Shinji you OK kiddo? ”

He sat up at the sound of Misato's voice.

“ Yea. ”

She walked over to him, and sat on the floor to his left.

“ You missed you therapy session again. You have something you don't feel like talking about? ”

He tilted his head to lean on her just a bit.

“ I'm just . . .not sleeping against. I don't want another bottle of pills. . . . ”

“ I was on those for a while. Knock you right out. Have any reason to not want a good nights sleep Shinji? ”

Her arm found it way around his him. He sounded tired as he tried to change the subject.

“ I don't like that guy, he's just . . I don't know. . . ”

“ Asuka and Rei both talk with him. ”

She felt him shiver a bit, at the sound of the word Rei.

“ Shinji you need to talk to someone. . . ”

Shinji leaned on her just a bit more, and she knew what was coming.

“ I . . .have nightmares . . . sometimes. . . . ”

“ If it's me, I'm not married yet! ”

Shinji didn't react to her teasing, and that made her worried.

“ What? ”

Misato honestly didn't know what to say, so she took a stab in the dark.

“ Is it your Mother? ”

“ Her. . . , and Rei. That tank down their too. I keep remembering the night she came back. I'm four and . . you were . . .still just laying their . . .”

She thought back to that dead limp half awake time after Gendo had Adam inside her. She pulled Shinji just a little closer.

“ I am not going anywhere Shinji. ”

Shinji didn't seem comforted, and the ring on her finger felt heavy .

“ You know, I still rent that apartment. Living in the dorm is a big change. . .with more pilots coming we needed to . . . .Asuka has almost as many years in NERV as I do. You can't make that up and go to school full time. This way we can do both, and protect you . . . ”

She looked down at the boy and for a second she was fourteen again, alone in white room.

“ Listen good mister! You are not being abandoned. . . .not again, understand me? ”

The boy finally fell asleep in her arms.

**

Rei sat in the dark, listening to the sink drip for the millionth time. Light appeared as the door slid open, and the sound of her own voice made her frown just a bit.

“ We need to talk. ”

Her again, the one I hate. Always in her shadow, and never in the light.

She walked to the cot Rei was sitting on and sat to her right. The light from the door still the only illumination.

“ People saw you the other night love. That can't keep happening. ”

Rei was silent for a long minute, before answering in a whisper.

“ Why? ”

“Because Rei, it draws attention, and it makes people afraid. “

Two pairs of red eyes locked, and one pair looked angry.

“ They are afraid when the Angels come. ”

“ What is that supposed to mean young lady? ”

Rei for the first time living memory, spoke up in an angry voice.

“ I fight . . WHY! I LIVE COLD AND ALONE ! ”

You found her own voice rising to match.

“ You live with ME. ”

“ You are a ghost! ”

Rei stood, and stormed from the room, and Yui sat in the dark.


**


Next: “ Fly me to the moon .”

.....Um, I'm very lost. A bit of a summary before the chapter would be nice; though I enjoyed it.

Let me see if I get the gist of it: Post-3I setting, peoples returned from the LCL Sea (what's the deal with Keel acting, uh, nice to NERV? ) Rei is doing the Lilith-thing whatever the hell that consists of, Yui's long journey's been postponed or canceled, Asuka and Shinji are happy together and bangin' away ("Ooh, Baby!") while Shin-chan's gone nuts after everything that's happened?

/Exhales. Well, was I close? ;

Anyway, I enjoyed this so far. I've read a few post 3I fics before though some of them I never bothered finishing because either the writing was so bad I couldn't read it OR they had MOAR Angels, and something about how it was written was either beyond ridiculous or it just didn't mesh well. At all.

In terms of Shinji losing it after everything: Personally, I always liked that idea/aspect, provided he gradually "gets better". ;) Hell, even I'm writing that in a fic of mine! Though its nothing I could post here due to it having A/S sekusu-romansu. *Coughs politely*

But anyway, the main point of my rambling is to say I rather did like this fic: the concept is good, characters seem in character mostly, though there were SOME spelling/grammar mistakes. Tip from one author to another: Be sure to use Word to edit/spell-check/etc documents, and if you feel like its helpful, get a proofreader or try to do it yourself.

I look forward to Fry Me to the Muun!

Take care, DatDude-kun!

SSD

@DatDude
Lots of "their" when you mean "there"; otherwise not too bad.

@SailorStarDust
It's sorta post-3I -- but a 3I that was throttled down to below 2I levels.

First story had Asuka and Kyoko body-swapping and a Keel/Kyoko alliance; and for the second, we had Yui wearing a Rei body (and still is).

@SSD I posted links to the two stories that came before this one. Its a bit much to sum up :)

As for the more Angels bit . . well those are on the way. Kaworu managed to get Adam from Gendo, before merging with the ( now coreless) eva 1. It spawned more as it split up over the atmostsphere at the end of Reflections in Blue.

I know the more angel thing's been done but I wanted to give it a stab myself. See if I can do better then the crowd.

@ MrTines Its in you email box bro :P

Edit: cleaned up version of this is now posted on ds. Please comment

next chapter is up

GOOD STUFF DUDE!!! Keep it up!

More will show up sooner or later taking a break for a bit

Ok crew here is the raw for the third chapter. Im doing things a bit different going forward, and making the chapter more descriptive. Remember this is the same thing me pre-readers see.

Chapter Three " a pound of flesh. "

Doctor Sheldon's office seemed larger somehow as Rei entered it then the last time she was there. Doctor Ikari had brought her just to be introduced. She'd tried to speak well of him, to instill trust. Hoping against hope that any trust she's earned with the girl would let the man help her. Somehow she was more uneasy then before, every shadows made the room more ominous.

" Hello Rei, how are you feeling today? "

She somehow managed to speak without biting her lip.

" . . .fine . . . "

" Is their anything you would like to talk about Rei? "

The Doctor studied her emotionless face, wondering what it was hiding. Her voice little more then a whisper.

" . . no . . "

He looked down at her and imagined the trauma on top of trauma, she must have scene. He became aware of the fact that he was trained to treat human minds, and for the first time he's faced with a mind that may not be. Full of doubts though he maybe, this is not the first scared child he's worked with.

This isn't going to be easy.

" I know you've been through a lot of changes the last few months. If you feel the need to talk about it that is why I'm here. "

The girls response came quick and emotionless as if she was reading off a card.

" Transition is the natural state of things. Change is the only constant, and with change their is always loss. Things have changed, and I must accept that. "

The Doctor was perplexed at hearing a response like that from a child.

" It sound like you've thought a lot about this. "

She responded her her trade marked tone of voice.

" I have. "

" . . . and? "

Rei's ice cold exterior finally started to crack. Something about his voice, it had something the Commanders never did, compassion.

" . . . and . . .I . . .I do not know what comes next. All around me . . .they move on . . "

" Would you like to do the same Rei? "

" . . . yes . . . "

This is going to be the only that make me take up smoking again, I can just tell.

**

Yui walked into Shinji's hospital room, for the third time in the last hour. This time she saw him squinting at a bright red laptop, typing with two fingers. He still looked so alien to her, as if she only had to see him in the right light and he'd be four again.

Yui spoke in the voice she reserved for her baby.

" You shouldn't be doing that Shinji. Your optic nerves still need rest
after the shock they took, "

He didn't remember the sound, or didn't care, and he kept on typing, as her heart sank.

" Just a sec, I need to get this report done, before I forget the details
of the fight, " Shinji replied, almost as if he wasn't really paying attention.

He used to listen. . . . I used to matter so much to him . . like he does to me.

Yui spoke again, she sounded in many ways distant, and not unlike Rei.

" You should not be straining your eyes. "

Misato entered the room, and Shinji turned to her and smiled. Yui felt her hear ache at the sight of it.

" Ho hi Misato ! The report is almost done! "

She closed the laptop without speaking.

" Hay! "

" I think your Doctor just told you not to do that. "

His Doctor . . .

The boy opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

" Shinji the people you'd email that too, are in the room. "

She used her right hand to muss his hair as she spoke, and he smiled. The sound of his laugh made Yui smile in spite of herself. It was good to hear him laugh, knowing how rare a thing it's been in his life since she was gone.

" Stop it! HaHaHa!"

" So report already. "

Shinji spoke with a happier tone in his voice.

" When my synch ratio went up, one of the hands didn't get any more feeling in it. It might have been the whole arm, I'm not sure. "

Jumping at the chance to really talk with him, Yui spoke up.

" That might be the A-8 nerve again. What side was it ? "

" Umm my off hand, so the left side. "

She grasped at straws to keep the conversation going.

" OK, that Eva's only got one eye so we can't track vision. How did the S2 feel? "

" Umm like I needed to controls to work it. "

Yui raised an eyebrow.

" What? "

The boy spoke, forgetting he was in fact speaking to the woman that came up with the idea of an Evangelion.

" When your ratio gets high enough you don't need any controls, the S2 I felt I couldn't work by thinking about it. "

That's not right, not right at all. . the S2 should . .

" We'll need to run a test when you're better. "

" Thanks. "

She smiled a weak smile as Misato turned to her.

"Got a minute?"

The pair stepped from the room.

" Sat link with the 2 came back for a few minutes. Can you take a look ? "

"Sure."

They walked for the elevator, and Yui tried to berry her feelings deep.

I don't think . . going into the core, was as hard as watching them. Maybe it should have been.

**

Asuka watched the American task force strap an over-sized back pack to the restored Unit-3. Seeing the beast heal was like watching a revered time laps of something decomposing. The whole long while, she though of the child she spoke to an hour before.

It's heads almost back to the way it was. They say that in another fifteen minutes it'll get up and walk west with me to . . .who knows what.

The com sprung to life, and the four levels in encryption the Eva applied flashed on the screen, telling Asuka it was from Japan, and not the Americans.

She taped a control and Misato appeared on her com window.

" The satellite is back in position for the next hour. How's it going? "

Asuka knew the Eva was sending telemetry back home, but tried to lie anyway.

" Fine. Any suggestions on changing an 8 hour tampon in a full entry plug? "

" Asuka the encryption would take a Magi five hours to crack, and on top of it the Americas have been on the up and up so far. You can speak freely. "

The girl locked eye with her guardian and nearly exploded. The lack of sleep, the stress and what shed seen just boiled over.

" THE ANGEL IS ONE OF THERES! THE PILOT HAS MAJOR SHIT DRILLED IN HIS SKULL! THEY WANT ME TO WORK WITH . . .I don't know if I should say him or it . . ."

" OK him. "

The girl blinked.

" What? "

" I'm saying that until I hear from anyone that knows better, we are assuming thats a child in that plug. Now I want you to describe everything you've seen. "

Asuka began to hit random controls.

" I'll skip that OK? I recorded everything. Embedding it into the transmission now. "

She saw Misato bite her bottom lip they way she does when her mentor had a habit of doing when she didn't want to say something out loud. Like say " Your synch ratio is in the toilet. "

" I think I'd rather hear it from you. You've had more then enough training for a preliminary report. "

She tried not to curse in German. She tried to remember she was doing a job, and couldn't afford to . . . .well scream like a teenager.

" OK. . .It was revolting. Heavy wiring coming out of the cyberware in his head. Level four at least , like that crap that got banned after the last war. The LCL was to dark, like it was stale, and his speech was slow and . . I'm worried about him turning on me after it regenerates. The backpack thats supposed to keep it under control looks . . bulky and that armor on it can't be thick. Like a damn prototype. Listen I took this thing apart once I CAN do it again. . . .but how am I supposed to break the DRAC sea AND watch this thing? "


Misato spoke in that maternal tone of voice she usually reserved for Shinji.

" For right now we can't do anything about that. If we force the Americans to leave the Angel behind they can't fight it. Nothing they have, N2 mines included can stop it. You need to babysit until we can shut it down in a controlled environment. The America first branch is in Boston their are to many people at risk if they move it there. Canada is to far away. You need to keep it with you until the DRAC sea is broken, and they can shut it down at Groom lake. "

Asuka took a deep breath of LCL, and cursed herself for needing a "talking to".

Like I'm Shinji or something.

" What if . . .everyone's dead when we . . when I break the AT field? "

" We will deal with that if it comes to it. Right now, just keep that thing were you can see it, and worry about that AT field generating the DRAC sea. "

Misato could see the girl was trying to hold it together.

" I'm having Shinji brought up now. "

" What the hell are you talking about? "

" Shinji's had hands on experience with a DRAC sea. I'm bringing him down so he can give you what ever tips he can. "

Oh you bitch . . .

"Thank you."

cleaned up version is up as darkscribes

Just read the new Chapter on FF.net. Good stuff as usual, however it's a shame that Yui and Shinji are still so distant especially with Shinji and Misato being so close. Maybe Yui wants to much to quick, but still...

And I have risen from the dead to write another chapter as before its totally raw. If you look close enough you can see mr tines ripping his hair out trying to translate my arcane runes

Chapter four “ Turing the tide ”

Misato dragged her self through the door an hour past when she intended. Pausing for a moment to look over the still unfamiliar surroundings. The apartment was larger then the one on the surface. Big screen TV, MAGI terminal, and central air all came with the place. Pen-Pen seemed to be out of his fridge more often, standing in front of the vents or watching TV.

It still made her sad though, technically not living WITH Shinji and Asuka. They lived up the hall in the dorms. Lots of spare rooms joined at a common room, with a communal bathroom. She tried to tell herself this was even better. It made things easier having a separate entrance for her and Kaji. Gave the tutors better access to the children with out disturbing Kaji or herself. Also she smiled a guilty smile, it also let them do certain things, without waking the children.

Not that any of this would stop her from spending most of her time down their. Some of it even on the clock, written up as physical training, ie taking the kids to the gym to make up for a lack of phys-ed, or Kaji's idea of paint ball as combat training outside the simulators.

As she went she dropped off her jacket on the couch.

Damn, looks like Shinji forgot to start dinner for once.

She made her way down the lone hallway toward the dorm. Misato realized just how much she hated that word “ dorm “ as she went. It implied they might need a lot more pilots before this was done, and the idea of an ARMY of children kept her up some nights.

Reaching the “ common area ” of the dorm she found Shinji asleep on the couch with the tv running. For a long moment Misato considered just letting the boy sleep, and pretend neither of them had to face what was coming. It only lasted a moment.

“ Shinji wake up kiddo, we got company coming for dinner. ”


**

Yui sat on the command station typing on her laptop, and not caring about the dull gray shielded network cable running up the side of it for all to see.

I need to ask Mr. Kaji just how much information he got off that wireless unit they used.

Accessing a restricted feed she normally wasn't supposed to, Yui grinned.

Don't restrict something from the person maintaining the computer system, you hide it in some forgettable subsystem they'll never touch.

Her screen came to life showing a darkened apartment and Shinji asleep on a couch. Yui blinked for a second as a Penguin walked across the screen and stole a bag of potato chips from beside the boy.
Silently she watched the boy, her son sleep there. As if searching for something she pulled up stored footage while still watching the live feed. Images of a boys life so alien to her flashed across the screen.

A tutor teaches math, he looks frustrated, while Asuka laughs.

How can two children that young living together be a good idea?

The time comes for a lesson in formal Japanese, and the situation reverse itself. Shinji ducks a pillow as Asuka's frustration starts a round of play fighting. It ended when the tutor got them both back settled down. Yui spent a long while just starting with a freeze frame of the fight, Shinji was smiling.

She was so tired of doing more reading about her sons life then seeing. Being a part of it Yui'd accepted she'd given that up the day she entered the core. It broke her heart but it was true.

I've seen to much blindness since I've been back. Real understandable, human blindness though is was, it isn't forgivable. My husband went to war with God for my sake, and forgot about or son until he needed to use him . . like he did so many others. The he expected me to fall into his arms. ...

Yui paused for a moment noticing movement on the live feed of Shinji's dorm. Misato had walked in from out of frame, wearing the NERV uniform she'd taken to recently.

She'd given up caring how the woman dressed uniform or dress. For the first time she could remember Yui Ikari envied another woman, as she watched her wake a groggy Shinji.

I left everything that matters unprotected, so he could protect everyone else. One builds a machine that runs on dead Mothers souls, and must be steered by that womans own child. If your a woman that meets every requirement for that, and you have a child of your own, your a hypocrite if you don't do what you ask others to do.

They walked together on their way to Misato's apartment. Yui made a mental note that the camera was positioned just right to know if two teenagers where getting to friendly or going off into the same room together alone. Then continued her line of thought.

Gendo shrank from him out of simple fear. He sent him to a place where he would have everything he needed, but a single person that cared. I traumatized the boy without meaning too, because he NEEDED to know I was in the Eva to call me out. I could protect him then. . I saw it as a sacrifice . . Shinji . . didn't. Mother was just gone, and no one cared about him. Forgive us lord we knew not what we where doing.

Yui paused her self flagellation yet again to examine the camera feed, as as Misato returned to the dorm common room to retrieve that odd Penguin of hers. For a moment she could swear Misato made eye contact with the camera, and Yui swore she was being watched.

I made a mistake that hurt my son, and shook the world all at the same time. Baka Yui, I'm sure. It's time to . . .accept that. Things can either be mitigated or they can't. I need to talk to my son.

**

Keel's voice echoed in the dark yet again. He stood before Seele's meeting table alone with a certain American.

“You have a lot of nerve to call me here Senator Wingate. ”

The man's holographic representation seem altered to show him as he appeared almost a decade ago. Not unlike the technology used by over the hill actors squeeze out a few last films. His image stood near the dent the Frenchman's head had made in th table, and Keel wished America was a bit closer.

“ This is Seele's meeting place is it not? I have business to discuss. ”

The mans ego seemed to transcend space making Keel imagine he could smell his breath.

I'll make you squirm before this is done you argent bastard.

Keel's words boomed across the digital void between them.

“ Seele no longer exists Wingate! My supporters and I have returned to what we where before, the Trilateral Commission. You sir, have no business with the Commission. ”

Keel summoned all his willpower to avoid spitting into the hologram as the Senator spoke again.

“ You have a pilot in what will soon be MY country. This is simply a warning from Seele to have her behave herself. ”

Keel made a mental note of just the tone of voice he used when he spoke the word “ Seele ”

As if this fool knew the meaning of the word.

Senator Wingate dropped all penitence, and spat out his words.

“ I know you have the Russian, and I know he cost you a database full things thought imposable before the return of Dr Ikari. This is a friendly reminder that you left Seele behind but the throne of souls remains. Dislike that if you want, but you will respect it! “

The older man finally snapped.

“ You impudent bastard! ”

The Senator's hologram faded as he made a final statement.

“ If the Sea of Drac around Area 51 isn't broken, or if I even suspect that you might implode it intentionally to destroy the REAL S2 engines we have their I will come down on you. ”

Senator Wingates image faded, and the implant in his eyes told him he was really gone, and only one other was present.

“ He'll start a war just to prove he's better then you are Keel. ”

He didn't turn, didn't look up, he knew the voice was being beamed directly into ears by one of his many implants.

“ I can't stop him from doing that, but you can Mr President .”

The casual tone in the mans voice made Keel wonder if he'd made his mind up already. That it came down to this, the future hinging on a man he hasn't shared a room with in twenty years trusting him with fate of humanity.

“ That's dirty pool old man. I'm a lame duck these days. Nothing to do but keep house until the election. ”

Keel's footsteps echoed in the empty meeting place as he tried to remember the last time they talked when it wasn't about work. It was that concert maybe.

“ Planning to retire and let the world burn. ”

Keel smiled as his old friends voice showed a hint of anger.

“ Thats dirty pool you old bastard. ”

Keel grasped at straws, trying to convince him.

“ Eisenhower spoke out against the military industrial complex before leaving office, and even then said he didn't leave things in the best of hands. We control world now Jonathan, and once he was gone no one could stop us. ”

A full minute of dead silence followed before he spoke again.

“ Are you saying we shouldn't be running things? ”

“ I'm saying you can't pack up your desk and say everything will work itself out, because it won't. Unless your going to tell me you don't know what they are MASS cloning at Groom lake. ”

Keel imagined the Presidents face as he replied for a final time. It looked tired and eager to finally put down the sword and rest. Keel wondered if he already had.

“ Dear God, that's where he's getting the S2 organs of that quality. He's really mass cloning that Angel for spare parts. . . . ”

Keel spoke not knowing if the link was cut off or not.

“ Someone has to stop him Jonathan, and I can't. ”

**

Shinji rechecked the timer on the stove for the fifth time in the last five minutes. Much to his dismay time wasn't going any faster. He rechecked his list of things he could make with what was in the fridge, noting the revisions after he dropped a few things in his hurry, and much to Misato's amusement revisions for spending time making the list. Misato again tried to calm him down.

“ Shinji your mothers not due for another few minutes. ”

The boy turned, speaking sharply and quickly.

“ I need to get this done ! Wait can she eat meat? All of this might make her sick! ”

Misato regretted not getting out of work earlier, but the show Shinji was putting on in front of the stove made her smile. It was enough to make her feel guilty.

“ Shinji vegetarians only get sic if they haven eaten ANYTHING with meat in it in any way for a long time. ”

The boy continued to labor around the kitchen shacking as he went, until Misato stepped behind him. Wrapping her arms around him she could feel him trembling.

“ It's alright, I'm going to be here the entire time, and Kaji will be home in a hour or two. ”

Shinji responded sheepishly.

“ Why didn't you tell me? ”

The pot finally boiled as Misato answered in a motherly tone of voice.

“ You need to face this Shinji, one way or the other. It's been long enough since she's been back. No more running from it.”

The boy almost whimpered.

“ Couldn't you wait until Asuka was back?”

Shinji ignored the stove as she gave an answer he already knew.

“ Asuka has plenty of reason to be jealous of you Shinji, but this is something she can never have. ”

The boy's heart beat slowed, until the doorbell rang. Misato let go and he went back to making dinner.
Shinji saw her walking toward the door, and he muttered under his breath.

“ I mustn't run away.”

**

Yui stood at the door, and counted the heart beats since she rang the bell.

It's so unlike me to be this way, afraid to meet with or talk with anyone. This is Shinji. . . I never though i'd be scared of him. . .

The door opened as her heart skipped a beat. She wanted to see him their smiling, glad to see her at last. She was disappointed, as Misato opened the door.

“ Hi ummm Doctor ! Come on in! ”

Walking into the apartment she couldn't help but stare at this violet haired women.

I still don't know what to think about you Misato Katsuragi.

“ How's Shinji doing with Asuka over seas? ”

“ Worried. How long till she's at the Drac Sea? ”

“ By morning our time, nothing to do but wait, and hope the Chairman can get her a safe place to rest.”

The quick exchange of shop talk did wonders to calm her nerves. After a few long heart beats Shinji came into view. Yui kept trying to see the boy she left behind in the teenager she was not faced with.

Shinji was wearing a white novelty apron with “ Kiss The Cook “ written across the front. His face wore a forced smile, and he spoke a nervous tone in his voice.

“ H-hello M-mother. . . ”

It reminded her of Gendo in a way.

“ Hello Shinji. ”

**

Rei drifted in the LCL, the one sanctuary she's ever known in her life. Her thoughts dwelling on changes wrought by dead souls returning from the grave. Her own life bleak though it was, was simple to understand before the dead walked. Was dead even the word to describe them? Regardless the changes left in the wake of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, and the continuing wake of Yui Ikari had altered he life beyond what she'd though passable.

The Commander is gone. . .and Ikari does not look at me the same as he once did.

Once she wanted nothing more then a kind glance from one or the other, now they both seemed lost to her. The father in a NERV mental ward under suicide watch, and the son shunning her for arms of Second Child. Her heart beat spiked and she imagined the LCL boiling from her rage.

She is selfish, and argent ! He once looked at me the way he looks at the Second. . .now all he sees is Dr. Ikari's face.

The warm liquid circulated around her as the miles of circuitry, and cabling echoed her thoughts to what ever section of the MAGI was responsible for their storage. Her own memories from before her “ dead” had been faded by time, and she pondered the details of resurrection. Do you remember love, rage or sadness? It was so faint now like someone else's life. Was she happy before? Then when she could not care for her self the Commander cared for her, was he kind, or loving ?

Something jarred her from her thoughts. Reluctantly she opened her eyes to see Maya knocking on the tube. One this she WAS sure of was no one ever used to knock on her tube.

The technician pantomimed for her to move to the exit hatch at the top of the cylinder, and she rolled her eyes as she swam. This was HER place and having anyone disturb her here was unsettling to say the least.

Reaching the top Rei immediately notice the temperature difference as she pulled herself free. Sitting their for a long minute dripping LCL she shivered, not noticing Maya looking on with half smile.

“ You didn't even think of bringing a towel did you?”

Rei shot Maya what passes for an angry look when your soaking wet and freezing. Maya tossed her a bathrobe and a pair of oversize slippers that looked like bear feet. If the older woman wanted to provoke a reaction out of her with the slippers it was working.

“ These look foolish . . ”

“ Well it's just until we get you to the locker room. ”

The alien feeling of having someone else here besides the Commander or Doctor Akagi was overwhelming . Had this woman ever even spoken to her before today? Before Rei's world was lonely filled only with a few people that didn't care for her or in the Commanders case she knew would one day let her fade into nothing when her usefulness was at an end. Now she found herself walking in the dark with this woman she doesn't know.

It seemed an odd place for a conversation. These deepest halls of NERV, endless catacomb of metal, and shadows. Footsteps echoing in the dark, as a girl not entirely human tries to find her place in an unkind world.

She for once spoke in a raised voice and not a whisper.

“ Why do you even care?!? ”

**

Yui/Shinji/Misato scene chapter ender mabe

Yui and Misato watched Shinji scurry around the kitchen for ten minutes straight before Misato broke the silence.

“ So, do you think he remembers the foods already on the table? ”

Yui for the first time reminded Misato of Rei with that lonely look in her eyes. It was getting easier to distinguish the Yui from Rei just by body language. Now though the sadness made them harder to tell apart.

“ It's not you, really. Getting Shinji out of his shell is . . a part time job. ”

Yui looked on with red eyes, unused to being on the outside looking in. Misato without blinking reached out her left arm grabbing the boy as he buzzed past. Shinji objected weakly.

“ I forgot the garnish. ”

The dark haired woman snapped back.

“ Good it's against me religion, now sit down! ”

Shinji half believing her did a double take.

“ What religion ?!? ”

Misato smacked her forehead in frustration.

“ I'm a scienctologist. ”

Misato imagined she could see gears spinning boys mind. Normally she'd love the chance to make him blow a gasket but this wasn't the time.

“ R-really? ”

“ Your right I quite. Now sit down.“

Yui looked on as her sons apprehension gave way to laughter. She pondered the odd moment.

I love to hear him laugh, but I hate it that she's the one making him. What does that say about me?

Misato's cell phone sprang to life with the ear splitting sound of decade old J-pop that made Yui and Shinji both look at her with raised eyebrows. She grinned wide before speaking

“ Umm thats Kaji, I'll be right back. ”

They were left alone at the table to an uncomfortable silence.

After about a minute of eating without a word Shinji tried to break the ice.

“ So any word from Asuka ? ”

“ No not in the last few hours. . . miss having your girl friend around? ”

He blushed just a bit, and Yui's worries about his living arrangements where confirmed. She took a moment to study his face, and seeing Gendo the way she remembered him. A bit of shell around a good heart. The kind of shell that grows from to much time alone.

“ Yea . . kind of . . umm to quite around here without her I guess. ”

Yui couldn't help but smile despite her feeling about their living arrangements.

“ So you do most of the cooking ? ”

“ I used to, Asuka and Kaji trade off the rest of the time. Misato well she tired to learn, but she cut
herself and bleed on a roast, and we had to throw it out. It made her feel bad.”

Yui acted without thinking, reaching out to touch Shinji's hand across the table.

“ She matters a lot to you, Misato I mean. ”

As if being touch by a hot coal Shinji's hand recoiled, and Yui's face contoured with rejection. In an instant all her patience and resolve began to crumble. Yui stood abruptly, and spoke in flat emotionless tone that would make Rei cringe.

“ You are my son, and I love you. “

She turned slowly as if in agony away from Shinji and towards the door. Shinji watched her leave, and felt something give way inside.

“ M-mother! Mother wait! ”

Shinji's chair hit the floor as he moved after her.

Sitting on the bathroom floor holding her cell staring at the paused alarm Misato fumbled for a pack of cigarettes . Without being able to hear the next room, she knew a damn was breaking, and good or bad right or wrong she set the charges.



Misato was in fact sitting on the bathroom floor holding her cell staring at the paused alarm. Without being able to hear the next room, she knew a damn was breaking, and good or bad right or wrong she set the charges.

**

Next “ Parallax “

you posted the "good or bad wrong or right she set the charges" thing twice, at the end. Other than some other stuff it's pretty cool! I like how Keel has a direct line w/ the President through his ear. Neat stuff, yo.

Thanks for your kind words. This is the same rough copy that my proof reader sees. ( hint hint tines ).

Glad you like Keel, he's representative of what I call the best and brightest mind of a generation raised to fight a cold war.

Cleaned up copy is on ffn and will be up on darkscribes a bit later on
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3627015/4/

You are (imho) doing a fine job with this fic.

I remember reading (at least one incarnation) of this fic on fanfiction.net ages ago. I remember liking it very much.

One thing i would suggest, though, is to avoid all that unicode "smartquotes" crud alltogether. Openoffice does it, word does it, etc. But. It isn't right, and it isn't standard; as such, if you convert it to html and view it on practically any browser, the smartquotes will come out as a sequence of odd foriegn characters -- this is probably because nearly any site you might post this stuff on sets the locale such that it is incompatible with smartquotes, since smartquotes only exist in windows-specific locales (iirc).

That, or the unicode support on all my boxen is bork'd, and I should stop complaining about people not writing documents by hand in html or tex.

The random insertion of gibberish characters due to bad unicode encoding (or decoding) is a perpetual problem, though, and even I'm not entirely innocent of it (I remember writing something for fictionpress using openoffice, and it had smartquotes all over -- one of the reasons I started writing everything in vim).

The problem with proper 66 and 99 style quotes is that Windows' usual character set places them where standard ISO-Latin-1 hs control characters. You have to put them as entities “ ” or as the proper Unicode code-points &#....; where the .... values are 8220, 8221.

http://www.ravnaandtines.com/cp1252.html

Thanks for the kind words everyone