All characters copyrighted by Gainax, not me.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

In this fic, Yui Ikari is NOT part of Unit 1. If you have a problem
with

this, don't read.

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The Main Control room was dead silent. If a pin could have been

dropped, everyone would have heared it. Everyone was having their own

private thoughts about what had just happened.

First Asuka, then Shinji. The workers started wondering if there

were any normal people left in the world. Or, in the absense of
normal,

people that acted the way they had for years. No spontanious changes
in

character. But it was Misato who broke the silence.

"Okay," she said slowly, then looked over at her friend, Ritsuko.

"You said that we could help them when they got in. Well, they're in;
how

can we help?" When she got no response, she walked up to Ritsuko and
waved

a hand in front of her face. Blink, was the only response. Blink.
Blink.

Eventually Misato gave up, signing her friend off as a lost cause. It
was

only when she turned around to ask someone else did Ritsuko respond.

"We should send some people to escort them here," she said and

looked up at Commander Ikari for approval. When he nodded, she added,
"And

be sure to pick up the other pilots on your way back," to the security

agent who'd gathered up several people to get the pilots. Rei and Toji
had

been stashed away in a hevily armoured room. Pilots were the prize

possesion of NERV and were the only chance for it's survival. However

Commander Ikari had something to say about that.

"Belay that. You will bring all four pilots to the cages. The

Eva's will be prepped for launch by the time you get there."

"But sir, what will we tell them?" one of the escorts asked.

"Tell them that they will be briefed once on board," he replied,

and the guard rushed to obey. They left through the main doors, while
the

Commander directed Misato, Ritsuko, Maya, and Makoto to go through the

emergancy tunnels and get to the cages. They were using the tunnels

because of the heavy gun fire that rattled that part of the complex.
The

UN knew that their Eva's were on the way, and that they had to stop
NERV's

four from setting up a defensive postion. During the last transmission
of

the crew stationed there, they reported that were holding their own,
but

would eventually overwhelemed by the UN forces sheer numbers.

Far from the cages and Main Control, Shinji and Asuka were having

their own conversation, however it was of a different kind.

"What do you mean you don't know? Are you stupid?"

"I could easily be, but... it's just that I don't know."

"You're useless, then," Asuka said, and Shinji's reserves of

patience had just run out.

"That's not what you said about twenty minutes ago," he reminded

her, she blushed dark red and angrily turned around to face him.

"Don't you _ever_ bring that up again!" she bellowed, and this time

Shinji couldn't stop her by putting his hand over her mouth.

"SHHH! If there were guards outside, there are probably guards

inside. And somehow, I don't think we'll be able to stop them like we
did

the last time," he said. With his words, Asuka's blush deepened until
she

looked like a cooked lobster.

"Don't remind me about that. I still can't believe that I did

that!" she said, but much quieter than before.

"I can't believe I saw you do that," he said with wonder in his

voice. "Although, it was fun watching you," he finished with a wicked

grin, but Asuka glared at him.

"You even _mention_ it to anyone, and I will give you _such_ a

beating," she said, leaving the sentence hang, and Shinji just looked
at

her. Then he saw the look in her eyes and quickly gulped while making
a

zippering-like motion across his mouth.

"My lips are sealed," he said much like he did three years ago.

Asuka seemed to be pacified.

"Good. How about now?"

"Huh?"

"Do you know now?" she asked and Shinji could only roll his eyes.

"No, Asuka. I don't know now anymore than I did two minutes ago,"

he answered, only slightly annoyed at her lack of patience. 'If only
she

would wait, then she could know everything,' he thought. And then a

strange thought popped into his head. The thought scared him more than
any

Angel ever would. He wondered if his father thought the same thing. He

wondered if his father was only trying to be patient with people, that
time

will Tell All.

"Just making sure that you wern't lying to me, trying to avoid the

truth. Heh, you? Avoid the truth? You would never do that, would you?"

she asked, a sarcastic tone in her voice for the last part. Shinji
only

looked at her. She was looking away, so he didn't have to be subtle
about

it. 'She really is a well-put together girl,' he thought about her

attitude and the way she goes through life.

"What do you mean?" he asked, only after realizing that he had no

idea what she was asking him.

"Three years ago, you were one really big introvert," she said

while glancing behind them to make sure that they weren't being
followed.

"Introvert?" he asked and Asuka sighed.

"An introvert is someone who cares about how other people think of

him or her. They usually only come in two types, the first does
whatever

people want of him so they would like him. The other is just like you
were

back then," she explained.

"Oh? And how was I back then?" he asked and Asuka got a long look

on her face.

"Back then? I'd have to say shy, I guess," she answered. Then a

thought occured to her. "You've changed so much in the last three
years,

you know."

"Have I? I don't think so," he answered, curious as to where this

conversation was going.

"Of course. You'd be the last person to know. It's nice to see

that some things haven't changed," she said with a giggle.

"What about you? You've changed, too," he said, eyes still on the

lookout for any UN forces.

"What are you talking about, Idiot Boy?" she asked, perplexed.

"Which part of 'you've changed' are you having difficulty

understanding?" he responded, anger rising.

"Ah, I get it now. How have I changed?" she asked and his anger

quickly evaporated. Of course, Asuka would never tell him that she saw
the

anger in his eyes and knew that she was the cause of it. She'd acted

quickly to diffuse the situation that she'd helped create. But in
order to

do that, she had to stop annoying him. The strange thing was that

something that she'd always found fun in, annoying him, she now could
only

find distaste with it. Now she found herself with an intense dislike
of

annoying the young man squatting in front of her. Well not dislike,
but

she didn't like annoying him as much as she did before. She promised

herself that she'd try to tone down the insults.

"You've become...respectable, Asuka," he answered, finally being

able to put a word to his thoughts. "Yes, respectable is the right
word."

"You mean I wasnt' before?" she asked, but Shinji couldn't answer

as he saw movement off in the distance. When Asuka started to open her

mouth, he put a finger against his own lips, which still looked
perfect for

kissing, Asuka noted. She took the hint well and started to back away,
but

stopped when she herself saw movement from behind them. She tapped

Shinji's shoulder and pointed. 'Great. Big men with large things in
their

arms coming from both sides,' she thought, and then violently told her
mind

to get out of the gutter.

Her mind paid no heed.

Now her thoughts turned the fact that she, Asuka Sohryu, was alone,

in a dark tunnel with no one around for miles, with a gorgeous young
man in

front of her. She really, _really_ had to get out of the situation.

Fortunatly, the advancing men from both sides helped out. When she
could

make out the men advancing from the front, she smiled.

"Do you see them?" she asked Shinji.

"Nope, not yet," he answered.

"But I can, and it's some NERV sercurity people."

"How about the ones behind?" he asked and she looked behind them.

"Nah, can't make anything out other than the fact that they're

large men with what looks to be large guns," she said. But then a
voice

from behind them shouted out.

"There they are! Get them!" And then the group from the front

noticed the two pilots.

"Run! Get behind us!" the lead man shouted and Shinji and Asuka

wasted no time following that idea. As soon as they were out of the
way,

and out of breath, the guns started up. It's funny how the human mind
can

come with interesting tidbits of information at the strangest times.
Asuka

was amazed to find out that, even after all the combat that she and

Shinji'd been through, even after all the angels and life-threating

situations that they'd been put in, she was amazed at how a simple
gun,

handled by a regular human, could come so close to ending their lives.

'Even if one of us has just started to live,' she thought, then

glanced in the general direction of Shinji. Even in the face of
certain

death, he still looked calm. Not at all like he was three years ago.
No,

for now he looked like a younger version of Commander Ikari.

It didn't take long for the Security team to deal with the UN

forces. The speed of their work caught Shinji's attention.

"That didn't take long," he said after the ringing in his ears

stopped. "I didn't think that you'd do so well against an militaty
unit."

The lead man adressed his statement.

"Most of us are from the UN," he said, "and besides, you don't

think that we'd get any time off to lose our battle edge under your

father's command, do you?" he added with a smile. Shinji and Asuka
looked

at each other and had to agree.

The rest of the trip went rather quickly and quietly. In only a

few minutes Shinji and Asuka found themselves in front of their war

machines waiting to be told what was happening. In the brief phone

conversation that they had with Shigeru, all that they were told was
to

report in by foot, what routes to take and that there would be guards
at

the enterances and they were not NERV staff. Then the phones went dead
in

their hands.

Asuka's thoughts about what happened were cut off by a group to

techies running by and nearly wiping her out. She didn't have enough
time

to yell at him because the assailent was already back on his feet and

running to catch up to his group. No apologies, no nothing. Asuka only

looked at Shinji, who shrugged while saying, "I have no idea what this
is

about." A voice from behind them answered.

"Commander Ikari ordered the Eva's to be prepped for launch by the

time you got here," Toji said, "so they're running behind," he
finished,

and the Shinji understood. If the Commander were to walk in on them
like

this, they would be punished. Some might even be thrown out of the
program

when the ordeal was all over if he saw them. Then the security man who

helped to get them here walked over to them.

"Get on board," he said, "you will be briefed then." Once they'd

gotten to the room, the guards turned Shinji and Asuka over to a tech
while

they went off to help the rest of the people fighting the UN.

The pilots wasted no time getting on board. With two exeptions.

After the Rei and Toji left, Shinji and Asuka gravitated towards each

other. No words were said; they just looked at each other. Each were

having their own thougths, feeling, and fears about what was
happening, not

only with the fight but between the two of them. Even if they wanted
to,

there was no way to express their feelings. No words were adequite. It

also helps matters that they had no idea about _how_ they felt about
each

other. Then Asuka stepped up to Shinji and placed her lips on his.

It wasn't like the last time it happened. Then they were caught up

in the maelstom of emotions and sheer passion. This time it was a
light

kiss, one that had no passion in it, just...tenderness. The next thing

Shinji knew he was inside the entry plug of Unit 1. He tried to think
back

to how he got there, and all he got were vague impressions of

conversations, of running through the checklist, of interfacing with
the

Unit. He didn't think he was that far gone.

Then all thoughts were shut out by the forces pushing him back into

his seat as the Eva was launched. Misato ordered them from the Main

Control to set up a defensive position. "Misato, what's out target?"

Shinji asked.

"You have nine targets, actually," she answered.

"Yes, but what are they?" Toji asked. She had their screens

patched into the security camera, and they saw there enemies for the
first

time.

Shinji's blood ran cold as he saw the nine Eva's approching.

end part 13

thanks to:

K Yee and Short Yes

gholmes@rodeo.sd27.bc.ca