SECOND TIME AROUND

by Gunman

Disclaimer: All Eva characters are not licensed by me. I'm only using them for my own amusement.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Chapter 1

Welcome To Tokyo-3

((We're Sorry. All Lines Are Currently Out Of Order...))

Shinji Ikari hung up the phone and looked around the deserted city called Tokyo-3.

I wonder if he's here. He thought as he looked around, first at his watch, then at a deserted section of the city. He then noticed something, or actually, someone, standing in the street. It looked like a girl. A strange girl he had never seen before. She was wearing a school uniform, but had short blue hair and almost pale white skin. And it could have been his imagination, but did she appear to have 'red eyes'? He wasn't sure, but it looked like it.

He blinked, and she was gone.

Who was that? Was it a girl? It looked like...but where did she go? He wondered as he looked around and still saw nothing. Did I imagine it? He wondered again as he looked at the picture that he had been sent.

The image was of a sexy woman with purple hair, dressed in a tanktop and cutoff shorts. There was a message on it. 'I'll come pick you up'. He then noticed the arrow pointing to her cleavage.

"I wonder why no one's here?" he asked.

And as if on cue, a fierce screeching sounded off, shattering the peace of the city. Shinji looked up and barely saw a missile come out of nowhere, fly off, and impact something as loud explosions nearly shook him off his feet.

'"What th..." he exclaimed as he suddenly froze. Over the city there were nearly a dozen military aircraft flying a single area. Actually, they were flying backwards. (VTOL's have that power) He suddenly saw why as a huge dark green humanoid monster, with bone-like plates on its shoulders and a red orb in its chest, protected with what appeared to be its ribs, appeared from behind a large mountain.

"What? What was that... ..." Shinji whispered he watched the aircraft attack the creature and swat at them as if they were nothing but insects.

One of the aircraft managed a direct hit at the creatures face, at least that's what Shinji could tell was it's face, but it did little good as the creature raised it's hand and shot a spear of light at it, destroying the aircraft in a second.

Shinji stared at the creature, and then it suddenly turned towards his direction. Shinji froze, because for a second, it looked as if the creature was staring at him.

Before Shinji could do anything, the creature moved towards him. Fortunately, so did a fast blue car.

"Quick, get in!" the driver shouted at him as she threw the passenger side door open.

Shinji saw the a beautiful woman with purple hair wearing sunglasses and a black dress and driving gloves. He realized that this was the woman who was coming to meet him.

'"Y-Yeah." he muttered as he dove into the car.

The woman slammed on the gas and accelerated like a bat out of hell. It was a good thing she did, because the monsters foot suddenly came down hard and demolished the area they would have been in. She peeled rubber and was out of the creatures path in seconds.

"Well, that was a close one." the woman said as she continued driving like a maniac.

"Uh, yeah. Thank you for coming to pick me up, Miss Katsuragi." he said, quickly buckling his belt.

"No problem, Shinji Ikari. And please, call me Misato." she said as she took off her sunglasses.

She suddenly regretted that as she noticed that the aircraft were moving away from the creature.

"What the hell?" she cried as she stopped the car and grabbed a pair of binoculars from the glove box. "No...it can't...they wouldn't..."

"Who wouldn't what?"

"Oh shit, they're going to use a N2 mine! Get down!"

Shinji was quickly pinned to the floor of the car as a suddenly shockwave and blinding light overwhelmed them in a second. The car flipped and flew, finally coming to a stop, but had landed on the passenger side door.

The pair scrambled out to see what had happened. Misato found her glasses and put them back on as she stared at the blinding light from the blast. As soon as the light had disappeared, the pair got out of the car and tipped it back onto it's wheels.

"Ok, one...two..."

"Three!" They both shouted and in seconds were able to right the car.

"Good job, Shinji, it seems that you're useful for something!" she said playfully.

"..." he looked at her for a second before replying. "Thanks. I think."

Great, he probably thinks I insulted him. I didn't mean to.

"But what was all that about?" Shinji asked several minutes later as Misato checked the power connections and closed the hood.

"Unfortunately, the reason you're here." Misato answered as they got back into the car and drove off. Misato herself was upset. Not at Shinji, he had nothing to do with this. She had been late picking him up at the train station, and now because of it, her new dress was ruined, her car was wrecked, though still drive-able, and she was running behind schedule. She knew Ginji wouldn't get mad at her, but a certain cranky blond always did.

"Uh, are you sure taking those batteries is alright?" he asked, breaking her out of her musings, indicating the half-dozen batteries that they had secured from a nearby mechanic garage.

"Don't worry, I'm a government official, and we do need a working car." she replied sheepishly.

"I don't think anyone's going to buy that." he frowned.

"Ahh, you're no fun." she playfully teased him. "You know, you're not as cute as I thought you were."

"And you're not as mature as I thought you were."

That little comment got Misato's foot on the gas, making Shinji hang on for dear life as the blue car swerved all over the road.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Misato eventually slowed down and the pair were able to speak normally.

"You mean...the work my father was doing...is because of that thing?" Shinji asked her.

"Yes." Misato replied. "But not to worry, everything will work out." she smiled. Suddenly, her car phone rang. She picked it up, still driving at an accelerated rate. "Hello? Oh, hey, hon. No, I wasn't that close to the blast. Just a little, the car's worse than I am. I'm Fine! Yeah, he's fine too. Don't worry about it, his safety is my primary concern. We'll be there soon. Could you get a train ready? An express of course. Right, see you soon sweetie." she said as she hung up the phone.

"Who was that you were talking to?" Shinji asked, trying not to be rude or anything.

"Someone who's been looking forward to meeting you." she smiled.

Shinji sulked down into his seat. "It couldn't be my father."

Misato looked at him.

"Guess you don't get along with him very well. I'm kinda the same way." she said as she drove on.

"So, we're headed for my father's organization?" Shinji asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah." Misato said. "It's called NERV, a top secret organization controlled by the UN. It's primary job is to stop those creatures you just saw."

"Creatures? You mean...there are more of them?" he said with obvious panic.

"Don't worry, Shinji. We've planned for something like this for years."

How do you plan to stop a giant monster stomping around the city when the military's greatest weapon couldn't do it? He wondered as they arrived at the gate that lead down to NERV.

They stopped at an armored door with the NERV logo printed on it. Misato reached over to the card reader and swiped her ID through it. The door opened and Misato drove in. She stopped inside the large room as the floor started moving.

The trip was rather long, so Misato thought Shinji should start reading up.

"Here, Shinji, read this." she said as she handed him a book that was in the backseat of her car.

'"NERV. God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world." he said, reading the cover. What has father been doing?

Misato looked at the boy. I hope we're doing the right thing. I know what Ginji said about the boy, and I know he doesn't like it, but he understands it has to be done. He's never been wrong about things, and I hope he's right about this.

Shinji looked through the window, and, for the second time that day, was left speechless.

"My God. It's an actual Geo-Front!" he cried, which amused Misato.

It was a huge underground cavern, almost spherical in shape, looking like it was taken from a Sci-Fi pic. Artificial light illuminated the whole place, there was some kind of forest down below and there were also buildings hanging from the ceiling. And at the center of the cavern was a large pyramid-like building with the NERV logo painted on its side.

"This place is our last hope for survival, a fortress for all mankind, to stand against the Angels."

"...wow..." was all Shinji could say.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Minutes later after they had gotten off the tram, they were walking through the massive corridors of NERV. Actually, most of their walking had consisted of mobile walkways that seemed to be taking them to the same place.

"This is why I hate wearing skirts around here." Misato groaned as she looked at the map.

'"I think we've passed by here before." Shinji as he continued to flip through the book.

Misato groaned. She could almost hear Ginji telling her that she should have studied the base more thoroughly. She knew he wouldn't, but it was something that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Are we lost, Miss Katsuragi?"

Misato giggled lightly. "Don't worry, that's what these walkways are for." she stated.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

However, within the facility, two people were aware of their predicament.

"Oh, god, is that idiot lost again?" a blond woman grumbled as she shed her wetsuit and face mask. There had been an intercom communiqué for her to contact Captain Katsuragi.

In another part of the base...

"I told her to study the layout better." he grinned as he holstered his guns. He paused for a second and picked up a pendant in the desk drawer, putting it in his pocket.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The elevator rode down to one of the lower levels, stopping to open up, which revealed a blond woman wearing a labcoat and a cross expression.

Misato giggled, panicked a bit. "Hi, Ritsuko."

The woman stepped up to her and got in her face. To Shinji it looked like they were going to have a fight or something.

"Why are you wasting my time, Captain? You know we're short on time and manpower." the blond said.

"Sorry." she grinned sheepishly.

The blond sighed then turned to the boy. "So, is this him?" she asked.

Misato straightened herself. "Yeah. According to the Marduke Report, he's the Third Child."

Ritsuko stared at him, almost worried. To her, he really didn't look that exceptional. Yet, as it stood, there was no one else to pull off this rather impossible task.

"He's like his father. The gruff and unfriendly type."

Shinji flinched and Misato noticed it, almost like he had been insulted. Great, Misato, just great. He's already at odds with the man, didn't have to make it seem like they were similar.

"Hello." Shinji said to the blond.

"Hello. I'm Dr Ritsuko Akagi, chief scientist here at NERV."

Shinji gave a small bow.

"We're running late." Ritsuko said as the elevator stopped at Ritsuko's destination.

"How bad is it?" Misato asked as they got out.

"Bad. The Unit's been acting up, but it should be fine." Ritsuko said as she lead them down the hall.

"Fine? That's not reassuring. What about Rei?"

"Still recovering." a tall man in black said as he appeared around the corner.

Ritsuko jumped. "God! Don't sneak up on us like that!"

Misato giggled at her friend losing her cool. He was the only one to ever consecutively do it. That and herself.

Shinji stared at the man for a few seconds, recognizing him almost instantly. He had dark brown hair, his eyes covered by sunglasses. He was dressed all in black with a long trenchcoat. He was tall and strong looking, almost radiating calmness and intelligence.

It's him. Shinji thought.

Before Shinji could do anything, the man took off his sunglasses as Misato inexplicably leaped into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck, bringing her lips fiercely against his. He responded by wrapping his arms around her body, returning the kiss with equal passion.

That was shocking enough, but as Shinji noticed Ritsuko was scowling. And she also looked like she was jealous?

Eventually, the pair stopped kissing, Misato set back down on her feet. The pair turned and looked at the others, Misato blushing a bit and the man just smiling.

"God, just get a room you two." Ritsuko smirked.

"Your office still empty?" the man asked, arms still wrapped around Misato, and Shinji noticed that he had blue eyes, the same color as his own.

Ritsuko threw him a pouted/cross look. "At least you'd clean up." she said, then stared at Misato.

"Don't start, Ritz!" the purple-haired woman stated. She looked at Shinji, who was wide-eyed. "Oh, how rude of me. Shinji Ikari, I'd like you to meet Ginji Katsuragi. My husband."

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Author's Notes:

Did this chapter shock you? I hope you like it, and I hope you find it interesting enough to check back for more updates.

Don't worry, I've got a real good reason for doing this, and I will do my best to update this as best I can to explain why. This is something I'm sure Misato has never had before, at least as far as I've read in other stories.

Like any good author, I wanted something different. Something original. Something that no one had done before. Hopefully, I accomplished that.

Please read and review.