Disclaimer: Me no own.

Author's note: To anyone who has enjoyed this fic so far, thank you for reading. I'll try to continue with improvements. 1st chapter redone.

An Unfamiliar Ceiling:

His eyes opened to a barren expanse of white. All that he could really feel was the light kiss of a summer's breeze coming in through his window.

"Another unfamiliar ceiling." the words came, unbidden.

Still staring at the ceiling, images danced through his head.

He was sitting in a spartan steel room, the only thing that broke the grey floor was the platform he sat on. His legs dangled off the side, swinging freely. He decided to get to know the back of his hand better, holding it up in front of him. The white material on the gloved hand, disproportionate to the rest of his body, caught his attention, as did the golden bracelet around his wrist. He moved his gaze downwards, tracing the red stripe that ran to the elbow of his otherwise midnight black arm.

"Shadow." said someone, breaking the deafening silence in the room. The man was old and rotund, with a handlebar mustache, but still held the air of a grandfather around him. He knew instinctively that he viewed this man as such, as did someone else. "Shadow, I'm sorry, but we need another sample. This will be the last test. I promise."

"But," his voice picked up, sounding fairly innocent, "Professor, that's what you said last time!"

"I mean it this time." replied the professor. "After this we'll be able to go to earth. You, Maria and I, we'll all go to see the wonderful things of the planet together."

"Is that a promise?"

"It's a promise Shadow." The man produced a syringe from inside his lab-coat. "Now hold still. This will only hurt for a moment."

Shinji returned to reality. He sat up, looking at his surroundings, though not really taking it in. He was more focussed on the questions travelling through his mind. 'There's those names again. Maria, Shadow. What does it mean? Who was that professor? Why did he sound like we weren't on earth? And most importantly; What was I?' He knew that he couldn't have been human. He had not been wearing clothes in it, so he knew that he had fur. Black fur with red stripes. That couldn't have been natural.

He quickly decided to file the dream away under the "Things to work out later" folder in his brain before truly turning his attention to his surroundings. It was a standard hospital room, through and through. White was the dominant colour, broken only by a bed-side table, the window, the door and the bed on which he lay. Not that he had expected anything to be in here. His father saw him as a tool and he had never had any real friends to speak of.

But why did he feel he was missing a piece of the picture?

As if summoned, the events of the previous night flowed into his brain. He slumped back down as his body caught up with him. A sore hand from the force-field, an aching skull from the punch, and his entire body a bit numb from the energy blast. He was definitely going to have to ask why they made the pain transfer over as well. After-all, wasn't it supposed to be the Eva that took the damage?

oooooooooooo

The TV churned out the news report to it's audience, who was eager to see just what kind of stupid lies the public was willing to let them get away with.

Yawning and cooling herself with a paper fan (dammit, those HAZMAT suits were steamy!), Mistao spoke to no-one in particular. "So we're going with THAT plan?"

Mistaking her friend's rhetorical question as directed at her, Ritsuko responded. "Yes, we are. The public really have to be fools to believe that tripe."

Misato looked over her shoulder at her friend, a frown adorning her face. "What's up, Rits? You sound kinda glum. I thought you'd be screaming with joy to study the angel."

Ritsuko sighed before facing her friend. "Normally, yes I would be. But right now I'm kind of torn between being happy about angel samples and screaming because my pet-project has been put on the back-burner."

Misato turned around, a perverted smirk on her face. "So, finally got yourself a boyfriend?"

"Only you..." Ritsuko muttered. "No, I've just been interested in something odd about our newest employee."

Misato arched an eyebrow. "Shinji? Yeah, he hates the commander, but so does practically everyone else. Maybe it's because he did that charge?"

Ritsuko smiled. "No, that's not my reason for concern. But I may have found a reason for that event." She paused to get the purple haired woman listening to her a little excited.

Misato, sure enough, looked like a little kid about to be told a secret. "Tellme,tellme,tellme,tellme..." she quickly blurted.

The bottle blonde smiled. "Not until we're in private."

Misato's face couldn't be more precious.

oooooooooooooo

Shinji stood in the hall, staring out the massive window at the city spread out in front of him. He had been raised in a quiet town, so even the few buildings he could see were amazing to him. It looked amazing, a testament to man's will. A fortress of glass, steel and concrete, jutting up into the heavens, mocking the God that created the people.

Perhaps that's why second impact had occurred.

Perhaps that's why he had had to fight an 'Angel'.

He came out of his thoughts in time to see the occupant of a passing hospital gurney.

It was the girl from the night before.

Not a word was said between the two teens, as a single crimson orb made contact with a pair of blue ones. The two stared at each other until the gurney was to far away for him to see her.

Shinji sighed and sat down. He felt that she was... familiar, somehow, even though he had never seen her before the night previous. Her odd hair and eye colours even seemed to enhance the feeling, which shouldn't have been normal. Blue hair definitely wasn't something he had seen before, though something about it reminded him of... of... something. And the red eyes didn't even weird him out. It was almost like he looked at the mirror every morning and saw a pair staring back...

Stop. Hold that thought. That can't be right. Must be another part of the dream...

Shinji sighed again, this time in exasperation. 'Maybe I have schizophrenia?' he mused.

oooooooooooooo

"Alright Rits-chan, now we're away from prying ears, so what are you so interested in Shinji for?" Said Misato, who was currently staring at her friend as their ride took them down to the bowls of NERV.

"Alright, no point in hiding it. Simply put, the boy is biologically not human." As her friend stared dumbly, Ritsuko rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean not human?!?!" Misato asked/demanded.

"He has a 24th pair of chromosomes, which don't match up with any known chromosomes, so that leaves extra chromosomes distributed during birth out. And as much as I'd like to find out how he got the last pair, I also want to find out what they do. I know they increase muscle power without increasing their mass, as well as providing a boosted immune system. But what really interests me is how his cells divide rapidly in response to any wound, yet none of the chromosomes ever wear down. It truly is a conundrum. However, there are parts to it that I don't understand. It seems the chromosomes give him some form of energy manipulation abilities, almost like an angel, but also quite different." She paused at this. "Any of this getting through to you?"

A quick look over told her that Misato clearly wasn't getting it. Whether it was the stunned expression on her face, or the small sign that was held to her side with 'WTF?' printed on it that told her this is unclear.

Ritsuko rubbed her temples. "Okay, here's the condensed version. He has more genes than a normal human, and it isn't from a faulty birth. His muscles are stronger per gram than a normal person's and it's really hard for him to get sick. He heals fast, and he doesn't really ever age, and the two really don't agree to each other. He can use energy like an angel, but in a different form. Got that?"

"Well that explains how he tipped my car. So he's basically Superman?"

"Basically. Don't let him know though. It may not go over to well if you just come out and tell him he's not human."

oooooooooooo

Shinji, still in a hospital gown, sat on a bench in the hospital, humming a melancholy tune as he waited for someone to come to get him. He traced patterns on the wall opposite his seat using his eyes, bored out of his mind. The sound of footsteps broke the silence that had been engulfing him, and he turned to look at the source. Misato was the one who had come to pick him up. They simply stared at each other for a few moments.

oooooooooooo

They stood in the canter of a room with large blue tiles for flooring and a single light above them. The room was vast, stretching out until the walls were totally lost in the shadows. A man stood in front of Shinji, who now wore a school uniform. The man simply gave Shinji a piece of paper with his new living quarters location written on it. The boy looked it over, nodded, and turned to leave.

As he left the room, Misato caught up with him. "So... Who are you living with?" she asked.

"Apparently nobody. I can take care of myself, It's not like I don't have enough experience already." he said as he continued walking. Misato stopped, however, and after pondering the pros and cons of the idea, made several phone calls to make arrangements.

ooooooooooooo

"Remind me again why I agreed to this?"

"Because you couldn't live on your own when a lovely young maiden like myself" Said Misato, giving her chest a heave for good measure, "is alone and willing to give you lodging."

Shinji rolled his eyes and gave a smirk, which gave Misato the encouragement she needed to continue with her teasing.

"You're actually pretty cool once someone gets to know you. What was with the glare you were giving everyone earlier?"

"Simple, my dear Katsuragi. I glare at things and people that anger or annoy me. At the time, you annoyed me. The man who calls himself my father, however, that was pure loathing."

"Well, at least you're similar to the rest of us in that." She said. They fell into a relatively comfortable silence as Misato continued to drive down the mountain. Out of the blue she pulled over onto an observation area, and gestured for Shinji to get out. The boy did so with only a raised eyebrow. They both stared out over the city, which seemed to be levelled in the centre.

"Please tell me I'm not responsible for that." said Shinji, sweeping his hand towards the empty city.

"No, you didn't." assured Misato. "Now be quiet, it's about to start!"

Shinji didn't even have time to ask what she meant before an alarm blared. Turning back towards the city, Shinji saw the incredible. Skyscrapers seemed to grow from the ground as they moved back into position. It was without a doubt the most amazing thing the boy had ever seen.

"This is Tokyo-3, the city you helped to protect."

"And if I can, I will protect it well into the future."

ooooooooooooo

"This is your new home. It's a little messy, but it works." Misato said as she stepped into her apartment, now to be shared with her new charge.

Said charge 'Hmmm'ed to himself before asking "Is it really alright for me to enter?"

Misato gave the boy a look that said not to repeat the grave error you've just committed before shifting into a more friendly one. "Of course! It's your home to now."

The boy looked at her a moment more before stepping through the threshold. "I'm home." he mumbled to himself.

Apparently Misato had heard, because she replied with "Welcome home.". The touching moment complete, she grabbed his arm and dragged him further into the house, where he was greeted by trash in every possible location.

"A little messy?" the boy said with a weak glare.

"Hey, I haven't been home much and I'm not a great cook." She said in her defence. Quickly changing pace, she quickly announced that they would have a party, which meant they had to clean up the apartment. The boy rolled his eyes before getting to work.

ooooooooooooo

An hour or so later, they had managed to clean most of the apartment. Sitting down to an instant dinner of curry and a soda, Shinji watched his new housmate/guardian pop open a beer, chug it, and burst out in a 'Yeehaa' worthy of old American Western Cowboys. Clad in only a tank-top and an extremely short pair of shorts, she was a sight to behold. Something told him that if he was a more hormonal boy he would have had the anime cliche of a nosebleed. As it was, however, he only smirked at the woman.

"Well, it's good that your unpacked. Feel free to take advantage of anything in the apartment, myself excluded."

Yes, he would be happy here. Even if she had saddled him with about 90 percent of the chores.

Excusing himself to take a shower, he left. After making his way to the bathroom, he stripped down to his skin before proceeding towards the mirror.

He looked at his reflection, noticing that he hadn't changed that much except...for... the... eyes... "How exactly did my eyes turn green, slitted like a cat's and extremely animalistic without me noticing?"

"Because, brother, I'm me." said the reflection, taking a different stance than Shinji.

Shinji shook his head. 'I knew that curry tasted weird'. "Alright mister-instant-food-induced-hallucination, you have a name?"

"Why yes. I am Mephiles, the demon of shadows, half of the God Solaris, and-"

"WARK!" came the battle cry of the interruption, a penguin with bright red plumage on it's head and a towel around it's shoulders.

"Don't call my mother that, you arrogant avian!" was the indignant reply of the reflection.

"Wark wark WaRK!" The small bird shouted back.

"Like you could do any better, punk." the shade in the mirror once again retorted. By this point it's hair was crystalline and it's hands claws.

Shinji blinked a few times before turning, putting his boxers back on, and turning back to the battle of wills. At this point the bird was slapping it's rear with a flipper while Mephiles was shouting "NO U!" somehow with an arm sticking out his mouth, pointing at the bird. Shaking his head he lifted the bird and brought it out to Misato.

"I don't know what you put in that curry, but please don't put any in ever again. I found this little guy" he said as he passed the penguin, "arguing with my reflection." I'm going to take a shower now, then I'll try to sleep off the hallucinations."

Leaving behind a very confused Katsuragi, he left to do just that. Misato stroked Penpen, beginning to wonder if it had been such a good idea to take Shinji in after all.

ooooooooooooo

An hour later, Shinji was lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling, trying to get to sleep. He even had classical music playing on his broken down SDAT player to help him. He managed to fall asleep when he rolled onto his side a moment later.

For all of three minutes. He suddenly woke up with the knowledge of what the eva had done to the angel, the sensations flowing through his body as if it were he who committed them.

He shakily got up and dragged himself to the restroom, where he soon re-experienced the curry. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he managed to stand again, pulling himself over to the sink where he set about trying to remove both the physical and mental taste in his mouth using a toothbrush.

After 15 minutes of scrubbing his teeth, he decided it was enough. Dragging himself back to his bedroom, he collapsed on his futon face first. He was still lying face down when Misato opened his door, dressed in her uniform and a sombre expression on her face.

"You did a good thing today, Shinji, remember that." she said rather softly.

Weakly lifting one of his hands, Shinji showed that he had heard, before replying himself. "For now let me rest okay? I just want to forget. Angel apparently tastes pretty bad."

Misato only smiled a bit before closing the door.

ooooooooooooo

A/N And so comes Mephiles, the only other sonic character that will be in here even somewhat physically.

Shinji/Shadow will get the shoes sometime before Jet Alone.

Any reviews, especially those with Omake ideas, are welcome.

Also check out the redone chapter one.