Chapter 19

"Li... Re... I mean Ayanami!" The more one knows in this line of business the more one has to conceal what they know. I know Rei is actually Lilith, and everyone knows I call Rei by her last name to keep up appearances, The only time I ever call Rei by her first name, is during combat when things get hairy. "Are you ok?"

Rei, or rather Lilith, had supposedly sacrificed herself by self destructing her Eva to save me from Armisael, the sixteenth angel. And she did, in front of me was the same soul trapped in a vassal that was no different from the last, except the last was in a few hundred bits scattered around Japan. "I'm fine Ikari." Blunt as always but her eyes were telling me that she was a little disappointed in me, and I could hardly blame her.

I have to say though with all honesty the fight could have gone better had I not let my slowly encroaching manly pride get the better of me.

Flashback

I slowly awoke to light breathing tickling the back of my neck, I would like to say that the events of that night came flooding back as I woke up but they were already fresh in my mind. I turned over gently as not to wake the sleeping girl tightly holding me, I gazed upon her sleeping, peaceful face. Just by looking at her I knew she hadn't slept well in some time by the fading bags from under her eyes. Out of a need just to touch her I gently brushed a few strands away from her face. The slight touch caused her to pull herself closer burying her head in my chest and out of my view. Asuka was currently weak and defenceless, not because she was sleeping but because of everything that has happened her her. She was breaking, slowly but if things kept up as they are now I might of lost her forever. And I didn't want that. But with the dream I had I was overconfident on what I was capable of. I have my mothers powers but I am not her, I have not the experience nor the understanding of what I was about to face.

The alarms suddenly go off in Nervs HQ living quarters where me and Asuka were currently living as Misatos' apartment was currently structurally unstable, but really Nerv was just trying to find out what really happened there. I can hear fast moving foot steps moving towards our direction then stopping in front of the door. Before they can open it, I dress myself and open the door to a shocked looking Misato. Putting my index finger to my lips then looking towards Asuka Misato quickly understands that I don't want to wake her up, then I closed the door.

We move at a quick pace as Misato explains the situation.

"An angel has been spotted on the outskirts of the city. It's currently circling the city, probably to find the best way to enter the Geofront. It seems to have no long range weaponry but rather a very strong AT field that differs from once previously seen. Visual reports state that it looks like a 'double helix torus'."

My brain raced for a few seconds to understand what Misato just said. "So... it looks like a circular strand of DNA?" I asked trying to grasp any understanding. Although Misato was in a bit of a panic she let out a small sad chuckle.

"Hahaha, I made the same comment to Ritsuko. sigh But yeah that's the jist of it." After a few minutes we made our way into my Eva's holding cage. Everything was set up, it just need a pilot. I was in and out the changing room in seconds earning a few surprised glances from the techs but I ignored them. I had an angel to defeat.

The Eva shot up to the outskirts where I was greeted my Unit 00, Lilith and was handed a rifle. I would have liked to have asked for some information about the angel but Lilith was playing the role of Rei and wouldn't break character.

"The angle is currently making it's way in your direction. Shinji you are in lead position, Rei, your are to back up Shinji." We heard Misato orders clearly and quickly got into position and awaited the angel. I think it was safe to say that I finally agreed with Asuka's nickname for me. After everything that happened and having Asuka accept me I started to feel invincible. When ones head floats above the clouds, the sight can become dizzying.

The second I saw the Angel I let out every bullet in my rifle. Every missed shot kicked up earth caking the area in mud clouds until there was no sign of the angel. I wasn't completely naive, I knew it was still alive. Grabbing a pistol from the weapons rack I drew my knife and made my way into the dust. I couldn't see anything past a few meters of the Eva's external cameras. Which was unsettling as the dust should have settled faster then this.

"Shinji get out of there, the dust isn't clearing and we can barely get a reading on you for some reason." I wasn't in the mood to disobey orders and I didn't feel comfortable with this level of visibility. This was obviously the Angels doing so I started making my way back. After a few minutes of walking and radio silence my confidence was all gone. Something was wrong I should have been out of the dust cloud but it seemed to go on forever. Then I slapped myself, I have x-ray vision, I can easily see through this. Concentrating I started looking through the dust then for some reason the dust shattered like glass as if an illusion was lifted and the radio came blazing back to life.

"Shinji! Fight back! What's wrong! Shinji!" Misato kept reaping over the communication channel. I was then suddenly filled with pain around my legs and lower body. Looking to the monitors I saw the angel, now a single strand of white light entwined, constricting and piercing through the legs and lower half of my Eva. "AHHHHHHHhhHAHHHHHHHHaaahHHHH!" I couldn't help as scream as the pain intensified as I felt the angel attempting to merge with my Eva. I could see the Angel jolt slightly whenever I heard Lilith's voice over the comm sayings 'Fire' But the angel was unaffected by the bullets. As my arms were free I made a desperate attempt to free my self, all the while still screaming from the unimaginable pain. With my knife in reach I grabbed it then the angel. With me now holding the Angel it turned its attention away from Rai to me as I quickly made a wild slash at it. It quickly untangled it's self from my Eva beading and broken legs and shot off towards Lilith.

Even in the pain I was in I couldn't let the Angel hurt Lilith. My pride and stupidity put me in this situation and I wasn't gonna let Lilith pay the price for it. I reached out and caught the angels end, I felt it burning my had but it didn't last long as it flicked itself in such a way that my Eva was sent flying into Unit 00, we both crashed into the nearby hills. My Eva was not able to move and made no attempts to heal itself. It was probably my mothers way of punishing me for being reckless but I really wish she had picked a better time.

"Ikari, I'll take it from here." Lilith said in Rei's monotonous way.

I watched her her clamber her Eva back to it's feet, then she ran up to the angel and made a grab for it. The angel wrapped itself around her Eva and started doing whatever it had done to me. It didn't last long though as I heard screams of protest over the comm before the area was filled with a bright light and a thunderous explosion shook the ground and levelled everything within a three mile radios.

My limp body was pulled out of the Eva and was quickly taken to a medical area specially made for me by my father. It was more like a tanning salon with all the bright lights emitting man made sun rays to help me heal quicker. It helped a little but with the sun setting I would have to wait until the next sun rise to heal fully. I was wheeled out of the special room in a wheelchair and was assaulted by Asuka seconds later. She was angry, or at least that's what she wanted me to believe. The doctor didn't stop her assault, he probably knew why she was acting like that and left me to take my punishment. But it ended abruptly when Asuka broke my lip with hard punch. My legs, though not broken were still feeling the effects of the Angel so for now were useless to me, so I slowly wheeled the chair close to a now sobbing Asuka, her anger gone, replaced with her true feelings of sadness and fear of losing me, but most of all of the though of being left alone. I reached out and pulled her to me. She cried harder, and through the sobs kept repeating...

"you shit... you baka... you bastard." Always quietly but they weren't used to insult, but it was her only way at that time to get across to me how much it hurt her to see me that way. I'm meant to be her pillar off strength in these hard times and yet I keep crumbling away under the slightest touch.

"I'm sorry Asuka... I... I promise I wont make you cry again." I was a big promise and I expected Asuka to have a comeback for it but she didn't. She believed me so I would never make her cry again.

When the sun finally rose up, Asuka took me out to corridor of the ward we were in to where the sun was shining through the windows. It felt good having the sun rays energising me, pains faded fast and I could feel my legs again now that the nerves were healing. Lilith was was wheeled by and after our brief exchange was taken out the ward somewhere else. I would not see her again until my hardest opponent to date shows his head. Nagisa Kaworu.

R&R