Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Power of comitment ❯ Power of Commitment part three: Asuka's Fear ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Authors notes: Thank you all for reading my fics. I am having a lot of fun writing them... OK enough small talk. The last installment was pretty hard for me to write. I revised the damn thing twice, once while I was only half way through with the first revision. Any way in the last installment Shinji and Asuka informed their friends of their growing relationship and Rei warned them about the Commanders plan to have Asuka eliminated.

In this installment a reoccurring nightmare shakes Asukas faith in Shinjis love. She sinks back into that depressed, 'no one can love me so I don't need anyone' attitude that she's had throughout the entire series. As a result her own insecurities and self-doubt makes her a vulnerable target during the next angels attack. And now...

Power of Commitment Part Three:
Asukas Fear.


"He what!?" Misato screamed. She was sitting at the kitchen table, dressed in her usual house attire, which is to say practically nothing. Shinji and Asuka had arrived at the apartment just a few minutes earlier. Both had been out of breath, as if they had been running.

She soon found out that that was exactly what they had been doing. After only a few minutes of walking they had started running. Reis warning had unsettled them, and being out in the open made them feel vulnerable, and exposed.

"Rei told us that my father is planning to have Asuka killed." Shinji said. His voice was low, dangerous, and absolutely dripping with venom. Misato was unsettled by the anger emanating from the normally calm boy.

"I need another beer." Misato said. She got up from the table and walked to the fridge. She had all ready downed two since Shinji had Asuka had gotten back. They were currently sitting on the couch. Asuka was leaning against his chest and Shinji had his arms held protectively around her.

As Misato came to sit down next to them there was a knock at the door. Asuka and Shinji sat in silence as Misato went to answer the door. When she returned she had a little surprise with her.

Kaji was standing behind Misato. Shinji looked up and opened his mouth to say hello, but quickly shut it again as Kaji raised one finger to his lips, signaling for silence. They all watched as Kaji walked over to a lamp and pulled a small wire from the base.

He then continued around the room pulling wires from various articles. Once he finished he pulled a chair from the kitchen and turned it around so that he was straddling it. There was a small gasp from Asuka as Kaji reached into his coat and pulled out a loaded 9mm Baretta.

"Kaji what's going on?" Shinji asked. He slowly untangled himself from Asuka and started to stand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Shinji." Kaji said as he turned the gun to point at the young man. Shinji froze. He slowly came to a decision. If he was going to protect Asuka he had to start somewhere. He finished his motion and stood facing the perpetually unshaven spy.

"I mustn't run away." Shinji said in a clear, firm voice. "No." he said. "I will not run away. I am through with running." He glared at Kaji. Taking a step forward, Shinji placed himself directly between Asuka and the gun.

"You could have given me away Shinji." Kaji said in a friendly tone.

"What do you mean?" Misato and Asuka just stared at the normally timid young boy who was now talking back to a man who seemed ready to kill him.

"This entire apartment is wired to transmit sound."

"In other words the whole place is bugged."

"Yes. I just disconnected those bugs." With that he tucked gun back into a holster hidden beneath his coat.

"What about video?" Shinji asked. Kaji shrugged his shoulders.

"I presume that you are the man that my father has commissioned to kill Asuka." Shinji grated from between clenched teeth.

"You presume correctly. However I have no intention killing Asuka. I only accepted the job in order to buy us some time. We need to think of a way to get Asuka off of your fathers hit list." Shinjis eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Against my better judgment, I believe you." Shinji extended his hand. Kaji grinned broadly and accepted it in a firm handshake. "So what are we going to do?" he asked.

"Wow!" The two men turned to look at Asuka.

"What?" Shinji asked a confused tone entering his voice.

"Well," Asuka said. "What's gotten into you Shinji?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You've grown a backbone. A minute ago you were talking back to a man that was holding a gun on you. And now the two of have put that whole thing behind you and you are talking as if it never happened!" Shinji and Kaji looked at each other and a silent communication seemed to pass between them. Kaji nodded his head once.

"Misato. Why don't we step outside, I think these two need to talk." Kaji took Misato by the arm and led her out of the apartment. Once they were gone Shinji turned to look at Asuka.

"Asuka what do you think just happened here?" he asked after a moments thought. She frowned. "I'll tell you what happened. I have decided to stop running. I decided to finally take control of my life. I was protecting you, like I said that I would." He took her into his arms and stared deeply into her eyes.

"And what's more, I did it of my own free will. Not because someone told me to do it, but because I wanted to protect the woman that I'm in love with." Then he gently kissed her. Asuka returned the kiss but there was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind.

she thought. Her train of thought was lost when Misato and Kaji chose that moment to come back into the living room.

"OK." Kaji said, in a very business like tone. "Now we need to find a way to get Asuka out of Ikaris' line of fire. But first I think maybe I should tell you a little bit about why Ikari is targeting Asuka." He paused for a minute and then continued.

"Ikari is after Asuka because of you Shinji." Shinjis breath hissed in past his lips as the small apartment suddenly seemed to get a lot smaller.

"What do you mean?" he whispered. It seemed that his greatest fear was coming true. That Asuka would be hurt because of him. It wasn't happening in exactly the same way as he thought it might but it was still happening.

"You are happy. Asuka is the reason behind your happiness. Your father does not want you to be happy." Shinji stared at him; eyes wide, mouth-hanging open in shock.

"You have got to be fucking shitting me!" he yelled. "That bastard is going to try and kill Asuka just because I have a little fucking happiness in my life!! I'll kill him. I told him that if he ever did anything to endanger Asuka again then I would kill him!!!!!"

"That's not everything>" Kaji said. This revelation shut Shinji up really quickly. His jaw snapped shut with an audible click as he waited to hear what Kaji would say next. "You are happy. Everything that has happened so far since you arrived at Toky-3 has been a part of a scenario that the commander is controlling."

"Every last bit of it was predicted in some ancient documents known as 'The Dead Sea Scrolls' even Asukas mind rape was in there." Shinji started muttering under his breath. Even though he was talking too quietly for Asuka to hear it she was fairly certain that he was using terms that she probably did not want to hear.

Actually Asuka felt like hurling a few curses in Gendos direction herself.

"Unfortunately one thing was not in the scrolls." Kaji turned to look directly at Shinji. "Your actions. You breaking out of the cage and stopping the angel was not a part of the scenario. Now because of that one change all of the predictions in the scrolls have basically become obsolete, except for the last few. Those can not be changed."

"What do you mean Kaji?" Misato asked, making herself heard for the first time since Kajis arrival.

"The scrolls predicted that the 16th angel should have attacked yesterday. Obviously that has not happened. Shinji the scrolls lead up to Third Impact. That event is supposed to decide the fate of mankind. Your actions over the next several months could decide the fates of every man, woman, and child on the face of this planet."

Shinji seemed to sag under the assault on his mind. This was too much for him to handle at once.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked. His voice trembled.

"I can't tell you that." Kaji replied. Shinji snapped. If you asked Misato or Asuka later, both would swear that they never even saw him move. Suddenly Kaji found himself launched from his chair.

When the flurry of motion stopped Asuka saw that Shinji had tackled him. Kaji was now lying on his back on the floor. Shinji was kneeling above him, with his right knee pressing down on the mans chest. He was gripping a pressure point in Kajis throat tightly with two fingers, and somehow Shinji had managed to get a hold of Kajis gun, which was now pressed against the frightened mans temple.

"You tell me all that shit and then you won't tell me what is expected of me!?" Shinji screamed. "Now," he said, his voice low and trembling with rage. "I will give you to the count of five to tell me what you know before I splatter your brains all over the walls. And I do not want to hear you say 'I can't tell you that' you are going to tell me what he wants me to do so that I can do the opposite and maybe save Asuka!"

He flicked off the safety with his thumb. "ONE!"

Kaji tried to speak but the pressure on his throat prevented him from doing so. Shinji did not seem to notice. "TWO!"

"I.... Don't.....kn...kn....kno...know" Kaji gasped out. Shinji shook his head.

"Why don't I believe you Kaji? THREE!" he released the mans throat.

"The scrolls don't say what is going to happen at that point." Kaji said in a rush.

"Talk faster man! FOUR!" Shinji pressed the barrel of the gun against Kajis temple and half squeezed the trigger. Up until this point Asuka had stood by in shock, not really believing that her kind, and gentle Shinji could actually kill someone in cold blood.

But now she began to fear for the life of her former guardian and crush.

"Shinji stop this!" she cried. Shinji declined to answer.

"All I know is that you will be given a choice. Your father wants you to be hurt, emotionally. He thinks that if you are grieving over losing Asuka than you will make the decision that he wants you to. I don't know what the choices will be though."

For a tense moment the two stared directly into each other's eyes. Soon Shinji nodded his head. He took his finger off the trigger and got off of Kaji. But he elected to keep the gun.

"So how do we get him to leave Asuka alone?" Shinji asked. Kaji slowly and painfully pulled himself to a sitting position, leaning against the couch for support.

"You still want my help?" Kaji asked as he gently rubbed his throat.

"Of course. I know when I'm in over my head. You and Misato are probably the best suited to work out some kind of plan." He shrugged his shoulders, suddenly he was calm and in control of himself again. Neither his voice, nor actions betrayed any signs of the enraged violence that had burst forth from him moments before.

"Aahh. Could I have my gun back?" Kaji asked. Shinji looked down at the gun in his hands. After a moments hesitation he proceeded to disassemble the weapon.

He removed the magazine, broke the gun down into its largest basic components. He then tossed each of these pieces to the man sitting on the floor, but not until after he first emptied all of the bullets out of a magazine and the one that was still in the chamber. Those he shoved into his pants pocket.

"Thank you." Kaji said, flashing him his best grin. Shinji just grunted and went into the kitchen to make some tea.

____________________

She was standing on a dark landscape. Asuka looked around her in fear.

"Where am I?" she asked the darkness.

"You are inside your mind." She turned at the sound of the voice.

"Shinji!" she cried rushing over to hug him. As she reached him however he faded out and then reappeared a few meters away.

"You are inside your mind. What is troubling you?" he asked.

"I'm afraid Shinji might not really love me." She said.

"Why would he not love you?" She turned at the sounds of a new voice to see Rei. She was wearing her plug suit, as had Shinji.

"No one can love me. I'm an awful person. All I can do is pilot Eva and I've lost to the angels three times in a row. He can't possibly love someone as pathetic as I am."

"I do not think that you are pathetic." Shinji said. "I have repeatedly told you that I loved you. You can feel it in the kisses that we have shared." A door suddenly appeared before Asuka. She recognized it almost instantly.

"No I don't want to see this!" she cried. She tried to look away but found that she could no longer move. She couldn't even blink. She looked on in horror as the door opened and revealed her mother hanging from the ceiling fan by a rope tied around her neck. She swung softly and her face bore a simple, almost content smile.

Beneath the dead woman's feet was a doll. A doll with red hair. A doll that had had its head ripped off. Asuka could feel her terror building until it was almost unbearable. Suddenly the dead woman spoke.

"I love you Asuka." She croaked. "Please come to heaven with me. Die with me Asuka."

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Asuka sat up on her bed as if she had hit with an electric shock. She was covered with sweat. Her nightgown was clinging to her wet body. She looked around wildly and was relieved to find herself in her room.

She shrieked again as her door was suddenly wrenched open, almost falling off of its track.

"What's wrong? Asuka are you all right?" Shinji cried as he came towards her. She saw that he was tightly gripping Misatos gun in his right hand.

"No!" she screamed her mind flashing back to the dream, back to her mother asking her to go to heaven with her. "I don't want to go to heaven with you. Leave me alone!" She broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. Shinji blinked a couple of times before setting the gun down and taking her in his arms. She weakly tried to fight him off but she was too tired to do much more than cry.

"Asuka. What happened?" he asked. He leaned back against the wall and pulled her onto his lap trying to comfort her.

"I had a nightmare." She said, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"In a minute." she said. "Why did you have the gun?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh I was afraid that maybe my father would hire someone else in case Kaji didn't kill you so I sorta borrowed it from Misato." He said sheepishly. There was no response from the sobbing girl. He held her protectively to his chest and gently stroked her hair.

He continued to sit there and hold her. While he sat in the darkened room his mind returned to the conversation they had all had earlier that night. They had sat up for hours trying to think of some way to keep Asuka safe. All they got out of the ensuing argument was that neither of the children should go to school for the next few days.

Misato had, by that time drunk herself into a stupor and Shinji and Kaji had put her to bed. Soon after that Kaji had gone home. Then he and Asuka had gone to bed. Now as he returned to the present he decided to talk to Asuka about her dream.

"So what was the dream about." He asked after she had stopped crying. She tensed up in his arms at the mention of that dream.

"It was about my mom." She lied. she thought.

(I know her thinking is not sounding very rational right now but it will all make sense later on trust me.)

"She killed herself when I was very young. I found her hanging from the ceiling fan. She had tried to kill me too."

"How could she have tried to kill you if you found her dead?" Shinji asked before thinking that maybe he shouldn't ask such a painful question.

"She had a doll... that... she talk to as if it were... me. She called it Asuka, she talked to it, fed it, and completely ignored me." Her tears had returned. "When I found her I also found the doll, that she thought of as me, lying on the ground beneath her... with it's head ripped off.

Shinji shuddered at the mental image. Asuka hugged him tightly as she cried into his chest. He just held her until she fell asleep. After a while of listening to her soft breathing he decided that he should go back to bed and try to get some sleep himself.

So he slowly eased out from under Asuka and laid her down on the bed. When he turned to leave however a hand gripped his wrist. He turned back to see Asukas shinning eyes staring at him.

"Don't go." She whispered. Those whispered words had a greater effect on him than if she had shouted. He nodded and slipped into the bed with her. He held her tenderly and stroked her hair. He kissed her gently and she slowly began to respond to the kiss. As they began to get more passionate about their activities Asuka voiced a request.

"Shinji." she said. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Would you... let me be with you tonight?"

"Asuka are you sure?" he asked. "I thought we were going to wait awhile."

"Yes but even with you and Misato protecting me there is no guarantee that tonight wont be my last night alive. I would like to have been with you before I die if that is to happen." He gazed at her, judging her resolve in this course of action. He saw that she was dead serious and determined.

"Yes." He whispered. They came together in another loving embrace. Soon they were no longer just the second and third children. On that night they became Shinji Ikari, and Asuka Langley Sohryu, a man and a woman, together in their love.
____________________

We once again find ourselves in that large office. It is quite dark. The only light is coming from the video monitors in the desk. Gendo Ikari is sitting at his desk contemplating what he had seen a few hours before.

The monitors showed the living room of the apartment belonging to Major Misato Katsuragi, so we can guess what it was that he had seen. Shinjis reactions had startled him. Even with all the sound disconnected he could guess what the conversation had been about.

"Kaji has betrayed us." Fuyutski said. He was standing behind and to the right of the commander. "So has Rei." There was no reaction from Ikari.

"Why do you think the scrolls predictions have been off lately?" Ikari asked after a moment's silence.

"I think it is because the scrolls do not take into account the actions that emotions can force a person into. Shinjis feelings for Asuka forced him to make contact with the Eva so he could save her. That was not in the scrolls." Fuyutski paused.

"Shinjis recent violent behavior when provoked is also not in the scrolls, it also goes against any of his previous actions before the incident with the 15th angel."

"I wonder when the 16th will attack." Ikari mused quietly to himself.

____________________

At that moment two hundred miles off the coast of Japan a large being was waking up on the bottom of the ocean. It would begin its attack in two days.

____________________

She was dreaming again. The dream started exactly the same. But when the door opened and her mother invited her to come to heaven she did not wake up.

"I don't want to go to heaven with you." Asuka sobbed into her hands.

"What are you so afraid of?" Shinji asked her.

"I can't let anyone get close to me. They always hurt me. They say they love me then they leave me right when I need them the most. My mother left me, my father left me for that woman. I don't need anyone!" she screamed. "I am Asuka Langley Sohryu and I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone's love! I will be strong, I will prove to all of them that I am the best there is."

The dream faded away. She woke up in her bed. A glance at the clock told her that it was still very early in the morning. She started to roll over to go back to sleep but stopped when she felt the body that was pressed up against her.

Shinji was lying behind her his body pressed against hers. She realized that they were both naked and the memory of last nights' events came back to her. A soft smile graced her features before she dozed off again.

____________________

Shinji woke to see morning light streaming in through the window. He frowned as this thought occurred to him. he thought. His vision cleared and he saw a cloud of red hair in front of him.

he looked down at the young girl, no the young woman that he had given himself to last night. He was filled with an almost overpowering sense of love for the fiery young girl. He slowly slipped out of the bed so as not to disturb her and went to his room to dress.

After he had completed that task he decided to make breakfast. A few minutes later he was in the kitchen making some soup when he heard a door slide open down the hall. Seconds later the sound of footsteps could be heard and soon Asuka entered the kitchen.

Her eyes were only half-open as she staggered into the kitchen, not yet fully awake. She plopped down in a chair at the table and rested her head on her arms with a groan.

"How do you feel?" Shinji asked. There was an unintelligible grunt from the girl. "What was that?" She slowly raised her head to peer at him.

"I'm a little sore," she said. "But I believe that you deserve partial credit for that." She winked at him. Shinji immediately blushed a bright red. He expected Asuka to continue teasing him, but instead she puts her head back down on the table and was soon sound asleep again.

Shinji frowned at her. What was wrong with her today? She never gave up an opportunity to tease him, it was one of her favorite pastimes. Before he had time to consider this sudden change in Asukas behavior, Misato walked into the kitchen.

Well perhaps dragged herself into the kitchen would better describe what she did. She went to the refrigerator, pulled out a beer, and proceeded to down half of it in one gulp. Shinji watched all of this with a disinterested expression on his face.

Misato however was staring at the sleeping Asuka. She cast a sidelong glance at Shinji.

"You know," she said. "Asuka looks really beat." She flashed Shinji an evil grin that he knew all too well. "You must have really tired her out last night Shinji." Shinji thought that his face was going to explode.

"Wh... what... are you... talking about M..Misato?" he stammered. She laughed.

"Oh come on Shinji. I wasn't so wasted last night that the two of you didn't wake me up." Shinji turned beet red and tried to deny the charges. "It's OK Shinji. I know you two love each other very much. It was bound to happen sooner or later." She placed a hand reassuringly on Shinjis shoulder.

"Don't worry, I won't put this into my report. You and Asuka can do whatever you want under my roof." She smiled at him, and Shinji began to feel a little better about the whole situation.

____________________

Asuka was sitting with her head down on the table, pretending to sleep. She had heard the entire conversation. But she was not really paying close attention to what was being said. The dream she had had kept running through her mind. she thought. She noticed that Shinji and Misato had stopped talking. After a minutes silence she felt someone's breath on her cheek, then a soft pair of lips gently caressing her skin.

"Asuka. Wake up." Shinji said. Asuka raised her head to look at him. Then without a word she rose from the table and walked back to her room. In the kitchen Misato and Shinji stared wide-eyed at her back until the door to her room closed behind her.

"What was that about?" Misato asked. Shinji just stood there with a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at the closed door.

____________________

"What do you mean Asuka was acting weird this morning?" Ritsuko asked. She and Misato were sitting in one of the lounges near the command center. They were at one of the table sipping coffee.

"Well Shinji kissed her on the cheek, and then Asuka got up and without even saying anything just walked back to her room and shut the door." Misato said. Ritsuko looked thoughtfully at the ceiling for a few minutes.

"Maybe it was just PMS?" she suggested. Misato shook her head.

"I don't think so. There were no outbursts or anything like that. Her eyes seemed kind of... dead." Misato looked around the room quickly to see if anyone could hear and then leaned in towards Ritsuko. "Also one other bit of news, last night Shinji and Asuka.... kinda..... had sex." she whispered to the blond scientist.

"They what!" Ritsuko screamed.

"Ssshhhhh." Misato hissed. "Keep it down. They slept together last night. Woke me up from a dead sleep."

"Do you have any idea what the consequences could be?" Ritsuko demanded.

"Well yeah. I don't think they had any condoms." Misato said.

"No! That's not what I'm talking about. They lost their virginity, that kind of thing raises major havoc in the teenage body. This could have serious repercussions on their performance as pilots." Misatos eyes grew wide as she let that information sink in.

"Oh shit." She whispered. Misato reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Ritsuko asked.

"Shinji. Why don't you set up some harmonics tests for them? I'll call and tell them that I'm on my way to get them, we should find out what kind of damage may have been done." Ritsuko nodded and rose from her seat as Misato frantically dialed Shinjis number.

____________________

Shinji almost jumped out of his chair as his phone started ringing in class. All eyes turned to him at the sound of the interruption. Asukas head snapped up.

"What is it? Angel attack?" Shinji shrugged and dug his phone out of his backpack.

"Hello?" he said. He listened for a minute. "Misato wants us to get outside she's on her way to pick us up right now. There's some emergency or something Back at NERV and they need us as soon as possible Asuka."

"Am I to come as well?" Shinji looked up to find Rei standing in front of him.

"Misato. Do you need Rei to come also?" he asked into the phone. After a moment he looked back up at Rei. "Yeah, get your bag." He said as he hung up the phone. The eyes of everyone in the room followed them as they gathered their stuff and walked out the door.

____________________

Ten minutes later they were in the changing rooms. Shinji paused in the act of getting into his plugsuit to gaze at the shadow that Asukas body cast on the opaque screen that separated him from the two girls.

He was struck again by just how beautiful she was. He quickly shook his head in order to get certain images from last night out of his mind. He finished dressing and left the locker room.

____________________

"Why did you get Rei in here?" Ritsuko whispered to Misato.

"I didn't want anyone to get suspicious. Everyone here knows about Asuka and Shinji going out. So if we just called them in for an unscheduled test than certain people might figure that something was up." Misato hissed back at her. The children were currently inside the test entry plugs.

Misato leaned forward to peer at the computer screen over Mayas shoulder. She breathed a sigh of relief when the scores came back. Rei was at 60%. Shinji had actually gone up to 73%, 6% higher than at his last test.

Then she came to Asukas test score. 30%, Her lowest score since her first successful activation.

"Why has her score gone down so much?" Misato asked.

"I'm not sure." Maya said. "Do you think it has anything to do with what she and Shinji did last night?"

"How did you know about that?" Misato asked.

"I was sitting right here when you and Sempai were discussing it ma'am." Maya said.

"Oh... right."

"Right now that could be a possibility." Ritsuko said. There was nearly a minute of silence as they all considered the ramifications of this disturbing discovery.

"But if that's the case than why hasn't Shinji's score gone down?" Misato asked. Neither Ritsuko or Maya had an answer for her.

"Wait a sec." Maya said. Her hands suddenly began to fly over the keyboard. After a minute or so of typing a window opened on the screen that showed three separate graphs. "This." Maya said, pointing to the first graph, "is a recording of Asukas EEG during one of the tests we did with Asuka before the attack of the 15th Angel. The second one the day right after the attack."

"And the third one is today's test. What's your point?" Misato asked.

"Well look. On the first graph this section is fairly low." Maya said pointing to a portion of the graph. "On the second there is a small spike that was fairly abnormal. We assumed that it was just a little after effect from the angels attack since the same spike showed up on Shinjis graph."

"But look at the third one. The spike is exponentially larger. I've been watching this spike for a while but I didn't really think about It until right now. The angel did something to her. This spike represent an abnormal set of brain waves."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying." Misato said. Ritsuko turned to her.

"Maya is trying to tell us that the Angels attack may have damaged her mind slightly. And time may not heal this wound. She seems to be getting worse. We need to figure out exactly what that spike is quickly, before it causes permanent damage to Asuka." Misato stared at Ritsuko for a moment before nodding her head.

"Figure it out fast." She said. Then she spun on her heel and stalked out of the command center.

"All right guys, you're finished. You can get out now." Ritsuko said into the mike.

____________________

Back in the locker room Shinji is standing in front of his locker. He has all ready changed out of his plug suit but he has not left yet. In his hand is a small velvet box. He opens it. Resting inside of the box is an engagement ring. He had practically emptied his account buying this ring.

It was gold, there were two small diamonds set on opposite sides of a heart shaped ruby. The settings were inlaid with silver. He loved Asuka and he was ready to ask her to marry him. With a determined expression on his face he exited the locker room, in search of the girl that he loved.

____________________

The 16th Angel approached the shores of Japan. It had left the ocean and was now floating above the waves. The hoop-like angel slowly floated towards the fortress city of its enemy, and its ultimate goal.
____________________

Shinji arrived at the apartment late that night. He had spent some time walking around the city, collecting his thoughts. Finally as the sun began to sink below the horizon he turned and made his way home.

When he entered the apartment he found Misato already passed out at the kitchen table, with a wall of empty beer cans surrounding her. He shook his head quietly and then covered the incapacitated woman with a blanket.

He walked down the hall and slowly slid open the door to Asukas bedroom. She was asleep in her bed. He picked his way carefully over to her, (so as not to trip over anything in the darkness) and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before turning and going to his own room to sleep.

"I'll give her the ring tomorrow." He whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

____________________

Gendo Ikari is sitting at his desk. His shoulder had been repaired, and he is staring intently at the video monitors. He watches his son walk into the apartment and cover Misato with the blanket. He watches as he moves on to the second child's bedroom. As he watches his son tenderly kiss her, his heart softens for just a moment and he is reminded of his wife Yui.

A lone tear makes its way down his cheek. But soon his heart turns back into a cold lump of stone in his chest and he turns off the monitors. He rises from his desk and walks around it to the large bay windows looking out over the Geofront. However he is not enjoying the splendid view.

Shinji Ikari arrived at his home at approximately 10:45 p.m. and when the 16th Angel began it's attack at 7:35 a.m. the Commander was still standing at the windows.

____________________

Sirens woke Shinji up that fateful morning. When he rose and hurriedly dressed he had no idea that this morning was going to be the beginning of the end for him, and possibly for the rest of humanity.

____________________

The debriefing room.

"We don't really know much about this angel right now." Ritsuko informed the pilots. "What we do know is that it seems to be using it's AT field to hold itself off the ground. Rei will attack first in Unit 00. Asuka will be back up and Shinji the freeze is still on Unit 01, so we can't use it but you will get in anyway, just in case."

"Don't worry Shinji, I'll take care of this one." Asuka said. Her old arrogant tone was back. The three Evas were soon positioned on the launch catapults.

"Eva Launch!" Misato shouted.

____________________

Eva Unit 00 rocketed towards the surface. When it shot up out of the ground Rei saw the angel directly in front of her. The glowing band that was the Angel just hovered there for a few minutes. Suddenly it attacked. The hoop broke apart into a line and one end thrust forwards at high speed.

It ripped through Unit 00 AT field and penetrated the abdomen of the Evangelion. Rei grabbed a section of the Angel in one hand and placing the barrel of her gun against the Angel and fired several rounds at point blank range.

"There's bio contamination in the Eva!" Maya cried. On the surface of Unit 00 huge veins could be seen spreading as the angel tried to take over the Unit. Inside the entry plug similar veins could be seen spreading across Rei's abdomen, down her legs, and across her breasts till they reached the edge of her face.

Rei's cries of pain could be heard inside the Command center.

"Launch Unit 02." All eyes turned to look at Commander Ikari. He was standing behind the desk he usually sat at, an apprehensive expression on his face. Sensing that it would not be wise to question the commanders' order, Unit 02 was launched.

"Asuka, spread your AT field to maximum advance 300 meters to armament building 23 and take the positron rifle. Take some of the heat off Rei!" Misato cried into the comm. "Unit 02 move out!"

____________________

On the surface one of those fake buildings opened and Unit 02 could be seen standing inside. That was all it did. No signs of motion were coming from the silent beast.

"Asuka move out!" Misato screamed. Over the speakers a whisper could be heard from inside the Eva.

"It won't move, it just won't move." Over and over this was repeated.

"Why won't the damn thing move?" Misato asked.

"It's no good," some one yelled. "Her synch ratio is under 10%."

"She's just a target out there." Misato said. "Get her back."

"No." The commander was still standing. "She will make a good decoy if nothing else. Lift the freeze and launch Unit 01."

"What?"

"Launch Unit 01. Now!"

____________________

Inside the entry plug of Evangelion Unit 02 Asuka was crying in shame and despair at her latest failure against the angels.

"Why for her?" she asked as she heard the commanders' orders through the open channel. "Am I so worthless that you couldn't order the launch for me?" She dropped her head into her hands and continued to sob uncontrollably.

____________________

Rei was in agony. The Angels invasion of her body was not gentle or pleasant. She was used to pain. But she was not used to what would come next. Through her view screen she saw Unit 01 erupt out of the ground near her. Her heart leapt in her chest. she thought. There was a shimmer in the air as its AT field unfolded.

Inside Unit 01 Shinji saw the motionless Unit 02 standing on the launch platform.

"Misato why hasn't Asuka been withdrawn?" he demanded.

"Commanders orders." Shinji seethed with rage. Rei was hurt, and his father was still trying to have Asuka destroyed, he was probably hoping that the angel would do the dirty work for him.

The angel reacted. It darted towards the purple giant. Shinji barely managed to get his Unit out of the way in time but his rifle was destroyed.

"Ikari." Rei shouted. "It is of my mind and soul to become one with Ikari. You will not harm him." Suddenly inside the Command center everything went nuts as Unit 00 seemed to curl up into a fetal position

"The AT fields reversing itself." Maya said.

"She's trying to contain it." Ritsuko cried out in shock.

"Rei abandon Unit 00, get the hell out of there!" Misato screamed.

"I can not," Rei gasped over her pain. "If I abandon Unit 00 then the field will cease to be." She turned and reached behind her seat activating the self-destruct mechanism for her Eva. "I will not let that happen."

"Rei, don't do it." Shinji said.

"Shinji, I... I think I could have... loved you." Rei said. Just before the Angel and her Eva are engulfed in a gigantic explosion one final image appears before her eyes. It is of Commander Ikari, and he is smiling softly. Everyone in the command center stares up at the screen in shock. It is not caused entirely by the death of one of there own, but partially because of her last words.

Rei? Expressing feelings for anyone?

____________________

Outside Unit 01 is half buried under a mountain of dirt and sand, kicked up by the explosion. Suddenly the shocked expression on his face hardens into a look of pure rage. He knows the man who was responsible for this. He knows who it was that put Asuka into danger. He would exact his revenge.

End

Damn this one was very hard for me to right Because of the battle at the end. The actual episode is much more emotional I think. You feel sorry for Rei. I don't think I managed to express that too well with this fic but I tried OK?

In the next installment, Shinji is pissed, and he attacks the command center in Unit 01. Will he make good on his promise to kill the Commander? Will Asuka be all right? What happened to her in the first place? Will Shinji get to propose? Would some one please tell me cause I don't know what gonna happen?

Until next time...
See you on the other side.



Power of Commitment Part Three:
Asukas Fear.

I need some pre-readers. Anyone interested in the position can send me an email at neongenisis51857@compuserve.com or shinjikatsuragi@hotmail.com