Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Way Out is Through ❯ Just like you Imagined/ Please pt:1 ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

I do not own Evangelion, but I do have a bunch of three dollar hadji movies… just FYI, their cigs are awful.


The Way Out is Through
By Ovrboost

This is how it begins.
You push it away but it all comes back again.
All the flesh, all the sin…
There was a time when it used to mean just about everything… just like now.
Please, echoing the sound, time starts slowing down, sink until I drown.
I don’t ever wanna make it stop.
And it keeps repeating, will you please complete me?
Never be enough, to fill me up.
The coffee splattered across the floor was scalding to the touch. Something within Shinji’s mind registered the jolting pain in his shoulder, followed by the intense, wet heat soaking into his shirt, cooling only ever so slightly. These sensations were not at the forefront of his thoughts however.

Rejection.

“Pathetic.” The voice quiet, a whisper seething with contempt.

Rejection. Hatred. Contempt. No help or love would come from this person, despite the hopes, wishes, dreams, and selfish, desperate needs. The only option left, however unsavory, is to beg. It doesn’t matter who.

Past caring, and broken, Shinji drags himself up off up the floor slowly. His head and arms hanging, as if they were attached to strings. “Help me.” His voice dead, a helpless whisper. “Somebody… please… Help me.”

Sitting now, his voice momentarily grows stronger. “Help me.”

Desperation. She stands there impassive, uncaring. Seemingly oblivious to his cries for help, staring at him.

“Somebody…” He stumbles upon his feet, and grasps the table to avoid falling. “Please help me.”

Desperate frustration. Shinji throws his body weight into the table, picking it up at the corner, his voice rising. “Somebody please help me!” He flings the table into the wall. Grabbing a chair, he swings it over his head as he yells to the impassive women before him. “Don’t leave me alone!” The chair crashes against the floor, and he grabs another as his voice cracks. “Don’t abandon me! Please don’t kill me!” The second chair smashes to the floor at the redhead’s feet. She continues to stare silently after his outburst. Shinji now stands, breathing heavily, with his head, and shoulders hung low.

“No.”

Rage. Blinding, white hot, all-encompassing, primal, godless rage. Nothing else matters, the fury insatiable. No consequence is too great, she must pay. She will pay for her heartless indifference. Wide-eyed, and seething, Shinji lunges out quickly for her neck. Her shock results in her being caught. She will die. She must die, there is no other option. A cold, inhuman delight trickles down his spine, as he feels the soft cartilage of her throat collapse under the pressure. He almost laughs at her helplessness, lifted up off the floor by his hands.

Subtly, the scene shifts, and he is on top of her, his grip not as tight, but slowly increasing. The sound of waves rolling over the beach reach his ears, the sand grinding into his knees beneath the slacks of his old school uniform. No matter, she will still pay for her arrogance.

Warmth… Confusion... Acceptance. A bandaged hand caresses his cheek. Asuka. What does this mean? Why is she doing this now, after everything, why now? The burning rage dissipates quickly, like a fog exposed to the blazing sun. Confusion. Tears.

“Shinji.” The voice comes through faintly, a slight echo. Asuka? No… “Shinji, wake up.” Louder, stronger. The peripheries begin to fade. The feelings of helplessness, and confusion do likewise. Asuka blurs, and becomes transparent. “Shinji.” The sounds of the dreaded beach collapse in upon themselves, seem to reach a focal point, and suddenly…

Light. The dawning of consciousness. Groggy, but quintessentially alert. Shinji’s eyes snap open to find a hand clasped to his shoulder. Following up the arm, his confused mind registers a thinly clothed pair of breasts within a foot’s distance of his face. A pleasant thing to wake up to, sure, but who… He grimaced.

“Ming.” He said, his voice deadpan. “Morning.”

“Well.” She replied haughtily, standing; “Good morning to you too, sleepyhead. You’ve been out for awhile.” She didn’t face him as she spoke, moving towards the window, gazing intently at the scene before her, ignoring Shinji’s grunts, yawns, and scratching.

“Oh well.” he said indifferently, stretching the creaks out of his back. The sun was weakly shining in through the window, silhouetting Ming in a halo of light. Beautiful. His face broke into a thin smile, partially hidden by the untrimmed beard of a young man. He padded over bear-foot, and gently wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin upon her shoulder. “What ya lookin’ at?” Shinji could feel her smile, as they both began to sway to unheard music. All was truly right with the world, and Shinji smiled to himself.

After a moment, the two stopped their swaying, and Ming turned about in the embrace, and faced Shinji. “Bad dream last night?” Shinji stopped smiling.

“Yea… I didn‘t wake you up again did I?” he replied quietly, sounding tired. The old hurt briefly coming back to him.

“No.” she lied. “Wanna talk about it?” she asked softly, as had become their routine for the last year. He would spent most of the nights tossing violently, sweating, sometimes screaming during the more intense nightmares. In the morning, sometimes he would talk to her about it, sometimes she would talk about hers. It obviously helped, he would visibly relax during their ‘sessions’ as she had begun to call them. Shinji was always vague about the details, but Ming was by no means ignorant. She had already guessed his former occupation. She was also no stranger to pain, the dreams reminded her of that, the scars made it obvious. Strange, that it was the dreams that had brought them together. Vastly different in their content, yet similar in their impact.

“Nah… It was about Asuka again.” He couldn’t see her frown, his forehead resting comfortably upon her shoulder.

“You know, Normally I would be insulted if my boyfriend was dreaming about another girl.” she said with a bit of humor to her voice, dragging her fingertips gently along his forehead, brushing some of his long hair back away from the side of his face, prompting him to raise his head to look at her. His tired, haunted eyes smiled into hers.

“Well, It was a nightmare.” his lips matched his eyes in their smile. “Besides, that was six years ago, and I wouldn’t give you up for the world.” what’s left of it, anyways… he didn’t add. Her quick smile at his words warmed his heart, but after a kiss to his forehead, she departed from the embrace. He immediately felt the loss of heat, the cold concrete surroundings didn’t help much, either. He watched her walk over to the sleeping mat, and start to dress… The same clothes she wore when they had first met, in that abandoned building outside of Hong Kong. Oh, how beautiful she looked in the firelight. That had been his first pleasant experience in close to five years. The chaotic fighting on the Japanese mainland had made his life a living hell. Which, at the time, when he was still searching for Asuka, was extremely hard to accomplish, considering his experience. The factions, fighting ruthlessly over land, and supplies… madness. Shinji could still smell the bodies left bloated and rotting in the sun. Somehow, smelling them was worse than seeing, but he would still check them -what was left of them- just in case they might have been her. It was an unwelcome experience, permanently seared into his memory. It seemed like decades ago, since he last cried himself asleep, at his inability to find her. The only sign he had found was a piece of her plug suit in an old convenience store, the rest, outside Tokyo-3. He couldn’t remember when he actually stopped looking, it just… happened.


Ming looked over her shoulder as she pulled on the red jacket, and smiled. He was watching again, obviously lost in thought, but it was something she enjoyed regardless. Their eyes met, and he matched her smile. It would be a long, but enjoyable morning.

Fires burned brightly from barrels set out in the debris-strewn street, some had people in ragged, and worn clothing fighting off the chill that still hung in the air. Refugees from third impact. Of course the entire remaining population could fit neatly into that same category, but what’s the use of trying to label those who were strong enough to escape the collective prison of humanity. Some wandered aimlessly, walking the earth lost, until they found something worth stopping for… or dying for, whether they liked it or not. The concept of nations, and nationalities no longer existed, short of the factions of wannabe nations which as a whole, had accomplished little more than further diminishing the already decimated population. Such was the state of the world following the apocalypse, and it showed little signs of improving.

The squeal of old hinges, and the crash of metal meeting concrete echo briefly through the concrete canyon of destroyed buildings, as two figures join the scattered masses of humanity.

“How far you think we can get today?” asked Ming, as she readjusted the strap of her backpack.

“Good question, I guess we’ll find out.” Shinji replied with a smile, lowering the old pair of sunglasses over his eyes. “Maybe we’ll find that house today, but I told you, I don’t want to be too close to a city.” That had been the topic of their recent talks, to finally find a house somewhere, where they could live together peacefully. No more constant moving, walking aimlessly through the countryside, and destroyed, sometimes dangerous cities. Ming had argued with him about the availability of supplies abundant in the urban areas, but had finally relented after having witnessed the unfortunate end of an unknown person, mercilessly murdered in cold blood on the streets of Beijing.

“You think so? About the house, I mean” Ming asked, excitedly. She was anxious to finally get settled. Ever since third impact, she has been living out of a bag, more or less, besides the whole house thing was her idea to begin with. She already had a mental image of what their house would look like. She had spent many an hour mentally decorating, and stocking the house of their dreams. Now, if only the real thing could live up to her expectations. Before third impact, she had started working as a secretary for a politburo member, and had been living out of a shared flat. The life as a female in the formerly communist land did not exactly provide the nicer things in life. Now, free of the oppressive government of her youth, that would change.

“Maybe,” he said, throwing an arm around her, as they both walked down the middle of the sun-speckled road. “Like I said, I guess we’ll find out.” Her smile was bright enough to rival the sun, and he could feel the warmth. Behind them, a man in ragged clothes nudged his buddy warming his hands near a fire-barrel, and pointed. Their smiles were a bit different.

Sometime after Midday, the two stopped for a quick bite to eat beneath the remnants of an old tree. It would have been infinitely better, had the tree still been alive to shade them, but, they figured, it was better than nothing, and their legs needed the rest.

“Well…” said Shinji as he put the map away; “There’s a town about five kilometers from here, we should hit that before night fall. Try and re-stock in the morning. Sound good?”

“Yep! One problem though…” Ming said, saddling up next to Shinji.

“Oh? And what’s that?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“I think we’re in Russia now, so don’t be surprised if we run into someone we can’t understand.”

“Great. Well maybe there’ll be some Chinese there, I still wont be able to understand them but al least you will.”

“You mean you forgot everything I’ve taught you already?” she asked in her native Mandarin, with a smirk that was hard, even for Shinji, to read.

“Sorry.” he replied in Japanese with a similar look on his face

“Humph… You’ll learn, dummy, or else.” she said hitting him playfully on the arm. “So what’s for lunch?” He had dragged over his backpack, and was rifling through it, as she watched. By the food cans, a dull metal barrel stuck out. Shinji grabbed two small cans.

“Lets see… well, we got peaches, and ravioli… You pick.” he said, holding each can up in his hands, as if to examine them. After a moment’s consideration, she pointed to the peaches, and he opened thee can for her with the multi-tool he had found the other day. After picking up his lunch, his hand paused, something didn‘t feel right.

“What’s wrong, don’t like ravioli?” she asked with a smirk, taking one of the sliced peaches into her mouth. He didn’t respond, instead, he rose to his feet and walked off a few feet, scanning the surrounding brush, and horizon. Unnerved, Ming cautiously followed, when she placed her hand upon his shoulder, he jumped slightly. “What is it?” After a few moments, Shinji, still unsure about what it was he was looking for, gave in.

“I don’t know…” he said, turning around, and placing his hands on her hips. “Probably nothing. Come on, lets eat.” his reassuring smile somehow seemed weak to her. Still, he took her hand, and led her back to the tree, and they both sat down to eat a meal that should have tasted better.

“That was close…” the whisper hoarse, and low, hidden deep in the brush.

“Eh, we weren’t making any noise, probably just paranoid… can’t blame ‘em” the voice replied with a hint of amusement. “Lets go...”

The town was quiet. The only moving thing on it’s streets was the dust, trash blown by the wind, and two weary travelers. The dimming light of the day added to the somewhat eerie atmosphere, and the air had the smell of an impending rain. The settlement wasn’t exactly big, maybe a couple of thousand people had called it home prior to third impact, and it looked as though none had returned. The pavement making up the sidewalks was severely pot-marked, grass growing wild between the cracks. The streets were no better.

“Looks deserted.” was Ming’s observation when they reached the middle of town.

“Yea…” he said slowly, taking in the scenery, when he had an idea; “See a house you like?” Shinji replied with a light smile. It took a moment, but he could almost see the energy suddenly lighting up within her eyes, sloughing off the fatigue within an instant, when the meaning behind his words was realized. She was almost like a different person than from when they were walking earlier.

“Y… You’re sure?” she asked hopefully, biting her lip.

A nod. “Yep, are you?”

At this, the only answer he received was a smile. Then she walked up to him, hands clasped to the front, and kissed him. Finally, after months of wandering the continent together, they would have a home they could both call their own. The night they had both been dreaming of finally coming to life.

“I want it to be a surprise.” he said softly, between quick kisses. “Go pick out your favorite place, and I’ll try to find something ‘round here for dinner.” he jerked his head toward the general store behind him, to indicate where. “And…” he continued, wrapping his arms about her, and squeezing gently. “I guess we’ll go from there.”

“Okay” the shock of it all had finally set in, as she looked up at him. This was it. They kissed, separating at the same time, though it was done slowly, ending at the fingertips. She walked backwards, still facing Shinji, for a few steps with a soft smile upon her face, before turning around and heading off. Shinji stood in place for the few minutes it took for her to leave his sight. Satisfied with himself, he headed into the store to find something special.


It had been almost two hours since she had last seen Shinji, the sun had already set firmly behind the horizon, and no stars were visible. It was dark, everything was black, seemingly lost in a sea of nothingness. Aside from the small cone of illumination provided by her flashlight, Ming was essentially blind. Thankfully though, the house that she had found was almost perfect. Not too big, but definitely not too small. Perhaps, she thought with a smile, the extra rooms would be filled one day. But that was for another day, Now, she had to find Shinji. The shadow of the building he had indicated was just ahead. She couldn’t help but smile as she came upon it.

“Ouch!” she cried out, as she felt her shin crash into something. She shined her flashlight down, only to find a shopping cart, half filled with cans and a couple of bags. Now, she couldn’t help but frown. Where was Shinji? Did he go looking for her?

“Shinji?” she called out, shining her light through some of the store windows. “Shinji, are you in there?” Silence answered. Now what… she thought with a mental sigh, and a small huff of breath. Ming clicked off her flashlight, to save the battery’s’ power, and sat down on the curb. Might as well wait for him. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the night, the faint shadow of the cart, and her surroundings were becoming visible. The human eye, especially at night, trains in on movement by instinct. Then again, one’s imagination also begins to work overtime during periods of little to no sensory input, such as during the night.

Ming’s eye caught a shadow moving swiftly along the other side of the street. Imagination, or something else? After a moment, she stood, and clicked her light back on in the direction of the shadow. She suddenly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Well, hello there.” a voice, unrecognizable, behind her. She was frozen to the spot, the flashlight fell from her grip, rattling noisily on the ground. Thoughts flashed through her head at the speed of light, instinct took over. Fight or flight. It started in her waist, twisting briefly back, coiling like a spring, and released. The back of her left hand flew across her body, dragged by the shoulder towards the origin of the voice. The hard smack of flesh on flesh, and the stinging in her left fist told her that he was hit in the face. The force of her hit had spun her around, and she now faced the assailant. For good measure, she kicked the man in the chest before he could rise. She grabbed the flashlight, and ran, yelling Shinji’s name along the way. She made it fifty meters.

“Ming!” followed by a quick cough. “…Wait!” Once again, she froze. It was coming from behind her.

Shinji? …oops She walked sheepishly back, rather embarrassed by having mistakenly assaulted him. They met halfway. In the dim light provided by the flashlight, she could see Shinji holding his jaw, and stomach. “Shinji, you scared the hell outta me!” perhaps, she thought, feigned anger would be appropriate. He snuck up on her, after all…

“Sorry… My batteries died in my flashlight”

“Okay, sorry bout hitting you so hard. Are you all right?”

“Fine.” he said with a hint of sarcasm, rubbing his jaw. “You find a place?”

It was a fifteen minute walk from the store. Shinji followed Ming with the shopping cart, its constant rattling was the only thing to break the silence of the night. His jaw still hurt from where she had hit him, and he was pretty sure a bruise was forming where her foot had impacted his ribs. No, things don’t always go according to plan. When she stopped, so did he. He left the cart to stand beside her, and for a few moments they both stared at the abandoned house that would be their home. The single story building looked nice. Surprising, given the area. A large porch framed the doorway, complete with a swinging bench seat. The small light they had showed little, but it showed enough. As one, they smiled.

“Lets go inside.” Ming excitedly, grabbing a couple of bags from the cart.

“Yea…” agreed Shinji, unsure of what else to say.

Directly through the doorway, and slightly off to the right was the dining room. It’s center piece was a large oak table which took up most of the room, an old oil lamp in it’s center. A medium sized sitting room was to the left, large windows adorning it’s walls, comfortable looking couches beneath them. The kitchen apparently was in the next room, separated by a door-less frame. Having set her load upon the table, Ming lit the lamp with a match. The low light illuminated the room in a kind of soft warmth, and she turn off the flashlight. Shinji set his bags down, and took in the scene. It was rustic, but for lack of better words, perfect. Home.

“What do you think?” asked Ming to Shinji’s back, biting her bottom lip in anticipation, her voice hopeful and uncertain. After a moment. He turned around, his smile as bright as the sun.

“It’s perfect!” he said, as he ran to her, taking her up in his arms. They both laughed, as he spun them around in circles. He stopped in the center of the room, and looked into her eyes. “It’s perfect. It’s our home. Thank you so much.” His voice was as soft as silk, his deep blue eyes likewise, for once, shining with life. Her eyes were glittering with moisture, reflecting the light from the oil lamp. They kissed.

“Come on..” She whispered, leading him from the dining room by the hand. She gave him the tour of the house. At the multiple spare bedrooms, no words were needed, only smiles. After an hour, Shinji prepared their first meal in their new house. It was a simple affair, considering the late start, but he did want it to be special. And special it was, of course even Misato’s curry probably would have been considered special, given the circumstances.

Shinji had found dozens of candles, and placed them all over the dining room, and nearby sitting room. The atmosphere they created seemed almost holy, sacrosanct. The meal was silent, neither said much as they ate, each gazing at the other from across the table, their faces softly lit by the candle light. Finished, they left everything on the table, and retreated to the sitting room, where they sat on the floor, Shinji’s back against the couch, with Ming between his legs leaning up against him. It was then he began to hum an old jazz tune he had heard a long time ago. Fly me to the moon. Somewhere along the line, he voiced some of the lyrics, causing Ming to look up to him.

“In other words…” he sang softly, to the best of his ability, mouthing the rest. From his pants pocket he produced a small box, and with both hands, placed it in hers. Ming’s mouth opened, and closed slowly in shock.

“Where did you get this?” she finally asked.

“That.” he said with a kiss, “Is not important.” After opening the box for her, he continued. “What is important, is your answer.” None was needed, her actions provided the answer. For the first time in Shinji Ikari’s life, He made love.

The morning came to quickly for each of them, and they lingered within their new bed for most of the morning. Sometime during the night, the rains came, and the light, rhythmic pounding on the roof had lulled them to sleep, after they had exhausted themselves for the last time. Ming had opened her eyes first, content to watch Shinji sleep, still amazed by the previous evening. Things finally seemed to be going right, and she couldn’t help but smile. Ming kissed him sweetly atop his forehead, causing him to stir. Groggily, he bid her good morning.

‘Morning, sunshine.” they kissed through their mutual smiles. “I’m gonna grab something for us to eat, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, don’t take too long.” said Shinji, already drifting back off into sleep. She slide out of the bed, taking a long look at him before heading out into the hallway. She walked passed the two extra bedrooms, causing her to smile once more, and glance back towards the room she had just left. before turning the corner towards the kitchen, a black blur came around the corner quickly, her only reaction was the sharp intake of breath denoting surprise, and a sudden halt. Whatever, whoever, it was, didn’t stop. He roughly threw his hand over her mouth, and pulled Ming tightly up against him. He glanced back towards something, and jerked his head. Within moments, another man appeared beside the first.

“Take her into the other room” the second hissed at Ming’s captor, who nodded.

Shinji! the sudden sinking feeling in Ming’s stomach quickly transforming into fear, and dread. She bit down on the hand of her attacker, causing him to cry out, and jerk his hand from her mouth.

“Shinji! Help Me!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Shin--” Her words cut off by a vicious right hook across the jaw, knocking her unconscious. Down the hall, Shinji was jolted awake by the screams, thoughts moving a million miles an hour. Practically leaping out of bed, his eyes frantically scanned the room, searching for his bag.

Gun. Find the gun. God damn it, where’s my fucking bag?! Oh Christ, oh God, oh God, oh… There! Shinji lunged for the already opened bag, grasping the pistol and pulling it out. He had heard the rapid thumping sound of someone running down the hall. The adrenaline had his hands shaking, as he stood up he quickly traversed the distance to the door, but before he reached the handle, it exploded inwards, knocking him roughly to the ground. Standing like a colossus in the door frame, was the reason for his sudden, yet barely felt, pain. Wide eyed, and in shock, Shinji saw the flash, felt his shoulder jerk back, as if he had been punched… hard. He somehow felt disconnected, like he was watching this happen through someone else’s eyes. He looked down, to find blood pouring out onto his unclothed torso from the angry looking wound in his shoulder.

Blood. He.. he shot me. …Ming. His head lolled back, lightly hitting the wall, and he looked dazedly at the man who had shot him, who was now walking forwards, his gun pointed down, towards the floor. Something was beneath his leg… that something was also in his right hand. The gun. Shinji pulled out the gun, and pulled the trigger. The sound seemed louder than it should have. Miss, wide right. Damn. Position target in the center, pull the Blam! The gun fell to the floor. All was silent, aside from the heavy breathing… of the man standing over Shinji.

“Fuck…” He let out a heavy sigh. “That. Was close.” After spitting on the body at his feet, he walked out of the room to join his partner.

“Fang, you ok?”

“Yea, bastard missed me. Couldn’t believe it.” He gestured to the floor with his pistol; “She dead?”

“No, just knocked out” He grinned. “She not gonna like what I got planned for her… then again, she might.” Fang looked disgusted, already knowing what it was that Qain had planned. He didn’t care.

“Christ, Qain… well be quick about it, I’ll be outside.” Fang said, grabbing up the stolen bags full of supplies, and leaving.

“With pleasure.”

Screaming. The sharp sound of a fully forced slap. Grunts, and laughs of pleasure. More screaming, sometimes crying. Pain. Lots of pain. Shinji didn’t know which it was that had snapped him awake, but he did know that he was alive. The pain reminded him of that. Tired. Sleepy.

No… Ming…please…. Please be okay. The wooden floor beneath him was slick with his pooled blood. Horror. Assault. Murder. Bloody, horrible murder. The .45 was just out of his reach. Tired. So tired. No! Must… do something. Anything. Oh God, why? …h…help me.

“Shinji! Oh God, Shinji Help me please!” her voice, sobbing, pleading… So far away, and so utterly helpless. “Please… Stop… Oh God, please… Please stop!” Torture… Rape. Another slap… silence, horrible, deadly silence. Somehow the silence was worse than the screaming.

Fingers clawing at the slippery floor, Shinji’s one operable arm struggled mightily for some form of grip, his own blood betraying him. After what seemed an eternity, his fingers closed around the handgun. Please god… help… me. Somebody please… Using his elbow, he finally got a piece of dry ground, and began dragging his body out into the hall. It was slow, maddening, he wanted to sprint in there to save Ming, but he just didn’t have the strength. A long streak of smeared crimson stained the floor, marking his progress. It looked like a slaughterhouse floor. Finally he rounded the corner, and could see. Oh… God…

The small kitchen table had been tossed out of the way, leaned on its side, against the cabinet wall. Rope was tied off of the center pole, which at it’s end the table legs sprouted outwards. Shinji’s eyes followed the rope down from the table to the clenched hands, and bloodied wrists. Numb, oh God, he felt so numb, his eyes quickly taking in the scene. There. he thought, as he saw the man standing over Ming, re-buckling his pants’ belt. He was facing her, paying no mind to his surroundings. With his hand shaking slightly from the effort, Shinji raised the seemingly massive .45, and positioned the bastard in the center of his sights. He would not, can not miss this time. Pulling back on the trigger, he could feel the tension spring about to let go. Ming screamed. Blam! Confusion. Shinji squeezed anyways, Blam! The target fell to the ground, but he was screaming. I only shot once…. Realization quickly dawned on him, the sudden sinking feeling, spiraling downwards. With mad determination, he dragged himself into the room as quickly, as his adrenaline pumped, but badly injured body would allow. So much blood. The walls were splattered with it, the floor was pooled in it.

The bullet had gone through the small of the back, blowing a gaping hole through the front of the abdomen. Blood, and entrails from Shinji’s shot were everywhere, but the man was somehow still alive, writhing, screaming, and clutching at his exposed innards. Once beside him, Shinji met his eye, and put another hole through his head. Too late… his mind kept telling him, I was too late… Qain’s shot, only a split second before Shinji’s, had caught Ming in the chest. Deep, dark crimson pooled there, and spilt over the sides. He pulled himself up to her.

“Ming.” his voice was strained, yet determined. “Ming! Please, Ming, answer me.” He untied her wrists, and put her head in the crook of his elbow, holding it close. Oh God, I was too late…

It sounded like a canon, but the unmistakable racking sound identified it as a shotgun. Shortly thereafter, the slam of the front door echoed through the house, and footsteps quickly followed. They kept getting closer, finally slowing down as they neared the kitchen, and then stopped altogether.

“Sweet… Jesus…” an old voice. Russian, but Shinji didn’t have to comprehend the words, he understood their meaning simply by the tone of voice. “Svetlana! Bring my pack! Now!”

Too…. Sleepy. Late… Darkness.




A/N: Longest Chapter I’ve ever put out. Not saying much, but hooray for me regardless. I must, however, apologize for the delay…. and the cliffhanger. We’ve had some, uh, issues, and I haven’t been writing to much up until the last few days. Of course, it didn’t help when my computer crashed… literally… to the ground. New HD anyone? So I had to start from scratch, which ended up with me choosing this path instead. It seemed to write itself, I like that ;) New chap is already started, shouldn’t take too long… unless I go on mid-tour leave first. Thanks go out to my reviewers, past/present tense was never my strongest point. Anyways, and as always, thanks for reading!
~Rob

26 March: So far this is still my favorite chapter. The mistakes in this one were far fewer than in the first, so not much was changed.