Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Where Darkness Falls ❯ Second Interlude ( Chapter 12 )

Where Darkness Falls

SecondInterlude

Fletcher scoured the house his father had told him stories of, certain that he had seen the purple-haired woman go in not fifteen minutes prior. Lots of really bad shit had gone down in that building… the bodies of his grandfather and a few others were found, all mutilated in some way, and their murders had never been solved - nor had the disappearances of the people who had tried living there.

But that was ancient history.

The only thing on Aaron Fletcher's mind that day was finding, and killing, the woman that had upset the food chain in his small town. And now, standing undecided in front of a long, dark staircase, he felt that he was close to attaining that goal.

"Aw hell with it," he muttered, starting down the stairs, "might as well…"

Fletcher was proud to say that he had a fairly good career in the Marines. He served in the Gulf War, Somalia, and Bosnia before coming home to became an officer for, and eventually Police Chief of, the small town Silent Hill. This town was his life. He had been born and raised in this place, eventually meet Edith, the love of his life, and settling down to try his hand at family life. He paused on the stairs, trying to remember her for what she was instead of what she became… but she had been deteriorating for so long, and in such small increments, that it was hard to remember a time when she was just `Edith.'

He could tell you exactly when things had first started to go seriously downhill, though: right after Charlie was born. Of course he knew a child was going to be a bit of a handful, as he had looked after his nephew on several occasions. He had also anticipated a little crankiness on Edith's part - giving birth was no picnic after all - but he never would have suspected that a little postpartum depression could lead to the problems they had now… and the very real threat of hospitalization gave him the shivers, forcing him to question his decision all over again.

"Can't be helped, babe," he whispered to himself, "I tried to keep it all together, but you just kept getting worse. I have to think of Charlie, you know, I'm still his… father…"

Fletcher trailed off as he swung his flashlight back and forth along the dark, slightly damp walls, his brow drawing down in confusion.

"Where the hell am I?"

**

"Where the hell is she?" Ritsuko muttered, eyeing the house Misato had darted towards. Did she see Shinji there, or something? What the hell…?

"What's going on here sempai?" Maya asked, trying not to cling to the older woman's shirtsleeve.

"I'm not sure," Ritsuko replied, expanding on her earlier theory as the regarded the house, "but I think we're in this town and yet we're not in this town. Why haven't we encountered any people? The only people we've seen so far have had some connection to… Shinji."

Yes, that could be it… she thought, trailing off as she pondered the significance of this observation. Misato was his guardian and commanding officer…I was the chairperson of the project that Shinji had become a part of…Maya is a colleague of Shinji's, and Gendou… well he is his father and the commander of NERV.

Ritsuko frowned thoughtfully as she tried to determine what connection Fletcher or that girl Misato mentioned had with the Third Child.

"Why don't we go in?" Maya mused, interrupting Ritsuko's thoughts.

Ritsuko eyed her critically, giving a significant glance towards the woman's bandaged neck. "Are you-"

"I'll be okay!" Maya said with a reassuring smile, flushing slightly as she realized she'd cut the woman off. "Sorry."

Ritsuko nodded and picked up her shotgun. "I suppose you're right," she said calmly, starting towards the front door. "Stay close to me."

Together they made their way up onto the porch, their eyes darting everywhere for any sign of movement. This place looks liked it hasn't been inhabited for decades, Ritsuko thought, raising a hand to stop Maya and approaching the door on her own, why would Shinji be hiding here? Hell, why would he be in the woods at all? If it was me, I'd head for the safety of numbers at home or school, or make a beeline for the city limits. It just doesn't make sense… but then again, none of this makes sense, so…

She raised her hand and pushed the door open, unconsciously bringing her shotgun up as she found another person standing in the hallway. "You…"

"Hello Doctor Akagi, Miss Ibuki," the woman said, inclining her head in a polite bow.

"What's going here, Alicia?" Ritsuko demanded, pushing past her shock at finding the enigmatic American, once again, in the very last place she would have expected. "Is Shinji here?"

"Why, in the last two weeks, did you suddenly acknowledge Shinji as a person…?" Alicia asked, ignoring the blonde's question, "In that time, what was it that changed him from lab specimen to human, Doctor?"

Ritsuko bristled. "I'm well aware of what I helped put him through…" she began slowly, searching for the words to express herself.

"Are you?" Alicia asked coolly, arching an eyebrow. "Throughout Shinji's tenure at NERV, you were as bad as his father - and sometimes worse. Usually, you just treated Shinji as though he was an interesting experiment… and then… do you recall the incident with the twelfth angel, Doctor Akagi?"

"How can I forget…?" Ritsuko whispered, her eyes going hazy with the memory. "We… we talked about it a little while after we got here…"

Biting her lip pensively, the director of Project E cast her mind back to that day…

**

Ritsuko came home from work and set her keys down with a deep sigh. It had only been a week since they had started living in this apartment under the aliases of Natsuko and Shinji Takeuchi, and in that time she had tried to do something with Shinji she never tried before: get to know him. In doing this, she had found that there were a lot of things to like about Shinji… the foremost being the fact that he was completely unlike his father. He was kind, quiet, undemanding, and thoughtful - things her former lover could, in her opinion, never be.

She wanted to talk to Shinji about what she had tried to do to him during that business with the 12th Angel… because the more she thought about it, the more she started to doubt her choice in that scenario, and the more she realized that he might actually know the real story about what had almost happened when he was trapped in that Sea of Dirac.

"Guess there's nothing else for it," she muttered, making her way through the small apartment, "full power… maximum performance."

She found him in the kitchen, humming to himself as he washed the few dishes he had accumulated from eating his solitary dinner.

Her schedule precluded eating with him, except on the weekends.

"Hello Ritsuko…" Shinji said, glancing over his shoulder as he took finally took notice of her. "Welcome home."

Ritsuko smiled. This is the only place I ever hear my real name, she thought ironically. And now that I think about it… it's the only place I've ever been welcomed back to since Mother died.

"Hello Shinji," she replied softly, forcing herself to go forward before she could change her mind. "Can I talk to you?"

"Um…sure," Shinji replied with a shrug.

"Do you know… do you know what I… what I ordered during the fight with the 12th Angel?"

Shinji's hands shook slightly as he gave a slow nod, rinsing the plate he was working on and setting it in the drying rack… but keeping his silence as he moved on to a drinking glass, his dark blue eyes carefully fixed on the soapy task before him.

"I tried to… to have you killed…" Ritsuko managed, pushing the words out in spite of his acknowledgment, "I just… dismissed you as being lost…and I…I…" for some reason, she could not finish - her mouth simply would not form any more words.

After a moment of awkward silence, Shinji reached out and turned off the water. "Ritsuko…" he whispered softly, hanging his head over the sink as he tried to formulate the right words, "I've… you don't have to feel bad about that. I forgive you…"

"What?" Ritsuko breathed, stunned.

"I've forgiven you…" Shinji said simply, "you…you did what you had to…right? I can't be mad at you for that…" he bowed his head in shame. "I mean… I doubt I could have done it if it was up to me. You're just so much stronger than me… I'm just a weak little cowa-"

Ritsuko was moving before she could even think, crossing the small kitchen and throwing her arms around his chest. "Don't you say that," she gasped, blinking hard as her eyes began filling with tears, "don't you ever say that! You are a GOOD person, Shinji - you've never let us down when we needed you. You're so… so strong - don't ever say you're not!"

Slowly, Shinji's body grew less tense in her arms… and after several minutes, he turned to face her, returning her embrace with open, honest gratitude.

"Thank you…"

**

Ritsuko's thoughts were interrupted by Alicia's voice.

"What were you thinking when you tried to have him killed?"

"I did what I thought was necessary," the blonde replied automatically, the cliché answer now burning her tongue as if each syllable was acid-coated.

"And?"

Ritsuko bowed her head in shame, wishing Maya did not look quite so confused and lost as she stared at her.

"You were thinking your dedication to the scenario would impress Gendou weren't you?" Alicia prompted

"That was part of the reason," Ritsuko whispered, pretending she could not hear her kohei's gasp of shock, "I won't deny it…"

"How many times did you choose Gendou over everyone and everything else in your life?" Alicia asked bluntly. "You had so many people around who cared about you…yet you always chose him."

Ritsuko nodded miserably. It was before and after the 16th Angel that she was forced to face the truth about her relationship with Gendou. He didn't love her…she was just a tool for him to use in his machinations, and a body to warm his bed at the end of the day. She knew all of that know, of course… but knowing it did not make it any easier to take.

"How long will you keep walking your mother's path?" Alicia asked seriously. "She died as a result of deliberately botching the attempt to bring Yui Ikari back…she died because of her instability, and she died because she wanted Gendou and didn't care who she had to walk over in order to have him - she bound herself in chains of jealousy and paranoia, wrapping herself so tight that even the hint that she might have been discarded sent her into a murderous rage." She met Ritsuko's eyes head on. "Will you follow in her footsteps, Doctor Akagi… or will you break the chain?"

Ritsuko could only nod. The other woman's words hit too close to home to be refuted. All this time, she thought dismally, all this time I blamed Rei for being so perfect that Gendou chose her over me… and I blamed mother for being too unstable and falling in love with a man who didn't love her - I blamed anything I could, keeping myself from thinking about why he never looked me in the eyes when we made love, or said `I love you' without me saying it first. God, why am I so weak?!

"L-leave her alone," Maya stammered, drawing Ritsuko from her reverie. "You leave her alone - she's suffered enough!"

"What about you Maya Ibuki…" Alicia said softly, turning her attention to the tech, "The one thing that has surprised me most about you is how you never really did anything for Shinji. You always helped those causing his suffering - following orders like a good little girl when you knew it would cause him pain… and when the 13th Angel happened what did you do? Nothing. You simply obeyed Commander Ikari, even though you knew what would happen."

"Shut up!!!" snapped Maya, all-too painful memories surfacing in her mind as she tried to stare the woman down. She could still hear Shinji's agonized scream as he beheld the results of the dummy plug's activation. "What do you know about it? How many times do you think I go to bed and still hear Shinji's scream or see that poor Suzuhara kid pulled out of the plug with one of his legs gone!? Do you think that's easy to live with? Do you think I'm proud of what I've done - DO YOU?!"

"Maya…" Ritsuko breathed, stunned by the anguish in her subordinate's voice.

But Alicia was not impressed. "And yet, you did nothing to stop it," she whispered, shaking her head dolefully. "You never stood up to the Commander - even when Asuka's mind was being defiled, and you had the idea of reversing her cable and pulling her back, out of the angel's range… you did nothing. Time and time again, you kept your opinions and doubts to yourself, hiding behind the shield of `duty' rather than standing up for what you believed in. And did you ever make any effort to get to know Shinji? How much do you think you could have done for him without even knowing what kind of person he was? You speak of pride and suffering… but you do it from your sempai's shadow, content to let her make all of the tough choices while you simply stand mutely by and execute her orders - for better, or for worse - and make absolutely no attempt to actually involve yourself."

Maya averted her eyes, her cheeks burning with shame at the woman's harsh words. Oh how she longed to deny it - to refute what had been said and scream `I did everything in my power!' were it only true…

"What is Shinji to the two of you?" Alicia murmured after a long, painful silence.

Both women replied simultaneously and without thought.

"Shinji is a person I need to make up to for all the wrongs I've done to him."

"Shinji is a person who needs my help, and since I was not able to before, I will now."

Alicia nodded approvingly. "If you remain truthful about your reasons for seeking him," she said calmly, "I'm sure that you will be rewarded. Miss Katsuragi has already opened the door for you… you have but to step through it to continue on your path."

With a short bow, the woman passed through one of the myriad doors in the house's hallway.

"I guess we should do what she says," Maya murmured, shivering as they glanced into the room the woman had entered… and found it empty.

Lost in memories of the past, Ritsuko could only nod.

**

Gendou Ikari wandered through the woods, cursing as branches snapped behind him. Being low on ammo, he did not think that firing blindly into the darkened woods was the best idea, so he hurried forward, smiling to himself as he spied a small house resting neatly in the middle of a clearing in the trees. He reached the door and stepped through with no problems, closing it behind him and sliding the bolt home with a satisfied smirk.

His smirk fell away, however, as he turned around. "You…" he hissed, his lips pulling away from his teeth as he found himself face to face with the last person in the world he wanted to see.

"Greetings, Mister Ikari," the woman said, offering him a faint smile. "Lovely evening… isn't it?"

"What's going on here?" Gendou demanded, levelling his gun at the woman as she leaned casually against the door to the cellar.

"You never faced up to the things you did to Shinji," Alicia said serenely, "even now you won't acknowledge how much you've wronged him… how unfortunate. The utterly disgraceful way you've treated him and the equally disgraceful way you've treated those working under you leaves an… unpleasant taste in my mouth, Mister Ikari."

"Your opinion of me is irrelevant," Gendou replied immediately, drawing the hammer on his pistol back, "I'm only going to ask you one more time - what's going on here?"

"Haven't you yet figured out why you are here?"

Gendou hesitated. There was… something odd about this town, but he had yet to put his finger on it. Perhaps a shot to the woman's kneecap would get him the information he sought… and at the very least it would banish the annoying feeling of powerlessness the woman's presence generated in him.

"If you truly want answers," Alicia said, stepping to the side and pushing the door open, "Go right in… just be sure that you are prepared for what you will find." Offering him a short bow, she turned towards one of the other doors and pushed it open, preparing to step through.

"Stop!" Gendou ordered, firing a warning shot past the woman's head. "Damn it, I said st-"

Abruptly, Gendou found himself sprawled flat on the floor. Every inch of his skin was burning as if he had just stepped out of an oven, and his limbs felt very, very heavy. As he tried to get up, he felt a strong hand lift him from the floor and slam him into the wall, driving the air from his lungs.

"What are you?" he rasped, refusing to let his fear show on his face as he stared into Alicia's cold, dark eyes. "A-Angel…?"

"Interesting choice of words," Alicia whispered, her lips quirking at the corners and threatening to curve up into a small smile. "Let's just say I'm someone who happens to care about Shinji… and leave it at that."

So saying, she opened her hand, allowing Gendou to collapse, gasping for breath, to the floor. When he looked up - raising his pistol with every intention of emptying its clip - she was gone.

TBC