Gospel 1:11

Terry let his head to drop, his chin coming to rest against his chest. There was too much going on inside of the transport; medics kept poking and prodding him, asking to many questions. It tired him and he wished that they'd go away. He focused on where his hands lay crossed in his lap, tuning everything out until reality only occupied the small sphere surrounding his hands.

A muted buzzing filled his ears as if a bee had crawled into his head and was trying to find its way out. He wanted to shake his head and rid himself of it but the effort that moving required was more than he wanted to expend.

A hand closed over his shoulder and shook him, the buzzing resolving itself into a voice. "Hey boyo! You alive in there?" The words, he slowly realized, were in English.

With extreme difficulty he raised his eyes, up across a span of tan uniform, up to a concerned face framed by blond hair beneath a red beret. He was sure that he knew the face but his mind felt heavy and sluggish.

"That's the third time I tried to get your attention. Are you okay?"

The man's name was on the tip of Terry's tongue. Vail…Thomas? It sounded right. "I'm fine…" he had to gather his strength to finish the sentence, "…Mr. Vail."

The man turned to one of the medics cluttering the transport and began speaking to her in a language that Terry knew he should've understood, but when the words reached his ears they failed to link with a meaning. He had to use all of his remaining energy to follow even part of their conversation.

"Hey, have you taken a look at the kid yet? He's not looking so good."

The medic glanced over at Terry. "He's in a severe state of shock and drank to much doped tea at the school. We're keeping an eye on him but he should be fine in a little while."

The man turned back towards him. Terry knew that he should have known the man's name, that he had known it a little while ago. The man began talking to him but Terry had exhausted his feeble reserves of energy and his head again dropped against his chest as he fell into unconsciousness.

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Gendo Ikari was waiting as the transport arrived within the geofront and a frown creased his face as he watched the Children disembark. The 2^nd Child was the first off, clutching her head with one hand and wincing at every noise. Shinji followed her, his eyes downcast, apparently seeing nothing more than his own shuffling feet. The 6^th Child was third and had to be half carried by one of the guards. Rei was the final person to leave the transport and unlike the other Children, seemed fully cognizant of her surroundings. Gendo did not let the displeasure he felt touch his expression. Out of the four Children, he doubted that any besides Rei would have even a chancing of synchronizing.

Making sure to keep his expression bland, he stepped forward to intercept Rei. "I need you to accompany me."

She looked up at him, seemingly unperturbed by the blood that still soaked her uniform and nodded once before turning and handing her briefcase to a startled guard with instructions to place it in the pilots' locker room.

She followed the Commander down to Central Dogma but paused when they reached the lab where the clone tank was. The Commander continued across the lab until he reached the tank of LCL, placing one hand against the thick glass, his eyes on the clones within.

For one moment the man seemed to come apart. His shoulder's sagged and his hands curling into tight fists. Then the moment passed and when he turned to face Rei he again appeared to be carved from granite.

"You externalized you’re A.T. Field." It wasn't a question.

"If I hadn't, I would have died." Rei's eyes traveled to the clones in the tank. They had completed their physical growth cycle and were identical to her, in body at least. "Of course it wouldn't have mattered, would it? Had I perished you would merely have awakened the fourth."

A small crack appeared in the stone of the Commander's features. "I-it would have taken time to acclimate a replacement to her role and the memory transfer process has yet to be completed. It would have been injudicious to awaken another body at this time."

Rei's eyes widened in surprise at hearing the catch in the Commander's voice. The crack went much deeper than she had thought.

He reached out with one hand and ran it through her hair, clumps of pale blue coming away between his fingers. Gently he lifted one of her hands and applied the slightest of pressure to the tip of her fingers: the nail came off with a small pop. "You know the consequences of externalizing you're A.T. Field. You've degraded your body's cohesion. Your grip upon your flesh has been severely weakened."

"I suffered less degradation than when I am in Her presence."

The Commander nodded. "Lillith. That is because you hold the last piece that keeps it from being whole and it calls out to you. You were too close to it the last time you externalized you’re A.T. Field. The loss of cellular cohesion was so great that you almost came apart before we could return you to the LCL."

"I did it to save your son's life, and yours." Although she said the words in the same inflectionless tone that she'd said everything else, her eyes flickered to his face to see his reaction.

Instead of meeting her eyes, he moved over to a console. "You will have to be immersed in LCL until you regain control of your body," he said as he activated the console. "I'll have Dr. Ibuki look after you until you have fully recovered,"

The thought suddenly struck Rei: was Maya supposed to be her nursemaid, or her guard? She chose her next words carefully. "You are aware of my association with the 6^th Child and do not approve."

The Commander looked up in surprise but instead of answering he gently took her arm with his left hand and guided her up to the open top of the LCL cylinder.

"You did not answer my question," she said as he helped her out of her bloody uniform and into the cylinder. Despite the lightness of his grip, a dark bruise encircled her arm where his fingers had been.

"I will return to check on your status," he said without meeting her eyes.

You did not answer my question, she thought as the LCL closed over her head.

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Misato was summoned to the Commander's office as soon as she returned to the geofront. She'd been expecting the summons and trepidation crawled around her stomach, intensifying as she made the trek across the Commander's office.

She couldn't count the number of regulations she'd violated by running out of the command center like that. If she were lucky then she'd still have her job when she walked back out of the Commander's office, if not her rank. It was too bad that she didn't feel lucky.

She stopped in front of the Commander's desk and saluted, her back ramrod straight, eyes level with the top of his head. She was thankful that Fuyutsuki wasn't there. Although the Commander's face was blank, the Deputy Commander would have made his displeasure know with every word and expression. That man had made an art out of the disapproving scowl.

"At ease Major," the Commander said evenly. He stared at her for several moments before speaking again, "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Major?" he repeated her rank as if reminding her of it.

"What I did was completely unacceptable. Whatever disciplinary measures I receive will be fair and just." Misato had to force the words out around a lump in her throat and it took an effort to keep herself from shivering.

The silence stretched out again and just before Misato risked glancing down at the Commander's face, just in case some clue of what he was thinking slipped free, he spoke. "Consider yourself disciplined."

Misato was so startled by the statement that she forgot to remain at attention and stared at the Commander. "What?"

"Your maternal instincts do you credit," he said with a dry smile. "I will let your breach of conduct slide." The smile vanished. "This time."

"B-but-?"

He interrupted her. "Do you feel that your actions require a harsher discipline?"

The Commander remained silent as she considered the question. In her heart, she felt that what she'd done had been right thing to do, but her mind told her that rules were to be obeyed no matter what the situation. Which did she believe more? "No sir, I do not," she said finally.

"Very well then Major. You're dismissed."

Mistao wanted to drop to her knees and babble out the words of thanks that she felt welling up in her throat. Instead she gave a single, curt nod and departed, passing Fuyutsuki on her way out.

He raised an eyebrow when he reached the Commander, placing the folder he carried on the desk. "I'm surprised. Her entrails all seem to be in their proper places. Did you settle for a mental disembowelment this time?"

"I didn't discipline her."

"What?" The Deputy Commander's voice was shocked. "How could you do that? What she did was completely inexcusable!"

"I believe that the Major chose the better word, phrasing her actions as 'unacceptable.' Given her relationship to the Children I do find her actions excusable, this once. I think you would understand, if you had children of your own."

Fuyutsuki's voice grew icy, "I never had the chance."

"We have all made sacrifices for the sake of our vision. It will all be worth it in the end. You will see her again."

"So you say. You and Yui willingly made those sacrifices willingly. My wife did not."

"Yui was willing to make the sacrifice," Gendo said, his voice growing quiet.

With an obvious effort, Fuyutsuki pulled himself together. "You didn't call me here so that we could reopen each others' old wounds."

"This is the second time that SEELE has made an attempt on the lives of those crucial to our vision's realization."

"The latest attempt was not sanctioned by all of SEELE," Fuyutsuki pointed out.

"That fact is irrelevant. If they'd succeeded, no matter who sanctioned them, Yui's scenario would've been ruined beyond any hope of repair. Our scenarios are entering their final stages and the old men are growing fearful, and that is making their actions rash."

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

"I want to you to review the geofront's defensive capabilities, especially those involved with repelling a ground based invasion force." The Commander's eyes dropped to the folder on his desk. "Wherever our measures seem insufficient, bolster them. You will have an unlimited budget, but be discreet with it."

The Deputy Commander's eyes widened in surprise. "If the U.N notices-."

"By the time the U.N suspects anything, it will be to late for them to do anything about it."

"You really expect SEELE will attempt to take the geofront by force?"

"The old men are frightened enough that they'll lash out without considering the consequences. Should their fear grow they might decide that it would best suit them to be in absolute control. They know that we will not meekly surrender this installation to them, so they'll attempt to take it by force. That is another reason why Major Katsuragi will remain Director of Operations. There isn't enough time to ready another for the position."

"And if SEELE attacks using the mass production Evas?"

"They won't. The mass production series is too critical to SEELE's scenario to risk them in direct combat."

"But if they do?" Fuyutsuki pressed.

"They won't."

Fuyutsuki grunted, dissatisfied with the Commander's answer but turned to leave nonetheless.

Only after the Deputy Commander had closed the door behind him did Gendo open the folder on his desk revealing several sheets of paper and a half dozen grainy, poorly focused pictures.

In bold, black letters, the first sheet of paper proclaimed:

Gendo turned his attention to the pictures that accompanied it. They were all of such poor quality that it was almost impossible to discern the ugly wedge-shaped robot contained in each one. If there was any difference between these and the prototype Jet-Alone, they weren't visible. That bothered him. If a Jet-Alone, or even a group of them were used to attack NERV, the defensive batteries alone could tear them apart. An Evangelion could overmatch an entire army of the robots. He was sure that there was more to these than met the eye and it worried him that he couldn't see what it was.

He turned his attention to the other set of papers. The cover sheet proclaimed the data within to be Project Gungnir. Gendo smiled mirthlessly at the attempt at subterfuge. They'd thought to disguise the project's intentions by exchanging the name of one mythological spear for another. On the surface the project seemed to outline a plan to lace high earth orbit with N² mines as a first line of defense against further Angels. However, at such an altitude it would be a simple matter to alter the mines' orbits so that they would intercept the Lance, then once in position they could be detonated to alter its trajectory. The Lance was vital to SEELE's scenario and it troubled Gendo that he wasn't sure what they were willing to sacrifice in order to retrieve it. What troubled him even more was the name on the report, next to the title of project chairman: Nathaniel Taylor.

Even in the very beginning, Taylor had always placed his own interests first. Now he seemed to have a stake in every side of the game making Gendou wonder if anyone else was in Taylor's debt as deeply as he was. When he'd received the message from Taylor, he'd been intrigued enough to agree to the meeting. He'd never expected Taylor to give him the Evangelion and the fact that he did so without tangible payment made Gendo all the more suspicious. Eve's claim that the Americans had been afraid to keep her had some ring of truth, but Taylor was the type of man who if he had a viper by its tail wouldn't let go so long as there was still the smallest advantage in holding on.

Gendo returned everything to the folder and locked it in a compartment in his desk. He stood and walked over to the window, looking out into the geofront.

He placed a hand against the glass and allowed his head to fall forward until he was looking down, where the Evangelions slept far below. Kihl had claimed that the fate of humanity rested on the shoulders of twelve men. Kihl was wrong. It rested on the shoulders of one. "It's been a long, hard road, Yui, and I haven't always thought that I possessed the strength to walk it, but I'll do it no matter what the cost, because I know that you await me at its end."

He turned away from the window, a renewed strength fueling his step. He would see the scenario to its conclusion.

No matter what the cost.

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It took a conscious effort for Misato to keep her knees straight as she walked away from the Commander's office. She'd expected to leave that meeting stripped of job, rank, and more than likely with an escort of security guards to see her out of the geofront. She probably would've needed it too. The attack on the Children had left her in a very fragile mental state. She'd expected punishment and steeled herself for it. Instead she got less than a slap on the wrist and the question foremost in her mind was why?

From the look on the Deputy Commander's face he'd been as surprised as she was that she wasn't in shackles. Why hadn't the Commander done anything? Did he consider her to be in his debt; to be called in at some time of his choosing? Or was this some move in a game that she wasn't even aware that she was a piece in? With an effort, Misato pushed those thoughts away; they weren't important now; the Children were.

It shouldn't have been hard to find them. Once they were inside the geofront one place was pretty much as safe as any other, so the Children weren't hidden away deep within the bowels of the earth. However when she finally found the room they were supposed to be in, only Asuka and Terry were there.

Asuka was occupying the entirety of the only couch, an ice pack resting on her forehead. Terry was curled into a ball on a chair, apparently asleep.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Asuka gently.

"My head hurts," was her irritable reply.

"Has a doctor taken a look at it?"

"Mild concussion. I just have to stay off my feet for a while."

"Other than that, are you all right?"

Asuka shifted the ice pack so that she could look out from beneath it with one eye. "I've been shot at, nearly cracked my head open, manhandled by paramedics, police, Section 2, and who knows what that pervert Shinji did to me while I was unconscious, but really, I'm just fine. Give me a second to change and I'll give you a rendition of Wagner's Das Rheingold." Asuka shifted the ice pack back into position over her eyes.

Misato decided to let the girl's tirade pass. "Do you know where Shinji and Rei are?"

"Wondergirl went off somewhere with the Commander. I don't know where the 3^rd Child is. He just wandered off. Really pissed off the blue suits but he still has to be in the geofront, somewhere." Asuka turned onto her side, making Misato patently aware that her presence was no longer appreciated.

Terry was still sleeping, so Misato went out in search of one of the Section 2 agents who was supposed to be keeping an eye on the Children. It wasn't hard to find one, talking quietly into a walkie-talkie. "Do you know the whereabouts of the 3^rd Child?" she asked him.

The agent didn't look over his shoulder as he replied. "I'm busy lady, go away."

Misato snapped. "Listen buddy, you've got three seconds to tell me or you're going to be using that damn blue jacket to polish my hubcaps."

The agent turned, his mouth open. It quickly shut when he saw whom he'd just told off. "I-I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't realize it was you. The 3^rd Child was just spotted near the eighth cage."

"Tell the other agents to keep their distance. He's probably not in the best state of mind right now and I don't want them to frighten him."

It was an effort to keep from breaking into a run as she headed towards the cage, and when she arrived, she saw Shinji standing on the walkway in front of unit 01. He was talking to it, his voice low and level, yet carrying across the cage so that she could hear it.

"When you hurt me, I could stand that." There was a restrained fury in his voice and he stared at the Evangelion, seemingly unaware of anything else.

The elevator arrived at the walkway and Misato got off. She wanted to run to Shinji but forced herself to walk. She didn't know why but she felt that that startling him was the worst thing she could possibly do.

"My pain, I could take, b-but because of you, my friends were hurt. B-because of you, my friends were killed." Misato could see his knuckles turn white as Shinji's grip tightened on the railing "It's all your fault! I HATE YOU!" Shinji shouted throwing himself over the rail and into the bakalite.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted, leaning over the railing. His head broke the bakalite's surface and he began swimming towards the Eva, oblivious to everything else.

"Damn it!" Misato swore as she threw herself in after him. She began swimming after Shinji, shivering as the bakalite did it's best to suck the heat from her body. Some of it got into her mouth and she coughed and choked as she spit out the foul tasting liquid. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the elevator begin to ascend, Section 2 agents clustered at the top of the elevator shaft.

Shiji pulled himself up onto Unit 01's helmet. "It's all your fault!" he cried, banging his fists against the Eva's armor. "You nearly killed Touji!"

With a grunt of effort, Misato pulled herself out of the bakalite. She looked up at Shinji and nearly screamed; for one vertigous second it seemed as if he was drenched in blood and she nearly fell back into the bakelite before her mind sorted the image out reassuring her that it was merely bakalite coating him, not blood.

"They tried to kill me because of you!" Shinji's fist beat even harder against the Evangelion. Misato tried to grab one of his hands and on the back swing one of his fists grazed her cheek, knocking her backwards.

"I hate you! I don’t want you anymore!" There was blood on the Eva's armor now, from where the force of his blows had torn Shinji's hands. "You made me kill Kaworu!" he screamed and reared his head back. Misato dove forward, knocking his legs out from under him before he could drive his forehead against the Eva's unyielding armor.

She winced as his weight came down in the middle of her back then rolled out from under him, careful not to knock either of them into the bakelite. "Shinji?" Misato asked uncertainly. He was sobbing quietly and didn’t seem to hear her. He didn't react as she picked him up and maneuvered him onto her back, nor when she slipped back into the bakelite. She had a hard time keeping the both of them afloat and nearly went under on more than one occasion when she got a mouthful of bakelite and started choking.

By the time she reached the ladder that lead up to the walkway the Section 2 agents had made it down and were clustered around the ladder's top. She was able to hand Shinji up to them before hauling herself onto the walkway, collapsing in an exhausted heap.

"Wait," she said as one of the agents picked Shinji up, "take me with you."

It took one agent supporting each of her shoulders for Misato to walk and the ungainly procession took twenty minutes to reach the geofront's medical ward. Once there, the agents passed Shinji off to the doctors but when Misato attempted to follow him, a doctor blocked her path.

"I don't care if you're the Commander, you're can't come any further," the doctor said when she tried to protest.

Misato started to growl a reply, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Just let me know what his condition is, okay?"

"If we have time," the doctor said diffidently, obviously not impressed by the disheveled woman in front of him.

One of the agents escorting Misato dropped her arm, "Allow me one moment Major." He drew the doctor to one side, and began speaking very quickly but quietly to the doctor.

When the doctor stepped back, his face was several shades paler. "Uh, yes, um, Major, we'll keep you informed." He gave the Section 2 agent a furtive glance, then scurried back into the depths of the medical ward.

"Do you need anything else?" the agent asked Misato.

"No thank you, I think I-I'll just sit down for a bit," Misato said, sinking into one of the chairs lining the hallway. Both agents nodded polity then left her alone. Misato waited until they were both gone before letting her head sink into her hands. Whatever chemicals her body had been running on for the past five hours had just run out and all of the emotions she'd been holding at bay came crashing down around her. The corridor wavered as tears begin to fill her eyes and sobs surged up through her throat.

When she regained a little control she accosted a nurse for a set of surgical scrubs then went into an empty exam room where she stripped off her wet, stinking cloths. There was a mirror in the room and she caught a glimpse of herself as she cinched to top of the scrubs shut. Her face was streaked pink with drying bakalite and her hair was drying into spiky clumps. Her image struck her as incredibly comical and she had to fight down the urge to laugh, because she knew that once she started she wouldn't be able to stop.

She leaned against the examination table and covered her eyes with one hand. "I need a drink," she half sobbed.

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Makoto massaged the bridge of his nose wearily as he, Shigeru, and Suiko left the command center. "Thus ends one of the most hellish days that did not involve near obliteration by an Angel," Makoto announced.

Suiko nodded. "The Angels are bad enough but to have people trying to kill the Children…" She frowned, trying to think of an invective vile enough.

"Can I interest either of you in joining me for a drink?" Makoto asked.

Suiko shook her head, a smile replacing her frown, "Aoshi and I are going out to dinner. Maybe next time."

Makoto turned to Shigeru, who shook his head. "Sorry, I have a date tonight." He went on, blushing, when the other two looked at him curiously. "Don't act so surprised. I do have some semblance of a social life," he coughed behind his fist. "Unlike some people I could mention."

Makoto ignored the jibe. "You can bring her along if you'd like."

"I don't think that would work out to well. We were planning on making some music together," Shigeru said as he strummed an invisible guitar.

Suiko raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Why Shigeru, did you just make an oblique metaphor for sex?"

Shigeru's blush deepened. "Uh, no, I meant that literally, actually. She plays bass guitar. Maybe you should ask Maya," he said, obviously eager to change the subject.

"You mean the near mythical Dr. Ibuki? The same person whose mere appearance above ground has become an event to be commemorated? I'd have to find her first, then I would have to surgically separate her from whatever project she's currently working on."

"Well then I'll see you tomorrow," Suiko said, breaking off from the group with a wave. Shigeru shrugged apologetically and went his own way. Makoto waved halfheartedly after the two of them, turning with a despondent sigh and heading towards one of the lounges overlooking the geofront.

The lounge was crowded when he arrived, filled with other NERV staff who had recently gotten off shift. Despite the number of people, there was one corner of the lounge that was conspicuously vacant despite the fact that it was one of the coveted spots that overlooked the geofront.

There was only one person occupying the spot, dressed in blue medical scrubs. Under most circumstances he would've recognized her instantly, even from behind, but it took him several seconds to realize that the figure was Major Katsuragi.

He made his way towards her, forgetting all about getting a drink. When he got within eight meters he could tell why everyone else was giving her a wide birth: the astringent stink of bakelite hung in the air and it only got worse the closer he got. "M-Misato?" he gasped, trying to breathe through his mouth. The smell seemed to cut straight through his nostrils and stabbed right into his brain.

She jerked as if he'd slapped her and as she turned her hand skittered across her chest. If she'd been wearing her jacket, Makoto would've sworn that she was reaching for her gun.

When he made no threatening moves, her hand dropped to her lap and she peered at him owlishly. Her eyes were red and her face puffy but he didn't think that it was from drinking. "Oh, Makoto, it's you."

Makoto pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. Most of the smell seemed to emanate from a plastic bag on Misato's left; Makoto could see the collar of her jacket sticking out the top. However a good deal of the bakalite reek was emanating from Misato herself and there were streaks of it along her face.

Now that Makoto was sitting, he could also see the table in front of Misato: empty bottles were scattered haphazardly and the one partially full bottle had multiple beads of condensation running down its sides. Judging by the puddle that had formed around the its base, Misato hadn't taken a drink in a while.

"What happened to you?" Makoto asked tactlessly.

"Oh nothing. I just went for a little swim, that's all."

"In bakelite?" he asked incredulously.

Misato glared at him sullenly. "Leave me alone."

Makoto was tempted to go. The Major obviously didn't want company nor did her appearance invite it. If she'd tacked a 'please' onto her demand he would've, but there was something about the way she'd said it that almost made it seem that she desperately did not want him to go.

"What happened, Major?" he asked quietly.

She turned to face him, her expression twisting in anger, but suddenly she lost that spark of hostility and her face fell inwards. "I almost lost them," she whispered.

"Who's them?" Makoto asked. He wanted to kick himself as soon as the words left his mouth. "The Children," he said, at the same time that she did.

Misato listlessly flicked one of the fallen bottles, her eyes following it as it rocked back and forth. "I've resigned myself to the fact that the next time they get into their Eva, they might not get out again. I had to, because it's my job to put them in danger and it would drive me crazy if I hadn't." She grabbed the bottle and hurled it at the window and it bounced off of the reinforced glass with a dull thud. "They should be safe when there aren't any Angels!" Misato shouted, trying to stand. "They saved everyone's' lives!" She slumped back down into her seat. "We shouldn't have to protect them from people." Her head fell forward into her hands. "They're all I have left." Makoto could hear the raw emotion in her voice. "Shinji and Asuka are the only ones I have left," she whispered miserably. "I can't lose them."

Shinji, Asuka, and… Makoto had to force himself to say the next words. "And Kaji."

Misato's head whipped up, her features twisted in anger.

"He really loves you," Makoto said defensively. "Even I could see that, even though I didn't want to." Saying the words hurt, but Makoto knew that she needed the reassurance more than his ego needed the illusion that he'd ever had a chance with her.

Misato's anger faded as Makoto continued talking. "He's gone," she said finally, interrupting him.

"To Germany, I know. If you can't afford to make the call then I can patch it through the communications boards. I'll be breaking a lot of rules, but…" He trailed off when he saw her expression: she was on the verge of full out crying. Before he could react, she threw her arms around him and her head was on his shoulder. He could hear her sobbing.

"No, he's gone."

The way that she said 'gone' was like a punch in the gut.

Dead.

If Kaji was dead, why the stories that placed him back in Germany? Makoto had always suspected that Kaji was more than a simple liaison, but he'd never imagined that it was so much more that someone would kill him.

Unless they didn't want anyone to know that Kaji was dead.

Unless his death involved something that they didn't want anyone else to know about.

Unless…

A void seemed to open up beneath Makoto, a cold, bottomless hole, as he thought about all the times that he had abused his position to obtain sensitive information for Misato.

Makoto was brought out of his personal dread by the realization that Misato was crying, her tears soaking into the shoulder of his uniform. "I can't stand to lose them. I can't take it if I lose anyone else," she sobbed.

A sudden thought struck Makoto as he made soothing noises and patted Misato's back reassuringly. She was completely vulnerable. Her emotional defenses were in shambles, her mind clouded by emotions and alcohol. Never again would he be presented with a chance like this. All it would take was a little more alcohol and a little prodding.

A thread of doubt wormed its way through his thoughts. If he took advantage of the situation, in the morning, when Misato looked at him, what would she think of what she saw?

More importantly, when he looked into the mirror, what would he think of what he saw?

It took all of his will to paste a sickly smile onto his face as he pushed Misato back down into her seat.

"Let my buy you a cup of coffee."

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A shark cruised slowly through the nighttime ocean. Behind it the remnants of a school of fish scattered, the shredded remains of several of its members slowly drifting towards the bottom. It's hunger temporarily sated, it swam with no particular destination, content with the knowledge that it was lord of all it surveyed.

The shark slowed as it sensed something immense moving through the water in front of it; its eyes perceiving a deeper blackness in the water. It had encountered whales before and knew them to be harmless, so it was with no particular hurry that it altered its course to carry it away from the behemoth.

From within the darkness, something flashed out, tearing through the shark before it had a chance to react. The fish thrashed only once as its vital fluids spilled into the inky water.

The darkness surged forward, enveloping the shark's corpse. It continued to move forward, encountering the school of fish that the shark had decimated. Tiny bits of darkness flickered out, spearing the fish and drawing them into the greater mass.

The light from a sliver moon glinted off of its dull black hide as it broached the surface of the water and two white triangular eyes peered into the night. It closed them and raised its head as if testing the air. The distant call of the Harmony, tugged at the deepest recesses of its primitive mind, and it opened its eyes, turning its head towards it eventual destination: the distant lights of Tokyo-3.