Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Second Coming ❯ Second Chances ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine: Second Chances

 

School was uneventful as usual, at least for the first period and part of the second. We had study hall in second period, which was intended as a quiet time to actually study, and hadn't yet dissolved into the free-for-all common in Western schools. As I was sitting at my desk, Japanese language lesson playing out on the notebook PC through my earphones, I thought I heard something soft from in my book bag. I paused the lesson and pulled out one of the earphones.

Brrrmm.

There it was again. I realized after a second it was the mobile phone that Misato had 'issued' me. It was ringing silently, in vibrate mode. Who's calling me at a time like this? I wondered.

Before I could reach out to get it, I heard the vibrating noise from two other places. Out of the corner of my eye, Shinji all but jumped out of his seat, lunging for his own bag, and Rei slowly, methodically picked up her bag and stood.

Asuka's phone was not on vibrate, of course, and instead twittered a shrill set of notes. It occurred to me what this was - a summoning of the Eva pilots, for another Angel attack. As I was standing, Asuka was too, proudly and with a smug expression. Of course, I thought. She'd never put her phone on vibrate in public, where she'd miss the chance to broadcast to everyone in earshot that she was being called to duty.

"Have a good day in school, everyone!" Asuka said in an all but teasing tone. I filed after her silently, my face as red as my hair, embarrassed for my friend's actions. Shinji had risen beside me and followed me out, with Rei, in the back row, patiently waiting her turn and joining us.

"Real classy, Asuka," I told her once we were in the hall.

"Oh, hush," she dismissed my comment. "You know as well as I do that every one of them envies us and wishes they were coming too."

Maybe they should have a seat in an Eva and see how they feel after that, I didn't add.

The transit to NERV was otherwise swift and uneventful. Asuka and Shinji, after changing, were taken elsewhere, and Rei and I were sent to the Cages.

"Where are Evas 01 and 02?" I asked as I was preparing to climb into the entry plug.

"Sent ahead to the shore via ABLEs," my helper tech told me. "I think you're here standing by as backup."

Oh. I don't know why I felt ripped off at that point. All I was likely to do on my first true battle on Japanese soil was stand in a launch cage and listen. Listen to a failing battle, I reminded myself, as I remembered the next Angel and the initial outcome. I just hoped Shinji and Asuka didn't get hurt.

By that time, the entry plug was flooding, and I had to go through my startup procedures. As Sangouki came alive around me, so to speak, I had the chance to ask over the comm unit: "Is Rei standing by with me?"

"Unit 00 is not yet ready for reactivation," Ritsuko Akagi's voice came over the link. "You are solo at this point."

"Understood," I said. So why did you suit her up, then? I wondered. After a moment of contemplation, the answer came to me. If I was somehow unable to sync, or if Shinji or Asuka were recalled for some fault other than the Eva, Rei would take my or their place. It felt cold and hard, but it was the truth.

I turned my attention to the video display from the mobile command plane, MC-01, as Misato and a handful of staff flew over the projected combat area, preparing to trigger the ABLEs to drop Shinji and Asuka into the battle zone as soon as it was cleared.

I was so engrossed in watching the preparations on-screen, that I barely registered the Cage dock being moved into position at the launch shaft. By all indications, the planes were nearing the spot where they'd drop the Evas and the operation would begin.

I found myself hoping this fight would, like the last one, go differently than I 'remembered', and I didn't know why that was. It wasn't like Shinji or Asuka were going to get injured - other than pride-wise - in the next few minutes. It would possibly narrow the friendship gap between them if the coming week happened as I thought it would.

And I wouldn't have - wouldn't get - to fight either half of the Angel.

Is that it? I wondered. Is it simply a case of me being selfish?

I was distracted from my introspection by Asuka hollering and Shinji shouting in protest. Looking up, I saw that they were already on the ground, fighting the Angel - or at least beginning the assault. Asuka leapt from building to building in the abandoned, drowned town at the shoreline, carrying a long, thin staff with a blade on the tip. I would say 'giant' blade, but that invokes to me the image of those ridiculous swords some anime characters carry; this was only about the size of a prog knife blade, grafted on the end of the staff. Giant? In terms of human size, yes. But just a little blade when it comes to an Eva.

Still, Asuka managed to slice the Angel completely in half. I wanted to call out, to urge her to get back, but I didn't like the idea of being questioned for days or longer at Ikari - or worse, SEELE's hands - as to how I knew something was up. I looked at the two halves as they sat there shuddering, wondering if they would have been destroyed if Asuka's first shot had cleft the core in half instead of glancing off it. Then, Israfel grew into its two parts, and each Eva had their own foe to fight.

I often wondered how the battle could have been so lopsided; we were never shown in the series what actually happened. In fact, Asuka started by swinging the great blade again, hoping to do to her half the same she'd done to the whole. (I had visions of 32, then 64, then 128 little Israfels scurrying around the shoreline, but put it out of my head quickly.) It deflected her with its AT Field handily.

Shinji, meanwhile, was charging at the other half, ready to tear it to pieces with his prog knife. He, too, was repelled by the AT Field, and try as he might, his Eva couldn't break through, much as I knew it had with Sachiel.

Then, in a swift moment, 01 was thrown backwards by a blast from the Angel's AT Field, sent cartwheeling through the sky, umbilical severed. It landed with a mighty splash in the ocean, embedding itself in the sea bed.

"Deploy Unit 03," I heard Fuyutsuki bluntly say. I had enough time to realize, Hey! That's me! when suddenly the launch system kicked in. The force of the last dozen roller coasters I'd ever ridden, all combined into one, sent my lungs, heart, and all my other organs down against my pelvis, the incredible G-forces shoving me deep into the padded, contoured seat of the entry plug. After a few moments, acceleration decreased and speed became constant, and I had a few seconds' smooth, effortless ride to the top of the rails, coming out in the middle of a deserted intersection of Tokyo-3.

"Unit 03," Akagi called out. "Maintain position in the city and prepare to defend against inland attack."

"Yes, ma'am," I responded. I had no inkling of how far away the shoreline where the battle had been taking place was, and if I had thirty minutes or thirty seconds between the Angel departing there and getting to me. I carefully stepped through the streets, making my way towards what I figured was the most sensible location.

As I walked, I followed paths that I knew - paths that I took to school and to NERV and so on, on a regular basis. Going past my local convenience store - or where it would be, if it hadn't sunken into the ground with most of the rest of the city, I hmm'ed. Out of milk, I recalled. Need to pick some up on the way home.

I tried not to burst out laughing at how absurd that thought was. Smirking, I picked up my pace and got to the city's edge, climbing one of the hills that hemmed this end in, and sighted across the expanse of land.

"Unit 02 has been defeated," a tech reported. I snapped my gaze to the local feed from that region and saw Asuka's Nigouki, feet-up, buried in the soft earth near the shore. Apparently she had suffered a similar fate to Shinji.

"Are they all right?" I asked worriedly, even though I probably knew the answer.

"Recovery is in progress," Fuyutsuki responded. "Maintain your position."

"Roger," I acknowledged. I searched for the Angel, both on my own screens and the sub-screens feeding me information from the shore, but it was gone. "Negative contact on the Angel," I reported.

"Targets have moved inland," Hyuga called out excitedly. "Moving towards Lake Ashi."

"Make sure Unit 03 remains in the city. Don't let her go after it," Fuyutsuki said in a strained tone.

"Confirm, Unit 03," a tech at Central Dogma said.

"Confirmed," I sighed. "I'm staying put."

There was silence on the line for a minute or two as people conferred away from the mikes (or so I presumed). Ultimately, Fuyutsuki was on the air again. "Do we have any solution that Unit 03 could reasonably be expected to accomplish?"

"Negative, sir," Dr. Akagi replied. "There's no chance of results with one against two."

"Pull her back. Relinquish command to the UN."

"Yes, sir," came the deflated response from Ritsuko. "Jill? Return via path 4 immediately."

"Understood," I replied. Backing up along the escape route, which doubled back to help me manage the umbilical cable, I watched military units start swarming in as if they had been waiting in the wings. The rotorless helicopter-type VTOL crafts zoomed in, planes started approaching, and ground vehicles streamed towards the area southwest of town via roads and backcountry alike.

Arriving at the elevator, I turned around to let the shoulder pylons mate with the launch/retrieval rails, and saw a craft drop something towards the Angel's two halves, which were marching together across a ridge.

Oh, great, I said to myself. Lot of good that'll do.

Just before I descended below the surface, on the way back down to the Geofront, the N2 bomb exploded, shaking the earth and expanding upward in a blinding blast. The rumbling continued as I slowly slid down the shaft, and I hoped no one was caught in the explosion; even though it was non-nuclear, it was a powerful detonation.

 

It took an hour or so to get retrieved, disembarked, and cleaned up. At that point, it was lunch time; however, I wanted to know if Shinji and Asuka were okay.

I couldn't find any signs of them, but shortly after I started looking, I found Ryoji Kaji strolling about.

"You look lost," he said.

I thought about my options for a moment, then said, "I'm looking for the other pilots."

"They're busy getting chewed out," he said with a faint smile. "The Vice Commander is not impressed."

"He sounded pretty stressed out during the fight," I acknowledged with a nod.

"They aren't in much trouble," he said. "Just a little verbal dressing-down for their response, and sent home to think about it."

"What about the Angel?" I asked, wondering if he'd already formulated his supposed plan.

"It does seem to be a challenge, doesn't it?" the multiple-agent said. "What's your opinion?"

I shrugged. "Two cores, which I presume regenerate their respective part of the Angel."

"Evidently," Kaji agreed. "How much would you like to bet that they operate simultaneously, in some fashion, as well?"

Why are you sharing all this with me? I wondered. It seemed atypical of how a secret agent would act, and especially how I expected Kaji to be. Playing along, I said, "Are you implying they have to be defeated at the exact same moment?"

"I'm not implying anything," he replied, coming back towards the conduct I'd expected of him. "But that is an interesting theory."

"It makes sense, I think. Considering the duality of the Angel."

"Quite," Kaji agreed with me. He lifted up a hand and fiddled with a Memory Stick in it, tapping it against his leg a few times.

"What's that?" I asked, knowing full well what it was - at least, if things went as I expected.

"Oh, just some data," he said dismissively. "And I really probably should deliver it soon. However, before I go.." He put a coin in the vendor in front of him, the machine obediently disgorging a can of juice, and he held it out to me. "Have a drink on me."

I took it without realizing that Kaji was probably flirting with me on some level. "Thanks," I said with a smile, taking the drink and popping it open. The cold fluid was welcome and helped reduce the taste and smell of the LCL.

"Of course, milady," Kaji said with a bow and a flourish, and it was only then that I realized what he was up to. Blushing heavily, I tried to just nod and smile and watch him go.

 

I went home from there, running - not walking - down the same streets I'd traversed in my Eva just hours before. I shouldn't have to explain why I felt vulnerable and endangered that afternoon; knowing there was an Angel in the vicinity, and what it was capable of - namely, defeating two Evas in seconds - I didn't really feel like wandering around too much. Of course, being in a building provided only marginally more security than standing outside, so I tried not to worry too much; besides, it was highly unlikely that the Angel would come after the pilots directly.

Maybe it will this time around, I mused to myself over supper. Things have already changed.

As I mentioned already, I tried not to dwell on it too much. It was something I couldn't control or change, and my goal was to get myself to stop obsessing over such things. In an attempt to distract myself onto another subject, I came to realize that it was the fifth of September.

Of course. Israfel attacks first, and the successful response comes six days later, on the 11th.

September 11, as you should know if you've been reading from the outset, holds special meaning for me. That is, special meaning in Jack's reality. As Jill, 9/11 had other special meaning, but almost as far to the opposite as could be imagined.

On 9/11, I turn 14, I reminded myself.

I honestly didn't know how I felt about that.

 

Monday was the seventh, and I headed to school alone. I hadn't bothered to drop in on my neighbors all weekend, suspecting they were busy with the plan Kaji had presumably given Misato. I didn't want to intrude, but I also didn't want to be a fair weather friend. I vowed to myself that I would visit at least once during the week to provide some moral support.

"Jill," Hikari said, perching on my desk in the break between first and second period. "Where's Asuka?"

"Oh," I said with a little surprise, having been deep in the above thoughts at the moment. "I haven't seen her since Saturday," I admitted.

"Since the attack?" Hikari inquired, and I nodded. My mind was distracted again for a moment at the class rep's frankness about the situation. She always behaves like she's got her head wrapped around this thing, I told myself. She'd probably make a great pilot.

"She's okay, isn't she?" Hikari asked with a worried tone. "I mean, I heard it didn't end well.."

"Oh! No, no, she's fine," I said with a smile, trying to laugh away the fear that was on my friend's face. "They both are. They're at home.. I think, preparing for the next time that thing comes back."

"Both?"

"Her and Ikari," I said. "They both got shut down by that thing."

"And you didn't?" Hikari said, leaning down closer to me. "How?"

"Oh.. I was ordered not to ..um.." I said, cutting off my explanation. "Hikari, it just occurred to me I maybe shouldn't be giving you too many explicit details. I know it's a stupid rule, but.."

"It's okay," she said after a moment. "I understand. Can you tell me this, though - will it be okay if I visit her?"

"I'm sure," I nodded, smiling. "I bet she'd like that."

"Good. After school today, then?"

"Don't see why not," I shrugged.

"Good. Before I forget, then, here are the printouts for both her and Ikari."

"What?" I said, as I accepted the stack of papers. "Why give them to me?"

Hikari adopted one of those looks normally reserved for Suzuhara. "Well, you are coming with me, aren't you? To see your friend?"

"Eheh," I sweatdropped. "Silly me. Of course I am." Wow, she sure can be scary. No 'probably' about it. She'd be a killer pilot.

 

And so, that afternoon, the four of us - Aida and Suzuhara too, unbeknownst to us till the last moment (well, supposedly) - paid a visit to the Katsuragi household.

I tried to act surprised and/or amused at the goings-on, and the attire - seeing Shinji in a tight dance leotard was pretty funny, despite the fact he wore a plugsuit in my 'eyeshot' almost all the time. At the same time, I was also thinking, Better you than me, guys. I didn't trust my abilities to manage a synchronized attack quite yet, and the humiliation of dancing in front of a roomful of my friends would be a mortal blow compared to anything I could face from an Angel.

Of course, they were practicing using a strange contraption that appeared to be a cross between a pair of Twister mats and a DDR game. To tell you the truth, Shinji wasn't as bad as the show made him out to be, nor was Asuka as insufferable - but I think you probably have come to learn that over the course of reading this. That isn't to say that they didn't have their moments, of course; at one particular point, Shinji cramped up and fell over, and Asuka turned and kicked him so hard I thought I heard bones cracking.

"Again," Misato said, clapping her hands. It was surreal; it was almost as if she was a dance teacher or a choreographer. I almost expected her to sigh and snap, "This will not do, people! Once more, from the top."

The lot of us - Kensuke, Toji, Misato, myself, and Hikari, along with Pen2 in the latter's lap, were seated in a semi-circle around a low table in the living room, snacking and trying to cheer on our comrades.

You may notice that Rei was absent from that roll call. I certainly did; I was concerned what was going to happen when Asuka declared Shinji unfit to be paired with her. Would Misato call on me to take the German's place?

Hikari giggled beside me, distracting me from my thoughts. She was skritching Pen2's belly, and he was leaning back against her for all he was worth, enjoying every moment of it. She noticed me reacting to her laughter, and smiled at me. "He's so cute," she declared.

"He's a pest," I shot back good-naturedly. "All he does with me is mooch for food."

"You brought that on yourself by bringing treats whenever you visit, Jill," Misato contributed with a smile.

"Ach! Baka!" Asuka shrieked, trying to punt Shinji once again. "In the same spot, even!"

"Have you considered slowing your tempo to accommodate him?" Misato asked, with that odd smile she occasionally wore, which made you feel as if she was pissed off at you but was too cool to show it.

"Why should I have to drop to his level?!" Asuka shot back. "I'm not the one who's faulting every time!"

"Yeah, you are," Toji pointed out in his blunt manner. "The goal's to be in sync, not to get 100 on the meter. Right, Miss Misato?"

"Very astute, Mr. Suzuhara," Misato said, this time with just a regular smile. She had to hold up a hand to squelch a protest from Asuka. "Asuka, don't forget that the ultimate outcome has to be a simultaneous strike on the two cores. It's good to get a hundred percent on the meter, but what's more important is to be in time with your partner to the very last beat."

The (other) redheaded pilot stewed for a moment, and I thought that maybe she would storm off, but that didn't come. She clenched her fists once or twice, then sighed and returned to the mat. "Fine," she bit out. "Reset the verdammt thing."

"Go for it, Asuka," Hikari said. "You too, Shinji."

Shinji just nodded, crouching down to focus on his moves. They kept to their pace, as they had before, and in a few moments, the trouble spot was approaching.

"Ganbatte," Hikari muttered under her breath beside me. I shared the emotion, if not the uttering.

The tension in the room evaporated as the duo breezed through the trouble spot without a hitch. The moves kept flashing on the pads, and Asuka glanced over to Shinji at one point, who returned to her a positive, upbeat look - one of gratefulness and hope, if I had to define it.

"All right!" Misato cheered. "This is going to work."

 

They elected to take a break after overcoming that particular hurdle, and Asuka went to the kitchen for a soda. Hikari joined her, the penguin waddling behind; Misato went to the washroom; and Toji and Kensuke stayed back to needle Shinji.

Normally, I would've joined the other girls in the kitchen, but I had an idea, a suggestion that'd come to me after watching Shinji and Asuka go through the same routine 11 times. I stood up, walking over to the pads, and headed for the one Asuka had vacated.

"Uh.. Jill?" Shinji said, stopping his conversation with the other guys to stare at me.

"I noticed something on that last run," I told Shinji. "Humor me for a moment, will you? Reset the system and follow my lead."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," I said with a smile, hoping the school uniform skirt wouldn't trip me up. "Get ready."

And so, without actually intending to, I took Rei's place in the evening's activities, compared to how I 'remembered' things. I was talking while Shinji and I were stepping and slapping the circles on the mats, pointing out the hiccup I thought he was having that had been the cause of the earlier trouble. He tried my suggestion and found that it helped him, marginally; then he fell silent and stopped, causing the machine to error out. I was confused at first, then realized he was looking out towards the rest of the room..

..where everyone had returned, standing and staring at me and Shinji working together on the routine.

"Eep," I said, blushing fiercely yet again. I was lost for words otherwise.

"My, my," Misato said with amusement. "Perhaps my initial pairing was off the mark."

Oh, no. You did not just say that. "I'm not any good," I stammered, trying to squirm out of what I'd gotten into. "I just saw something I thought I could improve on.."

The look I was getting from Asuka made me wince. Okay, that was not the right thing to say either.

"Asuka.." Shinji said. "Come on, let's try again." Clearly, he was trying to defuse the situation in his own way. "I'm pretty sure I've got this now."

"No thanks," she responded icily. "How about you try it with your new partner instead!" With that, she stalked towards her room and slammed the door, bouncing it off the jamb halfway open again.

Now we're in familiar territory, I said to myself, frowning.

Hikari glared at Shinji, somehow trying to pin the blame on him. I didn't know what to think. It was all wrong. Instead of having an irreconcilable fault in their routine, the pair had overcome their rough spot and everything was supposed to be good. Then I got involved, and screwed everything up.

And pissed off your best friend, too, I reminded myself unnecessarily.

I went over to the door and pulled on my shoes. Misato began to protest. "Jill.."

"I think I should go home," I said softly. "Thank you for having me over."

The room remained silent as I left, save for the musical tones generated as Shinji walked off his mat and headed for Asuka's bedroom door. I let myself out and went the one door down to my apartment, going inside and leaning against the door when I'd shut it, closing my eyes and sighing dejectedly.

At least he's going after her. I didn't know how things were going to turn out, but I was damned if I was going to involve myself in screwing it up any further than it already had been.

 

The next day, after school, I was leaning against the rail of my balcony, earphones jammed firmly into my ears, playing music on the portable player, partially to entertain myself, and partially to avoid hearing the same music over and over again from the neighboring suite. Whether the latter was because I was tiring of it, or because it reminded me of my blunder, I didn't know.

While I was immobile there, studying intently for no good reason a gull that was perched on a building further down into the city, someone pulled my right earphone out. I stayed put, recognizing, despite the sweat and such, the scent of one Asuka Langley Sohryu.

An impressed sound left her lips. "Rammstein," she said. "Gute wahl."

I turned to her, halting the playback. "Some of my favo--"

"Ach! Don't shut it off!" she said, with a scowl at me, the earphone pressed against the side of her head. I quickly reversed the last action, resuming the music.

"Uh.. sorry?" I hazarded. "Should you be even listening to this?" I was concerned she'd upset her momentum in the battle training.

"Bah," she dismissed me with a wave of her hand. "I can only tolerate that stupid tune for so long, anyway." She smiled at me. "You were saying?"

"Uh.. oh, yeah," I said, catching my brain up. "Engel's one of my favorites."

"Good song," she nodded. "Kinda fitting, too."

"Of course," I grinned, envisioning the fourth wall being smashed down by Nigouki in my mind. Changing the subject, I said, "So, um.. sorry about last night.."

"What? Oh, shut up, Fourth!" Asuka said jokingly as she realized what I meant. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. And as you can tell, I'm carrying on with it."

"That's good," I admitted. At least I hadn't ruined a friendship after all.

"Although," Asuka said with a sly smile, "Misato wants to see you after supper."

 

I didn't ask Asuka what Misato wanted me for. Anyone with half a clue would be able to see 'what for' coming a mile away, or at least several paragraphs up.

So I made sure I was in a T-shirt and shorts when I arrived around six-thirty PM, and Misato grinned upon seeing my choice of attire. "Good," was her greeting. "How are you tonight?"

"Nervous," I admitted. "I have no business taking part in this."

"Nonsense!" Misato argued. "I'll be the judge of that. Just act naturally and we'll see what you can do." She wagged a finger at me mock-accusingly. "And no deliberately messing up!"

"Right," I sweatdropped, and stepped inside. The chirps and beeps of the quasi-DDR machine came to me as I closed the door and shed my shoes. Inside, Shinji and Asuka were again practicing part of their routine.

"Ah! She's here," Asuka said, halting her progress and causing the machine to error out. Shinji stopped short upon hearing the buzzer in his headphones, and looked up.

"Time for a break for me," Asuka gloated at him. "But you get to teach the rookie. Good luck, Third!"

"Hello, Jill," Shinji said, greeting me politely.

"Hi," I said with a smile. "Please go easy on me."

"You'll be fine," Misato dismissed my comments. "Just say when you're ready."

 

I have to admit I impressed myself with my prowess. I hit all the marks on their routine up until about the two-thirds point, and then we had to restart. Asuka provided some friendly needling while she sat there drinking an orange juice, watching us.

I started over again, trying to do well, but at the same time, unsure what Misato's game plan was. She already had two trained, prepared pilots in Shinji and Asuka. I hoped I wasn't going to replace one of them - I was of the opinion that the battle was something that solidified their relationship quite a bit, and I had to admit I was rooting for them.

Or maybe was Rei going to show up any moment and pair up with me? Unlikely. Zerogouki was still needing significant repair, so I was led to believe - I didn't have any access to it and frankly hadn't seen it since I got to Japan.

"Watch the hard bit coming up," Asuka said, kind of in a teasing tone. I didn't reply, but focused hard on the pace and hitting all the marks. A little bit of luck evidently carried me through, because I didn't hear the error tone and we kept on going.

"Okay, that'll be enough," Misato said after a few more runs through the exercise. "Everybody take a break."

Shinji headed into the kitchen to get a drink, offering to get me one as well. I thanked him and asked for a Coke, heading over to the table to join Asuka and Misato.

"So what was the point of this, anyway?" I asked the NERV tactical expert bluntly. "The Angel only splits into two, not three, and you've got your two." I pointed to Asuka while simultaneously jerking a thumb towards the kitchen behind me.

"Your purpose is twofold," Misato said, nursing a beer. "For one thing, if one or the other can't go on, for any reason, you're to take over."

"Understudy," I murmured, smiling.

"Fat chance you'll be needed!" Asuka snapped, half-jokingly. "We've got this down pat."

"Which brings me to part two of the reason. Or technically, part one," Misato said. "Because of the speed and complexity of the routine, and the uncertain nature of where the Angel will take things, the Evas' umbilicals can't be used. And Evas 01 and 02 will be at maximum power for the duration of the fight, so they are only going to have 70 seconds of usable battery life. We want to make the most of that time, so they can be fighting the Angel's split form for the whole 70 seconds."

With that last comment, I started to see where she was headed. "So I'm bait, to attack the Angel and split it into its component halves."

"Essentially," Misato said with a nod and a grin.

"This is hardly necessary," Asuka challenged. "Shinji and I can defeat it on our own."

"That's quite likely," Misato went on, with that same firm smile and tone, as she was when her battle intelligence shone through. "But we don't operate on likelihood. I'd rather have a margin for error."

'We don't operate on likelihood'? Like hell you don't, I kept to myself. I remembered the line in the anime where Ritsuko said there was a 0.0000000001% chance of activating Shogouki, and in fifteen minutes, she was up and running with Shinji aboard.

"Won't it be harder to split, now?" I asked. "I mean, it's expecting that already now that Asuka did it the first time. So what if it deploys its AT Field?"

"You just have to negate it with your own," Misato answered simply.

I looked to Shinji, as he returned from the kitchen. "What do you think?" I asked him.

He seemed caught off guard by my question, and unsure of how to reply. Finally, he said, "I think you should do it. From what I've heard from Misato, you are more than capable, and I'm looking forward to working together."

"Gah," Asuka said, and began making gagging noises. I thought for a moment she was choking, and my first-aid instincts from my past life started coming to the fore - until I realized she was reacting to Shinji's words to me.

"Jealous?" I smirked at her. This resulted in even more sounds of repulsion.

"All right, enough," Misato said. "It's settled. The plan will be for Jill to launch first, and take on the Angel until it splits; then Shinji and Asuka will follow in and finish it off. Understood?"

"Got it," I nodded, trying to mask the nervousness I felt in the pit of my stomach.

"Yes," Shinji and Asuka stereoed. It was then that I recalled how in 'sync' they were supposed to be this whole week. I found myself surprised that they hadn't been speaking in tandem for the whole night.

"So when is this going to happen?" I asked, trying to keep my mind on the important subject.

"The 11th," Misato said. "Friday."

"Friday?" Shinji blinked. "But that's--"

He was stopped with a scowl from both Misato and Asuka. I'd been thinking he was going to say it was my birthday, but that seemed ridiculous. First, how would he know, unless he'd been poking around in my personal file? Second, why would it matter? Saving the world certainly took higher precedence than marking off another year or the calendar. In fact, my birthdays had long taken a back seat to the rest of my life. Working shift work as I did for so long as a firefighter, even 'important' holidays like Christmas were often pushed aside to make room for work.

"Friday will be just enough time," Asuka declared. "We need to bring the Fourth up to speed on the whole game plan, and fine-tune our own moves. It'll be perfect. This is going to work."

"Good attitude," Misato grinned. "I want to keep hearing that all the way through."

 

Despite being now involved in the action, I still had to go to school - at least until Wednesday. I was to get Thursday off to prepare, and Friday for obvious reasons. My days were filled with 'learning', so to speak, and collecting printouts and other such stuff to hand over to my fellow pilots who spent all their time practicing.

I'm not sure which of us had the better deal, truth be told. School wasn't as much of a cake walk as I'd expected it to be - and maybe part of that was that I had to translate everything from Japanese into English in order to 'breeze through' the stuff I'd learned almost two dozen years before in Jack's life. Then again, I was learning the language quite well, and picking up some things I'd either forgotten or never learned in the first place - and not all of that was related to the world after Second Impact being different from the one I grew up in.

Thursday night came, and as we had for the rest of the week, Asuka and I secretly met on our respective balconies. I offered up one earphone from my music player and treated the German to some vintage Def Leppard, which she seemed to tolerate fairly well.

"So," she said after a few moments of silence between us. "Nervous?"

"Hell yes," I blurted out, adding sarcastically, "I didn't know it was so noticeable."

"You practically reek of it," Asuka giggled, turning serious after that. "What's the matter? We've got your back."

"I know," I shrugged. "It's just.. I expect the thing to have learned from its tussle with you, and to parry every attempt I make at splitting it. And I worry that I'll suffer a fate far worse than getting stuffed into a field head-first," I added, referring to Asuka's earlier demise.

"Trust me, there's little that tops that," she said wryly. "Seriously, though, you know what to do. If plan A doesn't work, fall back to plan B."

"And if plan B bites the dust?"

"Improvise," she answered simply. "I know you can do it. You think quick on your feet, Fourth. Anyone can tell that from observing you. Just apply it to piloting your Eva."

"I'll try," I promised. "I hope I don't let you guys down."

"Don't even let that thought get on the radar," Asuka said, shaking her head. "No negatives! Understood?"

"Okay," I said after a moment, smiling.

We sat and listened to the music for a bit, watching the starry night scroll past. Then, a question, out of the blue.

"Why do you do it?"

I turned to look at Asuka. "Say again?" I asked her.

"Why do you pilot Eva?" she said, turning to face me as well.

"Oh.. I, um.." For such a simple question, and one I really should have been expecting if I'd thought about things, I was sure having trouble coming up with an answer. "Because.. I.. I guess because I like to think that doing it helps people in some way. Do you know what I mean? I always thought I might like to be a medic or a rescuer when I grow up. When they told me about Eva and what its purpose was, and offered me the chance, I guess I figured it was the closest I was going to get to doing good things for others."

Asuka thought on that for a moment, then gave a slight chuckle. "Just like you, Fourth, to say something weird like that."

"It is not weird!" I shot back. "It's sincere, and it's how I feel--"

"Oh, I know, don't get me wrong," she cut me off, smiling at me. "It's just that.. well.. do you want to know why I pilot Eva?"

"Sure," I said, nodding, though I figured I knew what I was going to hear.

Asuka took a moment to answer, just as I had. "I do it because it's what I'm good at. It's what I was meant to do. Somehow I know that deep inside me. Ever since I was a little girl, it's been my dream. To show everyone how.. to prove that I can.." She stopped and laughed a little. "Dammit, your answer makes me sound so selfish."

"It's not," I hastily responded. "You're not. This is one of those cases where there is no wrong answer. Whatever you do, whyever you do it, that's not right or wrong.. it just is. And nobody has the right to tell you different, or take that away from you."

Asuka smiled a little and nodded, looking out over the darkened cityscape. "I wasn't expecting a pep talk from you," she said softly.

"Sorry," I found myself apologizing. I hadn't expected to give it until much, much later, actually.

"Don't be sorry - geez, you sound like Shinji now," she said with disgust, which I couldn't tell if it was legitimate or not.

"I'd apologize for that, but.." I said with a smirk.

She laughed again. "Gute! At least you're learning." She stood up and returned the earphone to me. "Thanks again for this. See you in the morning, Jill."

"Have a good night, Asuka," I replied, shutting off the music and turning to go back to my own place.

 

If I told you I slept much that night, I'd be lying. I tried more than once to tell myself that it was no big deal; that I'd already fought an Angel and won, so going after this one would be old hat, so to speak. Somehow, my subconscious wasn't having any of that. I don't know what I expected to happen, but I wasn't feeling like anything good would come of the fight.

I did manage to get some time asleep, though, even if it was restless; luckily, no wild dreams plagued me (at least, none that I remembered). At 0800 hours, my alarm chirped to wake me up, but I was already lying there awake, staring at the ceiling.

As I reached over to switch the alarm off, I tried one last time to put all my worries and fears behind me, and start the day fresh, with a definitively upbeat mood. I was able to shove aside the sense of dread, but the butterflies still flitted about inside me as I mechanically went through my morning routines, exercising and getting breakfast. I skipped getting into my school uniform, of course, and truth be told, skipped the shower as well, considering I'd be getting one in the afternoon - so long as I survived that long.

Stop that.

My mind obeyed my thoughts for the moment, allowing me to butter my toast and eat it in peace. I chewed on the breakfast while I stood at the sliding glass window of the balcony, looking out over the early morning city. It was in what I was calling "Battle Mode" - with the buildings descended into the Geofront - and there were no people about, the "city council" - NERV, in all reality - having declared a local state of emergency.

I wonder if this could be easier to take if I saw examples of what I was here to protect, I said to myself. It was a silly thought; the concept that having civilians around to see the results of my actions was just a byproduct of the kind of work I did, and had done, for ages. Gratification from outside sources comes rarely in the emergency services, so it's a nice reward when someone outright appreciates it. And I'm sure that's what my mind wanted out of Tokyo-3 at the moment; even just a sign that people were aware of the threat and backed our plans to deal with it, would be welcomed.

Finishing the morning meal, I decided to just get moving and leave myself no room for introspection. So, clad in a tank top and skirt (due to the already-sweltering heat of the day), I began the walk towards the Geofront.

Shinji and Asuka weren't in their place and I didn't happen across them on my way to the Cages. Misato, I knew, had spent the entire night at NERV, preparing for the day's events. Left to my thoughts as I headed in, I tried to go over various options on how I might accomplish my task of splitting the Angel into two. Realistically, it shouldn't be hard at all - the creature banked on splitting up in order to overwhelm its attacker, didn't it? So it would almost want me to be able to do it.

So that's why it's AT Field wasn't in place, I finally realized, thinking back to the original fight. I had the easiest job of the entire mission, so it seemed. I had about as much usefulness to the whole thing as the pitcher at a home run derby. Serve up a lazy, easy pitch so the main star of the show can put one into the upper deck.

No, I interrupted my own monologue. Don't think of it that way. Misato wanted you involved, and on some level, so did you. You're an important part of the operation.

Spirits buoyed by my internal chit-chat, I finally had my upbeat mood on as I swiped my card through the reader at HQ's entrance.

 

It took another ten minutes or so to get into my plugsuit and board the Eva.

"Good morning," a tired but eager Misato said as she appeared on an inset screen. "How do you feel?"

"Good morning," I responded politely, then answered her. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Good to hear," she replied. "Launch will be in 19 minutes."

I nodded, Still having not spotted Shinji or Asuka, I added, "Should I presume I'm being sent up alone, first?"

"Yes," came the reply. "That's part of our tactics. If the Angel sees more than one target, it may not take the bait. You have to present as the lone threat, so that it will allow itself to be split into two so it can do its divide-and-conquer trick."

"Right," I said, smiling to myself. I felt a little triumph in having figured out the battle plan by myself. Hopefully the Angel doesn't have the mental resources of a 30ish-year-old man turned 14-year-old girl, or we're toast.

The Eva jolted into motion as the Cage structure began lurching its way towards the launch tube. As I thought back on my last comment to myself, it occurred to me that it was the 11th. It was my birthday. I was truly 14 now.

And no one had said anything, and none of my friends had been there to wish me well, either.

Oh well. I guess saving the world is more of a priority, though.

"Passageway 7 is green. Eva 03 is locked into position. Batteries charged; umbilical prepped at access point 7-G-4," Hyuga reported.

"Make your first priority getting to that power conduit," Misato cautioned me. "It'll be behind you and to your right. We don't want you to engage the Angel until you can be assured of having enough reserves to complete your task."

"Of course," I agreed, nodding. "I'm ready."

"Status on Units 01 and 02?" Misato asked someone off-screen, getting a reply too low for me to hear.

She turned back to face me. "Ganbatte, Sangouki," she intoned, a brutally serious look on her face.

"Ja," I responded, which I realized long after the fact could have been taken two ways - one, in German, as an affirmative response, or alternatively, in Japanese, as a casual 'See ya!'. (Yes, I know the pronunciations are mildly different; let me have the benefit of the doubt, will ya?)

At the time, though, the launch system kicked in and I was crushed into my seat with the force of liftoff once more. The oppressive downward force soon added a lateral component as I was shunted into diagonal tunnels from time to time. I didn't understand the purpose of having crossovers and sideways movements in the launch system - wouldn't a straight shot be more efficient?, I wondered - but it was not for me to ask, in any case.

Coming to a shuddering stop at the top of the rails, at position 7-M-3 on the grid map that overlaid the city virtually, I turned to locate the umbilical and plug in. It was housed in a six-story-tall box, a squat little thing (in comparison to other structures) that most people would mistake for a windowless public utility building. I guess, technically, it was, but not in the way people would think.

"Eva 03 under external power and ready," I declared after hooking up the umbilical link. As a side note, you might be wondering why I'm not describing in detail the mental exchanges between myself and Sangouki as I had in previous battles and hookups. The truth is, things were progressing to the point where words didn't do the communication justice. The best I can do to describe it is to say that San accepted me with what seemed like warmth and familiarity nowadays; there was still the occasional feeling of hesitation, reluctance, and so on, but all in all, things were getting better.

"Roger," Misato answered me. "Angel is 17 miles away at bearing 340, still motionle--" She paused, briefly. "Correction, Angel is heading your way, at walking pace."

"I'm ready," I said, refreshing my grip on the 'throttles', turning the Eva to face roughly north-northeast. "Bring it on."

 

'Walking pace' kind of provided a false vision of how Israfel moved. Like some of the other Angels, this one seemed to prefer propelling itself through the scenery by way of its AT Field, using it to kind of 'bounce' off the ground, defying gravity for a time, over and over. It was certainly capable of crossing the distance between me and it in one push; I had no idea why it was just doing little hops towards me at a slow pace. Perhaps it thought it was toying with us, or maybe it wanted to draw me out into the hills, away from the city (and the Black Moon beneath it), so it could defeat me there.

I'd picked up a bladed staff from one of the weapons-stores buildings on my way out of the urban part of town, intent on copying Asuka's method of splitting the Angel. I had no other ideas for how to deal with it, so I decided to go with a tactic I knew had worked in the past. I only hoped that the Angel would allow for it to work a second time - I had visions of it adapting and blocking my attack, much like the Borg did in Star Trek so many times.

That's a TV show, this is real life, I scolded myself, almost having to stop and laugh at myself for how absurd that thought was, given the circumstances. Ultimately, I pressed on, cresting one hill and then another, and suddenly finding myself facing off against the Angel, who was on the next peak over from me, with only a creek-bed valley in between us.

"Confirm 01 and 02 are ready!" Misato called out as she saw me squaring off.

"In position in cages 2 and 5," came the response.

"Shinji, Asuka, she's at the Angel now. Once she begins fighting, we are going to start launching you. We expect she will have the Angel split in two by the time you clear the launch shaft. It's imperative that you begin the attack immediately upon getting topside."

"We know!" Shinji responded. "We'll finish the battle in 62 seconds."

Déjà vu washed over me as I remembered that line from 'before'. I mentally tuned out the comm chatter while I studied my opponent, who in turn was staring back at me, waiting for me to make a move. At that point, it dawned on me that nothing had been said of the fact that if any of the timing was off, I would be a sitting duck after splitting the Angel, if the other two weren't there to engage it and distract it from finishing me.

Here's to hoping, then. "Eva 03 is beginning the attack," I declared abruptly, and rushed down into the valley.

It was probably the wrong move, in retrospect, as I'd given up any chance of having the high ground. But still, I was sort of expecting the Angel to make some concessions to me anyway, because of the tactics it intended to employ.

I wonder if just lopping off a leg or an arm would do it? I said to myself as I charged up the other side of the valley. The Angel almost looked as if it was tensing up, readying for my 'fatal' blow.

I kept expecting the moment where everything was going to screw up - where I was going to detect a fatal flaw in the plan, or an unexpected twist in the Angel's tactics or design would show itself and I would have to call for everything to abort. That moment never came; I used my altitude disadvantage to my benefit, doing an underhanded chop with the staff, splitting Israfel with surprising ease, from bottom to top instead of the other way around.

It looks weird seeing it still standing up like that, I found myself thinking, as I dumbly stood there observing the cleft-in-two creature defying physics like it was in a Warner Brothers cartoon.

"Unit 03, back off!" Fuyutsuki bellowed. "Your work is done!"

That brought me back to reality, so to speak, and I did a tuck and roll backwards down into the creek valley, standing back up to see the two halves regenerate their missing bits to again become two separate physical entities. I started to back up the opposite slope again, when a shadow flicked over me. Before I had time to react, Shogouki slammed into the creek with an earth-shuddering crash, landing deftly on a foot and a knee, then lunging forward to attack one half of the Angel. A hundred or so feet away, Nigouki was doing the exact same thing to the other part.

"Jill, retrieve a pallet gun from point 11-H-2 and stay close to the action," Misato said. "In case they need help."

"Roger," I said, hurrying the short distance to the edge of town, where a building opened up to offer me the Steyr-like assault rifle. I had no idea how much time had elapsed so far, but it couldn't take much longer before everything would be over. On one hand, I was counting on that; on the other, I had to remind myself to keep my guard up, in case the concert battle failed. I had to remind myself that things were not happening as I 'remembered', and I had no guarantees that everything would go smoothly.

"Any time you have a clear shot, take it!" Misato urged. "Drain the gun!"

I didn't respond to that, instead spraying fire across the surface of the nearest Angel, which happened to be the one Shinji was fighting. It didn't occur to me at that point, but I would later be surprised that it didn't use - or perhaps did use ineffectively - its AT Field. My shots went right into its hide (is 'hide' the proper term?), some through and through. When Shinji drifted into my line of fire, I trained my shots over on the other half that was Asuka's quarry.

"03's gun's dry," I reported when the ammunition ran out.

"Stand fast," Misato responded sharply. Both Angel halves were currently getting a roundhouse kick from the respective Eva assailant, and it sent the two halves crashing back-to-back into one another, where they merged back into one form.

Finish him! I urged in my mind, quoting an old video game, and smirking slightly. I watched as 01 and 02 did just that, leaping into the sky in perfect tandem, ballet-like in conduct and pose, and rammed their feet squarely into Israfel's dual cores. The impact sent all three of them skidding across the countryside, finally lurching to a stop in a valley not far from where it all began, barely a minute before.

The resultant explosion whited out my viewer, and I had to stay put for a moment before hazarding a step forward into the unknown. As the brightness died down, I found exactly what I expected - two Evas collapsed in a heap together. Unlike the comical routine in the anime, though, Asuka's ranting was being carried across the entire comm net, the backup power for the entry plug providing the means.

Running over to them, I interrupted their squabble with a loud cough. "Did I come at a bad time?" I teased, looking down on the entangled mess.

"Fourth! Get us out of this," Asuka half-snapped, half-pleaded.

"I don't know, I was kind of getting entertained," I quipped. To the Geofront, I directed, "Will the Eva restart if I supply it with my umbilical?"

"Yes," Dr. Akagi responded. "Good thinking. Bring them back to Recovery Point 3, one at a time."

"Wilco," I replied. Ejecting the power adapter from my Eva, I picked it up and crouched down behind 02 first.

"Hey! Why does she get to go first?" I heard from Shinji, exhibiting a rare display of backbone.

"Because I can reach her external socket easier at this point," I responded. "Besides, the way you guys are all tangled up, her Eva's hand is, well.. you don't want to know."

"Fourth!!" came a shriek of protest.

I simply plugged in the power and stood up, giggling madly. All the adrenaline was ebbing away, and the side-effect was that I was excessively giddy. Glad to have been a part of a winning plan. Elated that nothing went wrong as I had been fearing all week.

Happy to be alive.

"Well done, all three of you," Misato thought to add once I'd sent Asuka down the recovery shaft and was dragging the cable back to Shinji - using it momentarily to 'top up' my own power, of course.

"You two were fantastic," I added.

"Th-thanks," Shinji said, as I crouched down beside his Eva.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Asuka said smugly.

I thought I could hear Misato or someone else sigh heavily at that response.

 

"Good job," Misato said, poking her head inside the locker room as Asuka and I got dressed.

"Danke, Misato!" Asuka said, pulling her dress on. "Fourth did well too."

"I meant both of you," the tactical commander said dryly.

"Thank you, Misato," I said, turning around to smile at her, while picking up my tank top to put back on.

"Don't thank me yet," she smiled. "I need both of you to be at our place at 1630."

"What? Why for?" Asuka asked.

"Debriefing," she replied. "New rules. Every time an Eva goes out, there will be a mandatory review of the sortie."

"But at your place?" I questioned.

Misato grinned and winked. "Didn't say it couldn't be wrapped in a little fun. Casual wear is fine," she responded, before disappearing out the door.

Asuka grumbled a little, under her breath, throwing things violently into her locker to punctuate the occasional word. Switching to English, she said, "Mandatory review.. what a joke. We won, didn't we? Be satisfied with that!"

"They feel the need to evaluate us, I guess," I shrugged, though I was disappointed at the non-optional meeting too.

"Like it'll be any kind of evaluation," Asuka shot back, slamming her locker shut. "Misato will be pounding back those weak-ass Japanese beers, and doing that ungodly shrieking after each one. Third Child will sit silently and only speak when spoken to, and with my luck, Miss Perfect will be there too!"

It was the first time I'd heard Asuka use the nickname she'd picked derogatorily for Rei. "Miss Perfect?" I echoed, as if I didn't know what it meant.

"First Child," Asuka said by way of explanation. I'd hoped she'd go into detail on what she disliked about Rei, but instead, she picked up her bag and stalked for the door. "See you tonight, I guess. Don't be late."

I stood there half-dressed, staring after her for a long moment.

 

In retrospect, I should have seen it coming a mile away.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, perhaps, some part of me suspected what was going on.

That still didn't mean anything when I rang the PinPon at the Katsuragi household at 1628 that evening.

There was no response from within. I tried again, and again heard no reply. Remembering Asuka's admonition to not be late, I decided to let myself in and wait for the others. Trying the door, I found it unlocked; it slid aside with ease.

"Hello?" I called out, almost tripping over all the shoes in the entryway. "It's J--"

"Surprise!!" came a cacophony of voices, and I yelped, almost falling back out through the doorway. Misato, Shinji, Asuka, Hikari, Aida, Suzuhara, and indeed Rei were assembled in the living room, all having just cheered a greeting towards me as I entered the apartment. (Well, Rei didn't so much cheer as just stand up from her hiding spot.)

It finally dawned on me at that point. I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book. I'd walked in on a surprise birthday party.

"Come on in, Jill!" Asuka said, hurrying over and grabbing my elbow, leading me to a place at one end of the low table, which was laden with snacks - the stuff I'd seen Misato buying some days before. Two cakes sat as centerpieces, both with fourteen candles on them.

"Hope you don't mind," Asuka told me as she was settling me in at the head of the table, "but you're sharing your party with one of the stooges. Aida's birthday is tomorrow."

I looked up and realized Kensuke was sitting at the other end, with Misato to his left, Asuka's empty position beside her, and Hikari (with Pen2) closest to me; to my left, Rei sat quietly, Shinji beside her, and Toji to Kensuke's immediate right.

"Sugoi," I responded once I found my voice, lifting a plastic glass of pop towards Aida in a toast of sorts. "Congratulations."

"And you," he nodded, smiling broadly.

"You had no idea, did you?" Hikari asked.

"Not at all," I said truthfully. "It hit me just about the time I was coming in the door."

"Less talking and more cake-cutting!" Suzuhara demanded, causing Kensuke to laugh and Hikari to scowl, turning beet red.

"Easy, everyone!" Misato appealed for calm, rising up a little and making placating gestures. "Let the birthday boy and girl blow out their candles first."

Swiftly, Misato lit the cakes' candles, and moved them into place in front of each of us. The group broke into the traditional 'Happy Birthday' song, which surprised me, as I didn't think it was prevalent in Japanese custom. I sat and stared at the fourteen miniscule flames, still a little bewildered at the whole ordeal. Finally, I shut my eyes, made a wish, and drew in a breath.

The cake was being distributed, and I insisted on handing mine out myself. Simply by layout of the table, Rei was the last - besides me - to get a piece. When I set it down, she responded with a soft thank you, which I answered with a smile and a nod.

As I sat down again, fiddling with my skirt so it would cover me properly while I was kneeling at the traditionally low Japanese table, I heard another quiet sentence from Ayanami: "Happy Birthday, pilot Thomson."

I turned to look at her, but her eyes were already down to the cake she was prodding at experimentally with a fork.

"Thank you, Rei," I smiled, though even that didn't elicit another glance upwards from her.