One Winged Angel

(Or 1/2 The Heavens)

Chapter Five: Attack

By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton

With additional material and revisions by Eric Freedman

---One day later---

Ranma watched Asuka stomp down the street to the corner convenience store from the top of a telephone pole, his heels precariously balanced on the two-foot wide cylinder. He expected that Kaji's plan would fall to pieces, just not as quickly as it had. Shinji was running after her, both teens still dressed in their ridiculous synchronization outfits. Minutes later, both left the store with bags filled with snack food and drinks.

"I may have to step in myself." Ranma grinned in anticipation and leapt down to a rooftop, covertly following the Section 2 personnel even as they covertly followed the Children.

"…Still, you don't have to squash them." Shinji was sitting on a bench overlooking the radar/sensor towers, a brilliant red sunset casting everything carmine as another day came to a close.

"Pah! You're too simplistic, even if you are a male!" Asuka took a bite of her pre-prepared sandwich and swiveled her head to look at the Third. "I have to avenge myself - my pride! Don't you understand that!?"

"I understand it, Asuka." Ranma phased into being behind the duo, casually walking out of thin air plain as day. His eyes darted to the intelligence officers as they tensed at his abrupt arrival. "Although I must agree with Shinji-kun/ There are other ways."

Asuka took in the handsome NERV doctor with his hands on his hips and scowled. "Any way what do you want?"

"I just want to help, is that so bad?" Shinji blushed at the older man's statement. "Look, Asuka, it's pretty obvious Kaji's idea isn't going so well. Why don't you two try a little martial arts before you try again?"

"Martial arts? What does that karate-shit have to do with synchronization?" Asuka guzzled down a can of juice and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Not just karate, Asuka, I'm offering to teach you meditative techniques and kata that will make you more flexible and put you in prime mental condition to harmonize with Evangelion. Surely a pilot of your great stature, Asuka, must realize the wisdom of this approach?"

"Well…Dr. Strauss always used to say that our own physical status affected the strength and durability of our EVAs…"

"Besides, I think it'll put some meat on your bones Shinji," Ranma winked. The brunette boy blushed and looked down at his sneakers.

"I…I-I'm game if you are Asuka…"

"Alright then, when do we start?"

Ranma smirked. "I'll start you off on simple kata when we get back."

---Six days later ---

Misato turned to Ranma , who was currently behind the wheel of her blue Alpine, and sighed. They were on a car-train back to the surface after seeing to the paperwork from the Angel's destruction. Misato was exhausted and sagged lazily in the passenger's seat. Ranma was driving, his fingers tapping a jaunty beat on her steering wheel.

"Could you stop that?" She rubbed the sides of her head and looked out the window.

"What?"

"That tapping! I've got a headache."

"Okay." Ranma set his hands down in his lap and twiddled his thumbs. "I can't believe that plan of yours worked, Misato, you certainly have your fair share of luck."

"Luck had nothing to do with it; it was your training that made them take the leap." The purple-haired woman leaned back into her seat and folded her arms under her sizable chest.

There was no margin for error, Ranma's training had made the impossible possible. The MAGI were registering an increase of twenty percent for both pilots synch ratios and during the operation they had reached an unprecedented ninety-eight percent synchronization with the other, a full two points beyond the MAGI's predictions. Granted, she didn't like waking up to their early morning training in her livingroom, but it was a small price to pay for such results.

And the changes didn't stop with EVA; Misato had also noticed a marked change in Shinji's behavior the past week. She couldn't describe it but he just seemed happier and more positive lately. Not to mention how his relationship with Asuka had changed. They had grown closer over the past four days, breaking past their horrendously bad first impressions. Shinji had even begun acting like a man, snapping right back at Asuka's comments.

"I think it was for the best, at least in Shinji's case." 'Although,' he thought, 'Asuka didn't need a bigger head…oh well, if Shinji keeps it up he'll be bursting _that_ bubble in no time.' Ranma lay his hands back on the wheel as the car-train came to a stomach-jarring halt and the wheel-locks released. He tapped the gas with his foot and eased the car into the road.

"You know, Ranma, I was thinking that maybe we could celebrate the Angel's defeat tonight…" Misato stared out the window at the passing buildings, there were still quite a few damaged after the attack, and leaned her chin on her fist.

"I'll bet Shinji and Asuka'll be happy about that; should we invite Ritsuko?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a _personal_ celebration if you catch my meaning." The captain raised her eyebrow and smiled.

"I see…if that's what you want." Ranma looked to his left and watched as Misato narrowed her eyes seductively and reached into his coat pocket for a pack of cigarettes. There were only a few cars on the road as they traversed the back roads of Tokyo-3 on their way through the bluffs. The crater of the EVAs' landing was still smoldering from the earlier explosion. Ritsuko had assured Misato that the units would be retrieved by the morning and, true to her word, the sky was ablaze with the six flood-light trams on the lip of the impression.

"Shinji and Asuka are going to be staying at headquarters tonight for further testing." The captain tapped out a filter and shoved it into the crook of her mouth, leaving a textured mark of pink lipstick on the thin paper, and lit it with the car lighter.

"I didn't think there was anything wrong with them."

"That's not the say that _something_ couldn't be, could it? I mean, if the medical ward wants to take a superior's advice and keep them for observation who am I to interfere?"

Ranma smiled. Trust Misato to be that devious when it came to sexplay…

"Besides…I think you and me are going to be busy all night long…"

---A month later---

Misato was pacing outside the First Cranial Nerve ward, Asuka sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic benches on the side, muttering to herself. That Asuka had returned safely from the mission in Mount Asama was only a small and fragile thought swimming in her head. Far more pressing to her current situation was the way Shinji had collapsed after exiting the EVA, necessitating their immediate return to NERV headquarters. Sure, Asuka was upset about the hot springs but in the grand scheme of things one little girl's petty wants held little sway.

The 'Emergency' doors swung open with the rasp of metal on metal.

"How is he?" Misato grasped the collar of Ranma's labcoat and shook him as soon as the man exited Shinji's room. The pig-tailed man had a grim look on his face. "He isn't dying is he?" She was practically hysterical with worry.

"No, I'm happy to report that Shinji in almost perfect health."

"What do you mean 'almost'? Baka Shinji better be fit for a beating after trumping my victory!" Asuka was still in her plugsuit, the red plastic crackling with dried LCL and sweat.

"Ha, ha, yes I believe he will be fine for that in a few days." He patter her shoulder guard, his thumb depressing one of the air vacuum nozzles and letting a rush of cool air into the suit. Asuka found it easier to move without the super-tight hold of the latex and plastic. "Mind you, Asuka, I said a _few_ days."

"I get the point! My wrath can wait."

"He'll be ready to leave in a few minutes." Ritsuko slipped out of the observation room and stepped close to Ranma, lacing her fingers with his for a moment, unbeknownst to the others. "I assume you'll be taking him home, Misato?"

"Of course!" The purple-tressed captain rounded on the male doctor and pulled him down to meet her eyes. "What is this crap about 'almost perfect health'? You're sending him home, aren't you?"

"Of course. Why don't we all sit down while Shinji takes a shower, hmm?" Ranma caught Misato and Ritsuko on the small of the back with his hands and ushered the group to the floor lounge. Asuka followed in a huff, walking stiffly in her now baggy plugsuit, while Rei was dressed in her school uniform once again. When it was discovered that she would not be needed, Commander Ikari had given her permission to change back into her civilian clothing. Once the group was settled in the rough-woven red cushions Ranma and Ritsuko began their explanation with twin cups of coffee in their hands.

"Shinji's eyes were…damaged by exposure to the molten lava, heat and pressure during the mission. As a result his eyes are going to be extremely sensitive to light until the cornea and retina heal. There will only be minor scarring but-"

"Are you saying he's going to be blind?" Misato asked, her nails tearing into the armrests. "Please tell me that's not what you're saying!"

"No, no, no, clam down Misato." Ritsuko gave the anxious captain a cup of coffee. "Ranma was trying to say that the scarring can be fixed with laser surgery once he has fully healed. Paradoxically, his connection to Unit-01 probably saved his eyesight. I'm still analyzing the results but it appears that his high rate of synchronization not only caused this damage but also lessened the neural damage because of the durability of the Evangelion's optical armor."

"He's just going to be a little color blind for the next few weeks and she should be wearing sunglasses when in a brightly lit place such as this." Ranma plucked his glassed from his face and folded them, tucking the eyewear into his coat pocket. "It's very important that he wears the protective eyewear at all times! Any kind of exposure could lead to permanent damage."

"But he's going to be alright?"

"Yes, Misato, don't worry about a thing! Shinji will be back on the combat roster before you know it, I promise." Ranma patted the dark-haired woman on her glossy locks and smiled reassuringly. Many people don't realize the profound psychological effect a simple smile can have on a person, a subtle grin often enough to completely turn another's feelings. Such was the case with the nervous captain who immediately calmed.

"Poor Shinji-kun, he has the worst luck. First his hands, now his eyes…" Ritsuko poured another coffee for herself and winced at the bitterness of NERV machine beverages. She gingerly put it back in the vending receptacle and backed away.

"What do you mean? What's the baka do to his hands?" Asuka swung her legs in impatience. Really, he probably got blisters from jerking-off too much…

"You didn't hear about the battle with the Fifth? No, of course you wouldn't have heard about the aftermath." Ritsuko pulled off her glasses and let them fall onto the pillow of her chest, suspended by thin cords of nylon. "Shinji and Rei were paired together during Operation Yashima, you did know that, right?"

"Yeah, just like I know he missed the first shot." She snickered. Ritsuko rolled her eyes and continued.

"Nevertheless, Unit-00 suffered heavy damage and Unit-01 tore the plug from the melted socket casing. Shinji himself rescued Rei, opening the superheated hatch with his hands. The plugsuit lessened the amount of scarring but it is there…and now this."

"He did that…for Wondergirl?" Ritsuko merely nodded. Asuka turned to the sedate pilot of the Prototype seeing nothing but cold, naked truth plastered over the red-eyed girl's face. "I can't believe it!"

"So this is where you guys are!" Shinji strode into view dressed in his school uniform and Rei, looking up, felt breath catch in her throat.

He was wearing a thin, NERV-issue black jacket with a yellow clasp (to denote a non-com), unbuttoned, and had thin white cotton gloves over his hands. That, however, was not what disturbed the First Child, it was the pair of ovular tinted glasses that hung halfway down his nose. Even as his cobalt irises peeked over the gold rims of the lenses, the resemblance was uncanny.

"Shinji, those things aren't going to do anything unless you wear them properly!" Akagi shouted at the boy, Ranma nodding sagely.

"Okay, okay!" Shinji lifted his right hand and pushed the glasses up with his middle finger. If anyone heard Rei's quiet gasp of fear, they gave no sign. "Is this better?"

"Baka! Now you look like that fascist father of yours!" Asuka stood with her hands on her hips and walked directly in front of the Third. She pulled the lenses slightly away from his face and looked into his eyes, noticing that they seemed unnaturally dark and dilated. She shivered and pushed them back. "Okay, Third Child, I won't tease you about these ugly glasses but don't think I'm gonna start taking it easy with you!"

"HA, ha, I wouldn't have it any other way." Shinji smiled and tugged at the sleeves of the dark jacket. "Ritsuko-san, Ranma-san, I don't understand why I have to wear this itchy jacket."

"Well, I'm not an expert on fashion but I'd think wearing a short-sleeve shirt with those gloves would look a little odd." Ranma slid a cigarette into the crook of his mouth.

"Ranma!"

"I haven't lit it, have I Ritsu?"

"Make sure you don't!"

Shinji laughed a bit and rubbed his hands together, trying to put a damper on their fight. He'd heard them 'make-up' too many times through the thin wall between their apartments. "I guess you're right Ranma."

"That doesn't explain the gloves, Shinji-kun."

"These?" Shinji waved them at his guardian. "Well, the scars are swollen again and a little painful."

"We've given him a dermal-regenerating cream. He should apply it twice a day, the gloves will ensure no contaminants irritate the healing process." Ranma handed the boy a long tube of the cream. "The instructions are on the label, Shinji, I trust you'll be able to take care of it?"

"Sure." Shinji nodded and everyone started getting up, stretching muscles that had cramped and relaxing muscles that had remained tense through his examination. "What about that hot spring, Misato? We never got the chance to go."

"Right," she replied with a forced smile, "As soon as you recover we'll all take a trip back down, I promise!"

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Misato!" Asuka thrust her head back and walked towards the showers, the latex suit creaking with ever step. Misato just laughed and threw away the untouched cup of coffee in her hand. Ritsuko fled down the hall to her office, letting them know she would meet them at the garage, and Ranma excused himself to use the bathroom. Thus, Misato, Shinji, and Rei were left in the small sitting room.

Rei simply stared at Shinji through the barrier of his lenses. She was feeling…ill, yes 'ill' seemed the correct word. There was something about Shinji that was fundamentally uncanny, something that caused her insides to twist away from his gaze. 'There is darkness there,' she thought, 'he is of Commander Ikari, therefore must share fundamental traits. I will observe the situation before deciding on a course of action.'

"Uh…is there something wrong, Ayanami?"

"No." She continued to stare.

"Then…could you not stare at me?" Shinji looked nervously at Misato who simply shrugged. "Please?"

"I…" Rei's eyes looked lost for a moment longer until they swung to the side. "…I am sorry to cause you discomfort, Pilot Ikari." 'Why did I apologize to Ikari-kun? I have done nothing wrong, why do I flush?' She could feel her cheeks grow slightly warm. 'Is it because of Him? Because of Ikari?'

Ranma chose that moment to return, sans his labcoat, and together they walked down to Ritsuko's office. Shinji was adapting to the glasses well, although he found the gloves annoying since they limited his sense of touch. The blond scientist was sending her report to the Commander when the group arrived and asked them to wait a few more minutes while she gathered her things. Misato and Ranma sat on one of the small love-seats in the blonde's office while Rei and Shinji took the other.

While the Third's attention was elsewhere, Rei took the opportunity to look closely at her fellow pilot. 'He is of the Commander, hence he looks like the Commander,' she thought as Shinji did appear to be a miniature version of Gendo Ikari. His dark brown hair was turning darker with age, the simple short haircut drawing attention to the even, smooth structure of his cheek bones and chin. His eyes were intensely piercing as he turned his head and stared directly into her eyes. Rei did not turn away, nor did she flinch, she just sat and continued her observation. Shinji began to sweat under her blood-red eyes, wondering if she was going to say anything.

"Is something the matter Ikari?" Rei blinked.

"Uh, no, I guess not." The brunette boy turned back to Misato and Ranma's pointless arguing. Rei continued her observations.

'He is uncomfortable under my gaze. Is he uncomfortable with me? I do not believe I have done anything to cause him unease…can he be having a reaction to my presence?' Rei faced front, her mind trying to assimilate her latest observation into its realm of experience. 'Could he be reacting to me? Do I elicit a response in his soul?'

"Rei? It's time to go." Shinji was standing in front of her, his hands in the pockets of his pants and a gentle smile brushed across his face. For a split-second, the briefest of instants, Rei saw the elder Ikari but in a flash it was gone - replaced by Shinji's calm face and kind eyes.

"I…I am aware, Ikari-kun." She rose and followed them down the corridor to the shower/changing rooms. 'What is this feeling?' She placed a hand over her chest. 'Why is there pain? I am not injured…is it Ikari? Am I having a response to Ikari?'

Together the group rejoined Asuka and headed to the garage, oblivious to Rei Ayanami's peculiar behavior. As the group boarded the monorail, Rei casually brushed against Ikari's hand - the action going unnoticed by the young man. For as much as Shinji ignored her deft touch, Rei found the effects fascinating.

They sat next to each other in the tram, facing Misato and Ranma, the elder duo exchanging intimacy through conversation. Dr. Akagi and Asuka were sitting across from one another on the next set of seats. Rei watched the way the captain's eyes glittered when she spoke to the doctor, the way her body language changed into something that could only be described as casual when in his presence. Did she gain some form of pleasure from being in close proximity? Rei frowned just a bit and dipped her head to her lap. Shinji noticed the change in his fellow pilot's behavior at that point and turned to her, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder like Ranma told him and brushing his fingertips against the exposed flesh just enough to count as a caress.

Since the Seventh Angel Attack Ranma had been training Shinji in not just martial arts but also in sexual matters, starting with 'the talk'. Embarrassed as he was, Shinji understood what Ranma was trying to say and listened to the elder man's advice. The elder man was actually proud of the progress the boy was making, he was a good student. It reminded Ranma of Kamui's training. Of course, his black-haired protégé had a pathological fear of women but he supposed that with Shinji's lack of spine it all balanced out in the end. He watched the boy's conversation with the pilot of Unit-00 with great interest.

"Is anything wrong, Rei?"

"I am fine, Pilot Ikari." Rei continued to stare at her lap but Ranma, sitting across from her could see the pink swath growing on her cheeks.

"You know you can talk to me if you want to, Ayanami." Shinji let her shoulder go and returned his arms to the rests, looking vaguely out the window.

"…Thank you." Rei lifted an arm to the opposing shoulder and held it over the place where he had touched her. It was very different from their first meeting, when he had been hovering over her, his hand on her breast; no, this was a totally alien experience to the First. 'These are words I have never used before meeting Ikari…not even with Him.' She lowered her hands and set them limply at her sides, she had no idea what was happening to her, but it was not entirely unpleasant.

---The next day---

Shinji and Asuka walked to school apart, the latter following several paces behind the former, as if observing the boy for the first time.

When they finally arrived at school there was naturally quite a response to Shinji's new dress habits and eyewear but even that died down before homeroom began. The attention spans of teenagers could be measured in seconds. Kensuke was the most taken aback by the changes because he had seen the Supreme Commander of NERV; Touji was lost to the resemblance.

"So you took an Evangelion into a volcano!?"

"Yup. I had to jump in to-"

"Shut up, baka Shinji! I think we're all a little sick of your grand posturing, Third Child!" Asuka cut her conversation with Hikari at the front of the room short and threw an eraser at the bespectacled boy. Shinji simply dodged the projectile and laughed as it was followed by three pencils, a notebook, and two pens.

"You've got to be faster than that!" Shinji smiled at the auburn-haired girl and leapt onto his desk. Squatting low, the pilot of EVA-01 waggled a finger at his co-worker. "Did you think that a slow attack like that would hit me?"

Asuka growled at the _boy_ taunting her and clenched her hands into fists. 'How dare he patronize me! I'm the best pilot there is! I'm smarter than him! How dare he presume to treat me like a child!?' She smiled in calculated cruelty and grabbed the sides of a desk. "Just because we're both getting martial arts training from Ranma doesn't mean you can get cocky, baka, 'cause I could just do this!" She lifted the desk easily over her head and threw it at Shinji, thinking that the surprised look on his face was priceless.

He was so surprised that he didn't react at all and let the desk hit him in the chest, knocking him backwards and toppling the row of desks behind him.

Asuka dusted her hands and made a dismissive noise in the back of her throat…

…Which was when Rei chose to slap her soundly across the face.

The classroom went silent in the wake of her attack, the students unable to reconcile the vicious display of violence with the normally monosyllabic and introverted girl. Rei simply stood with her hands hanging limply at her sides, looking for all the world as if nothing happened. Only the barest hint of a frown on her lips and the uncharacteristic downward slant of her eyebrows gave any indication of the anger she felt inside.

Asuka stepped backwards not only from the force of the blow but also the pure gall Rei had to attack her! Who was this little blue-haired bitch to slap her? No one, just another underachieving EVA pilot who couldn't control her toy. The half-German pulled back her arm for a punch at the other girl's face. "You little bitch!"

"Stop it!" Everyone in the room looked towards the origin of the shout, mouths agape and eyes wide.

Shinji pulled himself from the pile of desks unharmed except for the twisted tinted lenses hanging from one ear. His hands were clenched at his sides and only a fool would be unable to see the rage in his frame. He was shaking in fury. Both Rei and Asuka took a hesitant step back away from the livid youth, seeing a depth of anger unparalleled in all the world - enough to destroy the world twice before doing it a third time just out of spite.

"Baka Shinji…"

"Ikari-kun…"

Shinji seemed to swagger as he took a step forward, setting his hand down on a desk for balance. "Just…stop it you two," he yelled at them. His hand slid over the surface of the desk and he fell, taking the desk with him to the floor. His face suddenly twisted into a rictus of pain and he cried out, covered his face. He screamed out in pain and began to rub madly at his eyes, his legs toppling more desks on top of his thrashing form.

The bubble of frozen time that had descended on the class popped abruptly as he writhed on the floor. Hikari rushed down to the nurse's station while Touji and Kensuke pulled the desks off him. Rei and Asuka rushed to his side, their dispute forgotten for the moment, and tried to hold him down until help could arrive.

---NERV Headquarters, First Cranial Nerve---

"Well he isn't blind, which is a miracle, but the injuries have become a bit more complicated." Ranma put the file down on his desk and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. Misato, Rei, and Asuka were sitting across from him. Shinji's guardian was nearly sobbing with worry, Asuka just looked shell-shocked, and Rei simply stared impassively at him as he spoke.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean 'complicated'?" Misato brushed a tear from her cheek with a tissue and rubbed her hands together in her lap. "You said he wasn't blind, right?"

"True, he isn't blind. His cornea and most of the surrounding tissue is injured but fine; however, his retina was burned out."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean it isn't there. It was detached and burned by the sunlight." Ranma fiddled with the imaging scans on his desk. "Shinji can likely only see a big black blot at the moment."

"Oh my god!" Misato broke down crying, leaning on Asuka for support which the auburn girl gave hesitantly. Rei merely blinked. "There's something you can do, right?"

"Of course." Ranma stood and walked around to the teary woman, taking her from Asuka and smoothing back her hair. "Ritsuko is working on it now."

"He'll be able to see again, don't you worry." Ritsuko appeared in the doorway with a clipboard tucked under her arm. "We'll just have to replace the burned portions with cloned replacements."

"When are you going to perform the surgery?" Misato looked up at her friend from Ranma's shoulder.

"In a few hours. He should be discharged this evening."

---Operating room 359---

Rei and Asuka sat outside the operating room staring at one another.

"This is all your fault you know!" Asuka folded her arms and turned her head away from the azure-haired girl. "If you hadn't started a fight with me Shinji never would have burned his eyes."

"I believe that the blame should fall on you, Pilot Sohryu. You damaged his protective lenses in your attack."

"So you're saying this is all my fault!?"

"Yes." Rei stared down the redhead, her face betraying no hint of the resentment bubbling beneath the surface. "You acted callously and without thought to the consequences of your actions."

'She's right,' Asuka conceded in her mind, 'I was the one who broke his glasses.' She bowed her head until her chin hit the firm bone of her sternum and crystalline tears fell to the teal cloth of her dress. "I'm sorry…"

"It is not I who you should apologize to, Pilot Sohryu, it is Ikari-kun."

"I know…but I wouldn't know what to say, I'm not very good at apologies." Rei turned away from the stricken girl as the red 'operation in progress' sign went dark and stood as the doors opened and the team of six doctors led by Ritsuko and Ranma wheeled the patient down to the pilot's ward.

"You must apologize to Ikari-kun, Pilot Sohryu. You may wait with me until he awakens." Rei grasped her bookbag from the benches and followed the squealing wheels of the gurney around the corner. Asuka looked up with her eyes filled with tears and sloppily wiped the wetness from her cheeks. Taking up her bag, she followed the silent procession down the corridors.

As Rei sat in the single chair provided for visitors in Shinji's recovery room she gazed at his gauze-swaddled eyes and pondered. She wondered why she had such a reaction to the Second Child's attack on Ikari, going so far as physical correction of the unstable pilot's anomalous behavior. It was because of Ikari…it had to be, there were no other factors in the equation. 'I was ordered to protect Unit-01. By extension I was ordered to protect Ikari-kun. Protection is the elimination of harmful factors to his mind and body…I have protected him.' Rei frowned and watched Shinji's hand unconsciously squeeze as he slept. 'His effect on me is unexpected. I do not know how to react to such…feelings.' She reached out her hand and placed it in his. As his slim fingers, delicate and precise, wrapped around her pale, cool digits she felt thrills run through her soul. She thought to pull her hand back but the needy way he held her halted any further ideas of escape. Instead, she gripped his hand and felt his warmth flow across her skin.

Asuka arrived at Shinji's room several minutes after the doctors and nurses had left but stopped before opening the door. She was shaking. The apologetic girl took a single deep breath and walked through the automatic door. What she saw as she entered was almost enough to break her fragile hold on sanity.

Rei was curled on her side next to Shinji, her shoes on the floor and her head resting comfortably against his.

---Incomplete---