"I just don't get why you would be looking into him now, Major."

Once again, Hyuga had risen to the occasion when he pulled Misato aside and subtly told her he had looked into the "thing" she had requested him to a few days ago. She had created an opportunity for them to talk when she offered to take him home. Seeing the sparkle in his eyes almost made her regret asking him for his help in this.

Almost.

Shinji's Salvage Operation was only a day away and with it, Misato was getting a sense her—and everyone's—time was ticking down. The final Angel still hadn't shown their face and she just wasn't sure how to take that. Was it on purpose or a stroke of pure, dumb luck?

...who was to say the Angel hadn't purposely given them the chance to retrieve Shinji?

Of course, if Ritsuko's suspicions were correct, who was to say he even wanted to attack them?

With an unsettled shudder, she shook the thought away. If the final Angel was who she suspected, it opened a whole Pandora's Box of implications and feelings she just wasn't prepared to face.

Taking the single printout she grumbled, "Let's just say some new information has made me want to look into him some more."

Looking back at her with a serene smile from his personnel file was Kaworu. She frowned deeply as she looked back. She couldn't recall the last time she had seen a sincere smile out of him. That made her hate her need to look into him further.

"He's been with us months. I'm not sure how much I found is going to be news to you," Hyuga told her from the passenger seat, "But I did find out that whoever redacted his file had it redacted before he came to us. I also found the fact he was only with NERV Germany for a month or so, which I found pretty off."

"And no word where he was before?"

"Redacted like the rest of it."

Misato sighed and let the paper fall into her lap. She didn't dare voice her suspicions. If she was wrong, then she would be raise Hyuga's suspicions for no reason.

"Do you think he's dangerous?"

By his wary tone, she supposed she didn't have to do anything to do that after all. She answered, "I honestly have no idea. But I believe the committee sent him to us and it wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts."

Hyuga raised his eyebrows, "What for?"

"Maybe to keep an eye on us? Maybe to make sure we do our jobs? Maybe for some other reason we have yet to see."

Of course, with Ritsuko's theory now weighing on her, it presented another reason. To destroy them.

Hyuga frowned deeply at her, "You think they'd put better effort into keeping him safe then. Do you think they even care about his safety?"

Misato stroked her chin as she considered the idea. Now that was a thought. If her suspicions were correct, then the committee would benefit from Kaworu from suffering an...untimely accident. Whatever it was they were working towards, the Angels all had to die first. "Maybe they actually sent him here to get rid of him."

"Get rid of him?! But...he's just a kid…"

When Misato didn't answer right away, Hyuga murmured, "...right?"

---

Yet another quiet lonely night, Kaworu reflected as he sat at his kitchen table, a cooling cup of tea in front of him. Asuka, as she did every night nowadays, invited him over but this night he had declined, believing it was best he stayed in tonight. He wasn't entirely sure why he thought this but he decided to follow the hunch.

A knock at his door told him his hunch to stay in was correct and he called back, "Hold on a moment."

He crossed the space and opened the door to find, of all people, Rei. He blinked in surprise, "Rei? What brings you here?"

Rather than answer his question, she murmured, "May I come in?"

"I don't see why not."

He walked ahead of her and, seeing his cooling cup of tea, asked, "Would you like something to drink?"

"I do believe that might calm my nerves."

He raised his eyebrows at her somewhat forward admission but went ahead and made them both a cup anyway. When he handed her her cup, she took it and stared into it, seemingly lost in thought. Taking the seat across from her, he asked, "So what's the problem, Rei? Are you worried about the operation tomorrow?"

"I am concerned but that's not what I came to ask. Kaworu...do you have nightmares?" she asked softly.

He tilted his head and, instead of answering directly, asked his own question, "Have you?"

She nodded slowly, "Nearly every night since the battle with the Angel that penetrated the Geofront. I don't understand everything I see in them...but sometimes, I see things in real life that I saw in those dreams."

"They call that deja vu."

"But it doesn't feel…" she trailed off before deciding, "…normal. I always see a...red sea. Which seems significant."

Kaworu's breath caught in his throat, "A...red sea, you say?"

She nodded, her expression serious, "I also feel like I know things that I shouldn't."

His curiosity and dread growing in equal measure, he pressed, "What do you mean?"

"For instance, I just know Shinji will return. It's not mere faith...it just feels like there's no other thing that will happen."

Kaworu openly stared at her, gears turning in his head that hadn't turned in a few weeks. He asked a new question, "Say, Rei. Since that battle, have you feel...ah, more lively? Like you're finally yourself?"

She nodded eagerly, eyes shining brightly, "Exactly! Before it felt like there might be pieces missing..and now there are none. I am...myself. Do you believe the nightmares and feelings are related?"

"I feel it's likely."

Clasping her hands together, she looked at him with a new emotion: curiosity. She asked, "Some time ago, you said you thought we might be alike. As if we might be the same."

"We're not the same," he clarified, "But we are similar."

Her curiosity fell away to confusion, "Explain," she demanded.

"We're like...we stand on opposite shores. We're similar but our differences are so stark that we can never truly be the same. Do you understand?" he asked gently.

She stared back down at her cup, mulling over his insight. Kaworu took a sip of his tea. So Shinji's suspicion was true; Rei had been replaced. Her inability to pilot Zero anymore laid in the fact the souls of Rei I and Rei II had been reunited in Rei III. She had been made whole and it appeared this brought some interesting side effects. In a sense, she had become like the rest of them; hopelessly entangled in the memories of times past.

She finished her tea, set the cup down and rose, "I believe I need to think on what you've shared with me."

He smiled gently, and genuinely at her, "You have all the pieces to your dilemma. You just need to put them together now."

She nodded slowly, eying him with equal parts suspicion and curiosity. "Good night, Kaworu. Sleep well and hopefully, with no nightmares."

"Same to you, Rei."

With that, she left. He stared at the door as it closed behind her.

If Rei Ayanami had become whole, then him—as well as the Lilin—were running fast out of time.

---

Yui bowed her head and, to Shinji's great surprise and regret, she began to cry quietly. He stiffened, "Mom...c'mon...it's not that I don't love you…"

"No, I see how it is," she hissed bitterly, "You're choosing him over me!"

A new familiar image passed across his mind's eye. The towering head of Unit 01 and above her, overseeing it...was his father.

He hissed, "I'm not choosing anyone!"

"Yes you are!" she insisted, "He abandoned you, left you all alone but you want to go back to him! He's the reason you're suffering!"

"I could have told him no! I could have turned back!"

She shook her head and looked up. He still couldn't discern her face as if it was hidden in shadow despite the sickly red lighting of the train. "You have too good a heart for that," she murmured.

Then there was the image of Rei, broken, bloody and bandaged, struggling to sit up so she may pilot Unit 01, all that time ago.

He scowled, "You're right. I've got too good a heart. That's why I gave Father a choice when you wouldn't."

A memory bled through their connection, fragmentary and hard to capture. He could see a distorted Unit 01, clutching...something in its hand?

She gritted her teeth and stood, suddenly looming over him. "He doesn't deserve a second chance," she murmured, low and dangerous, "He hurt you."

More of the memory; Unit 01's jaw widening with a horrific groan, revealing jagged but human-like teeth.

He leaned away, his heart pattering in his chest like a frightened deer. He murmured back, just as quietly, "Just like you are right now?"

She stiffened, "You don't understand."

Unit 01 raised the object towards its mouth.

"Of course, I understand him."

An old memory from Minus Space flickered through both of their minds now. His father, 14 years old, hunched over on a bench, clutching the SDAT like a lifeline. Around him, his peers were a smear of smudged pencil. There was no point in trying to reach out to anyone of them. They'd do nothing but hate him.

"After all, we're the same."

"YOU ARE NOT THE SAME! NOT TO ME!"

Yui's memory bled through completely now. Shinji could see what the nightmarish Unit 01 was holding; not an object, but a person. His father, watching his fate loom over him with a sense of acceptance. Then, he morphed into Shinji himself, Unit 01's jaw snapped shut and—

—Shinji turned and bolted down the train in terror, ignoring his mother's cries for him to return. He had to get out of here. He had to leave this place!

As he ran down the endless corridors, his vision began to fade, his feet caught onto nothing and he fell into darkness.

---

It had felt like it had taken an eternity but the Salvage Operation's preparations was completed. Misato hadn't talked to Ritsuko since their journey through Terminal Dogma, as the scientist had thrown herself completely into making this damn thing work. Even if she had found a moment to talk to her, what would she even say? Her guts twisted into knots every time she remembered that tank, full of blankly smiling vessels.

Thinking Ritsuko had been connected to such a terrible crime against humanity, something she had grown complicit in...it had tarnished her image of her friend. Were they even friends anymore? Misato couldn't say for sure.

Nonetheless, if she pulled this off, she would have to be forever grateful to her.

She turned the corner to find the three kids loitering around the vending machines, each wearing a different downturned expression. Asuka and Rei sat together, Rei wearing a downright miserable expression, something that looked completely alien on her face. Kaworu was just across from them, pacing anxiously. She walked up to them, "What are you three doing here?"

Asuka shot up straight, "Shinji's Salvage Operation is today, right?"

"That's right," she confirmed.

"We thought we might come and watch," Kaworu said, a soft smile on his face.

Misato pushed her suspicions of him away. Not the time for that.

The images of their disappointed and devastated expressions flashed across her mind's eye.

Expressions they would hold if the operation failed, as it had twice before. She squared her shoulders and frowned, "You can't. Necessary personnel only,"

Of all three, she didn't expect Rei to protest, "You let me watch before…"

"And I really probably shouldn't have," Misato told her, "You three just sit tight here and, if all goes well, you will hear all about it."

With that, she beat a hasty retreat out of the room, unable to take their misery anymore. If this didn't work out, she felt she might feel sorely tempted to review her decision on shooting Ritsuko. Asuka watched her go with a poisonous look, "She just doesn't want us to be there."

"I'm sure she has a good reason," Rei murmured, raising a hand to her shoulder.

Asuka tensed under the sudden touch but didn't tell her to go. Kaworu moved to sit on her other side, "I told you. I have the utmost faith in his return."

"As do I," Rei agreed.

"You two sure aren't acting like it," Asuka grumbled, "But I guess that's just how it is."

"I can't help feeling this way, even if I know it's not logical," Rei explained.

"The human heart doesn't understand logic," Kaworu murmured and, to his confusion, she shot him a cool look, one of which he couldn't quite read.

---

Misato entered the command deck, amidst the Salvage Operation. She stopped by Ritsuko, "How late am I?"

"Not late at all," she told her, "We're just about ready."

"Good. What's the prognosis?"

"Very good," she dared a soft smile, "It should work, as long as Shinji wants to come out."

"I'm holding you to that."

"Don't worry. I'm well aware of the stakes if I fail," she paused and admitted, "Here's my chance to do something good."

"Something better than your mother?" Misato raised her eyebrow.

Ritsuko hummed then said, "That and it'll be for a better cause she would have given anything."

Leaving her with that, she left to go check the technicians' progress. Misato watched her go. Maybe she really did have a change of heart and wasn't just trying to burden her with her regrets.

"I know I helped you with this but it's still so hard to believe we got it done so quickly," Maya reported from her terminal.

Ritsuko stopped behind her and squeezed her shoulder. "I couldn't have gotten it done in such a short time frame by myself," she praised, a little affection weeping from her eyes.

Just behind them, Misato watched them coolly. At the very least, Ritsuko's relationship with Maya seemed to be for real.

Ritsuko called out, "Alright. Salvage operation start!"

Misato leaned forward, passively absorbing her and the rest of the technicians technobabble. Her eyes tracked to Shinji's captor, the hunched over Unit 01 outside the window. She murmured, "Alright, Shinji...here's your chance…"

---

Shinji awoke groggily in his bed. Had he been dreaming? He vaguely remembered running from...something on a train. But that couldn't be right? Running around on a train hardly seemed like something he'd do. Maybe when he was really young but he was a teenager now.

He pulled himself from bed, despite his body complaining about getting up. He knew he didn't want to stay in bed all day. Maybe he would have once upon a time but right now, that sounded like a terrible idea. He staggered from his room, into the hallway and into the living room.

It was just now that he registered someone was incessantly knocking on the door. He blinked sleepily as he wondered if he wanted to bother. Wasn't there someone else here that could get it?

After a minute of waiting, he decided whoever was here with him wasn't going to get it. He went up to the front door and opened it.

Standing on his porch was the silver-haired boy, the blue-haired girl, the red-haired girl and the purple-haired woman.

No, these were his friends and caretaker. Kaworu, Rei, Asuka, and Misato. He wasn't sure why he hadn't recognized them before. Hadn't he already gone through that spiel? For some reason, his memory was so foggy.

Misato grinned, "Heya Shinji! What have you been doing, cooped up at home all day?"

"Yeah!" Asuka leaned forward, "I thought we were past this 'running away' nonsense?"

Kaworu smiled his usual serene smile, "We miss you. I miss you."

He cast an anxious glance back into the seemingly empty house then back at them, "I'm not sure if I should go out. It doesn't feel like I'm allowed to?"

"Allowed to? What are you, a six-year-old?" Asuka sneered, "Screw that, don't be such a goody two-shoes!"

"You should do what you like," Kaworu agreed, "Not what others tell you to."

Still anxious, he looked to Rei, who hadn't spoken all this time. She fixed him with her life-red eyes, "Don't you think that's a choice for you to make? Not anyone else?"

This was his choice?

He turned the idea in his head and realized it was. No one else's.

Misato offered her hand, "C'mon, Shinji. Let's go home now."

He stepped over the threshold, reaching for her…

"Shinji, don't!"

A frantic yelp came from behind him and someone grabbed his other hand tight. She yanked him back and he nearly lost his balance. Determined, he lunged forward, trying to grab Misato's hand, their fingertips brushing against each other.

---

"It's no good! His ego border is stuck on a fixed loop!" Maya cried.

Ritsuko all but lunged to loom over her, her eyes reading over her terminal. She muttered, "Try firing the waveforms...no that won't work...the signal's stuck in Klein space!"

"What does that mean?" Misato cried from behind her.

Ritsuko turned to face her, her expression haunted, "I don't know...but I fear we've failed."

Misato stared at her, even as she turned away and started crying out orders to try to get something out of this. The world was growing fuzzy at the edges. This wasn't happening...this couldn't be happening!

She turned and raced out of the command center, through the halls until finally, she burst into Unit 01's holding cage. Just as she entered, the Entry Plug ejected with a hiss and a gushing of LCL. All that was Shinji was seeping out onto the floor. Looking up at the dread visage of Unit 01, Misato screamed, "Give him back, damn you! Give Shinji back! Give me my Shinji back! He's not yours anymore!"

---

With another jerk forwards, Shinji finally clasped his free hand into Misato's and cried out, "No, no, I want to go home! Let me go home!"

"That's right!" Misato encouraged, "Let's go home together!"

"You heard her!" Asuka cried, "Let's go home already!"

"Come back to me," Kaworu murmured, "I want to see you again."

He glanced to Rei who seemed to glow. She nodded, her expression turned serious, "Remember what you told me, Shinji? That you would do whatever it takes?"

"Right," he nodded, smiling back at her, "Whatever it takes!"

"Shinji, please don't leave!" his mother called behind him.

"Shinji!"

"SHINJI!"

He gasped awake then immediately began to hack up LCL. This was real, he dimly reflected, that sure felt real. He nearly fell back onto the cold, wet concrete before someone bundled him up in her arms, sobbing incoherently. The red coat...this was Misato...he went limp in her grip and let his eyes fall shut.

"It's alright. I came back," he mumbled before darkness took him once more.

---

For the third time, Shinji gasped awake and this time, he knew for absolute sure it was real. He couldn't ever forget the familiar hospital ceiling, even though the white environment gave the whole room a dream-like quality. Still, he found himself ghosting his fingers across his face, telling himself that he was no longer dreaming.

Well, that last one with Misato, as fuzzy as it felt, was no dream.

"I see you're awake."

He turned his head to see Dr. Akagi sitting at his bedside, one leg folded over the other. Of all the people he thought could be waiting on his awakening, she was not one he expected. He murmured, "How long have I been asleep?"

"It's been only a few hours since Unit 01's Core spat you out."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Spat me out?"

"It wasn't my operation that saved you...though I do believe I was correct. All you needed was a little nudge, huh?"

He rose to a sitting position, just a little suspicious of her. What was she getting at? "I wanted out," he clarified.

"That's what Misato and everyone thought," Ritsuko agreed, "My hypothesis was that you needed just a little nudge."

He let himself smile at her, "You did that?"

"Well, it's still inconclusive how much help my Salvage Operation was," she trailed off before she admitted, "But I like to think I was some help. I've got a feeling Misato was the big factor though."

He dimly remembered her in his dream, grabbing his hand, helping him pull him back into reality. He replied, "I think...but you still tried so thank you."

Ritsuko returned his smile, "You've got too good a heart for this world, Shinji."

He blinked, the phrase bringing back a half-formed memory. While his dreams within Unit 01 were growing more and more hazy, like any other dream, he still remembered the gist.

As if reading his mind, the doctor commented, "That's why she wanted to keep you there, huh?"

He was broken out of his thoughts. "What did you say, Doctor?"

"Mothers, such a fickle beast," Ritsuko murmured, "Some resent you, some don't think of you at all, some love you...maybe a little too much. They're so desperate to not let you go but every little baby bird has got to spread their wings some day and leave the nest."

His suspicion returning, he asked, "I don't really understand what you're getting at, Dr. Akagi."

She rose and waved him off, "Never mind me, Shinji. I haven't slept very well so maybe delirium is setting in. You're well enough to have visitors so I'll leave you to it."

He watched her leave, mind racing with confusion and suspicion. It was a given Dr. Akagi knew all about the Evas, including their true nature, but what did she get out of so openly implying this to him who, as far as she knew, knew nothing about that?

He liked to think this meant she was "on his side" though couldn't say for sure where her loyalties lay.

His thoughts were immediately shoved aside when Misato came in with a cry of, "Shinji!"

She rushed over and, once more bundled him into her arms in a bear hug. He squeaked in surprise but, relaxed into the embrace. She whimpered, "Oh, you're alright. You're in one piece and you're alright."

He smiled, "Weren't you there when, how'd Dr. Akagi put it...Unit 01 spat me out?"

She let him go and sheepishly nodded, "It's been so long you were in there...it's still kind of hard to believe you're actually here."

"At least I'm not naked this time," he quipped.

She shook her head, "Urgh...I wasn't even thinking about that when I saw you were alright!"

Behind her, he saw his other three friends enter. Asuka was the first to come over, a wide grin splitting her face, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

He returned her grin, "It's good to be back."

Kaworu got onto the bed beside and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. He returned the squeeze and smiled to him too. Rei took one of the chairs and pulled it over to sit beside them. She asked, "You're well, Shinji?"

He nodded, "I am."

She nodded as well, "I knew you would return."

"I'm real glad you had faith in me."

"It wasn't faith," she corrected, "I just knew."

Unsure how to take that, he shrugged, "Well...either way, I'm glad none of you gave up on me."

"Give up on you!" Asuka mock-gasped, "I can't believe you would think that!"

Misato gave him a little wave, interrupting any verbal jabs he was preparing against Asuka, "I hate to say it but I can't stick around. So I'll be heading back to work but you three stay as long as you need. Just don't stay all night! The boy needs his rest. If any of you want me to take you home, come find me."

As she left, Rei agreed, "Shinji does need to rest."

"You guys just got here!" he protested.

When Rei shot him a cool look, he nearly withered under it. She said, "And I, and I assume the other two, will be back tomorrow...and the next day and the one after."

Asuka grinned and playfully elbowed him, "Sorry to say it, you can't be rid of us."

He melodramatically sighed, "For better or worse, we're in this together."

Asuka shot Rei a look which she raised an eyebrow to. Taking her arm, she pulled her up, "But maybe, before, we leave the loverboys together?"

"Huh?" is all Rei got out before Asuka all but dragged her out with a call of, "Get some rest!"

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle. He looked at Kaworu, "Classic Asuka, huh?"

He returned the smile, "She hardly changes. Only in the ways it matters."

Their smiles lingered before Shinji's fell into a frown. He stared at their hands and murmured, "I'm real sorry I left you alone."

"That was hardly your choice," Kaworu immediately comforted, "Unforeseen circumstances and all."

"Hmm...yeah," he conceded, "I would have left right away but um...my mom, I think she didn't want me to leave."

Seeing Kaworu's surprise, he asked, "That surprises you?"

"This...time is proving full of them," he nodded, "I really didn't think she'd do something like that."

"Well, I hope I got through to her that I really didn't want that," he huffed, annoyed, "I miss her and all...but not enough to leave you all."

He cast his glance at him and added, "Not enough to leave you."

Kaworu could feel his cheeks heat up crimson red and, once more, he squeezed his hand. "I would have waited," he raised his hand up to his face and brushed his lips against it, "I would have waited as long as I had to."

It was Shinji's turn to blush brightly and he adverted his eyes. "That's all I could ask for. I'd hate for you to do something drastic."

"Drastic...me?" his eyebrows raised, "Surely not."

Shinji rolled his eyes in disbelief, "You can't tell me you've never done something crazy over me."

"I can't deny it," Kaworu said truthfully, "But nowadays I have...what's the saying? Too much on the line to do that?"

Understanding, he nodded, "Can't freak out Asuka like that...I'd say Mari too but I'm not really sure if anything can phase her anymore."

Kaworu stared off into space at that, eyes glazing over, as if his mind was somewhere else. Shinji winced. He hadn't meant to prod some nerve, whichever one he had. He murmured softly, "She knows...right? Asuka?"

He snapped out of his trance, "She knows?"

"Y'know…," he trailed off, "About you."

He held his stare for a few moments then smiled, "Oh, yes that! She does. She understood which makes sense since she knows about Rei."

Shinji nodded, "That'd make sense."

They remained there in silence, still holding hands. Kaworu stared back off into space, fighting a sudden wave of nausea. He was truly a terrible person, a monster even, to lie to him like that. But he knew that Shinji knew exactly what may happen when he was declared as Angel. He'd fight his fate for him, even though Kaworu had learned long ago to do so was a pointless endeavor.

It would just cause him undue suffering, he told himself.

"Are you feeling alright? You're looking green," Shinji worried.

"I'm fine," he lied once more.

Shinji gave him a skeptical look, "You should go get rest too."

"I can stay a little longer," he protested.

He shook his head, "Go get that ride from Misato home. You can come tomorrow."

Rather than fight any longer, he nodded, "Alright. As you wish," he couldn't help leaning in, "But a good night kiss, if you will?"

Shinji smiled, rolling his eyes, but granted his wish, pressing his lips to his.

Kaworu reveled in this kiss and the warmth of him being so close. It was such a shame his fate was looming over him. He could get used to this. He pulled away, "Now, I can go home and sleep. Sleep well, Shinji, my beloved."

Shinji blushed and gave him a short wave as he left. Once more alone, he fell back onto his pillow and closed his eyes, welcoming a more natural sleep when it came.

---

Once he left, Kaworu tried to pin down Misato but neither her or either of the girls were anywhere to be found. He found this somewhat weird but assumed Rei had her own reasons to stay behind or Asuka had decided to walk home with Rei, perhaps to get some alone time with her. He wasn't so blind to miss that Asuka had her own affections for her, even if they weren't acted upon.

He wandered the halls of NERV HQ, taking the long—very long—way out. As the days went by, it was getting harder to concentrate, especially when he was down here. And all the harder to pull himself away.

For Shinji's sake, he would have to. He wouldn't accept him returning to his room. And it would be best to leave the Geofront completely anyway. He was regretting not taking that offer from Misato at first, if only because it might get him out of here faster. He stopped in front of one of the elevators to the trams and pressed the button to call it.

After a few agonizing minutes, the elevator opened with a ding and, standing beyond, was Rei. What was she doing here? Hadn't she taken the offer from Misato? Part of him, oddly, wanted to turn and find another way out, rather than talk to anyone. But he decided against it and stepped inside, retreating to the back corner.

The elevator doors closed, leaving the pair alone. As the analog display ticked up and the elevator arose, Kaworu was finding the air growing more and more tense. It was as if the very air had grown humid and muggy, with how his lungs struggled to get in enough air. It felt like someone had tied a line around his heart and was gently tugging on it, urging him to leave the elevator and head downwards.

It was getting hard to think straight. His own thoughts seemed to be disrupted by a faint but legible song, flickering around the edges of his AT Field.

The walls were feeling like they were closing in on him and he chanced another look to the display where slowly, the elevator continued to ascend. He had to get out of here as fast as he could. How much of this was a symptom of his waning time and how much the beginnings of a panic attack?

The spell was broken by Rei's voice, "Nagisa."

He blinked and looked at her. She had turned to regard him with an unreadable expression. She tilted her head at the ceiling and he followed her gesture. He tilted his head in turn, unsure what she was getting at.

"You may speak freely," she clarified, "No prying ears are listening."

He forced a plastic smile, "I see. Why the cold shoulder?"

Her eyes narrowed and suddenly, it felt as if the temperature in the elevator plunged as her expression turned fully frigid. He forced himself to keep his smile, "Ah. I see. You put the pieces together, didn't you?"

She nodded though she stayed icy, "I am whole. I am me. And if we are similar but different, then we are of similar nature. I know what you are, Kaworu Nagisa."

His smile faltered slightly, "If that's the case, what is it you shall do?"

She took a step closer and he could feel her own AT Field press up against his, like a knife against his neck. He wrapped his own tighter around his soul, suddenly concerned for what she was going to do to him. Whatever she would...he would just have to allow it to happen. He knew he didn't have in him to fight back and risk hurting her.

She leaned away and the proverbial knife came off his neck. Even though it hadn't been real, he couldn't help the sharp inhale he gave. She murmured, "Nothing. At the moment, you are not a threat. That is, if you don't intend to harm Shinji or Asuka."

"Never," he breathed, fingers ghosting over his neck, "I don't intend them harm."

Her expression darkened, "Harm unintended is harm nonetheless. What will you do now, now that you're being called?" For good measure, she tilted her head downwards.

He turned away from her, face scrunched and pained.

"I don't know."

When the elevator door finally opened after what felt like an eternity, he couldn't help his actions. He bolted away from her, letting his terror guide him away from temptation.

Rei watched him flee, her expression once more unreadable and her thoughts grown stormy.