"I've called you all here to request that one of the pilots go into the test system, while being monitored and recording what happens, for the express purpose of finding out what this malfunction is."

Misato and Ritsuko looked at each other uncomfortably. Cirus raised an eyebrow. "So you want someone to go through one of these attacks so we can identify the cause?" he asked plainly.

"Correct," Ikari replied. He then turned to look at Rei specifically. "Rei will do it."

Cirus had to physically prevent himself from attacking Ikari for his order. He looked over to see Rei's eyes wider than normal and looking down at the ground.

"...Yes, sir," she replied after a long pause.

Not a chance... Cirus looked up at Ikari with calmly raised eyebrows. "Commander, are you sure that's wise?"

"Are you questioning my orders, Mr. Trent?" Ikari asked back coldly.

The young man gave a faint shrug. "A simple curiosity. Wouldn't it be wiser to use someone who does not have a reason to be so wary of such an ordeal?"

Everyone present looked at Cirus in a varying mix of shock and curiosity. It was rather obvious what he was getting at. Misato's brow creased somewhat in particular, knowing more than most what was going through his mind at that moment.

Gendo piqued an eyebrow over his glasses, his hands remaining clasped before his face. "And who are you recommending, Mr. Trent?"

"Myself," Cirus answered simply. "I'm the only one of the pilots who has not experienced one so far, and since Rei did not experience it again, we can assume it's a one time occurrence." The calm manner he maintained seemed to belie the situation he was offering to enter.

Ikari narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "Do you believe Rei is unfit for the mission?"

Cirus hid his anger again, never deviating from his cool expression. "Not at all, Commander, but I do think it is unnecessary to put undo stress on your most reliable pilot," he countered.

The darkly dressed young man could sense Asuka's flash of outrage, but she thankfully didn't respond to it right there.

A thoughtful pause ensued, Gendo�s brow creased subtly. At length he spoke. "...Very well, Mr. Trent, you will go. Dr. Akagi, Major Katsuragi, begin at once. Dismissed."

With none of the group eager to stay, the six of them left. Cirus, Ritsuko, and Misato split off from the other pilots, and headed for the synch lab as Shinji, Rei, and Asuka moved in the opposite direction. Not surprisingly, Asuka was fuming, and it would not be contained a moment longer.

"Who does he think he is?!" Her arms flew out to the sides. "How can he prove Rei is the most reliable pilot!?" she roared, the limbs folding in to her hips.

Shinji shook his head. "Asuka, he was just trying to stop Rei from going through that again. And us too for that matter."

Asuka narrowed her eyes, but calmed down. "He could have found a better way to do it."

As the two of them continued to bicker, Rei stopped walking, and let them get farther ahead. The placid young woman looked down at the ground, then raised her head back up, and then turned about smoothly, walking in the other direction.

Sealing with a sharp metal snap, the test plug resonated with a soft hum, and filled with LCL from the bottom up. As plug was lowered down into the pool of hydrogen rich water, Cirus checked several controls, and set them to monitor him and the plug. Some yellow and orange screens flickered to life, and showed data-read-outs, status-trackers, and life-signs, all calmly tracked by the young man's experienced eyes beneath his shading glasses.

Glancing down to Makato side-long, Misato remained facing the test-plug chamber. "Hyuga, monitor everything that goes into or out of that plug, no matter what it is," she ordered quickly, not wanting to waste time. "Maya," she looked over, "monitor his synch-rate, tell us the moment it starts dropping. And Ayobi?"

Shigeru kept his eyes on his screen as he answered, "Yes, ma'am?"

"Keep a vital scan going of the pilot at all times," Misato ordered more intently.

Ritsuko looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "And perhaps we should be ready to pull the plug, so to speak," she suggested.

Misato nodded her agreement, and then ordered, "Hyuga, have the eject system on immediate stand-by."

Hyuga nodded, flicking a glare across his glasses, and did so.

At that moment the doors to the lab opened, and Rei walked in quietly. Misato looked up, and saw her. Normally the Major would have told her to leave, but she saw worry in Rei's eyes for the first time since she'd met the young woman. She dismissed Rei's presence from her mind, and went back to the task at hand. They might need Rei anyway.

"System's check," Misato ordered.

"Synch rate normal... All one hundred and thirty points of it," Maya reported.

"All intake and outtake passages normal," Hyuga.

"Vitals all green," Ayobi.

Moving softly, Rei stepped forward, and touched Misato's shoulder. The Major turned to her with an eyebrow raised with calm expectance.

"It comes when your mind is at peace. At least that is what happened to me," The blue-haired young woman said calmly, and then backed away again.

Misato wasn't sure how to relay that to Cirus, but she turned around, and opened the comm. "Cirus, try and... relax your mind," she said after a brief pause.

"Yes, Major," he replied calmly, his eyes already closed. Lower my guard... An opportunistic bastard...

He relaxed and focused on his immediate surroundings, the controls in his hands, the LCL he was breathing, the glasses on his face, all of it. He sat there in that state peacefully, not letting anything stray across his thoughts. Suddenly, a flash distracted him. He wasn't sure if it was real or just in his mind, but it got his attention. That�s it.

Maya looked up at Misato. "His synch rate is dropping slowly now."

Misato nodded. "Hyuga, tell me you can see something?" she asked through gritted teeth.

He shook his head. "Nothing! There's nothing there!"

"It's starting to drop rapidly!" Maya reported abruptly. "One oh nine, one oh five--it's falling too fast!"

"His heart rate is increasing," Ayobi reported tensely.

Misato was about to order him to be pulled out, when Maya looked up in disbelief. "It's stopped; it's going back up now."

"How quickly?" Misato asked.

"Slowly, but steadily. Now it�s going down again. Stopped� back up. He must be resisting it," Maya said at last with a slight shake of her head.

Misato keyed on the comm, "Cirus, can you hear me?"

No response, but she could see his face. His jaw was clenched, and he was shaking in his chair from strain. She looked to Ayobi, "Check the sensors on the controls," she ordered.

Ayobi nodded and struck several keys. "My..." he led off. "They're almost overloading from stress!"

"Pull him out," Misato ordered at last.

Hyuga nodded and hit the button, but then he looked up in disbelief. "The pilot has overridden my control! He won't let us pull him out!"

"What?!" Misato asked in shock.

Rei stepped forward, but stopped herself, being unable to do anything at the moment. She reached up with her hand, as if to touch the plug through the window, but did nothing else.

Cirus thought he had prepared himself to face his demons, but a new and more terrible one was tearing into his mind with each eternal heartbeat. Despite the real trauma engulfing his mind, he had to let them scan for whatever was causing this, and so he overrode their code to pull him out. Forgive me, Misato...

"Scan the LCL," Ritsuko ordered.

Maya instantly switched to the cockpit sensors, and started reading them quickly. "There is something in it!" she reported at last.

"Scan it. Find out what the hell it is!" Misato shouted.

"The scanners can't identify it!" Maya replied in dismay.

Ritsuko leaned down, and hit several keys quickly. Nothing showed up until she hit the electromagnetic spectrum. "It's energy," she reported.

Misato slammed the comm button on. "Cirus, we have it! Get out now!" she shouted.

Hyuga looked up and nodded as the plug started to pull out. The LCL discharged violently through the emergency vents around the top and bottom of the test-plug as it was lifted. The sound of the door rushing open made Misato look back, at which point she noticed that Rei was gone. A heart-beat later the Major left herself, running down to the plugs.

"Aren't you going to go also, Doctor?" Maya asked Ritsuko.

"I doubt he needs my comfort, Maya," Ritsuko answered with a faint smile.

Rei hurried up to the side of the plug. Her face was calm, but her breath was quickened by her quick exit. Misato appeared behind the red-eyed Eva pilot as the plug fully locked up into place.

The hatch opened, and, for a few tense moments, nothing came out. Then some fingers latched onto the outside, and Cirus pulled himself up and out. As he paused there awkwardly, the darkly dressed pilot saw Rei's eyes looking up at him, and he shook his head, waving at her to back away. He slid out of the plug, and crashed to the grating.

Misato and Rei started to come closer, but Cirus raised his hand to them, and shook his head again, though it was still facing the ground. He took his glasses off, and crawled to the edge of the grating on his hands and knees. The young man pulled himself up slowly, his arms quivering, and propped his body up on the rail.

"Cirus?" Misato asked quietly.

"...Yes, Major?" he asked back, his voice hoarse, and he was still staring down at the water, his body somewhat limp.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

He started to chuckle, and then laughed. "H-how do you think?" he asked back wryly, his voice still shaking.

"What did you see?" she continued with a concerned tone.

Cirus stood up straight, his strength returning, and then he turned to the two of them, his eyes closed. "Nothing." He bowed his head so that his eyes were hidden, and he opened them looking down at the grating.

Taking the opportunity, Rei leaned down, and picked up his glasses. After walking toward the dark-haired boy, she held them out to him, cupped in her hands.

Cirus saw Rei's hands, and he took the glasses slowly with one of his own. He put them on, and swallowed hard before looking up at Rei with a grateful nod and a faint smile, "...Thank you, Miss Ayanami," he said very softly. He then looked back up at Misato with a questioning eyebrow. "So what is it?"

"Energy, in the LCL," Misato answered numbly. She could tell Cirus was under incredible control at the moment.

"Was it worth it?" he asked, his voice softer.

Misato didn't know, but she knew what he needed to hear. "Yes."

He nodded, apparently calm, and flashed a slight smile. "Ah... good." He then fell to the grating again, unconscious.

Rei and Misato dropped down beside him, and turned him over. Misato checked his breathing and pulse, and nodded to Rei. "He's alive."

A medical team suddenly rushed down the ramp around the plugs, and came up to them. Misato helped put Cirus on the bed, and they carted him off.

"What do you think he saw?" Misato asked Rei as they watched the medical team disappear behind the doors.

Rei didn't respond. She didn't know herself, but she knew it must have been painful.

Cirus woke with a start. He quickly calmed down, and saw that he was in the medical bay, one of the single rooms. Looking down at himself he saw that he was still in his Eva suit, but his glasses were off and not in the room. He took a steadying breath, and then put his legs over the side of the bed, sitting on the edge.

His past held more than enough to haunt him. He had prepared, thinking he would see the lab again, perhaps the first time he was in his Eva. What he saw was something from his future; the worst possible outcome of it. He had been in his Eva, on a battlefield, hunting something down. He'd stalked around the field with his forearm blades out and ready. Suddenly, he'd sensed something behind himself, and spun around, his blades slicing deeply into it. He'd pulled away, and his eyes had widened. It had been Unit 00, grasping at its throat and mid-section, which were gushing with blood. He'd screamed in his mind, running towards Unit 00, and trying to get the pilot out of it before it went critical. And then, suddenly, their Evas were gone, and it had been just he and Rei, her neck and torso cut in the same ways as he reached out and grabbed her, trying to keep the blood from pouring out. She'd reached up and touched his face, mouthing the question 'why?' at him before going limp.

Cirus caught himself squeezing the side of the bed with white-knuckled hands. He forced himself to relax. As he did so, he realized he had no idea how long he'd been asleep. He stood up from the bed, and walked towards the door; there was no window in the room. He opened it, walked out into the hall, and looked out of the window there.

"Cirus!" Misato's pleasantly toned voice came to his ears from his left.

Cirus turned, but remembered his glasses were gone, and so turned back to the window. "Ah, hello, Major. I hope you'll forgive the... lack of decorum," he apologized, pointing at his eyes as he looked out the window.

He heard Misato walked up beside him, and could see her reflection vaguely in the window. "Yes, that's fine. Though I really don't mind, you seem normal enough as a person."

Cirus suppressed a smile. That's what you say before I show them to you. "Thank you for the consideration, but it's for the best." He then remembered Rei, and looked down at the ground for a moment, then chanced a look in Misato�s direction. "Major... No... Misato, how is Rei?" he corrected himself.

"She's fine, Cirus. And so are you apparently," she added in a wry tone.

"Mmm, not quite," he replied very quietly, almost inaudibly so. "Has she gone home?"

"No, all three of them are out helping rebuild the city. I'm sorry you haven't seen it yet. The city's coming along wonderfully. I can't thank you enough for what you did," she added with a warm smile.

He smiled more genuinely than before, and looked down at the ground. "You're more than welcome, Miss Katsuragi."

"Eh, don't call me that. Makes you sound too much like Kaji," Misato replied with a wry wince.

Cirus chuckled. "Fair enough... I'm sorry to bother you with something so foolish, but do you happen to know where my glasses are?" he asked, almost looking at her out of reflex.

They appeared in front of Cirus from Misato's hand. "That's what I was coming to give you," she explained softly.

He took them, put them on, and turned to her with a smile and a thankful nod. "I appreciate it a great deal."

Misato smiled back, but then her face turned mischievously inquisitive. "Has Rei seen your eyes?" she asked.

Cirus couldn�t help but laugh. "Your persistence is notable, Major."

"I know," she said wryly, and then her eyebrows perked up as she added, "so?"

"Yes... she has."

Misato nodded knowingly. "She must like them."

Cirus gave her a curious look. "Why do you say that?"

"She says you have a 'kind' face."

Cirus was quietly struck dumb, and it took him a few moments to regain his ability to speak. "...She does?" he asked, managing to hide his sudden pang of embarrassment.

"Yes," Misato drew out the word knowingly, "she does. Now then, how are you... really?" she repeated in a more sincere tone.

Cirus' face turned flat, and he looked back at the window. "Shinji put it best, I think. It's very disconcerting."

"What did you see?" Misato asked.

"Did Shinji and Asuka answer that question?"

"Yes."

Cirus sighed long and wearily before turning back to her. "I saw myself killing Rei," he answered bluntly, his face cold.

Misato's eyes widened, and she seemed to reel herself in quite a bit. "And that's only... disconcerting?"

"It was much worse during the actual experience, Major. I've had enough time to... convince myself it wasn't real," he explained.

"I see..." Misato replied quietly. She looked up again, and saw that shimmering lines were running down his face as he looked out the window.

He suddenly turned to her. "Have I ever hurt her, Misato?"

Misato shook her head. "No, Cirus, you haven't." He looked down, and put his hand on the window, then looked up at it, the tears continuing to quietly stream down his face.

"You were just saying 'disconcerting', weren't you?" Misato asked him the obvious just to get him to admit it.

"...She's forced to live in a hell hole, she's treated like a tool, and now I've seen her die by my own hands, and then in them," Cirus' voice had so much cold anger behind it Misato drew herself back from him, afraid he might snap. He turned to her, his face still calm despite the raging emotions inside him. "And Ikari wanted her to go through this again? If I'd had even the slightest inclination I would have held her and never let her go that night."

Misato smiled faintly and sympathetically as she put her hand on his shoulder. "You didn't let go of her until she wanted you to, Cirus," she reminded him.

He bowed his head low, and nodded. "...Thank you, Misato."

"Heh... don't mention it," she replied, trying to lighten their mood.

Cirus chuckled and looked up at her with a wry smile. "Fair enough, Major." "So... when do you think you'll be able to come back and help?" Misato asked, her tone still light, but simply more business.

"Well, I'm still in my Eva suit, so I may as well help now," Cirus answered in kind, surprisingly light in mood.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, thank you, Major Katsuragi," he replied. "Well in that case I'll see you on the other side," and he started off towards the docking cages.

Misato waved her temporary goodbye to him, and turned to walk back to the command center. Only a few hours, and he's ready to go back to work... this can't be healthy.

Misato walked into the command center just as Unit 14 was launching. "You must have given him one hell of a pep talk, Major Katsuragi," Shigeru Ayobi said wryly as she walked up to the central part of the command center.

Misato shook her head at Ayobi. "Just keep an eye on his vitals, alright?"

Ayobi nodded, realizing her concern, and switched his screen to a vital systems read out of the pilot for Unit 14.

"He agreed to come back so soon?" Ritsuko asked, her mild surprise obvious.

"Yeah, I guess he's just a hard nut to crack," Misato answered. "So what's the situation with the test plug and synch lab?"

"The energy dissipated upon isolation," Ritsuko explained distantly.

"You don't like that answer," Misato commented.

"Not one bit. It's too neat."

Misato agreed. Something that serious never just vanished into thin air when it was found. "I guess you're scanning for abnormal energy activity anyway?"

"Of course," Ritsuko answered.

"...Could it be an Angel?" Misato asked, suddenly noticing the possibility.

"That's what I think at least," Ritsuko answered calmly.

"And the Commander?"

"The same of course. He always assumes it's an Angel."

"Yes, well it's saved our hide enough times."

"True."