“I will not leave him out here, not like this. Please, Misato, do not make me do this,” he heard Rei’s voice say softly, a gentle pleading flowing in as an undertone.

Rei…

Cirus raised his head up with a shivering motion of his neck and was able to barely make out the Angel and the other Evas off in the distance. His own Eva was not even lifting its head in unison. He understood that it was simply in too much pain and far too tired, like himself. But he was not going to endanger Rei because he was too weak to stand up. Cirus bared his teeth against the pain and pushed down on the controls with his arms. His Eva voiced its violent complaints, but obeyed nevertheless. Unit 14 stood up completely and Cirus looked down at the Eva’s body. Half of the upper-body armor was gone completely off of his right side. The other half had just pulled itself together from almost being severed off, leaving a strip without armor on that side also. He reached up with his unarmored hand and touched the side of the Eva’s face that had been hit. The armor was gone from that side of the helmet also. The eye still under the helmet flashed a bright white and then Unit 14’s appearance shimmered and disappeared.

Slowly, but with solid determination, Unit 14 started toward the battle.

Ritsuko looked down at her screen suddenly. “He can’t have…” her voice died off.

Misato looked over at her friend quickly. “What is it?”

“Unit 14 and its AT field just activated. I can’t see it anywhere, but he’s active,” Ritsuko answered, looking up at the main screen.

Misato did so herself with slightly widened eyes. She opened the comm on a private channel. “Cirus, are you there?”

No response came back to her query.

Then Angel finally stopped pacing and faced the three Evas with an impatiently swinging tail. And then it suddenly leapt forward, dashing at the Evas again. Asuka took aim and fired with her positron rifle, but after three more shots it died.

“Damnit, of all the times to run out!” she cursed in frustration and tossed the rifle behind her Eva.

Unit 00 started to raise its AT field, but Rei was too weak and it flickered before disappearing as the Eva sank to its knees.

“Asuka! Get Ayanami away!” Shinji shouted and then threw his axe with a powerful spin at the rapidly approaching Angel.

The Angel snapped its head to the side and bit the axe in half with one bite before continuously running after Unit 00. Unit 01 ran after it. He would not let it get her again.

Then Shinji saw a very odd occurrence. The ground started to explode after the Angel at set intervals. It was as if demolition charges were going off just behind the Angel and were rapidly catching up, geysers of rock, metal, and piping.

“Miss Misato, what is that?” Shinji asked as the small explosions of dust and loose metal grew closer to the advancing Angel he was chasing.

Misato looked over to Ritsuko, but they both realized what it was at the same moment.

The sequential blasts ran along side the Angel just before it was going to reach Unit 02 and Unit 00. It suddenly flew to the right and landed on its feet, skidding to a halt.

Asuka stopped and looked behind her to see what had caused the Angel to fly off course, but saw nothing. But then a faint distortion filled the air behind her and it solidified before pouring down to the ground, revealing Unit 14, and its chest heaving. The Eva’s body was visible and appeared an ashen gray color all the way to its half-visible set of teeth, which were bright white and razor sharp. Only Shinji could see the uncovered eye.

“…It’s black like his…” he commented softly as he looked at the Eva’s infinity-black eye.

Unit 14 turned its head to look at Unit 02 and 00, showing the two of them and the command staff the Eva’s eye as a result.

“Rei, how badly are you hurt?” Cirus’ voice asked calmly over the comm.

Rei was caught between a flood of relief and immense guilt as she looked up at the badly damaged Eva. “…I am fine,” she answered finally, her voice very soft.

Cirus was looking at Rei’s vitals as he spoke to her. “Rei, you don’t need to hide it from me,” he reminded her with a soft smile before turning his attention back to the Angel.

The Angel snarled in an unearthly manner at him and its eyes started to glow. Suddenly its head shot up toward Unit 00 and 02. Cirus looked up at them instantly and started to run toward them. The ground just behind Unit 00 exploded with shattering force from a cross-blast. Unit 02 was thrown back into the ground while Unit 00 was thrown into the air toward the Angel.

“Rei!?” Misato asked urgently, leaning forward on the console in front of her. Even Commander Ikari’s jaw was clenched as he watched.

Unit 14 rocketed into the air after Unit 00, catching it in both arms and landing down to its haunches without causing any pain to shoot through its mid-section. Rei looked up through Unit 00’s eye as Unit 14 set her Eva down and stood up. Before she could say anything the Angel was right there, bringing its powerful foreclaw down at Unit 14. Unit 14’s armored eye flashed and the mouth parts broke as it roared and raised its arms up. It blocked the strike and then pulled its naked arm from the block. A blade shot out of the arm, spraying blood down on the ground as it extended violently. The Eva roared again and then slammed the blade straight into the Angel’s face. The Angel roared and its black body came alive once more.

“Cirus-" Rei’s warning died in her throat as she saw the two spikes explode out of Unit 14’s back, spraying her Eva with its blood.

But Unit 14 was unfazed, it roared more powerfully and forced back at the Angel. The Angel was pushed onto its hind legs, and started to step back, the two spikes coming from its chest. Unit 14 resheathed the blade in its arm, and reached back before sending its balled fist into the Angel’s face with a shuddering impact.

Rei activated a vitals screen for Unit 14’s pilot and her eyes widened slightly. They were all in the red and his bio-scan showed so much data it couldn’t be read. She activated a private comm line. “Cirus, retreat now,” she said quickly.

“…That’s… my line,” his strained voice replied as the Eva forced the Angel back another step.

“Please, Cirus, you’re far too hurt to continue this. Please stop,” she pleaded softly.

Unit 14’s head bowed and then it leapt back, landing on both legs and one hand. The Angel fell back down to all fours as it retracted the spikes into its chest.

That’s right, retreat. Leave her unprotected so I may destroy them all.

Unit 00 stood up in front of the Angel and its AT field spread out. “You will not destroy us,” Rei replied calmly.

The Angel almost instantly unleashed a solid stream of red-green energy at Rei’s AT field. It collided with immense force, immediately forcing Unit 00 to its knees as it pressed down, the energy rushing off in droves. Rei groaned as she strained to stand back up against the torrential onslaught.

With an inhuman scream, a black silhouette flew past Unit 00 and slammed into the Angel, crashing both of them back into the ground.

Rei almost flew forward from the sudden release of pressure and saw Unit 14 and the Angel struggling on the ground. The Angel was pressing down on Unit 14’s shoulders and snapping at its face.

You will die now, human, and then the rest of your kind.

Cirus, though his face was contorted by the strain, calmly looked up at the Angel. “I may, but you will not destroy us all.”

Oh, and what gives your kind the right to exist and not me?

Cirus’ eyes widened as the statement came into his mind. “…Lucifer…”

The Angel roared with such power that the air distorted around its mouth and the eyes started to blaze.

“Rei, destroy it now!” Cirus shouted.

Rei’s brow creased firmly and Unit 00 rushed forward, one arm pulled back as a bright yellow glow surrounded it. With a building shout from the pilot, Unit 00 drove the AT field powered strike straight into the Angel’s side. The Angel’s face slackened as it was driven to the side and as Unit 00’s arm drove straight through its body.

With a final roar that resonated throughout the city of Tokyo-3, tearing through everything that heard it, the angel ignited in red flames and then flew apart with a catastrophic explosion. A pillar of red and green energy surging through the air and down through the cover into the Geo-front. The two parts that flew out near the top scattered the black clouds out for miles in either direction as the deafening roar of the energy died down, and then at last… dispersed.

The dust settled from the blast, revealing Unit 14 holding up a limp Unit 00 in its arms.

Misato urgently looked at Ritsuko who smiled at her and nodded. “She just wore herself out.”

Unit 14 fell to one knee, then both, and then slowly let Unit 00 slip to the ground. It then loosely toppled onto its side and lay there.

“Asuka, Shinji! Get both of them into the cages now!” Misato ordered quickly.

The other two Evas wordlessly complied.

Ritsuko shot out of Maya’s seat and was already heading for the door as Misato and Kaji joined her. “Two medical teams are already on their way down,” Ritsuko explained as they hurried.

Ikari and Fuyutsuki also left for the cages.

“That wasn’t supposed to be able to happen, was it?” Ayobi asked.

Hyuga just shook his head numbly as he continued to look up at the battlefield. On his screen flashed a value for the most powerful AT field ever generated as the freeze-framed image showed it get torn apart by Unit 00’s fist.

Unit 14 and Unit 00 docked first, Asuka and Shinji having helped them down before returning themselves. A med-bay team ran to each Eva, followed closely by Ritsuko, Misato, and even Kaji.

Rei slowly climbed up and out of her plug and started to climb down the ladder to the catwalk below. Her mid-section was very tender and she had to be very careful. She touched down and then eased away from the Eva, wincing as a slight pain shot through her body.

The med-team ran up to her and Misato came to the front. “Rei, come on, we’ll help you onto the gurney,” she said softly with a warm smile.

“I want to see Cirus,” Rei replied, starting to push past Misato weakly.

Misato gently gripped Rei’s shoulders. “Rei, he’s alive and will be just fine, please come to the med-bay with us.”

Rei hesitated for a long moment before reluctantly nodding, and letting the nurses and doctor ease her onto the mobile bed.

Misato let them steadily wheel her off the med-bay before joining Ritsuko, Kaji, and the other team over at Unit 14 as the other two Evas docked.

The plug had been completely pulled out and the front removed so that the pilot’s chair could be pulled out. Two doctors helped pull the unconscious young man from the chair before laying him down on the gurney.

“How is he?” Misato asked Ritsuko as the med-bay team carted Cirus off.

“They found that both of his arms were fractured, his left in three places. His right leg is mangled and his left was dislocated at the hip. I have no idea how all of it happened to him, either,” Ritsuko finished dryly.

“He fought like that?” Misato asked her friend worriedly.

“Apparently. And that’s not even counting the nerve and mental stress,” Ritsuko answered.

Just as the gurney was rounding the corner the med-team stopped suddenly. Misato, Ritsuko, and Kaji ran up and saw Cirus sitting bolt upright in it.

“Please lie back, Mister Trent,” one of the nurses pleaded.

“Your injuries are very severe, you have to come with us.”

Cirus looked past them and up at Misato. “…Rei?” he croaked.

Misato nodded. “She’s fine, she was worried about you, but she’s on the way to the med-bay.”

Cirus visibly relaxed and let himself lie back down as the team carted him off.

“I think we can see how he ignored the pain,” Kaji commented calmly.

Misato couldn’t help but smile in spite of Cirus’ state. He had such a good heart, and he loved Rei so much. It was a wonderful thing to see such devotion between any two people.

“I’ll make sure they’re both properly accommodated,” Ritsuko explained as she cut between Kaji and Misato to walk up after the med team.

“Kaji?” Misato asked softly.

“Yes?” he asked back, looking at her with a warm half-smile.

She almost laughed as she spoke, “Would you do that for me?”

Kaji’s smile broadened and he bowed to her in an exaggerated manner. “But of course, my lady.”

Misato laughed again, but Kaji noticed the pink hue her cheeks were turning as she quickly started to walk again. Her tone became more serious as they walked. “You think they’ll both be all right?”

“They’re both very strong, I’m sure they will be,” Kaji answered with a calm assuredness that put Misato at ease.

“Thank you, Kaji.”

Cirus opened his eyes slowly to the blinding whiteness of the room in which he was lying. He could only see out of one eye, soon being able to feel the bandages all over his body. He focused up on the ceiling until his mind cleared and slowly looked around the room with his lone eye. It widened as he looked to the right. He tilted his head slowly to make sure he could believe his peripheral vision. Rei was lying in the other bed, her chest slowly rising and falling under the covers as she rested peacefully.

He couldn’t see, but Cirus guessed her mid-section was bandaged like the majority of his body was. He could guess that since her breathing, though peaceful, was shorter than natural for her sleep, meaning she couldn’t expand her lungs very far.

Pushing his concern aside for a moment, Cirus looked out over the room more, realizing he could move his neck at least without pain. Their beds were much closer together than was normal in a room like this, he could have reached out and touched Rei if he tried hard enough.

He heard Rei groan and looked up. Her body shifted, but stopped moving abruptly and settled back into its former position as a wince passed over her features. Cirus reached out with his hand toward her enough to let the palm point out at her before closing his eyes.

Still in the process of being repaired, Unit 14’s single eye blazed brightly for a moment before fading back to its normal black deactivation.

The air near the wall at Rei’s feet shimmered and distorted before slowly, almost gracefully, pouring out over and toward her bed. It arced across the room and then slowly gathered over Rei’s body, clustering around her stomach area gently as it fell down.

Rei’s frame relaxed further into the bed as the pain was slowly washed away. Her eyes slowly opened, her mind sensing the soft warmth melting away her pain. She looked down and her eyes quickly widened with mute surprise as she saw the soft golden glow and the swirling air around her. Her mind cleared enough for her to remember the sensation. It was exactly the same as when Cirus had healed her arm, both times, but much more powerful and faster acting.

The shimmer started to fade gently away and then disappeared into the air as Rei’s body cooled down. Her pain was totally gone as she breathed in deeply and appreciatively.

Cirus’ eyes opened and he looked over with weak relief at her faint smile. He started to pull his hand back and let her fall asleep again, but she reached out with her hand and gripped his fingers in hers. Cirus looked up quickly in surprise, but his features rapidly softened as she smiled at him.

“…You did not have to do that, you should rest,” she said softly.

She felt his arm trembling and looked at him with slight concern on her calm face. Cirus smiled back in spite of himself. “I would have felt guilty if I hadn’t,” he replied softly, his voice capable of little else.

“Why?” she asked back curiously.

Cirus’ smile broadened gently. She was so adorable when she looked at him like that, as any other time. “…If it is in my ability to help you, I will,” he explained finally.

Rei’s face softened even further and she reached out more with her hand, clasping his in hers warmly. His fingers gently wrapped around her hand and he caressed the back gently with his thumb.

She let her hand linger there for several long moments, enjoying the warmth of his touch before gently pulling away. His fingers unraveled loosely, letting her hand retreat without argument. “Rest now, please?” she asked him, her soft smile remaining.

Cirus almost laughed at her question as he nodded his consent and pulled his arm back to his side, letting his head rest on the pillow.

Rei watched him fall asleep from her pillow as she brought her hand up over her body and held it in the other. She had wanted to hold on much longer, but she wanted him to rest, especially after what he had just done. Her own eyes slowly drifted closed, until they did completely and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, the smile remaining on her face.