"Apparently that Angel did more than just surge the Eva's power core," Misato commented, she was standing beside Ritsuko.

The doctor remained facing the window for a moment. "Yes. It literally overloaded their brains. Cirus' case is more severe because he took two doses of the Angel's attack instead of one."

Misato's brow creased slightly. "Is that why he had a bloody nose?"

"Yes, he was hemorrhaging."

"How long had he been by the time we got to him?" the dark-haired Major asked, looking at her friend.

"Since he started the assault on the Angel. The LCL he was in was full of his blood," Ritsuko answered.

"Why didn't he tell us? Surely he knew he could die from loss of blood," Misato asked as she looked back to the two unconscious pilots.

"We can ask him when he wakes up." Ritsuko exhaled audibly as she turned slightly and looked at Misato. "He'll be out for another two days, but Rei should wake up later this afternoon. Her case is much less severe thankfully."

Misato looked from Rei to Cirus for a moment, her eyebrows pointing down.

Ritsuko's left eyebrow piqued. "What's wrong, Misato?" her voice came into the Major's thoughts.

Misato looked up with an abrupt smile. "Oh nothing! Just had a long day, is all."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow but didn't pursue the matter; Misato did as Misato chose.

Rei awoke with a quick intake of breath. It was a delayed reaction of surprise from her stumble earlier that day. She calmed herself down, and sat up in the bed. Obviously the pain she'd experienced during the Angels attack had been more than just synch-pain from her Eva. She held her hand to her head to try and quell the raging headache in it. Gritting her teeth quietly, she opened her eyes, looking up and around herself.

She saw Cirus in the bed beside hers and wondered why he was there also. He must have fainted as well.

Rei stood up from her bed slowly, her crimson eyes lingering on the dark-haired boy in the other bed before the door to their room opened. Soon regretting the quick motion, Rei looked over at the door. The pain rushing through her head was easily ignored.

Shinji and Asuka came in and looked up, their eyes widening with surprise and then smiles appearing on their faces.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Asuka commented wryly.

"It's good to see you awake, Miss Ayanami," Shinji said with a slight bow.

The blue-haired girl seemed somewhat puzzled by their appearance, but tipped her head back to Shinji softly in response. "...Why have you come here?" she asked quietly of both of them, looking from Shinji to Asuka and back calmly.

"Well of course! Cirus got hurt," Asuka answered indignantly and walked over to Cirus' bed.

Shinji shook his head at Asuka's back. "We came to check on you as well, Miss Ayanami," he said, turning back to Rei with a smile.

Asuka's reaction hadn�t surprised Rei, but Shinji's did. Rei�s eyes widened slightly. "T-thank you, Ikari."

He smiled again and rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Don't mention it!"

Asuka plopped down backwards in a chair near the foot of Cirus' bed, hooking her chin and fingers over the back. "So when will Cirus wake up? I want to be the first thing he sees!" she demanded loudly.

Shinji looked at her and shook his head again, "He'll wake up in a day or two," he answered.

Rei's expression became subtly curious once again, her pale eyebrows arching faintly. "Why will Cirus take so great a time longer?"

"What she said," Asuka agreed, pointing at Rei.

Shinji shrugged a bit. "He took a longer hit from the Angel's attack. That's what knocked you out, Ayanami," he added looking at Rei.

"Oh yeah," Asuka said, though her bubble had obviously been popped.

"A longer hit?" Rei asked again.

"Oh that's right, you couldn't see it. Cirus absorbed the Angel's attack so we could kill it in a physical form," Asuka explained.

Rather abruptly, Rei glanced at Asuka, her red eyes widened a slight degree.

Asuka, having never seen a trace of emotion on Rei's face, shrunk away a bit. "All of its power...?" Rei continued with a deep tone of concern in her soft, gentle voice.

"I suppose so," Shinji answered. "How else could he get it to change from that form to a solid state?"

Rei looked from Shinji to Cirus with a creased brow.

"What's wrong, Ayanami?" Shinji asked.

"Nothing is wrong," Rei answered him, looking back up, her expression calmed.

"Alright then I guess we'll be off. Will you be joining us, Miss Ayanami?" Shinji started heading for the door with Asuka.

"Yes, I'll come back soon," Rei replied, still standing in the middle of the two beds.

"Alright, see you later then," Shinji said with a wave as he and Asuka left the room.

Rei looked back down at Cirus with a wary look in her eyes before closing her curtain and changing back into her clothes. She left soon afterwards, but stopped as she walked past the window, looking at Cirus one last time that day.

Unit 00 held up the pylon as Units 01 and 02 riveted it solidly into place. When that was done all three of them helped human workers place connection tubes and, this time, sliders for the opening and closing action of the new cover.

"That's interesting," Ritsuko commented as she looked down over Maya�s shoulder.

"What is?" Maya asked, quickly looking over her control panel.

"Look at Rei's synch rate," Ritsuko answered, pointing at it on Maya's screen. "It's gone up slightly since yesterday. I would have thought it would go down with the Angel fight." Ritsuko stood up straight and looked to Misato. She pointed at the screen, more specifically at Unit 00 on the screen, and then made a motion as if she was holding something in her hand and speaking into it.

Misato walked over and handed Ritsuko the mike, set for Unit 00 specifically. Ritsuko took the mike and activated it.

"Rei, you're doing very well today, good work."

"...Thank you, Dr. Akagi," Rei's voice came back, the slight surprise obvious in her voice.

When Ritsuko had shut off the mike Misato gave her an inquisitive glance. Ritsuko pointed at Rei's synch rate and Misato watched it increase by a half point.

"That's amazing!" Misato blurted out.

Ritsuko raised both dark eyebrows calmly, blinking. "Yes, it is. I think I know why, there's just one problem with it."

Looking up at her friend, Misato asked, "And that is?"

"The reason isn't possible," the blond doctor answered with a soft shake of her head.

Misato looked back down at Rei's synch rate. "'When all plausible reasons have been exhausted, then the only reason left, no matter how improbable, must be the case'," she stated the old adage from Sherlock Holmes. "Besides, it doesn't matter how impossible it is. If it works, let's use it and not waste time figuring out how it works."

"Not a very scientific method," Ritsuko commented dryly, leaning down to look more closely at the screens.

"Well, I've noticed that when you try and figure out unexplainable things they not only stop happening, they also blow up in your face," Misato replied in the same tone.

It was a cold reminder to Ritsuko that, professionally speaking, Misato didn't like her very much. She didn�t reply.

Ritsuko looked up at the main screen and watched as the three active Evas continued their work. Though as a scientist Misato's explanation was down right laughable, Ritsuko had to admit, as a human, that the words had a grain of truth. Indeed she was very much like her mother, and that thought shook her to the core.

"Miss Misato, I think my riveting gun has stopped working," Shinji's voice came over the comm system. His face appeared in the lower left corner of the main view screen.

"Eh, alright, tell the other two to slow down while you go get another one," Misato replied with a yawn.

"Yes, ma'am," Shinji replied and his view screen flittered off.

Misato chuckled as she saw Unit 02 throw down its own riveting gun and put its hands on its hips, staring at Unit 01. Obviously Asuka was wondering why Shinji got to take a break.

"Unit 02?" Rei's voice came over her comm.

"Yes, yes, what?!" Asuka shouted back, still irritated at Shinji's little excursion.

"I can not hold this pylon in place the entire day, would you please at least help hold it until Ikari returns?" Rei asked her.

Asuka looked at Unit 00 and saw its arms trembling as it was holding up the pylon. "Oh! Yeah, sure, sorry," Asuka blurted out, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she picked up her riveting gun and started putting the pylon in its place.

Shinji came back a moment later with a new riveting gun and they proceeded on schedule.

"Hoi, this is slowing us down too much," Misato complained as she looked at the schedule. "I wish Cirus would wake up already."

"The boy did take the full brunt of an Angel attack for us, I think he's entitled to a little rest," Ritsuko replied with a wry smile.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

The next day Cirus was woken up by a rather loud shout of his name. He managed to keep his eyes closed until he could fish his glasses off the table and put them on. Smiling faintly in a wry manner, he sat up to see Misato Katsuragi standing near the open doorway.

"I'll bet you enjoyed that," he said.

"You have no idea," Misato replied with an evil grin.

"Cirus!" Asuka shouted, running into the room and throwing her arms around him, almost crashing him back into the bed.

"G... good to see you too, Asuka," Cirus replied, though he was a little short of breath.

"Asuka, he does need to breathe," Misato reminded the girl, still smiling.

Asuka pulled away with slightly pink cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." "Don't worry about it," Cirus replied. He held his head with his hand for a moment, "I have an incredibly powerful headache though."

"Rei had the same thing when she woke up. It will go away soon," Misato explained.

"Ah yes. And how is Rei? And Shinji for that matter?" Cirus asked.

"Oh they're fine. A little ticked at you two I think, but fine," Misato answered.

"Hey! They said I could come down and say hello to Cirus!" Asuka replied.

"Oh, yes. I'm ready to work, Major," Cirus said, remembering what he had been doing when the Angel attacked. He doubted it had been completed even he'd been asleep for a month.

"Great. In that case get dressed and get in your Evas. We're three days behind schedule anyway," Misato replied, waving and leaving the room.

"I swear, we've been working as hard as we can and she still says we�re behind schedule," Asuka whined.

"That's my fault, I'm afraid. Without four Evas there's no way her schedule can be kept," Cirus replied, hopping out of the bed. He was still wearing his Eva suit.

"They never took yours off?" Asuka asked.

"What, did you want to see something?" Cirus asked back with a wry smile.

Asuka's cheeks turned bright red. "I didn't say that, you sick, perverted-! Oh! I'm leaving!" she shouted, running out of the room.

Cirus chuckled and then sprinted off after her, since they were heading to the same place.

Unit 01 forced a pylon into place as Unit 00 riveted it. When it was done Unit 01 held itself up by placing its hands on its knees and crouching down.

"This is... tiring... work," he got out between gasps. "How did you and Cirus do this for so long, Ayanami?" he asked as he stood up again.

"You have to hold them longer than we did, since only I am helping," Rei answered, calm as ever.

"So allow us to give you two a hand," Cirus' voice came over the comm system as Units 14 and 02 came up out of the launch pads.

"Ah, Cirus, good to see you again," Shinji replied.

"Heh, for more than one reason I bet," Cirus commented as Unit 14 helped Unit 01 heft a pylon into place.

Units 02 and 00 riveted it. Thanks to the four of them working as one, they got four pylons up in the space of ten minutes.

Unit 02 pointed its riveting gun at a hole, but looked down at something as it did. When Asuka pulled the trigger as she looked back up she let out a slight eep.

"Um... Cirus, are you alright?" she asked.

Unit 14 turned its head to look at her and then looked up at its hand. It had been riveted to the pylon.

"Ah, I see. Yes I'm fine Asuka, hold on a moment," he replied, his voice apparently very calm.

Asuka watched in horrified fascination as Unit 14 ripped its hand off of the pylon, tearing a hole in its center.

"No harm done. Shinji! Let's get another pylon," Cirus said as Unit 14 turned its head to Unit 01 and the two of them set off to get another pylon.

Unit 02 watched them as if in a stupor.

Cirus saw Unit 02 still staring at his hand and opened a private channel to Asuka. "Asuka, what�s wrong?"

"Your hand has a hole in it, and you're not in pain?" Asuka asked back.

"Just forget it, Asuka. ...Just try not to do it again. I don't need two holes in my hand," Cirus answered with a slight chuckle.

Asuka let out a nervous laugh, lightening up slightly. "I'll try not to. Just don't make me mad."

"Wouldn't dream of it." "That's incredible," Ritsuko commented looking down at Unit 14's readout.

"What is it?" Misato asked, walking over.

"He just got a rivet through his hand and Cirus hasn't made a word of complaint," Ritsuko explained.

"Well maybe he lowered his synch ratio to get rid of the pain?" Misato suggested.

"No, his ratio is at one thirty. He felt it full force and still is. He must have high pain tolerance because he's not stopping his work," Ritsuko answered.

"I'll have to question him about that when he gets back," Misato said quietly.

When Cirus jumped down from his entry plug he found Misato standing directly before him. Somewhat curious, he piqued an eyebrow as he rose back up to his full height. "Yes, Major?" he asked.

Her expression was quite stern as she eyed him back. "Why didn't you report the damage to your Eva?" she demanded coldly.

"What damage?" he asked back simply with a creased brow.

"A rivet went through your left hand, well," she corrected herself with a faint wave of her own right limb, "Unit 14's left hand."

Cirus invited Misato over to look down at the Eva's hand by stepping back and motioning down toward the extremity in question. She looked down and her eyes widened. The hand was completely whole.

"Perhaps the sensors were off?" he suggested lightly as he looked at her, both of his obsidian eyebrows raised.

Misato looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "How did you do that?" she asked quietly.

Cirus' face turned very cold and flat. "Don't ask me that question. You'll find out soon enough," he responded.

So there's the spy I've heard so much about, Misato thought to herself seriously. But the look on his face seemed somewhat pained, still human.

Sternness giving way to mature acceptance, she asked, "Are you sure I will?" in calm response.

He bowed his head to her respectfully, "Positive."

As he walked off to the locker room Misato looked over to Asuka, who was staring down at Unit 14's hand. The dark-eyed Major raised her arms above her head and spread them apart, telling Asuka to forget about it officially. Asuka came out of her little trance and nodded at the silent order before heading off to the locker.

Misato was waiting in the hall just outside the locker room that the pilots used to get into their Eva suits, leaning against the right side of the hall nonchalantly. She looked up when the mechanical door slid open to the side and Rei stepped through.

"Ah, Rei, there you are," Misato said with a smile as Rei walked out of the locker room. "Could you come with me for a moment?"

"Yes," Rei answered and allowed Misato to lead her off down the hall for some meters and into a small room.

Once inside Misato looked at Rei calmly and spoke quietly. "I need you to do me a favor, Rei. Can you?" she asked.

Rei nodded softly. "Yes."

"No, I mean really. This isn't an order," Misato explained with a brief shake of her head.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked, her thin, pale blue eyebrows coming together curiously.

Misato sighed and took a long moment to put together her words. "I can't ask this of you as Major Katsuragi. This is between friends."

Rei found the statement puzzling. "Friends?" she asked.

"Well, of course. I thought we were friends, at least," Misato replied, adding the second comment with an uncomfortable wince.

Rei looked down at the ground softly, then off to the side as well. She didn't know how to react to this.

Misato gave a faint smile and spread her hands out. "Look, Rei, if you can't do it, that's alright. I had to check."

Rei looked up calmly. "What do you need?" she asked.

Misato smiled. "I need you to ask Cirus about his Eva. I think he'll talk to you," she explained.

"Why?"

Misato grimaced and looked away for a moment. She looked back at Rei. "I need you to ask him about its hand. Can you do that?"

"You did not answer my question," Rei replied.

"I can't tell you why Rei," Misato admitted softly.

"Why not?"

"Because I might be wrong, and I don't want to mislead you," the older woman said with apparent sincerity. "If you could just try, I would be grateful," she finished with a smile.

Rei's brow creased and she looked down again. Handling such a situation was foreign to her, alien. It was completely outside her experience. But as she looked down she saw her hands and remembered what she had thought about in her Eva as it had descended.

...But I don't understand, she thought helplessly. She decided to see what it would do and looked up at Misato. "I... I will ask him," she said finally.

Misato smiled at her, and held Rei's hands in her own. "Thank you, Rei. I won�t forget this."

The doorbell rang and Cirus walked up to the door. He looked out the hole and his eyes quickly widened. He put his glasses back on and opened the door. "Hello, Miss Ayanami," he said to Rei.

"Hello, Trent," she replied calmly.

Cirus stepped to the side, opening the door more fully. "Do you wish to come in?" he asked.

Rei nodded and stepped past the threshold of the apartment. Cirus motioned for her to proceed into the living area; she did so calmly and then turned back around to look at him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked as he walked in.

"No."

"Then may I ask why you've come?" he continued. Again he wasn't wearing his coat, but the dress shirt, slacks, and shoes all remained.

"Why did the hand on your Eva heal?" she asked plainly.

Cirus showed no outward signs of his pang of shock. Misato must have... "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Unit 14 was damaged in its left hand during construction today. Why was the damage not there when it docked?" Rei continued.

Cirus was holding his hands behind his back, and he was squeezing them very hard as he thought of how to answer. "...I can't answer that question, Miss Ayanami."

"Why not?" she asked back, again scanning his eyes with hers, even with the glasses.

I'll get you for this, Misato... "I have not been allowed to disclose that information to NERV," he answered honestly.

"Very well," Rei replied and then started to walk out.

Rei stopped and turned around to him, but then turned back around and left.

When the door closed Cirus squeezed his fist to the point of his hand turning white. "Major Katsuragi..." he muttered through clenched teeth.

Unit 02 placed the pylon and Units 01 and 00 riveted it solidly. Unit 14 was going over the areas they had done and securing the rivets. It proceeded this way most of the day and no one had any reason to complain. It was nice to have a bit of peace of quiet.

Unfortunately, quiet breeds resentment. Cirus had not spoken to anyone that day aside from confirmation of orders, and even then his tone was cold.

"Cirus, you're moving slowly, something wrong?" Misato asked him finally.

"Nothing, Major," Cirus' voice came back.

Unit 14 sped up slightly in its traveling from section to section.

"Do you think he�s going to act soon?" Ritsuko asked quietly.

Misato's eyes widened at the question. "After all this, you think he'd really do that?"

"As quick as his Eva can run," Ritsuko answered plainly. "Ah, look at this," she said, pointing down at her screen.

Misato walked over and looked down. Cirus' synch rate had dropped down to ninety-five. "A thirty-five point drop?" Misato asked in surprise.

"Something's bothering him," Ritsuko explained.

"I know that," Misato said dryly, "but that's a major drop in one day, regardless."

"True. Cirus, is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked over the comm.

She got a wide-eyed look from Misato, but ignored it.

"Fine, Dr. Akagi," Cirus' voice came back.

Ritsuko's eyes widened as she looked down at his synch rate. It scrolled back up to one twenty. "That�s not..." she cut herself off while her voice was still quiet.

Nothing else occurred the rest of the day until it was finally time for the Evas to dock. The cover was almost complete.

In the hangar, Cirus hopped down from his Eva wordlessly and then proceeded to the locker room, unknowingly under the watchful gaze of Rei. She followed him around with her eyes until he finally disappeared into the locker room. She finished adjusting a control on the side of her entry plug before proceeding to the locker room herself.

When the locker-room doorway rushed open, Cirus walked out calmly and saw Misato out in the hall, off to his left. The Major was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her head bowed, her dark eyes closed softly. The darkly dressed young man obviously noticed her by his pause at the exit, but he walked past her without a word, his coat fluttering in his wake.

"See you tomorrow, Cirus," she said calmly.

"And you, Major," he returned without looking back and finally disappeared down the hall.

Rei was the one for whom Misato was waiting. When the young woman walked out of the locker room the Major came away from the wall and smiled at her.

"Did you find anything out?" she asked softly.

Rei stopped and shook her head calmly. "He did not tell me anything," she answered.

"I see..." Misato replied, sincerely surprised. She smiled again, "Thank you very much, Rei. I won't forget this," she added and then left.

"...You're welcome, Misato," Rei whispered and then went on her way.

Cirus was leaning against a wall on the other side of a turn just a few meters ahead in the hallway. He pulled away from the wall and strode down the hall to his right.

Misato took a left at the next T-junction in the hall and almost ran straight into Cirus. "Oh- sorry!" she said quickly and then started to go past him.

Cirus' arm came out and grabbed hers, just enough to spin her back around to look at him. "Why did you ask Rei to do that?" he asked bluntly.

Misato hid her surprise. "What are you talking about? And don�t hold my arm," she reminded him, pulling her arm out of his grip. He didn't fight her on it.

"I would apologize, but I feel you owe me the same. You know full well what I'm talking about. Asking for yourself is one thing, but do not make her do your dirty work." And with that, Cirus started to walk back down the hall, past Misato.

"Then why don't you answer me?" Misato asked him, turning around to look after him.

"I already said no once, Major. You forget," he turned back around, "that I operate outside your authority when I'm out of my Eva, and even in my Eva when the situation is right."

"I'm surprised you had the guts to say no to Rei," Misato commented, seeing how Cirus would react.

His face turned very cold. "That's why you sent her to ask me that?" Cirus asked, his voice softer than before.

Misato matched his expression and added a stern tone. "I was curious."

Cirus' eyebrows arched downward. "And I thought I was the cold blooded one," he said simply, and then turned and left.

Misato was taken unawares by the comment, but it struck home. She'd used Rei to get to him. She'd rationalized it to herself so much that she�d forgotten why she had to. She had taken advantage of Rei.

Misato reached up with her hand and clasped the cross at her neck. She set her face and then spun around, hurrying down the hall quickly.

Rei was taking the escalator down to the exit gate when she heard someone call her name. She looked up, and saw Misato running around the edge of the railing towards the escalator�s beginning, and then running down its length to get to her.

"Yes?" Rei asked.

"...Rei," Misato caught her breath and then looked apologetically at the blue-haired girl, "I can't thank you enough for doing that for me, but I need to apologize. It was wrong of me to ask you to do it. I had an idea in my head and I wanted to see if it was right, and I... I..." she couldn't quite get the words to come out.

"Used me?" Rei finished for her calmly as they stepped off the escalator.

Misato's face sunk and she nodded. "I'm so sorry, Rei."

"I don't mind, Miss Katsuragi. I'm used to it," Rei replied calmly and then walked off to the gate.

Misato leaned against the wall with her head and then bashed her fist into it. "G'd I'm so sorry, Rei," she said, turning around and sliding down to the ground.