Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book Two)

E12 Part 3: Vergöttlichung

Downtown District. Tokyo-3.
Some time later.

Asuka sat by herself at the very end of the street, surrounded by orange caution tape. As far as Shinji could tell, she seemed to be watching Unit Two as it sunk into the ruined tarmac. He wondered how long she'd been there.

Then the Doctor pushed something into his hands. "Here."

"Huh?" Shinji blinked. He looked down at the somewhat garish plaid blanket he now held. "Oh. What's this for?"

"Guess." The Doctor nodded at the girl in the distance.

Shinji blinked. "Uh..."

"Now pay attention. This next bit's important." The Doctor dabbed at his face with a handkerchief. The bleeding from his eyes seemed to have slowed down a bit, at least. "Few things you'll want to remember -- first, personal boundaries. No touching or physical contact unless she initiates. Let her choose how much distance she needs right now. Second, acceptance. You'll want to prepare yourself for -- sorry, multitasking -- oi!" He barked at the two hazmat-suited NERV technicians in the process of pulling the ladder off the back of the Daihatsu minitruck. "Hands off! I promised Kongo I'd have that back to him!"

"Sorry, sir," one technician said. "Standing orders are to confiscate any and all material artifacts involved in an Angel incident."

"Oh, come on! What're you lot gonna do with it?" the Doctor snapped. "Stick it down in the basement with some kind of mystic mumbo-jumbo name? The Ladder of Jacob or something?..."

The two technicians exchanged a glance.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "... tell me you're joking."

The lead technician rubbed the back of his neck. "They've... already printed out the labels."

"Guh. Fine, then!" The Doctor growled and turned back to Shinji. "Where was I?"

"Uh... preparing myself," Shinji said hesitantly.

"Right." The Doctor shook his head. "Be prepared for her to lash out. Don't take it personally. That's the trauma talking, not her... well, probably. Point is, don't let her drive you away."

"Okay. But... um... are you really sure --"

"And third and finally -- and this is the hard part..." The Doctor knelt down and looked him in the eye. "You have to accept that -- no matter how much you might want to... there's nothing you can do that's gonna take away this pain for her. There's nothing you can say. No magic words that'll make everything better. That's not how this works."

"So... why say anything, then?"

"You said you wanted to get stronger, didn't you?" The Doctor didn't blink. "Now's your chance. Be strong for her."

Shinji looked away. I did say that, didn't I, he thought. He sighed reluctantly. "Yeah... okay..."

"Look, just -- don't let her be alone right now! That's it. That's all you have to do." The Doctor spread his hands. "Accompany her, in this moment. That's all you can do."

"Can't you say something to her, though?" Shinji pleaded. "You're so much better at this stuff than me."

The Doctor gave him something that might have been a smile, if viewed from a certain perspective. "Trust me, Shinji. I'm the last person she wants to see right now.

"Now, if you excuse me..." He stood up. "I need to send a quick text, find Mr. Kongo a new ladder, then get back to the TARDIS before I bleed out." He wiped another streak of blood from his eyes. "Though... possibly not in that order."

***

Command Center

"I'll just say it." Ritsuko stood beneath the large board, her arms crossed. Above her head hung the security footage from the Daedalus Building, next to a timeline of Asuka's psychograph readings. "Is anyone else concerned by the fact that our erstwhile ally can somehow scare an Angel away just by thinking at it?"

I should be up there right now, Misato thought. I should be with Asuka. But what do I even say to her? How can I even...

She felt her cell phone vibrate. Speak of the devil. She flipped it open and read the Doctor's text:

THEY'RE UP TO SOMETHING.
2 ANGELS IN A ROW NOW. BOTH RECONNAISSANCE TYPES: SAMPLE-TAKER & SCANNER.
STUDYING/PROBING DEFENSES. GATHERING INFORMATION. SCOUTING THE TERRAIN. CAN'T BE A COINCIDENCE.
QUESTION IS - WHAT ARE THEY PLANNING? WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN PREPARING FOR?

***

Downtown District

"... hey." Even Shinji could tell the caution tape meant something. Instead of crossing the line, he carefully sat beneath the orange ribbon, about where he figured she could see him out of the corner of her eye. "S-someone asked me to give this to you." He placed the blanket down where she could reach it.

She didn't say a word. Didn't move a muscle.

"So I... I really don't know what to say in a situation like this. I'm glad you're --" Okay didn't seem like quite the right word, given the circumstances. Neither did alive. "... I'm just glad you're safe now."

No reaction.

He licked his lips. "... you survived, though, right? At least there's that, isn't the--"

"How stupid do you think I am?" she growled.

"Huh?" Well, good, he thought. At least she can still talk.

"I said -- DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT?!" All at once, like flipping a switch, she was shouting. "Do you think I can't see what you're up to?! You think I can't tell what's going on in that TINY LITTLE BRAIN of yours?!"

"Um... wha--"

"You think I haven't noticed?! The way you look at me!" She hugged her knees closer. "You think I can't tell what you want?!"

"N-no!" He felt his face go red. "That's not --"

"Oh, PLEASE!" she snarled. "You couldn't be more obvious if you tried! You figure, she's VULNERABLE! Of COURSE she'll give it up if I'm nice! It'll be so EASY!"

"I'm s-sor--" No, wait, don't apologize, he thought. That'll just piss her off even more. Calm down. Remember what the Doctor said. It's just the trauma talking. "Asuka, that's not it, I swear --"

"So WHY, then?! HUH?!" She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Why else would you be here?! You stupid pervert! What's in it for you?! What the hell do you want from me?! Are you just here to rub it in?! That I needed to be saved AGA--"

"Asuka, I'm trying to be your FRIEND, okay?!" He didn't mean to yell. It just slipped out that way. "That's all I'm trying to do here. Really. I mean it."

That, at least, seemed to give her pause.

"Besides... we're pilots, right?" Shinji looked down. "If we're not there for each other, who will be?"

For a while, she didn't say anything. Then: "... give me that!" she hissed. She snatched up the blanket and wrapped it around herself in one swift motion.

They sat there without speaking for a time. Unit Two vanished into the ground. The hatchway started to close up.

"Shinji," she said. "The Doctor..."

She turned towards him. For the very first time since he'd met her, Shinji realized, Asuka looked -- no, not just scared. Terrified. In a way that he could never even have imagined her being before this moment.

"What is he?" she asked, her eyes wide with fear. "Just what the hell is he?!"