Okay, I don't own these characters. Please don't sue.

This is considerably revised.

C&C/MST's greatly appreciated.



Closer

A NGEvangelion fanfiction
 
*******



*click*

*click*

Shinji sighed. Would Rei ever get that doorbell fixed? Unlikely. 
Anyways, here he was. Rei hadn't been in school the past couple of days, 
which was odd. But then, everyone got sick occasionally. And so he'd 
volunteered to take her the printouts. She never emptied her letterbox, 
so he'd have to go in. Things were never as simple as he'd like. 
Besides, at least he could then tell anyone if she was sick.

He knocked, twice. No answer. Remembering the last time, he shoved the 
door. It opened. 

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

Silence.

Not quite. A creaking... very soft.

"Hello?"

Shinji walked onward to Rei's bedroom. She was sitting there, knees 
pulled up to her chest. She was rocking, slightly, her arms round her 
knees. Her eyes stared at the wall -if indeed they saw anything; they 
had a vacant look, one that should not be seen by anyone, nor should be 
worn by anyone. She was dressed in a nightdress. 

He got the sick feeling that she'd been like this for the past two days. 
*A breakdown? I know they considered some mental instability, but 
this...*

She noticed someone was there, and lay back, parting her legs. Her eyes 
kept their vacant glaze. It seemed to him that she was on autopilot, not 
herself.

*What on earth?*

He sat beside her on the bed, looking down at her.  As he watched, her 
eyes closed.

"Ayanami, what are you doing? It's me." His throat was dry, his voice 
weak. She'd been injured before, but he'd never seen her like this. 

She opened her eyes and looked at him. Slowly, the glaze disappeared, 
and was replaced by recognition. Rei sat up, and suddenly grabbed him, 
placing her face against his shoulder. 

"What happened, Rei?"

No answer. Just a soft, almost imperceptible sound. 

A sob.

Shinji yanked out his cellphone and dialled Misato faster than he'd ever 
dialled in his life. 

"Misato? It's me, Shinji. I'm at Rei's. Get Ritsuko here now. I don't 
care where she is, just get her here now. Something's wrong with Rei."

*****

"She's been raped."

The statement was exactly what Shinji and Gendou had feared. 

"Do we have DNA samples?"

"Yes. But the criminal may well turn up again tonight at her apartment. 
Apparently, he's been coming along for the past two nights, and so the 
likelihood is he'll be there again tonight."

Gendou stood. "Thank you, Ritsuko. I'll deal with that." He stood, and 
left the room.

Ritsuko turned to Shinji. "We feel that it's best if she stays with 
someone for the duration. How about Misato's?"

"I don't think that Misato would mind. Asuka, though..."

"Asuka can go jump. This is a person's sanity we're talking about. I'll 
contact Misato in a while." She paused for a second, then continued 
quietly. "She thinks very highly of you, you know."

"I don't see why."

Ritsuko shook her head. "You've saved her life on several occasions. 
You're the only person who talks to her outside of the geofront. And 
if that isn't enough to make her trust you, I don't know what is. 
Besides, I don't think you'd take advantage of her."

Shinji coloured. "Thanks. I warned her before, you know, about her door. 
She never locks it. She was asking for something like this to happen." 
He paled as he realised what he'd said.

"Shinji!" Ritsuko looked shocked.

"I'm sorry... That came out all wrong. I didn't mean it like that.   
It's just that she never locks her door..." He looked up at Ritsuko, and 
noted her expression. "I think I'll shut up now."

Ritsuko nodded. "I see what you're getting at. It's okay; it must have 
been a shock to find her like that. But I will have a word with her 
about safety. Anyhow, for the next few days -until she feels up to 
living alone again, anyway- she'll be staying at Misato's."

*****

"Great! Wondergirl gets knocked up so she has to stay with us. 
Abso-bloody-lutely brilliant! Another girl around here for Shinji to 
drool over!" 

Asuka was taking the news as well as could be expected.  she was 
getting into a furious temper; near hysterical, in fact.

Shinji would have been glad that he wasn't there, if he had known.

"Now that's enough from you, missy." For once, Misato was sober
and forceful. "Rei is only staying for a while until she's 
feeling better. And remember: she was raped. She didn't want 
any part of it."

"Who would be so desperate to screw her?"

"Asuka?"

"Mmm?"

"Shut up. And be nice to her."

*****

Rei arrived with a minimum of baggage. It was, truthfully, 
all she had. Misato was there to greet her when she arrived. 

"Umm... I set up a camp bed for you. I suggested that Asuka 
let you sleep with her, but she was less than enthusiastic 
about the idea." 

Asuka had exploded, in fact. Misato wasn't much good at 
dealing with her most of the time, but Asuka in a full frenzy 
was more than she could handle. Besides, she'd threatened to 
pour all Misato's beer down the toilet, which had settled 
matters. Rei was sleeping elsewhere. 

"I understand." Rei's voice was as emotionless as always.

Misato continued. "We're getting Pizza in tonight. Anything 
special for you? It's no trouble at all."

"Anything vegetarian. No fish, no chicken, no meat."

"Fine! Fine. Aheh..." Misato had never felt particularly
settled around Rei in a social context. But she felt that 
there was something she had to do. Squatting, she brought 
herself down to Rei's level. "Look... if you want to talk
about it, you know..."

Rei looked levelly at her. "About what?"

"..."

*****

Gendou Ikari sat watching the door. The lights were out, 
and it was nearly eleven o'clock. 

Footsteps. Just outside the door. He stood, and moved 
to a corner; from here, there was no chance of being seen.

It was the right guy. The door opened, and a stealthy tread
paced down the short corridor. 

The man was silhouetted as he approached the bed. 

"She's not here." He spun at the sudden voice; coming face 
to face with Ikari Gendou. 

"Oh Gods... you're police, aren't you? I'll come quietly..."

"No, I'm not." There was a brief, muted bark, and the man 
grunted, falling to his knees, then onto his face, clutching
his stomach where the bullet had entered. "And you won't." 
With that, Gendou fired three more rounds, into the back and 
the back of the head. 

Leaving the apartment, Gendou pulled out a small radio. 
"Team 1? There's a body to be dealt with in the first child's 
apartment. No trace."

*****

It was nearly one, and Shinji couldn't sleep.

The moon was shining directly into his face, and he was still 
worried about Rei. Her emotionlessness was normal for her, but 
he wasn't sure if this time it was a deliberate attempt to 
deal with something she wasn't used to by not dealing with it.

His musings were interrupted by their subject entering his room.

"Ikari-kun."

"Rei?"

"I... I am uncomfortable sleeping alone tonight." 

*Of course she is,* thought Shinji. *She's alone every night. That 
bastard came along last night and the night before... of course she 
doesn't want to sleep alone.* 

"Feel free to move in here... but wouldn't you be better off with Misato 
or Asuka?"

"I doubt that Souryu-san will be happy to see me, and I 
dislike the smell of alcohol."

Shinji nodded. He could see that she wouldn't like to sleep
with Asuka, and he knew from experience that Misato's morning 
breath could strip paint. "Bring your bed in then."

"There is ample room in yours."

Shinji boggled. This was unexpected. But then, Rei's behaviour
wasn't always in tune with everyone else's.

Rei climbed into the bed. She was wearing a nightshirt, and 
Shinji (to his relief) had decided to wear boxers and a t-shirt
that night.

*****

Sleep wasn't easy.

Rei was curled up beside him, and he couldn't tell if she was 
asleep or not. She had her back to him, and she was so still, Shinji 
could barely tell if she was breathing.

She stirred, slightly. Her breathing was slow and even. But she was 
definitely awake. Shinji reached out and touched her shoulder, gently.

Rei froze up, and a tiny, terrified noise came from her throat.

"It's all right, Rei. It's me."

Rei relaxed. Fractionally.

"I can understand if you're having trouble sleeping. It must have been 
terrifying."

A faint noise. He couldn't tell what it meant.

"I often have trouble sleeping too. It was late at night that I found 
out that my mother had died." He paused for a minute. It was true; 
sometimes, in the small hours, he found himself thinking about what life 
could have been like if his mother had lived. Rei hadn't calmed much 
more at all.

"Rei... please relax. It's hard for me, too, seeing you like this."

Rei, for want of a better word, 'eeped' again, and froze completely.

Shinji mentally cursed, guessing that the rapist may have said something 
similar in a different context.

"Rei... I'm sorry. Nothing will happen to you here. Nothing will hurt 
you. Misato's across the hall, I'm here, and Asuka's next door..."

Rei had obviously relaxed until that last comment.

"I'm sorry," he said, practically whispering. "Relax and sleep. We can 
talk about this if you like. You're safe here. I'm here. And I won't 
hurt you."

Rei twisted round to face him. In the low light, Shinji could see tears 
glistening in the corners of her eyes.

"I understand, Shinji-kun. Thank you. I... I have fears." Rei paused; 
Shinji couldn't tell if it was to choke tears or to find the right 
words.

"I'm scared." She paused again, and a couple of tears ran down the side 
of her face. "I'm scared of the night, and of outside. I... I think I'm 
losing control of myself."

"Rei... it's all understandable. That guy came for you at night. You 
don't see his face, so he could be anyone. But I have my father's 
promise that he will deal with him. And he doesn't know this place. 
You're safe here." He reached up to her face, and wiped away a tear.

Rei gave one of her small, quiet smiles, and broke down crying, pressing 
her face against his shoulder. And throught the tears, she told Shinji 
exactly what he'd done to her, and how often, and how she'd felt about 
it.

Finally, when all the tears were spent, she fell asleep against him, her 
arms round him, and his round her.

*****

The next morning, Misato came in to wake Shinji up.

She changed her mind within two seconds.

*****

Slightly later, Shinji and Rei emerged.

"Thank you, Shinji-kun."

"Anytime, Rei." And with that, he kissed her, gently.

Asuka watched, open mouthed. *That... that... PERVERT! And that.... 
BITCH! He's mine, all mine!*

*Well, both him and Kaji...*

A little later, at the Geofront...

"Ritsuko, you can tell Rei that anytime she decides to return home will 
be fine. There is nothing else to fear there. I dealt with the matter 
personally."

"Understood. And, sir, I believe she and your son have grown somewhat 
closer."

"Really?"

"I have it on good authority from Major Katsuragi, sir."


--End--

Writer's notes:

It was pointed out to me that the lemon scene wasn't really right. All I 
can say is, when I wrote it, it seemed right. Looking back, It didn't 
really fit.

So this is the revised and improved version.

I hope you enjoyed it.

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