Well, here I come again with this fic. This is about the first half of
Part 3. I've writen the draft a while ago and it doesn't look like I'll
have time to complete it very soon. So, since it stands well alone as it
is, here it comes.

I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to complete that; maybe tomorow,
maybe in a month, I'm not sure... To the people who follow my story :
sorry ^_^;;

Previous parts can be found at :

http://www.multimania.com/dairen/healer.html


And without further delay, here it comes :



HEALER

Part 3.

Characters and situations used here ultimately belong to GAINAX (except
for that tiny bit which is M.Z Bradley's).

*****


Before Second Impact, Japan had the lowest delinquency rate of the
industrialized nations. Its aftermath had seen a period of chaos, but it
didn't last long. Order had been restored pretty quickly - the dramatic
drop in population hadn't really left enough people for mass
delinquency. Among other things, that meant a young teenage girl didn't
need to fear for her security in Tokyo-3, even if she came back home
late at night. Of course, one peculiar young teenager wouldn't probably
have cared, even if such an attitude had been a mistake.

As she walked along the street to get back to her flat, her features
making her look very much like a ghost under the night lights, Ayanami
Rei didn't worry about any potential danger. Fortunately, her lack of
concern wouldn't prove to be a bad idea.

Even if her face didn't express anything, she was preoccupied. A hour
before, she'd been in Shinji's hospital room, talking with him. To
volunteer dialog was in itself unusual enough; but her reaction to what
occurred right after was even more so.

Doctor Akagi had entered the room and indicated she had to see Shinji
alone to check on his condition. However, she'd asked Rei to leave the
room and told her to go back home, since it'd probably take a while. So,
she had left the Geofront, even though it bothered her.

She couldn't express what it was, but she knew she didn't like it one
bit. It took her a while, as she walked to the run down building she
lived in, to figure it out.

"I'm... Annoyed because I had to leave Shinji." She finally decided.

Finding that out came at a complete surprise, so foreign to her was the
concept of needing company. Even more so if that company couldn't just
be anybody. She usually saw herself as mostly indifferent to the people
surrounding her. Wanting consciously to be with a specific someone felt
very strange. In fact, she wouldn't have been able to say if it felt
good or bad.

When she finally got home, she disrobed and got in bed, but it was much
later that night that she managed to fell asleep, so confused was she by
these sensations.

*****

"... H106. Room H106..."

The mostly empty hallways were a testimony to NERV's size, especially
since one would have expected much more activity at ten in the morning.
Luckily, there were still people enough for Shinji to ask for direction,
which Misato had proved very necessary for those who didn't know the
place.

Finally, after many turns, some of them wrong, he found himself in a
hallway with the doors numbered in a 'H something' way.

Many things can make someone ignore his fears and apprehensions; among
them are violent emotions, such as rage. It can also come from
absentmindedness, or just plain drowsiness. Shinji had every rights to
be afraid of what was in that room : Ritsuko was waiting for him there.
The evening before, she had just done a few standards checks on him
before setting him free. But she'd told him that she needed to run a few
additional tests on him, and that he had to come and see her that
morning.

She didn't tell him what in him interested her, but he didn't need
psionic powers to it was his peculiar capacities she wanted to explore.

By all rights, he should have been terrified of that room and the woman
scientist in it. He didn't care. He still was far from having fully
recovered from the healing's strain, and on top of it, he'd had a
splitting headache since he'd gotten up.

<It took too much out of me...>

For a few seconds, he rested his head on the door, trying to find some
inner peace.

<Her injuries were too much. I didn't think so but I have to face it : I
wasn't prepared for that. And now...>

He brought his hands to his head and began to rub his throbbing temples.

<And now... They still haven't asked me anything. Maybe I should have
talked to Misato yesterday.>

There was nobody around, that gave him some time.

<That's it though. Now is when they begin to question me. What am I
going to say.>

<*Shinji,*> he remembered his tutor's gentle voice, as he'd just got his
Starstone.

<*Shinji, do try to keep hidden as much as you can about your
capabilities and your Matrix.*>

<I wanted to, Sense�. But what should I have done?...> He silently
answered the imaginary voice.

He heard a noise. Somebody was walking that way and would see him in a
moment. For a split second, panic seized him.

<Now what... Right, she's waiting for me.>

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

"Come in." The door silently slided aside.

The room behind was brightly lit, and cluttered with all kind of - to
his eyes - weird devices. Distributed seemingly at random were screens
with non-understandable readings displayed. In one corner was a desk
with a computer and a clutter of paper. Ritsuko was just getting up from
the chair that was behind it.

*****

As a scientist, Akagi Ritsuko knew the sum of man's knowledge was far
from explaining everything in the universe. But still, there should have
been things such as established facts. For instance, it took an average
amount of time to heal injuries. But in the latest Rei's case, about
every law of biology and physics she knew had been violated, even if she
took Rei's unique nature into account. So far, she didn't understand a
thing of what happened then. She had evidence about that mystery, but no
idea as to put them together.

The first fact was Shinji's use of his blue stone, which the record
showed him referring to as the Starstone. Then came that blue light
everybody had seen - she'd checked that - but that didn't show in any
way on the cameras.

And, on top of all that, she'd done every test she'd thought of on Rei,
just to ascertain her injuries were a month old, with no particular
aging of the cells. Perfect regeneration as far as she knew it.

It was too much. She didn't understand a thing of what was going on, and
the worst part was that she had no idea where to begin to 'confront'
it...

<And it's really Shinji. We haven't spotted anything even remotely like
a blue pattern near him.> "DAMN! It could have been magic for all I
know."

Behind her, the door opened, letting in an apparently cheerful Misato.

"Hiya, Ritsuko. I just dropped Shinji at school and..." Seeing her
friends features as faced her, she trailed off.

"Huh... Is something wrong?"

For a split second, Ritsuko fought the urge to jump and strangle the
offending -cheerful- being in front of her. Here she was, her whole
world crumbling down, and Misato had the nerve to show up smiling. She
then settled with deep sigh back into her chair, not even noticing she'd
half risen.

"What is it, Ritsuko?" Misato's voice was full of worry, now. When she
finally looked up, Ritsuko saw great concern on her friend's face. She
raised her hand, waving it slowly at about Misato's eyes level.

"Tell me, what do you see?"

"Huh... It's your hand?" There was even more worries in Misato's tone.
She might be fearing for her mental health? Come to think of it...

"Yes, of course it's my hand," retorted Ritsuko with irritation. "But
don't you notice anything?"

"Well, no... I mean, except that your lab coat is usually cleaner...
Say, that wouldn't be blood, you have on it? That'd be quite a lot..."
hesitated Misato.

"YES! EXACTLY! MY BLOOD! From the cuts I made to _that_ hand, two hours
ago! It's not even completely dried yet. And now? You have to look for
them to see the scars."

Unexpectedly, Misato's right hand shot out, catching the waving hand.
Keeping it still, she peered at it, finally tracing a couple of thin
paler lines in the palm. When she spoke again, her voice had turned very
cold.

"Alright! What happened with Shinji this morning?"

Ritsuko violently drew back her hand and began to rub the scars with her
left thumb. She was still too angry with the whole world to really care
about her friend's opinion, but she had to talk to somebody.

"What do you think? I had to try to understand what's going on with
him..."

*****

Ritsuko wasn't sure of what to expect from Shinji. He'd been reported as
being a recluse, with no known friends, and hardly any friendly
classmate. Word was that he was actually afraid of people.

She then had see him 'talking' to his father. She then had been sure the
report were just plain wrong, even if one considered there might be a
lot of hatred for his father buried in the boy.

And then, she'd talked to him the day before. He'd acted a lot more like
his profile had led her to expect, though she could tell his physical
state had somewhat dimmed his reaction, whatever they may be.

As a result of all these observation, she was afraid of making mistakes
in how she would handle the problem. With the door closing behind him,
he walked through the room and stopped in front of her desk, obviously
nervous.

"Don't worry, Shinji. It'll just be a few test. Nothing painful or
anything." <Or at least, I hope so.>

"Okay." She took his arm and directed him toward one of her
spectrographer. "I'll need you to take your shirt off."

While he disrobed, she seated herself behind the devices controls and
began to run the starting sequence. She then looked up to see him
standing, bare-chested, beside the machine.

"Ah, Shinji. I'll need you to remove your pendant, too."

The look he gave her upon hearing that was one of pure shock.

"You want me to take my Starstone off?!" There was disbelief in his
tone, and fear too.

"Yes, please." Her voice didn't hint she had noticed anything. "I don't
want anything in the way." <What is he going to say, I wonder. He can't
take it off anyway. Now, at least, he'll have to explain why.>

"But... But..." The teenage boy seemed to find a great interest in his
shoes for a moment.

<And here it comes.>

"Alright." He finally said with a sigh.

"Why Shinji, is there anything that prevents you from... WHAT?"

Slowly, with an evident great reluctance, he took off the leather
satchel that hung from his neck and put it on top of his shirt.

<How can it be? When we tried, he was frantic, and now...>

She gathered herself and began to proceed with the test. That one, along
with next few one went without problems, except that they showed that
nothing was out of the ordinary with Shinji.

"Okay, now Shinji," Ritsuko began at the end of an analyzer sequence,
"I'd like you to show me what you did with... What you did to heal Rei's
injuries the other day.

She'd never seen someone be that much the image of 'a deer caught in a
car's lights'.

"I... Huh... It's..." he began to stammer out.

We really need to know, Shinji." Added Ritsuko.

He hesitated for a while, and then seemed to reach a decision.

<Finally.>

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No. I can't tell you." His face, as he said these words, was firmly
set, his eyes looking everywhere but to her.

"Shinji..."

"NO!" He'd almost screamed. "No. I won't tell you. I... I can't."

"Why not?"

"I... Can't say." He still avoided her gaze, but there was no other sign
of weakness in him.

<Damn. He really won't talk. Well, I guess I'll go for plan B. And I
really didn't want to.>

"Okay Shinji, I won't press the issue. I'll skip that test and we'll see
the rest. But you'll have to talk someday, you know?" He didn't answer
to her question.

For more than a hour, she ran various test and checks-up over him,
mainly focalizing on his brain. None showed anything even remotely
unusual, as the first had hinted. During that period, Ritsuko began to
steel herself for what she had to do.

<That's it then.> She'd been over her last printed sheet of result when
she finally gathered enough courage.

"Well, Shinji, one more test and we'll be done. But first, I need you to
drink something." She got up and took a beaker full of a fluorescent
green liquid off a shelf. She handed it to him, who took it and
dubitatively looked at it.

"What is it?" Asked Shinji with doubt on his face.

"A chemical marker. I'll need it in your system for that last test. Come
on, drink it up."

He sniffed at it and then, finally, drank it straight.

"Hugh! It tastes awful!" he exclaimed.

"I know. We'll have to wait for a few minutes for it to go into the
blood stream. Here, give me the glass."

Though her face didn't betray anything, Ritsuko winced internally as she
took the it.

<That's going to hurt.>

She turned back to her desk and then tripped on the conveniently
forgotten suitcase that layed on the floor. She didn't really try to
avoid the fall, but did keep a good grip on the beaker as she broke her
fall with her hands.

"OW!!"

Her scream of pain came at the same time as the clear sound of breaking
glass.

<So painful... I didn't think...>

She then lost it for a few second, a dark veil coming onto her sight.
Her hand was completely torned up, and the pain... She thought she was
going to faint.

She found herself hugging her hand clutched to her chest in a fetal
position, crouched against her desk.

<Too much. It's too much...>

Then, Shinji was beside her, still bare-chested but with his satchel in
his hands, struggling to open it.

Had she lost it again? Everything around was now bathed in the soft blue
light she'd seen before, and Shinji, holding her by the wrist, was
gently pulling her hand from her. He was talking to her in soothing
voice, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

Slowly, as the pain subsided, she was again able to see, to think. As
far as she could tell, the blood had stopped to run and the cuts on her
hand were closing, one after the other. And then it was done. The wounds
had been healed and she could move her fingers again and there was no
more pain. The only trace of her self-inflected injuries were the thin
white lines on her palm, a dull ache that was slowly fading, and the
blood which seemed to cover everything she saw. She closed her eyes to
fight off a wave of nausea. When she opened them again, her stomach
content firmly put back where it belonged, she couldn't help but begin
to probe at the lines on her hand, hesitantly at first, and with a
firmer touch after a few tries.

"You mustn't use that hand for a day or two, Akagi-sensei. The tendons
were severed." She was startled out of her fascination by Shinji's
voice. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Akagi-sensei?"

Fascinating. There was real worry in his voice, on his face. Everything
considered, she thought it was unexpected.

"Akagi-sensei!" He finally had to shake her to get her out of her trance
like state. "Akagi-sensei, do you hear me?"

"Yes... Yes I hear you." Her voice sounded weak, even to her own ears.
"The tendons. I mustn't strain them. I understand."

"Are you okay, Sensei?"

"I'll be... Fine, I guess. How about you?" He seemed somewhat paler to
her.

"It'll be alright." He hesitated for a few seconds before adding:  "It's
a bit draining, you know?"

"Ah?.. I suppose so."

She began to get up and had to prop herself against her desk to fight
the sudden diziness assaulting her. Instantly, Shinji was beside,
stopping a few centimeters short of touching her.

"Be careful." There was worry to his voice, again. "I healed the cuts,
but I can't regenerate loss of blood."

"Alright." She steadied herself and began to forage in her desk. "I
think I remember hearing you telling Rei you just needed sleep and some
food. I can't really help about the sleep part, but I think I have
something... Aha!"

>From a drawer, she finally picked up a pack of chocolate bars. "Here,
would that help?"

"Yes!" He really sounded relieved, didn't he?

Without waiting, he snatched the pack from her hands, unwrapped one and
ate it in a couple of bite without any pause. Watching the scene, she
let herself down on her chair. She hadn't realized how tired she felt.
There was no sound in the next few minutes but that of Shinji's
munching, as he ate the bars, and as she contemplated what had just
occurred.

Finally, Ritsuko spoke again, her voice much steadier than it'd been
scant moments before.

"I guess we're done for today, Shinji. I suppose you can leave, if you
think you can move on your own. Or maybe you'd like me to call someone
to help you?"

Upon hearing her, he hastily swallowed what was in his mouth.

"No, it'll be okay. I'll be okay. I don't want to disturb anybody."

"You wouldn't disturb anybody, and beside, you earned it."

"No. It's alright. I'll be fine. I just have to meet Misato-san at half
pass eleven. I'll be okay."

"If you say so," she answered in he weary voice, "then I think I can set
you free."

"Okay. Thank you." He put his shirt back on and then went to room's
door. There, he seemed to hesitate, his hand on the door's knob. She saw
him start to say something a couple of time, before finally letting it
go. Finally, he exited without a word.

"Well," she told herself, "I hadn't felt so low in a long time."

Again, she began to fiddle with her hand.

<At least, it wasn't for nothing. But it hurt more than expected. He
said I severed tendons?!>

Quickly, she placed her hand in a scanning device, worried about that
last detail. It only took a moment before she had an image.

<It's incredible!> She thought as she began to read the analysis. <It's
bruised, recently healed, but otherwise fine.>

"And it took only a quarter of an hour."

Shaking herself, she went to the computer controlling the many devices
that had been tracking Shinji from the moment he'd entered the room.
Shutting the routine down, she called up the gathered data.

"Now, let's see what we've learned..."

*****

"You deliberately cut yourself so Shinji would heal you?" Exclaimed an
irate looking Misato, disbelief in her voice.

"You should have seen his face when I questioned him!" Barked back
Ritsuko. "He wouldn't have said a word. His face... It was so much like
his father's..." She finished in a whisper.

"And so," continued Misato, who didn't notice the slight shift in
Ritsuko's mood, "you decided you had to know anyway."

"What do you think?" Ritsuko's anger and frustration were coming back
full force. " do you really believe we can have anything like that
happen and not do anything about it? I cut myself, not he. If he healed
me, it was his choice."

"Which makes what you did even worse!"

"Do you think Shinji's capacities are close, however remotely, to
anything normal? We have to know how he can do it. And if you don't
understand that, I think we have a problem with our field operation
commander!"

"Don't try to confuse the issue." Misato's voice had dropped to a low
growl. "I'm a soldier, not some sort of manipulative bitch! And I
perfectly know there's been no sign of a blue pattern anywhere beside
Shinji, at anytime. That's the first thing I checked up after the
battle. I don't know how Shinji can do what he does, but trying to find
out that way is just plain wrong. Our enemy are the Angels. Beside," she
added, venom in her voice, "it hasn't proved very useful, has it?"

A while ago, the look of hatred Ritsuko gave her would have made her
flinch; now, she didn't care.

"Talk about a crime that doesn't pay, neh, Ritsuko?"

She then opened the door and left the room without another word.

Ritsuko kept watching the door, seething, for a while before settling
down.

"You don't understand. Since I couldn't get significant answers that
way, we'll have to find another one. And we can't just depend on the
boy's possible good will.

*****


--
Sebastien RENON

http://www.multimania.com/dairen/index.shtml