Disclaimer: Invader Zim and all of its characters belong to Viacom and Nickelodeon.

Author's note: I haven't written fanfiction in four years. I've written nothing but formal essays for the past two years. Please keep that in mind, and I apologize if the writing is stilted. Reviews/flames are nice. People being nitpicky about my grammar/how OOC everyone is/that's not how PAKs work will make me giggle.

Cruelty

The pathetic scene below her did little to upset her. In fact, it made her smile. The night air felt cool, a welcome change from the heavy heat in her lab. She did not fear being spotted; it was a forgotten part of the city at an awful hour. Tak stared down from her place on the rooftop and gleefully mused as to how Zim's body had gotten so broken.

An hour ago, her PAK had started beeping while she'd been repairing some circuit boards in her new base. At first she worried that it was losing power and needed recharged, but she was relieved to find it was merely the Emergency Tracking System (ETS) alerting her to an injured Irken nearby. The ETS usually only saw use during war. When a soldier was wounded, his or her PAK sent out an SOS of sorts via the ETS to all other Irkens' PAKs within range. The wounded Irken's vital signs, such as pulse and blood pressure, location, rank, and PAK power gauge could be seen by any Irken who received the transmission. While waiting to be rescued, the injured would be kept alive by the life support system within their PAK.

Realizing that there was only one other Irken on the Earth besides herself, Tak had happily seized the opportunity to witness, if not help along Zim's death.

Before leaving her base, she'd found one of her holodisplay wristbands and transferred data from her PAK to it. This way she could easily see Zim's location and vitals without having to constantly access her PAK; she only needed to look at her wrist. She quickly glanced at the numbers and took notice that Zim's pulse was weak and his breathing had become shallow. She decided to hurry, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

Tak piloted one of her more damaged, smaller ships to his location, using her wristband as a guide. Under cover of darkness and a cloaking device, she'd made her way deep into the city until she eventually came to a spot where two broken down buildings formed an alleyway. The population of the area consisted mainly of empty brick buildings and rats. After checking for humans, she landed her ship on the rooftop of the smaller building, which stood only three stories tall. She powered down her ship and climbed out, making her way to the edge of the roof. Excitement powered by hatred pounded in her chest. Her favorite and often visited fantasy was coming to life, and she hadn't needed to get her hands dirty.

The alleyway was a mess. It was quite narrow, just wide enough for two people to stand shoulder to shoulder in. Empty bottles, cans, boxes, and bags littered the sidewalk and looked to have been there for weeks. An overturned trashcan had a parade of insects crawling every which way on it. A large dumpster created a dead end about 14 feet in from the street. Tak looked down at her wristband, checking to see if this could truly be the correct spot. She wondered why Zim would be in a hole like this.

She heard a cough and followed the sound to its source. It was nearing 1:00 a.m. and clouds were blocking the moon, making it difficult to see. Straining, she at last spotted a figure lying on his side on the ground. Tak moved to a better vantage point and took in the scene below with a toothy smile.

The only blood visible came from Zim's mouth. The front of his tunic had been torn apart, leaving his belly and the better part of his chest exposed. His left ankle was visibly broken, twisted so that his toes pointed behind him. An antenna had been pulled or twisted, and could no longer be held upright. There were no signs of a struggle within the alleyway. Tak wondered if Zim had suffered his wounds elsewhere and had carried himself here with his PAK's extendable legs before running out of energy.

Tak took this time to get more detailed information from her wristband. His pulse was rapid, but weak. Breathing was difficult. His abdomen was severely bruised, and Tak concluded internal bleeding was likely. His ankle was indeed broken, as was one of his ribs. His PAK's power gauge indicated it needed recharged as soon as possible. Only a quarter of its full power remained. No weapons or communication devices could be accessed without taking power away from life support.

Tak mulled over the information and grinned. Without help, Zim would be dead within two hours or less, depending on how often his PAK needed to reactivate him. She wondered if Dib had any involvement in this or if it had been an accident caused by Zim's own idiocy. It seemed as though his internal injuries could have only been caused by a great fall or being struck with something heavy.

Zim coughed, blood painting uneven lines down his chin, and struggled to move. Tak watched his face, amused to see frustration and anger burn in his crimson gaze as he tried to turn over. She fought back a laugh, knowing full well it was impossible and quite stupid to attempt to move with such injuries. Zim groaned and trembled from the effort. He could barely lift his head. After a moment, the pain and exhaustion consumed him, and he gave up. He stared upward, panting heavily.

On the wristband, his vitals plummeted. Tak watched eagerly as Zim lost consciousness and his breathing became still. Minutes passed. Tak hung over the edge of the rooftop with silent anticipation, her antennae perked forward and her breath caught in her throat. It was considered a great humiliation to be reactivated before witnesses and Tak's head swam with bitter joy, her being Zim's audience. At long last his PAK sparked to life, and a great blue light emanated throughout the alleyway as he was reactivated. He let out a low moan and kept his eyes closed, disoriented.

Watching him, Tak had not felt the satisfaction she assumed she would. The smile on her face faded away, and a feeling of unease crawled up her back. She pondered this for a minute, growing angry with herself for not enjoying every second of Zim's pain and dishonor. She refused to let herself feel anything but resentment for someone who had affected her life so miserably. She glanced down at her wrist. His PAK could handle only one more reactivation. Tak's mind raced. She realized she had no idea how to react.

Wounded Irkens in battle were rescued no matter what the circumstances. Otherwise the ETS would not exist. As long as his or her head had not been blown off, medical technicians could heal the wounded soldier. If that Irken had disgraced the Empire or appeared weak before the enemy, deactivation took place at a later date during a trial. In this way, the enemy did not truly earn a victory from the soldier's death.

Tak struggled with this. Zim had done great personal damage to her, and the Tallest despised him. However, it felt wrong to leave a wounded member of her species to die so terribly. It went against everything she'd been taught, bordering on betrayal. She gritted her teeth, furious at herself for having such mixed and irrational feelings. He was an egotistical, moronic embarrassment of an Irken. He'd single handedly kept her from achieving her ambitions. She did not want to help him, yet she felt compelled to. She cursed the teachings of the Irken military for drumming such beliefs in her head.

She was distracted by her inner turmoil by a mumbling of choked syllables. Tak peered down and saw desperation and terror in Zim's eyes. Reality must have sunk into his feeble mind. His chest heaved with each breath.

"How..what……no!" More blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Panic set in, and he weakly clawed at the pavement. His body shivered continuously, and Tak wondered if it was due to the pain or the fear.

Frustrated with herself, Tak decided to give into a whim. She activated her PAK's extendable legs and carried herself down the side of the building. She needed reminded of why Zim deserved to be hated, and figured she could get him to rant about his magnificence even during his own demise. After finishing her descent, she perched upon the dumpster, which was in Zim's line of sight.

Zim stared up at her in disbelief. Tak watched as his pulse raced and his breathing paused. She remained motionless. Minutes passed and she smiled coldly when it was clear he realized she wouldn't be helping him. He turned his head away from her hate filled, laughing glare. He was finished, and he knew it.

"Look at yourself," she barked after the silence between them had grown uncomfortable. "Do you have any idea how terribly amusing this is?"

The angry retort she expected did not come. Her words seemed to have passed right through him. Annoyed, she did not relent.

"For all your theatrics and claims of vast superiority, you're dying in quite a pathetic, common way." Her voice was mellow and soft. "The great Invader Zim, felled by something as dull as internal bleeding."

Aside from his burdened breathing, Zim remained silent. Tak's anger intensified. He was not going to spoil her gloating. She dug into him deeper.

"You do realize that if you'd suffered these injuries in a crowd of our own people, you'd still be left for dead, right?" she snapped. She allowed quiet to hang between them for a beat before continuing. "You're considered one of the biggest failures in the entire history of the Empire. You'll be forever remembered as a stain on an otherwise pristine record. The Tallest will be overjoyed to hear my report on your demise."

Zim softly whimpered. Taken aback by such a response, Tak stammered for a moment. Why hadn't he shrieked at her in indignation yet? Where was his defensive reply? Where was the cocky and deluded Irken her mind defined him to be? Unnerved but determined to prove to herself he deserved this, she went on.

"It's a shame your death is so forgettable. Perhaps I could pass word to the human authorities, inform them that a strange creature is lying half dead in the street. You'd go down in Earth's history as well as ours. Wouldn't that be just grand?"

"Nnn!…" Zim could not hide his fright. He grimaced and tried in vain to force himself up. Tak forced an evil smirk, telling herself she should be enjoying her power over him. She had the opportunity to send Zim to death's cold grip as a trembling, dispirited shell of his former self and to witness the very moment he lost himself to the void. She'd dreamed about this ever since he'd kept her from reaching Invader status. How dare he appear so innocent and pitiful before her.

His panicked movement disturbed his injuries, and, after a brief coughing fit, he slipped unconscious. Tak let out a soft gasp, surprised, and watched as his PAK was forced to reactivate him once more. The lights on his PAK began flashing in rapid rhythm, signaling to all that its power was nearly completely drained. Life support would soon fail. Tak's own heart raced, nervous. She had assumed he would last a bit longer, that she would have more time to talk with him. Perhaps she had overestimated his willpower.

"Tak," he choked.

"He speaks!" Tak replied bitterly. "The man of the hour speaks at last!" She gingerly hopped down from her spot on the dumpster, hiding her tenseness from him under a veil of light-hearted playfulness. She pushed away the feelings of guilt and anxiety that had dug their way into her gut. She walked over to his side, her toes near his cheek, quirked her head at an angle and smiled down at him. Though the night air was cool, Tak noticed beads of sweat mixing with the blood on Zim's features. At this close range, she saw just how terrible he looked, and the severity of his injuries stunned her for a brief moment.

"..stupid."

She snorted. "I'm painfully aware of your lack of intelligence, Zim. It's a shame you recognized it so late in the game." He struggled to nod. Tak bit her lip and glared at him in bewilderment.

"Sorry. Everything."

Her dark eyes slowly widened and she stared down at him blankly. He looked back with genuine regret and guilt clearly etched across his face. She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, understanding what he was apologizing for. Her blood began to boil with hate and rage, and she clenched her fists at her sides, shaking.

"How…how dare you," she growled softly. Zim turned his view elsewhere and focused on nothing. Tak spun on her heel and took a few steps away from him. She was seething with confused anger. This was not fair. It wasn't supposed to work this way. Her moment of retribution was ruined. She'd been waiting, praying, and visualizing this event for years, yet as she looked at Zim now, so close to death, she felt sympathy.

He was nothing more than an immature, overeager, socially impaired Irken. Tak pulled at her antennae, stressed. Had he done wrong? Yes, he'd done terrible things to all sorts of people throughout the years. Had he intended to hurt anyone? She wasn't sure.

Tak's frustration peaked as she questioned whether or not her cruelty toward Zim had been justified or not.

Zim's PAK began to blare loudly. Tak whirled around and saw that he'd fallen unconscious. She flipped through the information on her holodisplay wristband, her chest pounding. This was it. She chewed on her lip, glaring at him, opening and closing her fists. She was at a loss. She turned her back to him once more, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples with clawed fingers. She groaned angrily, digging her claws sharply into her skin.

"…this is ridiculous."

A cable extended out of her PAK and latched onto Zim's. Electricity surged through the cable, and his PAK ceased its alarm. Tak watched his energy gauge on her wristband as she charged his PAK. She transferred enough power to keep his life support system functioning long enough to get him to her base. After disconnecting the cable, she wrapped her arms around him as best she could without aggravating his wounds. Her extendable legs carried them both up the side of the building and to her ship.

As she piloted the ship back to her base, she cursed herself for being so weak.

---------------------

It took the computer several weeks to analyze and tend to Zim's injuries. The internal damage was more severe and difficult to treat than Tak had originally suspected. She kept him sedated throughout the process, wanting to keep him unconscious as long as possible. She was unsure of how he would react to her help. When at last the surgical procedures were complete and all that was left was bed rest, she decided to allow him to wake. She kept him in a smaller room in her medical lab where most of the larger and more intimidating machines were hidden from view. Padded restraints kept him from leaving his bed.

Zim blinked his eyes and groaned, struggling to sit up. His head was swimming, and a dull ache radiated throughout his body. Finding his movement limited, he grew panicked and began to struggle. He feared he was someone's prisoner, not yet fully aware of his condition.

"What?! Who did this?! I demand you free me this instant! You'll suffer-"

He stopped when he realized Tak was standing near him. She was tending to one of the machines that was connected to his PAK and marked something off on the computer screen. Zim gaped at her, and at last he recollected everything that had happened. He looked down at himself and gave a small shriek, seeing the many bandages crisscrossing his torso. Tak glanced down at him with annoyance. She finished her work with the machine and turned to leave.

"You'll be healthy enough to leave here in five days," she called back flatly. "I'll transport you to your base where you can heal without my help."

Zim tripped over his words. "Wait! Hey! How did? Why? Tak!"

"Five days," she told him sternly, not looking back. She left him to his confusion so she could tend to her own.

If you look hard, hard enough to make yourself nearly go blind, you might see a tiny bit of ZATR in this.

If you're wondering what exactly happened to Zim, come up with your own explanations. Maybe he was fighting Dib on a roof somewhere and fell. Or maybe he got hit by a car while chasing after someone. That wasn't really the focus of the story. Anyway, I hope it wasn't too boring/bad/etc. I was just bored.