A/N - This is my first fan-fiction here. I'd appreciate honest reviews and critiques. Don't be gentle; I can take it. There may be some ZADr in here, please don't throw your furniture at me for it. Thank you, and please enjoy the first chapter! I will try to post new chapters often. Without further ado, here is chapter 1! ^.^

Chapter 1 - White Walls

...

All day staring at the ceiling

Making friends with shadows on my wall

All night hearing voices telling me

That I should get some sleep

Because tomorrow might be good for something

...

- 'Unwell' by Matchbox 20

"I always thought that when I captured Zim, I would feel a little bit happier," he mused in a perplexed voice, not turning to look at his sister. He was staring out the car window. The sky was a pail grey, bleak and dreary looking. Droplets of rain slithered down the glass that Dib's head was propped on. Gaz, who was driving, only grunted. This was no surprise.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I am happy," Dib continued, even though he knew he was irritating the purple-haired person driving the car. "But... What am I going to do? For the past five years, my life has been all about... Him. Ever since I was twelve..." he trailed off, sighing. "But I guess I have time to relax now..." Relax.

"Sure," Gaz grumbled, sarcasm heavy in her tone. She and Dib both knew that wasn't going to happen. Maybe never. Dib just wasn't that kind of person...

It had been five years since Zim landed on earth. Dib was seventeen, and Gaz was sixteen. Dib had grown; he was about 5'8, fairly short, but it was obvious he still had some growing to do despite his age. Gaz was 5'2, but other then that, hardly different then what she was 5 years ago. She still needed to work on her driving, a lot. Dib was stuck driving around with her.

Today was Saturday. Both he and Gaz were out of school, obviously. They were going to Membrane's New York alien life laboratory, where Zim was now. Dib hadn't seen Zim since the day of the fight...

The fight.

Dib shuddered softly and looked at Gaz. Her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel. She moved rigidly, and kept switching from break to ignition. "Put your blinker on," he reminded her as they approached a stoplight. Gaz grunted softly and did so.

As they turned, Dib could see the laboratory up the street.

It was huge, a tall, wide, white building. It had windows on the very top floor, and the ground floor. But nowhere else. It was very plain looking, with no signs or symbols on the building itself. When first built, it was stark white and shiny. The years had taken a toll on the building, though, and it looked worn and tired. Less... Clean. But what was visible of the building was just office floors. They sorted paperwork, held conferences, and collected data. The basement floors were where the real scientists worked. Membrane didn't work there most of the time; he just owned the place and swung buy every week or two to check up on the research. But he was there today. He wanted to show Dib the alien, and find out more of what his son knew.

They neared the building, and Gaz pulled into the small employee-only parking lot beside the lab. The car screeched to a stop abruptly as it moved into a parking spot. Dib glanced at Gaz with yet another sigh. "Are you coming in?"

"Of course not," Gaz groaned in an irritated voice, crossing her arms.

"Have fun in the car then," Dib said with a shrug, and was soon on the wet pavement.

Dib entered the laboratory, glancing around the front room. Pail blue walls, silver tile floors. There were some chairs lined up under the windows, a table littered with magazines, and a desk at the far end. A plump woman sat behind the desk, typing furiously on a computer.

Dib walked towards the desk, stopping just before it. He forced a smile, "I'm here to see Professor Membrane," he said politely, putting his hands behind his back.

The woman looked up at him, clearly irritated. "The Professor is a very busy man. He doesn't have time to talk with... Kids." She sneered, a great deal of distaste put into 'kids'. Dib frowned and snorted slightly.

"I'm his son," Dib said irritably, narrowing his eyes. "Dib Membrane? Hasn't he ever mentioned me? I'm the one that captured the alien!" He put his hands on his hips with annoyance.

"His... Son? I'm going to need some identifi-"

"It's okay, Beth," came a joyously cheerful voice. "He's alright. Come on, Dib!" Dib and 'Beth' both turned to see Professor Membrane striding into the room, hands behind his back. Beth looked genuinely surprised, and nodded quickly, smiling a very forced, wide grin.

"Enjoy your visit," Beth said in a sickeningly sweet voice. She obviously wanted to look good in front of Professor Membrane. Possibly even Dib, now that she knew who he was. Dib raised an eyebrow at the woman and then followed his father.

It was a maze of hallways and elevators; white walls, silver floors, and lots of doors. Metal, cold doors that went up and down the sides of the hallways. The whole building was cold; a chill hung in the air. The elevators weren't much different. For the most part, Dib and his father walked in silence. Until finally, Dib broke it.

"So... Have you run any tests on him yet?" Dib asked, not looking at his father. "Zim, I mean," he added hastily, in case it wasn't clear.

"Not yet," Membrane answered, still cheerfully.

"Oh, why not?"

"I wanted to let him recover from the fight," Membrane said firmly, "I want him to be at the PEAK of health, even if I have to wait. I will wait in the name of SCIENCE." Dib quieted down as his father stopped in front of a door. It looked no different then the others. No label. No window. How does everybody find their way around? Dib wondered vaguely. "His cell is in here. He might be in 'sleep mode', as he calls it. He's been doing it a lot lately..." Dib nodded. Zim's pack needed to go to sleep mode to heal him faster. "I thought you might want a word alone with it. I'll be back in 10 minutes." With that, his father strode back down the hall and stopped before a different door, going inside and leaving Dib.

Dib took a deep breath and clutched the handle of the door as his father left. It was icy cold to the touch. Turning it, he entered the room.

It was a white room, big and clear. There were a few desks with empty vials and paperwork, as well as some instruments for testing. But like Membrane said, they were unused. No tests had been performed, but the looks of it. On the far side of the room, part of the wall was glass. That is, it appeared as glass. It was probably something much stronger. It was a window to a cell.

Dib approached with an air of confidence, examining the cell as he did. His father had told him that they tore out the weapons, tools, and other such things in Zim's pak. So most likely, he couldn't escape.

The cell was small. There was a cement table, built into the floor so Zim couldn't move it. The chair beside it was built the same way. There was a small toilet, even though Zim wouldn't and couldn't use it. There was also a cot, with a small mattress on it, sheeted. There was a large dull grey quilt over the sheets, and a pillow.

The sheets and quilt were in shreds; Zim had probably torn them up. They had giant gashes through them and looked disgusting. But not has disgusting as Zim himself.

The green alien was strangely enough, not visible at first. But as Dib got closer, he saw the alien was crouched under the table. He must have jumped for cover when he heard somebody come in, Dib mused as he walked. Zim's teeth were barred in an almost aggressive way, and his tongue could be seen snaking behind them. His magenta eyes were narrowed threateningly.

Though he had a look of defensiveness, there were other emotions there as well. Dib had been obsessing over Zim for five years, and he could easily recognize them. Shock was one. The alien was probably shocked to see him. Maybe even a little relieved to see a familiar face. Zim looked very tired as well. His eyes were slightly duller, and there were almost... Bags under his eyes. He was barely trembling, and pail.

They had reclothed Zim in a white shirt and pants. Dib couldn't remember ever seeing Zim's arms, hands, or feet before. It was odd, really. Zim's bare arms were covered in bruises, scars, and dark green marks. From the fight.

Dib smirked slightly. But... It felt somehow unnatural. Forced, even. "Do you like your room, Zim?" He asked, pulling up a chair beside the cell from one of the desks and sitting down. "You should. You'll spend the rest of your existence there, at least, until they do your autopsy." Dib's smirk never faded.

Zim hissed loudly, his claws clenching and unclenching, making a rough noise on the floor of the cell. "That's what you think, human," he seethed lowly, without the strength to yell like he usually did. His voice was rough and strained. "I /will/ escape, and when I do, I will destroy you." His eyes narrowed dangerously. He sounded like he was about to cough.

"I'd like to see you try," Dib scoffed, smiling slightly. "What? Afraid to come out from under that table?" Like he had expected, Zim crawled out, his movement rigid and obviously painful. Zim sat in the middle of the floor, slumped over uncharacteristically.

"Zim is not afraid," the alien spat, his teeth gritting. His antenna were flattened to his skull. Zim must be really bored in here, Dib thought, Just some furniture and... White walls.

"Aren't you bored?" Dib asked suddenly. It was clear, but he wanted to hear Zim's response.

"Zim is NEVER bored," Zim growled, his voice still low and tired. His eyes wandered toward the human. He looked him over and grunted. Why was he in such pain from the fight, and the human wasn't? The Dib did have a few scratches, and bruises, too, but he wasn't nearly as bad as Zim was, or had been. In fact, Zim's pak had repaired a lot of the damage. "What about you?" Zim said, cackling softly, "Won't you be bored without the amazing ZIM trying to kill you?" Dib noted how strange Zim sounded when he wasn't yelling. "Which," he added, "I still am going to do." He looked pleased with himself.

"No you won't," Dib sighed, "You are locked in a cell, injured and defenseless. You are pitiful, Zim." He looked at the alien and then towards the floor. "Yes, I will be bored. But maybe that's a good thing."

Zim laughed, it started like a normal laugh, and then he broke off into fitful coughing. Dib waited for him to stop. "Boredom is never a good thing," Zim seethed, voice even rougher.

The door opened behind Dib, and heavy boot steps could be heard. Zim recoiled back from the glass a little, causing Dib to smirk. "Afraid of my dad?" Zim didn't answer, he was watching the professor make his way towards the cell.

"Amazing specimen, isn't it?" Membrane said, delighted. Dib frowned. He had been observing the 'specimen' for five years, if anybody knew how amazing it was, it was HIM. "Our first real evidence of extra-torestial life! I can't wait to start testing on it. Which reminds me, I-"

"You'll never touch me, Dib-parent!" Zim suddenly screeched, before coughing violently. Both father and son stared at the alien as he continued to cough. They looked slightly alarmed, but unamused. Zim started to sputter and grunt.

"As I was saying," the professor continued, "I think you should be put in charge of the experiments. When would you like to perform the autopsy?"

Dib's heart sank. Why? He'd been looking forward to this since he was 12. How was it different now? True, Zim was the only creature who ever knew the truth about Dib's paranormal 'fantasies' until now, and the only one who had paid attention to him. Life without the little alien seemed... Unheard of.

"Not for awhile," Dib answered slowly. "We should do some simple tests. After he heals, I mean. And we should go through his base..." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zim scowling at him.

"His base? That sounds interesting," Membrane agreed with a nod, looking back at Zim. "That is, if he doesn't have any traps set."

"He... Does," Dib said, just now remembering that. "More then I know of, I should think. We'll have to bring him with us and disable the security," he mused with a perplexed expression. "Before he heals, of course. And we'll need to take many precautions... Zim, is GIR still at your base?"

"Go find out for yourself, pitiful, ignorant human," Zim snarled, antenna quivering slightly.

"I think we should go next week, to his base, I mean," Dib said, turning back to his father and ignoring Zim. "Next Saturday. I'll have all day to go through his technology. Besides, we can't wait any longer. If GIR is there, he will start causing trouble. Until then, we can run some simple tests on Zim... If you want." Dib said. Though he looked composed, he was obviously excited. He'd been waiting for this for five years.

"You can come after school to check on the progress," Membrane said cheerfully. "And I'll come with you... Did Gaz drive you?" He asked out of the blue. Dib vaguely noticed Zim crawling back underneath the table.

"Yes, why?" Dib asked, cocking his head ever so slightly. Then he heard the alarm going off faintly in the hall. "Oh gosh," Dib sighed, hurrying to the door with his father to see what trouble Gaz was causing.

Zim watched them leave, magenta eyes glinting. A week of simple tests? A week until they went to his base... A week to make a plan... He smiled mainly and let out a soft laugh, his voice as gritty as a nail on a chalkboard. Tests would be easy. Bring it on.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, please R&R. I tried to stay in character, but I'm pretty sure it was out of character in some places... I apologize.