Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. Jhonen would kill me if I did.

Warnings: ZaDr, one-sided DaDr. It's a bit tamer than the others. And Zim finally gets the human! Yay, Zim! Anyway, minor bit of violence, but it's all completely deserved.

Gaz is awesome, btw. My next IZ fic will be all about her, I swear. Maybe with some Tak thrown in.

On with the fic!

There was a slow knock on the door, interrupting Gaz from her video gaming. She waited for a few minutes, scowl growing darker when the knock came again, this time harder and louder. She growled, pausing her game and slamming the controller on the couch. She stomped over to the door, ripping it open.

"What?" she hissed.

The tall man on her porch stared at her, eyes wide as if not expecting to see her.

"G-Gaz?" he stuttered.

Said girl's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

The man's eyes shifted nervously. "I-I… worked at the elementary school… You were a little girl then."

Gaz never stopped glaring. But it was true; she was no longer a little girl. She had grown to be a beautiful, albeit terrifying sixteen-year-old. Her clothes were still black, her hair still purple, and glare still plastered semi-permanently on her face.

"So what do you want?" she growled.

The black-haired man with an earring shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Is Dib home? I was hoping to talk to him."

The purple-haired teen eyed him up and down, as if judging him to be worthy of her older brother's presence. Of course, the stranger thought, she wouldn't do that. She hates her brother.

Apparently, though, he passed whatever test she had given him.

"Dib!" she called, annoyance clearly ringing in her cracking voice. "Someone's here to see you!"

The door slammed in the stranger's face.

There were a few crashes upstairs before the teen came flying down, tripping over long legs in his rush. Gaz raised an eyebrow at him, arms crossed.

"Who is it?" the older brother gasped out. He straightened the blue t-shirt he wore, one similar to what he wore as a child.

"I don't know; one of the teachers from elementary school, apparently," Gaz answered, tone a bit more subdued.

Dib blanched, running a hand over his mostly shaven head, scythe-like lock waving about. "What would one of our old teachers want with me?"

Gaz shrugged. "How should I know?" She started back for the couch, picking up her controller and sitting with her legs crossed. "Yell if you need me to get the bat."

Dib chuckled, opening the door, hearing the game start up behind him. He turned to the stranger.

All at once his eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and his heart stopped beating.

"Dwicky?" he screeched.

Immediately, the game stopped behind him.

Dwicky's eyes swerved towards Gaz. He was shocked to find the most hateful look he had ever seen present on her face and not directed at her brother for the interruption. Instead, it was directed towards him. She leaned over, eyes full of loathing and never straying from his, and pulled a baseball bat out from under the couch. Fear, unlike any he'd ever felt, ran up Dwicky's spine.

"It's ok, Gaz," Dib called back softly, wide eyes studying Dwicky's face. His voice was far less annoying than Dwicky recalled. It was sweet, refreshing, and the older man wanted to pull the teen into his arms and never let go. He stared back into Dib's disbelieving eyes and cracked a tiny grin.

"Hi, Dib," he mumbled.

He was sent flying back on the walkway, cheek throbbing and head pounding where he cracked it on the concrete. Gaz's cackling laughter could be heard from the house until Dib slammed the door shut, stalking over menacingly. His amber eyes were filled with hate and betrayal, and his knuckles were red. He glared down at Dwicky.

"Finally decided to come back, did you?" spat the teen. "You know, if you had come back a week later, maybe a month – hell, even a year – I would have forgiven you. But seven years? It took you seven years to get back to our boring little dirtball?"

He had known Dib would be angry. He had known Dib would have felt betrayal. But he hadn't realized that it had been that long, hadn't realized what the kid he once knew might have gone through in that time.

"Dib, I am so sorry! I didn't know! You've got to believe me!" he pleaded. Had it really been seven years?

All at once, the fight left Dib's body and he seemed so tired. He took a seat on the porch step, sighing.

Dwicky rubbed his cheek, spitting blood on the ground and sitting up on shaky arms. He took the time to study the teen who was running long fingers through his black hair.

Dib had grown, in more ways than one, he could tell. The boy was taller than he was now. What was he, seventeen now? He was only ten when the ex-counselor saw him last. The boy was all long legs and lithe muscles with multiple ear piercings like his sister and two eyebrow piercings on the right side. His clothes were similar, blue shirt, tight black pants, large glasses, and black boot up to his calf. Dwicky would bet he had a trench coat in his room somewhere.

He stood on shaky legs. "Dib…" he whispered.

"Don't," interrupted the teen. "Just don't." He took in a deep breath, finally looking up at who he once thought of as a friend. "You couldn't say sorry enough times in all the languages of the universe."

Dwicky's heart broke at the look in those amber eyes. "Okay, then," he said. "I won't."

Dib nodded. "Good. Then why are you here?"

"I came to take you with me, Dib," the man admitted.

Dib glanced up. He patted the spot next to him. Dwicky sat, being sure to keep a few inches between them in case the boy turned hostile again.

"Dib," he continued, pleading with the boy to see from his perspective. "I know what I did was unforgiveable. But let me make it up to you!" He turned his body toward the teen, hoping the younger would at least look at him again. "I want to take you to all the places I've been and all the places I haven't been to. There's so much out there and you would absolutely love it! The Plookesians ship is massive and there's plenty of nook and crannies to explore, and if you ever want to be alone, nobody would bother you. The Plookesians are super nice. You would love them!" Dwicky smiled. "You said you always wanted to go into space and see aliens. Now you can! What do you say, Dib? Will you come with me? Please?" Dwicky slowly reached up a hand and placed it on Dib's shoulder. His smile widened when it wasn't shrugged off. "I've missed you so much, Dib," he finally admitted.

A heavy sigh escaped the teen's mouth. Dib smiled serenely at the ground. Dwicky had him hooked.

"I've always wanted to travel the stars," Dib said softly.

"You can now, Dib," said Dwicky.

Dib looked at him finally, eyes glowing, smiling softly. "I've always wanted to see aliens. My mom was the only one who used to encourage my little obsessions. I told you I was obsessed with the paranormal. She supported me. She told me that one day I would see Earth from the moon and travel out past the solar system."

He paused, turning away and staring off across the street. Dwicky was slightly confused, unsure where the teen was going with all this, but letting him continue.

"Gaz was nice back then," continued Dib. "She's always been obsessed with video games and my dad with science. But he wasn't always a workaholic. At least, not until after Mom died. Gaz grew bitter and angry. Dad was never home. A couple of years ago he finally admitted why: it's because we reminded him of her and it hurt too much to be around us. Gaz is her spitting image and I have her eyes, he said. We both gave him a big hug that day. We hadn't shown him any familial affection for years."

He stared back at Dwicky, smile back in place.

"I think I became a little too desperate for someone to listen to me back then," the teen admitted with a chuckle. Dwicky cracked a smile as well, remembering the day they met. His heart lurched. "One day, an alien appeared in my fifth grade class." Dib's dreamy smile turned into a smirk and Dwicky's slowly faded.

"I thought it was so obvious! The new kid was green; how could anyone believe he wasn't normal? There's no skin condition on Earth that turns your skin that particular shade of green." His fist clenched his pants. Dwicky removed his hand from the teen's shoulder and rested it over one hand. Dib didn't grasp it, but didn't do anything to make him remove it. "I was so angry. I was angry at the world, at Dad, at Gaz, at the kids at school, and at Zim."

Dwicky's eye twitched at the name.

"Zim was the cause of it all." Dib stared at the sky, glasses catching the sunlight. "He was so obviously alien and no one could see it! All those people and I'm the only one who saw him for what he was. I thought that if I could prove he wasn't human then people would start believing me. But after every failed chance, I gave up just a little more."

He was smiling again when he turned back to Dwicky. "Then you showed up." Dwicky's heart leapt into his throat. "You believed me. I knew I could trust you in my seemingly endless hunt to catch Zim. You helped me make plans, you gave me advice. You even sat in the woods and waited with me for hours on hours waiting for the little nuisance to show up."

Suddenly those warm eyes were icy cold, glaring a hole through Dwicky.

"You lied. You didn't believe me."

The words gripped the older man's heart. He wanted to get down on his knees and beg the boy for forgiveness.

"Dib…" he started, but was cut off.

"You thought I was crazy, just like everybody else. You didn't believe me."

"Dib, I didn't -"

Dib huffed. "Just stop, Dwicky. You hurt me. You betrayed me. You didn't believe me until after you saw Zim, but that's okay. Then the Plookesians showed up. I remember them. I remember them distinctly. I also remember how you left with them, not a single thought spared to the kid who introduced it all!"

"That's not -" Dwicky was interrupted once more. Dib was on a roll.

"And you took my camera with you!" This seemed to be the thing the teen was most frustrated about. Dwicky was confused, even as Dib stood to glare down at him. "That camera had everything on it! All the proof I could ever hope to have; gone! In a matter of minutes. Do you really think I can forgive that, Mr. Dwicky?"

Dwicky sat, frozen as the teen ranted. He didn't know he had caused this much damage and vowed to make it all right. The kid was worth it, especially after all this pain. "Dib… I am so sorry… I had no idea…" He attempted to put a hand on Dib's shoulder. It was shrugged away.

"A few years ago, they tried to lock me up in the Crazy House for Boys permanently. The doctors were able to get me to talk a little. They concluded that my obsessions were really delusions left over from my mother's death. They're wrong, of course, but were somehow able to blame everything on my family. So they worked us into a family counseling center. It was rough for a couple of months. Dad would forget all about the appointments and Gaz seemed to grow angrier and angrier. But somehow it worked. We're not a perfect family by any means, but things are a lot better than they were. Gaz and I actually get along now." His smile was back.

"That's really great, Dib," the ex-counselor said with a smile. He reached again for the boy, but Dib turned to face him. His eyes were sad.

"Go home, Mr. Dwicky," he said. He started walking back to his front door, past Dwicky. "Go back to your Plookesians, and your fancy ship, and all of your planets. Just go."

Before he could reach for the knob, he felt Dwicky grab his arms. He yelped as he was forcefully spun around, back slamming against the door. Dwicky scowled at him.

"It's my turn to talk, mister," he growled out. "You are coming with me. You will get on that ship and you will travel through space with me, whether you like it or not.

"And what makes you so sure?" Dib shot back with a glare.

Warm lips were suddenly pressed against his. Dib froze in surprise, clearly not expecting such an assault. His eyes widened as Dwicky's mouth moved against his.

Dwicky was clinging desperately to the younger man. He needed Dib to see. He needed Dib to see how much he meant to him, how bad he needed him. He would show Dib stars and planets and everything in between. It felt so good kissing him. It had surprised the older man how great the need to ravish the boy was and he had no choice to give in. It felt amazing, the whole universe wrapped up in this one kiss.

He moved his lips against Dib's, swiping his tongue over those luscious lips. Those lips parted and a little gasp escaped, allowing the older man entrance to the moist cavern. His hands slid down to grasp Dib's hips.

Then, through the haze of lust clouding his brain, he realized that Dib wasn't kissing back, but neither was he struggling.

Dwicky opened his eyes and pulled away. The kid wasn't even looking at him. Dwicky scowled and opened his mouth.

"You look like you haven't aged a day." Dib beat him to it. Dwicky cocked his head questioningly, but the teen continued to stare over his shoulder. "I'm guessing it's from some wibbly-wobbly-timey-whimey space crap. If I had gone with you seven years ago, I doubt this would have happened."

Something flashed in the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head, he yelped, suddenly finding himself dangling several inches off the ground. He came face to face with violet eyes glaring at him with such malice Dwicky was surprised he wasn't dead on the spot. He clutched at the metal claw holding him up.

Zim was not happy.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked quietly, deadly.

"N-nothing!" the human squeaked.

"Really? Because it didn't look like nothing." Zim brought him closer, faces practically touching. "It looked like you had your tongue down my Dib-human's throat."

Dwicky blinked. "Your Dib-human?"

Zim continued to glare at him. "Are you all right, Dib-pet?"

"Pet?" Dwicky's eyes widened.

"Yeah, fine, Zim," Dib answered. He picked himself up off the door, fixing his clothes. "You can let him go now."

Zim growled, glaring at the captive human. The claw released him and Dwicky fell to the ground.

It took him a while to catch his bearings. When he finally did and looked up, Zim was fussing over the teen while Dib batted at him like he was an annoying cat.

Zim's eyes narrowed. He captured the human's hands in his gloved claws, effectively trapping him and forcing the taller male down to his slightly less impressive height. He then captured Dib's lips in a kiss.

Dwicky's eyes bugged out of his skull.

That was unexpected.

He watched, mouth gaping as Zim forced Dib against the door, much like he had, slipping his strange, serpent-like tongue into Dib's mouth. Dib moaned, eagerly allowing the wet muscle in as he kissed back, sliding his own human tongue over Zim's. Dwicky couldn't take his eyes off of them. Neither could he bring himself to break them up.

Eventually, they pulled apart, both panting. Dwicky was sure they would have liked a room alone together. He cleared his throat, standing and brushing off his pants.

"When did this happen?" he demanded.

"Seven years is a long time, human," Zim answered with a smirk. Dwicky glared. "Lots of things change."

Dwicky ignored him, instead staring pleadingly at Dib. "Dib? Are you sure you don't want to come?"

The two still had a grip around each other's waists, a grip which tightened noticeably.

"I'm quite sure," Dib said.

"But… I can show you everything…" Dwicky practically begged.

Zim's grip tightened even more on his human and he growled, glaring at their ex-counselor. Dib stepped forward out of his grasp, but took his clawed hand. He rubbed a thumb over it soothingly.

"I've seen everything, Dwicky," Dib stated with surety. "I've seen aliens, planets, battling planets, a cyborg version of myself. I've seen alternate realities and parallel universes and nightmare worlds. I've battled against an evil Santa and saved the world on multiple occasions. I've see Earth from a space station. I've flown in voot runners. I've seen my dad come home from work early to have dinner as a family. I've seen Gaz smile for the first time in years. And let me tell you, that last one is the most treasured memory I have."

"Mine is our first kiss…" Zim grumbled behind him. Dib smiled and squeezed his hand.

"That one's tied for first," Dib admitted with a grin.

The ex-counselor stared between the two of them. He felt his heart break, but managed a smile anyway.

"I guess… I'll leave you alone then." He took a step back, slowly backing away from the house. "If you ever change your mind, Dib, just call for an illegal weapons deal." And with a watery grin, Dwicky turned on his heel and stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking away without looking back.

Once the older human was out of sight, Dib let out a shaky breath he didn't know he had been holding. Zim squeezed his hand.

"Are you all right, Dib-love?" the alien asked quietly.

A laugh escaped the human. "Yeah. Yeah, that was all just… completely unexpected."

The alien huffed. "Well, he didn't get what he came for and that's fine by me."

"Aw, are you saying that you would miss me if I left?" Dib teased.

Zim growled, turning towards the door and forcing it open. "Not at all. Zim got on just fine without you before. I can do it again."

Dib followed behind the green alien, wrapping long arms around his waist and resting his head on top of the black wig. "I think you'd miss me."

"Nope." Zim stepped out of his hold. He grabbed one hand and pulled the human close. "Although," he growled lowly into Dib's ear. "There are other things that I would miss."

Shivers were sent up and down Dib's spine. "And what would those things be?"

Zim smirked, fake eyes flashing evilly. "Why don't we go to your bedroom and find out?" Dib was dragging him up the stairs in a flash, a cackling Zim behind him.

"You guys better shut the bedroom door this time!" Gaz yelled up, still playing her game.

She heard their door slam and couldn't help but giggle.

Boys will be boys, she thought.

I don't even know where the hell this thing spawned from.

It's an overused plot, I know, but I don't really care. Just a sort of cute something or other. Zim finally gets to have his human. Watch the next one be another horribly angst-y fic.

And yes, there were Doctor Who references thrown in here. I've been watching a lot of Who lately. No shame!

Gaz totally keeps a bat in every room in the house, btw.