Bruh I haven't written a fanfic in...probably...four years holy shit. I'm definitely a little rusty and apologize in advanced.

So as to not drag this on for longer than it needs to be, I don't own these characters or Invader Zim….yadda yadda yadda….Tell me what you think and hopefully...enjoy this? Maybe?

The smell of rain hung heavily in the air and water pooled in the dips and holes of the road. The night sky had been covered in a thick blanket of grey, leaving nothing but the street lamps and the distant glow of the city to light Dib's way.

It was almost two a.m. and Dib found himself walking to the park several blocks from his house. His shoes scraped against the dampened sidewalk, and the occasional raindrop would land on his face. It wasn't exactly raining anymore, only lightly sprinkling as the storm had almost completely moved on. Earlier, however, was a different story. The rain had been pounding against the rooftops for nearly six hours, and the thunder was almost deafening as the storm passed directly overhead. But now? It was calm; peaceful even.

He could hear the leaves rustling in the trees overhead as a cool breeze blew through. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were already pink from the cold, and every breath he exhaled fogged the air. His hands were tucked away into the pockets of his jacket and he stared straight ahead. He needed some time alone.

Summer had come to an end almost two months ago and Dib found himself rather alone while navigating his final year of high school. Zim hadn't shown up for the first day, let alone the first 6 weeks.

Over the last several years, things had definitely changed. Zim's incompetence had become quite apparent to Dib when he had gotten a little older. The alien could hardly take care of himself let alone manage to destroy an entire planet. But that wasn't even the half of it. Something had changed with Zim as well. Sometime last year, he had disappeared for a couple weeks. When he had returned, it was as if someone had switched off a light within him. As if he had lost some sort of purpose to himself. His motivation for destroying earth seemed to have almost disappeared. Almost. Of course there was always still the underlying death wish to all humans, but it was never as crucial to him as it had been when he had first arrived on this planet. Dib never really found out the entirety of what had happened during those two weeks, only that maybe it had something to do with Zim's home planet...or maybe his leaders.

Dib soon found himself entering the park. It was rather large with tall pine trees towering overhead, causing black silhouettes against the sky. The park sat on a slight slope, and several metal picnic benches were scattered across the plot of land. In the almost exact center of the park sat a playground that consisted of a swing set and several colorful slides. Finally, at the far end, there was a small brick and concrete building with a street lamp to the right of it. The building was a bathroom and wasn't very well kept.

Dib walked across the wet grass over to the picnic bench where he laid on top of it and looked up at the sky. By now, even the sprinkling of rain had stopped and there was a large break in the clouds above. Dib stared into the stars. They were as magical to him as they had always been. Ever since he was little, he had always wondered about them and if there were creatures that lived beyond his solar system. Of course now there was living proof of that only a couple blocks away from where he was now. Well...at least Dib hoped he was living. Despite being missing for about 6 weeks, Dib hadn't gone to the aliens house to check up on him. Not that the 18 year old hadn't wanted to, but more because he hadn't been able to find the time. Between classes, homework, and his new job, the only time he ever had to himself was to sleep; something he couldn't seem to be able to do tonight no matter how hard he tried.

For the first time in a while, Dib started to relax. As he closed his eyes, he thought about how it was nice to finally be away from the house. Away from the whirring of all the computers in his room, the faint murmurs through the wall of his 15 year old sister talking to one of her online friends during a late night gaming session, away from the disappointment of coming home to an empty house because his father spent way too much time worrying about work rather than his family.

The relaxation hadn't lasted long before the 18 year old heard what he thought to be footsteps coming from the right of him in the near distance. His eyes shot open and he sat up, turning his head towards the noise. Of course, all he could see was the outline of a wooden fence and few large bushes. For several long moments, Dib sat there staring, straining his eyes and listening for it again. As he was about to give up and assume it was just him being paranoid, something rustled inside one of the bushes.

Dib could feel his heart skip a beat, as he wasn't expecting something to actually be there. Was this an animal? A person watching him? Dib's tongue ran across his dry lips as he reached into his pocket for his phone, his sight never once leaving the shrubs. With his phone in his hand, he pressed the home button and the screen lit up. It being so dark out, the light from the phone was all Dib could see. He hurried and turned on the flashlight setting and shut off the screen. The bushes rustled again.

"Hello…?" Dib called out as he shone the light towards the shrubs.

Upon not receiving a reply, the teen swung his legs over the side of the picnic table and hopped down. Slowly Dib crept towards the bushes. Whatever was hiding within the leaves, Dib was going to find out what it was.

As he grew closer, he tried to look between the branches but could hardly make out what he was seeing. Whatever it was, was small and dark. Most likely an animal, obviously not timid enough to bolt from it's hiding spot as the teen drew near.

"Okay. You can do this, " Dib thought to himself as he reached a hand out towards the branches, "One, two, ...three!"

He pulled back part of the bush and peered inside, ready to jump back if he needed to. He didn't. What Dib saw staring back at him had surprised him. There, sitting among the mud and leaves, was a soaking wet kitten with black fur and almost creepily large brown eyes. Well, at least he thought they were brown. The way the light caught them almost made them appear red.

Yoooo that's the end of it. Sorry it's so short...sorta testing the waters and seeing whether or not to continue this.