Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim
The Membrane's house was quiet that day after Gaz raised her voice towards her brother -nothing new there- but what left the intense silence was the fact that Dib's little sister just defended his alien arch enemy. After years fighting each other, Dib finally made it possible to his father -and the rest of the world- to believe in him. With great prepare and guns, The Swollen Eye Ball Network along with some government scientists captured the Irken and took the alien to a secret lab facility, they choose to keep it unknown to the public Zim's identity for now, but Dib's partners reassured him that by the end of the week the discover would be showed worldwide. But what Dib didn't knew was how close the alien and his sister had gotten over the last years.
At first Gaz and Zim would only communicate through notes, sticking the paper in each other's lockers; eventually Zim started to leave little presents (such as mini lasers, upgrades to her Gameslave, new pencils to her drawings), Gaz presented Gameslave for the alien, he was apprehensive assuming that "Dib-stink" had placed some sort of camera or a bomb, but after a glare from Little Gaz he accepted. Such games that propose mass destruction in it fascinated him, they would play together when Dib wasn't present in the lunch break or on the way back home, which only made both get closer and closer, since the older brother was busying himself with building machines to capture paranormal creatures and sometimes detention due to his "psychotic mental break down" during classes. Gaz was never someone to open up to anyone, Zim earned her maximum trust, something not even her brother had. They spent two years of friendship without exchanging a single personal information about herself, until one day she lost it.
Both would not forget that night, right after a dinner with her father in a family night, she decided to confront Professor Membrane when Dib left for a bathroom break, about what she found out when she was yet just a child, the night she looked for her father in the basement and found all those experiments, all those sickening versions of her and her brother inside those experimental incubators with tubes sticking inside their veins, some without arms, others without legs, hell even some of them were mixed together. She cried her heart out that day, when she saw a picture of her mother and papers with her name written on top, in it there was information about her mother's DNA and how Gazlene it's just a clone. Dib wasn't quite that -a clone-, for some reason the older brother was lucky enough to have the Professor and their mother's DNA mixed, it was a weird way to have a child, but at least he was a mix of both parents, it seemed more truthful. Gaz never felt like she was real after that, deep in her mind there was always a voice screaming: "You're not your own person! You're just a sick experiment!". She never wanted to see a picture that contained her mother in it ever again, because in the moment her eyes recognized that person she would remember: she's not Gazlene Membrane, she's just another project of her father. She hated how she felt weak because of such thing, and when she told Zim about her discover, her feelings and thoughts about it -when she ran from the restaurant and took a walk in the park to clear her mind- both sitting in the swings, Gaz tried to hold her tears then and the alien wasn't stupid, he saw that, he saw right through her and said:
"You're not weak, to endure such information about yourself, you learned to live with it, that's not being weak. Perhaps discovering that made you be who you are today, made you be different from her. It's a fragile part of you that you'll have to absorb it, recognizing this fact won't make you less…human, dealing with the problem now will be better than let it eat yourself for the rest of your life. Gaz-human, you're not the person you were before because it was never meant to be that way, who you are today it's not who your mother once were, you are not her. Since that day you became stronger and yourself. You're Gazlene Membrane and nothing or nobody, not a DNA nor a photo, can change that"
In that day she allowed herself to call Zim her best friend, she didn't mind to let him in, he was the only one who seemed to understand her somehow. Best friends can cry in front of each other, right? That's what the goth girl did, two single tears fell from her amber eyes and that moment the alien knew that she had entrusted him, she gave him the permission to console and care, getting that from Gaz felt like ruling a planet. It also freaked her out that an alien, a total different specie understood her better than her own family, her father didn't bother himself to even answer her that night, he just kept eating and talking about shallow things that obviously did not matter at that point. Different DNA's and bodies, different cultural ways and how they were raised, yet both fit each other so well. All this memories and thoughts going through her head made her even more mad, she glared at her brother who refused to tell her where the control to disable the house security system was.
"You will shut down this god damn emergency system in this instant, Dib!" Gaz said with a surprisingly calm voice.
"Sorry can't do. You'll try to save that alien psycho! Why are you so mad? He was going to do the same with everyone on Earth once he conquered it!" Dib argued back, Gaz couldn't think straight, what she wanted to say was not what got out of her mouth.
"You're so selfish!" She screamed at him and marched to her room without glancing back at her older brother.
"How am I the one being selfish if I just saved our planet?!" He screamed back, but it was meaningless, the girl had already locked herself in her room.
Gaz promised herself after the night on the park she would never cry again, she would continue to be strong, not just for herself but for her best friend. Now that he was possibly being tortured by those scientists, being experimented on, suffering his number one nightmare, she just couldn't hold it. Gaz cried yet again, but not just two tears, they started falling freely from her eyes, her body felt numb and she suddenly wanted to throw up. She never lost anyone that was important for her before, all this feelings, she never had to go through them. She hadn't realized how much she cares for him until this happened, before him her life was just the usual routine, she didn't give the slightest fuck to anyone around her, her list of acquaintances was, well, zero. Yes, her family was not included on the list since her Father was never even present in her daily life and her brother might try to stick to her side but, really, all he cared about was himself and his future career.
She laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling, remembering all the good memories she had storage it in her head. All the rare times he got a laugh out of her, when he bought her pizza even though he hates the smell, when he took her to the arcade, even the small gestures such as open the doors and hold her books. Gaz got up and tried to open her window but, due to the security system, it didn't move a bit, even with her powers it wasn't enough. She punched the window and laid on her bed again, for now all she could do was plan a way out.
Meanwhile Dib paced on the living room, his head hurting with so many thoughts, questions and -even if he did not wanted to believe- guilt. Gaz could try to hide her feelings all she wanted, sometimes she forgets that they grew up together, Dib knows when his sister's upset or furious. He saw how much she wanted to cry, how tight her voice sounded when she screamed at him. Gaz didn't even tried to discuss with him, she backed away from the fight, and she never backs away, she finishes until the end, dooms whoever she wants to, not caring if it's her brother or a even a kid. He knew he had closed his eyes to this, but it was hard for him to accept it: his little sister was fond of Zim. Dib saw when they were playing Gameslave together, the nights she would go out to the arcade? He knew the alien would be there waiting for her, he followed her. Dib just couldn't trust Zim, he couldn't even try to; he was afraid for his little sister's safety, Dib was aware of the lack of affection and bonding between him and Gaz but she's family, their tie -in Dib's eyes- was bigger than she thought, he cares for her, she was the only one present, the only one that listened to him (even though she would ignore him most of the time), he would not let Zim use her against him or for the world's domination, who knows what the alien could do with her powers.
Then why there was a part in his brain scratching and repeating over and over: "There's something wrong about this". He remembered about Zim's lack of concern for invader job lately, after he missed one week of class and got back with an indifference act, not responding to any of Dib's comments or accusations. That ego-freak would never let Dib get away with some insult without a fight and suddenly he comes back like he suffered some sort of shock. Dib hadn't got any signal of recent calls from his leaders either, just one transmission in the week he missed class, that was around 3 months ago. When he got back, Zim seemed to get even more closer to Gaz. Am I connecting the evidences in the wrong way? The paranormal agent asked himself, his cellphone now in hands, waiting anxiously for any update they have about the Irken.
The house, for whoever walked by or lived close to would look calm, peaceful and silent but the aura was like a storm, a tornado of dark colors, anyone sane enough would know to keep away from it. That was how the Membrane siblings went to sleep, both with their heads full of troubled -and nostalgic- thoughts about the same Irken. Far away from them, said alien screamed for help, isolated in a small white room, saved it for his bloody footsteps.
"No more, please. No more" He whispered in his language, laid down in fetal position, shaking with cold and pain, trying to keep himself awake. Zim knew he needed to be strong, no matter how many times those scientists would try to break him. But all he wanted was to let go, he knew that he had no purpose on Earth anymore, he wasn't allowed to go back to Irk, even though he did not wished to. The problem was, any planet or dimension he tries to go will not accept him, they are either under Irk's domination or the others in command already know him and, well, hate him. He felt like a void, like he's alone in this whole galaxy, then she came to his mind.
He would never admit to anyone, it was harder to admit it to himself, but he knew that without Gaz, he would be entirely lonely. Sure, he had Gir and Mini-Moose, but it wasn't a real connection, he couldn't talk his mind to them, couldn't discuss his ideas, have a normal conversation, Gir it's just a silly robot and Mini-Moose...what the fuck that creature is, after all? Zim sighed mentally, he missed her. There was a part deep inside him wishing that she would open that door and save him, it was day one and he couldn't take it anymore. These humans, they think of him as a monster when actually they are the real monsters. Zim got up, his knees trembled but he didn't gave it to it, walked around the room looking for some sort of way out, something he could work in all the time he stays here, if he survives for a long time. I'm not giving up, Zim does not give up! The alien screamed in his head, he might not have a reason to be alive anymore but while there was still someone out there waiting for him and while his body still had a slight piece of hope he would continue.
He's body can endure, Zim's been through a lot in his lifetime, he sure as hell can survive this. And when he get out of this nightmare, he and Gaz, he hopes she accepts to run away with him. Not to another planet, nor dimension, but away from everyone, they can travel around Earth together, discover their own place, somewhere away from everyone. Just the two of them. Zim kept that in his mind as a promise, even if it took long, they would do it, he never breaks a promise. Zim looked down at his three clawed hands, they were feeling numb but also funny, then he saw something growing out of his hands. His red eyes widened, just what in the hell these scientists were doing with him?
Please read this author's note:
Hello, dear readers! I finally decided to get out of my cave and write something (miracle), lately I've been watching some old cartoons I so much loved -still do- when I was a kid. The idea for this fanfiction got stuck in my head, so I decided to give it a try. A small chapter, I know, but it's basically a Prologue, no worries, I have some bigger ones saved here with me ;)
I'm pretty sure it won't be a long story (those with 40 chapters and all :v), thought I might already warn ya! Also, wanted to tell that the rated M scenes will be later! So not on the early chapters, hope you don't mind XD
Ah! I don't have any beta reader, which means that if you see some mistakes, I already want you to know that I am deeply sorry! English it's not my first language and I promise I'm doing my best to write a good story. I don't mind if you review to me when I get it wrong haha actually it would be pretty useful, readers helping the author, right?
I've been reading fanfictions for, what, 2 years now? So I know how frustrating it is to wait for a new chapter, so I will do my best to post as soon as I can, since it's vacation it shouldn't be a problem.
The characters might be OOC, but I'll explained during the process of the story why I think they would react it that way (like Gaz crying and Zim not being so selfish). I hope you guys like it!
Also, I want to take my time to recommend authors that inspired me to write this story and enchanted me with their writing: blueflower1594, RavenFollower13 and mistytales1303. They wrote pretty good stories of Invader Zim!
Anyway, I guess this is it for now! I'll be back soon!