Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, if I did-I would SO make you worship me xD
Warnings: ZADR, Gir! somewhat graphic shonen ai (boy love) and sexual implications. Oh- and some swearing, because I have a filthy filthy mouth and sometimes it bleeds through, sorry!
Authors Notes: -cough cough- No comment from me...Reviews are drooled over and Flames drooled upon. 3
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-Right Here-
It was hard to describe the sent in the air, hard to pin down and identify the odour that hit you the moment you opened the door and nearly sent your lunch back up for another visit.
It was still not enough to deter the scientist, wasn't enough to turn him away now that he had finally noticed been alerted to his sons disappearance... it had taken the school somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks before alerting him to that the boy was missing and given that the boys room had been gathering dust for the approximately the same amount of time, Membrane had followed up the only lead Gaz had; 'that freaky Zim kid'
There were noises nearby; a steady whirr of computer gear, the sound of something simmering in the kitchen and the far away sound of a show so retarded in sound it could only be that demented evil monkey show.
Fighting a shudder, Membrane moved on through the eerily feeling house. He vaguely wondered if he should have knocked (maybe back in the first paragraph) but instead settled for moving forward, the town worshipped him- what was a little break and enter.
Suddenly something glomped him from the doorway, heavy weight hitting him directly in the abdomen and knocking him onto the floor with a loud 'thud'.
As his breath left him with a long wheeze, Membranes watering eyes only managed to catch a blurred glimpse at his attacker, the strangest smudges of puke green and aqua. He rolled to one side as his vision cleared.
"You's look like Princess, is you an ebbil twin?" the question was innocent, and the voice even more so. Membrane hurriedly turned.
His eyes met a dog, intensely green and with bright aqua eyes. He blinked furiously, "did you just talk?"
The dog scratched its head thoughtfully, "I dunno..."
Hurriedly jumping to his feet, the scientist could only gape. Suddenly, a loud and furious alarm began to trill in warning, just before a dark plume of smoke all but exploded out of the kitchen.
The dog blinked lazily. "Foods ready!" he sung cheerfully, before dancing his way through the smoke and into the very possibly aflame kitchen.
Hands clutched to his head to muffle the deafening sound, Membrane watched the dog wander off, unsure whether to believe what he was seeing or not. He chose option C and hurriedly moved on, away from the freaky green dog and hopefully towards his missing son.
The house was in both disrepair and disarray as he walked through it. There were chunks of broken objects littering the floor, burn marks and blood streaks spread all over old wallpaper. Membrane yelped in surprise as he stumbled over a discarded shoe and almost landed face first in the torn black trench coat thrown beside it. His hand grabbed the couch to steady himself and he realised that both the shoe and coat were in fact Dib's.
"Your taller than Princess," the eerie voice of the little green dog informed him sadly, "I don't think Master would like you as much." The dog cocked his head to one side, "and he wouldn't like it at all if you went near the good-princess."
Membrane flinched in surprise, before pausing as a thought came to him, disturbing as the talking dog was, maybe he knew where Dib was, "is there a boy here called Dib?"
"GIR! WHERE ARE YOU!?" A loud, computer distorted voice rang through the air, startling Membrane and making the dog jump in alarm.
Hurriedly disappearing and returning with a plate of miraculously unburnt looking waffles the little green dog trotted passed. Membrane hesitated but, seeing no other way, he followed.
More marks of fighting and bloodshed continued through the room as he stalked the green dog. There was a pause at the toilet as Gir climbed in without hesitation and flushed himself down.
"Hell no," Membrane denied, though after a moment where he weighed down the pro's and con's of going down there, he gingerly made his way onto the porcelain device.
When he was dumped unceremoniously on his ass on the other side, he looked up and realised he had no clue how he had fit in the first place. Gir's voice was a little ways off, and singing something about a helicopter and a pig. Having no clue what else to do the scientist heaved his weight upwards and headed to the deranged noise.
He paused at the door though, even as Gir did not. Something was off here, and it wasn't just the lack of bloodstains either.
The smell was notably more pleasant here, and the thrum of computer gear was louder too. It was as if the house was living, and through the door before the paled scientist, was its still beating heart. Abruptly pushing nonsensical poetry from his head, the man stepped forward, once again determined to find his only son (though sometimes he wondered about Gaz...).
There was a muffled sort of sound as Membrane stepped through the door, a pain filled chuckle that trailed into a painful sounding cough. As he stepped even further towards the sound, he heard more noises. Whispers, murmurs and the sporadic humming of an overworked computer.
"Here are your waffles Good-Princess!" Gir sung, cutting through all other sounds.
Membrane paused once again; courage wasn't exactly what he was famous for. Still though, thoughts of the teachers condemning voice at the realisation Dib had missing a while now was ringing in his ears. His reputation was incredible, but it didn't need to be tarnished wherever possible.
Stepping forward, he froze in his tracks once more at the next sound that reached his ears. "They look good Gir, thanks."
Dib's voice, undeniably the voice Membrane was searching for, was somewhat husky like it had been aired out on a line for too long in the sun.
"Don't just stare at them, eat," a voice that sounded strangely familiar ordered, though the demand had an almost affectionate sound to it, "You did say you were hungry."
"I'm just not used to be waited on hand and foot," Dib confessed quietly, barely audible to his eavesdropping father in the next room.
There was a dry chuckle, "as soon as you can leave the bed you can go back to waiting on yourself Dib-pet," came the lazy assurance, "not too much longer."
Membrane crept forward; something seemed off, something that made the whole situation a little more dramatic then a spontaneous month long slumber-party Dib forgot to tell him about. There was something odd in the way the boy's were speaking to one another, something peculiar to the voices that spoke the words.
Dib didn't just sound tired and worn, he sounded different... contented perhaps. Odd for a boy that never fit in, even when he was by himself.
The corner loomed closer into view, and the light from the room was shining through. The hum of computer hardware was loud and frustrating, like the tingling threat of a migraine. He could still hear the voices of the other room though his lack of courage caused him to stop once again.
There was a shifting of material, the sounds of aggravated sheets. Gir squeaked in excitement, clearly Dib had begun following the Zim kids orders to eat.
"I think your arm's almost healed, "Zim's voice hummed softly, "and the gash across your back."
A moment's pause, assumedly as Dib swallowed his mouthful of waffle, "the cut across your cheek has faded, it's about time something of mine followed suit."
Unable to do nothing, Membrane took the last step he could before he himself was visible. From his position he could see the back of Dib' head, and the green dog dancing around behind him. He couldn't see Zim, although he heard the boy's laughter. The room looked to be a bedroom, because despite the harsh light and multiple computers lining one wall - It was filled with odd cushions and blankets thrown together to form some sort of bed.
"I'm just miraculous like that," Zim commented haughtily.
Dib shifted, shaking his head lightly and clearly in mirth. Membrane was enthralled. He had no idea what was going on, but he couldn't make himself look away. He'd never seen his son so collected and calm.
There was more movement as Dib continued to eat his waffles, a few random thunks of sound spilled from somewhere near Dib, most likely Zim's attempt to fight off boredom.
"I'm sorry I'm taking so long to get better," Dib murmured after a moment of silently eating, confirming that thought.
Again there was movement and the flash of Zim as he sat up beside Dib on the cushions, "I need the rest, lost a fair bit of blood."
Dib offered a shaky laugh and looked to the boy sitting at his side, "you don't need to lie to me to make me feel better. I know I'm slowing you down."
"I don't mind it so much," Zim confessed, yawning lazily.
A pause, then Dib leant over, cancelling the small distance between them with a soft kiss. One that had Gir singing out in delight, and had Membrane almost fainting into the room himself.
His son... was gay?
"Why are you even wearing this thing?" Dib asked as he pulled back, forcing Membrane to look back up just in time to see Dib pull a wig from atop the other boy's head, "you look better without it."
Zim pressed his own kiss forward, before pulling back in a shrug the shell-shocked scientist could barely make out, "Gir threw it on me when we fell asleep before, I woke up just as he was trying to put you in a dress."
"A dress?" Dib squeaked, hurriedly checking his form as though he wouldn't have noticed had he been wearing a dress the entire time.
"The Good-Princess and the Lonely-Master wanted to fly fly away together, but first they had to get married! For all the children!" Gir giggled, pulling the pink dress in question from beneath the pillow Dib was resting atop and making it dance jerkily.
Dib groaned at Zim's sadistic laughter.
"Oh!! Maybe that's why the ebbil-twin-princess was stormin' the castle!" Gir realised, "he said he was looking for the good-princess, but I told him he was too tall to ride the Master-ride."
Membrane took a moment to translate the words, but when he did he accepted it as his cue to do something. Now all he had to do was figure out what.
Regardless how dirty that comment sounded, the first half had Dib's mind racing. "Evil twin princess?"
"Don't listen to Gir, you should know that by now," Zim advised.
"But what if he means... My father shouldn't know I'm missing yet - or at all," Dib muttered more to himself then the boy lounging at his side.
Zim shrugged and shifted so he was lounging across Dib's stomach, gloved fingers idly twining through the short hairs on the back of Dib's neck, "if he noticed we would know by now."
Dib chuckled, leaning forward again to bring their lips close, "I doubt even my father could see his son making out with an alien and not have a reaction."
There was a hummed sound of agreement and a shift as the two boys lips again met in a kiss.
Membrane's mind hiccupped sideways, 'waiiiiiiit'. A reaction was due goddamn it - and hang on a minute, did they say Alien?
Half a step forward was all Membranes mind forced him, and a half step forward was all anyone needed before everything avalanched down.
Half closed pink eyes, softly twitching green antenna, and deep green skin were undeniably inhuman, and the sight of his son kissing the -godgodgod could it really be an alien?!- was unmistakeable. Antenna flicked towards the door at Membranes movements, Gir let out a happy squeal and the oblivious Dib was the last to notice, and only did due to the lack of continuation to his kiss.
Gir's glomp threw Membrane off balance and there was a harsh sound of metal against metal and a swooping flash of green that overtook the dogs place.
The alien hovered just above the scientist, held aloft by mechanical spider legs - the same legs that had him pinned by his coat.
Zim smirked, and it wasn't a pleasant smirk, "speak of the devil Dib-pet, I think your daddy missed you after all."
There was hurried movements as Dib slid over the back of the couch and slid beside them, "d-dad?"
Despite the contentment Membrane himself had heard in his son's voice, the boy looked completely damaged.
Clothes torn, ripped and splattered with what looked like dried blood. Not to mention the bandaged up arm sitting limp and looking useless against his
chest.
The 'alien' was also in a state of disrepair, his own clothes looking rather bloodsplattered and a healing split lip accompanied a rather bruised looking eye. There were a few gashes through the oddly coloured uniform, almost mirroring the disheveled state of Dib's clothing.
The two looked like they'de been pulled through the ringer, and judging by the state of the house upstairs it was a ringer they'de pulled each other through.
"W-what the hell?" Membrane stuttered, his voice almost bleeding with confusion and what could have been fear.
"And you were worried he wouldn't come looking for you," Zim teased, eyes remaining locked on the scientist pinned beneath him, "here he is, in the correct place, with the correct amount of concern in his father-dearest voice."
"Dad, why are you here?" Dib couldn't stop himself asking, mind running a mile a minute trying to figure out how Membrane, of all people, noticed him missing.
Membrane pulled against his confines, making a disgruntled noise when he found he couldn't escape. "The school called me. Where the hell have you been? You can't just disapear for a month without somebody noticing you're gone."
"The school... " Dib repeated, sitting back on his heels, "figures..."
Zim's gaze flickered to the boy for a moment, as though checking him for the distress he heard.
"What are you doing here with this-" he suddenly tenced again as his mind recollected thoughts he'd pushed aside in favour of chastising his son for getting him involved in school. "Wait-a-minute! What the hell are you doing with an alien?!"
Rage lifted Dib's gaze off the floor to narrow a harsh glare on his father. "What am I doing with an alien? You mean this alien? The one i've been trying and trying to convince you existed, the alien you wouldn't even listen to me about? The alien that you told me was just my imagination and made me see that damn shrink for?"
Zim let his lips twitch into a long and lazy smirk, relishing in the nasty undertone in the rant from the long denied boy.
"I'll tell you what i'm doing with this alien, this Irken completely in love with the idea of world domination and the enslavement of all humanity!" He leant forward, almost conspiritually, "I'm... 'dating' him."
Zim chuckled, "Dating, licking, kissing, sucking, biting, touching, whispering, breathing, wanting, needing, begging-"
"And Makin' babieeees!" Gir sung out as he danced around the trio, completely ignoring the fact he'd been pushed aside so roughly not that long ago.
While Dib's face immediatly darkened to a rather endearing shade of rose-pink, Zim's smirk grew.
Membrane squirmed uncomforably. Whether at the idea his son was fornicating a sadistic green alien, or further disaproval over his helpless state was unclear and ignored regardless.
"Yeah, that too..." Dib acknowledged the little robot, suddenly not able to meet his father's eyes. Somehow admitting that he was currently helping plot the destuction of mankind seemed a hell of a lot easier then coming out to his father.
"Is this why you've never fit in at school? Why you always spent all your time in your room muttering and ranting? Because you were gay?!" Membrane finally retaliated, having come up with an argument that seemed to make sence.
Dib scoffed. "I never fit in at school because everyone there is either an idiot, a mutant or completely insane. I spent all my time in my room ranting because no one outside of it would listen to me, not even you or Gaz," he looked up to the Irken watching his speech, his face blushing slightly at the look he saw in the alien's eyes, "and i'm gay only because Zim is male."
Zim grinned triumphently, leaning forward to capture Dib's lips in a soft kiss, dragging the boy towards him slightly so he could keep Membrane pinned. Dib whimpered slightly into the kiss, body arching forward to mould itself into Zim's.
Gir bounced back into the picture, squeeing delightedly at the picture the two boys presented before disapearing somewhere behind Zim to fiddle with Membrane's boots.
The man made a pained noise, clenching his eyes shut and flinching as though the sight pained him. "Gettoff him," he growled, "this is discusting Dib!"
Dib pulled back with a sigh of disapointment, "Maybe to you it is..." he mumered, still meeting Zim's gaze with equal heat, "but that's okay, I gave up caring what you think a long time ago."
Zim smile quirked upwards into a smirk. "Around the same time you started caring what I think, wasn't it?" He reluctantly tore his gaze from the humans, his eyes falling to a half-lidded stance as he turned to watch the older man squirm, "when he finally realised fighting me was worthless, when the only people he wanted to protect all deserved to die anyway."
"How can you care what he thinks?! Look what he's done to you! Do you really think he cares for you?" Membrane snarled, again pulling at his restraints, "he'll desroy you with the rest of us!"
"Maybe, maybe not..." Dib mumbled, looking away.
"Maybe he likes a bit of attention before he dies, Tallest-knows there's no way he was going to get it without me," Zim assured the scientist, not liking the downcast way his Dib reacted to the man's words, "and besides, I don't plan on 'destroying' him, especially with the rest of you unworthy pink worms."
Dib's head shot up like it was powered by Nitro, searching for the Irken's elusive gaze. The comments sounded like the kind of confession he'd been dreaming about, the insane half-hopes he'd hardly dared to imagine, let alone hope for.
"Lie's of promises don't mean anything," Membrane muttered.
"And the Lonely-Master was cryin' and cryin' until one day the goodly-princess came rushing in and they fell in looooooooovee forever and ever and ever and they made lotsa lotsa babies!!" Gir squealed, reappearing with one of Membranes boots dangling on his head and the other pulled up to his underarm.
"You can't trust him, and why would you betray your own planet, your own friends and family for something like him."
"Because I can. Because I got sick of saving this worthless planet alone. I got sick of being a hero every night, and getting called insane and pathetic every morning," Dib shook his head roughly, "I was the only one there to fight Zim, the only one to protect the planet, and he was the only one who saw that, the only one to regester that I was what was stopping him from taking over."
"So he fuc-"
"No no, the 'making babies' came much later," Zim interrupted, knowing Membranes train of thought. "He came over in a noble self sacrafice mission Membrane-lamppost, and we fought until we kissed and then we touched and we licked and we bit and we-"
"He's not doing this so he can get through me to the planet. He's had me unconcious and asleep and... perfectly helpless plenty of times since to kill me, and as far as I know I'm still breathing." Dib hurriedly pushed in, unable to go a darker shade of pink.
"Not much point killing him when he's so helpful with my plans to kill you all," Zim agreed, almost cooing at the boy so eager to defend him.
Membrane growled, "See, he's just using you! He'll throw you away when it's all over. Now get him off me, and we'll send him back where he came from."
Dib smiled. "You don't get it do you? I know you don't care about me, and I know he does. No matter what the reason for his attention it's more and much better then anything i've ever hoped from you," he pushed himself up on his knees and lowered his eyelids in a show of distance towards the man who had failed to raise him, "i'm quite happy to watch him kill you."
The green boy grinned sadistically, rubbing his hands together as if to prove he would do exactly that. Dib watched him out of the corner of his eyes, but didn't move to do anything at all.
Membrane froze his attempts to free himself, suddenly realising his attempts at lecture were pointless when confronted with such a conniving alien that could very well just up and kill him. How exactly had his failure of a son managed to fend off such a creature all this time?
"Dib, you know you don't want to give up on the Earth now, not after all this time and for something so trivial as a few misplaced thoughts," Membrane attempted, searching for any excape he could find, "I don't know how I was so blind before, but i'll back you up in everyway from now on, just let me help you!"
Dib snorted a sarcastic and mirthless half-laugh, "Help me, right. Im finished with your attempts to help me, and there's no way i'm willing to help you now. Give it up, accept the fact that it's all over."
Zim cocked his head to one side, listening to them talk to each other like they meant nothing but painful memories and a hope better left unthought of. His smile shifted alittle, to a lazy little smirk.
"Gir?" he called out, almost sweetly to the robot still dancing around them, "can you go make the spare bed? Looks like we have a guest for a while."
Dib startled at the words, looking up at the alien as though he'd lost his mind. "Your...You're not going to kill him?" he asked as Gir saluted and ran off.
Zim shook his head slowly, "at least not yet Dib-pet," he promised, reaching a hand out to caress the side of Dib's face gently, "after all, he is your Father-monkey. I think he deserves a front-row seat."
Dib suddenly brightened, "really?" He inquired, glancing down at his father as though he were nothing more then a cog in their plan.
"The death of humanity deserves an audience, don't you think?" Zim explained, "and besides, Gir's been asking for a new something to play with."
Dib chuckled, low and dark his voice husking over slightly at the continued movements of the Irkens green hand on his cheek. He ignored his father completely, closure complete and his intrest in the man fading at it's disapearance.
Gir returned cheerfully, with a bounce to his step and his dog-suit nowhere to be seen. "Ebbil Twinz bedroom is reeeaaaady!!" He called, before skidding to a stop with wide eyes as he saw the kiss his return hadn't discouraged, if only because the boys were to distracted to notice him at all.
He swayed slightly, starry eyed and mouth slightly opened in a silent "d'awwwww."
Membrane, on the other hand, scowled at the pair, though his discust was somewhat waylayed by his fearful realisation that he was not getting out of this.
His son felt as though he failed him, and now he was to be punished. He knew that school was out to get him.
Zim pulled back after a moment, "you need more rest," he murmered softly, taking his diognostic from their kiss where Dib had lost breath so much faster then usual, "C'mon, Gir can take the Membrane away and lock him up, we'll get some sleep."
Dib smiled, realising that Zim wasn't banishing him to the bed, he was inviting him to share it, "okay," he whispered, proving himself to be as breathless as had been suspected.
"Gir," Zim called out, startling the robot from his dreamy pose, the robot hurriedly scurried forward.
Membrane's heart missed a beat, recalling the 'something to play with' comment from Zim.
"Sweet dreams Membrane," Dib chuckled, his dark tone and the sadistic twinkle in his eyes promising there was no going back to the sad and ignored boy he was before.
Zim's laughter followed the words, and Membrane looked up to see the crimson glow of Irken-eyes.
There was a shift as Zim leant backwards, tugging his long spider-limbs free from Membranes flesh. There was a pause, as the legs remained poised, preparing to strike.
"Make sure the door gets locked Gir, I don't want this one getting away," He murmered, before helping Dib to his feet, and completely out of harms way from both the spiderlegs, and Membrane, who was now really starting to squirm for his freedom.
The flash of silver and a surprised sensation of sharp pain was the only warning the scientist had, then his world faded to black.
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