It was a little under two weeks before Dib called Lilo back. By now all Dib's cameras had been successfully upgraded and facial recognition software replaced human eyes in the on-going for a the Irken menace. And Lilo hoped the renovations would help Dib to remember his own health and rebuild some of his rationality.
As Lilo accepted the call and waited for their connection to load she crossed her fingers that her friend would show at least some small kind of improvement. Even the smallest of changes would be for the better. Better then things for her had turned in the past weeks...
For once in quite a while for Lilo, things didn't take a turn for the worst. Even if it was just one person doing something good... It showed that Dib was taking better care of himself. His hair was neatly combed and brushed, skin and clothes no longer greasy and grimy. Even his eyes had regained their spark and focus. And he greeted her with a wave along with an authentic grin.
"Hey Lilo!"
Man he was actually smiling, when was the last time she'd seen him do that? She quickly tried to mimic some of Dib's positivity. "Hi Dib! What's up?"
"Not much, just got back from school, gotta little bit of time before I have to go check the camera spots near the Mall and this one Hot Dog stand Zim use to really like."
"Wait! I thought you weren't going to get too wrapped up in that again, take some time to check over yourself." Lilo felt herself growing uneasy, at least Dib was leaving the house. But rushing to every single spot in person wouldn't be any better for his-
"Yea, I know. But I like to just check on them all whenever I pass by on my runs. Puts my mind to ease a little I guess."
Oh. "You've been out running?"
"Uh-huh, I've been working on getting back in shape, working with weights and a lot of other stuff. I even found some old jazzercise tapes."
"Huh, that's great though. How's it been going so far?"
"Really good actually! I first unfused my butt from the chair. My butt literally fused to my computer chair. It was really rough at first. But now that that's out of the way, I've been focusing on building back up my leg muscles after sitting for so long. But yeah, I'd say things are going pretty well! How've you been?"
Lilo wasn't sure what to say at first, in truth things were the complete opposite of great for her at the moment. But Dib seemed so happy for once, she didn't want to dampen that just when he started feeling good about himself again. Then again much like herself, he really didn't like being lied to...
She sighed heavily before responding, "Uhhh, things have been a nightmare over here. Turns out, all 626 of good reports I helped put together mean literally nothing to S.H.E.I.L.D if 627 and the Leroys' reports are still atrocious."
Like she'd expected, Dib's entire demeanor changed "That's terrible! You worked so hard on all those."
"Yeah, I know. And not only that, but apparently they've sent some of their people here behind my back!"
"What! Why?"
"I guess they really want to put together a case against us. Some of the cousins told me they've seen agents undercover as tourists. Bet they did that on purpose." She couldn't help the bitterness growing in her voice.
"So typical of them... Are you all ok? They haven't taken anyone or-"
"No, not yet. Thank goodness. But I have a hunch after this tourist season ends the island might be put under a surprise lockdown or something." She felt like a small weight was being lifted, finally talking to someone about all the anger that had been bottled up before. But she didn't feel like it helped anyone if she only passed her rage on to Dib.
But it was already too late, he was visibly seething now, "I can't believe it! They just ignore people, or lock them away to make it even easier to ignore." His hands formed into fists, shaking slightly. "Even after they fell apart in the whole Hydra fiasco, they still only want to hide problems? And of anyone, you and your family don't deserve to be treated like another one of their problems!"
She wanted to respond, but no good words could come to mind besides half-hearted agreement. Luckily Dib was on a tangent now and just kept going even when Lilo didn't respond.
"You're island's so important. We could seriously be helping people. But what do they do? Just disband everything that doesn't have S.H.E.I.L.D's fingerprints on it and remove anyone who dares to be a middle man. But they can't get rid of you! You're the one keeping the island together! Without you there is no island!..." As his tangent lost steam, he calmed down some, though his face remained irked and furrowed. "Man, I'm sorry, that just really, really makes me mad..."
"Well if nothing else, at least I know I have some vindication for all the nonsense they've been pulling."
"No kidding. And you'd think what with literally being split in two, S.H.E.I.L.D would die off, or at least take time to repair themselves before bossing everyone around again!"
"Yea, you'd think that. But I guess they feel they're too important to worry about keeping themselves in check before playing world police."
Dib smiled though a grimness colored his voice. "Ha! I hope they aren't spying on these calls, we probably sound like super villains right now, what with bad mouthing the world police so much."
While Lilo laughed a little in response, the thought ran coldly through her mind. She always liked to think she was a hero, protecting the world from aliens and making everyone good... But what was gonna happen now that it looked like she was defending aliens, her family but aliens nonetheless, over humanity? It's easy to say you're in the right when you're fighting evil giant mosquitoes and Hamsters who blatantly admit to trying to destroy the planet, but what about when your assumed enemies are now the ones who work to protect the world? What did that make her?
Dib continued, "And on top of that I have expansive knowledge on one of the most imperial empires in this galaxy and the next, as well as a literal space craft of theirs and you have an army of invincible alien gummy bears that almost exclusively listen and respect you!"
"Man, when you put it like that, we sound really bad."
"Yea, I guess so... Are you doing ok?"
"Yea I guess I'm fine."
"Hmmmm," Dib didn't by her lie, but he changed the subject anyway. "I really wanna help out though... Hey! I only have a couple of weeks left of school, how 'bout after that, I fly over for the summer and help you out with all the S.H.E.I.L.D stuff?"
"Huh? What would you do?"
"What I do best! I would be spying on the spies. And I bet I could get away with it all since I could disguise as a tourist too! I could help make sure they don't bother you guys too much or purposely make a bad report."
Lilo let the idea stew in her head as she thought aloud, "That's an idea... A little risky though since I think we're both on their radar. If you look like you're interfering too much, they might start to see us as trying to fight them... And I really, really don't want to pick any fights with S.H.E.I.L.D if I can avoid it."
"Of course, I won't fly over if you don't want me too. I'm just offering." Dib offered hurridly.
"Ok, Uhh..." She could admit to herself that she was running out of options, but rushing headfirst into any plan hastily put together is always a poor move. So instead, might as well take some precautions. "Can I think stuff over, and get back to you on it?"
Dib nodded, "Yeah, sure. Like I said, I still have a couple weeks of school left and a lot I need to catch-up on since I missed so much of my classes. But don't hesitate to call me up, ok?"
"Alright, I'll keep you updated on everything."
"Ok, I'll see you around!"
"Yeah, later!"
With that the connection ended and the screen went to black. Lilo sighed in relief and pushed her laptop to the side, just letting her self lie down and stare at the living room ceiling. Letting her mind wander.
As a kid, she was always called a freak or crazy. Granted, she often would fight and bite people in response... Not to mention that before she was even ten she had broken out of jail, destroyed numerous tourist traps while chasing down experiments. And even before aliens came to Hawaii, she was experimenting with voodoo and would regularly fake tsunami warnings just to watch all the tourists flee from the beaches... If that wasn't red flags for villainy then what was?
The more Lilo thought about it, the more she felt like she'd dodged some sort of bullet. Sure, the flocks of tourists still irritated her sometimes, and she still believed in all the magic rituals she use to practice. But much of that rage channeled behind those things subsided after Stitch came along. And no matter how angry or bitter she'd grown as a kid she still remembered the importance of friendship and family, like her parents had always taught her. Despite all the bad things she had to deal with she was still a good person of good intentions; regardless of what S.H.E.I.L.D questioned and feared in her and her Ohana. Right?
Despite all the disagreements coming about between them, she believed S.H.E.I.L.D to be a force for good too. It's just they both were having two differing definitions of what good truly meant and how to best bring it about... And she hoped that what ever clash came about between them that neither party would be labeled the bad guy... She also hoped that Dib could see that side of her conflict as well, he had always been so quick to call things and people inherently good or evil...
Speaking of him, it was great to know that Dib was doing infinently better then before. And that for now he wasn't letting any of Zim's so-called schemes get to his head. And though she wasn't sure what to think of it at the moment, she realized that the subject of Zim had only been brought up once in their entire conversation...
And that's it for now! I like this idea so far and I think I'm gonna run with it and see where it goes. And just so it's known, this takes place after the events of winter solider, but the Age of Ultron has not yet dawned... Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed. Don't feel shy to ask me any questions or give me any critiques. :)
