Disclaimer: Any original characters belong to me. The IZ cast, so in other words just Zim, belong to Jhonen C Vasquez.
The next day, Skye stood in his Boss' office with the other guys. They were waiting, once more, for their schedules. The previous day, after their little make-out session, TJ and Skye had bonded over a few more drinks before going to TJ's place to rent a movie or two. TJ was a real sweetheart, even though he had a tough front around everyone else.
Boss cleared his throat, jolting Skye from his thoughts. "Are we keeping you from something, Skye?" He wondered, his eyes glistening with anger.
"No, sir." Skye responded. "Just no sleep last night is all. Sorry, sir."
"Uh huh." Boss snorted. "Tonight, sleep well. You're in early tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Skye knew his Boss well enough to now that that had been an order, not a threat.
"Alright. Dismissed."
Skye stood at the street corner across from Elemental Power about an hour later, hoping to spot TJ. It was crowded outside, so he doubted he'd run into him. A soft, cold hand on his shoulder made him jump. Skye turned to see Zim attached to the hand. His hoodie was gone, but he still wore a long sleeved shirt, though it was a bit flirtier then the traditional long-sleeve. His jeans threatened to fall of his hips as he stood there, grinning. "Morning, man." He greeted.
"Hey, Zim." Skye responded. "What's up?"
"N'much." Zim shook his head. "I saw you and TJ leave together yesterday."
"Yeah…"
"He's not that bad of a guy, is he." Zim stated.
"No, not at all. He can be really sweet."
Zim laughed. "Well, I don't think I really needed to know that, but thanks anyway."
Skye laughed back. "No problem."
"You working today?"
Skye nodded. "Yeah."
"TJ said you didn't mind the idea of…" Zim looked around before leaning close to Skye's antennae. "Quitting."
Skye nodded. "I don't." He paused. "But my Boss would hunt me down and kill me."
"We have people that can protect you. I'm pretty sure TJ would go to the death chambers for you if he needed to."
"Death chambers?"
"The lethal injection room at the end of death row." Zim shuddered. "Miz is lucky he's never been sent to death row…or not yet at least."
"I can't see him doing anything that would land him in there." Skye shook his head.
"In death row or jail altogether?"
"Jail itself."
Zim shook his head. "He's in there at least twice a month." He sighed. "I wish he wouldn't go in so often, but he's got this bad habit of taking the wrap for his friends."
"How does Angel deal with it?"
"She comes over and hangs with me and the guys to take her mind off it." Zim paused for a moment. "She's pregnant, you know."
"Aw!" Skye commented. "I can hear it now…'Uncle Zim'."
Zim rolled his eyes as he laughed and lightly shoved Skye. "She don't like to get too stressed cause she's 'fraid it will hurt the kid." He told Skye. "So she hangs with us and hopes we can calm her down…which mostly means she hangs with me and the other two just tag along."
"You don't like to cause trouble, do you?"
Zim shook his head. "Though I hate being there, I'm the only one in the gang that made it to High School." He responded. "I don't have much time for trouble…except when TJ sneaks on campus and gives me a cigarette at lunch." He trailed. "I'm sure you didn't want to know about that."
"These guys seem to take care of you a lot." Skye informed, nodding towards a bunch of guys who were watching them.
Zim groaned. "They aren't in my gang." He grabbed Skye's hand and pulled him into an alley way.
They crouched behind some garbage cans and cardboard boxes. "Who are they?" Skye whispered.
"The Harper gang." Zim sneered. "Our enemies." He took out his phone and typed something on it.
"What are you doing?"
"Text-ing my homeboys." Zim informed.
"Homeboys?"
Zim nodded and motioned for Skye to keep quiet. A moment later, an Irken with dark red eyes peered over the trash cans at them. "Hey, Halen." He greeted. "Who's your friend?"
Zim quickly stood up and Skye followed suit. Zim didn't seem afraid, but Skye had a feeling that he was just masking his emotions.
"None of yer damn business, Harper." Zim sneered. "Go back with your rich friends and piss them off would you?"
'Harper' pushed the trashcans and boxes aside, scattering them across the small alley. His friends soon walked over. Skye backed up into the wall behind him.
"Hey, I've seen you around here before." One of the green eyed ones told Skye. "You're a hooker, right?"
"Uh…" Skye really hated the word 'hooker', but he didn't want to get into a fight, not while on duty.
"Lay off." Zim ordered. His hand moved to his side and he clenched his fingers around something. "My homeboys are on their way. You'd best get going before one finds you."
"Why should we be afraid of a bunch of homeless kids anyway?" Harper wondered. He seemed to be the leader of the other gang.
Zim took a step foreword, his shirt slightly riding up. Skye noted what Zim had his fingers wrapped around: the butt of a gun.
"You're nuts." Skye whispered into Zim's antennae.
"What he say?" A ruby eyed Irken wondered.
"Nothing." Zim snapped. He kept an eye on Harper.
"Best watch your mouth, Zim." Harper sneered.
"Watch yours, Jack."
So that was his real name…Jack seemed to get more pissed off by the second. His hand clenched around something at his hip as well, but he wasn't holding it like Zim was. Was it really a gun?
"You wanna mess with me?" Jack wondered.
"You first, sweet-heart."
Jack took his hand off of whatever he had been holding onto and sucker punched Zim across the jaw, with a speed Skye had never seen. Instead of falling back, Zim held his ground and swung. His fist collided with Jack's mid-section, but Jack didn't double over. The two of them were pretty tough. Zim seemed small and weak, but he really wasn't. Another punch was thrown at Zim, but by a member of Jack's gang. Skye took a step back and watched, not sure what to do.
After the last hit at Zim, the group of them began to fight, punching and kicking. Rough hands grasped the arms of two of the guys and pulled them back. After clearing the majority of the group out, the other Irken pulled Jack away from Zim and threw him to the ground.
"You're out of your territory, Harper." He growled, reeking of beer and cigarettes.
Jack quickly stood up. "Watch yourself, Saug." He growled back in warning. "I'm not done with you yet." He told Zim.
Zim went to swing, but the Irken dubbed Saug stopped him.
"Let him go." He whispered. "He's not worth going to jail." Saug spit at Jack's feet.
Jack seemed to get more infuriated, but he left as soon as Miz and the others came running over. Miz immediately checked Zim over. The younger Irken was covered in cuts, bruises, and blood.
"Anyone pull anything on you?" Miz wondered, looking Zim in the eye.
"Not that I could feel." Zim shook his head and held his jaw. He looked at Skye. "You alright?"
Skye nodded. "Don't worry about me." He told Zim. "Are you okay?"
Zim nodded, but quickly grabbed his head in pain. Miz shook his head.
"You start shooting your mouth off?" He wondered. "Why didn't you wait until we got here?"
"He started it." Zim responded, defiant to his brother's attempt in disciplining him.
TJ wrapped an arm around Skye's shoulders. "You sure you're okay?" He wondered, kissing Skye's forehead.
Skye leaned onto him. "Yeah, I'm sure." He responded.
"Did you see anyone pull a blade?" Element wondered, taking his eyes off of Zim and Miz's arguing.
Skye shook his head. "One of them was going to before the fight started, but he never did."
"I'm not going to stand here and get lectured by you." Zim sneered at Miz, throwing his arms in the air. "I'm going home to see if Angel has anything to patch me up." Pushing around Miz, he shoved his hands in his pockets and left the alley.
Miz sighed and turned to the others. "Sorry you had to see all that." He stated. "He's getting worse."
The other three nodded, but Skye was clueless. "Worse?" He wondered.
Saug looked him up and down. "Who are you?" He questioned, seeming to have seen Skye for the first time.
"Skye." Skye responded.
Saug looked him over again. "Working?"
Skye nodded.
He laughed. "How'd you end up with losers like these guys, huh?" He put an arm around Miz's shoulders in a joking manner.
Miz pushed his arm away. "Dude, you reek." He commented.
Seemed like someone didn't have a problem with being straight foreword.
"How many beers did you have?" Element wondered, wrinkling his antennae. "My bar smells better then you do."
"Lay off, man." Saug ordered. He looked at Skye again. "I'm Mike, by the way. Mike Saug." He smiled. "I'm sure you got the last name from when Harper called me it."
Skye nodded. "Why do you guys call each other by last name?" He questioned
"We hate each other too much to use each other's first names."
"Oh."
TJ rolled his eyes. "It's a gang thing. Kind of like acknowledging that you're on opposite sides." He explained a bit better.
Mike looked between the two of them. "You two know each other?" He wondered.
"We met him a couple days ago." TJ responded.
"And already…"
"Shut the hell up, Mike."
"Whatever. What's up with Zim?" Mike turned to Miz. "I thought he was getting better."
"He was, but not now. He's stopped taking his meds." Miz shook his head. "I swear, sometimes it's like he wants to die."
"Die?" Skye didn't know Zim had been dying.
"Zim has a weakened immune system." Miz explained. "He's bound to catch something from hanging back here."
"He had no choice." Skye defended the young Irken. "He wanted to get away from the Harpers."
Miz seemed to consider it. "But he's always so pissy." Miz looked to Element. "He say anything to you?"
Element shook his head. "Not a word. He's the same he's always been." Element blushed, mind in the gutter.
"He was fine earlier." Skye announced.
They all looked at him.
"We were joking around before the Harpers showed up." Skye told them, a bit weaker.
"He's just got a problem with authority." TJ stated with a shrug.
"He gets that from being near me." Miz muttered.
"You think he's pissed cause Miz scolded him?" Skye wondered.
"Could be." TJ responded. "Zim's used to his father doing that, and he hated it."
"I'm nothing like Zak." Miz sneered. "I'd never hurt my kid the way he hurt Zim and Kiehsa and me."
"Speaking of, where is Kiehsa, anyway?" Mike wondered.
"She's having a party Saturday." TJ informed.
"Why didn't I know about this?" Miz questioned.
TJ shrugged. "I assumed she told you."
"Or she just doesn't want you to get arrested when the cops show up." Element told Miz.
"The cops only show up at Mike and Karen's parties." Miz rolled his eyes.
"She knows about the kid, right?" TJ wondered. "She must not have told you because you'll go to jail if the cops show up, and she wants you to be with your kid."
"That sounds like Kiehsa." Miz remarked. "Well, joke's on her. I'm showing up for a beer at least."
"Just don't cause any trouble, Miz." A feminine voice ordered from behind them. "Or I'll kill you before Kiehsa and Angel do." A pink eyed Irken walked into the alley.
"Yes, mother." Miz scowled.
She laughed and looked Skye over. "Hooker?" She wondered.
"I really hate that word." Skye muttered.
"Sorry." She shrugged, as though she didn't really mean it. "Yo, Miz, I passed your brother. What happened to him? He get jumped?"
"Yeah."
"Damn."
Miz smirked. "Don't worry; we'll get 'um at the next brawl."
"Making Zim stay home for that one?"
"If he don't get better, yeah. I don't want to risk him passing out on the floor." Miz's cell phone rang. "Cuse." He muttered, walking off.
"I'm Karen, by the way." The girl told Skye. "You?"
"Skye." He responded. "You a member of the gang, too?"
"The guy who's arm's around ya is my brother."
"Oh."
Miz walked back into the alleyway, looking a bit pale.
"You alright, man?" Element wondered.
"Zim's in the hospital."
Skye and the others crowded into the lobby of the hospital down the road. Skye hadn't called his Boss to tell him he was taking a break, but he didn't want to. He wanted to make sure Zim was alright. Angel walked down one of the halls, eyes glossy with tears. "Oh, there you are." She greeted, falling against Miz.
"What's wrong? You alright?" Miz wondered.
"Tired."
"Zim alright?" TJ questioned.
Angel shook her head and shrugged.
"What happened?" Element prodded.
"He came home all beaten up and when I asked what was wrong, he collapsed." Angel shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong with him. Go see him."
"Not all at once." A voice ordered. A doctor in a white lab coat stood behind them.
"Is my brother alright?" Miz questioned the doctor.
"He's got some bad cuts and bruises on him…and the beginnings of a cold."
Miz groaned. No doubt he was used to it by now. "He gonna be good?"
"He'll be fine. We just need to keep him here for a few days to make sure the medicine's working."
"There's no zinc in it, is there?"
"No, we made sure of it." The doctor's pager went off. He looked at it. "He's awake. You can go see him if you want."
Miz sat in a chair next to Zim. Zim had fallen asleep before they had gotten up there so no one knew if he knew they were there.
"What am I going to do with you, hm?" Miz wondered.
Figuring it was a family thing, everyone but Miz, Angel, and Skye had left. Skye would have gone with them, but he felt it was his fault Zim had gotten beaten up in the first place, because he had called Zim's attention to the Harpers.
Angel sat in a chair against the wall and Skye leaned on the wall next to her. Doctors and nurses came and went, making sure all the wires were connected to him and that he hadn't fallen into a coma. None of them seemed to pay attention to Miz, Angel, and Skye, except when one of them got in their way.
"Does this happen often?" Skye questioned Angel, watching Miz lay his head down next to Zim.
Angel nodded. "Since Zim was born." She confirmed. "He was getting better, but I'm afraid that he's taken some steps backwards."
"Hey." Zim whispered.
They looked over to see his eyes half open and a small smile on his face.
"Who died?" He wondered.
Angel rolled her eyes. "You and your bad humor." She scolded. "Jackass."
"You know you were sick?" Miz wondered.
"Duh." Zim seemed to roll his eyes.
"So why didn't you stay home?"
"I wanted to hang with you and the guys."
"So that's the reason for the hoodie." Skye muttered.
Zim smiled. "And to hide my wrists, yes. But I was getting chills all day yesterday."
Miz shook his head. "You always pick the wrong battles to fight."
Zim shrugged. He didn't seem mad at Miz for scolding him now, he just seemed happy to have his brother there for him. "Sorry." Zim told Miz.
"For what?"
"Getting into a fight."
"You can't help it. Harper's got a vendetta against you."
"Why?" Skye questioned.
"They used to be best friends." Angel explained. "Until Jack turned to the Hayfields and sucker punched him."
"Hayfields?"
"The gang was led by Kevin Hayfield, until he lost in a fight to Miz."
"Which one was Kevin, then?"
"He wasn't there." Zim told Skye. "He got kicked out of the gang when he lost."
"Kicked out?"
"The Harpers are just the over-privileged rich kids." Miz scoffed. "They're together just because they're friends. Us, we're family. We don't kick people out of the gang, because the gang is all that most of us have."
"It's a home." Zim confirmed, before going into a coughing fit.
Miz helped him sit up, in an attempt to help him stop choking. He rubbed Zim's back.
"I should go." Skye muttered. "I'm sorry about what happened, Zim." He started to leave.
"No big deal." Zim lay back down and turned away from Miz, wrapping the cord attached to the IV in his wrist around him.
Miz moved it so that Zim wouldn't choke. Skye started to go out the door.
"It wasn't your fault." Zim's eyes slid shut.
Skye paused where he was and sighed. "Yes it was." He left.
