A/N: HOLY CRAP WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?

So this was originally going to be the last chapter, but I feel like this story is going to end in a boring way if I stop here so I'm going to continue it! Shit gon' get real. Thank you so much to the people who have stayed with me until this point. ;A;

Also, as an extra note, Dib is currently 33 years old (the last time he saw Zim, they were both about 15 since that was how old I was in 8th grade). Zim is the Irken equivalent of 34 (or something close to it). You'll find out why it's important later. :)

Word Count:

Pairing(s): Zim/Dib, ZaDR

Warnings: AU, future-verse, slash, language, themes

Soundtrack: Make Me Bad by KoRn; Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi; End of Line by Daft Punk; Seven Nation Army Remix by The Glitch Mob (originally by the White Stripes)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Zim, Dib, and all related belong to Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon.

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The door landed on the ground with a dull thud and four men dressed in all black strolled inside the apartment. Zim stepped in front of them, blocking further entry to his home and to Dib, glare fitted firmly on his slender face.

"What is the meaning of this?" He demanded, his whole stance screaming 'defense mode', like when he was younger and would square his shoulders and face Dib head-on, fists balled at his side, his teeth bared. This was just a more elegant way of doing it. Dib sat in silence on the couch, expression unreadable. Whoever these men were, they were obviously not Zim's friends and that meant they weren't Dib's friends either. It has impossible to tell what Zim was thinking since he had his disguise on so Dib shifted uncomfortably.

One of the men noticed and looked at him, chewing his gum obscenely.

"Who's this, Zayn? A friend of yours?"

Dib almost reacted to the use of the different name but quickly stopped when Zim snorted.

"None of your business, Mika." Zim hissed out, still managing to sound thousands of levels above them all without sounding arrogant. While his brow was furrowed, his mouth was a grim line, not a frown, making him look more irritated than anything. Dib envied his skills in arranging his face how he wished.

One of the bigger men chuckled, a toothpick between his teeth. His shaved head had a spider web tattoo around the crown with a black widow on the end of a thread down the side of his neck. From what Dib could tell, the tattoos on his knuckles spelled 'knockout' when they lined up. He removed the toothpick and rolled it between his fingers.

"No need to be testy, Zayn. We're here to see how the business has been treating you." He said, his husky voice sounding like he had been smoking three packs of cigarettes a day since he was twelve. Dib hated him immediately and let him know by glaring at him when he smiled, his yellow teeth completely off-putting.

"And why would you want to know that?" Zim's voice was smooth, deceiving. His calm mask was back in place. His hands were in his pockets, his stance back to normal, slightly turned, left shoulder in the lead, heels an even distance apart; he was the very picture of control and poise. These guys were obviously used to seeing him like this because they didn't even seem unnerved in the least.

"Oh, no reason. Just curious. Because you know, we're close, almost family, you and I." Spider Man said, smiling and daring to take a step forward. He quickly halted when Zim's hands left his pockets, resting at his sides.

"You and I are nothing of the sort, Kiri." Zim said flatly, his eyebrow lifting just enough to be noticed. Kiri shrugged and replaced his toothpick.

"If that's how you really feel." He said, not finishing his sentence and leaving it hanging. Dib dared to stand, still hiding halfway behind Zim but still making himself visible to the new occupants of the room. He saw Kiri's eyes flicker to him, look him from head to toe and then stop on his face.

"And who might you be?"

Dib squared his shoulders, looking mildly amused.

"I think Zayn already answered that question. None of your business, Spider Man."

Dib smirked when he saw Kiri tense up, clearly offended. The corner of Zim's mouth twitched up but he otherwise maintained a perfect poker face. Dib knew he was playing a dangerous game seeing as he didn't know these guys, didn't know what they were capable of, so he should have just kept his mouth shut. Standing behind Zim however made him feel stronger. 'Untouchable' was the best word to describe the feeling, and Dib loved it.

"You sassing me?" Kiri bit out, glaring. Dib shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets, smile still on his face.

"Does it seem like I am?" He said in a falsely innocent voice. Kiri took a step forward but once again halted when Zim moved forward to face him head on.

"Don't." Zim's voice was deadly quiet again. The stocky man looked confused for a moment before he smiled, showing his disgusting yellow teeth.

"Aww, does Zayn got a boyfwend?"

Zim's lip finally curled into a mocking sneer.

"Please Kiri, refrain from speaking. There are more than enough stupid people in this world. Must you add to the statistic?" He drawled. Dib snorted and clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. Kiri finally snapped and grabbed Zim by the collar with both hands, getting well into his personal space.

"You want a fist in the mouth?" Kiri snarled. Zim continued to have no readable expression. Dib could even go as far to say that he looked bored.

"If you want to lose that hand then go ahead. I'll bite it right off at the wrist. Just make sure it's not the one you're currently dating."

Dib's eyebrows shot up into his forehead. Did Zim just make a sexual jab? The alien was so different sometimes it scared him. Kiri stared at the taller man for a moment before laughing and letting him go. Zim's lip curled in disgust as he readjusted his collar from where Kiri had gripped it.

"You're one weird sonuvabitch, Zayn." Kiri said, eying him carefully, like he was bold enough to laugh but he didn't doubt for one minute that Zim wouldn't do it. A very tense silence fell over the room, during which the two on the one side stared at the other four on the opposite side of the room. When Zim finally spoke, it was dripping with poison masquerading as honey.

"I'd rather not make a mess of my apartment. What do you say we take this outside boys?"

Kiri nodded and left the room, his lackeys following him out. Zim went to the closet and pulled out a jacket Dib had never seen before. It was long and red with a split tail, like a military coat. The zipper only covered the alien's torso, leaving the bottom wide open to flare like wings. It had very thin black stripes on it, making it look hauntingly familiar. A high collar and the Irken symbol brooch validated Dib's thoughts. It was definitely an Irken military jacket. Dib decided he would have to ask Zim where he got it from later.

The Irken in question turned and looked at him, zipping up the jacket and snapping the brooch shut, looking ten times more intimidating than before. For a moment his eyes flashed red behind his contacts, snatching Dib's attention away from his coat.

"Stay here. This won't take very long." He said in a whisper. He turned to go but Dib caught his elbow, raising a sarcastic eyebrow at him.

"I'll be damned if I let you go out there with those guys by yourself." He stated seriously. Zim actually cracked a smile and removed Dib's hand gently.

"I'm more capable than you can even imagine. I'll only be a minute, then we'll return to our previous conversation."

Dib swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched Zim sweep out of the room, his coat tails flying. He was not in a hurry to start talking again. Zim had been furious and if there was one thing Dib knew best, it was that when Zim was angry, it was best to just keep your distance. Unless of course you happened to be the one who made him mad and it was then your responsibility to get him back into a better mood.

Dib squared his shoulders. No matter what Zim said, Dib wasn't going to let him go and 'talk' with Kiri and his gang alone. That just had 'bad idea' written all over it, so he waited until he was sure was too far ahead for him to notice Dib following him before stepping outside, looking both ways down the hallway, and then briskly following the red coat down the hall.

Zim followed Kiri and his men to the large lot out behind the apartment complex. It was really an old playground layout, a big concrete square (think the fight from Matrix Reloaded when Neo fought the Infinite Agent Smith Clones). Only this place had nothing but weeds and concrete, hidden by the surrounding buildings, making the whole area shadowy. Dib took advantage of this and hid just out of sight, off to the side so he could see all five men but not be seen himself.

Kiri and his men were standing in a line in front of Zim with Kiri slightly ahead of the others. The whole situation looked very much like a standoff, which if you thought about it, was exactly what was happening.

"It was your man who got me with that needle all those months ago, wasn't it." Zim spoke softly, his tone sounding like velvet. It was so familiar to Dib that it almost startled him to hear it. Just like the good old days when Dib would actually be surprised by what came out of Zim's mouth every now and again. The power that had been hidden in that tone was amazing at best. Hearing it now, in this new lower octave was even more so. Despite all this however, Dib could still hear the irritation in his voice and for some reason that tainted it, made it less pure to Dib's ears.

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Does it matter? I'm you're fine now, ain'tcha?" Kiri sneered. His men chuckled. They of course immediately stopped when Zim shifted his weight, tossing his coat tails back and putting his hands into his dress pants' pockets, looking for all the world to see extremely irritated and like he desired to be elsewhere. It was true of course. He wanted to finish talking to Dib. He needed to make Dib understand what he had been trying to say but sadly that would have to wait until these buffoons left.

"Why did you come here Kiri? I do believe you're obligated to tell me since you broke down my door. It must have been important." Zim drawled, cocking his head.

"I told you. I wanted to see how things were going for ya. Didn't know you'd have a… guest over." Kiri's unintentional pause showed that he had wanted to use another word but didn't want to risk pissing Zim off.

"Woulda just knocked instead had I known." Kiri shrugged, sarcasm dripping from his every word.

Zim rolled his eyes. To be honest, he didn't care much about the door. He could easily fix it or have GIR fix it. No, he was irritated because Kiri had dared to set foot in his building. The rules that had been laid down the first time he and Kiri had crossed metaphorical swords were simple; 'stay off of my turf and I'll stay off of yours'.

Kiri just broke the rule. That gave Zim every right to just kill him on the spot, but Zim was a schemer. He wanted to see just what he could get out of the human meat sack before he obliterated him. The thought of Kiri and his men exploding like balloons filled with chunky soup made the corner of his mouth twitch up, catching Kiri's attention.

"Did I say something funny?" Kiri said, irritated. Zim didn't answer immediately, instead raising a single elegant eyebrow at him.

"The day you say something funny is the day I let you move into my Penthouse and become your personal servant. Considering that it's never going to happen, I'd have to say no."

Zim's humor was so dry that Dib couldn't help but chuckle from his hiding place. He instantly regretted making any noise because he saw Zim's back tense. He had heard him.

Zim kept his surprise and anxiety off of his face. Just because he knew Dib had followed him outside didn't mean Kiri and/or his men had to know. Dib was safe as long as he was hidden.

"Okay wise guy." Kiri said slowly. He took a few more steps closer to Zim, having to crane his neck a little just to look into the taller man's face.

"You know you owe me for that deal. I'm the one who got those guys to meet you in the first place."

Zim looked absolutely poisonous.

"Yes you did, and then when things didn't go the way you wanted, you attacked me. How dare you come here and expect me to—"

"Whoa calm down, Zayn." Kiri interrupted, making Zim glare at him.

"I just want to get my money and leave. Trust me, I don't want to be here anymore than you do. Plus I know you were busy when we came in. Don't want that, uh, 'friend' of yours to be kept waiting now do we."

Zim's eye twitched and Dib almost felt bad for Kiri. When Zim's eye twitched, it usually meant someone was about to get hurt. He took a step forward, looming over the other men, making them very nervous very quickly.

"I don't owe you any money. Now get out of here. I never want to see your face again. If I do, I'll kill you, do you understand?" He hissed. Kiri's eyes narrowed. Before he could say anything however, there was a sound from the far corner of the lot. All eyes immediately followed the sound. Kiri cocked his head and one of the taller men to his right went to check it out. Since all the humans were busy watching Thug #2, no one noticed Zim tense.

"Hey boss, look who I found snooping around."

He came around the corner with Dib under his arm and a gun trained on his head. Kiri turned and smiled at Zim, who only had eyes for Dib.

"You wanna give me my money now?"

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A/N: Shit just got real.