Note: Happy New Year! As my New Year's resolution, I vow to be nicer to my story characters.

….

Click.

Dib stared at the ceiling. Really, it was more of a glare than a stare. She was still there, sitting cross-legged in the middle of his floor. He'd had to change into sleepwear in the bathroom for heaven's sake! And now he lay in bed, glaring at the ceiling, wishing he could get to Zim and tell him to take his crazy sister away.

Click.

That would, of course, be much easier if she hadn't snatched the device that allowed tracking and communication with Zim's PAK as soon as he brought it out.

Click.

If that wasn't bad enough, she'd found an old set of worrystones he kept lying around, and every two minutes, clicked them together just loudly enough to keep him awake.

Click.

He bolted up, shouting, "Would you get off it already? If Zim doesn't want to tell you, there's a reason! And if he's not telling you, I'm not telling you, so lay off already!"

Click.

He groaned, flopping backwards. "Mikko, come on, it's 2:50. I have to be up tomorrow, and so do you. Aren't you going to Skool?"

"Yes. I am. With you."

Dib blinked. "You're not in my grade."

"I told you I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me. I'm not kidding."

Dismissing the idea that she was bluffing—she obviously meant what she said or she would have left by now—he started trying to think of ways around the situation that might still satisfy her, until a scream from downstairs brought him fully out of bed.

Startled, Mikko dropped the stones and scrambled to her feet. Dib hurried downstairs, Mikko close behind. He could have sworn he saw a shadow move in the hall, but he wasn't interested. Rounding the stairwell, he came into the dining room to see his Mom, curled up in the corner, crying.

She hadn't had a really bad episode in a long time. Every now and then, Dib would wake up, hearing her night-time terrors, but with his Dad home so often now, it didn't take long for his Mom to calm down. The terrors were getting fewer and farther apart, but this wasn't a night terror.

He knelt down by her, struck by how small she appeared when frightened. He'd gained a few inches on her, but it was still strange to be looking down to see his Mom.

"Mom, hey, Mom!" He took her hands, wound tightly around her knees like she was defending against something. "Mom, it's me, Dib, what's going on?"

Her body shook, and she buried her head farther into her arms, clenching her hold tighter.

Dib scooted in close beside her, wrapping a gangly arm around her shoulders, and another around the knees she held so tightly. She leaned against him, turning to hide her face in his chest. He stroked her hair gently, whispering, "It's okay Mom, I'm here. Gaz is here too, somewhere, and Dad will be home in a second." Turning his head to Mikko, he mouthed, Call my Dad NOW. He was grateful that she had the sense to leave off her shadowing tactics long enough to run for the phone.

"Red," she sobbed, her grip leaving her knees and transferring to Dib's shirt. "Red. His eyes, all Red."

Grimacing, Dib responded carefully, "Yes. I know. His eyes were red." She hadn't spoken of what happened in years, what had shaken her so badly?

She shook her head. "No, no, not Red. His eyes, Red!"

Confused, Dib tilted his head. "Mom, I don't understand."

She twisted his shirt in her hands as she railed, "His eyes were Red, the same eyes, they match… it was a perfect match… the face, the teeth… all the same… he's the son of that monster…" She gasped like a fish out of water, her fingernails tearing through Dib's shirt and digging back into her own palms. "And he's one of them… he's one of the ones they took away. They took him away… they took…" Her eyes rolled back, and she went limp.

Stunned, Dib reached down, putting her arm over his shoulder, and carefully lifting her. He brought her over to the couch, laying her back. Walking over to the wall, he pressed his hand against the space just to the left of a lightswitch that never worked, and slid a small square of the wall aside. Punching commands into the computer located there, he called up security footage of the last thirty minutes. A screen lowered from the ceiling, displaying the security film.

Zim sat at the dining room table with his Mom, fixing her eyes. Dib always pretended he didn't know what was going on for Zim's sake. The Irken felt he had to repay some kind of debt to his Mom for what happened. Dib thought it was silly, Zim had done more than enough already by orchestrating a rescue, but he wouldn't crush what was left of the Irken's pride by saying so.

Zim handed the eyes back. His Mom replaced them, then stared at Zim. Suddenly, she began screaming, telling him to get out. Zim bolted for the door. Shortly after, Gaz had come in, nestling next to their Mom for only a minute, before she disengaged. Her eyes were glowing a disturbing shade of red as she headed for the stairwell. The shadow I saw moving? Dib's eyes widened.

Professor Membrane burst through the door, scanning the room for his wife. He bolted over to the couch, carefully cradling her as he tried to wake her.

Without a word, Dib turned and ran for the door.

"Where are you going?" Mikko panted behind him.

"Gaz is going Morflar, Zim did something to upset Mom. I gotta get over there!"

"Where?"

"Where do you think Zim would go? Back to your house!"

Mikko pumped her legs harder, trying to keep up with Dib's long-legged pace. By the time they reached her house, she could barely breathe. Dib rushed up to the door and, finding it open, rushed inside. Tiana huddled on the couch, her face buried in a pillow. Dib started past her toward the stairs.

"He's gone."

Dib's chest constricted as he stopped.

"He and Gaz yelled on the lawn, then she threw up and Zim left."

Turning on Mikko, Dib grabbed her by the shoulder. "The communicator. Give it to me. Give it to me now!"

Fumbling for it, she yanked it from her pocket and thrust it into his hands. He switched it on, scanning for any sign of Zim.

The communicator crackled with static, the screen displaying only a blank outline of a map, with no Irken symbol on it to mark Zim's location.

Tiana looked at Mikko, tears running down her cheeks. "Zim left us again."

Zim managed to get Red to the edge of the forest before his moaning developed into full-on screams. Still, Zim didn't stop. Red would easily be heard from this proximity to the town. He continued into the forest for a mile or two, before laying him down.

Turning Red onto his side, Zim extended wires from his PAK. He hesitated a moment. Connecting with a Tallest's PAK was not only treason, but nearly impossible. The firewalls guarding their data were only a step below that of the protection surrounding the Control Brains.

I can't even program Phlermidion into a pair of mechanical eyes properly, he groaned to himself.

Red's slow thrashing snapped him out of it.

Stop being a smeet. Zim never used to hesitate, and things always worked out for me in the end.

Grimly, he plunged his wires into Tallest Red's PAK.

ACCESS DENIED.

A virulent code invaded his consciousness, attaching to his own PAK. It seized the part that connected to his nervous system, shooting electricity through the nerves. Zim twitched, flailing to the ground as he reached through for another attempt.

ACCESS DENIED.

This time, his limbs locked up, rendering him completely immobile. Worse, he could feel the code working its way toward the centers that kept his heart, spooch, and brain functioning. He sent a burst of scattered, frantic responses to the code.

REQUESTING EMERGENCY ACCESS TO TALLEST PAK FOR MEDICAL REASONS.

The code paused, sifting through his information.

ACCESS DENIED. NO MEDICAL SKILLS DETECTED. NO IDENTITY DETECTED.

Zim swallowed down the bile in his throat. They really had followed up on their promise to erase his existence from Irken history. Even another Irken's PAK couldn't detect who he was. Viciously, he sent back, THERE IS NO ONE NEARBY WITH MEDICAL SKILLS. PROBE THE SURROUNDING AREA.

The code held him firmly in its grip as it sent out requests for information, PAK tracking, and medical assistance. Finding no other Irken nearby, and assessing the state of the body it was attached to, it relinquished its hold on Zim's limbs.

ACCESS GRANTED. TERMINATION OF TALLEST WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF ALL LIFE WITHININ 5.2 MILES.

"No pressure." Zim muttered, rubbing his head. He relaxed on the ground. All the work had to be done through PAK connection, so there was no need for him to be up. He checked the PAK supply of nanobots—nearly depleted. Not surprising. The PAK would have sensed the situation it was in and sent out the minimal number needed to encourage cell regeneration, conserving its resources in survival mode. Zim sent over a generous amount, assigning each troop tasks. One to block the pain centers in the brain, one to begin converting resources into nanobots as soon as Zim supplied them, and one to continue with cell regeneration and structure.

That done, he sat up, grabbing nearby twigs, branches, and pinecones. Flipping open Red's PAK, he began slowly lowering these in, piece by piece. He never ceased to marvel at the ingenuities of the Irken PAK. Existing nanobots could take any resource given to them, break it down to the molecular level, and produce more nanobots to heal the body.

After he'd ensured a sufficient supply of resources to last, he began looking around. He hadn't kept track of time, but he knew it was late. His first altercation with Gaz had occurred around midnight. He glanced down at his wrist, still stripped of skin.

"Needed a sample." He shook his head. "She had to match it up against Red to be sure."

Then he'd run to the Membrane household, probably about one in the morning. Tuning Mrs. Membrane's eyes had taken at least two hours, so he'd left at three. There'd been hardly any time between his arrival home and his departure, but it had taken awhile to get here, so it was probably five or six in the morning.

He rubbed his eyes. In an hour or so, Tom would wake up, and knock on his door so they could eat and go to work. He'd wonder where Zim was. Della would get worried. Mikko would be frantic. Tiana… she would probably tell them. He drew his knees up to his chest, crossing his arms over them. He would have to lay very, very low. Once word got out, there'd be a hunt for him. It wouldn't be a malicious hunt, for the most part, but the government liked to keep an eye on him. He didn't blame them. If his society accepted any kind of political refugee, he was sure they'd be under strict surveillance too.

Dib.

He lowered his head, resting his forehead against his arms. Dib would be furious. He'd think Zim wasn't trusting him, or some nonsense like that. It isn't that. I just have to know. I don't know what I have to know, but I have to know… something. Absently, he reached up to his forehead, touching the ever-present bandage.

A bird sang a note in the dawn quiet. Red had ceased his screaming, withdrawn into a semi-comatose state. He could hear the wind through the branches. The buzzing of a fly. GIR's distinctive snore. A twig crackling.

Disconnecting from Red's PAK, he leaped to his feed, bolting toward the sound of GIR's snores.

Fact. GIR is asleep, and does not sleepwalk.

Fact. Someone stepped on a twig.

Deduction: Someone is carrying GIR, who is asleep. Was he caught on his way to me?

Extending his spiderlegs, he leaped up into a tree, clambering to the top and peering down. The snoring was getting closer. Someone was shuffling through the leaves. He caught some muttering about how heavy the robot was.

He peered in that direction. A stooped form stepped out from behind a tree, shuffling in his general direction. In his arms, GIR lay fast asleep. His antenna blipped faster as the form drew closer to Zim.

With a growl, Zim yanked a laser from his PAK, primed it, and aimed it at the form.

"Don't move, stinking hyuman."

The form froze, the head lifting slightly to peer up at Zim, who bared his teeth threateningly.

"What are you doing with my robot, Agent DarkBooty?"

Note: Wow, that was the fastest broken resolution I've ever had. MWAHAHAHA, BACK TO TORMENTING ZIM!