Aey, welcome to chapter 10, where... stuff... happens! Sorry for taking awhile to update again, but we all know that school gets in the way of everything. nuff said.

Dizzy belongs to me. Invader Zim is Jhonen's prisoner.

-

Dib let out everything. Finally, after talking with his father, the anxiety finally vanished.Completely. He felt awful for thinking his father hated him, but he felt good to know that he never did.

When Dib realized that today was his parent's anniversary, he had mixed feelings. He didn't know what to think. What to say. Membrane understood this. He knew Dib missed his mother. He knew he's been thinking about her. They all have. As they both talked, Membrane could feel her presence with them. Saying, "I love you, therefore I stay with you."

Dib suddenly remembered. Gaz.

"Dad... y-you need to talk to Gaz." He said. Membrane looked at his sincerely. "Really. It's important-"

"I know I do, son." Membrane cut in. "I know Gaz and I fight. I know that I have not been treating her well. I haven't been treating any of you well. I'm sorry. I'll talk with her when we get home."

Dib smiled. "You know, Dad... I meant everything I said. You arehard working. Gaz and I understand why you wouldn't have time for us. You're just trying to make us happy." His smile grew. "And we are. We just don't appreciate it enough."

Membrane looked at his son's arm. He shuddered. Dib had it worse than he did. "How can you be happy?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of Dib's arm."Look at you."

"I didn't know I was happy." Dib replied. "Like I said, we didn't appreciate it enough. We couldn't see the struggles you are going through."

Membrane smiled under his flared collar. "The only struggles I was going through was that I let something in the past get to me. I was worried about everything, especially my kids."

Dib happily embraced his father, glad that they were no longer in war with each other. Suddenly, a wet eyed figured popped out of the bushes behind them, practically sobbing at them.

Dizzy sniffed. "I-I am so h-happy!" She wiped away a tear. "I'm so glad you two love each other again!" She happily embraced both Membrane and Dib. Membrane chuckled, while Dib just smiled nervously. Dizzy pulled herself back together and tore herself away from the two.

"Son," Membrane put his hand on Dib's knee. "You've got yourself a nice girlfriend."

Dib glared furiously at his smiling father, his face was hot. "D-Dad, stop it!" Dizzy looked at Membrane with a confused expression. "A what?" she asked. Membrane raised an eyebrow.

"N-nothing." Dib quickly cut in before his father could respond. "Dizzy, thank you for setting this up for us." Dizzy smiled with small confusion.

"How'd ya know I set it up?" She asked. Her face was somewhat brighter than usual. Dib just smiled, followed by Membrane. Suddenly, Dizzy's eyes grew wide. "Oh, Dr. Membrane, you didn't forget, did you.."

"No Dizzy, I did not forget. I'll talk to him on my way home." Membrane suddenly became serious. Dib looked at them both, wondering what was going on. "Talk to who?" He asked.

"Zim." Dizzy answered sadly. "See... Dr. Membrane did ask for me to set this up for you two, but I wanted something in return... so... I asked him to talk to Zim about..." she paused, her eyes became glossy. "...about his smoking problem..." Dib looked at his father, somewhat surprised. When did this happen, he wondered.

"It's true." Membrane confirmed. "Uhm... see, son... I was out last night while you kids were sleeping. I needed some fresh air from staying in the basement for so long.." he turned his head, somewhat embarrassed of his statement. "and while I was walking, I saw Dizzy sitting on your green little friend's front step. So I went to talk to her, to ask her why she was out so late at night. Then, we made this deal."

Dib felt strange when Membrane told him he escaped the house at night, but understood. He nodded. Dib had completely forgotten about Zim for awhile... his worry returned. But his anxiety stayed away. He took a deep breath.Zim... man, he better not hurt my father... He looked at Membrane. "Be careful when you talk to Zim." He said. "He's a little... unstable."

Membrane nodded. They both stood from the yellow bench. Membrane instructed Dib to take Dizzy back to her home, and he'd meet him later. Dib agreed. He lead Dizzy to the park gate, giving his father one last look. Dizzy looked as well, smiling. She tried her best to keep hope for Zim. They left.

Dib look at the sky while walking down the sidewalk, Dizzy at his side. The sky was completely black, with white stars dotting around it. He let Dizzy lead him to her home, curious to what her home actually looked like. As they passed Zim's big, green 'home', Dib couldn't help but stare at the lit window, a thin shadow on the inside. He surely was disappointed in Zim, but he couldn't be too angry at him... considering Zim wasn't the only one with problems.

Dizzy turned to the side of the building right next to Zim's. The house was big and red. Dib was about to ask if this was her house, (which was unlikely, considering it was occupied for many years) but then saw that she wasn't heading for the door, she was walking around it. He followed. Once the reached a small manhole on the side of the house, she stopped. she lifted the manhole and began climbing down a ladder built inside. Once she was half way down the manhole, she suddenly popped back up. "Are you coming?" she asked. Dib stared at her curiously. He shrugged. After Dizzy proceeded into the manhole, Dib followed. Once they reached the bottom, Dib turned around, staring into a large, long metal hallway, leading to a plain wood door. Dizzy skipped down the hallway, like everything was regular. Dib once again followed.

Inside the wood door, there was another silvery, metal hallway. But this time there was a fork in it. At the end of the hallway, there were two other ways to go - left or right. Dizzy continued to skip, turning to the right hallway. Dib proceeded, staring. Once they reached the and of the right hallway, Dib looked back down the left hallway, finding a large, metal door at the end of it. He turned away. He didn't want to know.

Dizzy opened the next wooden door, but this time, inside there was a silver desk with a strange looking computer sitting on it, a white bed, and a closet. Nothing else. Dizzy turned to him. "Uhm... sorry for taking you all this way... I guess I just wanted you to see what my home looks like." She smiled. Dib cracked a small smile. "Your father is really nice." She commented, staring away.

"Yeah. I'm surprised he talked to you, though." Dib replied. Dizzy looked at him "I guess it's not really like him to talk to some random person like that.." Dib stopped, realizing he was making small talk. Dizzy smiled softly.

"Thanks for taking me home." She commented. Dib smiled. "You're welcome.

Dib turned away, taking one step through the odd looking hallway. He heard a door close. He stopped. Suddenly, Dib turned back, knocking eagerly at the wooden door. Dizzy answered.

"What's wrong?" She asked, "Is there something you-" Without another thought, Dib grabbed Dizzy's head and gently pressed his lips against her's. After a few moments, he let go. Dizzy stared deeply into Dib's eyes, wondering what in the world had just occurred.

"Thank you." Dib whispered. A touch of worry was within himself, wondering if he'd done something wrong. "For setting me and my father together. If you hadn't... I'm not sure what would be happening now.."

Dizzy stared at him, still unsure of the event. Finally, she kissed his forehead. "You're welcome." she whispered back. Dib smiled, slowly backing up in the hallway, studying Dizzy's face as she closed the door. He sighed. Her face had an expression of confusion.

She doesn't know what love is.

-

Gir watched carefully as his master lit - something - and placed it into his mouth. He has been watching his master do this for half an hour. He didn't know exactly what Zim was doing. Zim sat comfortably on his old, green couch, releasing clouds of smoke from his mouth. Gir watching, analyzing the situation. Finally, he asked, "Master? What are you doing?"

Zim looked to Gir, who was standing near the wall next to the kitchen. Once Gir saw a full view of Zim's face, he was frightened. His expression was... something he hadn't seen before.

Stone.

No expression whatsoever. As if his master was dead, yet looking right at him. His face was pale and thin, he hadn't eaten in about a week. The only thing he put to his mouth was a cigarette. Black circled his eyes. No sleep. The house was filled with the smell of smoke. No fresh air. All he had been doing for days was sitting on that couch and taking a smoke.

Suddenly, Zim began wheezing violently. Something was terribly wrong.
Zim dropped the lighter and the cigarette on the floor. He placed his hands near his chest, begging for oxygen. His pak was somehow losing power, cutting off the oxygen that it was sending through Zim's body. He collapsed on to the floor. Coughing, wheezing, but still no air could get through.

Gir froze in place, scared out of his mind. "M-master! What is wrong?" Zim was dying right in front of him. Gir rushed over to him, trying to find some way to help him. Zim swatted the little gray robot away once he tried to touch the breathless alien.

"M..my squeedly spooch!..." He wheezed out before falling unconscious. Gir pounded his hallow skull, trying to get his tiny brain to think fast. Then, he suddenly ran out of the house, shouting for help. He knew he wasn't allowed to go outside without his dog suite, but he could barely think at the moment. A tall man walking toward Zim's house on the sidewalk noticed the little robot. Membrane. He rushed over to the little robot.

"What in the world..." He whispered, staring at the panicked robot. "What in the world are you?" Gir stared back up at the confused scientist, still desperate for help. Without warning, the little robot grabbed Membrane by his lab coat and dragged him into the house, screaming maniacally the entire time.

Once inside, Membrane immediately noticed the tall, green boy on the floor, his head turned in the opposit direction of the door. Membrane quickly grabbed him, but suddenly pulled away in complete shock once Zim's face was visible. He wasn't wearing his disguise.

"W-what in the world is going on?!" He shouted, completely shocked at Zim's appearance. "He's an actual.." Gir quickly stopped him.

"Master! He's dying! Save him, PLEASE!" Gir cried, having a panic attack. Membrane thought fast, he may have been a scientist - or was - but he was no doctor. He remembered some medical shows he once watched while flipping through channels on the television. He needed to check his pulse. He kneeled down and grabbed Zim's wrist, searching for the pulse. Nothing. Membrane put his head to Zim's chest. Nothing.

"Um... I can't find his pulse, and his heart is not beating." He stuttered. Gir stared at him, wondering. "Master don't have a heart!" He replied. Membrane was still shaken by the situation.

Then, Membrane heard a faint beeping sound. It was coming from Zim's 'backpack'. He flipped the unconscious alien on his stomach and noticed the object on Zim's back was beeping and flashing faintly. He looked back up at Gir. "Uh, what is that?" He asked. Gir's eyes suddenly flashed into a red light. He stared at the helpless alien angrily.

"What have you done?!" Gir asked furiously. The confused scientist stared back at the robot, slightly fearing it's statement. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!?" Gir screeched, causing Membrane to fall backwards. Gir grabbed his head, as if having a headache.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Membrane stated nervously. "You led me into this place, you wanted me to help this... whatever he is!" Gir stared back at Zim, his eyes flashing from red to gray. He screamed. Membrane quickly decided it was best to run without the alien, but then remembered the deal he had with Dizzy. He quickly lifted Zim off of the ground and ran for the door. Behind him, Gir was overloading, screaming.

Membrane swiftly jumped from the doorway, right before the little, disturbed robot used self - destruct. He rolled on to the road with Zim in his arms. His eyes flashed open, only to see the inside of Zim's home was almost completely destroyed from the robot's explosion. Gir was not there.

Agitated at was just occurred, Membrane lifted himself and Zim from the ground, not knowing what to do. Then he decided, even though he was no longer an official scientist, he still had most of his equipment in his la- er, basement. Membrane confirmed the thought and quickly ran back to his house, hoping it was not too late to save Dizzy's friend.

-

END OF CHAPTER
Hope you guys enjoyed it:) Sorry for taking forever to update again, but again, school gets in the way of everything.

For some reason, this may be my most favorite chapter in this story. Why? Not sure. But no, it's not because Zim is dying! I may be cruel to the characters, but I don't enjoy Zim's agony.

Stay tuned... again!