A/N: Okay. This is heading up to the climax, so buckle up! I've been planning this for agesssss.


Dib woke up in a cage.

Well. That hasn't happened in nearly a year.

He realized he had been laying on his back, and that woke him up fully.

"Zim?" Dib shot up to his knees, feeling desperately for his Pak. He was in his pajamas, and his fingers slipped through the hole in the back to feel two deep indents in his spine.

The Pak was gone.

"Okay, Dib. Focus. You're in a cage, Zim is gone, and you have no idea how long you have to live." He took a deep breath. "You've been in worse."

Dib peered through the bars of his cage. He was in some sort of lab. An eerie green light glowed from somewhere to his left, and there were scattered medical tools and weapons on a few tables to his right. In front of him was a set of stairs.

Huh. He'd expected at least a cool elevator.

"Dib. So we meet at last." Dib grabbed the bars of his cage, squinting, since at least his captor had left him his glasses.

A vampire ghost greeted him. He hadn't seen him before, but he looked vaguely familiar.

"So, am I in the ghost zone, or are you just exceptionally good at hiding in the real world?" Dib asked, and the ghost chuckled.

"You're not as slow as you look."

"Hey!" Dib protested. "What do you want? Have I interrupted a ghost blood feud or something?"

The ghost grinned, and a shiver ran down Dib's spine at his fangs. "I think I'll let your friend explain."

"My friend?" Dib blinked twice. "Who-"

Zim walked into view.

Zim. Whose body had died over six months ago.

Dib rubbed his glasses, but that only smudged up the glass. He pulled them off, cleaned them on his shirt, then replaced them on his face before squinting closer.

Zim's body hadn't miraculously reappeared from the dead. Instead, the inside plugs of his Pak appeared through a translucent hologram that was somehow holding it up.

"Zim." Dib's voice was flatter than he could have imagined it being.

"Dib." Zim said, before waving at the ghost. "Leave us be, Plasmius. We have much to discuss."

"All right," Plasmius said in a voice that clearly told Dib he was just going to watch from the cameras in the corner. Creep. He flew through the ceiling, leaving Zim and Dib alone.

"So, how long until I kick the bucket? I don't have a life clock like you did." Dib kept his voice light, trying not to let Zim see how much his betrayal hurt.

"About sixty years, unless you do something stupid." Zim smirked, and the hologram flickered. "Which is likely."

"Wha- but-"

"You think I'd tell you you could get the Pak off whenever you wanted and not die?" Zim crossed his arms. "I thought you weren't that dumb, Dib, but you cease to amaze me."

Dib gritted his teeth. "So, what's with the ghost?"

"He's going to get me a body."

"You already had one!"

Zim narrowed his eyes. "I did this so we could both live by ourselves."

At that, Dib stared. "You... did it for me?"

"Took you long enough." Zim's holographic lips quirked up into an eerie grin. "All I had to do was offer some insight on irken technology. He thinks he can take over the world with it."

"Can he?" Dib's fingers tightened around the bars.

"Of course not. I rather need Earth in one piece, thank you. The decoding on the weapons would take decades."

"So you're tricking him." Dib said flatly. "So you can leave me here to rot and go on your own again."

"You don't get it, do you?" Zim gritted his teeth. "I thought you were smarter than this. You still don't trust me, do you?"

"Considering my current situation, I think I'm warranted! Why didn't you tell me? I'm sure we could have figured something out!"

"Dib-"

"Just get out of here."

"This talk isn't over."

"Yeah, I'm sure you love hearing the sound of your own voice again." Dib muttered, and Zim stomped away, up the stairs. (The fact that he had no weight lessened the impact a fair bit.)

Dib sighed, slumping back and draping his hands over his legs. His back rested on the bars of the cage, the cold metal uncomfortable.

He fidgeted a little.

"If I still had the Pak, I could break out, but if I still had it, then this wouldn't be happening." He mused to himself, brushing his hand through his hair.

When he did, his sleeve fell down a bit, revealing his wrist communicator. The one that matched the one he'd given Danny during their first fight with Skulker.

For the first time since he'd woken up, Dib grinned.