In the middle of Zim's upper living room, a shadow materialized, rigid with shock, and swarming with three thought patterns not her own.

Follow Zim!

Find Zim!

Take me to her.

Floating to the side, Gaz relinquished Mikko as she moved. Almost immediately, Mikko stumbled to her feet, lunging for the door. A wire shot from the wall, wrapping around her wrist as GIR's rather solemn voice sounded from a speaker in the ceiling, "Operation Keepsafe initiated. Ya gotta stay."

Mikko wrenched back, and Gaz could see blood on her face. "Let go! Zim needs me!"

"Sorry." GIR's voice sounded sad, as tiny needles sank into Mikko's wrist through the wire. Her knees gave out, pitching her back as more wires caught her. Her body relaxed, her eyes closing as the wires dragged her into another part of the house.

"Operation Keepsafe?" Gaz asked.

"Masta's instructions." GIR's voice trembled. "Said if I feel he's not ok in his PAK. He's not ok. I started like he said."

"Started what?"

"Keepsafe."

Gaz shook it off. She had more important things to worry about than the details of Keepsafe. Drifting to the side again, she released Tunaghost. The former agent lay on her side for a couple moments, collecting herself. The drugs had begun to wear off already, and she pushed herself up, wobbly. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Gaz. "Interesting. You know, that information scrape you do," she gestured at her head, "Goes both ways. So, Mothman's against us, and Zim's running around out of his mind?" At Gaz's mute nod, Tunaghost sighed. "Well." She struggled to stand, accepting the few flares Gaz held out to help. "Sounds like he needs someone to keep an eye on him. You didn't happen to see which way he ran?"

"No. But there will be witnesses. Maybe even casualties…"

Tunaghost nodded grimly. "Follow the trail. Got it." She patted the flare holding her up. "Do what you need to do here, I'll hold the… what do you call him… the idiot, in line."

A weak chuckle escaped Gaz. "Yeah. Hey GIR, got any extra weapons?"

A small arsenal dropped from the ceiling. Tunaghost selected a couple blasters, four or five stun grenades, and a couple objects she couldn't identify. Just in case. Nodding to Gaz again, she walked out the door. GIR did not stop her.

Turning inward to the last person inside of her, Gaz reached into his mind, rummaging through his surface thoughts—none too gently—to be sure of his motives. She couldn't see anything, his mind was a blank wall with only the repeating thought, "Take me to her."

"You listen to me, worm. If you lift a hand against her, I will make your last moments stretch for years. What Zim almost went through, you will experience full-force, understand?"

"Take me to her."

Ejecting Riddick, Gaz hurled him down to the floor. He sat up, fixing his hat. "Not exactly five star class transportation, but I'll take it." He stood, calmly. "So, is she here?"

Gaz stretched herself taller, staring down menacingly. "I'll answer you once you tell me what we're up against. You promised. What has my brother?"

"I said I would tell you after I saw the woman and got what I needed to know. It's a bit more imperative than telling you about it now. Everyone should be present for that matter."

"Then stay here." Gaz turned away.

"Wait!" Riddick called. "One last thing. She must be blindfolded. She can't see me. I don't care what you use, but she can't see me, it's the only stipulation."

"Why?"

"It's something I'm trying to find out myself, but in order to find out, I have to follow that rule."

Confused and uneasy, Gaz vanished, leaving him to wait alone.

….

"Gloria!"

She looked up from her position on her knees in the garden, a weed in one hand. Someone was running toward her. She shielded her eyes. The figure was dressed in white. It looked almost like—

A lab coat.

She rose to her feet with a cry, pelting headlong toward the figure, arms outstretched. "Ivan!" She called. She ran into his open arms, wrapping her own tightly around him, burying her face in his chest. "Ivan, I missed you."

"My Glory," His voice sounded strange. "What have you done?"

She looked up, puzzled, and drew back with a shriek.

A rotting face stared down at her, the side of the head blown off. The coat was stained in dried and crusted blood, and the arms remained woodenly outstretched.

"What have you doooone?" He groaned. "Traiiiiitor..."

She backed away, horrified. Her heels hit something solid and she fell backwards. At her feet, a small green form lifted its head, mismatching eyes staring at her piercingly. "Mama," it moaned.

"Mama." She turned her head. All around her were scattered tiny little green bodies, some lying in pieces. All of them had turned to her, eyes fixed on hers, voices speaking in unison.

"Mama."

"Stop!" She screamed, scrambling to her feet to run. A vise-like grip caught her arm, as the Professor stopped her.

"You betrayed me," he whispered, his death-soured breath choking her. "And you couldn't save them. Now it's your turn."

"Lady Gloria! Lady Gloria!" A voice cut through the images around her, shredding them as she woke from her dream, thrashing in the grip of someone much stronger.

"GET OFF, GET OFF!" She lashed out. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Immediately the grip released. She rolled off the bed, bolting to her feet, trying to re-establish her surroundings.

Red sat at the edge of the bed. He had found a red long-sleeved shirt and black pants to replace his ripped royal skirt. He watched her, expressionless. "You were dreaming."

She turned away from him, feeling sick. "Yes. Dreaming."

"What about?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing. Nevermind." She said sharply, regretting her tone the second she finished. The bed creaked slightly as Red stood, and input a command to the panel in the wall. A small shelf extended, with Gloria's clothes cleaned and mended sitting there, neatly folded.

"I will wait in the lift." He said tonelessly, turning toward the elevator. He halted a foot from the door, as the frame darkened, a shadow peeling out from it. He backed up several steps, antennae flat against his skull as red eyes narrowed at him.

Gloria stepped forward, even with him, and reached a hand out. "Gaz," she said quietly. "We were resting after a difficult trip. He was acting as guard."

The eyes shifted to her for a moment, before softening. They shifted back to Red, and Gaz's voice sounded, unhappily.

"Plans fell apart. Zim lost his mind and ran. The Irken responsible for the attack is upstairs, insisting he wants only to speak to her, not kill her."

Red's shoulders rose, and anger colored his voice. "You brought him here? And you left Zim on his own?"

"Something dangerous is coming, something more dangerous than him. He seemed to be afraid of it, maybe. I don't know, but he promised he would explain if he could talk to Mom. He also says she has to be blindfolded."

"Why should we do anything he says? How can we trust he isn't going to kill her?" Red demanded.

"It wasn't in any of his thoughts, he just wanted to see her, talk to her… we have to know what this thing is that's coming!"

"What thing?!"

Gloria put a hand on Red's arm, and he stilled. "Maybe we need to find out by speaking to him." She said quietly. Looking up at Gaz she asked, "And I have to be blindfolded?"

"That's what he said."

She took a deep breath, and nodded. "We'll be up shortly."

….

Gaz reappeared near Riddick, hovering closeby. They waited in silence, until the sound of whirring from the kitchen signaled the arrival of the lift. Red emerged from the kitchen, leading Gloria by the arm. Her hand was clamped tightly to his arm, her steps unsteady. A strip of white cloth—bedsheet—had been wrapped twice around her eyes and tied at the back.

Coldly, Red gauged Riddick, his voice hard. "So. You're the threat. Gaz has made it clear it's urgent that we all meet, that Zim lost his mind, but that there was something worse than you involved."

"Yes, there is. Please," Riddick gestured to the couch. "Sit her down."

Keeping his eyes on Riddick, Red guided Gloria to the couch, helping her sit. Her hands remained locked on his arm, her mouth a thin, tight line. His face twitched slightly, but he continued watching. "Who are you, and why did you try to kill Lady Gloria?"

In a flash, half a dozen little red balls circled Gaz, and large red swords of varying sizes appeared around Gloria, inches from her. "So here's how this is going to go," Riddick stated, ignoring Red's question. "If you cooperate fully with me, she lives. If you don't, I fulfill my mission, leave, and forget this ever happened. At this point I'm actually preferring option one, but this is insurance because your morflar is an unstable hothead—partly due to me—and you, well… you're a Tallest, and I don't feel like dealing with you right now." He waved a hand dismissively. "So outside, both of you."

Red stood where he was, unmoving. His eyes fell on Gaz, baleful. "So. This meeting is perfectly safe, you implied. He just wants to see her, you said. Were you really this stupid?"

Gaz stood frozen, her eyes wide and rounded. "I…"

Turning his attention back to Riddick, Red spat venomously, "I don't know what hole you crawled out of, but you will drop this attack. I can have all the resources of the Massive pointed to this exact location the second I remove the cloaking on my PAK."

"Do you have to be difficult?" Riddick sighed. "I said if you cooperate she WON'T die. So are you sacrificing her life for stupidity?"

"Because I can't know she'll live if I leave this room. You've given no reason for any of us to trust you so far. And some of us should have taken that into consideration before bringing you here in the first place."

Gaz shrank down in shame and mortification.

"Allow me to be perfectly blunt here 'Almighty Tallest'," Riddick sneered, "You don't really have a choice. If you don't cooperate, it won't matter even if I didn't kill her. The other being that is coming will. You don't have a choice. This is your best option, so don't blame the Morflar for taking it."

Slowly, Red turned to Gloria, prying her fingers off his arm. He took her hand, squeezing her fingers so they jammed painfully against the ring she wore. "Remember, he can't touch you. You are co-ruler." With that, he stood, stiffly marching out the door to the front yard. Gaz puddled after him, emitting muffled crying noises.

The second Red's footsteps faded out of earshot, Gloria pressed a thumb to the side of the ring, activating the skin-tight force field over her body.

"If that makes you feel better." Riddick drawled. "So, this is you. You're the one he cares about so much. Why would he care so much about you? A simple human… with all that purple, no less."