Dlbn: Hey everyone! And welcome to another update of Keefvine! I know I'm late again, but one of my other fics is being run on a tight deadline, so I have to finish that one first ^^" Next week, this should be up on time (Monday-Tuesday), since I'm almost done with the deadline one.

Nbld: Shut up, and let's get to the Review Corner. It's been a long enough time since the last update. Thank you to SecretlyTTfanTT, Servant of Time, Princess-Of-Your-Doom95, kitty Tokyo uzumaki, sailingspace14, and Experiment G1T8L1 for reviewing! 'New Years' cake for you all!

SecretlyTTfanTT: Some people already know they're not there (GLASS and Dib's friends) but who knows about everyone else. Well, I do, but I can't give up spoilers ^^". My cousin's still a comic book junkie…and he's a married, 40-something father of two XD He wasn't into Teen Titans though, I don't think. I'm actually watching Teen Titans now XD

Servant of Time: There are probably some lingering feelings. I think he was just remembering how he used to like krill or something, and that's why he blushed. Even if Membrane does find out they're aliens, he'll probably think they're playing a joke on him XD Thank you, you too! :D

Princess-of-Your-Doom95: I suppose so ^^ All those questions shall be answered soon. As for the holograms, I completely forgot that they didn't have them on ^^" That will be remedied.

Kitty Tokyo uzumaki: The only thing Dib has to be worried about Zim cheating on him with is Krill's Computer XD Thank you. ^^ I actually used to celebrate Chanukah as well as Christmas, but my friends that I celebrated with aren't my friends anymore, so I don't :( Ikkicon? Oo have fun! :D

Sailingspace14: I have a paopou fruit (spelling is wrong, I know XD), a heartless named Steve, Demyx, Riku, and Axel plushies ^^ I need to find Roxas at the next con I go to. Hehe I can kind of tell ^^ Merry late Christmas to you, too.

Experiment G1T8L1: Um…somewhere between very low and pretty high…?" ;)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Zim, Dib, Keef, or any other characters associated with Invader Zim. They are all property of Jhonen C Vasquez. I do own Krill, SIR, Computer, and that's about it that appear/get mentioned in this chapter. I make NO money off of this fanfic

000

Dib slowly pushed open the door that led from the tunnel into Membrane labs. He looked around the corridors and, seeing no one around, motioned for his friends to join him. Zim-in disguise-, Keef, and Krill, now in disguise as Keyvine again, followed him out. Zim's antennae strained to see if he could hear anyone close by. Not hearing anyone, he sighed.

"I think the coast is clear." He said. "I don't sense anyone."

"Me neither." Keyvine shook his head.

The four of them moved on to the right, keeping an eye out for anyone the Irkens hadn't caught wind of.

"So where is this stuff for my ribs?" Zim wondered, slipping his hand from Keyvine's.

"I'd have to ask dad." Dib said. "So we need to find him. But first, we should change into some clean clothes. We look like we've been through a fight with a bunch of psychotic flying aliens."

"We were." Keyvine pointed out.

"I know." Dib rolled his eyes. "Mine and Zim's room is this way."

"Fighting aliens, huh?" Gaz's voice asked.

The four boys turned to look down a hallway they had passed. Gaz was leaning on the right side of the hall, arms folded over her chest. She looked up at them from underneath her purple hair. Her eyes just begged them to give her a reason to attack any of them.

"Uh…hi…Gaz…" Dib spoke first, squeezing Zim's hand in his own. "We were just…uh…rehearsing a play…?"

"Bull." Gaz said. "Shit."

Zim flushed. "It's a long story." He informed her. "But we're back, and we're safe, and the aliens are gone. That's what counts, right?"

Gaz cocked an eyebrow. "Where. Were. You?"

"We don't have to tell you, you know." Krill said.

"Fighting words." Dib warned. "Look, Gaz, it's hard to explain…"

"Make it simple."

"It's a long story."

"We're not going anywhere anytime soon."

Dib sighed, clearly aggravated with his sister. "I can't explain it to you." He said. "Where'd dad get off to?"

"How'd you get in here?"

"Underground tunnel." Zim said. "I have a couple cracked ribs, and I was hoping your father might have some type of medicine for it? Do you know where he is?"

"Follow me." Gaz ordered. "I'll take you to dad, and you can explain on the way."

"We need to change first, Gaz." Keef said. "If you don't mind." He added quickly. "We're filthy."

"Everyone around here looks like crap." Gaz informed. "An explosion shook the whole city a few days ago."

"Probably from when they blew up my house." Keyvine muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Keyvine said. "Continue, please." He smiled nervously at her.

"Quite a few people are in the med bay with injuries." Gaz went on. "If dad hasn't seen you guys in days, which I know he hasn't, then he'll just think you were hurt by the explosion, too."

"And it took us this long to come for help?" Dib wondered.

"It's not the only explosion." Gaz said. "Just tell him that you must have been injured in the big one, but didn't know until you were jarred around in a recent one."

"How recent was the last one?" Keef asked, eyes wide.

"Yesterday." Gaz said. "There hasn't been one yet today. Hopefully, we won't get one at all, but I probably just jinxed it."

"So dad would believe us?" Dib wondered.

"It's dad."

"Alright, point taken." Dib sighed. "Lead the way then, Gaz."

Gaz nodded. "If you tell me where you were and what the hell happened to injure Zim's ribs."

"We don't have a choice, do we."

Gaz smirked. "Nope."

"Fine." Dib sighed. "We'll tell you on the way."

000

Once they reached the medical wing of Membrane Labs, Dib and the others had finished telling their story to Gaz. She gave them a look.

"You can't expect me to believe you." She said.

"We'd show you, but I'm afraid of being dissected." Zim answered.

"Same here." Keyvine shivered. "It's not fun."

Gaz cocked an eyebrow. "You believe them?" She asked Dib and Keef.

"We were there." Keef said.

"I've known about Zim since a little before he moved in with us." Dib informed. "And Keyvine…er…Krill…wasn't a shock, after he admitted it."

Gaz rolled her eyes. "I'm not a skeptic like dad is, but I want proof later."

"Deal." Zim and Keyvine answered.

"Good. I'm going to play my game." Gaz said. "Bye."

She walked off the way they had come, taking a side hallway and vanishing out of sight. Dib sighed and pushed open the door to the medical bay with one hand. Instantly, a nurse came over.

"Visiting hours are over, children." She said.

"We're here to get checked out." Zim said. "My ribs are killing me."

The nurse smiled. "In that case, come with me." She told Zim. "You boys will have to wait here."

"Do they have to?" Zim asked, sounding nervous. "Can't they come?"

"Well…alright." The nurse caved. "I'll let them stay with you. But only because you look so worried."

She led Zim and his friends to the back of the Medical Wing. "Could you do me a favor and remove your shirt…?"

"Zim." Zim answered her.

"Thank you." She nodded. "Please."

He did as told, albeit slowly so he wouldn't injure himself more in the process. The nurse didn't even look at him for a minute before she spoke.

"You have cracked ribs." She said.

Keyvine rolled his eyes. He'd told Zim that already.

"I figured." Zim nodded.

She smiled softly. "It's an easy cure. Rest, pain medication, and some bandages. I'll be right back. Stay put." She walked away, disappearing into the crowded makeshift hospital.

"I thought she'd never leave." A familiar voice spoke.

The curtain dividing the bed Zim was sitting on and the one nearest the wall slid back. Torque was on the other side, sitting with his legs hanging off the side of the medical bed. "Hey everyone." He greeted. "Glad you could make it."

"Torque?" Dib wondered. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

Keef hopped forward and hugged him, careful of the cast on his left arm. "You all made it here okay?" He wondered.

"Yeah, we're all safe." He said. "A little injured, Bryan and me, but we're fine otherwise."

"In the quakes?" Keyvine wondered.

Torque nodded. "I was walking down the hall with Sarah and Jessica." He explained. "A quake began and before we could stop it, a piece of machinery slammed me into the wall."

"Ouch!" Keef complained, wincing. "Is it just your arm? Or is another part of you hurting, too?"

"I broke my arm, but my ribs are hurting too. The nurse says they're bruised." Torque looked at Zim. "Is it just your ribs?"

"Yeah." Zim nodded. "I must have injured myself in the big quake, but I guess it didn't present itself until yesterday's. They finally got me convinced to come here and get medical attention."

"It was a struggle." Dib chuckled.

"How did you guys get here from Keyvine's house, anyway?" Torque whispered. "The Labs are on lockdown. They wouldn't have let you in without causing a scene."

"I know a lot of secret entrances." Dib answered. "So we took one."

Torque nodded. "So what's the city like?"

"Mostly demolished." Keef sighed, frowning. "It's really depressing, actually."

"Damn," Torque said.

"Does my dad know what caused all the destruction?" Dib wondered.

"He thinks it was from radiation caused by the falling meteors." Torque said.

Zim snorted. "I don't think radiation would do this much damage. Those things didn't look like meteors. You saw it on the screen a few days ago, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but this is his official statement." Torque shrugged. "Everyone believes him. Why? You still think it was UFOs?"

"Yeah, we do." Dib nodded, a little annoyed. Had his dad not seen the ships flying over the planet, destroying anything and everything they had in range?

Torque shrugged. "I don't believe in that kind of stuff, but I don't agree with your dad either." He nodded his head in one direction and stopped talking.

The nurse walked up to them. "I didn't want to interrupt." She said. "I wasn't eavesdropping, though. Zim, let's patch you up, hm?"

Zim nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

000

Dib walked into the main lab of Membrane Labs, hoping to find his father. Zim had been instructed by the nurse to take it easy, and to go back to his and Dib's room. Since she was sending someone to check on him in an hour, Dib went to find his father alone. Keef and Keyvine had elected to stay behind with Zim and plan what to do next.

"Hey, Simmons." Dib greeted the brunet man. "Is my dad around?"

"Oh, hello, Dib." Simmons greeted with a grin. "He's in the back of the lab." Simmons pointed. He pressed a button on the little machine on his arm. "Professor? Dib is looking for you."

Dib heard his father's voice over the intercom system in Simmons' glasses. "Well, send him back." Professor said. "I don't have much time, I'm afraid."

Simmons nodded. "Right away, Sir." He looked down at Dib. "You can go back, Dib."

"Thanks." Dib nodded and maneuvered his way around lab tables and scientists. Since Krill had said that his arm only seemed to be bruised, Dib hadn't bothered to get it checked out. He just claimed he had a bit of a headache, and the nurse gave him pain relievers. He could get ice from the cafeteria and make his own ice pack. He didn't need hers. She would have told him that he had to stay in the room, too, if he'd told her. And he wanted to talk with his dad. To find out what was going on and what he thought it was that destroyed the town.

"Hey, dad." Dib greeted.

"Hello, son." Membrane put the test tubes of chemicals he was holding back onto the nearest test tube rack. "Do you need something?"

"Oh, not really." Dib said. "I just haven't seen you in a while. I thought I should tell you that Zim and I were injured in one of the quakes."

"I received word from the nurse." Membrane nodded. "She didn't say what, though. There was an emergency. What happened?"

"Zim cracked a couple ribs, and I just have a headache from my head hitting the wall."

Membrane nodded. "And Zim is on bed rest?"

"Yea."

"That's good. A little rest should be just what he needs." Membrane chuckled. "Must put a damper on your love life, though."

"You just make things about 10 times more awkward." Dib muttered. "Anyway, I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Do you really think it was radiation that caused all the damage?"

Membrane didn't miss a beat. "What else would it be?"

Dib shrugged. "I don't know." He lied. "But I was just wondering. Those things didn't look much like meteors. Me and Zim saw them out the window."

"Your boyfriend's still convinced they're UFOs, isn't he?"

"I kind of am, too."

Membrane sighed and kneeled down. "Son, you know that aliens aren't real." He said. "I thought you gave up on that stuff a long time ago."

"I did." Dib nodded. "But it just seems weird. They didn't look like normal meteors…"

"We can't do any tests on them yet." Membrane said. "The radiation levels out there could be dangerous. Even deadly."

"There's no radiation, dad." Dib sighed irritated. "We've been outside."

"We?"

"Me and my friends…some of them…"

Membrane sighed. "Son, now is not the time for games."

"I'm not playing games!"

Membrane shook his head. "Don't go outside." He said. "Not until we have time to test the radiation levels." He stood. "I have to get back to work before these chemicals explode. They're very volatile on their own. Why don't you go back to your room and make sure Zim's oaky, hm? We'll talk later."

"But dad!"

"No buts." Membrane said. "I'm sorry."

Dib snarled. "You're just not going to listen, are you?"

"Later, son, I'm busy."

"When are you not busy?" Dib stormed off. Ugh, his father was so thickheaded. At least he hadn't believed that Dib was outside the labs with his friends. That was a good thing.

"Something wrong, Dib?" Simmons wondered stopping the teen at the door.

"Those things weren't meteors." Dib muttered. "But dad refuses to listen to me."

"If you told him that they were UFOs, then it's no surprise he shut down and didn't listen."

"I didn't say it." Dib shook his head. "Not until he asked me if Zim still thought they were UFOs."

"I probably shouldn't say, but…" Simmons looked around to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation. "I saw those things. They don't look like meteors."

"I know." Dib nodded. "I saw them too. So did some of my friends."

Simmons cocked an eyebrow. "You were near the windows? Professor told everyone to stay away from the windows when the things started crashing."

"You were near a window too, in order to see them." Dib pointed out.

"Just walking around in the labs." Simmons chuckled. "Well, you better run along, now. I'm sure your friends are missing you."

Dib nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure too. Thanks for listening."

Simmons smiled. "No problem."

Dib left the Labs. It was about time he got a little rest anyway. And cuddling with Zim in his arms sounded like a good way to relax.