A/N: The way this chapter came out was all wrong. Please forgive it for sucking so badly... but after messing with it for so long I just decided to get the thing up. Anyway, the next chapter will be much better. I promise. And yes, the next chapter is the last chapter. And yes, the title to this part is the old title for the story, but there's a reason I used it.
Part Three: An Orange In An Apple Tree
She was lying across the bed, eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. The sheets were tattered and thrown across the floor, and now all that lay across the bare old mattress was a pillow, and a girl strewn across it, her purple hair in a wild mess atop her head, clutching her dark green robe closed like a hawk's talons around it's prey.
Her eyes were red, but if anyone were there, they would not be able to see that, for they were closed. The moon did not touch her face, nor any part of her, instead it cast its' glow in the floor of the room, as if it was giving her some odd sort of respect... allowing her to be alone in the dark.
She drew in a deep breath, soaking in the silence and the darkness. To the side was a diary, with every page, back to front, filled to the brim with words. The ink was freshly written, but most of it was written with such anguish, it was illegible, even to her. The book was tossed carelessly on the desk next to her bed.
Downstairs, an old grandfather's clock counted away the seconds until midnight. At that one moment, all three hands were perfectly aligned, and the clock erupted in it's usual chiming, this time the resounding cry that echoed throughout the entire house, carrying itself through the walls and halls of the ancient residence until it was registered by anyone who would listen, a more hollow chime than usual.
Gaz opened her eyes and then shut them immediately, groaning as an acute pain in her chest shot through her. Her eyes had crusted from crying for so long, and apparently she hadn't finished crying because a sob escaped her momentarily. She sighed, trying to close her eyes again, to let sleep conquer her again so that she wouldn't have to feel the pain, but it was to no avail.
Her eyes shot open, and she stood up, looking at the clock. They would have taken him to the examination room by now. Her fist clenched at the thought people she couldn't even call family anymore. To call them monsters would be a defamation of character to the monsters themselves. She tossed off the robe, feeling the cold air brush against her bare skin, and welcoming this only comfort. She threw open a window and let even colder air rush up against her, and shivered at the sudden chill, gazing up to the sky as the moon shied away from her.
She inhaled deeply, feeling the moisture, and observed the thick cumulonimbus silhouettes that slowly danced across the sky, swirling in a mist of confusion and murky gloom. Yes... it was coming. She glanced at the moon's height just as it disappeared as though in shame, nodding to herself, pursing her lips together. It was also time.
Her eyes swiftly searched across the room, as she suddenly felt the imminent storm against her bare chest. She needed something to wear. She glanced blankly around the room, her eyes settling on something comfortable, and, after grabbing the wrinkled cotton black dress from off the floor, pulled it on. Then she grabbed her long, belle-like cloak, and draped it over herself. Pushing up the hood, she clambered downstairs to grabbed her shoes, not giving the diary, or anything else another thought. She left the door open as she walking out into the night.
Her face was hidden by the hood of her cloak, and if anyone could catch a glimpse, it was only by fault of the wind, which blew mercilessly through the small town in preparation. She finally stopped as she reached her destination.
Off in the distance, a huge clanking sound could be heard, as Gaz struggled to push open the doors that hid the old machinery. It was the one place that her brother or her father hadn't been able to find, because it was nowhere near his home base. Zim had taken her here many times... it was quiet, and they would be alone. Despite the shabbiness of it, because it seemed to conceal them from the world, Gaz found a certain emotional attachment to the place. And even... a sort of liking.
Once the doors had opened, there was silence. And then there was a large explosion of the ruckus of bad transmission, and silence again.
-*-*-*-
"Turn the lights on, you incompetent fool!" Dib screamed at the man, who was hastily working the utility box. Annoyed and certainly not welcoming being ordered around, he moved his grubby hands as slowly as he could while reconnecting the wires, just to piss the young scientist off. Dib sighed at first, for a few seconds of complete silence and absolute darkness ensued this, but then a huge surge burst through the entire laboratory building, and the entire place lit up with lights again.
The man glanced at Dib now that it was light and the gamut of his appearance could be taken in, curious as to what he had just been doing. The boy was smeared entirely in a soft blue liquid, and his face was covered in the sweat of deep concentration. He even had carried a small silver tool in his hand, which the man noted was hidden deep within the boy's pockets after he had registered in his mind that it was still out. Word had it they had captured a monster... and though the rumor spread quickly throughout the entire plant among the workers who work /for/ the scientists, nothing had been confirmed.
Dib, uttering curses under his breath, spun around, stomping back to the examination room. He swung the door open fiercely and stepped in, trying to hush the large commotion of worried and confused scientists. His ears caught glimpse of what they had been speaking of, their fear and paranoia gripping their minds and forcing their imaginations into a race.
Finally, seeing that it really was of no use to quiet them down, pushed through the crowd to get to his father. Professor Membrane grimaced as he looked down at the empty table, shaking his head. The find of the century- gone. Done for. Laura, who was sitting cross legged on a chair on the other side of the table, was quietly scribbling down everything should could.
"Put that report down," Dib snapped, not caring that she was, in actuality, his superior and in normal circumstances, he would be listening to her. However, this was no normal circumstance. This was his find, and it was his responsibility to lead it.
Laura quickly shoved the pen into her pocket and looked up at Dib with large eyes, trying not to let the hysteria in the room poison her as well.
"Zim cannot escape that easily," Dib finally said, slamming his fists on the table and looking up at his father. "I bet you Gaz has something-" He stopped when he saw his father's pained look, the reaction that came with the sound of the name, and then lowered his head. "Father, we've got to find Zim. Who knows that terror he'll unleash."
"How?!" Laura snapped, standing up and throwing the papers aside. "Zim is far too injured to do any harm. By the way you were slicing at him..." she let herself trail off, crossing her arms. "I /knew/ the chief professor made a serious mistake by letting a child like /you/ take charge of something like this."
"I am not a child!" Dib shrieked, his face flushing red, a vein pulsating out of his head. He snapped off one of the gloves and wiped his forehead from the sweat that had collected on it, his face burning.
"Please. You're a spoiled brat that got leniency for being the top of his class in college, and graduating before everyone else," Laura continued, completely forgetting that Membrane himself was standing right there in her own anger. "You're fresh from college and you got lucky just like your sister did with that-"
In a flash Dib had reached across the table, grabbing Laura by her neck and clenching his fist in a tight hold, hoping she would choke from it. "You don't ever talk about Gaz that way. Ever. I don't care if she is a traitor to this family, you will /not/ blacken the Membrane name by insulting her."
"Enough of this bickering," Membrane finally spoke. Dib's breath was rough now, and his nose flared out of his anger. "Dib, let her go."
Laura, the fear that had suddenly gripped her slowly fading away, nodded solemnly, and was thankful to breathe again once Dib had finally did just so. She rubbed her neck painfully, her cheeks flushed a deep red.
"I'm sending out a team to find Zim," Membrane went on. His dark eyes darted up from Dib, to Laura, and back to Dib again. "Dib, you are to remain here. Your temper has made you insolent and brash."
"And you are being irrational! I know Zim better than /any/ of those teams out there!" Dib yelled, gesturing to make his point.
"I am your father and you will-"
"My FATHER?!" Dib laughed cruelly. "No. No, you aren't. You were never there for me like a father should. The only reason you're here now is to share in the glory of my findings of Zim!"
"That's not-" Professor Membrane began, but was immediately cut off.
"That's exactly what it is," Dib sneered, snatching a dart from the utensil table, and pulling the tranquilizing gun from his coat pocket, loading it and then giving his 'father' a glare. "I'll find Zim. And Gaz. And I don't care what you do, I'm going to teach them both a lesson."
"Dib, no-" Membrane began, but Dib had already pushed his way through the other scientists and left the room.
-*-*-*-
The old vootrunner cast a dim shadow on the ground, and was quickly swallowed up in the darkness as it edged away from the illuminating streetlight. Gaz squinted in the darkness, and then heard a clap of thunder from above.
"God, please," she muttered as she gripped the handle and steered away from the street. "Please, please, please... not now..."
She propelled herself into a threshold of trees, slowing down so she didn't slam into anything. The darkness here was almost impenetrable with the human eye, and only made matters worse. A hunched figure was huddled up behind her, carefully leaning on her back. The vootrunner made a sudden turn, and the figure shifted, but did not stir.
"We're almost there, Zim," she whispered, and squinted to force her eyes to adjust more quickly to the darker, black velvet-like surroundings. The sky erupted in a flash of light, and suddenly she could see again- the trees, that loomed over her threateningly as if holding her back from her pain goal, the ground below her, which seemed an even bigger threat if she happened to fall, and the sky itself... a sky that had only become thicker as the time passed.
She finally settled on a spot to land the vootrunner, and shut it off. Here was the perfect place. She turned around, and picked up the figure, which she had wrapped up in her cloak. He whispered something softly, but they were words she couldn't understand.
She worked quickly with her hands, trying to type in the right controls while glancing over her back every so often in fear, thinking that they were right behind her. Slowly, her heart returned to it's normal bpm as she realized it was only the wind, weaving through the leaves and disrupting the silence.
She looked up in the sky, wishing that tonight, the clouds wouldn't break. The imminent storm was a curse, and if she didn't get Zim in shelter in time...
Gaz forced herself to pay attention to what she was doing to the vootrunner. Quickly, her hands manipulated the control box that had been installed in it. She shut her eyes, trying to think of what Zim had explained to her so long ago. The red... or the purple? Damn it, which one?!
A sigh escaped her as she finished, and then she turned to Zim, scooping him up into her arms. She paused for a moment, gazing at him, and then held her grip firmly onto him. She became aware of a moisture, leaking through her dress, and realized it was coming from the cloak. Zim... he had a plethora of blood. "All this was Dib's fault...," she glowered.
She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up from somewhere, but at the moment could not think of where. "Focus on the task at hand..." she mumbled, and, securing Zim, was off in a run, headed for anywhere but here.
Behind her, there was an explosion of light and color, and a pile of smoke slowly filtering into the air, the thick black haze filing up into the sky, only to join a thicker haze in the sky, preparing to break. The bright orange glow bled into the sky, and illuminated the air.
-*-*-*-
"Sir, we've found the escape unit, but there are no bodies. It is assumed that the suspects have escaped on foot," a tall, straggly-haired main was saying to his superior. He wore no badge, only a black outfit, with a heavy vest that fastened together in the front. His puny eyes, which only looked black, even in the glow of the fire behind him, searched the captain's face for any sign of emotion.
The captain showed none. His broad chest heaved upward as he inhaled, the smell of smoke and ash filling his nostrils. He said nothing at first, finally speaking only after exhaling in the same, deep manner. "Fine. Gather up a unit and send a search team. Five in groups of five. Have them search this entire /city/, if they have to."
"Yes sir," the man nodded, and then turned around to do as ordered.
Dib crossed his arms, glaring at the scene, the fire burning in his bloodshot eyes and reflecting off his glasses. He tightened his coat around him and wheeled around, to be swallowed up by the darkness of the depths of the trees. He kept walking until he was finally out of the forest, and spotted a feeble, weak-looking officer standing most obviously under a street light, eyes darting over left and right, more quickly than what normal 'scanning' would be. Dib drew in a deep breath, jammed a hand in his pocket, and stepped forward.
-*-*-*-
Gaz had been running for too long, and anyone that heard her raspy breathing, her incessant need for gulps of air, and the worn look that was evident on her expression alone, could tell so.
She looked up at the sky as another bolt ripped across the sky, followed by the thunder by a petty second. Cursing, she gazed around, knowing she wouldn't make it to the park now, and knowing that had been a stupid idea anyway.
"Where else...?" she mumbled under her breath, her eyes passing over a trellis covered in vines and sappy decor, a huge oak that sat smack dab in the middle of someone's yard, and a car that looked like it hadn't been used for years. She walked over to the car and grabbed the handle as awkwardly as one could while holding someone in their arms, knowing it would probably be locked anyway- and she was right.
"Do I really deserve this?" she muttered. As if the irony gods answered her, the entire sky lit up and the clouds burst, the Irken poison immediately falling to the ground thereafter. Gaz clenched Zim and panicked, knowing in a few seconds he would be in more pain than he probably already was in. Her eyes darted back to the trellis and immediately she shoved Zim under it, falling onto her knees as she did so, and trying to ignore the fact that she was already drenched and freezing from the lack of better clothes. Her muddy dress clinging to her body, she collapsed under herself, and momentarily pulled her cloak off of Zim, squeezing all the water out of it. Cautiously she draped it back over him, softly stroking his cheek with her hand.
"It'll be over soon, Zim," she promised, and then her gaze looked up into the scene outside, and the hopeless situation they were in. She pulled her knees closer to her and buried her face in them.
She slept.
-*-*-*-
"Gaz..."
She woke up abruptly, blinking, and in anguish, thought, "How long have I been sleeping?" Her entire body ached, and she storm had yet to show any sign of stopping. Sighing, she glanced over at Zim, wondering what had waken her.
His face was bent in anguish, and his eyes were partly opened. She stroked his cheek again, and his eyes shot open... he sat up abruptly... only to fall back on the ground again, cringing in pain.
"Lay down, Zim," she whispered, and then softly touched his stomach, where the wound was.
Zim shuddered, the pain almost to unbearable for consciousness alone. He opened his eyes at the response of her voice. She was... here? With him? What had happened? But his mind was so exhausted from everything else, he couldn't handle wanting to clarify what had happened. Right now, he had to focus on the moment. And in that moment... he felt someone's hand on his stomach, softly stroking it, and gazed up at Gaz, smiling briefly, and then frowning again, as the memories flooded him. He cringed and tried to push himself away. "No- no I already told you, Gaz, it..."
She let the silence sink in for a moment and then shuddered from the cold, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Zim. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was only trying to help."
Zim was able to push himself upright, but he was losing blood quickly and there was too much pain coming from everywhere at once to define even a specific point. He rested his back in defeat on the wall of the house, huddling. "You lied to me."
"I was trying to protect you!" she shrieked, suddenly, her voice being pulled into the wind and becoming lost in the storm. "I didn't want you to know that he was hunting you again! We were so happy... everything was so perfect..." She broke out into a sob and buried her face in her hands.
He felt a tinge of guilt for being so angry with her. She had, after all, not betrayed him as he had thought. But he wanted to find someone to blame, and she was the only one around. Still... he took her hands into his gloved ones and stroked them lightly.
This sent her crying even more, falling into his shoulder and shuddering every last drop of pain that was swelled up within her.
"Don't think that I love you any less," he finally managed to whisper, freeing one of his hands to wrap around her shoulder. "You made a mistake and I can forgive you for that." He hoped his kind words were calm her down, but it only made it worse.
"No- NO! I ruined everything. I ruined everything," she sobbed, unable to regain her composure.
He pushed her away momentarily and grabbed her shoulders roughly. "Gaz, listen to me. You didn't ruin anything. We *beat* him, all right? We won."
"How?" she said, her eyes drawing up to meet the Irken's large read pupils. "How did we beat him? You're dying, and I'm next. How did we beat him?"
Zim's hand drew up to the chain around her neck, to the small charm, not answering at first. It was a little alien, the clichéd thing that it was, something he had given to her as a sort of poor humor. She hadn't taken it off since. He played with it for a moment and then sat it down again. "Because I still love you. And you still love me."
"Damnit, Zim, that doesn't-"
"Doesn't what?" he interrupted sharply. "Doesn't matter? Doesn't change anything? It changes everything. He's out to destroy what we have. And once he does, only then will he win."
Gaz leaned forward, and the two met in a long kiss. Her hand brushed across his face, softly touching the wounds that lined his skin and would be more than likely to become scars. A bursting feeling spread throughout her insides, which conquered her mind, and her fears.
-*-*-*-
Dib squinted in the darkness, surveying the scene for exactly what it was- pitch black. How the hell could he see in this weather?! Grumbling, he shifted his weight and walked forward, his newest prize- the gun- secured to his belt. He had long ago shedded the bloody lab coat, and was now prepared for anything...
If he could only find them.
He cursed his sister. How could she do this to him? To his family? He sighed, rubbing his temples as he continued to walk across the paved street. There was not a soul in sight, and things would be so quiet, had it not been for the pouring rain, and the wind, and the thunder. In most circumstances, he would welcome this weather. It was the only thing that, for the strangest reason, lifted up his heart and this emotions. He didn't know why, but for what was supposed to be gloomy and depressing was actually uplifting and cheerful for him. He remembered, back when they were kids, and it had rained like this... Gaz and him would stay inside, and for once, they would sit on the couch and play one of the video games together. Gaz's choice, of course, but it was so rarely that she let him in on her life...
But... that was over now. Dib wiped his face, not sure if the moisture was rain or tears. Gaz had chosen her own path. She was... different. He thought back to a saying his father used to say to his mother, when he commented on Dib's increasing interest in the science and biological field; something that had made both his parents very happy, because it was their fields as well. How, the apple never fell far from the tree... But that was then. Suddenly then things suddenly changed. It was all to blurry to remember, but he just knew there was Gaz's presence, and the lack of another. His mother...
He never knew what happened. Never questioned his father when he would hide behind the subject with the excuse of work. Gaz never followed in her father's footsteps, or her mother's either, to say the least. She was no outstanding student, never really cared to pick up a microscope and look at the world around her. She was quite the opposite, in fact. Instead, she ignored the world, and let herself envelope in games. With his mother gone, Dib didn't even think his father cared about this.
Dib thought to earlier, what he had thought just before Zim's examination. How... "they could have been a family again." It was a lie. Even if Gaz never did establish a relationship with Zim, she would never have wanted to be a part of this family anyway, not even if there was a chance. The apple couldn't fall far from the tree in her case, because she wasn't an apple to begin with. She was an outcast. An outcast to the family, and now a shame.
A bright illumination of the quiet neighborhood jerked Dib from his thoughts, and his eyes immediately shot over to movement, next to a house that was as silent as the other residences- and just as dark. Was it movement? Or a trick of the eye? He walked in closer, this time hearing muffled voices. Yes... yes.
His hand moved slowly to his pocket, clasped around the gun. He knew why his father didn't want to send him in the first place- because of something like this. But for once, Dib didn't care. Membrane /knew/ he was going to do something like this... better not disappoint him.
He walked slowly over, hoping that the noise of him trudging over the moist, muddy grass wouldn't alarm them. But he realized he had nothing to worry about, because the storm was noise enough to conceal him. That, and the darkness.
-*-*-*-
Zim opened his eyes, and smiled at Gaz. He knew would eventually happen to him- and she knew it too. But to have her... here. He didn't care.
Behind them, there click of a gun. Quickly they jerked at the movement, and Gaz spun around, squinting in the darkness. An unnecessary thing to do... because she knew who was standing there. And the burst of lighting from another strike of purple lightning off in the distance confirmed her fears.
"Even in light, you're in darkness," Dib whispered softly as he loomed over them, weapon in hand. It was time to purge their family of all the poison, and all of the shame. And it was time to claim victory, to the last battle he would have to fight.
The neighboorhood's silent air was destroyed as two shots shattered the air... a shatter which would not be heard as the storm hid it within it's own darkness.
Part Three: An Orange In An Apple Tree
She was lying across the bed, eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. The sheets were tattered and thrown across the floor, and now all that lay across the bare old mattress was a pillow, and a girl strewn across it, her purple hair in a wild mess atop her head, clutching her dark green robe closed like a hawk's talons around it's prey.
Her eyes were red, but if anyone were there, they would not be able to see that, for they were closed. The moon did not touch her face, nor any part of her, instead it cast its' glow in the floor of the room, as if it was giving her some odd sort of respect... allowing her to be alone in the dark.
She drew in a deep breath, soaking in the silence and the darkness. To the side was a diary, with every page, back to front, filled to the brim with words. The ink was freshly written, but most of it was written with such anguish, it was illegible, even to her. The book was tossed carelessly on the desk next to her bed.
Downstairs, an old grandfather's clock counted away the seconds until midnight. At that one moment, all three hands were perfectly aligned, and the clock erupted in it's usual chiming, this time the resounding cry that echoed throughout the entire house, carrying itself through the walls and halls of the ancient residence until it was registered by anyone who would listen, a more hollow chime than usual.
Gaz opened her eyes and then shut them immediately, groaning as an acute pain in her chest shot through her. Her eyes had crusted from crying for so long, and apparently she hadn't finished crying because a sob escaped her momentarily. She sighed, trying to close her eyes again, to let sleep conquer her again so that she wouldn't have to feel the pain, but it was to no avail.
Her eyes shot open, and she stood up, looking at the clock. They would have taken him to the examination room by now. Her fist clenched at the thought people she couldn't even call family anymore. To call them monsters would be a defamation of character to the monsters themselves. She tossed off the robe, feeling the cold air brush against her bare skin, and welcoming this only comfort. She threw open a window and let even colder air rush up against her, and shivered at the sudden chill, gazing up to the sky as the moon shied away from her.
She inhaled deeply, feeling the moisture, and observed the thick cumulonimbus silhouettes that slowly danced across the sky, swirling in a mist of confusion and murky gloom. Yes... it was coming. She glanced at the moon's height just as it disappeared as though in shame, nodding to herself, pursing her lips together. It was also time.
Her eyes swiftly searched across the room, as she suddenly felt the imminent storm against her bare chest. She needed something to wear. She glanced blankly around the room, her eyes settling on something comfortable, and, after grabbing the wrinkled cotton black dress from off the floor, pulled it on. Then she grabbed her long, belle-like cloak, and draped it over herself. Pushing up the hood, she clambered downstairs to grabbed her shoes, not giving the diary, or anything else another thought. She left the door open as she walking out into the night.
Her face was hidden by the hood of her cloak, and if anyone could catch a glimpse, it was only by fault of the wind, which blew mercilessly through the small town in preparation. She finally stopped as she reached her destination.
Off in the distance, a huge clanking sound could be heard, as Gaz struggled to push open the doors that hid the old machinery. It was the one place that her brother or her father hadn't been able to find, because it was nowhere near his home base. Zim had taken her here many times... it was quiet, and they would be alone. Despite the shabbiness of it, because it seemed to conceal them from the world, Gaz found a certain emotional attachment to the place. And even... a sort of liking.
Once the doors had opened, there was silence. And then there was a large explosion of the ruckus of bad transmission, and silence again.
-*-*-*-
"Turn the lights on, you incompetent fool!" Dib screamed at the man, who was hastily working the utility box. Annoyed and certainly not welcoming being ordered around, he moved his grubby hands as slowly as he could while reconnecting the wires, just to piss the young scientist off. Dib sighed at first, for a few seconds of complete silence and absolute darkness ensued this, but then a huge surge burst through the entire laboratory building, and the entire place lit up with lights again.
The man glanced at Dib now that it was light and the gamut of his appearance could be taken in, curious as to what he had just been doing. The boy was smeared entirely in a soft blue liquid, and his face was covered in the sweat of deep concentration. He even had carried a small silver tool in his hand, which the man noted was hidden deep within the boy's pockets after he had registered in his mind that it was still out. Word had it they had captured a monster... and though the rumor spread quickly throughout the entire plant among the workers who work /for/ the scientists, nothing had been confirmed.
Dib, uttering curses under his breath, spun around, stomping back to the examination room. He swung the door open fiercely and stepped in, trying to hush the large commotion of worried and confused scientists. His ears caught glimpse of what they had been speaking of, their fear and paranoia gripping their minds and forcing their imaginations into a race.
Finally, seeing that it really was of no use to quiet them down, pushed through the crowd to get to his father. Professor Membrane grimaced as he looked down at the empty table, shaking his head. The find of the century- gone. Done for. Laura, who was sitting cross legged on a chair on the other side of the table, was quietly scribbling down everything should could.
"Put that report down," Dib snapped, not caring that she was, in actuality, his superior and in normal circumstances, he would be listening to her. However, this was no normal circumstance. This was his find, and it was his responsibility to lead it.
Laura quickly shoved the pen into her pocket and looked up at Dib with large eyes, trying not to let the hysteria in the room poison her as well.
"Zim cannot escape that easily," Dib finally said, slamming his fists on the table and looking up at his father. "I bet you Gaz has something-" He stopped when he saw his father's pained look, the reaction that came with the sound of the name, and then lowered his head. "Father, we've got to find Zim. Who knows that terror he'll unleash."
"How?!" Laura snapped, standing up and throwing the papers aside. "Zim is far too injured to do any harm. By the way you were slicing at him..." she let herself trail off, crossing her arms. "I /knew/ the chief professor made a serious mistake by letting a child like /you/ take charge of something like this."
"I am not a child!" Dib shrieked, his face flushing red, a vein pulsating out of his head. He snapped off one of the gloves and wiped his forehead from the sweat that had collected on it, his face burning.
"Please. You're a spoiled brat that got leniency for being the top of his class in college, and graduating before everyone else," Laura continued, completely forgetting that Membrane himself was standing right there in her own anger. "You're fresh from college and you got lucky just like your sister did with that-"
In a flash Dib had reached across the table, grabbing Laura by her neck and clenching his fist in a tight hold, hoping she would choke from it. "You don't ever talk about Gaz that way. Ever. I don't care if she is a traitor to this family, you will /not/ blacken the Membrane name by insulting her."
"Enough of this bickering," Membrane finally spoke. Dib's breath was rough now, and his nose flared out of his anger. "Dib, let her go."
Laura, the fear that had suddenly gripped her slowly fading away, nodded solemnly, and was thankful to breathe again once Dib had finally did just so. She rubbed her neck painfully, her cheeks flushed a deep red.
"I'm sending out a team to find Zim," Membrane went on. His dark eyes darted up from Dib, to Laura, and back to Dib again. "Dib, you are to remain here. Your temper has made you insolent and brash."
"And you are being irrational! I know Zim better than /any/ of those teams out there!" Dib yelled, gesturing to make his point.
"I am your father and you will-"
"My FATHER?!" Dib laughed cruelly. "No. No, you aren't. You were never there for me like a father should. The only reason you're here now is to share in the glory of my findings of Zim!"
"That's not-" Professor Membrane began, but was immediately cut off.
"That's exactly what it is," Dib sneered, snatching a dart from the utensil table, and pulling the tranquilizing gun from his coat pocket, loading it and then giving his 'father' a glare. "I'll find Zim. And Gaz. And I don't care what you do, I'm going to teach them both a lesson."
"Dib, no-" Membrane began, but Dib had already pushed his way through the other scientists and left the room.
-*-*-*-
The old vootrunner cast a dim shadow on the ground, and was quickly swallowed up in the darkness as it edged away from the illuminating streetlight. Gaz squinted in the darkness, and then heard a clap of thunder from above.
"God, please," she muttered as she gripped the handle and steered away from the street. "Please, please, please... not now..."
She propelled herself into a threshold of trees, slowing down so she didn't slam into anything. The darkness here was almost impenetrable with the human eye, and only made matters worse. A hunched figure was huddled up behind her, carefully leaning on her back. The vootrunner made a sudden turn, and the figure shifted, but did not stir.
"We're almost there, Zim," she whispered, and squinted to force her eyes to adjust more quickly to the darker, black velvet-like surroundings. The sky erupted in a flash of light, and suddenly she could see again- the trees, that loomed over her threateningly as if holding her back from her pain goal, the ground below her, which seemed an even bigger threat if she happened to fall, and the sky itself... a sky that had only become thicker as the time passed.
She finally settled on a spot to land the vootrunner, and shut it off. Here was the perfect place. She turned around, and picked up the figure, which she had wrapped up in her cloak. He whispered something softly, but they were words she couldn't understand.
She worked quickly with her hands, trying to type in the right controls while glancing over her back every so often in fear, thinking that they were right behind her. Slowly, her heart returned to it's normal bpm as she realized it was only the wind, weaving through the leaves and disrupting the silence.
She looked up in the sky, wishing that tonight, the clouds wouldn't break. The imminent storm was a curse, and if she didn't get Zim in shelter in time...
Gaz forced herself to pay attention to what she was doing to the vootrunner. Quickly, her hands manipulated the control box that had been installed in it. She shut her eyes, trying to think of what Zim had explained to her so long ago. The red... or the purple? Damn it, which one?!
A sigh escaped her as she finished, and then she turned to Zim, scooping him up into her arms. She paused for a moment, gazing at him, and then held her grip firmly onto him. She became aware of a moisture, leaking through her dress, and realized it was coming from the cloak. Zim... he had a plethora of blood. "All this was Dib's fault...," she glowered.
She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up from somewhere, but at the moment could not think of where. "Focus on the task at hand..." she mumbled, and, securing Zim, was off in a run, headed for anywhere but here.
Behind her, there was an explosion of light and color, and a pile of smoke slowly filtering into the air, the thick black haze filing up into the sky, only to join a thicker haze in the sky, preparing to break. The bright orange glow bled into the sky, and illuminated the air.
-*-*-*-
"Sir, we've found the escape unit, but there are no bodies. It is assumed that the suspects have escaped on foot," a tall, straggly-haired main was saying to his superior. He wore no badge, only a black outfit, with a heavy vest that fastened together in the front. His puny eyes, which only looked black, even in the glow of the fire behind him, searched the captain's face for any sign of emotion.
The captain showed none. His broad chest heaved upward as he inhaled, the smell of smoke and ash filling his nostrils. He said nothing at first, finally speaking only after exhaling in the same, deep manner. "Fine. Gather up a unit and send a search team. Five in groups of five. Have them search this entire /city/, if they have to."
"Yes sir," the man nodded, and then turned around to do as ordered.
Dib crossed his arms, glaring at the scene, the fire burning in his bloodshot eyes and reflecting off his glasses. He tightened his coat around him and wheeled around, to be swallowed up by the darkness of the depths of the trees. He kept walking until he was finally out of the forest, and spotted a feeble, weak-looking officer standing most obviously under a street light, eyes darting over left and right, more quickly than what normal 'scanning' would be. Dib drew in a deep breath, jammed a hand in his pocket, and stepped forward.
-*-*-*-
Gaz had been running for too long, and anyone that heard her raspy breathing, her incessant need for gulps of air, and the worn look that was evident on her expression alone, could tell so.
She looked up at the sky as another bolt ripped across the sky, followed by the thunder by a petty second. Cursing, she gazed around, knowing she wouldn't make it to the park now, and knowing that had been a stupid idea anyway.
"Where else...?" she mumbled under her breath, her eyes passing over a trellis covered in vines and sappy decor, a huge oak that sat smack dab in the middle of someone's yard, and a car that looked like it hadn't been used for years. She walked over to the car and grabbed the handle as awkwardly as one could while holding someone in their arms, knowing it would probably be locked anyway- and she was right.
"Do I really deserve this?" she muttered. As if the irony gods answered her, the entire sky lit up and the clouds burst, the Irken poison immediately falling to the ground thereafter. Gaz clenched Zim and panicked, knowing in a few seconds he would be in more pain than he probably already was in. Her eyes darted back to the trellis and immediately she shoved Zim under it, falling onto her knees as she did so, and trying to ignore the fact that she was already drenched and freezing from the lack of better clothes. Her muddy dress clinging to her body, she collapsed under herself, and momentarily pulled her cloak off of Zim, squeezing all the water out of it. Cautiously she draped it back over him, softly stroking his cheek with her hand.
"It'll be over soon, Zim," she promised, and then her gaze looked up into the scene outside, and the hopeless situation they were in. She pulled her knees closer to her and buried her face in them.
She slept.
-*-*-*-
"Gaz..."
She woke up abruptly, blinking, and in anguish, thought, "How long have I been sleeping?" Her entire body ached, and she storm had yet to show any sign of stopping. Sighing, she glanced over at Zim, wondering what had waken her.
His face was bent in anguish, and his eyes were partly opened. She stroked his cheek again, and his eyes shot open... he sat up abruptly... only to fall back on the ground again, cringing in pain.
"Lay down, Zim," she whispered, and then softly touched his stomach, where the wound was.
Zim shuddered, the pain almost to unbearable for consciousness alone. He opened his eyes at the response of her voice. She was... here? With him? What had happened? But his mind was so exhausted from everything else, he couldn't handle wanting to clarify what had happened. Right now, he had to focus on the moment. And in that moment... he felt someone's hand on his stomach, softly stroking it, and gazed up at Gaz, smiling briefly, and then frowning again, as the memories flooded him. He cringed and tried to push himself away. "No- no I already told you, Gaz, it..."
She let the silence sink in for a moment and then shuddered from the cold, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Zim. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was only trying to help."
Zim was able to push himself upright, but he was losing blood quickly and there was too much pain coming from everywhere at once to define even a specific point. He rested his back in defeat on the wall of the house, huddling. "You lied to me."
"I was trying to protect you!" she shrieked, suddenly, her voice being pulled into the wind and becoming lost in the storm. "I didn't want you to know that he was hunting you again! We were so happy... everything was so perfect..." She broke out into a sob and buried her face in her hands.
He felt a tinge of guilt for being so angry with her. She had, after all, not betrayed him as he had thought. But he wanted to find someone to blame, and she was the only one around. Still... he took her hands into his gloved ones and stroked them lightly.
This sent her crying even more, falling into his shoulder and shuddering every last drop of pain that was swelled up within her.
"Don't think that I love you any less," he finally managed to whisper, freeing one of his hands to wrap around her shoulder. "You made a mistake and I can forgive you for that." He hoped his kind words were calm her down, but it only made it worse.
"No- NO! I ruined everything. I ruined everything," she sobbed, unable to regain her composure.
He pushed her away momentarily and grabbed her shoulders roughly. "Gaz, listen to me. You didn't ruin anything. We *beat* him, all right? We won."
"How?" she said, her eyes drawing up to meet the Irken's large read pupils. "How did we beat him? You're dying, and I'm next. How did we beat him?"
Zim's hand drew up to the chain around her neck, to the small charm, not answering at first. It was a little alien, the clichéd thing that it was, something he had given to her as a sort of poor humor. She hadn't taken it off since. He played with it for a moment and then sat it down again. "Because I still love you. And you still love me."
"Damnit, Zim, that doesn't-"
"Doesn't what?" he interrupted sharply. "Doesn't matter? Doesn't change anything? It changes everything. He's out to destroy what we have. And once he does, only then will he win."
Gaz leaned forward, and the two met in a long kiss. Her hand brushed across his face, softly touching the wounds that lined his skin and would be more than likely to become scars. A bursting feeling spread throughout her insides, which conquered her mind, and her fears.
-*-*-*-
Dib squinted in the darkness, surveying the scene for exactly what it was- pitch black. How the hell could he see in this weather?! Grumbling, he shifted his weight and walked forward, his newest prize- the gun- secured to his belt. He had long ago shedded the bloody lab coat, and was now prepared for anything...
If he could only find them.
He cursed his sister. How could she do this to him? To his family? He sighed, rubbing his temples as he continued to walk across the paved street. There was not a soul in sight, and things would be so quiet, had it not been for the pouring rain, and the wind, and the thunder. In most circumstances, he would welcome this weather. It was the only thing that, for the strangest reason, lifted up his heart and this emotions. He didn't know why, but for what was supposed to be gloomy and depressing was actually uplifting and cheerful for him. He remembered, back when they were kids, and it had rained like this... Gaz and him would stay inside, and for once, they would sit on the couch and play one of the video games together. Gaz's choice, of course, but it was so rarely that she let him in on her life...
But... that was over now. Dib wiped his face, not sure if the moisture was rain or tears. Gaz had chosen her own path. She was... different. He thought back to a saying his father used to say to his mother, when he commented on Dib's increasing interest in the science and biological field; something that had made both his parents very happy, because it was their fields as well. How, the apple never fell far from the tree... But that was then. Suddenly then things suddenly changed. It was all to blurry to remember, but he just knew there was Gaz's presence, and the lack of another. His mother...
He never knew what happened. Never questioned his father when he would hide behind the subject with the excuse of work. Gaz never followed in her father's footsteps, or her mother's either, to say the least. She was no outstanding student, never really cared to pick up a microscope and look at the world around her. She was quite the opposite, in fact. Instead, she ignored the world, and let herself envelope in games. With his mother gone, Dib didn't even think his father cared about this.
Dib thought to earlier, what he had thought just before Zim's examination. How... "they could have been a family again." It was a lie. Even if Gaz never did establish a relationship with Zim, she would never have wanted to be a part of this family anyway, not even if there was a chance. The apple couldn't fall far from the tree in her case, because she wasn't an apple to begin with. She was an outcast. An outcast to the family, and now a shame.
A bright illumination of the quiet neighborhood jerked Dib from his thoughts, and his eyes immediately shot over to movement, next to a house that was as silent as the other residences- and just as dark. Was it movement? Or a trick of the eye? He walked in closer, this time hearing muffled voices. Yes... yes.
His hand moved slowly to his pocket, clasped around the gun. He knew why his father didn't want to send him in the first place- because of something like this. But for once, Dib didn't care. Membrane /knew/ he was going to do something like this... better not disappoint him.
He walked slowly over, hoping that the noise of him trudging over the moist, muddy grass wouldn't alarm them. But he realized he had nothing to worry about, because the storm was noise enough to conceal him. That, and the darkness.
-*-*-*-
Zim opened his eyes, and smiled at Gaz. He knew would eventually happen to him- and she knew it too. But to have her... here. He didn't care.
Behind them, there click of a gun. Quickly they jerked at the movement, and Gaz spun around, squinting in the darkness. An unnecessary thing to do... because she knew who was standing there. And the burst of lighting from another strike of purple lightning off in the distance confirmed her fears.
"Even in light, you're in darkness," Dib whispered softly as he loomed over them, weapon in hand. It was time to purge their family of all the poison, and all of the shame. And it was time to claim victory, to the last battle he would have to fight.
The neighboorhood's silent air was destroyed as two shots shattered the air... a shatter which would not be heard as the storm hid it within it's own darkness.