~~~

Part 3 - Tension

It took a little bit of convincing, but Gaz finally managed to get Zim to leave his base. Not to say he didn't try to get her to change her mind. He brought up the fact that he was just sick and the fact that her brother wouldn't like it very much at ALL, as reasons why he couldn't leave and go home with her. The first one was solved when they walked by the computer and it decided to give Zim a very grumpy clean bill of health and a new wig to boot.

The second was solved in the fact that she was very skeptical that her brother really did hate Zim. After all, as she explained to the arrogant little alien on the way out his door, her brother's favorite movie when they were little was E.T.. When she explained that E.T. was about a little boy who became friends with an extraterrestrial, Zim had gotten a very particular look on his face. It was a look that appeared to be caught halfway between complete fascination and utter disgust. And there was the fact that she had been noticing ever since Zim had first came to earth... that Dib and Zim were more alike than either one would care to admit.

She ranted at him all the way to her house about it, making it one of the longest conversations she had ever held in her life. Zim looked very shocked once they actually reached her home, and actually cowered a bit when she ended her tirade with a "... and if you and Dib took three seconds to actually stop trying to make each other completely miserable, you'd realize that you could be closer friends than most other people are in this stupid world!!"

Then she sat the alien down in the living room and made him play video games with her.

Her brother, as expected, returned from skool at the normal time at about half past three. She listened as he stomped in the door, muttering something inconsequential under his breath, and listened as he made a failed attempt at hanging up his jacket. A glance out of the side of her face showed that Zim had stopped playing the video game and sat listening to her brother's actions as well. She sighed and paused her game. She waited.

She didn't have to wait long.

"GAZ?" Dib's incredulous voice floated over to her. She listened as he made his way across the room. "What are you doing here? Why weren't you in skool this afternoon?" She heard him gasp audibly. "What's HE doing here?"

Zim had gotten to his feet rather abruptly to face her brother. "I'll have you know, human," He said with extreme superiority. "That she invited me here." A clawed finger pointed down at her.

Glowering, Gaz slowly got her feet as well, to find that Zim and her brother were glaring at each other whole-heartedly. She growled softly under her breath. "You're interrupting our game DIB." She pointed out, her hands folded across her chest.

Dib looked at her and his mouth fell open. Gapping, he glanced from his sister to the alien and back again.

"You're not serious...!" He asked of the latter. He pointed. "But you know he's a--"

"Yes yes, an alien, who's going to destroy your world, blah, blah, we KNOW." Zim replied, waving his hand in the air dismissively.

Gaz gave her brother her best glare and cracked her knuckles. "Get lost Dib." She warned. "We're busy."

Dib took a couple more seconds to stare at the both of them, his mouth still opening and closing like a fish out of water, then finally he closed it again permanently and began to back away. He never took his eyes off of Zim once as he back peddled into the kitchen.

'That was rather... unexpected,' He thought to himself as he made his way across the kitchen. He would never admit it out loud, but he had been rather concerned when Gaz hadn't met him by the doors after skool. It wasn't like her to go home early. He had been worried that she was sick or something. Sick was one thing, but he had hardly expected her to be perfectly fine and sitting in their living room playing video games with ZIM of all people. Shaking his head slightly he crossed the floor of the kitchen. As he reached the fridge and opened it, he kept an ear trained on the living room.

He was quite surprised at what he heard.

"You know, perhaps it would be best if I left... human," He heard Zim mutter. The alien said "human" almost as if it were tacked onto the sentence. Also, the invader's voice was soft and cautious and so entirely unlike Zim that Dib nearly dropped the soda he had picked up.

His sister was much more abrasive when she replied. "My name is Gaz." She snapped.

Dib didn't hear Zim's answer as he made his way back across the kitchen. He wished he did. He leant up against the wall and continued to listen avidly.

"Fine." Gaz replied with a sigh to whatever it was that Zim had said. There were the sounds of two people getting to their feet and shuffling about. After several moments Dib heard the door creak open and someone step onto the front steps.

"I'll see you in skool tomorrow Zim." Gaz shouted out of the door after the alien. Her voice left no room for argument. That was an order, not a request.

"Yes, Yesssss. I will be there." Was the faint dismissive reply.

The door closed again with a slam and Dib jerked away from the wall, startled.

His sister came stomping into the kitchen. She glared at her brother, noting the flushed and slightly flustered look on his face.

"What?" She grumped at him.

Dib couldn't think of any immediate response for once in his life. "That was... dangerous." He finally muttered as he made to leave the room.

"Actually DIB," His sister's voice followed him out of the room. "I think if you yanked your head out of your ass for once you'd realize that Zim isn't nearly as dangerous as you think he is."

Dib raised an eyebrow. How on earth did she come up with that one? He didn't say anything though, just shrugged and shot his sister a glare. "Whatever," he muttered. He didn't feel like fighting with Gaz right then. Heck he was still recovering from the shock of finding Zim in his house...

Gaz wasn't done though. The girl suddenly turned around and stalked towards him. "I however," She began. "Am dangerous." She scowled and backed her brother right into the couch. She raised her fist threateningly, relishing the startled, slightly scared look on Dib's face. She hadn't really outright threatened him and meant it in QUITE a while. "If I have a guest over Dib, I expect you to treat them with a little bit of respect. All right?" She held up her other hand as Dib's mouth went to form a 'but...' "Do you understand??" She repeated deliberately.

Dib nodded silently.

"Good," Shrugging, Gaz lost her threatening posture and shuffled off towards her room.

~~~

The next few days were hell on earth for Dib. He wasn't used to his younger 15-year-old sister showing interest in anything, let alone a little alien he liked to pick on called Zim. And interested she was indeed... at least in the ways that Gaz showed interest in things. Which meant that she did enough to attract Zim's attention over to where ever the brother sister pair was at any given moment, then proceeded to ignore him. Except when she stopped reading her book long enough to glare at her brother if he dared try to torment the alien.

It made for a rather awkward time of things.

Dib almost had a fit when she deliberately picked up her tray and walked over to sit beside Zim the next day at lunch. She watched out of the corner of her eye as fierce determination to stay in the same place as usual melted into uncertainty when he realized that he was alone. After a moment, the boy sighed and reluctantly picked up his tray and followed his sister.

Zim looked about as uncertain as Dib did at that moment, Dib noticed as he approached. The alien looked from Gaz, who had decided to sit beside him-- silently-- and without even looking up from her book, to her brother across the table and then back again. Dib didn't say anything either, just glared. After a moment or so, Zim decided that it would be safe to go back to warily picking at his food. Silence descended over the occupants of the table.

This silence lasted a whole three minutes.

Dib couldn't take it any more. He flung his fork back down into his tray and glared. "Why do you do that?!" He demanded to know.

Zim blinked when he realized that Dib was talking to him. Then -- "I have no idea what you are talking about," the alien said haughtily.

"BULL Zim," Dib snapped, making a wild gesture at the alien's food tray. "You're not actually EATING anything." He took a deep breath and launched right into rant mode. "Every day for the last five years you've sat here and picked at your food without actually eating anything. Five YEARS Zim!" He threw his hands in the air. "You haven't eaten anything in five years! Why doesn't anyone ever no-- OW!" He stopped short when Gaz kicked him rather hard under the table. He looked at his sister. "That hurt!" He protested, reaching down to rub at his bruised shin.

"You're interrupting my reading," his sister replied calmly, giving him an evil eye and turning her attention back to her book.

Dib grumbled something under his breath and continued rubbing his shin.

Gaz turned a page and continued reading. "So Zim," She asked pleasantly, without even looking up. "Have you gotten GIR back together yet?"

Zim looked at her. "I-- eh," He put down his fork and nodded. "Yes, GIR is functioning within normal parameters again... at least for him." He gave Dib a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye, wondering if this information would end up being used against him.

Dib did look interested, but after a moment he only snorted and returned his attention to his vegetables. "If he was broken I don't know why you'd want to put that freakish robot dog thing back together again." He muttered.

Zim put both sets of claws down on the table. "I'll have you know that I'm rather fond of that 'freakish dog thing', as you so graciously put it," he snapped.

Dib glared and readied a reply... but a warning glance from Gaz made him think better of it. Instead he just shrugged and returned to his lunch.

The rest of the lunch passed in very strained silence. At least in between Dib and Zim. Gaz wasn't affected much at all... she continued to eat and read at the same time, and ignore everyone around her, which was an art she had perfected way back in elementary skool.

The next few days passed much the same as that first lunch did. Dib put up with sitting with Zim and his sister at lunch... only because he had no other place to sit.

When he had asked Gaz why they HAD to sit with Zim at lunch, the only response he got was a shrug and a "Why not?" When he asked why they were even hanging around Zim at all, he got the same shrug and a "Why not?" When he expressed his willingness to NOT sit with Zim, Gaz told him that he could do whatever the hell he wanted, she didn't care. It was only when he asked suspiciously if something was going on between the two of them did he get a different response. This time Gaz gave him a very decisive "NO." And threatened to kill him if he asked again. Gaz's death threats were to be obeyed-- especially recently...

He thought he was going to go insane. However he still seemed to need to sit with someone at lunch hour (old habits die hard) and so put up with sitting with Zim and well as his sister.

Gaz for her part was very good at ignoring both of them or randomly kicking either one of them if they decided to be anything but civil to one another. Dib quickly learnt that speaking and being civil at the same time was beyond his abilities most of the time, and were especially so when he was suspicious of his sister and the alien. Which was only adding to the collection of bruises on his legs.

"At least he's not trying to take over the world right now," Dib muttered under his breath after another hellish lunch hour. Instead, he guessed from the uncertain looks Zim was starting to regularly give his sister that the alien was too busy trying to figure her out instead.

He wished him luck in that. He had lived with his sister for 15 years and he still didn't get her. He had no idea where she came from half the time, but his only guess was that she was either really really smart or had something seriously wrong with her upstairs. He was willing to opt for the first one... most of the time.

That week though, he was beginning to wonder if it were the later. Especially when, near the end of the week at lunch she had looked up from her game suddenly, and turned her attention to Zim. "Zim," She asked abruptly. "What are you doing after skool?"

Zim actually visibly started. "I, eh..." The confused look grew and Dib could practically see the gears working in the alien's head as he searched for the appropriate response. "I will probably go back to the ba-- er, home and... do stuff..." He cleared his throat nervously, his eyes darting at Dib. Dib looked as clueless as he did, which told him that there was no danger there.

Gaz paused her game. "Important stuff?" she asked looking at Zim directly.

Zim shook his head slowly. "Er, no..."

Gaz nodded, a pleased look on her face. "Do you want to come over and play video games again?" She asked.

"Uh..." Zim actually looked at a loss for words. "I-- yes. Sure." The alien nodded, even though he looked like he wanted to do anything but.

Dib threw his hands in the air. "Oh great..." He muttered. He caught the warning look Gaz sent him and instantly moved his leg out of the way.

Dib stomped half of the way home. After the first half of walking home in silence, (except for his stomping) he gave up and resigned himself to his fate. His sister was walking a little bit a head of them both and he gave Zim a suspicious glance out of the side of his face. Zim didn't look any different from normal... besides the fact that it appeared that he had lost most of his lock kneed walk and instead walked along quite normally, with his gloved hands half stuffed into the side pockets of his shirt.

"Why do you go to skool anyway?" Dib suddenly asked the green skinned alien.

Zim looked up at him, surprised. There wasn't much if any animosity in Dib's voice, it only sounded like he was curious.

Dib shrugged, inspecting Zim. "I mean don't you already know everything anyway?" He asked.

Zim drew himself up and gave Dib a rather haughty look. After a moment, however, he lost his posturing. His shoulders slumped and he sighed. "No Dib," He said in a slightly snide voice. "I DON'T know everything. Why ELSE would I be in skool?"

Gaz found that rather funny for some reason. A small smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. She was walking ahead though, so nobody saw it.

"Oh." Dib said. Two weeks ago he would have teased Zim about not knowing everything, but now he didn't feel like it. And he feared his sister, so he didn't say anything.

The rest of the walk home was strained. Dib got decidedly moodier the closer to Gaz and his house they got. When they finally walked inside Gaz watched as her brother muttered something about studying and went to make his way upstairs. He paused on the landing and turned. "Oh yeah, Gaz, I get the TV at eight." He warned. "My show is on."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Gaz returned. She was already in front of the holovid, hooking up her gaming system.

"Show?" Zim questioned once Dib had retreated from the room.

Gaz snorted. "He watches a stupid paranormal show every night." It irritated her slightly that Dib still managed to commandeer the TV every night to watch his paranormal stuff. Mysterious Mysteries had been canceled years ago, but Dib still found something low budget and weird to watch. This one was called " Lifestyles of the Strange and Unusual" or something to that effect. She didn't care.

~~~

Their gameplay went well into the night, save for an hour when a VERY grumpy Dib kicked them off of the TV to watch his show. That was fine with Gaz who took the opportunity to retreat into the kitchen with Zim and discuss... things. Relatively normal things, at least for Zim. It surprised Gaz how easy it was to get him to talk to her now, and she had only been hanging around the alien for a week. He told her everything from what human foods he COULD eat (burnt toast and beets apparently) to all of the wonderfully insane ways he wanted to take over the world (but of course wouldn't use, partly because they just wouldn't work.) The conversation led them both to be sitting at the kitchen table opposite one another, laughing and cheerfully plotting the end of the world.

In the living room Dib's eyes narrowed and he turned up the volume on the TV. He wasn't really watching it, but he didn't want to listen to his sister play nice with his enemy any longer. For some reason the whole entire thought of the two of them together upset him incredibly, and it had been growing constantly all week. He had no idea what Zim or his sister had done to cause any sort of friendship to develop between them, but he decided that he *didn't* like it. It was one thing to see the alien at skool everyday and to observe him in and about his freaky little house, and he put up with sitting with the alien at lunch hour, but it was an entirely different thing all together when the enemy was in his HOUSE. And not only in his house, but talking to Gaz. Gaz, who was talking, laughing and joking in a very unlike Gaz fashion. Gaz who INVITED him over to play games with her all night. People like his sister didn't all of a sudden become social over night!

Something had happened, he decided. Something happened a week ago... when his sister had disappeared from class. She must have gone over to investigate Zim or something... or perhaps Zim came to skool. And kidnapped her. Yes... that was probably it. That night when he found Zim in his living room playing with his sister, he could tell that Gaz had changed. He didn't doubt that the alien put her under some sort of hypnosis or something.

Dib placed his fist in his palm and sent a glance towards the kitchen. That was it then. Zim had done something to his sister to make her suddenly decide to befriend him. He wanted something from her. But what?

Dib ignored the tiny voice in the back of his head that told him that he was being irrational. He ignored the whispering doubts that reminded him of Zim's behavior the week before... the odd week long disappearance of the alien. He ignored the fact that the alien had looked confused and bewildered by his sister's overtures of friendship as he did, just as recently as at lunch hour that day. All he knew was that he wanted everything back the way it had been before, and that meant getting that alien OUT of his house.

Somehow.

By the time his show had ended, Dib still hadn't gotten any closer to any idea on how to get rid of Zim without suffering the wrath of his sister. Finally he decided that he'd go onto plan B... if his sister insisted on playing more video games with Zim, he'd spy on them. It was a perfect plan. His room was right above the living room. There was nothing that he couldn't see or hear from his bedroom. And then maybe he could figure out what Zim was up to.

He got up and turned off the TV. He then made a point of yawning and stretching as he walked by the kitchen. "I'm going to be-- AHHH!!" He screamed.

Zim stood in the middle of the kitchen floor, in his alien form. He even had his contacts out. His sister stood a couple of feet away, Zim's wig in hand. She blinked.

Gaz spoke first. "What?" She scowled at her dumbfounded brother. "I wanted to see him without the costume on again, is there a PROBLEM?" She asked, handing Zim his wig back. Zim accepted them soundlessly and turned his back to Dib.

"Stupid human," He muttered at Dib once he had re-applied his human costuming.

Dib shook his head slightly and turned away. "No," He snapped in response to his sister's question, his voice cold and hard. His eyes narrowed at the alien. Zim caught his look and his eyes widened ever so slightly. He saw the threat there. "No problem." Dib continued after a pause. "I'm going to bed." With that he broke eye contact with the alien and turned away to stomp upstairs.

"Sweet dreams DIB," Zim called after him pleasantly.

Dib flushed to the sound of Zim and Gaz's laughter and kept right on walking.

~~~

Raina was the first person (as far as I've read) to mention E.T. in relation to Dib in an Invader Zim fic. No offense or copying is intended.
... Oh, and while we're on the subject of Raina, she's one of my favorite fanfic writers EVER... her "Walking in the Light" is one of the most brilliant pieces I've ever read, fan fiction or not. (I'm a huge fan can't you tell? ^_~) Anyhow, if you haven't already, I highly recommend that you read her Invader Zim fan fiction. You can find her on my "favorites" list. Yup. *nods happily, hopes she hasn't offended/embarrassed Raina by shamelessly promoting her* :D